Jets fans in London on Sunday let their feelings be known.
Jets fans in London on Sunday let their feelings be known.Harry Murphy/Getty
The NFL in 2025 has had some strange and frightening developments. The Colts and Jaguars are suddenly good? The Ravens are 1-5, and Mac Jones is playing like a franchise quarterback? What planet are we on?
Yet the more things change, we can always take comfort in an old reliable — the AFC East being terrible. While the Bills are still elite, and the 4-2 Patriots are one of the biggest surprises, the Jets and Dolphins are as dreadful as ever, combining for a 1-11 record and finding new ways to lose every Sunday. If the season ended today, the Jets would have the No. 1 pick in the draft, and the Dolphins the No. 4.
“Losing is hard and it feels like trash,” Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel said after his team dropped a 29-27 heartbreaker to the Chargers.
The dysfunctional Dolphins and Jets are where we begin the Week 6 review:
⋅ The Dolphins lost another close game to drop to 1-5, with their only win coming three weeks ago over — who else? — the Jets. It’s hard to discern the most disappointing angle from Sunday.
It could be that the Dolphins couldn’t close out the win with just 46 seconds left, allowing a 40-yard kickoff return and 42-yard reception to let the Chargers kick a winning field goal.
It could be the fact that the Dolphins are 1-15 in their last 16 games against winning teams, with nine straight losses. Or it could be how Tua Tagovailoa revealed deep dysfunction within the locker room, calling out teammates who are showing up late, or not at all, to players-only meetings.
“There is a lot that goes into that,” he said, probably not realizing that he was criticizing his own leadership.
McDaniel was lucky to keep his job last year, and it’s only a matter of time before owner Stephen Ross makes the move and starts another reboot. The Dolphins, who haven’t won a playoff game since 2000, keep leaking word that McDaniel’s job is safe. But the Week 12 bye following their game in Madrid seems a likely spot for change.
⋅ At least the Dolphins aren’t the Jets, the NFL’s last winless team at 0-6. The franchise with the longest playoff drought in the league (about to be 15 years) flew all the way to London for its latest embarrassment, a 13-11 loss to the Broncos.
The defense played well and finally secured its first takeaway of the season, but the passing game was “nonexistent,” in the words of coach Aaron Glenn. “Historically bad” would be more accurate. Justin Fields completed just 9 of 17 passes for 45 yards, and when you factor in his nine sacks for 55 yards, the Jets had minus-10 net passing yards, the fewest since the Chargers had minus-19 in 1998.
Glenn looked at reporters funny when they asked if he would consider a change to Tyrod Taylor — “Come on,” he said, “what kind of question is that?” — but Glenn had better start thinking about it. The longer the winless streak continues, the louder the calls will get for his job after just one year.
⋅ Hate to break it to everybody, but the Chiefs aren’t going anywhere. An 0-2 start is now 3-3 after the Chiefs pulled off an impressive 30-17 win over the Lions on Sunday night, in which they became the first team in NFL history with 30 points, 200 passing yards, 100 rushing yards, no turnovers, and no accepted penalties.
Despite their early-season struggles on offense, the Chiefs are No. 9 in points (25.8 per game), Patrick Mahomes has thrown eight touchdown passes against one interception in his last three games, and the cavalry is coming. Xavier Worthy recently returned from a shoulder injury, and Rashee Rice is coming back from a six-game suspension. The AFC is wide open, and the Chiefs are rounding into form.
“I’m very excited. I’ll just leave it there,” Mahomes said.
Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs looked impressive in Sunday night's win over the Lions.
Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs looked impressive in Sunday night's win over the Lions.Reed Hoffmann/Associated Press
⋅ As the Ravens dropped to 1-5 with a loss to the Rams, and the offense has scored just 13 points in two games with Cooper Rush, a quiet reminder that the Ravens and pretty much any other team could have had Joe Milton for a bag of footballs this offseason.
