Month: October 2025

The game of the weekend and one of the best of the season — Kansas City at Buffalo — will not be shown in prime time. It will be the CBS doubleheader game Sunday. CBS must have protected the game because it is one of the league’s best rivalries. The teams  have have met in the playoffs four times in the last five years and the Chiefs won all four but the Bills  won the last three regular season games. It is the only CBS late game and FOX only has two late  games — the Rams hosting New Orleans and Jacksonville at Las Vegas — so the game will get national coverage. In the current standings, the Bills are 5-2 and the Chiefs are 5-3

– T he three prime time games are Baltimore at Miami Thursday night, Seattle at Washington Sunday night and Arizona at Dallas Monday night. The Ravens are 2-5 but are still alive in the battle for the AFC North division title because the Steelers are 4-3. And the Ravens figure to beat 2-6 Miami despite the Dolphins surprising  34-10 win over Atlanta. Arizona is 2-5 after losing five close games in a row while the Cowboys are 3-4-1 after being routed by the Broncos, 44-24 last week.

–CBS has five early games and in only one of them are both teams among the top seven in their conference. And even in that one, 7-1 Indianapolis figures to beat 5-3 Pittsburgh. In three of them, a team currently in the playoff pictures faces a team currently on the outside looking in. San Francisco is at the Giants, New England hosts Atlanta and the Chargers are at Tennessee. In the other early CBS game, 4-3 Chicago is at 2-6 Cincinnati.

–In the three early FOX games, all face teams that are in the top seven against teams that aren’t. Detroit hosts Minnesota, Green Bay hosts Carolina and Denver is at Houston. The Texans are currently ninth in the AFC at 3-4  and need a victory to try to stay alive in the wild card race.     

The four teams having byes this week are the  Jets, Eagles, Browns and Bucs.

This was not a memorable weekend for the NFL. After many games early in the season were decided in the last minute or even last play, things changed last weekend. Of the 13 games, 12 were decided by double digits. The only close game was the Jets posting their first victory as they edged the Bengals, 39-38. The problem was that of the 14 teams currently in line for a playoff berth, only one game featured two of those teams as  the Steelers, 35-25 by outscoring the the Steelers 21-6 in the final quarter.

–The Packers victory kept them on top of the NFC with a 5-1-1 record while Indianapolis remained with the best record in the AFC at 7-1. They stayed on top by routing the Titan 38-14.

–The 4-3 Jaguars had a bye and dropped from seventh to eighth in the AFC as they were passed by the Chiefs, who took the seventh spot at 5-3 by beating the Commanders Monday night. The Steelers were the only team in the top six in the AFC to lose when the Packers beat them. But they remained on top in the AFC North with a 4-3 mark, two games in the loss column ahead of the Bengals and Ravens. The Ravens at 2-5 beat the Bears 30-14 and are expected to get Lamar Jackson back. 

At this point, the Colts, Patriots Steelers and Denver are the division leaders with the Chargers, Bills and Patriots as the wild card team.

–The Packers, Eagles, Bucs and Seahawks are the division leaders with the Lions, Rams and 48ers are currently the wild card teams. The 49ers may have the toughest time making the playoffs because of all their injuries.

–In the NFC, three of the seven top teams, the Rams, Seattle and Lions all had byes while the 49ers lost to the Texans but stayed in the seventh post.

The feature game is the CBS doubleheader game featuring Dallas at Denver. The Broncos are 5-2 coming off the 33-32 win over the Giants to become the first team to overcome an 18 point point deficit in last six minutes during a 33 point explosion in the final quarter. The Cowboys are 3-3-1 after beating the Commanders and but are trailing the 5-2 Eagles in the NFC East.

–With six teams (Arizona, Detroit, Jacksonville, the Rams, Las Vegas and Seatte) all having byes,  there won’t be an international game. The weekend begins Thursday night with Minnesota at the Chargers. The Vikings are 3-3 and the Chargers 4-3 so they both are trying to avoid a fourth loss.

