This article is from Scoop City, The Athletic’s daily NFL newsletter. Sign up here to receive it directly in your inbox.
Another week, another George Pickens “there’s no coverage for that” catch:
We’re on track for a behind-the-back, one-handed catch by Week 18. That’s what it’ll take for him to top his practice catch from 2023.
Today, we have risers/fallers from Week 10. But most importantly, thank a veteran.
📈 Trending 📉
Yes, Kansas City is 9-0 despite:
- Yesterday: The Broncos lined up for a 35-yard, game-winning field goal with 0:01 left on the clock. Blocked.
- Week 9: The Buccaneers scored a touchdown with 27 seconds left, but chose to kick an extra point to tie the game. Should’ve gone for two.
- Week 3: The Falcons, down five, had the ball on the Chiefs 12-yard line with a minute left on the clock, 3rd and 1. Couldn’t convert on two tries.
- Week 2: The Bengals won 25-23 after the Chiefs failed to convert on fourth-and-16. Or so it seemed, until a timely pass interference call resulted in a Kansas City field goal.
- Week 1: The Ravens were an Isaiah Likely toe away from forcing overtime in a 27-20 Chiefs win.
And that’s not all. They’ve won seven one-possession games. For everyone outside Kansas City, it’s been death by a thousand paper cuts.
Their toughest remaining matchup comes next week against the 8-2 Bills. If they win in Buffalo, we’ll need to admit that they can keep getting away with this.
Other Week 10 risers:
Trending up
📈 The unbreakable 8-1 Lions. With their offensive line struggling and Jared Goff’s interception count at three, Detroit was trailing Houston 23-7 at halftime. Goff had two more INTs after the break, but so did C.J. Stroud as the Lions stormed back, scoring 19 unanswered points to win 26-23.
📈 Mike Tomlin’s Coach of the Year odds. He certainly is on track to deserve it. Including yesterday’s 28-27 win at 7-3 Washington, his Steelers are 3-0 and averaging 30.3 points per game since he made the gutsy call to start Russell Wilson. I still need to see more from the 7-2 Steelers, as they have only three wins against teams with plus-.500 records. We’ll learn plenty when they host 7-3 Baltimore next Sunday.
📈 Jonathan Gannon’s Coach of the Year odds, too. The 6-4 Cardinals’ four-game win streak (against the Chargers, Dolphins, Bears and Jets) has them leading the NFC West. Playing their best football since Gannon was hired last season, their only losses have come against the playoff-bound Bills, Packers, Lions and Commanders. I expect the Cardinals to join in January, especially with their defense rounding into form (zero touchdowns allowed in last three home games).
The Athletic’s Mike Sando asks: Are the Cardinals the new Lions?
📈 Faith in Brock Purdy. When polled earlier this season, only 39 percent of you believed Purdy was worth $60 million per season. He sure looked the part yesterday, posting a 69.4 completion percentage, 353 yards and two touchdowns, including this:
He concluded with a masterful, 41-second, six-play drive to push the 49ers into field-goal range for a game-winner that Jake Moody didn’t miss.
(Side note: I hope Deebo Samuel apologized for grabbing the neck of his long snapper. Unacceptable from a captain.)
📈 The Saints. Yup, Dennis Allen was the problem. Interim head coach Darren Rizzi lit a fire under the Saints, who ended their seven-game losing streak with a 20-17 win against the division-leading Falcons (6-4). New Orleans (3-7) could make it two in a row while hosting the Browns next week.
During the game, Alvin Kamara had 109 yards from scrimmage and passed former teammate Mark Ingram to become the Saints’ all-time leading rusher. Recently signed receiver Marquez Valdes-Scantling did his best Rashid Shaheed impression, finishing with 109 yards and two touchdowns.
📈 Struggling sophomore quarterbacks. Bryce Young avoided both the Giants’ elite pass rush (taking just one sack) and turnovers (his first full game without an interception this season) in the fourth win of his career. He might start again next week.
Will Levis completed 18 of 23 passes for 175 yards and two touchdowns, also going interception-free for the first time this season. Even the benched Anthony Richardson saw his stock rise as Joe Flacco turned the ball over four times while the home crowd booed.
