We are now officially past the half-way point in the 2022 NFL season. Let’s begin!

Eagles @ Texans

This game was decided way before the opening kickoff. Granted, the Texans did put up some resistance on their end; they scored a respectable 17 points. In the end the Texans just couldn’t compete with the dominant Eagles’ squad. The Eagles now improve to 8-0 for the first time. Final score 29-17, Eagles.

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Chargers @ Falcons

The Chargers survived against the Falcons behind the clutch leg of Cameron Dicker, the recently-signed kicker from free agency. Dicker’s 31-yarder came after an apparent go-ahead 37-yard touchdown reception by Ekeler was called back following a review. Officials on the field ruled Ekeler was not down when tackled by Isaiah Oliver but instead said he rolled over Oliver without touching the ground. The review showed Ekeler’s left elbow touched the turf. The Chargers have had more struggles than they’d like to admit, but over the past nine weeks; they have still proven that they can hang with the best. I might get backlash for this, but the Falcons are a good football team. They aren’t contenders by any means, but not all competent teams can make the cut. There’s a big difference between good and great in the NFL. The loss prevented the Falcons (4-5), who began the day in first place in the NFC South, from moving above .500 for the first time since 2017. Patterson ran for 44 yards and two touchdowns after missing four games following knee surgery. Rookie Tyler Allgeier set a career high with 99 yards as the Falcons ran for 201 yards. Final score 20-17, Chargers.

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Dolphins @ Bears

It’s really hard to gauge Justin Fields. Sometimes he collapses under the pressure, but then we are blessed with games like the one he had on Sunday. Fields ran for 178 yards, the most by an NFL quarterback in a regular-season game. Michael Vick had the previous high with 173 for Atlanta in a win at Minnesota in 2002. Colin Kaepernick ran for 181 yards for San Francisco in a playoff victory over Green Bay during the 2012 season. Fields scrambled for a 61-yard touchdown — the longest run by a Bears quarterback — and threw for three scores. He also became the first player since at least 1950 with at least 150 yards rushing and three TD passes in a game. Honestly, neither team could stop the other. It just so happens that Miami is the better-equipped team to win a track meet. Final score 35-32, Dolphins. 

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Panthers @ Bengals

Joe Mixon had himself a day. Mixon turned in his best effort of the season, rushing for 153 yards and scoring a franchise-record five touchdowns as the Bengals built a 35-0 halftime lead and cruised to a 42-21 rout of the Panthers on Sunday. He was absolutely untouchable. It was so bad for Carolina that PJ Walker was benched for Baker Mayfield in the second half. Mayfield threw two second-half touchdown passes, and the Panthers concluded the scoring with 1:29 left. The score doesn’t really do the game justice as it was a brutal beatdown all the way through. Final score 21-42, Bengals.

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Packers @ Lions 

Cheeseheads, hit the panic button! After the Packers loss to the Detroit Lions by a score of 9-15; I’ll be one of many calling for immediate change. After T.J. Hockenson was traded to the Minnesota Vikings, rookie tight-end had his number called as he caught the game-winning touchdown pass. His first-ever touchdown catch was a game-winner, that’s special! 

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Raiders @ Jaguars

Raiders fans, it’s also time to panic! Las Vegas blew a 17-0 point lead to Jacksonville for their sixth loss and fifth on the road. They have yet to win a game on the road this season. The best matchup of the day was Davante Adams vs. Tyson Campbell. Adams had nine catches for 146 yards and two touchdowns through two quarters Sunday, looking unstoppable while Campbell mostly shadowed him all over the field. Now I know it sounds like Campbell was completely out-played but that couldn’t be farther from the truth. He simply filled his role, even if it was the hardest defensive task on the team. “When you’re going against great receivers, they’re going to make their plays,” Campbell said. “But you gotta throw your punches, too.” Final score 20-27, Jaguars. 

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Colts @ Patriots

The Colts got waxed by the Patriots on Sunday. Indianapolis gave up a whopping nine sacks to the Patriots and got absolutely swallowed up on offense because of it. Judon had three of the Patriots’ nine sacks, Mac Jones had a touchdown pass, and Nick Folk added four field goals to help New England beat the Indianapolis Colts 26-3. The win moves the Patriots (5-4) above .500 for the first time this season as they head into their bye week. Good news for Colts fans, Frank Reich was fired a few hours after this game, so it looks as Indy is finally moving on from his disastrous tenure. Former Colts’ center and six-time pro-bowler, Jeff Saturday was named interim head coach. 

