ClutchPoints
A Week 10 slate full of heavyweight matchups across the NFL didn’t exactly deliver many classic games, well, unless you’re a Texans or Bears fan. However, there was a lot to learn from some very consequential results across the league on Sunday and Monday night.
The Patriots and Ravens stole the show in the morning slate on Sunday with impressive wins over quality teams, but nobody stacked up to the NFC contenders that took over in the afternoon. The Rams, Seahawks and Lions all dominated the afternoon slate, setting themselves up as the NFC’s biggest contenders.
Those three teams headline the list of biggest winners from Week 10, along with a new addition to the MVP race.
For the second consecutive week, the Seahawks took a 28-0 lead in the first half against an NFC foe. Yes, you read that right. Seattle jumped all over Jacoby Brissett and the Arizona Cardinals, who clearly took some time to get adjusted to playing an opponent that wasn’t the Dallas Cowboys defense.
Sam Darnold wasn’t asked to do much, as Seattle got two defensive touchdowns from DeMarcus Lawrence in the first half to jump out to that huge lead. However, his season-long numbers are still as good as it gets. Darnold leads the NFL in both EPA per dropback and completion percentage over expected, as he constantly has been able to fit the ball into tight windows down the field. Jaxson Smith-Njigba is still on a record-setting pace at wide receiver, making this offense very hard to stop.
Defensively, the Seahawks still dominated without linebacker Ernest Jones IV in this game due to a knee injury. Seattle is one of the hardest teams to run the football on in the entire league, which should benefit it greatly come playoff time.
This win sets up a blockbuster NFC West matchup in Week 11, and Seattle’s opponent was also wildly impressive on Sunday.
The Rams suffered one of the wackiest losses of the season earlier in the year against the San Francisco 49ers, with a late goal-line fumble and a failed fourth down in overtime costing them. On Sunday, they made no such mistakes in a 42-26 victory that was never as close as the final score may indicate it was.
Kyle Shanahan was still able to scheme up some quality stuff against this Rams defense, which has been very good this season, but the Rams’ offense was too much for San Francisco’s depleted defense. Matthew Stafford threw four more touchdowns, extending his league-leading number to 25 on the season, and the Rams could not be stopped.
For the week, the Rams had the second-best EPA per play and EPA per dropback in the entire NFL (we’ll get to the first place team shortly), something that has become somewhat of a theme for them this season.
Now, the Rams and Seahawks will do battle in Week 11 in...
