Most of week 11 is in the books and it started back on Thursday night with a game between the Commanders and Eagles. The Eagles would go on to win with a score of 26-18 and I was worried at a point in this game that they were going to lose because at a point – they were doing everything they could to hand Washington the game. They eventually prevailed as Saquon Barkley had a great game as he finished with nearly 200 yards of total offense as well as adding two touchdowns on the ground. Philly entered their week 5 bye with a 2-2 record and they have reeled off 6 straight wins since and look like one of the best teams in football. I always thought this team was far too talented to be a .500 team – and they are improving as the season goes on. And I can’t wait to see their next two games as they play at the Rams and at the Ravens. Washington had a tough week as they lost to both Pennsylvania teams in a 5 day span. Washington’s game plan really frustrated me and I don’t think Jayden Daniels was close to 100% in this game and it showed. My biggest concern for Washington aside from Jayden Daniels health – is Kliff Kingsbury. Quinyon Mitchell is a very good player and he will probably be a multiple time pro bowler – but why Kliff didn’t move Terry McLaurin to the other side is a decision I’ll never understand. Corners rarely travel with receivers – as in truly line up against them every single play – and why you wouldn’t put Terry McLaurin in a more favorable situation is beyond me. And this is definitely something to pay attention to in the future because this was an inexcusable decision from Kliff to never adjust once the game got going.
The Dolphins beat the Raiders 34-19 and Tua threw for nearly 300 yards and 3 touchdowns. Jonnu Smith of all players had over 100 yards and 2 touchdowns and Miami played one of their best games all year. They are certainly kicking themselves over a couple of early season loses – but they play the Patriots next week, and the Packers the week after that and with how shaky the Packers can be at times – getting back to .500 isn’t unreasonable for Miami. And the rest of their schedule isn’t too difficult and I personally don’t think they’ll make the playoffs – but if you are a Dolphins fan watching – shoutout Doc – you can convince yourself that with some help – the playoffs isn’t out of the equation with the remaining schedule they have. I don’t have many takeaways for the Raiders other than Brock Bowers is awesome and it’s really a matter of him staying healthy because he is already one of the best tight ends in the league. The main thing I would say to look forward to if you are a Raiders fan – is – Shedeur Sanders tweeted after this game ended that directly implies he wants to be a Raider. And I respect any player wanting to go to a team that desperately needs help at the quarterback position. We all know this season is lost, and it’s very much onto 2025. There’s not a lot to takeaway from a bad team whose season we know is over.
The Rams needed a win after losing to the Dolphins on Monday night and I was worried about them on a short week and traveling all the way to Boston from Los Angeles. Both star receivers had over 100 yards and a touchdown and Puka had over 100 yards in the first half. The Patriots also dominated the time of possession and they ran 73 plays to the Rams 51 and rest this week for the Rams will be critical because they’re playing the Eagles next Sunday night in what will be a very critical game for them regarding their playoff chances. It’s also very difficult to win on the road in the NFL and a win is a win – and especially on a short week – that’s what matters for the LA Rams. Drake Maye looked good yet again and I think it’s more clear by the week that he is the franchise quarterback. I thoroughly enjoy watching him play and there’s no significant takeaway for the Patriots here because remember they are a 3-8 team – but I really can’t wait to see what they do this offseason to build around their young quarterback. It’s clear they have their guy – which is already hard enough to hit on in today’s NFL – but my takeaway is the same as it’s been for a couple of weeks – I can’t wait to see Drake Maye make chicken salad when he has much better ingredients in 2025.
For the second time this year the Saints have a winning streak as they beat the Browns 35-14 and this was the Taysom Hill game. Taysom had 7 carries for 138 yards and 3 touchdowns in this game and New Orleans had nearly 500 yards of offense. And for the second straight week – Marquez Valdes – Scantling proved Derek Carr is the quarterback for him as he had another long touchdown. The Saints won by 21 points but had two first half turnovers and there’s a chance this game could have been an even bigger win that it was. My takeaway for New Orleans is their schedule for the remainder of the year is pretty light – and I think there will be legitimate conversations about whether or not Darren Rizzi can be the next head coach for this team. I truly think this team can finish with 8 wins and that would be an interesting conversation. Jameis Winston threw for nearly 400 yards and 2 touchdowns off a bye, this team won the turnover battle, and 2 to zero, and they lost by 3 touchdowns. Off the bye. This is a bad football team and i wouldn’t be surprised if there’s a firing on the coaching staff after this game. Allowing nearly 500 yards off the bye including 138 and 3 touchdowns on the ground to Taysom Hill is not going to go over well. Especially when you’re 2-8 and play the 8-2 Steelers Thursday. They may wait until Friday to make the announcement about a firingb because it is a short week – but this season is long gone.
