WWhen the Los Angeles Rams took the field at Wembley Stadium on Sunday to face the Jacksonville Jaguars, they did so without their best offensive weapon in wide receiver Puka Nacua, who was sidelined with a sprained left ankle. Considering the Jaguars defense it was intense at times With first-year coordinator Anthony Campanile at the helm, Jacksonville may be able to pull off a win that would take them to 5-2 on the season.
Everything happened… wrong. The Rams won 35-7 on the road, with Los Angeles quarterback Matthew Stafford completing 21 of 33 passes for 182 yards, five touchdowns, no interceptions and a passer rating of 117.7. Stafford became the eighth defenseman in the history of professional football score five or more passing touchdowns under 200 yards; The last one to do so was Jameis Winston for the New Orleans Saints against the Green Bay Packers on September 12, 2021.
While Jacksonville's offense was very difficult for the Rams' defense to handle, the Rams' offense under head coach Sean McVay was nearly impossible to stop. In previous years, Los Angeles' primary offense favored 11 players (one running back, one tight end and three wide receivers) more than any other personnel group. According to Pro Football Focus, the Rams ranked No. 1 in 11 personnel metrics in the 2017, 2018, 2021, 2022 and 2023 seasons (with 2017 being McVay's first season with the team).
But after Nacua left, McVay went completely against his own grain by bringing in 13 recruiting packages: one running back, three tight ends and one wide receiver. The Rams didn't run a single passing play all season with 13 players and only ran eight running plays. McVay began using it in Week 6 against the Baltimore Ravens after Nacua was injured with 10:02 left in the first quarter, and all eight of the 13 personnel plays against Baltimore were play-action plays.
Against the Jaguars, and knowing full well that he would not have Nacua, who named one of the top five receivers in the NFL – McVay leaned heavily on the 13 man archetype. By the end of the game they had played 24 games with 13 players. By comparison, the Pittsburgh Steelers led the NFL with 49 games with 13 players. general from the first to the sixth week.
Stafford's three passes landed on 13 people, including one for Davante Adamswho replaced Nacua as Stafford's favorite target. Adams caught five passes on eight targets for 35 yards and three touchdowns.
While we're deep into history, Adams this is the 11th player in history finish the game with three or more rushing touchdowns and 35 or fewer receiving yards. Tight end Shane Zylstra did it for the Detroit Lions on Dec. 24, 2022 (26 yards and three touchdowns), and Travis Kelce of the Kansas City Chiefs did it (and a few more) against the Las Vegas Raiders on Oct. 10, 2022 with 25 receiving yards and four landing.
The Rams are now 5-2 with a bye and their next game is Nov. 2 against the New Orleans Saints. They expect Nacua to come back for it, and with McVay dialing the number as is, that's an offense no one wants to deal with.
Even offensive linemen celebrated!
MVP of the week
Drake May, QB, New England Patriots. Speaking of offenses that no one wants to deal with, how about the suddenly resurgent New England Patriots, who are 5-2 on the season after routing the Tennessee Titans 31-13. The game was personal for New England head coach Mike Vrabel, who was fired as head coach of the Titans. January 9, 2024 after a second straight losing season, but with an overall record of 54–45.
To carry out this revenge, Vrabel needed May, a sophomore star from North Carolina, and May was fully prepared to do it. He completed 21 of 23 passes for 222 yards, two touchdowns, no interceptions and a passer rating of 135.9. In this game, May broke Tom Brady's franchise record for completion percentage in a single game with 91.3%, surpassing 88.5% GOAT vs Jaguar December 27, 2009
May didn't just throw things around either. He completed seven of nine passes of 10 yards or more in the air for 149 yards and both of his passes went for touchdowns, and even the announcers (including former New England quarterback Jason McCourty) weren't quite prepared for May to do what he did.
Last week my dear colleague Oliver Connolly delved into how May became a Pro Bowl caliber quarterback (as I did separately in the article and video). After this game, any arguments against would be pretty stupid.
Hiring Vrabel was a triumph for the Patriots, a lost organization in the final days of Bill Belichick in 2023 and former head coach Jerod Mayo in 2024.
