The Denver Broncos showed their defense is for real in a massive, dominant win over the Green Bay Packers while the New England Patriots kept dominating the AFC East, the Seattle Seahawks escaped Dallas with a win, the New York Giants somehow lost a no-defense-athon to the New Orleans Saints and the sad season of the Detroit Lions and San Francisco 49ers continued without any interruptions.
Miami Dolphins (3-4) 7 Â New England Patriots (7-0) 36:Â Some Thursday night fun, at least for the Pats, with four touchdown passes by Tom Brady while the defense intercepted Ryan Tannehill twice and sacked him five times.
Detroit Lions (1-7) 10 Â Kansas City Chiefs (3-5) 45:Â The Lions keep disintegrating into nothingness, while the Chiefs run for 206 yards and four touchdowns and even get two in the air with Alex Smith finding Travis Kelce and Jeremy Maclin.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers (3-4) 23  Atlanta Falcons (6-2) 20: Maybe a game that uncovers the Falcons bluff. The Bucks dropped a 20-3 lead to allow overtime, but won on a Connor Barth field goal. Jameis Winston threw one touchdown pass and ran for another while the Falcons lost again on turnovers, this time three fumbles and an interception.
Arizona Cardinals (6-2) 34 Â Cleveland Browns (2-6) 20:Â The combination of Josh McCown, injury and Johnny Manziel coming in didn’t work once more despite a 20-7 lead to start the game. Carson Palmer threw four touchdown passes, Chris Johnson ran for 109 yards and the Cardinals overcame four turnovers to win quite easily.
San Francisco 49ers (2-6) 6 Â St. Louis Rams (4-3) 27:Â Things look sad for the Niners, losing their fourth road game this season and looking lost on offense with only 200 total yards. Nick Foles didn’t throw interceptions and Todd Gurley had another big day, rushing for 133 yards and a touchdown.
New York Giants (4-4) 49 Â New Orleans Saints (4-4) 52:Â No defense, all touchdowns. Eli Manning threw for 350 yards and six. Drew Brees did get intercepted once, but threw 7 touchdown passes and for 511 yards. Terrible mistakes by Tom Coughlin allowed the Saints to win the game without the Giants having time to do something about it.
Minnesota Vikings (5-2) 23 Â Chicago Bears (2-5) 20:Â A game the Vikings probably weren’t supposed to win but still managed to, behind another solid day on the ground from Adrian Peterson, a good enough performance from Teddy Bridgewater and a game winning field goal by Blair Walsh.
San Diego Chargers (2-6) 26 Â Baltimore Ravens (2-6) 29:Â For the second time this season the Ravens win on a Justin Tucker field goal as the Chargers keep scratching their heads how they let another one slip away despite a very good game from Philip Rivers, with three touchdown passes and no interceptions.
Cincinnati Bengals (7-0) 16 Â Pittsburgh Steelers (4-4) 10:Â A real test of metal for the Bengals, showing they can bully everyone, even the Steelers, with Andy Dalton recovering from a rough start and two interceptions to throw a big touchdown pass to A.J. Green while the defense roughed up Ben Roethlisberger, intercepting him three times.
Tennessee Titans (1-6) 6 Â Houston Texans (3-5) 20:Â Zach Mettenberger couldn’t save the sinking ship from Tennessee, while Brian Hoyer looked competent without a running game, thanks to a defense that picked up seven sacks and an interception.
New York Jets (4-3) 20 Â Oakland Raiders (4-3) 34:Â Seven games into the season and the Raiders are still above .500. Derek Carr threw four touchdown passes, the Raiders got Geno Smith to play against and also a banged up defense, making their afternoon a very easy one.
Seattle Seahawks (4-4) 13 Â Dallas Cowboys (2-5) 12:Â Matt Cassel can’t throw the ball (97 yards, 13-for-25) so despite a great day by the Cowboys defense, a killing drive by the Seahawks that ate up all of the fourth quarter and some iffy referee decisions going their way helped them bounce back to .500.
Green Bay Packers (6-1) 10 Â Denver Broncos (7-0) 29:Â Peyton Manning didn’t throw any touchdown passes, but probably had his best game of the season with C.J. Anderson finally doing some good, running for 101 yards. The defense was the big story once more, stifling Aaron Rodgers and holding him to just 77 yards, showing it’s for real, and not just against weak opponents.
Indianapolis Colts (3-5) 26  Carolina Panthers (7-0) 29: Overtime win for the Panthers to stay undefeated as Graham Gano hit one from 52 yards, with the Colts managing a late comeback despite falling 23-6 behind.
