Week 11 Recap

Back to .500 after another losing week.  Detroit was disappointing, as outside of the first quarter, their defense was really solid.  I always like the dogs in these low scoring defensive struggles, but Arizona hit them early.  The Steelers were a let down as well-- the INT at the end of the 2nd quarter and the ensuing 80-yard TD bomb sealed this game as a loss early.  The only bright spot was New England leading basically wire-to-wire en route to a blowout win on the road as 3-point dogs.

This one of those weeks in the NFL-- to me it seems that the big upset week usually happens a little later, in December-- but every season there's one where some big underdogs beat playoff teams.  The Rams beatdown of the Broncos was very impressive, especially given how they did it-- shutting down Peyton Manning is a difficult task.  The Rams have beat some very, very good teams; while this is something of a surprise, Jeff Fisher is a solid, solid coach.  That is looking to be a great hire in St. Louis. 

Washington is a mess.  I don't envy Jay Gruden as he tries to negotiate the lockerroom, his "star" QB, and a problematic owner.  The offense played terribly on Sunday, and got little help from the defense.  You know things are bad when you lose to an NFC South team.

Speaking of the NFC South, well, just, wow.  New Orleans falls again at home, this time to a Cincinnati team that has been terribly inconsistent for most the year.  The Saints feel far-removed from the team that beat Green Bay at home a scant few weeks ago-- or do they?  They are a very interesting team to watch down the stretch.

Quietly, KC is tied with Denver atop the AFC West.  Denver has to go to Arrowhead on November 30th, too.  They had an impressive, physical win against Seattle-- sort of beating the Seahawks at their own game.  This is another division-- like the AFC North, the NFC West, the NFC East, and the NFC South-- that is totally up for grabs in the last third of the season.  It will be exciting to have so many important, meaningful division games in December.


NFL 2014 Week 11: 1-2
NFL 2014 Season Total: 16-16