Week 8

LOS ANGELES CHARGERS (37) vs. MINNESOTA VIKINGS (10)

Just four days ago against the Eagles at home, the Vikings defense gave up a perfect passer rating to Jalen Hurts. On Thursday Night Football against the Chargers, this unit looked worse. Justin Herbert threw three touchdown passes, Minnesota allowed over 200 yards on the ground, they gave up nine third down conversions on thirteen attempts, and they did not even force a punt. This was a coaching clinic put on by Jim Harbaugh, so this is not to discredit them by any means necessary, but this was by far the worst performance I have ever seen from Brian Flores’ defense. What was more brutal to watch, however, was the Vikings offense.

Carson Wentz, battling through a left shoulder injury, got completely beat up from start to finish. He was sacked five times and every time he got off the ground, he kept wincing and screaming in pain. Aaron Jones made his return from injured reserve, but Minnesota could only muster up 34 rushing yards. Even if JJ McCarthy was healthy enough to return from an ankle sprain, the outcome would not have changed because we finally saw the Chargers defense we watched last year, when they gave up the fewest points in the National Football League. They did not even have Derwin James in the second half, yet the only touchdown the Vikings scored was after a tipped interception by Josh Mettelus. 

This was the bounce back win that the Chargers desperately needed. They not only beat the Vikings, they dominated in all three phases. In the first half, it was the Justin Herbert show. In the second, Harbaugh strictly told the world they were going to run the ball left and right, with the Vikings unable to shut it down. Joe Alt returning from injured reserve made a huge difference in both aspects. Was this team perfect? Absolutely not. However, they looked a hell of a lot better than they did the last three weeks, which is all you could ask for a team expected to stay in the playoff picture.

The Chargers dominate at home and are back on the board at 5-3, taking the road for what should be another promising afternoon as they play the Tennessee Titans. The Vikings fall back into the pit at 3-4 and will take the road for a challenging showdown against the Detroit Lions.

MIAMI DOLPHINS (34) vs. ATLANTA FALCONS (10)

I knew this would be the final score but the outcome is not at all what I expected. All I have is one question for the Miami Dolphins: where the heck has this been the whole time?

Tua Tagovailoa had his best performance of the season with just six incompletions, over 200 passing yards and four touchdown passes! He did not throw an interception the entire afternoon and dominated the time of possession 38-22. On 10 total drives, Miami only punted the football three times. It was nice seeing Tua get pulled in garbage time in a convincing victory instead of getting benched during a blowout. However, he was not even the most impressive part of the Dolphins win on Sunday afternoon.

Michael Penix Jr. was not healthy enough to play due to a bone bruise in his ankle, giving Kirk Cousins his first start of the season. Despite how bad he looked in the second half of the previous season, I still figured Atlanta could pull off a victory as long as he did not screw up. Unfortunately, he got punked by a subpar Miami defense from start to finish. Defensive coordinator Anthony Weaver simply said “we are not letting you run the football” and dared Cousins to win the game by himself. Unlike his two victories against the Buccaneers last year, he failed. Bijan Robinson mustered up only 25 yards on nine carries, while Cousins totaled just 173 yards on 21 completions with 31 pass attempts. Most of the passes he threw were complete ducks that were nowhere near the intended receiver. I get that Drake London was out with an injury, but unless the Falcons can run the football, the quarterback is a complementary piece. The only touchdown Atlanta scored took place in garbage time and even if Penix was healthy to play, I do not know if the outcome would have changed.

If you are Mike McDaniel, you have to be absolutely exhilarated with how the team performed. Just when you thought the Dolphins had completely given up and quit on the season, they finally played with some pride that we have not seen from them in a very long time. My only wish is that it happened sooner but it looks like he and Chris Grier will stay in South Beach just a little longer.

From Atlanta’s perspective, I think it is time that we start labeling them as fraudulent. This is the second week in a row where their defense got manhandled, but worst of all, the offense went completely one-dimensional. It felt like this team completely maxed out after their Monday night victory over the Bills and since then, opponents are taking Robinson out of the gameplan. The NFC is not exactly the type of conference to stumble around, so if this team cannot figure it out, then their season is going to end exactly the way it did last year.

