18. Carolina Panthers
You’ve got to tip your cap to Dave Canales, whose team just keeps on fighting. The Panthers are now 3-3 this season after a stunning win against the Dallas Cowboys, in which Rico Dowdle put bulletin board material out there and then backed it up.
Dowdle has been a catalyst for the Panthers winning their past couple of games as he ran for over 200 yards last week, and then had a whopping 183 rushing yards on 30 carries for the Panthers this week. Not only that, but Dowdle led the Panthers with 56 yards receiving and a touchdown against his old team.
The Panthers are quietly putting something impressive together and Canales has his guys playing great “team” football. There’s no other way to put it. The defense still had some lapses against Dallas, but they made just enough plays to win and get to .500.
17. Chicago Bears
Bears play Monday night vs. Commanders
Just before they hit their bye week in Week 5, the Chicago Bears were playing some really improved football, especially offensively. We’ve already seen both ends of the extreme for this team defensively in the 2025 season, as the Chicago defense has allowed 52 points to the Lions and collapsed badly in Week 1 against the Vikings, but then they played great against the Dallas Cowboys’ high-flying offense.
The Bears’ showdown on Monday night against Jayden Daniels and the Commanders will be fun, but it will also teach us a lot about the working relationship between Ben Johnson and Caleb Williams. With so much time to prepare for an opponent, the expectation should be for the Bears to come out looking really sharp offensively, and for Williams to match Daniels play-for-play.