This season is flying by, can you all believe we are already in week 11?
This week should be fun, but overall it feels like the AFC matchups are much better than the NFC matchups. This time around we’ll only be covering two games with a fiery AFC North showdown and a team looking for revenge from a playoff loss
Ravens head to Steel-city in hopes of taking the lead in the North
Just a classic matchup right here. Over the past several seasons, one may have thought the powerhouse Ravens would have dominated the Steelers overall in the matchups, but it is quite the opposite actually. Since 2020, the Steelers lead the head-to-head contest winning seven out of eight matchups. Both teams come in with seven wins on the season; how will things fair this time around?
The Ravens are coming off a nail-biting win over the Bengals 35 to 34. The Ravens barely got by as the Bengals failed a two-point conversion in the final minute of the game. Many have argued the Ravens may have had the refs in their favor on the final drive as there were several facemask and defensive pass interference calls missed.
With that being said, as you can see the Ravens put up 35 points, and that does not come easy for every offense. Now while everyone will quickly go to saying that is purely because of them having the current MVP and OPOY front-runners, they have some underrated pieces on that offense. The wide receivers (WR) have surprisingly been very good this year compared to past years.
Second-year WR Zay Flowers is having a very strong season as he is currently fifth in receiving yards (688) and has tagged three touchdowns (TD) to add on. He is on pace to break all of the rookie year totals currently. Fourth-year WR Rashod Bateman has almost already passed all of his career highs in catches and yards and has already well passed his touchdown high. He currently sits at 31 catches, 501 yards and four TDs.
We are gonna cut straight to the point, the Ravens defense sucks. They currently rank as a bottom five pass defense, and the secondary is ranked bottom three in coverage efficiency. Things do not get much easier as the Steelers pass attack has looked very strong since quarterback Russell Wilson took over the offense.
The Steelers are also coming off a nail-biting win that they also may have gotten help from the refs. On the final Commanders drive, Commanders QB Jayden Daniels threw a pass on fourth down to Commanders tight end (TE) Zach Etrz in what seemed like a first down. The refs called it short. They then reviewed it and said it was still short. Rewatching the tape, many agree the Commanders got screwed out of a first down.
As we mentioned earlier, the Steelers offense is coming off a nice game passing as they had three passing TDs. Now while, yes, the offense played well, as we mentioned last week, this team’s strength comes from their defense that ranks top five in most major stat lines and is arguably the best in football.
After a back and forth battle, I have the Ravens coming out on top over the Steelers.
Final Score: Ravens 23 – Steelers 17 OT
Bills look for revenge against insane luck Chiefs
Poor Bills fans. They cannot seem to get over the hump in the playoffs and for some reason keep running into the Chiefs in the playoffs. This past postseason, the Bills lost to the Chiefs off a missed field goal that went wide right. In the 2021-22 season, the Bills lost to the Chiefs due to the dumb overtime rules. In the 2020-21 season, the Bills met the Chiefs at their best and lost.
As you can see, these two teams have a playoff rivalry and over the years that has bled into the fan bases and regular season. Who gets the win this time around in Buffalo?
The Chiefs have to have sold their soul or something. There is just no way this team should be undefeated or blocked that game winning field goal by the Broncos. The offense is just not playing up to what their talent says. QB Patrick Mahomes is playing awful yet is getting MVP talk? TE Travis Kelce is coming off a good game but may still be washed? Yet this team is undefeated through nine games.
I believe the true reasoning behind this has been their insanely talented and well coached defense. The Chiefs post star power everywhere on this team, and defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo tends to get the best out of the most random or weakest spots on the team. The main strength of this defense comes from having not one, not two but three amazing off-ball linebackers (LB). Nick Bolton, Drue Tranquill and Leo Chenal all have arguments for being considered top 15 LBs.
The Bills on the other hand could use some of that devil magic the Chiefs have. Yes, they are an eight win team, but I am more referring to them winning a big playoff game. In this season, the Bills have been great and are running away with the AFC East crown.
QB Josh Allen is playing at an MVP level right now. He has technically slowed down the past few games stats wise but overall still has a very good argument for the award. He is doing all of this without having his top weapons for the most part as both WRs Amari Cooper and Keon Coleman have missed several games each and may both be out Sunday against the Chiefs.
