| WHAT HAPPENED IN DENVERImagine. Your team is up 19-0 at the end of the third quarter – and they don’t take their foot off the gas offensively and score two more touchdowns. Surely, they win. But the Giants did not on Sunday in Denver. Jeff Legwold and Jordan Raanan of ESPN.com explain what happened. As the man in the vest, the one who keeps the clock for the network television broadcasts and lets the officials know when it’s time to restart the game, spun an arm to signify the start of the fourth quarter, the Denver Broncos were in a bad place Sunday afternoon. After numerous mistakes on both sides of the ball, they were down 19-0 to the New York Giants with few possibilities and even fewer reasons to hope. The Giants had gained 292 yards on the usually stout Broncos’ defense in the first three quarters, with rookie quarterback Jaxson Dart throwing two touchdown passes. The Broncos had punted six times on offense and had six possessions go for 21 or fewer yards. “Not where you want to be,” Broncos quarterback Bo Nix said. ” … But at some point, we’re going to go down and score. It may be too late, but at some point, we’re going to go down and score. … We scored a quick one in the fourth, and it was like once we scored and got the 2-point conversion, we knew how to play all of a sudden.” After 45 minutes of zero points, the Broncos scored 33 in the fourth quarter, needing all of them to shock the Giants 33-32. Broncos reporter Jeff Legwold and Giants reporter Jordan Raanan provide a glimpse inside a wild final quarter that turned a sleeper of a game into a back-and-forth contest that had three lead changes in the final two minutes and a walk-off, game-winning kick. THE BRONCOS’ FIRST touchdown was far from conventional. Wide receiver Troy Franklin dove to catch a deflected pass in the back of the end zone for a 2-yard score, putting Denver within 19-8 with 14:08 left in the fourth quarter. But perhaps thanks to karma, the Giants’ ensuing touchdown also came on a ricochet. On third-and-17 from the Broncos’ 41-yard line, Dart threw a pass intended for wide receiver Wan’Dale Robinson that Denver safety Talanoa Hufanga just missed. But the ball clanked off Robinson and into the air. Tight end Theo Johnson caught it in stride, moving from the right to left. He then raced down the left sideline and into the end zone for a 41-yard score. Johnson: “Craziest play I’ve ever seen.” That play put the Giants up 26-8 with 10:14 left, and they had seemingly reestablished control of the game. New York had a 98.9% win probability at that point. Giants edge rusher Brian Burns: “It might have been a sense of getting a little comfortable. We had a decent lead, a nice-sized lead.” The Broncos responded with a 13-play, 74-yard drive that ended with a 7-yard touchdown run by Nix and a 2-point conversion pass to Franklin to trim the Broncos’ deficit to 26-16 with 5:01 to play. Giants linebacker Bobby Okereke: “You have a 13-play drive, 17-play drive, 19-play drive, whatever it is, regardless of altitude, those drives start to weigh on you.” Broncos coach Sean Payton: “Body language is important to me. It’s hard to do something like that if your body language isn’t right. … We finally started making some plays.” Nix: “We’re just resilient. It’s not easy mentally to continue to fight like that and put everything on the line. But there was really nothing to lose.” DESPITE THE BRONCOS’ two touchdowns, the Giants had a 97.4% chance to win when they got the ball at their 30 with 5:07 left. Two Cam Skattebo runs netted 5 yards, giving the Giants a third-and-5 with 4:56 left. The Broncos rushed seven men on the third-down play. They were playing man coverage, but inside linebacker Justin Strnad dropped into coverage at the last second. Dart didn’t get the ball over his head. Strnad intercepted the pass and returned it to the Giants’ 19-yard line. Strnad: “We sent some pressure at Jaxson [to] try and force his hand a little bit, and he tried to sneak one by me. I think he just tried to fit it behind me.” Dart: “My feet got a little stuck in the ground. I have to be way better than that. It’s unacceptable. Yeah, I have to be better.” Giants coach Brian Daboll: “They had pressure, and they made a good play.” Dart: “Absolutely [beating myself up about the interception]. I can’t do that. We were in full control of the game, and in that situation, can’t do that. It was an unacceptable mistake by me.” Payton: “When he first caught it, I thought there was a 40 [Strnad’s number] on their team. … It’s like a double whammy — not only do you get the ball, you get it there. That was probably the difference between winning and losing.” The Broncos scored four plays later, on a 2-yard touchdown pass from Nix to rookie running back RJ Harvey. The extra point cut the Giants’ lead to 26-23 with 3:51 to play, and the Broncos now had a 19.1% chance to win. THE BRONCOS’ DEFENSE held the Giants to 2 yards and a three-and-out in the following possession. After Marvin Mims Jr. returned the punt to the Broncos’ 32-yard line, Denver faced a third-and-11 from its 32 with 2:14 left. But Nix found Mims for a 31-yard gain to the Giants’ 38, then connected with tight end Evan Engram up the left sideline for 20 more yards two plays later. On first-and-10 from the Giants’ 18-yard line on the first play after the two-minute warning, Payton dug out a run play the Broncos had used last season against his former team, the Saints. Nix sprinted around the left end on a QB sweep for the score, and the Broncos went ahead 30-26, their first lead of the game, with 1:51 to play. Payton: “We got man [coverage], we kind of saved that little crack series — we ran it a little bit in New Orleans a year ago, so [Nix] has got good enough legs. And if you watch the film, everyone on defense is on the right side of the field and you’ve got your left tackle and quarterback [on the left side].” The Giants’ defense appeared to be gassed at this point. Okereke: “No excuses. Every team that comes to play Denver goes through [the altitude].” Giants defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence II: “I don’t know [if we were gassed]. Can’t give up 33 points in the fourth quarter.”