Week 11, and the playoff picture is beginning to take shape! Lots of surprise teams this week, including the two in our game of the week…
GAME OF THE WEEK – Los Angeles Rams (7-2) at Minnesota Vikings (7-2), MIN by 2.5 – Few people would have expected either of these teams to have these records at this point of the season, but here they are in a game that could have important tiebreaking implications for the playoffs. The Rams are getting into the meat of their schedule with a date against the NFC South-leading Saints coming up next week. They have been one of the league’s most well-rounded teams, with a high-powered offense and a much-improved defense thanks to the coordination of Wade Phillips. The Vikings are, first and foremost, a defensive team, but Case Keenum has been surprisingly effective in delivering a modest passing game for the Vikings. Going to be an interesting one, and we’re going to learn a lot about both teams. The Vikings get the homefield advantage, but the Rams just feel like the more well-rounded team right now, and I think they’re going to come away with the win. But neither result would surprise me here.
UPSET! – Rams 27, Vikings 23THURSDAY NIGHT – Tennessee Titans (6-3) at Pittsburgh Steelers (7-2), PIT by 7 – Another high-quality matchup between division leaders with important playoff implications. The Titans are in a tight race with the Jaguars, who have an automatic win against the Browns this week, so they can’t let their guard down. The Steelers tend to play to the level of their opponents, and having the homefield advantage on a short week is a big deal. Give me Pittsburgh to scrape one out.
Steelers 23, Titans 20Detroit Lions (5-4) at Chicago Bears (3-6), DET by 3 – Chicago couldn’t even beat the Brett Hundley-led Packers at home. Little reason to think they can beat the Lions, who are the better team.
Lions 27, Bears 13[/u]
Kansas City Chiefs (6-3) at New York Giants (1-8), KC by 10.5 – The Giants have essentially given up on the season, and Ben McAdoo is a lame duck coach. Easy peasy. [i]Chiefs 30, Giants 10Tampa Bay Buccaneers (3-6) at Miami Dolphins (4-5), MIA by 1 – The Bucs finally showed some signs of life last week, while the Dolphins continue to flounder. I still think Tampa is better than what they’ve shown, but they need to maintain some focus.
UPSET! – Bucs 20, Dolphins 16Baltimore Ravens (4-5) at Green Bay Packers (5-4), BAL by 2 – Brett Hundley looked like absolute dogshit for the first three quarters against the Bears, and then put together an immensely impressive fourth quarter surge, making some really outstanding throws. It gives the Packers the smallest amount of hope that they can maybe stay afloat. Then again, the defense put up an unsustainably great performance against the Bears because they were playing a semi-talented rookie QB. I’m going to temper my expectations.
Ravens 20, Packers 13Arizona Cardinals (4-5) at Houston Texans (3-6), ARZ by 1 – Injuries have dismantled Houston, and they’ve essentially become a bye week for other teams. Sad.
Cardinals 31, Texans 10Jacksonville Jaguars (6-3) at Cleveland Browns (0-9), JAX by 7.5 – Injuries have not dismantled Cleveland, but they’re essentially a bye week for other teams anyway. Sad.
Jaguars 34, Browns 9Washington (4-5) at New Orleans Saints (7-2), NO by 7.5 – Playing at home, hottest team in the league, defense at full stride and running game suddenly appearing… it’s looking mighty promising for the Saints in the NFC this year.
Saints 34, Washington 13Buffalo Bills (5-4) at Los Angeles Chargers (3-6), LAC by 4 – The Bills decided to bench Tyrod Taylor, and the Chargers have been playing teams close. The Chargers may have the worse record, but you gotta feel like they’re coming into this game with more confidence.
Chargers 26, Bills 17Cincinnati Bengals (3-6) at Denver Broncos (3-6), DEN by 2.5 – Boy, you know it’s bad for Cincinnati when they’re not even favored to beat the ice-cold Broncos.
Broncos 20, Bengals 17New England Patriots (7-2) vs Oakland Raiders (4-5) in Mexico City, NE by 6.5 – The disappointing season for Oakland continues.
Patriots 34, Raiders 21Philadelphia Eagles (8-1) at Dallas Cowboys (5-4), PHI by 3.5 – With a win, Philadelphia can do some major damage to Dallas’s playoff hopes and come one victory away from clinching the NFC East already. You gotta think they’ll be fired up for this one.
Eagles 30, Cowboys 16Atlanta Falcons (5-4) at Seattle Seahawks (6-3), SEA by 3 – Atlanta absolutely must have a victory if they want to be able to control their own playoff destinies the rest of the way. But playing on the road in primetime in one of the harder stadiums to win, I don’t like their odds.
Seahawks 23, Falcons 20BYES: Carolina Panthers, Indianapolis Colts, New York Jets, San Francisco 49ers