This is an interesting week in NFL football as it features the two teams with the best records in the league facing off against one another. Even more interesting is the fact that both of these teams are in the same division. There's one more factor that makes this matchup even more interesting...neither one of these teams has beaten a single team that currently possesses a winning record. That isn't to say that having a flawless or nearly flawless record through ten weeks in the NFL isn't impressive--because it is extremely impressive. The Broncos-Chiefs game will, however, show just how impressive their respective records truly are.
The Broncos-Chiefs game may just be the most watched game of the weekend, but that doesn't mean there aren't many other interesting divisional and non-divisional matchups to which we should pay attention. The Bengals face the Browns at home in Cincinnati, and that game could go a long way to deciding which team or teams ultimately go to the playoffs from the AFC North. The same goes for the Eagles-Redskins game. The Redskins are 3-6 and currently only hanging on by a statistical thread as travel to Philly to face an improved and red-hot Nick Foles who has more touchdowns than Tom Brady and has yet to throw a single pick. The 49ers travel to the Big Easy to face a fiercely dominant Saints team in a place the Saints seldom lose. The a flawed Ravens team faces a wounded Bears team in Chicago without Jay Cutler.
Monday night's game may be just as exciting if not more so than any other game in Week 11. The Patriots travel to play the Panthers, and THIS Panthers team might just be ready for them. The Panthers possess what I believe to be the league's best defense. What's more, the Panthers, while 5-3, have only a single blowout loss on the season. They barely lost to the Seahawks and Bills, and they've won 6 of their last 7 games including last week's surprise win in San Francisco. This game is such an interesting matchup because the Patriots are near the bottom of the league in run defense, and the Panthers are near the top of the league in rushing offense. Both of the Patriots' losses came on the road against defensively stout teams, but the Patriots are also coming off of a bye week. This one will be tough to predict. Speaking of predictions, let's get to it!
WEEK 11 NFL PREDICTIONS
JETS AT BILLS- The Jets haven't won consecutive games all season, but they're coming off of a bye week and that should prove the deciding factor in this game. The Bills have looked strong at times this season and often play close games against good teams, but the Jets can stop the run better than anyone, and that will cripple the Bills. JETS 24-16.
RAVENS AT BEARS- This prediction simply doesn't mean much. The weather will be rainy and disgusting, and that means anything can happen. The Ravens struggled against much worse road teams this season including the Steelers and Bills, but those teams weren't missing their starting quarterback and almost all of their best defensive players. Even if the Ravens get an early lead, their play-calling will simply become too conservative to make this a blowout win. Again, weather will make this a sloppy game, but the Ravens should beat this team, just not by much. RAVENS 23-21.
BROWNS AT BENGALS- The Browns already beat the Bengals, and that was before the Bengals lost Leon Hall and Geno Atkins. This should be a solid win that continues what I believe will be an extremely long Bengals losing streak. BROWNS 27-17.
REDSKINS AT EAGLES- The Eagles are simply too offensively potent right now to lose to a Redskins team that gives up huge amounts of points and passing yards. There will be little defense in this game. EAGLES 38-31.
LIONS AT STEELERS- This Lions team put up 31 points against the Browns in Cleveland. It doesn't matter that the Steelers have the 4th ranked pass defense in the league because Calvin Johnson is nearly impossible to cover. Reggie Bush should have his way with this Steelers run defense. The Steelers should also put up points, but the Lions will hit Big Ben harder than the Steelers will hit Matthew Stafford. LIONS 34-26.
FALCONS AT BUCCANEERS- The Buccaneers are have finally hit their stride. BUCS 31-28.
CARDINALS AT JAGUARS- I dunno how, but the Jaguars figured out how to win a football game. I don't have any great statistical reason to believe this, but I think they'll do it against against the Cardinals. JAGUARS 21-13.
RAIDERS AT TEXANS- The Raiders aren't a good road team this year. The Texans are just plain bad, but their defense is still one of the best in the league and the Texans' backup quarterback has impressed me recently. TEXANS 33-21.
CHARGERS AT DOLPHINS- The Chargers are a poor road team this season, but the Dolphins simply can't protect their quarterback. If the Bucs beat the Dolphins, then the Chargers will beat the Dolphins. CHARGERS 42-20.
49ERS AT SAINTS- The Saints are simply too strong at home to lose this one. SAINTS 35-19.
PACKERS AT GIANTS- The Packers aren't good enough without Aaron Rodgers and most of their receiving weapons to win on the road. The Giants are on a little roll recently and it'll continue this week when they get their 4th win and keep their playoff hopes alive--surprisingly. GIANTS 30-17.
VIKINGS AT SEAHAWKS- Yawn. SEAHAWKS 31-14.
CHIEFS AT BRONCOS- The Chiefs are good, but they're not good enough to beat the Broncos in Denver. They'll probably beat the Broncos in Kansas City, but we'll have to wait another couple of weeks to see that happen. Manning's release is too quick to be affected enough by a strong Chiefs pass rush. The Broncos are also quite good at stopping the run but bad at stopping the pass. That's good for the Broncos because the Chiefs are a great running team and aren't much to speak of in the passing realm. The teams that beat the Broncos are the ones with high-powered pass offenses. The Chiefs are simply not one of those teams. BRONCOS 27-23.
PATRIOTS AT PANTHERS- The Patriots struggle to stop the run, but the Panthers simply won't be able to contend with a Patriots team with a healthy Rob Gronkowski. The bye week will have done wonders for the Pats as their offense will score enough points to win this thriller. PATRIOTS 34-26.
This is the last road game for the Ravens before a 3 game long homestand that should give them an opportunity to catch up to or possibly pass a Bengals team that has struggled as of late. I worry about the weather, but I'm optimistic that the team with the better defense will win in the rain. The Ravens should be able to run for a collective 100+ yards even if Ray Rice and Bernard Pierce don't each have breakout days. Even the Ravens can win this game, then their odds of making the playoffs and winning the division improve dramatically. Stay positive, Baltimore. Chicago is weak right now.
AS ALWAYS
GO RAVENS!!!
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