Spooky season arrived early for several NFL teams in Week 7.
Whether it was an early scare or a full-on fright fest, Sunday left plenty of organizations feeling unnerved. Several franchises – including the Carolina Panthers, Baltimore Ravens and Las Vegas Raiders
– were left to sort out the aftermath of blowouts, while others – such as the Houston Texans and Green Bay Packers – have to confront where things went wrong in narrow misses.With that in mind, here are the biggest winners and losers from Sunday's action throughout the NFL:
NFL Week 7 winners
Perhaps the panic over the defending champions was a bit premature. Coming off a two-game skid, the Seattle Seahawks put on the kind of defensive masterclass that has become commonplace in Mike Macdonald's tenure.
In a 20-3 thrashing of the Kansas City Chiefs, Seattle tied for the fewest points allowed in any of Patrick Mahomes' 153 career starts while conceding the fewest yards (213) and first downs (11).
The Seahawks put the clamps on the perimeter passing game, allowing just 39 yards to the Chiefs' undermanned group of wideouts on 13 targets. And Macdonald continued to be the league's standard setter in concocting ways to stuff the run without compromising the rest of his defensive game plan, as NFL leading rusher and former Seahawks standout Kenneth Walker III became a non-factor while gaining just 36 yards on 14 carries. There's still plenty to repair, including an offensive approach that amounts to watching Jaxon Smith-Njigba repeatedly bail everyone else out. But so long as the receiver and the defense are in peak form, the Seahawks won't stray far from the league's elite.
Joe Burrow
It should probably come as no surprise that the two-time winner of the NFL Comeback Player of the Year Award has a penchant for turning things around. In a 35-13 win over the Baltimore Ravens, Burrow reminded everyone just how quickly he can right the ship. After a dismal opening half in which he threw for just 43 yards, the quarterback engineered five touchdowns on five drives after halftime. Tee Higgins and Ja'Marr Chase did a bulk of the damage thanks to their explosive plays, but Burrow got several targets involved to bring the offense to life. Benefitting from superlative protection, the signal-caller has now thrown for eight touchdowns in his last two games with no interceptions and just one sack taken. Cincinnati's attack continues to morph, but this felt closer to the highs that this group has grown accustomed to reaching in previous years.
J.J. McCarthy
The New York Giants' decision to install McCarthy as their new starter over Jameis Winston was met with some skepticism from critics who believed the Houston Texans might derail the young quarterback's development. The third-year signal-caller allayed that concern in short order on Sunday. McCarthy harnessed a calculated aggression to attack downfield and lead the way early in a 27-21 overtime win over the Houston Texans.
While the box score might suggest that New York rode a dominant rushing attack that accounted for all four of New York's touchdowns, the Giants lived in a far different reality for most of the game. It wasn't until deep in the second half that the ground game came alive. Until that point, McCarthy was counted on to prop the operation up. He delivered while seldom putting the ball in harm's way, completing 20 of 28 passes for 252 yards. With a bye week ahead, McCarthy has additional time to improve his handle on the offense. At 4-2-1, the Giants are in a nebulous space as the lone overachieving outfit in the NFC East that still comes up short against the NFC's elite. But given the goals for John Harbaugh's first year, winning the division – and not just by default – for the first time in 15 years would be no small feat if McCarthy and the offense can finish strong.
Todd Monken
Narrowly escaping with a 27-24 victory against a one-win team typically isn't cause for celebration for a division leader. But regardless of the route that the Cleveland Browns took to get there, Sunday's result against the Tennessee Titans gave something for Monken to revel in. The first-year coach helped revitalize a run game that had gone dormant in recent weeks, with Cleveland combining for 183 yards and three touchdowns on 29 rushing attempts. Monken also coaxed more late magic out of Deshaun Watson, who ran in a 9-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter and set up Andre Szmyt's game-winning 32-yard field goal as time expired. The Browns might rightfully face more questions about their staying power down the stretch of the season, but in equaling last season's win total, Monken has already helped the organization escape the league's bottom rung of teams.
Michael Penix Jr.
Pressure was a persistent problem in the last two games for Penix, the Atlanta Falcons' strong-armed yet typically stationary quarterback. While Kevin Stefanski and offensive coordinator Tommy Rees are due credit for developing a game plan that would mitigate that issue, Penix deserves a heap of praise for exiting it. The third-year passer lived in the short game to key a 29-20 upset of the previously undefeated San Francisco 49ers, completing 25 of 34 attempts for 213 yards and three touchdowns. With his quicker trigger and improved protection plan, Penix was pressured on just six of his 35 dropbacks, per Next Gen Stats. After questions about the alignment between Stefanski and Penix arose after the coach's hiring, both sides are doing admirable work to help put the concern to rest.
