Five talking points from Week Ten

I think this week we might have to just get straight into it because in my attempt to summarise what has to be one of the greatest regular season contests in recent memory, thiss will already be a long one.

I’m still watching the highlights now and struggling to figure out just how the Vikings pulled off that win. Madness!

 Let’s get straight to my five talking points from week ten:

1. THE GAME OF THE YEAR!

Where do we even begin?

First, let me make a small confession. Last week, I showed the Minnesota Vikings respect for their impressive 7-1 record and although I thought them to have been fairly lucky in getting there, one of my motivations behind doing so was that I felt confident that they would get stuffed this week in Buffalo. The run would be over and we’d get the usual Vikings inconsistent end to the season form from here on out. Well, that’ll teach me!

Many of us were unsure as to whether or not we would see Josh Allen on the field yesterday after hearing the reports of his elbow injury throughout the week. His warmup to the game looked as though he was holding back somewhat but perhaps that was just a ruse in order to cast doubt in the minds of his opponent.

After a quick three-and-out to open, Allen then proceeded to lead the Bills to three touchdowns and a field goal on the next five possessions to lead 24-10 at halftime. The game was done, right?

In the third quarter, Stefon Diggs made what many of us likely assumed at the time to be the catch of the game. Allen rifled the ball towards the unmarked no. 14 who went up high, picking the ball out of the sky with one hand, as though he were picking an apple off a tree. Justin Jefferson was clearly in an ‘anything you can do’ kind of a mood though. Having already made some impressive catches, they faded into insignificance compared to the grab made in the fourth quarter.

Facing a fourth-and-14 with under two minutes left on the clock and down by four, Kirk Cousins put his faith, as well as his team’s chances at winning, in Jefferson’s reliable hands. Bills cornerback Cam Lewis had the play well covered, managing to get two hands on the ball and more often than not this would be an interception.

However, such was Jefferson’s determination that, one handed, he was able to pull the ball down towards him, twist his arm underneath it and somehow avoid a drop despite hitting the turf, all the while with Lewis’ still trying to make a play. Cue the clip….

Justin Jefferson now has 20 career games with 100-plus receiving yards, the most by any player in his first three NFL seasons. Jefferson broke a tie with Odell Beckham Jr. and Hall of Famer Randy Moss (19 such games). This unofficial catch competition was spectacular, way better than anything we saw during the last Pro Bowl, but they weren’t even the craziest plays of the game.

Quarterback sneaks almost always work, except for in this game. On fourth-and-goal, Cousins needed a single yard (possibly less) to give his Vikings the lead but the Bills knew what was coming and so stacked the box with four defensive tackles – a combined weight of about 1,250 lbs – and gave the Minnesota quarterback nowhere to go forcing a turnover.

All the Bills needed from here on out was a first down and to run out the clock so surely, nothing could go wrong? Allen attempted his own QB sneak play on first-and-ten and with an 86.3% success rate it might have been a good call however, not only did the Vikings stuff him inside the end zone but they forced a fumble in the process which they somehow recovered to take a three point lead with 40 seconds left.

From here on the rest of the game went like this: Bills drive into field goal range, to tie the game and head into overtime. Vikings win the toss, can’t score a walk-off touchdown and so settle for three to take the lead. Allen gets the ball and likely with last year’s play-off loss in mind, sets his sights on scoring the winning TD.

He drives his team downfield into a great position but, as he has done before this season, forces a pass down the middle which is intercepted by Vikings’ Patrick Peterson, his second pick of the game.

This contest became an instant classic, one of the best regular season games you’ll see and the implications were such that Minnesota moved to 8-1 whilst the Bills fell to 6-3, dropping to third place in the AFC East and from first place, down into sixth in the playoff picture.

I’m exhausted already but we shall soldier on…

2. Fans create Munich magic

The Allianz Arena played host to the first ever NFL game in Germany on Sunday, with the Seattle Seahawks facing off against Tom Brady’s Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Whilst the Bucs were able to come away with a 21-16, putting them back at the top of the NFC South and at .500 again for the season, it was the German crowd that truly stole the show and even had Brady impressed stating, “this was one of the greatest football experiences I’ve ever had,” and he’s played in 10 Super Bowls!

The Allianz allowed a capacity just short of 70,000 for the game and filling the stadium was never going to be an issue, with the league and Ticketmaster claiming they had over 3 million ticket requests for the event. 

