Sunday's game against the heavily favored Tampa Bay Buccaneers started splendidly for the Washington Football Team. Tom Brady threw two interceptions and the Football Team converted those turnovers into 10 points and an early 13-0 lead.
The good fortune changed in the second quarter. Not on the scoreboard, but on the field. Tampa was facing a 3rd-and-2 at the Washington 11-yard line when Chase Young rushed hard from his right side defensive end position. The reigning NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year engaged with Tampa's left tackle, Young's right knee buckled and he fell to the ground in agony.
In that instant, Young's second season came to an end with a torn ACL.
Terry McLaurin also had an injury scare. He left the game briefly after hurting his collarbone, but was able to return and ended up making one of the biggest plays of the game. McLaurin made a tough catch over the middle on third down to ensure the Buccaneers lost their second straight game.
McLaurin finished the game with six catches for 59 yards in the Washington Football Team's 29-19 victory.
Elliott scores twice
Ezekiel Elliott didn't have the most productive game on the ground in the Dallas Cowboys’ 43-3 win over the Falcons – 41 yards on 14 carries – but the Pro Bowl running back crossed the goal line twice. His touches may have been limited due to an ongoing issue with his knee.
When asked about coming off of last week's loss to the Broncos, Elliott said, “We had to go out there and set the tone. You know we wanted the ball, we wanted to hit them in the mouth first, we wanted to go score first, and that's what we did.”
Sunday marked the 12th time in Elliott's career that he has scored multiple touchdowns in a game. He is now third on Dallas' all-time touchdown list. For the season, Zeke has 663 rushing yards and seven touchdowns for the NFL's top-rated offense.
Other Buckeyes who saw action for the Cowboys in their 40-point win were wide receiver Noah Brown, safety Malik Hooker and long snapper Jake McQuaide. Brown hauled in a key 18-yard reception to start Dallas' fourth drive of the game, which ignited an eight-play drive that was capped by Elliott's second touchdown of the game.
The Cowboys (7–2) travel to Kansas City (6–4) on Sunday in a battle of division leaders.
Decker off the deck
For the first time this season, Taylor Decker found his way on the field. The left tackle for the Detroit Lions made his first start of the season after missing the first nine weeks with a badly broken index finger that required surgery and six pins.
With the return of Decker, the Lions have two Buckeyes on the left side of their offensive line, as Jonah Jackson starts at left guard. The linemen helped pave the way for Detroit to gain 229 rushing yards on 39 carries in their 16-16 tie with the Pittsburgh Steelers.
They found themselves facing another former Buckeye, Cameron Heyward, on Sunday. With just over four minutes to play in the fourth quarter and the Lions facing 3rd-and-12 on their own 11-yard line, Heyward dropped Jared Goff for a nine-yard sack and Detroit was forced to punt from its own 2-yard line.
Heyward was able to notch his second sack of the day in the opening drive of overtime, With the Lions facing 3rd-and-7 from the Pittsburgh 41-yard line, Heyward again dropped Goff for a nine-yard sack. This time Decker was called for holding, but the penalty was declined as Heyward's big play forced Detroit to punt from midfield.
The Lions had a chance to win the game, but Ryan Santoso's 48-yard field goal was short. Nevertheless, the tie was better than any other result the 0–8–1 Lions have achieved this season.
Tommy Time
After sitting on the Cleveland Browns’ inactive list for the first nine games of the season, Tommy Togiai made his regular-season NFL debut and recorded two tackles on Sunday, including a strong run stop on 1st-and-goal.
Unfortunately for the Browns, the Patriots scored on the next play. The scoring continued for New England as Bill Belichick's team destroyed Cleveland, 45-7.
Denzel Ward also collected two tackles in the loss, which dropped the Browns to 5–5 and last place in the AFC North.
Buckeye Broncos
Baron Browning has battled injuries all season. Entering this week, the rookie linebacker was questionable due to a back injury. Browning started but was unable to finish the game after reinjuring his back with 4:40 remaining in the first quarter.
On the positive side, Dre'Mont Jones had a strip sack against Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts early in the second quarter of Sunday’s game. Jones has recorded 2.5 sacks in the Broncos’ last two games.
Jonathon Cooper is also shining for the Broncos. The seventh-round is adding real value for the Mile High City club. He collected five tackles against the Eagles, including stopping Hurts for a one-yard loss in the third quarter.
