Week 10 gave us some insightful matchups including a lot of turnovers and fumbles throughout each game. However, the way these impacted each game was very different.
Bengals at Ravens: The Ravens did well when it came to turnovers, but the Bengals did not. Joe Burrow himself had two fumbles that he recovered, but his running back, Chase Brown, had a pivotal fumble that was recovered by the Ravens. This play is what I think ended up costing them the game since this fumble led to a quick touchdown for Baltimore; shifting the momentum into their favor ending in a 35-34 win.
Giants at Panthers: Going into this game, I was not expecting much out of these two teams. They’ve both had bad records, and ultimately neither have had much happening in their recent games. Though, to my surprise, this game kept me engaged. The Giants were down near the end of the third quarter, but quarterback, Daniel Jones, kept the momentum going through the fourth. He led the offense through scoring 10 points leading to a tied game, forcing overtime. At this point, I was so hyped to see the Giants’ offense. What could possibly stop them now? The first overtime play begins, Daniel Jones does a shotgun pass to his RB Tyrone Tracy Jr. but he fumbles the ball; the Panthers recover it. I watched as the Giants’ offense drooped their heads as they walked off the field. In the final play, Carolina took advantage of this turnover to score a field goal. The game ended 20-17.
Bills at Colts: All I can say here is wow. This game was jump-started with excitement; the Colts’ first play getting intercepted by Bills’ cornerback, Taron Johnson, for a pick-six. After the Colts received the ball, there was another interception, which led to the Bills getting 10 points. The turnovers were not yet complete though. Josh Allen had two interceptions, but the Colts only capitalized on one, only getting a field goal out of it. The Bills on the other hand, had another interception from Flacco and scored a touchdown, keeping them well ahead of the Colts throughout the game. I think that these turnovers helped the Bills out and had a huge impact over the course of this game. The final score was 30-20, Bills.
Lions at Texans: This game had me at the edge of my seat, just like the Colts and Bills game. The Lions began their first drive, but it was cut short due to an interception; the Texans took advantage of the drop, getting a touchdown. QB Jared Goff proceeded to have two more interceptions before the end of the first half, which made me lose hope in the Lions. As the next half began, both CJ Stroud and Goff had two more interceptions that were back to back. These didn’t have much impact, but I thought it was just another crazy addition to this game. After Goff stopped throwing his interceptions, the Lions finally got some much needed points and tied the score with the Texans. Houston missed a very important field-goal that would have won them the game. This turned possession back to the Lions. After an 18-yard drive, Detroit kicker Jake Bates made the game-winner 52-yard field goal. I was shocked at the comeback the Lions made after all five of these interceptions. The final score was 26-23 in their favor.
Dolphins at Rams: After QB Tua Tagovailoa’s return in week eight, I felt he hadn’t been playing at his best. He had been making some weird plays, but this game felt like he was back on top of it. On his starting drive, Tagovailoa had some well-aimed shots right to his targets, which resulted in a quick touchdown. After that both teams began to struggle. Both had turnovers, slowing down the game’s momentum. Making up for the slow mid-game energy, the teams picked back up near the end after a Dolphins touchdown from wide receiver Tyreek Hill. Then multiple field goals from both teams followed after that. The game ended 23-15 Dolphins.
I haven’t seen this many turnovers in a while, especially turnovers from so many teams. I enjoyed how different the impacts were from each turnover. For the Giants, it cost them the game, but for the Lions, it motivated them to work even harder, especially after all the interceptions. Hopefully next week, these teams will try to work on those interceptions and fumbles and come into their next games even stronger.
