NFL Game Recaps: Week 7, 2026

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

Bears 30, Patriots 24
This was a tight game throughout the first half, and it looked like the Patriots would cut into the lead when they drove down the field late in the second quarter and entered the red zone. However, Drake Maye threw an interception on a pass into the end zone, allowing the Bears to take over. Chicago responded with a touchdown where Luther Burden benefited from some great blocking in front of him.

It looked like the score would be 20-7 at halftime, but Maye dumped the ball off to Rhamondre Stevenson, and all the defenders overpursued to the right side. This allowed Stevenson to reverse direction and score an inexplicable touchdown, trimming the margin to 20-14 at intermission.

The two teams exchanged touchdowns in the third quarter, and it looked like the Bears would extend their lead to two scores, but Cairo Santos doinked a field goal attempt off the right upright. The Patriots took over with a chance to take the lead, but Maye was promptly sacked for a huge loss. New England was forced to punt, allowing Chicago to take over.

Caleb Williams did a great job of converting a third-and-9 with a 21-yard pass to Rome Odunze. Two plays later, Williams connected with Odunze again for another 21-yard gain. Williams, however, took a sack on third down that nearly knocked the Bears out of field goal range. Santos redeemed himself with a 58-yard bomb, a career long for him. This put the Bears ahead 30-21, icing the game.

Steelers 16, Saints 10
There were some concerns that the football stadium would burn down amid the violent riots occurring in Paris. However, the only things that burned in this game were the Saints tickets that went up in smoke when the team committed multiple mistakes late in the contest to bury itself.

The Steelers held a 13-10 lead entering halftime, thanks to Jaylen Warren's terrific running. You would think Mike McCarthy would have continued to use Warren in the second half, but he barely gave him any touches, proving once again that McCarthy has extremely limited intelligence and no grasp of how to be a head coach in the NFL.

McCarthy's mismangement allowed the Saints to hang around, and New Orleans drove down the field to open the third quarter. The Saints entered the red zone, but that's when calamity struck. Tyler Shough, resembling a bucking bronco that hadn't been tamed yet, threw an interception on a telegraphed pass. It wasn't completely his fault, however, because Kellen Moore called a run beforehand, which put Shough in an unfavorable passing situation. The Saints couldn't run the ball whatsoever, so it's unclear why they wasted their time handing the ball off to their running backs when trailing.

The Steelers took over, and Aaron Rodgers was able to engineer a field goal drive. The Saints had one more chance to take the lead, but following a terrific sideline reception by Chris Olave, Shough took a sack on third down. The Saints were forced to punt and never got the ball back. Rodgers had a key scramble, and then the Saints were called for offsides on a field goal attempt, which ended the game because it allowed Pittsburgh to move the chains.

Buccaneers 43, Panthers 13
By Charlie Campbell - @draftcampbell

EDITOR'S NOTE: The Panthers were caught looking ahead to their Thursday night game against the Packers. If someone ever challenges you that teams don't look ahead, just point to this game as an example.

This game was pure domination from Tampa Bay. The Buccaneers defense took the ball away, scored touchdowns, and dominated the Panthers' offensive line. Carolina falls to 3-3 in a game where they could have essentially eliminated Tampa Bay, but after improving to 2-5, the Buccaneers breathed some life into their season in the weak and wide-open NFC South.

The Bucs took the opening kickoff down the field on a 14-play drive with a key third-and-long conversion from Baker Mayfield to Tez Johnson and eight runs from Bucky Irving, including a short touchdown run. Late in the first quarter, Carolina muffed a punt and Tampa Bay recovered just inside the Panthers' 20-yard line. They turned that into a field goal for a 10-0 lead. Shortly later, Al Muhammad beat Robert Hunt for a strip-sack, and Calijah Kancey caught the ball on a bounce and rumbled down the field for a touchdown to put the Bucs up 17-0.

Carolina quickly responded with Bryce Young throwing a dart deep down the field to Darren Waller for a 50-yard touchdown. The extra point was blocked, and Zyon McCollum returned the block for a two-point conversion to go up 19-6. Tampa Bay ran the ball down the throat of the Panthers' defense, with Irving scoring from a few yards out to make the lead 26-6. McCollum promptly intercepted Young to set up another short field. Mayfield found Tez Johnson wide open in the end zone with only seconds left in the second quarter to give Tampa Bay a 33-6 lead at halftime.