–The Sunday night game features Green Bay at Pittsburgh with Aaron Rodgers going against his old team. Rodgers lost to another veteran, Joe Flacco, last Thursday night and will duel the quarterback who replaced him, Jordan Love. The Packers are 4-1-1 and the Steelers are 4-2. The Packers rallied to beat the Cardinals last Sunday.

–In the Monday night game, Kansas City at 3-3 hosts Washington. The Chiefs are finally finding their groove after getting Rashee Rice and Xavier Worthy back and routed the Raiders Sunday. They figure to beat the Commanders, who lost to Dallas Sunday and are uncertain about the status of quarterback Jayden Daniels, who left the game early in the third period with a hamstring injury and didn’t return. The Commanders are 3-4.

—In one of the more intriguing games, Baltimore hosts Chicago. The Ravens appear out of it at 1-5 but as they come off their bye and likely will get Lamar Jackson back, they think they can get on a roll. But a sixth loss would be likely too much to overcome. Chicago under new coach Ben Johnson is a surprising 4-2 after beating the Saints last week and are in the playoff picture.

There doesn’t seem to be a dominant team in the league unless you count – believe it or not – the Indianapolis Colts. They own the best record in the league at 6-1 after routing the Los Angeles Chargers, 38-24, on Sunday as Jonathan Taylor scored three touchdown and Daniel Jones threw for 288 yards and two touhdowns. Taylor leads the league with 131 rushing attempts, 697 rushing yards  and 10 touchdowns. If he leads the league in all three categories, it will be the second time he’s done it. He also did it in 2021. Even Jim Brown only did it just three times. The Colts now appear to be real and the team to beat in the AFC.

–Now the question is which team has the best chance of overtaking them in the AFC.  New England and Denver both won to go to 4-2 along with the Bills, who had a bye, and the Steelers, who lost, while the Chiefs routed the Raiders to go to 4-3 and could make another Super Bowl run now that Rashee Rice and Xavier Worthy are both back. The Chargers and Jaguars, who both lost, are also 4-3.In the NFC, the Packers beat the Cardinals to stay the only team with one loss at 4-1-1. The Bucs lost to the Lions and now are tied with the Lions, Eagles, 49ers, Seahawks and Rams at 5-2. The Eagles snapped a two-game losing streak by beating the Vikings while the 49ers, Seahawks and Rams beat Falcons, Texans and Jaguars.

–In the game of the weekend or maybe the season, the Broncos fell behind 19-0 and still trailed by 18 points with six minutes left but rallied with 33 points in the fourth period to beat the Giants, 33-32, who were the victims of two missed extra points by kicker Jude McAtamney. He was filling in for injured kicker Graham Gano. Hard to believe but the previous 1,602 teams in NFL history who were behind by 18 points with six minutes left and all lost.

— Another frustrated team is the Arizona Cardinals, who started off 2-0 but have lost five consecutive games by a total of 13 points. The Cardinals have gone into the fourth quarter with at least a touchdown lead in all five games and still lost. No team has ever done that and only one, the 2017 49ers, lost five in a row by a total of 13 points. The latest loss was by a 27-23 margin to Green Bay Sunday. The Cardinals now have a bye before playing the Cowboys on Monday night the following week. Maybe they can regroup during the bye week.

–In a matchup of two quarterbacks in their 40s, Joe Flacco beat Aaron Rodgers as he passed for 347 yards and three touchdowns. Rodgers passed for 249 yards and four touchdowns. The Bengals traded for Flacco after Joe Burrow was injured and backup Jake Browning was ineffective. Pittsburgh coach Mike Tomlin complained before the game about the Browns trading Flacco in the division. And it turns out for good reason Tomlin was upset. The 4-2 Steelers are now just two games ahead in the loss column ahead of the 3-4 Bengals.

