Â鶹¹ú²ú

The Lions take over the top spot because they continue to win not only impressively, but seemingly in a different fashion every week. Late in the third quarter on Sunday, the Lions had 49 points and Jared Goff had 57 pass yards. Goff had some tough moments behind a surprisingly leaky Lions offensive line early in the game, but the defense, special teams and run game took care of business in impressive fashion. Five of Detroit's first 10 possessions started in Tennessee territory, mostly thanks to turnovers forced and long special-teams returns, and the Lions scored touchdowns on all five of those drives. That's what good teams do. Detroit turned in another good defensive showing without Aidan Hutchinson, and the offense didn't miss the suspended Jameson Williams in this one. This Sunday's test at Green Bay will be much stiffer, but the Lions can crank it up as well as any team in the league right now. Dan Campbell's bunch is a legitimate Super Bowl threat in a muddled NFC field.

This is not so much a demotion of the Chiefs as it is an admission that the Lions feel more dangerous right now. Patrick Mahomes was better Sunday, Travis Kelce had a throwback game and DeAndre Hopkins offered some hope in his Kansas City debut. Hopkins caught just two passes and wasn't targeted in the second half, but the trade acquisition played a decent amount (22 snaps) and had gains of 13 and 16 yards. The Chiefs still could use another receiver to help out, though. JuJu Smith-Schuster (hamstring) being out likely forced Hopkins into getting more run in his first game, with Justin Watson leading the WR group in snaps but catching only three passes. Kansas City's run game slowed down considerably, once again leaving this contest in the hands of the defense. No sweat. Steve Spagnuolo's unit earned two key red-zone stops, racked up five sacks, erased Las Vegas' run game and forced a key Raiders fumble late to help ice the game. Just another Chiefs win with the same formula.

The Bills still live dangerously at times, as they made some first-half gaffes that might've sunk another team playing in the din of Seattle's Lumen Field, but the Bills are not any other team. They're this high on the list -- even with their warts -- for their ability to overcome penalties and turnovers. And if you miss out on your chances against them -- like Seattle did late in the second quarter, not falling on a Josh Allen fumble deep in Buffalo territory -- they'll cut you. Allen drove the Bills down the field for a touchdown after that fumble -- and continued firing until the game was out of reach. The Bills' run defense was tremendous, and their offense keeps sprouting new branches with the addition of Amari Cooper and the emergence of rookies Keon Coleman and Ray Davis. This was the Bills' fourth win by 21 or more points this season and their third straight victory since the back-to-back losses. Buffalo's firmly back in the Circle of Trust.

The Ravens have now lost eight games since the start of the 2022 season after leading in the final two minutes. That's just unconscionable for a team that considers itself to be one of the league's true heavyweights. And to think, I actually mulled bumping them up to No. 1 briefly at one point last week. Baltimore was its own worst enemy at Cleveland, turning the ball over on downs on its first and final possessions of the game and missing a potential game-tying field goal in the fourth quarter. Along the way, the Ravens had several big drops, including one by Rashod Bateman in the fourth quarter that would have gained more than 50 yards on third-and-14, but it appeared the wideout lost the ball in the sun. There's just something about this team that has come unglued in key moments, especially against seemingly lesser opponents. The Ravens have outscored their opponents by double digits in every quarter this season except for the fourth, when opponents have outscored them, 95-58. The schedule remains tough, and there are five games left before the bye. Baltimore must figure out how to close out games to avoid setbacks such as this one.

When Jayden Daniels is named Offensive Rookie of the Year, we'll look back at Sunday's Hail Mary as the moment he really pulled away. Daniels -- who seemed unlikely to even suit up for the contest throughout much of last week -- outgunned Caleb Williams for most of the game, but still needed the rabbit to come out of the hat. There was luck, sure, but Daniels also made that play happen by wearing out the Bears' rushers, keeping a confused secondary in scramble mode and delivering a well-placed teardrop that was tipped into the hands of Noah Brown. Clearly, Washington practiced that one well. And in that one play, you saw the seeds of the offseason plan paying off: the significant coaching upgrade, the brilliance of the Daniels pick and the payoff of a slew of hungry veterans such as Brown, all filling key roles for a 6-2 football team. Don't forget a game defense that has now turned in impressive showings in four of the past five games. This team is real, folks.

