The early window of Sunday’s slate of games (in America) might have delivered the most exciting hour of football this season.
The Kansas City Chiefs, San Francisco 49ers and New Orleans Saints all won in the final seconds of their respective games. That doesn’t even include the back-and-forth matchup between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Washington Commanders.
Technically, the early window of the NFL’s Week 10 games started over in Germany, but even the most passionate football fan would’ve been excused for passing on watching the sluggish game between the Carolina Panthers and New York Giants. Then again, Carolina holding on to win after New York fumbled on its first play of overtime was a lot more dramatic than the final minutes of the late afternoon games.
The Arizona Cardinals pummeled the New York Jets to gain more respect as NFC West contenders. They might have gained a few more fans around the country for essentially ending Aaron Rodgers’s season as the Jets dropped to 3–7 on the season.
Some might have also enjoyed seeing the Philadelphia Eagles embarrass the Dallas Cowboys, who shouldn’t be thinking about the playoffs with Dak Prescott on injured reserve and in danger of missing the rest of the season.
We’ll focus more on the early window games for what we learned in Week 10.
Russell Wilson has seriously elevated Steelers
Many have made a big deal of the Steelers’ upcoming difficult schedule, but they might be favorites in most games because Russell Wilson has unlocked the passing game since taking the starting job from Justin Fields.
Wilson’s downfield shots allowed the Steelers to hang around before rallying on the road to defeat the Commanders, 28–27, and extend their winning streak to four games. Wilson connected with newcomer wide receiver Mike Williams for a 32-yard touchdown with 2:22 left for the game-winning score.
Wilson, who’s now 3–0 as the starter this season, also had a 34-yard completion to George Pickens to set up Najee Harris’s one-yard touchdown run that trimmed the deficit to 24–21 midway through the third quarter. Wilson finished 14-of-28 for 195 yards, three touchdowns and one interception, and Pickens recorded five catches for 91 yards and one touchdown.
Washington built a 10-point lead early in the third quarter and had multiple opportunities to extend the advantage in the final quarter. But the Pittsburgh defense forced Jayden Daniels & Co. into back-to-back punts and also stopped them on downs after Wilson’s touchdown pass to seal the victory.
The complete team performance on Sunday is why the Steelers are now being taken seriously as favorites to win the competitive AFC North. Perhaps it’s too soon to call them Super Bowl contenders because they haven’t played a divisional opponent yet—the Steelers (7–2) host the Baltimore Ravens (7–3) next week for first place in the AFC North.
But with Wilson, the Steelers now have the firepower to beat the Ravens and Cincinnati Bengals in the four upcoming divisional games. Pittsburgh also faces the Chiefs and Eagles down the stretch. But what separates the Steelers from the other teams in the AFC North is their standout defense. Baltimore and Cincinnati have two of the worst defenses in the league, which was on display for everyone to see during the thrilling high-scoring game on Thursday night, with Lamar Jackson’s offense getting the best of Joe Burrow’s crew.
The Steelers held the Commanders to 242 total yards and didn’t allow Daniels to find the end zone on Sunday. Wilson might need to generate more than 28 points when the Steelers enter their divisional schedule, but he’s already proven he’s capable of producing quick touchdown drives. It’s time to stop overlooking the Steelers because they’re no longer the boring, conservative offense of the past few seasons thanks to Mike Tomlin’s brilliant decision of starting Wilson a few weeks ago.
It’s time to put a fork in the Jets and Cowboys
It was kind of sad how little RedZone host Scott Hanson said while the broadcast went back and forth between the Jets and Cowboys attempting to produce their first touchdown of their respective games in the fourth quarter. Neither succeeded in reaching the end zone on Sunday.
Hanson ended one period of silence by saying, “What we’re trying to say is it's a good afternoon to be a bird.” The Cardinals cruised 31–6 against the Jets, and the Eagles crushed the Cowboys, 34–6. The bird teams probably ended the postseason hopes of two of the NFL’s most disappointing teams.
The Jets (3–7) have a slim chance of possibly capturing the seventh and final seed, with that one looking like it’ll come down to the Denver Broncos and Bengals. You can safely fork the Jets because they’ve done nothing to suggest they can right the ship as losers of six of their last seven games. The Jets’ offense was held to 207 total yards against the surging Cardinals (6–4).
As for the Cowboys (3–6), there appears to be no path to making the playoffs in the loaded NFC. All current wild-card teams (the Minnesota Vikings, Green Bay Packers and Commanders) have six wins or more. The Eagles (7–2) leapfrogged the Commanders in the NFC East standings.
Cooper Rush and Trey Lance struggled to generate yards against the Eagles, while the backup quarterbacks filled in for Prescott, who could be out the rest of the season due to a hamstring injury. You probably didn’t need to watch Rush and Lance combine for 66 passing yards and one interception to know the Cowboys are cooked.
Purdy bails out 49ers again in McCaffrey’s return vs. Bucs
Brock Purdy’s play on the field was probably the one positive that occurred from the 49ers having many key players sidelined during the first eight games this season. The 49ers found out their third-year signal-caller is worth the money his agent will likely command in the offseason when the two sides begin contract extension negotiations.
