Week 11 of the NFL season has come and gone, and for the most part it was pretty blah. But, we do have the Thursday night game that was pretty explosive. So, I'm going to get right into my takes for week 11, but I am going to save the Thursday night game for last. That needs to be talked about a little bit longer than my usual week takes.
So, getting right into the early games, the Jets played Washington, and this game just further proved that both teams are not good. Yes, the Jets won, and are currently on a 2 game win streak, and have Jamal Adams, but that is it. Also, all this winning from them is going to entice them to keep Adam Gase, and man would that be disappointing. As for Washington, they are the most moribund franchise in the NFL, and maybe in all of pro sports. They have no coach, a terrible GM, have made awful front office decisions, lied to a player who had cancer and are going absolutely nowhere. Washington is awful in every possible way.
The Colts got a much needed win over the Jags. Jacoby Brissett was back, and the offense needed that, but they absolutely shut down the Jags offense. They couldn't do a damn thing. Nick Foles was back, and threw for a good amount of yards. But what he didn't throw for was TD's. Also, Marlon Mack was great out of the backfield for the Colts, but he did get hurt. I don't think it is major, but they need him if they want to make a playoff push. This was a big win for Indianapolis. The Bills easily handled the Dolphins, ending their 2 game win streak. Miami looked like the tanking team they set out to be this season, letting Ryan Fitzpatrick throw the ball almost 50 times. Their defense also made Josh Allen look like an All Pro. He is not, but he looked good on Sunday, both throwing and running the ball. Their defense also looked as good as advertised. Yes, it is Miami, but this is what Buffalo needed after getting beat by the Browns last week.
The Cowboys beat the undermanned Lions. Dak Prescott was incredible in this game too. He made all the throws, he made the reads and he is proving that he is going to get paid, by someone, this offseason. He has been solid all season. The Lions are playing with a left hand because Matthew Stafford is out, and he is going to miss a good amount of time. That is a bummer because this team was fun, and competitive when they had Stafford under center. This win keeps the Cowboys atop their division, but outside of Prescott, I feel like they are a very, very flawed team.
The Ravens further proved they are a legit contender, and that Lamar Jackson is the front runner for MVP. Every week he does something else amazing, and it leaves me in awe. He is so good, and the team around him fits perfectly. He is awesome. The Texans, well they had zero answers for Jackson. Deshaun Watson was under duress, the refs blew a horrible no pass interference call early in the game that really changed the start of the game and they just crumbled from there. The Texans are a fine team, but they acted like a title contender before the season started. They look like a first round out, at best, right now.
The Falcons, stunningly, won another game where their defense was amazing. They attacked Kyle Allen all game, they picked him off 4 times and they stalled Christian McCaffery enough to really dominate the Panthers. I feel like the whole honeymoon phase with Kyle Allen is coming to an end. But lets get back to the Falcons for a second. That defense is suddenly one of the most formidable in the league. They are attacking and covering and just playing correctly. It is a sight to behold. They could end up winning 6 or 7 games, which I thought was a no way when they were 1-7.
Speaking of the Falcons, the Saints rebounded from being beat by them to easily dispatch the Bucs. Drew Brees looked like himself, Michael Thomas was great and Alvin Kamara gave the defense headaches. The Saints also picked off Jameis Winston 4 times, and totally stymied the Bucs offense. The Bucs are a mess, and Bruce Arians definitely has his hands full right now. The Saints did what they needed to do, and it helps that it was a divisional win.
The Vikings came back from a 20 point halftime deficit to beat the Broncos. Denver looked in control the whole first half, and I assumed they would roll. But, the Vikings woke up, scored on every second half possession and eeked out a win. This is the type of game that you would expect that they should win, just not in this fashion. It shows that they have the superior talent to Denver, and when they have their backs against the wall, they showed they are up to the task. It is a game like this that worries me when they have to play the Packers again.
The 49ers rebounded from last week, but it took all they had to beat the Cardinals. Jimmy Garroppolo did throw for 4 TD's, but he had 2 awful picks, and made some confounding throws. The Cardinals shouldn't have won this game, and they didn't, but damn is Kyler Murray good. He made a ton of great throws, ran the ball super well and looks like he is in total control of that offense. If/when they get some real players around him, this team could be very good.
