Well now, that might have been the best week of football thus far for NFL fans. Football betting wise, we also had a bunch of nail biters. Let’s look at lessons learned Week 10 on the NFL – because there was a lot to learn.
Lessons Learned Week 10
1. Much talk this season was about how the Seahawks weren’t as good as their record, or that their running game isn’t strong enough to get it done. Nuts to that. Seattle won a primetime game in Patriots land. They and Dallas are the NFC favorites.
2. Speaking of the Cowboys, color me impressed. That win in Pittsburgh was outstanding. No way should Tony Romo see the field again. Dak Prescott is the future – and the future is now.
3. I’m not sure what to make of the Panthers. They lead all game and then blow it late. Their season is effectively over. At 3-6 and trailing many, many teams in the wildcard picture, I think it’s time to start planning for next year.
4. We’ve said it before in this column – the Packers on defense aren’t good enough to keep this team in contention. You’re looking at a prototypical 8-8 team, I think.
5. The Steelers keep losing the close ones. But they’re still only one game out of first place. So don’t stick a fork in them just yet.
6. Denver is still in this thing. The Broncos got a defensive two-point conversion to win on the road in New Orleans. The play was orchestrated by two rookies. What does that tell us? It tells us that the Broncos’ defense is so incredibly deep that anyone is capable of making a play. With a late bye week and games coming up versus KC, New England and Oakland, Denver still controls its own destiny.
7. Washington is scrappy. We’ll give them that. They’re kicking game is strong, they never give up and they have some offensive weapons. A win like this over the Vikings would have been impressive three weeks ago – not now, when Minny can’t beat anyone. So don’t get too optimistic on DC.
8. The Titans, huh? They’re in second place in their division! Incredible. To me, they look like a 7-9 team, so I wouldn’t punch their playoff ticket just yet. But if they keep racking up wins versus so-so teams, they’ll hang around for a couple more weeks at least.
9. The Falcons are not as good as the Cowboys or Seahawks. Their defense doesn’t have many elite playmakers and their offensive is prone to going into these odd in-game slumps. They’ll make the playoffs, but I would pick them to be upset in their first game.
10. The Dolphins win again! I wagered against them in week 10 and they came out on top. Kudos to them. Tannehill played above his usual level against a desperate Chargers team. Full credit to him. But do you trust them in cruntime down the stretch? Hmm… not just yet.
11. That Chiefs win was impressive -and they did it without a ton off offense out of Spencer Ware. The Chiefs are the most consistent team in the league this season. They’re not flashy but they get the job done. If they go on to finish first in the AFC I think Andy Reid should get coach of the year.
12. Yes. The Browns will go 0-16 this season. You can book it. Who are they qualified to beat, exactly? Don’t say they’ll win a game just because 0-16 rarely happens (it has occurred only once). There’s zero reason to like the Dawgs right now.
Matthew Ross is a sports commentator and a radio host on TSN 690 Radio in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Follow him @MatthewWords.