From start to finish, our Week 10 Sunday was wild and unpredictable across the entire NFL. And the drama started early in Munich where Eddy Pineiro kicked a 36-yard field goal in overtime to give the Carolina Panthers a 20-17 victory over the New York Giants.
I'll have more on that game in a moment.
But it was all going off after that. We saw a game-winning field goal from San Francisco's Jake Moody against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers after he had previously missed three kicks, game-ending penalties in Jacksonville and Washington where Travon Walker and Jer'Zahn Newton cost their teams dearly in close losses and a game-saving tackle from Tyrann Mathieu that saw the New Orleans Saints win for the first time since Week 2 – against their fiercest rivals in the NFC South's first-placed Atlanta Falcons.
That's not even mentioning Detroit's Jared Goff avoiding a disaster on Sunday Night Football nor the Kansas City Chiefs proving to the entire football world that they are never losing again.
Trailing 16-14, the Denver Broncos had the ball last and moved into position for a relatively-easy Will Lutz field goal from 35 yards that would see the final seconds tick off the clock. Game over, surely? The Chiefs were about to lose for the first time in 321 days. Not so fast! Leo Chenal bulled through the line to block the kick and it remains true that Kansas City's last loss was on Christmas Day – incredible when you think that we will soon be hanging our decorations to celebrate another holiday season.
I'll have more on the Chiefs and Lions later, but first let's go back to Munich where the Panthers and Giants played an imperfect but entertaining game. When you see Super Bowl-chasing teams like the Chiefs, Ravens and Lions in action each weekend; it's easy to overlook a pair of 2-7 squads who are probably playing for little outside of futures and pride the rest of the way.
But while the rest of the league may ignore such teams, I saw the Panthers and Giants scrap for more than three hours on Sunday amid what was another raucous atmosphere at Allianz Arena. It was a reminder that this league is filled with players of great skill and passion. You cannot tell me that games like this don't matter when I see the images of Giants rookie running back Tyrone Tracy hidden under a towel and distraught after his overtime fumble handed the victory to Carolina.
This was a pretty big moment for the young Panthers and their embattled quarterback Bryce Young. Carolina won for the second week in a row and Young won back-to-back games for the first time in his NFL career. It has not been plain sailing, but the Panthers have eclipsed their two-win total of a year ago at 3-7 and they still have seven contests remaining to build towards 2025.
Young had his ups and downs during the game and he only threw for 126 yards and one touchdown but, importantly, he was mistake-free. And he answered in a big way in the second half after the Giants closed to within three points in the third quarter. Young led the Panthers on a 10-play, 80-yard drive that spoke volumes as Carolina restored their 10-point lead on Chuba Hubbard's one-yard run. I still don't know if Young is going to be a full-time success at the NFL level, but I do know he was helped out by an excellent running back in Hubbard on Sunday.
The in-form Canadian has been one of the best backs in the league this season and he was rewarded for his efforts with a four-year contract extension worth $33 million in the week leading up to this game. Hubbard backed up the signing of that deal by rushing for a career-high 153 yards and one touchdown, showing great explosion all afternoon.
On the other side, what does the future hold for Giants quarterback Daniel Jones? He threw two interceptions – the second of which came on an inaccurate pass inside the red zone in the fourth quarter – and there were quite a few other occasions where he either didn't see the open receiver or he was nervous about sticking the ball into a tight window. His confidence looks very low right now.
But the enigma is that, occasionally, you get flashes of playmaking ability with Jones. He will throw a nice pass or pull off a much-needed run. The up and down nature of his play is not good enough in today's NFL, however. You want your quarterback to be a consistent performer from start to finish, drive to drive, game to game and year after year. At the moment, the bad is definitely outweighing the good when it comes to Jones.
The Giants could end up making a short-term move to Drew Lock or even Tommy DeVito as we get into the second half of their lost season, but a permanent solution at the position will have to be found in 2025.
Who's Hot…
International games… Brace yourselves because we are about to embark on a global journey that will see eight NFL regular season games played around the world in 2025. On a day that saw more than 71,000 fans packed into Allianz Arena, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell appeared on NFL Network and did some very simple maths to get to that total of eight. Three in the United Kingdom, one in Germany, one in Spain, possibly one in Ireland and returns to Brazil and Mexico. Think about that for a second – we are very likely to see six regular season games played in Europe next season! For somebody who worked covering and promoting the league when we didn't have a single game in the UK or Europe, my mind is blown and excitement levels are through the roof. And where does the league go after that? Goodell told me a couple of weeks ago that 16 games was the plan as soon as the NFL could expand to an 18-game regular season. And he told me in Munich over the weekend that such a plan would then see the league eye further-afield venues for games such as Australia and Asia. The idea of franchises or divisions being placed in Europe seems to have passed, but this Formula One-style travelling roadshow is likely to do much more for the global growth of the NFL than simply putting a team in one country.
