DENVER (AP) — Election Day has come and gone. So has the trade deadline. The autumn leaves are mostly on the ground. The days are shorter, the nights longer. And yet here we are watching sloppy football across the NFL.
Week 10 looked a lot like Week 1, or even the preseason tilts chock full of NFL wannabes who may have made the play but not the cut.
The slate started with a Thursday night snoozer in which both the reeling Las Vegas Raiders (2-7) and the surging Denver Broncos (8-2) had more penalties (11) than first downs (10). The Broncos prevailed 10-7 — the same score the Eagles beat the Packers on Monday night to wrap up the wacky week — despite going three-and-out eight times thanks to a bevy of bad throws, dropped passes and, yes, yellow flags.
On Sunday, the Chicago Bears, who are accustomed to playing in wet, windy weather, dropped six of Caleb Williams’ passes in their 24-20 comeback against the New York Giants that cost Brian Daboll his job.
And in their 27-19 loss to the Baltimore Ravens, the Minnesota Vikings were whistled for a whopping eight false starts — at home, where these things generally don’t happen.
Except that it’s the NFL in 2025: cockeyed, confusing and chaotic.
The Patriots are atop the AFC East this late in the year for the first time since Tom Brady was throwing darts and dunks to Gronk instead of arrows and flowers from the broadcast booth and Bill Belichick was steamrolling NFL opponents instead of getting crushed in college.
The Colts are chasing their first AFC South title since Andrew Luck was QB in 2014, and the Broncos are alone atop the AFC West for the first time since 2015 when they won their last Super Bowl title.
The Seahawks are tied with the Rams at 7-2 atop the NFC West. They haven’t won their division since 2020 before Russell Wilson was traded and benched in Denver, chased out of Pittsburgh and demoted in New York.
The Broncos have been flagged 101 times this season, second only to Jacksonville's 102. Both teams have 83 penalties against them that were accepted. Seventeen by Denver were declined and one was offsetting.
“Certainly, it's a point of emphasis,” Broncos coach Sean Payton said.
Yet, the Broncos are tied with New England and Indianapolis at 8-2 for the best record in the league in this topsy-turvy season in which we're into November and the Kansas City Chiefs, winners of nine straight AFC West crowns, five of the last six AFC championships and three Super Bowls, are on the outside of the playoff picture looking in.
The Vikings' eight false-start penalties against Baltimore were the most by a home team since the Buffalo Bills had nine against Cleveland on Oct. 11, 2009, according to Sportradar.
“Whatever was unearthed today needs to be corrected immediately,” coach Kevin O’Connell said after the Vikings’ eight false starts among 13 flags short circuited their comeback hopes against the Ravens
The eight false-start penalties also were the most in a game by any team since the Carolina Panthers at Seattle on Sept. 24, 2023, according to Sportradar.
Right tackle Brian O’Neill was flagged three times. Quarterback J.J. McCarthy and star receiver Justin Jefferson also were penalized. The quarterback and his offensive line struggled with snap counts, cadence and presnap adjustments, especially in the fourth quarter, when the Vikings had three false starts in the final 10 minutes.
Running back Aaron Jones said some Ravens defenders seized on the confusion by barking “Hut!” when McCarthy changed the play call or protection. Still, the friendly crowd at U.S. Bank Stadium should not have made it that problematic, he said.
“That’s what they get paid to do,” Jones said. “We’ve just got to lock in, especially when we’re playing at home.”
The Vikings, 14-3 in the regular season a year ago, fell to 4-5.
“It’s going to be tough to win games like that,” Jefferson said. “Go back to work and do the things that allow us to move forward, not backward.”
At five yards a pop.
With contributions from Associated Press Writer Brian Murphy in Minneapolis.
Behind the Call analyzes the biggest topics in the NFL during the season.
AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/NFL
Denver Broncos quarterback Bo Nix (10) throws during the first half of an NFL football game against the Las Vegas Raiders Thursday, Nov. 6, 2025, in Denver. (AP Photo/Jack Dempsey)
Minnesota Vikings running back Aaron Jones Sr. (33) appeals to the officials in the second half of an NFL football game against the Baltimore Ravens, Sunday, Nov. 9, 2025, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Bruce Kluckhohn)
PARIS (AP) — Activists worldwide will march in May Day rallies Friday, calling for peace, higher wages and better working conditions as many workers grapple with rising energy costs and shrinking purchasing power tied to the Iran war.
The day is a public holiday in many countries, and demonstrations, some of which have turned violent in the past, are expected in many of the world's major cities.
“Working people refuse to pay the price for Donald Trump’s war in the Middle East,” the European Trade Union Confederation, which represents 93 trade union organizations in 41 European countries, said. “Today’s rallies show working people will not stand by and see their jobs and living standards destroyed.”
In the United States, activists opposing U.S. President Donald Trump’s policies are planning marches and boycotts.
Here’s what to know about May Day.
Rising living costs linked to the conflict in the Middle East are expected to be a key theme in Friday's rallies.
In the Philippines' capital of Manila, protest organizers said they expect big crowds of workers. “There will be a louder call for higher wages and economic relief because of the unprecedented spikes in fuel prices,” Renato Reyes, a leader of the left-wing political group Bayan, told The Associated Press.