.THE GIANTS GOT the ball back at their 35-yard line with 1:51 remaining. Plenty of time for their rookie quarterback to rebound and be the hero. Dart: “I never felt like we were going to lose the game. I looked at the clock when they scored and said, ‘We have a lot of time left.’ And I had no doubt that we were going to go down there and score.” The Giants looked to be in trouble. They were facing a fourth-and-19 with 1:08 remaining, but Dart found Robinson in the middle of the field for 19 yards. Tack on a roughing-the-passer penalty on Broncos defensive lineman John Franklin-Myers, and the Giants were still in business. Giants left tackle Andrew Thomas: “It was a great play. We needed that. It was a big one. We talk about got-to-have-it moments all the time. We just needed a few more plays to get this one.” The catch and penalty moved the ball to the Broncos’ 40-yard line, and on third-and-10, the Giants got another reprieve. Broncos cornerback Riley Moss was flagged for pass interference against Giants receiver Beaux Collins on the Broncos’ 2-yard line, a call that enraged Payton so much that he sprinted to the middle of the field to express his displeasure to the officials near the goal line. Payton was flagged for unsportsmanlike conduct, which moved the ball to the Broncos’ 1-yard line. Payton: “That was silly. … I just wanted them to hear me.” The drive concluded with Dart taking a QB sneak in for the score with 37 seconds remaining. It was originally ruled down short of the end zone, but replay showed that Dart had fully extended over the goal line before his knees hit the ground. Daboll: “[Dart is a] competitive guy.” Giants kicker Jude McAtamney missed the ensuing extra point, his second miss of the day. It proved costly. Daboll said one of the misses was a byproduct of a sloppy “operation.” But the kicker wasn’t about to make any excuses. McAtamney: “First one was on me. Got to make the kicks. Not going to shy away from that. I’ll take full responsibility.” THERE WERE 37 seconds when the Broncos took over on their 23-yard line. Nix immediately found Mims for a 29-yard gain to move the ball to the Giants’ 48-yard line. Daboll: “[There were] two double robbers sitting right there in the middle part of the field, different than what we did [in Week 2] at Dallas, man-to-man with two routers, they hit a cut and they didn’t look over their left-hand side.” Okereke: “I think we anticipated the concept. They ran a deep dagger, the No. 3 and No. 2 receiver going vertical. And one ran a dig. They were trying to hit that dig. We had the dig covered. It was a tough play. The window, the in-breaker and the [No. 2] guy running forward, he kind of just fell in. It was bang-bang. Guys were there. They just made a play in a critical situation. That is what it takes to win games in this league.” The Giants had rushed three on the play to Mims, with eight in coverage. That didn’t sit well with the players. “Drop eight!” Burns said incredulously, along with some expletives, as he walked through the bowels of the stadium toward the locker room. When asked afterward about the decision to rush only three men, Burns pursed his lips, turned his head away and declined to answer. Lawrence had an unusually long pause when faced with the same question. “Leave that to the coaches,” he said. A neutral zone infraction on Burns, who didn’t get to the line of scrimmage before Nix spiked the ball to stop the clock and moved Denver to the Giants’ 43 with 18 seconds left. At that point, Broncos kicker Wil Lutz said he began to think he might have to attempt a kick of 60 or more yards with the game on the line, so he started to prepare for that. Lutz: “The weather today was incredible, so that helps; the conditions were awesome. I try to never put a number on it. We go 64 [yards], 65 each way in pregame to just kind of see where we’re at. Obviously, I’m not going to let pride get in the way here, you got to keep it straight. … We are kicking it no matter where it is. In that situation specifically, there was no line. We were going to give it a chance wherever the ball was when the clock called for a field goal.” On first-and-5 from the Giants’ 43, Payton sent in a play the Broncos had not installed until Saturday’s walk-through. It called for wide receiver Courtland Sutton to move into the slot and then push up the sideline to make a play that could also stop the clock. Payton: “A perfect back-shoulder throw.” Nix: “We installed it [Saturday], and the first live rep that we got was what you watched. Courtland Sutton is just the man, that’s all I’ve got to say.” Nix threw the ball up the left sideline, and Sutton made a leaping catch over Giants cornerback Deonte Banks. The 22-yard gain put the ball on the Giants’ 21 as the Broncos raced to the line of scrimmage. Nix spiked the ball to stop the clock with two seconds remaining. On a day when the Broncos had honored the franchise’s last Super Bowl winner and put one of the team’s most beloved players in its ring of fame — wide receiver Demaryius Thomas — Lutz lined up a 39-yard winner that had seemed extremely unlikely. Punter Jeremy Crawshaw got a difficult snap down, and Lutz sent a raucous crowd home happy with the winning