Week 10 is in the books and what a week it was. A couple spectacular duds, some really competitive, high-scoring affairs, whatever it was the Ravens did...and more! Let's start out on Thursday with one of those aforementioned stinkers:
Bears 16- Panthers 13
-Really bad game to kick off the week. A little optimism early in the form of a 79 yard punt return touchdown by Ihmir Smith-Marsette, but that was about the only excitement Thursday night
-Bryce Young looked very, very bad. Between air mailing balls to the sideline or throwing the ball into the ground in the flats, there was nothing inspiring about his play. Frustrating start to his career in Carolina
-Not any other positive things to take from the Panthers in this one. They can't move the ball on offense and their defense is okay. No first round pick...future looks bleak
-Tyson Bagent looked slightly more efficient than Young, low bar there however. The fact we're comparing the #1 pick to an UDFA from Shepherd only adds to that pessimistic forecast
-D'Onta Foreman enjoyed 80 rushing yards and a trip to the end zone against his former team, that spurned in him free agency to overpay Miles Sanders instead. The latter took his two carries on the night for -5 yards
Colts 10- Patriots 6
-This game was as bad as the score indicates. Each team exchanged long scoring drives before seven straight punts and a missed field goal to wrap up the first half 7-3. Should've probably stayed in bed
-Mac Jones was benched again, in what feels like the final time. His red zone interception, that essentially sealed the game, was one of the worst throws you'll ever see in an NFL game. He had Hunter Henry wide open over the top for the go ahead score and floated it like 5 yards short. Pathetic
-Rhamondre Stevenson is still really good at least, one thing for Patriots fans to be happy about. Ezekiel Elliott ran with a little burst. Rookie Demario Douglas looks like he can be a solid contributor as well. It won't matter though with QB play like that, as indicated by the six points here
-Bailey Zappe's fake spike was pretty awesome to see, as was his hilarious interception moments later
-Gardner Minshew had an ugly day, but the few big throws he did make ended up being the difference. His floater to Josh Downs late in the fourth for a crucial first down was a top notch throw on an extended play
-Jonathan Taylor's backfield now, out carrying Zack Moss 23:1
-Michael Pittman Jr. is a really good receiver, hauling in 8 passes for 84 yards. He finds space almost at will and is quick for a dude as large as he is
Texans 30- Bengals 27
-When we do start seriously considering CJ Stroud in the MVP discussion? OROY seems like a lock, but the kid is balling out in the hardest position to play in all of sports, elevating a motley crew around him. In a year with no clear-cut frontrunner, we've got to at least throw his name in the mix
-It wasn't all sunshine though for the #2 pick, as he gave Cincy a lot of life late with a pick inside their own 20. All's well that ends well, as he made up for the blunder
-Devin Singletary had a career best game, giving the Texans some life on the ground for this first time this season as he handled 30 carries for 150 yards and a score
-Noah Brown's seemingly emerged as a pretty damn good receiver, leading the team with 7 catches for 172 yards
-Joe Burrow wasn't bad Sunday, but he wasn't the dominant version of himself we'd seen over the last month
-Big days for Ja'Marr Chase and Tyler Boyd, each clearing the century mark in receiving yards with Tee Higgins sidelined. Boyd had three more receptions than Chase, but it was the latter who found pay dirt late in the third quarter
-Third string tight end Tanner Hudson showed nice chemistry with Burrow, connecting 6 times for 33 yards. Possible name to watch on the waiver wire over the next week or two
Vikings 27- Saints 19
-Terminable game by Dennis Allen here. You're allegedly a defensive minded head coach, trailing 27-3 early in the second half to a team whose starting quarterback hasn't been there two calendar weeks yet. Pathetic; absolute dog shit performance
-Derek Carr was playing terribly, then suffered a concussion which knocked him out of the game. Jameis Winston came in and at least tried to push the ball down field, producing as Jameis-esque a line as you'll see, going 13-25 for 122 yards, 2 touchdowns and two picks
-Chris Olave was anemic with Carr under center, but came alive with the loose cannon Winston at the helm, posting a 6/94/1 line as the Saints failed to dig out of the hole they dug themselves into
-Another Alvin Kamara day: 42 rushing yards with 33 receiving on 7 carries. PPR monster, almost nonexistent efficiency
-Clap it up for Josh Dobbs. Fourth team in like ten months, coming off of a comeback win that seemed impossible to top, and he just about does it. No turnovers, a rushing and passing touchdown, plus the overall vibe that this was something he could handle. We've fallen for this before, so I wouldn't put an egg in this basket yet, but the supporting cast around him helps
-Speaking of which, TJ Hockenson is absurd, leading the way with 11 catches for 134 and a score. Jordan Addison was steady again in the passing game too, perhaps enticing Justin Jefferson to be more eager to return?
