In the Box: NFL Week 10

The bye weeks are over. Every team has played nine games and has seven left. Two months till the playoffs.

Time to take stock:

Current AFC playoff picture:

1. New England (9-0, AFC East)
2. Pittsburgh (7-2, AFC North; wins tie-breaker due to better conference record than Colts)
3. Indianapolis (7-2; AFC South)
4. San Diego (5-4; AFC West)
5. Jacksonville (6-3; wins tie-breaker due to better conference record than Titans)
6. Tennessee (6-3)
7. Buffalo (5-4; wins tie-breaker due to better conference record than Browns)
8. Cleveland (5-4)
9. Denver (4-5; wins tie-breaker due to better conference record than Chiefs, Ravens, and Texans)
10. Kansas City (4-5; wins tie-breaker due to better conference record than Ravens and Texans)

Current NFC playoff picture:

1. Dallas (8-1; NFC East)
2. Green Bay (8-1; NFC North)
3. Tampa Bay (5-4; NFC South)
4. Seattle (5-4; NFC West)
5. Detroit (6-3; wins tie-breaker due to better strength of victory than Giants)
6. NY Giants (6-3)
7. Washington (5-4)
8. Carolina (4-5; wins tie-breaker due to better conference record than Saints, Bears, Cardinals, and Eagles)
9. New Orleans (4-5; wins tie-breaker due to better conference record than Bears, Cardinals, and Eagles)
10. Arizona (4-5; wins tie-breaker due to better conference record than Bears and Eagles)

Current top 5 picks in the draft:

1. Miami (9-0)
2-3. Coin flip between St. Louis and NY Jets (both 1-8 with an identical strength of schedule)
4. San Francisco (2-7; wins tie-breaker due to better strength of schedule; Pick owned by New England)
5. Oakland (2-7)

Tie-Breaker Procedures

Check back weekly for updates. With Lions/Giants, Redskins/Cowboys, Browns/Ravens, Chargers/Jaguars, and Titans/Broncos on tap in Week 11, this is drama in motion.

And now the week that was:

San Diego 23, Indianapolis 21: A great game, but not because either team played well. If you missed it:

Darren Sproles runs the opening kickoff back 89 yards for a Chargers touchdown. 7-0.

Peyton Manning pick.

Chargers punt.

Peyton Manning pick.

Chargers field goal. 10-0.

Colts punt. Sproles runs it back 45 yards for a Chargers touchdown. Point-after attempt fails. 16-0.

Peyton Manning pick.

Philip Rivers pick.

Peyton Manning pick.

LaDainian Tomlinson touchdown. 23-0.

Peyton Manning to Reggie Wayne touchdown. 23-7.

Chargers punt.

Adam Vinatieri 42-yard FG attempt wide left. Still 23-7.

Halftime.

Second half.

Peyton Manning pick.

Chargers punt.

Peyton Manning to Kenton Keith touchdown. Two-point attempt good. 23-15.

Philip Rivers fumbles. Recovered by Colts for a touchdown. Two-point attempt no good. 23-21.

Chargers punt.

Colts punt.

Philip Rivers pick.

Adam Vinatieri 29-yard field goal attempt for the lead and less than two minutes left ... no good. Still 23-21.

Chargers punt.

Peyton Manning pick.

Handshakes.

Fantasy Impact: You might have been tempted to sit the Chargers defense against the Colts (or Ryan Grant against the Vikings in another example). It's a tough lesson of fantasy: don't over-think the matchups. Sometimes you've got to just throw your best out there and remember why you drafted/picked them up in the first place. (I'm terrible at this.)

Also, Reggie Wayne is the man.

St. Louis 37, New Orleans 29: This game cost me my survivor league, so allow me a moment of vindictiveness:

The Saints could have drafted LB Paul Posluszny (Buffalo), CB Eric Wright (Cleveland) or S Eric Weddle (San Diego) last April. Instead, they took Robert Meachem, who has yet to do anything but be a huge disappointment. Of the seven picks last year, none of them are contributors. Look at the list of Saints' draft picks over the past decade. The only impact players on defense play on a line that, for the most part, got stoned by a patchwork (putting it nicely) Rams o-line. (The four sacks pale in comparison to the number of times Marc Bulger stood in the pocket just waiting for Torry Holt and Isaac Bruce to run open.)

