Patriots 30, Saints 27: Holy shit.
The Patriots held a 17-7 lead at halftime, but the Saints tied it up midway through the third quarter. Injuries to Aqib Talib and Jerod Mayo hurt New England's defense, especially, as he was covering Jimmy Graham incredibly well. (Graham had no catches.)
Fast-forward to about three and a half minutes left in the game. On third and 20, Drew Brees threw a perfect TD strike to Kenny Stills, giving the Saints a one-point lead. Brady had a little over three minutes to lead a drive that could end in a field goal. The Patriots went four and out on their own 24. Game over? Not yet.
New Orleans called some runs to kill the clock, forced the Patriots to use their timeouts, and kicked an easy field goal. Brady gets a second chance to lead a game-winning drive, but now it has to end in a touchdown. On the first pass, Brady decided to deep throw to Julian Edelman on one-on-one coverage, even though the Patriots had plenty of time. Keenan Lewis picked him off. Game over? Wait a second.
The Saints called another batch of running plays to kill even more time, with a Drew Brees play-action pass ending in a sack on third down. They punted—poorly—with 1:13 left. With no timeouts left, Brady engineered a drive from New England's 30-yard line, ending with this:
Rob Fucking Ryan was left crushed as the Patriots rallied for the win.
Broncos 35, Jaguars 19: It wasn't the blowout we all expected, as the Jaguars put up a fight for a bit. Paul Posluszny pick-sixed Peyton! Manning actually had his first unimpressive game of the season, throwing for just two TDs and 295 yards. Justin Blackmon had a hell of a day, catching 14 passes for 190 yards. He's a young bright spot in this Jacksonville offense.
Seahawks 20, Titans 13: This GIF appropriately sums up the game. When Seattle fucked up, Tennessee couldn't capitalize, and everything would turn out fine for the Seahawks. Seattle's biggest mistake did turn into points for the Titans, but Ryan Pickspatrick wasn't helping Tennessee's offense with two interceptions and three fumbles (none of them lost). It also didn't help that Pickspatrick and Chris Johnson finished the game with the same amount of rushing yards—33. It's sad to see the Titans' 3-1 start spoiled, but Jake Locker was doing so much. His return is necessary.
Please appreciate Marshawn Lynch's ability to stay in bounds.
49ers 32, Cardinals 20: San Francisco's rebounding from its weak season start, after drubbing the Texans last Sunday and handling Arizona today. The 49ers excelled in keeping the ball from the Cardinals with a 34:19 time of possession. Frank Gore had a 101-yard rushing day, Vernon Davis went off with eight catches for 180 yards and two TDs, and Colin Kaepernick passed for over 200 yards, something he hasn't done since San Francisco's first game.