One of the New York teams is in much better shape than the other. Plus, what happened to the Panthers?
Oct 25, 2026 at 6:04 pm ET • 7 min read
Week 7 in the NFL placed a wedge between the two New York teams. The Giants are riding high as the leaders of the NFC East, while the Jets reached a new low with a loss to the league's worst team. Cam Skattebo and J.J. McCarthy are heralded this week for keeping the Giants' offense in surprisingly excellent shape, and at the same time, Aaron Glenn is feeling the heat from the Jets' fanbase amid a 2-5 start to the campaign.
That dichotomy encapsulates the highs and lows of Week 7. This deep into the season, teams that suffer bad losses can feel truly helpless. The Jets are not alone in their misery as other squads slipped multiple games below .500 with them. And on the flip side, those who are at or near the top of their division should feel as though they will compete for a playoff berth.
Here are the biggest winners and losers from Sunday's action in the NFL.
Winners: Cam Skattebo, J.J. McCarthy and the Giants
Call it the Cam Skattebo redemption game. One week after John Harbaugh relegated him to the bench, the New York Giants running back amassed 124 yards and a touchdown in a bounce-back effort against the Houston Texans. He broke loose for a 42-yarder, which set the Giants up to win in overtime. Plus, it was the first 100-yard game of his career. Skattebo also held onto the ball, which should put him back in his coach's good graces after he opened the year tied for the most fumbles by a non-quarterback through six weeks.
It also seems that the Giants have a quarterback. Those who panned the trade for J.J. McCarthy after Jaxson Dart suffered his season-ending knee injury could not have foreseen such a brilliant start to McCarthy's tenure in New York. Last week, he passed for 243 yards in a single quarter. This week, the oft-criticized former first-round pick went a clean 20-for-28 for 252 yards.
This is McCarthy's fifth win in as many starts dating back to his time as the Minnesota Vikings' No. 1 quarterback. If he can keep it up, this is precisely the kind of upside the Giants bet on when they made the low-risk investment in McCarthy. They can win with him and more than salvage a season that could have been lost when their Week 1 starter had his campaign cut short.
With the win, the Giants are 4-2-1 and are the only team in the NFC East with a winning record. When Week 7 is complete, they will hold a 1.5-point lead in the division. Someone has to win the worst division in the NFL, and the Giants thus far are the top candidate to do so.
Cam Skattebo redemption game: Giants RB returns with stellar performance after benching
Jordan Dajani
Loser: Aaron Glenn's job security
It is never a good look to be the team on the losing end of a winless opponent's first victory. The Jets were on the wrong side of the 28-25 result at MetLife Stadium.
The New York faithful booed their team off the field at halftime and were less than pleased two quarters later. The angst directed toward coach Aaron Glenn is palpable, and the pressure on him has never been higher. Following back-to-back losses and perhaps the most disappointing defeat of his tenure, there is very little he can sell that his fanbase would buy. If he is fired at some point this year, this is the kind of game that will explain his ouster.
The Jets are now 2-5 and will be underdogs in at least two of their next three games: at home against the Las Vegas Raiders, on the road at the Kansas City Chiefs and back home to face the Buffalo Bills. This could get quite a bit worse before it gets better.
Winner: Falcons
Good luck making sense of the Atlanta Falcons, because this might be the league's most up-and-down team. When it all clicks as it did in Week 7, the star talent is obvious, and they can beat anyone. This is also the same team that lost by 31 points to the Carolina Panthers earlier in the year and entered Sunday on a two-game losing streak. The 29-20 upset of the previously undefeated San Francisco 49ers was one of those boom games and is now the best victory in the NFL this season.
The formula by which the Falcons secured the impressive win highlighted exactly why they are among 2026's most pleasant surprises. Michael Penix Jr. threw three touchdown passes and continues to show flashes of being a potential franchise quarterback. And the defense forced four turnovers and remains a stunningly effective unit despite the absences of James Pearce Jr. and Jalon Walker. Pearce will be back from suspension on Nov. 8 and should take the group to even greater heights. The Falcons may well be the No. 1 team in the NFC South by then.
