• For the first time in franchise history, the Green Bay Packers played in London. This game went down to the wire, with the Packers’ opposition, the New York Giants, coming from behind to take the lead with three minutes left. The Packers drove down the field but were unable to score. The Giants tried to run the clock out, but due to the Packers having two of their three timeouts left, they were only able to run it down to eleven seconds. In the final play of the game, Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers tried to make the long pass to the endzone. However, the ball was knocked out of his hands as time expired, closing out the Giants’ upset win over the reigning NFL MVP (Aaron Rodgers) and his team
• The New England Patriots hosted the Detroit Lions on Sunday afternoon. With their third string quarterback, Bailey Zappe, starting the game, the odds weren’t in their favor. On the first drive, the Lions got stopped on fourth down, meaning that the Patriots had great field position for their first offensive drive of the game. On the first play, Zappe made a long pass to tight end Hunter Henry, who got around twenty yards on the play. On this play, the defender who was covering Henry seemed to go down, and was taken off by ambulance. However, it wasn’t clear what exactly happened to him. A few plays later, Patriots kicker Nick Folk made a thirty-seven yard field goal, bringing the Patriots in the lead early. After the Lions drove down the field, quarterback Jared Goff threw an interception three yards from the endzone to Patriots defensive back Jack Jones. This Patriots’ drive started off slowly, but a near running-breakaway from running back Rhamondre Stevenson sparked the offense, and the drive only went up from there, ending in a thirty-two yard field goal. After getting possession of the ball back, Bailey Zappe threw an accurate pass to receiver Nelson Aghalor, who bobbled the ball before one of the Lions’ defensive backs grabbed it for an interception. During this drive, the Lions went for the first down on fourth, instead of punting, and Patriots defensive lineman Matt Judon punched the ball out of Jared Goff’s hands. Patriots defensive back Kyle Duggar scooped it up before running for a touchdown. As time expired in the first half, the Patriots scored another field goal, and the same happened on their first drive of the second half. Over the course of this entire game, Lions defensive backs were dropping like flies. In the second half, defensive backs Jeff Okudah and Deshaun Elliott both went down. Elliott was carted off of the field, and his replacement went down one play later, too. Thus far, five Lions’ defensive backs have gone down with injuries in this game. Soon after the fifth went down, Bailey Zappe threw a touchdown pass to receiver Jakobi Meyers. The next drive, the Lions made it all the way to the six yard line, before failing to convert on fourth down, meaning that they got no points out of the drive because they tried to go for the touchdown on fourth down, instead of taking what would’ve been an easy field goal. In the fourth quarter, two of the injured Lions’ defensive backs: Jeff Okudah and Deshaun Elliott, returned to the game. The Patriots got their first shutout since 2016 with a final score of 29-0
• Early in the first quarter, Detroit Lions’ defensive back Saivion Smith went down with a neck injury. After rewatching the play many times, no one was able to figure out where or how exactly he injured himself. An ambulance ended up coming out onto the field which is a very rare occurrence in games, unless there is very serious injury. Smith’s father, who was in the stands, came out onto the field and went in the ambulance alongside his son. Smith was taken to the hospital for further evaluation, and while he is still there, he has movement in his limbs, meaning that he doesn’t seem to have suffered from any paralysis. 
• After being shot six weeks ago in a car-jacking, Brian Robinson, a running back for the Washington Commanders, will make his season debut against the Tennessee Titans. 
• After playing on Thursday Night Football, Denver Broncos’ quarterback Russell Wilson had surgery on his throwing shoulder for a nagging injury. He is expected to miss minimal time and may not miss any games. 
• Since Miami Dolphins’ quarterback Tua Tagovailoa’s scary head injury, which he was allowed to play with the next week, before making it worse and having to be taken off on a stretcher, the NFL has changed their concussion protocol with intentions of watching more closely for concussion symptoms, especially when an athletes balance is off, or they’re stumbling on their feet. 
• Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers hosted fellow NFC South-Atlanta Falcons. They were up twenty-one to zero at the start of the fourth quarter. However, the Falcons stormed back, scoring fifteen unanswered points in the fourth quarter, getting within six points of the Buccaneers. The Buccaneers were able to hold them off for the win though. With that, Tom Brady has an 11-0 record when playing against the Falcons. Also during this game, a fan ran onto the field and got tackled hard by a security guard, before being escorted off by police. 
• During the Buffalo Bills’ home-win against the Pittsburgh Steelers, Bills’ player A.J. Epenesa got into an altercation with a referee, causing him to get ejected from the game
• The Los Angeles Chargers traveled across the country to play against the Cleveland Browns. While up by two points, they went for it on fourth down, instead of punting. After failing to do so, the Browns were able to set up an opportunity to kick a game winning field goal, which also was a fail, meaning that the Chargers barely held on for the road win. 
• After nearly getting his leg broken by Buffalo Bills defender Shaq Lawson, Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Kenny Pickett shoved Lawson, and immediately, the two got into a brawl which had to be broken up by their teammates. 
• After a close game in Phoenix, the Philadelphia Eagles remain undefeated, and are the only team to do so. This win came after the Cardinals’ kicker missed the game-tying field goal as time expired. 
• The Washington Commanders had an opportunity to beat the Tennessee Titans at home on Sunday. They were a few yards from the endzone when Commanders’ quarterback Carson Wentz threw an interception on the goalline.
• At halftime on Monday Night Football, the fans at Arrowhead Stadium, the stadium of the Kansas City Chiefs, were seen throwing beer and bottles at the opposing team, the Las Vegas Raiders as they were going off of the field.

Final Scores

• The New England Patriots versus the Detroit Lions (played in New England) – Patriots win 29-0
• The Tampa Bay Buccaneers versus the Atlanta Falcons (played in Tampa Bay) – Buccaneers win 21-15
• The indianapolis Colts versus the Denver Broncos (played in Denver) – Colts win (in overtime) 12-9
• The New York Giants versus the Green Bay Packers (played at Tottenham- Hotspur stadium in London) – Giants win 27-22
• The Pittsburgh Steelers versus the Buffalo Bills (played in Buffalo) – Bills win 38-3
• The Los Angeles Chargers versus the Cleveland Browns (played in Cleveland) – Chargers win 30-28
• The Houston Texans versus the Jacksonville Jaguars (played in Jacksonville) – Texans win 13-6
• The Chicago Bears versus the Minnesota Vikings (played in Minnesota) – Vikings win 29-22
• The Seattle Seahawks versus the New Orleans Saints (played in New Orleans) – Saints win 39-32
• The Miami Dolphins versus the New York Jets (played in New York) – Jets win 40-17
• The Tennessee Titans versus the Washington Commanders (played in Washington, D.C.) – Titans win 21-17
• The San Francisco 49ers versus the Carolina Panthers (played in Carolina) – 49ers win 37-15
• The Philadelphia Eagles versus the Arizona Cardinals (played in Arizona) – Eagles win 20-17
• The Dallas Cowboys versus the Los Angeles Rams (played in Los Angeles) – Cowboys win 22-10
• The Cincinnati Bengals versus the Baltimore Ravens (played in Baltimore) – Ravens win 19-17
• The Las Vegas Raiders versus the Kansas City Chiefs (played in Kansas City) – Chiefs win 30-29

by Kristina Klauzinski ’24, Co-Sports Editor

24kklauzinski@montroseschool.org