No rookie QBs are set to start in Week 1 for just the second time in the last 19 seasons

SANTA CLARA, Calif. (AP) — The days of young quarterbacks patiently waiting for their turn to take over after they learn the NFL game are mostly a thing of the past.

That's what made the Las Vegas Raiders ' decision to keep No. 1 overall pick Fernando Mendoza on the bench to start the season behind Kirk Cousins a little unusual, even if it was telegraphed from the moment he was picked.

Mendoza is the first quarterback taken No. 1 overall to start his career on the bench since Baker Mayfield in 2018, with the last six since then earning Week 1 starts. Mayfield came in as a reserve for Cleveland in Week 3 that season and made his first start the following week. When Mendoza does it remains to be seen.

But with Mendoza and No. 13 pick Ty Simpson of the Los Angeles Rams starting the season as reserves, this marks just the second time in the last 19 seasons that no rookie quarterback will start the season opener. It also happened in 2022, when Kenny Pickett was the only QB taken in the first round when he went 20th to Pittsburgh.

Before that, it hadn't happened since 2007 when JaMarcus Russell was drafted first overall by the Raiders. He held out that summer and didn't sign a contract until after the opener. He didn't start that season until the final game.

There were three rookie quarterbacks starting the opener in three of the previous five seasons as teams have become quicker to turn over the reins as the differences between the college and pro games have lessened.

That's been especially true of No. 1 picks for a long time.

Mendoza is the 30th quarterback taken first overall since the start of the common draft era in 1967. Twenty of those QBs started the season opener as rookies and all but one made at least one start in their first year, with only Carson Palmer in 2003 missing out. Palmer didn't play at all that season for Cincinnati before taking over in 2004.

Three others made their first starts early with Tim Couch (Game 2), Mayfield and Alex Smith (Game 5) getting the chance in the opening weeks. Michael Vick made his first start in the eighth game in 2001, while Eli Manning (Game 10), Jared Goff (Game 10), Vinny Testaverde (Game 12) and Russell didn't get the chance until late in their rookie seasons.

The Raiders also will tie a record by having a different head coach and different starting quarterback for the opener in four straight seasons. The streak started in 2023 with coach Josh McDaniels and quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo, followed by Antonio Pierce and Gardner Minshew in 2024, Pete Carroll and Geno Smith in 2025 and now Klint Kubiak and Cousins.

The only other team to do that was the Houston Texans from 2020-23, with coach Bill O'Brien and Deshaun Watson the first year, followed by David Culley and Tyrod Taylor, Lovie Smith and Davis Mills, and DeMeco Ryans and C.J. Stroud.

The 2026 season will start the same way the last season ended seven months ago.

The defending champion Seattle Seahawks will open the season at home on Wednesday night against the New England Patriots in just the third Super Bowl rematch ever in Week 1. The Seahawks won the title with a 29-13 win on Feb. 8 at Levi's Stadium.

The only other times there was a Week 1 Super Bowl rematch came in 2016 when defending champion Denver beat Carolina 21-20 and in the first year of the merger when Minnesota avenged a loss to Kansas City with a 27-10 victory in 1970.

In all, this will be the 12th time the two teams that played in the Super Bowl meet the following season, with the champion having won eight of the previous 11 matchups, including Philadelphia's win over Kansas City in Week 2 last season.

These rematches have become more common since the addition of the 17th game that adds another interconference game between defending division champions. This will be the fourth straight season there's been a Super Bowl rematch. There were none from 1998-2013.

This will be just the second time the NFL starts on a Wednesday. The other came in 2012 when the Dallas Cowboys visited the New York Giants. The game was moved from its usual Thursday spot that year because President Barack Obama was set to speak that night at the Democratic National Convention.

Aaron Rodgers is set to start his 19th straight season opener since taking over the job in Green Bay in 2008. Rodgers will tie Drew Brees for the most consecutive starts in Week 1 when Pittsburgh hosts Atlanta. Brees' streak went from 2002-20.

The only quarterback with more Week 1 starts than Rodgers and Brees was Tom Brady, who had 20. But he missed the start in 2016 when he was serving a suspension for his involvement in Deflategate.

Rodgers will be 42 years and 285 days old on Sunday, making him the second-oldest quarterback to stat a season opener. Brady did it from ages 43 to 45 in 2020-22.

Los Angeles Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford is close behind as he is set to start his 18th straight season opener against the San Francisco 49ers on Thursday in Australia.

The Buffalo Bills head into the season as the favorites to win the AFC East but the question is can they go deeper in the playoffs for a change.

Buffalo is one of two teams in NFL history to make the playoffs in seven straight seasons without reaching a Super Bowl. The Houston Oilers also did it from 1987-93.

