Each week, we’ll offer up the very best of the NFL for a given week, kind of like the fantasy football team you wished you had.
We’ll pick one quarterback, two running backs, two receivers and a tight end – OK, this is sounding a lot like a super-hindsight fantasy football team – as a way to look back on the weekend that was.
We have a familiar face that stood out at wide receiver, and another return performer at running back. Let’s break it down.
Pretty strong week for quarterbacks, with five guys throwing 3+ touchdowns without an interception. But the most compelling game was Mayfield, who finished 29-for-33 for 379 yards with two touchdowns, outdueling Seattle’s Sam Darnold in a shootout in Seattle. Darnold led Seattle on five straight touchdown drives, including a 99-yarder for the lead with 3:18 left. Mayfield answered with one more touchdown drive, hitting Sterling Shepard for the tying score with 1:08 left. His 11.48 yards per attempt is the second-highest of his NFL career, and it’s the fourth-most yards ever in a game with 85% completions, behind games from Lamar Jackson, Justin Herbert and Tom Brady.
Perhaps the most unexpected name on this list — filling in for an injured Chuba Hubbard, he rushed 23 times for 206 yards and a touchdown (with another 28 receiving yards) as the Panthers rallied to beat the Dolphins. It matched the second-most rushing yards in Panthers history, and is easily the most in a game this season, passing the 169 yards Derrick Henry had in Week 1. Dowdle rushed for 1,000+ yards with the Cowboys and had lukewarm interest in free agency, but paid off in a big way for Carolina on Sunday.
Rico Dowdle on Panthers after comeback win vs. Dolphins: “Those guys kept fighting”
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Down 10-0 to the Chargers early, the Commanders rallied around JCM — just call him “Bill” — as he rushed for 111 yards and two touchdowns in the comeback win. Washington had three different backs lead them in rushing in the first four weeks, and that’s with Brian Robinson traded to the 49ers and Austin Ekeler lost to a season-ending injury. JCM is a seventh-round pick who was one of the better stories of August, so to see him contributing to tough wins in October is a cool thing.
[Related: Jacory Croskey-Merritt Wins Tom Brady’s LFG Player of the Game]
The rookie from Ohio State continues to amaze, now with five touchdowns in his first five NFL games. He reset his personal best with 163 yards in Sunday’s win, catching a 20-yard touchdown and grabbing a 57-yard pass to set up another score. He was the NFL Offensive Rookie of the Month for September, and he’ll have a good shot at October the way he’s going. The 19th overall pick in this year’s draft will challenge the quarterbacks and runners for Rookie of the Year honors if he can sustain anything close to this.
There were dueling former Buckeyes receivers in Seattle on Sunday, with Egbuka trying to keep up with JSN — he had eight catches for 132 yards and a touchdown. His connection with Sam Darnold has been strong through five games, as his 534 receiving yards are second only to the Rams‘ Puka Nacua. Seattle’s team record for receiving yards in a season is just 1,303, from DK Metcalf in 2020, and JSN is on pace for 1,815 as it stands.
Solid week for tight end contributions — some weeks, the Lions‘ Sam LaPorta’s 92 yards and a touchdown would win, and the same for the Giants‘ Theo Johnson, who had two touchdowns in their loss. But we’ll go with Ferguson, who caught a pair of Dak Prescott touchdowns in their easy win, finishing with 49 yards as well. It’s his first career multi-touchdown game — he went all of last season without a score, but now has three already in 2025.
Dak Prescott connects with Jake Ferguson for a 26-yard TD, taking lead over Jets | NFL Highlights
Greg Auman is an NFL Reporter for FOX Sports. He previously spent a decade covering the Buccaneers for the Tampa Bay Times and The Athletic. You can follow him on Twitter at @gregauman.
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