The Dolphins pull off a stunning victory on the road and are now 2-6, heading back home on a short week to play the Baltimore Ravens on Thursday Night Football. Meanwhile, the Falcons get punked in their house to fall to 3-4 and will take the road for a more challenging matchup against the New England Patriots.

NEW YORK JETS (39) vs. CINCINNATI BENGALS (38)

Ladies and gentlemen, it finally happened. The Jets won a football game! After all of the drama throughout the past week with the owner throwing the quarterback under the bus and Aaron Glenn refusing to name a starter until the 11th hour, New York ended their losing drought. However, for 50 minutes, it looked like they were set up for another miserable defeat.

After a strong two week span, the New York defense had a hard time trying to stop Joe Flacco and this Bengals offense. The 41 year old quarterback finished the afternoon with over 220 yards and two touchdowns, the rushing attack totaled 181 yards on nearly eight yards a carry with three scores, and Ja’Marr Chase had another double-digit catch afternoon. If you told me that Cincinnati was going to do that at home on Sunday, I would say that this was another blowout and everybody associated with the Jets should be fired. However, their offense did something they have not done for most of the year: they showed up!

You can say that it was against a terrible and absolutely horrific Bengals defense but New York’s offense under Justin Fields looked… confident! They ran for 254 yards with the tandem of Breece Hall and Isaiah Davis. The team actually scored touchdowns instead of going three-and-out drive after drive! Yet, it was not exactly perfect from start to finish. After a terrible fourth down attempt at their own 37 yard line on the opening drive, the Jets played from behind by double digits for a majority of the afternoon. With 10 minutes left, they were down 38-24 and it felt like a comeback was not even possible.

On fourth and one at the 49 yard line, New York had one last chance to stay in the game and the offense succeeded on a 24 yard completion to a wide open Jeremy Ruckert all the way to the Cincinnati 27 yard line! On the next play, Breece Hall turned on the jets for a 37 yard score to cut the deficit to six. The offense stayed on the field for the two point conversion and on a scramble drill, Fields found Davis in the end zone to make the score 38-32. 

When Cincinnati’s offense took the field, they went three-and-out in only a minute thanks to a huge sack by Will McDonald, giving Fields the ball back with less than seven minutes remaining! It was more than enough time to take the lead, but New York has been in similar positions throughout the year and failed to deliver, so the only way to believe it is to actually see it happen. But in just nine plays, the Bengals defense got absolutely carved up as the Jets waltzed their way down the field and it was only fitting that the lead was given up on a reverse pass from Hall to Mason Taylor! 

However, there was still 1:56 remaining on the clock. The Bengals had a chance to do exactly what they did to the Steelers last week and break their hearts with a game winning drive. Flacco drove his offense as close as to his own 45 yard line, but on fourth and nine, a pass to Andrei Iosivas was broken up by Jarvis Brownlee Jr. and New York held on for their first victory of the season!

From Cincinnati’s perspective, this was not much different than what happened on Thursday night against the Steelers. The only difference was that their offense could not pull through in the clutch in the final minute of the game. However, the defense was still absolutely atrocious and they were the biggest reasons why they lost at home. To give up over 250 rushing yards to a Jets offense that has been pathetic all season long and make Justin Fields look like a future Hall of Famer is absolutely inexcusable. This is the type of loss that gets coaches fired and players traded, so if Cincinnati still thinks everything is fine after what just happened, they are absolutely delusional.

This is not about the Bengals, though. This week, New York deserves to be celebrated. They finally looked like a football team. They proved that they were not just two different sides wearing the same uniform. I did not think this team was going to get a win for a long time, but they got the job done and they deserve their flowers. Nick Mangold would have been absolutely proud.

The Jets finally get a win on the board and will head into the bye week 1-7, while the Bengals get absolutely humiliated at home to fall to 3-5 and will now welcome the Chicago Bears for what will be a must-win showdown.

NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS (32) vs. CLEVELAND BROWNS (13)

In almost every game this year, the Patriots have followed the same script. Start out slow, figure things out on the fly and then dominate the rest of the way. Is it sustainable? Absolutely not. However, they are still on top of the AFC East after blowing out the Cleveland Browns.

In the first half, their offense looked really sloppy. They failed to score a three touchdown and relied on three field goals from Andy Borregales for all nine of their points. The defense once again got gashed on the opening drive as Cleveland led throughout the entire first half, up until the final two seconds of the half. Yet once again, New England figured it out and in the second half, they outscored the Browns 23-6.

Myles Garrett had five sacks on Sunday. His team still got blown out by nearly 20 points. The biggest reason why? This Cleveland offense is just so bad to watch. Dillon Gabriel only threw for 156 yards on 21 completions with two interceptions and a safety. Quinshon Judkins, their only source of offense, only picked up 19 yards on nine carries and got knocked out with a shoulder injury late in the second half. It took until garbage time just for the Browns to reach the end zone again after the opening drive. They were two for eleven on third down, one for three on fourth, picked up 12 first downs and only totaled 213 yards. Head coach Kevin Stefanski made it clear after the game that he would stick with Gabriel as the starter, but in what has already been a lost season for this football team, I think we have seen enough.

Drake Maye, on the other hand, was spectacular as always. He made one mistake the entire afternoon, which was throwing an interception to Carson Schwesinger on the second possession of the game. It was a bad read and ill-advised decision, but for the rest of the afternoon, he blossomed. This is the seventh consecutive game where he has posted a passer rating over 100, which has vaulted him to the top of the leader board in that category. Personally, I felt like the Patriots could have scored more points, but there was a lot to love from this team, especially in the second half. Maye had three incredible touchdown passes: the first a simple roll-out to Hunter Henry to celebrate National Tight Ends Day, the second a simple slant to Stefon Diggs to give him his first score as a Patriot, and the third another beautiful deep shot to Kayshon Boutte that put the game out of reach. Even better, New England ran for 177 yards, 75 of them from the rookie TreyVeon Henderson! Garrett could have broken Derrick Thomas’ record for most sacks in a game and it would not have mattered. Right now, there are not too many teams better than the Patriots right now, including the Buffalo Bills. Obviously, we still have two months to go, but I love how they have been able to turn things around and return to the juggernauts that they were in their dynastic days.

The Patriots win their fifth game in a row and are now 6-2, staying home to see if they can keep their streak alive as they welcome the Atlanta Falcons. Meanwhile, the Browns fall back down to Earth with another deflating performance and will enter the bye week 2-6.

PHILADELPHIA EAGLES (38) vs. NEW YORK GIANTS (20)

Two weeks after getting humiliated by the Giants on Thursday Night Football, the Eagles got their revenge at home and it only took one play for them to let the world know that they are not going anywhere. On a simple handoff to Saquon Barkley, the reigning Offensive Player of the Year made one cut to the left and turned on the jets for a 65 yard touchdown. Jaxson Dart would eventually tie the game by finding Cam Skattebo wide open down the flat for the score, but once the rookie running back got injured on the very next possession, the energy on the sideline went away and Philadelphia turned this into an ugly blowout.

Jalen Hurts did not even have AJ Brown due to a hamstring injury and he still threw four touchdown passes. He did get sacked as many times, but he did not give up the lead and was forced to punt one time the entire afternoon. Dallas Goedert made tight ends around the league proud with two touchdown receptions on National Tight Ends Day, DeVonta Smith was an outstanding number one option as he totaled 84 yards on six catches, and even Jahan Dotson mossed a defender for a monstrous touchdown! What was more impressive, however, was their ability to run the football. The Eagles totaled 276 yards on the ground and the Giants had no answers for it whatsoever. Barkley totaled 150 yards on fourteen touches against his former team, but best of all, Tank Bigsby reintroduced himself to the NFL with 104 yards on just nine carries! 

