NFL Game Recaps: Week 7, 2025

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

Bengals 33, Steelers 31

The Steelers initially looked like they were going to win in an easy blowout. They scored 10 points on two early drives, while Cincinnati couldn’t generate anything offensively. Joe Flacco took an early sack, and the Bengals offense looked completely lifeless.

Everything changed when the Steelers began to self-destruct. Aaron Rodgers was intercepted, which allowed Pittsburgh to score a touchdown. The Steelers then had their own touchdown negated by a holding penalty. On the ensuing possession, Rodgers was charged with a second pick when a Cincinnati defender snatched the ball away from DK Metcalf after a reception made near the sideline. All of this allowed the Bengals to score 20 unanswered points.

It took the Steelers a while to snap out of their funk, but they finally got on the board to trim the margin to three. However, their defense had no answer for Joe Flacco and Ja’Marr Chase. Pittsburgh inexplicably kept covering Chase with only one defender, and the result was a performance in which Chase secured far north of a dozen receptions.

The Steelers finally got a stop when the Bengals ventured deep into opposing territory. Cincinnati kicked a field goal to make the margin six. This gave the Steelers a chance to take the lead, and that’s exactly what they did when Rodgers found Pat Freiermuth for a deep reception on a busted coverage.

Down one, the Bengals still had a chance with a final drive. The Steelers once again left Chase open, and Chase picked up a big gain. Flacco then located Tee Higgins on a deep, downfield shot, setting up Evan McPherson’s 36-yard field goal, which won the game.

Rams 35, Jaguars 7

The NFL is known to send a poor product overseas, and this game was a perfect example of that. This was a completely lopsided affair in which the Rams dominated from start to finish.

Jacksonville’s defense had no answer for the Los Angeles offense despite Puka Nacua being sidelined. Matthew Stafford hit Davante Adams for two touchdowns in the opening half and then a third later in the game. Stafford also threw touchdowns to a pair of rookies. If there’s one criticism of the Rams in this game, it was that their short-yardage offense continued to struggle. Kyren Williams was stuffed at the goal line, which is something that has occurred frequently this year.

As bad as Jacksonville’s defense was, the offense was far worse. The stop unit at least limited the Rams in the first few drives of the second half. The offense, conversely, couldn’t get a single point on the board until garbage time. The first three drives featured a sack of Trevor Lawrence or a holding penalty. Lawrence ended up taking six sacks, while the Jaguars were penalized on 13 occasions.

Adding injury to insult, Brian Thomas Jr. suffered some sort of arm injury late in the game. This occurred when the Rams were up 35-7 with four minutes remaining. It’s unclear why Liam Coen still had his starters on the field, so he needs to be blamed for this unnecessary injury.

Bears 26, Saints 14

The announcers noted early in this game that Spencer Rattler had been doing a good job of taking care of the football. Perhaps this was a jinx because Rattler crushed his team with mistakes throughout the opening half.

Rattler opening this game with a lost fumble, setting up a Chicago field goal. He was then gifted a potential score on a silver platter when the Bears committed a roughing-the-passer penalty on a third-and-28, giving New Orleans new life in Chicago territory. However, Rattler threw an interception into double coverage. The Bears took over and were able to score a touchdown in short order with a D’Andre Swift touchdown run to extend the lead to 13-0.

Rattler began the game 6-of-13 for 13 yards and an interception, but he caught fire for a bit and found Chris Olave for a couple of touchdowns. However, they couldn’t get off the field, as Chicago’s rushing attack trampled the New Orleans defense. Both Swift and rookie Kyle Monangai had big games as Chicago improved to 4-2.

Browns 31, Dolphins 6

Quinshon Judkins had the easiest matchup of any running back on the Week 7 NFL slate. The Dolphins surrendered 206 rushing yards to Rico Dowdle and 124 rushing yards to Kimani Vidal the past two weeks. Judkins is more talented than both of those running backs, so he projected to potentially lead every player in rushing yards this week.

It didn’t take Judkins very long to establish his dominance. He trampled over Miami’s beleaguered defense for a 46-yard touchdown run early in the second quarter. On the ensuing kickoff, the Dolphins lost a fumble, setting up the Browns in Miami territory. Dillon Gabriel had a chance at a touchdown pass, but didn’t see an open receiver. It didn’t end up mattering because Judkins scored once again a few plays later to put the Browns up 17-3.