As for the Titans, who fired head coach Brian Callahan last week? Not so much.
Video of the week
You may or may not like Patrick Mahomes' State Farm commercials, but it looks like Mahomes' acting skills are starting to pay off on the field. Early in the second quarter, as Kansas City crushed the Las Vegas Raiders 31-0, Mahomes appeared to be trying to lure the Raiders offsides by shouting beforehand, “It never fucking works, man!”
Mahomes then passed the ball to running back Kareem Hunt, who picked up three yards on fourth-and-1 to boost the offense's scoring drive.
This might be the sharpest thing I've ever seen. Andy Reid is a genius.
Mahomes tries to get the Raiders offsides, then says, “That never works,” then throws the ball and they get a first down 😂 pic.twitter.com/KsrWmUUafl
— Chase Daniel (@ChaseDaniel) October 19, 2025
Not quite Sir Laurence Olivier, but it'll do.
Statistics of the week
30. That's the number of first downs the Chiefs had in that game against the Raiders… and that's also the number of plays the Raiders were allowed to run. This is the least number of plays NFL The team has been running since the Browns scored just 28 points in a 43-0 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sept. 12, 1999, when the team returned to Cleveland with the New Browns.
Pete Carroll's Raiders had no excuse for expansion. They gained 85 total yards and were 0-for-7 on third down conversions. This is a great way to get off the field before you have to make too many cumbersome plays.
Elsewhere in the league
The craziest game of the day took place in Denver, where the Broncos spotted their visiting New York Giants, leading 19-0 before going to work in the fourth quarter. The Broncos scored 33 points in the final 15 minutes, becoming the first team in pro football history to score that many points after being down the first three quarters of the game.
One episode seemed to put the nail in the Broncos' coffin, but Sean Payton's team managed to overcome it. With 1:08 left in the game, the Giants were on fourth-and-19 from their own 26-yard line, but rookie quarterback Jackson Dart hit wide receiver Wan'Dale Robinson for exactly 19 yards. Not that Dart needed it, as Broncos defensive lineman John Franklin-Myers was tagged on suspect of rough treatment of a passerby.
Two plays later, Dart threw deep to receiver Beau Collins, and Broncos cornerback Riley Moss was flagged for even more suspicious call with interference.
That brought the ball to the Giants' two-yard line, and Payton added another yard to the mix by claiming unsportsmanlike conduct while demanding to hear from referee Brad Allen (whose legacy… not really great). Dart punted for a touchdown, but kicker Jude McAtamney missed his second extra point of the game, meaning the Broncos could still win with a field goal.
Which they did it when time was up. And there was a final with a score of 33-32.
The Indianapolis Colts advance to Sunday's game against the Los Angeles Chargers. ranked first in offensive DVOA (FTN opponent-adjusted performance metrics) and their 38-24 win, which moved them to the best record in the NFL at 6-1 (depending on what happens to the 5-1 Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Monday night), did not dim the team's prospects. Daniel Jones, a former first-round pick for the New York Giants, continued his amazing career rebound with 23 targets in 34 attempts with two touchdowns, no interceptions and a passer rating of 113.4. But the real star of the game was running back Jonathan Taylor, who totaled 94 yards and three rushing touchdowns on 16 carries.
Taylor for the third time this season scored three rushing touchdowns in a game – he did so in Week 3 against the Titans and Week 5 against the Raiders. At this rate, Taylor has a decent chance of becoming the first running back to win the NFL Most Valuable Player award since Adrian Peterson of the Minnesota Vikings did it at the end of the 2012 season.
The Browns not only beat the Miami Dolphins 31-6 for their second win of the season; they also did this with a wonderful rookie class. The Browns became the first team this decade to have rookies lead the team in passing yards (quarterback Dillon Gabriel), yards (running back Quinshawn Judkins), receiving yards (tight end Harold Fannin Jr.) and tackles (linebacker Carson Schwesinger) in any game.
The Browns are still trying to return to relevance, but with this rookie class and an additional 2026 first-round pick thanks to the trade that allowed the Jacksonville Jaguars to move up and select Travis Hunter, the future actually looks a little bright for a franchise that has spent much of this millennium on the wrong side.
