NFL Game Recaps of previous weeks and seasons can be found via links at the bottom of the page.
Seahawks 23, Cardinals 20
The Cardinals were down 7-3 when their troubles began. Kyler Murray fired a great pass to Marvin Harrison Jr., but the former first-round rookie receiver bobbled the ball, which popped into the arms of a Seattle defender. The Seahawks didn’t get anything on the ensuing drive because Kenneth Walker disrupted the possession with a silly taunting penalty. However, the Seahawks were able to get the ball quickly after that because Murray and Harrison had a micommunication. Thanks to a long Sam Darnold scramble, a nice Zach Charbonnet run, and a Charbonnet touchdown, Seattle went up 14-3.
The two teams exchanged field goals after that, though Seattle had another Charbonnet touchdown wiped out by a Jaxon Smith-Njigba holding penalty, which was unnecessary. The Cardinals finally got on the board with a Murray touchdown pass to Harrison to trim the margin to 20-13. The Seahawks had a chance to go up 10, but Jason Myers missed a 53-yard field goal. Arizona took advantage of this opportunity by scoring a touchdown, but left too much time on the clock. Thanks to a penalty on the kickoff, the Seahawks took over on their own 40. Smith-Njigba caught a deep pass to set up a 52-yard field goal try by Myers, which he nailed this time for the victory at the buzzer.
Steelers 24, Vikings 21
The Steelers were able to establish a 24-6 lead as a result. The Vikings did nothing offensively outside of the 2-minute drive prior to halftime. Aaron Rodgers, meanwhile, was sharp in dissecting a Minnesota defense that was missing one of its top players, Andrew Van Ginkel. The Vikings also couldn’t stop Kenneth Gainwell, playing for the injured Jaylen Warren.
Pittsburgh’s defense fell asleep at the wheel late in the game. It allowed a touchdown drive and then blew a coverage to give Jordan Addison an 81-yard reception to set up another touchdown. Mike Tomlin then had a major coaching gaffe when he gave the Vikings a free possession as a result of eschewing a fourth-and-inches opportunity. However, the battered offensive line once again betrayed Wentz, causing an intentional grounding from which Minnesota could not recover.
Lions 34, Browns 10
Joe Flacco, who began 6-of-6, tossed one of the worst interceptions you’ll ever see. Flacco hurled the ball off his back foot into an area where there were no Cleveland players and only one Detroit defender, so the easy interception was made to put the Lions in Cleveland territory. A bit later, Flacco nearly threw a pick-six when Jerry Jeudy fell down and the Detroit player was able to take the ball to the 5-yard line. Up just 10-7, the Lions scored an easy touchdown, putting them up double digits.
If that wasn’t enough, the errors continued into the second half. The Browns missed a field goal and later allowed a punt return touchdown. And then, down 27-10, Flacco’s potential back-door push drive was ruined when he was strip-sacked. The Lions once again capitalized on the short field with an Amon-Ra St. Brown score.
Patriots 42, Panthers 13
Then, reality set in. Or rather, New England’s special teams dominated. The Patriots scored a punt return touchdown via Marcus Jones to take a 7-6 lead. This seemed to spark the New England offense, which picked up chunks of yardage on the next two possessions. Later in the second quarter, Jones had a very long return to set up a short field. A touchdown by Antonio Gibson put the Patriots up 28-6 heading into intermission.
New England continued to extend its lead in the second half, thanks to Drake Maye’s brilliance. The second-year quarterback had nearly as many touchdowns (2) as incompletions (3). The Panthers, meanwhile, scored their other seven points in garbage time.
Giants 21, Chargers 18
The Chargers spent more time without Alt, and it was clear that his absence had a major impact. Abdul Carter swarmed Justin Herbert relentlessly, and the Chargers couldn’t get anything going offensively until the 2-minute drill prior to intermission. Herbert even gave the Giants three free points when an interception of his, snatched by Dexter Lawrence, was returned deep into Charger territory, setting up a chip-shot field goal for the Giants.
The second half was more of the same for the Chargers. Save for a brilliant 54-yard Omarion Hampton touchdown run, the Chargers couldn’t sustain drives because Herbert had pass rushers flooding his backfield. He even took a 16-yard sack on a crucial third down in the final quarter. The Giants didn’t have much success without Nabers either, but Jaxson Dart was able to pick up some first downs with his legs, allowing the Giants to win the time of possession by about 11 minutes.
