Week 10 of NFL action turned out to be a good one with some unexpected twists and some good hard-hitting football.  There were games that defied the odds set in Las Vegas, and others which went pretty much as predicted.  Most fan appreciated the fact that the NFL early games now start an hour later because of the daylight savings time change.

Week 10 Action Has A Few Surprises

It was cold in Green Bay, Wisconsin, but we all knew that.  What no one counted on was 50-mile-per-hour winds that came up quite often during the early game when the Packers hosted the Jacksonville Jaguars.  The Jags were definitely not used to being that cold, but they came to play.  Never mind that they were 13.5-point underdogs.

Even though the Jaguars were outmanned and outclassed from the very beginning, they put up a valiant effort and caused the Pack not to cover the spread and Packers bettors to grumble.  The Packers did not even come close to covering that 13.5-point spread, as Jacksonville played them tough for the entire four quarters, even though they suffered a 24-20 loss.

The clash between the 4-5 Detroit Lions, led by Matt Stafford, and the 2-7 Washington Football Team turned out to be a pretty good game.  The big story for Washington was the return of veteran quarterback Alex Smith who had been out of action for almost two years following a horrific leg injury.

But Smith looked good on Sunday, completing 38 of 55 passes for 390 yards in the air, but, unfortunately, no touchdowns.  Matt Stafford for the Lions was 24 of 33 for 276 yards in the air, but Stafford scored three touchdowns during the game, and therein lies the difference.  The Lions led at halftime 17-3, but Washington came on during the second half of the contest and almost caught up with Detroit.   The final score was Lions 30, Washington 27.

The Giants Pull It In

The New York Giants, led by young quarterback Daniel Jones, finally got it together and beat the Philadelphia Eagles by a final score of 27-17, even though the Eagles were 4.5-point favorites.  Jones completed 21 of 28 passes for 244 yards, then rushed for an additional 64 yards on the ground scoring a touchdown in the process.

Of course, the highlight of the early games was Tom Brady and his Buccaneers going up to Carolina to play the Panthers, led by Teddy Bridgewater.  The 3-7 Panthers stayed with them for the first half 17-17, but the Brady Bunch pulled away in the second half and defeated the valiant Carolina team by a final score of 46-23.  Tom Brady threw for 3 touchdowns and 341 yards in the air.  So now the Bucs improve to 7-3 and remain in a tie for the NFC South with the Saints who also won on Sunday.

Baker Mayfield led his 6-3 Cleveland Browns to victory over the Houston Texans in a showcase of two of the best young quarterbacks in the game today, even though the numbers in this low scoring game were not impressive, the Browns getting another win was.  Final score the Cleveland Browns 10, Houston Texans 7.

The Cardinals Take Out The Bills

 

But the best fantastic finish came at the hands of Kyler Murray and the Arizona Cardinals.  They were down by four points to the Buffalo Bills with 11 seconds left in the game when Murray threw his only touchdown pass of the day into a crowd of Bills defenders in the end zone with Deandre Hopkins, who, by incredible effort, caught the 43-yard lob and won the game for Arizona 32-30 with no time left on the clock.

The New Orleans Saints didn’t have a lot of difficulty beating the San Francisco 49ers, but the 27-13 win came with a price.  Quarterback Drew Brees and at least four more players were injured during the game, with Brees suffering a rib contusion in the first half.  He could miss the Week 11 game against the Atlanta Falcons, but the team is still in great shape for a deep run in the NFC.