The start of Week 10 has had an AFC flavor. Most of it is hideous. But one player is humming along.
On Sunday, the Colts went to Germany and beat the Falcons in overtime, winning primarily because of Jonathan Taylor’s 244 yards rushing and three scores in a 31–25 international victory.
In the early window, the AFC continued to deliver stunning football, with the Bills traveling to Miami as a nine-point favorite, only to be blown out 30–13. Josh Allen had a 300-yard day but also threw a key end-zone interception and lost a fourth-quarter fumble, putting Buffalo 1.5 games behind the Patriots, who beat the Buccaneers, 28–23.
In the late window, the Seahawks and Rams both put on shows, winning against division rivals while Matthew Stafford continued to bolster his MVP case with 280 passing yards and four touchdowns. In Landover, the Commanders were outclassed by the Lions, as Jared Goff threw for 320 yards and three touchdowns in a 44–22 win for Detroit.
On Thursday, the Broncos and Raiders authored one of the ugliest games in recent memory. In Denver’s 10–7 win, both teams had more penalties than first downs, the first time that’s happened since the Buccaneers and Seahawks met as expansion teams in 1976.
We’ll update below as the games continue to go final, but we start with Taylor’s phenomenal effort.
Good: Seahawks look like NFL’s best through 10 weeks
Yes, there are a few teams with eight wins. None have been as dominant as the Seahawks.
Seattle hasn’t played an easy schedule. It hasn’t gotten by on luck and guile. No, the Seahawks have annihilated one team after the next, the latest victim being the Cardinals, 44–22. For the third time this season, Seattle notched 30-plus first-half points, burying Arizona under an avalanche of two defensive scores and offensive marches of 65, 81 and 76 yards for touchdowns.
The Seahawks are in the NFL’s toughest division, battling the Rams and the 49ers for the NFC West crown. It makes it plausible Seattle doesn’t play a home game in the playoffs, especially with a home loss in Week 1 to San Francisco. That said, the Seahawks are unbeaten on the road and Sam Darnold looks capable of winning in any stadium, throwing for 2,084 yards and 16 touchdowns in coordinator Klint Kubiak’s high-flying attack.
With Kubiak running the offense and coach Mike Macdonald calling the defense, the Seahawks are one of the most well-coached teams in the league. Both also have elite talents, whether it’s Darnold and league-leading receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba on offense, and Devon Witherspoon and Leonard Williams on defense.
Seattle is flying under the radar nationally because of the preconceived notions about Darnold, but the Seahawks are clearly worth believing in.
Bad: Anybody having to play against the Rams’ offense
Los Angeles went into the summer feeling great after acquiring Davante Adams to pair with Puka Nacua, Matthew Stafford and Kyren Williams in the backfield. Then Stafford was out most of the preseason with a disc issue, putting everything in jeopardy.
Fortunately for coach Sean McVay and the Rams, Stafford hasn’t missed any time and he’s playing at an MVP level. After the Rams’ 42–26 thrashing of the 49ers in Santa Clara on Sunday, Los Angeles is 7–2 and tied atop the NFC West with the Seahawks, while Stafford has thrown for 2,427 yards and 25 touchdowns against only two interceptions.
The NFC is loaded with quality teams, including the Seahawks, who are a nightmare to deal with offensively and defensively. The Eagles are defending champions. The Lions have a plethora of weapons and playoff chops. The Packers have Micah Parsons and depth galore across the offense. But the Rams might be the most balanced in terms of star power, with an elite front four and an offense rife with firepower.
Next Sunday, the Rams and Seahawks will meet at SoFi Stadium in what could be the game of the year.
Ugly: Washington’s long-term outlook around Jayden Daniels
The season is over for Washington. At 3–7 after a 44–22 loss to the Lions, the Commanders are readying for a long winter’s nap. But the problems extend beyond the next seven games.
Washington entered the season as the league’s oldest team, a metric furthered by the additions of receiver Deebo Samuel, edge rusher Von Miller and left tackle Laremy Tunsil. The biggest problem is not only that the Commanders added aging veterans, but also that they did so without finding young contributors in the draft beyond seventh-round running back Jacory Croskey-Merritt.
