Thursday Night Game:

Eagles vs Giants: Two NFC East foes duked it out Thursday, as Philadelphia was able to secure the win 22-21. Week after week I sit here and tell you about how the Eagles almost made a comeback against whichever team, but this week they actually did it. With around five minutes left in the game, Philly was down 21-10. The only real shot of them winning would be a quick drive and score, forcing a four and out on defense, and then running a two-minute drill to win it. That’s literally exactly what they did. Carson Wentz found Greg Ward for a short three-yard score with around four minutes left to make it a one-score ball game. The next Giants possession they did what any smart team would do in that scenario: run the clock out. Unfortunately, they were not able to convert a third and seven and had to give the ball back to the Eagles. With under two minutes left to play, Wentz put the team on his back and found running back Boston Scott for the game-winning touchdown. 

Noon Games:

Bills vs Jets: And the most boring game of the week goes to the Bills and the Jets! What appeared to be a complete slaughter by the Bills was simply not the case, as they didn’t find the endzone once. So now you’re probably thinking, ‘No way, the Jets finally won!” Wrong. Kicker Tyler Bass hit six(!) field goals to single-handedly beat New York and improve their record to 5-2. As for the Jets, they are still winless and seem like a lock for the number one draft pick. 

Browns vs Bengals: Easily one of the more exciting games of the entire season so far saw Baker Mayfield’s Browns edge out a win against the Bengals. We now see a common theme with Mayfield: play absolutely terribly one week and have fans wondering why you’re a starting quarterback, and then go out and play the game of your life. The latter was the case on Sunday, as he threw for nearly 300 yards to go along with five touchdown passes. The Bengals actually had the lead with 11 seconds left, but this 24-yard pass to Donavon Peoples-Jones capped off an absolutely awesome game of football, as Cleveland won 37-34. 

Packers vs Texans: The incredible duo of Aaron Rodgers and Devante Adams was no match for the Texans, as the Pack won 35-20. After dealing with some injuries earlier in his career, star receiver Devante Adams made those seem non-existent as he racked up 196 receiving yards on the day to go along with two touchdowns. It seemed like he was always open as well: he caught 13 balls on 16 targets and just made Houston’s defensive backs look like peewee football players. The Packers now move to 5-1 and are looking more and more likely to make a deep playoff run. 

Cowboys vs Washington: You’d think that an offense with Ezekiel Elliott, Amari Cooper, and Ceedee Lamb would put up numbers against an awful Washington Football team. Well, that’s just simply not the case. Washington walked all over the Cowboys’ defense as Kyle Allen threw for nearly 200 yards on 15 passes. Rookie running back Antonio Gibson joined in on the fun as well, securing his first 100 yard game on the ground to help lead Washington to a beat-down of Dallas 25-3.

Lions vs Falcons: Shoutout to both these teams for making this one of the more fun games to watch, even though they both aren’t very good. With about a minute left in the game, Falcons running back Todd Gurley rushed for a touchdown to take a 22-16 lead, but he tried not to. You see, he tried to dive down at the one yard line to waste time. Therefore, the Falcons could bleed the clock out and then score with, let’s just say, 20 seconds left. That would mean the Lions would have to go 75 yards in 20 seconds to win, which is extremely improbable. Instead, by scoring with a minute left, he gave the Lions all that time to march down the field to win, and that’s exactly what they did. Matthew Stafford found tight end TJ Hockenson for this game-winning touchdown to seal the deal 23-22. Hopefully, Todd Gurley apologized to all the Falcons fans. 

Panthers vs Saints: An NFC South showdown between Carolina and New Orleans saw the latter come out with the victory 27-24. It was quite the day for both quarterbacks as Teddy Bridgewater and Drew Brees both threw for over 250 passing yards; however, it was Brees who found more success. Throwing for two touchdowns, Brees seemed to hone in on rookie receiver Marquez Calloway with Michael Thomas out, as he caught eight of his ten targets for 75 yards. Jared Cook and Deonte Harris both found the endzone for the Saints, as the team now moves into second place in the division. 

