Sunday Rundown: Celebrating 14 hours of football fun across 2 continents

Sunday Rundown recaps the most important developments from the day's action and examines their significance moving forward.

Has everyone caught their breath yet?

The longest day of action in NFL history also produced what was probably the most fun day of football we've seen this season. The football started earlier than ever, with fans setting their alarms for 9:30 a.m. ET, and the action didn't let up until almost midnight.

There was live football on TV from before sunrise on the West Coast, until after sunset. That really happened.

It started overseas, where British fans attending their first American football game must have been bewildered by what they saw at London's Wembley Stadium. Fans in North America were surely confused, too, as the Atlanta Falcons bungled a 21-0 lead and turned what should've been a boring blowout into a thrilling comeback win for the Detroit Lions.

The game ended with Lions kicker Matt Prater icing himself by taking a delay-of-game penalty with four seconds on the clock before nailing a game-winning kick from 48 yards out. How does one explain that sequence of events to a football novice?

The final whistle in London marked the start of a furious afternoon of action here on home soil. What we saw:

• The Cincinnati Bengals out-dueled the Baltimore Ravens in an AFC North heavyweight fight that ended with a Steve Smith touchdown called back on a disputed offensive pass interference call
• The Seahawks saved their season with a last-second touchdown drive (more on that later)
• Tom Brady and Rob Gronkowski remembered they're the most dominant quarterback-receiver pairing in the league
• Geno Smith and Michael Vick combined to turn the ball over six times in an embarrassing rout at the hands of the Buffalo Bills
• Teddy Bridgewater's impressive composure on a game-tying drive, and the Minnesota Vikings' subsequent win in overtime on a fumble return touchdown

And those were just the early afternoon games.

The late afternoon slate of games was highlighted by a historic performance at the hands of Ben Roethlisberger, who became the first quarterback in NFL history to top 500 yards passing twice in his career. Roethlisberger's big day buoyed the Pittsburgh Steelers to a 50-34 win over the Indianapolis Colts in a game that produced over 900 combined passing yards.

While Roethlisberger was drawing all the attention, the Arizona Cardinals were dispatching the Philadelphia Eagles in a battle of 5-1 teams out to prove they're legitimate Super Bowl contenders. The Cardinals are for real.

Then, for a nightcap, we were able to watch future Hall of Famers Aaron Rodgers and Drew Brees flex their offensive muscle in a game that would have been a shootout if not for an untimely injury to Rodgers.

Some people say the NFL risks over-saturation by putting so many games on television. Those people are crazy. We had the opportunity to watch 14 hours of football Sunday, and almost every minute was entertaining. It was wonderful.

Are you listening, Roger Goodell? Let's make this morning-to-night football thing an annual tradition. Heck, maybe we should do it a few times a year.

Wilson shrugs off critics, saves Seahawks' season

For the third straight season, Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson rallied his team from a second-half deficit on the road in Carolina to defeat the Panthers.

This time, he saved the Seahawks' season in the process.

Wilson struggled for much of the game Sunday. A week after he became the first quarterback in NFL history to pass for over 300 yards, rush for 100 and account for three touchdowns - in a loss to the St. Louis Rams that dropped the Seahawks to .500 and created panic in the Northwest - he and the Seahawks were held to a pair of field goals until late in the fourth quarter.

Surely, he heard the critics in his head for a moment or two.

Wilson was under fire all week, with allegations of a rift between him and teammates (perhaps centered on his closeness with his coaches, or maybe his perceived lack of blackness) and a report that Seahawks brass are displeased with his many endorsement deals.

When it mattered most Sunday, Wilson shrugged aside those distractions and marched his team down the field for a  a nine-play, 80-yard drive capped by a game-winning touchdown pass to Luke Willson with 47 seconds on the clock. In the process, he did all he could to quiet criticism of his leadership qualities.

"We're more together than ever," Wilson told reporters after the game. If that wasn't true before, Wilson made it so.

At 4-3, the Seahawks remain within reach of the playoffs. They probably won't cruise to an NFC West title like most predicted before the season, but they're still alive.

And they can thank their quarterback for that.

Three teams at crossroads

The Bears, Falcons and Jets all lost Sunday, each in characteristic fashion. All three teams are headed in the wrong direction and facing tough decisions that will shape their future.

The Bears (3-5) hit a low point in the Marc Trestman era, getting blown off the field by the Patriots. With losses mounting, Bears fans are calling for the heads of Trestman and quarterback Jay Cutler.

Even if moving on from the pair is the right call, the Bears will be hard-pressed to do it.

