VITO'S VIEWS

–The Green Bay Packers were the big losers in Week 10. A week ago, they were 5-1-1 with the best record in the NFC. But after being upset by Carolina 16-13 a week ago, they lost to Philadelphia by a 10-7 margin Monday night to drop to the seventh seed at 5-3-1 in the NFC. Meanwhile, Philadelphia’s victory boosted their record to 7-2 and they are the top seed in the conference. Seattle, which crushed the Cardinals 44-22, is tied with the Eagles at 7-2, but are the second seed because the Eagles have the tie break.

–The Lions, who beat the Commanders, 44-22, and the Bucs, who lost to New England 28-23, are both leading their divisions at 6-3 and are the third and fourth seeds in the NFC. The Bears bear the Giants, 24-20, to go to 6-3 and are the sixth seed because the Lions have the tie break. The Giants fired coach Brian Daboll after the loss. The Bears are the sixth seed. The Rams beat the 49ers 42-26 to boost their record to 7-2 but they are the fifth seed because the Seahawks have the tiebreak in their division. And the Packers are the seventh seed with the 49ers in the eighth spot at 6-4 after the loss to the Rams.

–Indianapolis edged Atlanta 31-25 in Berlin to retain the top seed in the AFC at 8-2. Denver was not impressive in its 10-7 victory over the Raiders on Thursday night but the Broncos are the second seed at 8-2. Both the Thursday and Monday nightgames were decided by 10-7 scores with Philadelphia beating the Packers by that score Monday night.

–New England is also 8-2 after beating the Bucs  28-23 and are the third seed in the AFC while Pittsburgh lost to the Chargers Sunday night 25-10 to drop to 5-4 but still lead its division and is still  the fourth seed. The Chargers are the fifth seed at 7-3 because they are a game behind Denver. Buffalo lost to the Dolphins 30-13 to fall to the sixth seed at 6-3. The Jaguars were outscored 26-0 in the fourth quarter by the Texans as they couldn’t hold a 19 point lead and lost 36-29. They are still the seventh seed at 5-4 but only beat the Raiders by a point a week ago and are in danger of falling out of the seventh seed as they prepare to host the Chargers this week.

–Kansas City had a bye and remained the eighth seed at 5-4 but nobody would be surprised if they make the playoffs and Houston after its victory over the Jaguars and the Ravens, who beat the Vikings 27-19, are ninth and tenth at 4-5.

There will be four games this weekend in which both teams are currently in the top seven needs in each conference, including two prime time games. Pittsburgh, the fourth seed in the AFC  at 5-3, is at the Chargers , the sixth seed in the AFC at 6-3, Sunday night and Philadelphia, the top seed in the NFC at 6-2, is at Green Bay Monday night. The Packers are the fourth seed in the NFC at 5-2-1.

–In the other game between seeded teams, New England, the second seed in the  AFC at 7-2, is is at Tampa Bay, the second seed in the NFC at 6-2, on CBS at 1 p.m. Sunday that will shown to much of the country and the Rams, the fifth seed in the NFC at 6-2, are at San Francisco, the sixth seed in the NFC at 6-3, in the FOX doubleheader game that will be shown to much of the nation. In the other FOX late game, Detroit, the seventh seed in the  NFC at 5-3, is at  Washington.

–In the games involving seeded teams playing non-seeded teams, Denver,  which began the week as third seed in the AFC, started the weekend Thursday night by nipping the Raiders 10-7 to improve to a surprising 8-2. Indianapolis, still the top seed in the AFC at 7=2 despite the loss to Pittsburgh last week,  hosts Atlanta in Berlin on Sunday morning at 920 am.  Jacksonville, the seventh seed in the AFC at 5-3, visits 3-5 Houston. The Jaguars were the road underdog until Houston quarterback  C.J. Stroud was ruled out with a concussion. The Jaguars are now favored against Miles  Davis. Buffalo, the fifth seed in the AFC at 6-2is at Miami. Both the Jaguars and Buffalo are playing in in CBS 1 p.m. games Sunday and Seattle, the third  seed in the NFC at 6-2, is hosting Arizona in a CBS late game Sunday.–Baltimore at 3-5 is at 4-4Minnesota in a FOX 1 p.m. Sunday game and while neither team lis seeded, both are fighting to get into the playoff pix.