Teams who have seemingly forgotten how to lose… Winning becomes a habit and it is one that has been mastered by the Kansas City Chiefs and the Detroit Lions, who both found a way to win games on Sunday that should very well have been lost. Sometimes, the success is in the detail. Chiefs linebacker Leo Chenal spoke to the media after blocking Denver's would-be game-winning kick on Sunday, explaining that he had noticed a soft spot in the Broncos' line on previous kicks that day. It was a minor detail. It was not a gaping hole in the protection – just a lineman who was "light on his toes a little bit" suggesting to Chenal that he could bull-rush into a position to block the kick, which is precisely what he did. Detroit saw Jared Goff – who has been practically perfect for the past month – throw a career-high five interceptions against the Houston Texans, yet the Lions survived to win 26-23, courtesy of a 52-yard field goal by Jake Bates as time ran out. The Lions rode their luck as C.J. Stroud was intercepted on what should have been a simple touchdown pass and Ka'imi Fairbairn missed a 58-yard field goal in the final two minutes to give Detroit a short field which led to their winning points. That's part of being a winner – you get down to the business end of games and your players expect good things to happen. And the opposing players wonder what is going to go wrong for them. There is an aura when it comes to playing Patrick Mahomes and it appears to now be the same for Dan Campbell's Lions.
Kyler Murray… The Arizona Cardinals were an unpredictable roller coaster ride earlier in the season, but they have now found their feet as winners of four straight. And their star quarterback, Kyler Murray, is a the very top of his game. He was masterful during Sunday's 31-6 thrashing of the New York Jets that kept the Cardinals in top spot in the NFC West. Murray looked in total control as he threw for 266 yards and a touchdown and added two scores on the ground. We used to marvel at what Murray could do with his legs and his ability to frustrate defenders left in his dust remains a major component of his game. But, make no mistake, Murray is a complete quarterback who is enjoying some of his best NFL form… ever. And while Arizona run the ball well (147 yards and three touchdowns on Sunday) and are playing some very good defense (held the Jets to 207 total yards), it is their dual-threat quarterback who currently has them in the thick of the playoff race in the NFC.
Who's Not…
The Jacksonville Jaguars… The Jags are the opposite of the Chiefs and Lions. They find ways to lose. Sunday's 12-7 reverse at the hands of the Minnesota Vikings marked a sixth defeat this season by a single score. A major problem for Jacksonville is that both sides of the football rarely show up on the same day. Week 10 saw Jacksonville's defense hold Minnesota without a touchdown, picking off Sam Darnold three times. But Mac Jones could not muster more than one offensive score in relief of the injured Trevor Lawrence and the reserve threw two interceptions and posted a passer rating of 38.3. As good as Jacksonville's defense was, that unit ended the game with a bone-headed mistake. The Jags had made a stop on Aaron Jones short of the first down marker and they were about to get the ball and have one last chance to win it. But Travon Walker tried, quite rightly, to punch the ball loose. The problem was that when the whistle blew the play dead, Walker kept on punching… at the ball and at everyone in his vicinity. Penalty called, game over! That was so stupid. Things got worse for the Jags after the game when head coach Doug Pederson – whose job requires him to answer questions from the media – was asked about Jones' late-game interception. The coach replied that there was no point getting into the details because "you guys wouldn't figure it out." That is a terrible look, just horrible. Pederson may not be answering questions at all in the near future if this season continues on its current trajectory in Jacksonville.
The Chicago Bears' offense (again)… The problems are not only continuing for the Bears, they appear to be getting worse. Sunday's 19-3 home loss to the lowly New England Patriots felt like a very depressing moment in what had promised to be an encouraging season under rookie first-round quarterback Caleb Williams. But Chicago have now lost three in a row since shining in London and have gone from 4-2 to 4-5 in the blink of an eye. And in those games, Williams has been sacked 18 times, including a worrying nine on Sunday. The offensive line is a mess at the moment and it is holding back an attack that has plenty of skill-position weaponry around a talented and exciting young quarterback. The Bears have failed to score an offensive touchdown in the past two games and they have gone 23 straight drives without finding the end zone. That's the longest drought suffered by the Bears since the Mitchell Trubisky-led team of 2017. Williams has not thrown a touchdown pass since his wonderful afternoon at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium – albeit against the struggling Jaguars. This game at home against the Patriots was supposed to get Chicago right. All it has done is make things worse.
