Trending 📉 📈 after Week 10 of the NFL as the Chiefs do it again

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Another week, another “There’s No Coverage for This” from George Pickens:

We’re on track to have a one-handed behind-the-back catch by Week 18. That’s what it will take for him to surpass his training catch starting in 2023.

Today we have promoted and relegated teams from Week 10. But most importantly, we would like to thank a veteran.

📈 Trending 📉

Yes, Kansas City is 9-0 despite:

• Yesterday: The Broncos lined up for a game-winning 35-yard field goal with 0:01 left. Blocked.
• Week 9: The Buccaneers scored a touchdown with 27 seconds left, but opted for an extra point to tie the game. Should have gone with two people.
• Week 3: Trailing by five, the Falcons had the ball at the Chiefs’ 12-yard line with a minute to play on 3rd-and-1. Couldn’t convert in two attempts.
• Week 2: The Bengals won 25-23 after the Chiefs failed to convert on fourth-and-16. Or so it seemed until a timely pass interference call led to a Kansas City field goal.
• Week 1: The Ravens were just shy of forcing overtime in a 27-20 Chiefs win.

And that’s not all. You won Seven Play with only one possession. For everyone outside Kansas City, it was death by a thousand paper cuts.

Their toughest remaining matchup is next week against the 8-2 Bills. If they win in Buffalo, we have to admit it may Always get away with it.

Other Week 10 Rising Stars:

The trend is increasing

📈 The unbreakable 8:1 Lions. With their offensive line struggling and Jared Goff tallying three interceptions, Detroit trailed Houston 23-7 at halftime. Goff had two more INTs after halftime, but so did CJ Stroud, as the Lions stormed back and scored 19 unanswered points to win 26-23.

📈 Mike Tomlin Coach of the Year Odds. He’s well on his way to earning it. Including yesterday’s 28-27 win over 7-3 Washington, his Steelers are 3-0 and averaging 30.3 points per game since he made the bold decision to start Russell Wilson. I need to see more from the 7-2 Steelers as they only have three wins against teams with a record above .500. We’ll learn a lot when they beat Baltimore 7-3 next Sunday.

📈 Also the odds for Jonathan Gannon’s Coach of the Year. With a four-game winning streak (against the Chargers, Dolphins, Bears and Jets), the Cardinals lead the NFC West at 6-4. They are playing their best football since Gannon was hired last season, losing only to the playoff Bills, Packers, Lions and Commanders. I expect the Cardinals to join in January, especially if their defense returns to form (no touchdowns allowed in their last three home games).

The athleteMike Sando asks: Are the Cardinals the new Lions?

📈 Believe in Brock Purdy. In a poll earlier this season, only 39 percent of you believed Purdy was worth $60 million per season. He looked really good yesterday, with a 69.4 completion percentage, 353 yards and two touchdowns, including this one:

He finished the game with a masterful, 41-second, six-play drive to put the 49ers within field goal range for the victory that Jake Moody didn’t miss.

Side note: I hope Deebo Samuel apologized for grabbing his long snapper by the neck.

Deebo Samuel grabbed long snapper Taybor Pepper’s neck and punched kicker Jake Moody after the third missed field goal pic.twitter.com/wFIK3p38DR

— Ollie Connolly (@OllieConnolly) November 10, 2024

Unacceptable for a captain.

📈 The Saints. Yes, Dennis Allen was the problem. Interim coach Darren Rizzi lit a fire under the Saints, who ended their seven-game losing streak with a 20-17 win over the division-leading Falcons (6-4). New Orleans (3-7) could make it for the second straight season as it hosts the Browns next week.

During the game, Alvin Kamara had 109 yards from scrimmage, passing his former teammate Mark Ingram to become the Saints’ all-time leading rusher. Recently signed receiver Marquez Valdes-Scantling made his best impression on Rashid Shaheed, finishing the game with 109 yards and two touchdowns.

📈 Struggling sophomore quarterbacks. Bryce Young avoided both the Giants’ elite pass rush (he took just one sack) and turnovers (his first complete game without an interception this season) in the fourth win of his career. He could start again next week.

Will Levis completed 18 of 23 passes for 175 yards and two touchdowns, going without an interception for the first time this season. Even Anthony Richardson, who was on the bench, saw his performance rise as Joe Flacco turned the ball over four times while the home crowd booed.

