In one of the better weekends of football in this NFL season, two games stood out: The Dallas Cowboys winning a wild game against the Pittsburgh Steelers as Ezekiel Elliott emerged as an MVP candidate in his rookie year, while the Seattle Seahawks handed the New England Patriots their second home loss of the season thanks to Russell Wilson and elite defense.
Cleveland Browns (0-10) 7 Baltimore Ravens (5-4) 28: The Browns held the Ravens scoreless in the first quarter and even took a 7-3 lead in the second. So what? The Ravens held them without points in the second half while Joe Flacco picked himself up to throw 3 touchdown passes. The Browns rotated Josh McCown and Cody Kessler, and continue to be the epitome of how not to play football.
Green Bay Packers (4-5) 25 Tennessee Titans (5-5) 47: The Packers defense didn’t show up and gave up 3 touchdowns in the first quarter. Having to work with a 21-point deficit isn’t easy, with Aaron Rodgers doing what he can, but it isn’t enough this season. Marcus Mariota finished with four touchdown passes, DeMarco Murray ran for one and threw one also.
Minnesota Vikings (5-4) 20 Washington Redskins (5-3-1) 26: The season continues to crumble for the Vikings, losing their 4th straight. No running game resulted in putting up 0 points in the second half, while the Redskins, who opened the game leading 14-0 and then gave up 20 straight points, relied on the kicking of Dustin Hopkins to take the lead back and win the game.
Chicago Bears (2-7) 10 Tampa Bay Buccaneers (4-5) 36: The Bucs win their first home game of the season, getting two touchdown passes from Jameis Winston and one rushing score from Doug Martin. The Bears just looked pitiful, especially on defense, and the miraculous hail mary pass by Jay Cutler in the first half was their sole bright spot of the game, maybe the entire, depressing season.
Kansas City Chiefs (7-2) 20 Carolina Panthers (3-6) 17: When Cam Newton put the Panthers up by 10 points (they later took a 17-point lead), he dabbed, something he promised he’d stop doing for some reason. That looked silly in hindsight as the Chiefs scored 20 consecutive points without an offensive touchdown: Four field goals by Cairo Santos, and one pick six interception by Eric Berry off of Newton.
Atlanta Falcons (6-4) 15 Philadelphia Eagles (5-4) 24: The Eagles remain perfect at home, getting a big day from Ryan Mathews on the ground, as he rushed for two touchdowns and 109 yards. The Falcons couldn’t develop a running game, and Ryan relying too much on throwing to Julio Jones made it easy for the Eagles to stop Atlanta in the end.
Los Angeles Rams (4-5) 9 New York Jets (3-7) 6: I’m not sure what the Jets are doing by putting Bryce Petty on the field, but it didn’t help. In one of the ugliest games of football we’ve seen this season, the Rams didn’t score any touchdowns to win the game, but also didn’t see Case Keenum throwing interceptions. Greg Zuerlein hit a 38-yarder with six minutes remaining in the fourth, the defense did the rest.
Denver Broncos (7-3) 25 New Orleans Saints (4-5) 23: The Broncos win on the craziest play possible. The Saints scored what should have been a game winning touchdown with 1:22 left. All they needed was to make the extra point. But it was blocked, and Will Parks ran it all the way for a defensive two point conversion, winning the game.
Houston Texans (6-3) 24 Jacksonville Jaguars (2-7) 21: The Texans aren’t a very good football team, but they had an easy time running the ball (181 yards on 33 carries) and Brock Osweiler didn’t make any critical mistakes. Against the Jags and most AFC South teams, that’s enough.
Miami Dolphins (5-4) 31 San Diego Chargers (4-6) 24: In a game of changing leads, the Chargers took a 24-21 lead with 4:04 to go in the fourth. But the Dolphins tied the game with a field goal, and then won it as Philip Rivers threw one of his four interceptions, Kiko Alonso returning it 60 yards for the touchdown and the win. The Dolphins have won four in a row.
Dallas Cowboys (8-1) 35 Pittsburgh Steelers (4-5) 30: We can say a lot about this game, but the fourth quarter said it all.
- 7:51 to go, Le’Veon Bell scores his second touchdown of the game, Steelers up 24-23
- 1:55 to go, Ezekiel Elliott runs for a touchdown as the O-line demolishes Pittsburgh, 29-24 Dallas
- 0:42 to go, Ben Roethlisberger connected with Antonio Browns to put Pittsburgh up again, leading 30-24
- 0:09 to go, Elliott runs for his third touchdown of the game, rushing 32 yards to win it 35-30
San Francisco 49ers (1-8) 20 Arizona Cardinals (4-4-1) 23: The Cardinals helped the Niners look good for once, but a last-second field goal by Chandler Catanzaro restored order, ruining what was a rather solid day for Colin Kaepernick, scoring a touchdown and throwing for one as well.
Seattle Seahawks (6-2-1) 31 New England Patriots (7-2) 24: In their first meeting since the Super Bowl, the Patriots lost, failing on their last ditch effort to score in a goal line situation. Russell Wilson, healthy, was terrific with 3 touchdown passes. Tom Brady had his worst game of the season (0 touchdowns, one interception) and one has to wonder why the Pats didn’t go to LeGarrette Blount in the end, after he had already scored 3 rushing touchdowns in the game.
