Week 10

DENVER BRONCOS (10) vs. LAS VEGAS RAIDERS (7)

Week 10 began with quite possibly the ugliest game of the entire 2025 season. You could say that this was an amazing defensive slug fest, but I can make the argument that both offenses were absolutely atrocious and neither deserved the victory. 

Each team committed 11 penalties. One of them took an easy touchdown pass to Tre Tucker off the board in the second quarter that would have put the Raiders ahead 14-0. Bo Nix and Geno Smith combined for three turnovers, 20 first downs and only scored one touchdown each. Broncos punter Jeremy Crawshaw nearly whiffed on two punts in the first half while a blocked kick from AJ Cole gave Denver the three points they needed just to hang on. It felt like Las Vegas was given chance after chance to steal an ugly game on the road yet their offense could do next to nothing to seize their opportunities.

The biggest reason why was because the Broncos were able to win the trenches, particularly in the second half. Bo Nix was awful with only 150 yards and two interceptions, but the running game had its moments. JK Dobbins finished the game with 77 yards on 18 carries, but 53 of them were totaled after halftime. Meanwhile, Ashton Jeanty carried the ball nine more times in that span. The Raiders could only pick up three more first downs, they were zero for five on third down and totaled just 77 yards. As for Geno Smith, he got incredibly beat up in this game as he got sacked six times and actually left the game early in the fourth quarter due to a quad contusion. 

However, even with all those struggles, the Raiders did have one last chance to shock the world. After Nix threw his second interception of the night to Kyu Blu Kelly, the offense got the ball back with well over seven minutes left in the fourth quarter. The Broncos defense was able to force a 48 yard field goal for Daniel Carlson, but the ugliest game of the year fittingly ended with the kick sailing wide to the right. To put the cherry on top, their special teams coordinator was fired 24 hours later.

I’m going to say this again. Nobody deserved to win that game besides the defenses that were on the field. This is the third time where Bo Nix’s play has hurt the team, but Vance Joseph’s unit bailed the team out with a tremendous performance. It happened in week one against the Titans, in London against the Jets and now on Thursday night against the Raiders. All three of them happen to have less than two wins for the record. Denver might be on an impressive winning streak, yet it is only a matter of time before their flaws get exposed by a real team.

The Broncos win their seventh straight game to stay atop the AFC West at 8-2 but will stay home for their biggest test of the year against the Kansas City Chiefs. Meanwhile, the Raiders lose their third game in a row to fall to 2-7 and will head back home for a Monday night matchup against the Dallas Cowboys.

INDIANAPOLIS COLTS (31) vs. ATLANTA FALCONS (25)

Sunday morning’s game in Berlin turned out to be everything I expected. We got one heck of a grudge match with two incredibly talented football teams taking center stage and the one that had the ball last ended up winning the game. 

Unfortunately, neither quarterback on Sunday played particularly well, especially Michael Penix Jr. The sophomore quarterback had his moments with a few go-ahead scoring drives, but when you look at the rest of the numbers, it is very ghastly. Penix only completed 12 of 28 passes for 177 yards. In the second half and overtime, he went five for eighteen! The Falcons offense went zero for eight on third down and for the second week in a row, they failed to close the deal when they had the chance. 

For starters, another intentional grounding penalty in the final seconds of regulation forced the game into the extra period. Then Penix got the ball to start the overtime period, but only one first down was picked up and a couple of huge plays from Zaire Franklin forced them to punt the ball back to the Colts, who ended up winning the game. Yet, those were not even the two worst moments of the game for Atlanta. 

Defensively, they did what they could to win that game. Daniel Jones was sacked 

seven times and turned the ball over twice. The Colts went two for twelve on third down and failed to convert on a couple of fourth down attempts. Normally, that should be an easy win for the other team. However, the Falcons offense literally scored zero points on all of the opportunities they were given. That is the biggest reason why they lost and the longer the defense was on the field, the more Jonathan Taylor just absolutely picked them apart.

