The Biggest Things You Might've Missed in NFL Week 10

Aaron Rodgers and Russell Wilson have returned, the defending champs are in trouble and Cam Newton is "baaack."

But there was a lot more to the 10th Sunday of the 2021 NFL season, much of which might have slid under football radar but could have a significant impact on the second half of this wild campaign. 

Here's a rundown of several important and/or intriguing NFL stories from Sunday that won't lead SportsCenter. 

We figured it was an aberration when the Green Bay Packers scored just three points against the New Orleans Saints in Week 1. Turns out, the 38 points the Packers surrendered that day were also anomalous. The Packers have allowed 28 or fewer points in every single game since then, and a third consecutive standout performance against a quality opponent indicates that the unit has firmly established itself as a tremendous asset.

After shutting out Wilson and the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday, the Packers have now given up just 11.6 points per game the last five weeks. In the most recent three games, they've shut down Kyler Murray and the high-flying Arizona Cardinals offense, Patrick Mahomes and the legendary (albeit struggling) Kansas City Chiefs offense, and Wilson's Seahawks.

They haven't given up any points in the last six quarters.

Veteran linebacker De'Vondre Campbell has been a revelation, Rashan Gary and Kenny Clark have killed it as expected up front, and Jaire Alexander and Adrian Amos are forces in the secondary. Gary did suffer a scary-looking arm injury Sunday, but there's a lot of depth there with Whitney Mercilus and Preston Smith in the mix.

So while much of the focus Sunday was understandably on the return of Rodgers and Wilson, as well as the injury to Aaron Jones, the Packers defense deserves more of our attention.

It happened again. The fifth quarterback taken in the 2021 NFL Draft outplayed the first player selected. This time, Mac Jones completed all but four of 23 passes and threw three touchdown passes in a turnover-free performance for the New England Patriots' fourth consecutive win. Meanwhile, Trevor Lawrence completed just 16 of 35 passes and fumbled twice as the Jacksonville Jaguars fell to 2-7. 

It was easily the best game of Jones' career to date, but his numbers were already substantially better than Lawrence's across the board entering Week 10. He does have more support and is working under the tutelage of the most accomplished and respected coach of this era, but it's still quite shocking to see him continually perform better than a player who many saw as a generational talent.

We shouldn't write off Lawrence yet, but it's pretty discouraging that he's still thrown more interceptions (nine) than touchdown passes (eight). Lawrence might possess more natural playmaking ability than Jones, who hasn't exactly been whipping the ball down the field thus far, but the Alabama product was 3-for-4 on deep passes Sunday. Jones is on track to become a strong NFL starter, if not something special. 

I'm not sure we can say the same of Lawrence right now. 

Cincinnati Bengals rookie Ja'Marr Chase might lead the AFC in receiving yardage, but the No. 5 overall pick struggled quite a bit in the two weeks that preceded Cincinnati's Week 10 bye, and now he's suddenly got fellow first-rounder DeVonta Smith in his rear-view mirror.

The Philadelphia Eagles' No. 10 overall pick celebrated his 23rd birthday with two touchdowns in a four-catch, 66-yard performance as the Eagles crushed the Denver Broncos on the road. Smith has recorded 182 yards and three touchdowns in the last two weeks for an Eagles team with plenty of life entering the home stretch.

Smith is still 232 yards and three touchdowns behind Chase overall, but his trajectory is pretty promising compared to Chase, who seems to have hit a wall with just nine catches on 22 targets and 81 yards the last two weeks.

This might be shaping up to be a fun battle during the second half of the season.

Smith's Eagles have now scored 98 points the last three weeks, and while he and Jalen Hurts will continue to hog the headlines in Philly, we shouldn't overlook the redemption of Jordan Howard.

With Miles Sanders still out because of an ankle injury, the veteran Howard rushed for 83 yards on 12 carries Sunday after compiling 128 rushing yards and three touchdowns in the previous two weeks.

Running back shelf lives are depressingly short, and many figured the 2016 Pro Bowler was toast after carrying the ball just 35 times with the Eagles and Miami Dolphins in 2020. He was merely on Philly's practice squad until a few weeks ago, but now he's helping the Eagles stick around in the NFC wild-card picture.