The status of Jordan Love and his injured groin are hard to gauge right now, but it’s tough timing with the injury occurring ahead of Green Bay’s big showdown with the Lions. The good news is that Malik Willis once again proved to be clutch off the bench, throwing for 56 yards and running for 23 more in 26 second-half snaps. He led the Packers on an important TD drive late in the third quarter and then drove them down for Brandon McManus’ second game-winning kick at the buzzer in as many weeks. Josh Jacobs and a takeaway-happy defense (two more Sunday, for a league-best 19 on the season) also came up big, but the D as a whole had one of its tougher outings outside of the turnovers forced, allowing five long Jaguars drives in the final 36 minutes. That won’t cut it against the Lions, especially if Willis has to step in for Love again.

Let's get this out of the way: The missed facemask penalty was a bad look, but saying it cost the Vikings the game is a major stretch. They'd have needed to go on an 80-yard TD drive and convert a two-point conversion just to force overtime. The seeds of the loss to the Rams came earlier, with a defense that previously looked like one of the NFL's best struggling for a second time in a five-day span. The Lions and Rams were tough assignments, no doubt, but the Vikings must be better defensively if they hope to have this season end in the postseason. Since 1990, teams starting 5-0 are 56-for-62 when it comes to making the playoffs, but the chances drop more than 15 percent for 5-2 teams (155-for-207, 74.9%). Was the lack of a pass rush a one-week blip? The result of a short turnaround? The Vikings take an extended tour through the AFC South before the meat of the schedule hits, with four of the final seven games against NFC North foes. Even with the Bears' last-second loss on Sunday, this division remains a monster, and the Vikings can't afford to slip too far.

The Texans might have to go a week without Nico Collins and Stefon Diggs, with a Thursday game looming in Week 9. Collins will remain on injured reserve for at least one more game, and Diggs left Sunday’s win over the Colts with a knee injury. (EDITOR'S UPDATE: Texans coach DeMeco Ryans announced on Tuesday that Stefon Diggs will miss the rest of the season with a torn ACL.) Tank Dell stepped up with one of his better outings of the season, and he now might be thrust into a WR1 role against the Jets. Diggs left the game late in the third quarter, and C.J. Stroud took a painful sack two plays later, knocking the Texans out of field-goal range. But Stroud rallied in the fourth quarter, completing all four of his passes, and let Joe Mixon do the heavy lifting with 11 fourth-quarter touches, including runs of 13 and 21 yards. The Texans have become more of a run-dependent team this season, and Mixon certainly figures to be a huge factor as long as they’re shorthanded at receiver. The offseason acquisition has been one of Houston's clear-cut MVPs when he’s played.

The Steelers got stuck in the red-zone mud in their first three drives, and the passing game in general was a little pedestrian early, so Pittsburgh decided to let Russell Wilson do what he does best: bomb away. Wilson hit Van Jefferson for 36 yards, Calvin Austin III for a 29-yard touchdown and George Pickens for 43, setting up the field goal that put the game out of reach. Wilson was humming along pretty well when he coughed up a fourth-quarter fumble, requiring T.J. Watt to strip-sack Daniel Jones five plays later. It was Watt's fourth forced fumble in four games, and the first big defensive save of the night. The second was Beanie Bishop Jr.'s late interception, marking the undrafted rookie's third pick in two weeks, all against New York teams. The Steelers had to grit through this one harder than I anticipated, but the offense has kicked it up a gear. Wilson has led Pittsburgh to two 400-yard performances in two games; the Steelers only had 400 or more yards twice in the prior three seasons combined.

Those who held onto their Vic Fangio stock have enjoyed the post-bye bull run from Philadelphia's defense. It's three games, but the Eagles have corralled the Browns, Giants and Bengals with increasing effectiveness. The Bengals started strong on Sunday, but Fangio's defense made two game-changing plays in the second half: Cooper DeJean's fourth-down stop of Ja'Marr Chase and C.J. Gardner-Johnson's Isaiah Rodgers-assisted pick. Those clutch efforts helped put the game out of reach. The Eagles' offense also took a while to get going, but that's nothing new; the first-quarter scoreless streak improbably has reached seven games now. Ultimately, though, Jalen Hurts had one of his cleanest games, and all the big-play weapons who were healthy shared the offensive load. When the Eagles play this type of three-phase football, they're tough to beat.