The leading rusher in the NFL touched the ball 35 times on Sunday and totaled 286 yards from scrimmage with three touchdowns, including the game winner. Don’t get me wrong, Bijan Robinson and Tyler Allgeier combined for 141 rushing yards, but neither of them were the best player on the field. Without Taylor having the game he had, there was no way that Indianapolis was winning. His 83 yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter gave the team their first lead since the middle of the second quarter. On the final drive of the game, six of the seven plays the Colts ran went into the hands of number 28. He picked up 34 of the 57 total yards on that possession and scored the winning touchdown. This was the best way to bounce back for this football team after getting annihilated by Pittsburgh the week before, but I am still concerned about their long-term postseason success after these last couple of weeks.

Right now, Michael Penix Jr. is an average quarterback. He is certainly not horrible, but it is not looking like he is going to be the guy that is going to take this team to a division title any time soon. He has only thrown nine touchdown passes with three interceptions. He is 21st in passing yards, 25th in passer rating, 19th in QBR and ranked near the bottom in completion percentage. Knowing that he has a boat load of talent at his disposal and given the fact the team was willing to move on from Kirk Cousins with this rookie makes it look bad for all sides involved. Penix’s play needs to improve tremendously over this final stretch. Otherwise, general manager Terry Fontenot can kiss his job goodbye.

The Colts bounce back with a thrilling victory and will enter the bye week 8-2 while the Falcons lose their fourth straight to fall to 3-6 and will head back home for a must win matchup against the Carolina Panthers.

CHICAGO BEARS (24) vs. NEW YORK GIANTS (20)

I don’t know what was more frustrating about this game. Jaxson Dart getting evaluated for a concussion for the fourth time this season or that the Bears just simply cannot give their fans a break. In this particular case, I will lean towards the former because the Giants are in absolute shambles right now.

Midway through the third quarter, they were nowhere near perfect, but they still maintained a 17-7 lead on the road in freezing temperatures and driving snow. Although neither offense could figure out how to convert on fourth down, Jaxson Dart was still guiding New York to a comfortable win with over 300 yards and two touchdowns. Unfortunately, all of the momentum changed with close to five minutes left in the third when Dart not only lost a fumble on a quarterback run, but got knocked out of the game on that same play. The minute he was ruled out and Russell Wilson took the field, the Bears stole all of the momentum and the Giants simply could not do anything to respond.

For the Bears offense, this was another game where their running attack led the way and Caleb Williams did just enough to help the team win. D’Andre Swift might have been the leading rusher with 80 yards, but Williams’ mobility was impossible for the Giants to stop. He did not get sacked once as he picked up 63 with his legs, but more importantly, he scored the game winning touchdown on a 17 yard roll-out to the left. Having said all of this, the Bears might be the biggest frauds in the NFC postseason race. Yes, it is nice to see they are 6-3 after a five year stretch of mediocrity and misery. However, this team cannot keep getting away with tightly contested wins against subpar opponents, only to get handled by legitimate contenders. Almost all of their victories have followed the same exact script: defense comes up with multiple stands and takeaways, the offense fails to gain a consistent rhythm until the fourth quarter, then rely on last-minute heroics to win. I personally want to see the Bears continue to win because I love Ben Johnson, I like the roster they have and I want guys in the front office to stay employed. Yet, they have not proven that they are a serious dark horse threat to win the Super Bowl and it is not even close.

To be fair, Chicago is in a way better situation than the New York Giants are in right now. After this loss, every one of their fans knew that a change needed to be made. This was the third time where they had a lead in the fourth quarter, giving their fans as much false hope as possible, only for the team to completely crush it and find a way to lose the game. As a result, owner John Mara finally said enough and fired head coach Brian Daboll 24 hours later. 

This man was the Coach of the Year in just his first season with the Giants, leading them to their first playoff victory since January of 2012, the year they won the Super Bowl. Since then, everything completely fell off a cliff. Joe Schoen might have been the one to overpay Daniel Jones and let Saquon Barkley walk away to a Super Bowl winning franchise, but Daboll did not do himself any favors either. He never evolved, the offense went spiraling out of control and the losses kept multiplying. My only issue was the fact that Schoen did not get fired on the same day. He was the one that built this roster from head to toe. He decided to rather let his best player walk away for nothing and throw a $40-million-per-year quarterback into a raging mess. Not only did Jones completely regress, but the minute he signed with the Indianapolis Colts, he finally blossomed and they now have the best record in the league as a result. If the head coach got fired, the general manager should have been asked to leave as well, and vice versa. Once again, the New Jersey Giants season is officially lost, but this will be an attractive landing spot for potential head coaches. Once their offense gets healthy and the defensive identity changes, who knows what the future looks like for them after this year?

