NFL Week 11 Review

NFL 2019-20 Week 11 Review              

In the AFC, barring some really unlikely scenarios, it will be the Patriots and the Ravens as the top two seeds. Yes, this can be said with a fair degree of confidence, as both teams just keep rolling, while no other AFC teams look anywhere near as good or consistent. New England is 9-1, and Baltimore is 8-2. The only other AFC team within a game of either is Buffalo, who beat Miami to improve to 7-3, but they are two behind New England, and lost at home earlier this season to the Pats.  

The NFC playoff picture still feels a little less certain. San Francisco improved to 9-1, recovering from their only loss of the season, but the Seahawks, who had a bye, are only one game behind, and beat them in the first meeting. Los Angeles remains in the playoff picture, but are likely out of the race for the NFC West title,  

Meanwhile, the Saints returned to their winning ways, dominating the Bucs in Tampa, and tying the Packers for the second spot in the NFC right now, even though Green Bay had a bye. The Vikings are right on the heels of the Pack after pulling off an impressive come from behind win against Denver.  

And then, in the NFC East, the race remains too close to call. The Cowboys won in Detroit, as expected, while Philly lost to New England. Still, they are only one game behind Dallas, so it still is very much anybody’s division to win between the two.  

N.Y. Jets 34, Washington 17 – The score looks like a convincing enough win for the Jets, but it actually was not even as close as this final score suggest. Gang Green completely dominated in the nation’s capital yesterday, and took a 34-3 lead in the final quarter, before allowing a couple of garbage time touchdowns that made the score look a bit more respectable and close. In reality, though, the Jets dominated almost every facet of this game from beginning to end. Sam Darnold enjoyed another solid day following a great game against the Giants last weekend. This time, he completed 19 of 30 passes for 293 yards and four touchdowns, with just one INT. Ryan Griffin hauled in five of those passes for 109 yards and one touchdown. La’Veon Bell added 59 yards and one touchdown on 18 carries for the Jets. In a losing cause, Dwayne Haskins completed 19 of 35 for 214 yards, with two touchdowns and one INT. The Jets defense clamped down on the running game, holding Adrian Peterson to a pedestrian 25 yards on nine carries. Another solid win for Gang Green, as they improve to 3-7 on the season, while Washington falls to 1-9. My pick: Accurate  

Buffalo 37, Miami 20 – The Bills made sure to end the Dolphins winning streak at two, before they could get too hot. Yes, Buffalo used their tough defense to grind the Dolphins down, jumping out to a 16-0 lead before Miami made a run to get back into the game. But the Bills were able to beat them back, and dominated at key times when they needed it the most, earning another important divisional game and improving to 7-3 on the year. Bills quarterback Josh Allen enjoyed a solid day, completing 21 of 33 passes for 256 yards and three touchdowns. His favorite target was John Brown, who caught nine passes for 137 yards and two touchdowns. Devin Singletary added 75 yards and on 15 carries on the ground. The Bills had 424 yards of offense in this one overall. For Miami, Ryan Fitzpatrick completed 32 of 45 passes for 323 yards. DeVante Parker was his favorite target, grabbing seven receptions for 135 yards. Buffalo is closing in on a playoff spot, while the Dolphins fall to 2-8 on the year. My pick: Accurate  

Baltimore 41,  Houston 7 – Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson is playing some incredible football, week in and week out, and helping his team look really, really dominant. Indeed, if there is someone who might seriously threaten the Patriots longstanding dominance in the AFC, it might just be this Baltimore team. 491 yards of total offense, and held onto the ball for over 36 minutes. Quarterback Lamar Jackson was, of course, a huge part of that, completing 17 of 24 passes for 222 yards and four touchdowns, while also adding 86 yards in rushing. Jackson is one of the frontrunners to earn the MVP award at the end of this season. Gus Edwards led Baltimore in rushing, however, picking up 112 yards and a touchdown on just eight carries. Houston’s Deshaun Watson has had better days. He completed 18 of 29 passes for 169 yards, with one INT on a day when the Texans could not seem to do anything right. This was supposed to be a big battle between the teams who went in currently holding the number two and number three seeds in the AFC, but the Texans were simply overwhelmed against the Ravens, who have looked absolutely dominant as of late. The Ravens improve to 8-2 on the year, while Houston falls to 6-4. My pick: Accurate  

