NFL Week 11: Bringing the fans back to their TVs

With more close games than blowouts this past weekend, the NFL has begun the necessary work to return fans to their televisions and tune into games. It also helps that winter has begun arriving to parts of the country and we have not yet overdosed on tryptophan.

Nothing like some good old fashioned smash mouth football played by men fearing for their job security more than they fear for their brains. This weekend saw the debut of number one pick Jared Goff, another loss by Cleveland, a no excuse defeat for Kansas City, and a Seattle win whose outcome was not influenced by officials. Time to soak it up before we are force fed the usual Thanksgiving Day disasters that make us wish the natives hadn’t been so kind to us and left us in Europe to argue over nil-nil soccer matches.

Minnesota 30 – Arizona 24

To steal a phrase, this was a must win game for both teams. To steal another, it was a shame someone had to lose this one. Actually, this game was so important primarily due to the erratic season of two teams many picked to slide into the playoffs this year.

While the playoffs technically are not out of the question for Arizona, any chance at winning their division flew out the window while the Vikings managed to right their ship after a four game skid. But when your team relies on its defense to score touchdowns via 100-yard interception returns, there has to remain an uneasiness, which is how Minnesota must feel.

Even if by chance both of these tams make the playoffs, neither should plan to be in them for long this season. In fact, there is still enough time for both of these teams to see their season fall apart, which will only give them more time to think about next year.

Dallas 27 – Baltimore 17

Dallas won for the ninth straight time, a first in franchise history, and to think they did it against the league’s top defense with a rookie quarterback playing his first game with a healthy Tony Romo itching to play looking on. It’s one thing for Dak Prescott to play carefree ball for two months while Romo healed, but to continue to do so with Tony on the bench and ready to play is a sure sign Dallas has total faith in their quarterback decision.

Romo can think about playing for Denver next year and the NFL can hope for a Denver vs Dallas Super Bowl in 2018, but for now Dallas is steamrolling and there are few teams left who want to take them on.

New York Giants 22 – Chicago Bears 16

Sure the Giants win allows them to keep pace with Dallas in hopes the Cowboys slip up a time of two, but there has to be concern whenever a team with high playoff hopes struggles this time of year against the Midgets of the Midway. Chicago actually led 16-6 before they woke up the real sleeping bear, the Giants offense.

Now, at 7 wins and just 3 losses, the Giants are poised to challenge Dallas over the final six games of the season. Most likely, Eli Manning and company will be a wild card team, however, they will be a challenging one that a young Dallas squad might not want to face in the playoffs.

Pittsburgh 24 – Cleveland 9

Sometimes the schedule maker is kind to you and this was an example. After dropping four straight games, Pittsburgh had to go on the road, but at least it was only against a Pop Warner squad that could not beat Keanu Reeves and the Gene Hackman coached Replacements.

Yes, the Cleveland Browns came to the rescue for Big Ben and the Steelers and performed about as expected. Now that they are back to .500 for the season, Pittsburgh can begin setting their focus on a tight two way fight for the division title with Baltimore, another team that actually shows up to play.

As for Cleveland, starting quarterback Cody Kessler was knocked out with his second concussion of the season. Looks like it is time for Cleveland to rely on their mantra, “Next Victim Up.” Perhaps they might want to think about trading their number one pick next year for an actual offensive line so they don’t have to scour the yellow pages to find some ex college guy cleaning boats for a living to call the shots.

Tampa Bay 19 – Kansas City 17

Just when it looked like the Chiefs were legit and likely to make a deep run in the playoffs, they drop a game to Tampa Bay. This game might cost the Chiefs a division crown and home field advantage while at the same time making the Buccaneers think they have a second shot at life, or at least the playoffs.

Super Bowl teams just do not lose games at home to teams like the Bucs at this time of year. How these two teams respond to this game’s unexpected result will actually be more interesting than this game actually was. I am not sure I wanted to be in the team meeting Monday when Andy Reid addressed his squad.

Buffalo 16 – Cincinnati 12

This was a huge win for Buffalo and an equally huge loss for Cincy. The Bills have somehow managed to stay in the playoff hunt despite injuries while the Bengals blew a chance to climb in the thick of the AFC North race. Buffalo’s win also shows critics of Rex Ryan, myself among them, that he can get his teams to play with passion when the odds are against them.

If the Bills keep this up, Rex may get another year in Buffalo. As for Cincinnati, head coach Marvin Lewis may want to update his resume. His playoff experienced team has had numerous chances to take over their division while both Pittsburgh and Baltimore have struggled and they have continually fallen short. Since you cannot fire the entire team, the window for this bunch with this coach is closing. It may be time for a change.

New England 30 – San Francisco 17

How do you know when a team is a real threat to run away with their conference and another team is no threat but to themselves? This game is a perfect example of both. Despite a stinging defeat last week, the loss of a significant player in some guy called Gronk, and a cross country road game, New England managed to play just an average game by league standards, which by now is sub par by their own, and defeat the San Francisco 49ers.

