NFL Week 10: Accentuate the positive
There was a lot to hate about this mostly unwatchable Sunday in the NFL. Luckily, there were moments to celebrate too.
I’ve never really gotten the appeal of hate-watching. Comfort TV? Guilty pleasures? Now those I can understand. But there’s not enough hours in the day to watch all the quality entertainment available, so why would I waste my time on something I don’t actually enjoy?
Well, judging by Sunday’s games, I don’t think I’ll ever be on board with hate-watching. Almost every contest was an abomination and not in a “Pac-12 after dark” fun kind of way. Instead, it was a straight up “this is bad football and everyone should feel bad about participating in it” levels of unwatchable. In retrospect, we probably should’ve known this was coming when the Dolphins and Ravens produced three hours of hot garbage on Thursday night.
Pretty much the only way I could stomach writing about Week 10 was if I found anything positive to say about it. So I decided to highlight those around the league who had something to celebrate after Sunday.
Dan Quinn, in a revenge game
Everyone in the Dallas locker room should’ve been smiling after a blowout win over the Falcons. Not only did the Cowboys need a bounce-back victory, but they got one in the easiest, most stress-free way possible and they got big plays from all sides of the ball.
No one had a better day than Cowboys defensive coordinator Dan Quinn, the former Falcons coach who was fired in the middle of last season. His unit, even without leading sack artist Randy Gregory, put together its best performance of the season — and the best performance from the Cowboys defense in years. They held the Falcons to a season-low three points. They allowed just 222 total yards, fewest to an opponent since 2018. They came down with three interceptions, the most in one game in 11 years. Atlanta converted just one of 13 third- and fourth-down attempts.
Matt Ryan, fresh off a nearly flawless 343-yard, two-touchdown, no-turnover Week 9, registered the worst stat line of his career: 9 of 21 for 117 yards, 0 TDs, 2 INTs, two sacks, and a 21.4 passer rating. His afternoon ended early and, in a true sign of giving up, Josh Rosen replaced him (Rosen also threw a pick).
As winners of three of their previous four, the Falcons had been playing well lately until they made the trip to Arlington and encountered their former coach and his hungry defense. Even when Dak Prescott threw for 296 yards and accounted for three touchdowns, and even when CeeDee Lamb caught two touchdowns, and even when Nahshon Wright redeemed himself with a blocked punt touchdown, it’s no surprise that it was Quinn who received the game ball.
Jakobi Meyers, who finally caught a TD
Like the Cowboys, almost every member of the Patriots was a winner on Sunday. Everything went right for the home team in a 45-7 thrashing of the Browns. But it was the Patriots’ last touchdown, in garbage time with Brian Hoyer under center, that brought the biggest cheers in Gillette Stadium. That’s when Jakobi Meyers recorded his first career receiving touchdown:
Meyers has played for New England since 2019. The former quarterback recruit has thrown two touchdowns in his career and has hauled in two two-point conversions, but he hadn’t gotten in the end zone himself. In fact, he had the most receptions (134) and receiving yards (1,560) without a TD reception in NFL history until he finally ended the drought in his 39th regular season game.
I hope he and his dad got a chance to celebrate afterward.
Cam Newton, back where he belongs
I don’t love that it took an injury to Sam Darnold for it to happen, but I do love that Cam Newton is back with the Panthers. That’s where he belongs. He proved as much on his first snap for Carolina in more than two years, when he scored the Panthers’ first touchdown of the game against the previously one-loss Cardinals.
He proved it again on his second snap, when he threw the Panthers’ second touchdown of the game.
Despite joining the team three days prior, despite a new coaching staff, despite not playing since this preseason, and despite spending his previous Sunday eating cereal, Newton was, in his own words, baaaaaaack:
Although P.J. Walker took most of the snaps and stayed perfect as a starting quarterback, Newton is expected to start next week … against his former coach Ron Rivera. I never thought I’d be looking forward to a Washington-Carolina showdown, but it’s funny how quickly things can change in the NFL.
Taylor Heinicke, outdueling Tom Brady
Taylor Heinicke had his breakout game in last year’s playoffs against the eventual Super Bowl champions. Forced into the starting role, Heinicke gave the Bucs all they could handle in their biggest challenge of the postseason and showed that he at least deserved a job in the NFL.
