Week 10 NFL Quick Hits

Oakland @ San Diego - So the Chargers are terrible. Well, I take that back, they're not completely awful but they're an immense disappointment. Philip Rivers threw only one interception this time but the stage was stolen by Carson Palmer and Denarius Moore. Moore had two touchdowns and showed why the Raiders thought so highly out of him. He's a boom-or-bust player, though, as seen by weeks five through seven where he registered two catches for 13 yards. Still, the Raiders have a ton of fast wideouts (Moore, Darrius Heyward-Bey, and Jacoby Ford) and it's a tough matchup for any defense to slow all of these guys down. Heyward-Bey, who I have had my fair share of laughs at, failed to register a catch for the second straight game. It's odd because he was the best receiver on the team and once Palmer took the reigns he has been a ghost. Still, this was a win the Raiders needed to have and at 5-4 they sit atop the AFC West, which I guess is a reward or something.

Jacksonville @ Indianapolis - The Colts lost the game and the Jaguars still have Blaine Gabbert at quarterback. Nobody wins here (until Indy drafts Andrew Luck in a few months).

New Orleans @ Atlanta - A lot of people are jumping on Mike Smith for making a call that I make on Madden nine times out of ten. Seriously though, this decision could keep the Falcons out of the playoffs and a whole lot of analysts are piling on Coach Smith for going for it on his own 30. I understand the decision, you have to believe your running back can get a single yard and that your offensive line can make the blocks necessary. Plus, he didn't want to give Drew Brees a chance to get back on the field which is also understandable. However, the Falcons defense had done well against Brees and completely shut down the Saints' running game. As long as they didn't break they could bend a little and probably get the ball back in better field position. The Falcons probably could have won this game without overtime if Julio Jones hadn't gotten hurt in the second quarter. Without Jones the Falcons offense just doesn't click so monitor his injury closely.

Houston @ Tampa Bay - The biggest news from these teams actually came in yesterday. Matt Schaub has been lost for the season with a Lisfranc injury and that means a whole lot of Matt Leinart. The Texans are still going to be a good team with Schaub, last I checked they still have Arian Foster and Ben Tate running the ball, Andre Johnson is returning this week, and the defense has made great strides under Wade Phillips. Unfortunately teams will probably start trying to cheat a little bit and load up even more against the run and it'll be up to Leinart to prove he can make the throws necessary for the Texans to make a playoff run. I don't have anything else to really say about the Bucs. Josh Freeman has regressed, LeGarrette Blount can't stay on the field because the team falls behind by 10-20 points every game, and the defense just isn't working out. They have disappointed me more than the Patriots' secondary.

Pittsburgh @ Cincinnati - This was billed as one of the biggest games of the weekend and it lived up to that. Andy Dalton threw for only 170 yards but he did make the most of his throws to A.J. Green and Jermaine Gresham. Green was forced from this game with a knee injury after his touchdown and it was glaringly obvious that the Bengals missed him. Rashard Mendenhall scored twice on the other side but this Bengals defense took a major hit when Leon Hall left the game (it would later be revealed he tore his Achilles). The Steelers offense looked a lot better with Hines Ward out and this was confirmed when the team said he was demoted from three wideout sets (Mike Wallace and Antonio Brown will be the starters with Jerricho Cotchery in the slot). The Steelers are not atop the AFC North standings and without Hall the Bengals may slip back a bit, but Cincy proved they could hang tough with their divisional rival. Ben Roethlisberger broke his thumb in this game and that is something worth monitoring.

Tennessee @ Carolina - Chris Johnson did stuff! Hooray for Chris Johnson's fantasy owners! Even though it was against one of the league's worst rushing defenses it was still a step in the right direction. The Titans took away Steve Smith but having Cortland Finnegan follow him everywhere on the field and for the first time all year Cam Newton looked bad. He failed to score a touchdown for the first time in his young career and was sacked five times. Matt Hasselbeck avoided the "QBs Named Matt Curse" that plagued Cassel and Schaub and if the Texans completely go in the crapper there's a chance he could lead this team to the playoffs.

Arizona @ Philadelphia - John Skelton led the Cardinals into Philly and won. Let that sink in for a moment because it almost caused Bryan to go into a blind rage. Michael Vick suffered two broken ribs, Jeremy Maclin has a sprained AC joint, and DeSean Jackson was benched for missing a special teams meeting. Basically we're seeing a team implode right before our eyes and even though they have three Pro Bowl corners no one could stop Larry Fitzgerald. Fitz had seven catches for 146 yards and two touchdowns including the game winner on his fingertips. Beanie Wells was able to convert a lot of the short yardage downs put in front of him. Neither of these teams are going anywhere any time soon but you have to give the Cards credit for going into Philly and putting a dagger in any chance of a Philadelphia comeback this season.

Denver @ Kansas City - Tim Tebow completed two passes. One of those was a 56-yard touchdown strike to Eric Decker. Looking at the stats for this game puts it into perspective: this is the first time a team has led at a half without a completed pass since the Packers led the Bears 14-0 in 1994. Tebow said after the game that they had plenty to improve and he's absolutely right but this team is winning games which is more than can be said for most of the AFC West. Knowshon Moreno will be out for the year with a torn ACL and Willis McGahee was forced from this game as well. McGahee has a chance to play on Thursday and was medically cleared to return but Lance Ball excelled in his place. I find myself rooting for the Broncos because Tebow fascinates me and it's always amazing to see analysts try to explain just how Denver keeps winning games. As I said earlier, Matt Cassel could miss the rest of the year after an injury suffered from an Elvis Dumervil sack. I hope you're ready for the Tyler Palko experience, Chief fans.

