Following an action-packed Week 10 featuring walk-off Hail Mary touchdowns, dominant wins, and strong fantasy performances we come at you with Week 11. Including this week, we begin the seven week countdown until the playoffs start. In this week’s action you’ll see upsets, injuries, and blow-outs; I’m Cooper O’Kelly and let’s get right to this week’s games in review.

Thursday Night:

Cardinals 21, Seahawks 28: Hawks Are Back

Kyler Murray and the Cardinals travel to Seattle to take on the Seahawks, as each team tries to step out in front of the other for the lead in the division. The past two weeks prior to this game looked rough for Russell Wilson as he and the Seahawks took back to back losses, but they got off to a quick start by scoring first in the game and taking a lead into halftime.  The second half was pretty competitive as the Cardinals kept scoring and trying to take the lead, but the Seahawks kept coming right back and maintained their lead throughout. The Seahawks defense came up big on the Cardinals’ last two drives of the game, forcing a safety and a turnover on downs to ice it. Both quarterbacks looked good and were able to get it done on the ground and in the air, but this proved to be a good get-back game for Wilson and the Hawks.

Sunday Games:

Titans 30, Ravens 24: King Henry Brings It Home

Both Tennessee and Baltimore came into this game following a Week 10 loss, and both teams looked to snap these streaks. Obviously coming into this game everyone wants to look at and talk about Derrick Henry, the superstar Titan running back, and how he’d cook up this Baltimore defense. In regulation, the Ravens were actually able to hold him to under 100 yards rushing and no touchdowns, something not many teams are able to do. Overtime, however, was a different story. Henry went for 37 yards, including his 29 yard game-winning touchdown, all in one drive as the Titans were able to close out the game. Despite the loss, Lamar Jackson and the Ravens offense actually looked better this week than they have recently. 

Eagles 17, Browns 22: Browns D Dominates

A game straight out of my worst nightmares, 60 minutes of Baker Mayfield against Carson Wentz as the Eagles go out to Cleveland and try to beat the Browns. As I talked about last week, both of these teams tend to win more games when they get the ball out of their QBs’ hands, and that’s not really a coincidence. Certainly not an offensive shoot-out here but the Browns defense looked amazing as they had a defensive touchdown, a safety, two picks, and a fumble recovery. Considering there was no offensive scoring in the first half at all, not the most exciting game to watch but it was able to get the Browns the second place spot in the AFC North. Despite losing and falling to 3-6-1, the Eagles retain their lead in the worst division in football.

Patriots 20, Texans 27: QB Duel

The Texans take on the Patriots in this game, as the two teams are in very different mindsets for the rest of the season. New England was heavily motivated coming into this game, as winning would keep their playoff hopes alive and losing would be detrimental to their chances. As for Houston, their season hasn’t really gone the way they’ve wanted it to and they may just be looking to move onto next year. During the actual game, both teams played with the same intensity and it was competitive all the way through. Despite a strong, 365 yard and 1 touchdown performance by Cam Newton the Pats came up short on a last second Hail Mary to win the game. Deshaun Watson balled out with 3 total touchdowns and over 300 yards passing.

Bengals 9, Football Team 20: Oh No, Burrow

Coming into this game as one point favorites, the Washington Football Team hosted the Cincinnati Bengals. The number one overall pick in the draft, quarterback Joe Burrow, went head to head with the number two pick, pass-rusher Chase Young for the first time in their young careers. Young definitely got the better of Burrow the one time they went head to head, as he forced the QB to fumble and turn the ball over deep in the red zone. Despite that turnover, Burrow and the Bengals held a lead over Washington in the third until disaster struck. On a third down pass play with 11 minutes left in the third quarter, Joe Burrow faced heavy pressure and got hit hard by several Washington players. The Rookie of The Year favorite left the game and didn’t return, and it was later revealed that he tore his ACL and was out for the year. Washington proceeded to score 13 points unanswered and took home the win.

Jets 28, Chargers 34: Huge Herbert Numbers

The LA Chargers host the win-less NY Jets in a game between two teams who are more so looking more towards a higher draft pick than the playoffs. Despite the losing record for the Chargers, one huge takeaway can be seen by all, Justin Herbert is going to be a star. Throughout the season Herbert has played very well, and he didn’t disappoint this week. The young QB torched the Jets defense all game long and put up 366 yards and 3 touchdowns, leading his team to the W. Chargers receiver Keenan Allen also played really well, and broke the Chargers single game reception records with 16 catches.

Steelers 27, Jaguars 3: 10 and Oh

An outcome not many were surprised by here, as the Jaguars hosted the Big Ben and the undefeated Steelers. The Jaguars, who haven’t won a game since Week 1, had Jake Luton under center once again backed by a strong rushing attack from James Robinson. It was a rough day for Luton as he threw four interceptions and only 151 yards, while Robinson played mediocrely and rushed for 73 yards. As for the Steelers the defense dominated giving up only 3 points, getting four picks, and forcing one fumble. The Steelers all around obviously look great, considering they’re 10-0, with a pass dominated offense and stellar defensive unit that’ll make them surefire contenders come playoff time.

