Month: October 2026
NFL Week Five Winners and Losers
Week five in the NFL had a lot of thrills, jaw-dropping surprises and stunning, hair-pulling moments. Some of the best games of 2026 were played yesterday. Audiences found out which teams may be legitimate contenders and which ones could be one and done if they reach the playoffs. Here are this weeks winners and losers.
Winners: Aaron Rodgers
It has been a mixed few weeks for Pittsburgh veteran quarterback Aaron Rodgers. This is his last NFL season and it has shown at times. That was not the case Sunday. Rodgers turned back the clock and had a vintage performance.
Aaron Rodgers was the Steelers best offensive player in a dominant home win versus Indianapolis. He completed 22 of 31 passes for 235 yards, three touchdowns, no interceptions and a 125.1 passer rating. Rodgers also had a run for six yards and was sacked once. The Colts had almost no answer on how to stop the 42 year old passer.
Pittsburgh’s offense has improved after an awful week two loss in New England, and that’s mostly because Aaron Rodgers has played better. The Steelers offense has scored 30+ points twice in their last three games. When Rodgers plays better, Pittsburgh is surprisingly a top team in the AFC.
Liam Coen
Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni has and will continue to catch heat for how the final seconds in London were handled after taking a one point lead, but the same should be applied to Jacksonville’s head coach Liam Coen for how he handled the end. Unlike Sirianni, Coen had his players fully prepared to play for any scenario.
The Jaguars stole a win Sunday no matter the timezone (for many in the U.S., it was morning while in London it was late afternoon). Jacksonville played from behind the entire second half until quarterback Trevor Lawrence threw his second touchdown pass of the game to Parker Washington. While kicker Cam Little missed the extra point, a two point lead finally let the Jaguars breathe and consider how to play the final two minutes.
In Sirianni’s defense, Philadelphia had only eight seconds left after getting the lead back. All special teams had to do was make a simple kick to pin Jacksonville far back and seal a win. However, it seems Sirianni’s special teams had not practiced that scenario and were not ready to preserve a lead with eight seconds left. Coen’s team had and did.
Ameer Abdullah returned the 57 yard kickoff for 53 yards. He worked the angles of the field well and got great blocking that didn’t get called for a penalty. Cam Little then got to attempt and make a 57 yard field goal with one second left.
If Jacksonville didn’t have a terrible second half in Denver, they would be the talk of both the NFL and the North American sports world. Coen has his team ready to go at least 90% of the time and ready to play out any scenario no matter how good the team is plays. The Jaguars are due for a lot of credit and respect with how they play every intangible of the game well.
The Fred Warner-led 49ers defense
The 2025-26 49ers defense was well respected because of former defensive coordinator Robert Saleh. Saleh is an excellent coach and evaluator of defensive talent. No matter the injuries, he knew how to make the defense play well. However, the defense had pitfalls when he didn’t have his best player and captain Fred Warner on the field. Seattle was one of the few teams that could exploit that.
Defensive coordinator Raheem Morris had to rely on Warner in what many believe was America’s game of the week. The Seahawks offense is different this year, especially at the runningback position. The 49ers defense turned those changes into overwhelming mismatches.
San Francisco’s defense intercepted quarterback Sam Darnold on Seattle’s first possession of the game. It set up head coach Kyle Shanahan’s offense at the Seahawks 18 yard line, and the 49ers scored a fast touchdown in four plays. The Seahawks tied it up and even took a lead, but San Francisco wasn’t done creating turnovers.
Whenever Seattle got their first lead of the game, Fred Warner led the defense to another turnover. He forced a fumble from runningback Emanuel Wilson. Safety Malik Mustapha recovered the fumble, and San Francisco’s offense scored a touchdown the next play. Right before halftime, 49ers defensive lineman Gracen Halton forced another fumble at the Seahawks two yard line and rolled onto the ball in the endzone. San Francisco led by eight instead of one at the half because of that play.
Seattle came close to winning several times in the second half, but was limited to six points on their last two of three possessions. The 49ers also caught a few breaks on the Seahawks last possession and came out with the win after a turnover on downs.
San Francisco is still undefeated because of how well the offense plays with quarterback Brock Purdy, but they are also undefeated because a fully healthy Fred Warner makes a difference for the defense. They are more feared, respected and play better football. The reigning Super Bowl champions are winless against him the last two times he’s been on the field. That should say everything about how important Warner is to San Francisco’s success.
