NFL Week 10 Review

You think you know, but you have no idea.  That pretty much sums up how it's been this season for the list of contenders.  At the start of each week you just never know who will come out of it looking like the team to beat in either conference.  Last week I posted a list of rankings for each team to show the order of contenders thus far.  A week later and that list already looks a lot different.

The Patriots and Jets would be moved to the top of the list following their Week 10 wins, while the two NFC North contenders both lost.

The Giants looked like the team to beat in the NFC before losing at home to the dysfunctional Cowboys, so Atlanta now looks like the top team in that conference.

There has already been 13 overtime games so far this season.  There were only 13 game that went to OT all of last season.  The record  for OT games in a season is 25, but there's a chance we could see that surpassed by the end of this year.

Green Bay, Oakland, New Orleans and San Diego did not go to OT this week, they were on a Bye.  It's the last week for Bye weeks, so every team in the league has now played the same number of games.

Here are some other things I noticed this week.

• The Falcons set the tone for an exciting week with a come back win at home against Baltimore.  Roddy White had a huge game (12 catches, 138 yards, 2 TDs), but no catch was bigger than the 33 yard TD catch to win the game with 20 seconds remaining.
• Welcome to the win column Buffalo!  It looked like they were going to blow it at the end for another heartbreaking loss after Calvin Johnson caught a TD pass with 14 seconds left in the game, but the Lions failed on the 2 point conversion attempt, so they failed to force OT.
• Detroit set a record with their 25th consecutive road loss, dating back to 2007.
• Another poor performance for the Vikings pretty much kills their playoff hopes.  Brett Favre's 3 Interceptions were a big part of why they lost.  He added another injury (shoulder) to his long list of ailments, but his ego won't let him quit by sitting out a game.  Unfortunately, the team seems to have already quit on Coach Brad Childress.
• Quotes from Vikings players about Childress:
• "We know that Childress doesn't have our backs, so why should we have his?"
• "We're playing for us, and we're winning despite him."
• "As much as I hate Childress. I will keep playing."
• "Fire Chilly!" (Ok, that one actually came from the fans, not the players... as far as we know).
• The Jets need to feel awfully fortunate to remain on top of the AFC East.  Despite supposedly having the best pass defense in the league, they let a rookie QB conduct a masterful 2 minute drive to tie the game with less than a minute left in the 4th quarter.  They went on to win in OT, but it took them nearly the entire period to do it, which nearly resulted in a tie.
• Cleveland should have had the game won on their first OT drive.  Chancy Stucky caught a pass that would have put the Browns in FG range to win the game, but rather than go out of bounds or fall to the ground he tried to fight for more unnecessary yardage.  The ball was stripped out of his hands and the Jets recovered the fumble.
• It's hard to fault a team for playing to win the game rather than conservatively playing for a tie, but starting at their own 3 yard line with 1:35 remaining is an uphill battle that may not be worth fighting.  By throwing an incompletion on first down it allowed the Jets to use their remaining two timeouts after the next plays so they were able to get the ball back.  It only took them one play to throw the winning TD pass.  Winning the game would have been a long shot, but the decision to go for it cost them a loss.  Cleveland isn't a contender anyway, so the difference between a loss and a tie is minimal, but for the Jets the win keeps them at the top of the AFC East, while a tie would have dropped them behind New England.
• The last play of the game showed some of the worst tackling you'll ever see by the Browns.  It seemed like once the ball was caught they assumed the Jets were close enough to FG range that it didn't matter anyway, so they had no interest in making the tackle. 
• In retrospect, Intercepting the Mark Sanchez pass at the three yard line was a poor choice.  Had the Browns just batted the ball down for an incompletion it would have forced the Jets to punt, which likely would have given them much better field position.
• The Jets became the first team in history to win back-to-back road games in OT.  One of these days their luck will run out.  Probably around the same time that Rex Ryan's snack collection runs out.
• Payton Manning was held to only 185 yards and ZERO TDs... but the Colts still won?  It's not like they dominated with the running game either.  Donald Brown led the way with only 50 rushing yards.  Manning played poorly (by his standards) but the Bengals were just worse.
• Carson Palmer filled up the stat sheet again while playing catch-up, but he still had a much worse game than Manning.  One of his three Interceptions was returned for a TD, which may have been a factor in a game they lost by 6 points.
