NFL Betting: What We Learned from Week 10 (2020)
Week 10 was a wild one in the NFL as we saw a Hail Mary win by the Arizona Cardinals, the New England Patriots stun the Baltimore Ravens and Russell Wilson failed to throw for a touchdown for the first time this season. Here’s a look back at what we learned from this week’s action.
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This Isn’t the 2019 Ravens
In the grand scheme of things, we’re still somewhat early in the NFL season. Teams can still sort things out, get on a run in the second half, and change their trajectory. However, one thing has become clear after nine games: this isn’t the same Ravens team as last year.
Baltimore’s offense was absolutely electric last season, finishing second in yards per game and first in points per game. They entered the week 23rd in yards per game and while they averaged 33.2 points per game last season, they’re nearly a touchdown off that mark at 27.1 this season.
Lamar Jackson has also fallen off as he was the league MVP last season but so far, he has just 14 touchdowns, five interceptions, and his 65.4 QBR is tied for 19th. This is just a very average team these days.
The Jaguars Continue to Fight for Doug Marrone
The general mindset with the Jags has long been that they’re tanking for Trevor. For the most part, they are, but they’re still fighting hard for head coach Doug Marrone. That at least gives the indication that maybe they shouldn’t fire him.
The Jags have switched to quarterback Jake Luton and while he’s put the team in position to win in back-to-back weeks. They lost by two at Houston and nearly pulled off an upset in Green Bay as a 14-point underdog on Sunday. This team is just 1-8 but looks like a good bet to keep covering the big spreads they’re facing. They haven’t quit on the season.
Panthers Limitations are Showing
The Panthers are in their first year in the Matt Rhule era and while they’ve been surprisingly competitive, their lack of talent is showing. Teddy Bridgewater is clearly proven to be nothing more than a stopgap starter and that’s partially holding back the offense. He started the year with six touchdowns and just three picks in his first five games while averaging 292.0 passing yards per game. Over his last five, he’s down to 218.4.
The defense is also lacking top-end talent as they’re now giving up 30.8 points per game during the team’s five-game losing streak.
It’s been a positive year in Carolina and they’re headed in the right direction. They’re just lacking more playmakers on both sides of the ball these days.
Rams’ Defense is Flying Under the Radar
A lot of people weren’t sure what to make of the Rams going into Week 10. They were a five-win team with four of the wins coming against lousy NFC East opponents, so maybe their record was inflated? A strong win over the Seattle Seahawks will put the naysayers to rest as this Rams team is clearly a quality squad.
One area that’s flying under the radar is the defense. Admittedly, I felt it was a bad decision for them to dump Wade Phillips but they clearly know what they’re doing. Jalen Ramsey is balling out as he held DK Metcalf to just two catches and 28 yards on Sunday. The entire unit held Russell Wilson without a touchdown pass – the first time this season that’s happened – as the Seahawks scored a season-low 16-points.
This Rams defense is very underrated. Over their last five games, the Rams have allowed 19.4 points per outing and that’s inflated by the fact that they gave up a special teams and defensive touchdown to Miami a couple of weeks ago. This is one of the better units in the NFC.
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Dave Golokhov is a featured writer at BettingPros. For more from Dave, check out his archive and follow him @davegolokhov.