Joe Burrow threw for 462 yards and accounted for all six Cincinnati touchdowns, the last on a 9-yard scramble in overtime, in a 43-36 win over Tennessee, and Amani Hooker intercepted him three times in the loss. Jahmyr Gibbs ran for 153 yards as Detroit handed Minnesota its first loss, and Alex Anzalone intercepted Michael Penix Jr. twice in Tampa Bay's 16-0 shutout of Atlanta. Dylan Laube's 95-yard kickoff return put Las Vegas back in front at the Jets, and Austin Booker blocked a Seattle field goal with Chicago up 20-9 on Monday night.
W Bengals 43, Titans 36 (OT) · vs Tennessee Titans
38 of 48, 462 yards, 5 TD, 3 INT (9.6 yards per attempt, 115.5 rating); 3 rushes, 10 yards, 1 TD
Burrow threw for 462 yards and accounted for all six Cincinnati touchdowns after Tennessee scored on its first three drives for a 13-0 lead. When the Titans went back ahead 36-29 with 3:46 left, he led an 81-yard drive and hit Tee Higgins for an 18-yard touchdown with 1:17 to go to tie it. In overtime he completed all four of his passes for 61 yards on a 70-yard drive and scrambled 9 yards for the winning score. The Titans came in 1-6, and he threw three interceptions, all to Amani Hooker. Kirk Cousins was the closest call with four touchdowns and no turnovers in Las Vegas's 38-33 comeback win at the Jets, but Burrow threw for 215 more yards and had two more touchdowns. Higgins caught 10 passes for 155 yards and two scores in the same game.
Runner-up: Kirk Cousins, Raiders: 19 of 26, 247 yards, 3 TD, 0 INT, plus a 1-yard TD run, in a 38-33 comeback win at the Jets
Hooker intercepted Joe Burrow three times in Cincinnati against a Bengals team that came in 4-2. With Tennessee up 10-0 in the first quarter, he picked off a deep ball for Ja'Marr Chase at the Titans' 9 and returned it 22 yards, and the Titans drove for a field goal and a 13-0 lead. He took another deep throw away at the Tennessee 35 with the Bengals up 14-13, and with the game tied 21-21 late in the third quarter he intercepted Burrow again at the 5 after Cincinnati had reached the Titans' 42. Tennessee lost 43-36 in overtime. Alex Singleton was the closest call: his sack on third-and-2 with 2:44 left and Kansas City up 24-21 pushed the Chiefs back to the Denver 36, Harrison Butker missed from 54, and the Broncos scored the winning touchdown two plays later. That came in a win over a 5-1 team, but nothing else this week matched three takeaways on the road.
Runner-up: Alex Singleton, Broncos: 14 tackles (6 solo) and 1 sack, on third-and-2 with 2:44 left before Harrison Butker missed from 54, in a 28-24 win over Kansas City
Laube returned a kickoff 95 yards for a touchdown 12 seconds after the Jets went ahead 13-7 early in the second quarter, putting Las Vegas back in front 14-13 in a game it won by five on the road. It was the only kick or punt return touchdown of the week. His other two returns went for 23 and 26 yards. Tyler Bass was the closest call after making all three of his field goals, from 56, 22 and 51 yards, the last with 9 seconds left in the first half of Buffalo's 36-10 win over Baltimore. Bass did it against a 4-3 team, but the Bills never trailed, while Laube's return erased a deficit. Teammate Matt Gay's 53-yard field goal with under a minute left also mattered, since it meant the Jets needed a touchdown.
Runner-up: Tyler Bass, Bills: 3 of 3 field goals (56, 22 and 51 yards) and 3 of 3 extra points, 12 points, in a 36-10 win over Baltimore
Gibbs ran for 153 yards as Detroit handed Minnesota, 6-0 coming in, its first loss. With the Vikings up 7-6 in the third quarter, his 30-yard touchdown run put the Lions ahead 12-7. After Minnesota went back in front 15-12 with 8:44 left, he opened the next drive with a 17-yard run and later ran 9 yards on consecutive plays to the Vikings' 7, setting up Jared Goff's go-ahead touchdown pass to Jameson Williams with 4:35 left. On the last possession he ran for 14, 8 and 6 yards, Minnesota used all three timeouts, and Detroit ran out the clock. Tyler Allgeier was the closest call with 191 yards from scrimmage and two touchdowns in Arizona's overtime win at Dallas. He had more yards and scores, on the road, but the Cowboys came in 3-4. Bucky Irving ran for 170 yards against Atlanta.
Runner-up: Tyler Allgeier, Cardinals: 11 rushes, 147 yards, 1 TD, plus 5 catches, 44 yards, 1 TD, in a 33-30 overtime win at Dallas
Anzalone intercepted Michael Penix Jr. on consecutive Atlanta possessions in the first quarter of a 16-0 shutout, with Tampa Bay up 3-0. The first, at the Atlanta 41, plus an unnecessary roughness penalty on Drake London, gave the Bucs the ball at the 18, though Bucky Irving fumbled a lateral out of the end zone. The second came on third-and-10, and his 12-yard return to the Atlanta 19 set up Chase McLaughlin's field goal for a 6-0 lead. The Falcons never scored, and Penix finished 8 of 24 with four interceptions. Ty'Ron Hopper was the closest call with a sack, an interception that set up a touchdown and three passes defensed in Green Bay's 27-19 win over Carolina. Both were home wins over teams that came in 3-3 or 3-4, and Hopper's line was broader, but Anzalone took the ball away twice in a game won by its defense.
Runner-up: Ty'Ron Hopper, Packers: 8 tackles, 1 sack, 1 INT, 3 passes defensed and 2 QB hits in a 27-19 win over Carolina
Blocked a 33-yard field goal try; 3 tackles (1 solo), 1 pass defensed
Booker blocked Jason Myers's 33-yard field goal try on fourth-and-12 with 14:13 left and Chicago up 20-9 in Seattle. The Seahawks' next possession, which started at the Chicago 25 after a forced fumble, ended in a touchdown and two-point conversion that made it 20-17; had the kick been good, that score would have tied it. He was also credited with a pass defensed on James Lynch's interception at the Seattle 22 with 6:01 left, which set up D'Andre Swift's third touchdown for a 34-17 lead. Drew Stevens was the closest call: he made field goals of 56, 39, 25 and 42 yards in Washington's 27-10 win over Philadelphia, the last making it a two-score game with 3:43 left. Stevens scored 13 points but missed from 55 against a team that came in 2-5, while Booker's block came on the road in a game that got within three.
Runner-up: Drew Stevens, Commanders: 4 of 5 field goals (56, 39, 25 and 42 yards; missed from 55) and 1 of 1 extra points, 13 points, in a 27-10 win over Philadelphia
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.