Sometimes in the NFL it is better to be lucky than good, and that was certainly evident in Week 10 with a number of teams taking advantage of fortuitous situations to get them home.
Kansas City is still unbeaten despite really testing their luck against Denver and Carolina made the most of playing fellow cellar dweller the Giants to record a very rare win.
Check out our recap of the weekend that was in the National Football League.
1 – It’s a Game of Fine Margins
Plenty of games in Week 10 came down to last minute kicks and in the case of a couple, they literally just scraped through by millimetres.
Those games also provided the perfect excuse to recycle this gem from former Packers GM Andrew Brandt.
San Francisco’s Jake Moody had a rough day, missing three kicks in regulation, however with the safety net of overtime, Kyle Shanahan sent him out for a 44-yard game winner.
It sure looked like Moody would have a fourth unsuccessful kick at one point, but it just snuck inside the right post to move the reigning NFC champions to 5-4.
Then in the primetime feature game, Detroit was a couple of coats of paint away from a bad loss in Houston, before rookie kicker Jake Bates bailed them out.
First with this long range attempt that just snuck inside the right upright to level the scores.
Then he came through as time expired from 52 yards, just putting it inside the left upright.
If one of those kicks goes a little bit further outside, those games will have very different stories.
2 – Great Players Will Overcome Bad Coaching
There was a lot to love about the Ravens-Bengals game to kick off Week 10, as Joe Burrow and Lamar Jackson put on a spectacular show that went down to the wire.
It was the second time this season they played out an enthralling contest and the stat lines give a pretty good idea of how well the two quarterbacks played.
However both had their own obstacles to overcome on the respective sidelines with some baffling coaching moves really handcuffing the respective teams.
John Harbaugh is a good coach most of the time, but he does get blinded by the red mist far too often.
On the Bengals’ first possession of the game he burned two timeouts, unsuccessfully challenging a three yard pass on first and goal before taking a second one prior third down as the play clock was expiring with too many men on the field.
Especially when the Ravens really could have used an extra timeout on the final play of the first half, costing them either a long field goal attempt or a shot at the end zone.
As for Cincinnati, it might be time to wonder if Zac Taylor is actually a good coach because this team is way too good to be 4-6 on the season.
The same issues continue to plague the Bengals with an offensive plan that seems to revolve around Joe Burrow and Ja’Marr Chase making something miraculous happen.
Admittedly it has been effective strategy at times, good enough for a Super Bowl run.
But at some point you have to wonder if the Bengals need someone who can fix that offensive line, maybe try a few more creative schemes and put together a defensive plan that lets them win a game when Burrow goes off.
Thankfully the two coaches didn’t prevent an absolute classic playing out, as it came down to the last play.
3 – Caleb Williams Is Not Going To Finish The Season In One Piece
Caleb Williams was touted as a generational, can’t miss quarterback prospect heading into the season and he might still turn into one.
However his recent trajectory is not great and it all boils down to the beating he is taking every week as defenders take the opportunity tee off on the rookie.
This week a New England defence whose pass rush was mediocre at best managed to wrack up nine sacks in the Patriots’ 19-3 win.
What is most frustrating for Chicago is that it is not one simple thing that needs to be fixed, there are all sorts of issues with and around their main player.
Let’s start with Caleb Williams, the guy made his name in college doing all sorts of wild and improvisational stuff, but NFL level athletes are too good for that to be a sustainable strategy.
Plenty of those sacks came from Williams holding the ball too long and looking for a big play.
Externally, Williams has been dropped into a far worse situation than anyone expected.
The talent that was supposed to help him have an easy transition to the NFL has not lived up to its billing with guys like DJ Moore and Keenan Allen just not able to get on the same page and the offensive line has been decimated with injuries.
His coaching staff is highly dysfunctional with Matt Eberflus seemingly on the way to getting fired, and offensive coordinator Shane Waldron not able to dial up a successful scheme.
It’s way too early to say Williams is a bust, but this rookie campaign will be a learning experience for Williams and hopefully something he can build on heading into 2025.
4 – Mike Tomlin Nailed His QB Switch
There is plenty of blame to be handed out across the league in Week 10, but there has to be some praise headed in the direction of Mike Tomlin.
Plenty of people (this writer included) would have been happy to see the Steelers stick with a limited Justin Fields after a moderately successful start to the season.
Some might have even mocked the decision to start Russell Wilson but since that change they have defeated the Jets by 22, the Giants by eight and the Commanders in a very close one.
Wilson has thrown six touchdowns to one interception and their passing game has really come to life.
That win over Washington was their best victory of the season, with plenty of terrible towels in the stands as well.
It was a game they had to win and pushed the Steelers closer to another non-losing season under Tomlin’s leadership.
They’ll have to keep that momentum going though and Wilson has to keep playing well because they have some big tests coming up in the run home.
All six of their AFC North games take place in the next eight weeks starting with the 7-3 Ravens coming to Acrisure Stadium next weekend and their non-divisional games are in Philadelphia and at home to Kansas City.
5 – Dallas May As Well Go With Trey Lance
From a team that has made a successful quarterback change to a team that may as well make a switch because they have nothing to lose: the Dallas Cowboys.
It sounds like Dak Prescott is done for the season with a hamstring injury, with the quarterback set to take his time coming back and at 3-6 on the season it makes sense.
Cooper Rush started in his place on the weekend and was underwhelming, so why not give the other quarterback on the roster a few games going forward?
The third overall pick from 2021 got a run late in this game in garbage time and he wasn’t great either, but considering the guy has nine games on his resume in four years, at some point he needs an extended run.
After all, there was a reason why the 49ers gave up a lot to draft him in 2021 even as a very raw developmental prospect and he was all set to take the reigns in 2022 before breaking his ankle.
The emergence of Brock Purdy meant he had to leave the Bay Area and Dallas was his destination, with a chance to sit and learn behind Prescott.
Now Dallas may as well throw him in for a few games and see what they have, even if he’s just auditioning for a backup job in 2025.
But he won’t get his chance next week by the sounds of it.