The Patriots beat the Eagles in a Super Bowl 51 rematch, but it was not the offensive explosion we saw the first time. This was a defensive battle through and through. Both offenses struggled to move the ball and looked discombobulated. The Patriots made more plays, and made the bigger plays when they needed to. The Eagles are wildly inconsistent. One week they look good, the next, they can't do a thing. As for the Patriots, they have a really good defense and a very average offense. I have said that I thought they would come around, but we are already in week 12, and they have not looked the part all season. That could be their undoing in the playoffs.
The Sunday night game was an absolute slog. The Rams beat the Bears, but it was a total mess. Jared Goff has not looked the part of franchise QB and their defense, while stopping Chicago, hasn't been great. I will say that Todd Gurley looked like himself, and that is an encouraging sign for the rest of the season. The Bears, boy oh boy are they in trouble. Mitch Trubisky is playing scared. He doesn't want to get hit, he is making bad throws and now there is conflicting stories of why he got pulled late in the game. As for the guy that pulled him. Matt Nagy, he is running a gimmicky offense that the NFL has easily figured out. I feel like I say this every week, but they are wasting a once in a generation defense. That is a shame. This team is one QB away from being a legit contender, but it may be too late.
The Monday night game, played in Mexico City, was fun, but kind of empty. The Chiefs won. Patrick Mahomes looked pretty good, almost like he is fully back from injury. And their defense finally played good enough to win. The Chargers slept walked their way to getting beat again. Phillip Rivers is washed. They need some better O lineman. Keenan Allen is the only good receiver they have and Melvin Gordon clearly wants out. The Chargers season last year seems like a total mirage now. They are going nowhere fast.
Now for the Thursday night game.
The game itself wasn't any good. The Browns won 21-7, getting their second straight win, and staying in the playoff picture. And the Steelers dropped to 5-5, and are looking like they don't have a clue on offense. But, what happened near the end of this game was something I haven't seen in a long, long time. This was Malice at the Palace type stuff, except it didn't involve any fans. Near the end of the game a fight broke out between Steelers QB and O lineman Mason Rudolph and Maurkice Pouncey and Browns defensive end Myles Garrett. The scuffle got so bad that Garrett removed Rudolph's helmet and swung it at his head, twice. I was stunned. I didn't know what to think at first. I do not like either of these teams, but I do like Myles Garrett. And he seems like such a quiet, even keeled dude. But this is something that you can never, ever do to anyone else. I need to say that. What Myles Garrett did was wrong, and dangerous. He has since apologized and has appealed his suspension. Then, as I looked further and further into the whole scenario, and checked on some background of the players involved, I kind of tweaked my thoughts. As you all know, I am a died in wool liberal democrat. While doing some research on Rudolph, I found out that he is a hard core conservative, and counts that dip shit Tami Lauren, I truly don't care if her name is misspelled, as a close friend. So I then thought, what did he say. What could he have done to, maybe, provoke Garrett. I have played sports my whole life, and I get heated, I talk shit and I go at it. But, I have never been so angry that I wanted to harm or hurt someone. But I remembered back to when Marcus Smart was playing college basketball at Oklahoma State, and he went after a fan. It was very quickly found out that this fan was calling him racial epitaphs. I then had zero problem with him protecting himself against someone that would say some heinous stuff like that. So, how do we know that Rudolph wasn't doing the very same thing. It is clear he has a history of liking and connecting with people that have this same behavior. And in his post game presser, he acted so holier than thou. He called Garrett "classless", and acted like he was going to pursue legal actions. That is white privilege at its best. So, I am in a very, very gray area. As I said, what Garrett did was totally off base, and he should be suspended for some amount of time. But, we may never know what, if anything, Rudolph said to Garrett to provoke him. It could be heinous. It could be nothing. We may never know, and that is the craziest part.
Come back next week for my week 12 thoughts.
Ty
Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. Thanks to Kirk Cousins second half performance, the Head Editor is still undefeated in fantasy football. HOW DO YOU LIKE THAT TY!!!
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