Vincent Frank
NFL Week 10 brings us a ton of tremendous matchups across the board. Despite struggling to a 4-4 start to the season, the Arizona Cardinals can tie Seattle for second place in the NFC West with a win on Thursday. How will the matchup between Doug Baldwin and Patrick Peterson help determine the outcome of that game?
Meanwhile, the Atlanta Falcons and Dallas Cowboys will do battle in a game between two wild card contenders in the NFC. Can Dallas hold star Falcons receiver Julio Jones in check here? These are among the top individual matchups for NFL Week 10.
Doug Baldwin vs Patrick Peterson
This individual matchup has acted as a heavyweight fight since both of these players joined the NFL with their current teams back in 2011. Peterson was always going to be a star in Arizona after the Cardinals selected him fifth overall that year. For Baldwin, it’s been a slower ascension to stardom. Now, with second place in the NFC West on the line, the two meet up again.
Baldwin continues to act as Russell Wilson’s favorite target in Seattle. He’s caught 67 percent of the 73 passes thrown in his direction this season and is on pace for his third consecutive 1,000-yard season. And while Arizona has struggled to a 4-4 start to the season, Peterson has allowed 10 catches for less than 100 yards. This will be a huge individual matchup Thursday night.
Kelvin Benjamin vs Marshon Lattimore
Benjamin will make his Buffalo Bills debut against a familiar opponent. It comes Sunday afternoon when he takes on the New Orleans Saints and rookie cornerback Marshon Lattimore. And it’s going to be tough sledding for the former Saints division rival.
New Orleans ranks in the top 12 of the NFL against the pass and has yielded just 10 passing touchdowns compared to nine interceptions. For his part, Lattimore has legitimately been one of the best corners in the NFL. Relying primarily on single coverage on the outside, the first-round pick has yielded an obscenely low 34.0 passer rating on the season. That’s about as good as it gets.
Cam Robinson vs Melvin Ingram
Lost in the dominance of the Jaguars’ defense during a 5-3 start to the season is the fact that Robinson has taken over the left tackle job and is dominating as a rookie. Seen as potentially too big to take on EDGE rushers at this level, the second-round pick from Alabama has allowed just a handful of quarterback hits in front of Blake Bortles. That’s played a role in the signal caller performing much better than most of us anticipated.
It’s not going to be easy Week 10 against one of the most-dominant pass rushers in the game today. Teaming up with Joey Bosa, Ingram has his Los Angeles Chargers defense playing great football. The likely All-Pro has put up 8.5 sacks in eight games this season and ranks among the top-five EDGE rushers in quarterback pressures.
Nate Solder vs Von Miller
Uncharacteristically, Tom Brady has been sacked 21 times in eight games this season. To put that into perspective, he was just sacked 15 times in 12 games in 2016. And no, it has nothing to do with Brady holding on to the ball longer. His release is as quick as it ever was. Instead, opposing defenses are throwing blitz packages in the Patriots’ direction more often this season.
With the likes of Von Miller, Shane Ray and Shaquil Barrett on the field for Denver Sunday night, the Broncos might not have to do that. If they do, the onus will be on Brady’s franchise blindside protector to hold up against Miller out on the edge. It’s definitely a tall task. And it will make a hug difference with the “explosive” Brock Osweiler-led Broncos offense on the other side.
T.Y. Hilton vs Artie Burns
It seems that Hilton has found a solid relationship with stop-gap starter Jacoby Brissett in Indianapolis. The Colts’ No. 1 pass catcher is coming off a Week 9 performance that saw him put up 175 yards and two touchdowns, including this dazzling score, against a very good Houston Texans defense.
Now set to take on a Steelers defense that ranks second in the NFL against the pass and has yielded a 74.4 quarterback rating on the season, it’s vital Hilton puts up a strong effort here. It’s likely the only way his Colts upset the 6-2 Steelers come Sunday afternoon.
Xavier Su’a-filo vs Aaron Donald
Pressure from the interior of the Texans’ offensive line was not that big of an issue for Deshaun Watson. His mobility and pocket awareness enabled the rookie quarterback to overcome shortcomings from his offensive line in pass protection. The same can’t be said for Tom Savage, who has now been sacked nine times in 66 drop backs this season.
With Watson lost for the remainder of the season due to a torn ACL, it’s highly important that Houston’s offensive line steps up. That’s magnified by the fact that Savage completed just 19-of-44 passes while being hounded throughout his Week 9 start against a questionable Colts pass rush.