📈 Bengals. They lost to Baltimore, but still look like contenders. And yes, their 4-6 record makes their next two games — against the AFC-contending Chargers and Steelers — critical. But with the Broncos (5-5) and Colts (4-6) both losing this weekend, Cincinnati remains on the cusp of the final AFC wild card spot.
| Team | Wins | Losses | Points For | Points Against |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
7 |
3 |
318 |
253 |
|
|
6 |
3 |
186 |
118 |
|
|
5 |
5 |
197 |
177 |
|
|
4 |
6 |
208 |
223 |
|
|
4 |
6 |
270 |
262 |
|
|
3 |
7 |
177 |
214 |
Trending down
📉 Chicago’s faith in this regime. Caleb Williams was sacked nine times by a Patriots pass rush that had totaled two sacks in their prior three games. It’s one of many issues in Chicago, where the Bears are without a passing touchdown in nearly a month. Adam Jahns explains why the offense is broken.
📉 Daniel Jones’ time in New York. After Jones threw two interceptions in a 20-17 overtime loss to the Panthers, HC Brian Daboll said that the 2-8 Giants would “evaluate” the quarterback position. Former second-round pick Drew Lock could start before long. As Mike Jones writes in The Athletic’s Week 10 takeaways, we’ve seen enough.
📉 More disappointing: Jets or Cowboys? The answer: Yes. With Dak Prescott out (more info below on his status), Dallas’ home 34-6 loss to the Eagles felt like the final nail in a 3-6 season. It didn’t help that CeeDee Lamb missed a touchdown catch:
CeeDee Lamb on not catching the potential touchdown pass from Cooper rush in the sun:
“I couldn’t see.”
Are you in favor of curtains in AT&T stadium?
“1000 percent.”#DallasCowboys #cowboys #NFL pic.twitter.com/0i5y6Dvslq— Pat Doney (@PatDoneyNBC5) November 11, 2024
Good thing they stuck with this blindingly awful stadium design:
The view isn’t any better in New York, where the Jets lost their fourth game in five weeks since firing Robert Saleh. Zack Rosenblatt explains why the 3-7 Jets are out of time.
📉 Sam Darnold. Three total interceptions (and two in the end zone) by Darnold nearly cost the Vikings, who won 12-7 against the Mac Jones-led Jaguars. “I’ve gotta do a lot better job taking care of the football,” Darnold said after. “I think that’s obvious.” Alec Lewis explains why Darnold’s league-leading 13 turnovers are the biggest vulnerability of the 7-2 Vikings.
📉 The Buccaneers just can’t win. Baker Mayfield’s stiff-arm against Nick Bosa to convert a fourth-and-7 was great on so many levels.
Baker with a stiff arm of Bosa on 4th down while making a throw is the craziest thing you’ll see today pic.twitter.com/LKH3SuIiw0
— Chase Daniel (@ChaseDaniel) November 10, 2024
But it wasn’t enough, and the Buccaneers became just the second team in NFL history to average 30-plus points per game during a 1-5 stretch. (The other? Also the Bucs.)
Now, Dianna has the latest on Dak Prescott.
What Dianna’s Hearing: Dak won’t be back
Cowboys QB Dak Prescott said he will meet with a specialist in New York today. If that doctor agrees with the others, he will have surgery then and there. It will be a three-month recovery. Prescott said the prognosis without the surgery is 6-8 weeks, and that is only if everything goes right. The 31-year-old’s season is over.
Dallas now has to decide between Trey Lance and Cooper Rush, who combined for 49 passing yards on Sunday.
Back to you, Jacob.
Around the NFL
The Patriots are Drake Maye’s team. As Chad Graff explains, the 22-year-old quarterback made a statement last week: “He stood in front of the team in one of its auditorium meeting rooms. He told his teammates what they’d done wasn’t good enough. Their standard was higher, their goals loftier.” It’s a leadership role he’s earned.
Brian Dawkins connects football and military communities. The Hall of Famer has been delivering a message to veterans regarding mental health and suicide prevention, a cause close to his heart; Dawkins battled depression and suicidal thoughts as a rookie. Jason Jones shares the timely story.
🎧 The Athletic Football Show podcast: How “Pittsburgh was one of the few defenses to frazzle Jayden Daniels.”
📫 Enjoyed this read? Sign up here to receive The Athletic’s free daily NFL newsletter in your inbox, and check out The Athletic’s other newsletters.
(Photo: David Eulitt / Getty Images)
