NFL Week 11 Recap
Culture Glaze Recaps Week 11 in the NFL!
This One Goes To 11
Like in past weeks, there were winners and there were losers in Week 11 of the NFL season. Some were predictable (Chargers over the Raiders) but there were plenty of surprises (Rams over the Broncos is just one example). Some players reminded us how they led their teams to the Superbowl (Aaron Rodgers), some made us question how they ever got to the Superbowl and won (Eli Manning), and others looked like they could be the catalyst to a future Superbowl win (Jonas Gray).
Thursday Night
Buffalo Bills 9 — Miami Dolphins 22
Thursday Night Football featured a match up between two Top 10 defenses in the Buffalo Bills and the Miami Dolphins. While these two teams may be tough to score against, they don’t do to much scoring themselves. The Bills rank dead last in red zone efficiency, converting at a rate of only 41.18% of the time; the Dolphins aren’t much better, 3rd from last at a 46.51% rate. So it really didn’t surprise anyone that, halfway through the 3rd quarter, Buffalo led Miami 3 field goals to 1. But at the end of the 3rd, Ryan Tannehill led Miami’s offense on an 80 yard drive and put up the first non-field goal points of the game with a 7-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Brandon Gibson. On the Bills’ next drive, Miami’s defense went to work. Starting at their own 20, the Bills all of a sudden found themselves at their own 6-yard line after an offensive holding penalty and pass for lost yards. The Dolphins then pushed right through the Bills’ offensive line and started to collapse around Kyle Orton, forcing him to launch the ball forward–but according to the refs, no wide outs were in the area, resulting in a safety. The Dolphins went on to score another touchdown and field goal in the 4th quarter to put the game away, but it was all about the Dolphins defense in this Thursday night game. They held Buffalo to under 250 yards and kept them from moving the ball downfield. Thanks to guys like Brent Grimes, Jamar Taylor, and Cameron Wake, Miami moved past Buffalo for sole possession of 2nd place in the AFC East.
Sunday Games
Minnesota Vikings 13 — Chicago Bears 21
After the first quarter of Sunday’s game, the Chicago Bears had been outscored 104–7 in the first half of their previous 4 games, including this one. Things were looking to be par for the course as the defense had given up scores to Minnesota on their first two possessions of the game: a 50-yard field goal by Blair Walsh and then a 7-yard pass from Teddy Bridgewater to Rhett Ellison, which was set up by a beautiful fake punt that saw back-up safety Andrew Sendejo run for 48 yards. Over the past month, a play like that would have demoralized the Bears, and they wouldn’t have been able to bounce back from it. But the Bears showed some resilience and scored two times in the 2nd quarter thanks to great Jay Cutler passes and even greater catches by Alshon Jeffery and Brandon Marshall. The Bears’ 2nd quarter offense is what Bears fans expected to take the field every game in the beginning of the season. The rest of the game wasn’t as pretty, with Cutler throwing 2 interceptions and some bad clock management by Bears head coach Marc Trestman, but the play of Jeffery, Marshall, and running back Matt Forte on the offensive side and the Bears defense keeping the Vikings from any long drives, and also kept the Bears from last place in the NFC North. Cutler has gotten a lot of flack for his play over the last four games, and while he wasn’t perfect in this one, he showed a lot of improvement. He moved up in the pocket to keep from getting sacked for losses and connected with Jefferey and many others for 3rd down conversions. The Vikings’ defense couldn’t stop the Bears from moving the ball, so they will have their hands full with the high-scoring Green Bay Packers next week. While the team will be focused on coming up with a game plan to keep from failing against another NFC North rival, they’ll also be dealing with the fallout of Commissioner Roger Goodell banning Running Back Adrian Peterson for the rest of the season. Peterson hasn’t played since week 1 due to child abuse charges filed against him.
