NFL Week 10: Recap & Power Rankings

Toot, toot! The upset train appears to be gaining momentum as it rolled into the Week 10 station and derailed my picks, showing that no team is immune to a bad beat on “any given Sunday”. By my count, there were 6 upsets (including the Steelers/Lions tie) but I still managed to go 7-6-1 officially, but I did make some late-minute changes that slightly helped in our Pick ‘Em league. Christen won the week with an impressive 10-3-1 and it looked like I was going to gain some ground vs the spread and the over/under but it was not to be.

Nick – W	Nick – L	Nick – T	Spread – W	Spread – L	Spread – Push	O/U – W	O/U – L	O/U – Push	Christen – W	Christen – L	Christen – Tie
7	6	1	6	8	0	5	6	2	10	3	1
Previous	Previous	Previous	Previous	Previous	Previous	Previous	Previous	Previous	Previous	Previous	Previous
84	52	0	72	62	2	59	60	1	78	56	0
Overall	Overall	Overall	Overall	Overall	Overall	Overall	Overall	Overall	Overall	Overall	Overall
91	58	1	78	70	2	64	66	3	88	59	1

The last stop on the Week 10 upset train was San Francisco, as the 49ers beat the brakes off the Rams 31-10 to close out the week on Monday Night Football. I have a tendency to see bad omens in games and, sometimes, they seal the fate of a game early on. Matthew Stafford threw an interception while looking for Odell Backham Jr. on the game’s opening drive. San Francisco responded with a 93-yard touchdown drive and then pick-sixed Stafford to make it 14-0 at the end of the 1st quarter. The Rams never recovered. That’s back-to-back losses as favorites for Los Angeles and they have some soul searching to do while the Niners kept their post-season hopes alive with a crucial win as their three division foes all lost.

It was the return of a couple of big name QBs in some other NFC West matchups. Seattle was supposed to get an offensive boost with Russell Wilson returning from finger surgery to battle the Packers, but you could tell it was still a major issue for him as he was shutout for the first time in his career, 17-0, by an improving Green Bay defense. Cam Newton returned to the Panthers and led them to victory over the Cardinals who handed the NFC lead back to the Packers with the 34-10 loss. Kyler Murray and DeAndre Hopkins were still sitting out, so it’s not as concerning of a loss as we saw for the Rams.

Don’t look now, but the Chiefs are back in first place in the AFC West after their Sunday night win over the Raiders. Despite a rocky 3-4 start, KC has rattled off three in row now and are right back in the thick of things. Las Vegas has now lost back-to-back games and given away the division lead as they look to salvage what appeared to be a promising season before the off-the-field problems began.

The other potential contenders in the AFC West were humbled by teams with losing records as the Broncos lost at home to the Eagles, 30-13, and the Chargers lost at home to the Vikings, 27-20. The Bolts looked like one of the best teams in football after their 4-1 start, but have struggled mightily going 1-3 in their last four. The Broncos similarly started the season strong at 3-0, but have gone 2-5 since. This isn’t the time of season to be playing your worst football.

With the Ravens losing on the Thursday night, the door was open for the Steelers to take the lead in the AFC North. However, a last-minute Covid scratch for Ben Roethlisberger threw in a wrench in those plans. While technically not an upset, the Lions ended their losing streak as the game ended in 16-16 tie. Both teams had chances to win it in overtime but Detroit missed the game winning FG and Pittsburgh fumbled the game away twice. Truthfully, neither team deserved the win.

Cleveland had the chance to get to 6-4 and 2nd place in the AFC North, but they went into New England and got handled by the Patriots. I was totally wrong about this game. The Browns were actually up 7-0 in that game before the Pats unleashed 45-unanswered points to close it out. Baker Mayfield couldn’t do much of anything and D’Ernest Johnson 157-yards didn’t help much while playing from behind. The Pats have won four in-a-row and suddenly look like one of the best teams in the AFC after their 2-4 start while the Browns may miss the playoffs with a very difficult schedule remaining.

The Buffalo Bills still remain atop the AFC East and reestablished themselves as one of the top dogs in the conference with a 45-17 win over the Jets. Yes, the Jets are 2-7 but they’ve beaten some good teams and have looked much better in recent weeks. It was almost a must win game for the Bills who are now forced to fend off the Pats while they try to get the top seed in the AFC.

For the time being, that top seed belongs to the Titans who squeeked out a win over the Saints, 23-21. At 8-2, Tennessee is now tied for the best record in the league and they just keep finding ways to get the Ws and that’s what matters. New Orleans could have taken first place from the Bucs with a win, but their QB situation isn’t great and Alvin Kamara wasn’t play.

Tampa Bay opened that door for them with a loss to Washington, 29-19. It was the best Washington has looked all season, at least defensively. maybe there was some carry over from a close game in the playoffs last season. The Bucs just never looked right. They had trouble in pass protection and the absence of Gronk, Antonio Brown, and Scotty Miller changes a lot. At the end of the day, TB didn’t lose much ground and Washington didn’t gain it either.

There may not have been a ton of ground to gain, but Dallas got what little there was to be had by smashing Atlanta 43-3. It was a much-needed return to form after an embarrassing loss to the Broncos last week. The Falcons have issues but they’ve played well enough to hide that against teams closer to their level, but the Boys reminded them what the hierarchy looks like.

Speaking of hierarchies, the Colts made sure to remind the Jaguars of their place in the AFC South but the Jags didn’t take it lying down. Indy jumped out to a big lead early in the game and were leading 20-6 at one point, but the Jags stormed the gates at made it a 3-point game before eventually fumbling on what could have been the game winning drive and losing 23-17. Jacksonville has yet to win on the road this season, but they are getting better each week and they play hard. Their future looks bright.

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The Packers re-take the top spot, Dallas returns to the top-5, and the Chiefs and Patriots crack the top-10 whether I like it or not.

1. Packers 8-2 (⬆2)+1

2. Titans 8-2 (⬆3)+1

3. Cardinals 8-2 (⬇1)-2

4. Cowboys 7-2 (⬆7)+3

5. Rams 7-3 (⬇4)-1

6. Buccaneers 6-3 (⬇5)-1

7. Bills 6-3 (⬆8)+1

8. Ravens 6-3 (⬇6)-2

9. Chiefs 6-4 (⬆15)+6

10. Patriots 6-4 (⬆16)+6

11. Raiders 5-4 (⬇9)-2

12. Steelers 5-3-1 (=)

13. Saints 5-4 (⬇10)-3

14. Chargers 5-4 (⬇11)-3

15. Browns 5-5 (⬇13)-2

16. Bengals 5-4 (⬇14)-2

17. Colts 5-5 (⬆19)+2

18. Panthers 5-5 (=)

19. Broncos 5-5 (⬇17)-2

20. Vikings 4-5 (=)

21. 49ers 4-5 (⬆24)+3

22. Falcons 4-5 (=)

23. Eagles 4-6 (⬆25)+2

24. Seahawks 3-6 (⬇21)-3

25. Bears 3-6 (⬇23)-2

26. Washington 3-6 (⬆29)+3

27. Giants 3-6 (⬇26)-1

28. Dolphins 3-7 (⬆30)+2

29. Jaguars 2-7 (⬇28)-1

30. Jets 2-7 (⬇27)-3

31. Texans 1-8 (=)

32. Lions 0-8-1 (=)