-Second year running back Ty Chandler handled the bulk of the carries for Minnesota, racking up 45 yards and a touchdown after Alexander Mattison went down with a concussion. He could be in line for some extra work in the coming week or two
Steelers 23- Packers 19
-Feels like I've seen this Steelers game 100 times. A lot of running, a lot of defense and another win on Mike Tomlin's resume
-Aaron Jones failing to eclipse 50 yards cost me a really pretty penny. It's going to sting for a while, so we're plugging it. He had 35 on 13 carries, good for 2.7 a pop
-Jordan Love moved the ball downfield a little better than he has recently, but that also resulted in two interceptions
-Rookies Jayden Reed and tight end Luke Musgrave are quietly becoming his favorite targets, combining for 7 receptions and 148 yards
-Kenny Pickett's as pedestrian as they come. 14-23 for 126 yards. Yeah, at least he didn't have any turnovers?
-Jaylen Warren was a spark plug once again, taking 15 carries for 101 and a trip to the end zone. He's been hard to tackle in recent weeks
-Gotta give some love to Najee Harris too, who also scored on one of his 16 totes. He managed to average 5.1 yards on them
-George Pickens didn't have negative yardage, leading the team with 45 yards
Buccaneers 20- Titans 6
-Felt like this one could've got good, until it never really did. A real dud in a game with some exploitable matchups
-Baker Mayfield did his part, shredding a weak secondary for 278 yards on 18 completions. He had two touchdowns and was intercepted once
-Rachaad White ran the ball 20 times, for just 51 sad yards. The Bucs rushing game truly is pathetic, but he's been a nice piece in the passing game, scoring from 43 yards out on a screen pass
-Mike Evans went bonkers, catching 6 of 10 targets for 143 yards and a score. He dropped what would've been another, surely not tarnishing a banner day
-Will Levis is still very much a rookie-- and he had a couple of small, nonconsecutive moments Sunday-- but it wasn't great against the Bucs corners who just gave up 470 passing yards to fellow first year QB CJ Stroud
-Derrick Henry was very bad, rushing for 24 yards on 11 carries. Ty'Jae Spears put up 18 on the ground and 42 receiving, as he continues to campaign for a bigger workload
-I've spoken negatively about corner Roger McCreary in previous blogs, but he's actually been one semi-bright spot in an otherwise awful Tennessee secondary. He nabbed his first INT of 2023 off Baker
49ers 34- Jaguars 3
-Everything I thought Trevor Lawrence would do, happened. The man completely folded, yet again, against an aggressive defense that forced him to beat them. He couldn't, and hasn't proven the ability to yet in the NFL. 17-29 for 185, 2 interceptions and a lost fumble, gross
-Travis Etienne's production suffered as a result on the woeful game script, only managing to carry the rock nine times
-Christian Kirk's a really good, consistent receiver for the Jags, while Calvin Ridley's the definition of streaky. The new wideout has four games with 2 or less receptions while putting up three games with 6+. When it's good, it's great. When it's not, he's invisible
-Maybe Brock Purdy really needed this bye week to let his brain fully heal up because he looked all the way back, against what had been a pretty solid Jacksonville defense. 296 yards, 73% completion percentage and 3 touchdowns
-Christian McCaffery's streak of games with a touchdown has finally concluded. 17 games though, just the second in history to ever accomplish the feat. Really impressive stuff
-George Kittle is a really great tight end. Like Ridley, he'll disappear here and there for stretches across games, but when it's clicking, he's a big play machine. He averaged just under 39 yards per catch Sunday, finding the end zone once
-First half sack notched by Chase Young as a member of the San Francisco 49ers. He, and the defense as a whole, were relentless for all four quarters
Browns 33- Ravens 31
-Just a disgusting, inexcusable loss by the Ravens here. Another game where they're completely in control before pissing things away in the fourth quarter
-It feels like we've seen this too many times from Lamar Jackson, because we have. Baltimore's lost 7 games over the last two seasons with him at the reigns where they've had a 75% chance to win or greater in the fourth quarter. 5 of those games, their chances of winning were higher than 90%, including 97.1% odds this most recent Sunday. Lamar's my guy, but that's a trend that needs to get ironed out