–Of the four teams having byes, Kansas City, Dallas, Tennessee and Cincinnati are currently  seeded but the Chiefs can’t be ruled out. They are currently the eighth seed in the AFC at 5-4.

There were two major developments in Week 9. The first is that the Bills still own the Chiefs in the regular season as Josh Allen boosted his regular season record to 5-1 against Patrick Mahomes with a 28-21 victory.

Allen threw a touchdown pass and ran for two others. Mahomes is still 4-0 in the playoffs against Allen but first the Chiefs have to make the playoffs to have another shot at the Bills.. They fell to eighth in the AFC playoff rankings with a 5-4 record.

The other development is that no dominate team has yet to emerge as 7-1 Indianapolis committed six turnovers, five by quarterback Daniel Jones in their loss to the Steelers. They turned the ball over just four times in their first eight games. Every team in the league now has at least two losses. But the Colts are all in this year as they sent two first-round picks and a player to the Jets for Sauce Gardner to bolster their pass defense.

— -Despite the loss, Indianapolis Is still the top seed in the AFC with the tiebreaker even though they are tied with the Patriots and Denver, who are leading their respective divisions with 7-2 records. The Patriots beat Atlanta 24-23 for their sixth straight victory, while Denver escaped with an 18-15 win over Houston with an 11-point fourth period surge. It was their fourth comeback in the fourth period. Pittsburgh’s victory over Indianapolis kept it in the division lead at 5-3 and in the fourth seed.

–Buffalo has a 6-2 record and is the fifth seed and second to the Patriots in the AFC East. The Patriots have the tiebreaker because they beat Buffalo in first meeting. San Diego is the sixth seed at 6-3 after beating the Titans 37-20 and the Jaguars moved back into the seventh seed with a 30-29 victory over the Raiders, who went for two at the end of the game but had the pass batted down. Cam Little set a league record with a 68-yard field goal at the end of the first half. Kansas City fell to the eighth seed with the loss to Buffalo at 5-4 while the Texans and Ravens are ninth and 10th with 3-5 marks.  

–Philadelphia and Tampa Bay had byes and remained the top two NFC seeds at 6-2. Seattle moved up to 6-2 as the third seed as the Seahawks crushed Washington as Sam Darnold threw four touchdown passes in the first half. Washington Coach Dan Quinn kept Jayden Daniels in the game with the Commanders trailing 38-7. Daniels then suffered a dislocated elbow and Quinn will be second guessed for not pulling Daniels in the fourth quarter.   

–The fourth seed is Green Bay, which is 5-2-1 after being upset by the Panthers, but the NFC North Division title race is wide open with all four teams having a chance to win it. Detroit fell to 5-3 with a loss to 27-24 loss to the Vikings as coach Dan Campbell took the blame for not having his team ready to play. Chicago boosted its record to 5-3 when Caleb Williams threw a 58 yard touchdown pass to beat Cincinnati with 17 seconds left. The Bears have won five of their last six. The Rams at 49ers in the fifth and sixth slots at 6-2 and 6-3 while Detroit is now seventh after its loss. The Rams routed the Saints 34-10 and the 49ers beat the Giants 34-24. 6-3. The Eagles have a three game lead over the 3-5-1 Cowboys in the NFC East and the Bucs have a two game lead over the 5-4 Panthers while the other two divisions are close. The Packers, Lions, Bears and Vikings are 5-2-1, 5-3, 5-3 and 4-4 in the NFC North. In the West, the Seahawks, Rams and 49ers  are 6-2, 6-2 and 6-3 with Cardinals trailing at 3-5 after they ended a five game losing streak with a win over the Cowboys on Monday night. Most games in the second half of the season will have a lot at stake.  

