NFL Payoff: Week 11 Fly By

Dude…

This is usually the point of the season where we really find out who the good teams are from the bad ones and what few look like they’re destined to make at least a good run to the Super Bowl, but the truth is nobody looks like the “best team” right now definitively and everyone looks beatable. Not to mention the confusion between who is the MVP right now this season has been wild and the unexpected has seemed to be the expected as injury galore has taken over the NFL. Below the dudes are going to recap the madness that has overtaken the NFL this past week (at least to the best we can)!

Bengals vs. Ravens (PC)

Bengals takeaway: It’s all over- There’s only one thing to talk about. That’s the loss of Ice Joe Burrow. Burrow has a season ending injury that more than likely ends the Bengals chances at making the playoffs. Yes Chase is good. Yes Mixon is finding its stride. However, with no one throwing them the football it doesn’t matter. Joe Shiesty led the jungle to the Playoffs in scorching power. The Bengals still need some time but will be awesome.

Ravens Takeaway: No more Andrews- Like the Bengals, a big loss was losses on Thursday Night Football. Mark Andrews will most likely be gone for the majority of the time. Andrew’s who is a matchup nightmare, has been Lamar Jackson’s #1 option. Without him, the Ravens are definitely going to struggle finding their way through the AFC.

Titans vs. Jaguars (How6rd)

Titans: Just fire somebody already…please- I’ve watched most of the games when this team went 2-15 before in a season, and now it might be a stretch (not really) to say that I had more enjoyment watching that team than what this team has done this year. I talked a lot about the coaching this season and the rest of this team’s issues last week so for this I’ll mainly just talk about this game. The Titans offense couldn’t come up with anything to get down the field for the entire first half, and outside of Levis, Hopkins, and DEFENSIVE TACKLE Jeffery Simmons the offense did nothing all day. As Mike Vrabel once again decided to punt on 4th and short plays in ok field position consistently it just kept getting worse and worse and soon enough the Titans were down 27-0 towards the end of the third quarter. It took a flea flicker and a short pass to the their star defensive player to get anything going on offense but other than that this team looked like a joke on both sides of the ball. Vrabel came out in the presser after the game and basically put himself on a scorching hot seat if it wasn’t before saying that the team had “better coaching” yet refusing to mention that any change was needed in the staff. The clock is ticking on how long he has left, but as to what happened to the head coach before him refusing to make any tough decisions that needed to be made it may be close to a big restart that this team needs by getting rid of the former Coach of the Year.

Jaguars: Calvin Ridley turns the corner and the defense comes up big- A week ago this team looked completely vulnerable against the 49ers as there we questions if they’d be able to hold the lead over the Texans for much longer in the AFC South even, but this game went as perfect as it could go for them in a completely different scenario from then. Looking in control from start to finish the Jaguars held their arch nemesis in Derrick Henry to the lowest rushing total he’s had against them since his rookie season with just 38 yards on 10 carries and the Titans offense wasn’t creating any threat until it was far too late. Trevor Lawrence had a solid day accounting for two passing touchdowns and two more running the ball himself into the endzone, but the weapon he had for both of those passing touchdowns was Calvin Ridley who had both his first game over 100 receiving yards and with a touchdown reception in over a month. Ridley doubled his touchdown reception total in this game and showed that on a good day he can be a huge piece of this offense when the ball is thrown his way. This was the exact win the Jaguars needed as they improved to 7-3 with a gigantic divisional rematch from earlier this season coming up next going against a very hot and explosive team in the Houston Texans.

Steelers vs. Browns (How6rd)

Steelers: The true problem isn’t who got fired, but the starting QB: This isn’t a takeaway defending the atrocious play-caller that Mike Tomlin knew there needed to be a change for in order to “just see points,” but it was clear this past Sunday that the QB is a gigantic issue. Former first-round pick Kenny Pickett was missing throws this past Sunday by what seemed like miles and as this game was in reach just about all game as he finished with just 106 yards on 28 pass attempts and most of his completions being short throws. This defense dominated the Browns and their backup QB allowing 10 of 13 points and more than half of Cleveland’s 259 total yards just in the first half. The second half belonged to the Steelers' defense and running back Jaylen Warren who needs the ball in his hands A LOT more if they don’t want to see this defense go to waste, because as shown on Sunday putting the ball in the hands of Pickett against at least solid defenses isn’t going to work when you need a go-ahead/winning drive. Regardless of how the rest of this season goes for Pittsburgh, it’s clear that they have a winning roster with a liability at the QB position as they should 100% be in the market for a new quarterback in the offseason especially if they miss out on the playoffs yet again.

