Bills' Bay Day Gives New England Path to Top Spot - Highlights of NFL Week 10

Quarterbacks in action
Josh Allen along with Drake Maye are scheduled to face in the fifteenth week for potentially an American Football Conference East title decider
  • Published:
  • Comments: 3

The tenth week once more provided excitement, with a huge upset for the Bills demonstrating the 'any given Sunday' mantra that attracts so many people into the National Football League

This outcome may have opened opportunities for the Patriots to move back into a leading position they formerly held, with a remaining games that gives them an advantage over their 8-2 competitors

Meanwhile in the NFC the Seattle Seahawks and Los Angeles Rams had ideal outcomes to arrange a monster clash next week, while our top performer is pursuing milestones as well as the MVP award

Analysis - Simply an Off Day for the Bills?

Josh Allen in action
Did Josh Allen attempt too much or could it simply have been a poor performance for the Bills?

Was it just an emotional comedown from defeating Kansas City last week or a deeper issue? This remains the question for the Buffalo team to answer

The Bills had won seven in a consecutive games against the Dolphins but were outperformed from the beginning as the Miami team emerged as 30-13 winners in an surprising outcome - and display

MVP Josh Allen only got the team's opening first down in the third quarter and first points in the fourth - yes the Dolphins had ten days to get ready but it was still a significant failure laid by one of the NFL's best offenses

Dolphins quarterback Tua threw two scores but running back De'Von Achane was the game-changing factor, with 225 combined yards and two scores

Bottling up the NFL's top running game was also key, with James Cook and company recording just 86 yards, their fewest of the year and just over fifty percent their 161.5-yard season average

Then there were the three crucial ball losses, and the two from Allen specifically. An pass caught by defense in the end zone meaning a nine minute drive yielded no points, and his final quarter dropped ball that Miami converted to a touchdown just later

It was classic 'old Buffalo' as they shot themselves in the foot, falling into a deficit on defensive side and Allen trying to do too much to dig his team out of it - not the composed, controlled, well-balanced Bills we've witnessed this year

Miami have demonstrated a bit of everything this year so the verdict is uncertain on whether this is the beginning of something, but for Buffalo they'll require an immediate bounce-back in a difficult matchup against the Buccaneers in week 11 as the Patriots are sneaking into a nice lead at the summit of the American Football Conference East

Spotlight - Patriots Identify Route to Unexpected First Place

TreVeyon Henderson running
TreVeyon Henderson clocked the fifth fastest velocity in the league this year

Speaking of the New England, they're among three 8-2 teams in the league, all AFC sides, but are they the best?

One could pick holes in the Patriots, the Broncos and the Colts actually for feasting on the lesser sides, with just five of their total twenty-four wins achieved against opponents with a positive record - and one of those was the Colts beating the Denver

Denver defeated the champion Eagles in Philadelphia and are kings of the final quarter while Indy can ride Taylor, but the Patriots including Sunday's victory in Tampa to their prime time win in Buffalo seems like a statement

Their pair of losses occurred in new head coach Mike Vrabel's initial three games, with seven consecutive victories, just like the Broncos, since then - but defeating Baker Mayfield after the Buccaneers had a bye to get ready was significant

Drake Maye's Most Valuable Player credentials won't go away, and he certainly deserves credit for courage after taking some savage hits in Tampa but hanging in there to guide his team to victory

The defense is solid and rookie rusher TreVeyon Henderson burst onto the scene on Sunday with 147 yards and two exciting scores of 55 and 69 yards - becoming just the fifth different ball carrier to break 22mph this season on his first score

While you can debate who 'the top team' is technically, the Patriots should be favourites to finish with the best record due to their remaining opponents - which includes just a single matchup against a successful opponent, although a significant contest against the Bills

Visiting the Ravens is also tough, but the Broncos have it even tougher in the AFC West with the Kansas City to play twice, the Chargers (who could also challenge for top seed but face the identical challenge) and additionally the Green Bay on the schedule

The Colts also face the Kansas City, and have the Seattle, 49ers and two matchups with the 5-4 Jacksonville to contend with. There's a considerable distance to travel but the door is available for a shock top seed in the AFC

Next Week - Los Angeles and Seattle Set for Next Week Showdown

Both squads with strong arguments to be better than all of the three eight and two sides are NFC West rivals the Seattle and Los Angeles, who each put up 40 burgers to go to 7-2 ahead of the upcoming Hollywood blockbuster game between the pair in Los Angeles

Both have secured four victories in a consecutive games, have quarterbacks in Matthew Stafford and Sam Darnold performing at an elite level (although Darnold had ball security problems on game day) with top receivers, and defenses giving up under 20 points a game

Both could easily be without a loss as too - especially the Los Angeles as their two defeats occurred in extra time against the San Francisco and then that painful defeat in Philadelphia when they had a potentially winning field goal with the final play blocked and returned by the Eagles for a touchdown

Seattle also lost to San Francisco, with a last-minute score in the opening week, before falling to the last kick of the contest against the Buccaneers - so they're genuinely two of the top teams in the NFL

The next matchup on Sunday could be the best of the year to date

Player of the Week - Taylor

Jonathan Taylor running
Taylor is chasing down multiple rushing and scoring milestones

Taylor might be on for a historic year after his incredible display in Berlin - rushing for 244 rushing yards, registering three touchdowns and contributing another forty-two {receiving yards

Erica Meyer
Erica Meyer

A tech journalist based in Stockholm, covering Nordic startups and digital transformation with over a decade of experience.