In the third quarter, Carolina had its fourth turnover of the game with Tyeke Smith intercepting Bryce Young, and that turned into a field goal for Tampa Bay. Early in the fourth quarter, Sean Tucker ripped off a 46-yard touchdown run to make it 43-6.

Dolphins 28, Jets 25

Many people considered the Dolphins and Jets to be among the three worst teams in the NFL entering the season. New York has been a lot better than Miami, but that certainly wasn't the case in this game.

The Dolphins were unstoppable offensively in the first half, beginning with their opening drive. Ollie Gordon had a 25-yard run to set up a touchdown pass to Caleb Douglas, who was seeing his first action since getting hurt in Week 2. The Jets answered with a 52-yard play to Omar Cooper Jr., but the Dolphins scored again on their ensuing possession. That's when the comedy of errors began for the Jets.

Down 14-7, Geno Smith made a poor decision when he threw a late pass across his body that was easily intercepted. Early in the second half, now down by 14, the Jets drove into the red zone, but Smith took a sack to force a field goal attempt. The 40-yard kick hit the upright, allowing the Dolphins to maintain their 21-7 lead.

This theme of the Jets reaching the red zone and squandering opportunities persisted throughout the second half. Cooper made another big play, this time for 60 yards, but the Jets had to settle for a field goal because of a holding penalty. A bit later, New York advanced to the 1-yard line. The Jets then had a sequence featuring a fullback run, a Braelon Allen run and a pass play that resulted in a sack. They had to settle for another field goal, trimming the margin to 21-17.

The Jets needed to get the ball back and score a touchdown, but they weren't able to do so. Malik Willis tossed a short pass to Douglas, who broke a tackle and raced 63 yards for a touchdown while tightroping the sideline. This iced the game for the Dolphins, allowing them to earn their first victory of the year.

Browns 27, Titans 24
The Titans haven't won consecutive games since the Mike Vrabel era, but it looked like they'd be able to accomplish that in this contest, given that they jumped out to a 14-0 lead in the early going. Tony Pollard rushed for 60 yards on five carries and a touchdown on the opening possession. Following an interception by Deshaun Watson on a telegraphed throw, Pollard scored once again to put Tennessee up two touchdowns.

The Browns answered with a touchdown, but it looked like Tennessee would go up 21-7. The Titans had a first-and-goal at the 1-yard line. Pollard appeared to score a touchdown, but he was ruled short following a replay review. The Titans had three more chances to get into the end zone, but didn't give Pollard a single carry. They tried some plays with Cam Ward, but failed on fourth down to keep the score at 14-7.

This was a sloppy game in the middle of the afternoon. The teams exchanged turnovers, with Pollard losing a fumble at midfield and Ward throwing an interception when Denzel Ward made a great play. After that, Harold Fannin Jr. lost a fumble and Carnell Tate did the same at his own 40-yard line when the Browns were ahead 17-14.

The Browns eventually went up 24-17 and were trying to keep Tennessee from tying the game late in the fourth quarter. Cam Ward, however, engineered a great drive. He hit Elic Ayomanor for a big play to move into the red zone. A 26-yard gain helped set up another pass to Carnell Tate, who was ruled down at the 1-yard line. This time, Tennessee didn't mess around at the goal line, giving Pollard a carry that he converted into a touchdown to tie the game at 24.

However, the Titans left too much time on the clock. Watson was able to hook up with Fannin for a 36-yard reception. The talented tight end redeemed himself with the big play, which moved Cleveland into field goal range. Andre Szmyt connected on the game-winning field goal to give the Browns their fifth victory of the year.

Giants 27, Texans 21
The Giants were double-digit underdogs heading into this game, likely because J.J. McCarthy was set to make his first start for his new team. McCarthy, resembling a bucking bronco looking to be tamed, was looking to prove his doubters wrong early on, as he made some terrific throws. He completed a 42-yard pass to Malik Nabers with great back-shoulder placement, setting up a Tyrone Tracy touchdown to put the Giants up 7-3.

Later on, the Giants were marooned in a third-and-17, yet McCarthy was able to connect with Malachi Fields for a gain of 47 yards. McCarthy had close to 200 passing yards in the opening half, but the Giants, for some reason, stopped throwing in the second half. They concentrated on the run, and as a result, they failed to score another touchdown until midway through the fourth quarter. They eventually reached the end zone, putting them up 21-14.

