Jump to a game
- GOOD: Jaguars win despite all the mistakes to leave Philly in the game
- BAD: Cowboys every time there’s a whiff of expectation
- UGLY: Browns prove they are still the Browns in soggy New Jersey
- GOOD: Drake Maye and the Patriots look to be back
- BAD: Cam Ward isn’t the answer for the Titans
- UGLY: Everyone waiting on the Vikings’ downfall
- GOOD: 49ers win in Seattle, take full control of the NFC West
- BAD: Chargers might need to consider drastic options after bye week
- UGLY: The epic clock management disaster in the nation’s capital
The leaves are falling. The chill is in the air. Football is turning the corner and going from early-season intrigue to serious business.
Entering Sunday, there are only three unbeaten teams left: 49ers, Vikings and Chiefs. While Kansas City has the week off, San Francisco will take on Seattle at Lumen Field in the week’s marquee matchup, while Minnesota tries to give New Orleans its third defeat in three weeks at the Caesars Superdome. The last time that happened? 2014.
Meanwhile, a quartet of winless teams will try to get into the win column, with one virtually guaranteed, with the Texans and Titans squaring off. The Chargers and Dolphins are both home dogs, facing the Broncos and Bengals, respectively.
Elsewhere, the Bills and Rams play in Englewood on Monday night while the Lamar Jackson–less Ravens will take on the resurgent Falcons in Atlanta on Sunday night.
GOOD: Jaguars win despite all the mistakes to leave Philly in the game
It’s not about style points in the NFL. It’s about winning. No AFC team has had a better point differential through four weeks than the Jaguars. But in London, everything went wrong for Liam Coen’s group.
On Sunday, the Jaguars took 13 penalties for 100 yards. They turned the ball over on downs twice inside Philadelphia’s 10-yard line. Without its usual long snapper, Jacksonville saw a bad snap mess up the timing of an extra point, sending Cam Little’s attempt wide left. Trevor Lawrence also threw an interception in plus territory.
Somehow, none of it mattered. The Eagles were outgained 408–232 and converted just 6-of-15 third downs, but took the lead with eight seconds left after the Jaguars went three-and-out while trying to salt the game away. After Philadelphia’s Jake Elliott hit a 48-yard field goal to give the Eagles a 17–16 advantage, coach Nick Sirianni decided to kick deep despite Jacksonville having no timeouts.
Jacksonville returner Ameer Abdullah grabbed the ball and raced 53 yards, setting up Little for a game-winning 57-yard field goal.
At 4–1, the Jaguars lead the AFC South and only trail the idle Chiefs by a half-game for the conference’s top spot. With one more game in London (against the Texans), Jacksonville went from suffering an ugly loss to showing its mettle, finding a way to win despite a poor showing.
Winning despite a bad performance isn’t an indictment; it’s an indication.
BAD: Cowboys every time there’s a whiff of expectation
After hanging 34 points on a Texans defense bursting with talent, the Cowboys were expected to roll the reeling Buccaneers on a short week with a backup quarterback at 0–4.
Instead, the Cowboys looked like a team that didn’t know it had to play until 20 minutes before game time. Dallas committed three turnovers and still lost to Tampa Bay despite the Bucs committing 14 penalties.
The failure falls on both sides of the ball. Dak Prescott threw two interceptions inside the Buccaneers’ 30-yard line, one his fault and the other through the hands of tight end Jake Ferguson. The defense allowed 419 yards while undrafted rookie free agent quarterback Jalon Daniels went 19-of-25 for 189 yards and a touchdown in his first NFL win. Additionally, Tampa Bay rushed for 241 yards on 6.2 yards per carry.
At 2–3 but in the weak NFC East, the Cowboys are in a reasonable position to win the division and host a playoff game. The season remains an open question. But Dallas has long been a trendy pick and a marquee team, only to fail time and again. The Cowboys haven’t been to an NFC championship game or won consecutive NFC East titles since 1996. They haven’t been a top seed since 2007. The Cowboys have been underwhelming for decades.
Over the next two weeks, Dallas will visit the Packers and Eagles in prime time. After those spotlight games, we might know more about where the Cowboys are, or aren’t.
UGLY: Browns prove they are still the Browns in soggy New Jersey
Good teams lose games all the time. Good teams, however, don’t give games away, especially to bad teams.
The Browns showed how far they still have to progress before being a competent team after their 17–12 loss to the Jets at the Meadowlands. After slogging through a driving rainstorm for the better part of 50 minutes, Cleveland took a 12–10 lead on a 29-yard touchdown pass to rookie Denzel Boston. On the following possession, Jets quarterback Geno Smith fumbled with Cleveland recovering on New York’s 43-yard line.
With 4:13 remaining, Cleveland had options. It could have run the ball and forced the Jets to take some or all of their three timeouts. They could have been aggressive and gone for a deep ball to put the game on ice.
