2022-23 NFL (Week 10)

Games I saw (some of):

Falcons 15-25 Panthers

Ugh! I was watching this at a friend's house, it was late, I was ready to go, we were both tired of watching this brutally fucking awful football game...but...there was a non-trivial chance that the Panthers were going to find a way to lose this game right up to the end. Dude, the last five minutes of this game had so many near-interceptions--like, pick-6 interceptions just waiting to happen!--the sheer incompetence of both of these offenses (and, well, the defenses, too) just can't be understated. Both of these teams were just awful, awful, awful at football on this night. Thank god these two teams are done playing each other this season. 

Vikings 33-30 (OT) Bills

As bad as the Falcons-Panthers were, well, that's pretty much how bad the Vikings and Bills were, too--except for Justin Jefferson, he was the only one actually playing football out there. Man, this is three weeks in a row now where the Bills have built a nice halftime lead and then simply refused to play football in the 2nd half. I don't get it. In this game, if they'd had just one good 2nd half drive--didn't even need to score points! Just eat up some clock!--they would've won this game easily. Have you watched the game? Do you realize how hard the Bills had to work to hand the victory to the Vikings? The Vikings are a hang-around kinda team, they don't blow people out nor do they get blown out. They don't suck but I don't see how this team is 8-1 (and if you think this victory is an example of how awesome the Vikings are...oh, no, no, no). Make no mistake: this was a Buffalo loss, not a Minnesota win. Justin Jefferson was fuckin' amazing--5 or 6 of the most mind blowing catches I've ever seen!--but otherwise the Vikings should've lost this game if not for Buffalo bending over backwards to hand them the W. I still believe that if the Bills play a complete 60 minute game they can beat anyone in the league, but this taking the 2nd half off shit needs to stop--went from 1st in the AFC to 6th with one L. 

Cowboys 28-31 (OT) Packers

The Cowboys make some puzzling mistakes, felt like they were the better team on both sides of the ball, but then the passing game would grind to a halt while dudes ran the wrong routes--I mean, I dunno, Dak threw interceptions but I couldn't help thinking they weren't his fault. Meanwhile, Aaron Rodgers finally got on the same page with Christian Watson, the Packer D finally made some good stops and perhaps it isn't too late for the Packers to make a run. I still thought the Cowboys were the better team and really should've won this game but this is the best the Packers have looked all season. 

Chargers 16-22 Niners

Man, when the Niners get their shit together, they look pretty awesome. Here there were able to hold the Chargers to FGs and then made enough offensive plays to seal the W. The Chargers looked pretty good but would invariably break down on 3rd down and have to settle for special teams. The Niners have weapons all over the place and when they get them going, that offense is legit--and yet....it feels like they should've been more convincing in this game. Right as I'm talking myself into them, I kinda can't do it (same for the Chargers, for that matter). The Chargers really needed this game and they didn't get it, that's bad. The Niners have these moments of making you believe, not sure if it's real or not. 

The rest of the slate:

Seahawks 16-21 Bucs. Have the Bucs finally figured out their offense? Or was this just a fluky win on a neutral site? Are the Seahawks for real or do they flame out from here?

Lions 31-30 Bears. Fun game! Lots of action, none of it mattered.

Broncos 10-17 Titans. The Titans just don't put people away, do they? Can the Broncos actually win games this season?

Jags 17-27 Chiefs. Yeah, the Chiefs put in half effort and got the W.

Browns 17-39 Dolphins. Impressive win for the Dolphins...but I'm still skeptical. Are the Browns gonna get it together this year or no?

Texans 16-24 Giants. Yeah, that's about right. 

Saints 10-20 Steelers. Saints on the road in the weather on grass, this is not a surprising result even though the Steelers are awful. 

Colts 25-20 Raiders. Wow....worst L of the season. If the Raiders can't win this one, they ain't gonna any this year. 

Cards 27-17 Rams. The Rams won their Super Bowl and they clearly just don't care about football any more. The Cards are better without Kyler Murray? (No, but they might be better without Kliff Kingsbury)

Commanders 32-21 Eagles. Am I surprised the wack-ass Commies went into Philly on a Monday night and gave the Eagles their first loss of the year? Not really. NFC East teams routinely embarrass each other in weird ways, especially on Monday night. I don't want to say the Eagles are overrated (they're not, they're really good) but they're not some untouchable juggernaut, they're just a better than average team and there was no reason to suspect they were going undefeated. Likewise, this L is no reason to think they can't win in the playoffs (or that the Commies are good). This is just a Monday Night loss, not a big deal.