Last week I mentioned that the NFL was impossible to predict, and this week provided a few games to support that theory. Who would have predicted that the Raiders would defeat the Bengals, Kansas City would beat Pittsburgh, or that Detroit and Cleveland would play the best game of the weekend? However, the collapse of the Denver Broncos is beginning to become predictable, with the Broncos blowing another three game lead in the AFC West. The only good news for Denver is they still have a chance to make the playoffs if they can turn things around quickly. The push to the playoffs are starting to heat up with a number of teams in both conferences still in the running for wild-card spots. After week 11, some teams are feeling pretty good about having the opportunity to make the playoffs, while there are a number, Denver included, who are left scratching their heads about how they managed to find themselves in such a tight race.
- The Miami Dolphins and Carolina Panthers kicked off week 11 with a huge game on Thursday night. Both teams needed wins to keep their playoff hopes alive, and the Dolphins managed to stay in the race with a 24-17 victory. All of the questions heading into the game surrounded Ricky Williams, and his ability to replace the injured Ronnie Brown as the featured back. Well Ricky definitely passed the first test by rushing for 119 yards and scoring all of Miami’s touchdowns. Miami is now 5-5 on the season, after starting 0-3. The Dolphins schedule is not easy, but at least this team appears to be heading in the right direction going into the final six games, which could give them enough confidence to make this final push a successful one.
- Payton Manning and Drew Brees are considered by many to be the two players leading the MVP race, but Brett Favre is certainly making a strong case for himself. The 40 year-old quarterback continues to defy logic and turn back the clock in Minnesota. Favre completed 22 of 25 passes, and threw four touchdowns in the Vikings blowout win over Seattle. Brett Favre improved his league best quarterback rating to 112.1, and has now thrown 21 touchdowns and only 3 interceptions. Favre is not making the mistakes that have plagued him the last few seasons, and his body appears to be holding up under the the strain of another NFL season. The Vikings have always had the defense to win, but now Favre has brought another element to the offense, making this a very potent unit, and the Vikings a very good team.
- Tampa Bay kept their game with the undefeated Saints close for the first quarter, but the Saints pulled away in the second quarter, and eventually blew out the Buccaneers. New Orleans played their most complete game since beating the Giants in week 6, with the offense not committing a single turnover, while the defense forced four. New Orleans is now a perfect 10-0 on the season, which is a franchise record, but the Saints cannot afford to relax because the Vikings are right behind them in the chase for home field advantage in the NFC. The Saints will play a huge game next Monday against the Patriots, but the schedule is very favourable after that. The Superdome could very well play host to the NFC championship game in 2010.
- The Indianapolis Colts are the other team seeking a perfect season, and have played a number of close games in recent weeks. Sunday’s game in Baltimore was no different, as the Ravens defense held the Colts to just 17 points and forced 3 turnovers. However, the Colts defense was even better, only giving up 15 points, and they forced two massive turnovers to secure the win, and keep the dream of a perfect season alive. The Colts defense gave up a lot of yards, but they were excellant in the red zone holding the Ravens to five field goals. The Colts appear to be finding different ways to win every week, which is a good sign for a team that used to be carried by the offense every week.
- Meanwhile, the Ravens are one of those AFC teams who find themselves with a 5-5 record after starting the season 3-0, but they still have a shot at making the playoffs. If the Ravens want to make the playoffs, they will have to start playing more consistent football. The offense has been solid for most of the season, but the defense has struggled at times. However, on Sunday the offense could not find the end-zone in a game in which the defense appeared to be back in old form against a high scoring opponent. The Ravens do not have the easiet final six games, with two games against the defending Superbowl champion Steelers, along with a trip to Green Bay, and a game against Chicago. It is not looking good for the Ravens to make the playoffs, which is a complete shock after their great start.