It just felt like the minute Skattebo got hurt, New York’s offense simply ran out of energy. Dart only threw for 193 yards and was sacked five times in what turned out to be a rough day for the rookie. He only picked up 13 first downs, went five for twelve on third down, and the Giants barely totaled 245 yards of offense. Every time that this group stalled out, the more points the defense allowed. 

Overall, Philadelphia just had the better football team. What happened two weeks ago cannot be excused or forgotten, yet they finally lived up to their abilities and played a complete football game. I don’t know where it has been all year, but I am happy that it happened at the right time. 

The Eagles shine bright once again and will enter the bye week 6-2 while the Giants fail to recover from last week as they fall to 2-6 and will head back home for another grueling matchup as they play the San Francisco 49ers.

BUFFALO BILLS (40) vs. CAROLINA PANTHERS (9)

It is no surprise that the Bills bounced back from the bye week with a resounding victory over a Panthers team without their starting quarterback. For me, it was not about how bad the score would be, but when would the blowout commence?

I thought it would be on the second drive of the game, where Andy Dalton got the ball punched out from behind on a scramble by Greg Rousseau and the Bills recovered it to kick a field goal. Yet, it was still a one score game in the middle of the second quarter. It was not even the 68 yard touchdown run from James Cook that put Buffalo ahead 12-0 because Matt Prater missed the extra point. Instead, it was just a couple plays later when Dalton threw an interception right to AJ Epenesa that should have been returned for a touchdown, but Allen snuck it in the end zone to put the team ahead 19. From that point on, the Panthers just had no chance of making this a fair fight. 

Dalton threw for 175 yards with no touchdown passes and got sacked seven times by the Buffalo defense. One of those sacks occurred at the end of the first half, when the Panthers had no timeouts and had to rush Ryan Fitzgerald onto the field with less than a second left to kick a field goal, in which it missed wide to the left. The worse the score got, the further away Carolina got from the rushing attack and the worse their offense looked. 

Josh Allen only threw for 163 yards, but he did not have to be the hero to win on Sunday. Instead, Cook shined with 216 yards on the ground and scored twice. This game was going to be decided by which team would do better in the trenches and Buffalo completely displayed their dominance on both ends of the field. Their defense did not allow a touchdown until garbage time, while the offense scored 40 points after a two-week slump where they failed to score more than 20. The Bills were simply a way better football team. It was going to take perfection for Carolina to have a small percentage of pulling off an upset and they made too many mistakes to pull it off.

The Bills come back from the bye week with a convincing victory and are back on the board at 5-2, but will head home for a dog fight against the Kansas City Chiefs. The Panthers get embarrassed at home and are back to 500 at 4-4, with a trip on the road for a huge test against the Green Bay Packers.

BALTIMORE RAVENS (30) vs. CHICAGO BEARS (16)

Unfortunately, Lamar Jackson did not make his return to the football field like we all thought he would. Instead, Pro Bowler Tyler Huntley made his first start of the 2025 season. Given the circumstances, he played well on Sunday! He did not make any mistakes, he was incredibly mobile in the pocket, he was efficient from the jump, and he put the game out of reach when he had the chance! 

For most of the afternoon, Baltimore played with the lead and their formula was very simple: do not turn the ball over, lean on the rushing attack and play strong defense! It has been a long time since this team has been able to utilize all three facets to their advantage and it paid off against a Bears squad that won four in a row. As a result, the Ravens ran for 177 yards with Huntley and Derrick Henry as the main focal points. The quarterback only threw five incompletions and totaled nearly 240 scrimmage yards. Yet they were ahead by just three points with nine minutes left in the fourth quarter.

It feels like this has been a theme for the Bears all season, but once again, scoring was a bigger issue than moving the ball down the field. Their offense had the ball nine times on Sunday and reached the end zone only once. The fact that they were only down by a field goal surprises me to this day, but Caleb Williams did have a chance to steal momentum and pull off some fireworks down the stretch. However, the flood gates opened when he threw a horrible interception over the middle of the field to Nate Wiggins deep in Chicago territory, which set up a wide open touchdown to Charlie Kolar. Instead of potentially tying the game or taking the lead, the Ravens were now down 23-13 and through the rest of the period, the Bears only scored three more points and gave up a late touchdown to put the game away.