Milton has the best tools and most upside of any backup quarterback in the NFL, and the Patriots practically gave him away in a trade to the Cowboys. The Ravens, though, chose Rush in free agency, and he has looked overmatched in two starts, with no touchdowns and four interceptions. We don’t know how good Milton is, but he surely is better than Rush, who got benched for Tyler Huntley in Sunday’s loss.
The Ravens have a much-needed bye this week and should get Lamar Jackson back thereafter. Everyone’s preseason Super Bowl darling likely needs to finish 9-2 just to make the playoffs.
Tracking former Patriots
49ers QB Mac Jones: Threw two interceptions in a 30-19 loss at Tampa Bay, but threw for 347 yards and gutted it out despite barely throwing all week because of an oblique injury. Jones, 3-1 as the starter, ranks 19th with a 93.7 passer rating but leads the NFL with 313 passing yards per game.
Mac Jones again put up big passing numbers, but his 49ers lost to the Buccaneers.
Mac Jones again put up big passing numbers, but his 49ers lost to the Buccaneers.Chris O'Meara/Associated Press
49ers WR Kendrick Bourne: Went for exactly 142 yards for the second straight week, this time on five catches. (Last week, it was 10.) The hottest duo in the NFL is Jones to Bourne. Who knew?
Cardinals QB Jacoby Brissett: Threw for 320 yards, two touchdowns, and an interception in a 31-27 loss to the Colts as a fill-in for Kyler Murray. Brissett has now started a game for five franchises.
Chiefs WR Tyquan Thornton: A quiet night for a change, with no targets on only 17 snaps in the win over the Lions.
Chiefs WR JuJu Smith-Schuster: Caught three passes for 57 yards, and drew the ire of Lions safety Brian Branch, who delivered a cheap shot to Smith-Schuster after the game and ignited a brawl.
Quick hits
⋅ Tremendous job by Todd Bowles and Baker Mayfield to get the Buccaneers to 5-1 considering the number of key injuries piling up. Chris Godwin and Bucky Irving still won’t be back next week.
⋅ Steelers kicker Chris Boswell slipped and fell during a field goal attempt, and Aaron Rodgers called the grass in Pittsburgh “borderline unplayable” in their 23-9 win over the Browns, blaming it for the non-contact knee injury to teammate Miles Killebrew. It’s a good reminder that natural grass isn’t always better than artificial turf.
this field is a problem pic.twitter.com/JVItIjb7Z7
— Warren Sharp (@SharpFootball) October 12, 2025
⋅ Another day where Travis Hunter played a lot (59 snaps on offense, 22 on defense) and did very little (four catches for 15 yards, two solo tackles). The Jaguars need to end this two-way experiment for now and let Hunter focus on offense.
⋅ Five of 16 teams in the AFC are 1-5 or worse, meaning their season is all but over. Only four teams in history have started 1-5 and made the playoffs.
⋅ No wonder Jerry Jones skipped his postgame media scrum for the first time in forever. He’s a week removed from being fined $250,000 for flipping the bird, and former Cowboy Rico Dowdle torched Jones’s team for 239 yards from scrimmage and a touchdown in the Panthers’ win.
Panthers running back Rico Dowdle ran all over his former team, the Cowboys, on Sunday.
Panthers running back Rico Dowdle ran all over his former team, the Cowboys, on Sunday.Jacob Kupferman/Associated Press
⋅ That’s nine straight road wins for the Seahawks under coach Mike Macdonald.
⋅ The Colts signed linebacker Germaine Pratt on Wednesday, and he led the team with 11 tackles on Sunday against the Cardinals.
⋅ The 4-1 Steelers already have a 2½-game lead in the AFC North. Meanwhile, the NFC West has the 49ers, Seahawks, and Rams all at 4-2.
⋅ Drake Maye joined Mahomes, Dan Marino, and Dak Prescott as the only quarterbacks under 24 in NFL history to throw for 200 yards and a 100-plus passer rating in five straight games.
Ben Volin can be reached at ben.volin@globe.com.