NFL 2018 Week 10 Recap

Hello readers! Another week of National Football League action is finally behind us. Bringing with drama, blowouts and close games. The week featured a few upsets like the Buffalo Bills getting a win against the New York Jets or the Cleveland Browns getting their 3rd win of the season against the juggernaut Atlanta Falcons. All this and more in this week's recap.

Carolina 21, Pittsburgh 52: TW: Steelers, CV: Panthers
The hope for this game to be a close, good one died after halftime. The Panthers were outfought, outsmarted, and outgunned. Ben Roethlisberger had another five-touchdown game in a career where he has made a five-touchdown game a fairly normal occurrence. The Steelers defense made big plays especially in the first quarter with the Cam Newton pick-six. You live and learn and the Panthers will definitely want to put in the corrections in this game and bury it.

Week 11: Carolina: @ Detroit; Pittsburgh: @ Jacksonville

TW: 1-0; CV: 0-1

Arizona 14, Kansas City 26: TW: Chiefs, CV: Chiefs
The Chiefs dominated the game but not quite what we've been used to in the last few weeks. Patrick Mahomes would only throw for 249 yards for two touchdowns. The game's true hallmark was the Chiefs defense that had to come together to put a dominating effort against a Cardinals team that was trying to upset one of the hottest teams in the league. David Johnson would run in for a touchdown while Josh Rosen would throw for a touchdown, only to throw two interceptions. Still a win for the Chiefs and that's all that matters.

Week 11: Arizona: vs Oakland; Kansas City: vs LA Rams (Monday night)

TW: 2-0; CV: 1-1

Atlanta 16, Cleveland 28: TW: Falcons, CV: Falcons
One of week 10's huge upsets was the Browns dominating a hot Atlanta Falcons team. The Falcons defense couldn't stop Baker Mayfield and the Browns offense all day. Mayfield had 216 yards passing while throwing three touchdowns. Nick Chubb had a stellar day on the ground with 176 yards rushing and a touchdown. Chubb's 92-yard touchdown is the longest play from scrimmage for a score on the season. Matt Ryan and the Falcons offense still put up an effort, 330 passing yards with two touchdown passes. Just couldn't stop a Browns team that got its 3rd victory on the year, 1st for Gregg Williams as interim head coach.

Week 11: Atlanta: vs Dallas; Cleveland: Bye week (they might win it)

TW: 2-1; CV: 1-2

Buffalo 41, NY Jets 10: TW: Jets, CV: Jets
After many try and fails at quarterback for the Buffalo Bills, they found their answer (at the moment) in Matt Barkley. Barkley, the 6th year player out of USC, threw for 232 yards and two touchdowns. LeSean McCoy had 113 yards rushing for two touchdowns on his own in a dominating effort for the Bills. Josh McCown just couldn't find a rhythm or his weapons only throwing for 135 yards and 0 interceptions, with two interceptions.

Week 11: Buffalo: Bye Week; NY Jets: Bye week

TW: 2-2; CV: 1-3

Detroit 22, Chicago 34: TW: Bears, CV: Bears
Mitchell Trubisky continues his stellar season as the Chicago Bears quarterback as he looked very good in this game. Not a lot of rushing yards from the Bears in this game, Jordan Howard only ran for 21 yards in the game. Still, Trubisky's numbers on the air were 355 passing yards on three touchdowns. The Lions tried to come back in this game but Detroit's three turnovers (two interceptions, one fumble) spelled doom for them in the end. Chicago keeps up in the NFC North division race.

Week 11: Detroit: vs Carolina; Chicago: vs Minnesota

TW: 3-2; CV: 2-3

Jacksonville 26, Indianapolis 29: TW: Jaguars, CV: Colts
The Colts offense only put up the 29 points in the first half and they still survived. Andrew Luck had a good game throwing 285 yards and three touchdowns while his counterpart Blake Bortles threw for 320 yards and three touchdowns. It wasn't like the Jaguars were down by a lot at halftime, it was only 29-16 Colts at halftime. Still, if you give up 29 points in two quarters it just seems to be more on your defense than your offense. The Jaguars have fallen off the earth.

Week 11: Jacksonville: vs Pittsburgh; Indianapolis: vs Tennessee

TW: 3-3; CV: 3-3

New England 10, Tennessee 34: TW: Patriots, CV: Patriots
The biggest upset in the league was the Titans hanging 34 points against the Patriots. It was a dominant effort by the Titans. Marcus Mariota threw for 228 passing yards on two touchdowns, and Derrick Henry rushed for 58 yards and two touchdowns. Tom Brady had a decent game with 258 yards passing with no touchdowns. The only touchdown for the Patriots came from James Develin. The Patriots were 3 for 15 on third down, not going to win a lot of games if you can sustain drives.