But even with a near-complete offense, Purdy once again bailed out the 49ers (5–4) during Christian McCaffrey’s first game of the season. Purdy often extended plays and made highlight throws to orchestrate a come-from-behind 23–20 victory against the feisty Tampa Bay Buccaneers to keep the 49ers in the NFC West race. Not many passes get prettier than the dime Purdy (25-of-36 for 353 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions) unleashed in the corner of the end zone for a George Kittle touchdown in the fourth quarter.
Without star players, Purdy is a legitimate franchise quarterback. With the star players, Purdy often plays like an MVP candidate. He did that constantly last season, but now he might get credit for his standout performances because of what he showed in games without McCaffrey, Deebo Samuel, Jauan Jennings, Brandon Aiyuk and rookie Ricky Pearsall. Those players were happy Purdy was their quarterback on Sunday.
Heck, Samuel even shoved the long snapper because special teams was on the verge of wasting’s Purdy’s elite performance. Well, maybe that’s not the whole reason, but the 49ers needed Purdy to execute a game-winning drive in the final minute because Jake Moody missed three field-goal attempts. He made up for it with the 44-yarder as time expired.
The 49ers’ 5–4 record doesn’t suggest this team is a Super Bowl contender, but they’ll be dangerous if they find a way into the postseason, especially if Purdy has all his weapons come January. McCaffrey had 107 total yards in his return game, and Jennings recorded a team-high seven catches for 93 yards in his first game in a month. Also, Pearsall has filled in admirably after the loss of Aiyuk, who’s out for the years . Purdy and Pearsall, the team’s 2024 first-round pick, connected for a 46-yard touchdown in the first quarter.
Purdy was the best quarterback on the field at Raymond James Stadium on Sunday, but Baker Mayfield wasn’t too far behind. Mayfield had one of the best plays of the season when he used one hand to keep Nick Bosa from sacking him before connecting with running back Rachaad White for eight yards on fourth-and-7 to continue the game-tying drive in the final minutes of regulation.
Chiefs again play down to the level of their competition
It was a rough day for those who are tired of seeing the Chiefs win. You can’t blame their rivals for channeling their inner Jesse Pinkman after the Chiefs blocked the Broncos’ potential game-winning field goal as time expired to preserve the 16–14 victory and their undefeated season.
The Chiefs have constantly played with fire late in games but have yet to get burnt once. Finally, an opponent had Patrick Mahomes on the sideline for the final seconds of a one-score game only to have Mike Danna block Wil Lutz’s 35-yard field-goal attempt. This time football fans can’t blame the officials for helping the Chiefs improve to 9–0. Broncos coach Sean Payton had the Chiefs right where everyone wanted them and Kansas City’s special teams stepped up.
Perhaps the Chiefs’ winning streak ends next week against the Buffalo Bills, who took care of business against the Indianapolis Colts on Sunday and improved to 8–2. But it wouldn’t be surprising if the Chiefs deliver one of their best performances of the season for this Week 11 showdown.
The Chiefs have a knack for playing down to the level of their competition, which could help explain how the Broncos got crushed by 31 points against the Ravens last week and were a field goal away from handing the back-to-back champions their first loss of the season. The Buccaneers also blew it during their overtime loss against the Chiefs on Monday night. And maybe even the Las Vegas Raiders thought they had a shot when they lost only by seven points against Kansas City in Week 8.
Maybe the best way for Chiefs haters to feel better is by betting on their opponents to cover the spread. Mahomes & Co. love to make it interesting, but that’s nothing new.
Changes desperately needed in Chicago after another ugly loss
It keeps getting worse for Chicago Bears coach Matt Eberflus since allowing the walk-off Hail Mary against the Commanders two weeks ago.
The Bears (4–5) have gone from losing in heartbreak fashion to a division leader to not being competitive against one of the worst teams in the league. The New England Patriots handed the Bears their third consecutive loss and left Chicago with a 19–3 victory. Caleb Williams and his offense haven’t produced a touchdown in the past eight quarters, including the 29–9 loss against the Cardinals.
Eberflus’s days as the coach in Chicago might be numbered because it could get worse with upcoming games against the Packers, Vikings, Detroit Lions and 49ers. Maybe the team decides to give Eberflus the rest of the season, but Bears fans probably wouldn’t like that, especially because the defense has regressed during the losing skid.
It also doesn’t help that Williams hasn’t played as well as Daniels despite being drafted one spot before him. There’s even a case that Broncos quarterback Bo Nix, the No. 12 pick in the draft, has had a better season than Williams. No. 3 pick Drake Maye hasn’t started the entire season, but he’s played well the past month and outshined Willliams on Sunday. Maye went 15-of-25 for 184 yards, one touchdown and one interception. Williams ended 16-of-30 for 120 yards, no touchdowns and no turnovers.
It wouldn’t be surprising if Eberflus fires offensive coordinator Shane Waldron come Monday morning. Williams ending the season on a high note is probably the only way Eberflus can save his job in Chicago.
This article was originally published on www.si.com as What We Learned in Week 10: Steelers Serious AFC Threats With Russell Wilson.
