Week Seven in the 2025 NFL season, and we still have no real idea of who the best teams are. Last week, one massive upset from the Giants was the highlight of the action. Could they have another one this week? But first, there is only one place to start.
The Lackluster Game of the Week
On paper, this was the best game of the week. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers came into week seven with the best record in the NFC, with Baker Mayfield being seen as a serious contender for the MVP. The Detroit Lions are one of the stronger all-around teams this season and could easily make a Super Bowl run thanks to their strong start and the overall chaos in the league. They faced off on Monday night, with the winner getting a massive boost.
The Lions had the first possession of the game and were able to score the first set of points. Starting from their 31-yard line, Lions quarterback Jared Goff moved the offense down to the Buccaneers’ 27-yard line. Here, Goff found Amon-ra St.Brown for the touchdown pass. In response to this score, all the Buccaneers could do was punt the ball on their first drive.
However, the Lions would not be as successful on their next drive, as Goff was sacked and they fumbled the ball. This would be recovered by the Tampa Bay defense, but they were unable to do anything with it in the long run.
Embed from Getty ImagesWe then went through a period where every drive ended in a punt. This ended in the middle of the second quarter, when Lions running back Jahmyr Gibbs scored a 78-yard rushing touchdown to double the Lions’ lead.
A few drives later (still in the second quarter), Tampa Bay would fumble the ball and lose possession to the Lions. Detroit would get itself into field goal territory and set up a 54-yard attempt for kicker Jake Bates. This kick would miss.
The mistakes kept coming for the Buccs as Mayfield was intercepted on the first play of the next drive. However, this mistake would be vindicated as Goff threw an intercepted pass on the following drive. This interception would lead to the first set of points for the Bucanners, with kicker Case McLauglin finding the uprights from 53 yards out on the stroke of halftime.
This meant that the Lions had a 14-3 lead over the Buccaneers as the teams returned to the locker room.
Tampa Bay had the first possession of the second half and would be able to get themselves back into the game from it. Mayfield and company brought themselves down to the Lions’ 22-yard line, where the quarterback found Tez Johnson for a 22-yard touchdown pass. The Buccs would attempt a two-point conversion to make it a three-point deficit, but this failed.
Embed from Getty ImagesIn response to this, the Lions would find the endzone on their next drive. Gibbs scored a five-yard rushing touchdown to again take the Buccanners out of the game if a strong response was not seen. This response never came, and a 58-yard field goal from Bates in the fourth quarter would be enough to seal victory for the Lions.
This meant that the Detroit Lions had defeated the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 24-9.
While on paper this was an intense game, in reality, it was anything but. The Buccs struggled in this game and could not keep up with the Lions. However, both teams are still in strong positions to make the playoffs, and now both have a 5-2 record for the season.
Next week, the Bucaneers face the New Orleans Saints, while the Lions are on a bye week.
The Battle of the 40-year-old Quarterbacks
Now with Aaron Rodgers as their quarterback, the Pittsburgh Steelers are again enjoying a good start to the season. The poor performances of the rest of the teams in the AFC North have given them a two-game lead over the division coming into this week. They faced divisional rivals, the Cincinnati Bengals, on Thursday Night Football this week. The Bengals have replaced the struggling Jake Browning with the experienced Joe Flacco at quarterback. So, with a combined QB age of 81 years old, which veteran will win?
The Steelers had the first possession of the game and scored the first points from it. Starting from their 31-yard line, Rodgers was able to bring the Steelers’ offense down to the Bengals’ 10-yard line. Here, he found Jonnu Smith for the touchdown pass. The Steelers extended their lead at the beginning of the second quarter, thanks to a 41-yard field goal from Chris Boswell.
Embed from Getty ImagesThe Bengals would respond to this by finding the endzone themselves. Proving that he can still play at a top level, Flacco moved the Bengals’ offense down to the Steelers’ eight-yard line. From here, he found Ja’Marr Chase for the touchdown.
Things became even better for the Bengals on the next drive, when a deep pass from Rodgers was intercepted by the Cincinnati defense. This mistake from Pittsburgh would prove costly, and a few plays later, Flacco found Tee Higgins for a 29-yard touchdown pass to give them the lead. The mistakes would continue for Rodgers on the next drive as he threw another intercepted pass. The Bengals were again able to turn this into points, with kicker Evan McPherson finding the uprights from 49 yards out on the stroke of halftime.
