The second half of the 2024 NFL regular season is underway.

As Week 10 is officially underway, the battle for postseason seeding is heating up. The early windows of Sunday’s games were an indication of the increasing intensity; Six of the seven matches ended in five points or less.

There were only three games in the second window, but none of them were close.

Here are the winners and losers of Sunday’s Week 10 match:

WINNER: Chefs always find a way

The Kansas City Chiefs find new ways to win every week.

Sunday was perhaps the most unexpected win of the season; A blocked 35-yard field goal at the buzzer preserved a 16-14 victory over the Denver Broncos. Now 9-0, the Chiefs have seven wins by seven points or less. While some may see this as luck, there’s something to be said for how well the two-time defending Super Bowl champions perform in the clutch each week.

Patrick Mahomes was once again underwhelming by his standards, with 266 passing yards and one touchdown. Broncos rookie QB Bo Nix had one of his best games of the season (215 yards, two touchdowns, no turnovers). The Chiefs had to settle for three chipped field goals. And of course, in the end, none of this mattered to Kansas City.

LOSER: The punishment of the commanders was costly

The Washington Commanders didn’t give themselves a chance to beat the Pittsburgh Steelers in the final minutes.

With Pittsburgh leading 28-27 and less than a minute left in the game, Russell Wilson lined up his offense to take the lead on fourth-and-2. With no timeout left, Washington had to stay on their side of the ball and wait for the game. The Steelers need to call a timeout and punt. However, rookie Johnny Newton jumped offside for a neutral zone violation, giving the Steelers a first down and the victory.

The game itself had been a thriller up to that point, with both teams competing for a signature win. Wilson threw three touchdown passes, including the game-winner against newly acquired wideout Mike Williams with 2:22 left in the game. Jayden Daniels had an up-and-down game against a great defense, completing just 50% of his passes for 202 yards. Pittsburgh is now 7-2 while Washington drops to 7-3.

WINNER: Drake Maye edged Caleb Williams

In the struggle between rookie quarterbacks that turned into a defensive fight, New England Patriots defeated Chicago Bears 19-3 at Soldier Field.

While Caleb Williams and the Bears offense couldn’t get anything going, Drake Maye and the Patriots did enough to get the victory. The No. 1 overall pick completed 16 of 30 for 120 yards in a loss as the Bears scored just one touchdown in the final three games following the bye week.

On the other hand, the No. 3 overall pick was 15 of 25 for 184 yards, one touchdown and one interception. After giving Maye the keys to the offense, the Patriots slowly turned the season around with two wins and an overtime loss in the last three weeks. Still just 3-7, the Patriots can at least start to take some positives away from this season as Maye continues to develop nicely.

Loser: Discipline of the Jaguars

The Jacksonville Jaguars’ defense was excellent against the Minnesota Vikings… until it mattered most.

Jacksonville did not allow a touchdown against the vaunted Minnesota offense. The group intercepted Sam Darnold three times and forced the Vikings to go 0-for-5 in the red zone. But Travon Walker, who had a chance to get the ball back in the final minute while trailing 12-7, threw a punch and gave the Vikings a first down, effectively ending the game.

Mac Jones, filling in for the injured Trevor Lawrence, didn’t help his defense much this time. The former first-rounder was 14-of-22 for 111 yards and two interceptions in his first start for the hometown Jags.

WINNER: Darren Rizzi

The New Orleans Saints have handled their first game as interim head coach.

Darren Rizzi, who replaced Dennis Allen in Sunday’s 20-17 victory over the rival Atlanta Falcons, helped break the Saints’ seven-game losing streak. It wasn’t a perfect performance, but New Orleans didn’t turn the ball over and took advantage of three missed goals by Younghoe Koo to get back on the winning streak.

For the Falcons, the loss ended their two-game winning streak and cost them a chance to extend their NFC South lead. Atlanta still leads the league by two games, but is far from a landslide, with five of six wins coming by six points or less.

Loser: Joe Flacco doesn’t lecture Anthony Richardson

When the Indianapolis Colts benched Anthony Richardson for Joe Flacco two weeks ago, the general thought was that the veteran could teach the second-year QB some things. Although this is happening behind the scenes, the product on the field is not promising.

Flacco had four turnovers in Sunday’s 30-20 loss to the Buffalo Bills; two interceptions in the first quarter, one interception and a turnover in the second half. The Colts (4-6) had plenty of chances to beat the Bills (8-2), but they couldn’t control the ball. Josh Allen made two interceptions for Buffalo and Indy closed the first half ahead 13-10 despite Flacco’s turnovers.

With the Colts currently two games under .500, it would make sense to bring Richardson back in the near future. The team is not a Super Bowl contender and Richardson needs reps to improve. No one really knows if he’s a quarterback, and the Colts won’t find out while sitting on the bench behind a struggling 39-year-old.

WINNER: Jake Moody saved himself

San Francisco 49ers They were heading for a frustrating finish against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and their at-bats finally took off.

Jake Moody made just 3 of 6 shots in his first game back since October 6 due to injury – but he buried the one that mattered most. The second-year kicker missed from 50, 49 and 44 yards and hit it from 44 yards as time expired for a 23-20 victory.

The 49ers improved to 5-4 with the win, keeping them solidly on track to win the NFC West. Although he hasn’t quite looked like himself yet, Christian McCaffrey provided a boost in the first game of the season. The final Offensive Player of the Year had 39 rushing yards and 68 receiving yards in the win.

Loser: Jets burned in Arizona

If more evidence were needed New York Jets‘ season was in the books, that was it. New York fell to 3-7 on the season after the Cardinals prevailed 31-6 in Arizona and took a 24-6 lead at halftime before going cold.

Aaron Rodgers completed just 22 of 35 passes for 151 yards, no touchdowns and no picks, while Davante Adams had six catches for 31 total yards.

Meanwhile, Arizona remained in first place in the NFC West at 6-4 behind an outstanding showing from Kyler Murray. Murray was 22-of-24 for 266 yards, one touchdown and no picks, and added two rushing touchdowns.

WINNER: Chargers keep winning

Justin Herbert didn’t have to do much as the Chargers improved to 6-3 with a 27-17 home win over Tennessee. Herbert completed 14 of 18 passes for 164 yards, a touchdown, and no picks, and also rushed for 32 yards on nine carries and a score.

Tennessee got a good performance from second-year signal caller Will Levis, who completed 18 of 23 passes for 175 yards, two touchdowns and no picks. But the Titans couldn’t get it together in time and scored a late goal to help level the scoreline.

Tennessee fell to 2-7, while Los Angeles fell to 6-3.

LOSER: Cowboys’ QB situation worsens

Dallas Cowboys It was bad having Dak Prescott at center. With their $60 million quarterback out of action, Cooper Rush was forced to step in for heroics against their home rivals. Philadelphia Eagles. Philadelphia won easily 34-6.

Rush completed just 13 of 23 passes for just 45 yards, then was benched in place of Trey Lance, who completed 3 of 4 passes for just 17 yards and a pick. Dallas had five turnovers as a team. Philadelphia had two, but the Cowboys lacked the talent to capitalize.

Philadelphia improved to 7-2 while Dallas fell to 3-6. Jalen Hurts scored four total goals, two through the air and two on the ground.