The first week of the 2023 NFL season saw plenty of breakout performances from young and established NFL players alike. While standout offensive displays tend to draw more attention, there were plenty of defenders who made their mark on the season-openers as well.
Some of these talents came out of nowhere to dominate the opposition by racking up game-changing sacks, interceptions and other plays that helped notch a victory. Others have been in the league a while, but put on performances that were vastly improved over their usual offerings.
Let's highlight some of these breakout games and then do our best to sus out whether these were merely flash-in-the-pan outliers with a regression on the horizon or if they are indicative of more big-time performances to come.