By It was a week of huge match-ups between winning teams and Week 7 didn’t disappoint in terms of drama.
One franchise lost for the first time, another maintained its unbeaten record and there were some huge injury blows too.
The day’s action began with the Jacksonville Jaguars getting a crucial victory against the New England Patriots in the season’s final game in London.
Here are the main storylines from Sunday’s action:
It was billed as the game of the week and it didn’t disappoint in terms of drama.
In what was a rematch of Super Bowl LVIII, the Kansas City Chiefs yet again were victorious over the San Francisco 49ers, this time winning 28-18.
It certainly wasn’t an offensive classic as both teams deal with mounting injuries – the 49ers lost both wide receivers Deebo Samuel and Brandon Aiyuk in Sunday’s game – but like they have shown all season, the Chiefs are just able to find a way to win.
Quarterback Patrick Mahomes completed 16-of-27 passes for 154 yards with no touchdown passes and two interceptions. He did run for a score though.
Mahomes was bailed out by a dynamic running attack, with Kansas City totaling 184 rushing yards, including 78 yards and two touchdowns from Kareem Hunt and another score from Mecole Hardman Jr.
With the offense struggling, it was left for the defense to step up yet again, as they intercepted 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy three times.
Afterwards, Mahomes said that, despite the win, there is plenty to improve on for the Chiefs, the only team left in the NFL which has yet to be defeated.
“You get the best of the best and that prepares you for the playoffs. I think that’s the biggest thing,” he told reporters. “It’s obviously fun to win and score a lot of points but, whenever you play in these high, tense moments against the great teams in the NFL, you see where you’re at.
“And we’re able to find a way to get a win today, our defense continues to play special honestly and, offensively, we’re able to run the ball and find a way to get into the endzone, but I think we can get so much better. So we’re going to continue to work at that and continue to try to get better as the season goes on.”
The Niners slip to 3-4 as the injuries continue to pile up for San Francisco. For an offense already missing Christian McCaffrey, the loss of Samuel and Aiyuk midway through Sunday’s game meant Purdy was working with a cast of skill players he was unaccustomed to.
And that was clear to see as he was often errant with his throws, struggling to find his receivers.
After the game, 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan said he was “worried” that Aiyuk had suffered an ACL injury when he was tackled midway through the second quarter.
Per the NFL, the 49ers are 0-40 when trailing by eight or more points in the fourth quarter in games under Shanahan and are the only team without a win in that scenario.
All eyes were on Saquon Barkley as the Philadelphia Eagles made the short trip north to face the New York Giants in East Rutherford.
After being acrimoniously traded from New York in the offseason having been the face of the Giants for so long, it was the running back’s first time playing against his former team.
Barkley was welcomed back to MetLife Stadium with boos by Giants fans as he now wears the jersey of one of the team’s fiercest rivals. Some fans burned his jersey as he arrived at the stadium.
“That was crazy,” Barkley said after the Eagles won 28-3. “I’ve seen my jersey get burned before on social media, but the timing of it. I’m locked in, I’m listening to my music, and I see the fans, and all I see is fans just pointing, and I look and I’m like what are they pointing at? I see smoke and I’m just like: ‘Where’s my jersey at?’
“That was definitely different. I don’t know if I’ve ever experienced anything like that in my life and, hopefully, I don’t experience that again, but in that moment, I was ready for third-and-one. I’ll just say that.”
Despite all the animosity, Barkley flourished on his return to New York and showed the team that drafted him second overall in 2018 what it was missing.
The 27-year-old rushed for 176 yards and a touchdown on 17 carries in the three quarters he played. With the Eagles leading by 25 points, Barkley was pulled from the game.
The running back continuously sliced through the Giants’ porous run defense, ripping off runs of 55, 38 and 41 yards as he increasingly looked fired up, even exchanging words with some of his former New York teammates.
According to the NFL, his 176 rushing yards are the second-most in NFL history by a player against their former team after Cincinnati Bengals RB Cedric Benson rushed for 189 against the Chicago Bears in Week 7 of the 2009 season.
