[November 11, 2023]
Week 10 NFL Capsules
Indianapolis Colts (4-5) vs. New England Patriots (2-7) in Germany:
The Patriots have won seven of the past eight meetings, but this is
a far cry from the Manning vs. Brady glory days of a rivalry that
includes five games in the postseason. This season, the Patriots
have losses in five of their past six games and scored 17 or fewer
points in each defeat. The Colts are scoring consistently (25.8
points per game) with at least 20 points in all nine games in 2023.
New England's meager offense averages 15 points per game. RB Zack
Moss ranks second in the NFL with 615 rushing yards this season and
the Colts are co-featuring Jonathan Taylor, who understands the
importance of the pre-bye week game for both sides. "We know this
stretch, this back-half stretch, is where teams have to bolster up,"
Taylor said. "You're either gonna go up or you're gonna go down, so
(the game will) do a lot in order to make sure that we can continue
to trend upwards."
Cleveland Browns (5-3) and Baltimore Ravens (7-2): Chatter focused
on the puffy-chested defenses driving the AFC North rivals' division
title chase this week. Cleveland has the No. 1 overall defense in
the NFL. Baltimore, No. 1 in scoring defense at 13.8 points allowed
per game, has trailed only 28 minutes of game clock time in nine
games. The Ravens lost two of the past three meetings, but Baltimore
drilled the Browns (28-3) on Oct. 1. However, that came against
Dorian Thompson-Robinson with QB1 Deshaun Watson hurt. Watson
returned last week to steer the Browns' win over the Cardinals. The
Ravens keep the ball on the ground, including QB Lamar Jackson, who
is 60 rushing yards away from becoming the first QB in league
history to top 500 yards in each of his first six seasons. Baltimore
leads the NFL in rushing (160.3-yard average), but Cleveland allows
only 89.8 rushing yards per game. Injuries up front could impact the
game plan for the Browns.
Houston Texans (4-4) at Cincinnati Bengals (5-3): Houston began the
week with 23 players listed on the injury report, perhaps the
peripheral damage from a shootout win (39-37) over the Buccaneers
last week. Cincinnati is 1-3 in the last four matchups with the
Texans and has a few injury worries of its own, including WRs
Ja'Marr Chase (back) and Tee Higgins (hamstring). Texans rookie QB
C.J. Stroud makes his return to Ohio, where he starred for the
Buckeyes, and has already assembled an impressive resume including
his five-TD, 470-yard game last week. Stroud is making plays, but
head coach DeMeco Ryans' believes his greatest trait to date is
avoiding mistakes. Stroud has just one interception and seven starts
without a turnover. Bengals QB Joe Burrow turned it up a notch of
late and is looking for a fifth straight win after beating the
visiting Buffalo Bills 24-18 last week. Cincinnati is 13-2 in its
past 15 home games.
San Francisco 49ers (5-3) at Jacksonville Jaguars (6-2): As if the
49ers' defensive front wasn't frightening enough, San Francisco
acquired DE Chase Young to pair with former Ohio State Buckeyes
sidekick Nick Bosa at the trade deadline. Jumpstarting the offense
was a focus during the bye week. The 49ers started the season 5-0 by
scoring 30-plus points in every game. They've put up 17 in each of
their three consecutive losses while dealing with injuries to LT
Trent Williams and WR Deebo Samuel. QB Brock Purdy is the
highest-rated passer in the NFC (105.4) and had a career-high 365
yards passing in Week 8. The Jaguars have the NFL's longest active
winning streak at five games. Pushing it to six would give
Jacksonville its longest win streak since 1999. Each offense relies
heavily on versatile running backs. Christian McCaffrey leads all
RBs this season with 944 yards from scrimmage and has a touchdown in
17 consecutive games. Jaguars RB Travis Etienne is second with 849
yards and has eight total touchdowns this season.