The defense then took over in the second half. Tua Tagovailoa’s pass bounced off De’Von Achane’s hands, and the ball popped into the arms of Tyson Campbell, who ran back the other way for a touchdown. The Browns picked and sacked Tagovailoa into getting benched in the fourth quarter. Judkins, meanwhile, scored his third touchdown to widen the lead.

Chiefs 31, Raiders 0

The Chiefs didn’t waste any time reestablishing Rashee Rice into the offense. Rice, who hadn’t played a regular-season snap since Week 4 last year, was making his return from suspension and was targeted early and often versus the Raiders.

Patrick Mahomes drove down the field with ease with some nice throws to Travis Kelce, but targeted Rashee Rice in the red zone. Rice scored on a pitch, which was one of the eight first-half targets he saw in this game. Rice scored another touchdown later in the first half. With Rice going, and Mahomes scrambling effectively once again, the Chiefs had no issues moving the chains.

Kansas City went up 21-0 by the half, with the Raiders showing no signs of life. The Chiefs controlled the clock for 21 of the first 30 minutes, as the Raiders generated just 51 net yards of offense prior to intermission. It was clear that Jakobi Meyers and Brock Bowers were sorely missed, and the abysmal play of the offensive line wasn’t helping matters.

Adding injury to insult, the Raiders lost Maxx Crosby to a knee/back injury in the second quarter. The only good news is that the Raiders will have a bye in Week 8.

Panthers 13, Jets 6

I joked with Evan Daniel that he should put this on this game on his seventh TV even though there were six games in the 1 p.m. Week 7 slate. This contest lived down to its low expectations, as any offensive production in the opening half felt like pulling teeth. It was Panthers 3-0 for a while, and then it was tied at three for another long while. The Panthers didn’t quite run as well as they had in recent weeks, though the combination of Rico Dowdle and Chuba Hubbard topped the century mark.

Carolina’s defense, which is ranked No. 1 against the run since Week 2, limited both Breece Hall and Justin Fields on the ground. Fields was so terrible that he was benched in the second half. Tyrod Taylor was better, but only by default. He threw an interception into triple coverage, but was able to lead the Jets to a field goal in the fourth quarter to trim the margin to seven.

Bryce Young also left this game – he suffered an injury in the fourth quarter – so Andy Dalton took over and had issues sustaining drives. The Jets had some life, but head coach Aaron Glenn ended their chances by inexplicably punting on fourth-and-10 with a minute remaining. The Jets never saw possession again.

Patriots 31, Titans 13

The Mike Vrabel revenge angle was the obvious narrative heading into this game. However, based on the early struggles of the Patriots, it appeared as though Vrabel forgot he was ever fired by the Titans.

The Patriots came out sluggish and stupid on both sides of the ball. The sluggishness was on defense, as the Patriots didn’t have an answer for Cam Ward, who misfired on just five occasions in the opening half. Ward connected on multiple plays to someone named Chimere Dike, including one instance where the two hooked up on a 38-yard touchdown. The stupidity was the offensive play-calling, where Vrabel went into this odd, conservative shell where the team did nothing but hand off to Rhamondre Stevenson.

New England awakened from its slumber late in the second quarter. Drake Maye began torching Tennessee’s horrible secondary, including one instance where he drilled Kayshon Boutte for a deep touchdown. Maye actually left the game early in the third quarter with what seemed to be a concussion, but he was cleared after a few missed snaps. He returned and completed a third-down pass, setting up a Stevenson touchdown run to put New England up 24-13. The defense then came alive by scoring a touchdown on a Ward fumble where he inexplicably dropped the ball in the pocket. This made the score 31-13, effectively ending the game.

Eagles 28, Vikings 22
By Charlie Campbell – @draftcampbell

EDITOR’S NOTE: If someone told me prior to the start of the season that Rico Dowdle would be able to run way more effectively than Saquon Barkley this year, I would have called the local mental ward. The Eagles had a nice win, but Barkley’s inability to do anything is troubling.

Philadelphia did not get Saquon Barkley back on track against Minnesota, but their passing offense finally came to life. Jalen Hurts hit some long completions to A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith, and the Eagles’ defense had some big turnovers and came up clutch to force field goals. After losing two straight, including an embarrassing loss to the Giants, the Eagles improved to 5-2 with a tough road win. Carson Wentz moved the ball well in his revenge game, but he had a terrible pick-six that was a game-altering play. All day, Wentz struggled to finish drives, leading to five field goals and the Vikings falling to 3–3.