kick. Lutz: “Everybody in this building knew we were playing for more than just us today. … Everything that just happened, I love the game of football. But at this position, it’s important to keep your heart rate low.” Watch your favorite events in the newly enhanced ESPN App. Learn more about what plan is right for you. Sign Up Now Dart: “It was a loss that shouldn’t have happened.” It was the third Broncos game this season to come down to the last play, and the first of those that Denver won after walk-off losses to the Indianapolis Colts and the Los Angeles Chargers in Weeks 2 and 3, respectively. It moved the 5-2 Broncos into sole possession of first place in the AFC West for the first time since Week 4 of 2016. Nix: “Just never flinch and never back down. You know, it wasn’t pretty for a long time. I mean, me included, we were all like, ‘Man, it’s just not our day. We can’t get anything going.’ And then it just takes a few plays and a few moments and a few guys making plays and a few pieces of encouragement by guys, and all of a sudden, you go. “I mean, I don’t even know how to score 33 points in a quarter. That’s kind of insane.” Some other odds and ends: Midway through the fourth quarter, trailing the Giants 26-8, the Denver Broncos were around 30-1 to come from behind to win the game. Entering Week 7, a team up by 18 with six minutes to go had won 1,602 consecutive games. The Broncos ended that streak Sunday, rallying from behind for a miraculous 33-32 win. And: @BenjaminSolakGreat stat from @EliasSports and ESPN Stats and Info: Bo Nix is the first player in NFL history to record 2+ passing TDs and 2+ rushing TDs in one quarter And: @ESPNInsightsThe Broncos have two wins this season after trailing by 14+ in the 4th quarter. The rest of the league has just two combined. They’re only the 4th team in the last 20 years to pull that off 😱 ARE MIAMI, JACKSONVILLE AND ARIZONA STUCK?Mike Sando of The Athletic tries to answer the questions fans are asking in Miami, Jacksonville and Arizona about their current QBs: Tua Tagovailoa, Trevor Lawrence and Kyler Murray have a combined $131 million in fully guaranteed salary next season. Can their teams get out of these deals? Before last season, NFL executives lamented how teams had taken a “next man up” approach to paying quarterbacks near the top of the scale regardless of production or team success. “Most of the coaches and GMs haven’t won enough to be able to tell their owners, ‘You know what? Let’s reset,’” a team contract negotiator said then. And so, teams keep signing mid-tier quarterbacks to upper-tier deals, then hoping things work out. Seattle bucked the trend this offseason by trading Geno Smith and signing Sam Darnold for less. The results have been spectacular so far. Meanwhile, the Dolphins, now 1-6, benched Tagovailoa during a 31-6 loss to the previously 1-5 Cleveland Browns. Lawrence completed fewer than half his passes during a 35-7 loss to the Rams (four drops were a factor). Murray missed a second consecutive Arizona Cardinals start due to injury; the offense improved statistically with Jacoby Brissett in the lineup for close losses to Indianapolis and Green Bay, teams with a combined record of 10-2-1. An NFL executive wondered Sunday whether these teams could trade quarterbacks among each other, or whether teams such as the winless New York Jets, who benched Justin Fields on Sunday, might have interest. The New Orleans Saints will presumably take a long look at rookie Tyler Shough this season, giving them a feel for how they might want to address the position longer term. “Maybe you get someone to take on a deal and get a pick, similar to the Brock Osweiler trade,” this exec said. Cleveland acquired Osweiler and a second-round pick from Houston in 2017, freeing the Texans from the quarterback’s $16 million salary. Another NFL exec could not have been much blunter during our summer conversation on team spending and quarterback play. He thought the Dolphins erred by keeping Tagovailoa on their roster long enough for $54 million of his 2026 salary to become fully guaranteed. “Their time to get out of that deal was this year,” the exec said in June. “That is what they should have done. They should have cut him before his guarantees vested.” Trouble was, coach Mike McDaniel was heading into a pivotal fourth season still seeking his first playoff victory. Starting anew at quarterback might have killed his chances for a revival in 2025. But with the Dolphins falling to 1-6 with a listless performance Sunday, Miami is experiencing the worst of both worlds: One of the NFL’s worst teams is now pot-committed to a Tier 3 quarterback. Tagovailoa, who tossed three interceptions without a touchdown and fumbled three times in the rain-soaked loss to the Browns, is on pace for career worsts in yards per attempt (6.4), passer rating (82.1), sack rate (6.8 percent) and explosive pass rate (11.8 percent). His EPA per pass play (minus-.02) is his worst since his rookie season. The Jaguars cannot relate just yet, but their day could be approaching. They have a first-year coach (Liam Coen) and a winning record (4-3). With coaches and executives around the league nearly unanimous in their belief that Lawrence lacks consistent accuracy, upper-tier production could be elusive. One exec wondered how long Coen will want to stay the course with the laid-back Lawrence after working with the uber-competitive Baker Mayfield and Matthew Stafford in Coen’s previous stops. Tagovailoa and Murray fit similar profiles. No one sees them as natural leaders. The Jaguars owe $37 million in fully guaranteed salary to Lawrence in 2026. The figure is $54 million for the Dolphins with Tagovailoa and $39 million for the Cardinals with Murray. All three landed in Tier 3 — guys teams win with, not because of — when 50 coaches and executives cast votes in 2025 Quarterback Tiers. |