The Bears hang on for a win once again and improve to 6-3, with a trip on the road for a revenge game against the Minnesota Vikings. Meanwhile, the Giants lose their fourth game in a row as they fall to 2-8 and will head back home to play the Green Bay Packers.

MIAMI DOLPHINS (30) vs. BUFFALO BILLS (13)

The Dolphins… won! In a game where they had no expectations whatsoever, where everyone said they were going to get demolished by the Bills, Miami did the exact opposite and easily had their most impressive win in the time Mike McDaniel has been the head coach. Well done, boys. It’s about time you finally beat a legitimate foe. Just imagine when you can do that AND you have expectations to be good?

Miami did not get off to a strong start. Before the clock even moved, they already called a timeout. A few plays later, Tua Tagovailoa threw an interception to Cole Bishop on a deep shot down the field. However, the defense did something they rarely did all year: they forced a three-and-out! The offense proceeded to score on three of their next five drives of the game, while Josh Allen got shut out! The Bills went three-and-out four times, failed to convert on a fourth down attempt and James Cook got the ball punched out from behind on a drive where they had a chance to make it a one score game! Inexplicably, the Dolphins were the ones tormenting their division rival, not the other way around.

Buffalo trailed 16-0 by the start of the third quarter, but not one did I think this game was over. I kept thinking “just wait, they’ll find a way to win.” Right on cue, they walked right down the field on their opening drive in just over nine minutes… but the Bills did not score. Instead, on third and goal at the five, Allen threw a horrible interception to Ilefati Melifonwu and Miami’s defense forced a huge play on the goal-line to keep a huge chunk of the momentum. It took until the fourth quarter for the Bills to finally get some points on the board and after Tua threw his second interception on the ensuing possession, everyone in Hard Rock Stadium thought “here we go again.” 

With close to seven minutes left in the game, the Bills had more than enough time to get a couple more scores on the board and force at least two huge stops to complete the comeback. But on third and one at their own 41 yard line, Josh Allen tried to run through as many tacklers as possible on a third and one sneak, but got the ball punched out from behind and the Dolphins recovered! Two plays later, De’von Achane called game with a 59 yard touchdown run to increase the Miami lead 23-6. Despite another touchdown drive led by Allen, Achane officially put things out of reach with a 35 yard score in the final three minutes. 

Despite what the final score might entail, I don’t see this as a complete blowout. I think Buffalo had several chances to get back into the game and make some noises, but they simply made too many mistakes and Miami found a way to take advantage. This was easily the most surprising upset of the entire week and while I know the narrative is going to surround the Bills and their flaws, I believe the Dolphins deserve their flowers for at least 48 hours.

The Dolphins pull off a huge upset at home to improve to 3-7 and will travel to Madrid, Spain for what should be an interesting matchup against the Washington Commanders. The Bills get stunned on the road, but their season is still alive at 6-3 and they will head back home for a chance to bounce back against the Washington Commanders.

BALTIMORE RAVENS (27) vs. MINNESOTA VIKINGS (19)

It is so nice to find out that not only do I get the winner of a game correct, but the exact score as well. Although it did not garner as much attention, this game turned out to be a feisty competitive dog fight. Both defenses played exceptionally well for the most part, but this came down to which team would make the least amount of mistakes and Baltimore did exactly that.

It took a while for the Ravens to kick into full gear. Minnesota took an early 10-3 and despite the defense forcing two interceptions from JJ McCarthy, it took a fumble recovery on a kickoff for the offense to score their first touchdown of the afternoon. 12 of their first 19 points came off the leg of Tyler Loop, who made four field goals on four attempts, three of them inside the 20 yard line. Yet, the Vikings did not go away just yet, despite falling behind 27-13. JJ McCarthy was able to make it a one-score game with close to three minutes remaining and the defense forced a punt with plenty of time to force an overtime period! Unfortunately for them, Baltimore’s defense was able to get the stop they needed to hold on for the win.

