Heading into Week 7 of the NFL season, the picture is still delicately poised as the race for the playoffs begins to heat up.
The Philadelphia Eagles (6-0), Buffalo Bills (5-1) and Minnesota Vikings (5-1) are all on a bye this week, along with the Los Angeles Rams (3-3), which provides an opportunity for the chasing pack to close the gap.
Both New York franchises are on the road as they look to extend their winning records, the Giants in Jacksonville to face the Jaguars while the Jets tussle with the Denver Broncos, and elsewhere, the Kansas City Chiefs have a stern test in San Francisco against the 49ers.
With all that and more on the cards, Stats Perform has delved into the numbers to preview this weekend's action.
New York Giants (5-1) @ Jacksonville Jaguars (2-4)
The Giants may have season form on their side against the Jaguars but they are the only team to never win a road game in Jacksonville (0-3), who are one of two franchises the Giants have not won against away from home alongside the Baltimore Ravens.
Victory against the Ravens in Week 6, coming on home soil, saw the Giants secure a fifth win of the season and become the first NFL team this term to surpass their win total from last year (four). Their largest wins increase in the Super Bowl era was from one in 1966 to seven in 1967.
Daniel Jones' form has been key to that improvement, completing at least 70 per cent of his passes in back-to-back games for the first time in his career. He has the opportunity to become only the second Giants QB in the Super Bowl era to do so in three straight games, alongside Eli Manning in September 2018 (minimum 20 attempts each game).
The Jaguars' 2-4 record does not paint the full picture of their season, though, with a +24 point differential standing as the sixth best in the NFL and the best for a team with a losing record through six games since the 2010 Los Angelese Chargers (+31, 2-4).
In last week's defeat to the Indianapolis Colts, Trevor Lawrence completed 20 of 22 passes (90.9 per cent) to become the youngest player (23 years, 10 days) to ever record 90 per cent accuracy from at least 20 passing attempts in a game.
Kansas City Chiefs (4-2) @ San Francisco 49ers (3-3)
Kansas City face the 49ers boasting victories in four of the last five matchups, including a 31-20 triumph in Super Bowl LIV, but are 1-5 in San Francisco – with their only win there coming in the teams' first-ever clash in 1971.
The Chiefs have not been strong defensively, allowing at least 20 points in all six games to begin the season and stand as one of four teams who are yet to allow fewer than 20 in any game this season.
That bodes well for the 49ers, who are 2-0 at home this season and have allowed fewer than 10 points in both of those games, though they have never held their opponent to fewer than 10 points in the team's first three home games of any season.
The potential return of Nick Bosa will be of concern for Patrick Mahomes, after he missed last week due to a groin injury, as the 49ers are pressuring quarterbacks in 48.4 per cent of passing plays with Bosa on the field (122 plays) compared to 34.9 per cent without him (86 plays).
New York Jets (4-2) @ Denver Broncos (2-4)
The Denver Broncos are in need of a major improvement in performance and hosting the Jets will provide encouragement, having shut them out in two straight home games, including 26-0 last year.
The Jets have reason to be optimistic themselves, however, with last week's 27-10 victory against the Green Bay Packers securing their first three-game winning streak since 2019 and their first three-game road winning streak in a single season since 2010.
Meanwhile, the Broncos fell to a 19-16 overtime defeat to the Chargers in Week 6 and suffered their second straight overtime loss, with no team ever having played three straight overtime games in NFL history.
Russell Wilson found himself under scrutiny again last week, completing only 15 of his 28 pass attempts for a completion percentage of 53.6. In total this season, he has a 58.6 completion percentage, having entered the year with a lowest single-season completion percentage of 61.3 in 2017.
Elsewhere…
The Pittsburgh Steelers lost their first six road games as a franchise against the Miami Dolphins but head to Florida in Week 7 with a 6-3 record in the past nine meetings. However, they have not had a quarterback start at the Dolphins other than Ben Roethlisberger since Kordell Stewart in 1998.