The solid play of the Buckeye defenders wasn't enough as Philadelphia (4–6) defeated Denver (5–5), 30-13. Following the game, Jones was asked about the loss and his replies were refreshingly honest.
Unfortunately for Jones, some people took his words as a shot against the coaching staff of the Broncos, so Jones took to social media on Monday morning to address his comments.
Although Jones did not against the Eagles, he was arguably Denver's defensive player of the game, so it will be interesting to see if his comments affect his playing time going forward.
Highlight show
Need more Buckeye action from Week 10? The clips below share some of the highs and lows.
PLAYER | POS | TEAM | WEEK 9 STATS | SEASON STATS |
---|---|---|---|---|
ELI APPLE | CB | BENGALS | Bye | 29 tackles, 3 PBU, 2 TFL |
DAMON ARNETTE | CB | RAIDERS | Released | 4 tackles, 1 PBU |
JEROME BAKER | LB | DOLPHINS | 4 tackles, 1 QBH | 55 tackles, 1 sack (10 yards), 1 TFL, 7 QBH, 1 INT, 2 PBU, 1 FF |
VONN BELL | S | BENGALS | Bye | 56 tackles, 4 TFL, 3 PBU, 2 FF, 1 FR |
TUF BORLAND | LB | VIKINGS | Practice Squad | |
JOEY BOSA | DE | CHARGERS | 4 tackles, 1 sack (7 yards), 1 QBH, 1 FF | 28 tackles, 5.5 sacks (39 yards), 3 TFL, 11 QBH, 1 FF |
NICK BOSA | DE | 49ERS | 1 tackle, 1 sack (11 yards), 1 TFL, 2 QBH, 1 PBU | 27 tackles, 7 sacks (67 yards), 11 TFL, 16 QBH, 1 PBU, 1 FF |
NOAH BROWN | WR | COWBOYS | 1 catch, 18 yards | 6 catches, 90 yards |
BARON BROWNING | LB | BRONCOS | 1 tackle, injured back | 16 tackles, 1 TFL, 1 QBH |
PARRIS CAMPBELL | WR | COLTS | IR (foot) | 10 catches, 162 yards, 1 TD |
JONATHON COOPER | LB | BRONCOS | 5 tackles, 1 TFL | 20 tackles, 2 sacks, 3 TFL, 5 QBH |
WYATT DAVIS | OG | VIKINGS | Played | 5 games played |
TAYLOR DECKER | OT | LIONS | Started at LT | 1 start |
J.K. DOBBINS | RB | RAVENS | IR (knee) | |
NATE EBNER | DB | GIANTS | Bye | 2 tackles |
PAT ELFLEIN | OG | PANTHERS | Started at C | 3 starts |
EZEKIEL ELLIOTT | RB | COWBOYS | 14 rushes, 41 yards, 2 TD; 3 catches, 15 yards | 142 rushes, 663 yards, 7 TD; 26 catches, 168 yards |
LUKE FARRELL | TE | JAGUARS | Started at TE | 6 catches, 49 yards |
JUSTIN FIELDS | QB | BEARS | Bye | 111/187 passing, 1,282 yards, 4 TD, 8 INT; 52 rushes, 288 yards, 1 TD |
JORDAN FULLER | S | RAMS | 8 tackles | 73 tackles, 2 TFL, 2 PBU |
DaVON HAMILTON | DT | JAGUARS | 2 tackles, 1 sack (12 yards), 1 TFL, 1 QBH | 21 tackles, 1 sack (12 yards), 1 TFL, 1 QBH, 1 PBU |
JOHNATHAN HANKINS | DT | RAIDERS | 5 tackles, 1 TFL | 23 tackles, 1 TFL, 1 QBH |
MALIK HARRISON | LB | RAVENS | IR (leg) | 19.5 tackles, 1 TFL, 1 QBH |
DWAYNE HASKINS | QB | STEELERS | Active, DNP | |
CAMERON HEYWARD | DT | STEELERS | 5 tackles, 2 sacks (18 yards), 2 TFL, 2 QBH | 47 tackles, 4.5 sacks (34.5 yards), 4 TFL, 8 QBH, 1 INT, 5 PBU, 1 FF, 1 FR |
