The Ravens walked out of Minnesota with a 27-19 win, but they still left plenty of plays on the field. Let’s get into why Sunday’s game was an ugly but satisfying victory.

The Good

Special Teams: This unit won game for the Ravens. Tyler Loop hit four field goals to keep scoring points when the offense couldn’t get in the end zone. Jordan Stout’s breakout season (in a contract year) continued with three pins inside the 20 and an average of just under 50 yards per punt. Keondre Jackson’s ascension into a special teams ace continued with a...

The Detroit Lions, who have not lost back-to-back games in years, kept that streak alive on Sunday in a 44-22 win over the Washington Commanders.

There are many players who should get a game ball for their performances in this win, but one group in particular played at a high level despite injuries and personnel changes this week.

Game ball: The offensive line

Last week against Minnesota, this offensive line struggled. Jared Goff was sacked five times and the run game could not get going despite Detroit having two of the best backs in the league in Jahmyr Gibbs...

A week ago, the Carolina Panthers beat the then 5-1-1 Green Bay Packers to improve to 5-4 and let the world know that they could beat any team in the NFL. Talks all week were of playoff scenarios, being ahead of schedule, and the prudence of head coach Dave Canales’ strategy to commot to the run. Yesterday, those same Panthers lost 17-7 to the now 2-8 New Orleans Saints to remind their fans that they are also still capable of losing to absolutely any team in the NFL.

We talked here last week about how the team’s recent success was...

Well, that was bad. Playing a third prime time game in four weeks, the Pittsburgh Steelers did the same thing they did in the previous two: they laid an egg. On the West Coast for a matchup with the Los Angeles Chargers, the Steelers were thoroughly outplayed in a 25-10 loss. They struggled to do […]

Quarterback: C+

Lamar Jackson’s second game back in action was less eventful than his debut return last week. It wasn’t his finest statistical showing, as he completed under 60% of his 29 pass attempts and threw only one touchdown with 176 passing yards. It didn’t help that his pass-catchers dropped a few passes that would have led to more yardage and possibly more points, too. Jackson did scamper for 36 yards on the ground and picked up a key third down conversion in the red zone late in the game. He handled Minnesota’s pass rush pretty well and took only...

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The Cowboys rank 32nd in third-down defense at 52.6%. Here’s how Logan Wilson and Quinnen Williams can help Dallas finally get off the field.

The Struggle on Third Down

The Dallas Cowboys’ defense has reached a critical point in the 2025 season.

Opposing offenses are converting third downs at an alarming 52.6% rate, ranking the Cowboys dead last in the NFL.

When more than half of opponents’ third-down attempts result in first downs, it’s nearly impossible to build defensive momentum or maintain control of a game.

This deficiency has kept the defense on the field for extended stretches,...

Commanders links

Articles

Washington Post (paywall)

In rout by Lions, Commanders can’t stop anything — including their skid

Depleted Washington loses its fifth in a row, 44-22, and looks as hapless as ever on defense in the process.

The play encapsulated what has been a miserable season for the Washington Commanders. Just about everything that could go wrong did go wrong.

Washington’s defense crumbled — literally and figuratively — again in a lopsided 44-22 loss to the Lions on Sunday. Without quarterback Jayden Daniels (dislocated elbow) and Terry McLaurin (quadriceps), the Commanders’ offense couldn’t keep up. The...

Good morning Gang Green Nation!

The New York Jets got thoroughly outplayed in almost every way by the Cleveland Browns yesterday. The Browns nearly doubled the Jets in first downs. They nearly tripled the Jets in passing yards. They forced more turnovers than the Jets. They out-rushed the Jets. Despite all this, the Jets somehow emerged with the victory, thanks to standout performances by Breece Hall, Will McDonald and the Jets returners, as well as a couple of really dumb penalties that allowed the Jets to run out the clock to end the game. Regardless of how it happened, a...

Jerry Jones made sure Micah Parsons wouldn’t haunt his dreams before 2028 – Ben Grimaldi, Cowboys Wire

If there’s any solace to take in the Parsons trade, it’s that he won’t be playing for the Eagles for a long time, if ever.

The Dallas Cowboys traded edge rusher Micah Parsons over two months ago, but there are still details being revealed from the trade heard around the NFL world. According to ESPN insider Adam Schefter, the Cowboys added a clause in the deal that protected the team from watching a rival swing a possible deal for Parsons if...

The Pittsburgh Steelers have lost three of their last four games, most recently a 25-10 loss to the Los Angeles Chargers in Week 10. The loss sent the Steelers to 5-4 on the season, and also brought the Baltimore Ravens within one game of the Steelers for the AFC North lead. Despite the one-sided loss, though, the Steelers are big favorites against the Cincinnati Bengals in Week 11.

Per FanDuel Sportsbook, the Steelers are 5.5-point favorites against the Bengals in the second of two matchups between the AFC North rivals. The Steelers lost the first game to Cincinnati in Week...

Player: WR Ke’Shawn Williams Stock Value: Down Reasoning: Ke’Shawn Williams did not cost the Steelers the game, but his muffed punt may well cost him his job. The rookie college free agent has been the team’s return man for the past several weeks, but what comes next? He has seen diminishing returns in his performance, […]