Broncos top Chiefs, Allen goes off, Purdy returns and more from Sunday

Booed Off Stage · Nov 17, 2025, 07:01 PM

Broncos top Chiefs, Allen goes off, Purdy returns and more from Sunday

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🏈 NFL Sunday scoreboard

Broncos 22, Chiefs 19 ... Denver rallied in front of their home fans to seize command of the AFC West and put Kansas City's playoff hopes in further peril.

Playoff picture: The Broncos (9-2) are on track to secure their first division title since 2015. The Chiefs (5-5) remain one of the betting favorites to win the Super Bowl, but if the season ended today, they wouldn't even make the playoffs.

Rams 21, Seahawks 19 ... Sam Darnold (4 INT) picked a terrible time to have his worst game of the season. Los Angeles (8-2) now sits atop the division.

Eagles 16, Lions 9 ... Philly's red-hot defense stifled Jared Goff and stopped all five of Detroit's fourth-down conversion attempts. The defending champs (8-2) are far from a complete product, but they keep winning games.

Bills 44, Buccaneers 32 ... Josh Allen (3 passing scores, 3 rushing scores) played the hero in a game that featured an astounding 10 lead changes.

Jay Busbee: "What exactly is the identity of the 2025 Buffalo Bills? Who knows? How can you call this team a legitimate Super Bowl contender when it gets blown out by the Falcons and Dolphins ... but then again, with Allen in command, how can you not?"

Bears 19, Vikings 17 ... The vibes are high in Chicago, where Da Bears are 7-3 for the first time since 2018 and have sole possession of first place in the NFC North.

Ravens 23, Browns 16 ... Baltimore (5-5) got back to .500; Shedeur Sanders made his regular-season debut.

Ryan Fitzgerald celebrates the game-winning field goal. (Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images)

Panthers 30, Falcons 27 (OT) ... Bryce Young (career-high 448 passing yards, 3 TD) returned after an early ankle injury to lead Carolina to a comeback win.

Who's winning the AFC South? The Buccaneers (6-4) have lost three of four, while the Panthers (6-5) have won two of three. This could come down to the wire... and they play each other twice in the season's final three weeks.

Dolphins 16, Commanders 13 (OT) ... Miami won an ugly game in Madrid. That's six straight losses for Washington.

Packers 27, Giants 20 ... Facing a New York team in head coach limbo, Jordan Love and the Packers quieted questions about Matt LaFleur for now.

49ers 41, Cardinals 22 ... Brock Purdy (19/26, 3 TD) was dominant in his return from a toe injury; Jacoby Brissett had an NFL-record 47 completions in a loss.

Steelers 34, Bengals 12 ... Things tend to get heated between these two teams. The latest incident: Jalen Ramsey was ejected for punching Ja'Marr Chase after he spat on him.

Jaguars 35, Chargers 6 ... Jim Harbaugh's squad was a complete no-show in Jacksonville, finishing with 135 yards and just eight first downs.

Texans 16, Titans 13 ... Houston is finally a .500 team (5-5) thanks to the NFL's best-scoring defense, which has now given up 20 or fewer points in eight of their 10 games.

🏈 Who's still alive for a playoff bid?

A&M played the game of the weekend. (Alex Slitz/Getty Images)

There are 30 teams that can harbor legitimate hopes for the College Football Playoff after the first 12 weeks of the 2025 regular season.

As a reminder: The five highest-ranked conference champions all earn automatic bids, which means at least one Group of Five team will make the 12-team field.

American

Navy (8-2, 6-1 American)
Tulane (8-2, 5-1)
North Texas (9-1, 5-1)
East Carolina (7-3, 5-1)
South Florida (7-3, 4-2)

Navy has the inside track for the G5 auto bid after beating USF on Saturday. But depending on how the next few weeks play out, the tiebreaker scenario for who makes the title game could get pretty convoluted.

ACC

Georgia Tech (9-1, 6-1)
Virginia (9-2, 6-1)
Pitt (7-3, 5-1)
SMU (7-3, 5-1)
Miami (8-2, 4-2)
Duke (5-5, 4-2)

Could Duke crash the party at 8-5? It's possible, but much less likely after the Blue Devils' home loss to Virginia over the weekend. Our best guess for the ACC title game? UVA vs. Georgia Tech.

Big Ten

Indiana (11-0, 8-0)
Ohio State (10-0, 7-0)
Oregon (9-1, 6-1)
USC (8-2, 6-1)
Michigan (8-2, 6-1)

Conference champion or not, Ohio State and Indiana are already playoff locks, and the Big Ten is looking like a three-bid league.

Big 12

Texas Tech (10-1, 7-1)
BYU (8-1, 5-1)
Houston (8-2, 5-2)
Arizona State (7-3, 5-2)
Cincinnati (7-3, 5-2)
Utah (8-2, 5-2)

If Cincinnati beats BYU on Saturday, there's a chance the Big 12 could have a five-way tie at 7-2. Bring on the mess.

SEC

Texas A&M (10-0, 7-0 SEC)
Alabama (8-2, 6-1)
Ole Miss (10-1, 6-1)
Georgia (9-1, 6-1)
Texas (7-3, 4-2)
Oklahoma (8-2, 4-2)
Vanderbilt (8-2, 4-2)

The Aggies erased a 27-point halftime deficit on Saturday to keep their perfect season alive and make the SEC playoff picture even more crowded in the process. A&M, Bama, Georgia and Ole Miss can probably be penciled in, and there's a chance the league gets five bids.

