Whoa, what a Week 10 in the NFL.
You thought some of the tanking teams would deliberately try to lose (and some did!). But three of the franchises on our initial edition of the Tanking Rankings (Tank for Tua! Be Bad for Burrow!) won on Sunday.
That makes the path to the top two picks a little clearer for this week.
With that in mind, let’s rank each team based on its record, remaining schedule and just how bad their rest-of-season prospects are (e.g. did the team bench its starting QB for a rookie?). We’ll start from the top … er, bottom:
8. Arizona Cardinals (3-6-1)
Remaining schedule: @ SF, vs. LAR, vs. PIT, vs. CLE, @ SEA, @ LAR
They’ve proven they can beat mediocre teams, so there might be a win or two more left on the schedule.
7. Atlanta Falcons (2-7)
Remaining schedule: @ CAR, vs. TB, vs. NO, vs. CAR, @ SF, vs. Jax, @ TB
Whoa. They beat the Saints. In the Superdome. Whaaa? Is this the sign that they’ll bounce back a little the rest of the way? I’ll buy it.
6. Detroit Lions (3-5-1)
Remaining schedule: vs. DAL, @ WSH, vs. CHI, @ MIN, vs. TB, @ DEN, vs. GB
This all depends on Matthew Stafford’s back injury. If the Lions decide to shut him down (and I think they should, especially given how their playoff hopes are slim to none) and start Jeff Driskel, Detroit might lose the rest of the way.
5. New York Jets (2-7)
Remaining schedule: @ WSH, vs. OAK, @ CIN, vs. MIA, @ BAL, vs. PIT, @ BUF
Would it be shocking if they beat the Redskins, Bengals and Dolphins and ended up at 5-11? Nope.
4. New York Giants (2-8)
Remaining schedule: @ CHI, vs. GB, @ PHI, vs. MIA, @ WSH, vs. PHI
Of the games left, I see two they could win.
3. Miami Dolphins (2-7)
Remaining schedule: vs. BUF, @ CLE, vs. PHI, @ NYJ, @ NYG, vs. CIN, @ NE
After beating the Colts on Sunday, I suddenly see a few winnable games on this schedule (the two New York games, at home against the Bengals). Maybe they’ve taken themselves out of the running for the top two?
2. Washington Redskins (1-8)
Remaining schedule: vs. NYJ, vs. DET, @ CAR, @ GB, vs. PHI, vs. NYG, @ DAL
The bye week proved to be a win — they moved up two spots by doing nothing.
1. Cincinnati Bengals (0-9)
Remaining schedule: @ OAK, vs. PIT, vs. NYJ, @ CLE, vs. NE, @ MIA, vs. CLE
The last winless team in the NFL proved it’s heading toward clinching No. 1 overall with Ryan Finley at the helm.
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