-Keaton Mitchell averaged 16.5 yards per touch, so naturally the offense just phases him out for essentially the final three quarters. That made no sense to me whatsoever
-Nice day for Zay Flowers, that could've been even nice if he and #8 could connect on a deep ball that would've been a 60 yard house call. Another area where our quarterback needs to improve
-Kyle Hamilton's pick six was one of the sickest plays you'll ever see, let alone start a game with. He's a monster on the blitz
-Credit to Cleveland for going into Baltimore and taking out their division rivals. Outside of the fluky pick six, Deshaun Watson's play was a big part of that, going 20/34 for 213 yards and a score. He picked up some big first downs late through the air to put his team in a position to win
-Career high in rushing for Jerome Ford with 107. He gashed the Ravens front seven as the game went along, generally looking more explosive than Kareem Hunt. But they're a nice duo
-David Njoku looks so big when he's in the open field with the ball, not envious of those who've got to bring that down
-James Proche muffing that punt in the fourth to set up a Baltimore touchdown felt like such a storybook ending. Alas...what a terrible loss
Cardinals 25- Falcons 23
-Kyler Murray's back! It wasn't all pretty, but he was pretty efficient with the ball all afternoon, leading the team to a game winning field goal late and scrambling into the end zone just before the half. Definitely an encouraging performance for someone's first action in nearly a year
-James Conner made his return noticed too, rushing for 73 at just under 5 yards per clip
-Trey McBride was Murray's favorite target, securing 8 of 9 targets for 131 yards. He'll be on the TE1 radar if that connection continues. Rondale Moore was also very involved, particularly in the short pass game
-Got a little Taylor Heinicke to start this game out, which was terrible. Then he hurt his hamstring, so in came Desmond Ridder, which was slightly better, but awful nonetheless. 70 net passing yards between them. Thought this was the NFL?
-Bijan Robinson finally got the workload he deserves, posting 95 yards and a touchdown-- but most importantly, out carrying Tyler Allgeier 22 to 9
-Probably an overreaction, but it feels like Arthur Smith's seat should be heating up here sooner than later. The Falcons just look lame
Lions 41- Chargers 38
-Game of the week! Lions off a bye versus a talented and desperate Chargers team, all the potential in the world to be a banger, and both teams completely delivered
-754 total yards of offense, 47 first downs, 79 total points. This game was absolute chaos
-Jared Goff was locked in, completing over 2/3's of his passes for 333 yards and two touchdowns
-Unsurprisingly, Amon Ra St. Brown was his favorite target, posting an obscene 8/156/1 receiving line
-Despite the gaudy numbers in the pass game, the running back duo of David Montgomery and Jahmyr Gibbs, those were the men of the day. Monty took 12 carries for 116 yards and a score, while the rookie handled 17 total touches for 112 yards and two rushing touchdowns. Any doubts about whether the two could coexist in the backfield are alleviated for at least this week
-Justin Herbert also played out of his mind, going 27/40 for 323 + four touchdowns. His defense couldn't do enough to reward his efforts with a win
-Austin Ekeler tallied 115 total yards on the evening, punching one in on the ground
-Keenan Allen's as good a receiver as you're going to get in this league. In the midst of his monster day, he had to exit the game with a shoulder injury. He returned however, continuing to put up insane statistics, ultimately finishing with an 11/175/2 day. Not his fault they fell short
Cowboys 49- Giants 17
-As predicted, absolute dismantling by the Dallas Cowboys. This game probably could've been worse too, with Dak and Cooper Rush each throwing picks
-That was about the only blemish on a fantastic outing by Mr. Prescott. 404 passing yards and 5 total touchdowns (one rushing). Love him or hate him, phony or not, he is entering the MVP discussion
-Disappointing day for Tony Pollard fantasy owners, who saw their top pick rush for just 55 yards while failing to even see a target in the pass game. To make matters worse, it was the highest rushing yardage Pollard's put up since September
-CeeDee Lamb had another ridiculous day receiving, racking up 9 catches for 151 and a score. He also added a 14 yard rushing touchdown. Only Brandin Cooks outgained him, putting up 173 yards on the day-- more than doubling his total for the season
