EXCERPT
On the night after Halloween, not everyone survived. The Bengals flirt with danger as Joe Burrow throws 3 picks but his 462 yards and 6 TDs to beat Titans in OT, the Bucs rush for 324 yards with 0 completions vs Falcons, the Bills outlast an injury-cursed Ravens team, Jahmyr Gibbs goes demon time (153 yards, 12 missed tackles) vs Vikings, and the Jaguars devour the Colts 42-7.
On the Night After Halloween, football fans witnessed a few scares, and like every good horror, Not Everyone Survived. The Patriots Trailed The Dolphins in the first half before their offense, Limited on Receiver Talent, exploded to avoid the Trap Game. The Cowboys, still fighting in the NFC East, had their scare against the Cardinals turn deadly as Gardner Minshew and Tyler Allgeier led the Cardinals to A 33-30 Upset. Dallas May Have to Make Some Changes In The Coaching Staff. The Broncos Avenge Their Week One embarrassment at the hands of Kenneth Walker and the Chiefs By Denying Patrick Mahomes a game-winning drive in the final Seconds Of Their Week Eight Matchup. The Chiefs Lose To In A Row. The Vikings Defense Picked Off Jared Goff, handing the Lions Quarterback His First Pick Of the season, but Jahmyr Gibbs, on Absolute Demon Time, cracked The Code On The Vikings' number one. Gibbs Drank some witch's brew, forcing 12 Missed Tackles On His Way To 153 Rushing Yards on 23 attempts, 123 Yards After The Catch. The Lions, as a team, net 221 yards as the Minnesota defense can’t cover the offense’s bill, as the Vikings suffer their first Loss Of The Season.
Tampa Bay Vs Atlanta
Now That The Panthers have slumped two games in a row, the NFC South has sprung open, and the once 0-4 Bucs and the 2-4 Falcons Have An Opportunity To Take Over The Division Lead After Week Eight. After the start to the season, these two teams suffered; neither has any business in the NFC picture. The Falcons Offense Has Lifted Off after Quarterback Micheal Penix Jr. Took Over As The Starter in Week Three 31 Points Per Game The Best Mark In The League But Penix and The Falcons Ran Into A Storm In The Rain and The Tampa Bay Bucs Defense. Penix threw three first-half interceptions on ten attempts and two completions. The Bucs Knew The Weather Report For The Tampa Area. They seemed prepared, so despite zero first-half passing yards and zero completions by Baker Mayfield, the Bucs Offense ran Their Way and Kicked Their Way Through Atlanta—Bucky Irving: A Down Year In 2025 and an Inconsistent Start To The Season. Like Ben 10, His Powers Would Disappear at Random, but Irving Came In Full Force Against the Falcons' 11th-ranked rushing defense. Irving Fumbled Out Of The Back Of The End Zone In The First Quarter For The Bucs, but he scored the first touchdown of the game on the board in the third quarter as the Bucs Won Another Hard-Fought, Ground-Game-Focused Game over a Divisional Foe. How focused were the Bucs On Running The Ball? Tampa Bay rushed for 324 yards in the second straight game with over 300 rushing yards, but Baker Mayfield had no completions, with just three attempts as the handoff man, as the Bucs blasted the Falcons 16-0.
The Falcons Averaged Just 4.3 yards per play in tough, rainy conditions. Michael Penix Jr. 8/24 for 125 Passing Yards, including 76 on one explosive play to Jahan Dotson, but the Falcons still couldn’t generate any points. Dotson dubiously led the Falcons in receiving with two Catches For 95 Receiving Yards, and The Game Felt like None Of The Other Falcons Receivers Even Played in This Contest. With Defenses Intent on Not Letting the Falcons Offense Just “Beej It,” Atlanta hasn’t Developed A Third Move When Penix Can’t pass downfield and Bijan Can’t Slip Through The Tackles. Who Slashed Through Tacklers: Bucky Irving, 27 Carries For 170 Rushing Yards, 6.3 Yards Per Carry. He Danced Through the Falcons' Run Defense. Veteran Running Back Kenneth Gainwell added 140 of his own yards on the ground to help the Bucs Revive Their Season.
