NFL Game Recaps: Week 6, 2025

NFL Game Recaps of previous weeks and seasons can be found via links at the bottom of the page.

Giants 34, Eagles 17

The superior team has a big advantage on Thursday night because the inferior team doesn’t have enough time to prepare for the stronger opponent. The caveat is that the superior team must be focused. The Eagles had every reason to be focused on this game because they suffered a loss to the Broncos four days ago. And yet, they didn’t look like they gave a damn at all. They made a number of mistakes and were sluggish. Jalen Hurts, in particular, looked like he was playing in slow motion, completely failing to utilize his scrambling ability aside from a bizarre sequence in which the Eagles utilized four Tush Pushes in a row.

The Giants got out to an early 13-0 lead before the Eagles stormed back and went up 17-13, thanks to numerous completions to Dallas Goedert. However, that was pretty much all the Eagles did all night. They screwed up a 2-minute drill so badly that time ran out before they had a chance to kick a field goal, while Hurts missed a wide-open DeVonta Smith for a long touchdown. They were miserable on third down, converting 1-of-9 opportunities.

Conversely, the Giants were deadly on third down, converting 11-of-15 tries. Jaxson Dart was awesome, shredding a Philadelphia defense that was missing Jalen Carter and Quinyon Mitchell with ease. Dart had a major conversion on a third-and-8 in the third quarter, which ultimately set up one of Cam Skattebo’s three touchdowns.

Any chance the Eagles had at a comeback from down 27-17 was ruined by turnovers and penalties. Hurts lofted an interception in the red zone on a lazy pass toward the sideline. An interference flag in the end zone set up another Skattebo score, and then A.J. Dillon lost a fumble in New York territory on the ensuing drive to seal the victory for New York.

Broncos 13, Jets 11

Based on the final score, it wouldn’t appear as though one team dominated the other in this game, but that was the case in yet another dreadful London matchup. The Broncos outgained the Jets by about 160 net yards and averaged 2.9 more yards per play. The Jets, who somehow averaged only 1.4 yards per play, had just one successful drive all morning, which culminated with a field goal. Denver’s defense sacked Justin Fields nine times.

So, why was this game close? Quite simply, Denver couldn’t stop committing dumb errors. The Broncos gave the Jets two early field goals because of a Troy Franklin fumble and a surrendered long kickoff return. Meanwhile, Denver’s drives were disrupted by guard Matt Peart’s errors, as numerous possessions were ruined by his various penalties.

The Jets took the lead late in the third quarter when a penalty in the Denver’s end zone gave them a safety. However, Bo Nix, who had a solid first half and a mostly dreadful second half, finally got his act together and put together a field goal drive. Denver’s defense then shut the door on Fields with tons of pressure.

Colts 31, Cardinals 27

The Cardinals would be missing Kyler Murray in this game, so it was a surprise that the first quarterback to make a mistake was Daniel Jones. While Jones has been great this year, he made a poor error when he didn’t see linebacker Mack Wilson in coverage. The Cardinals took possession, but Brissett answered with his own interception, albeit because his receiver fell down.

Brissett was able to move the chains well enough to give his team a chance heading into the third quarter. Despite losing Marvin Harrison Jr. to injury, the Cardinals trailed just 14-10 exiting the break.

Brissett was even better in the second half, putting together three scoring drives that concluded with two touchdowns and a field goal. Brissett developed a strong connection with Trey McBride and Zay Jones, as he quarterbacked the team to a 27-24 lead. The Colts, however, countered with a scoring drive of their own, as Jonathan Taylor punched the ball into the end zone to go up 31-27. The Cardinals looked like they would answer when they drove into the red zone, but Brissett was sacked on third down to give the Colts a close victory.

Steelers 23, Browns 9

If you were looking for high-octane offense, you tuned into the wrong game. These teams combined for four field goals and no touchdowns in the opening half. The Steelers had trouble finishing drives against Cleveland’s defense, while the Browns couldn’t get anything going at all with Dillon Gabriel doing nothing but dinking and dunking.

