| Dates: 7 September 2023 – 7 January 2024 |
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Bill Belichick enjoyed a landmark win as the New England Patriots upset the Buffalo Bills, while the Kansas City Chiefs made it six in a row on another entertaining Sunday in the NFL.
The Philadelphia Eagles won the big game of week seven as they slowed down the league’s best attack to beat the Miami Dolphins 31-17 and join the Chiefs on six wins and one defeat.
The Detroit Lions suffered a blowout loss in Baltimore, while the Pittsburgh Steelers produced a fourth-quarter fightback to beat the Rams in Los Angeles.
Meanwhile, the Cleveland Browns beat the Indianapolis Colts in the wildest game of the day and the Atlanta Falcons beat divisional rivals Tampa Bay with the last kick of the game.
Belichick brings up 300 with upset win
Only coaching legends Don Shula (328) and George Halas (318) have won more regular season games than Belichick – and after he recently suffered the two worst losses of his career, this 300th victory may have been his most crucial.
The six-time Super Bowl winner has been stuck on 299 wins when suffering those record 38-3 and 34-0 defeats against Dallas and New Orleans, but he finally got to the milestone with an upset win over a Buffalo side who had won the last four head-to-heads.
The Bills were heavily fancied again, but Patriots quarterback Mac Jones helped clinch a 29-25 victory when he threw a touchdown pass to Mike Gesicki with 12 seconds left on the clock – bringing up the landmark Belichick win in style.
Typically, Belichick downplayed his achievement, saying: “It’s great, but I’m really more focused on our team and this year. Will worry about that later. Thank you.”
Eagles too strong for Dolphins
In the big game of the weekend, two of the NFL’s big guns met in Philadelphia, both having started with five wins from six.
With the two best attacks in the league in action, some even suggested it could be a Super Bowl preview – but while the Eagles enhanced their claims, Miami still have questions to answer.
Quarterbacks Jalen Hurts and Tua Tagovailoa also have some history as both battled for the starting spot in the same college side in Alabama – and while both had their moments, both also made some big errors.
Hurts lost a fumble and had an interception returned for a touchdown that tied the game in the third quarter – taking his number of turnovers this season to 10, behind only Atlanta’s Desmond Ridder.
But Hurts, who was also struggling with a knee injury, showed his character by immediately responding and throwing a touchdown pass to AJ Brown before a fourth-quarter interception thrown by Tagovailoa led to the Eagles’ clinching score.
So while the Eagles moved to 6-1 and proved they are still a big Super Bowl contender, Miami could be labelled flashy flat-track bullies given their five wins have come against teams with a combined 8-25 record – and they have now lost both games against better sides pretty convincingly.
Chiefs make it six in a row
It is now six wins in a row for the Kansas City Chiefs after Patrick Mahomes threw four touchdowns while Travis Kelce had 179 yards and a score, as the best in the business celebrated what was National Tight Ends Day in the NFL.
Not only is Kelce one of the best in his position, his partnership with Mahomes is now officially the fourth best in history after they combined for their 50th regular season touchdown during their 31-17 win over the Los Angeles Chargers.
As good as that pair are though, it is the Chiefs’ defence that has been powering the defending Super Bowl champions, as they have still not allowed more than the 21 points they did in their opening night loss to the Lions – which remains their only defeat so far.
The Chiefs are looking better as every week passes.
Lions humbled by blowout in Baltimore
Just when the Detroit Lions were being lauded as one of the best teams in the NFL, they were brought back down with a bump with a 38-6 defeat at the Baltimore Ravens.
Lamar Jackson showed why he is a candidate for the most valuable player award with 357 passing yards, three touchdown throws and a rushing score of his own as the Ravens ran riot to lead 35-0 after three quarters.
Detroit, looking to start 6-1 for the first time since 1956, now join Baltimore on 5-2 but charismatic head coach Dan Campbell was typically looking at the positives as the result serves as a big reality check.
“Nobody likes to look over there and watch them having a great time because they kicked our [expletive],” said Campbell. “Nobody thinks that’s fun, but I know that motivates me for next week, it motivates our team.”
Browns claim wild one-point win
The Cleveland Browns stunned the San Francisco 49ers last week thanks to their excellent defence, but nobody expected them to play out a wild high-scoring 39-38 victory at the Indianapolis Colts.
Gardner Minshew ran in two Colts touchdowns from quarterback and threw two more, but his four turnovers gave Cleveland a big helping hand – as did a couple of controversial penalties in the closing minutes as they searched for victory.
Kareem Hunt eventually managed to punch in his second touchdown of the game with 15 seconds left on the clock to pinch a hard-fought victory that thrilled head coach Kevin Stefanski.
“We needed moxie, we needed grit, and we needed toughness at the end,” said Stefanski. “We got all of that. We poured everything we had into this game, and we needed every bit of it.”
The Atlanta Falcons also left it late to beat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 16-13, with Younghoe Koo converting a 51-yard field goal with the last kick of the game to put his team top of the NFC South division.
The Pittsburgh Steelers earned an eye-catching 24-17 victory at the Los Angeles Rams thanks to two fourth-quarter touchdowns, while the Seattle Seahawks joined them on 4-2 with a 20-10 home win over the Arizona Cardinals.
After losing the last 10 times they had held the half-time lead, the longest such streak in NFL history, the Denver Broncos finally converted one as they edged the Green Bay Packers 19-17.
Meanwhile, the New York Giants beat the Washington Commanders 14-7, and the Chicago Bears battered the Las Vegas Raiders 30-12 as both moved to 2-5 for the season.