Looking at the roster, who is a solid piece for the next few years beyond quarterback Jayden Daniels and receiver Terry McLaurin (himself now 30)? Linebacker Frankie Luvu is terrific, but he will be 30 years old in September and is signed through 2026. Defensive tackle Da’Ron Payne is terrific, but he also has nine sacks in the last 2.5 years.
After a magical run to the NFC championship game, the Commanders suddenly look like a team not only falling apart due to injuries this season, but a team with significant holes in the roster for next year and beyond.
Good: Caleb Williams and the Bears finding a way late in recent games
The Bears could have easily lost their past two games against inferior opponents, the Bengals and Giants. In both games, they trailed at the two-minute warning.
But unlike in previous years, Chicago found magic late, winning both to improve to 6–3. Sunday’s game might have been the most improbable, trailing 20–10 with less than four minutes remaining. According to ESPN Analytics, the Giants had a 96.7% chance to win with 5:35 to go.
Both in Cincinnati and then on Sunday in Chicago, Williams was middling throughout much of the game. Yet in crunch time, he came alive. Against the Bengals, Williams led a four-play, 72-yard scoring drive to win the game, 47–42, capped by a 58-yard touchdown pass to rookie tight end Colston Loveland.
On Sunday, Williams marched the Bears 91 yards on nine plays to make the score 20–17. After the defense forced a three and out, Williams drove the Bears 53 yards on four plays, ending with his 17-yard run for the eventual game-winning score. On those two possessions, he accounted for 130 yards and two touchdowns.
Chicago is in a tight race for an NFC playoff spot, fighting with the Packers and Lions for the NFC North crown while also in contention for a potential wild-card spot. The road ahead isn’t easy, with three road games in the Bears’ next four, including the Vikings, Steelers, Eagles and Packers.
Bad: Panthers were showing life, but then fell apart against New Orleans
For the first time since 2019, the Panthers had a record above .500 after nine games. And then they lost to the one-win Saints.
Carolina lost 17–7 at home, dropping its record to 5–5, while the Saints improved to 2–8 in Tyler Shough’s second career start. For the Panthers, who were the favorite (which is rare for them), it’s the kind of loss that takes the wind out of your proverbial sails.
Bryce Young has been carried all season by a strong run game, but that facet of Carolina’s offense abandoned him Sunday. The combination of Rico Dowdle and Chuba Hubbard never got going, only rushing for 67 yards on 21 carries. Coming into the day, the duo had averaged 124.4 rushing yards per game.
Without the run game to lean on, Young was asked to win the game. He couldn’t. The 2023 first pick threw for 124 yards and an interception on 5.0 yards per attempt. Carolina managed only seven points against a New Orleans defense ranked 26th in points allowed at 27.0 per game.
Looking ahead, Carolina now draws Atlanta on the road before games against the 49ers and Rams. Over the last three weeks of the season, the Panthers will face the Buccaneers twice as well.
If they had gotten to 6–4, the playoffs would have felt possible. At 5–5 and after a loss to the Saints, it feels like a much more challenging road.
Ugly: Bills give themselves a huge boost, then fumble it away in Miami
Last week, the Bills made a statement by beating the Chiefs. On Sunday, they made another.
Buffalo was handled by the previously two-win Dolphins, losing 30–13 in Miami to break a six-game winning streak over its divisional foe. The problem? Turnovers. Josh Allen lost a fumble and threw an interception in the end zone, while James Cook also lost the ball in Miami territory. The mistakes put the Bills’ defense in a brutal spot, which, despite two Tua Tagovailoa interceptions, allowed an obscene 7.0 yards per play.
Going into the weekend, Buffalo had to be feeling great. The Bills were a halfmgame behind the Patriots, with New England traveling to face the 6–2 Buccaneers, fresh off their bye week. Instead of gaining a game, they lost one, falling 1.5 games back after already having lost to Mike Vrabel’s team in Western New York in Week 5.
At 6–3, the Bills remain a safe bet for a playoff spot, but getting the No. 1 seed for the first time since 1993 is becoming more challenging. The schedule isn’t easy over the next three weeks, with a home game against the Buccaneers before road games at the Texans and Steelers.
