Wow…comebacks and upsets galore this week. Welcome folks to Week Ten, where anything could happen and it definitely did. In this week of chaos, only four teams were spared from the carnage: the Bengals, Cowboys, Titans, and Chiefs. All four teams had byes this week, and (I’m not sure why) the Chiefs are still who the “experts” are picking to win the Super Bowl (clearly, they’re not looking at the record). However, looking ahead, the Chiefs will exit their bye playing the Broncos and then the Colts (we’ll see what the “experts” think after that). During the week, all teams took a moment of silence to mourn the passing of Cowboys DE Marshawn Kneeland, who died at the age of 24. They also had a moment of silence for Paul Tagliabue, the former commissioner of the NFL, whose legacy is lengthy and a bit controversial. But let’s dive into what happened this week.
RAIDERS 7 – BRONCOS 10
After this game, I thought this week was going to be a snooze-fest. I’m not sure what happened with the Denver Broncos, but they had to squeak out a win over the hapless Las Vegas Raiders. Clearly this wasn’t a good offensive game for either team, so I need to reach a little bit here. So here we go: Raiders rookie Ashton Jeanty showed flashes of what he is capable of with 60 rushing yards and a touchdown. Yeah, I get why no one wants to write off the Chiefs with a flawed team like the Broncos on top of the division. However, that defense looks impenetrable, so they might be able to ride that (they did when Peyton Manning was their quarterback for his last season). But hey, next week, the Broncos get to prove they are the team to beat against the Chiefs themselves. As for the Raiders, clearly, they’ve taken a step back from last year on offense. Once again, Geno Smith proves he is not THE guy when it comes to quarterbacks. He’s probably the first to go this offseason. They’ll play an equally bad Cowboys team on Monday Night Football.
FALCONS 25 – COLTS 31
Willkommen in Berlin…that’s “welcome to Berlin” in English, folks (fun fact: I do speak German…I’m not ready to move there, but it’s nice to know I can). The people of Berlin were treated to a great show as the Indianapolis Colts pulled off the comeback against the Atlanta Falcons. It was all thanks to Jonathan Taylor, who ripped the Falcons apart with 244 rushing yards and three touchdowns (no, this is not a misprint or a video game stat, it really happened!). Look, the inconsistency of both the Colts and Broncos are the reason for the “experts” still picking the Chiefs to win the AFC. Until the Colts can fix this, no one is going to take them seriously despite their impressive record. The Colts are one of the only two teams that have a bye next week, but when they come back…they’ll get their shot at the Chiefs. As for the Falcons, it might be time to call it a season. The schedule may get easier for them down the stretch, but the Falcons have dug themselves into quite the hole. They play the Panthers next week.
RAMS 42 – 49ERS 26
Turns out, not everyone can handle the injury bug like the Los Angeles Dodgers did when they repeated as World Series Champions. The San Francisco 49ers are in a similar dilemma as they fell this week to the hometown LA Rams. Matthew Stafford has been on fire (possibly to build a Hall of Fame resume like his old high school classmate, Clayton Kershaw), completing 24 of 36 passes for 280 passing yards and four touchdowns. The game was noteworthy as Stafford is now in the prestigious 400 career touchdowns club (only eight other quarterbacks have hit this milestone). Also, Davante Adams caught his 112th receiving touchdown to reach the 8th most in NFL history (surprising the previous number 8 place holder, Tony Gonzalez). The last time the Rams beat the 49ers this badly was in October of 2018. It should be noted that the Rams changed kickers to Harrison Mevis, who made all six extra points but didn’t have the trust of Sean McVay to attempt a field goal. That will be the determination of if the Rams are legitimate NFC contenders as they face an equally impressive Seahawks team with the division on the line. As for the 49ers, look, I’ve met quite a few fans of the team, and I promised to be supportive. However, the defense is definitely the anchor weighing the 49ers’ chances down. Not only that, but the 49ers’ loss also surrenders the fate of the division to the Seahawks and Rams (no team wants destiny out of their hands). The margin of error will be slim going forward as they try to rebound next week against the Cardinals.
SAINTS 17 – PANTHERS 7
HOLY MOLE HOLES! Maybe the world is flat after all as the New Orleans Saints got their second win of the season at the expense of the Carolina Panthers. The hero of the game…Tyler Shough? The rookie completed 19 of 27 passes for 282 yards and two touchdowns. Don’t get me wrong, the season is still probably over for the Saints. But if Shough can continue to trend upward, maybe the Saints can build on that. They join the Colts next week as the only two teams on bye, but they’ll return the week after to face the Falcons. As for the Panthers, their playoff hopes just took a huge shot. Now they must make up ground with a tough schedule ahead of them. They play the Falcons next week.