| NFC NORTH |
| MINNESOTATE T.J. HOCKENSON will know for eternity that NFL Replay did not work as it was supposed to on Sunday. Kevin Seifert of ESPN.com: Vikings tight end T.J. Hockenson was livid Sunday when NFL replay overturned a fourth-quarter touchdown catch that would have closed the Philadelphia Eagles’ lead to two points in Minnesota’s eventual 28-22 loss. Hockenson said he had “control the whole time” and revealed that two members of referee Bill Vinovich’s crew told him they considered the play a catch and touchdown even after it was overturned. “There was nothing to overturn it,” Hockenson said. “I mean, I was out there. I felt it, hands under the ball, snag it and I don’t understand. I don’t basically understand the catch rule at this point. … I don’t understand how New York can call in and just be like, ‘Yeah, that’s not a catch,’ when there was no evidence that it wasn’t. I mean I had it. I think it’s ridiculous.” All scoring plays in the NFL are subject to review. Vinovich’s crew had credited Hockenson with a 15-yard touchdown reception on third-and-2 with 2 minutes, 58 seconds remaining in the game. Initial replays showed that the ball moved to some degree as Hockenson hit the ground, but the NFL’s standard for replay reversal is to uphold the call unless there is clear and obvious evidence on video that shows a different call should have been made. In a pool report, vice president of instant replay Mark Butterworth said there was. “The ruling on the field was a touchdown,” Butterworth said, “so it’s replay’s jurisdiction to stop the game. We used broadcast-enhanced shots to show that as he was going to the ground — he needs control of the ball throughout the process of the catch — he lost control of the ball. The ball hit the ground. Then, he regained control of the ball. So therefore, we overturned it to an incomplete pass.” Had the touchdown been upheld, and had the Vikings converted the extra point attempt, they would have trailed 28-26 with all three of their timeouts remaining. Place-kicker Will Reichard had earlier converted a 59-yard field goal attempt, meaning the Vikings would have been in position to win if they had gotten the ball back and moved it near the Eagles’ 40-yard line. The overturn led to a 16.4% swing in win probability for the Vikings, according to ESPN Analytics. The Vikings had plenty of other opportunities earlier in the game. They finished with only one touchdown in six trips to the red zone while committing two turnovers, including an interception that Eagles linebacker Jalyx Hunt returned 42 yards for a touchdown. “It is what it is,” Hockenson said. “Got to move on other plays. … I mean you can’t go one for six [in the red zone] and win a ball game with two turnovers. We had the [opportunity] at the end, obviously. But yeah, tough one.”.You can see it here It looks like he “controlled” it through the process of the ball touching the ground, lost “control” as he rolled over after the ball cleared the ground, but the ball never touched the ground, then he regained control. The most common comment on Twitter (many different versions): @FfcGoldenit would be a catch if he was on the Chiefs |
| NFC EAST |
| DALLASAt this point, the Cowboys made a great deal when they acquired WR GEORGE PICKENS: @rjochoaThere are 2 players since 1970 to have 600 yards and 6 touchdowns receiving through their first 7 games with the Dallas Cowboys. Both of them were acquired by trade. Dak Prescott was the quarterback in both cases. George Pickens and Amari Cooper. |
| WASHINGTONUncertainty around the Commanders today as QB JAYDEN DANIELS goes for an MRI on his hamstring. John Keim of ESPN.com on his departure from Sunday’s game in Dallas: Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels suffered a right hamstring injury early in the third quarter against the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday and later was ruled out, yet another blow to a banged-up Washington offense in an eventual 44-22 loss. Commanders coach Dan Quinn said Daniels will have an MRI on the hamstring Monday. Washington (3-4) next plays at Kansas City (4-3) on Oct. 27. Daniels was not walking with a limp in the locker room after the game. Quinn said his star QB “definitely wanted” to play after the injury, which he suffered with 11:53 left in the third quarter when Dallas linebacker Shemar James had a clear path to him on a first-and-10 rush. Daniels was about to throw, but with James in his face, he pulled the ball down. Then when James hit him, Daniels lost the ball and, while being tackled, hurt his hamstring. Daniels immediately grabbed the back of his right leg and kept his hand there as he limped off the field. He was evaluated in the medical tent on the field before heading to the locker room. Quinn said Daniels might have even felt his hamstring on the play before the fumble — on which he had to scramble to his left and throw back to the middle. But he wasn’t limping after that play. Marcus Mariota replaced him and, on his first series, threw a pick-six that allowed Dallas to take a 41-15 lead. Mariota finished 4-of-10 passing for 63 yards. Quinn said the score didn’t impact the decision to keep Daniels out. He completed 12 of 22 passes for 156 yards and a touchdown, and rushed eight times for 35 yards and a score before he exited. Washington already was down its top three receivers for this game — Terry McLaurin (quad), Deebo Samuel (heel) and Noah Brown (on injured reserve, groin). Running back Austin Ekeler suffered a season-ending torn Achilles in Week 2. Though Quinn opened his postgame news conference by saying “injuries aren’t the reason we lost,” teammates said it was hard to see Daniels leave the game. “Oh man, to see one of our leaders going down it definitely affected the team,” linebacker Frankie Luvu said. “He’s one of them guys we lean towards … I hope he comes back stronger than what he is.” As we go to press: @AdamSchefterCommanders QB Jayden Daniels had an MRI on his hamstring and it is not considered a long term injury, per HC Dan Quinn. But his status for next Monday night vs. KC won’t be revealed until later this week. |