Houston Texans 23 — Cleveland Browns 7
The Cleveland Browns finally came back down to earth after winning 5 of their last 6 games thanks to J.J. Watt and the Houston Texans. Watt did it on both ends of the ball: 5 tackles, 1 sack, and 1 fumble recovery on the defensive side where he always shines and catching a 2-yard pass from Ryan Mallet, his fourth touchdown of the year. Mallet replaced struggling Ryan Fitzpatrick on November 5th, and this was his first chance to prove to coach Bill O’Brien that he made the right choice. He went 20/30 for 211 yards with two touchdowns and just one interception. Watt is making his case for MVP with some spectacular play this year. There was never any question that he outranks players on the defensive side of the ball, but the Texans are trying to show just how versatile he is by including him on goal yard packages. It has paid off. If Watt’s play can help get the Texans above .500, could he be the first defensive player to win the NFL MVP since Lawrence Taylor did it in 1986?
Seattle Seahawks 20 — Kansas City Chiefs 24
Over the last 3 weeks the Seattle Seahawks seemed to have righted their wrongs and were playing at the level that helped them win the Superbowl last year. They seemed to move the ball better than earlier in the year, and while the defense wasn’t acting like the “Legion of Boom” they still did enough to squash other teams from coming back and disrupting offenses. But this week they didn’t have an answer for Jamaal Charles, who ran for 159 yards and made it into the end zone twice. Seattle running back Marshawn Lynch also had a good game on the ground for 124 yards rushing, but when they needed him the most, Lynch couldn’t break past the Chiefs’ defensive line. On a 3rd down late in the 3rd quarter on the Chiefs’ 4-yard line, they held Lynch to just a two yard gain, and the Seahawks didn’t go to him again on 4th down, instead missing on a pass play into the end zone. Later on during another 4th down play, Lynch was stuffed again, not able to get the one yard they needed. Lynch, who has been frustrated all year, left the locker room without speaking to reporters. If he had stuck around, they probably would have asked him why he didn’t join the rest of his teammates in the locker room during half time. Instead of going back, Lynch spent the 12-minute break on the sidelines being stretched by team physicians. The Seahawks are a talented team, but they lack wide receivers for Russell Wilson to throw to. So a lot of weight falls onto the shoulders of Lynch, but this type of attitude has many questioning whether he’s truly giving his all. This was the Chiefs’ 5th win in a row (7th in their last 8), and, after a shocking Broncos loss, it moved them into a tie for first place in the AFC West. The Chiefs won’t wow you with passes through the air, but Alex Smith will protect the ball and be enough of a threat, along with Dwayne Bowe and Travis Kelce, to keep defenses honest. With their solid play, it allows the offensive line to open up holes for Charles, who ranks 4th in the AFC in rushing yards (9th overall in the NFL). The Defense, led by linebacker Josh Mauga and safety Ron Parker, is number 1 against the pass but struggling against the run. But they stopped four of the Seahawks’ 4th down attempts, so if they can come up big in moments like this, they may just continue to see themselves atop the standings.
Atlanta Falcons 19 — Carolina Panthers 17
The Atlanta Falcons have not been a good team this year. They’ve struggled to stay competitive in games and went on a five game losing streak earlier this season. But they now have their first winning streak of the season as they beat the Carolina Panthers on the road, 19–17, and somehow are tied for first place with the New Orleans Saints at 4–6! The Falcons built a 16–3 lead as they headed into the 4th quarter, thanks in large part to the leg of Matt Bryant (3 field goals), the hands of Roddy White (75 yards and 1 touchdown), and a defense pulling out all the stops. This was a must-win game. But the Panthers came roaring back in the 4th, and Cam Newton led his team to back-to-back scoring drives (with a 47-yard pass to Philly Brown being the highlight of that second drive), giving the Panthers the 17–16 lead. But the lead would not last long, as Atlanta got the ball back and Matt Ryan led his team down the field to the Carolina 26, which resulted in a 44-yard field goal from hero-of-the-day Matt Ryan. Atlanta whittled down the clock during that drive and gave the Panthers just two minutes to try to score again. Working with a somewhat short field, the Panthers fought into Falcons territory and set themselves up for their own field goal attempt to take back the lead, this time a 46-yarder. But the attempt by Graham Gano was wide left, and the Panthers’ defense had to head back on to the field. The Panthers got the ball back one more time with 22 seconds left on the clock and ended up lining themselves up for a 63-yard attempt, but the last-ditch effort was blocked by defensive end Ra’Shede Hageman. The Panthers fall to 3–7–1, but are somehow still in the division race, just behind Atlanta and New Orleans. The Panthers head into a bye week as they try to solve a now 5-game losing streak before they head out to face the Vikings in Week 13, while Atlanta hopes to continue their “winning” ways against the Browns next week at home.