Cowboys 31, Vikings 28: Clashing Offenses

Andy Dalton makes his return from the COVID-19 reserve list as the Cowboys travel to Minnesota to battle with Dalvin Cook and the Vikings. This game was a true offensive battle, with absolutely huge performances from many Vikings players and Zeke. The Vikings offense put on a show backed by strong performances by Kirk Cousins, Cook, and Adam Thielen, but their defense simply couldn’t stop Ezekiel Elliott and the Cowboys rushing attack. Zeke rushed for 103 yards and caught a touchdown pass, while Cowboys back-up running back Tony Pollard also had a touchdown and 60 yards. Cowboys tight end Dalton Schultz caught the go-ahead touchdown pass from Dalton, with only 1:37 remaining to take down the red-hot Vikings. CeeDee Lamb, Cowboys rookie receiver, also made one of the best catches I’ve seen all season for his 4th TD of the year.

Dolphins 13, Broncos 20: Tua? Fitzpatrick?

The struggling Denver Broncos played the Miami Dolphins, who are fighting for a Wild Card spot in the AFC, in Denver this weekend. This game was headlined by Denver’s rushing attack ripping through the Dolphins defense, Melvin Gordon and Phillip Lindsay combined for over 160 yards rushing and 2 touchdowns. Things got really interesting in the 4th Quarter as Tua Tagovailoa, Dolphins rookie QB, got benched for veteran back-up Ryan Fitzpatrick. It’s unclear whether Tua sustained an injury during his time on the field or Dolphins management thought Fitzpatrick would give them a better shot of winning the game, but nevertheless, Fitz wasn’t able to get the job done and the Broncos took the upset W.

Falcons 9, Saints 24: Taysom Hill’s QB Debut

Taysom Hill filled in for the injured Drew Brees as the Saints hosted the Atlanta Falcons in the Superdome. In a move that baffled many and caused uproar among Saints personnel and players themselves, Taysom Hill was chosen to start at QB rather than Jameis Winston. Explained as a decision that had to do with knowledge of the playbook and offensive system, it turned out to be a good one as Hill passed for 233 yards, rushed for 51 and two touchdowns, and secured the win in his first game as a starter. As for the Falcons, their offense simply wasn’t able to get anything going all game and only mustered to score three field goals all game.

Packers 31, Colts 34: Rollercoaster W

Labelled America’s Game Of The Week by Fox, and rightfully so, the Packers travelled to Indianapolis to try and snap the Colts’ winning streak. Leading by 14 points at several times of the ball game, the Packers somehow managed to choke their lead away and ended up down by three points with 1:25 left in regulation. Sparked by a 47 yard catch by Marquez Valdes-Scantling, the Packers were able to drive down and kick the game-tying field goal as time expired. The Packers got the ball to start overtime, but the fourth quarter hero Valdes-Scantling fumbled the ball on only the second play of the drive, giving the Colts possession at the Packers 29 yard line. This set up Colts kicker, Rodrigo Blankenship, to quickly kick the game-winning field goal after only three offensive plays. Huge win for the Colts as they retain their number one spot in their division and a bad loss for the Packers as they fumble (hehe) their lead for the number one seed in the NFC.

Sunday Night:

Chiefs 35, Raiders 31: Mahomes Magic

After beating the Chiefs on the road in Week 5, the Raiders host the Chiefs in an attempt to get the season sweep over them. This was a pretty back and forth game as there were 10 lead changes throughout, and both teams were rolling. Derek Carr and the Raiders thought they were pulling ahead as they scored a go-ahead touchdown with 1:53 remaining in the 4th Quarter, putting them ahead 31-28. All the Chiefs needed to do was get down and kick a field goal to send the game into OT, but Patrick Mahomes wanted more. With only 34 seconds left on the clock, Mahomes delivered a strike on the game-winning 22 yard touchdown pass to Travis Kelce to even the season series.

Monday Night:

Rams 27, Buccaneers 24: Brady’s Blunders

Jared Goff and the LA Rams travelled to Tampa Bay to take on the Buccaneers and their star-studded team, in a battle dominated by offense. The Bucs have one of the most loaded offenses in the league with weapons such as Mike Evans, Chris Godwin, Antonio Brown, Rob Gronkowski, and more to help QB Tom Brady win games. However, all of these stars don’t really make a difference if you turn the ball over. Brady threw for two interceptions in this game, both of them not remotely close to targeted receivers, and the Tampa Bay offense just didn’t look very good. The Buccaneers even had a chance at the end of the game to go down and tie it up or win it, but that’s when one of Brady’s picks came in. As for the Rams, Jared Goff and his two best receivers in Cooper Kupp and Robert Woods played exceptionally well, hopefully you started them in fantasy.