NFL Overreactions Week 10
Sports Seriously’s Mackenzie Salmon breaks down the wildest games in NFL Week 10.
Sports Seriously
NFL power rankings entering Week 11 of the 2024 season (previous rank in parentheses):
1. Kansas City Chiefs (1): Their +58 point differential is the smallest ever for a 9-0 team. They’ll take it. They’d also take a win at Buffalo on Sunday, which would effectively give them a four-game lead over the Bills, Ravens and Chargers in the race for the AFC’s top seed given a K.C. triumph in Western New York would mean wins over all those clubs.
2. Detroit Lions (2): Add resilience to their special sauce now that they’ve notched their first win under HC Dan Campbell after trailing by double digits at halftime … while becoming the first team in 12 years to prevail despite its quarterback serving up five INTs.
3. Baltimore Ravens (3): How badly are things going? A kneel-down in Thursday’s victory dropped them to 99 rushing yards and ended a streak of 42 consecutive games surpassing the century mark – one shy of the league record. It’ll be fine, fellas.
4. Buffalo Bills (4): A team on a five-game roll – and 8-2 for the first time in three decades – is close to getting LB Matt Milano back from a torn biceps and might be able to bring back LB Tyrel Dodson, too, after he was waived Monday by Seattle.
5. Philadelphia Eagles (10): QB Jalen Hurts has caught fire simultaneously with a team back atop the NFC East. His lowest passer rating during Philly’s five-game win streak is 115.0, a stretch during which Hurts became the first quarterback ever to rush for at least 10 TDs in four seasons (all consecutively incidentally).
6. Pittsburgh Steelers (8): Sunday, they’ll become the final AFC team to play a divisional game this season – and good chance QB Russell Wilson throws a TD pass for a league-best 23rd consecutive game while taking aim at a Baltimore pass defense ranked dead last in the NFL.
7. Washington Commanders (5): Local excitement around QB Jayden Daniels and this team remains palpable … yet still hasn’t prevented teams like the Steelers from enjoying home games at Northwest Stadium.
8. Minnesota Vikings (6): Per NFL Media, they’re the first team in 18 years to win despite turning the ball over three times and failing to score a touchdown. Too bad the Vikes don’t reside in the AFC South, whose teams they’ve beaten by an average of 13.3 points. They can complete a divisional season sweep Sunday in Nashville.
9. Green Bay Packers (7): Following the somewhat surprising trade of OLB Preston Smith, time for 2023 first-rounder Lukas Van Ness to deliver given he has yet to start in the NFL and has played fewer than 50% of the team’s snaps in both of his seasons.
10. Arizona Cardinals (11): Few recognizable names on this defense, but it hasn’t allowed a touchdown in three consecutive home games – meaning all of October and November.
11. San Francisco 49ers (16): Their post-bye record in 2024 (with RB Christian McCaffrey) is 1-0. Their post-bye record since 2021 is 31-9.
12. Houston Texans (12): Their ongoing struggles continue to coincide with a depleted receiver corps. Yet how cool was it to see WR John Metchie III score his first NFL TD more than two years after his career was interrupted by a battle with leukemia?
13. Los Angeles Chargers (17): The league’s stingiest defense – it hasn’t allowed more than 20 points in a game – is about to get stern tests with the high-powered Bengals and Ravens headed to SoCal the next two weeks for prime-time showcases.
14. Atlanta Falcons (9): A team that’s struggled mightily to generate a pass rush in recent years remains in its rut – not a single Atlanta defender with 20 pressures this season, per PFF.
15. Cincinnati Bengals (18): WR Ja’Marr Chase is the only player in the Super Bowl era (since 1966) to have multiple games with at least 250 receiving yards and two TDs. Cincy is 1-1 in those contests.
16. Denver Broncos (19): Keep an eye on rookie Audric Estime, whose 5.1 yards-per-carry average – remember, he ran a 4.7 40-yard dash at the scouting combine earlier this year – has apparently earned him the RB1 role moving forward.
17. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (13): They’ve dropped four straight, all against likely playoff teams. But Baker Mayfield’s completion Sunday while stiff-arming Niners DE Nick Bosa on the run is as good a play as you’ll see a quarterback make.
18. Miami Dolphins (23): Though certainly modest by his standards, WR3 Odell Beckham Jr. is slowly integrating into this offense, snaring all five of his targets the past two games for a team suddenly sniffing the fringes of the wild-card race.
19. Los Angeles Rams (15): Over the next six weeks, they have four road games – two on the East Coast – with two contests in prime time. A playoff recovery won’t be easy.
20. Seattle Seahawks (22): A team struggling to dial in rookie HC Mike Macdonald’s defense closes with seven of its final eight games against NFC North or NFC West opposition. Woof.
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21. Indianapolis Colts (21): Little to be excited about here, especially with CB Kenny Moore II calling out his teammates’ effort. But one who’s providing more output is rookie WR Adonai Mitchell, whose six-catch, 71-yard day Sunday was his best yet.
22. New England Patriots (27): With their next three contests against sub-.500 opposition, could the Pats actually make the playoffs?
23. Chicago Bears (14): Taken down 15 times the past two weeks, rookie QB Caleb Williams has now been sacked a league-high 38. (Memo to next OC: Give. Swift. The. Ball.)
24. New York Jets (20): Wouldn’t it reduce pressure on deteriorating QB Aaron Rodgers – literally and figuratively – to run more than their league-low 21.5 attempts per game? Moot, of course.
25. Carolina Panthers (28): The latest in their series of incremental steps? Sophomore QB Bryce Young notching consecutive wins for the first time in his career.
26. Cleveland Browns (24): Not a single player here is on pace to accrue 800 yards from scrimmage this season.
27. New Orleans Saints (31): Is RB Alvin Kamara a future Hall of Famer? Now this franchise’s all-time leading rusher, he has more games (24) with 50 yards rushing and receiving than anyone aside from HOFer Marshall Faulk (41) and McCaffrey (30).
28. Jacksonville Jaguars (25): Defensively, they’re surrendering the most yards in the league. Offensively, they have eight turnovers the past three weeks. And that’s before they head to Detroit on Sunday.
29. Dallas Cowboys (26): It’s rare when a team gets rid of the same player a year too early and a year too late. But these are the Cowboys, who never should’ve re-signed washed-up RB Ezekiel Elliott, now averaging 3.2 yards per carry … when he’s actually active.
30. Tennessee Titans (30): No team in league history has allowed this many points (26.7 per game) despite ranking first in total defense.
31. New York Giants (29): Sunday’s defeat in Germany marked their first loss on foreign soil, though the G-Men remain 3-0 in Great Britain – which may be where QB Daniel Jones should apply for citizenship.
32. Las Vegas Raiders (32): Can the Turners turn around this offense? Given the Silver and Black lead the league in turnovers while managing the fewest rushing yards – only one way to go. Right?
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