The Jags went into Detroit with Mac Jones as their starting quarterback against a team that’s probably headed to the Super Bowl and lost by 46 points. The Lions had 645 yards of offense and held the ball for nearly 40 minutes while the Jags had just 170 yards as a team. This video is titled the biggest week 11 takeaways and there was a reason the Lions were favored by double digits – which is already pretty rare in the NFL – and it would have taken a miracle for the Jags to win this game. I can’t imagine Doug Pederson survives this game and Trent Baalke too for that matter and I would be shocked if they’re both not gone by the time you’re watching this video. That’s the takeaway. Clean house. The biggest thing I was paying attention to for the Lions was how Jared Goff would respond after the 5 interception game. I know the Hail Mary interception in Houston wasn’t a normal interception, nor was the ball that fell into the lineman’s arms – but responding with a 400 yard 4 passing touchdown game with a perfect passer rating is how the Lions 2024 season is going. And they still won last week when their quarterback threw 5 interceptions. This is an elite football team. They don’t mess around. They take care of business. And they are still my pick for the NFC to go to the Super Bowl. Great bounce back win and you’re good enough for Detroit, Jared Goff.
The Minnesota Vikings went to Nashville and beat the Titans 23-13 and this was at times a very funky game. Sam Darnold responded well after a 3 interception game in Jacksonville in week 10 as he had a passer rating of over 105 and threw 2 touchdowns in the win. Minnesota also had 7 first downs by penalty which was the most in the NFL all season – but even with that – the Titans offense never really got going outside of the big Nick Westbrook-Ikhine touchdown. They had 294 yards of offense all day – and 98 came on one play. My takeaway for the Titans is that they’re not a good football team and it starts up front. Minnesota’s defense was winning with ease and the Titans only had 33 yards of rushing on 1.7 yards per carry. I will say I thought Will Levis looked better in this game and there were a lot of things going against him. Minnesota finally got Jordan Addison involved and he responded well and I was happy to see that for him as I think he has been one of the more underutilized players in all of football this year. Justin Jefferson broke the receiving yards record for the most in his first 5 years and it was another day in the office for him. The pass rush was great in this game and they exploited Nicolas Petit Frere a couple of times and a good team improved to 8-2.
The Colts have had a very interesting last few weeks and went back to Anthony Richardson after a few games of Joe Flacco and they won 28-27. Richardson faced a ton of criticism – especially after the comment – and you know the comment – but he looked a lot better in this game and Indy put up 28 points for the first time all season and I couldn’t be happier for AR. Anthony getting the game winning touchdown and having the game he did after the last few weeks is a statement and I hope this is the start to him turning it around. The Colts offense was abysmal over the last few weeks and I don’t want to overreact completely – but I am very happy for them and happy with how they responded and that’s the main takeaway. I don’t have much to say here other than the Jets are a joke at this point. They are 1-5 since they fired Robert Saleh and have allowed 23 or more points in 5 of the 6 games since he was fired. This is collectively one of the worst teams I’ve seen over the past couple of years when you factor in everything. This is a failure from the top down and the reports this week were that Aaron Rodgers plan to return in 2025 and I think that’s concerning for the future of the Jets. The Jets schedule isn’t easy to end the year and there’s a very real possibility this team ends 2024 with a 4-13 record. And this is nothing short of a nightmare.
The Packers beat the Bears 20-19 in one of the closest games you’ll see – especially with how it ended. Caleb Williams and the offense had a tough week as Shane Waldron was fired and it was collectively a very bad week for the Bears. But credit where it’s due – Caleb led a game winning caliber drive. My criticism of course goes to the head coach who is far too conservative and is the ultimate find ways to lose games in Matt Eberflus. I would love for them to get rid of him for the remainder of the year and to allow Thomas Brown – the interim offensive coordinator take over because this game clearly showed Shane Waldron was the problem. And Eberflus of course is too. Those are the main takeaways and I know the Bears haven’t beat the Packers since before the pandemic all the way back in 2018 – but the wins against them will eventually come. Green Bay is 7-3 and I have a lot of concerns with this team, but a win is a win. And as we always say – never apologize for a win – especially over your division rivals. But my biggest concern with Green Bay is they have a very tough stretch coming up and I don’t think they’re going to win the division over Detroit – and I don’t think they’re going to win 3 straight road playoff games to get to the Super Bowl especially with how sloppy they can be at times. And I think Packers fans would agree with that. But enjoy the win and remember that Matt Lafleur has never lost to the Bears.
