NFL Week 11 winners, losers: Broncos race back to relevance with league-best win streak
Week 11 in the NFL saw one team turn it around in a way it badly needed.
The Buffalo Bills notched their get-right game in their first showdown with Joe Brady as interim offensive coordinator after Ken Dorsey was fired early last week. Buffalo dropped 32 points on the New York Jets, who came into Sunday ranked third in the NFL in scoring defense.
The Dallas Cowboys didn’t necessarily get right, but they did continue their trend of beating up on below-average teams with a 33-10 rout of the lowly Carolina Panthers. Dallas, however, will have a crucial stretch to end its season and will struggle for seeding in the NFC if it doesn’t take down better teams.
And elsewhere in the NFC East, the Washington Commanders suffered an inexcusable loss.
Here are the winners and losers from Sunday of Week 11.
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WINNERS
Broncos stay hot … and are suddenly in playoff race
They needed a drive in the two-minute drill to score a come-from-behind touchdown, but the Denver Broncos (5-5) secured a massive 21-20 victory over the Minnesota Vikings to completely turn their season around. Denver started 1-5 but has since won four in a row – the longest active streak in the league – and now sits at 10th in the AFC playoff picture.
The Broncos have course-corrected on both offense and defense, though defensive coordinator Vance Joseph’s group has had the more pronounced progression. During the winning streak, Denver is allowing just 17 points per game, including a Week 8 victory over the Chiefs in which Kansas City scored just nine points. On offense, receiver Courtland Sutton has hauled in huge catches over the past couple of games and has caught a touchdown in five consecutive games. And while quarterback Russell Wilson’s numbers haven’t been eye-catching, he has been efficient, posting a 19:4 touchdown-to-interception ratio.
Get-right game for the Buffalo Bills
It’s too soon to say the Bills are better off with Joe Brady running the offense after Ken Dorsey was fired as coordinator, as Buffalo’s production was actually statistically prolific under Dorsey. But in Sunday’s drubbing of a very good Jets defense, the unit looked crisp and efficient, possibly signaling better days to come.
Most promising for the Bills was that quarterback Josh Allen didn’t have to be the team’s leading rusher. While Buffalo becomes difficult to stop when Allen can extend plays and improvise, he can sometimes press when doing so. Brady called a ton of play-action rollouts and used pre-snap movement to get New York’s defense off balance, allowing receivers to leak out into open spaces down the field. The rollouts also present the threat of Allen rushing, which can compromise a defense’s integrity. It’s just one game, but this is precisely what the Bills needed.
The argument for keeping Justin Fields
Even though the Chicago Bears (3-8) blew an eight-point fourth quarter lead to fall 31-26 to the Detroit Lions, Justin Fields showed in his return from a dislocated throwing thumb that the team already has its franchise quarterback. The Bears are projected to have two top-five draft selections, but what Fields needs to flourish is an investment in the offensive line, athleticism at the skill positions and stability on the coaching staff.
The Bears dominated possession, holding the ball for 40:24 — compared to 19:36 for the Lions — and ran 12 more offensive plays than Detroit did. That was, in large part, thanks to Fields’ ability to run and move the chains, especially when plays break down. Fields had 18 carries for 104 yards, which ranked third-best across the league in Week 11. He was also efficient passing with a 16-for-23 day for 169 yards and a touchdown. Chicago has several issues to solve before it can compete. Fields isn’t one of them.
Cowboys lacking signature victory but still beating up on subpar teams
Dallas (7-3) still gets criticized for losses this season against the San Francisco 49ers and Philadelphia Eagles, the better teams on its schedule, but there is something to be said about a team that handles the games it should win. Aside from a Week 3 dud against the Arizona Cardinals, that’s what the Cowboys have done. Dallas has a point differential of +153 in its seven victories, for an average of 21.9 points per victory.