The Broncos once again took care of business against a lesser opponent, but these next few games will be the real test for whether this team has legs. Back-to-back road games against the Ravens and Chiefs loom, and they’re followed by a home game vs. first-place Atlanta. All eyes turn to Bo Nix, who is coming off a career-high 284 pass yards against Carolina, and he almost set that mark by halftime, with 220. He also had three TDs passing and one more on the ground, and Nix took just two sacks in 39 dropbacks. The rookie's athleticism will help against this tough stretch of upcoming games, and Nix getting Courtland Sutton back in the regular passing-game rotation was a big development. So was involving the tight end position heavily, which is perhaps a sign of bigger things for that group. Denver’s strong defense should be able to hold up its end of the bargain, but how Nix plays could define how the season ends up.

Hanging on to win Sunday -- this team wouldn't have it any other way -- has massive implications for the NFC South race. The Falcons are just a game up on Tampa, but their lead is bigger than it seems. Not only did Atlanta improve to 4-0 against the division, but the victory sealed the season sweep over the banged-up Buccaneers. Every other NFC South squad has two division losses. The Falcons are very much in the driver's seat for a home playoff game, as absurd as that feels to say at the midpoint of the season. Thanks to another strong outing, Kirk Cousins will end up having averaged nearly 90 pass yards per quarter against Tampa this season. The defense came up with two big second-half turnovers. And yes, it was another productive day for Kyle Pitts! Now, please keep that ball more tightly secured, sir. 

Fresh off the bye, the Bears appeared to stunt all of the progress they'd made with Caleb Williams and the passing game, opening Sunday's contest at Washington dreadfully with six punts and a turnover on downs in their first seven drives. Even the few first downs they scratched out took some effort. A heroic performance by Chicago's red-zone defense kept the visitors in the game, but by the time the Bears turned momentum, they indefensibly called for offensive lineman Doug Kramer Jr.'s first NFL touch at the goal line, which ended in an utterly predictable fumble. When Chicago took the lead in the game's final minute, it didn't feel like a team that deserved to win. So perhaps it was fitting that Chicago did indeed lose, thanks to some what-not-to-do teaching tape on defense. Not just on the Hail Mary play, but also on the penultimate snap, allowing Jayden Daniels to throw for 13 crucial yards in four seconds. The Bears' closest defender to Terry McLaurin on that quick out lined up 30 yards downfield. What? This was a massive setback for Chicago's coaching staff, which made some painful errors Sunday.

Sunday night's contest was a get-right game for the 49ers, even if it wasn't easy. They didn't take control of the banged-up Cowboys until the third quarter and didn't actually put this one away until later than that. But no matter; San Francisco is 4-4 entering a Week 9 bye, with potential moves at the trade deadline and the possible of Christian McCaffrey and Dre Greenlaw to look forward to. Nick Bosa had a big outing, and Sam Okuayinonu has come on nicely as a rusher. Still, if the Niners are going to add pieces, may I kindly suggest some defensive line help? It feels like they need one more impact player up front. I might have said wide receiver should be addressed, too, in the wake of Brandon Aiyuk's season-ending injury, but Ricky Pearsall Jr. put together a strong effort Sunday and might be one to watch down the stretch. The NFC West is tightly bunched, with Seattle and Arizona also sitting at 4-4 and the Rams at 3-4, so I expect the Niners to be working the phones. Even if we set aside the possible new faces, though, San Francisco remains the best option to claim the division crown, slow start be damned.

The Chargers offense remains a work in progress. It broke an eight-quarter TD-less streak and the wide receivers finally broke out, with Ladd McConkey catching two second-half scoring passes. Oh, and it was their fifth turnover-free game this season. But there were too many pass-protection breakdowns to call it a good day offensively, even while scoring a season-high 26 points. Justin Herbert was sacked three times and hit four more, with every starting lineman other than rookie Joe Alt allowing multiple pressures. Herbert also escaped a few would-be sacks, turning one into a career-best 38-yard scramble, but he needs better protection. The eight points the Chargers' defense allowed Sunday were their second-fewest on the season, and c's unit has yet to give up more than 20, so this one fit the theme of previous victories. Right now, keeping Herbert healthy feels like the most overwhelming concern. 