Cincinnati Bengals 27 — New Orleans Saints 10
In one of my fantasy football leagues, I had the Bengals’ defense and Drew Brees of the New Orleans Saints as my QB. The Bengals had helped me out when my other defense (the Atlanta Falcons) were on their bye a couple weeks ago, so I had to think on who to put in on this one. I thought, “Wait a minute. They are facing former MVP and Superbowl champ Drew Brees at HOME! They hardly ever lose there (except for last week). I’d be a fool to think they could contain Brees.” So I started the Falcons (who played admirably against the Panthers), but I easily could have started the Bengals, as they did exactly what I thought they couldn’t do: contain the Saints and their offense at home. They limited the Saints to 330 yards of offense, forced and recovered a fumble, and kept the Saints out of the end zone until the 4th quarter. But the story of the night was Bengals QB Andy Dalton in what was a Tale of Two Quarterbacks over the last two weeks. Dalton had one of the worst games of his career last week in a Thursday Night loss to the Cleveland Browns. But against the Saints, he completed 73% of his passes (16–22) and threw three touchdowns, two to tight end Jermaine Gresham and one to wide receiver AJ Green (who led all receivers with 127 yards). New Orleans fell 4–6 but are still tied with the Atlanta Falcons for first in the NFC South. The Bengals move into first place in the AFC North as they are 6–3–1. But the other division teams (Browns, Pittsburgh Steelers, and Baltimore Ravens) are right behind them at 6–4. The AFC North should be a fun one to watch as we head into the homestretch here. The Bengals will face the Texans next week, and Andy Dalton should hope to take advantage of the fact that they have the worst pass defense in the league, giving up 278 yards a game. The Saints meanwhile hope to bounce back as they face the Baltimore Ravens in Monday Night Football next week.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers 27 — Washington 7
There is not much that needs to be said about this game. Washington is in a bad place right now as they fall to the lowly Tampa Bay Buccaneers (just the Bucs’ second win this season). Robert Griffin III threw for over 200 yards and a touchdown but also threw 2 first quarter interceptions, the second of which was returned for a touchdown by Bucs cornerback Johnthan Banks (yes, that is the correct spelling of his first name). Throughout the game, RG III was sacked six times for a loss of 40 yards! That type of play is doing no one any good. RG III has suffered from numerous injuries over the last 2 seasons, and many wonder if he is truly healthy and can be an effective quarter back. Fans cheered at the end of the game for back-up QB Colt McCoy and may have cheered louder after they heard RG III at the end of his press conference essentially call out his teammates by saying, “If you want to look at the good teams in this league and the great quarterbacks, the Aaron Rodgers or Peyton Mannings, those guys don’t play well if their guys don’t play well. I need every guy in that locker room and I know they are looking at me saying the same thing.” While he has a point, that’s not something his teammates would want to hear after a bad loss to a team that they, and their fans, thought they would beat. After the game and the quote made its way out of the press conference, RG III took to Twitter to defend his statement and his teammates saying “It’s unfortunate that anyone would take a piece of my press conference & say I threw my teammates under the bus. These men are my family…” CONT “I would never throw my teammates under the bus! I take responsibility for my play & will play better. #HTTR“. In the words of Taylor Swift and now Robert Griffin III, “haters gonna hate, hate, hate, hate, hate”.
