Brock Purdy and the 49ers couldn’t overcome all the injuries one more time.
asserted
Purdy → overcome → injuries
Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs ran into the defending Super Bowl champions and their stingy defense.
asserted
Mahomes → run → champions
Only the Minnesota Vikings remain unbeaten — for now — and they battled to beat the Colts.
asserted
they → remain → Colts
Sunday kicked off with Aaron Rodgers leading the Pittsburgh Steelers to a 16-10 victory over the New Orleans Saints in the NFL’s first regular-season game in France.
asserted
Rodgers → kick → France
It ended with the Seahawks shutting down Mahomes, Kenneth Walker III and the Chiefs in Seattle in a 20-3 victory.
asserted
Seahawks → end → victory
Despite a slew of injuries, San Francisco opened the season 6-0.
asserted
Francisco → open → season
But the 49ers wasted a 14-3 lead in a 29-20 loss at Atlanta.
asserted
49ers → waste → Atlanta
The Niners didn’t have their top five receivers, including Mike Evans and Deebo Samuel Sr.
asserted
Niners → have → Evans
They lost Christian McCaffrey for part of the game.
asserted
They → lose → game
Still, they had the ball and an opportunity to drive for the go-ahead score until Purdy threw his second interception near midfield down by six with under three minutes left.
asserted
minutes → have → six
The Falcons scored 13 points on San Francisco’s four turnovers.
asserted
Falcons → score → turnovers
“We had the momentum, we were moving the ball well, I feel like we were running the ball really well offensively and then all of the sudden it’s like a couple plays make you feel like dang, we’re not doing our job,” Purdy said.
asserted
Purdy → have → job
“Obviously, the most important thing is protecting the football.
asserted
thing → protect → football
That’s really the number one thing in our organization as an offense.
asserted
That → ’ → offense
… and so when you do have those kind of costly mistakes, it does make you feel like all right we’re not doing anything, we’re not putting up points like we need to.
asserted
we → have → points
It starts with me at quarterback and I think it bleeds into everybody else, too.”
asserted
it → start → everybody
The Niners get a week off to rest and recover before hosting Las Vegas (3-4) on Nov. 8.
asserted
Niners → get → Nov.
The Chiefs (5-1) already had their bye week so they have to fix their problems quickly with a matchup for first place in the AFC West coming up next Sunday at Denver (5-2).
asserted
matchup → have → Denver
Seattle’s “Dark Side” defense held Walker to 36 yards rushing on 14 carries in his first game against his former team.
asserted
defense → hold → team
The Super Bowl MVP entered Week 7 leading the NFL in rushing and had four 100-yard games in the first five.
asserted
MVP → enter → five
Mahomes only completed 57.6% of his passes and didn’t guide Kansas City’s offense into the red zone for the first time in his career.
asserted
Mahomes → complete → career
“You don’t want to perform like this in prime time in a big moment like this,” Mahomes said.
asserted
Mahomes → want → this
But they need to improve a shaky offense to stay perfect.
asserted
they → need → offense
Minnesota rallied for a 16-10 victory over Indianapolis thanks to another stellar effort from the defense, which held the Colts to just 218 yards.
asserted
which → rally → yards
Kyler Murray threw for 150 yards and the Vikings had just 275 total yards.
asserted
Vikings → throw → yards
“You can’t get down on it right now, just because it’s still relatively early enough that we’re catching our stride,” Vikings coach Kevin O’Connell said.
asserted
O’Connell → get → stride
“But at the same time, we know, with the type of teams that are going to be on our schedule the rest of the way and where we want to go with this team, we’ll keep progressing.
asserted
we → know → team
The Vikings have a difficult stretch coming up.
asserted
stretch → have → ?
They visit the Lions (4-2) next week, host the Bills (5-1) and then face the Packers (4-3) and 49ers in back-to-back games on the road.
asserted
They → visit → road
They need more production on offense to stay on top in a tough NFC North that includes four teams with a winning record.
asserted
that → need → record
One of those teams almost gave a game away because of reckless play-calling.
asserted
One → give → calling
Lions coach Dan Campbell pulled a Barry Switzer and went for a fourth-and-1 at his 24 with the score tied and just under five minutes to go.
asserted
score → pull → 24
Jahmyr Gibbs was stopped for a 2-yard loss and the Packers took over at Detroit’s 22 but couldn’t go anywhere.
asserted
Packers → stop → 22
Trey Smack’s 35-yard field goal was blocked, and the Lions drove for a winning field goal to save Campbell from another week of criticism for his questionable decisions.
asserted
Lions → block → decisions
Campbell cost the Lions a shot to play in the Super Bowl after two critical failed attempts on fourth down in field-goal range in the second half of a 34-31 loss in the NFC championship game in 2024.
asserted
Campbell → cost → 2024
His decision was reminiscent of Switzer twice going for a fourth-and-1 at the Cowboys 29 with just under two minutes left in a tie game at Philadelphia in 1995.
asserted
minutes → go → 1995
Emmitt Smith was stopped on the first try but officials said the clock had run down to the two-minute warning.
asserted
clock → stop → warning
After the stoppage, Dallas ran the same play, Smith was stopped again and the Eagles drove for the winning field goal.
asserted
Eagles → run → goal
“Well, I thought we would get it, No. 1.
asserted
we → think → it
I really believed we would get that,” Campbell said.
asserted
Campbell → believe → that
…and 2 more, not listed.
The Aporia
