Rebels in the Pros: Week 10 was for the deep defensive dudes

Week 10 of the NFL season was one for the ages with a balanced slate of early and late kickoffs that provided two ‘witching hours’ and a fantastic back-and-forth game on Sunday night. All but two games went in favor of the home team and the highlight came on a Hail Mary touchdown in Arizona. However, for Ole Miss alumni, things weren’t quite as explosive. The big names had slower weeks while some of the lesser-known Rebels got involved.

Here is how they fared:

Offense

• After setting the league on fire in the first 10 weeks of the season and breaking the internet in back-to-back games, D.K. Metcalf couldn’t get anything going in the Seahawks’ seven-point loss to the Rams. He was guarded by Jalen Ramsey for the entire afternoon and didn’t see a target in the first three quarters. Russell Wilson looked his way four times in the final fifteen minutes as Seattle tried to mount a comeback, but Metcalf hauled in just two catches for 28 yards.
• A.J. Brown had a an equally as sleepy day for Tennessee. The Titans were held scoreless in the second half of its loss to the Colts on Thursday night and Arthur James snagged just one ball for 21 yards. Most of Ryan Tannehill’s subpar 15 completions were short yardage flares to Corey Davis.
• On the opposite side of the ball, Jordan Wilkins was out-touched by Nyheim Hines in Indianapolis. He continues to run hard and had eight carries for 28 yards in the win.
• Of the teams who did not play well through the first portion of the season, the New York Giants found a way to win on Sunday and beat the Eagles to split the series. It was a much-improved performance and Evan Engram was included in that. He has been working on his run blocking since college and he really made an impact.

He also added two catches for 15 yards and made an incredible one-handed catch that wasn’t quite a catch. The video is nonexistent because his foot was out of bounds so no one cares, but we do and the effort was unbelievable. Eazy E went up for a jump ball on the sideline and snagged it with one hand over the defender with a full extension. You’ll have to take my word for it, but if my word isn’t good enough, it warranted a shoutout from Scott Hanson on the NFL RedZone broadcast.

• Over in Buffalo, Dawson Knox is having a hard time finding a groove. He hauled in two balls for 16 yards, but he struggled in pass protection and wasn’t overly productive in a game where he was the team’s top healthy tight end target.
• Unfortunately, it wasn’t a great day on the line either. Laremy Tunsil allowed his first sack of the year to Myles Garrett and Greg Little didn’t see a single snap.

Defense

• The highlight for all of the Ole Miss alumni came in Miami. With the Dolphins’ starting defensive tackle Christian Wilkins out, Benito Jones was signed from the practice squad and saw his first active snaps. He played really well in the middle and made a notable impact. He doesn’t make the play here, but look as he lines up over the center and almost drives him back into quarterback Justin Herbert.

Los Angeles averaged just 3.4 yards per rush and that was in big part because of the push from the Waynesboro cattle rancher. If strong play wasn’t enough, he recorded his first NFL tackle to stuff the ball carrier behind the line of scrimmage.

Wilkins is holding down the nose tackle spot for now, but Jones is going to make a difference whenever he gets a shot.

• Speaking of nose tackles, D.J. Jones continues to make a few plays each game. Those few plays, however, always come in the backfield. He had a tackle for loss on Sunday.
• Staying in San Francisco, Ken Webster had his best game of the season. He had two tackles and forced a fumble at a crucial moment in the game.

• To round out the weekend, both of the Moore twins had a positive Sunday! While A.J. didn’t make the box score, he was activated from the injured reserve list and made the active roster for the first time since the early weeks of the season. His brother C.J. recorded a tackle in the Detroit win.