AFC Standings
| AFC East | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| W | L | T | PCT | DIV | CONF | PF | PA | STK | |
| New England Patriots | 7 | 2 | 0 | .778 | 2–1 | 6–1 | 241 | 163 | L1 |
| Miami Dolphins | 5 | 4 | 0 | .556 | 2–1 | 5–3 | 204 | 206 | W4 |
| Buffalo Bills | 4 | 5 | 0 | .444 | 1–3 | 1–4 | 237 | 203 | L3 |
| New York Jets | 3 | 7 | 0 | .300 | 1–1 | 3–4 | 179 | 243 | L2 |
| AFC North | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| W | L | T | PCT | DIV | CONF | PF | PA | STK | |
| Baltimore Ravens | 5 | 4 | 0 | .556 | 3–0 | 5–2 | 182 | 160 | W2 |
| Pittsburgh Steelers | 4 | 5 | 0 | .444 | 1–1 | 3–3 | 214 | 206 | L4 |
| Cincinnati Bengals | 3 | 4 | 1 | .438 | 1–1 | 3–3 | 167 | 189 | T1 |
| Cleveland Browns | 0 | 10 | 0 | .000 | 0–3 | 0–7 | 175 | 301 | L10 |
| AFC South | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| W | L | T | PCT | DIV | CONF | PF | PA | STK | |
| Houston Texans | 6 | 3 | 0 | .667 | 3–0 | 4–2 | 161 | 188 | W2 |
| Tennessee Titans | 5 | 5 | 0 | .500 | 1–2 | 3–4 | 264 | 251 | W1 |
| Indianapolis Colts | 4 | 5 | 0 | .444 | 1–2 | 2–4 | 239 | 256 | W1 |
| Jacksonville Jaguars | 2 | 7 | 0 | .222 | 1–2 | 1–6 | 174 | 239 | L4 |
| AFC West | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| W | L | T | PCT | DIV | CONF | PF | PA | STK | |
| Kansas City Chiefs | 7 | 2 | 0 | .778 | 2–0 | 5–2 | 205 | 168 | W5 |
| Oakland Raiders | 7 | 2 | 0 | .778 | 2–1 | 5–1 | 245 | 223 | W3 |
| Denver Broncos | 7 | 3 | 0 | .700 | 1–2 | 4–2 | 241 | 183 | W1 |
| San Diego Chargers | 4 | 6 | 0 | .400 | 1–3 | 3–5 | 293 | 277 | L1 |
NFC Standings
| NFC East | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| W | L | T | PCT | DIV | CONF | PF | PA | STK | |
| Dallas Cowboys | 8 | 1 | 0 | .889 | 2-1 | 6-0 | 258 | 170 | W8 |
| New York Giants | 6 | 3 | 0 | .625 | 1–1 | 5-2 | 161 | 164 | W3 |
| Washington Redskins | 5 | 3 | 1 | .611 | 2–1 | 3–2 | 212 | 209 | W1 |
| Philadelphia Eagles | 5 | 4 | 0 | .556 | 0–3 | 0–10 | 226 | 160 | L10 |
| NFC North | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| W | L | T | PCT | DIV | CONF | PF | PA | STK | |
| Detroit Lions | 5 | 4 | 0 | .556 | 1–2 | 4–2 | 205 | 206 | W1 |
| Minnesota Vikings | 5 | 4 | 0 | .556 | 1–2 | 3–4 | 175 | 152 | L4 |
| Green Bay Packers | 4 | 5 | 0 | .444 | 2–1 | 3–3 | 223 | 234 | L3 |
| Chicago Bears | 2 | 7 | 0 | .222 | 2–1 | 2–4 | 151 | 215 | L1 |
| NFC South | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| W | L | T | PCT | DIV | CONF | PF | PA | STK | |
| Atlanta Falcons | 6 | 4 | 0 | .600 | 3–1 | 4–3 | 320 | 283 | L1 |
| Tampa Bay Buccaneers | 4 | 5 | 0 | .444 | 2–1 | 4–3 | 216 | 242 | W1 |
| New Orleans Saints | 4 | 5 | 0 | .444 | 1–1 | 3–2 | 265 | 262 | L1 |
| Carolina Panthers | 3 | 6 | 0 | .333 | 0–3 | 3–4 | 221 | 227 | L1 |
| NFC West | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| W | L | T | PCT | DIV | CONF | PF | PA | STK | |
| Seattle Seahawks | 6 | 2 | 1 | .722 | 1–1–1 | 2–2–1 | 193 | 158 | W2 |
| Arizona Cardinals | 4 | 4 | 1 | .500 | 2–1–1 | 4–2–1 | 202 | 160 | W1 |
| Los Angeles Rams | 4 | 5 | 0 | .444 | 2–1 | 3–4 | 139 | 173 | W1 |
| San Francisco 49ers | 1 | 8 | 0 | .111 | 1–3 | 1–7 | 187 | 283 | L8 |
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