Fans cheered just about every snap with  such vigour that they drowned out the actual audio of the game and as time was about to expire, viewers worldwide were treated to a raucous rendition of “Take Me Home, Country Roads” and they were not done there. The Allianz remained full long after the final whistle had blown much to the surprise of players and journalists alike who were attempting to conduct interviews on the field.

It’s safe to say that the future looks more than healthy for the NFL in Germany with a deal signed to play four games there until 2025, with Munich and Frankfurt alternating as host venues. Commissioner Roger Goodell hinted over the weekend that more games could be added.

Tampa Bay are joined by the Kansas City Chiefs, New England Patriots and Carolina Panthers in having secured rights in Germany – and those teams could well request to add an extra game to the four already scheduled.

3. Philly fall to Commanders

Philadelphia’s unbeaten start to the season came to an end at Lincoln Financial Field on Monday night to the hands of the Washington Commanders.

The visitors’ secondary did a job on the Eagles, who turned the ball over four times after previously only giving up three turnovers in their first eight games. Washington controlled the clock, able to hold onto possession for 40 minutes, running the ball 49 times – their most in a game since 2002 – for 152 yards. It wasn’t explosive, but it was highly effective.

The absence of rookie defensive tackle Jordan Davis is a big problem for the Eagles. The Texans rumbled for 168 yards against them a week ago with Davis out and so it was likely Washington would try and follow suit. With Davis sidelined until at least Week 13 against the Tennessee Titans, defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon needs to figure out how to plug the leak, to stop this becoming a regular problem.

This was the first game this season where the Eagles lost the turnover battle. One wasn’t their fault – the refs missed a blatant facemask on tight end Dallas Goedert that contributed to his lost fumble – but the other three were, including an interception from quarterback Jalen Hurts that he threw into double coverage on a deep pass to A.J. Brown.

At 8-1 the Eagles are now tied with the Vikings for the best record in football, but remain first in the NFC playoff race having beaten Minnesota earlier in the year. Playing as an unbeaten team paints an unwanted target on your back and an extra air of unnecessary pressure as the weeks pass by. Perhaps then this was the best thing that could have happened to the Eagles as they look to reset against the Indianapolis Colts on Sunday.

4. Dolphins sit atop the AFC East

The Miami Dolphins logged their fourth straight win in a 39-17 dismantling of the Cleveland Browns, as Mike McDaniel’s offence looked special once again, with Tua Tagovailoa completing 25 of his 32 throws for 285 yards and three touchdowns.

Tagovailoa looked composed, confident and decisive all afternoon, putting together perhaps his best single performance in his career to this point, connecting with eight different targets and tossing touchdown passes to three different pass-catchers.

Tua also joined Dan Marino as the only two quarterbacks in Dolphins history with three-plus passing touchdowns in three straight games. No punts and a score of over 30 points was a Miami first since week 15 of the 1988 season (a 38-31 win over the Browns). Sometimes sports are just weird like this.

5. No. 1 ranked defense dominates

San Francisco emerged victorious over the LA Chargers 22-16 at Levi’s Stadium on Sunday Night Football. The win has the 49ers just a half-game behind the Seahawks, and San Francisco has the advantage in division record and head-to-head record.

The 49ers offence had the opportunity to make a statement against an injury plagued Chargers team, but were unable to generate a consistent performance as Jimmy Garoppolo completed 19 of 28 passes for 240 yards.

There were chances at the end of the game for both teams to seal a win.

The Chargers were down 19-16 when they forced a punt with 2:12 left, Mitch Wishnowsky‘s punt landed at the 1-yard line which Samuel Womack downed and eventually stepped into the end zone. A play that should have been ruled a touchback but wasn’t, much to the Chargers’ frustration.

Justin Herbert threw two incompletions, followed by a 7-yard pass to Tre McKitty and then threw another incompletion on fourth-and-three. The 49ers took over the ball but couldn’t score the clinching touchdown, settling for a 20-yard Robbie Gould field goal with 1 minute to play to give the Chargers one last comeback try. On the first play from scrimmage though, Herbert had his arm hit by Charles Omenihu and Talanoa Hufanga intercepted for his fourth pick of the season to seal the win.

The 49ers played efficient complementary football, boosted by the return of Elijah Mitchell who carried the ball 18 times for 89 yards.

San Francisco should make a strong push through the rest of the regular season with the capabilities to surpass the Seahawks – who they play on TNF on December 15 – and claim the NFC West title.