Although this game exposed a lot of Chicago’s flaws, ones that I warned about leading up to this matchup, I think this was exactly what Baltimore needed. They might have been without Jackson once again, yet this was the first time in such a while where they did not look like one of the biggest chokers in the National Football League. One can wonder if they could potentially run the table and win out the rest of the season, but “cautious optimism” is the right term to describe this victory.

The Ravens bounce back with a strong win and are now 2-5, but will take the road on a short week to play the Miami Dolphins on Thursday Night Football. The Bears lose for the first time in four weeks but are still 4-3 and will take the road for a chance to bounce back against the Cincinnati Bengals.

HOUSTON TEXANS (26) vs. SAN FRANCISCO 49ers (15)

Do not be fooled by the final score and think that this was a close game. The Houston Texans absolutely smothered the San Francisco 49ers and got DeMeco Ryans the win he wanted against his former team. Their defense set the tone from start to finish, while their offense managed to have one of its most impressive performances of the entire season.

I did not think that the Texans offense was perfect on Sunday because there were plenty of points that they left off the board, especially in the red zone. However, CJ Stroud looked as sharp as he did since his rookie year. He completed 30 passes and threw for over 300 yards with a couple touchdown passes. He did have one bad interception towards the end of the half, but it had no impact on the outcome of the game. Houston went nine for sixteen on third down and totaled 475 yards of offense, but the most stunning statistic of the entire afternoon was that they held onto the ball for 41 minutes! In the first half alone, the 49ers only had the ball for five! One huge reason why was because they totaled 157 yards on the ground thanks to Woody Marks and Nick Chubb. More importantly, it was against a 49ers defense that just shut down Bijan Robinson the week before. Do not use the injury card because the Texans did not have Nico Collins or Christian Kirk, yet their offense still manhandled Robert Saleh’s group. This should have been a 25 point blowout but San Francisco got punked.

For the Houston defense, the goal was very simple: shut down Christian McCaffrey. He carried the ball eight times on Sunday and only totaled 25 yards. As a result, Mac Jones struggled with just 193 passing yards and an interception. He did throw a couple touchdown passes to make the game relatively close, but started the afternoon with three consecutive three-and-outs while finishing the first half completing five of his first 11 pass attempts. Many thought that this was going to be a relatively easy victory for San Francisco, but Houston finally looked like a competent football team and they were very impressive in what was a must-win game. 

The Texans pull off a stunner at home and improve to 3-4, but will stay home for another challenging fight as they welcome the Denver Broncos. The 49ers get punked on the road and will finish the week 5-3, taking the road to see if they can bounce back against the New York Giants.

TAMPA BAY BUCCANEERS (23) vs. NEW ORLEANS SAINTS (3)

There were three NFL games in the late afternoon window and all of them turned out to be boring predictable blowouts. In my opinion, this one between the Bucs and Saints made viewers fall asleep the fastest.

Even though Tampa won the game by 20, their offense was not at all impressive. Baker Mayfield only threw for 152 yards with no touchdown passes, they only averaged three yards a carry on the ground, they went three for thirteen on third down and they only scored one touchdown. You can say that the injuries are catching up but this group has been underwhelming over the last two weeks and it makes this team look more suspect as the postseason approaches closer. It says a lot when the best offensive player was the kicker Chase McLaughlin, who made three field goals of 50+ yards. 

Fortunately for them, they were playing with the Saints, who did not show any fight or pride at home. Their offense turned the ball over four times on Sunday, they gave up five total sacks and it was yet another game where Alvin Kamara got shut down. Anthony Nelson was by far the best defensive player on the field as he finished with two sacks, a forced fumble and a pick six! Head coach Kellen Moore tried to give his team a spark by benching quarterback Spencer Rattler for the rookie Tyler Shough, yet the results were not better. It felt like the Patriots benching Mac Jones for Bailey Zappe all over again.