The Rams put up over 400 yards. They converted 8-of-13 third down attempts. They held the ball for almost 40 minutes. It was like Mike Martz skipped out on the Lions to come to St. Louis and call a game for old time's sake. It was ridiculous. Redonkulous even.

Anyway, congrats to the Rams and their fans. A dozen other teams won on Sunday, but none of them enjoyed it as much as these guys.

Fantasy Impact: The only good thing from the Saints on Sunday was the way-too-little-too-late TD passes from Drew Brees. That took the sting off a bit.

Also, Reggie Bush stinks.

Arizona 31, Detroit 21: The Lions had eight rushing attempts for 18 yards. Wait, sorry. It's negative 18 yards. And five turnovers. And four sacks allowed. And really bad special teams.

I guess Martz was with the Lions after all.

Fantasy Impact: Arizona tight end Leonard Pope finally put himself together an NFL game with 5 catches for 52 yards and 2 touchdowns. And now thousands of fantasy football owners will rush to the waiver wire to pick him up. Considering their final seven are @Cincinnati, San Francisco, Cleveland, @Seattle, @New Orleans, Atlanta, and St. Louis, that might actually not be a bad idea.

Green Bay 34, Minnesota 0: The knock on the Packers until now has been the absence of a running game. Knock no more: Green Bay rookie RB Ryan Grant ran for 119 yards on 25 carries on what had been one of the best defenses against the rush in the NFL.

Their game against Dallas in Week 13 could be for home-field advantage in a likely re-match in the NFC Championship Game.

Also, if I'm in the Minnesota front office, I have a team of scouts following Boston College QB Matt Ryan around 24-7. He'd be perfect for this team, and there's a good chance he'll be on the board.

(No. Tarvaris Jackson is not the future.)

Fantasy Impact: Vikings rookie Adrian Peterson is out next week with a torn knee ligament (apparently the good kind, so he shouldn't be out for the year). That means Chester Taylor's long wait to get back in the spotlight is finally over. Let's see what he does with the opportunity.

Jacksonville 28, Tennessee 13: Two points:

1. Vince Young didn't play terribly, but his third quarter interception that led to a Jacksonville TD to make it 21-3 was an absolute killer.

2. With David Garrard back, Jacksonville should be able to hang with anybody (except the Patriots, who have owned them in the Bill Belichick era). It'll be interesting to see how they matchup at Indianapolis (Week 13) and at Pittsburgh (Week 15). Their home game against the Chargers this Sunday could be critical in a tie-breaker situation.

Fantasy Impact: Predicting the Tennessee offense is like predicting which presidential candidate is going to do something dumb next (like plant questions at a Town Hall, perhaps).

Seattle 24, San Francisco 0: I guess you have to give Mike Nolan a mulligan on last night, but that was some weird decision making. He just gave away six points by going for the gusto on fourth downs in Seattle territory. Instead of 17-6, it was 17-0, and you could tell the defense just started losing heart toward the end. The desperation of the tactics cost him severely in a game that, if the 49ers had won, would have left them just one game out of the division lead.

Fantasy Impact: D.J. Hackett is back for the Seahawks (8 receptions for 101 yards and a TD), which gives their offense a whole new dimension. Once Deion Branch comes back, Matt Hasselbeck will have as formidable a 1-2-3 receiver threat as anybody in the NFC.

Philadelphia 33, Washington 25: Talk about your bad decisions. I've been complaining about Joe Gibbs' fourth-quarter strategy all season, so I'll just quote Don Banks of CNNSI (the best football guy on that staff, in my humble opinion):

“The Redskins' play-calling has been mind-boggling at times all season, but they took things to a whole new frustration level with about five minutes remaining in their loss to Philly. Washington had a two-point lead with a first down at the Eagles 7 with 6:39 remaining. A touchdown probably puts the nail in the coffin for Philadelphia, but the Redskins end up running five plays on the rest of the drive, and all five were handoffs to Clinton Portis.”

You know who would be perfect to replace Gibbs? San Francisco defensive coordinator Mike Singletary.

