Thoughts On The NFL: Week 10

Cleveland vs. Baltimore

Is there any hope for Cleveland? Will they be 0-16? Will we ever see RG3 again in some sort of last ditch effort to salvage something positive at the end of the season? It takes more than one season to clean house and shape a franchise the way you would like. However, Hugh Jackson and Moneyball have some serious questions to answer. Last year’s Browns squad had 3 wins. If they manage to go winless given the history of Cleveland coaches this could be a short romance. Cleveland had a pick party with Baltimore but the Ravens have some semblance of offense (and defense) and rightfully were able to pull away.

Kansas City vs. Carolina

The Panthers should have won this game but they blew it royally. Eric Berry’s pick 6 is a great contender for interception and score of the year. Marcus Peters is a bully (in a good way) and the Panthers continue their dismal season. They aren’t looking impressive and I can’t wait until the Skins play them.

Denver vs. New Orleans

Darian Stewart is the man. Two great interceptions from Stewart and it seemed like the whole team pitched in. The Broncos defense is so good at creating turnovers. Drew Brees lead New Orleans back and the Saints should have won the game but Denver came up big again with a blocked field goal returned for two. What does it take to get a guy like Darian Stewart on the Redskins? I don’t mean FA but in the draft (or not). This guy was a UDFA in 2010 and has had a solid career for the past six years. If the Redskins can hit on some of these gems they’ll be in business (looking at you Maurice Harris, and Anthony Lanier).

Los Angeles vs. New York (Jets)

Oh God. Is Jeff Fisher fired yet? (Yes, I know he won).

Green Bay vs. Tennessee

OooooooWeeeeee. Green Bay is a mess. There is no run game and the passing attack is faltering. It seems the further along this Packer team gets into the season the less chemistry they have. Demarco Murray can do it all. He is one of the best running backs in the NFL he can also throw touchdown passes. Speaking of touchdown passes, Marcus Mariota threw 4. After starting off slow the young QB is looking better and better.

Washington vs. Minnesota

I’m so proud of the Redskins for pulling off this win. The finish by the defense was very encouraging. I would love for this team to win by 14 points all the time. However pulling out these close wins is very important. A lot of us think the Redskins should have a couple more wins. Well, a couple more wins and the Redskins are one of the top teams in the NFL right now. The margin between mediocrity and greatness in the NFL is sometimes super thin. I can’t help but think the Redskins are on their way.

Tampa Bay vs. Chicago

Zeke Elliott is obviously the biggest Rookie superstar in the NFL right now but there is another rookie running back that also seems to possess a little bit of star quality. Jordan Howard is the type of back you build a team around. If the Bears decide to do a reset again Howard will be a key piece.

Jameis Winston

The Bucs are a good few pieces away from being a contender but they have their franchise QB and #1 WR.

Atlanta vs. Philadelphia

Who knew Ryan Matthews could play football? Or that the Atlanta run defense was that bad? I feel like one of those statements is ruder than the other, oh well. I was expecting Atlanta to do us a solid but their defense pooped the bed. I expect the Eagles rushing attack to look much worse next week.

Jacksonville vs. Houston

I don’t understand Blake Bortles. With one throw he looks like pure garbage.

The next he looks like he could be a star. . .

Ok, maybe all the credit there should go to Allen Robinson. In any case, Bortles has a spoil of riches in terms of targets (Robinson, Hurns, Lee, Thomas) but for some reason, he is playing like garbage (wholistically). Add that to the fact that the Jaguars offense refuses to run the ball and the product you get on the field each week in and week out is lackluster. The Texans offense is at least balanced with Blue and Miller running the ball, it takes a bunch of pressure off Osweiler who isn’t living up to expectations but isn’t god awful either.

Miami vs. San Diego

What the hell happened Phillip Rivers? Rivers got a case of the Kurt Cousins and was throwing pick after pick this game. He blew the lead and cost the Chargers the win. At least Melvin Gordon is still looking good and so is Tyrell Williams. Ryan Tannehill is surprisingly playing with a bit of consistency over these past few games. With the emergence of Jay Ajayi it seems like Gase’s offense is taking shape.

San Francisco vs. Arizona

This was a pretty good game actually. Kaepernick and the 49ers had a real shot to win. With the turnovers the 49er defense forced they probably should have. The 49ers need a running option outside of Carlos Hyde and Colin Kaepernick. Without that, their offense is terribly one dimensional. I’m not exactly sure how the Cardinals almost blew this one. Larry Fitzgerald continues to prove he’s a close cousin to Benjamin Button while I think Carson Palmer is on his last leg.

Dallas vs. Pittsburgh

All the two-point conversions were tried this game. I have no idea what the Steelers were aiming for with that game plan but it didn’t help them at all. This was a little painful to watch. I was at a bar with a couple of really loud Cowboy fans licking my chops hoping for a Dallas loss. I saw the Steelers blow a fourth quarter lead off a brilliant fake spike turned touchdown pass. Instead, I saw Zeke Elliott run away with the game. #ThanksSteelers

Seattle vs New England

Russell Wilson is going to go on a second half tear. After being injured early on in the season it sure looks like Wilson is ready to get to his Pro bowl/Superbowl level self. He and Doug Baldwin were outstanding this game. So, too, was Tom Brady and the Patriots. This was probably the game of the week the way these two teams traded blows. LeGarrette Blount is one of my favorite running backs in the NFL. He isn’t fancy, he’s a grinder and gets things done. I was hoping Matt Jones would be a more athletic version. Blount was great all game until the final drive which wasn't really his fault. The Seattle defensive line dominated the Patriots offensive line on the last drive and gave us viewers a great defensive finish.

New York (Giants) vs. Cincinnati

Landon Collins is probably the best safety in the league right now. I can’t remember if I said that last week too but it's true. The Bengals are not a team that can finish right now. Perhaps to the Redskins detriment they were unlucky enough to tie instead of win outright. Well the Giants capitalized off a decent performance from Manning and a great performance from the Giants defense overall. It's a shame I was really hoping for the Redskins to pull away a little bit this week.