Joe Burrow threw all four of his touchdown passes after Cincinnati trailed 13-0 at halftime in Baltimore, and the Bengals won 35-13. Jaxon Smith-Njigba had 150 receiving yards and a touchdown as Seattle handed Kansas City its first loss, and Jessie Bates III intercepted a pass and forced a fumble as Atlanta did the same to San Francisco. Alex Singleton made 19 tackles in Denver's win at Arizona, Chris Boswell made all three of his field goals in Pittsburgh's 16-10 win over New Orleans in Paris, and Cairo Santos hit a 58-yarder with 1:34 left to put Chicago up two scores on New England.
22 of 30, 292 yards, 4 TD, 0 INT (9.7 yards per attempt, 143.3 rating); 2 rushes, 12 yards
Burrow threw four touchdown passes at Baltimore, a team that came in 4-2, and all four came after the Bengals trailed 13-0 at halftime. Cincinnati scored touchdowns on its first five possessions of the second half. He opened the third quarter with a 66-yard drive finished by a 6-yard score to Mike Gesicki, then hit Tee Higgins from 13 yards for a 14-13 lead with 4:29 left in the quarter. After the Ravens turned it over on downs at the Cincinnati 12, his 44-yarder to Higgins keyed an 88-yard drive for a 21-13 lead, and touchdowns of 2 yards to Ja'Marr Chase and 16 yards to Drew Sample on third-and-2 put it away. Malik Willis was the closest call, with three touchdowns and no turnovers in Miami's 28-25 win at the Jets, but the Jets came in 2-4 and Burrow threw for 84 more yards and one more touchdown. Drake Maye threw for 321 yards in a loss at Chicago.
Runner-up: Malik Willis, Dolphins: 14 of 21, 208 yards, 2 TD, 0 INT, plus 8 rushes for 37 yards and a TD in a 28-25 win at the Jets
Singleton was in on 19 tackles in a 14-point road win, with a sack, a tackle for loss and two quarterback hits. Arizona twice got inside the Denver 10 in the first half, when a touchdown would have given it the lead, and both times settled for a field goal. On the first trip he and Brandon Jones dropped Elijah Higgins for a 2-yard loss on first-and-goal from the 8. On the second he stopped Jacoby Brissett for no gain on third-and-1 at the Denver 20; the Cardinals converted on fourth down but kicked to tie it 6-6. He added a sack on second-and-goal from the 1 with 1:30 left, and Arizona went 1 for 5 in the red zone. Patrick Queen was the closest call: his sack on third-and-10 with 6:41 left forced the Saints' final punt in Pittsburgh's 16-10 win in Paris. It came at a bigger moment, but Singleton made nearly twice as many tackles, on the road, against a team with the same 2-4 record.
Runner-up: Patrick Queen, Steelers: 10 tackles (7 solo) and 1 sack, on third down with 6:41 left to force the Saints' final punt, in a 16-10 win over New Orleans in Paris
W Steelers 16, Saints 10 · vs New Orleans Saints in Saint-Denis
3 of 3 field goals (28, 47 and 39 yards), 1 of 1 extra points, 10 points
Boswell made all three of his field goals and scored 10 of Pittsburgh's 16 points in the NFL's first regular-season game in France. With the game tied 10-10, Aaron Rodgers was sacked on third down in the final half-minute of the first half with no timeouts left, and Boswell ran on and made a 47-yarder as time expired for a 13-10 lead. After Payton Wilson's interception at the Pittsburgh 11 in the third quarter, his 39-yarder made it 16-10, so New Orleans needed a touchdown, and Daniel Carlson missed from 52 in the fourth. Andre Szmyt was the closest call: his 32-yarder as time expired won Cleveland's 27-24 game at Tennessee. That kick decided a game, but he had hit the upright from 43 with the Browns up 17-14 early in the fourth, while Boswell made all three, from as far as 47.