After getting a huge road upset last week, Minnesota did exactly the opposite this Sunday: they got in their own way. For starters, they committed 13 penalties for 102 yards. Seven of them happened to be false starts, which is just absolutely infuriating, especially at home. The offense also went three for fourteen on third down and two for five on fourth, leaving more points off the board, However, the three turnovers they committed really killed them at the worst possible time. Although only one of them led to a touchdown, those mistakes kept the Ravens in the game for as long as possible and it was only going to be a matter of time before Lamar Jackson did something about them. The fact this game had a chance of going to overtime is somewhat impressive, but Minnesota made way too many mistakes to win. 

The Ravens win their third in a row and are quietly sneaking their way back into the playoff race at 4-5, staying on the road to see if they can even their record as they play the Cleveland Browns. The Vikings slump back to mediocrity as they finish the week 4-5 and will stay home for a pivotal matchup against the Chicago Bears.

NEW YORK JETS (27) vs. CLEVELAND BROWNS (20)

Don’t be fooled by the final score here. Both offenses were absolutely pathetic, just the way we all thought they would be in the beginning. It is very rare when a team wins a game despite the quarterback playing terribly, but there were three reasons why the Jets got the job done: the special teams, Will McDonald and Breece Hall.

While it was shocking to see both teams tied at 17 entering the break, 14 of New York’s points were thanks to the special teams. After the Browns offense walked down the field to score a touchdown on their opening drive, Jets returner Kene Nwangwu fielded the kickoff from his own one yard line and took it 99 yards to the house to notch things up at seven. Then their defense was able to force a three-and-out, which led to Isaiah Williams turning on the jets for a 74 yard return to the end zone, putting New York ahead by seven. 

Guess how many passing yards Justin Fields had in the first half? Five. Add an interception and two sacks taken, you have yourself a miserable period. He only completed three passes: one to Isaiah Williams for four yards, another to Isaiah Davis for one, and the last to Jeremy Ruckert for no gain. In the second half, he went five for ten with 12 yards. That was until the second play of the fourth quarter, when Breece Hall took a simple screen pass and exploded for a 42 yard touchdown that gave New York a 24-17 lead. The only thing Fields did right was getting Cleveland to jump offsides on fourth and one to run out the clock. However, even if this game went into overtime, I believe the Jets still would have won. Why? Because of the defense.

Through the first 30 minutes, Dillon Gabriel was not too bad. He only completed 48% of his passes but still had 125 yards and a couple touchdown passes with no interceptions. Sure, he took a few sacks from Will McDonald, but Cleveland was never out of this ball game. Unfortunately, once they returned to the field for the start of the third quarter, the offense reverted back to its ineptitude state. They only picked up nine more first downs, went three for seven on third down and barely totaled over 120 yards. Only 42 of them were credited to Gabriel. The Jets amplified the pressure as McDonald ended up getting his fourth sack of the afternoon and the rest of the defense gave up three more points. Keep this in mind: New York just traded away Quinnen Williams and Sauce Gardner the week before, Quincy Williams was stripped of his captaincy position and they still carried the team to the finish line. 

Overall, this turned out to be the ugly game we all thought it would be, yet it did make for great drama at the end. Even though both quarterbacks were pitiful to watch, New York’s defense made a lot more plays to save the team from another embarrassing defeat, especially down the stretch. More importantly, their offense just needed one play to swing the momentum and Breece Hall did just that. Cleveland, on the other hand, has a wasted defense and a ridiculously boring offense. The fact that they have not scapegoated anybody by firing them after the game is a little surprising, which is saying a lot considering the history of this franchise.

The Jets earn their second win in a row and are now 2-7, but will take the road on a short week for a Thursday night matchup against the New England Patriots. Meanwhile, the Browns suffer a typical heartbreaking defeat as they also finish the week 2-7 and will head back home to play the Baltimore Ravens.

NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS (28) vs. TAMPA BAY BUCCANEERS (23)

This was a statement game from both teams. The Patriots showed that they can beat anybody in the National Football League, especially on the road. The Buccaneers, unfortunately, showed they still have their struggles against teams on the same tier as them, which will hurt their chances of going on a deep playoff run. Despite what the final score might tell you, New England was clearly the better team.

In typical fashion, their defense got scorched on the first possession of the game and let up an early touchdown to Emeka Egbuka, while the offense took a bit for them to gain a steady rhythm. The Patriots were not exactly perfect in the first half, but what put them ahead by four at halftime were two huge plays at the end of each quarter that boosted their momentum. The first was a 72 yard breakaway touchdown from rookie Kyle Williams, which tied the game at seven before the beginning of the second quarter. On the final drive of the period, Drake Maye found Stefon Diggs in the corner of the end zone on fourth and goal that put New England ahead. 

The huge plays did not stop there for the Pats. On the second play of the third quarter, rookie running back Treyveon Henderson burst onto the scene with a 55 yard touchdown run, putting New England ahead 21-10! However, for a majority of the second half, their offense was sluggish and the defense eventually let Baker Mayfield make it a one-score game again with a corner touchdown pass to Tez Johnson. It was going to take a huge play for the Patriots to put the game out of reach, and for a while, it looked like Mack Hollins would do that with a 54 yard reception on third and fourteen. But just three plays later, Maye threw a bone-headed interception to Tykee Smith, which was just the play Tampa needed to potentially win the game. 

From his own 20 yard line, Mayfield led the Buccaneers 50 yards down the field all the way to the New England 27, but in came fourth and three. After the play began, the rush came in just in time to wrap Mayfield up. Although he ditched the ball out to Rachaad White at the last second, the Patriots were waiting for it and forced a game saving stop. Just two plays later, Henderson put the icing on the cake with a 69 yard touchdown up the left sideline. The best part about that was when he looked over to the sideline to see if he should score or go down. Smart IQ football at its best, ladies and gentlemen.

The bottom line of this game was very simple: New England made a few more plays to win and Tampa Bay failed to close the deal when they had the chance. It might not have been the best game for Maye, but he still outplayed Mayfield on the road and it vaulted him to the top of the MVP race. The better team won on Sunday afternoon and now they are two games ahead in their own division as a result.

The Patriots win their seventh game in a row and are now 8-2, with a trip back home on a short week to play the New York Jets on Thursday Night Football. The Buccaneers get outplayed in their house but are still leading the division at 6-3 and will take the road for a critical matchup against the Buffalo Bills.

NEW ORLEANS SAINTS (17) vs. CAROLINA PANTHERS (7)

To start the game, the Panthers offense had a successful opening drive as they marched 67 yards in just over seven minutes, capping it off with a simple power score for Rico Dowdle. It looked like they were going to take care of business and beat a visionless Saints team handedly, but all of a sudden, they could do nothing for the rest of the afternoon besides stall out with punts and turn the ball over. Bryce Young only threw for 124 yards and turned the ball over twice, while Dowdle was held to 53 yards on 18 carries. This was exactly what the New Orleans defense needed to do to win the game and Carolina unfortunately got what was coming for them.

Tyler Shough, on the other hand, played really well. To go on the road against a tough division rival and throw for over 280 yards with two touchdowns is impressive. He did not turn the ball over, Alvin Kamara was able to total 100+ yards from scrimmage and they personally could have scored more than 17 points if they did not muff a blocked field goal midway through the third quarter or stall out in the red zone a couple of times. New Orleans clearly had a more explosive offense, their defense forced a lot of big plays that gave the team more momentum and Carolina simply got outplayed in their own house. While it does leave more questions than answers for the team that lost, the Saints deserve their credit. 

The Saints get an impressive upset on the road and will head into the bye week 2-8 while the Panthers get stymied in their own building to drop to 5-5 and will take the road for a critical matchup against the Atlanta Falcons.

