What a weekend we just saw, from one of the most memorable NFL regular season games in recent memory to some potentially season defining injuries, Week 10 was full of storylines.
As the weather continues to turn, the true contenders will begin to emerge and there was plenty to decipher from the 14 games played.
Check out our five biggest takeaways from the last few days in the National Football League.
1 – Game of the Season
Minnesota and Buffalo, what do you say we do it all again in about three months time in Glendale, Arizona?
It was a game worthy of being a Super Bowl preview and while these regular season epics very rarely produce both Super Bowl teams and even more rarely a game of equal or more drama, it would at least make for a fun build up.
After all, how on earth could they match the craziness we saw unfold in Western New York (and for once we’re not talking about Bills fans keeping themselves entertained in the parking lot before kickoff).
We saw two of the premiere receivers in the league facing off with Stefon Diggs and Justin Jefferson facing off and Diggs looked like he would have the highlight play of the game, corralling this high pass from Josh Allen.
In the midst of a career day, Jefferson said “anything you can do, I can do better” with what would turn out to be the first in a wild succession of plays to decide the game.
If you didn’t watch the game and didn’t notice, that was on 4th and 18 to keep the Vikings desperation drive alive and it looked like he might have won the game with a catch down to the goal line.
Replay review ruled him short and the Bills defence came up with a huge stop to surely clinch the game right?
Not so fast…
Not to be deterred by the potential game-losing error, Josh Allen marched the Bills right down the field to send the game to overtime and tie it up at 30-30.
Minnesota got the ball first but couldn’t end the game after being forced to settle for a field goal giving Allen a chance to get at least the tie.
Up stepped Patrick Peterson.
You have to give plenty of credit to the veteran cornerback, but what on earth was Allen thinking with that throw?
It was the second time in the fourth quarter and overtime Peterson was able to pick him off in the end zone and now Allen will have to find a way to shake off that error ahead of next week’s game against Cleveland.
As for Minnesota, not only did that win move their record to 8-1, but it sends them into a very favourable portion of their schedule with five of their next six at home and the one road game coming against division rivals Detroit.
2 – The Dolphins Keep Rising Up the Rankings
Perhaps the biggest beneficiary of the Bills losing was the Miami Dolphins who just continue to roll on offence.
In games that Tua Tagovailoa has started and finished, the Dolphins are 7-0 and averaging 29 points per game.
Overall, they are now 7-3 and on top of the AFC East with a bye coming up.
This week they boosted that scoring average with a 39-17 win over the Cleveland Browns as their turbo charged offence took over yet again.
It may seem simplistic, but at times there is just too much speed on the field for most defences to keep up with.
Considering the high level of scepticism surrounding the Dolphins offseason moves following their failed pursuit of Tom Brady and Sean Payton (which cost them a first round draft pick for tampering) and seemingly settling for the consolation prize of another season of Tua with new coach Mike McDaniel, you have to be impressed with how things have worked out in South Florida.
Tua is without a doubt a top five MVP candidate, Tyreek Hill is going to challenge for the receiving yards record and offensive player of the year honours, Mike McDaniel has a case for coach of the year and Miami might be headed to the playoffs for the first time since 2016.
The Dolphins fan base aren’t shy about reminding people how much their team was written off in preseason.
Of course as we have seen with Miami over the last few seasons, they have been a massively streaky team and can go on a long losing streak as quickly as they can rattle off a few wins in a row.
It will take something to shake their confidence at the moment though, with the Dolphins looking full of confidence.
3 – The Cardiac Cats are Back
They still are not very good, but Detroit is back to being must-watch TV after a pair of nailbiting wins.
Week 9 saw them upend the Packers before traveling to Chicago to take on a Bears team that was starting to take off on offence thanks to the improved play of Justin Fields.
Fields went off once again with 167 yards and a two touchdowns passing plus 147 yards rushing and another two scores on the ground including this bit of magic.
Not that Fields’ touchdown run threw off the Lions or anything with Detroit responding to everything the Bears threw at them and coming away with a dramatic 31-30 victory thanks to this late touchdown from Jamaal Williams.
Let’s not kid ourselves here though, Detroit is not going to make the playoffs because of a number of massive flaws in their team.
But you can be sure that the fourth quarter of their game against the Giants next week will be must-watch TV.
4 – Rodgers Shows Some Fight
One of the big critiques of Aaron Rodgers this season is his seemingly disinterested attitude regarding the fortunes of the Green Bay Packers.
There was an air of resignation and perhaps a little bit of regret having returned for one more run and playing another season… although his US$50m pay packet probably softened the blow.
Things were not going well for the Packers at all, sitting at 3-6 having lost five straight games heading into their marquee bout with the Dallas Cowboys, it would have been reasonable to expect Rodgers to sleepwalk through another game.
Maybe it was the sight of the Cowboys uniforms, the November chill in the air or Lambeau being under lights, but Rodgers came to play.
He teamed up with rookie receiver Christian Watson for a trio of touchdowns to get the Packers into overtime as the youngster enjoyed a breakout performance.
It wasn’t all Rodgers either, getting plenty of support from the much hyped running back duo of Aaron Jones and AJ Dillon who kept the Cowboys defence off balance and kept the chains moving.
That productivity on the ground allowed Rodgers to keep the balance in the offence and also opened up the space for the big play in overtime to Allen Lazard.
There’s still a long way to go for Green Bay at 4-6 now but it’s a step in the right direction and if Rodgers has finally woken up, that will be a massive step for an offence that badly needed a course correction.
5 – Josh McDaniels Should Be Very Nervous
Considering how much of a disaster his first head coaching tenure was in Denver, combined with the drama surrounding almost taking over the Colts, Josh McDaniels was never going to have a long leash in his second head coaching stint no matter where it occurred.
That opportunity arose in Las Vegas and the Raiders put plenty of resources behind their new head coach but things have not gone to plan.
It’s one thing for the team to experience a slight regression as a new coach installs a new system, but the Raiders are a much better team than their 2-7 record would have you believe, at least on paper.
On the field it has been one mistake riddled performance after another with the team losing games they had no business dropping.
The lowest ebb (so far) occurred this week when they hosted the basket case Indianapolis Colts, who had seemingly given up on the season by hiring a head coach with exactly zero senior coaching experience.
Instead of taking the opportunity to get their season back on track and salvage some pride, the Raiders were bulldozed by the Colts in every sense of the word.
No team should be giving up a run like this to Matt Ryan.
It was not all doom and gloom for the Raiders however, with a productive day for Davante Adams, registering 126 yards on nine catches, it’s just a shame he had to do it himself.
The frustration is building and you wonder if McDaniels is going to be the third coach fired this season, even with the owner publicly backing him… for now.
While the playoffs are long gone for this side, they still have another eight games to sort things out and for some of the guys in that building, save their jobs.
Beating another dysfunctional team next week when they head to Denver would go a long way towards salvaging something.