The Texans, however, were able to engineer a tying drive, as C.J. Stroud hit Xavier Hutchinson to send the game to overtime. Stroud had a rough game overall, though. He had issues with the Giants' pass rush and looked like the Stroud we saw struggle late last season, when he was nearly benched in the playoff loss to the Patriots.

Houston went three-and-out on its opening possession of overtime. Stroud faced heavy pressure and was nearly intercepted twice. The Giants took over and were instantly in field goal range when Cam Skattebo broke free for a 42-yard run. However, the Giants, who missed two field goals on the day, didn't need to attempt another kick because Devin Singletary burst through for a 30-yard touchdown run on the very next play to win the game.

Falcons 29, 49ers 20
It looked like the 49ers were going to cruise to another victory when they marched down the field quite easily to score a touchdown on their opening possession. Christian McCaffrey went over the top on fourth down to give San Francisco a 7-0 lead.

The 49ers were ahead 14-9 later in the second quarter when McCaffrey suffered an injury. Kaelon Black had to take over, and despite scoring an earlier touchdown, he lost a fumble to give the Falcons possession, leading to an Atlanta score.

McCaffrey was able to return in the third quarter, though the 49ers were trailing 19-14 at that point. Despite McCaffrey's presence, San Francisco turned the ball over again. The 49ers ventured into the red zone, but Brock Purdy was intercepted on a great play by Jessie Bates. The Falcons responded with a touchdown drive that was aided by a pass interference penalty. Michael Penix Jr. hooked up with Drake London for the score to extend Atlanta's lead to 12.

The 49ers tried to bounce back, and it looked like they would do so. Purdy appeared to throw a great touchdown pass to trim the margin to 26-21, but a replay review revealed that the ball hit the ground. Purdy was promptly sacked on the ensuing fourth down, effectively ending San Francisco's chances of remaining undefeated.

Vikings 16, Colts 10
It looked like the Vikings would be off to a great start when they had a kickoff return that went into Indianapolis territory. However, Aaron Jones, who got banged up later in the game, was stuffed twice, including once on fourth down. The Colts took over and scored a quick touchdown, with Jonathan Taylor galloping 38 yards into the end zone. Indianapolis added a field goal later in the first half and entered intermission with a 10-6 lead.

Minnesota's elite defense, however, didn't allow anything in the second half, though the Colts also made some mistakes. Indianapolis missed a 56-yard field goal, setting up the Vikings with great field position. Kyler Murray responded with a 35-yard scramble down to the Indianapolis 5-yard line, where he hooked up with T.J. Hockenson to put his team ahead 13-10.

The Vikings looked like they would extend their lead to six, but the Colts blocked the field goal. Indianapolis, however, did nothing with the ball and squandered another opportunity when Spencer Shrader missed a 48-yard field goal, which was certainly a makeable kick. This prevented Indianapolis from tying the game, and the Vikings were able to convert a field goal on their next possession to extend their lead to 16-10.

The Colts still had a chance to win. They took over with 1:39 remaining, and Daniel Jones hit Josh Downs for a 13-yard gain to move the ball to the 44-yard line. On the next play, however, Jones was intercepted when he inexplicably threw the ball into double coverage, right to Harrison Smith, who sealed the victory with his interception.

Bengals 35, Ravens 13
This was a lopsided affair in the first half, except it wasn't the Bengals who were dominating. The Ravens looked like they would vanquish Cincinnati with a double-digit victory. They were up 13-0 at halftime, as Cincinnati's defense had no answer for Tyler Huntley's passing. Huntley, starting once again for the injured Lamar Jackson, dissected Cincinnati's secondary with constant passes to Zay Flowers and his tight ends. Cincinnati's offense, meanwhile, couldn't get anything going against Baltimore's stalwart defense.

However, given how often the Ravens blow leads, one could argue that the Bengals had Baltimore right where they wanted them. Cincinnati began moving the chains with ease, scoring touchdowns on its first two possessions of the second half.

The Ravens looked like they would answer when they reached the red zone, but they opted to go for it on fourth-and-2, rather than kick a field goal to take the lead. Huntley fired a pass, but his attempt fell incomplete when his intended target didn't even realize the ball was coming his way.