Bills 31, Saints 19
Defensively, the Bills were in worse shape. They were once again down Ed Oliver and Matt Milano. They couldn’t stop the Dolphins last Thursday, and they had similar issues against the Spencer Rattler-led Saints. New Orleans nearly outgained Buffalo as a consequence, and there were some instances in which the team had a chance to take the lead. On one occasion, the Saints, down 14-10, tried the Philly Special in the red zone, but Bills safely Cole Bishop made an incredible, leaping catch to snatch the pick.
Later in the fourth quarter, the Saints were driving down 21-16. They appeared to take the lead on a Rattler touchdown pass to Brandin Cooks, but replay showed that the ball hit the ground. New Orleans settled for a field goal, but this proved to be fatal because the Bills were able to generate a touchdown on the ensuing possession via Dalton Kincaid to put the game out of reach for the Saints.
Eagles 31, Buccaneers 25
Tampa Bay was lucky in those two matchups, as Philadelphia had a high number of impactful injuries in those contests. The turntables had turned in this latest battle, however, as the Eagles were the healthier team. As a result, Jalen Hurts shredded Tampa Bay’s secondary with only one incompletion out of 16 passes in the opening half. Hurts also picked up 42 rushing yards in the first half alone, giving the Eagles a 24-3 lead before a Tampa Bay 65-yard field goal heading into intermission.
The turntables turned back in the second half, however. The Eagles, for whatever reason, couldn’t put anything together offensively. They scored just once, as they couldn’t establish Saquon Barkley against the Vita Vea-led Tampa front. The Buccaneers, conversely, hit some long scores, as Emeka Egbuka and Bucky Irving scored on 77- and 72-yard touchdowns, respectively.
The Buccaneers ultimately trimmed the margin down to eight. They had two chances to tie, but Mayfield forced a pass into the end zone that was intercepted. He later had a heroic scramble on a third-and-6, but an ensuing Philadelphia sack ruined the drive, and the Buccaneers ultimately turned the ball over on downs.
Texans 26, Titans 0
The Texans couldn’t get anything going offensively for most of this game. They tried to run with Nick Chubb, but that proved to be ineffective. C.J. Stroud was constantly swarmed in the backfield. On one occasion, he was smashed as soon as he got the ball. All Houston could manage in the first half was just a pair of field goals. Had Titans kicker Joey Slye been accurate, this game would have been tied at six, but he whiffed on two makeable field goals.
The Titans couldn’t generate any offense throughout the entire afternoon, while the Texans finally achieved some first downs as Tennessee’s defense wore down as the afternoon progressed. It helped that the Texans moved away from Chubb and gave Woody Marks some touches. Marks rewarded the coaching staff with 119 net yards and a couple of touchdowns.
Houston finished with a shutout victory that wasn’t very impressive overall from an offensive perspective. The defense was much better, pitching a shutout, and limiting Tennessee to just 175 net yards of offense.
Falcons 31, Redskins 24
By Charlie Campbell – @draftcampbell
Early in the third quarter, Washington got a field goal to cut the lead to four, but it didn’t last long. Penix threw a swing pass to Robinson, and he exploded down the sideline for a 69-yard gain. A couple plays later, Penix connected with Pitts from seven yards out for a score to go up 24-13. Mariota started moving the ball, but he threw a deep ball off the mark, and Falcons’ superb rookie safety Xavier Watts ran underneath it in the end zone for an interception. Penix gave it right back with a poor throw that was intercepted by Mike Sainristil midway into Atlanta territory. Washington turned it into a field goal to cut the Falcons’ lead to 24-16, but just before the fourth quarter, Tyler Allegier scored from 15 yards.
Midway through the fourth quarter on a fourth down, Mariota floated in a 24-yard touchdown to Deebo Samuel, and a two-point conversion to Zach Ertz made it 31-24. Atlanta drained some clock and hit a field goal just past the two-minute warning. Washington kicked a field goal, but Pitts recovered the onside kick to clinch the win for Atlanta.
Chiefs 37, Ravens 20
By Charlie Campbell – @draftcampbell
After getting the ball back, the Chiefs got moving on an end-around to Worthy for a 35-yard gain. A bootleg completion to Travis Kelce set up a first-and-goal, and Mahomes threw a laser to JuJu Smith-Schuster to put the Chiefs up 13-7. Baltimore went for a fourth-and-1 near midfield, but Jackson was pressured into an incompletion. The Chiefs took advantage with some gains before Mahomes connected with Isiah Pacheco for an 8-yard touchdown. With 90 seconds remaining, Jackson scrambled and ran into his own blocker in center Tyler Linderbaum, and Jackson fumbled the ball. The Chiefs recovered just past midfield. However, Harrison Butker missed a long field goal, and that gave the Ravens some life, which they turned into a field goal on the final play of the half. That cut the Chiefs’ lead to 20-10 at halftime.