His return to East Rutherford to face the Giants had been the dominant storyline leading up to the match-up, but now Barkley says he’s ready to move on.
“To be honest, I’m so happy this game is over,” he said. “Like I’ve always said, I’m thankful for the (Giants) organization. They’re the team that drafted me. I’ve still got nothing but love and respect for the guys over there.
“I’m happy to be an Eagle and, most importantly, we got a win today in the division. It’s a division rival, and now, it’s onto the next one.”
On the other sideline, it was a disappointing outing for the Giants with starting QB Daniel Jones being benched in the fourth quarter after throwing for just 99 yards.
But head coach Brian Daboll said after the game that the switch was intended to generate a “spark” and that Jones is still the team’s starter.
“Daniel will be the quarterback going forward. But obviously, we didn’t do enough offensively. Hardly had any yards. No points.”
Late field goals lift Packers to win over Houston and sink Vikings for the first time
Two of the big games on Sunday involved NFC North teams and both came down to the wire.
In Minneapolis, the Detroit Lions ended the Minnesota Vikings’ undefeated start to the season with a 31-29 victory after Jake Bates’ 44-yard field goal gave them a two-point lead with just 15 seconds remaining.
It came after a topsy-turvy game in which there were moments of brilliance from both offenses and defenses between two playoff hopefuls.
The Vikings raced into a 10-point lead thanks to turnovers from the Detroit offense, but the Lions came roaring back, racing into a 28-17 lead with a little under six minutes left in the third quarter with running back Jahmyr Gibbs and receivers Amon-Ra St. Brown and Kalif Raymond all providing big scoring plays.
But Minnesota clawed its way back into the game through two field goals from Will Reichard and a 36-yard fumble return touchdown from Ivan Pace Jr. The two-point conversion attempt from Vikings QB Sam Darnold failed, leaving the door open for Detroit.
And the Lions were not to be denied, driving into Minnesota territory and allowing Bates to win the game with his leg; the team moved to 5-1 and handed the Vikings their first loss of the year.
“We’ve had five NFL games with him and when you see him every day in practice and you give him the crowd noise and move the spot and I’m yelling at him and you’re just applying pressure and you watch him and he continues to make these kicks, you feel pretty good when he gets pressed into (duty late),” Lions head coach Dan Campbell said afterwards about Bates.
Simultaneously, the Green Bay Packers were picking up their own dramatic victory thanks to last-second heroics from their kicker.
Brandon McManus, who the Packers had signed earlier in the week, made a 45-yard field goal as time expired to give Green Bay a hard-fought 24-22 victory over the Houston Texans at Lambeau Field.
It was a game in which both quarterbacks had their struggles, with Green Bay’s Jordan Love throwing two interceptions and Houston’s CJ Stroud passing for just 86 yards as both defenses reigned supreme.
There was a moment of note though when Love connected with running back Josh Jacobs for a eight-yard score early in the third quarter. It was Jacobs’ first career receiving touchdown, ending a run of 211 receptions without a TD, with only Thomas Jones having a longer streak in NFL history.
Jacobs’ opposing running back Joe Mixon also had an impressive outing, rushing for 115 yards and two touchdowns on 25 carries as the Texans stayed in the game.
In the end though, after Houston took a one-point lead with a minute and 44 seconds remaining, it was McManus who was the game winner on just his fifth day in Wisconsin.
Away @ home (winners in bold)
New England Patriots 16-32 Jacksonville Jaguars
Seattle Seahawks 34-14 Atlanta Falcons
Tennessee Titans 10-34 Buffalo Bills
Cincinnati Bengals 21-14 Cleveland Browns
Houston Texans 22-24 Green Bay Packers
Miami Dolphins 10-16 Indianapolis Colts
Detroit Lions 31-29 Minnesota Vikings
Philadelphia Eagles 28-3 New York Giants
Las Vegas Raiders 15-20 Los Angeles Rams
Carolina Panthers 7-40 Washington Commanders
Kansas City Chiefs 28-18 San Francisco 49ers
New York Jets 15-37 Pittsburgh Steelers
