NFL Week 10 superlatives

Best Game - Dallas Cowboys vs. Philadelphia Eagles 

While the Seahawks-Rams matchup was very entertaining once again, the Sunday action in Week 10 saved the best for last. The Cowboys and Eagles played a somewhat sleeper first half, but then things opened up in the third and fourth quarters. The two NFC East rivals combined to score 31 of their 47 points in the second half.

However, it wasn’t all that much of a surprise to see these two foes play a close game. But it was surprising to see the Cowboys knock off the defending Super Bowl champions on the road in a game they had to have.

Ezekiel Elliott had a huge night, rushing for 151 yards, averaging 7.9 yards per carry, and a touchdown. The Cowboys ran for 171 yards against the No. 2 rush defense in the league coming into Week 10.

Dak Prescott made just enough plays as well to help the Cowboys beat the Eagles, 27-20.

With this result, both Philadelphia and Dallas hold 4-5 records, which puts them two games behind the 6-4 Washington Redskins.

Best Team Celebration - Philadelphia Eagles 

We’ll have a category for individual celebrations later, but the Eagles take home the team award.

With Sunday being Veterans Day, it was awesome to see the league commemorating American veterans all day long. The Eagles did it best with one of their celebration after Zach Ertz’s first touchdown.

By the way, Ertz had a monster night, posting 14 catches for 145 yards and two touchdowns. That likely swayed a lot of fantasy matchups late Sunday night.

Biggest Statement - Tennessee Titans 

Some billed Tennessee’s win last week’s on the road against the Cowboys as a season saver. If that’s true, the Titans victory against the Patriots might send seismic waves through the AFC.

Tennessee didn’t just win; the Titans outgained the Patriots by 100 yards and outrushed them 150 to 40 on their way to a 34-10 victory. Marcus Mariota had his best game since the Week 3 comeback against the Eagles, throwing for an average of 9.5 yards per attempt and two touchdowns.

With the victory, Tennessee improved to 5-4 and pulled within a game of idle Houston, who the Titans have already beaten this season. The Titans and Texans will meet again in Houston three days after Thanksgiving.

For the Patriots, they aren’t in danger of losing their grip on the AFC East, but the loss could have implications on the AFC playoff picture. If the playoffs started today, New England would be the No. 3 seed, meaning Bill Belichick’s club wouldn’t have a bye for the first time since 2009.

Best Play - Nick Chubb, Cleveland Browns

Cleveland traded Carlos Hyde to open the door for rookie running back Nick Chubb. It’s one of the best decisions the Browns have made in recent history.

Chubb has been great this season, and he finally gets to fully shine without having to share the backfield (although he still does a bit with Duke Johnson Jr.). On Sunday, Chubb experienced his best day as a pro, rushing for a Sunday-best 176 yards.

More than half of those yards came on a 92-yard touchdown in the third quarter, which is the longest run in Browns history. Cleveland won its first game under interim head coach Greg Williams, beating the Atlanta Falcons, 28-16.

Best Rookie Performance - Leighton Vander Esch, Dallas Cowboys 

There are so many rookies playing well around the league, including the Browns running back we just finished discussing. But let’s give some love to the Cowboys middle linebacker.

Vander Esch appears to be a star in the making. He’s been starting in place of the often-injured Sean Lee the last few weeks, and on Sunday night, the first-round pick had a huge coming out party. Vander Esch recorded 13 tackles, including one for loss and intercepted a pass.

One of those 13 tackles was a key play late in the fourth quarter. On third-and-2 at the Cowboys 30-yard line, Vander Esch worked through a sea of blockers to bring down running back Corey Clement for a five-yard loss. Trailing by seven, the Eagles then went for fourth-and-7 and came up just short.

Philadelphia did eventually get the ball back but not with enough time to orchestrate another touchdown drive. Vander Esch’s tackle on that third down may have saved the game and season for Dallas.

Worst Loss - Atlanta Falcons 

Although it came on the road, this one really hurts the Falcons.