The Bengals were stuck in poor field position, but it didn't matter. Joe Burrow connected with Ja'Marr Chase and Tee Higgins to engineer another touchdown drive, and Cincinnati didn't stop there. The Bengals scored effortlessly throughout the second half to eventually cruise to a 22-point victory.

Broncos 30, Cardinals 16
The Broncos had battled nothing but tough defenses through the first six weeks of the season. That was set to change in this game against Arizona's pitiful stop unit. However, it looked like we'd see more of the same from Denver's struggling offense when the team couldn't do anything but muster a couple of field goals for most of the first half.

The Broncos got down to the 1-yard line early on, but offensive pass interference ruined the opportunity. Bo Nix, a bucking bronco who is being tamed by Sean Payton, was then lucky to get away with a dropped interception when he threw into double coverage, and the Broncos had to settle for a field goal.

However, everything changed toward the end of the first half when Nix finally took off. Nix had been a big scrambler throughout his career, but hadn't done much running this season because of his foot injury. However, he was able to burst free for a 60-yard touchdown run to give Denver a seven-point lead entering intermission.

Up 13-6, the Broncos were able to block a punt in the third quarter. The offense capitalized, as RJ Harvey scored a touchdown on a 52-yard reception after catching a short pass to extend the lead to 14. The Cardinals answered with a Trey McBride touchdown, but Nix responded with a deep pass to Marvin Mims to set up a J.K. Dobbins touchdown. This put the game out of reach for Arizona.

Lions 20, Packers 17

By Charlie Campbell - @draftcampbell

EDITOR'S NOTE: This game was amazing. It's like neither team wanted to win. Both teams were terrific between the 20s, but they looked like the Titans or Dolphins inside the 20. Amazingly, as soon as we bet Jordan Love over passing yards, he failed to complete a single deep pass, as his receivers suddenly forgot how to catch. It was impeccable timing.

This game was critically important for the Lions to stay in the divisional race in the NFC North. Detroit improved to 4-2 with the Vikings coming to Motown next week, and their highly criticized defense stepped up with a big game thanks in part to a plethora of dropped passes by Green Bay receivers. Detroit outplayed the Packers for a lot of the game, but two critical fumbles and being overly aggressive on two fourth downs helped keep Green Bay in the game.

The officiating in the game was horrible. The Packers were screwed by two ridiculous roughing-the-passer penalties and a grounding penalty. Detroit also was screwed on a missed facemask on Jahmyr Gibbs and no calls on holding of Aidan Hutchinson.

The Packers took the opening drive down the field with Jordan Love hitting some chunk passes, but Trey Smack missed a chip-shot field goal on fourth-and-goal. The Lions offense started fast with Jared Goff ripping the ball down the field, including two completions to Jameson Williams for 40 yards with a 16-yard touchdown. Green Bay responded with a fourth-and-2 conversion to Tucker Kraft to move into Lions territory. To cap the drive, Jordan Love tied the game at seven with a 14-yard scoring strike to Kraft.

Detroit quickly moved into Green Bay territory with a big completion to Amon-Ra St. Brown, but the drive stalled, and the Lions settled for a field goal. After trading punts, Love converted a fourth down with a 28-yard completion to Christian Watson. However, on a fourth-and-4 inside the 10, D.J. Reed had a great tackle to get the ball back for Detroit. Late in the first half, the Lions moved inside the Packers' 10, but Jahmyr Gibbs fumbled the ball away to keep the Lions' lead to 10-7 at the half.

On the opening drive of the third quarter, Goff and center Cade Mays weren't on the same page and fumbled a snap away close to midfield. The Packers turned that into a 25-yard touchdown pass to Josh Jacobs. The lead did not last long as the Lions went down the field and Goff connected with Williams for a 10-yard touchdown. At the end of the third quarter, the Lions had a fourth-and-5 at the Packers' six-yard line, and they passed on the easy field goal. Williams could only get one foot in on a leaping grab at the back of the end zone as he was pushed out of bounds by Brandon Cisse to negate the scoring opportunity for the Lions and keep the score 17-14 entering the fourth quarter.

Detroit safety Brian Branch was making his season debut after a torn Achilles injury in 2025, and Branch made his presence felt with an interception by winning on a 50-50 deep ball intended for Christian Watson. Packers safety Evan Williams dropped a pair of interceptions, but Green Bay forced a punt, and a drive led by Josh Jacobs produced a game-tying field goal from Smack.

