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We are nearing the crucial point of the season. As we get closer to the holiday season, teams continue to try to position themselves for a good playoff seeding. Some teams have lost key players, such as the Dallas Cowboys, which lost quarterback Dak Prescott for the season due to hamstring surgery. Other teams have star players returning, such as the San Francisco 49ers, who welcomed the reigning Offensive Player of the Year, Christian McCaffrey, after missing the first nine weeks due to Achilles tendonitis.
Meanwhile, other teams like the Kansas City Chiefs and Baltimore Ravens continued to find ways to win in tight games. Let's delve into my NFL Week 10 Takeaways.
Ravens Survive Bengals In Thriller
The Ravens and Bengals once again demonstrated their resilience in a classic showdown reminiscent of Week 5. The Ravens emerged victorious in a nail-biter, showcasing their ability to overcome challenges. The matchup favored the Ravens, who were up against a Bengals defense that ranks 30th against the rush. Despite this, the Bengals did a commendable job, limiting Derrick Henry to just six carries for 68 rushing yards, well below his season average.
Despite the Bengals' deficiencies in defending the run, they did a great job limiting Henry to just six carries for 68 rushing yards, well below his season average of 112 per contest. They held the Ravens' offense to just seven points in the first half and were executing better with a two-to-one possession ratio to the Ravens. But the second half is when the script flipped.
It all started late in the third. The Bengals were up 21-7, but Ravens defensive back Marlon Humphrey ripped the ball out of Bengals Chase Brown’s hands to force a fumble. It ignited a spark in the Ravens. The Ravens capitalized on the Bengals' miscue and started building offensive momentum, leading to a big Jackson run inside the Bengals one and a Henry touchdown.
The Ravens avalanche started to take off, going on a 21-0 run in a 21-point turnaround to eventually take the lead on the Bengals thanks to touchdowns by Tyrone Wallace and Mark Andrews. In what seemed like an unanswerable run by the Ravens, the Bengals finally answered with a Joe Burrow to Ja’Marr Chase 70-yard connection to tie the game back at 28 apiece.
The Ravens could answer back with a Jackson to Rashod Bateman touchdown to give the Ravens the lead once again. However, Burrow and Chase continued their dominance in tandem with another touchdown after some face mask and roughing of the passer penalties by the Ravens defense, which helped aid the drive.
The score is now 35-34, and the Ravens and it's down to the closing moments. The Bengals could kick the field goal to tie the game and go into overtime or go for two to win. Jackson and the Ravens offense had just scored four consecutive touchdowns on four straight drives, which played into the Bengals' psyche of going for the conversion. I was unsuccessful, but not without controversy.
The Bengals lost a heartbreaker on the failed conversion, but critical penalties were missed from a missed holding call and roughing the passer that could have easily been called. Burrow was tremendous, throwing for 428 yards and four touchdowns, with Chase being the recipient of three for 264 yards. Despite their dominance as a duo, it wasn’t enough, as the Bengals fell to 4-6 while Jackson and Henry continued bolstering their MVP cases.
Chiefs Barely Survive Denver
The Broncos came into Arrowhead in the top three in sacks and quarterback pressures against one of the best offensive lines in the league, per Team Rankings. The Broncos' defense wreaked havoc on Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs, sacking Mahomes four times in the game. The Chiefs needed help finding an offensive rhythm against the stellar Broncos defensive unit.
No team scored in the first, but the second is where offense for both sides started to get rolling in the second quarter where Broncos rookie quarterback Bo Nix connected on two touchdowns to Devaughn Vele and Courtland Sutton as he finished with two passing touchdowns on 215 yards, completing 22-of-30 throws. He was terrific for a rookie in a hostile road environment as he tried to become just the second rookie quarterback to win in Kansas City since 2019.
Despite the Chiefs' struggles offensively, with their only touchdown coming in the second on a two-yard pass from Mahomes to Travis Kelce, their defense stepped up as usual. They had some big sacks on crucial downs, resulting in significant yardage losses for the Broncos. No play was more important than the walk-off blocked field goal by Chiefs linebacker Leo Chenal that helped the Chiefs survive the Broncos and continue pushing their undefeated run to 9-0 as they barely escaped the Broncos 16-14.
“It's a complete shock, you know? Not much I can say about it," Chenal said. “I was really praying for something to happen. That moment is so heavy. There's a second on the clock, they're going to kick a field goal and you feel the weight of the moment.”
Mahomes finished with 266 passing yards and a touchdown, extending the Chiefs' winning streak to 15 if you include last season, the longest since the Packers won 19 in a row from 2010-11. The Chiefs also became just the fifth Super Bowl team to win its first nine games, and they look to become the first team in NFL history to three-peat.
“Any way you win is good in this league,” Mahomes said. “You live for these moments. When you grow up playing football, you live for the walk-off whatever-it-is. And I'm glad we get to experience it together.”
The Chiefs look to continue their winning ways in Buffalo next week against the Buffalo Bills, aiming for a 10-0 start.
Detroit Lions Rally Back In Texas
The Lions showed their ability to overcome adversity on the road against CJ Stroud and the Houston Texans. They claimed an improbable 26-23 victory off a Jake Bates 52-yard walk-off field goal and scored 19 unanswered points in the second half despite their star quarterback, Jared Goff, having a nightmare game, throwing five interceptions. Goff’s five interceptions against the Texans were more in one game than he had the first nine weeks of the season (4).
“I had some unfortunate things early, but I’ve been through a whole lot worse than that,” Goff said. “Mentally, I’ve been to the bottom. Some unlucky plays aren’t going to throw me off my game.”
However, the Lions showed why they are considered a Super Bowl contender and the favorites to win the NFC, with the others stepping up after Goff’s struggles. Amen-Ra St.Brown, Sam LaPorta, and David Montgomery all converted into the endzone for the Lions, showing why they are the top offense in the NFL. Both teams had incredible running backs: Montgomery and Jahmyr Gibbs for the Lions with Joe Mixon for the Texans.
Coming into the game, the emphasis on who’d win would be on which defense can contain the run game. The Lions were held to 105 rushing yards, but their defensive unit did a great job making the Texans' rushing attack dormant, limiting them to 56 rushing yards, with Mixon having 46 of those and one touchdown. The Texans had some unfortunate miscues that didn’t go their way, such as a Ka’imi Fairburn 58-yard kick that went far left with under two minutes left that would’ve given the Texans the lead.
Stroud finished with 232 yards and one passing touchdown to John Metchie III for his first career touchdown but had two interceptions, both made by Lions cornerback Carlton Davis, as the Texans were shut out in the second half. This marked the third loss in the last four games for the Texans without Stefon Diggs for the rest of the season (ACL) and Nico Collins (hamstring), their top two receivers.
“I blame this game on me,” Stroud said. “I’ve got to be better in those moments. When the defense is getting turnovers like they did, we’ve got to be able to reward them with points.”
The Lions now improve to 9-1 atop the NFC, becoming the first team to win despite throwing five or more interceptions since Atlanta beat Arizona 23-19 on Nov. 18, 2012, when Matt Ryan was picked off five times. Meanwhile, the Texans fall to 6-4 but are still atop the AFC South Division.\
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