Atlanta came into Week 10 having won three straight to move back to the .500 mark. This setback, though, drops the Falcons to 4-5, and they still have road games coming up against the Saints, Packers and Panthers.

Those three teams are a combined 12-1-1 at home.

In order to finish 9-7, the Falcons must now steal one of those tough road games and run the rest of the table. And even then, Atlanta also has to hope 9-7 will be good enough to make the playoffs in ta tough NFC.

Worst Injury - Cooper Kupp, Los Angeles Rams 

It’s been a memorable day of football when it takes this long to get to such a great and pivotal division matchup. The Rams returned to the win column Sunday, holding off the Seahawks, 36-31. Todd Gurley and Jared Goff both had huge days, adding to their arguments in the MVP race.

But in the process, the Rams may have lost wide receiver Cooper Kupp again. This time, he may not return again in 2018.

He left after a non-contact injury, which is never a good sign, and he was holding his knee. NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reports the Rams’ “initial concern” is Kupp has torn an ACL.

Let’s hope it’s not that. Kupp has 35 catches, 527 receiving yards and six touchdowns this season.

Best History - Drew Brees, New Orleans Saints 

Don’t we do this every week? Brees and the Saints played as though the Panthers embarrassed their NFC South pride in Pittsburgh on Thursday, so they redeemed their division against the second-best AFC North squad.

And really, they did more than redeem the NFC South, as the Saints destroyed the Bengals, 51-14. New Orleans moved the ball at will with Brees averaging 10.6 yards per pass and the running game racking up 244 yards.

Meanwhile, the defense picked off Andy Dalton twice and held the Bengals to 284 yards.

But anyway, back to Brees, his three touchdowns moved him into second place on the NFL’s all-time passing touchdowns list. On Sunday, he passed Brett Favre and sits just 30 touchdown tosses behind Peyton Manning for most ever.

Second Best History - Larry Fitzgerald, Arizona Cardinals 

Brees has been hogging this superlative, and rightfully so, but Fitzgerald should be receive some accolades as well. With six receptions and 50 yards, Fitzgerald passed Terrell Owens and moved into second place on the all-time receiving list.

However, Fitzgerald has a lot more work to do in order to take over the No. 1 spot on the list. His 15,952 yards is still about 7,000 yards behind Jerry Rice.

Despite the history, Fitzgerald couldn’t lead the Cardinals to victory Sunday. Kansas City defeated Arizona, 26-14.

Worst Penalty - Corey Moore, Indianapolis Colts 

This proved to be one of the closer games of the early slate on Sunday, and one of the most notable plays of the game was an extra point midway through the second quarter.

After a Jacksonville touchdown, Indianapolis blocked the extra point and Colts linebacker Anthony Walker was in the clear to return the blocked kick back for a Colts two-point conversion. The game was about to experience a three-point swing.

But Moore stupidly decided to block Jaguars lineman Abry Jones in the back and below the waist. It didn’t appear Jones had an angle to track down Walker before he reached the end zone, but regardless, Moore’s actions resulted in a penalty that negated the two-point conversion.

Luckily for him, the Colts still held on to win, 29-26, but had he not illegally blocked Jones, the game would have been completely different.

Biggest Streak Snapped - Chicago Bears record against division opponents 

Heading into Week 10, the Bears were sitting in first place of the NFC North, but Chicago had to know that wouldn’t last much longer if the team’s losing streak against division opponents continued. Before this weekend, Chicago had lost 10 straight against the NFC North and nine of 10 against the Detroit Lions.

That all ended Sunday, as the Bears thumped the Lions, 34-22. Quarterback Mitch Trubisky had another fantastic day, throwing for 355 yards and three touchdowns. He averaged 11.8 yards per attempt, and the Bears defense forced three turnovers.

Worst Kicking Day - Cody Parkey, Chicago Bears 

It wasn’t all great for the Bears, though, as their kicker really struggled. Parkey missed two extra-points and two field-goal attempts.

If he had made every kick, the Bears would have won by 20 instead of 12. The Lions never really became a threat to come back in the second half, but leaving eight points on the field certainly made the game a lot closer.