Steelers vs Titans: Probably the game of the week in my opinion saw a Titans comeback fall just short, as they lost to the undefeated Steelers 27-24. Down 27-7 at the half, it seemed all but over for the Titans as they had struggled to maintain drives all game long. However, a 63-yard catch-and-run by AJ Brown early in the third gave Tennessee some momentum. With about ten minutes left, Derrick Henry plowed his way into the endzone to trim the Steelers lead to just three. Unfortunately, Stephen Gostkowski missed the game-tying field goal with seconds left to send Titans fans home with a bad taste in their mouth. As for the Steelers, they are now the last undefeated team in the NFL. 

Afternoon games: 

Buccaneers vs Raiders: Tom Brady is officially back. Well, technically, he never went away, but after a shaky start to the season, Brady and the Bucs look as good as ever, especially after this 45-20 pounding of the Raiders. Brady threw for 369 yards and four touchdowns: good enough for a near-perfect passer rating. It’s also now clear to see who Brady’s favorite nobody-knows-who-he-is receiver. In New England it was Wes Welker and Julian Edelman, now it’s former 2019 sixth-round pick Scotty Miller. Miller hauled in 105 yards, including catching an absolute dime from Brady to close out the first half, and finished with six catches. 

49ers vs Patriots: If you would have told me last year that 49ers and Patriots would be playing each other, I would’ve sat down and watched the whole thing. Not this year, however. A poor performance from Cam Newton led to the 33-6 drumming that the 49ers put on New England. The Niners did what everyone thought they were going to do: leaned heavily on their rushing attack. Jeff Wilson ran for 117 yards and led the team with three touchdowns. He did get hurt in the final stages of the game, which just adds to the list of running backs in San Francisco who have now gotten hurt. We’ll see what they can do with undrafted rookie JaMycal Hasty next week.

Chiefs vs Broncos: It was the first snow game of the season up in Denver this week, as the lowly Broncos dueled the Chiefs. However, Kansas City melted away any hope of Denver winning pretty quickly. After both teams scored in the first, it was the Chiefs defense and special teams that absolutely destroyed the Broncos. A Daniel Sorenson pick-six made it 17-6 and then, moments later, a scintillating 102-yard kickoff return from Byron Pringle quickly put this game out of reach.

Jaguars vs Chargers: A game that many probably weren’t expecting to be great turned into a slugfest in the second half. Rookie quarterback Justin Herbert looked like the rookie of the year out there, tossing for 347 yards to go with three touchdown passes and one on the ground as well. That rushing touchdown proved to be the game-winner, as he ran it in for five yards to go up by seven in the third. The Jaguars, unable to get the ball moving, only saw the ball twice in the fourth, with a punt and a turnover on downs. The Chargers would kneel out the clock and take this one, 39-29. 

Sunday Night Game:

Seahawks vs Cardinals: Oh my lord did this primetime game live up to the hype. When I saw this game slated for Sunday night, I thought it was kind of ridiculous. The Cardinals had been playing mediocre football while the Seahawks were just dominating. I was wrong about that, however. Kyler Murray came out hot as a pistol, throwing for 360 yards and three scores. Russell Wilson played just as well but threw a costly interception in overtime to set up the game-winning field goal for Arizona. The one bright spot for the Seahawks was Tyler Lockett. Lockett went for 200(!) yards receiving to go with three touchdowns; what an incredible performance. In the end, this insane back and forth battle saw the Cardinals take the win 37-34. 

Monday Night Game:

Bears vs Rams: Two likely playoff teams squared off in LA on Monday night, as the Rams defense helped secure a 24-10 win. Chicago couldn’t get anything going on offense, and I mean ANYTHING. Only being held to three points through four and two-thirds quarters, the rushing and passing game just wasn’t working. That may be in part to an absolutely insane game by Rams punter Johnny Hekker. Hekker punted five times on Monday night, all impressively landing inside the Bears twenty-yard line. Aside from him, no one really stood out from either team, with both quarterbacks throwing for less than 270 passing yards. Nonetheless, a win is a win for LA and I’m sure they’ll thank Hekker for the dominant performance, because, after all, punters are people too.