Why Has This Heavy Rush Style Worked For The Bucs These Past Two Weeks? The Falcons And The Panthers thrive on heavy downfield passing to generate offense. Controlling the ball on the ground forces those offenses to get greedy, Hold The Ball Longer, and Chuck Passes Further Downfield Because the down-to-down accuracy Of A Micheal Penix can shift with the Weather. Penix Threw Three Picks on Passes Of 10 Air Yards Or Better, Held The Ball 2.9 seconds looking down before getting to his check-down late, and it resulted in picks. What could the Falcons Do To Prevent another outcome like that? The offense should start by completing passes to the right side of the field. However, it's strange that a team can show its intent to run the ball and the Falcons lack the Personnel to Address It. The Buccaneers called a designed run on 90.0% of plays according to Next Gen stats.
Verdict: The Win put the Bucs In Second Place In The NFC South and kept the Falcons from taking over the top spot. I don’t Expect The Falcons to roll over this loss.
Ravens Vs Bills
On The Day After Halloween The Team Most synonymous With Spooky Theme suffered a Curse Of Injuries at Quarterback Losing Lamar One Play Into His Return, Then losing Back Up Tyler Huntley Before The Close Of The First Half Before Turning To Their Emergency Quarter Who Also Took A Hit but Stayed In The game As Bills Plow Their Way Through Buffalo. Because of the nature of this game, A Quarterback Comparison At The End of the matchup felt natural, but despite an “Off” Game By Josh Allen, the Ravens Had Nothing On Offense To Even Match Buffalo’s Early Slump.
When Lamar Jackson And Allen Meet, So Many Threads and Comments Can Develop Into A Storyline. The two 2018 Draft Mates Have Developed into AFC Rivals and the Prime Choices to build a New AFC Dynasty In The Wake Of The Mahomes-Chiefs Run Of The Past Decade-Ish. Allen and Jackson Represent Two of the best dual-threat quarterback options in the sport: one the Most Productive Quarterback Rusher in Terms of Yardage, The Other In Terms of Touchdowns. Josh Allen Registered Another Rushing Touchdown In This Matchup To Help Put The Bills ahead of the Ravens early, but fans never got a chance to see how Lamar would respond to Allen's bounce-back from His Ankle. On His Very First Drop-Back Pass Attempt, Lamar injured his finger on the crown of the Bills' defense, exited the game, and didn’t return. Ravens Emergency Quarterback Joe Fagnano Took Over. He Completed His First-to-Pass Attempts Before the Bills' defense made him “Cut That Out”; the Bills Pass Rush just Ate Up The Ravens' Pocket. Josh Allen Started The Game 8/19 before ultimately picking up a few second-half explosive plays to auto-correct his closing performance:21/34, 289 passing yards, 81.0 QBR, two touchdowns, and One Interception.
What Worked Well For The Bills Against The Ravens? Not having to face Lamar, for one, but they struggled in the first Half After Their Opening Touchdown. A failed fourth down, turnovers, but the Ravens Kept Giving The Bills Chances To Run Away With This Game, and when you give Josh Allen too many chances, he finds a way to put you away. The Bills Ran 76 Total Plays To 49 For Baltimore Over 13 Total Drives. The Bills scored three second-half touchdowns.
Can The Ravens Take Anything Away From This Game? The Ravens' defense Played Well Enough to win, but the Team Found Little Offensive Support. The Ravens Maintained Their Streak Of Not Giving Up A 100 Yard Rusher. James Cook Got Up To 80 before he suffered an injury late in The Game. DJ Moore Dunked on the secondary for a 49-yard catch; tight end Dalton Kincaid added a 40-yarder in the second half. This forced the Bills into five fourth-down calls. The Bills converted four of them, but just forcing the situation mattered. Baltimore Didn’t Get Enough Pressure on Allen- just 14-yard pressure, two sacks- and with Jackson, No One Believed Baltimore could do it with their third-string quarterback.
Verdict: Lamar Jackson Will Have Surgery on His Thumb, Which Could End His Season, But Should It Also End His Career as a Raven? If I’m in Baltimore, he’s Delivered A lot of brilliant performances, but the injuries and the letdowns have piled up. He’s still at the peak of his prime, but with extension talks floating around, I’d advise caution; he’s more of a liability at this stage of his career. Maybe send Jackson Home To South Florida To The Dolphins for two first-round picks.