The game of the weekend and one of the best of the season — Kansas City at Buffalo — will not be shown in prime time. It will be the CBS doubleheader game Sunday. CBS must have protected the game because it is one of the league’s best rivalries. The teams  have have met in the playoffs four times in the last five years and the Chiefs won all four but the Bills  won the last three regular season games. It is the only CBS late game and FOX only has two late  games — the Rams hosting New Orleans and Jacksonville at Las Vegas — so the game will get national coverage. In the current standings, the Bills are 5-2 and the Chiefs are 5-3

– T he three prime time games are Baltimore at Miami Thursday night, Seattle at Washington Sunday night and Arizona at Dallas Monday night. The Ravens are 2-5 but are still alive in the battle for the AFC North division title because the Steelers are 4-3. And the Ravens figure to beat 2-6 Miami despite the Dolphins surprising  34-10 win over Atlanta. Arizona is 2-5 after losing five close games in a row while the Cowboys are 3-4-1 after being routed by the Broncos, 44-24 last week.

–CBS has five early games and in only one of them are both teams among the top seven in their conference. And even in that one, 7-1 Indianapolis figures to beat 5-3 Pittsburgh. In three of them, a team currently in the playoff pictures faces a team currently on the outside looking in. San Francisco is at the Giants, New England hosts Atlanta and the Chargers are at Tennessee. In the other early CBS game, 4-3 Chicago is at 2-6 Cincinnati.

–In the three early FOX games, all face teams that are in the top seven against teams that aren’t. Detroit hosts Minnesota, Green Bay hosts Carolina and Denver is at Houston. The Texans are currently ninth in the AFC at 3-4  and need a victory to try to stay alive in the wild card race.     

The four teams having byes this week are the  Jets, Eagles, Browns and Bucs.

This was not a memorable weekend for the NFL. After many games early in the season were decided in the last minute or even last play, things changed last weekend. Of the 13 games, 12 were decided by double digits. The only close game was the Jets posting their first victory as they edged the Bengals, 39-38. The problem was that of the 14 teams currently in line for a playoff berth, only one game featured two of those teams as  the Steelers, 35-25 by outscoring the the Steelers 21-6 in the final quarter.

–The Packers victory kept them on top of the NFC with a 5-1-1 record while Indianapolis remained with the best record in the AFC at 7-1. They stayed on top by routing the Titan 38-14.

–The 4-3 Jaguars had a bye and dropped from seventh to eighth in the AFC as they were passed by the Chiefs, who took the seventh spot at 5-3 by beating the Commanders Monday night. The Steelers were the only team in the top six in the AFC to lose when the Packers beat them. But they remained on top in the AFC North with a 4-3 mark, two games in the loss column ahead of the Bengals and Ravens. The Ravens at 2-5 beat the Bears 30-14 and are expected to get Lamar Jackson back. 

At this point, the Colts, Patriots Steelers and Denver are the division leaders with the Chargers, Bills and Patriots as the wild card team.

–The Packers, Eagles, Bucs and Seahawks are the division leaders with the Lions, Rams and 48ers are currently the wild card teams. The 49ers may have the toughest time making the playoffs because of all their injuries.

–In the NFC, three of the seven top teams, the Rams, Seattle and Lions all had byes while the 49ers lost to the Texans but stayed in the seventh post.

The feature game is the CBS doubleheader game featuring Dallas at Denver. The Broncos are 5-2 coming off the 33-32 win over the Giants to become the first team to overcome an 18 point point deficit in last six minutes during a 33 point explosion in the final quarter. The Cowboys are 3-3-1 after beating the Commanders and but are trailing the 5-2 Eagles in the NFC East.

–With six teams (Arizona, Detroit, Jacksonville, the Rams, Las Vegas and Seatte) all having byes,  there won’t be an international game. The weekend begins Thursday night with Minnesota at the Chargers. The Vikings are 3-3 and the Chargers 4-3 so they both are trying to avoid a fourth loss.