To open the third quarter, Kansas City ripped the Ravens’ defense, and Mahomes threw another bullseye to Tyquan Thornton from 11 yards out to expand the lead to 27-10. Baltimore responded with a field goal drive, and quickly the Chiefs responded with another three-pointer. At that point, Jackson left the game with a hamstring injury. Cooper Rush came into the game and couldn’t do much. Early in the fourth quarter, Mahomes put the game away with a short touchdown pass to Hollywood Brown. In garbage time, Hill broke free for a 71-yard touchdown.
Jaguars 26, 49ers 21
The blunders began early in the afternoon when Brock Purdy lost a fumble on a scramble while up 3-0. Travis Etienne capitalized on the turnover with a 48-yard rushing touchdown to give Jacksonville a 7-3 lead. Purdy then threw an interception on a pass that popped off Christian McCaffrey’s hands. Purdy’s throw wasn’t a good one, so McCaffrey wasn’t completely to blame for the mistake.
Jacksonville entered the second half with a 17-6 lead because of these two errors. The blunders continued, as Purdy tossed a second interception as a result of not seeing Devin Lloyd in coverage. The 49ers then surrendered a punt return touchdown, giving Jacksonville a 26-14 advantage.
The 49ers looked like they’d have one more chance when Cam Little missed a 47-yard field goal in a 26-21 affair. Purdy, however, committed yet another turnover on the ensuing possession when he lost a fumble on a strip-sack. This effectively sealed the victory for Jacksonville.
Rams 27, Colts 20
Despite Mitchell’s mistake, the Colts held the lead in the fourth quarter, thanks in part to Kyren Williams losing a fumble to give Indianapolis a score. The Rams, down seven, bounced back, as Matthew Stafford drove down the field and fired a tying touchdown pass to Puka Nacua. The Colts appeared to strike back, with Jonathan Taylor breaking free for a 53-yard touchdown run. However, a holding penalty negated the score because of a holding penalty by none other than Adonai Mitchell.
The hold forced the Colts to punt, and on the first play of the ensuing drive, Stafford launched an 88-yard touchdown to Tutu Atwell to put his team up 27-20. Daniel Jones had one more chance, but he was intercepted on a deep shot when he stared down Michael Pittman Jr.
Bears 25, Raiders 24
The Raiders outgained the Bears, 357-271, and they also averaged 2.7 more yards per play. They lost because of Smith’s many mistakes. Smith fired an early interception into heavy traffic to set up a field goal for Chicago. Smith was responsible for a second interception later when he didn’t see a defender over the middle of the field. The Bears weren’t able to capitalize on that give-away, but they were able to do so following Smith’s third pick, which occurred because he stared down his receiver. Smith was reckless despite winning 14-9. Thanks to the great field position, Chicago was able to take the lead on a touchdown pass to Rome Odunze.
The Raiders were able to reestablish the lead on a long Ashton Jeanty touchdown run. The Bears struck back with a late touchdown to take the lead. The Raiders were able to generate a solid kickoff return to begin near midfield, but all they could do was move into position for a 53-yard field goal to win the game. The kick, however, was blocked, allowing Chicago to prevail.
Cowboys 40, Packers 40
The Cowboys immediately answered with a long touchdown drive where Dak Prescott saw no pressure, a theme that persisted the entire night. Though the Cowboys were missing two offensive linemen on an already-shaky front, Prescott wasn’t sacked on a single occasion in regulation despite it being Micah Parsons’ much-discussed return to Dallas. Instead, it was “No Cookie” Jordan who saw pressure. He was strip-sacked at the end of the opening half, giving Dallas a quick touchdown. The Cowboys, down 13-0, took a 16-13 lead into the break.
Love rebounded in the second half with some amazing drives. He was nearly flawless, torching Dallas’ poor defense relentlessly. The problem for the Packers was that they couldn’t stop Dallas at all. The pressure was nowhere to be seen, as Prescott had a clean pocket all night. Javonte Williams, meanwhile, was able to rip through wide-open running lanes throughout the entire game. These teams went back and forth the entire second half, with Dallas going up 37-34 with about 45 seconds remaining. Love, however, was able to move the chains downfield in a hurry, setting up a 53-yard field goal for Brandon McManus, which was good to set up overtime.
In the extra session, the Cowboys ripped through Green Bay’s horrible defense until they reached the red zone, but they stalled and had to kick a field goal. The Packers had their turn in overtime. They also drove into the red zone, but like Dallas, they stalled in the red zone. They had to settle for a tie as time expired.
