- Eagles–Chiefs has several excellent clashes: A.J. Brown vs. Trent McDuffie and Chris Jones vs. Landon Dickerson are highlights.
- How will D.K. Metcalf perform against the Seahawks?: After squaring off with Sauce Gardner in Week 1, Metcalf should see plenty of his old teammate, Tariq Woolen.
- Subscribe to PFF+: Get access to player grades, PFF Premium Stats, fantasy football rankings, all of the PFF fantasy draft research tools and more!
Estimated Reading Time: 11 minutes
After a months-long hibernation, the 2025 NFL season kicked off with a bang. From players like Justin Fields, Aaron Rodgers and Daniel Jones thriving in new colors to a bevy of games with thrilling comebacks, it was hard to ask for much more to begin a new year.
What made Week 1 so exciting is true of every fresh slate of action: watching individual matchups. The ability to analyze some of the NFL’s brightest and most burgeoning stars clash with one another nearly every snap shouldn’t be taken for granted. Indeed, while one play can alter an entire game flow, the victor of Week 1’s top individual wars swayed the arrow of victory in their team’s direction.
Below are 10 head-to-head collisions to circle as you determine which games to prioritize watching and/or following this weekend.
Philadelphia Eagles WR A.J. Brown vs. Kansas City Chiefs CB Trent McDuffie
With the Super Bowl 59 rematch as the headliner of this week, it’s only natural to use that as a starting point for this story. After all, the game fields multiple intriguing matchups, but none more than this one.
After securing a 90.9 PFF receiving grade during his championship 2024 season, Brown started slowly out of the gates in 2025. Against the Cowboys, Brown received only one target and posted just a 56.4 PFF receiving grade, his second-lowest in a game dating back to the beginning of last season. Meanwhile, McDuffie has generated an 82.0-plus overall PFF grade in each of the last two years and began 2025 strongly with a 70.2 overall PFF grade vs. the Chiefs.
When these two standouts lined up against one another in New Orleans in February, Brown bested McDuffie by a hair. Brown caught two of his three targets for 31 yards against the All-Pro corner, with both moving the chains.
This Week 2 showdown has more on the line than just bragging rights. Brown seeks to get in rhythm in a new season with nascent offensive coordinator Kevin Patullo, while McDuffie and the Kansas City secondary yearns to better a 41.2 team PFF coverage grade from Week 1 — the second-lowest in the NFL.
Miami Dolphins WR Tyreek Hill vs. New England Patriots CB Carlton Davis
Although both the Dolphins and Bills initiated the 2025 season with categories to improve, they still possess star power. In Week 2, that talent should go head-to-head.
Following a disappointing 2024 campaign in which he finished with a 77.3 PFF receiving grade, Hill didn’t assuage concerns of a slowdown against the Colts. In Week 1, he caught just four passes for 40 yards, averaging a measly 1.5 yards after the catch per reception.
Similarly, Davis was inconsistent in his debut for New England. He surrendered three catches for 68 yards into his coverage — amassing a 56.3 PFF coverage grade — but simultaneously broke up two passes.
This divisional battle also presents a repeat of a Super Bowl square-off, as Hill and Davis played in Super Bowl 55 but technically didn’t match up with one another. However, Hill dominated Davis in Week 12 of 2020, racking up a prodigious 211 yards on nine targets alongside three touchdowns. That kind of performance could help Miami’s languid offense reignite.
New York Jets WR Garrett Wilson vs. Buffalo Bills CB Christian Benford
Sticking in the AFC East, this receiver-cornerback confrontation between two offseason extension recipients is also one that should be relished every time that it happens.
Wilson followed up a strong 2024 with a tremendous showing in Week 1. The Ohio State product carved up the Steelers’ secondary, racking up seven catches for 95 yards and a touchdown on a stellar 87.7 PFF receiving grade — the fourth-highest of any player in Week 1.
Meanwhile, Benford had a tougher go of it after collecting his second straight season with a 78.6-plus PFF coverage mark. Against the Ravens, Benford yielded five catches on six targets for 83 yards and two touchdowns, which culminated in a perfect passer rating allowed.
Last year’s two games between these dynamos proved competitive. In Week 17, Benford wasn’t targeted during these foes’ most recent matchup. But in Week 6, Wilson bested Benford to the tune of three catches for 44 yards and a touchdown.
Kansas City Chiefs Dl Chris Jones vs. Philadelphia Eagles G Landon Dickerson
As it turns out, there’s more to scrutinize when the Eagles have the ball in his scintillating contest. Jones vs. Dickerson should prove to be a true war on the inside, pitting two of the game’s better linemen against one another.
Jones looked like his usual self against the Chargers in Week 1, compiling a 73.5 overall PFF grade with three pressures and two stops. However, Dickerson’s play in Week 1 dipped a bit as he battled knee and back injuries. Dickerson generated only a 51.6 overall PFF grade against the Cowboys, surrendering four pressures.
The only worse game that Dickerson has played over the course of the last year? None other than Super Bowl 59 against the Chiefs, when he graded at a 37.5 overall mark. In that tilt, he and Jones matched up 18 times, although it wound up relatively even. Jones mustered only one pressure on 12 direct pass-rushing alignments against Dickerson, and the two each tallied a 17% win rate against one another during their six run-blocking clashes.
New York Giants WR Malik Nabers vs. Dallas Cowboys CB Trevon Diggs
The motif of divisional stars aligning continues, this time with two young stalwarts in the NFC East.
Despite incoherence under center, Nabers turned in an impressive rookie season, finishing with an 87.1 PFF receiving grade and 2.17 yards per route run. The LSU alum maintained that pace in Week 1 vs. the Commanders, compiling five catches for 71 yards on a solid 67.3 PFF receiving grade.
