A wild week 10 is in the books, let’s see what we learned.
1. The Saints rushed for a franchise record 6 touchdowns against the Buffalo Bills. If you needed proof that the Saints are a true contender this was the game that gave you that. The Saints utterly dominated the Bills on the ground. On the other side of the ball the Saints only gave up 198 yards and 10 points as they demolished the Bills. I’m done beating around the bush the Saints have a top 5 defenses. They may not have the turnover numbers but week in and week out they are able to shut teams down. They remind me of what the Patriots defense is at its best, a team that will bend but not break. The Saints are better than that though because they don’t allow teams to get yardage on them.
2. The Packers broke their three game skid with a 23-16 comeback win over the Chicago Bears. Let’s focus on the Bears here because this was not an awful game for them. Mitchell Trubisky showed up threw 35 passes 297 yards a touchdown and didn’t turn the ball over. It must be a transitive property though in Chicago, if Trubisky doesn’t show up the rest of the team will carry themselves, if Trubisky has a great day the ground game will completely disappear only putting up 55 yards and the defense will be gashed by Packers running backs. Chicago gave up 160 yards on the ground and let Brett Hundley eviscerate them in the fourth. This is the game John Fox will look back on when he is in his cozy cabin in Carolina and say, this is what got me fired. For peat sake the guy challenged a touchdown, what are you doing?
3. This was what we envisioned the Browns offense could theoretically be in the off season. A team that stayed close in games and had a fun QB to watch. This was Deshone Kizer’s best performance since week 1. Yet somehow the Browns lost this game. Now let’s look at the Lions, they are not a real contender. A real contender does not give up 201 running yards to the Cleveland Browns. A real contender does not let the Browns put up 24 points and a real contender doesn’t have to comeback against the Browns. The Lions have no shot contending for the NFC North especially after we saw what the Vikings did on Sunday.
4. The Bengals bungle a fourth quarter lead and lose to a mediocre AFC team, what’s new? In a 24-20 loss to the Titans the Bengals ended any talk of them squeaking in as a playoff team. The Titans on the other hand got their running attack going putting up 180 yards on the ground. Marcus Mariota looked unflappable in his final drive to win the game. Are the Titans AFC contenders? No. Down the stretch this team is going to play some exciting football though.
5. The Steelers last second field goal lifted them to a 20-17 win over the Colts. Showing us that this team is still the same old Steelers. The most bogus take in all of football right now is that the Steelers are the best team in football. How does the best team in football get shut down for 3 and a half quarters by the Colts? A team lacking any semblance of defense after cutting Vontae Davis. The Steelers found a way to win this game as they often do but it should not take a comeback to beat the Colts. Again Jacoby Brissett showed why he can be a top passer throwing for 222 yards and 2 touchdowns.
6. Ryan Fitzpatrick looked like a better Starter than Jameis Winston and the Jets looked about as lifeless as they could be in a 15-10 loss. The Jets may not go 8-8 that is the biggest takeaway from this game, 2 teams going nowhere.
7. The Vikings beat down on the Redskins, but two late interceptions gave Washington a chance in a 38-30 Vikings win. This was Case Keenums case to the world that he should be the starter in Minnesota. Keenum also showed why he could be a dumpster fire with three terrible throws two of which ended in interceptions. However for most of the game Keenum dominated throwing 4 touchdowns to 4 different wide receivers. The Redskins lost this game because when they got to the red zone they refused to take shots into the end zone. The Vikings on the other hand looked to the end zone as they marched down the field. Minnesota should be considered a very real threat in the NFC.
8. The Jaguars defense once again won the Jaguars a game as they beat the Chargers 20-17 in overtime. On a day where the running game didn’t show up for Jacksonville and Blake Bortles had a fourth quarter break down this was a win the Jags needed. However, we learned our lesson yet again we got sucked in by Blake Bortles and once again were shown just how bad he can be. Bortles nearly lost this game for the Jags however the Chargers lack of ability to close let them off the hook. The Chargers are done.
9. The Rams 33-7 win over the Rams showed us once again the Rams are for real. Fun fact, Jared Goff has 16 touchdowns three less than Tom Brady. If Goff continues at his recent pace he should be considered a real threat for MVP or offensive player of the year.
10. As the 49ers eviscerated the Giants we learned two things. 1, the Giants need to go into full rebuild mode. new coach, new gm, new QB. It was a good run for the Giants, but the Super Bowl window is no more. Don’t reload, rebuild. 2, this is what the 49ers can be at their best a team that makes CJ Beathard look like a franchise QB. They could do without playing Jimmy G right now especially with the way that O-line looks.
11. Dak Prescott didn’t fare well without Zeke. That wasn’t the Cowboys problem though, the Cowboys couldn’t protect Dak who got sacked 6 times by Adrian Claiborne 6 times. The Cowboys line needs to get healthy. Meanwhile the Atlanta Falcons stay alive for one more week, talk to me if you beat the Seahawks. In my mind this is still a non-playoff team that took advantage of a bad Cowboys defense.
12. Truly an era has ended in Denver. This team is built to win with defense and that defense is no longer top 10. It has given up 92 points to two of the league’s best offenses granted, still this feels like the end of a winning franchise. This team has so many issues. Their strength is Emmanuel Sanders who is ten times the receiver Demaryius Thomas is. Brock didn’t play awful but isn’t a solution at QB get Paxton Lynch in there. As far as the Patriots, what do you want me to say? Super Bowl here they come.