- Getting off to a great start is definitely not a garantee a team will make the playoffs, and the Denver Broncos are an even more glaring example of that. It was just five weeks ago when the Denver Broncos were sitting at 6-0, and had a three game lead in the AFC West, but they are now in a complete free-fall, and the San Diego Chargers now hold a one game lead over the 6-4 Broncos. Quarterback Chris Simms started the game because of Kyle Orton’s injury, but he was so ineffective that Josh McDaniels took Simms out of the game after the first three series. The move did not work as Orton was not much better, and the Broncos were manhandled by the Chargers. Denver does not have much time to figure things out as they will face the New York Giants on Thursday night. It appears to be a must win game for the reeling Broncos, because a fifth straight loss would be too much to overcome.
- The San Diego Chargers are finally playing up to the level of their pre-season hype. The Chargers were supposed to walk away with a AFC West, but the Broncos hot start combined with another slow start for the Chargers had many people wondering if this team had what it takes to compete at a high level. Five straight wins would indicate that this team does in fact have what it takes to compete, and could make some serious noise in the playoffs. Philip Rivers has played great all season, but LaDainian Tomlinson has stepped up in the last two weeks, the offensive line is playing better, and the defense is rounding into form very nicely. The Chargers have a good chance to run the table in their remaining six games, which could leave them with the second seed in the AFC, although the Patriots will have something to say about that.
- Let’s all think back to week two, and unbelievable overreaction to the Jets win over the Patriots. The sky was falling in New England, and Tom Brady would never be able to overcome his knee injury from the year before. Well not everyone bought into the hysteria, and pointed out that the Patriots, and Tom Brady, clearly missed not having Wes Welker in that week 2 meeting with the Jets. Welker was back for the week 11 re-match, and clearly illustrated to everyone his value to this offense. Welker caught 15 passes for 192 yards, and the Patriots offense was clicking on all cylinders in their 31-14 win over the Jets. Oh and by the way, Brady is now fifth in QB rating, has thrown 20 touchdowns, while only throwing 6 interceptions. It appears Brady will in fact manage to overcome that knee injury.
- Who would have predicted that the best game of the week and possibly the year would feature Cleveland and Detroit? Defense was at a premium in this contest with both teams driving up and down the field, lighting up the scoreboard in the process. Brady Quinn threw for over 300 yards with 4 touchdowns, while Matthew Stafford threw for a whopping 422 yards and 5 touchdowns. Stafford’s last second, game-winning touchdown has many Lions fans very excited. Stafford came back into the game after separating his left shoulder, and threw the game winning touchdown in the final seconds. Stafford was a target of the fan’s frustration for the last few weeks, but he proved on Sunday that he does have what it takes to become a winner in this league.
- The Pittsburgh Steelers season took a serious hit on Sunday. The Steelers still have a good chance of making the playoffs, but losing to the Kansas City Chiefs will does not help the cause. Of even more concern is the health of starting quarterback Ben Roethlisberger. Roethlisberger suffered a concussion during the overtime session, and his status for Sunday’s game against the Ravens is still not certain. If Roethlisberger cannot go, it could be trouble for the Steelers because their back-up Charlie Batch was also injured, which only leaves third-string quarterback Dennis Dixon as the starter. Pittsburgh is currently one game ahead of the Ravens, so any slip in play at quarterback could have devastating results.
- The Cincinnati Bengals appeared to be on their way to a perfect Sunday. The Bengals were coming off a win over the Steelers the previous week to grab hold of the division lead, and then witnessed both the Steelers and Ravens lose on Sunday, before facing off against a very bad Raiders team. It appeared the Bengals were about to grab a strangle hold of the AFC North when up by seven late in the fourth quarter, but then everything completely fell apart. The Bengals gave up the game-tying touchdown with only 34 seconds left, and fallowed that up by fumbling the ensuing kick-off, allowing the Raiders to kick the game-winning field goal. The Bengals still find themselves in first place in the North, and this loss may not be a back-breaker for this team, but Cincinnati definitely looked like the same old Bungles on Sunday.