On the other side, Diggs played like his 2023 form in his return from a knee injury. The former All-Pro suited up on 26 snaps against the Eagles in the season opener and didn’t permit a single target into his coverage, earning a 76.1 PFF coverage grade.
Nabers and Diggs dueled during Week 4 of last season, an affair that proved better for the rookie. Nabers hauled in two of his four targets for 16 yards and a first down, receiving a 72.5 overall PFF grade when opposed by Diggs.
Cleveland Browns EDGE Myles Garrett vs. Baltimore Ravens T Ronnie Stanley
The league’s six intra-divisional matchups this week may feel a bit early in the grand scheme of the broader schedule. But, that does treat viewers to even more tremendous positional clashes, like this one in the trenches.
Fresh off a four-year run with at least a 92.0 overall PFF grade, Garrett got off to an auspicious start this season against the Cincinnati Bengals. The former Defensive Player of the Year amassed five pressures on a staggering 28% pass-rush win rate while also making five stops.
After returning to Baltimore this offseason, Stanley also looked like his usually terrific self to begin 2025. Stanley posted a clean sheet against Buffalo, not allowing a pressure on 22 pass-blocking snaps while contributing an 87.7 PFF run-blocking mark.
With Garrett most often aligning on the defense’s right side, these two have seen plenty of each other over the last eight seasons. In 2024 in particular, Garrett bested Stanley, pressuring Lamar Jackson on 14.9% of his 47 pass-blocking matchups against the former All-Pro left tackle.
Pittsburgh Steelers WR D.K. Metcalf vs. Seattle Seahawks CB Tariq Woolen
The Steelers’ revenge tour kicked off with Aaron Rodgers downing the Jets in MetLife Stadium. Now, Pittsburgh’s schedule offers a top receiver the chance to battle his longtime franchise.
Metcalf began his career in black and gold prolifically, catching four of his seven targets for 83 yards on a 72.4 PFF receiving grade. Impressively, 67 of those yards came after the catch, and he averaged 2.52 yards per route run.
On the flip side, this year couldn’t have started more ominously for Woolen. The Seahawks corner permitted three catches on four targets, giving up 73 receiving yards and a score. In fact, Woolen’s 34.9 PFF coverage grade was the sixth-lowest of any corner to play 30 or more snaps in Week 1.
Teammates for three seasons in Seattle, Metcalf and Woolen assuredly had umpteen contested practices lined up against one another. Now, Metcalf gets the opportunity to prove his old squad was wrong for moving on — and Woolen can silence critics early in his contract season.
Denver Broncos Dl Zach Allen vs. Indianapolis Colts G Quenton Nelson
It’s generally rare for an interior matchup to qualify as one of the best in the league for any given slate. But when the caliber of that war is this high, it’s difficult to ignore.
Simply put, Allen has been one of the NFL’s best interior pass rushers over the last few seasons. Since the start of 2023, his 147 pressures trail only Jones at the position, and his 11.6% pass-rush win rate ties for 16th among qualifiers.
The same tenets apply to Nelson in pass protection. Nelson’s 82.4 PFF pass-blocking grade is the second-best among qualified guards since the beginning of 2023, and his 82.8 overall PFF grade sits fourth.
Although the Colts prevailed over the Dolphins in Week 1, Nelson allowed a pressure and earned only a 48.8 PFF pass-blocking mark. Similarly, Allen accumulated six pressures in Denver’s Week 1 win over Tennessee, but did so on a lowly 6.7% pass-rush win rate. Both of these specialists will look to turn the corner against one another in Week 2.
Pittsburgh Steelers EDGE Alex Highsmith vs. Seattle Seahawks T Charles Cross
These two names may not be as prominent as some of the others on this list — or around the league — in terms of Week 2 showdowns, but this should still be a very high-level chess match for 60 minutes.
Highsmith has quietly rounded into one of the NFL’s better edge rushers. After securing an 89.0-plus overall grade in the last two years, Highsmith was dominant in Week 1, racking up eight pressures and four stops against the Jets on a 35% pass-rush win rate.
Meanwhile, Cross has now consistently played like the top-10 selection he was. Seattle’s left tackle didn’t allow a pressure on 25 pass-blocking snaps against San Francisco, and he complemented that with a 16.7% impact run block rate — the 11th-best among qualified tackles in Week 1.
Like Garrett vs. Stanley, we should witness this battle on almost every single snap because of Highsmith playing predominantly as a right outside linebacker. This matchup will be compelling against both the pass and run given the acumen of both young players in each department.
Atlanta Falcons WR Drake London vs. Minnesota Vikings CB Byron Murphy Jr.
Most attention on this week’s Sunday Night Football contest will concentrate on a national championship rematch between sophomore quarterbacks Michael Penix Jr. and J.J. McCarthy. While that is a worthwhile storyline, this head-to-head battle is also enough to warrant eyes.
London played like one of the best wideouts in the league last season, securing a 90.1 PFF receiving grade with 2.32 yards per route run. The Falcons’ top pass-catcher put together a solid opener, catching eight of a whopping 14 targets for 55 yards on a 69.9 PFF receiving grade.
On the other side of the line of scrimmage lurks Murphy, who was a Pro Bowler a season ago. Yet, Murphy and the rest of Minnesota’s secondary struggled in coverage against the Bears, with the cornerback allowing a catch on all five of his targets for 64 yards and a 158.3 passer rating when targeted.
Given Brian Flores’ exotic scheme, we may not see these two tangled up regularly. After all, Minnesota only played man coverage on six of its 47 coverage snaps in Week 1, and the team’s combined rate of Cover 0 and 1 sat at 15.5% in 2024. Ultimately, it feels likely that London and Murphy will square off at least a handful of times, and those matchups will likely help define Atlanta’s offensive success.
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