HOUSTON TEXANS (36) vs. JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS (29)

By the start of the fourth quarter, the Jaguars were taking care of business on the road against a Texans team without their starting quarterback. Up 29-10 with 15 minutes left to play, that game is over 99 times out of 100. Was Jacksonville’s offense perfect? Absolutely not. If you really think about it, two of their first three touchdowns took place after a fumble on the kickoff and a fourth down stop, while the last was off a 73 yard punt return from Parker Washington. Houston’s defense did what they could to prevent the game from getting out of hand, but their offense could not pick up the slack. Davis Mills threw an interception on the opening drive, they could not score on their lone possession of the third quarter and the gap was getting wider.

Then all of a sudden, the Texans offense inexplicably flipped the switch and Mills went from being the worst backup of the week to an unsung hero in the span of 15 minutes. He completed 13 of 23 passes for 126 yards in the fourth quarter, scoring three touchdowns on three consecutive possessions, including a go-ahead touchdown on a 14 yard scramble with 30 seconds remaining! Not only did Mills slice up the secondary, but the running game wore out Jacksonville’s front seven! It was absolutely unbelievable and one of the greatest comeback performances I have seen in quite a while.

The Jaguars offense, on the other hand, ran nine plays in the fourth quarter and totaled just one yard. I’m not exaggerating. Not only did they go three-and-out on consecutive possessions, but they helped the Texans out with two straight incompletions to stop the clock and give them a chance to take the lead! It was only fitting that their last possession ended with a strip sack from Will Anderson and a scoop-and-score from Sheldon Rankins because that capped off an abysmal period in one of the biggest gag jobs in franchise history. Houston, way to not waste a three and a half sack performance from Danielle Hunter. Now Jacksonville knows how the Chargers felt a few years ago.

I said this before and I will say it again, but the Jaguars have officially maxed out. Since beating the Chiefs on Monday Night Football, they lost three out of their last four games and are barely clinging on to the seventh seed in the playoff picture. They lost its luster and its magic, slumping back into the team we thought they would be at the beginning of the year. Now they are only one game ahead of Houston in the division and they better figure things out quickly, or else this season is going to fall off the rails.

The Texans pull off a furious comeback and are only one game behind 500 at 4-5, taking the road to see if they can even the record as they play the Tennessee Titans. Meanwhile, the Jaguars completely gag away a 19 point lead to slump to 5-4, heading back home for a must win matchup against the Los Angeles Chargers.

SEATTLE SEAHAWKS (44) vs. ARIZONA CARDINALS (22)

For the second week in a row, the Seattle Seahawks turned what many wanted to be a close fair fight to an absolute blowout. The only difference was that Sam Darnold did not exactly have the game of his life the way he did on Sunday Night Football against the Commanders, but he did not need to be the hero.

Although Darnold only threw for 178 yards and coughed the ball up a couple times, he only had two incompletions. Even more surprising was that he only threw the ball 12 times; two of them after halftime. Offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak simply said that the Seahawks did not need to throw the ball a bunch of times to win the game. Instead, they simply shoved the ball down Arizona’s throats and nearly totaled 200 yards on 46 attempts. Zach Charbonnet and Kenneth Walker combined for 150 throughout the afternoon and those became the dominant focal points after halftime.

However, the biggest reason why they won was because of their defense. Sure, they allowed 22 points. Yet, 15 of them came off of bone-headed turnovers, so the Seahawks should have realistically won this game 44-7. Jacoby Brissett got sacked five times and gave up not one but two scoop-and-scores thanks to the same two players: Tyrice Knight created the fumbles and Demarcus Lawrence took both plays to the house! Overall, this was just an outright clinic that Seattle put on and these last two weeks have legitimized themselves as a team to watch out for in the NFC. However, they have not even faced their toughest test yet.

The Seahawks win their fourth game in a row and hold the NFC West lead at 7-2, but will take the road for their biggest matchup of the season as they take on the Los Angeles Rams. Meanwhile, the Cardinals slump back into purgatory and are now 3-6, heading back home to welcome the San Francisco 49ers. 

DETROIT LIONS (44) vs. WASHINGTON COMMANDERS (22)

In the second game of the late afternoon window, we got yet another boring blowout that we saw coming a mile away. Let’s see. The Lions are coming off a self-inflicted loss at home but get to play a football team without its starting quarterback, top wide receiver and a defense made of swiss cheese. Yeah, that final score sounds about right.

