We promised you a Monday-morning digest and then went quiet for two of them. That is on us, not the football — here is everything you missed, and the only alarm-clock guide to Week 1 you need.

Two weeks in one paragraph

Thirty-two more pre-season games happened without us, and then the part that actually matters: every club cut its squad to 53 on Sunday 30 August, and the two quarterback battles we had been following were both settled — in the least popular way possible. Cleveland picked Deshaun Watson two days after its own crowd booed him. Las Vegas picked a 38-year-old over the number one pick in the entire draft. The real games start this week, at 01:20 on Thursday morning UK time — and on a Wednesday night in America, for the first time since 2012. Alarm-clock guide at the bottom.

Every result, with the story

Pre-season scores mean nothing and we print them anyway, because a promise is a promise. Winner first.

Pre-season week 2 (20–23 August)
Raiders 22–20 Texans · 49ers 41–17 Chargers · Jets 17–0 Steelers · Panthers 34–17 Jaguars · Packers 33–13 Broncos · Lions 17–13 Commanders · Bills 31–7 Browns (the Sanders-starts game — more below) · Falcons 34–6 Colts · Ravens 13–3 Vikings · Rams 34–0 Saints · Giants 26–3 Dolphins · Bengals 27–9 Bears · Patriots 24–21 Eagles (won by a punter — more below) · Buccaneers 16–15 Chiefs · Cowboys 34–13 Cardinals · Titans 19–16 Seahawks.

Pre-season week 3 (27–29 August)
Bills 28–27 Steelers · Browns 37–13 Patriots · 49ers 18–12 Raiders · Rams 20–18 Chargers · Ravens 41–3 Commanders · Panthers 16–13 Texans · Falcons 17–12 Dolphins · Jaguars 19–0 Buccaneers · Giants 23–6 Jets · Saints 27–24 Cowboys · Packers 42–38 Cardinals · Seahawks 9–9 Chiefs (a draw — pre-season has no extra time) · Bengals 30–13 Eagles · Broncos 34–6 Vikings · Lions 25–16 Colts · Bears 24–15 Titans, where third-round rookie Zavion Thomas caught a pass on Chicago's very first play and ran 97 yards for a touchdown. The league's tracking data clocked him at 21.99 mph. He finished with 140 receiving yards.

Three things that mattered

1. Cleveland chose the man its own fans booed
Shedeur Sanders started the Buffalo game as promised and went 9 of 11; Deshaun Watson came on, went 5 of 12 with an interception, and was booed by the home crowd. Watson called the booing "disrespectful", then apologised on the Monday. That same Monday, head coach Todd Monken named him the Week 1 starter: "Deshaun gave us the best chance to move the ball and score points," and, pointedly, "this is not a week-to-week decision." Across the pre-season Watson completed 59% of his passes for 162 yards, no touchdowns and one interception; Sanders 68% for 153 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions. CBS Sports' Tyler Sullivan wrote that Watson "hardly looked the part of an NFL starter." Cleveland open at Jacksonville on Sunday teatime.

2. Las Vegas benched the number one pick for a 38-year-old
Fernando Mendoza — first overall pick in April, Heisman Trophy winner (college football's player of the year), the most-hyped rookie in the league — will start the season on the bench. Head coach Klint Kubiak named Kirk Cousins, 38, the starter on Wednesday: "Kirk's had a really good offseason, very good camp and he's earned it." Mendoza's pre-season was rough — 18 of 31 for 181 yards, one touchdown and one interception across three games. ESPN notes he is the first number one pick since Baker Mayfield in 2018 not to start the opening game, and NFL.com adds that, barring injury, 2026 will be the first season since 2022 in which no rookie quarterback starts Week 1 for anyone. Las Vegas host Miami on Sunday night UK time.

3. Cutdown day: the Sunday everyone lost their job
Every club had to be down to 53 players by Sunday 30 August. The surprises, per CBS Sports: Tennessee waived Will Levis, the 33rd pick of the 2023 draft, three years after he was meant to be the future; the Giants released Evan Neal, the seventh overall pick of 2022, before his first contract had even run out; Minnesota cut Johnny Hekker, "the league's active leader in career punt yardage", for an undrafted rookie; and Tampa Bay let go of Jake Browning, one of the most-rated backup quarterbacks in the league, also for an undrafted rookie. And in New England, a seventh-round rookie quarterback named Behren Morton filled in as the punter for three kicks (averaging 44 yards, which is respectable) and then threw the 37-yard winning touchdown in the final minute against Philadelphia. "It's been since high school since I've punted," he said.