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New Orleans Saints (5-4) at Minnesota Vikings (5-4): The Vikings
introduce a new quarterback to the home fans following an improbable
comeback to victory last week. Joshua Dobbs makes his first start
for the Vikings against the Saints in a game that could have
wild-card ramifications two months from now. Dobbs was named NFC
Offensive Player of the Week after passing for 158 yards and two
touchdowns and rushing for 66 yards, including an 18-yard touchdown,
to lead a 31-28 victory at Atlanta. "If you don't show up and play
well this week," Dobbs said, "no one cares about last week." The
Vikings' about-face comes after they started the season 1-4 and lost
starting quarterback Kirk Cousins for the season because of an
Achilles injury suffered two weeks ago. After losing four of five to
drop to 3-4, consecutive victories -- over Indianapolis on the road
and against the Bears at home -- changed the energy in New Orleans.
The Saints lead the NFC South over the Falcons (4-5) and Buccaneers
(3-5). QB Derek Carr has the ultimate blitz-buster weapon in RB
Alvin Kamara while facing a Minnesota defense that leads the NFL in
sending five or more defenders at the quarterback.
Green Bay Packers (3-5) at Pittsburgh Steelers (5-3): Outgained in
total yards by every opponent this season, the Steelers insist style
points don't matter in the standings. They've won three of four
games to remain in the thick of the AFC North. Head coach Mike
Tomlin brushed off "frustration" voiced by WR George Pickens as
Diontae Johnson led the team with seven receptions for 90 yards last
week. Steelers linebacker T.J. Watt has 7.5 sacks in five home games
this season and Pittsburgh is plus-8 in turnover margin. The
Packers' run defense rates as particularly impressive of late,
holding opponents to only 2.3 yards per carry (57 rushes for 130
yards) in their last two games. Green Bay won for the first time
since Oct. 1 last week as RB Aaron Jones turned in his most
productive game of 2023, gaining 99 yards from scrimmage. QB Jordan
Love has multiple touchdown passes in three of four road starts to
date.
Tennessee Titans (3-5) at Tampa Bay Buccaneers (3-5): Tennessee
turned the offense over to rookie QB Will Levis after he threw four
touchdown passes in his first start, a Week 8 win over Atlanta, and
played well in a 20-16 loss at Pittsburgh in Week 9. He went 22 of
39 for 262 yards with an endgame interception after driving the team
from its 15 to the Steelers' 19 last week. His ability to push the
ball down the field and play with poise behind a shaky offensive
line stood out to the coaching staff. He's brought new life to WR
DeAndre Hopkins, who caught three of his Week 8 TD passes, and RB
Derrick Henry, who cleared 100 yards from scrimmage at Pittsburgh.
The Buccaneers exchanged haymakers with Houston before a 75-yard
drive and game-ending TD pass sank their ship last week. Tampa Bay
has lost four in a row but has four games left with division
opponents after a trip to San Francisco next week.
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Atlanta Falcons (4-5) at Arizona Cardinals (1-8):
Kyler Murray is back at QB for the Cardinals, his first game since
sustaining a torn ACL Dec. 12, 2022. He's playing in a game for the
first time under head coach Jonathan Gannon but said even after a
roster remodel that sent WR DeAndre Hopkins out of town, he thinks
Arizona is ready to contend. The Falcons fell out of first place in
the NFC South last week. Atlanta kept QB Taylor Heinicke in the
starting role this week before reassessing the position during the
Week 11 bye. Heinicke threw one interception last week but has five
touchdowns and a QB rating of 104 in his past three road games. In
11 games last season, Murray passed for 2,368 yards and 14
touchdowns, while he was intercepted seven times. He also ran for
418 yards and three scores.
Detroit Lions (6-2) at Los Angeles Chargers (4-4): The home team has
won the past four meetings in this matchup last played in 2019. The
Chargers flashed the level of defense many expected the past two
seasons in an alley fight with the Jets on Monday to battle back to
.500 from 0-2 and 2-4 starts to the 2023 season. Much of the
progress is tied to the team's belief that DE Joey Bosa rallied to
his pre-injury form. He posted his 12th career game with 2.0 or more
sacks last week, sparing the offense of the Chargers on an off
night. Detroit is doubling down on a commitment to run the ball with
David Montgomery returning from a month away to heal a rib injury.
