That was a great early game in Germany. There were some entertaining 1 p.m. games too. After that...well, there were a lot of garbage-time stats.
Falcons versus Colts in Germany: It seems like England has got some lousy games this year, but a good one for the Berliners. A few takeaways. Obviously, if you drafted Jonathan Taylor, you're probably doing very well. A remarkable year, almost every week. Perhaps more surprising, Alec Pierce has turned into a somewhat reliable weekly option. Credit to Daniel Jones (who did take 7 sacks, some of which he had no chance but some of which were on him, for the second week in a row), but it's a good looking offense around him too. Tyler Warren had a really remarkable overtime reception to set up the winning touchdown -- most tight ends, that's an overthrow. Falcons takeaways: I saw Sauce Gardner on the field, but hopefully no one benched Drake London because of it. Bijan Robinson watched Tyler Allgeier score 2 TDs, kind of frustrating. And finally...it doesn't look like Michael Penix is very good. Some drops (including a bad one by Darnell Mooney), but Penix himself is struggling too.
Saints at Panthers: One of the upsets of the day, but it can't be too surprising when a team winning with the run game and defense drops a low-scoring game. But credit to Tyler Shough, who had his best game and delivered big numbers to Chris Olave and Juwan Johnson. For the Panthers, another week of small passing numbers for Bryce Young, more glaring when you score only 7 points and lose to a bad Saints team.
Giants at Bears: It was snowing lightly, which weather.com seemed to believe there was about a 1 percent chance of happening. But it did, and it maybe factored into some missed connections and dropped passes along the way. Giants looked like they were going to win until Jaxson Dart took a huge helmet hit on a scramble and seemed to be knocked unconscious, scary. Caleb Williams made some plays late, mostly with his legs, and the Bears got the win. Williams is a weird quarterback to watch play, making some wild or inaccurate throws along the way, but somehow the Bears are 6-3. Dart also had an up-and-down game passing it, big game running it, and obviously it's the concussion that people will be concerned about this week. DJ Moore shut out (a couple of end-zone near misses, one maybe a drop), Rome Odunze a nice game.
Jaguars at Texans: Hard to know what to make of this game. It's not so much that it was all Jaguars in the first half as that Houston kept turning it over, botching a punt coverage, and falling behind 29-10 through three quarters. And then, their offense struggled, defense couldn't get any stops, got flagged for an iffy interference penalty before Houston's go-ahead touchdown, and suddenly it was Houston by a point. Looked like we might get to see Cam Little try a 70-yard field goal for the win, but instead the Jags drew a bad penalty and then Trevor Lawrence's desperation Hail Mary got picked at the line and run in for a touchdown that probably affected a ton of bettors, with Houston winning by 8 rather than 7 rather than 1 (I assume the spread was somewhere in between). Tough one for Jacksonville fans, nice for those with Parker Washington (2 TDs including a punt return) and a few different Texans -- Woody Marks, Dalton Schultz, Nico Collins. Wild game.
Bills at Dolphins: Say this for the Dolphins, they play well at times. The Bills, in contrast, couldn't get out of their own way in this one, and seemed to miss Dalton Kincaid when he left in the first half with a hamstring injury, shortly after dropping a pass that would have enabled him to hit his over. Nothing much went right for Buffalo, lots of turnovers, some uncharacteristic Josh Allen mistakes, and oh yeah really bad week to be facing DeVon Achane anywhere. Bills got some work to do if they're gonna win the AFC East.
Ravens at Vikings: Not the prettiest game. The Ravens offense wasn't particularly sharp for a while, settling for field goals in a lower-scoring first half. But on the other side you had J.J. McCarthy mixing in occasional big throws with wild heaves that were intercepted or nearly intercepted. McCarthy has some developing to do. Strange plays from this game, like the Ravens getting to the 1-yard line and letting Justice Hill vulture a touchdown from Derrick Henry, that kind of sucked. Another touchdown for Mark Andrews, good game from Minnesota's No. 3 wideout Jalen Nailor and banged-up Aaron Jones, and not much else.
Browns at Jets: Justin Field threw for 54 yards and most of it was a little dumpoff at the line to Breece Hall that went for a 42-yard score. Good thing the Jets didn't trade him, they might have lost and got a better draft pick next April. Mainly New York won because they scored on kickoff and punt returns on back to back touches and then held on. For Cleveland, a decent day passing it for Dillon Gabriel, who rediscovered that he had wide receivers, with Jerry Jeudy having a nice day on benches everywhere. In defense of Aaron Glenn, because whatever, it's not hard to see why he has a hard time committing to Fields as his starter.
Patriots at Buccaneers: The surprise MVP candidate battle goes to Drake Maye, who had a big game, as did rookie running back TreVeyon Henderson, finally getting a shot to lead the backfield, capping his big day with a 69-yard breakaway TD run. Big game passing for Baker Mayfield, ultimately. With both teams tough on the run (Henderson game aside...) and leaky against the pass, the stats were mostly as expected. Except for Mack Hollins (6 for 106), I would not blow the waiver budget picking him up.
Cardinals at Seahawks: That was some late afternoon slate of games, with all three having final scores of 45-20. Not exactly, but you get the idea. This was the worst, with the Seahawks scoring easily on offense and having a couple of nearly identical fumble-6 touchdowns -- by the same defender, Demarcus Lawrence -- to open up an ugly blowout where all you got from Arizona came after the game was over. Yeah, but that counts too! Any "Barfly" fans here? Hard to pin this one on Jacoby Brissett, but a reminder that some matchups are more difficult than others. Seattle offensive numbers weren't as big as they could be with 2 defensive touchdowns, especially passing it -- Darnold attempted only 12 passes -- unfortunate, and you were lucky to get what you did out of Smith-Njigba.
Rams at 49ers: This was kind of closer, but still not very. Matthew Stafford has been killing it this season, and with San Francisco's defense not bringing much to the table, this is what you get. Some garbage production from Mac Jones and company, including a really cool George Kittle touchdown, but the game was never really close and San Francisco is not going to be able to keep up with Seattle and the Rams given all their defensive injuries. Davante Adams left with an oblique injury, but Sean McVay said afterward he could have returned, and he was honest about Puka Nacua last week, so I'll give him the benefit of the doubt.
Lions at Commanders: As expected. Need this one be discussed much? Injuries on offense and age/injuries on defense have left Washington a pretty bad shell of a team these days. By the time Jayden Daniels is ready to return, well, it's going to be too late. Lions did whatever they wanted on offense and Washington couldn't do too much with their opportunities, because everyone is hurt. I wonder why Washington traded away Brian Robinson with the way their backfield has looked lately, although I guess he wouldn't be doing much here either. It's over.
Steelers at Chargers: Called this game poorly. Both defenses really came to play, and offensive stats were harder to come by. Justin Herbert was getting knocked around, but got up off the canvas. Aaron Rodgers did not. Good final numbers from Kimani Vidal, with game script a big part of it. Another dud from DK Metcalf; whole passing game really. Ugly.
Monday, Monday: Eagles-Packers looks like a potential playoff preview; both are certainly favorites or strong division title contenders. Eagles are a really tough team to project; will it be Barkley or Hurts as the main guy. Packers have played the run well, but Barkley had his best game in the last outing. Packers of course were getting shocked by the Panthers, who just got shocked by the Saints. I'm really not sure who wins this one but I do think it will be close. Eagles 24, Packers 21.