Jaguars Vs Colts
The imploding Indianapolis Colts Will Look Across The Field At Their AFC South-leading Jags, who Control Their Playoff Destiny, with a Sense of Bewilderment over the 2-5 Predicament. The Jaguars completely devour the Colts. With so many trade rumors swirling around the Colts, Josh Downs, Jonathan Taylor, the effort, the Interest, and The Attention Of Multiple Colts Players Would Idle for Much of the Game, and the Results show it. Downs Scored A Receiving Touchdown For The Colts in the third quarter as a “Sign Of Life” Instagram post, but the Jags Ran roughshod, 42-7. Josh Downs Fumbled A Pitch In the second and didn't attempt to dive for the ball, making one of those Cam Newton in The Super Bowl Business Decisions in The Moment, and the Jags dominated the game; he had no reason to risk injury. The Colts felt the absence of the guys they'd already traded, starting with Deforest Buckner along the defensive line, as the Jags' run game attacked. But even Buckner couldn't fix the mess in the Colts' secondary: multiple blown coverages as Jags Tight Ends Broke Open for Big, explosive plays, with Brenton Strange and Nick Boerkircher short-catching and Blocking, and Tight Ends Getting Deep Downfield for 46- and 31-yard touchdown plays. Brian Thomas Jr., a speculative trade prospect, picked up a receiving touchdown through the Colts' secondary. Trevor Lawrence went 10/14 for 210 Passing Yards, 21 yards per completion, and a +7.3% completion percentage over expected, with three touchdowns. Daniel Jones played the hardest of any Colts, but he still served up a Negative Performance, throwing two picks, one returned for a touchdown. The Colts Barely Ran Jonathan Taylor, as his exit seems imminent: just 8 Carries For 23 yards; he also chipped in 24 Yards in the Passing Game. The Jags defeated a Dispirited Team and created a Red Sea of separation in the division, and next on the schedule: the dispirited Ravens.
Raiders Vs Jets
Will the Raiders End Their Losing skid, or will the Jets and Aaron Glenn redeem themselves from the most irredeemable Loss Of The Season against the Dolphins in Week Seven? Two massive offensive swings defined this game and determined the outcome. The Jets offense scored on its first six drives: three touchdowns and three Field Goals. Those Three Field Goals All Came on Red-Zone Drives. The Raiders Defense Tipped Away a Couple of Touchdown Passes but Eventually Started Punching in Touchdowns on Those Scoring Drives. New York Didn’t Punt Until The Third Quarter. So Many Jets players had unexpected big games: wide receiver Adonai Mitchell Bombed, and running back Braelon Allen Stormed Through The Raiders' defense. Unfortunately, the Raiders started a three-game touchdown run in the second half and pulled away 38-33 over the Jets.
These two offenses and these two veteran quarterbacks battled in this matchup. The Jets Stormed Off To A 23-14 first-half lead, but they couldn’t Sustain The Hail Storm In The Second Half. Kirk Cousins and Brock Bowers Continued To Power Through The Jets' defense in the second half to secure the win. Cousins Connected With Brock Bowers Early In The Third Quarter on a goal-line touchdown pass that put the Raiders Right Back Into The Game, 23-21, and Swing The Momentum. The Jets Answered With Their Fourth And Final Touchdown in the Third quarter To Push The Lead to 30-21; Jets Running Back Braelon Allen capped a 3 Play, 58 Yard Drive with a 21 Yard Touchdown run. The Raiders offense then orchestrated a 14-0 Run and Took Control of the Game, getting into the end zone as a rusher. Amidst Two Jets Three and Outs Kirk Engineered A Fourth Quarter Drive 9 plays , 84 Yards Set Up By A 45 Yard Short Catch And Run By Ashton Jeanty and Kirk Closed The Drive With a Two Yard Touchdown Pass To Jalen Nailor To Give The Raiders Their First Lead Since The Second Quarter and Vegas Holds On.