Denver Broncos 7 — St. Louis Rams 22
In the most stunning upset of the week, the St. Louis Rams beat the Denver Broncos 22 -7. Coming off last week’s blowout against the Oakland Raiders, Peyton Manning did not look very Peyton Manning-ish as he threw for 2 interceptions and just 1 touchdown against the St. Louis defense. Either there was an impostor in a Manning jersey, or the Rams just befuddled the All Pro Quarterback. Manning overthrew receivers and just seemed lost out on the field at times. The Broncos’ defense did only allow one St. Louis touchdown, but let Shaun Hill (20–29 for 220 yards and 1 touchdown) and the Rams march into their territory to allow Greg “Legatron” Zuerlein to connect on all 5 of his field goal attempts, a career high for the third-year kicker out of Missouri Western State. The Broncos had absolutely nothing on the ground, as C.J. Anderson ran for just 29 yards. Emmanuel Sanders and Demaryius Thomas had 102 and 103 yards respectively, but the Broncos could just never make it into the red zone and be a threat to score. Denver has to try to move past this and hope this was an isolated mishap before they take on the Miami Dolphins next week. This was the first time all year that they did not score at least 20 points.
San Francisco 49ers 16 — New York Giants 10
If this game was the only game that you ever saw Eli Manning play, you’d be shocked to learn that he has led the New York Giants to TWO Superbowl Championships. It was not a good game for Manning as he connected on just 22 of his 45 passes and had 5 interceptions, compared to just 1 touchdown. The amazing thing is, after 4 of those interceptions, the Giants were still in a position to win the game! Before Manning threw his 5th and final pick, the Giants had marched down the field halfway through the 4th quarter down 16 to 10. He connected on a 37-yard pass to Odell Beckham to set up the Giants on the San Francisco 4-yard line. But after 3 incomplete passes, Manning tried passing one more time, but instead of hitting his intended target of Preston Parker, the ball found its way into the arms of rookie linebacker Chris Borland. So while San Francisco can rest easy that they got the victory, their offense should put some serious work in during the practices before they host Washington next Sunday. To almost lose a game in which their defense had five interceptions and a couple of sacks could have caused some locker room strife between the defense and the offense. The Giants have now lost 5 games in a row and head into a tough matchup against division rival Dallas Cowboys next week. Cowboys running back DeMarco Murray, already with 1,233 rushing yards (!!!!), must be salivating at the thought of facing the Giants and their league-worst rushing defense.
Oakland Raiders 6 — San Diego Chargers 13
Oakland fell again. It has been a full year since they last won an NFL game! The last time they drank from the cup of victory was on November 17, 2013, against the Houston Texans. After losing their first ten games of the season, the Raiders have been officially eliminated from the playoffs…what a shocker. The Chargers didn’t have to do much on this one and they didn’t. Phillip Rivers did throw for 193 yards to 9 different receivers on 22 completions.
Philadelphia Eagles 20 — Green Bay Packers 53
I was really hoping that this game would have been at least a little competitive, but alas, my dream did not come true. The Packers have now put up 50+ points in back-to-back games and have their offense moving on all cylinders. But this truly was a team effort right from the start. In the first quarter, the Packers jumped to a 17-point lead thanks to a 27-yard field goal by Mason Crosby, an Aaron Rodgers touchdown (one of his three) to Davante Adams, and a 75-yard punt return from Micah Hyde. The running game got into the action in the second quarter with Eddie Lacey reaching the end zone. Then in the 2nd half the defense decided it wasn’t enough to just stop the Eagles from scoring, they’d go ahead and tack on some points of their own with a Julius Peppers 52-yard interception returned for a touchdown, and Casey Hayward taking advantage of a bad Eagles snap and Mark Sanchez fumble to return his picked up ball 49 yards for a touchdown of his own. Chip Kelly’s Eagles just couldn’t get anything going against the Packers and they fall to 7–3, tied for 1st place with Dallas in the NFC East. The Packers, also tied at the top of their division (Detroit Lions) will march into Minnesota next week as they hope to win their 8th game in 9 tries.