GIANTS 20 – BEARS 24
Wow, what a thriller! Down going into the fourth quarter, the Chicago Bears pulled off the comeback to defeat the New York Giants. This was due to the prestigious playing of Caleb Williams, who passed for 220 yards and a touchdown, and rushed for 63 yards and another touchdown. Williams is proving to be the quarterback we all thought he was when he was drafted with the first pick of the 2024 draft, now the Bears need to ride that momentum in a division that is very much up for grabs. The Bears have a matchup next week with one of their most hated rivals: the Vikings. As for the Giants, something had to give, and it did. On Monday morning, the Giants fired coach Brian Daboll and appointed offensive coordinator Mike Kafka to interim head coach. That’s all fine and dandy, but the problems are still there for the Giants going forward, especially their bad habit of blowing games where they’re leading by more than ten points. The Giants play the Packers next week.
PATRIOTS 28 – BUCCANEERS 23
As someone who grew up a Patriots fan, I am over-the-moon and blown away by this result. It seems like the New England Patriots are BACK to their old winning ways from the days of Tom Brady, as they beat Brady’s other team: the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Both quarterbacks of what some dubbed “the Brady Bowl” were evenly matched. Baker Mayfield won the duel, throwing 273 yards for three touchdowns. Drake Maye only threw for 270 yards, two touchdowns, and an interception, but won the day. The Patriots have exceeded all expectations and are now in commanding position in their division for the first time since the Brady era. (Just promise not to flop like the Milwaukee Brewers did…) The Patriots play the Jets next in a Thursday Night Football showdown. As for the Buccaneers, this hurts, but it’s not fatal. The losses by the Panthers and Falcons keep the Buccaneers in the driver’s seat, but now we head into the final stretches of the season. Their schedule gets tougher, starting with a matchup against a ticked off Bills team.
BILLS 13 – DOLPHINS 30
I feel like “HOLY MOLE HOLES” doesn’t do this game justice. So instead, I’ll use the Beetlejuice quote like I did from last month: “What the -beep-?” In one of the biggest, if not the biggest, upsets of the week…the Miami Dolphins blew out the Super Bowl favorite Buffalo Bills. De’Von Achane stole the show for the Dolphins by rushing for 174 yards and two touchdowns. I’m not sure if I would call this the product of having 10 days to prepare or the start of a legitimate turnaround for the Dolphins. Either way, the result is the same: a big win for a desperate Dolphins team. They’ll try to ride that momentum overseas in Madrid where they will take on the Commanders. As for the Bills, it is panic time. It doesn’t look good for the Bills Super Bowl chances when they go from beating the Chiefs in dominating fashion to being humiliated by a sub-par team like the Dolphins. They’ll look to right the ship next week against the Buccaneers.
BROWNS 20 – JETS 27
I’ve always been a big believer in a particular sports theory: if you get two bad teams to face each other, you get greatness! In a back-and-forth affair, the New York Jets managed to outlast the Cleveland Browns. Despite the loss, rookie Dillon Gabriel actually did okay: throwing for 167 yards and two touchdowns. Considering the Jets had a fire sale during the trade deadline, I think they responded very well. Unfortunately, their next game is a Thursday Night Football showdown with the red-hot Patriots. As for the Browns, well…your chances of getting the number one pick in the draft next year just got a boost. Other than that, uh…I got nothing. They’ll get a resurgent Ravens team to face next week.
RAVENS 27 – VIKINGS 19
Well, maybe this wasn’t the Baltimore Ravens we thought we’d have at this point of the season, but they’re finally starting to get rolling. This week, their comeback ran right over the Minnesota Vikings. It’s hard to find a player that actually did great offensively in this game. But if I had to, I’d give the honorable mention to Vikings receiver Jalen Nailor with five catches for 124 yards and a touchdown. The Ravens’ defense has been the driving force of this miracle comeback as they are almost back at .500 for the season. They have a chance to get to that mark next week against the Browns. As for the Vikings, they seem to have a quarterback problem. Carson Wentz never seemed to have it and now he’s done, and JJ McCarthy keeps having up and down games. Either way, the Vikings seem to be all over the place, and consistency is the only way they’ll win this division. The Vikings will face a showdown next week against one of their bitter division rivals, the Bears.
JAGUARS 29 – TEXANS 36
This was a HUGE comeback! Even without star CJ Stroud, the Houston Texans scored 26 unanswered points in the 4th quarter to overtake the Jacksonville Jaguars. Davis Mills led the Texans in Stroud’s absence, throwing for 292 yards, two touchdowns, and an interception. The Texans live to fight another day and keep their playoff chances alive. They have reason to hope as they face the Titans next week, and hopefully with Stroud back where he belongs at quarterback. As for the Jaguars, this made their path to the playoffs significantly tougher. The only thing keeping them afloat is the tiebreaker they hold over the Chiefs. They have a tough matchup next week against a Chargers team that is on a roll.