• In the first game after the Dolphins bold decision to bench their starting QB, Chad Pennington managed only two pass attempts before leaving with an injured shoulder.  He's now out for the season.  So much for that plan!  They were forced to turn back to Chad Henne, who's confidence they had just shattered.  He actually started out doing really well, until he was also forced out with an injury.  Miami went Wild-Cat happy for a while before realizing they actually need a QB and turned to Tyler Thigpen.  Down to their 3rd string QB, they still managed to win the game against a team that had been leading their division.
• Randy Moss didn't have a big impact on the box score in his Titans debut, with only 1 catch for 26 yards.  It's the first time in his career that he's debuted with a new team without scoring a TD.  His presence and ability to stretch the field may have at least helped out his teammates, especially Chirs Johnson, who ran wild for 117 yards and a TD on only 17 carries.
• Despite having a talented backfield of DeAngelo Williams and Jonathon Stewart, the miserable Panthers offensive line had been unable to open enough running lanes for either of the dynamic running backs to come close to a 100 yard performance.  So of course the week that both are out with injuries they get a 100 yard game from an unknown 2nd year RB.
• LeGarrette Blount was nearly as impressive in the box score, but more much impressive on this highlight  thanks to the impressive corkscrew flip at the end of this 17 yard TD run.
• Coaches always tell defensive backs that they shouldn't try to intercept a Hail Mary pass, just knock it down.  That's exactly what the Texans tried to do on a 50 yard bomb from David Garrard as time was running out.  It was the right play to make, but this time it backfired - right back into the hands of Mike Thomas for the game winning TD.  You can't even script a miracle ending like that.
• Arian Foster had a minimal impact on this game due to a season low 15 carries, but it was enough to keep him as the league leader in rushing yards.  This became the Andre Johnson show (9 catches, 146 yards, 1 TD), as the Texans looked more like the team from last year that could light up the scoreboard with their passing game.  Unfortunately, just like in the past, their defense gave up even more yards.
• The Chiefs built an early division lead this season, but it's quickly starting to unravel.  They were embarrassed in this game, going down 35-0 by the second quarter.  This high scoring shootout was a classic example of two QBs putting up great stats, with one of them actually playing well while the other just padding his stats in garbage time.
• Matt Cassell had a career day with 469 yards and 4 TDs.  That would seem impressive if not for the fact that his defense never came close to keep them team in the game.  I think it's safe to assume they didn't go into that week game planning for him to throw 53 passes.
• Kyle Orton wasn't quite as impressive, but he was close to 300 yards again and remains 2nd in the league in passing yards.  He continued his great rapport with Brandon Lloyd (90 yards, 2 TDs).  One of those TDs was so close that it was originally called that Lloyd was out of bounds, but a replay showed he somehow managed to get both feet in.
• The KC loss drops them behind Oakland, who has become an unlikely division leader, at least for now.  The Chargers are still right behind them and steadily improving.  Even the Broncos are only 2 games back now, so you can't really eliminate them yet (although we should).
• Tim Tebow threw the first pass of his career for a TD, while adding another rushing TD as well.  With the way Orton has played they might as well make him the QB of the future and keep Tebow in the speciality role.  Considering how many people doubted Tebow would transition to a successful NFL QB, why not stick with the guy that is lighting up the league?  The passing game works, it's the rest of the team that needs to be fixed.
• The Giants came into this week as the most feared team in the NFC, on a league best 5 game winning streak where they've looked dominant on both sides of the ball.  So of course they lay an egg at home against a Dallas team that lost their starting QB to injury and just fired their coach.
• The Giants defense made Jon Kitna look like a Pro Bowler.  Only one turnover?? Come on Big Blue, you're better than that!  Plus, Kitna isn't that good.
• The lights went out in the New Meadowlands, cloaking the stadium in pitch black and delaying the game for 12 minutes.  Eli Manning can't blame that on the brutal pick that was returned for a TD.  The lights were on for that play, just not in Eli's head.
• In a matchup of terrible NFC West teams, Seattle blew out Arizona to become the only team in the division to have a winning record.
• No team in the NFC West has a positive point differential.  Why are they even still a division?  If the NFL ever considers contracting teams, just start with those 4.