Baltimore Ravens
Without starting quarterback Lamar Jackson in week five, Baltimore faced an uphill task of winning in Atlanta against the high-flying Falcons. Despite an early lead and stopping Atlanta’s offense most of the first half, the Ravens still trailed…and then the Falcons offense started playing well.
Baltimore head coach Jesse Minter kept the team focused even after Atlanta went up by eight points. Quarterback Tyler Huntley led the Ravens to their first touchdown of the game and cut the deficit to two. After Baltimore trailed by eight again, Huntley and the offense scored another touchdown and converted a two point conversion to tie the game and send it to overtime.
Tyler Huntley led the Ravens offense to another touchdown after a long, seven minute possession in overtime. According to OptaSTATS on X (formerly Twitter), Huntley is the only quarterback in NFL history to go 10-for-10 or better with a passing and a rushing touchdown in the final two minutes of the fourth quarter plus overtime. He also didn’t turn the ball over in his third start replacing Jackson.
Baltimore won the game when Falcons backup quarterback Tua Tagovailoa threw an interception on the first play of Atlanta’s following possession. The Ravens had no reason to come back multiple times down eight points with a backup quarterback and steal a win in overtime. Head coach Jesse Minter has some great moments the first few weeks of the season, but a Sunday night win in Atlanta could be his best one.
Losers: Klint Kubiak
Las Vegas has been a great team to watch and analyze the first month of the regular season. It’s mostly because head coach Klint Kubiak has done a stellar job with turning around the confidence, play-calls, and better usage of time management. Sometimes there are bad games. Sunday was one such example.
The Raiders got smacked around in New England start to finish. The Patriots scored touchdowns on their first two possessions in the game and never worried about Las Vegas making a comeback. Quarterback Drake Maye had five total touchdowns and 399 total yards. It got so bad Kubiak finally let number one overall pick Fernando Mendoza play and close out the game.
The Raiders had not played a terrible game a quarter into the season and that is a miracle given what viewers watched from them the last two decades. Sunday felt like a return to the past. Kubiak somehow didn’t have his team ready to play after a heavy, divisional game the previous week. It can happen for rookie coaches, but there will be concern if it happens again this month.
DeShaun Watson
Cleveland had won three games in a row and had to play a Jets team in New York that was humiliated the prior weekend in Chicago. While the Jets had a better chance to score and play a competent football game, one expected the Browns would do the same given their winning record. That didn’t happen…at least on the offensive side of the ball.
Quarterback DeShaun Watson played better the last two weeks and had a good chance to steal another win on the road. Watson completed 15 of 33 passes for 155 yards and a touchdown. That was good enough for 12 points, but not a win after Cleveland’s defense kept New York’s offense to 17. Watson was sacked eight times and struggled to get rid of the ball To compare, Tyson Bagent was sacked once against the Jets defense in week four, and he is a less talented quarterback than Watson.
New York has a young defense that plays hard. They were embarrassed and wanted a bounce-back performance. DeShaun Watson’s improvement is a big reason the Browns have three wins and are over .500. When Cleveland does lose, it is mostly because Watson plays badly. The AFC North is a tight race and these types of games keep more inept teams out of the playoffs.
Kellen Moore
Klint Kubiak wasn’t the only offensive-minded head coach working with an undermanned team to flounder the last two weeks. New Orleans’ Kellen Moore has done a phenomenal job most of the last calendar year with turning the Saints around and getting them closer to winning the NFC South. The last two games were not kind to Moore. New Orleans’ early afternoon home loss to the Vikings was definitely on him.
The Saints offense in particular struggled. FOX put this graphic up at one point.
Not only was that terrible for the Saints offense, it highlights how Moore and quarterback Tyler Shough had no answers despite runningback Alvin Kamara getting some touches.
It’s fair to say Kellen Moore does not have enough talent to work with especially when trying to run the ball, but it’s hard to tell when there are few attempts to run said ball. A defense that heavily blitzes can be worn down by running the ball or using pass/run option read decisions. New Orleans still has a lot to work on and it’s disappointing their last two losses stem from coaches exacerbating certain offensive issues.