What Worked For The Raiders? The offense had struggled in recent Weeks, Too Dependent on Kirk Cousins and Brock Bowers, and while that MO Didn’t change, the Raiders got more of the run game than normal: 83 Yards from Rookie Running Back Mike Washington, who provides the Raiders with Some Form Of Run. He Didn’t rush efficiently (3.3 yards per carry), but the threat gave Kliff Kingsbury’s offense another avenue to attack defenses. The Raiders Did Not Draft Ashton Jeanty and therefore Have No Ties to His Development, but They Did Draft Mike Washington. The Raiders Didn't Need to feed Kirk Cousins 40-plus dropbacks; he threw for 19/26 for 247 passing Yards, 9.5 Yards per Attempt, Three Touchdowns Through the Air, and one on the Ground, with an 89.2 QBR. We won't hear much talk about benching him this week.
What Didn’t Work For The Jets? The Defense Didn’t generate a Turnover—neither did it until Geno Smith's final pass attempt got picked with only a few seconds left. They sacked Kirk Cousins once and Didn’t Seem To Be Near any Ball Kirk threw downfield; it was just three passes deflected in Pass Coverage. On A Game When Braelon Allen racked up 147 yards on 21 carries, and Adonai Mitchell went off for Seven Catches For 142 Receiving Yards, Geno Smith threw for 290 yards on 20/32. The Missing Pieces For The Jets: consistent defense, a different maker, and doom.
Verdict: The Jets haven’t put out a bad product on the field this season. The offense looks good. I think Allen makes Breece Hall expendable. They’re a Couple Plays from Having A .500 Record This Season. The Raiders Have That .500 record; can they get back in the AFC playoff picture now? They Need a Difference-Maker on Defense.
Bengals Vs Titans
The Bengals Flirt With Danger against the Tennessee Titans; thankfully, that danger Came In The Face Of Hapless Titans Quarterback Cam Ward, who's still learning how to win big football games. So, despite Joe Burrow throwing three picks to one player, Titans Safety Armani Hooker, To Help Keep The Titans In This Game, ultimately forcing overtime, the Bengals Prevail. The Titans had the Opportunity to cap off the Upset and Cast aspersions On Monster Games By Joe Burrow and Tee Higgins In Regulation, but Ward Freezes In The Moment. With the ball at the Bengals' 45, creeping toward field-goal range on third down, Ward Takes The snap, tries to break containment by barreling up the guy, and takes a sack. The Titans punt; the game moves to overtime, where the Bengals Score on the Opening Drive, and the Titans Can’t Respond. Joe Burrow rushed in a nine-yard score as part of a six-touchdown performance. Burrow Finished With five Passing Touchdowns, 462 Passing Yards On 38/48 attempts, and a 115.5 passer Rating With Those Three Miscues. According to ESPN, Joe Burrow became the second QB in NFL history with 450 passing yards, 5 pass TDs, and 1 rush TD in a single game, Which Seems Right Because Its Tough To generate those types of numbers. Burrow Produced Four Explosive Passing Touchdowns and One Explosive Rushing Touchdown. The Bengals ’ first-quarter offense didn’t suggest the team would score 43 points; a three-and-out and an interception helped the Titans Set Up A 13-0 Lead After One. Running Back Tony Pollard Produced A Big Game
for the Titans: 21 Carries For 117 Rushing yards and Two Touchdowns, and He Opened up the Titans' Scoring With A 40 Yard Touchdown Run in the First Quarter. The Game Came Down to The Quarterbacks Late, Ward and Burrow and Wards’s Negative Plays Outweighed The Positive Ones He Took Two Sacks That Lost 22 Yards Because He Tried To Eacape Backwards To Limited Effectiveness.
What Worked For The Bengals In Their Comeback?
Monster Game For Tee Higgins. He nearly tractor-beamed every pass Joe Burrow threw in his vicinity, with 10 Catches For 155 Receiving Yards And Two Touchdowns. His 21 Yard Catch In Overtime Set Up The Burrow Run, But The Titans Had No Solution For Higgins, Who Physically Imposed His Will On His Matchup. Jamar Chase Played The 1B Role In This Game: 11 Catches For 141 Receiving Yards and A Touchdown.
What Didn’t Work For The Titans? Cam Ward’s Situational Offense Needs to Improve. He took a Sack In The Second Quarter and Fumbled The Ball In Bengals territory, costing the Titans.
Verdict: The Bengals committed to keeping their offensive nucleus together despite the cap burden, and the move has paid off in massive-output games like these against a tough Titans team.
