NFL Week 11 Recap: About Damn Time

For the 52nd straight season, the 1972 Miami Dolphins can pop the champagne.

The Buffalo Bills defeated the Kansas City Chiefs in the central game of Week 11 of the 2024 NFL season, doing so by a score of 30-21. This was a game were the Chiefs were lost for the most part, which had been the case in a lot of games this season. However, unlike past weeks, the Chiefs could not stumble their way out of this, especially with Travis Kelce being a ghost in this game, and Patrick Mahomes adding two more interceptions to his total for this year.

So that's that, the Chiefs were finally unable to get away with their faulty play in a game. Now for the bare facts.

We all knew the Bills would win this game, and here's why. This Chiefs team has been barely surviving against teams they should usually blow out. An up-and-down Falcons team, needing overtime to beat a Buccaneers team who had two receivers out, and needing blind luck to barely beat the Broncos. So when the Bills were next up, everyone figured that this would be loss #1 for the Chiefs. But out of all of the reasons why we all knew the Chiefs would lose to the Bills, the true reason can be summed up in three words: it's not January.

Yes, the Bills beat the Chiefs... in November. The Bills can beat KC in November. They can do it in December. The real mission is doing it in January, and we all know how that ends. While the game was spectacular, it was a no win situation for us fans. Had the Chiefs won, Chiefs fans would have pounded their chests and laughed at us for questioning their past nine wins. However, the Bills won, so what do we get? Bills fans acting like Josh Allen should be MVP, forgetting that Lamar Jackson and Jordan Love exist, and also acting like they should be handed the AFC on a silver platter. They've clearly forgotten that one of the Bills' two losses was a blow out loss to the reigning MVP of the league.

Again, congratulations for beating the Chiefs, Buffalo. Now, for once, do it when it counts.

There are three things that are certain: death, taxes, and the Bears finding ways to lose to the Packers. I had said before that the Bears were different. It did show for the most part. This was back and forth, and that's something that hasn't been seen in Packers/Bears games in a good bit. You know what else hasn't been in these games: the Bears having a chance to win it late. After Jordan Love's QB sneak go-ahead touchdown, the Bears (after being sacked back-to-back times) converted on a 3rd and 19 and later marched all the way to field goal range, where Cairo Santos was set to win it with a 46-yard field goal, and this Packers fan had his fingers crossed hoping he'd miss it. The kick was up, and...

...BLOCKED!

So apparently, the Packers saw what the Chiefs did last week and decided to take notes. We won 20-19, and that now makes eleven straight wins against the Bears.

This man, who is somehow more hated in Chicago than Aaron Rodgers, is Matt Eberflus. Bears fans want this guy fired, especially after this loss. It's been said that Eberflus should have run one more play after the two yard gain on 1st and 10 in FG range. But it's more than that. Eberflus was hired as the Bears head coach in 2022, and so far, he's 14-30 overall. He sucks against the division. He didn't win a division game until his second year as head coach (a Monday game against Minnesota). He's 2-11 against the NFC North, and both wins came in the 2023 season (vs MIN & DET). And with this loss, Eberflus is 0-5 vs the Packers.

The Packers needed that win, because as faulty as the Bears are, they were somehow way better than the Lions and Vikings' opponents. The Vikings won over the Tennessee Titans, but the main kicker was Detroit winning big against the Jacksonville Jaguars. 52-6. The most points Jacksonville's given up in their 30-year history, and their worst loss in their team history. Here's the thing. Sunday morning, before kickoff, it was announced that head coach Doug Pederson's job was on the line. So basically, the team chose this game against an NFC superpower as the game that would decide Pederson's fate. Well, they got blown out of the water, yet as of this writing, Pederson still has a job. Make it make sense, Jags!

Week 11 began with the Philadelphia Eagles defeating the Washington Commanders in a big NFC East clash on Thursday Night Football, and that meeting was for first place in that division. They weren't the only Keystone State team playing a key division game, as the Pittsburgh Steelers looked to control the AFC North over the Baltimore Ravens. This was quite the interestingly ugly game, which saw Chris Boswell provide all of the offense for the second time this season. 18 points, all from Boswell field goals. That was enough, as the Steelers won 18-16 over the Ravens, who were pretty much shut down for the most part. Even Justin Tucker was off-key, missing two field goals, continuing his unorthodox struggles.

Regarding the rest of the early window, the Miami Dolphins and the New Orleans Saints won big, and the Indianapolis Colts edged the lowly New York Jets, who still only have the one win since firing Robert Saleh. Also, the Los Angeles Rams edged the New England Patriots to stay in pace in the wild NFC West. The remaining action in the late window saw the Denver Broncos blast the Atlanta Falcons, while in a pivotal division battle, the Seattle Seahawks went into Santa Clara and won over the San Francisco 49ers thanks to a clutch running touchdown by Geno Smith. The Arizona Cardinals were idle, so they still lead the NFC West, but as a result of everything, the remaining three teams are at 5-5. And guess who's in last place? The Niners. And why is that? It's simple. It's because they are 1-3 in division play, and they've lost to each of their three foes.

Sunday Night Football featured the Los Angeles Chargers hosting the Cincinnati Bengals, and this was an insane one. So the Chargers were running away with this, until they weren't. The Chargers led 27-6, but the Bengals scored three unanswered touchdowns, with two of them coming from Ja'Marr Chase. What followed was the teams trying to give each other the game, it was just nuts. Evan McPherson missed two go-ahead field goals, and the Chargers weren't capitalizing, until the last drive, which ended with a running touchdown for the Bolts. So LA won, 34-27, and for Cincy, they are 4-7 despite Joe Burrow and Ja'Marr Chase dominating. Many say it's the coach, Zac Taylor, ruining their performances with bad decisions. Oh man.

Monday Night Football saw the two Texas teams battle it out. I still remember when this matchup served as the Houston Texans' first game in their existence. Houston won that game. They won this one, too, and it was a lot more decisive. The Cowboys are done and dead in the water, and they definitely know it. Their defense is shot. Joe Mixon ran over them like they were nothing. Dallas could get nothing going at all. You know how bad it is for Dallas? They are behind the Panthers via tiebreaker. The only team behind them in the entire conference? The Giants. And get this: it's Giants @ Cowboys on Thanksgiving. Or should I say "TANKS-giving"?

We are almost at that time where the first clinching scenarios come in. There are none for Week 12, but that's only because the Bills are one of six teams idle during that week. Here's how messed up the AFC East is: the Bills can clinch the division as early as Week 13. According to the standings, the Bills are a win and a Dolphins loss away from winning the AFC East. That's all.

Speaking of Week 12, it will kick off with the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Cleveland Browns facing off on Thursday Night Football. The week will end with two games at SoFi Stadium; first off, the Los Angeles Rams hosting the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday Night Football, and finally, the Los Angeles Chargers hosting the Baltimore Ravens on Monday Night Football--meaning that the Harbaugh brothers will be coaching against each other.

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