Browns: Terrible offensive performance, but the final drive mattered most- The Browns mustered only 3 points and less than 100 yards of total offense in the second half as it was looking scary with the raw rookie QB in Dorian Thomas-Robinson not being able to do much overall on the day. Fortunately, they weren’t the worst offense out there and even had a better performance at QB as it was enough for the team to pick up a huge divisional win to get separation and move up into the playoff picture and become second-best in the AFC North. Although not perfect this defense comes up huge when they’re called on to do so and this Sunday they didn’t give the Steelers nearly anything consistently aside from a solid day in the running department by Jaylen Warren. As the Steelers' defense was doing just as much work as the Browns did what was the main difference in this matchup was the last drive on offense by each team, as DTR went 4/4 in passing for 39 yards to set up the winning field goal while Kenny Pickett went 0/3 in passing and didn’t make and Browns fan nervous in sealing the game. Even though the MVP is a QB-based award in the modern era this is a year where it should go to another position, and with my pick, I would clearly choose Myles Garrett who has created a spark for this spectacular defense on a weekly basis.

Cardinals vs. Texans (How6rd)

Cardinals: Very solid showing, but not enough for a talented Houston squad- Since the return of Kyler Murray it’s clear that this team looks completely different with him on the field. The new offensive play-caller has shown out in his new dynamic system since the season started with Joshua Dobbs looking solid enough to find his rhythm and be as talented as he is over in Minnesota now, but under Kyler Murray it looks even better and more dangerous. The offense was moving down the field a lot easier than they have been for most of the season in the first few quarters and even had Kyler Murray making some incredible throws to guys who haven’t had much production all season long until last week like receivers Greg Dortch, Rondale Moore, and tight end Trey McBride. The passing defense was probably the biggest concern if anything meanwhile as although they gained three interceptions on a red-hot CJ Stroud they got picked on in the end on some explosive plays. Marco Wilson in particular was getting smoked and picked on nearly every deep ball that was thrown his way and that was enough for the Texans to put enough points on the board and let the defense do the rest. With Arizona not being able to get a 4th down converted on their last three drives of the game it was a solid effort that fell short with some missed opportunities as they now can only learn from their mistakes and try to pick up an interesting divisional game against the Rams next week.

Texans: Stroud looked a bit shaky, but the guys around him showed out big- Now this headline is a bit misleading as aside from his interceptions thrown the rookie QB still had a great game, but it was the rest of the team around him who looked even better which makes this youthful team scarier getting closer to playoffs. The player of this game is who I will highlight first and that is 100% rookie receiver Tank Dell who had a career-high 149 receiving yards and one touchdown reception on a great leaping catch which gave the Texans enough to pull this win off. Running back Devin Singletary also had a great game on the ground with another 100+ rushing yard game and a rushing touchdown as he had another important rushing game to balance out the passing attack. The most crucial part of this game was how the defense stepped up in the second-half and most importantly the fourth quarter, as the Cardinals were stopped on three 4th down conversion attempts in consecutive drives to wrap up the win. On a negative side the three picks Stroud threw deep in Cardinals territory made this game a lot closer than it could’ve been and they were lucky that the defense kept coming up big, but with stepping stones in the learning process being a case for every team I saw more resiliency in Houston’s team than anything and they now have a huge matchup in the AFC South coming up against the Jaguars who they beat earlier in the season.

Raiders vs. Dolphins(PC)

Raiders Takeaway: You were going to lose eventually- Under Pierce, the Raiders have been hot. It seems like Pierce knows how to motivate the guys to come away with some wins. He almost led them to the promise land again against a top tier team in the AFC. The Raiders made this high powered offense turn the ball over 3 times and capitalize on the Dolphins turnovers. What’s been really impressive about this team is their attitude. I mean this team looked defeated. Devante Adams wanted out, the defense looked like it was crushed, and the offense was stagnant. With Pierce at the helm, take all those things you once knew about the 2023-2024 Raiders and throw it away. These Raiders aren’t all the way back, but they have definitely found a head coach the players are willing to fight for.

Dolphins Takeaway: By the Skin of your Teeth- This is the same Dolphins team that we saw last year. They could beat the bad teams but when it comes to it, they really are a flawed system. Ever since the beat down they got handed to them a few weeks ago, they haven’t been the same. The Cheetah continues to be excellent but everything else has stalled. Devon Achane came back this week, only to get hurt once again. Tua looks like the same wishy washy QB everyone has come to know. All the mid season hype has seemed to diminish over the last few weeks. What’s going on in Miami. I mean, 3 turnovers to the Raiders?! What was that about? Sure, Jalen Ramsey came through with a game sealing interception, but they need to be better. The Dolphins win, but they continue to demonstrate their many flaws that better teams will exploit in the playoffs.

