So what was yesterday's best story? A backup running back kicking a field goal? A quarterback who started for a different team last week coming in cold with no first-team practice reps to lead a comeback win? A rookie passing record falling? Lots of good ones, let's get to it.
Kansas City versus Miami in Germany: Another week, another disappointing supposed slugfest. The wealth continues for those who took the injury risk of Raheem Mostert, but pretty much everyone else disappointed. Fair to say that early selections of Patrick Mahomes haven't worked out too great, too many wins like this one, with modest numbers. Both quarterbacks under 200 passing yards, that helps no one. Isiah Pacheco didn't score or catch any passes, so a week when his being featured wasn't enough to make anyone glad they started him. I suppose fans in Germany had a good time, but not a great watch. Pivotal defensive touchdown for KC looked like some refs might have said Tyreek Hill's forward progress had long since been stopped, but these ones didn't. Miami’s 3 losses to Buffalo, Philadelphia and Kansas City.
Vikings at Falcons: Gotta feel bad for Jaren Hall, whose first NFL start was cut short by a concussion, which happened on a scramble near the goal line one play after Hall just missed a wide-open T.J. Hockenson for a touchdown. Inches too high from sitting on the sidelines with a 7-3 lead and his first touchdown pass, instead out while Joshua Dobbs throws to guys he met a few days earlier. Hall's misfortune led to Dobbs' storybook day, as he wound up supplementing 158 passing yards with 66 rushing and 3 total touchdowns, leading a remarkable game-winning drive. Decent numbers from Vikings skill guys, while the best Falcon was probably one the fewest people started, either Tyler Allgeier or Jonnu Smith, with the touchdowns. And Younghoe Koo, nice for those of us who have him everywhere. Anyway, props to Dobbs (who I later read graduated from a nearby high school, making for an even crazier story).
Seahawks at Ravens: Ravens are pretty good, nothing new there. Seattle is a good team that ran into a buzzsaw and got overmatched. And there are some cracks in Geno Smith's game; he's been a nice story since last year but he'll make some mistakes, too, and Baltimore has a defense that will make QBs look bad. Game was all Ravens, with big game for Gus Edwards and also undrafted rookie Keaton Mitchell, who will give this backfield a new wrinkle going forward. Disappointing game for Zay Flowers, while Odell Beckham (who few started) stepped up, that's the lone negative. For Baltimore, the whole game was bad for Seattle.
Cardinals at Browns: I know the Cardinals may not be trying to win, and don't want to get Kyler Murray hurt and stuff, but I think they will need to put him on the field next week so we don't get another week of Clayton Tune. In fairness, he's not the first quarterback the Browns have made look bad and won't be the last. But, ugh. We ranked Hollywood Brown low and it still probably wasn't low enough. Humorous rushing numbers (Ingram 9 carries for 8 yards, Jones 3 for 2, Rondale 4 for 3) too. Credit to Deshaun Watson for throwing for a couple of scores and to the right guys (Cooper, Njoku) too. Both Ford (receiving) and Hunt (TD) worked out OK.
Rams at Packers: Another game that featured some pretty awful quarterbacking. Jordan Love was the better of the two, though, and it was good enough with Aaron Jones on his side. The Rams without Matthew Stafford were probably even worse than could have been expected. I agonized over benching Puka Nacua; no ragrets. Nice game for a healthy Aaron Jones, and Love and Luke Musgrave hooked up for a touchdown. Not much from the wide receivers for either team, really; Christian Watson and Love nearly hooked up on a touchdown that Watson couldn't corral.
Bucs at Texans: Game of the day. C.J. Stroud, what can you say. No one who doubted him feels too smart these days. And hey that Baker Mayfield, he kind of looks like he might be starting for the Bucs for more than just this year. Did what seemed to be enough to win, throwing a pretty touchdown pass with 45 seconds left. But Stroud made a couple of great throws (to receivers not well covered, but whatever) himself to pull it out. Rookie passing record 470 yards and if you were facing him or any of his receivers (three different 115-plus yards guys, not including Nico) you're probably losing. Humorous and cool sidelight to this game was that Ka'imi Fairbairn got hurt, leaving them with special team running back and longtime Richardson favorite Dare Ogunbowale as their kicker. They used him for kickoffs, went for 2 after every score and passed up a tying field goal at one point to score a fourth-down touchdown, but also tried (and made!) a short field goal late. In a 2-point win. Lot of good storylines in this game, tough loss for the Bucs but I think Baker made some fans.
