This week in the NFL was headlined by a once star wide receiver leaving the Midwest for Hollywood, the defending AFC Champions looking explosive once again, a rookie quarterback making a statement, and a couple inexplicable losses that once again leave football fans wondering what teams (if any) are actually very good and is anyone worthy of MVP right now?
The Chiefs Offense Returns For At Least One Game
Whew, that was fun to watch. It’s been a minute since we’ve seen that type of performance from the Kansas City Chiefs. Something that was a regular occurrence for the past few years seemed like it was gone, but out of no where Pat Mahomes and Andy Reid dialed up on of the best offensive performances of the year. With 516 yards of total offense, 29 first downs, and five passing touchdowns from the former MVP in a 41-14 win, Kansas City jumped ahead of the division rival Las Vegas Raiders in the AFC West Standings to claim first place for the first time in weeks. It’s one great game for the defending AFC Champions, but they have now quietly won three games in a row with a game against Dallas coming up in Week 11. With four of their remaining seven games against divisional opponents, the Chiefs will be able to really separate themselves in the division and as crazy as it sounds, are not necessarily completely out of acquiring the AFC’s number one seed. Has Kansas City finally figured out their offensive issues or was this just a one game occasion? The Cowboys will be a nice follow up trial to find out.
Rams Gain OBJ, Lose Woods and Monday Night Football
It was an eventful week for one of the favorites in the NFC as the Los Angeles Rams signed Odell Beckham Jr. after he forced his way out of Cleveland and cleared league waivers. OBJ joined an already very good wide receiver room which then proceeded to take a hit by losing Robert Woods for the rest of the season to a torn ACL that he injured during practice. The loss of Woods is a critical hit to the Rams as he was beginning to really gain chemistry with Matthew Stafford after a relatively quiet start to the season. Now the Rams find the OBJ acquisition as more of a necessity to complement Cooper Kupp as opposed to an added luxury to an already loaded position group.
The Rams took an additional hit on Monday Night when they received their second straight loss after a defeat at the hands of the San Francisco 49ers, 31-10. Los Angeles has one of the toughest remaining schedules in football so the team who looked like a serious championship contender only a couple weeks ago may be starting to feel the pressure setting in. They get a needed bye, but then return in a very important and tough matchup as they travel to Green Bay in Week 12.
Mac Daddy Jones
Mac Jones! Mac Jones! Say that with the similar energy as rapper Mike Jones. Mac Jones, rookie quarterback of the New England Patriots, may not be able to say his phone number with the same flow as the previous mentioned Mike, but he sure just put on a throwing clinic against the Cleveland Browns. The best of the rookie quarterbacks thus far and frankly it hasn’t been close, Jones was about as efficient as you can be by completing 19 of 23 passes for 198 yards and throwing three touchdowns. Jones ability to play so well as a rookie without any elite weapons, combined with the Patriots defense that has reasonable claim to being the best in the NFL are the main reasons Bill Belichick’s team is in a wild card position as the standings currently stand. It gets better for New England. With two games still remaining against the Buffalo Bills and being right on their heels in the standings, the Pats might have a real chance to win the AFC East. It took awhile to get going, but with four straight wins New England is currently one of the hottest teams in the league.
Baltimore and Tampa Bay, Week 10’s “How Did THEY Lose THAT Game?”
Every week we get at least one of these games. Every. Single. Week. The Baltimore Ravens and Tampa Bay Buccaneers were this week’s teams to lose a game that you would think they couldn’t possibly lose.
Baltimore started the week off with a 22-10 Thursday Night Football loss to Miami. The Ravens couldn’t get anything going on offense. A team that on average rushes for over 150 yards per game was held to only 94 yards. Baltimore seems like they are at their best when they have a nice balance of pass, run, and Lamar scrambles, but considering they were down, Miami was able to focus their defense more on containing Jackson. To give Miami credit, their defensive performance was spirited and looked much similar to the unit fans saw last season.
