11 thoughts on Week 11
1) Based on the Cowboys’ lackluster performance against the Redskins and Kurt Warner’s injury in Arizona’s win over St. Louis, there is New Orleans and Minnesota and everyone else in the NFC. Every other team seems to have glaring flaws, including the Cardinals’ inability to win at home, where they’ll be for the Wild Card round.
2) The Cleveland Browns are the worst team in the NFL for sure now, and Eric Mangini should be fired at season’s end. He lost his team basically from the beginning and Mike Holmgren may have interest in taking over the operation. The Lerners owe it to the fans of Cleveland to eat the salaries of past regimes and invest in a new beginning.
3) Pittsburgh’s defense is clearly not the same without Troy Polamalu and they really need to be careful with Ben Roethlisberger after his concussion. In a tight AFC Wild Card race, there’s very little margin for error and the Steelers narrowed that margin with their OT loss at Kansas City.
4) Even with an awful offensive line, Green Bay holds their own fate for a playoff berth and are 6-2 against teams other than Minnesota. Flaws and all, the Packers seem like they’re going to the playoffs.
5) The Giants and Broncos have had two of the more interesting season storylines thus far and are both over .500 despite enduring four game losing streaks. New York still can’t seem to find themselves on defense while Eli Manning may have had the beginning of a hot streak against the ice cold Falcons, who appear to be on a downward spiral after a 4-1 start. If Denver doesn’t get it together on Thursday night against New York, their season is over. Like Eric Mangini with the Jets, the honeymoon could end even earlier for Josh McDaniels.
6) Jacksonville may not have the flashiest team or the most loyal fan base, but they’re finding ways to win games. They have a decent defense and underrated playmakers on offense like Maurice Jones-Drew and David Garrard on the ground and Mike Sims-Walker and Torry Holt through the air. I like this team’s chances of making the postseason. Buffalo is no longer afraid to air it out and played very competitive throughout.
7) While Indianapolis survived a trip to their birthplace, Baltimore really wasted a golden opportunity to not only gain ground in the AFC North and wild card races, but to gain momentum off knocking off another undefeated team. It will take 10 or 11 wins to make the postseason in the AFC, and next Sunday night’s matchup against the Steelers could very well be an elimination game.
Eight) Say what you will about Norv Turner’s slow starts, but he gets his teams improving every year as the season progresses and the Bolts are well on their way to another division title. The Chargers are always that team you do not want to play in the postseason, just ask the Colts, and it seems like it’s shaping up to be just like that again.
9) In 35 seconds, Cincinnati’s season may have just changed for the worse. They had a chance to lead Pittsburgh essentially by three games in the AFC North with three to play and squandered that chance with a fumbled kickoff with 21 seconds left. Oakland seems to like Bruce Gradkowski at QB, and credit the Raiders for beating both the Eagles and Bengals this season. Dallas may have to sweat through what was supposed to be a Thanksgiving breeze against Oakland.
10) Sunday’s game against the Jets is usually one Bill Belichik runs the score up on after the loss to Indianapolis, but New England toned it down after taking an insurmountable 24-0 lead and never looked back. New York’s hopes are all but gone now at 4-6 and should look to develop Mark Sanchez from here on out.
11) Jay Cutler was playing it safe throughout their must-win Sunday night matchup with Philadelphia, but it only seemed the inevitable was being delayed. I was waiting for that pick that would cost Chicago the game, and it came on the last drive of the game on a tipped ball. Cutler seems to wilt when the night falls, and it may cost head coach Lovie Smith his job.