Minnesota Vikings def Cleveland Browns 21-17
Minnesota came from behind to defeat the Browns in a very close game. Once again, Minnesota had to pull out a win in the last seconds as they started out slowly and then finally picked up their offense towards the end of the game. Carson Wentz found Jordan Addison with a late-game touchdown to seal the victory. Jordan Mason led the Vikings in rushing with 52 yards and a touchdown. Justin Jefferson led the team with seven receptions for 123 yards. The Vikings are on BYE next week and need to figure out how to recharge their offense, which looks very dull right now. They also need to decide whether to move forward with Wentz or McCarthy.
This was the first start for Dillon Gabriel, and he did a very credible job, throwing for 190 yards and two touchdowns. It’s often said that a rookie quarterback’s security blanket is the tight end, and in this case, both tight ends caught a touchdown. Gabriel looked sharp in his first start and will remain the starter moving forward. Quinshon Judkins was sensational once again with 110 yards rushing to go along with 18 yards receiving.
Dallas Cowboys def New York Jets 37-22
This game got out of hand early, even though the Jets had a few late scores to save face. Dak Prescott led the Cowboys with four passing touchdowns, including two to tight end Jake Ferguson, who also had seven receptions for 49 yards. Ferguson has been a revelation since Lamb’s injury. Javonte Williams had 135 of the 180 yards rushing for the Cowboys as Dallas cruised to a victory. Especially impressive was the defense, which sacked Fields multiple times.
Once again, the Jets were absolutely awful on both offense and defense. Dallas averaged over six yards per carry, and they also had over 13 yards per reception. The Jets defense has been awful from Week 1, and most of the time, they look disinterested in playing defense. On the bright side, Justin Fields threw for 283 yards and two touchdowns, and rookie Mason Taylor had nine receptions for 67 yards. Breece Hall looked phenomenal with 14 carries for 113 yards.
New Orleans Saints def New York Giants 26-14
New Orleans got their first win of the season as Spencer Rattler threw for 225 yards, including an 87-yard touchdown pass to Rashid Shaheed, who had 114 yards receiving. Rattler looked sharp throughout. But New Orleans really won this game on defense as they recovered three fumbles, one of which went for a touchdown, and intercepted Jaxson Dart twice.
It was somewhat predictable that the Giants were going to lose this game, considering they were coming off an emotional high winning at home against the Chargers last week. Jaxson Dart played reasonably well in the first half but ended up making a lot of mistakes, fumbling once and throwing two interceptions. Theo Johnson was the star for the Giants offense with six receptions for 33 yards and two touchdowns.
Houston Texans def Baltimore Ravens 44-10
This game was never close as Houston got out to an early lead and never looked back. The Texans were led by CJ Stroud’s 244 passing yards and four touchdowns. Stroud threw one touchdown to Nico Collins and two touchdowns to Xavier Hutchinson. When Stroud has time to throw, he is still one of the best young QBs in the league.
The 2025 Ravens team is completely unrecognizable from any Ravens team from the past decade. They looked hapless on defense and on offense, too. Cooper Rush took over for an injured Lamar Jackson and had three interceptions. Perhaps the only bright spot for Baltimore was Zay Flowers, who had five receptions for 72 yards. Baltimore better figure this out right now or the season is over.
Indianapolis Colts def Las Vegas Raiders 40-6
This was another game that was a rout almost from the first quarter. The Colts were led by Jonathan Taylor, who ran for 66 yards and three touchdowns. Daniel Jones had 212 yards passing and two touchdowns, and Tyler Warren had four receptions for 44 yards and a touchdown. The Colts defense had four sacks and two interceptions on the day and looked phenomenal.
Las Vegas started out the game well, as Ashton Jeanty caught a 29-yard pass, but they couldn’t muster any offense for the rest of the game. Jeanty finished with 67 yards rushing to go along with five receptions for 42 yards. Geno Smith was awful, throwing for 228 yards and two interceptions. Without Brock Bowers, this team is lost on offense.
Carolina Panthers def Miami Dolphins 27-24
In what was the most exciting game of the early slate, the Panthers came from behind to edge out Miami at home. Bryce Young threw for 198 yards and two touchdowns, but the real star of the game was Rico Dowdle, who had 234 all-purpose yards and a touchdown. Dowdle was unable to be stopped by the Miami defense as Carolina ran for 7.5 yards per carry in the game. It will be interesting to see how Dowdle is used when Chuba Hubbard returns from his calf injury.
Miami started out really well on offense as Darren Waller caught five passes for 78 yards and a touchdown. However, they didn’t go to Waller in the second half, which was a shame because the offense just looked like it couldn’t figure itself out. Jaylen Waddle finished the game with six receptions for 110 yards and a touchdown, but the biggest problem is the Dolphins defense–they had three sacks, but they couldn’t stop the run all game long, and if you can’t stop the run in the NFL, you’re not going to win many games.