Fast forward to this season, and Heinicke has been the starter for most of the season due to Ryan Fitzpatrick’s injury. Washington has predictably regressed this year and Heinicke hasn’t been able to recapture the magic from his lone playoff appearance. Well, at least until Sunday, when he faced Tampa Bay for the second time in less than a year.
This time, Heinicke got the best of Brady and the Bucs. While Brady threw two early interceptions and averaged just 6.5 yards per throw, Heinicke was efficient (one TD, 110.4 passer rating) and mistake-free (zero turnovers).
He even led a 10:26 touchdown drive late in the fourth quarter to ice the game. And I’ve gotta say, I much prefer this Taylor 10-minute production to the other one that’s gotten all the attention this weekend because 1) Heinicke’s version made Tom Brady upset and 2) was not a song about a three-month relationship from 11 years ago, tailor-made (pun intended) for people who have “protagonist of the world” syndrome.
(Please don’t send Swifties after me for that. I do not live for drama like they do.)
The Buffalo secondary, second to none
The Bills were already one of the top teams at forcing turnovers this season. They are now the top team in both total takeaways (24) and interceptions (15).
One week after their embarrassing loss to the Jaguars, the Bills rolled over the Jets and picked off Mike White four times. Each interception was made by a different starter for the Bills, too.
White fell back to earth so hard that this happened:
And it worked because Flacco finished the game! Brutal for the Jets, but well done by the Bills.
3 NFL punching bags, also getting in on the interception fun
NFL fans like to pile on certain players. Sometimes they go overboard, but there’s always a reason behind their criticism. This year, Packers corner Kevin King, Seahawks safety Jamal Adams, and Chiefs safety Daniel Sorensen have been roasted on the field and off.
Heading into Week 10, King hadn’t had an interception since 2019 and had allowed a 127.3 passer rating in coverage. To compare to another cornerback, Jalen Ramsey is holding opposing quarterbacks to a 68.4 passer rating.
Meanwhile, Adams also hadn’t come down with a pick since 2019 and had been allowing a passer rating of 124.0. Sorensen had been god awful all around: a perfect 158.3 passer rating allowed and a missed tackle rate of 21.6 percent. To compare to another safety, Kevin Byard was at a 46.5 passer rating allowed and had missed 4.8 percent of his tackles prior to Sunday.
Against all odds, all three of them recorded an interception this week. Adams had the most fun with his. King’s was the most pivotal. And Sorensen’s was … well, it looked like good guy Derek Carr was trying to do him a favor:
Marcus Johnson, the only Texas alum who had a good weekend
I had never even heard of Marcus Johnson until Sunday, when he led the Titans in receiving. With Julio Jones on IR and A.J. Brown held to just one catch, the Titans needed someone to step up, and Johnson answered the call. Coming into the game, Johnson had caught four passes for 60 yards this season. He beat those numbers against the Saints with five catches for 100 yards in a close win for Tennessee, its sixth in a row.
Before joining the Titans, Johnson had previously played for the Eagles and Colts. He entered the NFL in 2016 as an undrafted free agent out of Texas, so at least one Longhorn football player could hold his head up high this weekend.
Anyone who didn’t watch Steelers-Lions, a not-so-beautiful tie
Without question, the most unwatchable matchup on Sunday happened in cold, rainy Pittsburgh, where the Lions haven’t won since 1955. In a throwback to that era, both teams relied heavily on their ground attack — Jared Goff threw for just 54 yards in regulation and Mason Rudolph, filling in for Ben Roethlisberger, averaged 4.8 yards per throw. This slopfest of a game seemed destined to end in a tie as soon as it went to overtime.
In the extra period, the Steelers lost two fumbles and a bad snap cost them 19 yards of field position. On one Lions possession, a Steelers penalty wiped out a Goff interception and a roughing the passer call gave them a first down. The Lions lost 10 yards due to offensive holding, which pushed their potential game-winning field goal try back. Their kicker, recently elevated from the practice squad, missed it.
Dan Campbell compared the result to The Twilight Zone, but I wish I had been watching one of the greatest TV shows ever instead of spending part of my afternoon tuning in to the equivalent of, since I’m already making 50s references here, My Mother the Car.
