Commanders end another unbeaten run
Ron Rivera and the Commanders are making a habit of shocking undefeated teams.
For the second time in three seasons, Rivera took a Washington team with a losing record on the road to hand an undefeated team its first loss.
The Commanders, who entered the game with a 4-5 record, went to Philadelphia and handed the Eagles their first loss following an 8-0 start.
That 32-21 victory Monday night came two years after Rivera lead a 4-7 Washington team to a 23-17 road victory against the 11-0 Steelers.
Only two of the other 29 teams in the Super Bowl era that started a season 8-0 or better lost their first game at home to a team with a losing record, with the Texans (3-5) beating the Bengals (8-0) in 2015 and the Rams (4-6) doing it to the 49ers (10-0) in 1990.
Five other teams that started 8-0 or better lost their first game to a team with a losing record on the road.
Rivera became the second coach in the Super Bowl era to hand two teams that started 8-0 or better their first loss. Don Coryell also did it, leading the Cardinals over the 8-0 Cowboys in 1977 and the Chargers over the 11-0 Dolphins in 1984.
Jumping Jefferson
The Vikings’ Justin Jefferson delivered one of the greatest catches in NFL history Sunday with his one-handed grab against the Bills on fourth-and-18.
The catch had a 28.8% completion probability, according to NFL NextGen stats, but Jefferson has made a habit out of making improbable grabs.
Jefferson finished with 10 catches for a career-high 193 yards and one TD. His 20 games with at least 100 yards receiving are the most ever for a player in his first three years, surpassing Randy Moss and Odell Beckham Jr.
Jefferson, who has 4,076 receiving yards in 42 career games, tied Lance Alworth and Beckham for the fewest games needed to reach 4,000 yards receiving.
World traveler
Tom Brady added Germany to his list of countries with an NFL win.
The Buccaneers’ 21-16 win over the Seahawks in Munich improved Brady to 4-0 in international games, with two wins in London and one in Mexico City.
Along with his 244 regular-season wins on U.S. soil, Brady became the first QB to win starts in four countries, breaking a tie he had with Derek Carr, Jay Cutler, Ryan Fitzpatrick and Russell Wilson.
Winning time
Kyle Shanahan hopes the seventh time will be a charm.
The coach has a 48-48 career record with the 49ers and looks to move into winning territory for the first time. He lost the previous six times he had a chance to go above .500.
It started with a loss to the Panthers in his opener in 2017, which led to a 0-9 start that put him in a big hole.
Shanahan got back to 25-25 before losing the Super Bowl following the 2019 season to the Chiefs.
He had two shots in 2020 but lost to the Eagles in Week 4 and Seahawks in Week 8.
Shanahan got back to 43-43 in his career in last season’s playoffs before losing the NFC title game to the Rams. He also lost to the Falcons in Week 6 with a 46-46 record.
Shanahan has a long way to go to catch Hall of Famer Tom Landry, who didn’t have a winning record with the Cowboys until his 11th season when they beat the Giants in Week 2 of 1970 to improve his record to 70-69-2.