Similar to the Chiefs, this defense is just playing at a next level and is getting the most out of the most unknown or underrated names. The defense may be getting better soon as superstar LB Matt Milano could be returning from injured reserve soon. He is not expected to return for this game but will be a huge addition for the Bills as they make their push for the postseason.
This game is going to be fun and for the most part the Bills have won most of the regular season games. I expected that to stay true come Sunday.
Final Score: Chiefs 20 – Bills 30
Remaining Games and Predictions:
TNF Commanders at Eagles: Experienced Eagles humble young Commanders. Final Score: Commanders 22 – Eagles 38
Raiders at Dolphins: Dolphins win back to back in major boost in playoff hopes. Final Score: Raiders 16 – Dolphins 30
Browns at Saints: Browns get third win in weird high scoring game. Final Score: Browns 34 – Saints 33
Colts at Jets: Jets defense takes advantage of young and inconsistent Anthony Richardson. Final Score: Colts 14 – Jets 27
Vikings at Titans: Will Levis has an amazing game in a major upset. Final Score: Vikings 18 – Titans 29
Packers at Bears: Packers officially get Matt Eberflus fired in huge win. Final Score: Packers 27 – Bears 14
Jaguars at Lions: Lions run through third straight AFC South opponent. Final Score: Jaguars 10 – Lions 48
Rams at Patriots: Rams almost drop game to underrated Patriots. Final Score: Rams 23 – Patriots 20
Seahawks at 49ers: 49ers destroy Seahawks in game that gets Geno Smith benched. Final Score: Seahawks 16 – 49ers 28
Falcons at Broncos: Falcons offense surprises tough Broncos defense in seventh win of the year. Final Score: Falcons 31 – Broncos 17
SNF Bengals at Chargers: Justin Herbert puts up video game numbers in massive win for playoff push. Final Score: Bengals 23 – Chargers 40
MNF Texans at Cowboys: Why is this game on primetime? Final Score: Texans 32 – Cowboys 9
Teams on Bye:
Cardinals next at Seahawks | Panthers next versus Chiefs | Giants next versus Buccaneers | Buccaneers next at Giants
Standings:
AFC East
Bills 8-2 3-0 | Dolphins 3-6 1-2 | Jets 3-7 1-2 | Patriots 3-6 1-2
AFC West
Chiefs 9-0 3-0 | Chargers 6-3 2-1 | Broncos 5-5 1-2 | Raiders 2-7 0-3
AFC North
Steelers 7-2 0-0 | Ravens 7-3 2-1 | Bengals 4-6 1-2 | Browns 2-7 1-1
AFC South
Texans 6-4 3-0 | Colts 4-6 1-3 | Titans 2-7 0-1 | Jaguars 2-8 1-1
NFC East
Eagles 7-2 2-0 | Commanders 7-3 2-0 | Cowboys 3-6 1-1 | Giants 2-8 0-4
NFC West
Cardinals 6-4 2-0 | 49ers 5-4 1-2 | Rams 4-5 2-1 | Seahawks 4-5 0-2
NFC North
Lions 8-1 2-0 | Vikings 7-2 1-1 | Packers 6-3 0-2 | Bears 4-5 0-0
NFC South
Falcons 6-4 4-1 | Buccaneers 4-6 1-2 | Saints 3-7 2-3 | Panthers 3-7 1-2
Playoff Bracket:
AFC: Division Leaders
1 Chiefs | 2 Bills | 3 Steelers | 4 Texans
AFC: Wild Card Teams
5 Ravens | 6 Chargers | 7 Broncos
AFC: In the Hunt (within two games or less out of the playoffs)
Four win teams: 8 Colts | 9 Bengals
Three win teams: 10 Dolphins | 11 Jets | 12 Patriots
AFC: Outside the Hunt (within three games or more out of the playoffs
Two win teams: 13 Browns | 14 Titans | 15 Raiders | 16 Jaguars
NFC: Division Leaders
1 Lions | 2 Eagles | 3 Falcons | 4 Cardinals
NFC: Wild Card Teams
5 Vikings | 6 Commanders | 7 Packers
NFC: In the Hunt
Five win team: 8 49ers
Four win teams: 9 Bears | 10 Rams | 11 Seahawks | 12 Buccaneers
NFC: Outside the Hunt
Three win teams: 13 Cowboys | 14 Saints | 15 Panthers
Two win team: 16 Giants