Joe Flacco… What happened with second-year quarterback Anthony Richardson a few weeks back – tapping out of a game against the Houston Texans on third and goal because he was tired – bordered on being unforgivable, even though Indianapolis Colts head coach Shane Steichen insisted the team was not giving up on the young passer. It would be hard to go back to Richardson after his high-profile failure was followed up by a much-talked-about benching that leaves his career hanging in the balance at the tender age of 22. But the form of 39-year-old quarterback Joe Flacco during Sunday's 30-20 loss to the Buffalo Bills must have given Steichen some food for thought. Flacco threw three interceptions and lost a fumble in a game that hung in the balance for quite some time. I don't think Richardson is close to a return, but Flacco has to play better than that. Flacco cost his team on Sunday, one week after failing to muster an offensive touchdown on Sunday Night Football. This is worth monitoring as we move towards the business end of the season. The Colts are 1-3 with Flacco as their starter this season and 3-3 with Richardson at the helm.
The Fast Five…
- Hands up who rolled their eyes when Mike Tomlin sent Justin Fields back to the bench and made Russell Wilson the starting quarterback for the Pittsburgh Steelers? I was not upset by the move, but I had my doubts. But since debuting for the Steelers, Wilson has thrown for 737 yards, six touchdowns and just one pick in wins over the New York Jets, New York Giants and Washington Commanders. And his team is now 7-2 after an impressive 28-27 road win in Washington – a game iced when Wilson's hard count drew Newton offside on a play where the ball was never going to be snapped. Everyone in the stadium knew it apart from Newton and that was a classic rookie error if ever I saw one.
- That's the season over for the Dallas Cowboys then and they went down with a whimper by losing 31-6 at home to the Philadelphia Eagles. Quarterback Dak Prescott is likely done for the season with a hamstring injury and head coach Mike McCarthy is a dead man walking in coaching terms, it feels. There is just not enough talent on this team and the demise has very much played out in front of Cowboys' fans. At home this season, the Cowboys have an 0-4 record and have conceded 44, 28, 47, and 34 points in those one-sided losses.
- Hey, do you remember those heady days when we talked about Sam Darnold being an NFL Most Valuable Player candidate? I was guilty of such conversations because he was excellent when I saw him lead the Vikings to victory against San Francisco in Minneapolis in Week 2. But ever since he played against the Jets in London, Darnold has been a little off. He struggled mightily against Jacksonville on Sunday but was bailed out by his defense. The Vikings are sitting comfortably with a 7-2 record, but Darnold needs to re-discover his early-season form. Fast!
- The Falcons could not get into their offensive groove against a New Orleans team looking to avoid an eight-game losing streak for the first time since 1980. Kirk Cousins threw for more than 300 yards but could not find the end zone as the Falcons were limited to just two touchdowns in the game. On days like that, you need to rely on your kicker to keep the scoreboard ticking over and Atlanta has a very good one in Younghoe Koo. But this just turned into one of those days as Koo missed three field goals, including a 46-yarder in the fourth quarter that would have tied the game. That allowed the Saints to celebrate a 20-17 victory.
- I'm not sure how much the NFL world has paid attention, but the Los Angeles Chargers are 6-3 and in very good shape to make a playoff run as we move through November and into December. Should we really have expected anything less? It feels like perennial winner, Jim Harbaugh, has brought some necessary steel to a team that needed just that very attribute to go alongside talented and strong-armed quarterback Justin Herbert.
Fact of the Week
As we head towards Monday Night Football which will wrap Week 10 in the NFL, eight of the 13 games played on Thursday and Sunday have been decided by one score (eight points or fewer).
Final Thought…
There was a lot going over the days leading up to the Giants-Panthers game in Munich, but one of my personal highlights was travelling half an hour out of the city to watch the NFL Academy record a 40-24 victory over the prestigious IMG Academy from Florida. Now, I have to declare an interest as my son, George, a former quarterback as some of you may remember, is now tight ends and assistant special teams coach for the Academy. So, really, I was on hand with instructions from his mother to make sure he was wrapped up warm! It was freezing, by the way. It was fun to watch high school athletes from 19 different countries come together under the NFL Academy banner and secure a big win. Head coach Steve Hagen (formerly of the Jets and Browns) – and Head of NFL Academy Lamonte Winston (Chiefs and Raiders) have that team on the right track, that's for sure. And what was really cool was seeing British wide receiver Praise Olatoke braving the cold conditions having been given a night off by the Carolina Panthers. Praise is on Carolina's practice squad after going through the NFL's International Player Pathway Programme in 2024. He serves as a great inspiration to the young players when doing that. And Detroit's German defender David Bada – who is currently out injured – returned to his homeland to offer his support. It was a reminder that the kids at the NFL Academy have some inspirational footsteps they can follow in.