–The Sunday night game features Green Bay at Pittsburgh with Aaron Rodgers going against his old team. Rodgers lost to another veteran, Joe Flacco, last Thursday night and will duel the quarterback who replaced him, Jordan Love. The Packers are 4-1-1 and the Steelers are 4-2. The Packers rallied to beat the Cardinals last Sunday.

–In the Monday night game, Kansas City at 3-3 hosts Washington. The Chiefs are finally finding their groove after getting Rashee Rice and Xavier Worthy back and routed the Raiders Sunday. They figure to beat the Commanders, who lost to Dallas Sunday and are uncertain about the status of quarterback Jayden Daniels, who left the game early in the third period with a hamstring injury and didn’t return. The Commanders are 3-4.

—In one of the more intriguing games, Baltimore hosts Chicago. The Ravens appear out of it at 1-5 but as they come off their bye and likely will get Lamar Jackson back, they think they can get on a roll. But a sixth loss would be likely too much to overcome. Chicago under new coach Ben Johnson is a surprising 4-2 after beating the Saints last week and are in the playoff picture.

There doesn’t seem to be a dominant team in the league unless you count – believe it or not – the Indianapolis Colts. They own the best record in the league at 6-1 after routing the Los Angeles Chargers, 38-24, on Sunday as Jonathan Taylor scored three touchdown and Daniel Jones threw for 288 yards and two touhdowns. Taylor leads the league with 131 rushing attempts, 697 rushing yards  and 10 touchdowns. If he leads the league in all three categories, it will be the second time he’s done it. He also did it in 2021. Even Jim Brown only did it just three times. The Colts now appear to be real and the team to beat in the AFC.

–Now the question is which team has the best chance of overtaking them in the AFC.  New England and Denver both won to go to 4-2 along with the Bills, who had a bye, and the Steelers, who lost, while the Chiefs routed the Raiders to go to 4-3 and could make another Super Bowl run now that Rashee Rice and Xavier Worthy are both back. The Chargers and Jaguars, who both lost, are also 4-3.In the NFC, the Packers beat the Cardinals to stay the only team with one loss at 4-1-1. The Bucs lost to the Lions and now are tied with the Lions, Eagles, 49ers, Seahawks and Rams at 5-2. The Eagles snapped a two-game losing streak by beating the Vikings while the 49ers, Seahawks and Rams beat Falcons, Texans and Jaguars.

–In the game of the weekend or maybe the season, the Broncos fell behind 19-0 and still trailed by 18 points with six minutes left but rallied with 33 points in the fourth period to beat the Giants, 33-32, who were the victims of two missed extra points by kicker Jude McAtamney. He was filling in for injured kicker Graham Gano. Hard to believe but the previous 1,602 teams in NFL history who were behind by 18 points with six minutes left and all lost.

— Another frustrated team is the Arizona Cardinals, who started off 2-0 but have lost five consecutive games by a total of 13 points. The Cardinals have gone into the fourth quarter with at least a touchdown lead in all five games and still lost. No team has ever done that and only one, the 2017 49ers, lost five in a row by a total of 13 points. The latest loss was by a 27-23 margin to Green Bay Sunday. The Cardinals now have a bye before playing the Cowboys on Monday night the following week. Maybe they can regroup during the bye week.

–In a matchup of two quarterbacks in their 40s, Joe Flacco beat Aaron Rodgers as he passed for 347 yards and three touchdowns. Rodgers passed for 249 yards and four touchdowns. The Bengals traded for Flacco after Joe Burrow was injured and backup Jake Browning was ineffective. Pittsburgh coach Mike Tomlin complained before the game about the Browns trading Flacco in the division. And it turns out for good reason Tomlin was upset. The 4-2 Steelers are now just two games ahead in the loss column ahead of the 3-4 Bengals.