CARDINALS 22 – SEAHAWKS 44
This was part of the afternoon slate of games…that weren’t much of a contest (please see the Rams score). This was no contest as the Seattle Seahawks treated their fans to a blowout of the Arizona Cardinals. I usually highlight a player, but I want to try something different this time. I want to point out the number of turnovers committed by both teams. Sam Darnold threw an interception and fumbled twice while Jacoby Brissett fumbled the ball twice. So, you could say it was a case of the defenses shining for both teams. No matter what way you slice it, the Seahawks look pretty good, but they’ll battle with the division on the line against the equally good Rams next week. As for the Cardinals, they have a similar problem that the Raiders have: a poor offensive line. Their season appears doomed to end sooner rather than later. The Cardinals face the 49ers next week.
LIONS 44 – COMMANDERS 22
Funny enough, this game has the same score as the Seahawks game. And, just like the Seahawks game, it was a blowout as the Detroit Lions knocked the Washington Commanders aside with brute force. Jared Goff was unstoppable for the Lions as he completed 25 of 33 passes for 320 yards and three touchdowns. The Lions’ ability to bounce back from a tough loss is impressive, but they need to keep this in mind: when the playoffs come around…one loss is the end of the season for the Lions. As for the Commanders, there was a lot for the Washington crowd to boo about (and it wasn’t just because of WHO was there at the game). It feels like this losing streak is never going to end. I’d say they have a chance to end it next week in Madrid against the Dolphins, but the Dolphins did just upset the Bills…so it’s not a sure thing.
STEELERS 10 – CHARGERS 25
Our hometown Los Angeles Chargers shined brightly in the primetime lights of Sunday Night Football as they had an impressive win over the Pittsburg Steelers. Justin Herbert did an amazing job outdueling future Hall of Famer Aaron Rodgers. Herbert threw for 220 yards and a touchdown while Rodgers threw for only 161 yards, a touchdown, and an interception. The other highlight of the game was that Keenan Allen finally passed up Antonio Gates as the Chargers’ all-time receptions leader with 956 (with the Chargers). Now, I’ve seen the comments from the “experts” that the Chargers are still not a serious contender. It’s true that their injuries have hampered their chances of the Super Bowl. However, their heart, grit, and determination are still to be admired. I’m still willing to put the Chargers high up on my list of contenders for the AFC, especially since they’re still right behind the Broncos for the division…and they can swoop in and take it since they hold the tiebreaker for now over the Broncos and Chiefs. While the Broncos and Chiefs beat each other up next week, the Chargers will be on the road against a Jaguars team desperate for a win. As for the Steelers, this is their fifth straight loss in prime-time matchups. Now, whether this is a bad sign or just a bad game for Aaron Rodgers, I’ll let you be the judge. One thing is sure, the Steelers need answers…especially with the Ravens finally finding their footing right behind them. They have a winnable matchup next week against the Bengals next week.
EAGLES 10 – PACKERS 7
For those of you that only watched the first half of this game…I’m sorry. In this game where the Dodgers could have beaten EITHER team, the defending champion Philadelphia Eagles managed to beat the Green Bay Packers. I’d like to point out that we haven’t had a scoreless first half in a Monday Night Football game in 16 years! Watching the commentators and “experts” try to find something to talk about went from feeling confused to uncomfortable (and honestly, it was painful to watch). Do you know what’s great about a scoreless half? Unless you love defense, the answer is NOTHING! (I personally switched channels to watch Disney movies to alleviate the boredom.) Okay, I guess I gotta highlight someone in this matchup, then. The game ball goes to…the defensive coordinators for both teams. What else can you say about two defenses that give up more than 250 total yards, and yet doesn’t surrender many points? So, are the Eagles gonna pull an LA Dodgers and repeat? Well…hold up there. This was a win, yes, but this wasn’t pretty and the offense disappeared…again. The Eagles will have another prime-time matchup next week, this time on Sunday Night Football, against the Lions in a possible NFC Championship sneak peek. As for the Packers, well, the defense is fine, but the offense needs to do MUCH better. Clearly the loss of Tucker Kraft for the year is weighing heavily on the Packers. With Jayden Reed still nowhere near ready to return, they need someone to step up, and they’ve reached the point where they can’t “Stand Back” (I think I’ve used this Stevie Nicks reference already, I apologize). The Packers go on the road next week against the Giants.