Each of the last 11 games between the Seattle Seahawks and the Chargers have been decided by a single-digit margin, with the only longer streak in NFL history being a 14-game stretch between the Colts and Houston Texans from 2014 to 2020.
Aaron Rodgers stands 0-3 in road games against the Washington Commanders, with the Green Bay Packers 2-8 in their last 10 games in Washington – their victories coming in 1968 and 2004.
Tom Brady faces the Carolina Panthers with 15 completions in each of his last 39 games for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, tying Brady's career-best streak with 39 straight games for the New England Patriots from 2011 to 2013.
Premier League MD7: Lucky winners and unlucky losers
There were plenty of thrills and spills across the board in the Premier League as matchday seven ran its course.
Manchester City and Arsenal both had to come from behind to beat Fulham and Southampton respectively at home, while there were eight goals scored as Brentford overcame Wolves 5-3, with six of those strikes coming in the first half in west London.
Liverpool kept themselves ahead at the summit thanks to a 1-0 win at Crystal Palace, while Manchester United stopped the rot by holding Aston Villa, albeit they have now tallied up their lowest points total after seven games of any Premier League season.
Leicester City, meanwhile, grabbed their first win of the campaign, while Anthony Gordon endured a miserable return to Goodison Park with Newcastle United. In the final fixture of the weekend, Brighton stunned Tottenham, forging a second-half comeback to win 3-2 at the Amex Stadium.
So, after all that, who were the unlucky, and lucky, teams based on the underlying metrics?
Lucky winners: Leicester City
Leicester finally got their first top-flight win of the season on the board, as they edged out Bournemouth 1-0 thanks to Facundo Buonanotte's excellent run and finish.
But, it's fair to say it was something of a smash-and-grab for Steve Cooper's team at the King Power Stadium. Leicester had just six shots, with only two of those hitting the target, and they tallied up just 0.79 expected goals (xG).
On the other hand, Bournemouth had 19 attempts, creating five big chances (a tally bettered only by Brentford's eight and West Ham's nine this week) and accumulating 2.16 xG.
Bournemouth only have themselves to blame for wasteful finishing – they got just two of their efforts on target – but the Cherries can still consider themselves unfortunate.
Unlucky losers: Newcastle
Determined to impress against his former club, Gordon fluffed his lines when his big moment arrived as Newcastle drew 0-0 with Everton on Saturday.
With James Tarkowski having conceded a penalty by recklessly pulling the shirt of Sandro Tonali, Gordon stepped up to the spot, but Jordan Pickford guessed the right way.
While Everton wanted a penalty of their own in the second half, the Toffees were largely second-best and that is backed up by the metrics. Even discounting Gordon's spot-kick, Newcastle finished with 1.26 xG and 14 shots. The hosts accumulated 0.67 xG and had eight attempts.
Lucky winners: Man City
It's not often that the champions are given a run for their money at home, but Fulham did just that.
Indeed, Fulham finished with 2.6 xG at the Etihad Stadium, the fourth-highest total across the league this weekend, while they created five big chances.
Pep Guardiola has said he is not concerned by Man City's unusually open defence, but he will want to see better from his team in that regard after the international break.
Going forward, City benefited from three excellent finishes - two from Mateo Kovacic and one from Jeremy Doku. Their 1.57 xG came from 20 shots, though they created only one big chance.
Bengals 'not a championship-level team', says Burrow after dramatic loss to Ravens
Joe Burrow said the Cincinnati Bengals are some way away from championship contention after a botched field-goal attempt saw them suffer a dramatic overtime defeat to the Baltimore Ravens.
Burrow threw for five touchdowns and 392 yards – comfortably his best game of the season – in Sunday's huge AFC North matchup, but it was not enough to lead the Bengals to victory.
They lost a thrilling encounter 41-38 in overtime, Evan McPherson missing a potential game-winning field goal before Justin Tucker did the honours for Baltimore at the other end.
The defeat dropped the Bengals to 1-4, while the Ravens have now won three straight games after opening the season with surprising back-to-back defeats.