The Browns, who couldn’t run the ball against a surprisingly improved Pittsburgh ground defense, looked like they’d have a chance to pull the upset until they made a crucial mistake in the third quarter. They nearly blocked a punt, but didn’t quite get there. They got there too much, however, as Cleveland was called for roughing the kicker. This new set of downs sparked the Steelers against the exhausted Browns, and they eventually converted into a touchdown to go up 16-3.

Following a Cleveland field goal, the Steelers led by only six points. They had a little more work to do to make sure they’d win their fourth game of the year. They were successful with Aaron Rodgers locating DK Metcalf for a deep touchdown to put this game out of reach for Cleveland.

Panthers 30, Cowboys 27

Rico Dowdle announced that he was out for revenge against the Cowboys, and understandably so. Dallas inexplicably let go of Dowdle, who was solid for them last year once the coaching staff realized that Ezekiel Elliott was washed up. The Cowboys got rid of Dowdle without an answer at running back, so it’s no wonder that the Carolina back was disgruntled.

Dowdle, who rushed for 206 yards in Week 5, opened up this contest with about 80 rushing yards in the first half, but made his big play to open the third quarter. Bryce Young found Dowdle for a 36-yard touchdown reception, giving the Panthers a 20-17 lead. Both teams traded touchdowns after that, as Young hit McMillan for a second score. George Pickens, meanwhile, made some amazing plays.

The teams were tied at 27 in the final quarter when both offenses finally stalled. Young had a huge miss on a third down when he had a wide-open receiver. The Panthers punted, but the Cowboys didn’t do anything with the next possession because Dak Prescott was sacked.

The Panthers took the next possession down the field with some fierce runs from Dowdle. The clutch play, however, was a Young fourth-down conversion to Hunter Renfrow to move the Panthers in position to kick the game-winning field goal. Ryan Fitzgerald connected from 33 to improve the Panthers’ record to 3-3.

Rams 17, Ravens 3

The Rams had a shaky beginning to this game. One of their promising early drives went for no points because Joshua Karty missed a 27-yard field goal. Another possession concluded with Matthew Stafford losing a fumble. Later, the Rams appeared to recover a fumble on a punt return, but a strange call on an ineligible downfield kick – whatever that means – overturned the take-away. The Ravens then returned the ensuing punt deep into Los Angeles territory. And if all of that wasn’t bad enough, Puka Nacua suffered an injury when Stafford threw the ball to him into the end zone.

Los Angeles’ fortunes completely reversed in the second half. The Rams opened the third quarter with a touchdown drive. They then scored again via a Tyler Higbee touchdown after Zay Flowers lost a fumble deep in his own territory. Flowers, who never coughs up the ball, fumbled once again later in the game while his team was in field goal range. And best of all, Nacua was able to return to the field.

The Ravens eventually were so fed up with Cooper Rush that they benched him in favor of Tyler Huntley. The veteran had a solid drive after that, but the team’s final possession stalled around midfield when Huntley misfired toward DeAndre Hopkins.

Patriots 25, Saints 19

Prior to the season, if you told anyone that there would be offensive fireworks in the Week 6 Patriots-Saints battle, you would have been committed to a mental facility. But that’s exactly what we saw, as both teams connected on 53-yard pass plays on their opening drives. The Patriots tacked on a 61-yard pass play as well, but it was negated by offensive pass interference. Both teams were moving the chains with ease, but that stopped when the Patriots fumbled on a fourth-down try just over midfield. The Saints couldn’t take full advantage of the short field, but they converted on a kick to go up 16-14.

The Patriots then took over, as Drake Maye had a great drive prior to halftime to throw his third touchdown pass prior to intermission to Kayshon Boutte. The Patriots converted the two and then kicked a field goal to open the third quarter to go up 25-16.

New England was not content to be conservative with a 25-19 lead after the Saints kicked a field goal. Maye completed a deep bomb to Stefon Diggs, but the play was negated by offensive pass interference. The Patriots clamped down on defense on the ensuing drive, and then Maye launched deep passes once again. This time, he connected with Boutte on a deep shot, which clinched the victory for New England.