The Bills lost in the divisional round to Denver last season, marking the fourth time in five years they lost in that round. They also lost to Kansas City in the AFC title game in the 2020 and ‘24 seasons and in the wild-card round in 2019. Buffalo hasn’t been to the Super Bowl since losing four straight trips in the 1990-93 seasons.

There have been 10 other streaks of at least seven straight playoff berths in the Super Bowl era, with only the 1973-80 Los Angeles Rams failing to win a title. They made the Super Bowl in the 1979 season on their seventh straight playoff run, losing to Pittsburgh.

Inside the Numbers dives into NFL statistics, streaks and trends each week. For more Inside the Numbers, head here.

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Seattle Seahawks head coach Mike MacDonald listens to a question during a news conference after a preseason NFL football game against the Kansas City Chiefs, Friday, Aug. 28, 2026, in Kansas City, Mo. (AP Photo/Reed Hoffmann)

New England Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel talks with the media prior to an NFL football practice, Thursday, Sept. 3, 2026, in Foxborough, Mass. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

Los Angeles Rams quarterback Ty Simpson, left, scrambles during the first half of an NFL preseason football game against the Los Angeles Chargers Thursday, Aug. 27, 2026, in Inglewood, Calif. (AP Photo/Katie Chin)

Las Vegas Raiders quarterback Fernando Mendoza (15) throws under pressure from San Francisco 49ers linebacker Jaden Dugger (53) during the second half of an NFL preseason football game, Thursday, Aug. 27, 2026, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/John Locher)

LONDON (AP) — Britain is set to ban goods from Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank in response to an expansion program that is imperiling efforts to establish a Palestinian state, the U.K. government said Tuesday.

Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband is due to give details in the House of Commons later, after saying last week that he would “reset” U.K. relations with Israel.

Before the announcement, Work and Pensions Secretary Pat McFadden said that it “isn’t intended to be a boycott of all Israeli goods.”

He said that the measures were “specifically targeted at the expansion of these settlements, which are illegal under international law, in the West Bank.”

“At the heart of the statement is the idea that the U.K., along with many other countries, do not want to see the possibility of a two-state solution in Israel and Palestine being erased by changes to the facts on the ground,” McFadden told Times Radio.

The government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is the most ultranationalist and religious in Israel’s history. It has presided over a surge of settlement construction in the West Bank, which Israel seized in the 1967 Mideast war and which would make up the main part of a future Palestinian state.

Netanyahu's government views the West Bank as the biblical and historical homeland of the Jewish people and is opposed to the creation of a Palestinian state.

The United Kingdom, a longtime ally of Israel, recognized Palestinian statehood last year in an attempt to revive dwindling efforts to achieve a two-state solution.

The center-left Labour Party government has previously sanctioned some Israeli settlers and illegal outposts over violence against Palestinians and illegal development in the West Bank. Tuesday's announcement is set to expand sanctions to cover trade in goods, and possibly some services, with all West Bank settlements.

U.K. Prime Minister Andy Burnham has voiced concerns about the E1 settlement project approved by Israel, which would effectively cut the territory in two. Palestinians and rights groups say it could destroy hopes for a future Palestinian state.

A tougher line on settlements is likely to be welcomed by many Labour voters and lawmakers, who have urged the government to go further in sanctioning Israel and supporting the Palestinians.

But some expressed concern that the move could boost support for Netanyahu, who is facing a tough battle for reelection in October.

Senior Israeli ministers condemned the U.K. government’s impending announcement. Foreign Minister Gideon Saar warned that “if Britain acts against Israel, Israel will act against Britain.”

Itamar Ben-Gvir, Israel’s hard-line public security minister, called on Netanyahu to recognize Argentina’s claim to the Falkland Islands, a British overseas territory in the South Atlantic known in Argentina as Islas Malvinas.

The move also was criticized by the U.S. ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, who said that it was “discrimination against the Jewish people.” He said that the U.K. could face “repercussions or retaliations” from the U.S. if it imposed the sanctions.

Several U.S. states have laws banning contracts or investments with businesses that boycott Israeli firms, including those based in the West Bank. U.S. Rep. Randy Fines, R-Fla., said in a post on social media that the U.K. ban could put at risk “billions of dollars” in trade between British businesses and Florida.

Burnham’s office said that the prime minister spoke to U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday and set out “the U.K.’s commitment to working toward peace and security in the region” and achieving a two-state solution. There was no word on how Trump responded.

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Megan Mineiro contributed to this report from Jerusalem.

FILE - Britain's Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband speaks during a press conference in Madrid, Spain, on July 29, 2026. (Leon Neal/Pool Photo via AP, File)