Week 11 in the NFL kicked off with two teams looking to make a push toward the postseason as the Seattle Seahawks hosted the Green Bay Packers on Thursday Night Football. The Seahawks won the game, 27-24 thanks to a solid performance from Russell Wilson in which the quarterback completed 21 of 31 passes for 225 yards and two touchdowns. Aaron Rodgers impressed, too, but he wasn’t able to carry his team to a victory.
Sunday Night Football saw two NFC North foes square off. The Chicago Bears held on to first place in the division with a 25-20 win over the Minnesota Vikings. The Bears defense had 2.0 sacks, two interceptions, and a forced fumble in the victory; they bailed out the offense who didn’t play their best game. Mitchell Trubisky finished with 20 completions on 31 passes for 165 yards, one touchdown, and two interceptions.
Monday Night Football’s Los Angeles Rams vs. Kansas City Chiefs was hyped up to be the game of the year and it completely delivered. In a battle of two of the league’s best teams and best offenses, the defenses actually shined greatly. The Rams had a pick six and fumble recovery returned for a touchdown, both by Sam Ebukam, while the Chiefs had a fumble recovery returned for a touchdown by Allen Bailey. The Rams won an incredible battle by a score of 54-51.
And even though the defenses stepped up, offensive players were making big plays, too. Like Chiefs wide receiver Tyreek Hill who became the third player in NFL history with 15 touchdowns of 50+ yards before turning 25-years-old!
With his 73-yard touchdown reception in the 4th quarter Tyreek Hill became the 3rd player in NFL history with 15 touchdowns of 50+ yards before turning 25 years old
— NFL Research (@NFLResearch) November 20, 2018
He joins Hall of Famers Gale Sayers and Randy Moss #KCvLAR #MNF
Odds and expert picks
The Rams vs. Chiefs game set the record for the highest over/under in NFL history. It’s set at 63.5 for a game that should see quite a bit of scoring from two of the league’s top three offenses.
If you’re still in a Survivor pool, our safest pick of the week was the New Orleans Saints over the Philadelphia Eagles. That pick worked out well as the Saints walked all over the Eagles to the tune of a 48-7 win.
Our experts were mostly siding with the Atlanta Falcons over the Dallas Cowboys and only the coin flip went for the Detroit Lions over the Carolina Panthers. The Cowboys and Lions ended up winning, both in one-score games.
Big moments
The Indianapolis Colts played a division rival for the second week in a row as the Tennessee Titans visited Lucas Oil Stadium for a game that could have playoff implications. Titans defensive coordinator Dean Pees had to be taken to the hospital before the game. The Colts walked all over the Titans in a 38-10 win. The Colts are attempting to make an unlikely push toward the postseason after starting the season 1-5. Last week, Andrew Luck became one of three quarterbacks in NFL history to record at least six consecutive games with three or more touchdown passes in a single season, joining Tom Brady (10 consecutive games in 2007) and Peyton Manning (eight in 2004) to accomplish that. Brady and Manning were each named NFL MVP in those respective seasons. On Sunday against the Titans, Luck went 23 of 29 for 297 yards and three touchdowns. His streak lives on!
In the Cowboys vs. Falcons game in Atlanta, Dallas running back Ezekiel Elliott was looking to hit an NFL milestone, and he did! He had 4,339 scrimmage yards and 31 touchdowns in 34 career games before Sunday. In his 35th career game, Elliott needed 161 scrimmage yards to join Pro Football Hall of Famer Eric Dickerson and Edgerrin James as the only players in NFL history with at least 4,500 scrimmage yards and 30 touchdowns in their first 35 career games. Elliott had 122 rushing yards and a touchdown as well as 79 yards through the air in the Cowboys’ 22-19 loss. He now has 4,540 scrimmage yards and 31 touchdowns in 35 career games.
Since entering the NFL, Ezekiel Elliott has:
— NFL Research (@NFLResearch) November 18, 2018
• 17 games with 100+ rush yards
• 24 games with 100+ scrimmage yards
• 4 games with 200+ scrimmage yards
• 3,567 rush yards
The one similarity between these numbers?
Elliott leads the NFL in each since 2016#Cowboys
Washington quarterback Alex Smith’s season is over as he suffered a gruesome leg injury on the 33rd anniversary of Joe Theismann’s similarly gruesome injury. Smith broke his tibia and fibia and will require immediate surgery, according to reports. That’s a big blow to the NFC East’s first place team. The Cowboys’ win over the Falcons means Dallas is just one game behind Washington.
Wide receiver D.J. Moore had a huge day in the Panthers’ loss to the Lions. He had 157 receiving yards and a score. Lions wide receiver Kenny Golladay tried to match his effort with 113 yards and a score of his own.
The Raiders got just their second win of the year. It came against the also two-win Cardinals. Coming into Sunday, Oakland was the only team in the NFL that had not won a game when leading through three quarters. The rest of the NFL was 121-17-2 (.871), according to NFL Research. That changed as the Raiders finally got their second win of the season. No team has less than two wins entering Week 12. At least Arizona got the edge in the draft seed battle!
The Chargers’ kicking woes seemed to be gone coming into this week.
We all know the @Chargers have had their kicking woes...
— NFL Research (@NFLResearch) November 18, 2018
They have missed 25 kicks (PAT & FG) since 2017 (most in the NFL).
BUT... rookie Michael Badgley is now a perfect 16/16 on all kicks this season and has the best kicking pct in the NFL (min 15 att)!#Chargers #Kickers
But Michael Badgley missed an extra point in the third quarter to keep the score at 19-7 instead of 20-7 in favor of the Chargers. The Chargers ended up losing by one to the Broncos, 23-22. That extra point really would have come in handy.
NFL Week 11 schedule
Thursday, November 15
Green Bay Packers 24, Seattle Seahawks 27
Sunday, November 18
Dallas Cowboys 22, Atlanta Falcons 19
Tennessee Titans 10, Indianapolis Colts 38
Cincinnati Bengals 21, Baltimore Ravens 24
Carolina Panthers 19, Detroit Lions 20
Houston Texans 23, Washington 21
Tampa Bay Buccaneers 35, New York Giants 38
Pittsburgh Steelers 20, Jacksonville Jaguars 16
Oakland Raiders 23, Arizona Cardinals 21
Denver Broncos 23, Los Angeles Chargers 22
Philadelphia Eagles 7, New Orleans Saints 48
Minnesota Vikings 20, Chicago Bears 25
Monday, November 19
Kansas City Chiefs 51, Los Angeles Rams 54