NFL Week 10 - What We Learned

Written by John Edward Betancourt

As always, the NFL delivered another incredible week of games. We were witness to another undefeated team lose for the first time while others continued to roll. We saw a record broken before an epic benching and we saw a perfect game from the most unlikely of quarterbacks. It was simply a wild weekend of football filled with wild stories and here are the top ones from the field this week.

1. Peyton Manning experienced the strangest game of his career on Sunday. First he shattered the all time passing yards record before throwing four interceptions and finding himself benched for backup Brock Osweiler. As it turns out, Manning is suffering from a battery of injuries. A sore shoulder, sore ribs and now a torn plantar fascia. In the hopes of seeing the future hall of fame QB heal up, Denver has announced he will sit out at least one more game, with Brock getting the nod for Chicago but one cannot help but wonder...with all the injuries he suffered last year, and the ones piling up now...has father time finally found Peyton? And will it be only one game that he sits out, or is this benching the beginning of the end of his illustrious career? Only time will tell.

2. Kirk Cousins left the game against the New Orleans Saints with his head held high for one particular reason...he threw a perfect game. Yes, the elusive 158.3 quarterback rating was in his hands as he threw four touchdowns against the Saints defense, leading the team to a 47-14 victory. Granted, one has to wonder if Kirk is that good or if the defense in New Orleans is that bad, and seeing as how Saints Defensive Coordinator Rob Ryan was fired after this game...I think we know the Saints opinion on this one, but either way, this game is a huge deal for Kirk. Awful defense or not, it's a confidence builder for a young QB and don't be surprised to see more improvement in his play courtesy of this tune up game. 

3. The New England Patriots may still be undefeated at 9-0 this season, but they had quite a scare on their road to that lovely record. The team that always seems to have their number, the New York Giants only lost to the Pats by a point and they did a fine job keeping pace with Tom Brady and that offense before letting the game slip away by giving Tom way too much time on the clock to do something at the end of the game. Either way, this was an exciting one that came down to the wire and don't be surprised if a team that watches the film from this game uses it as a blueprint to potentially beat the Patriots at long last, because no team is invincible...

4. Speaking of teams coming back down to earth, the Cincinnati Bengals suffered their first loss of the season...to the Houston Texans on Monday night. Talk about a stunner. Because no one, myself included, ever expected the dismal Texans to do what they did in this game. The Houston defense did a phenomenal job slowing down and containing the up tempo Bengals offense and in surprise fashion, backup QB T.J. Yates and WR DeAndre Hopkins connected for the game's only touchdown. It was simply incredible work by the Texans and I tip my hat to them for knocking off an undefeated team. 

5. There are a lot of games in this league that stick with players and coaches for various reasons, and one of those reasons is a chance to stick it to a former team and show them they made a horrible mistake in getting rid of you and that's exactly the kind of game Rex Ryan enjoyed on Thursday night when he faced off against his former team, the New York Jets. It wasn't the prettiest of games, nor did the Bills walk away knowing they blew out the Jets, but none of that matters. All that matters from that game is the fact that they won, that Rex Ryan beat the team that told him to beat it and those final moments as the clock wound down, watching Rex celebrate on the sidelines was nothing short of magical. While this game won't be an instant classic on ESPN, it did teach us one thing, when Coach Ryan puts his mind to it...he will achieve it. 

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