📈 Bengal. They lost to Baltimore but still look like contenders. And yes, their 4-6 record makes their next two games – against the AFC rivals Chargers and Steelers – crucial. But with the Broncos (5-5) and Colts (4-6) both losing this weekend, Cincinnati remains on the cusp of the final AFC wild-card spot.

Downtrend

📉 Chicago’s trust in this regime. Caleb Williams was sacked nine times by a Patriots pass rush that had caused a total of two sacks in the previous three games. It’s one of many problems in Chicago, where the Bears haven’t scored a passing touchdown in nearly a month. Adam Jahns explains why the offensive is broken.

📉 Daniel Jones’ time in New York. After Jones threw two interceptions in a 20-17 overtime loss to the Panthers, HC Brian Daboll said the 2-8 Giants would “evaluate” the quarterback position. Former second-round pick Drew Lock could start soon. As Mike Jones writes The athleteTakeaways for Week 10, we’ve seen enough.

📉 More disappointing: Jets or Cowboys? The answer: yes. With Dak Prescott out (more on his status below), Dallas’ 34-6 home loss to the Eagles felt like the final nail in a 3-6 season. It didn’t help that CeeDee Lamb missed a touchdown catch:

CeeDee Lamb on not catching Cooper Rush’s potential touchdown pass in the Sun:
“I couldn’t see anything.”
Do you support curtains at AT&T Stadium?
“1000 percent.”#DallasCowboys #Cowboys #NFL pic.twitter.com/0i5y6Dvslq

– Pat Doney (@PatDoneyNBC5) November 11, 2024

Good thing they stuck with this incredibly terrible stadium design:

The outlook is no better in New York, where the Jets lost their fourth game in five weeks since Robert Saleh was fired. Zack Rosenblatt explains why the 3-7 Jets are running out of time.

📉 Sam Darnold. A total of three interceptions (and two in the end zone) by Darnold almost cost the Vikings a 12-7 victory over the Mac Jones-led Jaguars. “I need to take care of the football a lot better,” Darnold said afterward. “I think it’s obvious.” Alec Lewis explains why Darnold’s league-leading 13 turnovers are the 7-2 Vikings’ biggest weakness.

📉 The Buccaneers just can’t win. Baker Mayfield’s stiff arm on Nick Bosa to convert a fourth-and-7 was great on so many levels.

Baker getting a stiff arm from Bosa on 4th down while making a throw is the craziest thing you’ll see today pic.twitter.com/LKH3SuIiw0

— Chase Daniel (@ChaseDaniel) November 10, 2024

But it wasn’t enough, and the Buccaneers became just the second team in NFL history to average more than 30 points per game in a 1-5 stretch. (The others? Even the Bucs.)

Just to update that stat: The Bucs have averaged 30.7 points over their last six games but are 1-5 in that stretch. In NFL history, a team has scored more than 180 points in a six-game period 1,353 times. Of those 1,353, only two managed just one win:

2019 Bucs (193 points)
2024 Bucs (182)

– Greg Auman (@gregauman) November 10, 2024

Now Dianna has the latest on Dak Prescott.

What Dianna hears: Dak won’t be coming back

Cowboys QB Dak Prescott said he would meet with a specialist in New York today. If this doctor agrees with the others, he will undergo surgery immediately. It will be a three-month recovery. Prescott said the prognosis without surgery is 6-8 weeks, and that’s only if everything goes well. The 31-year-old’s season is over.

Dallas now has to choose between Trey Lance and Cooper Rush, who combined for 49 yards on Sunday.

Back to you, Jacob.

Around the NFL

The Patriots are Drake Maye’s team. As Chad Graff explains, the 22-year-old quarterback made a statement last week: “He stood in front of the team in one of their auditorium meeting rooms. He told his teammates that what they did wasn’t good enough. Their standards were higher, their goals were higher.” It is a leadership role that he deserves.

Brian Dawkins connects football and military communities. The Hall of Famer delivered a message to veterans about mental health and suicide prevention, a cause close to his heart. As a freshman, Dawkins struggled with depression and suicidal thoughts. Jason Jones tells the current story.

🎧 The Athletic Football Show Podcast: How “Pittsburgh was one of the few defenses that gave Jayden Daniels trouble.”

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(Photo: David Eulitt / Getty Images)