Two marquee games lived up to their pre-game hype, while several others were decided in the closing seconds. Here’s what we learned in Week 10 of the 2016 NFL season:

The Seahawks Goal Line Defense Is Good, Too

The Seahawks defense kept the Patriots out of the end zone, and Seattle beat New England, 31-24, in Foxboro, Mass. on Sunday night.

The Pats failed on four tries from inside the 2-yard line with under 45 seconds to play. Tom Brady’s fourth-down pass to Rob Gronkowski fell incomplete, and it was the Seahawks turn to celebrate a win on a goal line stand, much like the Patriots did at the Super Bowl in 2015 when Malcolm Butler intercepted Russell Wilson at the goal line to secure the championship.

Sunday night’s game was an instant classic, too. There were eight lead changes before Seattle (6-2-1) wrapped up the win over New England (7-2).

Doug Baldwin caught three touchdown passes — all from Wilson — for the Seahawks. Wilson finished with 348 passing yards and no interceptions.

LeGarrette Blount ran for 69 yards and three touchdowns for the Patriots. Brady threw for 316 yards with an interception.

The Cowboys Looked Super While Beating The Steelers

Dallas Cowboys v Pittsburgh Steelers
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Ezekiel Elliott scored three touchdowns, including two in the final two minutes of the game, as the Dallas Cowboys edged out the Pittsburgh Steelers, 35-30, on Sunday.

Dallas (8-1) roared back from a one-point deficit twice in the fourth quarter, including falling behind 30-29 after Ben Roethlisberger’s fake spike and TD pass to Antonio Brown put Pittsburgh (4-5) up with 42 seconds left.

Rookie quarterback Dak Prescott marched the Cowboys down the field, and Elliott, who ran for 114 yards and caught an 83-yard TD pass in the game, secured the win with a 32-yard dash with just seconds to play.

Prescott threw for 319 yards and two scores for Dallas. Dez Bryant had six catches for 116 yards and a 50-yard touchdown.

Roethlisberger passed for 408 yards and three touchdowns for the Steelers. Brown caught 14 passes for 154 yards and a score.

The Packers & Vikings Gave Away The NFC North Lead

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The Detroit Lions were the big winners in the NFC North on Sunday. That’s because they didn’t play — and all the other teams in the division lost. Thanks to the trio of losses, Detroit (5-4) is now in a tie with the Vikings for the division lead.

Marcus Mariota passed for 295 yards and four touchdowns, and the Tennessee Titans smacked down the Green Bay Packers, 47-25, on Sunday. Tennessee (5-5) scored 35 points in the first half on the way to embarrassing Green Bay (4-5).

DeMarco Murray ran for 123 yards and a score, and he also threw a touchdown pass for the Titans. The Packers played spotty defense, committed three turnovers and allowed Aaron Rodgers to be sacked five times. They do not look like contenders.

Rodgers threw for 371 yards and two touchdowns, with two interceptions.

Meanwhile, in Landover, Maryland on Sunday, Kirk Cousins threw for two touchdowns and the Washington Redskins beat the Minnesota Vikings, 26-20. Minnesota (5-4) failed to score in the second half and suffered their fourth consecutive loss.

Preston Smith had two sacks and a key fourth-quarter interception for Washington (5-3-1). Cousins finished with 262 yards passing. Bradford completed 31 of 39 passes for 307 yards and two touchdowns, but it wasn’t enough to keep the Vikings from falling into a tie for the NFC North lead with the idle Lions.

The hapless Bears, of course, were pulverized by the Buccaneers, 36-10.

The Chiefs & Broncos Both Got Really Lucky

Kansas City Chiefs v Carolina Panthers
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Cairo Santos kicked a 37-yard field goal as time expired, and the Kansas City Chiefs rallied past the Carolina Panthers, 20-17, on Sunday. Kansas City (7-2) scored 17 points in the fourth quarter, capitalizing on two late turnovers by Carolina (3-6), which led 17-3 heading into the final period.

Chiefs safety Eric Berry returned a Cam Newton interception 42 yards for a touchdown, and cornerback Marcus Peters stripped Kelvin Benjamin with 20 seconds left to set up Santos’ game-winning kick.

Newton threw for 261 yards and a touchdown for the Panthers. In the first half, he became the first player in NFL history to pass for 20,000 yards and rush for 3,000 yards in his first six seasons. He also used his signature ‘dab’ TD celebration — which he made famous during Carolina’s 2015 Super Bowl run — but he was unable to make these Panthers win like they did so often last season.

Will Parks returned a blocked extra point 84 yards for a 2-point conversion, and the Denver Broncos beat the New Orleans Saints, 25-23, on Sunday. Justin Simmons blocked the PAT for Denver (7-3), which nearly blew the lead, but then survived to claim the win.

Just prior to the pivotal block, Drew Brees threw a 32-yard touchdown pass to Brandin Cooks, who made a spectacular catch in the end zone. Wil Lutz's extra point should have given New Orleans a 24-23 lead with 1:28 left, but Simmons' block changed the game.

Brees completed 21 of 29 passes for 303 yards and three touchdowns, with two interceptions for the Saints.

Trevor Siemian had 258 yards passing, with two touchdowns and two interceptions for the Broncos.

The late wins by both Kansas City and Denver kept the pressure on idle Oakland in what is a three-way heavyweight fight for the AFC West title.

Other Scores

Thursday, Nov. 10
Baltimore 28, Cleveland 7

Sunday, November 13
Philadelphia 24, Atlanta 15
Tampa Bay 36, Chicago 10
Los Angeles 9, N.Y. Jets 6
Houston 24, Jacksonville 21
Arizona 23, San Francisco 20
Miami 31, San Diego 24

Bye Week
Buffalo, Detroit, Indianapolis, Oakland

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