There are five national broadcasts this weekend starting with the Thursday night game  featuring Pittsburgh going to Cincinnati, which will have Joe Flacco at quarterback. Steeler coach Mike Tomlin made the puzzling comment that he can’t figure out why the Browns would trade Flacco to a team in his division. Obviously, he would rather face Jake Browning but no point in commenting on the moves of another team.

–The Sunday morning game from London on the NFL Network is interesting with the Rams played the Jaguars. Both teams are 4-2 so it is a pivotal game for both teams.

–Atlanta, coming off a short week after beating the Commanders Monday night, has to go to San Francisco, which is 4-2 but playing without Fred Warner and Nick Bosa. The 49ers are 4-2 while Atlanta is 3-2 and a game behind the Bucs in the loss column in the NFC South. The 49ers are tied with the Rams and Seattle.

–In first Monday night game, 5-1 Tampa Bay is at Detroit with the Lions at 4-2 after having their four game winning streak snapped by the Chiefs. In the second game, 2-3 Houston is at 4-2 Seattle  so both teams have a lot at stake.

–CBS has the single game Sunday but the three early games aren’t compelling attractions. Kansas City figures to beat Las Vegas and the Patriots are likely to win at Tennessee, the team that fired fired Mike Patriot coach Mike Vrabel a year ago. The third early game is Miami at Cleveland with both at 1-5 and playing only for pride. The two later games are better with the 2-4 Giants at 4-2 Denver and 5-1 Indianapolis at the 4-2 Chargers. The Giants look better with rookie Jaxson Dart at quarterback so they could upset Denver. 

–FOX has the national doubleheader but the two games are Washington at Dallas and Green Bay at Arizona. The three early games are Philadelphia at Minnesota, New Orleans at Chicago and Carolina at the Jets. The Philadelphia at Minnesota could be the game of the day because the Eagles are trying to bounce back from two losses in a row. Washington, Green Bay, Chicago and Carolina figure to win the other four games.

The Kansas City Chiefs seem to be the best story in the NFL. Last Monday night when they  were upset by the Jacksonville Jaguars to fall to 2-3, there was chatter their dynasty was in decline. But then they came back Sunday night to beat the Lions, who have injury problems, 30-17. But that wasn’t the end of the story. After the game Patrick Mahomes tried to shake hands with Brian Branch, who ignored him. Then JuJu Smith-Schuster came up to Branch thinking he would shake hands and Branch slapped his helmet, knocked him to the ground and a brawl ensued. Again, the Chiefs were in the news . And Branch was suspended for a game. Meanwhile, the Chiefs are only a game behind a playoff spot in the AFC and get Rashee Rice back from his six game suspension this week so they can’t be counted out as they face the Raiders, Commanders and Bills the next three weeks.

–One reason the Chiefs than can rebound is that the AFC Race is wide open. The Bills, who won their first four, lost their second straight to Atlanta Monday night to fall to 4-2. The surprising Colts, who beat the Cardinals, 31-27, are 5-1 while the Steelers, who posted their usual home win against the Browns, 23-9, are 4-1. The Colts and Steelers lead their divisions while the Bills are tied with the Patriots but the Patriots have the tie break since they Beat the Bills. And Denver and the Chargers are tied for the AFC West lead at 4-2. Denver edged the winless Jets, 13-11, and the Chargers beat the Dolphins, 29-27, when Justin Herbert threw a 42 yard pass in the final minute to set up the game wining field goal. Coach Jim Harbaugh said he will never forget that throw. The other two 4-2 teams are the Jaguars, who lost to the Seahawks, 20-12, and the Patriots, who beat the Saints, 25-19. So seven teams have two or one losses and are the current seven playoff teams. But the 3-3 Chiefs and 2-3 Texans are within striking distance.  But it is probably over for the 0-6 Jets and the 1-5 Ravens, 1-5 Browns, 1-5 Dolphins and 1-5 Titans. Only four teams since 1933 made the playoffs after a 1-5 start, and none of them won a playoff game. The Titans even fired their coach, Brian Callahan, as he became the first to be dismissed this year. 

