FRIDAY AFTERNOON QUARTERBACK: NFL WEEK 10

By Adam Greene

Well, we had a nice run of entertaining Thursday Night Football Games while it lasted because, for the second week in a row, Thor’s day delivered another dud, this one being one of the worst games of the season as the Denver Broncos defeated the Las Vegas Raiders 10-7. Yep. That was it. 

This was not the first atrocity the Broncos have inflicted upon a national audience this season. A little over a month ago it was worldwide viewers got to enjoy a London “win” over the hapless New York Jets, 13-11. Last week it was an 18-15 victory over the Houston Texans. There’s winning ugly, but the Broncos are winning so hideous they just showed up under my “most compatible” on Hinge. 

Bo Nix was 16 of 28 for 150 yards, one TD and two picks. Geno Smith was 16 of 16 for 143 yards, no touchdowns and one interception. And that was your game. We all got the result we expected, a Denver win, but were punished for having watched it. 

Let’s see if Sunday can’t make up for this pathetic display of American football sport. 

Byes: Cincinnati Bengals, Dallas Cowboys, Tennessee Titans, Kansas City Chiefs

ATLANTA FALCONS AT INDIANAPOLIS COLTS (-6.5, O/U: 43)

The sky isn’t falling Colts fans. What you witnessed last week was the patented annual Mike Tomlin Steelers Stupid Ridiculous Win ™. It’s the thing that keeps Tomlin off any hot seat lists and the Steelers consistent winners. It was your turn to take the bad medicine, but the good news is, you get to take it out on a middling Falcons team Sunday. Like everyone else, I’m excited to see what Sauce Gardner does on a winning defense. Probably not as much as he is, but still. Colts 41, Falcons 21

CLEVELAND BROWNS AT NEW YORK JETS (+2.5, O/U: 37.5)

Here it is, your Dumpster Bowl of the season. In this corner, the garbage Cleveland Browns. In the other? The trash New York Jets. The winner here really loses, since it’ll screw up their draft position and, unfortunately for the Browns, they’re just better. And New York spent last week shedding their roster to ensure that at least their own pick will be VERY HIGH. Browns 17, Jets 13

NEW ORLEANS SAINTS AT CAROLINA PANTHERS (-5.5, O/U: 39.5)

Back in August, I would have guessed the Panthers would be favored in this game of two teams vying for a Top 5 pick. Now, the Panthers are favored as a potential playoff team? Dave Canales isn’t in any real Coach of the Year conversations that I can see, but that is a shame. This a tremendous job for Canales, working with one of the worst teams, and one of the worst owners, David Tepper, in the sport. New Orleans continues to be a dirty diaper fire, but I feel like that’s what they were going for all offseason. Panthers 31, Saints 9

BUFFALO BILLS AT MIAMI DOLPHINS (+9.5, O/U: 50)

As I predicted to anyone who would listen a week ago, Buffalo always brings it against Kansas City in the regular season. Can they keep that mojo heading into Miami to play the overturned port-a-john that is the Dolphins? Mike McDaniel remains employed, likely for at least the regular season. The results of this one probably won’t affect his job prospects before Groundhog Day, but it won’t help. Bills 27, Dolphins 19

JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS AT HOUSTON TEXANS (+1.5, O/U: 37.5)

Nothing fixes what ails ya like a game against the Las Vegas Raiders and the Jaguars made the most of their medicinal trip to Sin City. Houston will be without CJ Stroud this week as he remains in concussion protocol. It’s a shame that the Texans looked prime to make a run before Stroud took a shoulder pad to the T-zone last week. Davis Mills is one of the league’s better backups, but all that will do is keep Houston from getting blown out. Jaguars 24, Texans 16

BALTIMORE RAVENS AT MINNESOTA VIKINGS (+4, O/U: 49)

The fact that JJ McCarthy looked like an NFL quarterback at all was a shock to me last week. He can scream and pump his arms all he wants, but I can promise you that 14 completions for 143 yards, two touchdowns and a pick ain’t gonna do it against Lamar Jackson, an actual ELITE NFL QB, and the Ravens. Ravens 34, Vikings 20

NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS AT TAMPA BAY BUCCANEERS (-2.5, O/U: 48)

Hold up. Stop the presses. A winning team has accidentally shown up on the Pats’ schedule. Who’s responsible for this? Their deal with the dark one specifically mandated only two a year when they face the Bills. Someone is getting a nasty letter. Anyway, I think I speak for most of Western Civilization when I say I really hope Baker Mayfield has some kind of old grudge against New England. Dig deep, Bake. We need this. Buccaneers 27, Patriots 20

NEW YORK GIANTS AT CHICAGO BEARS (-4.5, O/U: 46.5)

I wanted to believe in the Bears as much as the next kid who came of age in the 80s during the Super Bowl Shuffle, but their schedule looked pretty rough to me back in August. That has taken a solid and positive turn in their direction and it’s helped by whatever monkey’s paw punishment some Giants fan put on the team in order to beat the Patriots in two Super Bowls in 2008 and 2012. Bears 27, Giants 17

ARIZONA CARDINALS AT SEATTLE SEAHAWKS (-6.5, O/U: 45)

