Crazy week of last-minute finishes, overtime games, and teams turning losses into wins and vice-versa. There are controversies and problems and complaints about the NFL, but hard to deny there are a lot of Sunday classics each week.
Jets at Ravens: Ravens winning ugly these days. Offense didn't really do much and looked like it wasn't going to push things too hard, letting the Jets stumble along to a low-scoring loss. Lesser outing for Lamar, who was easily benchable against the Browns but you kind of thought/hoped he'd be good against the Jets. No. There was a near-miss to an open DeAndre Hopkins, not that that helps anyone. A couple of TDs for Derrick Henry. Breece Hall (receiving) and John Metchie the Jets doing anything noteworthy.
Steelers at Bears: More or less as expected, with lots of offense and points. And again, the Bears make enough plays to win another close game. Not great numbers for Mason Rudolph, although a little unlucky (a DK Metcalf "rushing" touchdown was a pass determined to be a lateral; pretty close). Both Jaylen Warren and Kenneth Gainwell good, while for the Bears you had DJ Moore coming out of a year or two ago by catching 2 TDs. Caleb Williams finishing with 3 TDs and Kyle Monangai better than D'Andre Swift. Perhaps Moore moves ahead of the disappointing of late Rome Odunze this week.
Patriots at Bengals: Not the best game for the Patriots, but the Bengals are a pretty lousy team. Surprisingly good rushing game for Chase Brown, but the Pats did lose Milton Williams a little while back so that's part of it. But not much as a receiver and he didn't score. Tee Higgins suffered a concussion late so he'll be iffy for next week. For New England, big outing for Hunter Henry, decent for TreVeyon Henderson, while Rhamondre Stevenson in a very quiet supporting role. Presumably Joe Burrow will start for Cincinnati on Thanksgiving...against the Ravens, plus the Bengals are just 3-8.
Giants at Lions: Ah the Giants. Pretty entertaining game, as is often the case when the Lions and Jameis Winston and not much defense is involved. An early trick-play touchdown pass off a kind of flea-flicker play was wild, and even wilder was a late touchdown pass to Winston where he had to break a tackle and stumble into the end zone for what seemed like an insurmountable 10-point lead. But because it's the Giants, there's no such thing, with the Lions scoring to pull within 3, the Giants passing up a chip shot field goal that would have put them up 6 (enabling Detroit to tie it with a 59-yard field goal that somehow curved in), and then a monster OT TD run by Jahmyr Gibbs (capping his huge day). Nobody turns wins into losses this year like the Giants. Big games for Winston and Wan'Dale anyway.
Vikings at Packers: Big game for Emanuel Wilson. Jordan Love and the passing game, meanwhile, just sat back and watched Wilson carry the day while J.J. McCarthy continued his steady and ugly implosion. Not gonna pile on but at the moment I'm not sure anything connected with Minnesota can be in lineups. Apologies to the reader I advised Justin Jefferson over Chimere Dike to. Won't be much recommending of Jefferson for a little while.
Colts at Kansas City: We were pretty close to seeing Kansas City all but out of the playoff picture; 5-6 and losing tiebreakers to everyone else might have been it. But the Colts couldn't get some key stops after taking a 20-9 lead and couldn't move the ball themselves, and a KC rally and overtime period later, they're alive at 6-5. Not a lot of beauty in this one, but I guess KC had to win a close one eventually.
Seahawks at Titans: Looking at the final score you might think it was a close, competitive game. It was not; the Seahawks took a huge lead, with Jaxon Smith-Njigba continuing his record-setting pace, but the Titans had their second punt return touchdown in three weeks and some other late production to make it look better. Kenneth Walker the most yards, Zach Charbonnet the rushing score, not much of note from the Titans, save for those 2 TDs from Chimere Dike, congrats to those who took the chance.
Jaguars at Cardinals: Just like the Giants, the Jaguars passed up a field goal and a 6-point lead in the final minutes to go for it on 4th down. Is this a thing now? They got stopped, Arizona got the ball back and drove for a field goal to force overtime. Unlike the Giants, Jacksonville won anyway, with Arizona's last gasp driving ending on an incomplete pass I'd guess about two-thirds of the league's officials would have thrown a flag on. Neither of these teams is very good but the Jaguars are somehow firmly in the playoff picture. More big numbers for Michael Wilson and ultimately Jacoby Brissett, who heated up late. Trevor Lawrence was mistake-prone but still managed to pull it out, with some help from Arizona defensive breakdowns.
Browns at Raiders: Welp, Shedeur Sanders fans have some happiness today, with Sanders generally playing well enough to at least create some controversy over who the Browns should be starting. Critics will point out the sacks and interceptions and that his touchdown pass was just a little outlet that went for 66 yards due to some nice blocks/lousy angles by tacklers. Fans will point out he had a nice bomb that ended just short of the goal line and that he was hamstrung like most other quarterbacks the past couple of decades by playing for the Browns. Anyhoo, it's at least arguable that the worst quarterback in this game played for the Raiders.
Eagles at Cowboys: All Eagles early. All Cowboys late. Big game for George Pickens, making big grab after big grab. Not as big for CeeDee Lamb, with at least one drop and an end-zone throw late that it seemed like he should have hauled in. I'll cut him slack though, there was a defender that may have screened him. Aside from that, the Cowboys, too, passed up an easy field goal in the final minutes of a tie game to go for it, failed, but fortunately got a stop and got the ball back, winning on a field goal. I don't know, I would have taken the earlier three points (especially considering how crummy all four of their goal-line plays were). Regardless, huge win for Dallas, and the Eagles blowing a 21-0 lead makes things a little more wide open in the NFC. Both A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith finishing with strong numbers, that doesn't happen too often.
Falcons at Saints: Kirk Cousins isn't what he was, and there were some negative plays, but you can get away with a lot when you're playing a roster like the Saints. Chris Olave and Juwan Johnson had good numbers for the Saints, about all they have at receiver. Alvin Kamara left with a knee injury, we'll see. Fun stat line for Taysom Hill: 10 carries, 17 yards. Darnell Mooney joined the season by catching a touchdown. Blake Grupe missed from 38 and 47 and got booed. Fair, but he's just one of many problems here.
Bucs at Rams: Remember August when everyone was worried about Matthew Stafford's back and the whole house of cards the Rams offense was built on? And remember the years when they kept trading away first-round picks so their defense slowly eroded into a sad, ineffective unit? Right now this sure looks like the best team in the NFL, dismantling the Bucs on both sides of the ball even before Tampa Bay lost Baker Mayfield to an injury to his non-throwing shoulder that sure looks like it's going to cost him some time. Right now Stafford looks like the MVP and this offense looks like it's going to be winning some teams some fantasy titles.
Monday, Monday: The possibility of Baker Mayfield missing time and the sorry state of the Falcons and Saints these days makes Carolina a wee bit more interesting. I'm not really sold on them but the 49ers have also been kind of sketchy at times so maybe Bryce Young and company can surprise. They certainly have an easier path to the playoffs. But I suspect San Francisco's offense will be doing its thing and they'll be winning this one. 49ers 27, Panthers 20.