The NFL reached the final weekend of October with a standings picture few would have predicted in August. Week 7 left the Cleveland Browns alone atop their division and the New York Giants in first place in the NFC East, while the Baltimore Ravens sit in last place after one of the most surprising defeats in league history.
Cleveland's rise has leaned heavily on quarterback Deshaun Watson. In a 27-24 win over Tennessee, Watson led another game-winning drive in the fourth quarter, his fifth of the season. That makes him only the third quarterback since 1970 to produce a game-winning drive in each of his team's first five victories of a year.
The Giants are also in first place, and they got there in an unlikely way. New York beat an opponent with J.J. McCarthy starting at quarterback, a scenario that would have drawn laughter had anyone predicted it before the season. The win means the Giants have now won games with three different starters this year: McCarthy, Jameis Winston and Jaxson Dart. They are the first team since the 2016 Patriots to win at least three games with three different starting quarterbacks before November.
Baltimore's afternoon went in the opposite direction. The Ravens led the Bengals 13-0 at halftime but went on to lose 35-13. It was the third-largest loss in NFL history for a team that held a lead of at least 13 points at the break.
The defeat fits a troubling pattern. Since 2020, the Ravens have lost 17 games in which they led by double digits at some point, the most of any team in that span. All three of their losses this season have come in games where they held a double-digit advantage. It was also the second consecutive week that Baltimore shut out its opponent in the first half, only to score nothing and lose after halftime.
The timing adds to the sting for the Ravens. The Giants and Browns are coached by John Harbaugh and Todd Monken, respectively, both of whom Baltimore moved on from at the end of last season.
The NFC East race also tightened on Monday night. Dallas beat the Eagles and now trails Harbaugh's Giants by a single game. The result earned the Cowboys a high mark in CBS Sports' Week 7 grades, while the Carolina Panthers received an F.