Week 11: New England: Bye week; Tennessee: @ Indianapolis

TW: 3-4; CV: 3-4

New Orleans 51, Cincinnati 14: TW: Saints, CV: Saints
The Saints came, they saw, and they conquered the Queen City from the first snap onwards. Drew Brees passed Brett Favre on the all-time touchdown list as he threw for 265 yards on three touchdowns. Mark Ingram had 104 rushing yards and Alvin Kamara had 56 yards rushing with two touchdowns. Not a bad game when you signed Dez Bryant and lose him before he would see some game action. The Bengals defense stunk and the chances of the Bengals getting to the playoffs are starting to get slimmer, how the mighty have fallen.

Week 11: New Orleans: vs Philadelphia; Cincinnati: @ Baltimore

TW: 4-4; CV: 4-4

Washington 16, Tampa Bay 3: TW: Buccaneers, CV: Redskins
The Redskins somehow let the Buccaneers get 500+ yards on offense, forcing them to punt only once in the game and Washington still wins the game. How crazy is that! There was no magic in Ryan Fitzpatrick in the game but he would throw for over 400 yards in this game. However, the name of the game is scoring touchdowns and the Buccaneers only put up three points in this game. Alex Smith only threw for 178 yards and a touchdown in this game.

Week 11: Washington: vs Houston; Tampa Bay: @ NY Giants

TW: 4-5; CV: 5-4

LA Chargers 20, Oakland 6: TW: Chargers, CV: Chargers
The Chargers continued to stay on cruise control in the game as the Raiders couldn't really do a lot on offense and still couldn't put enough stops to give their offense a chance. Phillip Rivers threw for 223 yards with two touchdowns while Melvin Gordon had 93 yards rushing in the game. Derek Carr had 243 yards passing with 0 touchdowns. No end in sight for Oakland yet, but don't fear there's only six more weeks left in the season.

Week 11: LA Chargers: vs Denver; Oakland: @ Arizona

TW: 5-5; CV: 6-4

Miami 12, Green Bay 31: TW: Packers, CV: Packers
It was a nice change of pace for a Packers team that tend to keep things close to the chest. Aaron Rodgers only three for 199 yards for two touchdown passes but it was the running game that gave Rodgers a bit of a break. Aaron Jones had the game of his life with 145 rushing yards and scored two touchdowns. The Dolphins could only put up four field goals in the game, but no touchdowns. The Packers needed to get a win to keep up with the Bears and Vikings in the division race.

Week 11: Miami: Bye week; Green Bay: @ Seattle (Thursday night)

TW: 6-5; CV: 7-4

Seattle 31, LA Rams 36: TW: Rams, CV: Rams
The Rams rebounded after getting their first loss of the season last week. Jared Goff threw for 318 yards on two touchdowns with Todd Gurley getting 120 yards on the ground with one touchdown. The Seahawks hung around the Rams all game but would ultimately lose the game. Russell Wilson threw for 176 yards with three touchdowns and Rashaad Penny had 108 yards on the ground with a touchdown.

Week 11: Seattle: vs Green Bay (Thursday night); LA Rams: vs Kansas City

TW: 7-5; CV: 8-4

Dallas 27, Philadelphia 20: TW: Eagles, CV: Cowboys
The Eagles defense was quite good in the game getting to Dak Prescott but unfortunately, that's not the only thing that is the problem in Philly. The hangover is real in the City of Brotherly Love and I don't think that they have the knowledge to correct it. Ezekiel Elliot had a stellar game with 151 rushing yards and a touchdown, not also to mention with a stellar hurdle move. The NFC East is a mess and it may come down to the final week of the regular season and a team with a losing record to get into the playoffs.

Week 11: Dallas: @ Atlanta; Philadelphia: @ New Orleans

TW: 7-6; CV: 9-4

NY Giants 27, San Francisco 23: TW: 49ers, CV: 49ers
The game of Young Gun vs Veteran QB would ultimately prove yet again that the old gunslinger in Eli Manning still has a few tricks up his sleeve. The game, disregarding record, was actually not bad of a game. Nick Mullins had an okay game with only 250 passing yards with a touchdown, his two interceptions proved to be a deal breaker in this one. You have to remember that Jimmy Garopallo was supposed to be in at QB for the Niners in this game, not Mullins. The kid will learn from mistakes. Eli Manning had 188 passing yards while throwing three touchdowns, including the game-winner from Sterling Sharpe. The Giants get their 2nd win of the season. The football gods giveth, the football gods taketh.

Week 11: NY Giants: vs Tampa Bay; San Francisco: Bye week

TW: 7-7; CV: 9-5

Records:

2018:
Week 1: 10-5-1
Week 2: 6-9-1
Week 3: 8-8
Week 4: 12-3
Week 5: 6-9
Week 6: 10-5
Week 7: 10-4
Week 8: 11-3
Week 9: 9-4
Week 10: 7-7
Overall: 89-57-2

Cardinal Viking
2018:
Week 1: 8-7-1
Week 2: 9-6-1
Week 3: 5-11
Week 4: 9-6
Week 5: 9-6
Week 6: 6-9
Week 7: 12-2
Week 8: 10-4
Week 9: 8-5
Week 10: 9-5
Overall: 85-61-2

See you guys on Wednesday for the Week 11 picks column! 
-Tom