Injuries & fallout

• Josh Jacobs, Green Bay Packers running back — charged on 27 August with misdemeanour battery and criminal damage to property, from a May incident. The NFL placed him on the Commissioner's Exempt List on 30 August, which leaves his availability this season uncertain; Green Bay traded a 2028 sixth-round pick to Pittsburgh for running back Kaleb Johnson the same day.
• Alvin Kamara, New Orleans Saints running back — sprained MCL (a knee ligament) in a joint practice with Dallas on 18 August. Out at least a month, which rules him out of the opener at Detroit.
• Jayden Higgins, Houston Texans receiver — torn ACL in practice, season over. He had 525 yards and six touchdowns as a rookie last year.
• Tyler Biadasz, Los Angeles Chargers centre — knee, season over, five months after signing a three-year, $30m contract.
• Bud Clark, Seattle Seahawks rookie safety — broke his ankle on his first defensive snap against Tennessee. Season over.
• Patrick Mahomes, Kansas City Chiefs quarterback — tore two knee ligaments last December. He told reporters on Tuesday he is "on track" to start the Monday night opener against Denver, but CBS Sports notes he has not yet been cleared for game action.

The table, minus the noise

Still empty — but this is the last time. The first real standings arrive after this weekend. For the record, both teams in the opener went 14–3 last season, and Seattle beat New England 29–13 in the Super Bowl in February. It is the first time a season has opened with a Super Bowl rematch since 2016.

This week: stay up for

The alarm-clock guide. US Eastern time plus five is UK, plus six is CET, all this month.

The two that need an alarm

• New England Patriots @ Seattle Seahawks — Thu 01:20 UK / 02:20 CET — Sky Sports NFL (UK); RTL and Sky Sport (Germany). The season opener, on a Wednesday night in America because the Melbourne game took Thursday's slot. Super Bowl rematch at the champions' ground.
• San Francisco 49ers v Los Angeles Rams, Melbourne — Fri 01:35 UK / 02:35 CET — Netflix, worldwide. The first regular-season NFL game ever played in Australia, at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, kicking off at 10:35 on Friday morning local time.

Sunday — the civilised hours

• 18:00 UK / 19:00 CET, eight games at once. Cleveland at Jacksonville (Watson's first start), Buffalo at Houston, Atlanta at Pittsburgh, Baltimore at Indianapolis, New Orleans at Detroit, Tampa Bay at Cincinnati, Chicago at Carolina, New York Jets at Tennessee. Germany: Bills–Texans free on RTL, Saints–Lions on RTL+, Buccaneers–Bengals on Sky Sport. UK: Ravens–Colts free on 5Action (coverage from 17:30, per UK TV listings); Sky Sports' 18:00 pick not listed as we send.
• 21:25 UK / 22:25 CET, four games. Washington at Philadelphia, Green Bay at Minnesota, Miami at Las Vegas (Cousins over Mendoza), Arizona at LA Chargers. Germany: Commanders–Eagles free on RTL, Packers–Vikings on Sky Sport. UK: Packers–Vikings is the main-channel Channel 5 game (per UK TV listings), plus Sky Sports.
• Dallas Cowboys @ New York Giants — Mon 01:20 UK / 02:20 CET — Sky Sports NFL; RTL. Sunday Night Football.
• Denver Broncos @ Kansas City Chiefs — Tue 01:15 UK / 02:15 CET — Sky Sports NFL; RTL. Monday Night Football, and possibly Mahomes' return.

If you want everything: DAZN's NFL Game Pass is £179.99 for the season in the UK (or £18.99 a month) and €199.99 in Germany and Spain — with one catch DAZN states itself: in the UK, two Sunday games a week are shown on a 24-hour delay because Sky holds them exclusively.

Normal service resumes: next Monday, 07:00, every Monday until February. Confused by anything this week? Hit reply — genuinely, we read every one.