Unfortunately for Cleveland, it chose Option C. It threw three incompletions underneath, ripping off nine seconds and setting up a punt. On fourth down, the snap was high and through the hands of punter Corey Bojorquez, resulting in a 34-yard loss and New York’s ball. The Jets scored three plays later.
First-year coach Todd Monken has done a good job, but the sequence that defined the Browns’ loss was inexcusable. Monken has to think about the time and field position at that moment. The Browns could have either taken two minutes off the clock or robbed the Jets of their timeouts, punted, and made Geno Smith have to drive at least 50-60 yards in the rain.
Instead, the Browns acted as though they were the team trailing, and it cost them a win they should have had.
GOOD: Drake Maye and the Patriots look to be back
At 1–2 and heading to Buffalo, the Patriots looked like they might have a long season ahead after making a Cinderella run to the Super Bowl a year ago.
But after beating the Bills in Week 4 behind Drake Maye’s 269 passing yards and three touchdowns, New England found life again. On Sunday in a 45–17 win over the Raiders, the Patriots showed they could be a force again, with Maye throwing for 374 yards and four scores.
In 2025, the consistent drumbeat was that New England beat only poor teams on the way to an AFC East title and, eventually, the conference championship. This year, in three wins, the Patriots have beaten teams with winning records: Pittsburgh, Buffalo, and Las Vegas.
As for Maye, he appears to be playing like a second-team All-Pro again despite one touchdown and six interceptions over the season’s first three weeks. Over the past two weeks, Maye has seven touchdowns against one pick.
New England still has some issues, including an offensive line which lost guard Mike Onwenu for the season in Week 2 and left tackle Will Campbell, who was ruled out with a knee injury this weekend. But considering where the Patriots were a few weeks ago, the sun is shining through the rain clouds in Foxborough.
BAD: Cam Ward isn’t the answer for the Titans
Tennessee isn’t a good team, which is why they’re 0–5. But the Titans have some young talent headlined by receiver Carnell Tate and linebacker Anthony Hill Jr. That said, Cam Ward might not be among that group.
Ward has been underwhelming in almost every way throughout his two-year career. On the surface, he’s 3–19. Last season, Ward posted the worst EPA of any quarterback. Entering this weekend, his EPA was only better than Daniel Jones’s and Aaron Rodgers’s for any quarterback who started all four games.
Against the previously winless Texans in a 26–3 loss at home, Ward threw for 170 yards (4.7 YPA) and an interception. And yet, that doesn’t tell the real story. During a fourth quarter of pure garbage time, Ward was 13-of-14 for 104 yards. Over the first three quarters, he was 10-of-22 for 66 yards.
At 0–5, the Titans are headed for a top pick in the 2027 draft, perhaps even the No. 1 choice. If so, general manager Mike Borgonzi should consider which quarterback is the best bet, because using that selection on a supporting piece and sticking with Ward is a fool’s errand.
Borgonzi was in Kansas City when the Chiefs drafted Patrick Mahomes and won a pair of Super Bowls as part of Brett Veach’s front office. He knows what elite quarterback play looks like and what it can do. This isn’t it, or even close. Last year’s struggles could be explained by inexperience, and being saddled with the coaching combination of Brian Callahan and Mike McCoy. This year, there are no such excuses.
Barring a stunning turnaround, Tennessee should start thinking about the exit strategy surrounding Ward.
UGLY: Everyone waiting on the Vikings’ downfall
It’s unlikely the Vikings will go 17–0 en route to winning the Super Bowl. If they do, movies will be made for centuries, and defensive coordinator Brian Flores will have a statue larger than the Eiffel Tower made for him outside U.S. Bank Stadium.
That said, those thinking Minnesota will quietly recede into mediocrity could be waiting awhile. On Sunday, the Vikings beat the Saints 23–13, running their record to 5–0. Once again, the defense led the way with a blitz-happy effort, bringing heat on all but one first-half passing play. New Orleans managed only 142 yards, and turned the ball over three times while Tyler Shough threw for 96 yards on 3.8 yards per attempt.
The best news for Vikings fans was the offensive effort. While the defense has been fantastic week to week (ranking top-five in yards, points and yards per play allowed), the offense has been slow in following with six touchdowns in four weeks. Against the Saints, Kyler Murray was 24-of-30 for 229 yards with a touchdown. Minnesota also ran for 153 yards and a score on 4.3 YPC. Justin Jefferson gave a star effort, coming off a hamstring injury, with six catches, 79 yards and a score.
With the Bears losing, the Vikings are now two games clear of everyone in the NFC North. Minnesota has two winnable games ahead, the Colts and the Lions, before a Monday night showdown in Week 8 at home against the Bills.
While the Vikings aren’t the sexiest unbeaten team in football, they’re certainly doing enough to rank among them.