The Buccaneers bounce back with a win on the road and will head into the bye week 6-2 while the Saints lose their third straight game to fall to 1-7 and will now take the road for a more difficult matchup as they play the Los Angeles Rams.

DENVER BRONCOS (44) vs. DALLAS COWBOYS (24)

Despite all the Cowboys fans being downtrodden, it was not shocking that the Broncos won this game the way that they did. They have not lost a game to this team in 30 years and we saw firsthand why that has been the case. 

After Bo Nix threw a horrible interception to the backup cornerback Trikweze Bridges, Dallas had a chance to make a statement on offense with a touchdown at the one yard line. However, a false start and a pass breakup on third down forced a chip shot field goal to settle for three instead of seven. Not a big deal you might say, but for the rest of the afternoon, the Broncos offense picked apart the garbage Cowboys defense. Bo Nix threw for over 245 yards with four touchdown passes and did not get sacked, while the running game picked up 179 yards, 111 of them from JK Dobbins. They only punted the ball twice and any time Dallas tried to trim the deficit, Denver found a way to respond. Just like Trevor Siemian and Teddy Bridgewater before him, Nix looked like a stud against “America’s Team”, which was just the performance the Broncos needed to stay in first place in the AFC West.

Unfortunately, this loss is going to take a huge hit on Dak Prescott’s MVP chances. He threw for only 188 yards with zero touchdown passes and two interceptions. Javonte Williams had a couple of touchdowns against his former team, but he only ran for 41 yards on thirteen touches. Even though this Cowboys offense does not deserve all the blame for this loss, there was hardly anything to credit. With Prescott under center, he only scored 17 points. Joe Milton had a nice touchdown pass to Jalen Tolbert in garbage time, yet that was the only highlight the team had all game long. It is easy to say that their offense is great and the defense is terrible, but they are one team at home and completely different on the road, especially against legitimate competition. Denver simply dominated at home and picked up exactly where they left off in the fourth quarter last week. 

The Broncos win their fifth straight game and are now 6-2, with a trip on the road for what should be a slugfest against the Houston Texans. The Cowboys get beaten down to fall to 3-4-1, with a trip back home for a Monday night showdown against the Arizona Cardinals.

INDIANAPOLIS COLTS (38) vs. TENNESSEE TITANS (14)

What a shocker: a predictable boring blowout turned out to be a predictable boring blowout. We all knew the Colts were going to win and the only surprise was that the Titans scored double digits. There is nothing that needs to be said that we have not seen before.

Jonathan Taylor was an absolute star, per usual, with 153 rushing yards and three scores. If I am LaDainian Tomlinson, I might be a little nervous about my touchdown record being broken because Taylor already has 14 and we are just getting through the halfway point of the season. Daniel Jones? Phenomenal once again as he threw for over 270 yards with three touchdown passes and no turnovers. He got sacked a few times but Indianapolis never trailed and he had a lot of outstanding throws that put the game further out of reach. 

The Titans offense was just lifeless once again. There was not a momentum swinging play that blew everything out of hand, they just got simply crushed by a vastly superior opponent. Yeah, they scored a touchdown to make it a three point game, but we all knew it was going to be a matter of time before the Colts pulled ahead by double digits. Cam Ward got sacked four more times and threw an interception, they never led at any point in the game and now the fire sale has begun. Roger McCreary, one of their starting cornerbacks, just got traded to the Los Angeles Rams. More are probably to come. At this point, I would not even be surprised if they demoted Mike McCoy and brought in a new guy to be their interim head coach. It is that bad for this football team. Now that the Jets won, we have a new “worst team” in the National Football League!

The Colts pull off the sweep and are still the best in the AFC at 7-1, but will take the road for what should be a challenging matchup against the Pittsburgh Steelers. Meanwhile, the Titans get destroyed once again to fall to 1-7 and will head back home to play the Los Angeles Chargers.