- The Dallas Cowboys will host those very Raiders on US Thanksgiving this Thursday, and they will be hoping to put in a better performance then they did on Sunday. The Cowboys did manage to beat the Redskins on Sunday, but the offense looked very bad for the second straight week. The Cowboys only managed to score seven points for the second straight week, but they were bailed out by some stellar play from their defense, and by the fact they were playing the offensively inept Redskins. The Cowboys still rank fifth in total offense, but have dropped to fourteenth in scoring offense. Dallas has the talent to put points on the board, but they have to find their touch quickly, because they still have big games against the Eagles, Giants, Chargers, and Saints remaining on their schedule.
- The Eagles managed to stay in the hunt for the NFC East title. The Eagles entered Sunday night’s game against the Bears having lost two in a row, but managed to pull a close 24-20 win. The Eagles are a very tough team to figure out. They can look like one of the best teams in the league one week, and play like one of the worst another week. The win moves the Eagles’ record to 6-4, which currently has them fifth in the conference, but this team cannot afford to play inconsistent football down the stretch. The Eagles would be a serious threat if they make the playoffs, but getting there will be the hard part.
- It was not supposed to be like this for Jay Cutler and the Chicago Bears. Cutler was brought in from Denver as the saviour. The Bears have struggled at the quarterback position for years, with Rex Grossman and Kyle Orton both failing to take the team to the next level. Cutler was supposed to be the guy who would take the Bears to the next level, but things have not worked out for Cutler in his first year in Chicago. It is not all Cutler’s fault, but the quarterback has made a number of poor decisions, and has thrown a league high 18 interceptions. Cutler made a lot of poor decisions with the football in Denver, but it was thought he would settle down when playing with a better defense, but it has not worked that well. It appears the Bears will once again miss the playoffs, and Lovie Smith could find himself out of a job. Let the Jay Cutler reuniting with Mike Shanahan rumours begin!
- The New York Giants managed to find their way back into the win column on Sunday, but it was not easy. It looked as though it might be easy when the Giants went up by 14 early in the fourth quarter, but they gave up two touchdowns in the final six minutes, which sent the game into overtime. New York was fortunate to win the coin-toss, allowing them to drive down the field for the game-winning field goal. The Giants are currently in seventh place in the NFC due to the tie-breaker, but they are fortunate to be facing the Denver Broncos at just the right time on Thursday night. The Broncos are in the midst of a Giants like collapse, but winning at Mile High is not always an easy task, so New York will have to show up ready to play.
- The Jacksonville Jaguars are another team that has quietly played their way back into the playoff hunt. The Jaguars are the polar opposite of flashy, and won another ugly game on Sunday. The Jaguars are currently 6-4 despite ranking 21st in scoring offense, and 23rd in scoring defense. It is not typical for a team with a winning record to struggle on both sides of the ball, but the Jaguars seem to find ways to win. However, if Jacksonville is going to make a successful run at the playoffs, they will have to play at a higher level because their schedule is not very easy.
- The Tennessee Titans won their fourth straight game on Monday, which improved Vince Young’s record to 4-0 this season. Young’s stats are not overly impressive, having only thrown for 3 touchdowns and for just over 100 yards per game, but he is an exceptional athlete who creates positive plays with his feet, and he is a winner. Monday’s win was Young’s eighth straight win as a starter. Young still looks to run with a ball too early, but he will eventually learn how to see the field and read defenses better, which should improve his passing numbers.
- Meanwhile, the Texans record fell to 5-5 with the loss on Monday night. This was a statement game for the Texans who are trying to make a successful run to the playoffs after a number of seasons of .500 football. However, Houston now finds themselves back at their all too familiar .500 level. Losing a big game at home on Monday Night Football is not an easy thing to overcome, but Jacksonville will have to do just that with a huge game against undefeated Indianapolis coming up on Sunday.
American Thanksgiving is this Thursday, which means NFL fans do not have long to wait for week 12 to kick off. The Thanksgiving schedule includes two lopsided early games which will see the Detroit Lions host the Green Bay Packers and the Raiders will travel to Dallas. The night cap has huge playoff implications with the New York Giants travelling to the ’Mile High City’ to take on the Denver Broncos. Both the Broncos and Giants will be desperate for a win in order to stay alive in the playoff chase. The games are only getting bigger and bigger from here on in.