NFC South standings
1. Panthers (3-3)
2. Falcons (3-4)
T-3. Buccaneers (2-5)
T-3. Saints (2-5)
Loser: Everything about the Panthers
All the Carolina Panthers needed to do to maintain a commanding lead in the NFC South was beat the division's worst team at home. That should not be too big of an ask for a squad with a dark horse MVP contender in Bryce Young, right? Apparently not, because the Panthers not only failed to take care of business against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers but also lost in devastating fashion by 30 points. It was a complete no-show from Dave Canales' team, which fell behind by 27 points at halftime after surrendering a 26-point second quarter to the Buccaneers.
This was a chance to effectively put the Buccaneers in a coffin and separate from a New Orleans Saints team that lost earlier in the day in Paris. A win was also necessary to stay a couple of steps ahead of the dangerous Atlanta Falcons, who pulled off an upset of the San Francisco 49ers. The opportunity passed them by as the NFL's sixth-worst run defense allowed a whopping 258 yards to Bucky Irving, Kenneth Gainwell, Sean Tucker and the rest of the Tampa Bay attack.
The Panthers also lost veteran offensive lineman Taylor Moton to a fractured fibula. The starting right tackle is out indefinitely, Canales said after the game.
Winners: Jeff Hafley and the Dolphins
They are on the board. The Miami Dolphins have their first win of the season, and Jeff Hafley has his first victory as an NFL head coach. Now, no longer will they have to listen to questions about whether they will become the league's first 0-17 team.
Hafley deserves credit for his decision-making at the end of the game. Recognizing that his team had nothing to lose, he left the offense on the field on fourth-and-short inside the final two minutes rather than electing to punt and put the onus on the defense to protect a three-point lead. Malik Willis rewarded him with a game-sealing conversion on a QB sneak and put him in the win column for the first time in his career. That capped off a banner day for a previously downtrodden offense on which Willis passed for two touchdowns, and Ollie Gordon II ran for 103 yards and a score of his own.
The Los Angeles Chargers, who were on bye this week, are the only remaining winless team at 0-6.
Winner: Tank Dell
Prior to Sunday, the last time Tank Dell suited up for an NFL game was Dec. 21, 2024. It had been nearly two full years since his last outing. He went 673 days without a catch. A devastating injury in that late-2024 contest saw Dell dislocate his knee, sustain meniscus damage, and tear his ACL, MCL and LCL. He required multiple surgeries and faced an uncertain future as a football player. And then he finally got healthy. Dell made his season debut in the Texans' loss and announced his return in emphatic style.
While he only made one catch in his first game back, Dell got into the open field for a 43-yard gain. It was the longest play from scrimmage by either team.
Dell faces heavy competition for targets in a Houston wide receiver group that is suddenly much deeper than it was just a couple of weeks ago. His role is unclear with Marvin Harrison Jr. arriving earlier this month as a prime candidate No. 2 option behind Nico Collins. The main concern for Dell after so much time away from the field, though, is simply to be available.
Loser: Ravens' second-half effort
When they returned to the locker room at halftime, the Baltimore Ravens held a 13-0 lead over the division rival Cincinnati Bengals. Their defense had forced punts on three drives, and the half expired on their fourth. Tyler Huntley had moved the ball effectively with scoring drives of 18 plays and 13 plays. But then everything flipped.
Here is the Ravens' second-half drive chart:
- Punt
- Turnover on downs
- Punt
- Interception
- Turnover on downs
- End of game
All the while, the Bengals scored touchdowns on every second-half possession save for their last. Joe Burrow passed for four scores in the final two quarters.
Baltimore simply needs Lamar Jackson back in its lineup. It is just 1-2 without him and now stands in last place in the AFC North by a half game. Jackson returned to practice this week, so it looks as though he should be recovered from his high ankle sprain in time to suit up in Week 8. This is not the first time a Jackson injury caused the Ravens to slip into the danger zone, but fortunately, it is still early enough in the season that they should be in good shape if he can stay on the field from this point forward.