• On the bright side, Arizona finally made it through a game using only one Quarterback!  Congrats Derek Anderson, you made it!  Sure, his team got blown out and he played poorly, but it's a start.
• In the other battle of terrible NFC West teams, the 49ers outlasted the Rams in OT.  Maybe it's just that the Rams defense isn't very good, but Troy Smith sure is looking a lot better than Alex Smith.
• The Patriots rebounded from their embarrassment in Cleveland last week to post a statement victory in Pittsburgh.  The Steelers were heavily favored given that they were at home, their defense can't be run on and the Pats struggle on the road.  Yet that's forgetting that:
• The Patriots are now 23-2 following a loss since 2003
• Tom Brady is 6-1 in his career against Pittsburgh
• The Patriots created the blue print for beating the Steelers by spreading their receivers and throwing on them all game.  They know they can't run against them, so they let Brady attack them by spreading it around to a variety of receivers.  It's why Brady has been able to throw for over 300 yards against them in each of their past 3 meetings - all Pats victories.
• Tom Brady was fired up for this game.  Anyone who thinks he's lost passion for the game and become too "Hollywood" since marrying Gisele needs only to look at the examples in this game of Brady screaming at his receivers on the sideline to light a fire under them, demanding that they step up to the challenge.  Or the way he spiked the ball in the endzone after his TD run.  He clearly still has the drive to win that has made him the most successful QB in the league.
• The 17 yard run by Ben Jarvis Green-Ellis was the longest run any opponent has had against the Steelers defense this year.  He finished with a respectable 87 yards on 18 carries, most of which came at the end of the game when the Pats were just trying to run out the clock.
• The Patriots young defense stepped up big time in this prime time matchup.  They start 4 rookies on defense, which has caused some growing pains at times this season, but they get better every week and are really starting to gell.  They held the Steelers to only 3 points through 3 quarters.  The final numbers don't do justice to the game they played.  Most of the yards and points they gave up came at the end of the game when the Steelers were desperately trying to come back.
• Mike Wallace is just too fast to cover.  On a few of his catches he was able to just have Roethlisburger throw it deep so he could outrun everyone to get it.  No defensive back can stop that.
• The Eagles absolutely destroyed the Redskins on Monday night.  Michael Vick had a career night that started with an 88 yard bomb to DeSean Jackson on the first play of the game.  The box score line for Vick was just mind boggling: 333 yards, 4 passing TDs, 80 rushing yards, 2 rushing TDs and a near perfect QB rating of 150.7. 
• The game was over pretty early, as the Eagles took a 35-0 lead in the second quarter.  The Redskins finally did manage to put some points on the board, but they couldn't stop the Eagles from pouring on more, so the game was never close.
• Before the game it was announced the that Redskins agreed to a 5 year extension with Donovan McNabb worth $78 million with $40 million of that guaranteed.  How soon do you think it will be before they regret that extension?  Do they regret it already after this game?  Is there any chance McNabb actually lasts 5 years in Washington?  Was this some sort of peace offering as an apology for embarrassing him in their last game when he was benched in the final two minutes?
• Andy Reid looks like even more of a genius now for getting two draft picks for McNabb when he clearly already has two QBs that are better.  Not only did they get decent value for a player they didn't need, but they stuck a division rival with an aging player on the decline that they were forced to convince themselves was their franchise player given what they gave up to get him.  Now Washington is stuck with yet another overpaid declining player who would have been great if it was still 2004.
• Terrell Owens, a former teammate of McNabb's in Philadelphia, posted the following quote on his Twitter account: "How do u justify a 78 million dollar contract w/this type of performance?" Pretty much sums it up.  When T.O. becomes the voice of reason in the league you know something is wrong.
• Every team in the league has at least 2 losses and 18 out of 32 teams have no more than 4 losses.
• Carolina is the first team to hit triple digits in point differential. Unfortunately for them, it's on the wrong side of it at -111.
• No team in the league currently has more than a 3 game winning streak: Green Bay, Atlanta, Oakland.
• All 4 of the AFC North teams lost this week.
• All 4 of the AFC East teams won this week (yes, even Buffalo!).
• The odds of either of those things happening again this season, let alone both in the same week, aren't very good.  But the way this season is playing out, anything can happen!