At the very least, the Lions are guaranteed to not go 0-17, while the Steelers can preserve Mike Tomlin’s non-losing streak with an 8-8-1 record this year. Now, let me never speak of this game again. — SH
Christian’s shit list
All the things I hated in Week 10
1. The Chargers, cowardly shrinking from … the Vikings?
Los Angeles led the Vikings 17-13 in the third quarter, then fell apart at the hands of a Kirk Cousins comeback. That alone is enough to make me hate them.
But head coach Brandon Staley played it safe late against Minnesota, and that may have been all the Vikes needed to sit on a late lead. Trailing 24-14 with under five minutes to play, LA faced fourth-and-2 from the Minnesota 6-yard line. Rather than deploy an army of playmakers or tailback Austin Ekeler, Staley opted for a chip shot field goal. His team never saw the ball again.
It was a reasonable call, but a disappointing one. The Chargers announced they were playing for the tie, at best, rather than a win in regulation. They were also daring Dalvin Cook and the Viking offense to grind four-plus minutes off the clock against their 32nd-ranked rushing defense. Minnesota obliged, and LA got no further than the 17-point ceiling it imposed on itself.
The Chargers have now slid from 4-1 to 5-4 and allowed the Chiefs back into the AFC West hunt in the process. Their only win in that stretch was over the rebuilding Eagles, and even that was only by a field goal. Justin Herbert has gone from an MVP candidate to roughly league-average quarterback. Any curse we’d hoped was lifted when Philip Rivers retired has lingered. The Chargers remain frustrating as hell.
2. The Steelers’ rushing defense
Detroit came into Week 10 averaging 93 rushing yards per game. It hadn’t had more than 137 total yards on the ground in any contest this season. And then, on a day when Jared Goff threw for 114 yards, the Lions exploded for 229 against Pittsburgh’s once-elite defense.
D’Andre Swift, per NFL’s NextGenStats, averaged one fewer rushing yard than expected every carry over the first half of the season. He ended Sunday with 130 yards on the ground. Godwin Igwebuike and Jermar Jefferson each had breakaway touchdown runs. The Steelers got the same crappy passing game, more or less, they always get, shut down a bad opponent through the air, and still managed to crash through a date with the Lions without a victory. After losses from the Ravens and Browns put the fate of the AFC North to the wind, Pittsburgh ran screaming back to its house, locked the doors, and hid in the storm shelter.
3. You can affect the outcome of a Broncos game simply by observing it
Denver ran out to 3-0 by beating bad teams, then crashed back to 3-4 when its schedule turned tough. This led to a minor rebuild when Von Miller was shipped to the Rams for draft picks and, on cue, the Broncos began winning again. Beating the Washington Football Team sorta counts, but upending the now 7-2 Dallas Cowboys absolutely did.
So how did Denver seize that momentum? By losing to the Eagles, a team with nearly one-third of its entire salary cap tied to players who are not on its roster, by three possessions. The icing on the cake was Teddy Bridgewater’s business decision trailing 20-13 at the tail end of the third quarter.
On one hand, I am forever Team Teddy and want him to stay unhurt so he can ascend to the franchise quarterback heights I am eternally hopeful he will attain. On the other hand, eeeeesh. Come on, guy. The Broncos are now 5-5 and, like the Chargers, seemingly content to lay down and let the Chiefs claim the AFC West once more.
What a goddamn mess of a division.
4. The Atlanta Falcons, who pulled us in just to smash our hearts again
“The Falcons are fun again!” I whispered to myself as Atlanta came back from a blown 18-point fourth-quarter lead to beat the Saints in Week 9. They’d scrapped back to 4-4 and a spot in the playoffs in the completely uneven NFC. Matt Ryan was playing at levels approaching his 2016 MVP season. Cordarrelle Patterson was having a career year at age 30. Things were trending upward.
Then:
Oh. Jesus. Well, did Matt Ryan-
Gah. Well, at least that means Patterson got a bunch of touches, ri-
Alright whatever, I’m going home. — CD
Week 10 results, in five words or fewer
Cowboys 43, Falcons 3
Titans 23, Saints 21
Colts 23, Jaguars 17
Patriots 45, Browns 7
Boston media thinking Super Bowl
Bills 45, Jets 17
Lions 16, Steelers 16 (OT)
Washington 29, Bucs 19
Panthers 34, Cardinals 10
Vikings 27, Chargers 20
Close game goes Minnesota’s way
Packers 17, Seahawks 0
Eagles 30, Broncos 13
Chiefs 41, Raiders 14