Atlanta 29 – Carolina 3 – What the hell has gotten into the Falcons suddenly? If they were playing like this from the get go this season, they probably would be serious playoff contenders by this point. Just one week after dominating the Saints in New Orleans, the Falcons overwhelmed the Panthers in Carolina, holding the Panthers to a mere field goal total in offense, and that only coming in the final quarter, when the outcome really was no longer in doubt. Statistically, these two teams were more or less even in most categories, although the Falcons clearly benefitted from four Carolina turnovers, while not committing any themselves. Atlanta QB Matt Ryan completed 21 of 31 passes for 311 yards and one touchdown. Calvin Ridley had eight receptions for 143 yards and one touchdown, helping the Falcons enormously. Carolina’s Kyle Allen completed 31 of 50 passes for 325 yards and four INT’s  Receiver Christian McCaffrey enjoyed a great game statistically with 11 receptions for 121 yards. Atlanta improves to 3-7 on the year, while the Panthers fall to 5-5. My prediction: Inaccurate

Dallas 35, Detroit 27 – Entering this game, you kind of figured that the Cowboys should win. After all, they have a much better record, and are in the think of the playoff race. In fact, this win, coupled with that loss by Philadelphia, meant that the ‘Boys are now alone in first place in the NFC East, at least for now. Meanwhile, the Lions seem to be in free fall. They might have had better luck, particularly if a couple of critical controversial calls had not gone against them in Green Bay’s Lambeau Field, and effectively robbed them of what appeared to be a win. But since then, the Lions have basically collapsed, and they are back to being the typical Detroit Lions of old, the team that is well out of the playoff race by the time that they host a nationally televised game on Thanksgiving. So yeah, you kind of had to figure that Dallas would find a way to win, and they did. And they did, producing over 500 yards of offense in the process. Dak Prescott had a solid day, completing 29 of 46 passes for 444 yards and three touchdowns. Michael Gallup had a great day with nine catches for 148 yards. Ezekiel Elliott picked up 45 yards and one touchdown on 16 carries, and he did that strange dance that QB Prescott was caught doing before the cameras last weekend before that game in celebration of his touchdown. In a losing cause for Detroit, Jeff0 Driskel completed 15 of 26 passes for 209 0yards0000000 and tw0o0 to00uchdowns. Danny Amendola cau0ght four passes for 47 yards. With the win, Dallas improves to 6-4, and sit atop the NFC East standings. Detroit, meanwhile, drops to 3-6-1, and already well out of the playoff picture in what once seemed a promising season. My prediction: Accurate 
           


Indianapolis 33, Jacksonville 13 – The Jaguars had an opportunity to get seriously back into the AFC South race with a win, but the Colts proved to be a bit too much for them on this day. With the win, the Colts improve to 6-4, and are once again tied with the Houston Texans for first place in the AFC South. The Jaguars, meanwhile, drop to 4-6, and were dealt a critical blow that likely ends whatever slim playoff hopes they had prior to this game. They got off to a good start, scoring an early touchdown, but they allowed the Colts 31 straight points to put this game out of reach. Jacoby Brissett completed 15 of 24 passes for 148 yards, with one TD and one INT. Jonathan Williams had 13 of those catches for 116 yards. In his return for the Jaguars, former Super Bowl MVP Nick Foles completed 33 of 47 passes for 296 yards and two touchdowns, with one interception. DJ Chark Jr. had a monster day for Jax, with eight receptions for 104 yards and two touchdowns. But the Jaguars running game was ground to a halt, as Leonard Fournette was held to just 23 yards on eight carries. My prediction: Accurate             



New Orleans 34, Tampa Bay 17 – The Saints quickly put whatever issues they had in the Falcons game behind them by earning a solid road win in Tampa Bay. New Orleans hung onto the ball for exactly 37 minutes, while also capitalizing from four Tampa turnovers that doomed the Bucs on this day. Drew Brees was back in form, completing 28 of 35 passes for 228 yards and three touchdowns. Michael Thomas had eight catches for 114 yards and a touchdown. Alvin Kamara added 75 yards on 13 carries. Jameis Winston  completed 30 of 51 passes for 313 yards, with two TD’s, but a very costly four INT’s. Winston also led Tampa in ruchsing with just 23 yards on two carries. Cameron Brate had 10 catches for 73 0yards. With the win, the Saints improve to 8-2, and remain very comfortably ahead in the NFC South race. Meanwhile, Tampa Bay falls to 3-7, and are now tied with Atlanta for last place in the division. My pick: Accurate

