Surprising results:
Chargers 41-22 Bengals
Weird game. Looks like the Chargers blew them out--and they kinda did--but really it was the Chargers dominating the 1st, 2nd and 4th quarters while the Bengals dominated the 3rd quarter. My point is these two teams are closer than this score suggests. If the Bengals had held their momentum (so many dumb turnovers in this game!), they easily could've won by a lopsided scoreline or this game could've been much closer. At any rate, the Chargers got the W (and the tiebreaker that could come in real handy) and the Bengals did not. I think the Chargers are probably the better team but it isn't as clear as it might look.
Ravens 19-20 Steelers
The Ravens are flaky and the Steelers play with veteran moxie, so this result shouldn't be shocking in a classic rivalry like this. But I was surprised because the Steelers still sucked! It's not like they played particularly well in this game, the Ravens (re: Lamar Jackson) just didn't take the easy W that was in front of them. I'll say it again: when Lamar plays heads-up football, he's really good and his team wins; but when he's playing loose (re: 'making plays'), then he makes weird mistakes and his team loses. The Ravens can still be really good--don't be shocked if they make a run in the playoffs--but they lose games they shouldn't lose and that's troubling at this point in the season.
Unsurprising results:
Cowboys 27-21 Saints. The Cowboys win when their offense shows up. The Saints play hard but without a QB, they just aren't gonna win games.
Bucs 30-17 Falcons. Yeah, division games, man, they can be tricky or they can be a tonic.
Cards 33-22 Bears. The Bears are just not much of a team right now, the D is incomplete, Dalton is not the QB of the future, he may as well not be the QB of the present, the special teams is so-so at best. They're just not much of a team right now. The Cards, on the other hand, are in that phase where they're getting big W's with so-so efforts and its weird. Kyler Murray ran well (coming back from injury) but I thought his throwing was rusty and sloppier than I would've expected. But, he's still really good and the offense gets contributions from all over the place, they're really good but still seem kinda flaky to me (love Kyler but not sure he's ready to win big games).
Vikings 27-29 Lions. The Vikings should've won--which is precisely why the Lions stole this. If the Vikings played like underdogs, they would've housed this godawful Lions squad, but they play with too much confidence, not enough surrender, which is why they lose more games than they win, even though they actually look pretty good for the most part. The Lions play hard, they'll win a few more games.
Giants 9-20 Dolphins. The Dolphins are still easing into the dead stretch of their schedule, they're scoring points, moving the ball, getting W's, but still don't seem scary at all. The Giants are contractually obligated to play games.
Eagles 33-18 Jets. Yeah, the Eagles are pretty good and the Jets are not.
Colts 31-0 Texans. The Texans just got nothing at all at this point. The Colts win when they run the ball.
WTF 17-15 Raiders. Two scrappy weirdo teams. Yeah, this sounds about right. (Wait....did WTF just win back to back 17-15 games? When was the last time that happened?)
Jags 7-37 Rams. The Jags are really pretty terrible, kinda have been for a while now (remember that one weird year when Blake Bortles made the Conference Finals...wtf was that?). Seems like the #1 pick QB and high profile (and potentially scandalous) NCAA legend coach would get more pub, but instead they're the most invisible guys in the league. Weird. Rams can put up 37 and still look rusty, their peak might be better than everyone else's peak but their average is still kinda average.
Niners 23-30 Seahawks. NFC West, man.
Broncos 9-22 Chiefs. Broncos could not move the ball at all, Chiefs offense is not bad but still not vintage.
Pats 14-10 Bills. The final play was emblematic of this rivalry now: Pats CB strays off his man to knock down a pass to another receiver, that was on the goal line ready to haul in the game-winning TD. The Pats got this one, but perhaps he's a step late, pass gets caught, Bills cover the spread on the final play. They Pats and Bills are wearing each other's DNA at this point, they're real close. (They play again in a coupla weeks, don't be shocked if the Bills make the big play at the end to steal the road W or that its during a blizzard)
Week 13 slate:
Surprising results:
Raiders 36-33 (OT) Cowboys
Man, I thought the Raiders were done and that the Cowboys had turned a corner and were ready to lock up W's. Well...I guess not.
Eagles 7-13 Giants
The Eagles were rolling, that offense had been piling up points and then they flailed at NYG? Division games, man, always a roll of the dice.
Chargers 13-28 Broncos
Unsurprising results:
Bears 16-14 Lions
Bills 31-6 Saints
Steelers 10-41 Bengals
Bucs 38-31 Colts
Rams 28-36 Packers
Browns 10-16 Ravens
Panthers 10-33 Dolphins
Titans 13-36 Patriots
Falcons 21-14 Jags
Jets 21-14 Texans
Vikings 26-34 Niners
Seahawks 15-17 WTF
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