NFC
| NFC East | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| W | L | T | PCT | DIV | CONF | PF | PA | STK | |
| New York Giants | 4 | 4 | 0 | .500 | 2–2 | 3–4 | 205 | 208 | L1 |
| Washington Redskins | 3 | 4 | 0 | .429 | 1–1 | 2–3 | 148 | 168 | W1 |
| Philadelphia Eagles | 3 | 4 | 0 | .429 | 1–2 | 2–4 | 160 | 137 | L1 |
| Dallas Cowboys | 2 | 5 | 0 | .286 | 2–1 | 2–4 | 133 | 178 | L5 |
| NFC North | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| W | L | T | PCT | DIV | CONF | PF | PA | STK | |
| Green Bay Packers | 6 | 1 | 0 | .857 | 1–0 | 4–0 | 174 | 130 | L1 |
| Minnesota Vikings | 5 | 2 | 0 | .714 | 3–0 | 3–1 | 147 | 122 | W3 |
| Chicago Bears | 2 | 5 | 0 | .286 | 0–3 | 0–5 | 140 | 202 | L2 |
| Detroit Lions | 1 | 7 | 0 | .125 | 1–2 | 1–4 | 149 | 245 | L2 |
| NFC South | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| W | L | T | PCT | DIV | CONF | PF | PA | STK | |
| Carolina Panthers | 7 | 0 | 0 | 1.000 | 2–0 | 4–0 | 191 | 136 | W7 |
| Atlanta Falcons | 6 | 2 | 0 | .750 | 0–2 | 4–2 | 213 | 173 | L1 |
| New Orleans Saints | 4 | 4 | 0 | .500 | 1–2 | 3–4 | 217 | 234 | W3 |
| Tampa Bay Buccaneers | 3 | 4 | 0 | .429 | 2–1 | 2–2 | 163 | 199 | W1 |
| NFC West | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| W | L | T | PCT | DIV | CONF | PF | PA | STK | |
| Arizona Cardinals | 6 | 2 | 0 | .750 | 1–1 | 4–1 | 263 | 153 | W2 |
| St. Louis Rams | 4 | 3 | 0 | .571 | 3–0 | 3–2 | 135 | 123 | W2 |
| Seattle Seahawks | 4 | 4 | 0 | .500 | 1–1 | 4–3 | 174 | 140 | W2 |
| San Francisco 49ers | 2 | 6 | 0 | .250 | 0–3 | 1–5 | 109 | 207 | L2 |
AFC
| AFC East | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| W | L | T | PCT | DIV | CONF | PF | PA | STK | |
| New England Patriots | 7 | 0 | 0 | 1.000 | 3–0 | 6–0 | 249 | 133 | W7 |
| New York Jets | 4 | 3 | 0 | .571 | 1–1 | 3–2 | 172 | 139 | L2 |
| Buffalo Bills | 3 | 4 | 0 | .429 | 1–1 | 3–3 | 176 | 173 | L2 |
| Miami Dolphins | 3 | 4 | 0 | .429 | 0–3 | 2–4 | 154 | 163 | L1 |
| AFC North | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| W | L | T | PCT | DIV | CONF | PF | PA | STK | |
| Cincinnati Bengals | 7 | 0 | 0 | 1.000 | 2–0 | 6–0 | 198 | 132 | W7 |
| Pittsburgh Steelers | 4 | 4 | 0 | .500 | 0–2 | 2–3 | 178 | 137 | L2 |
| Cleveland Browns | 2 | 6 | 0 | .250 | 1–0 | 2–4 | 167 | 224 | L3 |
| Baltimore Ravens | 2 | 6 | 0 | .250 | 1–2 | 2–4 | 190 | 214 | W1 |
| AFC South | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| W | L | T | PCT | DIV | CONF | PF | PA | STK | |
| Indianapolis Colts | 3 | 5 | 0 | .375 | 3–0 | 3–3 | 173 | 203 | L3 |
| Houston Texans | 3 | 5 | 0 | .375 | 2–1 | 2–3 | 174 | 205 | W1 |
| Jacksonville Jaguars | 2 | 5 | 0 | .286 | 0–2 | 2–3 | 147 | 207 | W1 |
| Tennessee Titans | 1 | 6 | 0 | .143 | 0–2 | 0–5 | 125 | 158 | L6 |
| AFC West | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| W | L | T | PCT | DIV | CONF | PF | PA | STK | |
| Denver Broncos | 7 | 0 | 0 | 1.000 | 2–0 | 4–0 | 168 | 112 | W7 |
| Oakland Raiders | 4 | 3 | 0 | .571 | 1–1 | 4–2 | 178 | 173 | W2 |
| Kansas City Chiefs | 3 | 5 | 0 | .375 | 0–1 | 2–2 | 195 | 182 | W2 |
| San Diego Chargers | 2 | 6 | 0 | .250 | 0–1 | 1–4 | 191 | 227 | L4 |