The NFL Roundup 2017: Week 10 - What We Learned

Written by John Edward Betancourt

(Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images)

​While Week 10 in the NFL often provides a special level of excitement, thanks to the fact that the playoff race is underway, it unfortunately comes to an end in bittersweet fashion. After all, there are some teams who see their season slip away further or end altogether and for some fans, it’s tough to get over the fact that a season that started with hope has gone south. But others of course, rejoice in the fact that their squad is likely headed to the playoffs and how these players and coaches respond to the weekend’s results, teaches us a lot about who they are and how they will finish out the season. So, without any further delay, let’s discuss what we learned from all the wins and the losses from this weekend’s slate of games.
 
San Francisco, finally won its first game of the year.
It has to be demoralizing for a team when they come so close to a win only to have it snatched away by a poor decision or a mistake and I’m honestly not sure how the Niners have endured this long with having that happen to them on a regular basis. But the patience their coaching staff has preached, and the work they’ve put in practice wise finally paid off since the 49ers secured their first win of the season over the Giants on Sunday. Sure, they’re still 1-9, and sure, they have a lot of work to accomplish before winning is a culture there. But with new a front office and coaching staff in place, this is a big deal to this struggling franchise and hopefully getting this monkey off of their back leads to more wins down the road.
 
The NFL needs stricter penalties in place for its Concussion Protocol.
By now you’ve already heard about the mistakes made by the Seattle Seahawks when it comes to Russell Wilson and his early exit from Concussion Protocol and whether or not the league finds any wrong doing on the matter, I think it is high time the NFL puts forth stricter penalties on both the players and the teams when it comes to violations of said protocol to prevent something like this from happening again. After all, this isn’t the first time we’ve seen a player run back out onto the field when they’re in the protocol and if the players don’t care and the teams aren’t going to sit them down, then let stiffer fines and suspensions perhaps put an end to that kind of problem so that the league demonstrates that they are truly committed to keeping their players safe.
 
Where do the Denver Broncos go from here?
Five straight losses. A defense that has lost its swagger. An offense that cannot score and a special teams unit that is anything but. Those are really the best ways to describe the 2017 Denver Broncos and after the disaster that was Sunday Night Football…it’s obvious that from this point on, this team has to make some serious changes on every side of the ball. As to what those changes are exactly, well we won’t cover them today, because that’s a five-thousand-word essay/blog in its own right. But at the very least, it’s high time Head Coach Vance Joseph elicits a little more fire and accountability from his team since they’ve developed some lazy and bad habits and if he cannot get this team to dig deep and play with some pride, then expect an unhappy and impatient John Elway to step in and make some serious changes to get this football team back on track.  
 
The Giants need to make a decision on the future of Head Coach Ben McAdoo sooner rather than later.
It’s been quite the up and down week for New York Giants Head Coach Ben McAdoo, who weathered all kinds of rumors surrounding his dismissal only to get a pseudo vote of confidence shortly after an ugly loss to the 49ers and really at this point, the Giants need to make a decision now as to what they want to do with their embroiled coach. Because if the Giants lose again, and they will, the fan base will continue to call and call loudly for his head. So, they either need to can him now, and move on, or flat out commit to him for the length of his contract and put the matter to bed because they either think he’s the guy or not, and while it is commendable for the Giants to try and handle this in low key fashion and push it off to the end of the season, they also run a business and there’s nothing wrong with making a business decision one way or the other.
 
The Cleveland Browns might go 0-16 this year.
Make no mistake about it, the Cleveland Browns are a bad football team. They’re so bad in fact, it would require another five-thousand-word essay/blog to discuss their flaws on every side of the ball, and when a team is this awful, one has to wonder what their final record will be at the end of the season and I hate to say it, but I think the Browns could go 0-16. They can barely get anything going on offense, and if they do establish a lead they manage to blow it and that defense gets run over week after week and when you have a team without leadership, and top tier talent for that matter, you lose games in embarrassing fashion and I just don’t see where or how the Browns could win a game this year, so don’t be shocked if they pull off a winless season as they maintain their status as the worst team in the NFL.   

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