K.J. HILL | WR | CHARGERS | Practice squad | 3 catches, 30 yards; 3 KOR, 50 yards; 6 PR, 41 yards |
JUSTIN HILLIARD | LB | GIANTS | Bye | 2 games played |
JALYN HOLMES | DE | SAINTS | Inactive | 1 tackle |
MALIK HOOKER | S | COWBOYS | 2 tackles | 13 tackles, 1 TFL, 1 PD |
SAM HUBBARD | DE | BENGALS | Bye | 39 tackles, 5.0 sacks (21.0 yards), 7 TFL, 9 QBH, 3 PBU |
CARLOS HYDE | RB | JAGUARS | 2 rushes, 4 yards, 1 catch, 0 yards | 56 rushes, 211 yards; 10 catches, 60 yards |
JONAH JACKSON | OG | LIONS | Started at LG | 9 starts |
MALCOLM JENKINS | S | SAINTS | 4 tackles, 1 PBU | 48 tackles, 1 TFL, 1 INT, 5 PBU, 1 TD |
CAMERON JOHNSTON | P | TEXANS | Bye | 48 punts, 46.8 avg, 20 inside 20 |
DRE'MONT JONES | DT | BRONCOS | 4 tackles, 1 sack (6 yards), 1 TFL, 1 FF | 18 tackles, 2.5 sacks (14.5 yards), 5 TFL, 5 QBH, 1 PBU, 2 FF |
JAMARCO JONES | OT | SEAHAWKS | Played | 1 start, 7 games played |
MICHAEL JORDAN | OG | PANTHERS | Started at LG | 4 starts, 5 games played |
MARSHON LATTIMORE | CB | SAINTS | 6 tackles | 31 tackles, 1 INT, 9 PBU |
TYQUAN LEWIS | DT | COLTS | IR (knee) | 15 tackles, 2.5 sacks (3.5 yards), 3 TFL, 6 QBH, 1 INT, 2 PBU |
COREY LINSLEY | C | CHARGERS | Started at C | 9 starts |
TERRY McLAURIN | WR | WFT | 6 catches, 59 yards | 49 catches, 632yards, 4 TD |
RAEKWON McMILLAN | LB | PATRIOTS | IR (knee) | |
JAKE McQUAIDE | LS | COWBOYS | Played at LS | 1 tackle |
JOSH MYERS | C | PACKERS | IR (knee) | 5 starts |
ANDREW NORWELL | OL | JAGUARS | Started at LG | 8 starts |
JEFF OKUDAH | CB | LIONS | IR (leg) | 4 tackles, 1 PBU |
BILLY PRICE | C | GIANTS | Bye | 8 starts |
MALCOLM PRIDGEON | OL | STEELERS | Practice squad | |
ISAIAH PRINCE | OT | BENGALS | Bye | 8 games played |
BRADLEY ROBY | CB | SAINTS | 1 tackle, 1 QBH, 1 PBU | 6 tackles, 1 sack (7 yards), 1 TFL, 2 QBH, 1 PBU |
CURTIS SAMUEL | WR | WFT | Inactive | 4 catches, 19 yards |
C.J. SAUNDERS | WR | PANTHERS | Practice squad | |
TREY SERMON | RB | 49ERS | 1 FC, 2 tackles | 21 rushes, 104 yards; 1 FC, 2 tackles |
KENDALL SHEFFIELD | CB | FALCONS | Inactive | 3 games played |
DEVIN SMITH | WR | JAGUARS | Practice squad | 1 target |
MICHAEL THOMAS | WR | SAINTS | PUP (ankle) | |
TOMMY TOGIAI | DT | BROWNS | 2 tackles | 2 tackles |
NICK VANNETT | TE | SAINTS | Inactive | |
BINJIMEN VICTOR | WR | RAVENS | Practice squad | |
SHAUN WADE | CB | PATRIOTS | Inactive | |
DENZEL WARD | CB | BROWNS | 2 tackles | 28 tackles, 0.5 sack (2 yards), 2 QBH, 6 PBU, 1 TD |
PETE WERNER | LB | SAINTS | 2 tackles, 1 QBH | 34 tackles, 3 TFL, 1 QBH |
CHASE YOUNG | DE | WFT | 1 tackle, injured knee | 26 tackles, 2 sacks (7 yards), 4 TFL, 4 QBH, 1 PBU, 2 FF |