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No convention sells parity for illustration nan NFL: it’s nan full brand. But done 10 weeks of this season, this isn’t a convention that is arsenic balanced betwixt nan good, nan bad and nan mediocre. It’s 1 wherever astir of nan convention is simply fine.
In nan NFC, astatine least, location is immoderate clarity. The Rams and Seahawks (both 7-2) look for illustration nan astir complete teams successful football, and secured blowout wins connected Sunday. The 6-2 Eagles, contempt their struggles, still person 1 of nan astir talented rosters successful nan league, likewise pinch nan Packers (5-2-1). Even nan Lions (6-3), who person been inconsistent on some lines of scrimmage and person been dealing pinch hostility connected their coaching staff, person proven they tin hammer bully teams. For each five, you tin still easy put together a Super Bowl path.
Over successful nan AFC, though, nan playoff image is simply a jumbled mess. Your 4 section leaders done 10 weeks: nan Colts, Patriots, Broncos (all astatine 8-2) and Steelers (5-4). Read that again. Not nan Chiefs. Not nan Bills. Not nan Ravens aliases Bengals. The accepted powers, backed by nan league’s champion quarterbacks, person either glaring roster weaknesses aliases person been deed by injuries.
In immoderate ways, it’s nan league’s ideal; nan parity mechanics are moving arsenic intended. But watching this year’s 4 section leaders successful nan AFC still feels strange. Areas of each squad walk nan title smell test, but not successful their entirety. If you were asked to fastener successful your AFC Championship crippled picks today, would you confidently prime immoderate of nan 4 section leaders?
Starting successful Indianapolis, Daniel Jones hasn’t rather reached pumpkin status. But nan past 2 weeks person been worrying. He’s backmost to turning complete nan shot and struggling against pressure. He took 7 sacks against nan Falcons connected Sunday, and had a five-minute agelong successful which he threw an interception and fumbled 3 times. This is simply a week aft he turned nan shot complete 5 times against nan Steelers.
The Colts’ discourtesy thrived early successful nan play because Jones avoided nan disaster plays. Jonathan Taylor and nan violative statement mean nan Colts are bully capable to past immoderate antagonistic plays, arsenic they did successful Berlin. But Jones returning to his aged blunder-prone days would extremity immoderate playoff run.
The Patriots consciousness somewhat similar. A twelvemonth ago, they were a punchline. Now, they’re nan league’s happiest astonishment and nan hottest squad successful shot aft 7 consecutive wins. If not for fumbling distant a winnable crippled against Pittsburgh, they’d beryllium sitting astatine 9–1 pinch nan champion grounds successful nan league. Last season, they were aged and slow. Now they’re young, accelerated and unafraid. Still, it’s difficult to disregard really soft nan Patriots’ schedule has been. They person faced nan easiest slate successful nan league, and location person still been cracks. Drake Maye has been sacked 35 times – nan second-most successful shot – and immoderate of nan shots he absorbed connected Sunday were vicious. Over time, those beatings accumulate.
The Broncos are 8–2 arsenic well, and it still feels arsenic if they’re holding their breath. Bo Nix has been erratic, and nan discourtesy plodding, pinch nan defense doing each nan dense lifting. Without serviceable backmost play, nan Broncos aren’t scaring anyone successful nan postseason. The Chargers are besides hovering successful nan AFC West astatine 7-2, but nan injuries on their violative statement will make it reliable to equine a heavy postseason tilt.
And past there’s Pittsburgh, someway still starring nan AFC North contempt being thumped 25-10 by nan Chargers connected Sunday night. They person a antagonistic constituent differential, their defense excessively often disappears and Aaron Rodgers’ limitations astatine this shape of his profession proceed to show up. They’re 5–4 and holding on, but Baltimore, pinch Lamar Jackson patient again and nan schedule softening, are connected a three-game triumph streak. It shouldn’t beryllium excessively overmuch of a astonishment that nan Ravens person pulled wrong a crippled of nan Steelers, but that it has arrived truthful quickly is an indictment of Pittsburgh’s inconsistencies. That nan Ravens started nan play 1-5 and still look for illustration they should win nan section is telling astir nan convention arsenic a whole.
The Ravens' shape portion of nan Big Three – alongside nan Bills and Chiefs – powered by their MVP quarterbacks, who would still onslaught nan astir fearfulness successful opposing teams if they made nan playoffs. They’re nan No One Wants To See ‘Em teams, but nan Chiefs and Bills cannot get retired of their ain way.
A week ago, nan Bills were riding precocious aft beating nan Chiefs. On Sunday they suffered 1 of nan astir disappointing losses of nan season. They didn’t conscionable suffer to nan Dolphins; they were embarrassed, falling 30-13 connected nan road. It was Miami’s first triumph against Buffalo successful much than 1,000 days.
If you’re looking for a microcosm of nan day, present you go: Josh Allen turning a backmost sneak into a 15-yard run, before fumbling nan shot away.
The Bills were blanked successful nan first half, coughing up costly turnovers. Receivers struggle to abstracted early, forcing Allen to clasp connected to nan shot and pursuit a boom-or-bust attack that robs nan discourtesy of its emblematic tempo. On defense, location are moreover bigger concerns. They don’t person capable pass-rush juice to problem astir offenses consistently, their tally defense has been a sieve each twelvemonth and now their secondary is banged up.
The Chiefs, astatine 5–4, consciousness nan same. The advanced metrics proceed to overgarment them arsenic a title contender, acknowledgment mostly to Patrick Mahomes and nan truth that each nonaccomplishment has been close. It’s almost nan inverse of past year, erstwhile they started 9-0 but struggled done agelong portions of that run. And, connected discourtesy astatine least, nan metrics are backed up by nan oculus test. But their pass-rush runs basking and acold and nan discourtesy is excessively overly reliant connected Mahomes’ magic conscionable to instrumentality connected schedule.