Buffalo @ Dallas - Aw, David Nelson gave his touchdown football to his Cowboys girlfriend. That's sweet, too bad it was the only highlight for the Bills. Fred Jackson was kept out of the end zone and Ryan Fitzpatrick continued plummeting back to Earth after a red hot start. Dallas is looking like the team everyone thought they would be in the preseason after all of this time. Tony Romo isn't asked to go out and win a game, DeMarco Murray has an outside shot at rookie of the year honors, and Dez Bryant continues to make freakish plays. Laurent Robinson has stepped in and done very well for the injured Miles Austin and with the offense clicking it allows Rob Ryan's defensive schemes to shine thanks to teams having to play from behind. When Romo plays like he did on Sunday there is no team that can beat these Cowboys, we'll just have to see if he can keep it going (they play the Giants twice and the Eagles once in their final four weeks with the Buccaneers sprinkled in).

St. Louis @ Cleveland - Phil Dawson blew it. No other way to put it. The Browns got a great game from Colt McCoy and Chris Ogbonnaya (very fun name to type and say, by the way) performed admirably. Greg Little had another great game and...you know what? I can't do it. The Browns have been a part of the most boring games all year and they are a terrible team to watch. I don't understand how they went from the awesome Peyton Hillis show with Rob Ryan's defenses to being Chris Ogbonnaya and Ben Watson? I can't do it anymore, I can't keep up the charade. I would rather stab myself in the face with a fork than watch another second of the Browns. As far as the Rams go, well, Brandon Lloyd looks to be a great pickup for a team that is going nowhere and may lose him in free agency. Go them, I guess.

Washington @ Miami - Rex Grossman made his triumphant return and had a typical Rex Grossman game. The Redskins stink and I can't believe that I was fooled into thinking their defense could be one of the best in the league. Reggie Bush had two touchdowns and put a fork in the Dolphins' Andrew Luck chances. Holy crap this was another terrible game.

Baltimore @ Seattle - I'm not surprised. Seriously.

NY Giants @ San Francisco - This was a fun game to watch. The Niners lost Frank Gore and even when he was on the field he was ineffective (6 rushes, 0 yards). Alex Smith made all of the throws necessary and I jokingly told Bryan that Tom Brady could learn something here. Everything the Niners did seemed to work in the fourth quarter and Eli Manning almost brought the G-Men back. I hope these two teams meet again in the playoffs because it would be interesting to see how the teams fare with healthy backs (Gore and Ahmad Bradshaw).

Detroit @ Chicago - Yeah, I'm officially on the Bears bandwagon. I had zero faith in their season last year but after watching this dismantling of the Lions I'm a believer. Matt Forte continues to give his all in spite of the fact that he could blow out his knee at any moment and lose tens of millions of dollars. Seriously, I say this every week, but please pay this man, he has nothing left to prove. Jay Cutler only completed nine passes but he wasn't asked to do a whole lot after Chicago opened this one up. Matt Stafford attempted a whopping 63 passes, threw four interceptions, and got in a fight after the last one. It was revealed that he has a fractured index finger and Calvin Johnson is also dinged up. The Lions will take their frustrations out on Carolina this week but they have to be careful about slipping back any further in the standings. The NFC North has already been lost but the Bears, a NFC East team (whoever doesn't win between the Cowboys and Giants), and the Falcons are all nipping on their heels.

New England @ NY Jets - Where has this Patriot defense been all year? Coming off of two straight losses and staring down the possibility of losing control of the AFC East, New England rallied and destroyed the Jets on Sunday Night Football. For the entire first half it looked like the Jets were just hanging on and their defense was shutting down the Pats. From my seat it seemed inevitable that Mark Sanchez would come out and light 'em up but in fact it was the polar opposite. Tom Brady looked the best he has in a month and Rob Gronkowski stupefied the Jets secondary. Darrelle Revis looked great against Wes Welker but it left things wide open for Gronk. Rob Ninkovich looked phenomenal with two interceptions, including one returned for a touchdown that pretty much sealed the game. Everything clicked for the Pats and with their upcoming schedule they may roll into the playoffs on a winning streak. There were rumors floating around that LaDainian Tomlinson had blown out his knee but it turned out just to be a sprained MCL. He probably won't play tomorrow night against the Broncos and that's a major loss for one of the Jets' best receiving threats.

Minnesota @ Green Bay - It sure is great to be a Rodgers. Aaron steamrolled the Vikings and I can't say anything else about the guy. He's having the greatest season by a quarterback ever and may end up erasing some of the greatest ever from the single season record books. He makes things look so easy that I am in awe watching this offense play. I don't know how anyone can beat them. Rodgers and this offense put teams in a hole and if you try to keep up with scoring then this defense will blitz Clay Matthews and Charles Woodson on every play. Oh, and Tramon Williams keeps picking off passes and the secondary as a whole ballhawks. I don't think they'll go undefeated but I have a tough time visualizing anyone beating them in the playoffs, especially with teams having to go up to Green Bay. The only hope a team has is that Randall Cobb continues fumbling kickoffs and giving teams a short field. As far as the Vikings go this is a season that got out of control really quickly and we're seeing just how far behind the rest of their division that they are. Adrian Peterson isn't getting any younger and this is a team that may not contend again while he's there because it is going to take a lot of rebuilding to get them anywhere close to NFC Championship Game again. Oh, and Antoine Winfield broke his clavicle and will be lost for the year. When it rains it pours I suppose.