Howard's not quite a Comeback Player of the Year candidate yet, but it's a nice story for now.

Howard's story isn't the only redemption case for a running back right now.

A lot of folks might see a boxscore that shows the Carolina Panthers beating the Arizona Cardinals 34-10 and fixate on the fact the Cards laid an egg without their star quarterback and No. 1 receiver, but that wouldn't be totally fair to Panthers back Christian McCaffrey, who compiled 161 scrimmage yards on 23 touches in the victory.

Injuries have been a major issue the last couple of seasons for the 2019 first-team All-Pro, and he looked rusty coming back from a hamstring injury in Week 9, so this performance was extremely promising. It was his second-highest total yardage in a game since that awesome campaign two years ago.

Can McCaffrey hold up and remain healthy? That's a critical question now because Carolina is back in the playoff picture at 5-5. The team currently holds the last wild-card spot in the NFC, but they'll need Run-CMC at his best to stand a chance down the stretch.

And while we're on blasts from the NFL's past, don't forget about James Conner. The former Pittsburgh Steeler scored his league-leading 12th touchdown Sunday for the Cardinals.

Conner's averaging fewer than four yards per carry but has become the ultimate goal-line back for a contender, which is nice to see after he failed to take off in relief of Le'Veon Bell in Pittsburgh. He might not be a No. 1 back and he might never possess top-notch rate-based numbers, but he's carved out a valuable role in Arizona.

And as a result, he's got a heck of a lot of fantasy football value as at least a bye-week replacement who is good for 6-12 points' worth of touchdowns seemingly every week. 

Expect him to play a significant role even when Chase Edmonds returns from an ankle injury. 

And then there were the new (or newish) backs who made statements Sunday in Foxborough, where D'Ernest Johnson picked up 157 yards on 26 touches in place of Nick Chubb and Kareem Hunt and Rhamondre Stevenson gained 100 yards and two touchdowns on 20 carries in place of Damien Harris. 

Johnson's been a preseason/training camp hero in the past, but the 25-year-old has had scant regular-season opportunities. Now, he's generated 140-plus scrimmage yards in two of his last four games. He's arguably the best non-starting running back in the NFL, and he might be earning himself a lot of money (he's a restricted free agent after this season). 

Stevenson's a rookie fourth-round pick who also shined this summer, was hardly a factor during the first half of the season, but picked up 62 yards on 10 carries last week before exploding Sunday. The Pats love to use a multitude of backs, so don't expect him to become a weekly force just yet, but it's easy to see a path for him to become a lead back in this league very soon. 

The Panthers rode McCaffrey, the Patriots did the same for much of the day with Stevenson, Howard was a major factor in an Eagles victory. 

Meanwhile, Jonathan Taylor was again the focal point as the Indianapolis Colts took down Jacksonville, D'Andre Swift's huge performance helped the Detroit Lions earn their first non-loss of the season, and Antonio Gibson, Dalvin Cook and AJ Dillon played critical roles as the Washington Football Team, Minnesota Vikings and Packers established plenty of balance in victories on Sunday. 

There's no doubt this has become a passing league, but most of the teams experiencing success right now are doing so with balanced attacks that feature strong running games. These things are cyclical and the league is always evolving as defenses and offenses try to outsmart each other and fall into the habit of overcompensation.  

It's possible this year's Super Bowl winner was listed here. If that's the case, it won't be all about the quarterback. 

Mike White was a revelation the last few weeks for the New York Jets, but you sometimes see that when a player in a key role comes out of nowhere and opponents don't have much tape to work with. 

Turns out, Jets No. 2 overall pick Zach Wilson has no reason to be concerned about his job when he returns from a knee injury. White entered Sunday with a strong 95.9 passer rating and completion rate of 72.7, but he threw four interceptions and completed just 24 of 44 attempts as the Jets bombed in a 45-17 Week 10 loss to the division-rival Buffalo Bills. 

The 26-year-old showed us in recent weeks that he belongs in this league, but on Sunday we were reminded why he was a fifth-round pick. He's a solid backup, but the Jets need to get Wilson back as soon as possible. 

Otherwise, it might be Joe Flacco time.