Tampa Bay ran into the Taylor Heinicke Show again. Following up his NFC Wild Card performance last season, the Washington quarterback has now played two very good games across the field from the greatest of all time. The 29-19 road loss for the Bucs was not a good look when you consider this game was off of the bye week and a loss to the Saints the week before. From a standings standpoint, Tampa is now bumped down to the fourth division leader which means as of now they would be matched up against the Los Angeles Rams. Most would have reason to believe Tampa will be a different team come playoff team, but they aren’t doing themselves any favors setting the table for the post season with their last two games.
Cowboys Get Back Up On Their Horse
What a difference a week made for Dak Prescott and the Dallas Cowboys. After their worst performance of the year in a loss at home to Denver, the Cowboys rose from the dead to obliterate the Atlanta Falcons. Everything was working for Dallas this week in their 43-3 win. Besides the obvious score difference, the Cowboys doubled the Falcons in total yards 431-214, won the turnover battle 3-1, and controlled the clock with nearly 38 minutes to only 22 for the Falcons. Prescott and CeeDee Lamb’s chemistry also seemed to be on point with them connecting for two touchdowns. The Falcons are not one of the dominating teams in the NFC, but the win should still bring a sigh of relief to Cowboys fans and rebuild confidence that they can make a run in the NFC playoff picture.
Lions Get a Wi…Tie
The Lions likely won’t make another Brewball blog for the remainder of the season, but I’ll take this time to congratulate them on the accomplishment of not losing and avoiding becoming the first 0-17 NFL team in history with their 16-16 tie against Pittsburgh. Even though Detroit avoided the loss column for the ninth straight game, it didn’t come without heartbreak as Ryan Santoso whiffed on a would be game winning 48 yard field goal in overtime. To add even more insult to injury, the Lions were unable to pull out the win with Ben Roethlisberger out and Mason Rudolph in at quarterback for the Steelers. Rudolph was as unimpressive as he’s ever been, but Jared Goff did his best to mimic the backup quarterback. Goff continues to be winless without Sean McVay in his ear. Detroit’s remaining schedule is as follows: at Cleveland, Chicago, Minnesota, at Denver, Arizona, at Atlanta, at Seattle, and Green Bay. The Lions opportunity to get that elusive win will likely remain hard to get. Alright, Lions fans. I guess this wasn’t that much of a congratulatory post.
Looking Ahead to Week 11
Kansas City looked like a joke of themselves for weeks and next week they are probably one part of the best game of the weekend when they welcome Dallas. This is a big game for the Chiefs to show that their win against the Raiders was for real. It also presents an important game for the Cowboys as it would be a huge win in their hope to claim a playoff bye. If Mahomes and Prescott match what they looked like this weekend, all football fans will be in for a treat.
Arizona travels to Seattle in what seems like a do or die game for the Seahawks. The Cardinals will obviously be hoping for the returns of Kyler Murray and DeAndre Hopkins to help them maintain pace in the NFC race. Home field in the playoffs seems like a really important thing for the Cards in order to prevent them traveling to places like Dallas or Green Bay.
The Bengals and Raiders game feels like it could be a potential AFC eliminator match. Technically, that won’t be the case but with so many teams in the AFC with continued playoff hopes it feels like tie breakers will be a huge factor with the three wild card spots.
The Vikings also welcome the Green Bay Packers to U.S. Bank Stadium for the first of their two games this season. The NFC North seems all but finished, however, it’s important for both teams. The Vikings are coming off arguably their best game of the season by defeating the Chargers on the road and look to hang around in the NFC Wild Card race. The Packers, much like Dallas and Arizona, are hoping to stay on top of the NFC bye race. Traditionally in the Aaron Rodgers era, the Minnesota home game tends to be more competitive so I would expect this to be a pretty close and stressful game for myself, while being entertaining for football fans who don’t give a shit about the Packers or Vikings.