Who's up and who's down after Week 10 in the NFL? (Hint: The Vikings are involved.)

Our NFL Insider takes a look at how some of the contenders in the NFC fared over the weekend.

November 15, 2022 at 11:19PM
Up next for the Vikings: star linebacker Micah Parsons and the Cowboys. (Christopher Szagola, Associated Press/The Minnesota Star Tribune)

THREE UP

1. Andy Reid's offensive weaponry

Reid already had the league's No. 1 scoring offense in Kansas City when he traded for receiver Kadarius Toney, a first-round pick of the Giants last season. After nine snaps and two touches in his Chiefs debut two weeks ago, Toney had a 9-yard touchdown catch on his first touch in Sunday's win over Jacksonville. His next touch was a 32-yard jet sweep. He had eight touches for 101 yards.

2. Daniel Jones' Kirk Cousins impersonation

Remember way back about 11 weeks ago when the Vikings' Cousins and the Giants' Jones were much-maligned quarterbacks? Today, they're tied for the NFL lead in game-winning drives (five). Cousins is 7-0 in one-score games. Jones is 7-1 after a career-high 153.3 passer rating in Sunday's win over Houston.

3. 49ers' physicality

Keep a wary eye on the NFC's current seventh seed, Vikings fans. The 5-4 49ers, typically losing players to injury at this point, gained a big one back when running back Elijah Mitchell had game highs in carries (18) and rushing yards (89) in his first game since Week 1. The 49ers pounded on the Chargers' defense for 37 minutes in a win.

TWO DOWN

1. Josh McDaniels

Remember 2009, when Josh McDaniels' head coaching career started off 6-0 in Denver? Well, he's gone 7-24 since then. Sunday, the now-Raiders coach lost to the Colts' Jeff Saturday, who had never coached a game beyond the high school level.

2. Micah Parsons

The Cowboys defensive phenom and presumed frontrunner for NFL Defensive Player of the Year had zero quarterback pressures for the first time in his career in a loss at Green Bay.

RANKING THE 8-1 VIKINGS

3. (Last week: 5.) They're every bit as good as any team in the league. For now, stick them behind the Chiefs and the only team to beat them, Philadelphia.

STATS OF THE WEEK

31: Number of teams Mike Tomlin has beaten as Steelers coach after Pittsburgh defeated the Saints. Tomlin has beaten every team except his own.

7: Consecutive games Russell Wilson has been sacked three or more times. The Titans extended Wilson's career record while dropping the Broncos to 3-6 on Sunday.

4: Teams that overcame deficits of 10 or more points in Week 10. The Vikings (17), Packers (14), Lions (14) and Titans (10) brought the season total to 31, tying 1987 and 2020 for the most through 10 weeks.

WEEK 11 SNEAK PEEK

Cowboys at Vikings. Dak Prescott (104.2) and Kirk Cousins (103.1) finished third and fourth in passer rating a year ago. This year, Cousins is 20th (87.0) and Prescott 24th (85.9). Of course, Vikings fans aren't – or shouldn't be — complaining. While Cousins ranks lower statistically than the likes of Jared Goff, Marcus Mariota, Derek Carr, Andy Dalton and Jacoby Brissett, he's also a huge reason the Vikings are 8-1.

about the writer

about the writer

Mark Craig

Sports reporter

Mark Craig has covered the NFL nearly every year since Brett Favre was a rookie back in 1991. A sports writer since 1987, he is covering his 30th NFL season out of 37 years with the Canton (Ohio) Repository (1987-99) and the Star Tribune (1999-present).

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