Trouble could still be brewing for New England. It is one thing to be saddled with the loss of a key player or two and only score 30 points against the porous 49er defense, it’s another to allow that team to score 17 points if your goal is to defeat a team like Dallas or Seattle in the Super Bowl. If the Patriot defense is their down fall this year, Bill Belichick will have only himself to blame for trading Jaime Collins. It just hasn’t been the same since the two games they have played after the deal.

Seattle 26 – Philadelphia 15

Philadelphia has some growing to do before they become one of the NFC’s better teams. It is a bit much to think they can compete with the Seahawks who are finding their groove and sending a message to any other team led by a rookie quarterback. It will not be easy to beat this experienced and talented team in January no matter where the game is played.

Pete Carroll really deserves credit for knowing how to read the flow of the season and for always making sure his team is playing sound football in all aspects of the game. It’s difficult to impose your will on Seattle because they can shut down the run, make life for a quarterback miserable all while controlling a game either by ground or air.

They are as tough mentally as they are physically and this game should send a strong message to Dallas. While the Cowboys may host the NFC championship if they play the Seahawks, the path to the Super Bowl still has to go through Seattle which should scare anyone.

Indianapolis 24 – Tennessee 17

Simply put, a must win for both of these AFC South hopefuls and it was won by the team I wrote off a month and a half ago. Indianapolis could be that NFL team that overcomes a bad start, seemingly fails to meet early season predictions, only to get hot and make the playoffs.

Should Houston lose Monday in Mexico, the Colts will be just a game behind with six left. Given the Texans inconsistency, it is entirely possible the Colts could win their division.

As for Tennessee, they are the AFC version of Philadelphia, a team that looks to be heading in the right direction, but a year or two away from possibly being among their conference’s best.

Detroit 26 – Jacksonville 19

Okay, so this was not the most impressive win for the 6 and 4 Lions, but do they care? They are in first place and playing meaningful football at Thanksgiving for the first time in a long time. Jacksonville almost stole their second victory of the season, but the Lions stormed back to score ten points in the fourth quarter while playing dominating defense when they had to. However, they have to know this win was more the result of them playing a horrible team. This kind of effort will only get them blown out in the playoffs.

Miami 14 Los Angeles 10

No one really thinks Miami is a team to fear, but they are now sitting at 6 and 4 and get to host the lowly Niners next week so they are definitely looking like a playoff team. They were also fortunate to play the Rams whose offense scores about as often as I did in high school.

Jared Goff did a great job of reminding everyone why he is the next Case Keenum by putting up mediocre stats and making head coach Jeff Fisher look increasingly the mediocre coach he is.

Don’t judge Goff by what other rookie quarterbacks are doing. Goff should be happy if he finishes out the season in one piece and then has a new offensive line to play behind next year. Todd Gurley has to also hope for the same thing because without him running for a buck twenty every week, Goff is liable to become the second coming of Alex Smith. For Goff’s sake, I hope he is traded to a better situation sooner than Smith was.

Washington 42 – Green Bay 24

Looks like Aaron Rogers can make plans to attend the holidays with his family, you know, the one he doesn’t talk to. Of course, that could be his family back home in California or the guys he doesn’t talk to who wear the same uniform as him.

With another loss, this time to the red hot Redskins, we can drop the Packers from any serious discussion about the playoffs for a while now. This game showed just how good the NFC East has become. Washington’s victory leaves them at 6-3-1 which is only good for third place. However, now that Kirk Cousins is playing more like we expect Mr. Rogers to play, I am not sure I want to face this team in a winner take all game.

Back to Rogers, what if he is really miserable and has lost his teammates? If you are the Packers, do you try to trade him as part of a rebuilding move or do you sit him down and go get what he needs to succeed again?

Monday Night Football

This actually looks like a pretty good international event. Two teams with only five losses between them seeking a chance to take control of their respective divisions. The question is whether or not the location affects one team more than the other with the thin air of Mexico City.

All things being equal, I like Oakland to win this game because they actually have more offense than Donald Trump has wall builders. Houston will have to keep the scoring low if it wants to win because Brock Osweiler is not likely to match passes with Derek Carr.

I also think with the NFL wanting to see a team in Mexico some day, the Raiders are a great fit. Forget building a new stadium in Oakland or Las Vegas. Come to Mexico and give the middle finger to Trump. It’s what Al Davis would have done.

Oakland 32 Houston 21

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Editor’s Note: Once again James makes a very close prediction. The altitude did affect the players, but the Raiders prevailed with a 27-20 final score.

After this week’s games the sports crew at LAPX is predicting the Cowboys and Raiders will face off in Super Bowl LI. That is, of course, if the Raiders can get past a Tom Brady-led Patriots team.

The Mexico City Raiders? Has a nice ring to it.

Photos by Claudia Gestro Top photo (L-R): Miami Dolphins long snapper John Denny, place kicker Andrew Franks and punter Matt Darr. Denny and Darr had a heck of a game Sunday, snapping and kicking ten punts.
Los Angeles Rams running back Benjamin Cunningham ran back two of Franks’ kickoffs for 42 and 46 yards.