What’s the greatest comeback in the history of the National Football League? Well, the Eagles fan in me would point towards both iterations of the ‘Miracle of the Meadowlands’, but it’s hard to argue against a Super Bowl victory so famous that any fan of the gridiron knows what I’m talking about when I say ‘28-3’.

In terms of sheer turnaround in performance, however, you would be hard pressed to surpass the Denver Broncos’ extraordinary win on Sunday. Their victory headlines a Week 7 slate which featured mouth-watering revenge arcs, virtuoso quarterback displays from Matthew Stafford and Dak Prescott, an all-time stinker from the Las Vegas Raiders and frankly laughable performances from some of the league’s whipping boys.

 

WEEK 7 SCORES
(excl. Monday 20th October)

Thursday

Pittsburgh Steelers 31 @ Cincinnati Bengals 33

Sunday:

Los Angeles Rams 35 @ Jacksonville Jaguars 7 (London)

Philadelphia Eagles 28 @ Minnesota Vikings 22

New England Patriots 31 @ Tennessee Titans 13

Carolina Panthers 13 @ New York Jets 6

Miami Dolphins 6 @ Cleveland Browns 31

New Orleans Saints 14 @ Chicago Bears 26

Las Vegas Raiders 0 @ Kansas City Chiefs 31

Indianapolis Colts 38 @ Los Angeles Chargers 24

New York Giants 32 @ Denver Broncos 33

Green Bay Packers 27 @ Arizona Cardinals 23

Washington Commanders 22 @ Dallas Cowboys 44

Atlanta Falcons 10 @ San Francisco 49ers 20

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GAME OF THE WEEK

New York Giants 32 @ Denver Broncos 33

When Troy Franklin caught a touchdown that was intended for, and deflected by, Cortland Sutton 46 seconds into the fourth quarter of the Broncos and Giants matchup, we should have known things were about to get freaky.

To that point, the Broncos had been beaten to a pulp by the frisky New York franchise. Jaxson Dart had soundly outplayed Bo Nix en route to a 19-0 lead. Denver’s defense was uncharacteristically shaky, suffering complete breakdowns in coverage and failing to put pressure on the rookie signal caller. But the Broncos are also staking a claim as the league’s best fourth quarter franchise. Two weeks removed from their 14-point comeback against Philadelphia, Nix and his running mates went bonkers, totalling 33 points and amassing more than 200 yards of offense.

With the scores at 19-7, the ensuing drives went something like this:

• Immediately following Franklin’s deflected grab, the Giants returned the favour. Theo Johnson snagged a tapped Dart toss, and rumbled 41 yards for a score.
• Nix then led three consecutive touchdown drives. Two of those sequences took less than a minute, giving the hosts a 30-26 lead.
• The Giants’ ensuing drive was headed for disaster. Dart took a sack, missed his target on second down and suffered a delay of game penalty on third. After a long pass went incomplete, the rookie was faced with a 4th-and-19. Unbelievably, the Ole Miss alum found Wan’Dale Robinson for a conversion, with a further 15 yards tacked on for a roughing the passer penalty. With the ball on the one-yard line, Dart dived for the endzone and was called down, only for video replay showed he had crossed the plane. Rookie kicker Jude McAtamney then missed his second point after of the fixture, giving the Giants a tenuous 32-30 lead.
• With just 33 seconds on the clock, Nix found Marvin Mims for a 29-yard gain and Sutton for a 22-yarder, to set up Will Lutz’s game-winning field goal.

It was as crushing a loss as you can imagine for the G-Men, who were riding a two-game winning streak before their trip out west. Nix is making a name for himself as a fourth-quarter assassin. His 174 yards for two touchdowns, plus 46 rushing yards and two more scores on the ground made him the hero of one of the most unbelievable comebacks you will ever see.

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MVP OF THE WEEK

Dak Prescott (QB, Dallas Cowboys)

Dak Prescott is enjoying himself. Speaking after the Cowboys 44-22 win over their NFC East rival Washington Commanders, the tenth-year pro was ebullient in his appraisal of his offensive unit. “Who knows what we can accomplish?” Prescott asked, rhetorically. “Like, the sky is the limit.”