This meant that as the teams returned to the locker room, the Bengals had a 17-10 lead over the Steelers.
The Bengals were able to further extend their lead from the first drive of the second half. This was a long and slow-moving affair, with the Bengals taking 13 plays to make their way down to the Steelers’ five-yard line, where the drive stalled. This set up McPherson with a 23-yard field goal attempt, which he successfully made to extend the lead to 10 points.
The Steelers quickly cut this lead. On the next drive, Rodgers found Pat Freiermuth for a 19-yard touchdown pass. On the first play of the fourth quarter, the deficit returned to 10 points when Flacco found Noah Fant for a five-yard touchdown pass. But the Steelers would again respond to that score with one of their own. Rodgers finds Darnell Washington for a two-yard touchdown pass to again make it a three-point lead for the Bengals.
The lead would again be extended on the Bengals’ next drive, but not by as much as they would have wanted it to be. McPherson kicked a 45-yard field goal to give them a six-point lead with seven minutes left to play.
Embed from Getty ImagesAfter two drives that ended in punts, the Steelers would be able to retake the lead they lost early in the game. Rodgers found Freiermuth for a 68-yard touchdown pass to give them a one-point lead with two minutes left in the game. But this play gave the ball to the Bengals, who only needed a field goal to win the game.
The Bengals’ drive began at the Bengals’ 30-yard line, and Flacco and company slowly made their way down to the Steelers’ 18-yard line. Here, McPherson made the 36-yard field goal required for victory.
This meant that the Cincinnati Bengals had defeated the Pittsburgh Steelers 33-31.
After losing Joe Burrow and massively struggling with Jake Browning, the Bengals may have found the right quarterback to keep them in contention in Joe Flacco. This win improves their record to 3-4 for the season, while the Steelers fall to a still respectable 4-2.
Next week, the Bengals face the New York Jets, while the Steelers face the Green Bay Packers.
The Fourth Quarter
The New York Giants are currently playing a style of football that is gaining a lot of attention from fans. The pairing of Jaxson Dart and Cam Skattebo has revived this team, making them must-watch TV. Last week, the Giants were able to beat the Philadelphia Eagles easily, and hoped to continue this strong form with a win against the Denver Broncos, who had just returned from London.
The first four drives of the game all ended in punts. This would end Dart’s streak of scoring a touchdown on his opening drive at three. However, the Giants would be able to take the lead in the middle of the first quarter when Dart found Daniel Bellinger for a 44-yard touchdown pass. The game would then return to the punt fest.
Embed from Getty ImagesNew York was able to extend their lead in the second quarter. From the Broncos’ 13-yard line, Dart found Skattebo for the touchdown pass. However, kicker Jude McAtamney would miss the extra point. In response to this, the Broncos could not do anything on offense, as they were unable to do so for the whole of the first half.
This meant that at halftime, the Giants had a 13-0 lead over the Broncos.
After another set of drives that ended in punts to open the second half, the Giants were able to further their lead near the end of the third quarter. Tyrone Tracy would find the endzone to score a 31-yard rushing touchdown. The Giants would attempt a two-point conversion, but this failed. However, they still had a 19-0 lead going into the final quarter.
It was here where we would finally be able to see the Broncos’ offense do something. Led by quarterback Bo Nix, Denver was able to bring themselves down to the Giants’ two-yard line. From here, Nix found Troy Franklin for the touchdown pass. The Broncos would then attempt a two-point conversion, which was successful.
However, the Giants were able to immediately strike back with a score of their own to restore their lead. Dart found Theo Johnson for a 41-yard touchdown pass. But the Broncos responded with another score to give themselves a chance of victory. Nix would score a seven-yard rushing touchdown, and paired this up with another successful two-point conversion to make it a 10-point game with 5 minutes left to play.
Then, Dart made his first mistake of the game, with his pass being intercepted by the Broncos’ defense. This mistake would prove costly, as Nix would find R Harvey a few plays later for a two-yard touchdown pass to make it a three-point game.