For the Bills, the worst part of this is the squandered opportunity. They beat the Chiefs for the fifth consecutive regular season, but those wins have never resulted in home-field advantage. The culprit has largely been bad losses, whether it was falling to Zach Wilson and Russell Wilson in 2023, the Zach Wilson–led Jets in ’22 or the Urban Meyer–coached Jaguars in ’21.
Once again, Buffalo was in great shape, but now has a steep climb to a playoff bye.
Good: Jonathan Taylor and his case for Offensive Player of the Year
It’s doubtful a running back is going to win MVP. It hasn’t happened since Adrian Peterson came off a torn ACL in 2012 to rack up 2,000 yards, leading the Vikings to the postseason.
Since then, only quarterbacks have won MVP, with a few of them (Patrick Mahomes, Aaron Rodgers and Lamar Jackson) winning it multiple times. That said, Taylor’s case for Offensive Player of the Year is getting stronger by the week.
In Berlin, Taylor had the best showing of the season for a running back, rushing for 244 yards and three touchdowns while totaling 286 yards on 35 touches. For the year, he has now rushed for a league-best 1,139 yards with 17 total touchdowns. If he keeps up this pace, Taylor would finish with 1,936 rushing yards and 28 touchdowns, the most anybody has scored since 2006, when LaDainian Tomlinson set the single-season record with 31.
Going into the early window, Taylor is clear of every other rusher by 274 yards and five scores on the ground. Even for a player who has two Pro Bowls and a first-team All-Pro honor on his résumé, this has been a dream season for the 26-year-old superstar.
Bad: Broncos’ offense is living right but playing all the wrong notes
The Broncos are 8–2. If the season ended after this weekend, Denver would be the AFC West champions for the first time since 2015, when it won Super Bowl 50 behind an elite defense with a punchless offense.
Sound familiar? Denver has won seven consecutive games, but the offense has topped 22 points only three times. In two of those contests, against the Eagles and Giants, the Broncos had three combined points heading into the fourth quarter before exploding for 18 in Philadelphia and 33 at home to beat New York.
On Thursday night, we saw more ugliness. Bo Nix struggled, going 16-of-28 for 150 yards, with a touchdown and two interceptions. Nix has started all 10 of Denver’s games and exceeded 6.2 yards per attempt only three times. It’s been enough for the team to have a terrific record, but things are about to get tougher.
Over their final seven regular-season games, the Broncos will play the Chiefs twice, and the Chargers, Jaguars and Packers as well. All of those teams are either in a playoff spot or have Mahomes and are nine-time defending divisional champs. Those games will be significantly tougher tests than most of the Broncos’ victims so far, who include the Cowboys, Bengals, Titans, Jets, Giants and Raiders. Within that group, only Philadelphia has a winning record.
Denver’s defense is incredible. The Broncos have a league-high 46 sacks, threatening the 1984 Bears’ record of 72 in a season. They rank first in red zone (28.1%) and third-down percentage (37.5%). That unit is enough to keep every game close and even win some almost by itself.
But to make a deep run in the playoffs, Nix and the offense need to get going.
Ugly: Everything about the Raiders’ rebuild
What is the argument that this Raiders team could be good in the short or long term? At 2–8 after an atrocious 10–7 loss Thursday night in Denver, those answers are becoming increasingly elusive.
Pete Carroll is 74 years old, and in his last four seasons with the Seahawks, failed to win a playoff game. Geno Smith was acquired for a third-round pick this offseason from Seattle, and he’s been awful with a league-worst 12 interceptions. Both have two years left on their respective contracts.
For Las Vegas, the rebuild has been never-ending. Since losing Super Bowl XXXVII to finish the 2002 season, the Raiders have a record of 130–236. They’ve employed 13 coaches (not including interim coaches) and had 26 different starting quarterbacks. Don’t be surprised if those numbers climb in 2026.
At his age, Carroll isn’t the answer for the future. He was brought in by ownership to revamp the culture and stabilize the situation before going to the next regime. Instead, it’s another lost year for the Raiders, who with only two wins will finish in fourth place in the AFC West.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as The Good, Bad and Ugly, Week 10: The Seahawks Could Be the Best Team in the NFL.