Arizona Cardinals offense
Two of the NFL’s worst defenses played in Arizona Sunday. The Lions and Cardinals are supposed to have really good offenses that can stretch the field and put up a lot of points. Well, Detroit listened, showed up and scored 45. Arizona though, struggled most of the game.
The Cardinals started well and got a lead early when quarterback Jacoby Brissett found tight-end Teagan Quitoriano for a two yard touchdown. That was it for Arizona until midway through the third quarter when the game was out of reach at 31-7. There was a point in the first and early second quarter where the Lions couldn’t do anything on offense. Instead of putting long scoring drives together, the Cardinals went three-and-out multiple times, couldn’t establish a stable running game, and got Brissett sacked whenever he looked downfield.
Arizona is in a serious spiral after a promising start to the season. Jeremiyah Love is struggling because of multiple ankle injuries. Love also said at one point last week that it has been a long season. That is alarming considering he said that after week four. Former high first round pick Marvin Harrison Jr. was in a slump until the Cardinals front office and staff decided to deactivate him ahead of playing one of the NFL’s worst defenses, and subsequently traded him to Houston right before kickoff. Finally, Brissett cannot keep taking a lot of hits every week. Jacoby Brissett trying to elude defensive linemen every week is a big reason why he has not inspired too much confidence outside of finding open tight-ends. A lot of pressure will turn to the Arizona’s coaching staff to start rookie Carson Beck sometime this month or next if there is no progress.
NFL Week Four Winners and Losers
What an exciting week four! We saw jaw-dropping touchdown catches, an upset in Philadelphia, the Jets getting their first interception for the first time in almost two years, and three other teams remain undefeated after four games. The first Sunday of October delivered surprising results and some exciting divisional matchups. So, let’s take a look at what stood out to start the month.
Winners: Ben Johnson
Chicago stunned viewers with their total destruction of Philadelphia last Monday night. Many analysts believed the Bears wouldn’t do that to the Jets yesterday. The common thought was if Chicago won, it would be close. The Bears proved more people wrong in their dismantling of New York on Sunday afternoon.
Instead of riding the hot-hand at quarterback with Case Keenum, head coach Ben Johnson wisely reverted to top backup Tyson Bagent since he was back to full health after suffering a concussion in practice two weeks ago. Johnson’s game-plan with and without Bagent was excellent start to finish.
Chicago scorched the Jets defense in the first quarter. After a bizarre turnover on downs, the Bears scored a touchdown the next possession. Chicago mercilessly ran the ball against the improved New York defense, and ended the first half with a double digit lead.
The Bears did more in the second half despite giving up nine more points. The Jets offense scored a touchdown when quarterback Geno Smith found Isaiah Williams for 58 yards, but that was their only big play of the game. It was also the last possession New York had as Chicago went on a masterful eight and a half minute final drive to close out the game. The Bears offense ended the game with more first downs than the Jets offense had plays.
Chicago’s defense sacked Smith three times and limited New York’s passing attack to 61 yards before the big play. Defensive coordinator Dennis Allen has more to work with this season because of Johnson’s focus on the offense and clock management. ESPN Insights backs this up with a stat featured on Sportscenter with Scott Van Pelt late Sunday night stating Chicago had the fourth highest play differential in a game since 1970, and the best first down differential in franchise history. The Bears ran 57 more plays and had 27 more first downs than the Jets. Game preparation has improved and is better even on shorter weeks. It’s clear Ben Johnson was the perfect hire to rejuvenate this franchise.
New England Patriots
After their trip to Super Bowl 60, it is clear New England is struggling to regain their 2025-26 form. While there have been high moments, the Patriots hadn’t played a good game…until Sunday. It came at what was possibly the most important week of the season as New England earned a needed win in Buffalo.
Head coach Mike Vrabel had everyone ready to play. The Patriots scored two touchdowns on their first three drives of the game. Despite forcing some turnovers in the first half, the undefeated Bills led by three points. Vrabel outsmarted rookie head coach Joe Brady in the second half and frustrated Buffalo’s offense.
New England scored a touchdown to start the third quarter and shut down the Bills offense until mid-fourth. Once Buffalo got the lead back, the Patriots offense wasted no time. Quarterback Drake Maye led a perfect scoring drive capped off with a one-handed touchdown grab by receiver Efton Chism III. Maye then converted a bold two point conversion to keep the lead at three. That forced the Bills to either play for a tie to reach overtime or win the game within the final 62 seconds.