Embed from Getty ImagesWith under two minutes left in the game, the Broncos were able to take the lead, with Nix finding the endzone to score an 18-yard rushing touchdown. Now, four points down, could the Giants score to keep themselves in a game that, coming into the final quarter, looked like they would have easily won?
Starting from their 35-yard line, Dart and company moved the ball down to the Broncos’ one-yard line. Here, the quarterback found the endzone for the rushing touchdown. However, McAtamney’s extra point attempt missed, meaning that all Denver needed was a field goal to win the game.
The Broncos’ offense quickly made its way down to the Giants’ 21-yard line as time was about to run out. Then, with the final kick of the game, Will Lutz scored a 39-yard field goal to give the Denver Broncos a 33-32 win over the New York Giants.
This collapse is likely to haunt the Giants for a while. There is no doubt that their offense is there and will likely cause problems for opposing teams in the future. However, this team is never 100% complete. This week, it was the kicker, Jude McAtamney, who let the team down and was subsequently released. The comeback win keeps the Broncos at the top of the AFC West with a 5-2 record, while the Giants fall to 2-5 (though they could be 5-2 if a few plays had gone the other way).
Next week, the Broncos face the Dallas Cowboys, while the Giants face the Philadelphia Eagles.
What Happened in the Other Games?
We had the final game of the London Series this weekend as the Los Angeles Rams faced the Jacksonville Jaguars. This game was better than last weekend’s sorry excuse, but it was very one-sided. Matthew Stafford threw five touchdowns in the Rams’ 35-7 win over the Jaguars.
The New Orleans Saints’ struggles continued this week against the Chicago Bears. Despite a good performance from Spencer Rattler and Chris Olave, this was not enough as the Bears held on for a 26-14 win.
The Miami Dolphins face the Cleveland Browns in a battle of one-win teams this week, where we finally get to see how former Texas Longhorns quarterback Quinn Ewers fares in the NFL. He would fumble the ball twice (but recover them both) and make no real impact. The Browns cruised to a 31-6 win.
Embed from Getty ImagesDrake Maye continued his impressive form for the New England Patriots in their game against the Tennessee Titans. Maye threw for 222 yards and two touchdowns as the Patriots easily beat the Titans 31-13.
We saw vintage Patrick Mahomes in the Kansas City Chiefs game against the Las Vegas Raiders. With most of his usual wide receivers returning in this game, Mahomes threw for three touchdowns in the Chiefs’ 31-0 win over the Raiders.
The Philadelphia Eagles come into this week on a two-game losing streak. They hoped to snap their losing streak against the Minnesota Vikings this week. This was a close game, with former Eagles quarterback Carson Wentz putting on a good performance. But two interceptions cost him, and Hurts’ three touchdowns were enough to give the Eagles a 28-22 win.
The only winless team in the NFL is the New York Jets. They hoped to play better than last week’s -10 yards of offense in their game against the Carolina Panthers. The Jets struggled again and were defeated 13-6, remaining winless.
Who’d have thought it that the Indianapolis Colts would be the best team in football? This week, they faced the Los Angeles Chargers, hoping to get a win in LA finally. Another strong performance from Jonathan Taylor and mistakes from Justin Herbert gave the Colts a 38-24 win to keep their strong season alive.
The Dallas Cowboys have had a mixed start to the season and faced the Washington Commanders from the NFC East this week. This was a good performance from the Cowboys, who easily beat the Commanders 44-22.
Someone the Dallas Cowboys are missing is Micah Parsons, who is now with the Green Bay Packers. His new team faced the Arizona Cardinals this week in a very close game. Parsons made three important sacks in this game to help the Packers to a 27-23 win.
Embed from Getty ImagesThe San Francisco 49ers had to stop Bijan Robinson if they were going to have any chance to beat the Atlanta Falcons this week. They limited him to only 40 yards. Two touchdowns from Christian McCaffrey gave the 49ers a 20-10 win, keeping Mac Jones in the starting role for another week.
The Seattle Seahawks kept themselves in the race for the NFC West wth a 27-19 win over the Houston Texans.
So, that was week seven in the 2025 NFL season. Next week, the Giants face the Eagles in what could be another entertaining affair, Aaron Rodgers faces the Green Bay Packers, and can the Jets beat the Cincinnati Bengals?
