Outside of Thursday Night Football and Sunday Night Football, the NFL was good this past weekend. The Bears/Bengals game was a thriller. Upset wins for the Panthers and Steelers was huge. Who the heck are the Packers offense and Steelers defense, or is this a Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde type of thing? Cam Little kicked an NFL record 68-yard field goal against the Raiders in a thriller game too. Christian McCaffrey is a f***ing Superman in every game he played thus far. Denver must have watched Georgia football this season because they’re finding ways to win in the fourth quarter almost every time! The Patriots at 7-2 with Drake Maye and Mike Vrabel is criminal. Uh oh, Buffalo? I don’t know. They handled Kansas City pretty easily in their last meeting in Buffalo’s stadium. We’re halfway through the season and it’s looking all sorts of weird and unusual in football…and I LOVE IT!!!

However, more and more injuries continue to develop, including to Joe Alt (again) and Jayden Daniels. I wish them and others a safe and speedy recovery.

TEAMS CONSIDERED

15) SAN FRANCISCO 49ERS (6-3)

14) KANSAS CITY CHIEFS (5-4)

13) CHICAGO BEARS (5-3)

12) LOS ANGELES CHARGERS (6-3)

11) PHILADELPHIA EAGLES (6-2)

10) PITTSBURGH STEELERS (5-3)

Pittsburgh took their frustration out on a very hot Colts team. Defense played their best ball for the majority of the game, which was surprising to a lot of people that watched them struggle for most of the season. They forced three interceptions and three fumbles while sacking Danny Dimes five times. Will we see better consistency and fire from Pittsburgh’s defense eventually, or was it a fluke again?

9) GREEN BAY PACKERS (5-2-1)

They failed to get it done at home. Green Bay had some opportunities to maybe take the lead against Carolina, but they got blindsided without even knowing it and made plenty of mistakes. Green Bay had turnover issues and couldn’t stop Rico Dowdle from running for 100-plus yards. Kicker Brandon McManus missed the only field goal during the game that could’ve salvaged their chance for overtime. Micah Parsons not only failed to defeat his former team, but he also lost to former Cowboy teammate Rico Dowdle too. More bad news, Tucker Kraft is out for the season after his hot run for a couple of weeks.

8) DENVER BRONCOS (7-2)

Denver continues making things happen in the fourth quarter. They had a very difficult game against Houston, but they took out CJ Stroud to have a chance to come back and win. They’ve proven to have an elite defense, but it looks like they can also rely on their offense down to the wire too. They must work on being more consistent though.

7) BUFFALO BILLS (6-2)

In the Chiefs’ last meeting at Buffalo’s stadium, Buffalo virtually dominated them and gave Patrick Mahomes probably the most difficult matchup of the season and prevented his clutch opportunity during the game. Buffalo closed this matchup at 5-0 for the regular season and took out Kansas City for probably the last time in their stadium before moving on to their new one next year. If they were to clash again in the postseason, can they finally end Kansas City in Josh Allen’s era?

6) NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS (7-2)

New Englan d survived Atlanta thanks to the missed extra point by Atlanta that could’ve forced overtime. It looked like they had control of the game before Atlanta fought their way back. New England slowed down Bijan Robinson but couldn’t stop Drake London from catching for three touchdowns. They had early success, but now things start to get tight halfway through the season.

5) INDIANAPOLIS COLTS (7-2)

Does Indianapolis finally have some vulnerability? It showed up against Pittsburgh in surprising fashion. There were past meetings where the Colts struggled at Pittsburgh, but they struggled to the point where Jonathan Taylor couldn’t do anything to save them this time. Danny Dimes did what he could to bring the team back in garbage time, but it wasn’t enough. During the game, he threw three interceptions and two lost fumbles. The offensive line was also responsible for Danny’s struggles. Those are miscues that Indy hopes never to happen again.

4) DETROIT LIONS (5-3)

Detroit got pummeled early before they turned it on and tried keeping up with Minnesota. Out of nowhere, Minnesota played their best ball when J.J. McCarthy made his NFL Sunday debut as the starter. Detroit’s run game was stifled and the offensive line struggled to protect Jared Goff. What’s worse is Amon-Ra St. Brown suffered an injury. He played through it, but it’s a bit of a concern.

3) SEATTLE SEAHAWKS (6-2)

Sunday Night Football wasn’t a game. Seattle dismantled Washington the whole time and took down Jayden Daniels. They are proven road warriors (10 straight road wins since Oct. 20, 2024) and their defense travels well. They’re definitely not the Legion of Boom 2.0 without some charisma and personality, but that defense has grit and gets the job done.

2) TAMPA BAY BUCCANEERS (6-2)

BYE

1) LOS ANGELES RAMS (6-2)

Rams dominated from the start against New Orleans. Jared Verse and company made it difficult for the Saints to get going while the offense took their time carving out New Orleans’ defense. Matt Stafford was surgical again, and Kyren Williams and Blake Corum ran down the defense while Puka Nacua continues being tough against coverage despite being beat up again.