The 2016 NFL season is in full swing, with the bulk of the Week 10 games complete. The season is past its halfway point, and the contenders and pretenders are starting to emerge. With just the Sunday and Monday Night games left, let's get you caught up with what you need to know from Week 10's action with our NFL Final.
When In Doubt, Feed Zeke
BY GAWD! IT'S ZEKE ELLIOTT!! #FEEDZEKE #DallasCowboys #FEEDZEKE #FEEDZEKE #FEEDZEKE #FEEDZEKE #FEEDZEKE pic.twitter.com/dcqswFhgdX
— Chat Cowboys (@ChatCowboys) November 14, 2016
That pretty much sums up that thrilling Cowboys-Steelers game. Ezekiel Elliott is a bad, bad man.
Sunday Night Football Was Also Fun
The Cowboys-Steelers matchup was the best one this week, but Seahawks-Patriots wasn't far behind. A back-and-forth affair featured seven lead changes and it went all the way down to the wire. The refs had a good no-call on the final play, a fade to Rob Gronkowski that featured contact between Gronk and Kam Chancellor. The Seahawks' offense has picked up it's play the last two weeks, and that's a promising sign for them.
Mike McCarthy Is On The Hot Seat
The Packers are now 4-5, with three straight losses. The latest of which is a blowout loss at the hands of the Titans. Not only did the Packers lose 47-25, they were down 35-16 at the half and 35-10 at one point. It was an embarrassing effort from Green Bay, on both sides of the ball. If McCarthy doesn't get his team going soon, he might be out of a job.
Vikings Are Reeling
Green Bay has lost three straight, but the Vikings have lost four straight. The latest was a heartbreaker (again) to the Washington Redskins. The Vikings started down 14-0, took a 20-14 lead at the half and then completely folded in the second half. The team can't run the ball at all, with the offensive line battling injuries and general terribleness. The defense looks tired, especially late in games. Jake Long is also hurt now and the Vikings simply don't have the bodies up front to hang around. This year is rapidly getting away from them.
Texans Win, But Titans Lurking
The Texans picked up a needed road win over the Jaguars, despite a woeful 99 yards from Brock Osweiler (seriously). It was enough and the Texans are in a good position at 6-3. The Colts are still in the mix, but they're on bye this week. But don't count out the Tennessee Titans, a team that's earned my respect with it's play this year. I'm not totally ready to buy this team, but with the Texans' terrible passing offense, the 5-5 Titans have a real shot in the AFC South.
NFC East Could Get Two Teams In Playoffs
The Redskins beat the Vikings and then the Philadelphia Eagles picked up a needed win over the Atlanta Falcons. The Eagles are now 5-4, with the Redskins at 5-3-1. The Giants play Monday night and they're 5-3. With the Cowboys UPDATE, the NFC East is far from the NFC Least. No team is out of the division race and they're both in the thick of things in the NFC Wild Card race. There's a chance they all beat up on each other, but it won't be a surprise if the NFC East has two, or more teams in the playoffs.
AFC West Is Loaded
Both the Denver Broncos and Kansas City Chiefs nearly lost this week, but narrowly picked up wins. The Chiefs are now 7-2 thanks to a game-winning field goal against the Carolina Panthers. That was set up by a Marcus Peters forced fumble with under a minute left. The Broncos are now 7-3 thanks to a crazy blocked extra point after the Saints tied it (see below). Neither win was pretty, but with 7 wins each, the Chiefs and Broncos are in great position to make the playoffs.
WOW!! Justin Simmons blocks the extra point and Will Parks runs it back for the go-ahead two-point score! pic.twitter.com/RLmjIdB2Lr
— Denver Broncos (@ChatBroncos) November 13, 2016
The Chargers lost, though, to the Dolphins. Don't count Miami out of this playoff race quite yet. Outside of the Chiefs and Broncos, they might have the best shot.
NFC South Suffered Blows This Week
The Panthers and Saints had it. So did the Falcons. Instead, all three lost close games this week. Only the Bucs picked up a win, over the lowly Chicago Bears. The Falcons are still in control at 6-4, but the Saints slipped to 4-5 (the same mark as the Bucs). New Orleans needed that one, but couldn't pull it off. At 3-6, the Panthers' playoff hopes are slim at best.
Bryce Petty And Case Keenum Don't Look Like The Answer
Can we please see Jared Goff now? Keenum, against a beatable Jets secondary, completed 17 of 30 passes for 165 yards. Those are unacceptable numbers for an NFL QB, especially one that sees so many QB-friendly defensive looks. Sure, the Rams won 9-6, but Keenum has not and will not play well. As for the Jets, Bryce Petty isn't the team's answer at QB either. That's not much of a surprise and his 19 of 32, 163 yards, 1 TD and 1 INT stat line shouldn't be either. The Jets might as well keep playing him, since they aren't going to the playoffs, but he's not the future.