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Bills @ Jets

Josh Allen had one of the worst games of his career so far on Sunday versus the Jets. The usually dominant quarterback was seeing ghosts. The young Jets’ defense did its job against Allen, intercepting him twice and sacking him five times. Allen was 18 of 34 for 205 yards — held without a TD pass for the first time since Week 17 of last season against Atlanta — and the INTs by Gardner and Jordan Whitehead. Allen ran for 86 yards and two touchdowns, but the Bills fell to 0-2 against division opponents. “It’s tough to win in this league when you’re playing a good team and your quarterback plays like (crap),” Allen said. “Made some bad decisions tonight. Really cost our team.” 

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Vikings @ Commanders 

It’s time to say that the Vikings are a top three team in the NFL now. This game wasn’t hard for Minnesota per say, but the sheer dominance week after week needs to be brought to the limelight. Cousins and the Vikings are off to their best start since 2009 after rallying to beat the Commanders 20-17 Sunday. Minnesota pulled out this win thanks to two touchdown passes by Cousins, Harrison Smith’s interception of Taylor Heinicke and a go-ahead 28-yard field goal by Greg Joseph with 12 seconds left. I’ll admit that I defend Taylor Heinicke more than he probably deserves but other than his late-game collapse, he played well. My main concern for the Vikings involves Kirk Cousins’ track record when the light’s are brightest. I get that we joke about his play, but good teams are expected to show up in big games. Historically, Kirk doesn’t do that.  

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Seahawks @ Cardinals

If you would have told me at the beginning of the season that Geno Smith would be a top 7 quarterback in the league; I would have laughed in your face.But Geno has led the Seattle Seahawks to four straight games with their victory over Arizona on Sunday. Smith threw for 275 yards and two touchdowns while rookie Kenneth Walker III ran for 109 yards and two scores. The Seahawks have won four straight games while the Cardinals (3-6) have lost four of five. It wasn’t all sunshine and rainbows during the game as Geno Smith threw a pick-six in the third quarter that looked to be a momentum swing for the Cardinals. However, Smith was able to bounce back and right the ship. Final score 31-21, Seahawks.

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Rams @ Buccaneers 

Tampa has finally figured out how to win close games this season.  Tom Brady stepped to the podium and reiterated how good it felt to stop his longest losing streak in 20 years. “That was awesome,” the seven-time Super Bowl champion exclaimed Sunday. Brady tossed a 1-yard touchdown pass to rookie Cade Otton with 9 seconds remaining, giving the Bucs a sloppy but confidence-boosting 16-13 victory over the Los Angeles Rams in a matchup of the past two NFL champions. When the game was on the line, Tom Brady took over the game just like he has done over and over in his two-decade long career.  Brady went 5 of 6 for 60 yards on the game-winning drive, the record 55th of his career. The 45-year-old avoided his first four-game losing streak since 2002 and beat the Rams for the first time in four tries since joining the Bucs (4-5) two seasons ago. 

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Titans @ Chiefs

For the past few seasons, the Titans and the Chiefs matchup has always been a very entertaining game. Personally, I think it’s because they have such different play styles and it makes for a very entertaining football game. One team is flashy and one team is gritty. This game was no exception to the standard that has been set as Kansas City narrowly beat Tennessee in overtime 20-17. After the Chiefs won the overtime coin toss, the Titans nearly stopped them, only for Noah Gray to make a nifty third-down catch. Then, Mahomes hit JuJu Smith-Schuster on fourth down to keep the drive alive — and the clock moving. Butker drilled his 28-yarder to give Kansas City the lead with 4:04 left in overtime. The Chiefs proceeded to stuff Henry, then sacked Titans rookie Malik Willis on back-to-back plays, before batting down his fourth-down throw to end the game. Henry finished with 115 yards rushing and two touchdowns for the Titans. But he didn’t get a whole lot of help from Willis, who got his second start in place of the injured Ryan Tannehill, and was just 5 of 16 for 80 yards. Clearly Malik Willis is not ready to be a starting quarterback yet. That obviously poses a big issue for Tennessee because there’s no telling when Ryan Tannehill will be back under Center for the two-tone blue. Now if Derrick Henry stays hot, anything can happen, but there’s only so much of a load that Henry can reasonably shoulder for the rest of the season. 

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Ravens @ Saints

I’ve always been very high on Kenyan Drake as a running back in the NFL. I was one of the many people that said that Arizona should not have let him walk away, obviously he did and look where he is now. He was able to help lead the Ravens to a victory over the Saints on Primetime Monday Night Football. Kenyan Drake rushed for 93 yards and two touchdowns, Justin Houston had an interception to go with his third straight multiple-sack game, and the Ravens beat New Orleans 27-13 on Monday night. Jackson passed for a touchdown and frustrated New Orleans (3-6) with his mobility, rushing for 82 yards and exhibiting an array of jump cuts and spin moves while helping Baltimore (6-3) win its third straight and remain atop the AFC North, one game ahead of Cincinnati. For the Saints, I don’t put a lot of weight into this game because they weren’t fully healthy so I’m going to cut them some slack. The question  remains: Can they get healthy?