Sports

It's not often that a coach is happy to see his quarterback throw interceptions. But Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel said after Sunday's game that he was happy with both of the interceptions thrown by Tua Tagovailoa.

That's because both of them were deep balls on third-and-long that served as arm punts: Interceptions that were better for the offense than throwing an incompletion and then punting on fourth down.

Tagovailoa's first interception came on third-and-11. The pass was picked off 41 yards downfield, and the Bills didn't gain any yardage on the return. So it was the same as an incompletion followed by a punt with a net of 41 yards.

Tagovailoa's second interception came on third-and-9. The pass was picked off 43 yards downfield, and the Bills actually lost 11 yards from there thanks to a penalty on the return. So it was the same as an incompletion followed by a punt with a net of 54 yards.

Effectively, Tagovailoa's two interceptions were two arm punts with a net average of 47.5 yards. Across the NFL, the average punt nets 40.9 yards. So Tagovailoa's interceptions were both actually better than an average punt.

McDaniel explained after the game why he liked seeing that.

"I was actually really pumped. I told Tua on some third down calls to let it rip down the field and operate it as an opportunity ball to act as a punt," McDaniel said.

Both interceptions did act as punts, pinning the Bills in their own territory on a day when the Dolphins controlled the game and pulled off a big upset.

Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford is on an unprecedented roll right now.

Stafford became the first quarterback since the merger to throw four touchdowns and no interceptions in three straight games during Sunday's 42-26 win over the 49ers. He's also the first Rams quarterback to throw for at least four touchdowns in three straight games and keeping Stafford in the zone is the No. 1 thing on wide receiver Puka Nacua's mind heading into Week 11.

"When you’re on a heater, you just don't touch whatever he's doing," Nacua said, via the team's website. "I'm like, 'You could do whatever. You could walk on water right now.'"

One of Sunday's touchdown passes was the 400th of Stafford's career, so it's not new to see him playing at a high level. This particular level is new, though, and reaching it is sparking a lot of thoughts about the Rams' chances of making a run at a second Super Bowl with Stafford running the show.

After starting the season with a multitude of injuries and a 1-5 record, the Baltimore Ravens appear destined to win their division.

The Ravens are on a three-game winning streak and have improved their record to 4-5, and are now the heavy favorites to win the AFC North, with -290 odds at DraftKings.

Baltimore is still a game behind Pittsburgh in the AFC North standings, but there's not a lot of optimism that the Steelers can remain in first place. The 5-4 Steelers' odds to win the division are +260.

The other two teams in the AFC North are non-factors in the division race; the 3-6 Bengals are at +2800 and the 2-7 Browns are at a whopping +20000.

The Ravens' next three games are against teams with losing records -- the Browns, Jets and Bengals -- so it's easy to see them being on a six-game winning streak when they face the Steelers on December 7. A month from now, the Ravens may have the division all but wrapped up. Not many people would have expected that when they were 1-5.