Need a summary of Week 10?
Underdogs were barkin’.
Cleveland, Houston, Minnesota, Arizona and Las Vegas all won their games outright as underdogs. Baltimore’s home loss to Cleveland somehow bunched up the AFC North even more, and Atlanta’s loss at Arizona dropped the Falcons back to third in an NFC South that no one wants to win.
Each Sunday night, I will provide my five instant fantasy football reactions from the slate of games. What were the key performances, surprises and disappointments from across the NFL?
Let’s get into Week 10!
Reaction No. 1: The Detroit Lions are Legitimate Super Bowl Contenders
If you didn’t believe before, you should now.
Detroit won on the road against an explosive Chargers team, 41-38. The Lions embraced the return of running back David Montgomery, who combined with rookie Jahmyr Gibbs for 193 rushing yards and two touchdowns.
Wideout Amon-Ra St. Brown had 8 receptions, 156 yards, and a touchdown from the efficient Jared Goff (23/33, 333 yards, 2 TDs, 0 interceptions).
The Lions now enter an extremely winnable part of their schedule with Chicago (home), Green Bay (Thanksgiving), at New Orleans, at Chicago, and home to Denver. If the Lions win those games, they will be 12-2 heading to Minnesota in Week 16. Simply amazing.
Reaction No. 2: San Francisco Stops the Bleeding
The 49ers were not going to lose four games in a row.
San Francisco ended their three-game losing streak in a big way, pounding the Jaguars 34-3 at Jacksonville. Quarterback Brock Purdy threw three touchdowns, including this 66-yard bomb to George Kittle.
San Francisco sacked Trevor Lawrence five times, recorded two interceptions and two fumble recoveries, as they remained tied with Seattle at 6-3 in the NFC West.
Reaction No. 3: Dallas Doesn’t Lose at Home
The Cowboys moved to 4-0 at home with a dominant 49-17 win over the woeful Giants. Dak Prescott threw four touchdown passes including this one to Brandin Cooks.
Cooks had a season-high 173 receiving yards, with CeeDee Lamb racking up 151 receiving yards on 11 receptions. The only disappointing part of this game? Running back Tony Pollard again failed to find the end zone. Pollard has not scored since Week 1 despite entering the week ranked eighth overall in rushing attempts.
Reaction No. 4: Could This Be the End of Bill Belichick in New England?
The Patriots dropped to 2-8 on the season with an uninspiring 10-6 loss to Indianapolis in Germany. Quarterback Mac Jones failed to throw a touchdown, and provided this horrific interception last in the fourth quarter as the Patriots were about to take the lead.
The Patriots now hold the distinction of having the worst record in the AFC, and are just one game better than the Panthers (1-8) overall.
Reaction No. 5: Overs Have a Good Week
NFL overs actually hit in eight of the 13 games, a rarity for this NFL season. Unders are still hitting at a 60% rate (88-60-1) this season per BetLabs. However, there are certain teams that just continue to play games to the under, regardless of the number. Tennessee, Pittsburgh, Tampa Bay, Kansas City, the Giants and Las Vegas are a combined 44-12 (79%) to the under this season.