Runner-up: Andre Szmyt, Browns: 2 of 3 field goals (28 and 32 yards) and 3 of 3 extra points, with the 32-yarder as time expired in a 27-24 win at Tennessee
Smith-Njigba caught nine passes for 150 yards and scored the game's only touchdown until the last four minutes as Seattle handed Kansas City, 5-0 coming in, its first loss. His 33-yard catch on third-and-7 early in the second quarter put Seattle in the red zone for a 3-0 lead. His 28-yard touchdown on third-and-9 made it 10-0 with 1:44 left in the half, and on the next drive his catches of 21 and 28 yards set up first-and-goal before Sam Darnold was intercepted in the end zone. Michael Penix Jr. was the closest call with three touchdown passes and no turnovers against a 49ers team that came in 6-0. Both beat unbeaten teams at home, but Smith-Njigba gained 150 yards on nine catches to Penix's 213 on 25 completions. Caleb Williams threw for 308 yards and two touchdowns against New England.
Runner-up: Michael Penix Jr., Falcons: 25 of 34, 213 yards, 3 TD, 0 INT in a 29-20 win over San Francisco, which came in 6-0
Bates intercepted a pass and forced a fumble as Atlanta handed San Francisco, 6-0 coming in, its first loss. With the Falcons up 19-14 in the third quarter and the 49ers at the Atlanta 25, he picked off Brock Purdy at the 10, and Atlanta drove 90 yards for Drake London's 21-yard touchdown and a 26-14 lead. In the final minute, with San Francisco at the Atlanta 19 and still down two scores, he punched the ball out of George Kittle's arm and Kendal Daniels recovered. Daniels also had the interception that set up the clinching field goal. Blake Cashman was the closest call with 12 tackles, two sacks and four passes defensed in Minnesota's 16-10 win over Indianapolis. His line was fuller, but the Colts came in 2-4, and Bates's interception took points away in a five-point game and turned into a touchdown the other way.
Runner-up: Blake Cashman, Vikings: 12 tackles, 2 sacks, 4 passes defensed and 3 QB hits in a 16-10 win over Indianapolis
3 of 4 field goals (43, 31 and 58 yards; missed from 53), 3 of 3 extra points, 12 points
Santos made a 58-yarder with 1:34 left that turned a 27-21 lead into a two-score game against a New England team that came in 4-2 on a three-game winning streak. Chicago had started that drive at its own 9, and it stalled on fourth-and-15 at the Patriots' 40. New England then needed a field goal and an onside kick; Andy Borregales made a 47-yarder with 37 seconds left, and the Bears recovered the onside kick. Santos also made kicks of 43 and 31 yards in the first half and missed from 53 off the right upright earlier in the fourth. DJ Wonnum was the closest call: the official play-by-play credits him with blocking Trey Smack's 35-yard try with 3:25 left and the score 17-17, and Detroit won on Jake Bates's 22-yarder as time expired. Wonnum got a finger on a kick from 35 that even the Packers' account called a small deflection. Santos made one from 58.
Runner-up: DJ Wonnum, Lions: blocked a 35-yard field goal try with 3:25 left in a 17-17 game, per the official play-by-play, in a 20-17 win over Green Bay
One player per slot, judged the way the power rankings judge teams: what happened on the field, against whom and where. Production counts, and so does the opponent. A big game against a good defense or on the road beats the same numbers at home against a bad one, and a play that decided the game beats one that padded a lead. A great game in a loss can still win if nothing else comes close.
NFL awards follow the league's format, AFC and NFC, and go up on Tuesday morning, a day before the league names its own. College awards are national and go up on Sunday morning. Where there's an official pick (the NFL's, or Walter Camp's for college offense and defense), it's listed under ours, agree or not.
The NFL page also goes position by position: a player of the week and a season top 5 at each of 14 spots, from quarterback to punter. Players are filed by the job they do, so an edge rusher is anyone who rushes from the line, whether he's called an end or an outside linebacker, and a linebacker plays off the ball. The top 5 is the whole season's body of work, not a count of weekly wins, and a player needs to have played real snaps to make it. Offensive linemen have no box score, so they're judged on pressures and sacks allowed, penalties and what the offense did around them; that's noted on those cards.