Ranking the 5 best NFL games of the 2025 season (so far)

• Week 1 | Sunday, Sept. 7 (SNF) | Highmark Stadium (Orchard Park, N.Y.)
• FINAL SCORE: Bills 41, Ravens 40 (Watch replay)
• Previously: No. 1 (Weeks 1-13)

This game was supposed to be a heavyweight fight, and it didn't disappoint. The Ravens scored 40 points in only 25 minutes of possession. Bills quarterback Josh Allen showed why he won last year's MVP award by passing for 394 yards and scoring four total touchdowns. Baltimore actually dominated this contest with Lamar Jackson's passing and the running of Derrick Henry (169 yards and two touchdowns), but a late Henry fumble helped Buffalo rally from a 15-point deficit with a little more than four minutes to go. In the end, Allen put his team in position with timely runs and devastating throws. The Ravens and Bills have hopscotched around the AFC standings, putting forth exceptionally uneven performances for teams that typically shape into conference powerhouses in time for the stretch run. The fact that this game has ruled this list throughout the year anyway speaks volumes about how thrilling it was as a lid-lifting prime-time showcase.  

-- Jeffri Chadiha

• Week 7 | Sunday, Oct. 20 | Empower Field at Mile High (Denver)
• FINAL SCORE: Broncos 33, Giants 32 (Watch replay)
• Previously: No. 2 (Weeks 7-13)

The Giants absolutely bullied the Broncos for three quarters, to the point that, dare I say, there was zero to little belief from almost anyone that Denver could prevail. In fact, according to Next Gen Stats, the Broncos' win probability was as low as 0.7% with 6:38 left in the game, when they were facing fourth-and-2 while down 26-8, a deficit of 18 points. And NFL teams had won 1,608 consecutive games (!) when leading by 18 points or more with less than 6 minutes remaining in the fourth quarter. Until this day. It was then that the Broncos flipped a switch, ultimately ripping off 33 points. The final two minutes, which featured three lead changes, deserve their own flowers. Bo Nix's 18-yard TD run gave Denver a 30-26 advantage, its first lead of the day, with 1:51 remaining. Jaxson Dart answered with an end-zone dive of his own, putting Big Blue up 32-30 with 37 seconds left. However, Giants kicker Jude McAtamney missed the PAT (the second such blown kick of the day), leaving an opening for the Broncos to drive back down, whereupon Wil Lutz took the dagger and finished the job with a 39-yard field goal as time expired.

-- Brooke Cersosimo

• Week 14 | Sunday, Dec. 7 | Highmark Stadium (Orchard Park, N.Y.)
• FINAL SCORE: Bills 39, Bengals 34 (Watch replay)

What could be better than a duel between two of the game's best quarterbacks? A duel between two of the game's best quarterbacks played in the snow, of course, with massive playoff implications on top. Joe Burrow and Josh Allen went to work Sunday, and we were the lucky ones. The Bengals had a 10-point lead at the midpoint of the fourth quarter before all hell broke loose and Allen put on his Superman cape, scoring on a rumbling 40-yard touchdown run. Two minutes later, with the Bengals already back in Buffalo territory, Christian Benford blitzed, jumped, grabbed one of the worst passes Burrow will ever throw out of the air and ran 63 yards for a touchdown. Less than three minutes later, the Bills scored again, and then the Bengals scored again. There was a Bills win, snow angels and the bewildered Bengals all but out of playoff hope. Our only regret is that this game eventually had to end. 

-- Judy Battista

• Week 3 | Sunday, Sept. 21 | Lincoln Financial Field (Philadelphia)
• FINAL SCORE: Eagles 33, Rams 26 (Watch replay)
• Previously: No. 3 (Weeks 3-4), No. 4 (5-6, 9-13), No. 5 (7-8)

With their most recent playoff exit top of mind, the Los Angeles Rams completely wrecked the Eagles for two quarters, holding the reigning Super Bowl champions to a putrid 33 total yards. The destruction continued early in the third, with the Los Angeles offense capitalizing on the extremely short field created by a Jared Verse strip-sack of Jalen Hurts to build a 26-7 lead. As my colleague and Rams radio color analyst Maurice Jones-Drew described the scene to me later: "The Linc was shook." Then, little by little, it was like the Eagles remembered they were supposed to be one of the most balanced and talented teams in the NFL. Hurts went on an absolute tear in the second half to obliterate the Rams' 19-point lead. The comeback was cemented with a pair of field-goal blocks, one by Jalen Carter and the second by Jordan Davis, setting up one of the most indelible images of the season: Davis, at 336 pounds, rumbling 61 yards on the return for a touchdown as time expired. Since then, the Eagles have only gotten less reliable, while the Rams have mostly sparkled, making Philly's theft here that much more impressive.

-- Brooke Cersosimo

• Week 9 | Sunday, Nov. 2 | Paycor Stadium (Cincinnati)
• FINAL SCORE: Bears 47, Bengals 42 (Watch replay)
• Previously: No. 3 (Weeks 9-13)

There's a clear formula for cracking this list: pack as much chaos as possible into 60 minutes. Joe Flacco had a dream game, in that you could imagine him saying, "I dreamt that I was suddenly the starting quarterback in Cincinnati, and everyone else on the field was at least seven years younger than me, and my arm didn't really work, but I threw for more yards than I ever had before in my life because Tee Higgins just kept catching the ball, and we made up a 14-point deficit in the last 2 minutes -- oh, and we actually recovered an onside kick -- and then we still somehow lost?" With Joe Burrow returning to his rightful place under center for the rest of the season and the Bears having since established their bonafides in the NFC race, this bonkers afternoon will only feel more like an odd historical curio in retrospect. Which is exactly why it belongs here. So what if some swinging-saloon-door-style defense helped keep the party going? Between Flacco's unlikely heroics and Caleb Williams getting to add another triumphant moment to his resume, there were plenty of giddy hijinks to enjoy.

-- Tom Blair