On Sunday morning, my best friend from college text me, asking who he should go with in his Survivor league. I'm in the same league but I was eliminated weeks ago, so I wanted to make the best pick possible for him. His options were either the Ravens at home against the Titans, or the Steelers on the road against the Jets. I thought either one would be have been a solid pick, but I had recommended the Steelers. He stirred on it for a bit, but ultimately he had picked the Ravens.
By halftime on Sunday, the Jets were up 17-3, and the Ravens were tied 7-7. I text him to say I was happy he did not listen to me because of how inept the Steelers had looked on Sunday. What on earth happened to them? They had steamrolled through their previous two games, largely because of Ben Roethlisberger's performances. Ben's line on the day was still respectable, although he did throw 2 interceptions on the day (it's worth pointing out that one of those picks was not Ben's fault). The Steelers turned the ball over a total of 4 times on the day, but they still managed to put up nearly 100 more yards of total offense than the Jets. It's possible that the entire team had fallen into a classic trap game against an inferior opponent, but they can't afford many other collapses like that the rest of the way if they're going to make the playoffs. They have to play New Orleans and face Cincinnati twice over the final five weeks of the season, which will make or break them. They just can't afford dropping another ugly loss along the way like they did on Sunday.
1. The AFC North is a complete cluster. The Browns beat the Bengals Thursday night, the Steelers blew one on the road in New York, and the Ravens won a much-needed game over the Titans. Any one of these four teams could make a compelling argument as to why they could win the division, but it's the Ravens who stand a chance to gain a lot of ground in the division because they have only one divisional game left to play this season, a Week 17 home game against Cleveland. The Browns and Steelers each have two divisional games left, and the Bengals have three remaining. The rest of the division will beat each other up, giving the Ravens the opportunity to climb in the standings if they can handle their own business. It's very likely each week the entire division's standings will reset itself right up until the very end of the season.
2. Carson Palmer's knee could doom the Cardinals. Talk about bad luck for the Cardinals. On Friday, they signed Carson Palmer to a three-year extension worth $50 million. Then in the third quarter against the Rams, St. Louis safety Mark Barron tugged at Palmer's jersey, forcing him to twist his knee at what looked like just the wrong kind of way. Palmer fell to the ground and had to be carted off the field. The Cardinals confirmed yesterday Palmer tore his ACL in his knee, leaving Drew Stanton in charge of the offense. Palmer's injury and Stanton replacing him the rest of the way could narrow the gap between the Cardinals and the rest of the NFC (and perhaps even their own division with the 49ers and Seahawks behind them). Bruce Arians seems to think the Cardinals can still win it all, so the final 7 weeks of the season will gauge just how effective Stanton will be as the starting QB.
3. Who was the MVP of the weekend? Over the course of the day, there were at least four players who could have made the case for the MVP of Week 10. Dez Bryant had a career day in London against the Jaguars and essentially single-handedly took over that game. He had the title locked up for about an hour before Marshawn Lynch rushed for 150 yards and 4 touchdowns against the hapless Giants. Meanwhile, Peyton Manning had another typical day for himself, throwing another 5 touchdown passes against the Raiders. All of those guys made compelling arguments for themselves.
Then came Sunday night. Aaron Rodgers put himself on center stage and threw 6 touchdown passes in the first half against the Bears (more on the Bears in a moment). Much like Ben Roethlisberger the last two weeks, Rodgers put up video game numbers as the Packers rolled over the Bears. It's still hard to pick a single player of those four guys because picking one essentially ignores the other three performances.
4. To paraphrase Tom Petty, the Bears are free fallin'. The Bears had their bye in Week 9 after being clobbered by New England two weeks ago. Marc Trestman is essentially coaching for his job, but for the second consecutive big game for the Bears, they did not show up on the field. The Packers didn't even really need to try scoring since the Bears' secondary played Jordy Nelson so softly.
The Bears are 0-2 in the division and 2-3 in the NFC right now. It's impossible to estimate what games are truly winnable on their schedule the rest of the way, but if they lose at home to Tampa in two weeks, I don't think it's crazy to think Trestman could be fired.
5. Parrish Cox must have taken notes from George Iloka. Cox and Iloka both are nominees for Best Supporting Actor this year in the NFL after their individual flopping efforts. Jimmy Graham put his hands on Cox as he jumped up to grab a potentially game-winning touchdown against San Francisco, and Cox sold the play just as Iloka sold his flop two weeks ago against the Ravens. If there is a silver lining to both plays, it's that the refs called them the same way. Had Steve Smith, Sr, been flagged and not Jimmy Graham (or vice versa), the league office would have some serious egg on its face this morning.
6. The Goat of the Week Award goes to Andy Dalton. Here's a fairly telling stat about Andy Dalton and the Bengals: Since 2012, when the Bengals are in prime time and/or have a nationally broadcast game (e.g. playoffs), they are 0-6. Dalton had his single worst performance Thursday night against the Browns, that being the latest example in this trend. This is why I refuse to believe in Dalton or the Bengals as a whole. They do nothing but choke in big spots.
7. Odell Beckham, Jr, has the ability to be something special. Beckham has only played in 5 games thus far this season, and of those 5, he played opposite Victor Cruz in only one game (Beckham's first in the league) before Cruz tore his patellar tendon and was done for the year. Playing essentially on his own, Beckham has all the makings of a home-run hitter of a wide receiver, and when Cruz returns next year healthy, the two of them together have the ability to be one of the best one-two combos at receiver in the entire NFL. The Giants aren't playing for anything this season, and there's a real chance they will have some major coaching changes after this season. Long term, Eli Manning will have two excellent targets to throw to in Beckham and Cruz.
8. Maybe all that Mark Sanchez really needed was a competent offensive line and playmakers after all. In his two games so far as Eagles quarterback, Mark Sanchez looks like a completely different player than who he was during his days with the Jets. I don't think it's any coincidence that the talent surrounding him in Philly far exceeds what he had in New York, either. When the Eagles had signed Sanchez to be their backup in the off-season, he was the butt of many jokes (poor choice of words intended). The joke is on the rest of us because Sanchez looks like he can really play, and perhaps even keep Nick Foles on the sideline when he's ready to return from his injury.
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