Week 10 Observations

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Published on November 15, 2021

The week started out great, with the Team of Destiny Survivor pick, the Cowboys, sailing through, while the Steelers, Cardinals, Buccaneers and Ravens all went down. But it took a sour turn with the Seahawks failing to cover the 3.5-point spread and then my best bet, the Raiders, being the wrong side all game, ending my perfect streak at nine.

The Chiefs looked more like the team we've known from the last several seasons. Patrick Mahomes actually missed a few open throws but still went for 406 and five. Travis Kelce (10-8-119-0) and Tyreek Hill (10-7-83-2) did what they usually do. There weren't a ton of downfield completions, but Mahomes had chances, and the team punished the Raiders with underneath plays.
The Raiders didn't show up. I had had a good feel for the ebbs and flows through nine weeks, but I flat misread this one. Their punt on 4th-and-5 from their own 37, down 20, with 12 minutes left was pathetic too.
Bryan Edwards (4-3-88-1) had a good game, but after getting zeroes a week ago, I can't imagined he was used much.
Rusty Wilson simply couldn't get the ball to his wideouts. The Seahawks defense is better than it was earlier in the year, though.
Aaron Jones looks likely to miss some time, making AJ Dillon (21-66-2, 2-62-2) a top-12 back in the interim. Dillon isn't terrible as a pass catcher, either.
Jalen Hurts made some nice downfield throws to DeVonta Smith (6-4-66-2), but the Eagles are a running team now.
Sometimes the Chargers offense looks like the Chiefs of two years ago, and other times Justin Herbert can't find a receiver to save his life, and I don't have an explanation for the stark variance.
Mike Williams (6-4-33) looked like Michael Thomas with more size and speed for a month and has disappeared since.
Brandon Staley kicked a cowardly 24-yard field goal from the six yard line with 4:40 left, down 10. While you need a FG and a TD to tie, two TDs wins it. Moreover, scoring the TD allows you to kick a long FG to tie, instead of throwing a Hail Mary if you're running out of time 35 yards out. Of course, it didn't matter anyway because the Chargers defense couldn't get a fourth-down stop.
Dalvin Cook (24-94-1, 5-3-24-0) was himself despite the allegations hanging over him.
It was bizarre the Cardinals were double-digit favorites with Colt McCoy, last week's anomalous showing, notwithstanding.
Christian McCaffrey (13-95-0, 10-10-66-0) left the game briefly, but is more or less back to his dominant backfield share, and keep in mind this was a blowout from the start.
None of the QBs want to win MVP, apparently, not even Tom Brady.
Antonio Gibson (24-64-2, 2-2-14) had his best game of the year while facing one of the league's top run defenses. Maybe he's finally healthy.
I needed the Steelers to go down in Survivor, so I was rooting for the Lions, but Jared Goff is so bad, I tweeted: "Lions, just take the T!" (Lots of people take Ws and are urged to take Ls, but advocacy for the T is rare.)
DeAndre Swift (33-130-0, 6-3-5-0) saw Najee Harris' (26-105-0, 4-4-28-0) workload and raised.
Ryan Santoso's 48-yard overtime field goal attempt was so bad, the announcers speculated it had been blocked.
Mike White, aka "White Lotus", threw four picks and gave way to Joe Flacco late. We might see Zach Wilson again in Week 11. Remember, though, no matter what happens with Zach Wilson going forward, he was a great pick because of "process."
Stefon Diggs (13-8-162-1) had 13 targets. The next highest receiver had three.
The Patriots are really looking like the 2001 version now.
Rhamondre Stevenson (20-100-2, 5-4-14-0) is likely to be a headache for Damien Harris (concussion) owners going forward.
D'Ernest Johnson (19-99-0, 8-7-58-0) can play, but the rest of the offense was awful. The pass catchers and quarterback are not startable.
The Jaguars actually had a chance to win this game on the final drive, but Trevor Lawrence looks lost. Their defense looked fairly stout for the second week in a row.
Jonathan Taylor (12-116-1, 8-6-10) ran roughshod over the Jaguars early but got stuffed for the entire second half.
I took the Titans minus 3, because it was a good "value", but I knew instinctively it was a mistake and should have changed it.
The Titans missed Derrick Henry, though the Saints defense is stout against almost everyone.
Trevor Siemian played well enough, maybe Taysom Hill won't take his job after all.
As I mentioned, I had the Cowboys in my Survivor pools and didn't have to sweat much, but there's not a whole lot one can take out of a blowout like this.