Rookie Jahmyr Gibbs had a combined 189 rushing and receiving yards
in the Lions' latest game, a 26-14 win over the Las Vegas Raiders on
Oct. 30, prior to the bye week. Chargers WR Keenan Allen went over
10,000 career receiving yards last week and caught 23 passes in two
previous games vs. Detroit.
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New York Giants (2-7) at Dallas Cowboys (5-3): Rookie QB Tommy
DeVito operated the first-team offense this week as the Giants turn
to a third different starter in as many games. He's tasked with
taking down a Dallas defense that destroyed the Giants in Week 1, a
40-0 Cowboys victory sparked by three takeaways, 10 tackles for
loss, eight pass breakups and 12 QB hits. CB Da'Ron Bland landed the
fatal blow with a pick-six and has three scores this season. Cowboys
QB Dak Prescott quieted early concerns from WR CeeDee Lamb about his
involvement. Lamb is on pace to set the franchise record for
receiving yards after back-to-back games with 10-plus catches and
150-plus yards. Offensive line health remains a constant concern for
the Giants, who are likely to ask a lot of RB Saquon Barkley, one of
five backs in the NFL averaging more than 100 yards from scrimmage
in 2023.
Washington Commanders (4-5) at Seattle Seahawks (5-3): Commanders QB
Sam Howell leads the NFC with 2,471 passing yards even as he is
being sacked nearly five times per game (44 total). Seattle has 27
sacks, but the last outing wasn't a stellar one for the Seahawks in
a 37-3 loss at Baltimore. The Seahawks, who had won five of their
previous six games, gave up 515 yards of total offense, including
298 rushing. While Geno Smith has 21 touchdowns and 10 interceptions
in his past 13 home games, there are questions landing before head
coach Pete Carroll about where the team should turn at quarterback.
Seattle managed just six first downs, had 28 yards on the ground and
Smith completed just 13 of 28 passes for 157 yards and was sacked
four times. "I don't think this is about Geno at all. Our football
team did not answer the bell here. We couldn't get it done. We came
in here to slug it out and they did a better job than we did."
New York Jets (4-4) at Las Vegas Raiders (4-5): The debut of Raiders
interim head coach Antonio Pierce couldn't have gone much better,
beating the New York Giants 30-6. The Monday night showing by the
Jets couldn't have been much worse, losing 27-6 to the Chargers.
Among the shifts for Las Vegas were rookie QB Aidan O'Connell
starting and play-calling skewing toward the running game. Josh
Jacobs rolled up a season-high 98 yards and two touchdowns. The Jets
are 31st in total yards (272.9) and 30th in points per game (16.5)
while operating an offense overly dependent on RB Breece Hall
breaking a big play. But Hall has 40 carries for 106 yards in his
past three games. That places QB Zach Wilson squarely in the
crosshairs of the Raiders. Wilson was sacked eight times by the
Chargers and encounters a defense that recorded eight sacks vs. the
Giants -- including a season-high three by Maxx Crosby.
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Denver Broncos (3-5) at Buffalo Bills (5-4): Denver enjoyed a bye
week that was preceded by consecutive wins. The Bills started the
week with a player's only meeting, primarily focused on the offense
regaining its mojo after a primetime loss at Cincinnati last Sunday.
And finding a solution to their turnover conundrum. Quarterback Josh
Allen is tied for second in the NFL with 18 TD passes but has been
intercepted nine times. Buffalo has a turnover margin of zero after
setting improvement in this area as a 2023 goal. Buffalo hopes to
find the win column before the schedule becomes thorny. The Bills
face the New York Jets (Nov. 19) and Philadelphia Eagles (Nov. 26)
before a bye week, but the Kansas City Chiefs, Dallas Cowboys and
Los Angeles Chargers await for the holidays. The Broncos kept the
Chiefs out of the end zone prior to the bye week and are getting
mistake-free play from their quarterback. Russell Wilson is fifth in
the NFL with 16 TD passes and has four interceptions.
--Field Level Media
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