Excluding the final kneeldown at the end of the game, Detroit scored on every single possession. Even Kyle Allen was able to lead a drive that led to a field goal. Jared Goff threw for 320 yards with three touchdown passes, no turnovers and zero sacks taken. Jahmyr Gibbs and David Montgomery combined for nearly 215 yards on the ground, with the former having a hat-trick performance with three scores of his own. The weirdest part was that Amon-Ra St. Brown was not even the best receiver on the field; it was Jameson Williams with 119 yards on just six catches. The Lions offense picked up 30 first downs, went 50% on third down, totaled nearly 550 yards and only had one penalty yard on three flags. No wonder why Dan Quinn assumed full control of play-calling duties. 

The Commanders were simply outmatched and dominated on their home field. The only thing meaningful that happened was President Donald Trump stepping into the FOX broadcasting booth in the middle of the third quarter. Just like the game, it was not surprising. Washington’s offense was just depressing to watch. When your best wide receiver for the afternoon is Treylon Burks, it’s simply sad. I don’t like using injuries as an excuse when things go poorly, but it is really tough to not believe that things would be different if they were at full strength. However, enough has been said.

The Lions bounce back with a blowout win on the road to take the NFC North lead at 6-3, but will stay on the road for their toughest test yet as they take on the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday Night Football. Meanwhile, the Commanders lose their fifth straight game to fall to 3-7 and will now travel to Madrid, Spain for what should be an interesting matchup against the Miami Dolphins.

LOS ANGELES RAMS (42) vs. SAN FRANCISCO 49ers (26)

What a shocker. The last afternoon game of the week was another blowout! I’m noticing a trend here. It was not shocking to see the Rams win, but just like the winners in the two previous matchups, they never took their foot off the gas. 

The offense started the game scoring a touchdown on their first three possessions, while the defense let up one score on five drives before halftime. The 49ers simply needed to play exactly the way they did a month ago at So-Fi Stadium but once Jauan Jennings coughed up the football on the second drive of the game and Christian McCaffrey got stopped on fourth down the ensuing possession, they knew they were going to have to play keep-up the entire afternoon.

To San Francisco’s credit, they reached the end zone on their first two drives of the second half to make it a one score game. The only issue was that their defense failed to stop the Rams one time in that period and always found a way to be behind by double digits. The icing on the cake was an interception to Emmanuel Forbes of all cornerbacks midway through the fourth quarter. Emmanuel Forbes! That’s all I’m going to say on that matter. 

At the end of the day, Los Angeles just had a vastly superior football team. Matthew Stafford threw four more touchdown passes in what is turning out to be the best season of his career, Kyren Williams and Blake Corum combined for 129 yards on the ground and the defense held Christian McCaffrey to just 30 rushing yards. Now there is only one team standing in their way of winning the division and it just so happens to be the one they get to play next week!

The Rams win their fourth game in a row to improve to 7-2 and will head back home for their biggest challenge of the season as they welcome the Seattle Seahawks. The up-and-down season continues for the 49ers as they finish the week 6-4 and will take the road to possibly get another win against the Arizona Cardinals.

LOS ANGELES CHARGERS (25) vs. PITTSBURGH STEELERS (10)

The late afternoon window gave us three lop-sided games but those that entered its way into prime time just made everybody want to fall asleep. This matchup between the Chargers and Steelers was no different. 

It took until there were 12 seconds left in the first half for either team to score a touchdown, when Justin Herbert hit Ladd McConkey over the middle for a 15 yard completion to put the Chargers ahead 12-3. They can thank Aaron Rodgers for giving them 10 early points with a sack in the end zone for a safety and a horribly thrown interception to RJ Mickens just a few drives later.

LA’s offense was not even that great on Sunday night. Justin Herbert got sacked five times, the offense went six for seventeen on third down and they only scored two touchdowns on 13 total drives. However, the more that Pittsburgh stalled out offensively, the more the Chargers were able to rely on the running game to wear the opposing defense out. Kimani Vidal had a healthy 95 yard afternoon with a touchdown run in the fourth quarter that put the game out of reach, so this offense did what they needed to do in a somewhat sloppy performance.