“Every Filipino worker now is aware that the situation here is deeply connected to the global crisis,” said Josua Mata, leader of SENTRO umbrella group of labor federations.
In Indonesia, labor unions have warned against worsening economic pressures at home. “Workers are already living paycheck to paycheck,” said Said Iqbal, president of the Indonesian Trade Union Confederation.
In Pakistan, May Day is a public holiday marked by rallies, but many daily wage earners cannot afford to take time off.
“How will I bring vegetables and other necessities home if I don’t work?” said Mohammad Maskeen, a 55-year-old construction worker near Islamabad.
Rising oil prices have fueled inflation, which the government estimates at about 16%, in a country heavily reliant on financial support from the International Monetary Fund and allied nations.
Workers' unions traditionally use May Day to rally around wages, pensions, inequality and broader political issues.
Protests are planned from Seoul, Jakarta and Istanbul to most European Union capitals and cities across the United States.
In France, unions called for demonstrations in Paris and elsewhere under the slogan “bread, peace and freedom,” linking workers’ daily concerns to conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East.
In Italy, the government approved nearly 1 billion euros ($1.17 billion) in job incentives this week, aiming to promote stable employment and curb labor abuses ahead of May Day. The measures extend tax breaks to encourage hiring young people and disadvantaged women, and seek to address exploitation tied to platform-based work. Opposition parties dismissed the package as “pure propaganda.”
In Portugal, proposed labor law changes by the center-right government sparked a general strike and street protests last year. There is still no deal after nine months of negotiations with unions and employers. Unions say the proposals would weaken workers’ rights, including by expanding overtime limits and reducing some benefits.
May Day carries special meaning this year in France after a heated debate about whether employees should be allowed to work on the country’s most protected public holiday — the only day when most employees have a mandatory paid day off.
Almost all businesses, shops and malls are closed, and only essential sectors such as hospitals, transport and hotels are exempt.
A recent parliamentary proposal to expand work on the day prompted major outcry from unions and left-wing politicians.
“Don’t touch May Day,” workers' unions said in a joint statement.
Faced with the controversy, the government this week introduced a bill meant to expand May Day work to people staffing bakeries and florists. It is customary in France to give lily of the valley flowers on May Day as a symbol of good luck.
“May 1 is not just any day,” Small and Medium-sized Businesses Minister Serge Papin said. “It symbolizes social gains stemming from a century of building social rules that have led to the labor code we know in France. It is indeed a special day.”
Activists and labor unions are organizing street protests and boycotts across the United States, where May Day is not a federal holiday.
May Day Strong, a coalition of activist groups and labor unions, has called on people to protest under the banner of “workers over billionaires.”
Voicing strong opposition to Trump's policies, organizers listed thousands of May Day actions across the country and are seeking an economic blackout through “no school, no work, no shopping.”
Demands include taxing the rich and putting an end to the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown,
While labor and immigrant rights are historically intertwined, the focus of May Day rallies in the U.S. shifted to immigration in 2006. That’s when roughly 1 million people, including nearly half a million in Chicago alone, took to the streets to protest federal legislation that would’ve made living in the U.S. without legal permission a felony.
May Day, or International Workers’ Day, traces back more than a century to a pivotal period in U.S. labor history.
In the 1880s, unions pushed for an eight-hour workday through strikes and demonstrations. In May 1886, a Chicago rally turned deadly when a bomb exploded and police responded with gunfire. Several labor activists — most of them immigrants — were convicted of conspiracy and other charges; four were executed.
Unions later designated May 1 to honor workers. A monument in Chicago’s Haymarket Square commemorates them with the inscription: “Dedicated to all workers of the world.”
May Day is now observed in much of the world from Europe to Latin America, Africa and Asia.
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AP journalists Barry Hatton in Lisbon, Portugal, Giada Zampano in Rome, Munir Ahmed in Islamabad, Niniek Karmini in Jakarta, Indonesia, and Jim Gomez in Manila, Philippines, contributed to this story.
Union members carefully step through rain-formed puddles to participate in a May Day rally in the rain Friday, May 1, 2026, in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)
People march to mark International Workers' Day, also known as May Day, in Sydney, Friday, May 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft)
People march to mark International Workers' Day, also known as May Day, in Sydney, Friday, May 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft)
FILE - Activist and workers raise their clenched fists during a May Day rally in Manila, Philippines, May 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila, File)
Laborers protest during a May Day demonstration in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Thursday, April 30, 2026. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)
Laborers hold flares during a May Day demonstration in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Thursday, April 30, 2026. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)
Members of trade unions take part in a rally a day ahead of the International Labor Day, in Karachi, Pakistan, Thursday, April 30, 2026. The banner in center reading as 'red salute to the martyrs of Chicago and the struggle will continue until economic exploitation is ended' (AP Photo/Ali Raza)
Members of trade unions take part in a rally a day ahead of the International Labor Day, in Karachi, Pakistan, Thursday, April 30, 2026. (AP Photo/Ali Raza)
