Washington 27, Cincinnati 27 (London)

Apparently, ties are all the rage in the NFL.  A tie is better than a loss for the ‘Skins, and Kirk Cousins is quietly having a pretty good season.  I’m not sure if Washington is a playoff team, but they’re playing tough football…..The Bengals have Tyler Eifert back and that’s huge for Andy Dalton.  Expect them to start looking like the team we think they can be; a playoff team.

Kansas City 30, Indianapolis 14

The Chiefs had another solid victory even though their medical staff was a bit shady in their handling of quarterback Alex Smith’s cranium.  They proved that they can win with Nick Foles, and he adds a dimension of downfield passing that they don’t have with Smith….The Colts are a bad football team that has a chance of hosting a playoff game.

Oakland 30, Tampa Bay 24 (OT)

Derek Carr is turning into an elite quarterback and he’s clearly the best signal caller from the last four drafts.  I’m not sure if the Raiders are an elite contender yet, but Reggie McKenzie has done a great job of rebuilding that roster…..Jameis Winston was supposed to be better than this.  It’s not working with Dirk Koetter.

New Orleans 25, Seattle 20

The Saints had their most impressive win in three years as they were able to dominate at the line of scrimmage against one of the best teams in football.  I’m not sold on them being any better than a .500 team….The Seahawks were the victims of some bad calls and that helped lead to their loss.  They are still a good team and they’ll be fine.

Houston 20, Detroit 13

The Texans are a bad team that’s probably going to host a playoff game….The Lions still need some pieces on the offensive line and in the back seven on defense.  At least they have a quarterback.

N.Y. Jets 31, Cleveland 28

The Jets played a horrible half of football and if they were lining up against any NFL team other than the Browns (and maybe the Jaguars), they wouldn’t have came back.  Temporary relief for a subpar team…..Cleveland has found a legitimate receiver in Terrelle Pryor and now they’ve acquired Jamie Collins.  That’s at least two pretty good pieces for the rebuild.

New England 41, Buffalo 25

Tom Brady is so good that it’s become boring to mention him.  He’s the perfect quarterback and he’s been excellent without a good offensive line or running game….The Bills had this beatdown coming.  If only they could keep their fans from throwing sex toys onto the field.

Carolina 30, Arizona 20

The Panthers showed a glimpse of last season as they jumped out to a quick lead and pounded their opponent.  Too bad this is just one game and it’s going to take an epic rally to get back into the playoffs….The Cards are in real trouble as they’re slipping in the Wildcard race.  Carson Palmer isn’t the same guy he was last season.

Denver 27, San Diego 19

If the Broncos defense doesn’t play near perfect football, there’s not many teams that they can beat with Trevor Siemian at quarterback.  They have a huge game next week against the Raiders….The Chargers can’t withstand a bad performance from Philip Rivers and still beat anyone.  At least they made the right choice drafting Joey Bosa.

Green Bay vs. Atlanta

The Falcons seem to be headed in the direction of last year’s team after they went 5-0 and then finished 8-8.  Green Bay looked like the team we thought they would be in the second half of the Chicago game and had an extra three days to prepare for the Falcons.  Packers 31, Falcons 27. 

Dallas 29, Philadelphia 23 (OT)

Dak Prescott played his worst game and the Cowboys still found a way to win.  That’s pretty good….Carson Wentz needs some better weapons around him.  The Philly offense is entirely too horizontal.   

Chicago 20, Minnesota 10

The Bears have found their starting running back in Jordan Howard.  It was pretty impressive that their offensive line played as well as they did against a good Vikings defense without Kyle Long and Josh Sitton….The Vikings offense has major issues.  Their tackles can’t block anyone and Sam Bradford isn’t going to survive with that as the case.