The Cowboys have six wins this season by 20 or more points, which is most for any team in franchise history since 1978. Still, the Cowboys are yet to beat a team with a winning record. Their opponents have a 21-51 combined record (.292). Dallas will have its chance to reverse the narrative Week 13 against the Seattle Seahawks (6-4), Week 14 against the Eagles (8-1), Week 15 against the Bills (6-5), Week 16 against the Miami Dolphins (7-3) and Week 17 against the Lions (8-2).
LOSERS
Seahawks drop game they couldn't afford to lose
The Seahawks have been one of the most uneven teams in the NFL this season, following a victory with a loss three separate times. Sunday’s 17-16 loss to the Los Angeles Rams was particularly costly. Seattle (6-4) is currently sitting in the sixth playoff seed in the NFC but was swept by its NFC West rivals.
Now losers of two of their last three, the Seahawks fell flat in the second half after racing out to a 13-point lead with just fewer than five minutes to play in the second quarter. They would go on to score only three more points the rest of the way. This was a game the Seahawks could not afford to lose; their next four are against the 49ers (7-3) on Thanksgiving, the Cowboys (7-3), again against San Francisco and then against the Eagles (8-1). Jason Myers pushing the potential game-winning field goal will sting — and may keep Seattle out of the playoffs.
Jekyll and Hyde Chargers sputter again in red zone
The Los Angeles Chargers blew another lead in the fourth quarter to lose 23-20 to the Green Bay Packers, their third such defeat of the season, but it’s another trend that’s more concerning. Los Angeles struggled once again to finish drives, stalling out in the red zone. It’s something that has become emblematic of its losses this season.
In their four victories, the Chargers have combined to convert nine of 10 trips inside the 20; in their six losses, that number plunges to 13 of 23 combined conversions (56.5%). Sunday against the Packers, Los Angeles converted just one of four trips, including an Austin Ekeler fumble on a goal-to-go situation. That marked the third turnover the Chargers have committed this season inside the red zone. Five of the six Chargers defeats have been one-possession games. Leaving points on the field with inefficient red-zone execution is the reason for those losses.
Inexcusable loss hints at possible changes for Commanders
FedEx Field, home of the Washington Commanders (4-7), lacked hot water for both teams to shower after the game. Somehow, that wasn’t the worst part of the day for Washington. The Commanders turned the ball over six times and didn’t force a single one in a 31-19 loss to the New York Giants. They outgained the Giants by 111 yards and ran 23 more offensive plays. They gained 15 more first downs.
Frankly, it’s inexcusable for this team to get swept by the Giants, especially with both Daniel Jones and Tyrod Taylor sidelined with injuries. This roster clearly has its limitations. Washington traded away its top two pass rushers. Yet, the Commanders sacked Giants quarterback Tommy DeVito nine times. A lot of the blame falls on Ron Rivera, but general manager Martin Mayhew hasn’t delivered anything close to long-term answers at several key positions, none more important than quarterback. Still, if Josh Harris and the new ownership group decide to make a change, they have a perfect coach-in-waiting in current offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy.
It's time to blow up the Steelers offense
We wrote here last week that the Pittsburgh Steelers were on an unsustainable pace. In Sunday's 13-10 loss to the Cleveland Browns that proved to be exactly the case. Pittsburgh (6-4) has still been outgained in every game this season after losing the yardage battle to the Browns by a margin of 259-249. The Steelers had won four of their previous five, but their offense couldn’t outduel a Cleveland outfit that started Dorian Thompson-Robinson at quarterback and struggled all day.
Still, Pittsburgh, behind coordinator Matt Canada and quarterback Kenny Pickett, was far worse. The Steelers generated just 12 first downs, eight fewer than the Browns managed. They scored only 10 points, which somehow isn’t their worst or even second-worst showing this season. They threw for only 77 yards. In fact, if you remove running back Jaylen Warren’s 74-yard rushing touchdown in the third quarter, the Steelers otherwise posted just 175 yards of offense. We’re way past the point of questioning Pickett’s viability as a starter.