Buffalo’s offense couldn’t score again and the Bills lost their first home game in their new stadium and first game of the season to the rival Patriots. Not only did New England win a crucial game to get them back to .500 and one game out of first place in the AFC East, they won without star cornerback Christian Gonzalez playing a snap. New England’s other two rivals lost, keeping the east a two team race the Patriots can focus on. One week in the NFL can change a lot for any given team.
Kenneth Walker III
There wasn’t a more needed and better addition for any team in last offseason’s free agency like runningback and reigning Super Bowl MVP Kenneth Walker III was for Kansas City. The Chiefs struggled to find a crucial playmaker the last few off-seasons who can take pressure off elite quarterback Patrick Mahomes II. General manager Brett Veach has come up empty in the last few drafts, and most of the speedy receivers signed in free agency either can’t stay healthy or have hands like a burled oak table when the football gets near them. Veach had a superstar runningback land into his lap this off-season. Kansas City is now the AFC’s best team because of Kenneth Walker III’s play.
The Chiefs played a slugfest Sunday in Las Vegas. The Raiders team many are used to watching every year has become dangerous and not dreadful. Without Kenneth Walker III, Kansas City would have lost. The Chiefs from the last couple seasons might have done enough to get a field goal and a one point lead near the end of the game, but Las Vegas probably would have scored a game winning touchdown to stay undefeated. With Walker III, Kansas City took over the game and set the Raiders on their heels.
The most pivotal moments in the Chiefs win were when Kenneth Walker III scored two straight touchdowns and gave Kansas City their first and only double digit lead of the game. Walker finished the game with 22 rushes for 177 yards and two touchdowns. According to Yahoo Sports, he became the third ever runningback to rush for 170 yards at least twice in his team’s first four games of a season. Head coach Andy Reid was careful in the first of two games against Las Vegas to use Walker against a revived defense. When Reid did go to Kenneth Walker III, there was no doubt who the best player was on the field.
League MVP has unfortunately turned into a quarterback award and it shouldn’t. There is a great argument that the NFL MVP frontrunner should be Kenneth Walker III. Kansas City is nowhere close to undefeated or even at a winning record without him.
Carolina Panthers
Believe it or not, this could be the year the NFC South playoff race isn’t filled with mediocre at best, sub-.500 teams. New Orleans will be a threat to win the division most of the season, but Carolina finally looks like the playoff team many longed to see with head coach Dave Canales and franchise star quarterback Bryce Young. Sunday night’s impressive home win against Detroit showed more proof this team could go far and do damage in the playoffs.
The Panthers offense demolished a terrible Lions defense with a 450+ yard performance. Even when Detroit’s defense played well, Young completed crucial passes to receiver Tetairoa McMillan to seal the win.
On defense, Carolina suffered more injuries during the game and played without both starting cornerbacks. The Panthers defensive line stepped up and blocked at least four of quarterback Jared Goff’s passes, limited multi-faceted runningback Jahmyr Gibbs to 46 yards on 15 carries, and forced the juggernaut Lions offense into multiple turnovers on downs.
Many viewers didn’t believe or know if the Panthers could keep up their progress after last season’s late surge. It appears the Carolina team that started to put it together last season is a legitimate playoff threat in the NFC. Hopefully the rest of the south is on notice and actually plays good football outside of one team.
Losers: Dante Stills
Field goals are pivotal points in an American football game because one defining moment can occur for either team. Usually viewers see the team attempting the field goal as the one with the most pressure to mess up and make a terrible mistake. Once in a while, it happens with a team defending against the kick, and it can lead to serious changes. Arizona had one Sunday in New York and it cost them their second win of the season.
In one of the biggest changes during an NFL game this season, New York’s field goal on a fourth and eight was called back because of a holding penalty on Cardinals defensive lineman Dante Stills. Many argued online it was not a penalty for various reasons, but irrefutable video proof shows Stills guilty of holding onto and dragging an offensive lineman towards him. The penalty gave the Giants a fresh set of downs, and they went on to score a touchdown and re-gain the lead. New York never trailed again after this penalty.