Seahawks 20, Jaguars 12

With both the Seahawks and Jaguars strong against the run, there were expected to be aerial fireworks between both teams in this game. We saw that early from the Jaguars, as Trevor Lawrence hit Brian Thomas Jr. for a touchdown to put Jacksonville up 6-0.

Th Seahawks were much better after that. Sam Darnold completed only 16 passes, but he made them count. He torched the Jaguars secondary with numerous deep passes to Jaxon Smith-Njigba, A.J. Barner, and even Cooper Kupp, who caught his first touchdown as a Seahawk. It was Smith-Njigba, however, who did the most damage. He converted multiple deep receptions to help give the Seahawks a 20-6 lead entering the fourth quarter.

The Jaguars appeared to strike back, as Lawrence once again located Thomas for a deep touchdown. This score, however, was negated because Travis Hunter lined up incorrectly, which has been a huge problem for him. Lawrence eventually struck for a second touchdown by hitting Tim Patrick in the end zone, but Jacksonville’s defense couldn’t retain possession. Thanks to Barner’s long play and a holding penalty on the ensuing field goal, the Seahawks were able to move into victory formation.

Chargers 29, Dolphins 27
By Charlie Campbell – @draftcampbell

EDITOR’S NOTE: So, Jordan Davis runs back a meaningless touchdown, but Derwin James doesn’t. Cool. Cool, cool, cool.

Los Angeles got back on track with a road win at Miami. The Chargers almost blew the game, but late heroics by Justin Herbert put Los Angeles in position to avoid an embarrassing loss. The Dolphins fell to 1-5, and it feels like Miami is marching towards a regime change.

On the opening drive, Jaylen Waddle juggled a catch, and Chargers safety Tony Jefferson snatched the deflected ball for an interception. Los Angeles turned that into a field goal, and after a Dolphins punt, Oronde Gadsden fumbled the ball away, setting up Miami. The very next play, Devon Achane exploded down the field for a 49-yard touchdown to put Miami up 7-3. The Chargers responded with a field goal drive, and then the Dolphins’ Riley Patterson missed a long field goal to give the Chargers good field position. A 22-yard strike to Ladd McConkey and a 19-yard run from Kimani Vidal set up a short field goal for Cameron Dicker to put Los Angeles up 9-7. Miami responded with a chunk pass to Jaylen Waddle to get a field goal, and just before the half, Waddle made a juggling grab for 45 yards to set up a field goal that gave the Dolphins a 13-9 lead at the half.

To open the third quarter, the Chargers marched down the field and Herbert connected with McConkey for a short touchdown to give the Chargers a 16-13 lead. Tavovailoa promptly threw an interception to Benjamin St. Juste. A few plays later, Herbert threw a short scoring strike to Vidal, and quickly, Los Angeles was up by 10. They added another field goal early in the fourth quarter. Midway through the fourth quarter, the Dolphins had a successful drive with Achane scoring on a short run to make it 26-20. Miami forced a punt, and the Dolphins started moving down the field and cracked the Chargers’ 15 with a minute remaining. On third-and-goal with 50 seconds remaining, Tagovailoa found Darren Waller wide open in busted coverage for a touchdown. The Dolphins made the extra point to go up 27-26 with 46 seconds remaining. On the ensuing drive, Herbert made an incredible play to break a tackle in the pocket and then find McConkey, who took off down the sideline for a 42-yard gain. With nine seconds remaining, Dicker drilled a 33-yard field goal, and Derwin James intercepted the flea-flicker play to give the Chargers their fourth win of the season.

Buccaneers 30, 49ers 19
By Charlie Campbell – @draftcampbell

EDITOR’S NOTE: As if the bad beats each week weren’t enough, we’re going to suffer a bad beat now on our 40/1 Emeka Egbuka Offensive Rookie of the Year bet. Great!