It was a cruel week for Tampa Bay, with two star receivers injured and two wicked home losses that significantly hinder the team's path back to the playoffs. It's not too early to say that the Bucs have their work cut out for them, likely needing to finish ahead of the Falcons in the standings, having lost the season series. Baker Mayfield gives them a chance, as he always does, but it's clear that the downfield passing attack has taken a big hit without Mike Evans and Chris Godwin on the field. The defense also is taking it on the chin right now. It's a turnover-dependent group that had zero takeaways Sunday. The Bucs have to find answers in both phases pretty soon to keep the dream alive.

Momentum from the Seahawks' rousing win over the Falcons in Week 7 was undone by a tough performance in Sunday's blowout loss to the Bills. There's no shame in losing to Buffalo, even in Seattle, but the way it went down -- even with DK Metcalf sidelined by injury -- was disheartening. The Seahawks badly botched two red-zone possessions on offense and committed an inexcusable, drive-extending penalty to stake the Bills a 14-3 halftime lead. Had they played it right, the 'Hawks could have gone to the locker room with a lead. Instead, they got their doors blown off, unable to get the run game going, committing a number of penalties and allowing Buffalo to put it in cruise control in the third quarter. Why is this Seattle team so hot and cold? Three wins followed by three losses and two divergent performances over the past two weeks. With three straight division games (and four in the next five), the Seahawks must iron this out quickly.

Don’t look now, but the Cardinals are kind of rolling. At 4-4, they’re very much in the playoff hunt and have two home games before a Week 11 bye. The defense still has major strides to make, after Tua Tagovailoa diced the unit up a bit in his first game back. But the Cardinals now have a multi-faceted offense that leaned heavily on the run game against the Chargers in Week 7 and went to the air more Sunday in Miami. Both approaches resulted in rousing late-game wins. Trey McBride went nuts on National Tight Ends Day, with a team-high nine catches for 124 yards. Marvin Harrison Jr. had his best all-around game of the season, with six catches -- most of them hair-raising -- for 111 yards, including a tremendous sliding TD catch on a great throw from Kyler Murray. All the Cardinals needed to do on the winning drive was gain a few first downs and put the game on the leg of Chad Ryland, who has become Mr. Clutch suddenly.

Anthony Richardson’s 10th NFL start on Sunday was much like his previous nine, with highly encouraging moments cloaked around large swaths of inconsistency. At the half, Richardson was 2-for-15 passing (not a misprint) for 81 yards, a touchdown and a pick. He found some second-half rhythm and had two big scrambles for first downs, but Richardson also had to tap out for a third-and-goal play (from the Houston 23-yard line) after he ran around and wore himself out the previous three plays. It wasn’t Richardson’s fault that his receivers couldn’t haul in all of his passes or that the pass protection failed him more than once (five sacks). But the Colts remain well behind Houston in the AFC South, in part, because they can’t get more consistent play out of the QB position. Each of Richardson’s six starts this season have been one-score games, but the Colts have now let three of those get away.

EDITOR'S UPDATE: NFL Network Insiders Tom Pelissero and Ian Rapoport reported on Tuesday that the Colts are benching Anthony Richardson in favor of Joe Flacco for Sunday night's game at Minnesota.

On Thursday, the Rams' offense looked more like what they envisioned this season, with Puka Nacua and Cooper Kupp each making their immediate impact felt upon returning from injury. The happiest guy (other than Sean McVay) appeared to be Matthew Stafford, who routinely looked ill at ease during the time that Nacua and Kupp were out of the lineup. The Rams notched two season-saving wins over five days and now appear to be in the mix in the NFC West, a division that remains a crapshoot at this point. If Los Angeles' defense can continue making strides, this is a dangerous team. Last season, the Rams recovered from a 3-6 start to reach the postseason. Coming back from 1-4 this season would be even more impressive -- only 11 of the previous 167 teams to begin a campaign with that record since 1990 went on to reach the playoffs, per NFL Research.

The Cowboys are below .500 and two-plus games out of first place in the NFC East. Even their Week 7 bye couldn't freshen them up sufficiently to earn a win in San Francisco. They showed effort on both sides of the ball in the first half but were overtaken in the third quarter, with Dak Prescott throwing a bad pick and the defense allowing three touchdowns. Though Dallas made it interesting late, it wasn't enough. At 3-4, the margin for error is very small now. Sometime over the next month or so, the 'Boys are expected to get significant pass-rush help when Micah Parsons, Marshawn Kneeland and DeMarcus Lawrence return to the field, with WR Brandin Cooks in line to boost the offense. But will it matter by then? Dallas' next four games are against the Falcons, Eagles, Texans and Commanders, who are all projected to be playoff teams right now. 