Denver Broncos def Philadelphia Eagles 21-17
This was an exciting game with two teams who expect to go deep in the playoffs. Bo Nix did not look very good in the first half as the Broncos were only able to score three points, but in the second half, Nix was way more confident and finished the game with 242 yards and a touchdown. JK Dobbins had 79 yards rushing and a touchdown, and Evan Engram had a couple of key catches, including a big first-down reception and a touchdown in the second half, and finished the game with four catches for 33 yards.
The Eagles were just not able to run the football like they wanted to. Jalen Hurts only had three yards rushing, and Saquon Barkley was only able to rush for 30 yards, too. DeVonta Smith was outstanding with eight receptions for 114 yards. Teams are going to realize that if they stop the Eagles running game, it’ll force them to pass more, which takes them out of their rhythm.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers def Seattle Seahawks 38-35
In the best game of the day, Tampa Bay once again won in the last seconds on a late field goal. Baker Mayfield was magical, throwing for 379 yards and two touchdowns, and Emeka Egbuka looks to be in the lead for Offensive Rookie of the Year as he caught seven passes for 163 yards and a touchdown. Rachaad White took over for the injured Bucky Irving and had two rushing touchdowns. Tampa is a great team for Fantasy purposes, as their defense is soft, which forces their offense to play catch-up each game.
Seattle was forced out of their conservative shell, and they answered the call by playing excellent football. Sam Donald led them with 341 yards passing and four touchdowns. JSN had eight receptions for 132 yards and a touchdown, but it was tight end AJ Barner who really did the damage with seven receptions for 53 yards and two touchdowns. Seattle just couldn’t stop Tampa’s passing game, which was likely due to the injuries that they had in their secondary.
Tennessee Titans def Arizona Cardinals 22-21
This game will likely haunt Arizona for the rest of the season. At one point, they were winning 21-6 and clearly on their way to a victory, and then Emari Demercado fumbled the ball just as he was scoring a 71-yard TD. It was another immature play that was similar to what happened last week to Adonai Mitchell. It’s amazing how NFL players don’t learn. Kyler Murray was a disappointment, only throwing for 220 yards and no touchdowns. Also disappointing was Trey McBride, who had five catches for 41 yards.
It was good to see Tennessee show some resiliency when they could have laid down and quit. Cam Ward led an inspired second-half comeback, throwing for 265 yards. Tony Pollard played well with 67 yards rushing and a touchdown, but it was Calvin Ridley who finally came to play with five receptions for 131 yards to help lead the Titans comeback.
Washington Commanders def Los Angeles Chargers 27-10
This was another game with a slightly shocking result, considering the Chargers went out to a 10-0 lead in the first quarter and had complete command of the game. However, Washington came back behind Jacory Croskey-Merritt, who had 111 rushing yards and two touchdowns. He was phenomenal and found every running lane. He should be the clear RB1 moving forward. Jayden Daniels returned from injury and threw for 231 yards and a touchdown and also ran for 39 yards. Deebo Samuel played like a WR1 with eight receptions for 96 yards and a touchdown.
This was a very bad loss for the Chargers, who are now 3-2 on the season after losing two in a row. Justin Herbert had very little time to throw as he was under siege for most of the game, as Washington sacked the Chargers five times. Herbert threw for 166 yards and a touchdown and ran for another 60 yards. Omarion Hampton only ran for 44 yards and left the game with a leg injury. It remains to be seen whether or not he will be able to play in Week 6. The one bit of good news was that Ladd McConkey finally scored a touchdown and had 5 receptions.
Detroit Lions def Cincinnati Bengals 37-24
Detroit went on the road and dominated play against the Bengals. Jared Goff had 258 passing yards and three touchdowns. David Montgomery was awesome in his homecoming and not only ran for a touchdown and 65 yards, but he also threw a touchdown pass to Brock Wright. Detroit’s defense played at a very high level, intercepting Jake Browning three times and sacking him twice.
Cincinnati played much better in the second half behind Jake Browning’s 251 passing yards and three touchdowns. The big problem was that Browning had three interceptions in the game and really didn’t give the team a chance to win. Fantasy Football managers will be happy to see that Ja’Marr Chase had six receptions for 110 yards and 2 TDs in the loss. The Bengals are faced with a real decision at this point: do they keep going with Browning, or do they try to make a trade and bring in a veteran quarterback like Russell Wilson? It seems like Zac Taylor wants to make this work with Browning, but Browning just might not be up to the challenge.
New England Patriots def Buffalo Bills 23-20
In a shocking Sunday night result, New England traveled to Buffalo and beat the unbeaten Bills by a late FG. Drake Maye looked extremely poised and threw for 273 yards, even though he did not have a TD pass. In a revenge narrative game, Stefon Diggs returned to Buffalo and had 10 catches for 146 yards. The real stunner was the Patriots defense, which was very aggressive and had 2 fumble recoveries.
Buffalo just could not get their run offense rolling like they wanted. The Bills love to throw play-action passes after establishing the run, but James Cook only had 15 carries for 49 yards. Josh Allen threw for 253 yards and 2 TDs but was pressured throughout by the Patriots DL. Dalton Kincaid continued his exceptional play, catching 6 passes for 108 yards.
