Now that the season is over 25% complete, we can begin to look more broadly at winners and losers. Injuries are starting to pile up, and replacements are coming in, trying to make the most of their opportunities. Offenses are starting to click, and scoring is up. Some teams have brushed off their early season sluggishness, while others have fallen back to the pack. And other than just a few teams, everyone is still in the playoff hunt.
Here are a handful of teams who are big winners this week and a few who are big losers:
The other day, I opined as to whether or not the Texans were ready for prime time in their matchup against the Buffalo Bills. They were each 3-1 and in first place heading into the game, and the Bills were coming off a loss. It literally took all 60 minutes with a 59yd FG by Ka’imi Fairbairn with no time left on the clock. The Texans are now 4-1…although they have a -12 pt differential.
It’s tough to have a 1-4 team on the winners list, but the Jags absolutely are. They nearly won a week earlier and finally got over the hump this week. It took a last-second FG by their placekicker Cam Little to secure the win, but the team just looked more solid and cohesive. They were ahead 20-10 and withstood a furious comeback by the Colts, who put up 24 fourth-quarter points.
The 0-2 start for the Ravens is now a long distant memory. They now have a three-game winning streak after defeating the Bengals in Cincinnati. It took OT and a missed FG by the Bengals, but in the end they prevailed. They will be in the mix for the division as well as a deep playoff run.
Don’t look now, but Sean Payton has his Broncos 3-2 on a three-game winning streak. They have been doing it primarily with defense to this point, but they put up 34 points this week. And rookie QB Bo Nix had his best game of the season. He was 19-27 with 206 YDs and two TDs.
Rookie QB Caleb Williams looked really good this week, but to this point, Jayden Daniels is the rookie of the year. He has led the Commanders to another victory and has them in first place with a 4-1 record and a four-game winning streak. If he keeps this up, not only will he run away with the ROTY award, but he’ll put himself into the MVP discussion.
Although the Vikings have now won five in a row and are still undefeated, having beaten the Jets in London, this will be the first week that Sam Darnold will not be on this winners list. He was exceedingly pedestrian. He only completed 14-31 passes for 179 YDs. He did not throw a TD, but did throw an interception. If he puts up more weeks like this, the Vikings winning streak will end sooner than later.
All of a sudden, the Bears are in the playoff race in the NFC North. Caleb Williams had his first really solid game, leading the Bears to the 36-10 blowout of the Carolina Panthers. The experiment with Andy Dalton appears to be over. He is proving to be as ineffective as Bryce Young was. But Williams is showing the promise and hype that comes with being the No. 1 pick in the draft. Williams was an impressive 20-29 with 309 YDs and two TDs.
Jordan Love finally won his first game of the season. It was a hard-fought road game against the Rams. In fact, they were losing 13-10 at halftime. Love still looked inconsistent, but he did enough to secure the victory. And other than the crazy pick-six that he threw in his own endzone, he was 15-26 with 224 YDs and two TDs. A win is a win, and the Packers are now 3-2, right in the mix for a playoff spot.
One loss is a blip, but two losses is a trend. After starting the season 3-0, with many putting them atop of power rankings, they have now lost two in a row. They are still in first place, and the AFC East does not appear to have much opposition for them…so the division will be theirs to lose.
The Jets have also lost two in a row and are now 2-3. In years past with Green Bay, Aaron Rodgers would come out and spell, R-E-L-A-X…but doing that now would ring hollow. He may have dipped into the fountain of youth a couple of weeks ago against the Patriots, but they are proving to be a bad team. Rodgers looks like a 41-year-old QB (who isn’t named Tom Brady). The Jets have invested a lot in Rodgers, and this is their window. After another loss by the Raiders, there may be more momentum for a Davante Adams trade, and the logical spot is to reunite with Rodgers. This may be the only thing to salvage their season.
The Bengals are the best 1-4 in the league. They weren’t prepared in week one against the Patriots, and that loss may prove to be huge. At this point, a 2-3 start looks much better than their current 1-4 situation. Even with their record, their pt differential is only -5, which is better than the Texans, who are 4-1. Maybe it’s wishful thinking but I still believe they have a big winning streak in them. On a team that has Joe Burrow, who passed for nearly 400 yards today with five TDs, and JaMarr Chase, who caught 10 passes for 193 yards and two TDs, they are never out of it. If normally reliable kicker Evan McPherson converted on his 53-yard FG attempt, they would have triumphantly walked off the field.