Dante Stills isn’t the sole reason Arizona lost, but he is the embodiment of how the Cardinals remain a sloppy team while still trying to get things right. A third year veteran shouldn’t make egregious mistakes like that on a pivotal play. Arizona is 1-3, and instead of talking about how the Cardinals somehow remain in the NFC West divisional race, analysts are left wondering how soon rookie quarterback Carson Beck will make his debut if Arizona falls any further in the overall playoff race. American football is a team sport, and it can take just one player to screw everything up.
Green Bay Packers, even in a win
If you were forced to watch Green Bay’s ugly win in Tampa Bay on FOX, you at least deserve financial compensation. That was a game no one wanted to win and fewer wanted to watch. Both Bay teams are awful this season for various reasons, but unfortunately, neither team wanted to settle for a tie and go their separate ways.
At this point, there’s not much else to say about the Buccaneers. Yes, rookie quarterback Jalon Daniels was ok in his NFL debut. Unfortunately for Daniels, he was a rookie in his first game. There were mistakes he probably shouldn’t have made in a winnable game. It’s not as if the other 52 Tampa players stepped up anyway.
The Packers are a legitimate cause for concern. After an ugly 1-1 start to the season, Green Bay was thumped at home in week three in Michael Penix Jr.’s first game back with Atlanta. There should have been much more urgency built up over a week and a half heading into Sunday. The Packers not only lacked it after the second touchdown, but they were fortunate to come away with a win after a turnover filled fourth quarter. The Buccaneers’ turnover on downs on their final possession of the game cemented how Green Bay is both lucky and not a serious playoff contending team.
Much has been said about head coach Todd Bowles getting fired in Florida, but Matt LaFleur is on the hot seat too. It would not be surprising if both teams wind up going for full re-builds after the regular season ends.
Vance Joseph
Last week this site raved about the play of Talanoa Hufanga and how he can be the center-piece of an elite defense if he stays healthy. Turns out that’s going to happen after Denver lost both their starting cornerbacks to injuries in a disastrous loss at San Francisco.
Like most of the last full calendar year of games watching the Broncos attempt to play football, Sean Payton’s team played a slow, dismal first half. The biggest development of a 3-3 tie after two quarters was an Achilles injury to defensive player of the year winner and all-pro cornerback Pat Surtain II. Riley Moss also left because of injury, and that left Denver vulnerable in the passing game despite the 49ers having an extremely thin receiving core. The advantage still should have been with defensive coordinator Vance Joseph.
That was not the case. San Francisco flipped a switch and scored three straight touchdowns in the second half. A special teams fumble leading to the first score aside, Joseph couldn’t stop anything Kyle Shanahan’s offense ran without their two starting corners. Quarterback Brock Purdy, runningback Christian McCaffrey and tight-end George Kittle bullied the Broncos defense. Denver led the league in redzone scoring defense last year. San Francisco scored two of their three touchdowns in the redzone with little resistance.
It’s fair to say the Broncos loss can be blamed on injuries, but San Francisco didn’t stretch the field most of the game even with the starting cornerbacks out. Kittle had a 56 yard touchdown catch and run after he beat all of Denver’s defense (including Hufanga) by himself. It’s probably an off-game for Joseph’s unit, but bad performances like that could be a reason the Broncos miss the playoffs.
Miami Dolphins
There are five winless teams at the end of week four. Of the five, the most unfortunate one has to be Miami. Despite playing passionate football, the Dolphins seemingly cannot do enough to steal or seal a win.
Thankfully this team is not the 2007 team that went 1-15 (this website kept up with their games that year. Trust us, it was ugly), but it might not fare better because there’s a severe lack of talent on the roster. To make things worse, most of the talented players landed on IR before October.
Sunday was another strange low for Miami. Minnesota won their second game of their undefeated stretch without scoring a touchdown. It’s the first time since the 1923 Chicago Cardinals any NFL team has done that. The Vikings scored 15 points and could have scored a touchdown at the end, but decided to down the ball and run out the rest of the clock.
However, the game was almost different and the Dolphins almost pulled out a win. Receiver Chris Bell beat Minnesota’s secondary and scored a long yardage touchdown…until it turned out the ref flagged him for stepping out of bounds before catching the ball. Miami punted the next play.
Head coach Jeff Hafley is doing a great job of keeping morale in the locker room. There are good players on the Dolphins roster, but even one or two mistakes m make Miami a serious candidate for 0-17.