The Steelers, on the other hand, just looked incredibly one dimensional 

offensively.  Jaylen Warren has been the only consistent player making a decent impact, while Rodgers has been pedestrian after starting the season 4-1. Before a garbage-time touchdown drive, he only had 96 passing yards with no touchdown passes and two interceptions. His quarterback rating, on a scale of zero to 100, was a four and a half. Pittsburgh needs to get out of this slump quickly because guess who snuck up behind them in the division? Baltimore, who is only a game behind after winning three in a row. Heck, if they continue to slump, the Bengals might usurp them in the division race. Do you understand how impossible that sounds?

The Chargers get a needed win at home and stay in front of the Chiefs at 7-3, with a trip across the country to see if they can win their fourth game in a row as they play the Jacksonville Jaguars. Meanwhile, the Steelers have lost three out of their last four to slump back to 5-4, heading back home for a must win game against the Cincinnati Bengals.

PHILADELPHIA EAGLES (10) vs. GREEN BAY PACKERS (7)

This week really started and ended with a 10-7 prime time finish. Unlike the Broncos-Raiders game on Thursday night, however, both defenses between the Eagles and Packers really turned things up to a different level. Neither team scored in the first half as both offenses committed a turnover, failed to establish a rhythm and constantly punted the ball back to the other team. Simply put, whoever scored a touchdown first was going to win. 

To nobody’s surprise, that turned out to be the Philadelphia Eagles. They did not have to rub in the Tush Push too frequently against the team that proposed it be banned last offseason. All they really needed was one successful drive and the momentum would be on their side. Sure enough, early in the fourth quarter, a 41 yard catch-and-run from Saquon Barkley set up a 36 yard shot to DeVonta Smith in the end zone that gave Philly a 10-0 lead. However, the Packers responded with a touchdown drive of their own and it was back to being a three point game again. That was okay. Now the Eagles just needed to pick up enough first downs and take a good amount of time off the clock.

On their next possession, they managed to convert a couple of needed third downs, yet they stalled out. The worst part was that Jalen Hurts threw two consecutive incompletions that stopped the clock with 2:25 remaining on the clock. All Jordan Love needed to do was get into field goal range and at least set up an attempt for Brandon McManus to send the game into overtime. The play of the night came down to fourth and one at their own 44 yard line. Philadelphia knew exactly what the Packers were going to dial up, the ball was still snapped anyways and Josh Jacobs got the ball punched out on a tackle for loss by Jaelan Phillips that should have ended the game right there.

Wrong! Not only did Green Bay force fourth down and nine, but Nick Sirianni inexplicably kept the offense out on the field and they went for it! Hurts tried to look for AJ Brown on a deep shot down the sideline and the play was predictably covered, so Love had good enough field position to set up a field goal try! On his second pass attempt of the possession, he found Bo Melton for 18 yards, yet the Packers could not move the ball any further. Desperate for the tie, Matt LaFleur sent Brandon McManus out for a 64 yard attempt. The minute that happened, I knew the Eagles were going to win. Why? Because McManus has not made a kick from that distance in his life. Sure enough, after Philly iced the kicker, the ball was completely shanked to the left and the Packers lost.

With all that happened or did not happen, my big picture takeaway is this: neither team is winning the NFC after what I just saw. Last year, the Eagles relied on a great defense and a powerful rushing attack to lead them to a Super Bowl victory. This year, they have a solid defense, but next to no identity on their offense. They might be a top three team in the league, yet I don’t think they deserve to be at number one or number two. The Packers, meanwhile, still look mediocre. They went from being a Super Bowl threat after two weeks to a team that is probably going to get kicked out in the first round if they make the playoffs again. I hate saying this because I love the roster they have and the coaching staff in charge, yet they have not been able to hit their ceiling and it is incredibly frustrating.

The Eagles hang on for the win and are still dominating the NFC East at 7-2, heading back home for a huge challenge as they welcome the Detroit Lions on Sunday Night Football. The Packers get stymied on their home field to finish the week 5-3-1 and will take the road to see if they can bounce back against the New York Giants.