What went wrong and what didn’t in NFL Week 11: Are the Browns good enough to make the playoffs? Brock Purdy, Most Valuable Player? Daron Bland, are you the DPOY?
Things were very different in Week 11 during the NFL season. This season, the Detroit Lions were the initial team to come back from being down 10 or more points in the last five minutes of regulation and win.
The Cleveland Browns beat the Pittsburgh Steelers within a classic AFC North defensive battle that was very exciting.
Both the Browns and the Lions won a minimum of seven for their first ten games, which hasn’t happened since 1969.
As of now, only the Browns, Lions, and Jaguars have won seven of their first ten games. The Jaguars are 7-3, which is the first time this has ever happened. The four teams that have never made it to the Super Bowl have a record of 28-12 all together.
In Week 6, Jake Moody made a 41-yard field goal that would have won the game for San Francisco at Cleveland. Next, the 49ers lost to Minnesota on the road and to Cincinnati at home.
Both games, they were missing Trent Williams, who is probably the NFL’s best left tackle, and Deebo Samuel, who is one of the the game’s most unique weapons.
Finally, I loved what San Francisco got at the last minute to get Chase Young from Washington for a third-round pick.
What a great deal! Young seems to be healthy again, which means the former No. 2 pick can get back to bothering rival quarterbacks, which is something a 49ers’ defense isn’t doing enough lately.
Young will do well in San Francisco because he is on a contract year, starring for an undefeated squad, and getting back together with Nick Bosa, an old friend from Ohio State. Both could play again after this week’s break.
The Cleveland Browns needed a win more than any other team in the NFL on Sunday. Dorian Thompson-Robinson was hoping to get back on track after a terrible first start.
It was already hard for the Pittsburgh Steelers to play without their main quarterback, Deshaun Watson got hurt this week and will not play again this season.
It wasn’t a great game for Thompson-Robinson (24 of 43, 165 yards, no scores, and an interception), but he did lead the Browns on a league-winning drive in the last 1:18 and set up the winning field goal.
On the last drive, Thompson-Robinson completed 4 out of 4 passes for 39 yards, not counting the spikes.
He helped a top-two defense which is more compared to good enough to send Cleveland to the playoffs.
With the win, Cleveland now has two games more than Cincinnati and Indianapolis for the last AFC playoff spot. They also have 1.5 games more than Buffalo.
There are five teams in the AFC, and the Browns are in fifth place. They are one half-game beneath the Baltimore Ravens for first place in the AFC North.
Bland continued to dominate in the secondary with his fifth interception return for a score of the season.
He now has as many in a single season as Eric Allen (1993), Jim Kearney (1972), as well as Ken Houston (1971).
The Dallas Cowboys beat the Carolina Panthers by a score of 77–0 on Sunday thanks in large part to a strong defense that gave up only 187 yards and 10 points.
Opposing quarterbacks who are going after Bland are only completing 43.1% of their passes, gaining 231 yards with one score and six interceptions, giving them a 17.5 passer rating. This is one of the best safety seasons in recent memory.
Most of the time, defensive backs don’t win defensive player for the year, but Bland’s covering numbers show that he should.
Bland has scored more touchdowns than Travis Kelce! Myles Garrett and his friend Micah Parsons both have good points, but Bland should also be considered for the award.
If you lose to the New York Giants twice, you should be fired. This is especially true for a team that is about to start over with a new head coach as well as front office (thanks to new ownership).
The Commanders have lost two games in a row to a Giants team that just can’t get out of its own way. This shows that they are not a playoff team.
The Commanders play the Dallas Cowboys in Thanksgiving, which is in the middle of a short week.
This means that the assistant coach has no time to make a game plan or make his mark on the squad. Making such a big change in just one week doesn’t make sense.