| NFC SOUTH |
| CAROLINAWinners of three in a row, the Panthers will be sending QB ANDY DALTON to do battle with the Bills on Sunday. Bryce Young was not able to finish Sunday’s win for the Panthers and now he is unlikely to suit up for Week 8. Per Tom Pelissero of NFL Media, Young is expected to miss next Sunday’s game against the Bills with a high-ankle sprain. While the return timetable for such an injury is usually 2-to-4 weeks, it’s currently unclear how long Young will be out. Andy Dalton, who came on to relieve Young in Sunday’s victory over the Jets, is now in line to start against Buffalo. In his third season, Young has completed 62 percent of his throws for 1,288 yards with 11 touchdowns and five interceptions so far this season. He’s also rushed for 69 yards with a TD. Dalton is in his third season with Carolina, having started at least one game each year. He completed 4-of-7 passes for 60 yards against the Jets on Sunday. |
| AFC WEST |
| KANSAS CITYIf the season ended today, the Chiefs would not even be in the playoffs. But, after beating the lowly Raiders, Frank Schwab of YahooSports.com notes that Kansas City is the oddsmakers favorite to win Super Bowl 60: This is familiar: The Kansas City Chiefs are Super Bowl favorites. The Chiefs took a circuitous route to having the shortest odds at BetMGM to win it all as of Monday morning. They started slow this season. Two weeks ago they were 2-3. They weren’t far down the Super Bowl odds, but they were 10-to-1 to win it all. Two wins later, they top the list. The Chiefs are +550 (bet $100 to win $550) to win the Super Bowl after their blowout win over the Las Vegas Raiders on Sunday. Last week the Chiefs were +650, behind the Buffalo Bills in the odds. The Bills were on a bye this week, and are coming off two straight losses. That led to a change. Now the question becomes if the Chiefs will hold that spot the rest of the season. The Chiefs got off to a slow start but there were good reasons for it. They were without No. 1 receiver Rashee Rice due to a suspension for six weeks. They were very thin on offense when Xavier Worthy suffered a shoulder injury on the first drive of the season. They were shorthanded, but still competitive. The Chiefs’ luck in close games turned though. The Chiefs won every game last season decided by eight or fewer points. Then to start this season they didn’t win any of their three one-possession games. Regression is a real thing. So while they were 2-3 at one point, they were better than their record. That’s why only four teams had shorter Super Bowl odds than the Chiefs when they were 2-3. There was also the schedule: Losing close games to the Chargers, Eagles and Jaguars wasn’t the end of the world. Every one of those teams is over .500. The last couple of games, the Chiefs made sure they didn’t lose another close game. They had some convincing wins instead. In Week 6 the Chiefs had a good 30-17 win over the Detroit Lions, who have been among the Super Bowl favorites all season. Then they demolished the Raiders 31-0. The Chiefs out-gained the Raiders 434-95. They had 30 first downs and the Raiders had only three. Rice returned to the lineup and had two short touchdowns. It’s rare to see an NFL game that lopsided. While beating the 2-5 Raiders isn’t going to impress anyone, the manner in which the Chiefs did it was notable. And the Chiefs look very good lately. Patrick Mahomes has looked like prime Mahomes and will be in the NFL MVP discussion all season. He’s the favorite at BetMGM with +160 odds. The offense will be a lot better with Worthy and Rice. The defense was fantastic on Sunday. Suddenly the Chiefs look like the best team in the NFL, still right in the middle of their ongoing dynasty. The oddsmakers agreed, when it came to the Super Bowl odds. The Chiefs were so dominant Sunday, they were able to overcome five penalties called against them. |
| LAS VEGASCoach Pete Carroll was stunned that his Raiders were outclassed on Sunday. Michael David Smith of ProFootballTalk.com: Raiders coach Pete Carroll never expected to lose 31-0 to the Chiefs on Sunday, but that’s what happened. “This was a game that I didn’t see coming. We had prepared really well,” Carroll said. “They’re a terrific team, they did everything that they do, they played really well in all phases and kept us totally at bay. We couldn’t make a first down and couldn’t get off the field.” Carroll acknowledged that the 2-5 Raiders are nowhere near where they need to be to compete in the AFC West. “We have a lot of work to do and we have a lot of catching up to do,” Carroll said. If anything the game was even more of a blowout than the 31-0 score indicated. The Chiefs pulled Patrick Mahomes and many other starters for the fourth quarter, and they still out-gained the Raiders 434 yards to 95, and 30 first downs to three. It was an ugly game for Carroll’s team, and shows he has a long rebuilding job ahead of him in Las Vegas. The DB was under the impression that in the 5 years since they have been in Vegas, under a variety of coaches including Jon Gruden, that the Raiders had played the mighty Chiefs relatively well. And that is sort of true. Prior to Sunday, the LAS VEGAS Raiders were 2-8 against the Chiefs. Of the eight losses, four were one-score games. The other four were easy wins for the Chiefs. Both games last year were close Kansas City victories by a combined score of 46-37. |