Cincinnati's four losses this year have come by a combined margin of just 15 points, but Burrow does not feel their troubles can be explained merely by bad luck.
"We're not a championship-level team right now," Burrow said. "We're not.
"I'd like to think that we'll come back and improve throughout the season to get to that point, but right now we are not and we have to get better.
"I know exactly how we are 1-4. We're not making plays at the end of the game to go and win it. I'm definitely not in disbelief. I know exactly what's happening."
Rookie punter Ryan Rehkow played a role in McPherson's decisive miss, his poor hold causing the kick to skew wide left. Head coach Zac Taylor, however, has backed his team to bounce back.
"People can write us off if they really want to," Taylor said. "I'm not dumb enough to do that."
The Ravens' game-winning field goal was teed up by a 51-yard dash by in-form running back Derrick Henry, who had 92 yards and a touchdown from 15 carries.
Henry also brought up a personal milestone by passing 10,000 career rushing yards in the second quarter, becoming the 32nd player in NFL history to accomplish the feat and the first since Marshawn Lynch (2017). The former Tennessee Titans star also became the 14th running back in league history to reach 100 career scrimmage touchdowns.
Asked what he saw on his huge overtime play, Henry replied: "Just green grass. Green grass and get it as close to the end zone as possible.
"I didn't get in, I should've probably stiff-armed him, but the GOAT got the field goal to win the game, and we're going home with a victory. That's all that matters.
"This win is big because of what happened today. It puts us up two in the division, so we definitely needed this one.
"It was just as important for us as it was for them. We're glad we got the victory. With everything that happened, to show the resiliency of this team. We're going to keep on fighting to the end."
Vikings beat Jets in London to improve to 5-0
The Minnesota Vikings moved to 5-0 for the first time in eight years with a 23-17 victory over the New York Jets at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London on Sunday.
Minnesota built a 17-0 lead over New York (2-3) in the second quarter but needed an interception of Aaron Rodgers at the Vikings’ 26-yard line with 49 seconds left in the game to remain perfect on the season.
Andrew Van Ginkel put Minnesota up 10-0 late in the first quarter with a 63-yard interception return for a touchdown and Will Reichard kicked three field goals to lead the Vikings.
Minnesota quarterback Sam Darnold, who was selected No. 3 overall by the Jets in the 2018 NFL Draft, went 14 of 31 for 179 yards with an interception.
Rodgers completed 29 of 54 passes for 244 yards while throwing two touchdowns and three interceptions. He became the ninth player in NFL history to pass for 60,000 career yards.
Minnesota and the two-time defending Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs are the last two unbeaten teams in the league. Kansas City (4-0) hosts the New Orleans Saints (2-2) to close out Week 5 on Monday.
Rookie QB Daniels leads Commanders to fourth straight win
Jayden Daniels passed for 238 yards and a touchdown and added 82 yards on the ground as the Washington Commanders routed the Cleveland Browns for their fourth straight win.
Washington moved to 4-1 for the first time since 2008 behind three rushing touchdowns, including two by Brian Robinson Jr., while Cleveland fell to 1-4 with its third consecutive defeat.
Daniels, the No. 2 overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft, has completed 77.1 percent of his passes this season for 1,135 yards and four touchdowns. He’s also rushed for 300 yards and four TDs.
Terry McLaurin had four receptions for a season-high 112 yards, and Washington’s defence limited the Browns to 212 total yards.
Cleveland quarterback Deshaun Watson again failed to reach 200 yards passing in a game this season, throwing for 125 with a touchdown, and is near the bottom of the NFL with a 60.2 completion percentage. Despite his struggles, coach Kevin Stefanski said the team is "not changing quarterbacks."
The Browns have yet to record over 300 total yards in 2024 after doing so 13 times in 17 games last season while going 11-6 and reaching the playoffs.
