Best:
Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Jacksonville Jaguars
We have to give both teams their props here. Both teams coming into this week, were sitting at 0-8 and looked really bad. But they showed up for their respective games this week, got a little bit lucky, and picked up their first wins of the season. Jacksonville did it by forcing turnovers by the Titans, in their 29-27 victory. Don't get me wrong the Jaguars made mistakes of their own, but the defense had done enough to force Tennessee to make more of them. Tampa Bay did the same thing against Miami, pulling out the 22-19 win on Monday Night Football. Tampa Bay just caught Miami off guard, took full advantage of it and came away wit the win.
Worst:
Tennessee Titans and Miami Dolphins
These two clubs didn't fair so hot this week, giving the NFL's two winless teams their first wins of the year. The Titans just played a bad game, its a simple as that. They are really starting to show just how big a loss Jack Lockart is, not having him there to lead the offense. As for Miami, I think they are a decent football team, but I think they let what's been going on off the field with Martin and Incognito get to them on the field. They didn't play as sharp as they normally would, and it cost them a victory.
Best:
Tavon Austin, Wide Receiver St. Louis Rams
Austin had a breakthrough game for St. Louis, something the Rams have been waiting on for a while now. He returning a punt 98 yards for a touchdown and breaking free for two long touchdown grabs (57 and 81 yards, respectively). The three scores helped contribute to St. Louis’ surprising 38-8 rout over Indianapolis but may have also given the West Virginia product some confidence to build on heading into the season’s final seven games. Those two long touchdown grabs were the only catches he made all day long on offense. It was well worth it though, as it helped in a big way lead the Rams to victory.
Worst:
Arian Foster, Running Back Houston Texans
You wanna talk about a bad break. Houston’s Pro Bowl running back will not complete his fourth consecutive season with more than 1200 rushing yards and 10 touchdowns. Foster will undergo season-ending back surgery to fix a ruptured disk he initially suffered in training camp. The team will attempt to replace Foster’s production – he’d been fighting injuries all season – with Ben Tate, but it’s just another setback in a season of many for the reigning AFC South champs, who dropped to 2-7 with a loss to Arizona. Things just really seemed to be going from bad to worse to Houston, a team who many had picked to be a playoff team again this season.
Best:
Nick Foles, Quarterback Philadelphia Eagles
Nick Foles had another good week this week, proving to me that last week's performance was really no fluke. Foles also made a strong case that he should be the starting quarterback for the Eagles. Why? In Sunday’s 27-13 win over the Packers, Foles went 12 of 18 for 228 yards and three touchdowns. He’s now thrown for 16 touchdowns and zero interceptions on the season. More importantly, four of the Eagles’ five wins have occurred in games where the second-year player has attempted more than 15 passes. He may not be the prototypical quarterback to run Chip Kelly’s offense, but he’s definitely been effective in doing it lately. He's showing to me that he can lead this offense and this team as well as Michael Vick.
Worst:
Terrelle Prior, Quarterback Oakland Raiders
Oakland’s signal-caller seems to be having an opposite string of fortune than Foles, throwing eight interceptions since his last touchdown pass, which occurred in the first quarter of the Raiders’ Week 6 loss to Kansas City. Pryor was even worse than Eli Manning in Oakland’s 24-20 loss to the Giants Sunday, completing just 42.3 percent of his passes for 122 yards and an interception. Pryor also committed a key fumble on a sack on the Raiders’ final drive late in the fourth quarter. Save an early QB sneak for a touchdown, Pryor’s vaunted running skills remained dormant as well. Both teams didn't look all that great on Sunday, that much was obvious. Oakland looked worse off than Big Blue, which is saying something.
\Best:
Luke Kuechly, Linebacker Carolina Panthers
Talk about stepping up big on defense. The 49ers have one of the better offenses in football this season, and Kuechly just plain shut them down on Sunday. Carolina came away with a 10-9 win over the 49ers, and Kuechly was a big part of the Panthers defensive effort in the win. He had a big day on Sunday, leading the team with 11 tackles, a sack and a pass deflection. With five wins in a row, the Panthers defense has established itself as one of the best in the NFL, with the second-year player from Boston College emerging as its star.
Worst:
CJ Spiller, Running Back Buffalo Bills
Because we’re sick of harping on Ray Rice’s inability to gain more than two yards per carry, we look to the Buffalo tailback, who gained only 23 yards on eight carries in the Bills’ 23-10 loss to the Steelers. Pittsburgh had the second-worst run defense in the league coming into the game, but the Bills’ combined 95-yard day (50 yards below their season average) ought to change that ranking. Yeah Ray Rice doesn't seem all that bad by comparison any more does he?
So there we have it. Some of the best and worst from the NFL in Week Ten!
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