It might be a bit early to start scoreboard watching, but the playoff picture is starting to take shape entering NFL Week 11. Several important matchups dot the NFL Week 11 schedule. Meanwhile the Atlanta Falcons, Indianapolis Colts, New England Patriots and New Orleans Saints take their byes.
Here are five storylines to watch in NFL Week 11.
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5. The accountability game in Buffalo
The Buffalo Bills fired offensive coordinator Ken Dorsey on Tuesday amid a 5-5 start. That .500 record has the team on the outside of the AFC playoff picture entering Week 11.
The Bills host the New York Jets, who beat them in overtime in New Jersey on the opening Monday night game of the season.
Josh Allen spoke out regarding Dorsey’s departure and sets up an either/or scenario for Sunday. Either Allen plays extraordinarily well … or he ups the ante on a trend of trying to do too much. Allen leads the NFL with 11 interceptions. A special teams blunder led to their loss on Monday night to the Denver Broncos.
Meanwhile, the Jets come in off consecutive losses and have produced just 31 points in their last three games. New York trails the Houston Texans by a game for the final wild card position in the AFC. With the prospect of an Aaron Rodgers return this season from a torn Achilles sustained in Week 1, the Jets need to stay afloat.
4. Can the Browns Come Back Again after Another Blow
The reboot of the Cleveland Browns continues to be brief moments of joy followed by bad news. Quarterback Deshaun Watson won’t play again this season after an MRI found a displaced fracture in his right shoulder. Watson battled shoulder pain for the last six weeks, missing three games and most of a fourth.
Cleveland erased a 14-point fourth quarter deficit on Sunday, beating the Baltimore Ravens 33-31 on Dustin Hopkins’ 40-yard field goal as time expired. As has been the recurring theme since the Browns returned to the NFL as an expansion team in 1999, the other shoe fell with Watson’s diagnosis.
Coach Kevin Stafanski gives the offense to rookie Dorian Thompson-Robinson, who started Cleveland’s loss to the Ravens on Oct. 1. He threw three interceptions and was 19-of-36 for 121 yards.
Cleveland returns home this week, hosting the Pittsburgh Steelers in a matchup of 6-3 teams. The Steelers won the first game between the teams in Pittsburgh in Week 2, so a loss for the Browns is effectively a two-game deficit in the wild card chase.
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3. Justin Fields back just in time to face the division-leading Detroit Lions
The Chicago Bears visit Ford Field and the NFC North-leading Detroit Lions on Sunday. But they do so with quarterback Justin Fields back in the huddle. Fields, who missed the last four games with a dislocated right thumb, practiced without restrictions on Wednesday. Chicago went 2-2 in his absence behind Tyson Bagent, an undrafted rookie free agent.
Fields faces a crossroads in his career this season. A 1,000-yard rusher last season, the 11th overall pick in the 2021 draft has struggled in the passing game. This season, Fields has 11 touchdown passes and six interceptions. The team is just 6-25 in his 31 career starts — indicative of other issues on the roster — and fair or not, quarterbacks wear that win-loss record.
The Bears face a wildly inconsistent Lions defense. Detroit has surrendered 503, 157 and 421 total yards respectively in its last three games, which includes two wins and a loss. Opponents scored 38 points in two of those three games and 14 in the other. Yet the Lions have the ninth-ranked defense in terms of yards allowed.
2. A Super Bowl rematch on tap in Kansas City
It’s a Super Bowl rematch. The defending Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs host the defending NFC champion Philadelphia Eagles. The teams hold the top seeds in their respective conferences coming into Monday night’s game. The 8-1 Eagles lead the Lions by a game in the NFC. Kansas City, at 7-2, is 0.5 games up on the Ravens in the AFC.
Philadelphia hasn’t been dominant, with a scoring margin of 6.3 points per game. But style points don’t matter in the NFL. The Eagles come off a 28-23 win over the Dallas Cowboys two weeks ago and have three straight wins.
The Chiefs also had their bye last week after scratching out a 21-14 win over the Miami Dolphins in Frankfurt, Germany two weeks ago.
Kansas City’s offense has struggled in its last two games, turning the ball over six times and averaging 270.5 yards. The Chiefs are still ranked eighth in the NFL in total offense while their defense is fourth-best. Philadelphia’s offense is fifth in the league with the defense at No. 14.
1. It must be a mistake — there’s a good matchup on Thursday Night Football
Thursday Night Football gets significant criticism for bad matchups, but this week is definitely an exception. The Cincinnati Bengals come off a loss to the Houston Texans last week at home and go to play the Baltimore Ravens on Thursday night.
The Ravens are also coming off a last-second loss at home, falling to the Browns on Sunday.
Cincinnati has won the last two AFC North titles, but at 5-4 is outside the AFC top seven entering NFL Week 11. Baltimore (7-3) was knocked out of last year’s playoffs in the wild card round by the Bengals, but won at Cincinnati in Week 2.
With little preparation time, Thursday night games can be something of a crap shoot in terms of quality. At least with familiar opponents, the game plans should be more coherent.
If there is an advantage, it’s on the defensive side. Cincinnati is ranked 30th in the NFL in total defense and 16th in scoring defense, while the Ravens are No. 2 and No. 1, respectively.
There are no days off in the NFC North, the lone division in the NFL where every team is better than .500. Baltimore needs a victory to remain 0.5 games up on the Pittsburgh-Cleveland winner, while the Bengals recovered from a 1-3 start to win four straight before losing last week.