| AFC NORTH |
| BALTIMOREMike Sando of The Athletic weighs the pros and cons of sticking with longtime coach John Harbaugh: Retired NFL defensive lineman Chris Canty, who made 33 of his 128 career starts with Harbaugh’s Baltimore Ravens from 2013-15, raised a pointed question regarding his former coach. “What is the shelf life around a Super Bowl?” Canty asked on ESPN’s Unsportsmanlike. Only Don Shula and Mike Tomlin lasted longer without winning another title among the 14 longest-tenured coaches to win it all with their teams (every coach listed has at least 200 games and a Super Bowl title with one team). Shula and Tomlin each made additional Super Bowl appearances without winning it all, but both lasted more than a decade longer after those games as well. When is it time for a team and its longtime successful coach to part ways? “The NFL has completely turned over (since 2012), the game is completely different, this generation of athlete is completely different,” Canty added. “I’m just not sure John Harbaugh remains the best option to lead the Baltimore Ravens forward.” Harbaugh’s message did not seem stale while Baltimore ranked sixth in win rate (.686) and second in point margin (+395) over the three most recent full seasons (2022-24). This 1-5 start shines light on the long Super Bowl drought. In the 12 full seasons since Baltimore last reached a Super Bowl, four other AFC teams have gotten there: Kansas City five times, New England four times, Denver twice and Cincinnati once. The teams with Patrick Mahomes, Tom Brady, Peyton Manning and Joe Burrow, in other words. “They won the whole f—ing thing with (Joe) Flacco,” an exec from another team said. “The guy (Harbaugh) knows how to do it. You give him a guy (Jackson) that can’t win the whole thing because he can’t pass accurately enough in the playoffs to have the four-game magical carpet ride that Flacco took them on, so they are a championship game contender and out, a divisional game contender and out.” Jackson’s development as a passer has raised expectations for Harbaugh to get back to the biggest stage. But the Ravens have only four playoff victories since their Super Bowl appearance, tied with Houston and Indianapolis for sixth-most in the AFC. The current Ravens have far surpassed previous franchise-worst totals for points allowed (194) and point margin (-50) through six games. Jackson’s potential return from a hamstring injury and a soft post-bye schedule offer a path for Baltimore to regain traction in a weak AFC North. In the meantime, the bye invites a bigger-picture look at where Baltimore stands in Harbaugh’s 18th season. When is it time to move on? Andy Reid leaving Philadelphia for Kansas City is a potential comp. Carroll and Seattle parting ways could be another. Harbaugh, hired in 2008, won it all with Baltimore after his fifth season. “I think he is a fantastic coach,” Canty said, “but sometimes the message grows stale within the organization.” A coach from another team predicted Harbaugh would revamp the defensive staff, possibly bringing back current Dolphins defensive coordinator Anthony Weaver and/or current Titans defensive coordinator Dennard Wilson. “He will get the band back together on defense, and then he’ll fire a couple of guys on offense for effect,” this coach predicted. |
| AFC SOUTH |
| INDIANAPOLISAfter dismantling the Chagers, the Colts are now averaging 3.46 points per drive. That’s the best in the NFL in the 21st century. POINTS PER DRIVE 2025 Colts 3.462007 Patriots 3.172018 Chiefs 3.122020 Packers 3.062024 Lions 3.022018 Saints 2.96 On the one hand, we still have more than half the season to go. On the other hand, the Colts lead is quite significant so 3.00 points per drive the rest of the way should still leave them in first.- – -We didn’t know there was a Rushing Triple Crown, but Dan Koplowitz-Fleming would have mere rushing attempts (a coaching function) join rushing yards and rushing TDs: Jonathan Taylor has had three games with at least three rushing touchdowns in 2025. The rest of the NFL combined has two such outings. Taylor is the fourth player since 1950 to have at least three rushing touchdown “hat tricks” within his first seven games of the season, joining Derrick Henry in 2021, Priest Holmes in 2004 and Jim Brown in 1958. As he did four seasons ago, the 2021 rushing champion is again leading the NFL in rushing yards and rushing touchdowns, while ranking second in carries (just one tote behind Christian McCaffrey). Taylor swept all three categories in ’21 to win the RB triple crown. If the Colts back can do it again this season, he will become the first multi-time winner of said crown since Jim Brown. Not to be lost in Taylor’s heroics is Daniel Jones’ historic start to his Colts career. Indianapolis is averaging a league-best 33.1 points per game in 2025. For those counting at home, that is 232 points total, which is the most scored by the Colts through seven games since 1964 (237). The only other quarterback since 2000 to lead a team to 230-plus points in his first seven starts for the franchise is Patrick Mahomes (242 points). Jones’ superpower has been his consistency. He has posted a passer rating of 100-plus in six of seven games so far with the Colts. More than that, he’s thrown for at least 200 yards and completed over two-thirds of his passes in every single game on the campaign. No player in the history of the NFL had ever hit those marks in his first seven games of a season. |