Commanders at Patriots: Ugly game, like a lot of games these teams have played. Some nice plays (touchdowns by Rhamondre, Dotson), some drives that stalled. Commanders are reportedly sure they have their quarterback, Patriots are apparently not as sure. I think both still have some stuff to prove, but both made some pretty good throws in this one, too. Needless to say, we're seeing a lot worse around the league these days.
Bears at Saints: First things first, I'm throwing in the towel on Taysom Hill. He's on a roll right now, after both catching and throwing a touchdown against a befuddled Bears defense that perhaps only expected him to run it. There will be occasional duds, but he's putting up points right now. Dennis Allen, though, I'm not sure how he's still a head coach. Several game management questions, as Allen accepts a penalty with the Bears in the red zone, giving them a 3rd and 12 rather than a fourth and 2 and probable field goal. Pushing Chicago back did nothing (team still in range for a shortish field goal), and of course the Bears converted the 3rd and 12 and later scored a touchdown. Late in the game Allen called a 4th and inches sneak in field goal range (up 7 points) but let Derek Carr handle it rather than, you know, Taysom Hill. Tough day for Alvin Kamara, twice carrying it down near the goal line only to lose out on the scoring chance. Four turnovers for Tyson Bagent, but aside from that (I realize, some will say there is no aside from that) he looked pretty good throwing and running it. They could have won this game (should have arguably) and can win with the Division II passer. Another big game for Cole Kmet, who might be better served by Bagent staying in the lineup.
Colts at Panthers: Zack Moss is apparently the player I'll be starting on his bad games and benching on his good games. Moss didn't do much, and really the whole offense didn't have to with Bryce Young throwing a pair of Pick Sixes among his 3 interceptions. Couple really poor throws in there (yes on the day Stroud threw for 470 and 5 TDs, it was noticed). Josh Downs left after aggravating the knee injury he came in with. Jonathan Taylor and Michael Pittman were the success stories, not much else (an Adam Thielen dud too, with his QB struggling).
Giants at Raiders: Initial reports are a torn ACL for Daniel Jones. Darren Waller is on IR with a hamstring injury and Tyrod Taylor is also on IR. It's fair at this point to speculate just how many touchdowns the Giants will be scoring in their remaining games. They definitely won't be winning many/any. Raiders showed more life than they've shown in a couple of seasons really, winning big with a strong defensive effort (there will be a lot of those against New York coming up) and a big game for Josh Jacobs. Who need not still be carrying it in the final minutes with a 30-6 lead, by the way, somebody pass that along to the new coach.
Cowboys at Eagles: Kansas City-Miami didn't meet expectations, but this one did. I came away kind of impressed with Dak Prescott, who yes took a terrible sack at the end and blew a 2-point conversion he really should have run in...what was I saying again? Well, he threw the ball really well for most of the game. But a game of inches, and the Cowboys had a touchdown ruled inches short on review and that 2-point conversion missed by Dak stepping on the line, and those plays were huge. Nice numbers for most of the key players at least. DeVonta Smith was limping after a catch late in the game, that will need to be checked out. Pretty touchdown grab for him during the game -- great throw, great catch. Oh yeah, Jalen Hurts also limping at one point, probably good Eagles get their bye now. But Dallas Goedert (fractured forearm) is going to miss multiple weeks, so a costly win regardless.
Bills at Bengals: After struggling for more than a month, the Bengals are cooking right now. Joe Burrow looked great last night and so did the whole offense really. Big game for Tee Higgins, narrowly missed scoring on a cool diving touchdown, and a pair of different tight ends scored. Bills, well, they're 5-4 and have basically only looked good a couple of times. Injuries seem to have caught up to the defense and it's affecting everything else. They've got Dalton Kincaid looking at least, that's nice.
Monday, Monday: So it's the Jets and the Chargers, and New York's offense is terrible but L.A.'s defense isn't very good, so maybe the Jets can play good defense and do enough on offense to steal another win. Difficult to bet on the team starting Zach Wilson against the one starting Justin Herbert, though. No Josh Palmer, so Quentin Johnson is going to have to be busy, and probably the tight ends too. Apparently Jalen Guyton might be available, we'll see. Couple of good running backs in this game, couple of good wide receivers. I'm calling it Chargers 23, Jets 20.