Add it each up, and nan AFC is filled pinch teams simultaneously vulnerable and flawed. The perennial contenders are still scratching astir for immoderate consistency. If nan Patriots support humming and nan Chiefs cannot drawback nan Broncos, it will beryllium nan first clip successful nan Allen-Mahomes era that nan duo participate nan postseason successful nan Wildcard Round. The NFC has caller history pinch wildcard teams winning it all, but nan past AFC broadside to do truthful was nan 2005 Steelers.
Maybe nan Bills, Chiefs and Ravens each coalesce down nan stretch. But it’s mounting up to beryllium a different benignant of postseason successful nan AFC. The Patriots are nan astir well-rounded group astatine nan moment, but it’s a agelong measurement to spell from laughing banal to morganatic contender successful 12 months.
MVP of nan week
Jonathan Taylor, RB, Colts. Grab your placard. The run for a non-quarterback to triumph MVP chugs on. Taylor was backmost to his champion connected Sunday aft a below-par capacity successful Pittsburgh past week. He rushed for a career-high 244 yards and scored 3 touchdowns, including a walk-off score, arsenic nan Colts hit nan Falcons 31-25 successful overtime successful Berlin. After jumping retired to an early first-quarter lead, nan Colts’ discourtesy spent 2 quarters stalling. Jones was shaky nether relentless unit from Atlanta’s front. So Shane Steichen did what bully coaches do: he many times put nan shot successful nan hands of his champion player. Taylor much than held up his extremity of nan bargain, rushing for 228 yards after contact and forcing 11 missed tackles. It’s difficult for a moving backmost to beryllium much valuable than that.
Video of nan week
Now for nan latest installment of Stuff We Don’t Normally See: Patriots moving backmost TreVeyon Henderson checked pinch his coaching unit mid-play astir whether it was OK for him to people a precocious touchdown.
With nan Patriots starring by 5 pinch nether 2 minutes to play, they group up to tally nan shot and drain nan clock. Henderson gathered a flip from Maye, shook disconnected a would-be tackler and collapsed into unfastened abstraction on nan Bucs’ sideline. As he pulled distant from a gaggle of defenders, Henderson slowed down, swerved towards nan mediate of nan section and turned to Mike Vrabel connected nan other broadside of nan section to get support to score. The coaching unit obliged, allowing Henderson to complete nan 69-yard touchdown alternatively than downing nan shot to tally retired nan clock.
It capped disconnected nan long-awaited Henderson breakout game. He ripped disconnected 2 agelong touchdown runs against an fantabulous Tampa defense and vanished pinch 147 yards connected 14 carries successful a 28-23 win.
Stat of nan week
20. That’s really galore touchdowns Matthew Stafford has thrown successful nan past six games – while giving up zero interceptions. He besides has much touchdowns (25) this play than he did successful nan full of his past run (21). The 37-year-old seems to beryllium getting amended arsenic he approaches 40, keeping nan astonishing throws he has ever been tin of, while cutting down connected mistakes. “MVP!” Davante Adams shouted astatine Stafford arsenic he was interviewed connected Fox aft Sunday’s 42-26 triumph complete nan 49ers. Stafford conscionable smiled – astatine 7-2 nan Rams look for illustration a realistic Super Bowl contender.
Elsewhere astir nan league
-- The New York Jets are undefeated successful nan post-Sauce Gardner and Quinnen Williams era! The Jets traded nan 2 All-Pros past week for a parcel of early draught picks. On Sunday, they won their 2nd crippled successful a statement – this 1 27-20 against nan Browns – chiefly acknowledgment to their typical teams: they scored connected punt and kickoff returns. There were questions astir really motivated nan Jets roster would beryllium aft nan beforehand agency jettisoned 2 of their champion players, but they fought impressively against nan Browns’ beardown defence – galore inspired by nan pre-game tributes to Nick Mangold, their longtime halfway who died successful October astatine nan property of 41. “Nick was pinch america today,” said information Tony Adams. “We had a footwear return and a punt return [for touchdowns]. Kind of crazy. That’s cipher but God and nan man himself, Nick.”
-- Davis Mills, who looked group for an uneventful if well-paid life connected nan Texans chair erstwhile CJ Stroud took complete arsenic starting backmost successful Houston, had his astir notable time arsenic a master connected Sunday. Starting because of Stroud’s concussion, Mills looked arsenic if he was starring nan Texans to a nonaccomplishment erstwhile they trailed 29-10 successful nan fourth-quarter. But nan Texans reeled disconnected 26 points – including a 14-yard touchdown tally by Mills to springiness his squad nan lead – arsenic they pulled disconnected a 36-29 triumph to support their playoff hopes conscionable astir alive.
-- After reports emerged Donald Trump wants nan Commanders to sanction their caller stadium aft him, nan president attended nan team’s 44-22 nonaccomplishment to nan Lions connected Sunday. After Trump was booed by ample parts of nan stadium, Fox gave him astir 10 minutes of aerial clip successful nan broadcast booth to talk astir his precocious schoolhouse shot profession and nan NFL successful general. Those bits were reasonably inoffensive but Fox past decided to springiness him what was efficaciously free rein to boast astir his achievements erstwhile Jonathan Vilma asked him astir nan authorities of nan country. As Trump decidedly didn’t instrumentality to sports he touted nan grounds banal market, finance successful America and said he had brought down prices for Americans, a declare moreover his astir diehard fans would dainty pinch suspicion.
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