Week 10 of the NFL season was full of heavyweight matchups up and down the league, and some of them delivered the goods on Sunday. A battle of surprising contenders between the Patriots and the Buccaneers was excellent in the morning window, with Drake Maye solidifying his MVP case with a gritty road win.
On the other end of the spectrum, some of the perceived heavyweight fights on Sunday didn't live up to the hype. The Steelers completely no-showed on offense on Sunday night against the Chargers and are now in a dogfight at the top of the AFC North that seemed impossible just a few weeks ago.
Pittsburgh made the list of losers in Week 10, but it isn't near the top. Let's find out who is.
Everyone who watched Broncos-Raiders
During the first half of the season, NFL fans were treated to some quality Thursday Night Football games that were very entertaining week in and week out. Rams-49ers was an excellent game early in the season, Seahawks-Cardinals was dramatic at the end, and Steelers-Bengals was a riveting shootout.
One week after watching the Ravens thrash the Dolphins on TNF, the Broncos and the Raiders put on a performance that you truly had to see to believe. Denver and Las Vegas both finished the game with more penalties than first downs, just the second time in the last 75 years that has happened in a game.
This game had no redeeming quality. On one side, Bo Nix missed open receivers left and right and had nothing going in the passing game, even launching the ball into double coverage at the end of the first half to cost the Broncos a chance at a field goal. On the other side, Geno Smith was his usual erratic self and was under fire against an elite Denver pass rush all night long, eventually suffering an injury that left him hobbling around by the end of the game.
In total, both teams finished with 10 first downs and 11 penalties. Neither eclipsed four yards per play. In the end, the Broncos got a 10-7 win, but it was far from an impressive one.
Jaguars, Giants collapse late
The Jacksonville Jaguars have been the anti-Jaguars so far this season. In their first year with Liam Coen as head coach, the Jags have pulled out a number of close wins in games that their fans have gotten used to them losing over the years.
That wasn't the case on Sunday. When Jacksonville took a 29-10 second-half lead against the Davis Mills-led Texans, surely they were destined to get to 6-3 with a win.
Mills had other ideas. 26 straight points later, the Texans had stolen a victory in front of their home crowd and closed the gap on the Jags in the AFC Wild Card race.
At the same time, the New York Giants went into Soldier Field and controlled the Chicago Bears all day long. Well, almost all day. Trailing 20-10 in the fourth quarter, Caleb Williams put on his Superman cape and led the Bears on two touchdown drives to get a 24-20 win in a result that eventually cost Brian Daboll his job.
In the past, the Giants and the Jags have resided in similar parts of the standings. That isn't the case this year for a 5-4 Jacksonville team and a 2-8 Giants squad that is now without a head coach, but for one Sunday it was just like the good old days.
Bills get caught in the ultimate letdown spot
The Buffalo Bills have dealt with some injuries and some inconsistent play this season, but they seemed to put it all behind them in Week 9 against the Kansas City Chiefs. Buffalo protected its home field and got a very impressive 28-21 win over the defending AFC Champions.
Unfortunately for Buffalo, it was not able to keep that momentum going in Week 10 against a Dolphins team that it has traditionally dominated in the Josh Allen era. The Dolphins jumped out to a 16-0 lead on Sunday in Miami and never looked back, running away with a 30-13 win in one of the more stunning results of the season so far.
Dating back to 2018, the Bills had won 14 of their last 15 games against the Dolphins, but that streak came to a screeching halt on Sunday.
This result also has massive implications for the Bills in the AFC East race, especially after the New England Patriots beat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday to get to 8-2. The Pats are now 1.5 games ahead of the Bills with a head-to-head win in the bag already, so Drake Maye and company are sitting pretty at the top of the division at the moment.
Of course, the Bills still have a chance to play the Patriots another time, and there is plenty of season left to go. However, this result is a troubling one not only for that race but for Buffalo's long-term Super Bowl goals.
Panthers flop against Saints
The Panthers have been hard to figure out all season long, but it looked like Dave Canales and company were ready to contend for a playoff spot after grinding out a win against the Packers at Lambeau Field in Week 9.
The good vibes wore off very quickly in Week 10 as the Panthers were absolutely hapless on offense in a 17-7 home loss to the New Orleans Saints, who are one of the bottom feeders of the league in 2025.
Games like this make you wonder if Bryce Young will be the starter in Carolina next season. The offense as a whole was poor, but it was clear that the former No. 1 overall pick was unable to elevate the offense when the usually-reliable running game disappeared.
Young will still start for the rest of this season, but the Panthers are now sitting at 5-5 on the season and are on the outside looking in with regard to the NFC playoff picture. If this is how the offense is going to continue to look, it's going to be very difficult for Carolina to make that push.
Steelers offense crumbles in prime time
The Steelers essentially got spotted a multi-game lead in the AFC South at the start of the season as the Ravens floundered and Joe Burrow went down with an injury, and by the end of Week 10 that lead is nearly gone already.
Pittsburgh's advantage over the Ravens has been trimmed down to just one game after the Steelers no-showed in a 25-10 loss to the Chargers on Sunday Night Football.
The Pittsburgh defense held up against a depleted LA offensive line, but Aaron Rodgers had his worst game of the season and the Steelers' offense as a whole was lifeless as Pittsburgh fell to 5-4.
Earlier in the day, Lamar Jackson is getting healthier by the day and the Ravens got back to 4-5 on the year with two games against Pittsburgh still on the schedule. While the Steelers are still clinging to the lead for now, the two teams are going in opposite directions as the second half of the season heats up.
