The second half of the 2024 NFL regular season has begun.
With Week 10 officially underway, the battle for postseason positioning is heating up. The early period of play on Sunday was indicative of the increased intensity, with six of the seven games decided by five points or less.
The final window only showed three matches, but none were close.
Here are the winners and losers from Sunday’s week 10 action:
WINNER: Chiefs always find a way
The Kansas City Chiefs find new ways to win every week.
Sunday was perhaps their most improbable victory of the season, with a blocked 35-yard field goal at the buzzer preserving a 16-14 win over the Denver Broncos. Now 9-0, the Chiefs have recorded seven wins by seven points or fewer. While some may consider that luck, there is something to be said about how well the two-time defending Super Bowl champions perform week after week in the clutch.
Patrick Mahomes was disappointing again by his standards, with 266 passing yards and one touchdown. Broncos rookie QB Bo Nix had one of his best games of the season (215 yards, two touchdowns, no turnovers). The Chiefs had to settle for three field goals. And of course, in the end, it didn’t matter to Kansas City.
LOSER: Commander’s punishment proves costly
The Washington Commanders didn’t give themselves a chance to beat the Pittsburgh Steelers in the closing minutes.
With Pittsburgh leading 28-27 and just over a minute to play, Russell Wilson lined up his offense to go for it on fourth-and-2. Washington, running out of timeouts, simply had to stay on its side of the ball and wait for the Steelers to call a timeout and kick it away. But rookie Johnny Newton jumped offside for a foul in the neutral zone, giving the Steelers a first loss and the win.
The game itself had been a thriller up until that point, with both teams battling for a signature win. Wilson had three touchdowns, including the game-winner from newly acquired wideout Mike Williams with 2:22 to play. Jayden Daniels had an up-and-down game against a great defense, completing just 50% of his passes for 202 yards. Pittsburgh is now 7-2, while Washington drops to 7-3.
WINNER: Drake Maye defeats Caleb Williams
In a battle of rookie quarterbacks that turned into a defensive battle, the New England Patriots defeated the Chicago bears 19-3 on Soldiers Field.
Caleb Williams and the Bears offense couldn’t get anything going, while Drake Maye and the Patriots did enough to cruise to victory. The No. 1 overall pick finished 16 of 30 for 120 yards in the loss, as the Bears had just one touchdown in the final three games following their bye week.
On the other hand, the No. 3 overall pick went 15 of 25 for 184 yards, one touchdown and one interception. The Patriots have slowly turned their season around since giving Maye the keys to the offense, with two wins and an overtime loss in the last three weeks. Still just 3-7, the Patriots can at least start to take some positives out of this season as Maye continues to develop well.
LOSER: Jaguars discipline
The Jacksonville Jaguars defense was great against the Minnesota Vikings… until it mattered most.
Jacksonville didn’t allow a touchdown to Minnesota’s vaunted offense. The group intercepted Sam Darnold three times and forced the Vikings to go 0 for 5 in the red zone. But with a chance to get the ball back while trailing 12-7 in the final minute, Travon Walker threw a punch and effectively ended the game by giving the Vikings a first down.
Mac Jones, who came in for the injured Trevor Lawrence, did not do much for his defense in this one. The former first-rounder went 14-for-22 for 111 yards and two interceptions in his first start for his hometown Jags.
Travon Walker just threw a punch after the Jaguars stopped the Vikings on third down.
Jacksonville would have gotten the ball back with a chance to win the game. Instead, the Vikings automatically get a first down thanks to the thrown flag. pic.twitter.com/PO8NYeZvfT
— Arye Pulli (@AryePulli) November 10, 2024
WINNER: Darren Rizzi
The New Orleans Saints got the job done for the interim coach in his debut.
Darren Rizzi, in place of Dennis Allen, helped the Saints snap a seven-game losing streak in Sunday’s 20-17 victory over the rival Atlanta Falcons. It wasn’t a perfect performance, but New Orleans didn’t turn the ball over and took advantage of three missed field goals by Younghoe Koo to get back in the win column.
For the Falcons, the loss snaps a two-game winning streak and costs them a chance to extend their lead over the NFC South. Atlanta still leads the division by two games, but it has been far from a juggernaut, with five of their six wins coming by six points or less.
LOSER: Joe Flacco doesn’t teach Anthony Richardson
When the Indianapolis Colts benched Anthony Richardson for Joe Flacco two weeks ago, the general thought was that the veteran could teach the second-year QB a few things. While that may be happening behind the scenes, the product on the field is not promising.
Flacco had four turnovers in Sunday’s 30-20 loss to the Buffalo Bills, with two interceptions in the first quarter and an interception and fumble in the second half. The Colts (4-6) had plenty of chances to beat the Bills (8-2), but they just couldn’t get control of the ball. Josh Allen had two interceptions for Buffalo and Indy led 13-10 in the first half despite Flacco’s turnover.
With the Colts now two games under .500, it would make sense to bring back Richardson in the near future. The team is not a Super Bowl contender and Richardson needs reps to improve. No one really knows if he’s a franchise quarterback, and the Colts won’t learn that if he’s on the bench behind a struggling 39-year-old.
WINNER: Jake Moody redeems himself
The San Francisco 49ers were on their way to a frustrating outcome against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers before their kicker finally stepped up.
Jake Moody made just three of six field goals in his first game since Oct. 6 due to injury, but he buried the one that mattered most. The second-year kicker missed from 50, 49 and 44 yards before hitting a 44-yarder as time expired to secure a 23-20 victory.
The 49ers improved to 5-4 with the win, keeping them firmly in the mix to win the NFC West. Christian McCaffrey provided a boost in his first game of the season, although he didn’t quite look like himself. The reigning Offensive Player of the Year had 39 rushing yards and 68 receiving yards in the win.
LOSER: Jets get scorched in Arizona
If more proof was needed that the Jets from New York‘ season was in the books, this was it. New York fell to 3-7 on the season after the Cardinals scorched the score 31-6 in Arizona, taking a 24-6 lead at halftime before cooling off.
Aaron Rodgers completed just 22 of 35 passes for 151 yards, no touchdowns and no picks, with Davante Adams hauling in six catches for a total of 31 yards.
Meanwhile, Arizona held onto first place in the NFC West at 6-4 behind Kyler Murray’s phenomenal performance. Murray went 22 of 24 for 266 yards, one touchdown and no picks, while adding two rushing touchdowns.
WINNER: Chargers keep winning
Justin Herbert didn’t have to do much, as the Chargers moved to 6-3 with a 27-17 home win vs. Tennessee. Herbert completed 14 of 18 passes for 164 yards, one touchdown and no picks, while also rushing for 32 yards on nine carries and a score.
Tennessee got a decent performance from sophomore signal caller Will Levis, who completed 18 of 23 passes for 175 yards, two touchdowns and no tips. But the Titans just couldn’t put it together in time, adding a touchdown late to flatter the scoreboard.
Tennessee fell to 2-7 while Los Angeles is now 6-3.
LOSER: Cowboys QB situation worsens
The Dallas Cowboys were bad with Dak Prescott under center. With their $60 million quarterback out, Cooper Rush had to perform heroics at home against the Philadelphia Eagles. Philadelphia won easily 34-6.
Rush completed just 13 of 23 passes for just 45 yards, then was benched for Trey Lance, who completed 3 of 4 passes for just 17 yards and a pick. Dallas had five turnovers as a team. Philadelphia had two, but the Cowboys lacked the talent to take advantage.
Philadelphia moved to 7-2, while Dallas fell to 3-6. Jalen Hurts recorded four total touchdowns, two through the air and two on the ground.
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