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1. GOOD: Texans keep AFC South race alive with international win
2. BAD: Everything about the NFC East race
3. UGLY: Bo Nix’s play despite Denver’s record

After Sunday night, we’ll be a third of the way through the NFL season. 

As usual, little is determined so far. Only three teams are winless in the NFL, all in the AFC. There are just a pair of 5–0 teams, both in the NFC, with the Vikings and 49ers yet to lose. The Chiefs can join them on Sunday should they beat the 0–5 Chargers at Arrowhead Stadium.

Everyone else has come to the middle, including the 2–3 Rams who went from overwhelming preseason Super Bowl favorites to facing a quasi must-win against the 1–4 Cardinals at SoFi Stadium on Sunday afternoon. If Los Angeles wins, it will climb to within two games of the 49ers, pulling even with the Seahawks, who have lost two consecutive games for the first time since Weeks 15 and 16 of the 2024 season. 

Elsewhere, the Bills and Raiders will play a surprisingly key AFC game, with the Raiders hoping to snap a two-game losing streak while Buffalo attempts to win its second game in six days on its West Coast swing.

But we start in London, where the Texans and Jaguars battled to the final snap, with a last-second field goal going against the Jaguars this time around.

GOOD: Texans keep AFC South race alive with international win

Two weeks ago, the Texans appeared buried. They were 0–4, and a defense once thought great had allowed a pair of 30-point performances by the offense to turn into losses. 

On Sunday, however, everything changed. After beating the winless Titans in Nashville last week, Houston earned a second consecutive divisional win on a 49-yard field goal by Ka’imi Fairbairn as time expired, beating the Jaguars 34–31 in London. 

While the defense remains a significant concern, quarterback C.J. Stroud looks to have found himself again after a couple of rough seasons, including five interceptions in the 2025 postseason. So far in ’26, he’s thrown for 300 yards three times while totaling nine touchdowns against one interception. With Nico Collins healthy and the addition of Marvin Harrison Jr., Stroud is in position to keep rolling, especially with the Giants, Chargers, Browns and Colts coming up in the next month. 

At 2–4, Houston still has plenty of work ahead. Last year, the Texans became the only team under the expanded playoff format to start 0–3 and make the playoffs. If the Texans can do it again from 0–4 this season, they would join the 1992 Chargers as the only teams to ever pull off that trick. It won’t be easy in a deep AFC, including the 4–2 Jaguars, who still hold a two-game lead in the South. 

Regardless, Houston had to beat Jacksonville in London if it had any designs on making a run at the division crown. The Texans achieved that objective. Now they head home to face the Giants before their bye week, then make a hard charge down the stretch. 

All looked lost for Houston. Now, after a massive win over the Jaguars across the pond, the Texans are back in the race.

BAD: Everything about the NFC East race

For years, the NFC South has been a punchline. That probably won’t change any time soon, considering nobody in that division entered the weekend with a winning record. That said, don’t sleep on the NFC East’s ineptitude. 

With Jalen Hurts on injured reserve with a blood clot in his calf, along with myriad other injuries, the Eagles are 2–3 and circling the drain. The Giants lead the division at 3-1-1 but are led by Jameis Winston, with Jaxson Dart out for the year with a knee injury sustained in Week 2. In Washington, the Commanders are 1-3-1 and don’t understand the concept of time. Then, there are the Cowboys, who are 2–3 and coming off a loss to the previously winless Buccaneers. 

With the trade deadline a few weeks away, the complexion of the division could change. Maybe New York will make enough noise to build around Winston and finish with a winning record. Perhaps Jerry Jones will be his aggressive self and shore up the league’s 31st-ranked defense to pair with first-round rookies Malachi Lawrence and Caleb Downs. 

But the NFC East could be one of the league’s uglier races as the months unfold, something that hasn’t often been said about that group.

UGLY: Bo Nix’s play despite Denver’s record

The Broncos are 4–2 after playing the Chiefs, 49ers, Rams, Jaguars and Seahawks. Any team would take that record with glee. 

However, all is not well for Denver. The offense was supposed to improve after giving up three draft picks for star receiver Jaylen Waddle, but the unit has actually gotten worse. Nobody is more responsible than quarterback Bo Nix, who has thrown for 1,049 yards, six touchdowns and three interceptions on 5.6 yards per attempt. 

The result is an offense that entering Sunday ranks 31st in yards per game, only better than the winless Titans, and 26th in points. In Waddle, Denver has gotten almost nothing. Outside of a 138-yard performance in Week 2 against Jacksonville, Waddle has 14 catches for 90 yards. Cortland Sutton is also missing in the attack, with 13 catches on 29 targets for 123 yards.

While Denver is firmly in the AFC playoff race, it may not stay there if Nix can’t get going. The Broncos draw the listless Cardinals in Week 7, then face a rematch with the Chiefs, who beat them 31–10 in the season opener at Arrowhead Stadium. Another loss to Kansas City would likely make Denver a wild-card contender.

Plenty of the season remains, but the Broncos have to be concerned. Davis Webb and Sean Payton have both called plays that have gone nowhere. Sutton and Waddle have done nothing. If Nix can’t elevate his play, nothing else matters.