Independents

Notre Dame (8-2)

The Fighting Irish will be heavily favored in their remaining two games (vs. Syracuse, at Stanford) as they seek their fourth trip to the playoff.

🎾 Sinner tops Alcaraz in latest "Big Two" clash

Jannik Sinner defended his ATP Finals crown* on Sunday with a straight sets victory over — who else — Carlos Alcaraz. The Italian took home $5.1 million for his undefeated performance in Turin, ending his season with a sterling 58-6 record.

Perfect symmetry: Sinner and Alcaraz have played 3,302 points over the course of their rivalry, and they've split them perfectly. Sinner has won 1,651 points. Alcaraz has won 1,651 points. Sunday's win also gave Sinner 24 career titles, the same exact number as Alcaraz.

*Back-to-back: From 1987 to 2023, no player won the ATP Finals without losing a set. Sinner just did it two years in a row.

🌎 The world in photos

🇺🇸 Orlando, Florida — NJ/NY Gotham FC followed their shocking upset over Kansas City with another stunner, beating defending champion Orlando, 1-0, on Jaedyn Shaw's stoppage-time goal to book a spot in the NWSL Championship.

Meanwhile, in DC: Washington beat Portland, 2-0, in the other semifinal to reach their second straight title game, and third in five years.

🇦🇪 Dubai, UAE — Matt Fitzpatrick outlasted Rory McIlroy in a playoff to win his record-tying third DP World Tour Championship and earn his first victory on either tour in over two years.

Rory climbs the ladder: McIlroy's heroics (he eagled the last to force the playoff) weren't enough on Sunday, but he still clinched his seventh Race to Dubai title (season-long points), putting him one shy of matching Colin Montgomerie for the most ever.

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 London, England — Conor Benn destroyed Chris Eubank Jr. on Saturday at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, winning by unanimous decision to give the Benns their first-ever victory over the Eubanks in the 35-year boxing rivalry started by their fathers.

By the numbers: Benn landed 70 body punches compared to just 15 for Eubank, who could never find the rhythm that fueled his victory over Benn in their first bout earlier this year.

(Attila Kisbenedek/AFP via Getty Images)

🇭🇺 Budapest, Hungary — Ireland still has a chance to reach its first World Cup since 2002 thanks to Troy Parrott's last-second goal against Hungary. The 23-year-old's hat trick powered a 3-2 victory that will send the Irish to March's World Cup play-off.

Elsewhere: Speaking of long droughts, Norway beat Italy on Sunday to clinch their first trip to the World Cup since 1998. France, Croatia and Portugal also qualified from Europe over the weekend, while England did so last month.

📊 By the numbers

(Mark Smith/ISI Photos/USSF/Getty Images)

⚽️ 16 months

Gio Reyna led the USMNT to a 2-1 victory over Paraguay on Saturday outside Philadelphia in his first start for the national team in over 16 months. The central midfielder scored on a header four minutes into the friendly and set up the game-winner in the second half.

Ending on a strong note: After an uneven year that included four straight losses from March through June, the U.S. is unbeaten in its last four — all against teams ranked in the top 40 — heading into Tuesday's 2025 finale against Uruguay.

⚾️ 1 of 4 athletes

Shohei Ohtani is the fourth player in the history of the "Big Four" leagues to win at least four MVPs in his first eight seasons. The other three: Wayne Gretzky, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Bill Russell.

🏀 9 straight wins

The Pistons beat the 76ers on Friday for their ninth straight victory — the franchise's longest winning streak in 17 years. Detroit (11-2) sits atop the East through the first ~month of the season, 2.5 games clear of New York (8-4), Cleveland (9-5) and Atlanta (9-5).

👊 11th UFC fighter

Islam Makhachev moved up a weight class and still dominated Jack Della Maddalena on Saturday at UFC 322 to capture the welterweight title and become just the 11th UFC fighter to win belts in two divisions. He also matched Anderson Silva for the longest winning streak in UFC history (16).

📺 Watchlist: Monday, Nov. 17

🏈 Cowboys at Raiders | 8:15pm ET, ABC/ESPN

Dallas and Vegas square off in Sin City tonight in a battle of teams starving for a win. The Cowboys (3-5-1) have lost two straight and the Raiders (2-7) have lost three in a row.

Pricey tix: This is the second-most expensive game of the season, with tickets averaging $687. Only the Eagles vs. Cowboys season-opener in Philadelphia cost more ($712).

More to watch:

🏀 NBA: Bucks at Cavaliers (7pm, Peacock) ... Third-place Cleveland (9-5) hosts seventh-place Milwaukee (8-6).
🏒 NHL: Kings at Capitals (7pm, ESPN+); Mammoth at Ducks (10pm, ESPN+)

Today's full slate.

🇪🇸 NFL trivia

The NFL's global slate concluded on Sunday, with Madrid hosting the seventh and final international game of the season.

Question: In addition to Madrid, can you name the other four non-U.S. cities that hosted NFL games this season?

Answer at the bottom.

⚾️ And we're off...

Josh Naylor is reportedly returning to the Mariners on a five-year deal in the first major free-agent signing of the MLB offseason.

Top 50 free agents: Naylor was the 15th-best player on the market, according to our rankings.

Trivia answer: São Paulo (Brazil), Dublin (Ireland), Berlin (Germany), London (England) for three games

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Source: Broncos top Chiefs, Allen goes off, Purdy returns and more from Sunday

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