NFL Week 10: Sloppy play, penalties, and drops reign

DENVER -- Election Day has travel and gone. So has the commercialized deadline. The autumn leaves are mostly connected the ground. The days are shorter, the nights longer. And yet present we are watching sloppy shot crossed the NFL.

Week 10 looked a batch similar Week 1, oregon adjacent the preseason tilts chock afloat of NFL wannabes who whitethorn person made the play but not the cut.

The slate started with a Thursday nighttime snoozer successful which some the reeling Las Vegas Raiders (2-7) and the surging Denver Broncos (8-2) had much penalties (11) than archetypal downs (10). The Broncos prevailed 10-7 — the aforesaid people the Eagles bushed the Packers connected Monday nighttime to wrapper up the wacky week — contempt going three-and-out 8 times acknowledgment to a bevy of atrocious throws, dropped passes and, yes, yellowish flags.

On Sunday, the Chicago Bears, who are accustomed to playing successful wet, windy weather, dropped six of Caleb Williams’ passes successful their 24-20 comeback against the New York Giants that cost Brian Daboll his job.

And successful their 27-19 loss to the Baltimore Ravens, the Minnesota Vikings were whistled for a whopping 8 mendacious starts — astatine home, wherever these things mostly don’t happen.

Except that it’s the NFL successful 2025: cockeyed, confusing and chaotic.

The Patriots are atop the AFC East this precocious successful the twelvemonth for the archetypal clip since Tom Brady was throwing darts and dunks to Gronk alternatively of arrows and flowers from the broadcast booth and Bill Belichick was steamrolling NFL opponents alternatively of getting crushed successful college.

The Colts are chasing their archetypal AFC South rubric since Andrew Luck was QB successful 2014, and the Broncos are unsocial atop the AFC West for the archetypal clip since 2015 erstwhile they won their past Super Bowl title.

The Seahawks are tied with the Rams astatine 7-2 atop the NFC West. They haven’t won their part since 2020 earlier Russell Wilson was traded and benched successful Denver, chased retired of Pittsburgh and demoted successful New York.

The Broncos person been flagged 101 times this season, 2nd lone to Jacksonville's 102. Both teams person 83 penalties against them that were accepted. Seventeen by Denver were declined and 1 was offsetting.

“Certainly, it's a constituent of emphasis,” Broncos manager Sean Payton said.

Yet, the Broncos are tied with New England and Indianapolis astatine 8-2 for the champion grounds successful the league successful this topsy-turvy play successful which we're into November and the Kansas City Chiefs, winners of 9 consecutive AFC West crowns, 5 of the past six AFC championships and 3 Super Bowls, are connected the extracurricular of the playoff representation looking in.

The Vikings' 8 false-start penalties against Baltimore were the astir by a location squad since the Buffalo Bills had 9 against Cleveland connected Oct. 11, 2009, according to Sportradar.

“Whatever was unearthed contiguous needs to beryllium corrected immediately,” manager Kevin O’Connell said aft the Vikings’ 8 mendacious starts among 13 flags abbreviated circuited their comeback hopes against the Ravens

The 8 false-start penalties besides were the astir successful a crippled by immoderate squad since the Carolina Panthers astatine Seattle connected Sept. 24, 2023, according to Sportradar.

Right tackle Brian O’Neill was flagged 3 times. Quarterback J.J. McCarthy and prima receiver Justin Jefferson besides were penalized. The backmost and his violative enactment struggled with drawback counts, cadence and presnap adjustments, particularly successful the 4th quarter, erstwhile the Vikings had 3 mendacious starts successful the last 10 minutes.

Running backmost Aaron Jones said immoderate Ravens defenders seized connected the disorder by barking “Hut!” erstwhile McCarthy changed the play telephone oregon protection. Still, the affable assemblage astatine U.S. Bank Stadium should not person made it that problematic, helium said.

“That’s what they get paid to do,” Jones said. “We’ve conscionable got to fastener in, particularly erstwhile we’re playing astatine home.”

The Vikings, 14-3 successful the regular play a twelvemonth ago, fell to 4-5.

“It’s going to beryllium pugnacious to triumph games similar that,” Jefferson said. “Go backmost to enactment and bash the things that let america to determination forward, not backward.”

At 5 yards a pop.

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With contributions from Associated Press Writer Brian Murphy successful Minneapolis.

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