Most impressively, though, all four of Parkey’s misses hit the posts. He couldn’t do that if he tried.

Best Celebration - Tyreek Hill, Kansas City Chiefs 

There has been plenty of celebrating this season for the Chiefs, but Hill had their best celebration performance after scoring his second touchdown.

Maybe he has a career in television after his NFL playing days.

Hill caught seven passes for 117 yards and two touchdowns in the Chiefs 12-point victory.

Biggest Embarrassment - New York Jets 

By no means are the Jets a good team. Rookie quarterback Sam Darnold has struggled in recent weeks, and with his injury, veteran Josh McCown started in his place Sunday.

But they aren’t 31-points worse than the Buffalo Bills. Somehow, though, the Jets lost to the Matt Barkley-led Bills, 41-10, at home.

Not only was the 41 points a season high for the Bills, Buffalo scored just 46 points combined in its last six games. Barkley went 15-of-25 for 232 passing yards and two touchdowns while LeSean McCoy rushed for 113 yards and also scored twice.

Say what you will about the Jets quarterback situation, but Darnold doesn’t play defense.

Biggest Statistical Anomaly - Tampa Bay Buccaneers 

The Jets have plenty of reason to be embarrassed, but the Buccaneers are not far behind this week. Somehow Tampa Bay racked up 501 offensive yards and yet only scored three points.

That’s right - just a field goal in a 16-3 loss to Washington. It is reportedly the most yards for a team that only scored three points during the Super Bowl era.

Red zone blues is the most obvious reason for this ridiculous honor. Tampa Bay advanced the ball inside the Washington 25-yard line five times. On those possessions, the Buccaneers recorded three giveaways and a missed field goal.

Top Fantasy Waiver Wire Addition - Anthony Miller, Chicago Bears 

Allen Robinson back healthy was a big reason for the Bears success through the air against the Lions, but Miller also played extremely well opposite him.

Miller finished with five catches for 122 yards and a touchdown versus Detroit. The rookie has caught touchdowns in three of the last five games.

With that in mind and his first 100-yard receiving day, owners will have to scurry to the waiver wire quickly to claim Miller.

Most Frustrating Fantasy Touchdown - James Develin, New England Patriots 

It was a frustrating day all around for the Patriots, who tied a season low with 10 points. But their lone touchdown in the loss didn’t go to Tom Brady, Sony Michel, Julian Edelman, or Josh Gordon. It didn’t even go to James White or Cordarrelle Patterson either.

Yep, the Patriots only score was a 1-yard touchdown run for fullback James Develin. The Patriots fullback hadn’t recorded a rushing attempt since 2014.

Develin is owned in a whopping 0.1 percent of ESPN leagues.

Worst Fourth-Down Attempt - Derek Carr, Oakland Raiders 

The Oakland Raiders are the punching bag of the league at the moment. While they did keep things relatively close against a surging Chargers team, the Raiders were again the butts of the NFL on one of the poorest fourth-down tries any fan will see.

Trailing by 13 and with 4:10 left, the Raiders went for fourth-and-five. But the play didn’t have a chance, as on the first sign of pressure, quarterback Derek Carr just threw the ball straight into the ground.

At 1-7, the Raiders don’t have anything to play for, and the fourth-down try wasn’t likely to lead to a comeback. But with nothing to lose, why not give yourself at least a chance?

The Chargers won, 20-6.

It’s About Time This Happened - Aaron Jones, Green Bay Packers

Mike McCarthy is a smart guy. With the Packers’ 31-12 victory against the Dolphins on Sunday, he’s won 125 games in the NFL. But his refusable to make Aaron Jones his offense’s primary back is, at best, puzzling.

After Jones’ costly fumble last Sunday night against the Patriots, it wouldn’t have been surprising to see McCarthy turn back to Jamaal Williams. But thankfully, that didn’t happen.

Instead, Green Bay finally featured Jones, and he shined. Jones rushed 15 times for 145 yards and two touchdowns. He also added 27 receiving yards.