I heard an interesting trade proposal for the Cardinals and Dolphins this offseason. Tua Tagovailoa for Kyler Murray straight up. Both guys are gone this offseason, and neither team is going to find willing trade options with those contracts EXCEPT each other. The cap hits equal out and maybe both franchises find some magic with the new guy. If they don’t, you cut bait the next offseason. Next year is a mulligan for both these squads, regardless. Why not give it a go? As for the Seahawks, let’s revisit the Sam Darnold signing after trading Geno Smith. The reason they could make that move? Because Tom Brady told Vegas to not go after Darnold, a guy who, right now, is playing as good or better than every other QB in football. Tom Brady said, “no. That guy isn’t for me. Go get Geno.” I think we were a tad too worried about Brady in these NFL on Fox production meetings.

Jacoby Brissett is starting for Arizona and that makes this one interesting. Seattle used to be the benchmark for me for mediocre teams. Losing to Seattle said more bad things about your squad than it did good things about the Seahawks. But it’s different now. This is best their offense has been, maybe ever, and overall, they look as good as any team they took to the Super Bowl. Seahawks 38, Cardinals 20

DETROIT LIONS AT WASHINGTON COMMANDERS (+8, O/U: 49)

Not that it’ll matter coming off a rough loss to the Vikings, but this “revenge” match against the Commanders won’t mean much with Jayden Daniels getting his arm torn off in a garbage-time loss to the Seahawks last week. The bloom is off the rose. Detroit will probably be glad to toss a beat down regardless and Dan Campbell can stand at the podium after the game with the smug look of a man pulling a perfectly cooked brisket from the smoker. Lions 34, Commanders 16

LOS ANGELES RAMS AT SAN FRANCISCO 49ERS (+4.5, O/U: 49.5)

Let’s not pay any attention to the spread here or the talent differences between these two teams, Know this. I am a Rams fan and have been since I was four years old. I’m 51 right now. I don’t live in Los Angeles and never have, nor do I live anywhere near St. Louis, the Rams’ home from 1995-2015. I live in East Tennessee and back then we did not have an NFL team and the closest franchise to us, the Atlanta Falcons, were never on TV. If you didn’t want to like the Pittsburgh Steelers, Miami Dolphins or Dallas Cowboys, you had to make a serious choice. And my choice was based entirely on how much I liked the Rams’ helmets and uniforms were. They were the coolest. And they still are.

Because of that, I have watched this team play the 49ers in different eras twice a year since 1979. And in this present era, no matter how good the Rams are or how hurt or bad the 49ers are, this has always been a close game and way more often than not, San Francisco has won it. It’s one of the most frustrating facts I deal with as an NFL writer and fan. Sean McVay and Kyle Shanahan both took their present jobs in 2017. Since then, the two teams have faced off 18 times, including once in the NFC Championship. The Niners have won 11 of those games. Now, they lost the most important contest, the aforementioned NFC title game.

These are teams that have represented the NFC in the Super Bowl four times since 2018-19., with the Rams winning one. Earlier this season, the 49ers beat Los Angeles in overtime thanks to a blocked extra point, a missed field goal and a fumble inside the one yard-line. And if you think that kind of stupid loss was odd in this McVay vs Shanahan rivalry, oh boy, are you mistaken. So, I do not buy this spread at all and, in spite of LA being the superior team that should win, I will be watching this one with white knuckles until the final whistle. Ugh. Rams 27, 49ers 26 

PITTSBURGH STEELERS AT LOS ANGELES CHARGERS (-2.5, O/U: 45)

You would think that a big win over the Colts last week could spur something good in Pittsburgh and let me just say, you are adorable. I do think the Steelers should win this game, not because they can get on a roll after a big victory over Indy, but more because the collection of Subway Sandwich artists and Fudrucker’s Grillmasters called into serve as offensive tackles for the Chargers should hold up like so much tissue paper. While LA might be “at home,” this is SoFi stadium and the Chargers are the stepchild in SoCal at best. The crowd will be 90 percent Steelers fans, at least. Still, it’ll be close. Steelers 23, Chargers 20

MONDAY

PHILADELPHIA EAGLES AT GREEN BAY PACKERS (-1, O/U: 45)

A lot of people, rightly so, point to the Rams being the only team to really pose any threat to the Eagles during their Super Bowl run a year ago, but their game against a beaten up Packers squad in the Wild Card round was closer than most remember. Jordan Love was hurt heading into the game and the offense didn’t do much, but the defense, pre Micah Parsons, held Philadelphia to just 22 points at home. If Green Bay is going to be a real contender, they have to win this game. It’s just that simple. Packers 23, Eagles 20

Last Week

Straight up: 9-5

Against the spread: 6-8

Season

Straight up: 87-45-1

Against the spread: 64-69

Survivor Pool Picks: Broncos (Week 1), Ravens (Week 2), Bucs (Week 3), Bills (Week 4), Rams (Week 5) X, Colts (Week 6), Patriots (Week 7), Chiefs (Week 8), Chargers (Weel 9), Lions (Week 10)

Follow Adam Greene on Blue Sky @AdamGreene13, threads @adam.greene and Twitter @TheFirstMan