On the ensuing possession, the Lions went for a fourth-and-1 on their own 24-yard line, and the Packers got a tackle for a loss to set up their offense at the Lions' 23 with 4:50 remaining, tied at 17. However, Green Bay blew the gift. Josh Jacobs dropped a touchdown pass, and then Smack had a chip-shot field goal tipped by D.J. Wonnum, leading to a wide right miss. The Lions got moving with a completion to Sam LaPorta and runs from Gibbs to set up the game-winning field goal on the final play of the game.

Rams 35, Raiders 21
The Rams were coming off a humiliating home loss to the Cardinals, and it looked like they would have issues once again when they committed a deep pass interference penalty on an early Las Vegas drive. However, the Raiders missed a 51-yard field goal, and the Rams took over for their second possession. They put together a scoring drive, with Matthew Stafford hitting Davis Allen for a touchdown to go up 7-0.

The Rams scored touchdowns on their next two possessions as well. Blake Corum had some great runs, while Stafford repeatedly connected with Puka Nacua, who was highly questionable entering this game. Nacua, however, looked completely healthy, and he scored a touchdown to put the Rams up 21-3.

The Raiders tried to answer, but Kirk Cousins threw an incomplete pass on fourth down near midfield. The Rams took over with a short field and scored yet again, with Kyren Williams running into the end zone to put Los Angeles up 28-3.

There was a bit of drama late when Kyren Williams lost a fumble and Stafford threw an interception late because of a Colby Parkinson drop. The Raiders scored twice to tighten the game, but the Rams shut the door with a Corum touchdown run.

Seahawks 20, Chiefs 3
The Chiefs entered this game as the most heavily bet team of the week, but no one told Seattle that it was supposed to roll over and die. The Seahawks, with extra time to prepare, dominated this game, handing the Chiefs their first loss of the season.

It was apparent early on that things would be difficult for the Chiefs, as Patrick Mahomes was intercepted while trailing 3-0. He faced heavy pressure on this play and many others throughout the night, as the Seahawks took advantage of the Chiefs' two backup tackles.

Meanwhile, Sam Darnold made some amazing throws, helping Seattle convert 11-of-16 third-down opportunities. By contrast, the Chiefs were just 3-of-11 on third downs. Darnold was very efficient, though he made a huge mistake toward the end of the first half following a great play by Jaxon Smith-Njigba. Up 10-0, Darnold, resembling an untamed bucking bronco, threw a horrible interception into double coverage while targeting a receiver in the end zone. Darnold should have at least settled for a field goal to give Seattle a 13-0 lead heading into intermission. Instead, the Chiefs had a nice return to put themselves in field goal range, but the kick fell short. Still, the Seahawks were up only 10-0 instead of 13-0 or 17-0.

The Chiefs looked like they would cut into the lead with a good drive in the fourth quarter, but they missed a 45-yard field goal. The Seahawks responded with a great drive fueled by their rushing attack, as Emanuel Wilson scored on a 21-yard touchdown run to put Seattle up 20-3.

Cowboys 38, Eagles 21
For a while, it appeared as though the Eagles would be able to pull the upset over the Cowboys. They scored touchdowns early on to lead 7-3 and 14-10. The Cowboys repeatedly gave them free first downs via penalties. On one drive, Dallas was offside on a fourth-and-1 failure. Later in the possession, the Cowboys committed a roughing-the-passer penalty on third down to set up a touchdown that put the Eagles ahead 14-10.

That wasn't it for Dallas' penalties. There was one earlier that also moved the chains for the Eagles, and on the ensuing kickoff return, the Cowboys appeared to score a touchdown, but the great play was negated by a holding penalty. Dallas then promptly committed pass interference on a third-and-5. It seemed as though Dallas was going to continue to struggle and give an inferior opponent another win, just like it did against the Buccaneers two weeks ago.

The Eagles came out of the locker room down 20-14 but engineered a touchdown drive that lasted about 10 minutes. Tanner McKee found Makai Lemon for a score to put the team up 21-20. The Cowboys answered, however, and did not allow a single point after that.

Dallas showed much better discipline following intermission. It did not commit a penalty in the second half until the very end of regulation. The team played far better following Philadelphia's initial drive in the second half, while the running game churned out tons of yardage via Javonte Williams and Tyler Goodson. Williams broke free for a 34-yard gain in the fourth quarter to effectively seal the victory for Dallas.