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Home / frontsports / The Wolf Sports Newsletter: November 14, 2023

The Wolf Sports Newsletter: November 14, 2023

By Wolf Sports Staff

November 14, 2023


Six game-winning field goals as time expired highlighted Week 10 of the 2023 NFL season.

 

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Week 10 NFL highlights

 

❓ The Patriots lost to the Colts in Germany, 10-6, in a game where Mac Jones threw a costly late interception on what probably should’ve been a go-ahead touchdown to tight end Mike Gesicki; Jones was promptly benched for a potential game-winning drive. Bailey Zappe entered the game for New England and was also intercepted trying to push the ball down the field. The loss pushed the Pats to a totally stunning 2-8 this year, and—despite the contract extension during the offseason—it’s feeling like a real question whether Bill Belichick will be back in 2024, with reporting from NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport seeming to turn from where it was a few weeks ago.

 

 

The Broncos upset the Bills in Buffalo, 24-22, on a last-second field goal by Will Lutz. The Bills—now 5-5 with a challenging schedule coming up—played a very sloppy game with a ton of mistakes and turnovers, capped by having 12 men on the field for a missed field goal by Lutz at the end of the game, giving the Broncos another shot to get the win. Denver has now beaten Kansas City and Buffalo the past two games behind a defense that’s been excellent, and they are squarely in the AFC playoff picture at 4-5.

 

The Lions won a track meet with the Chargers, 41-38, behind another fantastic all-around performance by Ben Johnson’s offense. Jared Goff threw for 333 yards and two touchdowns while running backs David Montgomery (one touchdown) and Jahmyr Gibbs (two touchdowns) and wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown (one touchdown) all went over 100 total yards and scored. Also, Jameson Williams, who had a touchdown called back earlier in the game, threw a great block to spring Montgomery for a 75-yard touchdown and is contributing in ways the stat sheet might not reflect.

 

 

‍♂️ The Joshua Dobbs tour continues, with the dual threat quarterback continuing to do crazy things (268 passing yards, one touchdown, 44 rushing yards, one touchdown) in his first start for the Vikings, a 27-19 win over the Saints. Despite dealing with huge injuries, Minnesota has won five consecutive games and is now 6-4—with Justin Jefferson’s return from a hamstring injury around the corner. For New Orleans, quarterback Derek Carr left the game with a concussion, and Marshon Lattimore (ankle) and Michael Thomas (knee) were also injured, but they’re now on the bye week at 5-5.

 

 

The 49ers returned from their bye week to demolish the Jaguars in Jacksonville, 34-3. Brock Purdy got away with a risky early throw—ending in a touchdown for Brandon Aiyuk—that Kyle Shanahan was not happy about, and everything went the Niners’ way on both sides of the ball. In their first game with Chase Young, the San Francisco defense had five sacks and four takeaways. The only thing that didn’t work out for the 49ers was that Christian McCaffrey’s touchdown streak ended at 17 games, tied for the NFL record—despite their efforts to get him into the end zone toward the end of the blowout victory.

 

 

Texans rookie quarterback C.J. Stroud continued his hot streak, leading Houston to a 30-27 upset win at Cincinnati. While Stroud threw a bad interception late, he bounced back—and the Texans defense was able to pick Joe Burrow off twice. DeMeco Ryans’ club moves to 5-4 and has been very impressive in Year 1. Stroud leads the NFL in passing yards per game and is getting serious MVP hype.

 

 

Sparked by a Greg Newsome II pick-six while down in the fourth quarter, the Browns pulled off an improbable comeback to beat the Ravens on a last-second field goal by Dustin Hopkins. Baltimore has trailed just 28:46 through ten games this season, yet they are only 7-3. The Ravens host the Bengals in a great Thursday Night Football matchup to begin Week 11.