–In the NFC, the Bucs have the best record at 5-1 and the Packers have the second best at 3-1-1 as they both lead their divisions. The Bucs beat the 49ers 30-19 and the Packers beat the Bengals 27-18. Every other team in the conference has two losses so race is wide open but the 4-2 49ers lost Fred Warner for the season after previously looking Nick Bosa and it will be difficult for them to overcome the loss of both of them. 

–The most puzzling team is Philadelphia. The defending champions won their first four games even though they weren’t at the top of their game but now have lost two including a 34-17 loss to the Giants Thursday night. Now the question is whether they can find their mojo from last year. But the Eagles still lead their division at 4-2 because the Commanders were upset by the Bears, who won by a field goal on the final play Monday night. The Commanders fell to 3-3 with the loss, while the Bears have won three in a row after losing the first year under new coach Ben Johnson.    

–The Jets remained the only winless team as they lost to the Broncos when coach Aaron Glenn went for it on fourth and eight at the end instead of trying a 62-yard goal. And his decision to dump Aaron Rodgers, who is 4-1 in Pittsburgh, and sign Justin Fields isn’t working out.

The NFL season is almost starting over in Week 6 with with no dominant team after the last two unbeaten teams, Buffalo and Philadelphia, both lost last weekend and there are now seven teams tied for the best record at 4-1. It was the first time in 68 weekends  that Patrick Mahomes, Josh Allen and Jalen Hurts all lost the same weekend.

–The weekend will feature five national games including two on Monday night plus the doubleheader game with the feature attraction Sunday night when Kansas City hosts Detroit. The Lions have won four in a row after losing their opener and are one of seven teams tied for the best record at 4-1. The Chiefs are struggling with a 2-3 start after losing in Jacksonville Monday night. They  were embarrassed as Mahomes threw a pick-six that Devin Lloyd returned 99 yards. Also, Trevor Lawrence was tripped after taking a snap in the last 30 seconds, stumbled a second time but no Chiefs defensive player touched him and he got up and ran into the end zone while their best defensive player, Chris Jones, loafed and stood on the goal line without trying to chase Lawrence. The Chiefs obviously have to get their focus back if they are to make a Super Bowl run.

–The Eagles and Bills will both play in prime time as they attempt to rebound from their first losses. The Eagles play at the New York Giants Thursday night in what should be an easy win while the Bills will be at Atlanta in the first Monday night game. Denver will play the winless Jets in London on Sunday with the game being shown at 9:30 am. The Jets are the last winless team and don’t figure to give the Broncos much of a game.

–The CBS doubleheader Sunday game that will be shown to much of the country features two 4-1 teams with San Francisco at Tampa Bay. With Brock Purdy still dealing with a toe injury, Mac Jones will likely make his fourth start. Jones has injury issues of his own with a left knee ailment and an oblique injury. He won his previous three starts and the former New England first-round pick is jumpstarting his career after going 2-5 in Jacksonville last year.

–Fox has two interesting games Sunday with 4-1 Indianapolis hosting 2-3 Arizona and 4-1 Jacksonville hosting 3-2 Seattle.  Arizona is trying to rebound from its disaster against winless Tennessee when Emari Demercado dropped a ball just before crossing the goal line to cost the Cardinals a 28-6 lead in the fourth quarter in a game they lost at the end, 22-21. Coach Jonathan Gannon was so irate that he got into Demercado’s face on the sideline and appeared to bump him. He apologized and was fined $100,000 by the team. It remains to be seen if the Cardinals can recover against a surprising Indianapolis team. And Jacksonville has been a surprising team under new coach Liam Coen and has won three in a row. Meanwhile, Fox will show Dallas at Carolina to most of the nation. The Cowboys are always a draw despite their 2-2-1 record, even though the other two games have better storylines.

