RGIII had perhaps his best game of the season Thursday night despite being repeatedly blasted by the Vikings' defense. (Keith Allison/Wikimedia Commons)

Vikings 34, Redskins 27

The Vikings really need to get Cordarrelle Patterson the ball more. He had a nice play that resulted in a touchdown where they ran him through traffic to pick his defender, and more action like that to create easy completions for Christian Ponder to one of the fastest players in the league can only be a good thing. Also, a throwback game for Kevin Williams—he looked eight years younger during his 2.5 sack performance.

RGIII took a ton of hits. But he stood in there and made some good throws. And a really nice play design to Pierre Garçon on multiple occasions where the Redskins basically ran a screen for him downfield-- his fellow receivers didn’t even look for the ball, instead blocking downfield while Garçon ran a quick slant, getting the ball in his hands quickly to take advantage of Garçon’s yards-after-catch ability. Simple, yet highly effective.

-Sunday-

Seahawks 33, Falcons 10

The Seahawks clearly made a concerted effort to get Marshawn Lynch the ball after offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell was criticized last week for getting too cute in short-yardage situations. The offensive line was down four starters again, but the backups played solidly. Seattle has a chance to have their offensive line back at full strength this week, plus Percy Harvin.

Not much to say about the Falcons. Tony Gonzalez has had an unbelievable career, but it looks like his last year as a pro will end with a whimper.

Ravens 20, Bengals 17

The Ravens’ pass rush is pretty good. If they could produce consistently on offense, they’d have a chance to let Terrell Suggs and Elvis Dumervil tee off more often. Unfortunately though, I don’t think the Ravens have what it takes on offense up front to be a serious threat out of the AFC.

Lions 21, Bears 19

The Lions’ defensive line was dominant against the Bears. Detroit's schedule for the rest of the year: Steelers, Bucs, probably Rodgers-less Packers, Eagles, Ravens, Giants, Vikings. That’s ridiculous. They will probably go 12-4 in the worst-case scenario.

Chicago’s defense still isn’t very good. Julius Peppers, once their best defensive player, is probably on his way out after this year. But they should have played Josh McCown from the start of this game— the dude has looked like a legit starting quarterback the past two weeks.

SEE MORE: NFL Quick Hits: Recapping All of Week 9

Eagles 27, Packers 13

Watching Nick Foles play is a prime example of what having confidence can do to someone’s performance.

The Packers without Aaron Rodgers are pretty bad. For context though, they aren’t nearly as bad as the 2011-12 Colts were without Peyton Manning. They could easily miss the playoffs if Rodgers sits out a few more weeks.

Marshawn Lynch was a workhorse for the Seahawks on Sunday, carrying 24 times for a season-high 145 yards. (Bailey/Wikimedia Commons)

Well then. The Rams finally stopped using Tavon Austin like a possession receiver and started getting him in position to make some plays.

Not sure what the deal is with the Colts. Andrew Luck is great, but other than that they don’t seem like much of a threat in the playoffs.

Giants 24, Raiders 20

Really sloppy game by both teams. Eli Manning has been deplorable this season and added to it with another pick-six. But there was nice interception of Terrelle Pryor by former Trojan Terrell Thomas.

The Raiders’ offensive line got abused all game long by the Giants’ front. But Oakland still managed to keep it close despite a bad game from Pryor.

Steelers 23, Bills 10

Antonio Brown continues his quietly-good season with another 100-yard game. There will be some changes in Pittsburgh this upcoming offseason, but they definitely have some young players who will be around for a long time.

What a career resurgence Bills’ outside linebacker/defensive end Jerry Hughes has had since being traded from Indianapolis. A first-round pick of the Colts in 2010 out of TCU, he now has a very respectable six sacks through the first 10 weeks of the season and is proving he is not a bust. Other than a solid defensive performance by the Bills’ front seven though, nothing much else happened on the offensive side.

Jaguars 29, Titans 27

The Jags were able to run the ball a little bit and get that key strip-sack off a corner blitz by Will Blackmon that sealed the game. This is the perfect scenario for the Jaguars: they avoid the embarrassment of being the second-ever 0-16 NFL team while staying in prime position to earn the first overall pick in the draft.

I’ve said this multiple times before, but Jurrell Casey is a monster. He’s going to get paid when his contract expires after 2014. As for the Titans as a whole: what looked like a promising and potential playoff season at the start now looks like one to be forgotten, especially with Jake Locker now out for the year. He just can’t stay healthy.

Panthers 10, 49ers 9

There is no pair of defensive linemen as capable of dominating in so many different ways as Charles Johnson and Greg Hardy are. They each play both inside and outside, and can beat up on offensive linemen with quickness, strength or speed. The Panthers are a force to be reckoned with. And Ron Rivera has bought himself some major job security over the past five weeks.

The 49ers offensive line got whipped, and Colin Kaepernick hasn’t played well either. San Francisco travels to New Orleans next week.

Rookie Tavon Austin had a breakout game on Sunday, totaling over 300 yards on just six touches. (Johnmaxmena2/Wikimedia Commons

John Abraham continued his sack streak and Carson Palmer actually played well! Hard to believe Arizona is above .500.

I understand trying to gain a quickness-advantage over slower offensive guards, but lining up the 255-pound Brooks Reed as one of your nickel interior rushers isn’t going to do much. And I don’t know how many people are aware that JJ Watt is having a crazy good season despite not putting up insane sack numbers, but he should be the top candidate for Defensive Player of the Year. Also, Case Keenum is a legit quarterback.

Broncos 28, Chargers 20

Peyton Manning was illegally sacked below the knees and his health is now in question as a result, yet there was no flag thrown on the play. There was an instance in the Seahawks vs. Falcons game where Michael Bennett sacked Matt Ryan in the same manner and was flagged for it. Consistency would be nice, NFL.

Danny Woodhead is one of my favorite players in the NFL. He just finds a way. It's too bad the Chargers’ defense is still a work in progress.

-Sunday Night-

Saints 49, Cowboys 17

Mark Ingram looked better than I ever knew he could look in the NFL. He has a short, choppy and aggressive running style that I haven’t seen him fully unleash since his days at Alabama. The Saints’ offense as a whole is simply amazing— even though Jimmy Graham had a relatively sub-par game, New Orleans still put up 49 points.

The Cowboys' defense is really bad, and when Dez Bryant and Jason Witten aren’t involved in the offense, (credit Rob Ryan and the Saints’ defense) they just can’t move the ball.

-Monday Night-

Bucs 22, Dolphins 19

Mike Glennon made some really nice throws on Monday night. The Bucs are one more edge rusher away from having a borderline-elite defense, too. Greg Schiano probably won’t be there next year, but whoever is hired will have the opportunity to follow a path similar to the 2013 Chiefs.

I still can’t believe owner Stephen Ross gave GM Jeff Ireland a contract extension three games into this season. How does that look now after going 1-5 since?

Reach Staff Writer Andrew McKagan here or follow him here.