GOOD: 49ers win in Seattle, take full control of the NFC West
It wasn’t pretty, but San Francisco doesn’t care. The result might as well be the Mona Lisa for the 49ers.
At 5–0 after a wild 32–29 win over the Seahawks in the Pacific Northwest, the 49ers lead Seattle by two games and the Rams by two and a half, with the Rams hosting the Bills on Monday night. Of course, San Francisco already beat Los Angeles, giving it road wins over the Seahawks and Rams before Columbus Day.
It’s impossible to script a better start to the season for the 49ers. They are undefeated, and they’ve won key games while getting MVP-level play from quarterback Brock Purdy. Purdy went 19-of-29 for 189 yards, with two touchdowns and an interception, and leads the NFL with 13 scoring strikes. Seattle sacked him three times, a first for Purdy all year.
Defensively, the 49ers forced four turnovers, including a scoop-and-score on the final play of the first half. They harassed Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold all afternoon, registering five sacks and eight hits. It was a total team effort that overcame three turnovers, eight penalties and going 4-of-12 on third down.
Looking ahead, San Francisco faces the Commanders, Falcons, Raiders and Cowboys, with a bye sandwiched between them. The 49ers could be 9–0 before facing the fellow unbeaten Vikings on Sunday Night Football on Nov. 22. But that’s all for the future.
Right now, San Francisco has a commanding lead in the league’s toughest division. According to The Athletic’s model, the 49ers have a 70% chance of winning the NFC West and a whopping 50% shot to take the NFC’s top seed. The last two times that happened, San Francisco reached the Super Bowl.
There’s a long road ahead, but the 49ers have paved it in gold so far.
BAD: Chargers might need to consider drastic options after bye week
Only one more game. After the Chargers play the Chiefs at Arrowhead Stadium next weekend, Los Angeles will get a week off. A week to rest. A week to recover. A week to think.
After losing 23–17 to the Broncos at SoFi Stadium despite holding a fourth-quarter lead, the Chargers are now 0–5. They’ve lost two divisional games, both at home. They’ve lost to the one-win Cardinals. No team has ever lost its first five contests and still made the playoffs, and there’s little reason to think this injured, overrated group is going to be the first.
To that end, Los Angeles needs to consider what’s best for the organization’s long-term future. Some will talk about trading quarterback Justin Herbert, but Herbert is 28 years old and signed through 2029. With $47 million in dead cap with a trade, a trade wouldn’t be impossible should a team call with multiple first-rounders in the offing, but it’s unlikely.
Herbert also has been awful. With three more turnovers on Sunday, he’s now at seven interceptions and two lost fumbles. While the supporting cast has been lacking, Herbert hasn’t played up to standard, failing to post a QBR of even 45.0 in any game this year.
However, general manager Joe Hortiz has other options. He could shop star edge rusher Tuli Tuitulopu, a 24-year-old coming off a 13-sack, Pro Bowl season. In the final year of his rookie deal, he would command a premium deal. At the same position, 35-year-old Khalil Mack would be considerably cheaper as a piece for a contender, but the Chargers could get a mid-round pick for the pending free agent.
Then there’s the coaching question. This is Jim Harbaugh’s third year, and he still hasn’t won a playoff game. He also hired offensive coordinator Greg Roman, then replaced him with Mike McDaniel. That marriage has been an objective disaster. If the Chargers decide to wait until year’s end to axe both, fine. But keeping them past 2026 would be an error.
In short, Los Angeles needs a hard reset from staff to roster.
UGLY: The epic clock management disaster in the nation’s capital
Sometimes, things in life are so beautiful in life, that you’re left speechless.
And then, there’s whatever happened at the end of the Giants-Commanders calamity.
In a game that went the full 70 minutes at water-logged Northwest Stadium, Washington and New York finished in a 27–27 tie that each must feel it should have won. After opening overtime with a missed field goal and then stopping the Commanders’ first overtime drive, the Giants again drove into field goal range, only to see running back Cam Skattebo fumble.
Then, with less than a minute remaining and no timeouts, the Commanders reached New York’s 24-yard line. Quarterback Jayden Daniels could have spiked the ball with the clock ticking, but instead ran a play. Daniels was then sacked as the final seconds elapsed, leaving coach Dan Quinn standing hands on hips at the 25-yard line, apparently unable to comprehend what he’d just watched.
As aforementioned, teams lose games. Good teams lose games. But bad teams find ways to lose games. Washington didn’t quite do that, but after blowing a 27–13 advantage with less than eight minutes remaining in regulation, and then committing the bonehead mistake of the year, it must have felt like a defeat rather than a tie.
Quinn has been under pressure. Since the Commanders went to the NFC title game in 2024, Washington is 6-15-1. In a winnable NFC East, the Commanders are in last place. Had they won on Sunday, they would have been a game out of first place and tied with the Cowboys and Eagles.
The Commanders have disappointed their fans for most of the past 30 years. At least on Sunday, it was unique.