Phil Hoffman, Baltimore Ravens Team Website
Week 10 of the NFL brought us some good games. 11 of the 13 game splayed were decided by one possession (touchdown and two point conversion) or less. Good football and parity is what the league wants. Here's what I observed this week:
The Good
-Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson is the clear cut league MVP after his performance this past weekend against the Bengals.He was 15/17 for 223 yards and three touchdowns passing to go with his seven carries for 65 yards and a highlight reel-worthy touchdown rushing. The spin move he made on that touchdown run looked like a Madden glitch.
-Including Monday night's OT comeback, Seattle's Russell Wilson is tied for the most game wining drives since entering the league in 2012 with 28 (the Lions' Matthew Stafford also has 28). Here's yet another reason why Wilson is an MVP candidate this season. Look around him and notice he's not working with a whole lot of top notch talent.
-Cardinals wide receiver Christina Kirk had himself a game in their 30-27 loss to the Bucs. Kirk ended his day with six catches for 138 yards and three touchdowns, including a 69 yards touchdown catch that tied the game at 20 in the 3rd quarter. Kirk was a top recruit coming out of high school and did some good things at Texas A&M, but this was a perhaps his breakout performance in the NFL for the former 2nd round pick. Rookie quarterback Kyler Murray will need a him moving forward if the duo hopes to succeed.
The Bad
-Lions' wide receiver Kenny Golladay caught a pass near the end of their 20-13 loss to the Bears and tried to hurry things along by spotting the ball for the refs. Nothing uncommon about what he did...except he moved the ball up a few yards and the refs did nothing about it! Just another reason why officiating has been so terrible as of late.
-Titans left tackle Taylor Lewan is having a bad year. Even after missing four games due to suspension, he's still leading the team in penalties. He singlehandedly killed their first possession of the second half with back to back penalties forcing them to punt. To his credit, he totally owned it when the media came in the locker room after the game.
-Panthers' running back Christian McCaffrey is an amazing talent at the running back position. However, he isn't a bruiser of a runner. He's more of a finese guy. So asking him to bang it inside from the 2-yard line with no timeouts left and the game on the line is not ideal. How about coming up with a more creative way to get him the ball in space? They went on to lose to the Packers 24-16. This and the failed two-point conversion on their previous touchdown were both baffling calls.
The Ugly
-The Rams will be without offensive lineman Rob Haverstein for a week and Brian Allen for the remainder of the season with injuries. Things are getting worse by the minute for the Rams who came into this season off a Super bowl appearance.
-The Chiefs lost their leading sacker Emmanuel Ogbah for the season with a torn pectoral muscle. Losing to the Titans was one thing, but losing a talented pass rusher for the rest of the season as bad as their defense has been is icing on a poop cake.
-Former #2 overall pick Charles Rogers passed away at the age of 38 due to liver failure. Rogers' life was a tragic tale of a talented guy who wasn't ready for what his talent gave him in the way of fame and fortune. He was selected one pick ahead of Texans' all time great Andre Johnson as the two were said to be the best two receivers in the 2003 draft.
Week 10 of NFL action was capped off by a battle in the NFC West between the 49ers and the Seahawks on Monday Night Football. With only two games decided by more than one possession, we were trewated to another good weekend of football. The '72 Dolphins popped their champagne somewhere after the 49ers lost. Division races became a tad more clear. Some became more crowded. But overall, it was another good week of football. Weeks like this one are why people are hooked on football and can't get enough.
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The Houston Astros will look to even their season series against the Kansas City Royals on Tuesday night as they return to Daikin Park for what promises to be a tightly contested matchup. First pitch is scheduled for 8:10 p.m. ET, with two left-handers taking the mound—Framber Valdez for Houston and Kris Bubic for Kansas City.
The Royals come into the game riding a three-game road winning streak and holding a 3-1 edge in the season series. Winners of eight of their last ten games, Kansas City has been one of the hottest teams in baseball lately, thanks in large part to their league-best 3.01 ERA. Bubic has been a key part of that success, boasting a 4-2 record and an impressive 1.69 ERA over 47 strikeouts this season.
Meanwhile, the Astros are trying to find some consistency. At 20-20 overall, Houston has been streaky to start the year, but they’ve been strong at home with a 13-9 record. When they out-hit their opponents, they’re a formidable 16-8, and they’ll be hoping the bats show up again Tuesday.
Framber Valdez will get the ball for the Astros. While his 2-4 record doesn’t reflect it, he’s been steady with a 3.94 ERA and 44 strikeouts. He’ll face a Kansas City lineup that’s been clicking—especially Maikel Garcia, who’s hitting .295 with 10 doubles and 17 RBIs on the year, and Vinnie Pasquantino, who’s batting .349 over his last ten games.
Houston’s lineup has some heat of its own. Jeremy Peña leads the team with five home runs, and Yainer Díaz has been scorching over the past ten games, going 16-for-43 with two homers and nine RBIs.
The Royals have outscored opponents by 16 runs over their last ten games, while the Astros have managed a +6 differential in that span despite going 4-6. With two talented pitchers on the mound and both offenses showing signs of life, Tuesday’s game could come down to which team capitalizes on the small moments.
The Astros are slight favorites according to BetMGM (-141), but with the way Kansas City has been playing, this one feels like it could go either way.
*ChatGPT assisted.
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