The Seahawks inexplicitly lost to the Giants at home. They are still atop the NFC West, but have lost two in a row and are now 3-2.
Somehow, the Niners are 2-3 this season. After the loss to fellow NFC West rival, Arizona Cardinals, the Cardinals are now tied with them at 2-3. This is now the second big lead that the 49ers have let get away in three weeks. At halftime they were winning 23-10. They were held scoreless in the second half, giving up 14pts, to lose 24-23. Yes, they have injuries, but the coaching staff needs to be looked at for not being able to hold leads.
And speaking of comebacks…the only win the Rams have this year was their comeback against the 49ers three weeks ago. They almost came back again this week against the Packers, but came up short in their final drive. They had the lead heading into the second half, but were down by 11pts with six minutes left in the game. Matthew Stafford led the team down the field for a TD, but missed the 2pt conversion, which made the score 24-19. Their defense managed to get them the ball back for one more drive, which stalled on an incompletion.
Aside from these teams there were a ton of individual winners and losers this week.
Rodgers looked like a past-his-prime athlete, hanging on too long. He threw three interceptions and looked slow, unable to get himself out of harm’s way.
The Bills are still in first place, and thankfully for them, they don’t have much opposition in the AFC East. But they will have to play better as a team, and Allen will have to personally play much better. He was an almost unfathomable 9-30, only completing 30% of his passes.
I know he’s been without Christian McCaffrey all season, but Purdy has to play better if the Niners hope to get back to the Superbowl. If the playoffs started today, they would be on the outside looking in. The normally accurate Purdy threw two interceptions against the Cardinals.
This was Caleb Williams’ coming out party. He really looked like the No. 1 pick in the draft, and his main beneficiary was Moore. Moore caught five passes for 105 yards and two TDs.
It is unusual to have players on losing teams in the winner’s column, but Flacco is a worthy recipient on this list. He was 33-44 for 359 yards and three TDs. On most days, when a QB puts up those numbers and scores 34 points, they win. If Flacco continues to put up these kinds of numbers, the Colts will win their fair share of games.
It’s been so long since Lawrence had a game like this that I wonder if he even forgot. He was 28-34 and 371 yds, with two TDs. He has all the physical tools; maybe he finally got the psychological part of the game under control. Before a QB can lead a team to a winning streak he has to win the first game. Lawrence did that this week and now heads to London to face off against the Bears, where they have played very well in the past.
For some reason, I decided to have Bigsby on my bench this week. All he did was rush for 101 yards and score two TDs.
Jacksonville fans hope the Lawrence to Thomas connection will happen for years to come. Thomas caught five passes for 122 yards and a TD.
Speaking of seeing something for years to come…Stroud is proving to be the next great QB, every time he steps on a field. He again passed for over 300 yards, with 331 passing yards, completing 28-38 passes, and adding a TD.
This was a very unusual box score for Jackson. He threw the ball 42 times. There are some stretches that he doesn’t reach that number in two games. He completed 26 passes for 348 yards and four TDs.
Henry had a pedestrian game until OT, when he broke free, nearly scoring the game-winning TD. He was tackled on the five-yard line, setting up the game-winning FG. He only rushed for 92 yards but did score a TD, which was the 100th of his career. Both he and Tampa Bay’s Mike Evans hit the century mark this week.
This is why they play the games. The Giants have been reeling and heading to Seattle without their star rookie receiver Malik Nabors. They left with a much-needed victory’ led by Jones. He was 23-34 with 257 yards and two TDs.
On the ground, Tracy ran wild. On 18 carries, he rushed for 129 yards. This balanced offensive attack was able to put up 29 points, beating the Seahawks 29-20.
With Nabors out, it was a question if anyone could fill the void. Slayton absolutely stepped in. Sometimes, when a player goes down with an injury, it opens up an opportunity, which can not only help in that game but down the line. It will be interesting to see if Jones to Slayton will continue and give the passing game more options. On eight catches, Slayton gained 122 passing yards and scored a TD.
Like with Flacco, I am adding Whittington to this list of winners. Without Puka Nacua and Cooper Kupp, he has entered the Rams passing attack, and has started to gain a connection with Matt Stafford. On Sunday, he caught seven passes for 89yds and in the past two weeks, he’s had 13 catches for 151 yards. This hasn’t helped to produce wins the past two weeks, but it could pay dividends in the long run for Sean McVey’s offense.