-DaRon Bland recorded another interception, putting him up to 5 on the year
-Well, Tommy DeVito led the Giants to 17 points. That's a highlight right? It's only the second time they've managed to score 17 or more points all season
-Saquon Barkley did everything he could to try and keep this close, but it was futile. He managed 5.1 yards a pop on his 13 carries
-Despite Tommy DeVito's "improved performance", New York still didn't have a pass catcher with more than 3 receptions or 34 yards
Seahawks 29- Commanders 26
-Hell of a game to wrap up our 4 PM block, with 27 total points in the final frame to give us a little excitement before the Sunday night...contest
-Sam Howell was excellent once again, racking up 312 through the air and 3 more touchdowns. He's currently leading the entire NFL in passing yards
-The Commanders backs' didn't get much going on the ground, but went crazy in the short passing game. Antonio Gibson caught 5/42 and a score, but paled in comparison to Brian Robinson's 6/119/1 receiving line. Huge performances by the two
-Big 0'fer from Jahan Dotson and Jamison Crowder after mini hot streaks. Washington's receivers as a whole produced very meagerly, only mustering 87 of the teams 312 passing yards
-Crucial win for Seattle after the clinic Baltimore put on them. Geno Smith looked back to form, torching the Commanders secondary for 369 passing yards and two scores
-Kenneth Walker didn't do a ton on the ground, but his 64 yard touchdown off a screen play was a sick highlight, salvaging his fantasy day
-DK Metcalf had a big bounce back game, grabbing 7 balls for 98 yards. Tyler Lockett was a great complement, adding 8/92/1 of his own
Raiders 16- Jets 12
-Woof.
-I'm not sure how anybody can continue endorsing Zach Wilson under center. Enough's enough, the dude is complete ass at the quarterback position, truly one of the worst I've ever witnessed
-Garrett Wilson and Tyler Conklin were able to play well in spite of Wilson's best efforts to thwart them, racking up 93 and 70 receiving yards each, respectively
-Like this defense, poor Breece Hall is just wasting away on this team. Piss poor offensive line and virtually no threat of the passing game has the second year back seeing more stacked boxes than an Amazon warehouse
-Aidan O'Connell played admirably against one of the most imposing defenses in the league, managing to complete 16 of 27 passes for 153 yards, a TD and an INT. Far from pretty, but he managed a win, which is more than his counterpart can say
-Josh Jacobs was a workhorse once again, toting the ball 27 times for 116 yards. He did lose a late fumble while the Raiders led by 4, but fortunately the Jets couldn't do anything to make them pay for it
-Davante Adams finally finding his way to the box score, relatively at least. 6 catches for 86 yards used to be a modest line for the All-Pro, but that's about his ceiling right now with their QB situation
Broncos 24- Bills 22
-Bye Ken Dorsey. We've been calling for that change for weeks, but it finally took an embarrassing, four turnover loss at home to the lowly Broncos to get the wheel rolling
-Wouldn't have been shocked if there were more coaching changes made after Monday night. The 12 men on the field penalty that gave Wil Lutz a second chance at the game winning field goal was absolutely a fireable offense, for any coaching staff
-Josh Allen's amazing when he's great and is literally a turnover machine the rest of the time. One can overlook it when they're winning games, but the problem is starting to rise to the surface quickly
-James Cook had a bad fumble early that resulted in his relegation to the bench for a little over a quarter. The Bills didn't score while he was out. Once he got back in, he had a ton of success running the ball, topping the century mark for the second time this season. Maybe Dorsey should've worked harder on that whole "offensive balance" thing
-Credit to Sean Payton for keeping his head low and powering back after an atrocious start to 2023. He's minimized Russell Wilson's role and demands, which has been met with really efficient play by the maligned QB. This season may be salvageable yet
-Javonte Williams has been a huge part of the drastic turnaround, handling 21 carries for 79 yards and finding pay dirt on a dump off late in the fourth quarter. The man makes people pay for trying to tackle him
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@Choppinglines
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