There’s still one more game to be played in Week 11 of the NFL season, but Week 11’s first 15 games have yielded plenty of observations, a few surprises, and a few things staying according to form.
The Titans keep winning, the Lions keep losing, and there was neither in Cincinnati yesterday.
Cleveland and Buffalo get the Monday night spotlight tonight, and I‘ll have something in relation to that tomorrow. Here’s a quick run-through of what has transpired so far in Week 11.
New York Jets 34, New England 31: See here.
Tennessee 24, Jacksonville 14: The Titans can already beat teams with defense and the running game, but if Kerry Collins (13-23, 230 yards, 3 TD, INT) is doing more than just being efficient, the Titans might be almost unstoppable.
Tampa Bay 19, Minnesota 13: If you hold Adrian Peterson below 100 total yards and no touchdowns, your chances of winning are more than fair. His total yesterday? 82 (85 rushing on 19 carries, -3 receiving on one catch, no TD).
New York Giants 30, Baltimore 10: 200 rushing yards against the Ravens? In case you didn’t know already, the Giants are pretty good.
Miami 17, Oakland 15: Another close one against a bad team at home, but the Dolphins pulled it out yet again. If they beat New England on Sunday, the road to the playoffs is pretty clear for Miami. Four of their last five games are on the road, but three come against St. Louis, Kansas City, and San Francisco (their lone home game after next Sunday).
New Orleans 30, Kansas City 20: The Chiefs are still terrible, but Tyler Thigpen (235 yards, 2 TD, INT) is emerging as a nice bright spot. But does he stand a chance if the Chiefs go QB shopping in the 2009 NFL Draft?
Indianapolis 33, Houston 27: The defense might still be a question mark at times, but Peyton Manning (814 yards, 7 TD, 0 INT in Nov.) and the offense are kicking it into high gear just in time.
Green Bay 37, Chicago 3: Second-best team in the NFC? Hard to say that when a team’s 5-5, but the Packers are certainly my pick to win the NFC North if they play this well more often.
Cincinnati 13, Philadelphia 13: There are certain distinctions that you never want to be associated with. Being involved in an ugly tie is one of them. You say great defensive battle, I say sight for sore eyes.
Carolina 31, Detroit 22: Detroit held Jake Delhomme to 98 yards passing, but unfortunately, they forgot to account for Jonathan Stewart (130 yards, TD) and DeAngelo Williams (120 yards, 2 TD). On another note, what does Drew Stanton have to do to get his chance?
Denver 24, Atlanta 20: First home loss of the season for the Falcons, thanks in no small part to Denver doing a good job of limiting Michael Turner, who had two touchdowns but averaged barely three yards a carry (25 carries, 81 yards).
Arizona 26, Seattle 20: The Cardinals might need a monster day from the ground game sooner or later, but who cares about running the ball when you’ve got Kurt Warner slinging it to Anquan Boldin and Larry Fitzgerald?
San Francisco 35, St. Louis 16: Now that he’s got the first win out of the way, it’s time to string together a few more for Mike Singletary. That won’t be easy though, with the Cowboys, Bills, Jets, and Dolphins on the slate for the next four weeks.
Pittsburgh 11, San Diego 10: Is San Diego the best 4-6 team you’ll ever see? Maybe so, but they best start winning if they don’t want to be sitting home in January.
Dallas 14, Washington 10: It’ll take another week or two for Tony Romo to really get his groove back, but having a competent quarterback makes a world of difference for the Cowboys.