Both of these teams entered the game with a 4-1 record, having won a bunch of very close games. They also each have been a MASH unit with a huge amount of injuries. The 49ers’ Brock Purdy was out with an injury, and despite being banged up, Mac Jones made the start for San Francisco. The injuries kept piling up, with San Francisco star linebacker Fred Warner suffering a season-ending injury and Bucs rookie sensation wide receiver Emeka Egbuka going out with a hamstring injury in the first half. After a bit of a slow start, Baker Mayfield started ripping the 49ers’ defense, and a bunch of field goals weren’t going to be enough for San Francisco.

The 49ers’ first possession ended in disaster when Todd Bowles dialed up a great disguised coverage that tricked wide receiver Kendrick Bourne, and Mac Jones threw right into it for an interception by Kindle Vildor with a return to about the 15-yard line. A few plays later, Rachaad White plunged into the end zone for a quick touchdown lead. Their next play for the 49ers offense, Jones found Bourne on a deep post for 41 yards. The drive stalled, and San Francisco settled for a field goal. On the ensuing Buccaneers drive, Werner suffered a broken and dislocated ankle that had him carted off the field.

Early in the second quarter, Jones hit Bourne on a deep slant, and he took off on a 56-yard gain. A few plays later, Christian McCaffrey scored from a few yards out to put San Francisco up 10-7. Tampa Bay responded with a chunk completion to Cade Otton, and a short touchdown run from Sean Tucker put the Bucs up 14-10. Jones hit another nice completion, but the 49ers settled for a 54-yard field goal from Eddy Pineiro. Mayfield quickly ripped the ball down the field and found Kameron Johnson wide open in busted coverage for a 34-yard touchdown. A two-point conversion was unsuccessful, and the 49ers tacked on another Pineiro field goal in the final seconds to cut the Tampa Bay lead to 20-16 at the half.

To open the third quarter, Jones led a long drive using McCaffrey, and that set up a field goal for Pineiro to make it 20-19. Mayfield responded with a deep ball to Tez Johnson for a 45-yard touchdown to go up 27-19 midway through the second half. Lavonte David strip-sacked Jones, and David recovered the ball. However, Chase McLaughlin missed a field goal to keep the 49ers down by eight. Vita Vea ran into the punter, and that penalty gave the 49ers life in Tampa Bay territory, but a fourth-down pass was overthrown, and Jamel Dean intercepted it to kill the scoring opportunity. McLaughlin hit a field goal just after the two-minute warning to secure the win for Tampa Bay.

Raiders 20, Titans 10

The Raiders have one of the worst offensive lines in the NFL, so if they were to win for the first time since Week 1 – even against a miserable Tennessee team – they had to do so with their defense.

That’s exactly what happened, as the Raiders’ defense dominated this contest. The Raiders forced Cam Ward into a pair of turnovers in the first half. They strip-sacked Ward on his own 2-yard line, setting up a Geno Smith touchdown to Michael Mayer. Ward then was intercepted in field goal range, as he was hit upon releasing the ball.

The Raiders extended their lead in the second half, though Geno Smith made a sketchy decision in the red zone as he was intercepted while under pressure. This ultimately didn’t matter because Tennessee’s offense couldn’t do anything.

Speaking of sketchy decisions, Pete Carroll didn’t bother running with Ashton Jeanty as he was milking the clock on the final drive of a 10-point game. I thought it might have been Carroll’s dementia, but a follower on X pointed out that Jeanty was sitting at his rushing yard prop. He finished with 75 rushing yards, and we had the over 75.5. Unreal.

Packers 27, Bengals 18

The Packers were supposed to demolish the Bengals, given that they were 14-point favorites entering this game. Green Bay had a nice-looking drive to open the game until “No Cookie” Jordan Love was intercepted on a deflection. This was only the beginning of Green Bay’s struggles against Cincinnati’s defense, as the Packers inexplicably scored just 10 points entering halftime despite being in such an easy matchup.

The good news for the Packers was that their defense had an easy time against Joe Flacco. The veteran quarterback just dinked and dunked throughout the opening half, so Green Bay entered intermission with a 10-0 lead. Flacco, however, finally was able to find a rhythm in the second half. He opened the third quarter with a lengthy drive, as he made clutch throws to his talented receivers. Cincinnati ended up scoring a touchdown despite seeing Andrei Iosivas drop two balls during the possession.