Blake Cashman
The Minnesota Vikings linebacker put together a performance that might set a new bar for the best individual defensive outing of the season. In a 16-10 win over the Indianapolis Colts, Cashman notched 12 tackles, two sacks, three quarterback hits and four passes defensed. With defensive coordinator Brian Flores ratcheting up his already extreme blitz rate to an unforeseen level – the 85.2% mark was the highest of any team since 2016, according to Next Gen Stats – Minnesota's defense unleashed havoc on Daniel Jones. But while Dallas Turner and other members of the defense generated plenty of heat, Cashman was an almost omnipresent figure, consistently finding the ball whether as a pass rusher, run stuffer or coverage weapon. It's rare to see a player enjoy an eighth-year breakout, but Cashman is putting himself at the forefront of the All-Pro conversation.
NFL Week 7 losers
Aaron Glenn
Taking on one of the league's two remaining winless teams seemed like a surefire way for Glenn to end his drought against AFC East foes. But from the very start of Sunday's 28-25 loss to the Miami Dolphins, the New York Jets looked out of sorts. Quarterback Malik Willis led Miami's offense on long marches, with Glenn's defense routinely missing tackles or being out of position along the way. Meanwhile, the Jets couldn't make good on their commitment to get Garrett Wilson more involved in the offense early on, with the star receiver not registering his first reception until the third quarter.
With several of New York's young players standing out, it sure looks as though general manager Darren Mougey has done his job to get the proper pieces in place to get this build off the ground floor. But Glenn's insistence that the organization is headed in the right direction has increasingly become a faith-based proposition. One week after he backed embattled offensive coordinator Frank Reich, Glenn might have a hard time finding anyone to go to bat for him.
Carolina Panthers
A Week 1 rout at the hands of the Chicago Bears should have been the unquestioned nadir of the defending NFC South champions' season. Somehow, that 59-37 blowout is now a distant second for the franchise's biggest humiliation of 2026.
Carolina came fully undone in its 43-13 loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Baker Mayfield returned, but the quarterback's presence barely mattered for a Buccaneers offense that gashed the Panthers for 258 yards and three touchdowns on the ground. What had been an explosive offense for coach Brad Canales and coordinator Brad Idzik misfired wildly, allowing five sacks to a unit that previously ranked among the league's worst in generating pressure. Four turnovers, including three by Bryce Young, only pushed the game further out of hand. Now sitting at 3-3, the Panthers are no longer the hot hand in the division and could be in for a steep challenge, starting with a short week that will put them on the road against the Packers.
Brock Purdy
Saddled with a ragtag crew of receivers, the 49ers quarterback could hardly be faulted for taking a step back against the Falcons. Yet when Kyle Shanahan's offense managed to score two early touchdowns without a wideout catching a pass, it seemed as though this attack might be able to overcome anything.
The rest of a 29-20 loss, however, left the distinct feeling that San Francisco had finally reached its breaking point on offensive personnel losses, with Purdy's missteps looming large. Both of the NFL MVP front-runner's second-half interceptions were particularly regrettable. On a second-and-14 deep in Falcons territory in the third quarter, he tried to throw the ball away after escaping pressure, but Falcons safety Jessie Bates III corralled a pass that Purdy should have sailed out of bounds. In the fourth quarter, Falcons linebacker Kendal Daniels extinguished the 49ers' comeback bid when he tipped Purdy's throw over the middle to himself. The upcoming bye should afford San Francisco the chance to recover in the receiving corps, positioning the team for a strong finish. But while this game might have been an aberration, the uncharacteristic outing from Purdy nevertheless figures to color the mood of the roster heading into the break.
Kirk Cousins
It might feel strange to malign the NFL's passing touchdown leader, who seems to have already exceeded all reasonable expectations for him coming into the year. Yet a 35-21 loss to the Los Angeles Rams felt like a potential inflection point for a Las Vegas Raiders team that has dropped four consecutive games.
The Rams reprised the game plan that served the New England Patriots so well two weeks ago, sending regular blitzes while daring Raiders receivers to beat man coverage. The result left Cousins unable to establish any sort of rhythm, with the offense barely showing a pulse early. The veteran finished with 295 yards and two touchdowns, but a late push that didn't produce a serious threat inflated his stat line. Raiders coach Klint Kubiak acknowledged after the game that the team is "thinking about everything." While turning things over to Mendoza just ahead of a brutal November stretch might not be ideal, Cousins' reign as a starter certainly seems as though it's on borrowed time.
Karl Brooks and Trey Smack
In reflecting on their 20-17 loss to the rival Detroit Lions, the Green Bay Packers will feel plenty of pangs of regret. Two figures, however, figured prominently into the team's late-game demise.
Brooks seemed to earn a good deal of sympathy when he was called for a roughing-the-passer penalty that left Tom Brady and many other onlookers incredulous. The defensive tackle squandered any goodwill, however, when he jumped offsides on a third-and-5 with two minutes left, giving Detroit an easy setup to secure the win. But the Packers might not have even been in that situation were it not for Smack, the rookie kicker who missed two chip-shot field goals. The second botched attempt, a 35-yard kick that Lions defensive end D.J. Wonnum deflected with his fingertips, set the Lions up for their game-winning march. Packers coach Matt LaFleur said after the game that Smack's job was safe. Still, the relentless misses are a tough look for a team that already needed to figure out more ways to support Jordan Love.
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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: NFL Week 7 winners, losers led by Jets' Aaron Glenn running out of chances