Cowboys vs. Panthers (How6rd)

Cowboys: Defense showed out and the ‘Boys get a tune-up on a short week- The Cowboys have been looking exactly as they should with the talent that we’ve seen their team have since week one and this week the defense had another huge showing. With Dallas picking up seven sacks total (three from Micah Parsons alone) and the co-leader in interceptions DaRon Bland getting yet another pick-six it was quite the special day for this unit. The offense handled the solid rush defense that Carolina has even better as running back Tony Pollard got his first rushing touchdown since week one and in his 12 carries he had 61 yards and picked up just over five yards each run on average. Dak Prescott did the rest for the offense getting two passing touchdowns (one to rookie tight end Luke Schoonmaker and another to his star receiver in CeeDee Lamb) as they did good work closing the game out. Even though it wasn’t a blowout against a team that has as many “solid” players as people have fingers one one hand, they exploded in the fourth quarter and made plays on defense never really making this game truly scary for them. The Cowboys go back home for Thanksgiving on a short week as they host the Commanders in their annual “Turkey Day” football game on a short week.

Panthers: Once again…this offense is ABYSMAL- People love to look at stats only or just see Bryce Young interception highlights and call him trash or a bust even in his first year because of what Stroud is doing, but even though he’s more of a raw talent than Stroud this offense is not going to help his development AT ALL. I mean watching the highlights and seeing the full games Young has played in this man has zero (and I mean a big fat zero) time in the pocket let alone to even go through his progressions before he’s taken down in the backfield or hit. The first-overall pick in the last draft got sacked for a season-high seven sacks and they only passed for 77 yards with one touchdown which won’t cut it in almost any NFL game, but if there’s one thing that looked somewhat bright for this unit the run game between Chuba Hubbard and Miles Sanders combined for 107 rushing yards which was impressive for how the rest of the offense played. The defense actually played solid ball believe it or not, especially in the first three quarters of the game as the Cowboys only had 311 total yards which sounds like it should’ve been a close game, but thanks to the offense it didn’t matter especially when they couldn’t get a sack or take away all game. The bottom line is that these are some dark times for Carolina and even though they don’t have a first-round pick in order to get the QB they currently have, they have GOT to get Bryce Young some help this offseason and most importantly on the offensive line or his career trajectory will take a massive hit.

Bears vs. Lions (K Stelt)

Lions takeaways: JFK years: Are you wondering why the name of this takeaway involves the President who tragically died in the 60’s? Well that's because the last time the Lions were 8-2 JFK was still alive. It’s been a long long time coming for Detroit fans and they deserve every bit of success. The only question is can they make it the dream season of winning the big game? Only time will tell.

Bears takeaways: Five nights at Freddy FazBEARS: Let's not sugar coat this season for the bears. Sure they have some wins but this season for the bears has been a nightmare. They had hopes in the preseason to make some noise but it really has been nothing but games filled with Horror, they’re in better shape than the Panthers but that shouldn’t make them proud of what this season has become.

Chargers vs. Packers (K Stelt)

Packers takeaways: Jordan Love haters game: It's no surprise that Green Bay fans have been a bit disappointed with the QB at the hand, but this game looked like a good example of how his ceiling is still real and achievable. Love had a great game with more than 300 yds in the air, 2 TDs and 0 INT. It was against a struggling defense but it was an impressive performance for a QB under heavy pressure to become successful. 

Chargers takeaways: Goodbye Staley: It just hasn't been going well for the Chargers for a while. While a lot of their season pains in the past come from division games at the end of the year, the Chargers have had many struggles this year with competing with the big boys. Now that they let one go against a mediocre team, it looks like the tenure of Brandon Staley is coming to an end.

Giants vs. Commanders (How6rd)Giants: Multiple pinching hand emojis JERSEY JUICE- Be honest, you weren’t a third-string QB named Tommy Devito to light up an alright NFL defense were you? The fact is he did and his fellow skill players in running back Saquon Barkley and receiver Darius Slayton both had solid performances making this Giants offense look bearable for the first time in weeks. Putting up 30+ points for the first time since week two, more than 20 points for the first time since then also, they had a huge showing with Devito having three passing touchdowns and Slayton and Barkley combining for 169 receiving yards, eight catches, and all three of Devito’s TDs. The defense was also really impressive in this game giving Sam Howell and the rest of the Commanders' offense frustrations nearly all game getting SIX takeaways and two excellent performances from Kayvon Thibodeaux, with his two sacks, and Isaiah Simmons’ interception each being huge game changers. Although a lot of Giants fans aren’t celebrating too hard about this victory afraid of playing out of their draft position, there is a lot to take away from this game that looked good and beating a division rival is never a bad thing no matter what the record is for the season.