The Packers answered with a touchdown drive of their own, as Josh Jacobs dashed into the end zone. Flacco struck back with more clutch completions, but the drive stalled in field goal range, forcing Cincinnati to settle for three.

With the Green Bay lead down to 17-10, the Packers engineered a touchdown drive that culminated with a Tucker Kraft touchdown to put themselves up by two touchdowns. Once again, however, Green Bay’s overrated defense couldn’t stop Flacco, who went down the field in a blink of an eye to draw to within six. Cincinnati’s defense, missing Trey Hendrickson in the second half, couldn’t stop the Packers, who moved into field goal range to go up nine with two minutes remaining. This closed the door on any sort of Cincinnati upset.

Chiefs 30, Lions 17

Dan Campbell has had lots of success by being aggressive on fourth down. Campbell lives by the sword, but in this game, he died by the sword, as this game was decided by a pair of fourth-down plays.

Detroit seemed to convert a touchdown on the opening drive, but the score was negated by a penalty, forcing the Lions into a field goal. Later, Detroit went for it on fourth down, but Jared Goff’s potential conversion to Amon-Ra St. Brown was dropped by the All-Pro receiver.

Meanwhile, the Lions didn’t have an answer for Kansas City’s passing attack. Patrick Mahomes was limited to just eight incompletions, thanks to Detroit missing numerous defensive backs. Detroit simply couldn’t get off the field, with the Chiefs converting 26 first downs compared to Detroit’s 18.

There was an altercation between these teams after this game ended. JuJu Smith-Schuster went to high-five Brian Branch, but the Detroit safety wasn’t having it. Branch popped Smith-Schuster in the helmet, so he could be suspended for this act.

Falcons 24, Bills 14

Bijan Robinson told reporters that “all eyes are on us,” as this version of the Falcons were hosting their initial Monday Night Football game. Atlanta came out on fire, scoring touchdowns on three separate drives in the opening half. They ran right through Buffalo’s poor run defense, with both Robinson and Tyler Allgeier scoring touchdowns. Michael Penix Jr. also located Drake London in the end zone for a score.

The 21-7 Atlanta lead could have been larger at the half. Just prior to intermission, London caught a short pass and ran toward the end zone. He lunged toward the pylon and appeared to score, but replay review determined that he was short. This gave the Bills some life. They ran much better in the second half, though Josh Allen didn’t quite look 100 percent after taking such a crushing hit in the second quarter.

Allen failed to sustain consistent drives, thanks to constant pressure in the backfield from the NFL’s No. 1 EPA defense. The Falcons had a chance to extend their lead on a couple of occasions with field goals. They had their first kick blocked, but then converted on the second attempt to make it a 24-14 advantage with slightly less than two minutes remaining. Allen had a brilliant scramble to move into field goal range, but a horrible pass was then picked, clinching the upset victory for Atlanta.

Bears 25, Redskins 24

The Redskins had a chance to improve to 4-2 with a victory in this game, but they didn’t seem very interested in doing so. They looked like they intended on giving the game away, with two early turnovers leading to 10 total Chicago points. Jayden Daniels threw an early interception because he didn’t see the linebacker in coverage, setting up a field goal for Chicago. Jacory Croskey-Merritt then lost a fumble, which lead to a Chicago touchdown. The Bears, up 13-0, seemed as though they would run away with this game.

Washington stopped making errors for a while, and that’s when it became Chicago’s turn. The Bears had a touchdown wiped out by illegal formation. They allowed a blocked field goal. They had multiple penalties negating big plays. All of this allowed the Redskins to go up 24-16 when Daniels found Zach Ertz for a touchdown.

That’s when the game flipped once again. Quan Martin whiffed badly on a tackle attempt of D’Andre Swift, allowing the running back to sprint into the end zone. The Redskins still had possession, up 24-22, but Daniels dropped the snap and fumbled the ball while trying to give it to Croskey-Merritt. The Bears took over and had some big gains by Swift to move into field goal range. Beleaguered kicker Jake Moody lined up for a 35-yard field goal, which he converted to give Chicago the upset victory.