NFL Takeaways: Week 10
Photo by Dylan Buell from Getty Images
I just can not get a read on AFC teams this year.
A few we thought would be contenders are fighting for their playoff lives. Others that we thought would be absolute disasters are right in the mix.
The NFC, however, is pretty much as expected.
Let’s dive into it.
Bears defeat Panthers 16-13
I’m not here to tell you how to live your life, but I seriously wonder how you could sit down and watch this game.
Thankfully, I was in Lancaster doing a wedding tasting, so I missed it all.
I feel I gained years of my life back avoiding this.
Colts defeat Patriots 10-6
Man, Bill Belichick without Tom Brady kind of sucks, eh?
He is now 82-98 when Tom Brady doesn’t start for him. That’s a win percentage of 46% which is…not tremendous!
Mike Tomlin hasn’t had a losing season once and some Steelers fans want him fired. Belichick without the greatest quarterback of all time has been much, MUCH worse.
And speaking of Tomlin…
Steelers defeat Packers 23-19
The Steelers are 6-3 and nobody thinks they’re good.
THAT is good coaching.
The Steelers are not a Super Bowl threat, but Mike Tomlin is undeniably an incredible coach dragging this team to winning seasons.
Texans defeat Bengals 30-27
C.J. Stroud might just be MVP of the league.
No. I am not kidding.
The Bengals, however, are in big trouble.
If they lose to the Ravens Thursday, the playoffs might be extremely unlikely.
Vikings defeat Saints 27-19
The legend of Josh Dobbs continues!
Seriously, though. Good for Dobbs for finally getting his time to shine, and taking it by the throat. He’s been amazing this year.
Nobody deserves it more.
Buccaneers defeat Titans 20-6
Baker Mayfield, not hindered by injuries and terrible coaching, is good again!
Weird!
49ers defeat Jaguars 34-3
While the universe (and I’ll include myself a bit here) has criticized and discussed Brock Purdy for the Niners 3 game losing streak, the real issue was their defense.
That issue was fixed on Sunday, as they completely shut down Trevor Lawrence and the Jaguars.
This was supposed to be the only good game this weekend, and it was a bloodbath.
Browns defeat Ravens 33-31
Deshaun Watson was perfect in the 2nd half.
Seriously. He was 14-14 with 134 yards, a touchdown, and a great scramble to set up the game winning field goal.
That was vintage Deshaun, and if that Deshaun sticks around, the Browns have become serious threats.
Big “if” though…
Cardinals defeat Falcons 25-22
Starting to think that Arthur Smith may not be the answer at head coach.
Lions defeat Chargers 41-38
This game also ruled, but while everyone’s discussing the turmoil of the Bengals and Bills (we’ll get to them later), nobody has noticed that the Chargers are 4-5 and tied for last in their division.
Things aren’t looking too great for Brandon Staley.
Well, not that they were before anyway.
Cowboys defeat Giants 49-17
Good team plays bad team at home and blows their doors off.
Really nothing of note here.
Seahawks defeat Commanders 29-26
I’ve mentioned it before, I have a sixth sense with the Seahawks.
This was a close game all game. It even came down to a last second field goal.
And yet, I didn’t have a single doubt the Seahawks would lose.
There’s some games you just know. This was one of them.
Raiders defeat Jets 16-12
The Jets are a mess.
That’s not exactly new though, is it?
Broncos defeat Bills 24-22
The end of this game just made me mad.
First, let me just say that the refs seriously need to do something about calling pass interference on underthrown passes. Stop bailing out bad throws.
Now, onto the coaching malpractice that was the end of this game.
Let’s start with the Bills being ahead 22-21, having the Broncos, and playing cover 0, meaning it was insanely easy to get beat over the top when they had no need to.
They didn’t because Russell Wilson underthrew the ball horrible (leading to the pass interference mentioned above), but why do it in the first place?
That was followed by Sean Payton, after already having seen his kicker miss two extra points, decide to take a knee and rush his kicking unit out.
Shock, surprise! They missed the kick. Game over.
Except, of course, it wasn’t, because the Bills and their coaches got mixed around and confused from the Broncos rushing the special teams unit onto the field, so they had 12 players on the field.
The Broncos get a retry, they make it, and the Bills playoff hopes are in serious doubt.
It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out this stuff, folks. I play NCAA 14 a lot and I have it down pat.
These are pros making millions.
What a stupid ending to a stupid game.
