Bills' Bay Day Opens New England Route to AFC East Lead - Best of Week 10 NFL Action

Quarterbacks in action
Josh Allen along with Drake Maye will meet in the fifteenth week for potentially an American Football Conference East title decider
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Week 10 again delivered, with a huge upset for the Buffalo Bills demonstrating the 'any Sunday can bring surprises' mantra that draws so many people into the National Football League

This outcome could have created opportunities for the Patriots to move back into a leading position they formerly held, with a schedule that gives them an edge over their eight and two competitors

Over in the NFC the Seattle Seahawks and Los Angeles Rams had perfect results to set up a major confrontation in week 11, while our top performer is pursuing milestones as well as the Most Valuable Player award

The Breakdown - Just a Bad Day for the Bills?

Josh Allen in action
Was Josh Allen attempt too much or was it just a poor performance for the Bills?

Was it just an emotional comedown from beating the Chiefs the previous week or a deeper issue? That's the question for the Buffalo team to address

The Buffalo squad had secured seven victories in a row against Miami but were outperformed from the start as the Miami team emerged as 30-13 winners in an surprising outcome - and performance

MVP Josh Allen only achieved the squad's opening first down in the third quarter and initial scoring in the final quarter - admittedly the Dolphins had 10 days to get ready but it was still a significant failure produced by one of the league's best offenses

Dolphins quarterback Tua threw two touchdowns but running back Achane was the game-changing factor, with 225 combined yards and two scores

Bottling up the NFL's top running game was crucial too, with James Cook and teammates registering just 86 yards, their fewest of the year and slightly more than half their 161.5 yard season average

Additionally there were the three crucial turnovers, and the pair from Josh Allen in particular. An pass caught by defense in the scoring area resulting in a nine minute drive produced nothing, and his fourth-quarter fumble that Miami turned into seven points just later

It was classic 'previous Bills teams' as they hurt themselves in the foot, falling into a hole on defense and Allen attempting to do too much to dig his team from the situation - not the calm, disciplined, balanced Buffalo team we've witnessed this season

Miami have served up a bit of everything this season so the verdict is uncertain on if this is the start of a trend, but for Buffalo they'll require an immediate bounce-back in a tough game against Tampa Bay next week as the Patriots are sneaking into a comfortable advantage at the top of the AFC East

In Focus - New England See Path to Unexpected First Place

TreVeyon Henderson running
Henderson clocked the fifth quickest velocity in the NFL this year

Speaking of the Patriots, they're one of three different 8-2 teams in the league, all AFC sides, but could they be the top team?

One could pick holes in the Patriots, Denver and Indianapolis really for dominating the lesser sides, with only five of their total 24 wins achieved against teams with a winning record - and one of those was the Colts defeating the Denver

The Broncos beat the champion Eagles in Philadelphia and are masters of the fourth-quarter while Indy can rely on Jonathan Taylor, but the Patriots including Sunday's win in Tampa to their primtime win in Buffalo appears to be a declaration

Their two defeats came in recently appointed coach Mike Vrabel's initial three games, with seven straight victories, similar to Denver, from that point - but taking down Mayfield after the Buccaneers had a week off to get ready was significant

Drake Maye's Most Valuable Player credentials won't go away, and he certainly earns point for bravery after taking some hard tackles in Tampa but hanging in there to steer his team to success

The defensive unit is reliable and rookie rusher TreVeyon Henderson burst onto the scene on game day with 147 rushing yards and two exciting scores of fifty-five and sixty-nine yards - establishing himself as just the fifth different runner to exceed 22mph this season on his first score

While you can debate who 'the top team' is statistically, the Patriots should be favorites to finish with the top record due to their schedule - which includes just one game against a successful opponent, albeit a huge one against the Bills

Visiting the Ravens is challenging too, but Denver have it more difficult in the AFC West with the Kansas City to play twice, the Los Angeles Chargers (who might also challenge for top seed but encounter the same problem) and additionally the Packers on the fixture list

The Colts also play the Chiefs, and have the Seahawks, 49ers and two games with the 5-4 Jacksonville to contend with. There's a considerable distance to travel but the door is open for a shock top seed in the American Football Conference

Next Week - Rams & Seahawks Set for Week 11 Clash

Two teams with strong arguments to be better than all of the three 8-2 sides are NFC West opponents the Seahawks and Rams, who each put up 40 burgers to go to 7-2 ahead of the upcoming Hollywood blockbuster meeting between the pair in LA

Both have won four in a consecutive games, have signal callers in Stafford and Darnold performing at an elite level (although Darnold had turnover issues on game day) with top receivers, and defenses allowing fewer than twenty points a game

Each could realistically be without a loss as well - especially the Rams as their pair of losses occurred in extra time against the San Francisco and then that painful defeat in Philadelphia when they had a potentially winning field goal with the last kick blocked and run back by the Eagles for a touchdown

Seattle were also defeated to the 49ers, with a late touchdown in week one, before falling to the final play of the game against the Buccaneers - so they're genuinely among the best sides in the NFL

The upcoming game on Sunday could be the most exciting of the year so far

Top Performer - Taylor

Jonathan Taylor running
Jonathan Taylor is pursuing several rushing and touchdown records

Taylor might be on for a historic year after his incredible display in Berlin - running for 244 rushing yards, scoring three scores and adding an additional 42 {receiving yards

Jonathan Yang
Jonathan Yang

A seasoned gaming analyst with over a decade of experience in online casino reviews and strategy development.