New England 17, Philadelphia 10 – For the first time in his career, Tom Brady played an entire game and had another member of his team throw more touchdown passes than he did. Yes, Julius Edelman threw the only touchdown pass for the Pats today, helping to lift New England over Philadelphia in a rematch of Super Bowl LII yesterday in the City of Brotherly Love. Brady did not have a bad day overall, completing 26 of 47 for 216 yards. His favorite target was Julius Edelman, which is no really big surprise. Edelman caught five passes for 53 yards. The ground game was largely ineffective for New England, with Sony Michel picking up only 33 yards on 10 tries. In a losing cause for the Eagles, Carson Wentz completed 20 of 40 for 214 yards, with one touchdown. His favorite target was Zach Ertz, who caught nine passes and picked up 94 yards. The ground game was not especially strong for either team on this day, although the Pats defense proved especially tough. The Pats win and get a bit of a measure of revenge for the loss in the big game two seasons ago, as they improve to 9-1. The Eagles, meanwhile, fall to 5-5 on the year, and once again fall behind Dallas in the NFC East race. My pick: Inaccurate 

Oakland 17, Cincinnati 10 – There is a guy somewhere out in southern Ohio who promised not to come down from his roof until the Bengals actually won a game. Well, the Bengals played well out in Oakland, and came fairly close to a win, but he is still up there, and the weather is growing colder. Also, the opportunities for them to earn a win are growing shorter, although my own guess is that they will eventually do it at some point this season. Not sure who they will beat, but it was not the Raiders, who did just enough to pull off the win in this one, particularly with their two touchdowns in the second quarter. Derek Carr completed 25 if 29 passes for 292 yards, with one touchdown and one interception. Tyrell Williams caught four of those passes for 82 yards. Josh Jacobs added 117 yards on 23 carries. In a losing cause for the Bengals, Ryan Finley completed 13 of 31 passes for 115 yards, with one interception.  Running back Joe Mixon picked up 86 yards and a touchdown on 15 carries. Oakland controlled the ball for most of the game, for over 35 minutes, keeping the Bengals to under 25 minutes of possession time. With the win, the Raiders briefly moved into a first place tie with Kansas City in the AFC West, although their win on Monday Night in Mexico City put the Chiefs in sole possession of first place. As for the Bengals, they matched their worst start in franchise history by falling to 0-10. My pick: Accurate      



San Francisco 36, Arizona 26 – For a little while, it looked like Arizona might hand San Fran their second straight defeat when they jumped out to a 16-0 second quarter lead. But the 49ers remained composed and ultimately battled back and got back into it, responding very nicely. They eventually made a game of it and, in time, took over the game. Jimmy Garoppolo had a very good day, completing 34 of 45 passes for 424 yards and four touchdowns, although he also did have two INT’s. Deebo Samuel was his favorite target, with 134 yards picked up on eight catches. However, San Fran’s running game ground to a halt, as the team picked up a total of 34 yards on the ground, with Tevin Coleman leading all 49ers runners with just 14 yards picked up on 12 carries. Even though his team fell short, young Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray completed 24 of 33 passes for 150 yards and two touchdowns. He also led the Cards in rushing with 67 yards and a touchdown on eight carries. With the win, the Niners improve to 9-1, and remain the frontrunners for now in both the NFC West, and more generally, the NFC as a whole. The Cardinals fall to 3-7-1 on the year. My pick: Inaccurate



L.A. Rams 17, Chicago 7 – Last year, the Rams looked like one of the hottest teams in the league until they went to frigid Chicago and were physically beat down by the Bears. The rematch this season was in the much warmer climes of Los Angeles, and this benefitted the Rams enormously. They still did not look fantastic against a tough Chicago defense, but they managed to do enough to get the job done. Rams quarterback Jared Goff completed 11 of 18 passes for 173 yards, with one INT. Todd Gurley II picked up 97 yards and one touchdown on 25 carries. In a losing cause for the Bears, Mitch Trubisky completed 24 of 43 passes for 190 yards, with one touchdown and one INT. The Rams improve to 6-4 on the year, and remain relevant in the playoff picture, although they remain well behind both San Francisco and Seattle in the NFC West race. As for the Bears, they fall to 4-6, and barring some kind of miracle, they will not be anywhere near the playoffs this year. My pick: Accurate