The Ravens lost to the Steelers 18-16 and if you didn’t like this game – then you don’t like AFC North football. This game had it all – from a great defensive effort from Baltimore, to turnovers, and everything in between. It seems like we say this every time after the Ravens lose in Pittsburgh – but they had several chances to win this game. And it’s definitely time to have the conversation about Justin Tucker. They lost by two points and Tucker missed two fields goals in the first half and the Ravens also had 3 turnovers offensively. I will say – credit Zach Orr for having the defense ready to play as they only allowed 303 yards of opposing offense and sacked Russell Wilson 4 times. But the biggest thing for the Ravens – that has to clean up if they’re going to go to the Super Bowl is – 3 turnovers, 12 penalties, and 2 missed field goals. And that’s the big reason for the loss in this game. This was a very classic Pittsburgh Stiller hard fought win and shoutout Chris Boswell who went 6/6 in this game. I also really liked the Steelers 2024 draft class as it was happening and if you would have said to any Steelers fan that Payton Wilson would have made the play he did in this game – especially against the Ravens – they would have signed off on that pick immediately regardless of where he was selected. This team finds a way to win and with how good their defense is, and with how opportunistic they are – they are a very very good football team. And what Steelers fans like is the winning – and the standard is most definitely the standard.
The Seahawks went into San Francisco off their week 10 bye and beat the 49ers 20-17 and saying this win was big would be an understatement. They couldn’t afford to fall to 4-6 and Geno Smith clutched up with a big 4th quarter touchdown run. This was the first win over the 49ers since back in 2021 and I don’t have any major takeaways or revelations for the Seahawks and think they’re going to the Super Bowl – but I do think they officially closed the 49ers Super Bowl window with this group. I thought it was going to be a long shot for the 49ers to begin with – but with their 5th loss and especially with how they lost this game – good for Seattle for beat the Niners and for Geno get his first win over the Niners as a starter for the Seahawks. I’ve been very frustrated with the 49ers throughout 2024 and this game summarizes why. A last second Geno Smith touchdown, a one point loss to the Cardinals back in week 5, and a field goal loss to the Rams in week 3 is the difference between the 49ers being 5-5 and 8-2. And I think you can see a visible difference in the 49ers between last year and this year and it’s almost like you can tell they know the time has passed them by. And I think there is an inevitable rebuild pending and I think everyone in this organization knows it. Their best chance was last year, and they blew it. And I would be pretty surprised if this team makes the playoffs based on what we’ve seen through the first 10 games.
The Denver Broncos absolutely killed the Atlanta Falcons 38-6 and Bo Nix threw for over 300 yards and 4 touchdowns. I know there is obviously no rivalry between the Broncos and Falcons – but there’s no doubt this felt great to Sean Payton to really stick it to Atlanta given the rivalry between the Saints and Falcons. This was easily the best game Denver has played all year collectively and they’re 6-5 through 11 games and this franchise has been through it over the past several years. I am very happy for them and they had two tough losses to the Ravens and Chiefs and especially the Chiefs – and this is how you respond. Bo Nix is fully in the rookie of the year conversation and it’s not a run away award. Two bonuses for the Broncos – they swept the NFC South and the Chiefs also lost. This team is very difficult to beat and I can’t wait to see how their season plays out. The Atlanta Falcons had their rear ends kicked and flew back to Atlanta with their tail between their legs. There is no one player to single out here in a game you lose by 32 points. None. It’s a collective embarrassment. Atlanta can still win the division and I think they will given the Bucs are 4-6 – but my takeaway here is they are done for championship contending purposes. Not even Super Bowl either – just anything past the divisional round. This was one of their more embarrassing losses over the past several years and they may go 9-8, win a playoff game and be done after that in the best case. But I think that’s their peak at this point. This was brutal.
The Buffalo Bills knocked off the last unbeaten team in the Kansas City Chief as they won 30-21 in a very thrilling game. Josh Allen had a signature MVP moment as he had a 26 yard rushing touchdown late in the 4th quarter to officially put the Bills up two scores and pretty much put the game on ice. Buffalo looks like a completely different team than the team that lost to the Ravens and Texans earlier in the year and I think what’s scary for the rest of the AFC – is – they’re getting healthier as the season goes on. They have a week 12 bye and they beat the Chiefs by two scores without Dalton Kincaid, Matt Milano, Keon Coleman, and if it’s anybody’s year to go out and beat the Chiefs – it’s Buffalo’s. Win or lose I loved the decision from Sean McDermott to go for it at the end and it paid off. I don’t think it’s for sure that Buffalo is going to the Super Bowl after this – but this was a big big win for the Bills. And I couldn’t be happier for them. Going undefeated is nearly impossible and the first loss had to come at some point and there’s no shame in losing to the Bills. They are one of the best franchises year in and year out. We mentioned all of Buffalo’s injuries and Kansas City too is very banged up at the moment. I don’t think one loss constitutes an overreaction especially to the Bills and the best news for Kansas City is they’re 9-1 – and still control their destiny. Losing stinks, but it’s definitely not the end of the world and they play the Panthers in week 12 which should be a win to get back on track. They’re going to be fine. I hope you enjoyed and if you did please like and subscribe as only about 42% of people watching are subscribed and helps the channel tremendously. 2024 draft grades midway through their rookie year videos are out I recommend watching and until next time please be safe and have a great day. Love you guys