Texans beat Bills on Fairbairn's 59-yard field goal as time expires
Ka′imi Fairbairn booted a 59-yard field goal as the clock struck zero to lift the Houston Texans to a 23-20 win over the Buffalo Bills.
C.J. Stroud completed 28 of 38 passes for 331 yards with a touchdown and the Texans held on to improve to 4-1 after blowing a 20-3 lead in the third quarter.
They also overcame an injury to Nico Collins, who entered Week 5 with an NFL-leading 489 receiving yards.
Collins exited early in the second quarter with a hamstring injury shortly after he scored a 67-yard touchdown, but Stefon Diggs stepped up in his first game against his former team, leading the Texans with six receptions for 82 yards.
Houston's defence frustrated Josh Allen nearly the entire game, and the Bills lost their second in a row after starting the season 3-0.
Allen threw three straight incomplete passes on Buffalo's final drive to give Houston a chance to win it, and he finished the game just 9 of 30 for 131 yards with a TD.
Prescott's late TD pass lifts Cowboys over Steelers
Dak Prescott found Jalen Tolbert just across the goal line for a four-yard touchdown pass on a fourth down with 20 seconds remaining to give the Dallas Cowboys a 20-17 win over the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Prescott threw a pair of touchdowns in the fourth quarter, and drove the Cowboys 70 yards on the winning drive after the Steelers (3-2) went ahead on a six-yard TD pass from Justin Fields to Pat Freiermuth with 4:56 remaining.
The Cowboys (3-2) outgained the Steelers 448-227 in total yards with Prescott throwing for 352 yards and running back Rico Dowdle rushing for 90 yards and catching two passes for 27 yards with a TD.
Dowdle almost had a costly turnover, however. Two plays before the winning touchdown, he was stripped of the ball by Steelers linebacker Elandon Roberts at the goal line but Prescott was able to jump on it and recover the fumble.
Tolbert, who got hurt the play before the winning score, led Dallas with seven receptions for 87 yards.
The game started nearly 90 minutes later than its scheduled start time because of a heavy thunderstorm producing lightning in the area. The game ended at 12:59 a.m.
Ravens pull out wild 41-38 overtime win over Bengals
Justin Tucker's 24-yard field goal in the final minute of overtime sent the Baltimore Ravens to a 41-38 win over the Cincinnati Bengals.
After both teams scored touchdowns early behind Lamar Jackson and Joe Burrow, the game came down to the kickers.
Tucker sent the game to overtime with a 56-yard field goal with 1:35 remaining in regulation, and Bengals kicker Evan McPherson missed a 53-yarder after a fumbled snap on Cincinnati's first possession of overtime.
On the very next play, Derrick Henry rushed 51 yards down to the Cincinnati six-yard line to set up Tucker's winning kick as Baltimore won its third straight game after opening 0-2.
Henry finished with 92 yards running and scored his 100th career rushing touchdown, while Jackson passed for 348 yards and four TDs without an interception.
Burrow threw five touchdown passes, while racking up 392 passing yards, but the Bengals dropped to 1-4.
Love-Kraft connection help Packers rally past Rams
Jordan Love threw a pair of touchdown passes to Tucker Kraft in the third quarter to help the Green Bay Packers to a 24-19 win over the Los Angeles Rams.
The Packers opened the scoring on Josh Jacobs' first touchdown with Green Bay, but then fell behind 13-7 just before the two-minute warning in the first half on Jaylen McCollough's four-yard interception return for a touchdown - the first pick-6 of Love's career.
Love responded by leading scoring drives on Green Bay's next three possessions - including touchdown passes of 66 and seven yards to Kraft.
Love threw for 224 yards in his second start after missing two games due to a knee injury, as the Packers (3-2) won for the first time in a game he started this season.
Green Bay safety Xavier McKinney intercepted Matthew Stafford in the third quarter to become the first player since the 1970 merger to have an interception in his first five games with a team.
Stafford also threw a touchdown and finished with 260 yards, while Kyren Williams rushed for 102 yards and scored for the eighth straight game for the Rams (1-4).
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