Week 11 Thoughts

Josh Allen Hands the Chiefs Their First Loss

The final score may have been 30-21, but Josh Allen and Patrick Mahomes gave us another thrilling head-to-head matchup. It culminated with Allen’s 26-yard touchdown run to give the Bills a 9-point lead with just over two minutes remaining (See a breakdown of that play here).

Allen played an outstanding game, throwing for 262 yards and running for 55. Mahomes played well too, firing 3 touchdown passes. But the Chiefs offense still isn’t all the way there.

They’ve been able to win this season primarily on the strength of a defense that keeps every game from getting out of hand. But this was one of those days where the opponent was able to actually put up some points. In fact, the Bills broke a streak of 30 straight games that the Chiefs hadn’t allowed more than 27 points, going back to the 2022 season.

Ultimately, the Chiefs offense couldn’t keep pace.

After last season, I’ll reserve any concerns I have about the Chiefs until after the clock has hit 0 and the other team has more points on the scoreboard in a January or February game. Until then, I’ll just look at this as a game that showed K.C. what holes they need to fill when the postseason begins.

Steelers Win Another Physical AFC Game vs. the Ravens

2, 7, 7, 3, 2, 3, 1, 5, 4…that’s been the point differential in each of the last 9 games between the Steelers and Ravens, including Sunday. And this one was another low-scoring affair typical to the matchup. The most interesting aspect of the game was how the Steelers defense was able to hold Lamar Jackson and the Ravens to 16 points. In fact, Pittsburgh has now kept two dynamic quarterback under wraps in consecutive weeks. They’re also 4-0 with Russell Wilson as the starter.

How about those 7-3 Chargers?

During the first half of this game, L.A. looked like a dominant team capable of taking on anyone in the AFC. Then they started to do the Charger thing and give the game away.

Yes, they got lucky that Bengals kicker Evan McPherson missed two fourth-quarter field goals that would have changed the outcome. But you know what? The Chargers then did what good teams do. They made their opponent pay for their mistakes.

Justin Herbert came back from an erratic second half to throw some absolute darts on the Chargers’ final drive, which ended with a game-winning touchdown. And L.A. did something they haven’t in several years - show resilience.

They have a defense, a run game, a great coach, and a great quarterback. Can we say they’re battle-tested yet? Not quite. But last night was a step in the right direction.

What if the Chargers…

The Dolphins Are Alive and Well

We wrote about the Dolphins defense and their impressive performance against the Rams last week, which may have turned the tide of their season. That was the first time they appeared capable of going on a potential run to the postseason.

Miami re-confirmed that notion on Sunday against the Raiders with a decisive 34-19 win.

This time, the offense led the way. Most importantly, Tua Tagovailoa finally looked like the 2022-23 version of himself, completing 28 of 36 passes for 288 yards and 3 touchdowns.

Miami’s remaining schedule is favorable, with two games against the Jets, one against the Patriots, and one against the Browns. They should win all four. Their season will hinge on how they do in their other three games against the Packers, Texans, and 49ers.

The Broncos are an Interesting Team

What more can you say about the job Sean Payton is doing in Denver with Bo Nix? Each week, he looks more and more comfortable. And on Sunday against the Falcons, he became the first rookie QB in history to complete 80% of his passes for 300+ yards and 4 touchdowns.

While Nix has been a nice story, it’s Vance Joseph’s Broncos Defense that has been winning most of their games. They entered Week 11 with the 4th-best scoring defense and were 2nd in the NFL in sacks. Then they held a potent Falcons offense to just 6 points and got to the quarterback 4 times.

I promise you, no offense will be excited about playing this team in December or January.