The Eagles struck first with a 12-play drive keyed by a fourth-down tush push, and then capped with a 37-yard touchdown pass to Brown. Minnesota responded with Wentz connecting with Jordan Addison for 34 yards, but backup center Blake Brandel snapped the ball over Wentz’s head, and they settled for a 59-yard field goal from Will Reichard. Minnesota got a drive going, but Jalen Carter hit Wentz, forcing an errant throw, and Jalyx Hunt caught the deflection and returned it 42 yards for a touchdown.

After that play and the hard hit from Carter, Wentz appeared rattled. After throwing a backwards pass out of bounds, Wentz rolled out and threw a terrible pass like a punt that was easily intercepted by Andrew Mukuba. The Vikings came back, going down the field using Justin Jefferson and Jalen Nailor, but a penalty on Brandel took away a touchdown pass to Nailor, and Minnesota settled for a field goal. The Eagles’ offense was terrible after the opening drive, and Philadelphia held a 14-6 lead at the half.

To open the third quarter, Minnesota had a promising drive that went deep into Eagles territory, but a terrible play by Wentz with an unnecessary grounding penalty forced a field goal to make it 14-9. Quickly, Philadelphia expanded the lead with Hurts connecting on a 79-yard touchdown to Smith. The Vikings responded with Wentz moving the ball down the field and setting up a short touchdown run for Jordan Mason, and then another field goal to make it 21-19 early in the fourth quarter. Hurts hit some big completions to Brown and Smith, and then hit Brown running into the end zone with a 26-yard score to put the Eagles up 28-19.

Wentz led another drive using his legs to convert a few third-and-longs, and then Wentz rolled out and found T.J. Hockenson open in the end zone, but the scoring catch was turned into an incompletion. After a Reichard field goal, the Eagles got the ball back, and on a third down, Hurts dropped in a deep ball to Brown for 45 yards, and that clinched the win for Philadelphia.

Cowboys 44, Redskins 22
By Charlie Campbell – @draftcampbell

EDITOR’S NOTE: The bad beats continue. We had Jayden Daniels over rushing yards in a bet we made live, so of course he injured his hamstring. Of course…

The Cowboys improved to 3-3-1 and dropped the Redskins 3-4 with an offensive explosion for Dallas. Washington had no answer for Dak Prescott, Javonte Williams, CeeDee Lamb, and George Pickens. Jayden Daniels was injured in the third quarter, but Dallas had firm control of the game by halftime. Dallas stays in the hunt in the NFC East while Washington is digging itself a significant hole in a competitive NFC playoff race.

The Cowboys took the opening drive for a touchdown as it was keyed by a 37-yard pass interference that was drawn by Pickens, and the drive was finished with a short touchdown run by Williams. After a Washington punt, Williams was stuffed in the end zone for a safety. Daniels hit Chris Moore on the run for a 44-yard gain to get inside the 20. On third-and-goal, Daniels found Zach Ertz wide open in the end zone. The two-point conversion was no good, and Washington took an 8-7 lead. A beautiful catch by Pickens set up a Brandon Aubrey field goal to put Dallas up 10-8.

Midway through the first quarter, Prescott hit Lamb downfield, and two Washington defenders collided to let Lamb coast another 25 yards for a 74-yard touchdown. In the final minute of the first half, Washington put a drive together, and it ended with Daniels powering into the end zone to cut the lead to 20-15. The Cowboys hit a long pass to Pickens, then popped a run with Williams. With 10 seconds left before the half, Prescott hit Terrance Ferguson for a short touchdown.

Early in the third quarter, Daniels was strip-sacked and limped off the field with trainers. Jadeveon Clowney recovered the fumble near midfield to set up the Dallas offense. A run by Williams, a conversion to Pickens, and a short touchdown pass to Ferguson put Dallas up 34-15. Marcus Mariota entered the game for Daniels, and after a few plays, DaRon Bland jumped a route for an interception and returned it 66 yards for a touchdown. Washington responded with a drive that ended with Chris Rodriguez scoring from a few yards out to make it 41-22 entering the fourth quarter. In garbage time, Dallas added a field goal to finish the scoring.

Broncos 33, Giants 32

The Giants have amassed some tremendous energy ever since moving to Jaxson Dart as their starting quarterback. The offense was lifeless outside of one game with Russell Wilson, but it’s been electric with Dart even though Malik Nabers was knocked out for the season. Still, beating the injury-ravaged Chargers and the distracted Eagles was not going to be as easy as going into Mile High and battling Denver’s elite defense.