In this game, Houston finds itself going up against one of the best defenses in the NFL and quietly one of the best football players in the game. Donald, a three-time Pro Bowler, is getting into his groove after holding out throughout the preseason.
He’s recorded a sack in each of the past three games and has one of the highest quarterback pressure marks in the entire NFL. In order for Houston to pull off the upset against a surprising six-win Rams team, Su’a-filo will have to step up big time in this one.
Keenan Allen vs Jalen Ramsey
Let’s not even get into the brawl Ramsey found himself involved in last week. It was not a good look for either the Steelers or Jaguars. Instead, let’s look at just how dominant this second-year cornerback has been. Through eight games, he has allowed a sub 45 passer rating when targeted. Ramsey also yielded just one catch for six yards to A.J. Green last week prior to being ejected late in the first half.
It’s in this that Allen must find a way to perform at a decent level against Ramsey if the Los Angeles Chargers want to get back in the win column and remain alive in the AFC Playoff picture.
It’s definitely an important all-around matchup here. Jacksonville finds itself at 5-3 on the season and in first place in the AFC South. Los Angeles is sitting at 3-5 after winning three of its past four games. This one individual matchup will go a long way in determining the outcome of Sunday’s game.
Kirk Cousins vs Vikings pass defense
What Cousins was able to do with an injury-plagued offense against the Seahawks in Seattle last week was nothing short of magnificent. With the likes of Trent Williams, Spencer Long, Jamison Crowder and Jordan Reed sidelined, Cousins led his Skins to a late-game comeback win to pretty much save the team’s season.
Cousins did, however, take six sacks and was hit on over one-third of his drop backs in the game. It won’t be easier this upcoming week against a Minnesota Vikings defense that has recorded 24 sacks in eight games and has yielded just nine passing touchdowns compared to seven interceptions.
That’s where pass protection in front of Cousins must hold up. It’s also where the quarterback himself can’t make mistakes throwing against a secondary that includes elite playmakers such as Xavier Rhodes and Harrison Smith.
Antonio Brown vs Colts secondary
Brown has been held to just nine catches on 20 targets for 135 yards over the past two games. Those seem like pretty decent numbers. But they’re not what we’ve come to expect from a receiver that leads the league in both receptions (57) and receiving yards (835) on the season.
Coming out of their bye, we’re expecting the Steelers to feature Brown a bit more here. That could be aided with Martavis Bryant seeing action after being a healthy inactive in their previous game prior to last week’s bye.
To say that Pittsburgh’s offense now runs through Brown and Le’Veon Bell would be an understatement. And we can expect Indianapolis to throw multiple double teams in the direction of the Steelers’ top receiver. With Vontae Davis out again, Rashaan Melvin has to continue stepping up here. Indy’s only hope of pulling the upset will be to limit Brown in the passing game.
Rob Gronkowski vs Darian Stewart and Justin Simmons
A lot has been made of Denver’s offensive struggles during a 3-5 start to the season. But the defense has actually seen a downturn in production from previously dominant units. And really, that has started in the middle of the field.
The Broncos are yielding a 67 percent completion mark and 110.5 passer rating when opposing quarterbacks target tight ends on the season. That’s a recipe for disaster against a Patriots team coming off the bye and with two weeks to prepare for this game.
For his part, Gronkowski continues to dominate from a pass-catching perspective. He’s put up 34 receptions for 509 yards and five touchdowns in seven games this season. Gronkowski is also averaging an absurd 15 yards per catch. We don’t envision Denver having much of a chance here. But if the Tom Brady to Gronk connection goes off, this will be a blowout rather early.
Julio Jones vs Orlando Scandrick
Jones put up his best performance of the season last week against Carolina, tallying six catches for 118 yards in the loss. It’s the first time since Week 2 that Jones has crossed the 100-yard plateau. Maybe, he’s finally finding his groove with reigning NFL MVP Matt Ryan.
For the Cowboys, they enter Week 10 in the midst of a three-game winning streak. Though, the team’s defense leaves a lot to be desired. This unit ranks in the middle of the pack against the pass and has yielded 14 touchdowns through the air compared to just four interceptions.
It will be important for Scandrick to keep Jones in check. Should that happen, Atlanta will likely lose for the fifth time in six games.