| JACKSONVILLEThis: @BrentASJaxI still can’t get over this today for Jaguars: 11 possessions7 trips to scoring position (8 into opponent territory)7 pointsZERO turnovers If it happened to Mike McDaniel, it would all be the fault of his coaching. But it happened to Liam Coen, so the fault lies with the players… |
| AFC EAST |
| MIAMIPresumably Mike McDaniel will coach the Dolphins on Sunday. If he does, the QB will be TUA TAGOVIALOA. Josh Alper of ProFootballTalk.com: Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel did not lose his job on Monday and quarterback Tua Tagovailoa kept his as well. McDaniel said after Sunday’s 31-6 loss to the Browns that “everything is on the table” concerning changes in the wake of what he deemed a “very, very humbling loss” that dropped the team to 1-6 on the season. On Monday, McDaniel said that a quarterback change for Week 8 against the Falcons has now been taken off the table. “He’s gonna take the snaps this week and he’s gonna be our starter this week,” McDaniel said. “My expectation is that we don’t throw 10 picks.” Tagovailoa threw three picks in Sunday’s loss and has a league-high 10 interceptions through seven games. The Dolphins moved rookie Quinn Ewers up to the No. 2 quarterback spot for that game and he replaced Tagovailoa in the second half. Ewers went 5-of-8 for 53 yards in his first NFL regular season action. McDaniel said Ewers and Zach Wilson will continue to compete for that role leading into Week 8. |
| NEW ENGLANDVeteran scribe Mike Sando of The Athletic looks at QB DRAKE MAYE – and pronounces him the real deal. NFL insiders have liked New England Patriots quarterback Drake Maye. They just haven’t loved Maye the way Patriots fans and some media have loved him. Until now. The gap between public perception and insider reality has closed over the past three weeks. Maye, who broke Tom Brady’s single-game, regular-season franchise record for completion rate in a 31-13 victory over Tennessee on Sunday, has resembled a top-tier QB in ways he had not before. “For the first time, football people view Maye as possibly being a guy,” an exec from another team said. “He has always looked the part because of his measurables, but the game had not slowed down enough for him to develop that stuff.” he five-time reigning AFC East champion Buffalo Bills, idle Sunday after dropping from 4-0 to 4-2, now have more to worry about than the Kansas City Chiefs in the playoffs. The 5-2 Patriots, 23-20 winners at Buffalo in Week 5, are going to get better — much better — if Maye remains on his recent trajectory. 1. The Bills went 24-6 in the AFC East from Brady’s Patriots exit through 2024. They finally have competition in the division. Maye’s development and the Patriots’ growth come at an interesting time for the Bills. Buffalo ranks fifth in offensive EPA per play but only 23rd on the defensive side. “The (Buffalo) defense is good when they have a lead, but they are small, and you can lean on them a little bit that way,” an opposing coach said. Think Mike Vrabel (listed playing weight: 261) might want to lean on an undersized opponent? Did you see the way the 227-pound Rhamondre Stevenson was running in Tennessee? To be clear, no one is writing off the Bills. “Mentally, as much as anything else, it’s hard to stay that hungry, and I see Buffalo as a team that thinks they can flip the switch at some point, because they have been good for a long time,” an exec said. “They have been taking everybody’s best shot for 3-4 years now. It is just hard to stay sharp.” New England looks hungry. The Patriots and Kansas City are the only teams to rank among the NFL’s top 10 in EPA per play on both sides of the ball this season. Buffalo ranked first on offense and second on defense from 2020-24. Times are changing, although more evidence is needed, as four of New England’s victories were against Miami, Carolina, New Orleans and Tennessee. “They are a good team,” an opposing exec said of the Patriots. “I do not think they are a great team, but here is what they do not do: beat themselves. That is the nature of that coach (Vrabel). There is a fear factor of accountability.” Maye’s willingness to take tough and detailed coaching, which he surely is getting from Vrabel and offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels, is an X-factor. Among the six first-round quarterbacks from the 2024 class, Denver’s Bo Nix and Washington’s Jayden Daniels appear to be wired similarly. Atlanta’s Michael Penix Jr. could fall into that category. Chicago’s Caleb Williams is fighting perceptions he isn’t wired that way, while Minnesota’s J.J. McCarthy must prove he can get on the field and stay there. There’s little comparison statistically between Maye and the other second-year drafted quarterbacks starting for their teams this season. Maye ranks third among 34 qualifying quarterbacks in EPA per pass play, passer rating and yards per attempt. He ranks second in completion rate (75.2 percent) after completing 21 of 23 Sunday, the highest rate by a Patriots QB (minimum 20 attempts) in a regular-season game. As one coach who has studied New England put it, Maye has been for the past three weeks what fans and media seemed to think he was all along. “His development is earning a loose leash from Vrabel and Josh,” another coach said while monitoring the New England game on TV. When New England took possession at its 7-yard line Sunday, down 10-3 to Tennessee at the time, Vrabel and McDaniels put the ball in their quarterback’s hands. They passed on the first play, gaining 12. They passed on the second play, with Maye taking off for a gain of 19. Maye later