As it turns out, this narrative was incorrect. Dart didn’t have the most consistent afternoon, but he hit some big plays in the first half to go up 13-0. Meanwhile, Denver’s offense resembled what it had with Wilson once again. The Broncos, battling a Giants defense that had really struggled throughout the year, couldn’t generate any sort of offense. Midway through the third quarter, Bo Nix was 10-of-24 for 89 yards, as he sailed countless, helpless passes out of bounds.

This was a 13-0 game for a while, but with Denver’s offense struggling so much, it was only a matter of time before the Giants extended their lead. That happened at the end of the third quarter when Tyrone Tracy sprinted for a 31-yard touchdown. to put New York up 19.

The Giants were in complete control of this game, but a chain of events gave the Broncos some life. Nix threw a touchdown via a ricochet to Troy Franklin. Following another Denver touchdown, Dart made his first mistake of the afternoon when he was picked on a toss right to a Denver defender. The Broncos scored a third touchdown to trim the margin to three. They needed one more stop, and they got it, forcing New York into a three-and-out. Nix took over and found Marvin Mims with a back-shoulder completion. Nix hooked up with Evan Engram to move into field goal range, but he wanted more. Nix scrambled into the end zone to take a 30-26 lead.

New York had one more chance, but it didn’t seem like much of one when it was stuck in a fourth-and-19. Dart completed an 18-yard pass, so it looked like the game was over. Instead, a roughing-the-passer penalty moved the chains. Dart then launched a deep pass that fell incomplete, but he was once again bailed out by a penalty. This time, Denver committed a pass interference, and to make matters worse, Sean Payton was flagged for unsportsmanlike conduct. On the next play, Dart sneaked into the end zone to put his team up two (via a missed extra point).

The Broncos still had 30 seconds remaining, and Nix hit Mims for a 29-yard pass to move the ball just over midfield. Nix then located Courtland Sutton for a 22-yard gain along the sideline. With two seconds remaining, Wil Lutz drilled a 39-yard field goal to give the Broncos a preposterous comeback victory.

Colts 38, Chargers 24

The Colts entered this game without their top two cornerbacks. However, based on how this game went, one could have guessed that it was the Chargers who were missing two cornerbacks instead of getting two key defenders – Khalil Mack, Denzel Perryman – back from injury.

Indianapolis did whatever it pleased throughout the afternoon. Jonathan Taylor rushed for two early scores, while Daniel Jones also had two touchdowns, as he wasn’t confronted with any pressure in the pocket. The Colts opened up a big lead as a result of this. Justin Herbert, conversely, saw plenty of heat because of his poor tackle play. This pressure led to an interception thrown into the end zone.

The Chargers had trouble sustaining drives until early in the third quarter when they put together two touchdown drives to trim the margin to 31-17. The Chargers looked like they’d have some life, but Jones immediately hit big plays to Tyler Warren, Michael Pittman Jr., and Alec Pierce. This put the Colts into the end zone, where Taylor immediately ran 19 yards for his third touchdown to put the Colts up 21.

Packers 27, Cardinals 23

Green Bay’s defense has been a colossal disappointment this year. That wasn’t the case in the first two weeks of the season, but the Packers have been woeful defensively since. They had a chance to bounce back against an Arizona offense featuring a backup quarterback and no running game to speak of, but the unit once again disappointed.

The Packers surrendered so many big plays to Arizona’s offense. Jacoby Brissett was stuck on a third-and-23 in the second quarter, but the Packers were offsides to give Brissett a free play. Brissett took advantage by connecting on a 23-yard bomb to Zay Jones, setting up a score. Later in the second frame, the Packers were once again offsides on a third-and-12. Brissett converted, and on the very next play, Brissett connected with Trey McBride, who was wide open in the end zone to put Arizona up 13-3.

Green Bay’s defensive incompetence continued into the second half. Brissett was backed up in a third-and-14, but he once again converted, sailing a pass right to Marvin Harrison Jr. down the sidelines for a gain of 35 yards. This led to another touchdown from McBride, who was inexplicably wide open in the red zone once again.

While Green Bay’s defense struggled, the offense made up for the incompetence. The Packers couldn’t get much going offensively in the first half, but “No Cookie” Jordan Love engineered three touchdown drives following halftime, including one to give the team the lead at the very end. Love converted a fourth-and-2 when the announcers were begging the team to kick a field goal. Josh Jacobs eventually scored to move the Packers ahead, 30-26.