GREEN BAY PACKERS (35) vs. PITTSBURGH STEELERS (25)

Now we get to the matchup of the week: Aaron Rodgers and the Steelers welcoming Jordan Love and the Packers. The storylines were numerous and the drama intensified, but despite the terrible uniforms that were donned at Acrisure Stadium, the game finally happened. 

In the first half, Pittsburgh had the momentum on their side. While their offense mainly ended drives with field goals instead of touchdowns, they were still ahead 16-7. They had a decent time moving the football, their defense only allowed one score on seven possessions and it helped that Brandon McManus missed two field goals. It felt like the Steelers were going to continue their winning streak at home against the Packers, which has been alive since 1970. Many thought that Rodgers would get the last laugh against his former team, while Jordan Love would hang his head down in a bitter defeat. It turned out the exact opposite happened.

I do not know what was said in that locker room during halftime, but the Packers emerged as a completely different football team. Their offense scored on five straight drives including their final one in which they took a knee. In the fourth quarter alone, Pittsburgh got outscored 21-6. They honestly could have totaled more than 35 points if it were not for a couple of stalled out drives in the red zone. Love finished the night with 360 passing yards and three touchdown passes. Given the circumstances, this was the best performance of his career.

Green Bay’s defense was even better. They sacked Rodgers three times and it should have been a fourth if a strip sack from Karl Brooks did not get overturned, but after halftime, the Steelers had such a difficult time moving the football. In the last thirty minutes, the offense picked up just six first downs, it turned the ball over once and failed to convert on five third down attempts. They did score a late touchdown with a couple minutes left, but that was when they were down by 16 points. Even on a two point conversion attempt that could have trimmed Pittsburgh’s deficit to eight, they failed. It was as stunning of a second half performance as I have seen all season long and we found out firsthand which team has a better chance of moving further in the playoffs. 

The Packers win their third game in a row in convincing fashion to stay atop the NFC North at 5-1-1, with a trip back home to see if they can keep their winning streak alive as they welcome the Carolina Panthers. The Steelers get stunned on their home field to drop to 4-3 and will stay home for a must win showdown against the Indianapolis Colts.

KANSAS CITY CHIEFS (28) vs. WASHINGTON COMMANDERS (7)

The last game of the week turned out the way we all thought it would, yet there was a bit of a lag in the first half that lasted a little longer than expected.

Washington got the ball to start the game and Marcus Mariota drove them all the way to the 18 yard line! Unfortunately, momentum was crushed when Deebo Samuel let a simple screen pass fall right through his hands and into the arms of linebacker Michael Danna. However, Patrick Mahomes did not take over the game right away. In fact, his first two drives ended with interceptions! The first was a great catch by Marshon Lattimore on a sideline attempt to Hollywood Brown and the second was a dropped pass from Travis Kelce that was caught by Bobby Wagner. However, the Commanders failed to convert on two fourth down attempts in scoring range, so there were too many points that they left off the board. That is literally the one thing you cannot afford to do when you play the Chiefs. It took until the six-minute mark of the second quarter for either of these teams to get points on the board and the game was somehow tied at seven entering halftime. 

Mahomes took the field to begin the third quarter and as soon as he did, this game was a wrap. The Chiefs offense reached the end zone on their first three drives of the second half, while the Commanders were simply shut down on both sides of the ball. In the final thirty minutes, Mahomes completed 17 of 19 passes for 210 yards with three touchdown passes and no interceptions. Washington, on the other hand, had no running game and their best receiver was Jeremy McNichols. Who knows if the outcome would have changed if Jayden Daniels was healthy to play, but things would have at least been more competitive. In the end, Kansas City just had the better football team and while Washington showed some fight early on, they ran out of gas and failed to capitalize on their chances.

The Chiefs win their third game in a row to improve to 5-3, but will take the road for what will be a must-watch dog fight against the Buffalo Bills. Meanwhile, the Commanders get neutralized on a prime time stage as they fall to 3-5 and will head back home for a primetime showdown against the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday Night Football.