Fantasy Impact: Jason Campbell put together a very fine day (23-of-34 for 215 yards and 3 TD), as did Clinton Portis (30 rushes for 137 yards), but their schedule is about to become a monster: @Dallas, @Tampa Bay, Buffalo, Chicago, @NY Giants, @Minnesota, Dallas. With most fantasy trade deadlines just days away, now might be time to sell high.

Pittsburgh 31, Cleveland 28: Nobody likes a moral victory, but the fact the Browns put 28 on the Steelers in Pittsburgh has to give them confidence going into the stretch run (@Baltimore, Houston, @Arizona, @NY Jets, Buffalo, @Cincinnati, San Francisco).

Meanwhile, the Steelers shouldn't have much problem winning their next three (@NY Jets, Miami, Cincinnati), which would put them at 10-2 going into New England in Week 14.

Fantasy Impact: Jamal Lewis rushing for under three yards per carry doesn't look so good when he doesn't have four touchdowns to go with it.

Dallas 31, NY Giants 20: To everything that's been written on this game, just one additional note: Julius Jones ran harder than Marion Barber.

Fantasy Impact: With the exception of Barber, this was one of those “they are who we thought they were” games. In other words, the stars shined in proportion to their reputations:

Dallas
Tony Romo: 20-of-28 for 247 yards, 4 TD, and 1 INT
Terrell Owens: 6 catches for 125 yards and 2 TD
Patrick Crayton: 5 catches for 66 yards and a TD

New York
Jeremy Shockey: 12 catches for 129 yards and a TD (finally a game that matches his hype)
Brandon Jacobs: 23 rushes for 95 yards
Eli Manning: 23-of-34 for 236 yards, 1 TD, and 2 INT

Denver 27, Kansas City 11: If it wasn't for Adrian Peterson, Chiefs WR Dwayne Bowe would be the rookie story of the year (9 catches for 105 yards in this one). He's by far the best receiver on the team (not counting Tony Gonzalez), and the switch at QB from Damon Huard to strong-armed Brodie Croyle should give Bowe additional opportunities to stretch the field.

Fantasy Impact: For everybody wishing Travis Henry would just go away, bad news: the Broncos report Henry passed hair and lie detector tests, and the team will now back his fight against a year-long suspension by the NFL. Selvin Young is more than capable of handling the lead job, but with Henry still in the mix, fantasy owners will continue to have to guess every week.

Buffalo 13, Miami 10: Two notes:

1. I'm afraid this is where the Bills' magical ride hits a speed bump. They're 5-4 now, but facing a likely three-game losing streak with New England next Sunday night at home, followed by trips to Jacksonville and Washington.

2. What the hell are the Dolphins waiting for? Put in John Beck and see what happens.

Fantasy Impact: It might have been easy to miss, but Jesse Chatman had a great game (27 rushes for 124 yards, 5 catches for 25 more). Arkansas RB Darren McFadden would be an absolute monster in Cam Cameron's offense.

Cincinnati 21, Baltimore 7: If Ravens fans think it's bad now, check out the rest of the schedule: Cleveland, @San Diego, New England, Indianapolis, @Miami, @Seattle, Pittsburgh. Six of the seven are currently in playoff position, including the three best teams in the NFL. 5-11, here we come. (This is another team who should be making sure Matt Ryan isn't into dog fighting or illegal human trafficking.)

Fantasy Impact: Shayne Graham for MVP!

Chicago 17, Oakland 6: Funny how nobody cares about the Rex Grossman/Brian Griese debate now that the Bears stink. No matter who is under center, Chicago is finishing somewhere between 8-8 and 4-12. Either way, the Super Bowl Loser Curse is alive and well.

Also, I don't get Lane Kiffin. Why isn't he running Dominic Rhodes more? Why isn't he playing JaMarcus Russell? He's got himself a C-, trending toward a D, on his performance in year one.

Fantasy Impact: Bah.

Atlanta 20, Carolina 13: Garbage.

Fantasy Impact: None.

Seth Doria is a writer based out of St. Louis. For the only daily column that mixes sports, politics, and entertainment news in one, visit The Left Calf.