The Cardinals needed a touchdown to win. Brissett completed some passes to move into Green Bay territory, but the Packers finally came up with a stop. Micah Parsons sacked Brissett to put Arizona into a long-yardage situation. Three plays later, Brissett hurled an incomplete pass into the end zone.

49ers 20, Falcons 10

The 49ers entered this game very shorthanded on both sides of the ball, but they apparently did not get the memo. Even though they had a turnover on an early drive deep into Atlanta territory – Mac Jones’ interception bounced off the hands of Jauan Jennings – they kept fighting and eventually scored a touchdown on a Christian McCaffrey run on the ensuing possession.

Up 7-3, the 49ers hounded Michael Penix Jr., creating a fumble when Bryce Huff hit him with a strip-sack. This set up a San Francisco score, and it was one of many occasions in which the 49ers knocked around the young Atlanta quarterback. Penix took a beating, so much so that the announcers believed Kirk Cousins would have to enter the game in the fourth quarter.

Meanwhile, the 49ers had plenty of success moving the chains. There was a mishap when Demarcus Robinson dropped a deep pass in a 13-10 game, but the 49ers otherwise moved the ball very effectively on the ground. George Kittle’s return was instrumental in allowing McCaffrey to pick up big chunks and eventually score another touchdown that put San Francisco up 10.

Lions 24, Buccaneers 9

The Lions dominated in the first half. They outgained the Buccaneers, 275-56, and Tampa Bay took just one snap in Detroit territory prior to intermission. The Lions were able to benefit from big plays from Amon-Ra St. Brown and Jahmyr Gibbs.

And yet, the Buccaneers trailed 14-3, and when they scored a touchdown to open the third quarter, they had a legitimate chance to pull the upset. The Lions, however, were able to answer with a touchdown drive of their own, capped off by Gibbs’ second touchdown of the evening.

The Buccaneers, down 12, couldn’t put another promising drive together until they appeared to convert a fourth-and-4 on a completion to Cade Otton. However, replay review showed that Otton was shy of the line to gain. The Lions converted the turnover on downs with a 58-yard field goal to extend the lead to 15.

Tampa Bay had one more chance. Mayfield drove down into the red zone because of a pair of fourth-down conversions, but Detroit’s injury-ravaged secondary was able to force an incompletion on the third fourth-down try to effectively end the game.

Mike Evans made his return, but didn’t log a single catch on four targets. He was hobbling the entire time and didn’t look quite right. Making matters worse, he was knocked out with a concussion and a broken collarbone in the second quarter.

Seahawks 27, Texans 19

This was one of the most perplexing football games anyone has seen in a while. A comedy of errors on both sides made what should have been a blowout into a close game, and then into an epic failure at the very end.

The Seahawks were dominant early in this game. They were up 14-0, and they recovered a C.J. Stroud fumble, which should have put them up 21-0. However, the defender fumbled the ball for a touchback. Undaunted, the Seahawks retained possession and were moving down the field with ease when offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak inexplicably had Cooper Kupp throw the ball. It was naturally intercepted. This set up a field goal, and then a Seattle missed kick gave the Texans three more points. The Seahawks should have been up 24-0 or even 28-0 at that point, but it was 14-6 heading into the break.

Stroud struggled to begin the second half. He threw a pick to give the Seahawks an 11-point lead. The Texans then appeared to have some life when Sam Darnold was strip-sacked in his own end zone. The Texans drew to within 17-12, but when Woody Marks was stuffed on a fourth-and-1, the Seahawks took advantage by scoring a touchdown on a short field.

The Seahawks should have been able to walk away with a 27-12 victory, but they apparently forgot that they were ahead because they called for many passing plays in the fourth quarter. Darnold was intercepted on one and nearly took a safety on another sack. The Texans kept getting opportunity after opportunity, and they finally converted. They took too much time, however, because they ran the ball when they needed to throw on every play.

The Texans trimmed the margin to eight with 2:04 and one timeout remaining. They needed to onside kick the ball, or at least blast the kickoff out of the end zone, but they didn’t do that. The Seahawks, who erased the 2-minute warning on the kickoff return, were able to drain all but 20 seconds on the clock. The Texans could have gotten a chance at a Hail Mary. Instead, nose tackle Tim Settle felt the need to jump on a pile, which drew a flag and ended the game.