NFL WEEK 7: Wildest game of the season, a Tom Brady record broken & a coach about to get firedBen O’SheaThe West AustralianMon, 20 October 2025 3:36PMCommentsCommentsEmail Ben O’Shea
BUCKING BRONCOS
In a weird and wild NFL season, the Week 7 clash between the Broncos (5-2) and Giants (2-5) delivered on both fronts.
There were three lead changes in the final two minutes, and Denver came back from a 26-8 deficit to win 33-32 with a walk-off field goal.
It doesn’t get much more exciting than that, especially when this avalanche of points came via deflected passes, young QBs taking it to the house and a trademark bruising effort by Giants running back Cam Skatterbo, who is rapidly becoming the NFL’s pre-eminent cult figure.
The weirdness came on a huge pass interference call against the Broncos, which saw Denver head coach Sean Payton run all the way into the end zone to yell at officials.
Payton sure ain’t complaining about his team’s four-game winning streak.
JOB SECURITY
Mike McDaniel’s tenure as head coach in Miami (1-6) is on the thinnest of thin ice after the Dolphins suffered yet another embarrassing loss, this time to the Browns.
The battle of previously one-win teams turned into an emphatic 31-6 beatdown by Cleveland (2-5) in terrible weather, but even the horrid conditions didn’t look as miserable as McDaniel on the sideline.
Miami general manager Chris Grier is surely also on borrowed time, having assembled a roster with huge weaknesses – they’re literally outmuscled every week – and quarterback Tua Tagovailoa is playing his way to the bench.
Staying in the AFC East, will the still-winless Jets make Aaron Glenn a rare head coach who gets fired midway through their rookie season?
Glenn benched QB Justin Fields in a 13-6 loss to Carolina (4-3) and the road forward for this franchise looks murky indeed.
FYI, the Panthers have now won three straight, which is not a sentence anyone thought we’d see this year.
BIG SHOW
Week 7 in the NFL saw some massive performances from players and teams alike.
And none bodes as well for future performance as Kansas City’s 31-0 drubbing of AFC West rival Las Vegas.
Sure, the Raiders (2-5) have been a big disappointment this season, but Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes is back to looking like his old MVP self and the league should be scared wideout Rashee Rice wasted no time getting into the end zone after a six-game suspension.
Rice’s two touchdowns was almost as notable as disgruntled Eagles receiver AJ Brown scoring twice in a win over the Vikings, after looking like a trade candidate in recent weeks.
The Eagles (5-2) and Chiefs (4-3) are resembling Super Bowl contenders again, to the surprise of exactly zero people.
What IS a surprise is how good the Colts look, climbing to a league-best record of 6-1 with crushing 38-24 defeat of the Chargers.
It certainly helps to have the NFL’s best running back this season in Jonathan Taylor, who, incredibly, scored his third hat-trick for the year in the game.
PANIC INDEX
HIGH: The Raiders are a mess. Getting shutout is never good, even if it’s by the Chiefs. No way coach Pete Carroll gets a second season in Sin City.
MEDIUM: The Commanders (3-4) were outclassed by division rivals Dallas (3-3), but the real concern is a hamstring injury to QB Jayden Daniels. Washington can only go as far as Daniels can take them and this is his second injury of the season.
LOW: The Patriots (5-2) must be stoked with the play of sophomore QB Drake Maye, who is a legit MVP candidate. Maye broke a franchise record (held by Tom Brady) by completing 91.3 per cent of his passes in a 31-13 rout of the Titans (1-6).
LOW: Remember before the season when we worried about the health of ageing Rams (5-2) QB Matt Stafford? Five TD passes in a win over Jacksonville (4-3) in London suggests those worries were unfounded.
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