Top teams on wrong side of blowouts

It was another blowout-filled weekend in the NFL, only this time several of the teams on the losing end were teams near the top of the standings.

For the second time in four weeks, six games were decided by at least 21 points, the first time that has happened twice in a season since 2009 and just the fifth time ever.

Five of the six teams on the wrong side of those lopsided games were teams that entered the weekend with a .500 or better record, with the Falcons losing 43-3 to the Cowboys, the Raiders falling 41-14 to the Chiefs, the Rams losing 31-10 to the 49ers, the Cardinals getting beat 34-10 by the Panthers and the Browns getting knocked off 45-7 by the Patriots.

The other blowout was far more predictable: the struggling Jets getting beat 45-17 by the Bills.

This marked just the second time in NFL history that five teams that came into the week without a losing record got beat by at least 21 points, according to Sportradar. The other came in Week 17 of the 2009 season, when many of those teams were resting key players ahead of the playoffs.

Blowouts have been extremely common so far this season, with the 24 games decided by at least 24 points tied for the second most through 10 weeks since the merger, trailing only the 29 in 1975.

Rare rookies

The Patriots got impressive production from a pair of rookies in their win over the Browns, with Mac Jones completing 19 of 23 passes for 198 yards and three TDs and Rhamondre Stevenson rushing for 100 yards and two TDs.

The Patriots became the fifth team since the merger to have one rookie throw at least two TD passes and another run for two TDs in a game. The others were the Browns in 2018 (Baker Mayfield and Nick Chubb), Cowboys in 2016 (Dak Prescott and Ezekiel Elliott), Washington in 2012 (Kirk Cousins and Alfred Morris; Robert Griffin III and Morris), and the Broncos in 2006 (Jay Cutler and Mike Bell).

Jones’ 142.1 rating in the game was the fifth-highest single-game passer rating by a rookie quarterback in the Super Bowl era with at least 20 attempts, trailing only two games from Mayfield, one from Prescott and one from Geno Smith in 2013.

Pat’s back

Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes shook off a shaky stretch to get back into his old form, throwing for 406 yards with five TDs and no interceptions in the 41-14 win over the Raiders.

It was the third time Mahomes threw for at least 400 yards and five TDs in a game, also doing it against the Jets last season and the Rams in 2018, tying Hall of Famers Peyton Manning, Dan Marino and Joe Montana for the most in NFL history.

Mahomes is the only one of those players to do it more than once without an interception, also doing that against the Jets.

Long drought

The Lions came close to winning in Pittsburgh for the first time since the Ford family bought the team in 1961. Detroit had nine losses and one tie on the road against the Steelers since their last win in 1955 at Forbes Field before settling for another tie on Sunday.

According to the Elias Sports Bureau, the one other team whose last road win against an opponent predates the Super Bowl era that started in 1966 is the Steelers at Philadelphia. Pittsburgh is 0-9 on the road against the Eagles since a win in 1965.

The Vikings have never won a road game against the Colts in either Baltimore or Indianapolis, losing all 12 games.