Detroit Lions 6 — Arizona Cardinals 14
Losing your starting quarterback could cause most teams to take a step back, but not the Arizona Cardinals. In his first start since taking over the QB position for injured Carson Palmer, the journeyman QB Drew Stanton (who played his first four season with Detroit) threw for 306 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions to help the Cardinals go to 9–1, best in the NFL. On their first two possessions of the game, Stanton found Michael Floyd, first for 42 yards and the second time 12 yards, for the touchdowns that would be enough to put away the Lions of Detroit. Matt Prater connected on two field goals for the Lions in the first half, but that was it for the Lions as they fall to 7–3 into a first place tie with the Green Bay Packers. The Lions could muster up only 262 yards against the stingy Cardinals’ defense, and reached the red zone only once, which was in part helped by good field position after Stanton threw an interception. After the game, Cardinals head coach Bruce Arians said, “It was a great win for us and solidifies the belief in our locker room that whoever steps in steps up.” Arians and the Cardinals are all going to have to step up as they face a tough divisional match-up against the Seahawks in Seattle. The Cardinals face the toughest schedule in the NFL for the rest of the season, but at this point, there isn’t much that seems to shake the confidence of this team.
Sunday Night
New England Patriots 42 — Indianapolis Colts 20
Many had hoped for this Sunday Night Football game to be a back and forth barn burner; unfortunately only one team was listening and came through with the demand. Mainly, it was the Patriot’s third-string running back, Jonas Gray, who was listening as he rushed to a career-high 199 yards and 4 touchdowns (a Patriot’s franchise record)! Also getting into the action was Rob Gronkowski, who scored his own touchdown on a 26-yard pass late in the 4th quarter and broke tackles like he was playing on Rookie level of Madden. “Gronk” also caused a little bit of drama in the game when during Gray’s fourth rushing touchdown, he blocked former Patriots safety Sergio Brown out of bounds and kept pushing until he ran him into a camera cart. Gronk blames Sergio for breaking his forearm back in 2012 during a field goal attempt. Andrew Luck and the Colts didn’t have a bad game per se, but they were just no match for the offensive juggernaut that turned out to be Gray. Safety Mike Adams had 11 tackles and two interceptions for the Colts, but he was the only bright spot on the defense. New England is starting to pull away from the pack in the AFC East as they go up 2 games on the Miami Dolphins before they face the Detroit Lions next week. Meanwhile, the Colts should look to bounce back against the Jacksonville Jaguars, who are 1–9 and at the bottom of the AFC South, while the Colts stay at the top even after this loss.
Monday Night Football
Pittsburgh Steelers 27 — Tennessee Titans 24
Things did not start out well for the Tennessee Titans and rookie quarterback Zach Mettenberger. After the Titans’ defense gave up a field goal to the Steelers on their opening drive, Mettenberger, on the Titans’ first offensive play of the game, connected with William Gay for a touchdown…unfortunately for Mettenberger, Gay is a cornerback for the Pittsburgh Steelers. Things were not looking good for the young Titans team, who went down 10–0 within just minutes of playing on the big stage of Monday Night Football. But Mettenberger wouldn’t be rattled and led the Titans on a 67-yard drive that ended with a touchdown to fellow rookie Bishop Sankey. After another Steeler field goal, the Titans rolled off 17 unanswered points in the 2nd and 3rd quarters to go up 24–13. But the Steelers would not be knocked down and rode running back Le’Veon Bell for 199 yards and an early 4th quarter touchdown to get the Steelers moving in the right direction. The Titans could muster only 4 yards on their next possession and were forced to punt, and the Steelers scored again to take the lead on a nice drive that saw Roethlisberger spread the ball all around the field. The true beauty was the Steelers’ last drive of the quarter. They got the ball back with a little under 7 minutes to go and managed to run out the clock, keeping the Titans offense on the sidelines and away from making a 4th quarter comeback. On that last drive, Bell rushed 8 times and got 4 1st downs to keep the clock ticking.
The Week Ahead
- The last bye week of the season occurs with the Carolina Panthers and the Pittsburgh Steelers finally getting a week off.
- The Oakland Raiders will go for their first win of the season as they host the Kansas City Chiefs on Thursday Night.
- The Chicago Bears will face their former head coach Lovie Smith when he brings the Tampa Bay Buccaneers into town.
- A wild NFC West matchup between the 9–1 Arizona Cardinals and last year’s Superbowl Champs Seattle Seahawks is one of your afternoon games on Fox.
- The worst rushing defense in the NFL this year (NY Giants) faces the top running back in the NFL (DeMarco Murray) when the Dallas Cowboys visit the New York Giants on Sunday Night.