There are five national broadcasts this weekend starting with the Thursday night game  featuring Pittsburgh going to Cincinnati, which will have Joe Flacco at quarterback. Steeler coach Mike Tomlin made the puzzling comment that he can’t figure out why the Browns would trade Flacco to a team in his division. Obviously, he would rather face Jake Browning but no point in commenting on the moves of another team.

–The Sunday morning game from London on the NFL Network is interesting with the Rams played the Jaguars. Both teams are 4-2 so it is a pivotal game for both teams.

–Atlanta, coming off a short week after beating the Commanders Monday night, has to go to San Francisco, which is 4-2 but playing without Fred Warner and Nick Bosa. The 49ers are 4-2 while Atlanta is 3-2 and a game behind the Bucs in the loss column in the NFC South. The 49ers are tied with the Rams and Seattle.

–In first Monday night game, 5-1 Tampa Bay is at Detroit with the Lions at 4-2 after having their four game winning streak snapped by the Chiefs. In the second game, 2-3 Houston is at 4-2 Seattle  so both teams have a lot at stake.

–CBS has the single game Sunday but the three early games aren’t compelling attractions. Kansas City figures to beat Las Vegas and the Patriots are likely to win at Tennessee, the team that fired fired Mike Patriot coach Mike Vrabel a year ago. The third early game is Miami at Cleveland with both at 1-5 and playing only for pride. The two later games are better with the 2-4 Giants at 4-2 Denver and 5-1 Indianapolis at the 4-2 Chargers. The Giants look better with rookie Jaxson Dart at quarterback so they could upset Denver. 

–FOX has the national doubleheader but the two games are Washington at Dallas and Green Bay at Arizona. The three early games are Philadelphia at Minnesota, New Orleans at Chicago and Carolina at the Jets. The Philadelphia at Minnesota could be the game of the day because the Eagles are trying to bounce back from two losses in a row. Washington, Green Bay, Chicago and Carolina figure to win the other four games.

The Kansas City Chiefs seem to be the best story in the NFL. Last Monday night when they  were upset by the Jacksonville Jaguars to fall to 2-3, there was chatter their dynasty was in decline. But then they came back Sunday night to beat the Lions, who have injury problems, 30-17. But that wasn’t the end of the story. After the game Patrick Mahomes tried to shake hands with Brian Branch, who ignored him. Then JuJu Smith-Schuster came up to Branch thinking he would shake hands and Branch slapped his helmet, knocked him to the ground and a brawl ensued. Again, the Chiefs were in the news . And Branch was suspended for a game. Meanwhile, the Chiefs are only a game behind a playoff spot in the AFC and get Rashee Rice back from his six game suspension this week so they can’t be counted out as they face the Raiders, Commanders and Bills the next three weeks.

–One reason the Chiefs than can rebound is that the AFC Race is wide open. The Bills, who won their first four, lost their second straight to Atlanta Monday night to fall to 4-2. The surprising Colts, who beat the Cardinals, 31-27, are 5-1 while the Steelers, who posted their usual home win against the Browns, 23-9, are 4-1. The Colts and Steelers lead their divisions while the Bills are tied with the Patriots but the Patriots have the tie break since they Beat the Bills. And Denver and the Chargers are tied for the AFC West lead at 4-2. Denver edged the winless Jets, 13-11, and the Chargers beat the Dolphins, 29-27, when Justin Herbert threw a 42 yard pass in the final minute to set up the game wining field goal. Coach Jim Harbaugh said he will never forget that throw. The other two 4-2 teams are the Jaguars, who lost to the Seahawks, 20-12, and the Patriots, who beat the Saints, 25-19. So seven teams have two or one losses and are the current seven playoff teams. But the 3-3 Chiefs and 2-3 Texans are within striking distance.  But it is probably over for the 0-6 Jets and the 1-5 Ravens, 1-5 Browns, 1-5 Dolphins and 1-5 Titans. Only four teams since 1933 made the playoffs after a 1-5 start, and none of them won a playoff game. The Titans even fired their coach, Brian Callahan, as he became the first to be dismissed this year. 

