NFL Week 11 had some surprises. Perhaps chief among those was the Cleveland Browns rallying to beat the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday behind rookie quarterback Dorian Thompson-Robinson to improve to 7-3. The fallout from that decision hit hard on Monday in Pittsburgh (more on that in a bit).
The Kansas City Chiefs continue to look middling at best offensively and lost at home in the much-ballyhooed Super Bowl rematch to the Philadelphia Eagles. The Cincinnati Bengals lost quarterback Joe Burrow. The Detroit Lions came up big when they had to in a win over the plucky Chicago Bears.
And in the midst of a lost season in the Jersey swamps, the New York Giants found a franchise-record-setting quarterback from nowhere.
With that as the backdrop, it’s time to overreact to NFL Week 11.
5. Matt Canada had to go
The Pittsburgh Steelers fulfilled the long-standing wishes of their fan base on Monday, firing offense coordinator Matt Canada after their 13-10 loss at Cleveland.
The Steelers are 28th in total offense, 30th in first downs, 31st in touchdown passes and 29th in percentage of drives yielding points. Their offense is, well, offensive.
Pittsburgh boasts a solid 1-2 punch in the running gane with Najee Harris and Jaylen Warren combining for 992 yards. The passing game? Second-year quarterback Kenny Pickett has thrown six touchdown passes in 10 games.
If the Steeler offense was a color, it would be beige.
Pittsburgh has been outgained in every game this season but is somehow still 6-4 and owns the seventh playoff spot in the AFC. If they hang on, the NFL might consider renaming the Coach of the Year trophy for Mike Tomlin. The dude is a straight-up miracle worker.
4. Zach Wilson has to be done with the New York Jets, right? Right?
For the second straight season, quarterback Zach Wilson took the escalator from QB1 to QB3 after the Buffalo Bills clobbered the New York Jets 32-6 on Sunday. Wilson ate five sacks and completed just 7-of-15 passes before backup Tim Boyle took over.
Boyle gets the start against the Miami Dolphins on Friday. But the Jets plan to sign Trevor Siemian from the practice squad as the backup. Wilson drops to third on the depth chart — again.
When the Jets acquired Aaron Rodgers from the Green Bay Packers, they had a plan. Rodgers would mentor Wilson for a couple of seasons. Wilson, the No. 2 pick in the 2021 draft, would take the team back and a dynasty would ensue.
The reality? That was never going to happen. Yes, Wilson has youth on his side. The track record, though? Too many interceptions, a general lack of accuracy and losses. Lots of losses.
New York is 4-6, 14th in the AFC playoff race, and even Rodgers’ possible return might not be enough to save them.
3. The Cincinnati Bengals are done
The Cincinnati Bengals dealt with a Joe Burrow calf injury throughout training camp and the preseason. The problem bled over into the regular season in a 1-3 start. Now Cincinnati owns back-to-back losses, a 5-5 record and a QB1 in street clothes.
Now the team turns to backup Jake Browning, a 27-year-old with 38 career snaps under his belt. He was 8-of-14 for 68 yards and a touchdown in Thursday’s 34-20 loss to the Baltimore Ravens after Burrow went down.
But with Burrow, the Bengals were 24th in total offense. Combine that with a 30th-ranked defense and you have a mediocre team, at best.
Cincinnati’s two-year run as NFC North champions is done. Its 1-5 conference record places it squarely in tiebreaker hell (although the Bengals unofficially won the NFC West at 4-0).
Windows close quickly in the NFL, a lesson the Bengals are about to learn.
2. Beware the rising Houston Texans
The Houston Texans believe. Given the state of the organization the last few years, that alone counts as something of a surprise.
First-year coach DeMeco Ryans should be a front-runner for Coach of the Year. Three straight wins vaulted Houston into the playoff hunt. Quarterback C.J. Stroud is the likely Offensive Rookie of the Year, with 17 touchdowns, just five interceptions and a QBR of 60.7.
The passing game ranks second in the NFL at 277.7 yards per game. Six turnovers in the last two games are concerning after just five in their first eight games, but the Texans found a way to win both.
In the midst of a season-long three-game homestand, Houston hosts the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sunday and the suddenly surging Denver Broncos the week after. A split might just be enough to set up the Texans for the big finish.
1. Yeah, the Kansas City Chiefs’ offense has lost its way
Travis Kelce lost a fumble in the red zone on Monday night and veteran Marquez Valdes-Scantling showed why he’s somewhere around WR9 on the depth chart with a crucial drop. That’s the state of the Kansas City Chiefs offense after a 21-17 loss at home to the Eagles on Monday night.
The offensive unit transitioned from juggernaut to juggernot very quickly amid personnel changes in the last couple of seasons. Ranked 14th in total offense, Kansas City has 19 turnovers — ranked 29th in the league. Nine of those giveaways are Patrick Mahomes interceptions, as he’s on pace to shatter his career-high of 13 picks in a season.
Mahomes averaged 9.1 air yards per attempt in his first season as a starter in 2018. He’s at 6.9 air yards a throw this year.
All of those numbers scream one thing: Opposing defenses have figured things out and the declining quality of the receivers around Mahomes exacerbates that.
Coach Andy Reid has never been afraid to roll the dice and take some chances. The Chiefs might be at the point where that’s necessary.
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