The eleventh week of the NFL season was as chaotic and fun. The upsets shocked not just the football world but the playoff picture in both conferences. There’s still a lot to process and breakdown because most fans and analysts didn’t expect so many highlights. Time to break down the best and worst of week eleven.
Winners: Taysom Hill
Anyone who’s watched the NFL for a while knows the Saints’ Taysom Hill is one of the best gadget players in the league. He can play any position on offense or special teams. Hill had one of his best career games Sunday.
Taysom Hill completed two passes for 18 yards and an interception, but he had a better day running and catching the football. The former quarterback turned tight-end ran seven times for 138 yards and three touchdowns, caught eight passes for 50 yards, and ran for 42 kick return yards. His first score gave New Orleans their first lead of the game. His last two in the fourth quarter sealed the Saints’ fourth win of the season.
New Orleans had their best offensive game since week two back in September. Interim coach Darren Rizzi is finally getting production from offensive players like Taysom Hill. Both have figured out that if the Saints want to stay alive in the playoff race, they have to run the football and dominate time of possession.
Miami Dolphins
Miami went from a solid, Monday night win in Los Angeles to playing a home game against the Raiders coming off a bye week. It would be understandable if the Dolphins played terrible given the timing. However, Miami played better than they did last Monday night.
The Dolphins offense started hot with a quick touchdown from starting quarterback Tua Tagovailoa to tight-end Jonnu Smith. After Vegas trailed by four with Daniel Carlson’s second field goal in the game, Miami made second half adjustments and got their second touchdown from receiver Tyreek Hill. The Dolphins followed up with a 17 point fourth quarter from Smith, runningback De’Von Achane and kicker Jason Sanders.
While it was a good sign the offense played better each quarter, the defense again stepped up and had another good performance. They sacked quarterback Gardner Minshew II three times, intercepted him once and gave up 268 passing yards. Outside of a Jakobi Meyers 20 yard run, the rushing game was snuffed out.
Miami’s back to two games under .500 after a week. Many expected the Dolphins to fade away with other AFC hopefuls playing well since October. Miami has New England and their first of two games against the Jets the next three weeks. The Dolphins could return as a playoff threat before Christmas.
Geno Smith and Jaxon Smith-Njigba
Seattle struggled to beat San Francisco since star quarterback Russell Wilson was traded to Denver. The 49ers beat the Seahawks six straight times heading into Sunday’s matchup. Seattle needed quarterback Geno Smith to play well and keep their postseason hopes alive with a division win.
Smith completed 25 of his 32 passes for 221 yards and an 82.4 passer rating. Although he threw an interception to start the second half, Geno Smith led an eleven play, 85 yard drive that included passes of 10+ yards to receivers D.K. Metcalf and Jaxon Smith-Njigba on the Seahawks’ final drive of the game. Smith ran for the winning touchdown with 12 seconds left.
Jaxon Smith-Njigba had another big game with ten catches on eleven targets for 110 yards. Four of those catches went for 38 yards on the final drive and kept Seattle’s chances of victory alive. Smith-Njigba’s had 17 catches for 290 yards and two touchdowns his last two games. Per the Seahawks PR department, that’s the third most over a two game span in franchise history, and the most for any receiver this century. Only retired Hall-of-Famer Steve Largent did this (more than once) with more yards. The sophomore wide receiver’s talent and growth helps Seattle’s chances of winning the NFC west.
Losers: Cleveland’s last first half possession in New Orleans
The Saints offense made it easy in the fourth quarter versus Cleveland, but before the offensive barrage began, the Browns kept it close for three quarters. While it didn’t determine the outcome, Cleveland could’ve had a better second half game-plan if they scored at the end of the first half.
The Browns had a 14 play, 84 yard drive that began after the two minute warning. Quarterback Jameis Winston led a good drive, but stalled a couple of plays into New Orleans’ redzone. After Winston threw incomplete past Cedric Thompson, kicker Dustin Hopkins came onto the field for a 33 yard field goal. He hooked it left for a miss.
Yet the Browns caught a break. A side judge called a penalty on the Saints for holding. That meant Cleveland had a fresh set of downs with eleven seconds left and could either cut the deficit to four or take the lead. Jameis Winston threw two incomplete passes at New Orleans’ nine yard line in four seconds. The Browns opted for another Dustin Hopkins field goal attempt, this one for 25 yards.
Hopkins hooked it left for another miss as time expired.
Justin Tucker
If someone told me the first kicker would make the losers column eleven weeks into the season, I could believe it. If I was told it would be one of the most accurate kickers of all-time in Justin Tucker, that would be a shock. It’s also a shock this is one of Tucker’s worst seasons half-way into the year.
The difference between Pittsburgh having a two game, first place lead and Baltimore having the tie-breaker for first place came down to two missed field goals by Ravens kicker Justin Tucker. The Steelers didn’t score a touchdown against their division rival, but their kicker Chris Boswell made all six field goal attempts. Tucker missed two late in the first quarter and is no longer the most accurate kicker in NFL history. The Steelers won 18-16.
Part of Tucker’s struggles are miscommunication with the new ball-holder after punter Sam Koch retired. While that’s understandable for some of his early season misses, it doesn’t explain why Baltimore relies more on quarterback Lamar Jackson near mid-field than they would with their kicker. Perhaps it’s a one season issue, but it’s something to be aware of before the playoffs.
Kansas City Chiefs offense
Kansas City finally lost their first regular season game since December 2023 on Sunday. Buffalo played their most complete game of the season and left no doubt who was the better team. Conversations about how the Chiefs offense have multi-layered problems ring true.
If Kansas City put up better offensive stats, the nine point loss wouldn’t be seen as a big issue. Quarterback Patrick Mahomes II might’ve thrown less than 200 yards and two interceptions, but he also threw three touchdowns and gave the Chiefs a lead multiple times in the first half. While runningback Kareem Hunt ran 14 times for 60 yards, no one else had more than one rushing attempt.
The receivers weren’t much better. Xavier Worthy was the leading receiver with four catches for 61 yards and a touchdown. All of Worthy’s stats were on Kansas City’s first touchdown of the game, and 31 of those yards were on one catch. This would’ve been a great game for Worthy to be the featured receiver and continue a breakout game. Instead he disappeared after the scoring drive and couldn’t use his speed to separate himself from defensive backs. DeAndre Hopkins being used on slant routes isn’t creating mismatches downfield and increases risks of dangerous throws. Even tight-ends Noah Gray and Travis Kelce struggle finding separation against opposing linebackers.
It doesn’t help that even if Mahomes recognizes these issues, he’s trying to cover it up by doing too much. That always leads to more turnovers and scoring opportunities for opposing offenses. Buffalo’s first touchdown and lead came after a Patrick Mahomes interception 45 seconds into the game. The offense has to fix a lot of things and start using dynamic playmakers in the right ways.
Note: NFL’s Winners and Losers will not be published until mid-December due to the writer, editor and publisher having personal reasons and time off. Publications will resume around the conclusion of week 14. The NBA and NHL power rankings will return around U.S. Thanksgiving.
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