 

 

Other Week 10 games:

 

  • Bears 16, Panthers 13: Chicago won a defensive battle to help their own chances of getting the No. 1 pick in the 2024 NFL Draft. Carolina is the lone one-win team remaining, and their offense and team do not seem to have an identity.
  • Steelers 23, Packers 19: Jordan Love was intercepted on another effort to push the ball down the field toward the end of the game, with the Pittsburgh defense sealing the win again on a turnover to quietly move to 6-3. Love has thrown five interceptions while targeting Christian Watson this year.
  • Buccaneers 20, Titans 6: Todd Bowles’ defense had a major bounce-back effort facing another rookie quarterback (Will Levis), and Rachaad White (one touchdown, three the past two weeks; 106.3 total yards per game the past four games) is helping steady the Tampa Bay offense.
  • Cardinals 25, Falcons 23: Kyler Murray looked very good and led a game-winning drive for the Cardinals in his season debut. The Falcons have a quarterback situation to monitor again after Taylor Heinicke left the loss with a hamstring injury and Desmond Ridder ran for a touchdown.
  • Cowboys 49, Giants 17: The Giants could not stop the Cowboys at all, and CeeDee Lamb—who said after the game that he’s the top receiver in the league—became the first player in NFL history to have three consecutive games with 10+ receptions and 150+ receiving yards. Dak Prescott has also been phenomenal, with 11 touchdowns compared to two interceptions the past three games.
  • Seahawks 29, Commanders 26: Geno Smith threw for 217 yards and two touchdowns in the second half of a back-and-forth game, hitting DK Metcalf to get his team in position for a game-winning field goal by Jason Myers.
  • Raiders 16, Jets 12: Davante Adams (six receptions, 86 yards) got going to help complement Josh Jacobs (27 carries, 116 yards) on the ground, and linebacker Robert Spillane had a key interception of Zach Wilson (who otherwise played well) late in the fourth quarter to help Vegas start 2-0 under Antonio Pierce.

 

Top fantasy performers in Week 10

 

  • Cowboys QB Dak Prescott: 37.86 points
  • Chargers WR Keenan Allen: 35.0 points
  • Cowboys WR CeeDee Lamb: 34.0 points
  • Chargers QB Justin Herbert: 28.42 points
  • Cowboys WR Brandin Cooks: 27.8 points

 

(point totals are for half PPR scoring)

 

More NFL news

 

The Rams signed former No. 2 overall pick Carson Wentz (the Rams took Jared Goff right before Wentz in that 2016 draft) to backup Matthew Stafford, who is ready to return following the bye after missing just one game with his thumb injury.

 

Star rookie running back De’Von Achane (knee) is expected back for Week 11 after missing the minimum four games while on injured reserve.

 

Sticking with Miami, their season of Hard Knocks will premiere on Tuesday, November 21—and it’ll air as long as they remain alive for a Super Bowl.

 

 

Other Sports Updates

 

Former Houston football players D.J. Hayden (a first-round pick in the 2013 NFL Draft), Zachary McMillian, and Ralph Oragwu were among six killed in a car accident.

 

 

 

❌ The Big Ten suspended Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh for the final three regular season games (including last week’s win over Penn State) due to sign-stealing scandal. Harbaugh is set to miss “The Game” against Ohio State the Saturday after Thanksgiving.

 

College football highlights:

 

  • New Heisman Trophy favorite Bo Nix threw for a season-high 412 yards and four touchdowns as No. 6 Oregon beat USC, 36-27.
  • With All-American tight end Brock Bowers (ankle) back in the lineup, then-No. 2 Georgia continued its dominance in a 52-17 win versus then-No. 9 Ole Miss.
  • No. 3 Michigan didn’t throw a pass (one attempt was negated due to a penalty) in their 24-15 victory against then-No. 10 Penn State.
  • Michael Penix Jr. totaled three touchdowns in No. 5 Washington’s home win over then-No. 18 Utah.
  • Following up his four rushing touchdowns the previous week, Jalen Milroe totaled six touchdowns (three passing, three rushing) as No. 8 Alabama coasted versus Kentucky.
  • Then-No. 14 Missouri blew out then-No. 13 Tennessee in a big SEC battle.
  • UCF stunned then-No. 15 Oklahoma State, 45-3.
  • LSU quarterback Jayden Daniels became the second SEC quarterback (Johnny Manziel) to eclipse 200+ passing and 200+ rushing yards in a game, dominating at home versus Florida.

 

 

Texas A&M fired head coach Jimbo Fisher after five-plus seasons (45-25), and they owe him a record $76 million buyout.

 

San Diego State head coach Brady Hoke is retiring after the season. Hoke also coached Michigan from 2011-2014.

 

Kansas basketball coach Bill Self signed a lifetime contract with the school making him the highest-paid college basketball coach in the nation.

 

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