hit Mack Hollins for a 22-yard gain, part of a 93-yard touchdown drive. “That explosive (pass) to Hollins was (Aaron) Rodgers-like,” the coach added. Maye’s accuracy on the run, fearlessness in the face of the rush and the way he protects the football have stood out. “He stands in there, gets his ass kicked and still delivers an accurate ball,” the coach said. A trip to the medical tent for a concussion evaluation Sunday served as another reminder of just how quickly second defenders arrive in the NFL. That is one area where Maye, who missed one game with a concussion in 2024, needs to hone his instincts. He passed the concussion protocol this time, despite banging the back of his helmet on the ground with great force. It’s a long season. New England sits second behind 6-1 Indianapolis atop the AFC right now. Nobody saw that coming, but everything is temporary in the NFL. The 4-3 Chiefs appear increasingly formidable. Buffalo, despite its issues, still has arguably the toughest quarterback to defend in Josh Allen. Joe Burrow could return to Cincinnati. The Patriots won’t play a top team until visiting Tampa Bay in Week 10. If they win that one, look out. Some notes on what Maye was up to Sunday in Nashville: Drake Maye was the star of the show in Mike Vrabel’s victorious return to Tennessee, where the Patriots took down the Titans, 31-13. The second-year quarterback had as many incomplete passes (two) as he had touchdown passes in Week 7. Maye finished 21-of-23 for 222 yards and two TDs, and he added another 62 rushing yards on eight carries. He is the first player in the Super Bowl era to complete 90 percent of his passes, throw for more than 200 yards and rush for more than 50 yards in a single game. Maye’s 91.3 completion percentage broke Tom Brady’s franchise record of 88.5, which he set against the Jaguars in 2009. In each of his last six games, Maye has eclipsed 200 passing yards and finished with a passer rating of at least 100. That is exceptionally rare for a player as young as Maye. In fact, he is one of just three quarterbacks with a six-game streak with that stat line at age 23 or younger — the others being Patrick Mahomes in 2018 and Dan Marino in 1984, both of whom won NFL MVP in those respective seasons. On Sunday, Maye also became the fourth player in the Super Bowl era with at least two passing touchdowns, two or fewer incompletions and 60-plus yards on the ground, joining Lamar Jackson in 2019 against the Bengals, Robert Griffin III in 2012 against the Eagles and Walter Payton in 1983 against the Saints. |
| NEW YORK JETSAlbert Breer points out: @AlbertBreerThe Dolphins and Jets are a combined 1-13 at the bottom of the AFC East, with the one win coming when those two played each other. The Patriots and Bills get four games each with their division mates. The Bills are 2-0 against Miami and the Jets, 2-2 against the rest of the NFL. The Patriots are 2-0 against Miami and the Jets, 1-0 against the Titans, 2-2 against the rest of the NFL. The Panthers are 2-0 against Miami and the Jets (but don’t have rematches), 2-3 against the rest of the NFL.- – -The Jets are a team without a starting quarterback on Monday. Chris Cwik of YahooSports.com: The New York Jets are considering every option on the table with the team sitting at 0-7. Jets head coach Aaron Glenn seemed to indicate as much Sunday, as he benched starter Justin Fields after a rough first half. Veteran backup Tyrod Taylor did not fare much better in the second half, leading Glenn to tell reporters he was undecided on the team’s starting quarterback in Week 8. Glenn said he would “continue to look at the situation.” He added that he didn’t want to rush into a decision and would consult with the staff and other coaches who have faced similar challenges before making the call on the team’s starter. Fields turned in another rough game before being benched in Week 7. During the first half, Fields completed 6-of-12 passes for just 46 yards. He also added 22 rushing yards in the loss. The contest marked the third time this season Fields failed to throw for over 50 passing yards in a game. Taylor, however, didn’t perform much better in relief of Fields in Week 7. Taylor completed 10-of-22 passes for 126 yards. He did not throw for any touchdowns, but did toss two interceptions in the 13-6 loss. Given the two options, there might not be a correct choice for Glenn in Week 8. Fields was expected to be the team’s starter this season after he signed a two-year, $40 million deal with the Jets in the offseason. Prior to his Week 7 benching, Fields seemed to have full support from Glenn, who defended the former first-round pick a number of times earlier in the year. That confidence hasn’t been rewarded, as Fields has just four touchdowns in six games. While he hasn’t thrown an interception, Fields already has three fumbles. He’s also taken sacks at an extremely high rate, consistently putting the Jets’ offense in poor spots. Taylor has plenty of experience in the NFL, but hasn’t been used as a full-time starter since 2017. He’s shown the ability to put up adequate numbers when pressed into action, but has spent the last seven years as a backup. Whoever gets the start in Week 8 could be in for a bounce-back performance. The Jets will play the Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday. Through seven games, the Bengals are allowing 30.6 points per game, good for 31st in the NFL. Whoever starts for the Jets should have opportunities to put points on the board. But a Week 8 breakout is unlikely to save either player in the long term. With the Jets likely to receive a high draft pick, quarterback will almost certainly be the team’s top priority in the offseason. |