The team's decision to give Jay Cutler a seven-year, $126.7 million contract ($54 million guaranteed) in the offseason was always a curious one. After all, the Bears were at their best in 2013 when Cutler was hurt.

Cutler remains the player he's been throughout his career, which is to say he continues to rack up fantasy stats, but also kill his team with inopportune turnovers. The latest reports out of Chicago suggest his teammates have had enough of it and are about ready to revolt.

The Bears' roster beyond Cutler can compete with any team in the league. Brandon Marshall, Alshon Jeffery and Matt Forte are a skill-position trio as good as any, and the defense has some quality pieces to build around.

Will the Bears admit their mistake with Cutler? Even if they do, can they find a way out from under his contract? If Cutler goes, does Trestman go, too? There are no easy answers to the questions before the Bears.

Like the Bears, the Falcons (2-6) believe they have a franchise quarterback and the studly wide receivers needed to succeed. The difference is the Falcons are right - Matt Ryan is rock-solid, as are Julio Jones and Roddy White.

The Falcons' problem is that years of trading draft picks and failing to find impact free agents has left Ryan, Jones and White surrounded by perhaps the NFL's most shallow, talent-poor roster.

In Sunday's collapse in London, it became clear that coaching is a major problem for the Falcons, too. Head coach Mike Smith deserves credit for rescuing the Falcons from the wreckage left behind by erstwhile quarterback Michael Vick, but he can't save the team from the mess he and general manager Thomas Dimitroff have created. Smith's focus this summer - as we saw on HBO's Hard Knocks - was to transform the Falcons from a soft team to a hard-nosed unit, but the Falcons continue to get pushed around on both sides of the ball every week.

The Falcons can't right this ship overnight. It may take years of strong drafts to rebuild their depth to the point that it can compete with the NFL's best teams. Dimitroff and Smith won't be afforded those years. It would be a shock to see the pair dismissed before the end of the season, but they almost certainly won't be back in 2015.

The Jets (1-7) don't need a new head coach. They just need a new everything else.

Geno Smith remains the disaster he was as a rookie. The only thing keeping him on the field is backup Michael Vick who, frankly, doesn't seem interested in playing for the Jets.

Aside from an otherworldly defensive line, the Jets don't have the players to consistently win battles at any position on the field. The responsibility for that falls on the shoulders of their general manager, not their head coach.

It seems inevitable the Jets will make Rex Ryan the scapegoat and let him go at some point this season, but doing so may be a significant mistake. Ryan remains one of the league's best defensive minds and a master motivator. It's not crazy to suggest he's getting maximum value out of a woeful Jets roster.

The Jets need a full rebuild, but first, they need to figure out who's the right person to lead it.

Stray Thoughts

• Former Raiders coach Dennis Allen was fired after a disastrous loss in London. Falcons coach Mike Smith may have sealed a similar fate for himself Sunday. The Dallas Cowboys and Jacksonville Jaguars face off overseas in Week 10. Should Jason Garrett and Gus Bradley be worried?
• The Cardinals haven't started a season 6-1 since 1974. Relish this, Cardinals fans.
• Weeks after Lions linebacker Stephen Tulloch tore his ACL celebrating a defensive stop, Bears defensive end LaMarr Houston suffered an apparent leg injury doing the exact same celebration. They say bad things come in threes...
• Jeremy Maclin's day included blood, sweat and ... Gatorade. He overcame an early hit to the head that reportedly left him bleeding from his ears, as well as a humorous moment that saw him knock over a table of Gatorade and get drenched in the stick substance, to finish with 187 yards receiving and two touchdowns.
• Bears fans calling for Jay Cutler to be benched would be wise to take a moment and contemplate the fact that their team's backup is Jimmy Clausen. That's right, this guy.

Injury Ward

Recapping the day's most significant injuries. 

Jake Long, LT, Rams
Suspected torn ACL. Likely done for the season.
Long tore his ACL and MCL in Week 16 last season and is believed to have suffered a similarly devastating injury. Long is only 29 years old, but it's hard to believe he'll ever return to his previous All-Pro form. He's a candidate to be released by the Rams in the offseason.

Patrick Peterson, CB, Cardinals
Reported concussion. Prognosis unknown.
Peterson was but one of many star cornerbacks who left Sunday's games with injuries. Jimmy Smith, Vontae Davis and Kyle Fuller were also forced from their games.

Jordan Cameron, TE, Browns
Reported concussion. Prognosis unknown.
Cameron exited the game after taking a hit to the head and didn't return. It's particularly worrisome considering his history of concussions. The Browns may be without their best two receivers in Cameron and Josh Gordon (and arguably only two true offensive weapons) for the next few weeks.

Stat of the Week