–In the NFC, the Bucs have the best record at 5-1 and the Packers have the second best at 3-1-1 as they both lead their divisions. The Bucs beat the 49ers 30-19 and the Packers beat the Bengals 27-18. Every other team in the conference has two losses so race is wide open but the 4-2 49ers lost Fred Warner for the season after previously looking Nick Bosa and it will be difficult for them to overcome the loss of both of them. 

–The most puzzling team is Philadelphia. The defending champions won their first four games even though they weren’t at the top of their game but now have lost two including a 34-17 loss to the Giants Thursday night. Now the question is whether they can find their mojo from last year. But the Eagles still lead their division at 4-2 because the Commanders were upset by the Bears, who won by a field goal on the final play Monday night. The Commanders fell to 3-3 with the loss, while the Bears have won three in a row after losing the first year under new coach Ben Johnson.    

–The Jets remained the only winless team as they lost to the Broncos when coach Aaron Glenn went for it on fourth and eight at the end instead of trying a 62-yard goal. And his decision to dump Aaron Rodgers, who is 4-1 in Pittsburgh, and sign Justin Fields isn’t working out.

The NFL season is almost starting over in Week 6 with with no dominant team after the last two unbeaten teams, Buffalo and Philadelphia, both lost last weekend and there are now seven teams tied for the best record at 4-1. It was the first time in 68 weekends  that Patrick Mahomes, Josh Allen and Jalen Hurts all lost the same weekend.

–The weekend will feature five national games including two on Monday night plus the doubleheader game with the feature attraction Sunday night when Kansas City hosts Detroit. The Lions have won four in a row after losing their opener and are one of seven teams tied for the best record at 4-1. The Chiefs are struggling with a 2-3 start after losing in Jacksonville Monday night. They  were embarrassed as Mahomes threw a pick-six that Devin Lloyd returned 99 yards. Also, Trevor Lawrence was tripped after taking a snap in the last 30 seconds, stumbled a second time but no Chiefs defensive player touched him and he got up and ran into the end zone while their best defensive player, Chris Jones, loafed and stood on the goal line without trying to chase Lawrence. The Chiefs obviously have to get their focus back if they are to make a Super Bowl run.

–The Eagles and Bills will both play in prime time as they attempt to rebound from their first losses. The Eagles play at the New York Giants Thursday night in what should be an easy win while the Bills will be at Atlanta in the first Monday night game. Denver will play the winless Jets in London on Sunday with the game being shown at 9:30 am. The Jets are the last winless team and don’t figure to give the Broncos much of a game.

–The CBS doubleheader Sunday game that will be shown to much of the country features two 4-1 teams with San Francisco at Tampa Bay. With Brock Purdy still dealing with a toe injury, Mac Jones will likely make his fourth start. Jones has injury issues of his own with a left knee ailment and an oblique injury. He won his previous three starts and the former New England first-round pick is jumpstarting his career after going 2-5 in Jacksonville last year.

–Fox has two interesting games Sunday with 4-1 Indianapolis hosting 2-3 Arizona and 4-1 Jacksonville hosting 3-2 Seattle.  Arizona is trying to rebound from its disaster against winless Tennessee when Emari Demercado dropped a ball just before crossing the goal line to cost the Cardinals a 28-6 lead in the fourth quarter in a game they lost at the end, 22-21. Coach Jonathan Gannon was so irate that he got into Demercado’s face on the sideline and appeared to bump him. He apologized and was fined $100,000 by the team. It remains to be seen if the Cardinals can recover against a surprising Indianapolis team. And Jacksonville has been a surprising team under new coach Liam Coen and has won three in a row. Meanwhile, Fox will show Dallas at Carolina to most of the nation. The Cowboys are always a draw despite their 2-2-1 record, even though the other two games have better storylines.