Wins over the Giants and Browns, along with a solid start against the Eagles, had us warming again to Cincinnati's cause. Then the offense stalled out after a missed field-goal try in the second quarter from the suddenly shaky Evan McPherson, scoring once in the Bengals' final five drives and turning it over three times, including once on fourth down. Joe Burrow and Ja'Marr Chase had some moments, but with Tee Higgins out and the run game stuck in place again, there were only so many answers out there. The Bengals' defense, meanwhile, showed that maybe their previous two encouraging performances were more of the fool's-gold variety. The Eagles were only really stopped once all game, scoring on their other seven drives. Shortening the game is a good approach for a troubled defense, but the Bengals have to find a rushing attack, prevent turnovers and stop leaving points on the board for that to work next time.

Tua Tagovailoa's return to action after missing four games with a concussion was an overwhelming success in the sense that he played well, clearly didn't suffer from rustiness and took only three hits and one sack in his 38-pass outing. If it's wins you’re looking for, though, then Sunday wasn't quite as positive, as the Dolphins were handed a fifth loss in their last six games. There were still a few offensive hiccups here and there, and don't forget Aaron Brewer's high shotgun snap over Tua's head, which led to an Arizona safety that got the Cardinals back in the game. But all in all, the operation with Tagovailoa at QB was night-and-day different from how things went under any of his replacements during his absence. Miami’s pass defense just happened to have its worst game of the season, even while pressuring Kyler Murray at a decent rate. 

A season that began with optimism has once again devolved to misery. There actually have been 2-6 teams that have gone on to make the playoffs (and even win their respective divisions), but hope seems to be all but lost for the Jets. The talent is there; the execution is not. Haason Reddick was the latest big-name player to join the mix (he logged two pressures in 26 defensive snaps), only to watch the team crumble in the second half of what became the New York's fifth straight loss. Aaron Rodgers played well enough while also looking like a guy who really wanted to avoid contact. The Jets used three timeouts in the first quarter to prevent play-clock violations. They twice punted in New England territory and allowed the Patriots' backup quarterback to drive 61 and 70 yards and take leads on them in the fourth quarter. They missed an extra-point and a field-goal try in a three-point loss. The entire operation is just a mess, and there are no big moves left to make to try to fix it.

Spencer Rattler started again in place of the injured Derek Carr, but for a second straight double-digit loss, the Saints made a call to the bullpen for Jake Haener late. It didn't work, even though Haener threw for 122 yards in about a quarter and a half, muddling New Orleans' short- and long-term plans at QB. Carr is from his oblique injury in time for this Sunday’s game at Carolina, which could spell the end of a six-game losing streak, but will it even matter? The season has slipped away from New Orleans after a 2-0 start, and to find fixes to their problems seemingly grows with each loss, the last four of which have come by 13 or more points. 

The Giants have scored 18 points or fewer in all six losses, hitting that number exactly on Monday in Pittsburgh, but they had their chances to score more. They were 0-for-3 in the red zone, settled for four field goals and misfired on a strange two-point try. But the two late turnovers hurt most. Bobby Okereke had the Giants set up with a brilliant punchout on Russell Wilson, but T.J. Watt stripped Daniel Jones with three minutes left. Jones then tossed a game-sealing pick with less than a minute left, a bad throw that capped a frustrating night. Jones had his moments, but he was livid after the missed two-point play and had trouble consistently getting the ball to Malik Nabers. Tyrone Tracy Jr., another rookie in this loaded Giants draft class, made a statement with a 145-yard rushing night. His 45-yard TD run gave New York life in the fourth quarter, but the G-Men couldn't capitalize late and Tracy (concussion) left the game early. There are baby steps, but the offense remains too stagnant.

It's difficult to underscore just how much has fundamentally changed with the Browns' offense in the past few weeks. Amari Cooper was traded away. Kevin Stefanski gave up . Deshaun Watson was lost to an Achilles injury for the season, replaced by Jameis Winston. And it was Winston who led a stirring upset over the Ravens, throwing for 334 yards and three touchdowns, including the game-winner in the final minute. Winston's mere presence was somehow cleansing and invigorating for a stagnant offensive operation, leading the Browns to a season-high 29 points (topping the previous best of 18) and leading to talk that perhaps Winston is this year's Joe Flacco. Of course, the Browns had a 7-4 record when Flacco replaced Watson in Cleveland a year ago, so the comparison isn't quite apt, given that they currently sit at 2-6. It would take a heroic effort for Winston to drag them back into the postseason -- but then again, teams have recovered from that mark twice in NFL history before ...

