Chiefs, Bills and Ravens all lose in same week for first time since 2017

By Canadian Press on October 8, 2025.

There’s been a constant at the top of the AFC for nearly the past decade with the teams led by superstar quarterbacks Patrick Mahomes, Josh Allen and Lamar Jackson typically at the top of the standings.

That’s what made what happened in Week 5 of the NFL season so unusual.

There was Mahomes throwing a pick-6 and watching as Jacksonville rallied to beat his Kansas City Chiefs. Josh Allen got outdueled at home by New England youngster Drake Maye in a prime-time game in Buffalo. And Lamar Jackson was out injured watching his Baltimore Ravens get blown out by Houston.

That marked the first time since Week 9 of the 2017 season that Kansas City, Buffalo and Baltimore all lost on the same weekend. That was so long ago that Allen and Jackson were still playing in college and Mahomes was still waiting to take his first NFL snap behind Alex Smith.

Starting the next season when all three became full-time starters, those teams have posted the top three records in the NFL and the quarterbacks have combined for five of the seven AP NFL MVP awards.

While it’s too soon to declare a changing of the guard in the AFC, this is just the second time in eight seasons with Mahomes that the Chiefs (2-3) have a losing record at any point after the opening month; the first time the Ravens (1-4) have been three games under .500 since 2015; and the first time in several years that the Bills might have a challenger in the AFC East thanks to Maye and the Patriots.

Despite the Week 5 struggles, the Bills remain the Super Bowl favorites, according to BetMGM, and the Chiefs have the fifth best odds. Baltimore is more of a long shot for the Super Bowl but remains the betting favorite in the AFC North.

Late-game theatrics

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are sitting in a tie at the top of the NFC standings while the Arizona Cardinals are languishing in last place in the NFC West despite nearly identical point differentials.

The difference, as it often is in the NFL, comes down to how the teams performed on a few key plays in clutch moments with both off to unprecedented starts to the season.

The Bucs improved to 4-1 on Sunday when Chase McLaughlin kicked a 39-yard field goal as time expired for a 38-35 win over Seattle. Tampa Bay had previously beaten Atlanta in the opener on a TD with 59 seconds left; got a game-winning TD with six seconds left in Week 2 against Houston; and winning field goal on the final play against the New York Jets in Week 3.

The Bucs are the first team ever to win four of their first five games by three points or fewer and the first team to get their first four wins of the season on a winning score in the final minute of regulation.

The Cardinals have been on the other side of the late-game theatrics, dropping their third straight game on Sunday when Joey Slye’s 29-yard field goal as time expired capped Tennessee’s rally from 18 points down for a 22-21 win.

Arizona had lost in Week 4 in a tiebreaking field goal on the final play of regulation by Seattle and the previous week when Eddy Pineiro kicked a 35-yard field goal at the buzzer to give San Francisco a 16-15 win.

The Cardinals are the first team in NFL history to lose three straight games on a score on the final play of regulation, according to Sportradar.

Mayfield and Darnold passing showdown

Allen and Jackson have gotten most of the accolades from the heralded 2018 quarterback class that featured five first-rounders.

The top two QBs from that draft class put on quite a show on Sunday when Tampa Bay’s Baker Mayfield outdueled Seattle’s Sam Darnold. Mayfield went 29 for 33 for 379 yards, two TDs and no interceptions in a 38-35 win for the Bucs. Darnold nearly matched him by going 28 for 34 for 341 yards, four TDs and an interception.

The two combined for 720 yards passing with only 10 incompletions. The NFL has never had a passing performance quite like that with the previous high for yards in a game with 10 or fewer incompletions being just 545 set in Week 2 this season when New England beat Miami.

The fewest incomplete passes in a game with at least 720 yards passing before Sunday was 13 in a game between Green Bay and Oakland in 2019. That game featured 758 yards passing led by 429 by Aaron Rodgers for the Packers.

Titans get rare score on their own INT

Cam Ward’s interception for Tennessee that somehow turned into a Titans touchdown was extremely rare — but not unprecedented.

Ward’s pass in the fourth quarter was intercepted by Arizona’s Dadrion Taylor-Demerson at the 5 but Taylor-Demerson lost the ball as he went to the ground.

The loose ball ricocheted off teammate’s Kei’Trel Clark’s foot and went into the end zone where Tennessee’s Tyler Lockett fell on it for the most unlikely of touchdowns.

A team hadn’t scored on its own interception in 16 years in the NFL with it last happening for New Orleans on Dec. 6, 2009, when Washington’s Kareem Moore intercepted Drew Brees only to have Robert Meacham rip the ball away and return it 44 yards for a touchdown.

That has happened one other time since 2000 with Tampa Bay pulling off the feat against Indianapolis on Oct. 6, 2003. Brad Johnson threw a pass that Mike Doss intercepted. But Doss fumbled on the return and Keenan McCardell recovered and scored on a 57-yard return.

Dolphins can pop the Champagne

Members of the 1972 Miami Dolphins didn’t need to wait long to celebrate the falling of the last undefeated team, leaving that squad as the only one to go through an NFL regular season and playoffs with a perfect record.

The defending champion Philadelphia Eagles fell in the early window on Sunday when they blew a 14-point lead in the fourth quarter and lost 21-17 to Denver.

Then on Sunday night, New England handed Buffalo its first loss with a 23-20 victory, marking the first time since 2014 than no team made it to 5-0 on the season.

This is just the sixth time in a nonstrike season since Miami’s perfect 17-0 campaign in 1972 that every team had a loss through five games. It also happened in 2010, 2002, 1996 and 1995.

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Josh Dubow, The Associated Press