On Mondays during in the fall, the conversation is so dominated by NFL football that the expression “Monday morning quarterback” has entered the vernacular. The phrase is defined by Google as “a person who passes judgment on and criticizes something after the event.” With the popularity of fantasy football, we now have Monday morning quarterbacks talking about football from two different perspectives. We want you to be able to participate in this great tradition, so all fall we’ll be running NFL One Liners on Monday. Use these tiny synopses throughout the day:
Week 10
Sunday, November 9, at 1:00 p.m. ET
Kansas City Chiefs 17, at Buffalo Bills 13
After starting the season with two losses, the Chiefs have won six of their last seven games and are hurtling towards a playoff spot. The Bills are the exact opposite. They started the year with two wins and are now sinking towards missing the playoffs for the 15th straight season.
Line: Two teams headed in opposite directions pass each other in week 10. If they are both traveling at the speed of light, how far will they…
Tennessee Titans 7, at Baltimore Ravens 21
The Titans scored seven points in the first quarter and then not again for the rest of the game. That had to be frustrating for Titans fans. Frustrating for Ravens fans? They’re stuck in a division with three other really good teams.
Line: Are they the Tennessee Titans or the Titanics? ’cause their season is sinking fast.
Dallas Cowboys 31, vs. Jacksonville Jaguars 17 (In London)
Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo came back from missing one game with two broken bones in his back and led the team to a relatively easy win over the Jaguars. These London games might be fun to go to, but for some reason they’re almost always bad examples of what an NFL game should be like.
Line: Why do we keep sending the worst matchups over to London?
Miami Dolphins 16, at Detroit Lions 20
This game was one of the weekend’s best matchups. The Lions and Dolphins both seem to be on the upswing this season and they played a great game. Vegas’ common logic says that home-field advantage is worth three points, so this game suggests that the Lions are better than the Dolphins by a hair.
Line: I really enjoy both these teams.
San Francisco 49ers 27, at New Orleans Saints 24
The 49ers needed to win this game more than the Saints because, although they were both 4-4 coming into the game, the Saints division is much weaker than the 49ers. First it looked like the 49ers were going to win comfortably, then it looked like the Saints were going to beat them, then there was OVERTIME, and finally the 49ers won.
Line: Just like the Dolphins, Lions game, this one lived up to expectations.
Pittsburgh Steelers 13, at New York Jets 20
A classic “any given Sunday” game to use as evidence that even seemingly lopsided matchups in the NFL can have unexpected outcomes. After throwing 12 touchdowns in two weeks, Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger couldn’t seem to get anything going against the canny Jets defense.
Line: Was this enough to save (Jets coach) Rex Ryan’s job?
Atlanta Falcons 27, at Tampa Bay Buccaneers 17
This game could be used as exhibit A for another NFL lesson. Even a game between two bad teams with almost no chance of making the playoffs is played in a spirited fashion. Why? Because every player on both teams is playing for their job each week.
Line: This game was more exciting to watch than you would think from the score and the, uh, teams involved.
SUNDAY, November 9, AT 4:05 and 4:25 P.M. ET
Denver Broncos 41, at Oakland Raiders 17
This was a good game for almost a quarter and a half of football. Then the Broncos woke up and remembered they were the Broncos and the Raiders remembered they were the Raiders and fell asleep.
Line: Sheeesh, the Broncos are good.
New York Giants 17, at Seattle Seahawks 38
The Giants were actually winning this game at halftime but the Seahawks scored 24 straight points in the second half and the Giants scored none. Seahawks running back, Marshawn Lynch, scored four touchdowns.
Line: BEAST MODE [Lynch’s nickname/catch phrase]
St. Louis Rams 14, at Arizona Cardinals 31
The Cardinals won this game to move to eight wins and one loss on the season, but the question of the day will be, “at what cost?” Their starting quarterback, Carson Palmer, went down with what looked like a bad knee injury in the fourth quarter.
Line: Arghh. The Cardinals were such a fun story. I hope Palmer is not too badly hurt.
SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 9, AT 8:30 P.M. ET
Chicago Bears 14, at Green Bay Packers 55
This game was as lopsided as any game I’ve ever seen. The Packers came out and were simply better than the Bears in every facet of the game. It’s one of the few games where I wouldn’t have been surprised if the owner had fired the coach at halftime.
Line: If you were watching that game after the first half, you must have either had money riding on the outcome, or you just love rubbernecking.