Sunday's 30-27 loss to Green Bay was a pretty tough result to swallow, as the Jaguars erased a 10-point second-half deficit and were in position to force overtime before allowing the Packers to move down the field with relative ease at game's end. On top of that, it was injury-wise, with five starters leaving and not returning, including the team's top three wideouts (Christian Kirk, Gabe Davis and Brian Thomas Jr.) -- Kirk's injury was . OGs Ezra Cleveland and Brandon Scherff and CB Ronald Darby were also hurt, with only Scherff returning to the game. One recurring problem this season has been the offense starting slowly, and it happened again Sunday. In Jacksonville's first four possessions, the team recorded three three-and-outs, one interception and 15 total yards. The Jags picked it up later, but Trevor Lawrence's two turnovers led to 14 Packers points, and that was all she wrote. The heat is presumably back on again in Jacksonville.

The Raiders had a legitimate chance on Sunday if they'd taken advantage after intercepting Patrick Mahomes near his own end zone while trailing 17-13. But the Chiefs made a goal-line stop, then put together a 19-play, 87-yard field-goal drive that took up nearly 10 minutes. Gardner Minshew coughed up a fumble two plays into the next possession, forcing a worn-out Las Vegas defense back on the field, after which the Chiefs put it away. Two Raiders possessions reached the K.C. 4-yard line, and they only got three points out of them. Minshew is up to 11 turnovers this season, so it will be interesting to see how Antonio Pierce handles the QB position this week at the Bengals. With Aidan O'Connell on injured reserve, the only realistic option besides Minshew is Desmond Ridder, who technically didn't do anything Sunday but was on the field for one third-quarter play that resulted in a false start. If Ridder is given a shot, maybe the former Cincinnati Bearcat can tap into some of the college magic he spun in the Queen City to spark the Raiders.

The Patriots won at Gillette Stadium for the first time in 372 days, and it wasn't easy. It took both quarterbacks, with Jacoby Brissett stepping in for Drake Maye (who left with a concussion) and gamely leading two clutch fourth-quarter drives. It also took nearly every second, with Rhamondre Stevenson just crossing the goal-line with 22 seconds remaining for the go-ahead score on fourth down. This was a sneaky-big victory for Jerod Mayo, who was threatening to sink into with another loss -- especially a week after calling his team "soft." New England followed a Week 1 upset of the Bengals with a succession of defeats, each seemingly worse than the one before, so this outcome was a pleasant development. Maye's injury is concerning, but at least Mayo and the Patriots stanched the bleeding for now. 

The Titans are now the AFC's only one-win team after Sunday's debacle, which -- in spite of how a 38-point loss looks -- wasn't that poor a showing from the defense. The Lions had a 70-yard TD run from Jahmyr Gibbs that represented nearly one-third of their offensive output. This loss was far more the responsibility of the Titans' subpar offense and special teams. The offense turned the ball over five times (once on downs) and also mixed in three three-and-outs during a bad third quarter. The coverage on special teams was sad, allowing punt returns of 64 and 90 yards, the latter for a touchdown, plus a 72-yard kickoff return. If there was a bright side, it was that Mason Rudolph finally got Calvin Ridley going; Ridley's 10 catches for 143 yards both surpassed the totals he'd amassed in the previous five games combined. Even so, Ridley lost a fumble and came up short on some big plays when it was still something of a game.

Bryce Young's first-quarter TD pass was a confident dart and one of Young's better throws as a Panther, and he later hit Jalen Coker for the receiver's first NFL touchdown. That was the good news from Sunday's loss to the Broncos. Now the bad: most everything else. Young threw two second-half interceptions deep in Denver territory, both coming with the Panthers able to make it a two-score game. He was shorthanded, playing without his top two receivers, Diontae Johnson and Adam Thielen, but Young also was the victim of a highly conservative game plan overall. Broncos head coach Sean Payton even got in a postgame dunk, saying, "It's not a good offense we played ... we're going to see a lot better teams," which felt a little extra. But it wasn't untrue. Carolina's harried defense had another rough day at the office, allowing 400-plus yards and 28 or more points for a fourth straight game. A long season just keeps getting longer.