Commanders: You got sauced on by an extra from Goodfellas- Let’s start off with what WAS good in this game because it’s not much, the pass rush and running game looked solid. Aside from that this was the worst performance from the Commanders this season by FAR as they were favored over seven points in this game and lost by two possessions to a mightily struggling Giants squad. I mean SIX turnovers is already hilarious against anyone and let alone the Giants which resulted in 24 of their 31 points is incredibly bad, as Howell threw three picks and one got housed by Isaiah Simmons to end the game on a play that summarized the game for Washington. If it wasn’t for the short week and happening to play on THANKSGIVING Rivera would’ve probably been unemployed as I type this, but he’s got a lot on the line on national television after this one and this team’s energy at the moment isn’t looking too bright going on the road to an actually lethal NFC East team in the Cowboys.

Buccaneers vs. 49ers (K Stelt)

Bucs takeaways: Davy Jones locker: Not saying this team is a disaster but they don’t really have what it takes to be the guys to win the NFC South. Baker is doing all he can with a mediocre team. The team has to go through this patch of rebuilding if they want to contribute to future success. 

49ers takeaways: Another win for the OGs: Brock Purdy is coming back better than ever, they truly are producing a product of football that rivals other elite NFC teams. They’ve gone all in this season with trades and signings in an attempt to win the NFC championship and the Superbowl. 

Jets vs. Bills (K Stelt)

Jets takeaways: QB struggle continues: Zach Wilson has proven one thing this season, he may be the worst bust of the decade. It really shows how important it is to an NFL team to have a decent QB. It has been another tough season for the Jets, but they’ve been fighting like hell to stay in this playoff push while they try to get Rogers back. The game against the Bills might have killed a lot of souls for Jets fans but they won’t go dow without a fight.

Bills takeaways: Comeback game: For Bills fans, it may be time to start worrying about playoffs. They’ve had some struggles as of lately but this game proved to all of us watching that they are still elite and can make some noise in the playoffs, if they get there.

Seahawks vs. Rams (K Stelt)

Seahawks takeaways: Ouch: Thats about how the game went for the Seahawks. The defense did its job most of the game to keep the Rams below 20 points but the Offense coudn’t get the job done in the 4th quarter. They can bounce back if they want to but Geno and his D line will have to step up.

Rams takeaways: Good win: The Rams have been having a disappointing season but they’ve decided to win a big division game against a playoff seeking team. Matt Stafford has been doing silly things this season but he found a way to win this game. Good Job.

Vikings vs. Broncos(PC)

Vikings takeaway: The Passtrounant ran out of gas- Josh Dobbs has burst onto the scene in Minnesota when iced out Kirk Cousins ruptured his achilles. The passtrounant played really well, but ran out of gas in the end. The Vikings will be just fine, even in the loss, find themselves well in the playoff hunt. Justin Jefferson should be back soon to really bring that element the Twin Cities team has been missing. No worries losing to the Broncos. They’re on a roll.

Broncos Takeaway: Broncos Country is Riding- So it seems like Russell Wilson is back. They nest the Chiefs and have been on a hot streak since then. They’ve all been ugly wins but a win is a win. Wilson found Courtland Sutton in the back of the endzone to pull Denver into the lead and the eventual win. This makes it 4 wins in a row and the Broncos seem to be the hottest team in the league right now. Do I think they’re a legit threat? Not even a little. However, this hot streak just may have not only saved the season, it may have saved Wilson’s time in Denver

Eagles vs. Chiefs (PC)

Eagles Takeaway: They’re Legit- We already knew that Jalen Hurts and his wide receivers were top tier. However, they proved it to a greater standard on Monday Night Football against the Chiefs. The first half didn’t go as planned for the Eagles as they found themselves down early. However, in the second half, they found their stride. They scored 17 unanswered points including a pivotal Brotherly Shove to take the lead. The defense balled out as they always do. Getting a takeaway from Travis Kelce in the red zone. The Eagles were already legit in the NFC. They’ve proven yet again why they should be Super Bowl favorites.

Chiefs Takeaway: Cinder Blocks for Hands- OH MY GOD I CAN’T TAKE IT ANYMORE!! I mean what does Patrick have to do to get some good receivers? Travis Kelce is awesome but had some key drops and a costly fumble. Their #1 wide receiver in Toney doesn’t even see the field. MVS dropped a WIDE OPEN MOTHER ****** pass to win the game. I mean come on. I wish the Chiefs wide receivers could hang on to the football. It’s not only hurting Patty, but the defense is playing the best ball it’s played in nearly a decade. All you need to do is CATCH THE BALL.! Ok I’m done, I’ve made my point. The Chiefs are fine, but if this continues, they won’t be.