NFL Football - Week Ten Review

The Carolina Panthers served notice to the rest of the league that they are legitimate contenders in the NFC this season.
The Panthers (6-3) won their fifth consecutive game by beating the host San Francisco 49ers, 10-9 behind solid defense that limited San Francisco (6-3) to just 151 yards in total offense, including just 46 yards passing for the game. In addition, the suffocating Panthers defense sacked 49ers' QB Colin Kaepernick six

Carolina D crushed the 49ers.

times. Carolina running back DeAngelo Williams ran 27 yards for the game's only touchdown.
The win kept Carolina within one game of the first place New Orleans Saints (7-2) in the NFC South as the Saints dismantled the visiting Dallas Cowboys, 49-17 on the Sunday Night Football game.
New Orleans out gained the Cowboys in total yardage by a 625-193 count as QB Drew Brees threw four touchdown passes along with 392 yards. Meanwhile, running back Mark Ingram gained 145 yards on the ground and scored a touchdown and Darren Sproles added two scores as well, one rushing and one receiving. The Saints also set a new NFL record as they had 40 first downs in the game.
Two of the bigger surprises around the NFL on Sunday had to be the St. Louis Rams (4-6) crushing the Indianapolis Colts, 38-8 while the Jacksonville Jaguars (1-8) won their first game of the season by winning a road game against the Tennessee Titans, 29-27 with a safety being the difference in the outcome.
The Titans turned the ball over four times while the Jags built a 20-10 lead heading into the final quarter. The Jags' defense scored all nine points in the final frame with the safety and a touchdown off a fumble recovery. The Titans had to go with backup QB Ryan Fitzpatrick after Jake Locker was knocked out with a foot  injury. Today, it was reported that Locker will be out for the rest of the season.

Tavon Austin was a one-man wrecking crew in Rams big win.

The Rams went into Indy and just lowered the boom on the Colts (6-3) behind Tavon Austin, the Heftyinfo NFL Player of the Week, who scored three touchdowns and accumulated 314 all-purpose yards to lead the way, including a 98-yard punt return for a touchdown. He also hauled in TD passes of 57 and 81 yards and defensive end Chris Long ran back a fumble 45 yards for the game's first score to help set the tone as Colts' QB Andrew Luck turned the football over four times (fumble and three INT) in the loss.




The Denver Broncos (8-1) won a big road game against the San Diego Chargers, 28-20 to set up a HUGE showdown in the AFC West next week against the undefeated Kansas City Chiefs.
Broncos' QB Peyton Manning, despite being injured late in the game (ankle) threw for 330 yards and four TD passes, including three of them to WR Demaryius Thomas (seven catches for 108 yards) while the defense came through late in the game, stopping a late Chargers' threat that made it close after Denver had built up a 28-6 advantage early in the second half.
The Detroit Lions (6-3) knocked off the Chicago Bears on the road, 21-19 as the defense stopped a two-point conversion try with just 40 seconds left to play.
Lions QB Matthew Stafford (three TD passes) hooked up with WR Calvin Johnson twice for touchdowns and RB Reggie Bush rushed for 105 yards to lead the way on offense. Bears' QB Jay Cutler returned ahead of schedule from a groin injury, but left the game in the fourth quarter with an ankle injury after showing gimpiness during the game. Backup QB Josh McCown nearly rallied the team back by hitting WR Brandon Marshall (seven catches for 139 yards) for a touchdown to pull the Bears to within two points.

                                              Elsewhere around the NFL    . . . . . . .

The New York Giants (3-6) won for a third straight time, beating the visiting Oakland Raiders, 24-20 as RB Andre Brown gained 115 yards and scored a touchdown to go with a special team score on a blocked punt  . .  .  Seattle (9-1) rolled past the host Atlanta Falcons, 33-10 as QB Russell Wilson threw two TD passes and RB Marshwan Lynch (145 yards rushing) ran for another score while kicker Steven Hauschka made four field goals . . .   The Arizona Cardinals (5-4) held off the visiting Houston Texans, 27-24 as the defense accounted for a score and QB Carson Palmer had two TD passes. The Texans (2-7) lost for the seventh consecutive time . . .  QB Nick Foles stayed hot with three scoring passes to lead the visiting Philadelphia Eagles (5-5) to a 27-13 win over Green Bay, who were without starting QB Aaron Rodgers (broken collar bone) and then lost backup QB Seneca Wallace to a groin injury early in the game . . .  The Baltimore Ravens (4-5) sucked it up and won in OT, 20-17 as Justin Tucker drilled a 46-yard field goal to win it after the Bengals (6-4) tied the game at the very end of regulation with a 'Hail Mary' TD pass from Andy Dalton to WR A.J. Green, who caught the ball off a deflection in the end zone . . .  Last Thursday night, the Minnesota Vikings rallied back to beat the visiting Washington Redskins, 34-27 as  QB Christian Ponder threw for two scores and RB Adrian Peterson rushed for two more to lead the way. Redskins' QB Robert Griffin III had three TD passes in the loss . . .   The Pittsburgh Steelers (3-6) beat the visiting Buffalo Bills, 23-10 with solid defense (limiting Buffalo to just 227 yards in total offense) and a balanced attack that included 164 passing yards and 136 rushing yards . . .  The Tampa Bay Buccaneers won their first game of the season with a 22-19 home win over the Miami Dolphins (4-5)  on Monday Night Football, with the Bucs defense recording a safety and holding the 'Fins to just two yards rushing for the game.