This was the weekend for the 1972 Dolphins to toast their perfect season. The last two unbeaten  teams, the Eagles and Bills, both lost so this will be the 53rd season in  a row  there will be no unbeaten teams. The Dolphins like to claim they are the only unbeaten team in NFL history but the NFL now counts AAFC records and Paul Browns Cleveland Browns had a perfect  season in 1948.

–There are now six teams tied at 4-1, so there is no dominant  team now. The Bills lost to the Patriots and the Eagles lost to the Broncos and fell to 4-1. The Colts beat the  Raiders, the Lions beat the Bengals, the  Jaguars beat the Chiefs and the 49ers beat  the Rams as they all went to 4-1. The Steelers had a bye and remained 3-1.

–There is only one winless 0-5 team, the Jets, who lost to the Cowboys, plus seven 1-4 teams  So basically eight are longshots to make  the playoff and the other 24 teams are  bunched between one and three losses fighting for 14 playoff spots. The most surprising 1-4 team is Baltimore,  which has suffered a rash of injuries.

 –The most talked about  play of the week came  when the Titans appeared to fall behind the Cardinals 28-6 when Emari Demercado dropped the ball on the goal as he was about to score on a 72-yard run. Coach Jonathan Gannon was so irate that he got in the player’s face and appeared to brush him. He apologized the next day.  The Cardinals wound up  losing 22-21.

–A lot of  questions are being raised about the Chiefs after they fell to 2-3 with the  loss to the  Jaguars. Is their dynasty over? Are they just complacent? Can they still make the playoffs?.  We will get more answers when they play the Lions and Bills the next two weeks.

–With the byes starting this week, there will be 14 games with Atlanta, Chicago, Green Bay  and  Pittsburgh getting the byes.  That means the league will have two national games that aren’t good attractions. Minnesota figures to beat  Cleveland in London, a game that will start  at 9:30 a.m. on the East Coast on NFL Network. And Buffalo figures to remain unbeaten on Sunday night with a win over New England.

–But the other  two prime  time games figure to be interesting. San Francisco and the Rams, tied at 3-1 with Seattle in the NFC West, will meet Thursday  night. Seattle hosts 3-1 Tampa Bay  in a CBS  late Sunday game that won’t get much coverage.

–The  other prime time game features 2-2 Kansas City  at surprising 3-1  Jacksonville, which leads the league  with 13 turnovers on Monday. Indianapolis, tied with the Jaguars, hosts Las Vegas in a Fox early game. 

–The Fox doubleheader Sunday game shown too much of the country will feature 2-2 Washington at the 3-1 Chargers.

–And then there were two. After four weeks,  there are just two unbeaten teams left  — Philadelphia and Buffalo at 4-0. The Eagles built up a 31-20 lead after three quarters and beat the Bucs, 31-25. The Bills beat the winless Saints, 31-19. The Eagles and Bills meet in the second  to the last game of the regular season on Dec. 28 in Philadelphia. 

–The Detroit Lions took over first place in the NFC North by beating the Browns, 34-10, to go to 3-1. Green Bay fell to second at 2-1-1 with a wild 40-40 overtime tie with Dallas on a field goal on the final play.

–Indianapolis lost to the Rams, 27-20, to fall into a first place  tie in the AFC South  at 3-1 with Jacksonville, which upset the the 49ers, 26-21. The Jaguars had four turnovers and lead the league with 13.

–The San Diego Chargers lost their first game to the Giants. 21-18, but still lead the  AFC West at 3-1. Kansas City and Denver  both  won and are tied for second at 2-2. 

–The Pittsburgh Steelers beat Minnesota in Dublin to take over first place in the AFC North  at 3-1. Cincinnati lost its second straight  without  Joe Burrow with  a 28-3  loss  to Denver and is 2-2.