NFL Week 11 Notes
November 23rd, 2009 at 6:04 am by Displaced Cleveland FanThese are stories from around the league that I thought were worth noting. You can read my recap of the Browns week 11 game here.
The old man’s still got it.
After deciding late in the off-season to return to football, Brett Favre joined the Vikings. No one knew if he could perform like he used to when he was with the Packers. The Vikings may have been a better team than the Jets. But Favre was also a year older. After ten games, we have seen what Favre can still do. The 40-year old quarterback has led his new team to a 9-1 record.
It’s not just the record. Favre is putting up MVP-type numbers. He came into this week averaging over 250 passing yards per game, a 68% completion rate, 17 touchdowns, and just 3 interceptions.
Yesterday against Seattle, he recorded the best completion percentage of his career - 88% on 22 for 25 passing. He threw for 213 yards and 4 touchdowns before being taken out of the game with a big lead. The Vikings beat the Seahawks 35-9.
The Vikings could have the division title wrapped up in a week or two. Then Favre will be in the playoffs trying to win another Super Bowl, this time with the Packers’ division rival.
The New York Giants may have saved their season this week against the Falcons.
After winning their first five games, the Giants lost their last four and would have fallen to 5-5 with a loss against Atlanta. It took overtime to do it, but the Giants beat the Falcons 34-31 to improve to 6-4.
Eli Manning threw for 384 yards and 3 touchdowns. But the defense didn’t play well. If they are to have a shot, they’ll have to improve in that area.
Denver has fallen quickly.
The Broncos had a surprisingly strong start to this season. They won their first six games, most of which were against current division leaders - Cincinnati, Dallas, New England, and San Diego.
The problem is the last team - San Diego. The Chargers are in the same division as the Broncos and after today’s 32-3 win in Denver, San Diego has a one game lead in the AFC West.
The Broncos have now lost their last four games, including yesterday’s lopsided loss at home to the Chargers. If they can’t get their act together, the rest of the season does not look promising with games yet to play against the Giants, Colts, and Eagles.
In the Division:
It was not a good week for the AFC North.
The Baltimore Ravens hosted the undefeated Indianapolis Colts. Despite forcing 3 turnovers (2 interceptions, 1 fumble) and scoring five times, the Ravens lost. What was their problem? They couldn’t find the end zone. The Ravens’ five scores were all field goals, not enough to overtake the Colts. Baltimore lost 17-15.
The Pittsburgh Steelers traveled to Kansas City to take on the 2-7 Chiefs. After losing to Cincinnati last week, this should have been a good game for the Steelers to get back on track. Didn’t happen. They lost in overtime 27-24. If that weren’t enough, quarterback Ben Roethlisberger suffered another possible concussion. Is there anyone who has been able to keep track how many concussions this guy has gotten?
The division leading Cincinnati Bengals had a chance to extend their lead after the Steelers fell in KC. Like the Steelers, they were facing an inferior 2-7 opponent from the AFC West. The Bengals led the Raiders 17-10 in the final two minutes. Oakland’s back-up turned starting quarterback Bruce Gradkowski threw a 29-yard touchdown pass to tie the game with 33 seconds left. With the game tied, all the Bengals had to do was recover the ensuing kickoff and win the game in overtime. But they fumbled the kick, the Raiders recovered, and then kicked a field goal to win the game.
Quick hits:
- The Colts improved to 10-0 with their win over the Ravens. The other unbeaten team, the New Orleans Saints, stayed perfect with a 38-7 win over Tampa Bay.
- The Buccaneers loss to the Saints dropped them to 1-9 on the year, the same record as the Browns. The other team vying for the #1 draft pick is St. Louis. The Rams fell to 1-9 after yesterday’s loss to Arizona.
- Mark Sanchez, the quarterback the Browns could have taken with the #5 selection before trading the pick to the Jets, had another rough game going 8 for 21 (38%) for 136 yards, 1 touchdown and 4 interceptions.
- The Cowboys are still atop the AFC East, but you wouldn’t guess it by their game today. They narrowly beat the struggling Redskins at home, 7-6.
-dcf
Tags: Baltimore Ravens, Ben Roethlisberger, Brett Favre, Bruce Gradkowski, Cincinnati Bengals, Denver Broncos, Eli Manning, Mark Sanchez, Minnesota Vikings, New York Giants, Pittsburgh Steelers