Dallas has scored 40 points in all three of their games played at AT&T Stadium this term. In the past four weeks, Prescott has thrown for 13 touchdowns and no interceptions. Sunday was the fourth time the Cowboys have eclipsed 400 yards on offense, the best in the league. It was the fourth time they have scored a touchdown on at least 75 percent of their red zone drives. It was the fourth time they have found paydirt on all of their goal-to-go possessions.

Prescott is putting his team-mates in possession to succeed. CeeDee Lamb re-assimilated into the gameplan with minimal fuss, highlighted by a 74-yard score. George Pickens fit perfectly back into his role as a boundary receiver, averaging 20.5 yards per catch. Jake Ferguson has gone four straight games with a score, while Javonte Williams tallied another 100-yard performance on the ground.

It’s worth remembering that the last time Prescott put together a complete season, he was a true MVP contender. Dallas’ defense also played their role on the day, but the Micah Parsons trade continues to look all the more baffling as Prescott demonstrates he is capable of leading an NFL offense. The Cowboys will only go as far as this defensive unit allows, but that is no indictment on their quarterback.

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Winners: Devonta Smith, AJ Brown & Jalen Hurts

With 8:18 remaining in the third quarter, Jalen Hurts is lined up under center. It’s second-and-five, with the ball on the Philadelphia Eagles’ 21 yard-line. Hurts takes the snap, turns, fakes the hand off to Saquon Barkley, squares his shoulders and uncorks a deep ball over the top of the Minnesota Vikings secondary, where Devonta Smith has burned his former team-mate Isaiah Rodgers. Tracking the ball over his shoulder, Smith snaffles the pigskin in stride, races away from the recovering Rodgers and saunters into the endzone for a 79-yard score.

According to Sheil Kapadia of The Ringer, the Eagles had zero passing yards on under-center play-action in the first six weeks of the season. That’s not because they are bad at it, it’s just that Kevin Patullo and Nick Sirianni have largely ignored the concept in favour of passes out of shotgun and pistol.

Far from me to suggest play-action would be an effective element of an offense that boasts arguably the best wide receiver tandem in the league (have you already forgotten the Cowboys? – Ed), a vaunted offensive line and the reigning Offensive Player of the Year at running back, but maybe, just maybe, this play should have been wheeled out once or twice during the Eagles’ terrible start to the 2025 season.

Hurts, Smith and A.J. Brown finally got on the same page in Minnesota this week. Smith had the best game of his career, totalling 183 yards on nine catches. Brown demonstrated his preternatural talents on two long touchdown grabs. On throws that travelled more than ten yards from the line of scrimmage, Hurts completed eight of 11 for three touchdowns and a 154.4 passer rating.

There were still moments where the offense got bogged down, largely due to the stuttering run game, but this served as a reminder that this offense is capable of killing opposition in a multitude of ways.

Loser: Amy Adams Strunk

When the New England Patriots knelt out a crushing 31-13 win over the Tennessee Titans, an unmistakable cry of ‘Vrabel, Vrabel’ went up around Nissan Stadium. It was the coach’s first game back in Nashville since he was fired by the Titans after the 2023 season. In his six seasons with the franchise, he reached the post-season on three occasions, winning 54 of his 99 games.

The chants will be a shot across the bow of Titans’ owner Amy Adams Strunk, who is quickly gaining a reputation as one of the league’s hardest owners to work under.

Following the dismissal of Brian Callahan last week, the Titans again looked toothless in the face of a better-constructed and better-coached roster. Cam Ward was sacked five times, threw a pick and coughed up a laughable fumble that resulted in a defensive touchdown for the visitors. It was a calamity of errors at the worst possible moment for a franchise that has become on of the league’s laughing stocks.

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THE ROUND UP

What is going on in Las Vegas? The Raiders ran just 30 plays in their 31-0 demolition at the hands of the Kansas City Chiefs. That’s the fewest offensive snaps recorded by any team since the NFL officially started tracking the statistic in 2002; Aaron Schatz of FTN says it’s the second lowest in any game since 1978.

