The oddsmakers are now making the 49ers the favorites to win the Super Bowl after they boosted their record to 5-0 with a 32-29 victory over the defending champion Seahawks, who dropped 3-2 and are ranked seventh in the odds to make the Super Bowl.
The Rams fell to 2-3 with a 37-34 overtime loss to the Bills. The Rams are now ranked second while the Bills, Ravens and unbeaten Chiefs, who had a bye, round out the top five. The other unbeaten team, Minnesota, is ranked seventh at 5-0 after beating the Saints, 23-13.
–The 49ers-Seahawks game featured seven turnovers, and the first three turnovers the 49ers made led to touchdowns. On Seattle’s final drive, the officials ruled Cooper Kupp was inches short when he caught a fourth-and-10 pass and made a dive to try to get the first down in San Francisco territory. Mike Evans, playing with two broken ribs, played a big role for the 49ers as he caught seven passes for 116 yards and a touchdown.
–But the 49ers-49ers Seahawks game wasn’t the most talked about game. The headlines were for two games that had bizarre finishes and left coaches being second guessed – the Jaguars 19-17 win over Philadelphia and the Giants-Redskins overtime tie.
The Eagles took a 17-16 lead with eight seconds over the Jaguars left on a 48-yard field goal by Jake Elliott. But on their final drive the Eagles failed to drain the clock to two or three seconds, which would have prevented the kickoff that Ameer Abdullah ran for 53 yards. He was tackled with a second left and Cam Little won it with a 57-yard field goal. Most of the post-game talk was about the Eagles decision not to kick the ball out of end zone to give the Jaguars possession at their 35 with one time out. Coach Nick Sirianni took the blame for that decision. But the bigger error was the Eagles not taking more time off the clock on their final drive. They were more concerned about getting closer to make the field-goal attempt easier than draining the clock. The field-goal attempt should have come on the last play. If the Jaguars had lost, coach Liam Coen would have been second-guessed for passing up two field-goal tries and then failing to score on fourth down.
–The finish of the Giants-Washington game was even stranger. The Commanders were in field-goal range but out of timeouts. They ran a play instead of spiking the ball and going for the field goal and time expired before they could line up for the field-goal attempt. If that gaffe costs the Commanders a playoff spot, it could also cost coach Dan Quinn his job. The Commanders are now 1-3-1, but the NFC East race is wide open with the Giants at 3-1-1 and the Eagles and Cowboys 2-3. The oddsmakers list the Cowboys a slight favorite to win the division despite their stunning 24-18 loss to the previously winless Bucs on Thursday night.
–Rams coach Sean McVay got a lot of second guessing for running the ball on third-and-five at the Bills 30 in overtime instead of letting Matthew Stafford throw the ball in an attempt to get the first down. Harrison Mevis then had to try a 48-yard field goal even though he had already missed one and it was blocked. Mevis was released the next day. Josh Allen led a drive to set up Tyler Bass’ game winning 45-yard field goal with two minutes left in overtime. Coach Joe Brady was second-guessed for going for the field goal with that much time left. If Bass had missed, the Rams could have had a game winning drive but Brady was vindicated when Bass made it. In the Giants’ game, the Giants were in field-goal range but coach John Harbaugh decided to try to get closer and a first down fumble may have cost the Giants the win. The Bills are now 4-1 and favored to win the AFC East.
–There are now three winless teams after Houston posted its first win, a 26-3 rout of winless Tennessee. The Titans, Dolphins, who lost to Cincinnati, 31-24, and the Chargers, who lost the Broncos, 23-17, are all 0-5 and no team has started out 0-5 and missed the playoffs in the history of the league so they are probably playing for draft position.