Reports of winds reaching 50-60mph failed to materialise on the banks of Lake Erie, but the Cleveland Browns still built an offensive gameplan that could function in inclement weather — and to devastating effect, as Quinshon Judkins ran in two of his three scores in Cleveland’s 31-6 victory over the moribund Dolphins from a newly-installed wildcat package. Tua Tagovailoa’s three picks, including one errant toss that was returned for a touchdown by Tyson Campbell, was enough for embattled coach Mike McDaniel to pull his starter in favour of rookie Quinn Ewers. This regime is running out of ideas — and time.

Matthew Stafford had garnered a reputation for feeding outstanding wide receiver seasons. He was the pitcher in Calvin Johnson’s tilt at 2,000 yards back in 2009, and was the conduit to Cooper Kupp’s triple crown. At Wembley Stadium, he proved he can share the rock, hitting eleven different players for a catch in the absence of Puka Nacua in the Rams’ 35-7 triumph over the Jags. Stafford still narrowed his focus in the red zone, routinely targeting Davante Adams around the goal line, connecting on three touchdown passes from within two yards. Jacksonville’s ill-discipline (they totalled 119 penalty yards in the contest) and inability to keep Trevor Lawrence upright (the former first overall pick was sacked seven times) cost them on their annual London trip.

Micah Parsons led the Green Bay pass rush to 27 pressures and six sacks in their 27-23 win over the Arizona Cardinals. That’s a promising sign, but there are still issues with the Packers’ defense. Despite the constant pressure, Jacoby Brissett was able to throw for 279 yards and two scores on passer rating of 110.8. Arizona converted a 3rd-and-23 and a 3rd-and-14 and were routinely able to access the middle of the field through star tight end Trey McBride, while Packers off-season acquisition Nate Hobbs gave up four completions on five targets for 86 yards per PFF. Without Jaire Alexander, the disconnect in quality between the front and back end of this defense is stark.

The Indianapolis Colts maintained their devastating offensive efficiency in a 38-24 win over the Los Angeles Chargers. Shane Steichen’s offense scored touchdowns on four of their five redzone trips, and converted all of their fourth down attempts while churning out 401 yards at 6.9 per play. Jonathan Taylor now has three three-score games through seven weeks of the 2025 season. Sitting pretty at 6-1, the Colts are serious contenders for the top seed in the AFC.

Aaron Glenn is already on the hot seat just seven games into his first season as an NFL coach. On the opening drive of their latest failure against the Carolina Panthers, Glenn opted to go for it on fourth down, eschewing a would-be 52-yard field goal in favour of an incomplete pass by Justin Fields to Josh Reynolds. Breece Hall wasn’t even on the field, signposting the play. Considering Nick Folk is immaculate on the season so far, it was the latest in a string of curious game management decisions from the former Detroit Lions defensive coordinator, who is coaching like his former head coach Dan Campbell. Seeing that Fields was yanked during the second quarter in favour of Tyrod Taylor, it was a baffling choice. Campbell’s ultra-aggressive style works when you have a dependable signal caller, a cadre of premiere skill players and a dependable offensive line; all of which Gang Green clearly lack.

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STATS OF THE WEEK

• There have been 26 games with a lead change in the final two minutes of regulation this season, the most in NFL history through seven weeks. Prior to the Broncos’ comeback, teams were 161-0 since 2007 when leading a scoreless opponent by 18 points or more entering the fourth quarter.
• Drake Maye completed 21 of his 23 passes for 222 yards and two TDs against the Titans. His 91.3 percent completion rate breaks Tom Brady’s previous franchise record of 88.5. The GOAT set that mark in a 2009 win over the Jags.
• Christian McCaffrey leads the NFL with 185 touches and 981 scrimmage yards. He is the second player in NFL history with 450-plus rushing and receiving yards in his first seven games of the season. When Marshall Faulk completed the feat in the 2000 season, he went on to win NFL MVP.

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