Week Ten is in the history books and we’ve now started on the second half of the NFL Season, when the race to the playoffs begins!
And in the ultra-powerful AFC North, we have the somewhat unusual situation where the worst team in the division the 5-4 Cincinnati Bengals, could still qualify for the playoffs even if they come bottom of that division, given that the other teams hold 7-3 or 6-3 winning records after this week.
In fact, the only reason the Bengals are out of the playoffs is because they lost to the team that now occupies the 7th spot in the playoffs this past weekend, the quickly improving Houston Texans.
Dallas provided the big win of the weekend with a mauling of the Giants, while CJ Stroud continued his impressive rookie season with another stellar performance in leading the Texans to an unexpected win over the Bengals.
Week 11 of the season sees plenty of huge divisional games. Head over and check out the odds provided by bet365 Sport which were correct at the time of writing, for all the key action over the coming weekend in the NFL.
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But before we start on our Week 11 preview, here’s a recap of how Week 10 and my tips went.
Bye Week Teams – Philadelphia Eagles, Los Angeles Rams, Kansas City Chiefs, Miami Dolphins
This was an improved week this week with 10 out of 14 an excellent return, especially when you consider that three of my incorrect picks were home defeats for the Ravens, Bills and Bengals, while the other was a last gasp defeat for the Falcons at the Cardinals.
I am hoping I can achieve a similar score with Week 11’s set of tips at the foot of this article.
Heading into their bye week, the 49ers had lost three in a row and there was potential talk that they were perhaps not quite as good as many had predicted. They faced a tough road trip to the 6-2 Jaguars on their return and simply blew away the Jacksonville challenge. Brock Purdy produced a measured display to lead the 49ers offense to 34 points while on defense, the 49ers held the Jags to just a field goal, forcing two fumbles and making two interceptions in a statement win. The 49ers are back and while these two teams have the same 6-3 record now, they are light years apart when it comes to quality.
The Giants have already been on the end of a heavy beating from the Dallas Cowboys this season and they received another on Sunday. Dak Prescott passed for four touchdowns, over 404 yards and ran in another as the Cowboys racked up 49 points on the injury hit Giants. It was a sobering night for Brian Daboll and his banged up team who look like they have taken many steps back from the playoff team that they were last season.
Heading into the latter stages of this game, the Ravens held a 15-point advantage over their NFC North rivals and it appeared they would be moving on to 8-2 for the season. However, led by a fantastic all-round team effort on offense, defense and special teams, the Browns clawed back the deficit and claimed the win with a last-second field goal that saw them fall just one win behind the Ravens in the ultra-tough NFC North, having played one game fewer.
A few years ago, the Colts v Patriots would have been a classic game as two legendary quarterbacks slung the ball around. The game in German this past weekend was a tepid, lacklustre affair that won’t be remembered by anyone fondly. The Colts escaped with the win thanks to the only touchdown of the game. If the NFL wants to grow outside of the US, games like this aren’t going to help further those ambitions.
After taking a 3-0 lead in the first quarter, the Titans were then effectively shut out by the Tampa Bay defense for the next two halves of action. A missed field goal while the game was still at 3-0 didn’t help the Titans, but it was their pass coverage that was the issues as Mike Evans benefitted to the tune of 143 yards and a touchdown. Defensive lineman Jeffrey Simmons stated he is fed up of losing. Most Titans fans are too after 13 defeats in their last 16 games.
There is an argument that despite Chicago’s two wins ahead of this game, that these were the two worst teams in the NFL at the moment. Well, Thursday night’s game didn’t turn out to be a rollercoaster, but what we did discover in what was that D’Onta Foreman’s 80 yards rushing plus a touchdown was the big difference between the two teams. So it’s the Panthers who have the worst team tag, and its hard to argue with that at the moment.
There was little doubt that the Cowboys would beat the Giants this week, but once again Dak Prescott led a fantastic offensive display that saw the Cowboys rack up 49 points against the Giants, the second time they have scored 40 or more points against the Giants team this season. Prescott added one rushing touchdown to four passing as he led from the front in what was another stellar offensive display by the Cowboys.
The Seahawks were pushed hard by the Commanders this week and in a week that saw several outstanding QB performances (Brock Purdy, Joshua Dobbs, CJ Stroud, Kyler Murray and Jared Goff could have all been winners in another week). Smith was the key man for the Seahawks in tandem with receivers DK Metcalf and Tyler Lockett as he led the Seattle team to an important win over the battling Commanders.
In a week which saw several wide receivers and a couple of running backs pick up a lot more than 100 yards, I could have picked any of David Montgomery, Devin Singletary, Ja’Marr Chase, Amon-Ra St. Brown, Noah Brown, George Kittle, TJ Hockenson, Mike Evans, Brandin Cooks or CeeDee Lamb in this position. Instead, I’ve gone for Keenan Allen who shone despite defeat to the Lions, caught 11 passes for 175 yards and two touchdowns.
Ther are 14 games in the NFL this week, with a lot of key divisional games especially in the AFC North where the four teams face off against another divisional opponent. Next week sees all 32 teams back in action once again before the final two bye weeks of the season on Weeks 13 and 14.
Week 11 Bye Week Teams – Atlanta Falcons, Indianapolis Colts, New England Patriots, New Orleans Saints
Money Line Tip – Cincinnati Bengals – 17/10
Money Line Tip – Dallas Cowboys – 2/11
Money Line Tip – Cleveland Browns – 25/58
Money Line Tip – Detroit Lions – 2/9
Money Line Tip – Los Angeles Chargers – 20/33
Money Line Tip – Houston Texans – 10/21
Money Line Tip – Jacksonville Jaguars – 4/11
Money Line Tip – Miami Dolphins – 1/5
Money Line Tip – Washington Commanders – 1/5
Money Line Tip – San Francisco 49ers – 1/6
Money Line Tip – Buffalo Bills – 10/31
Money Line Tip – Seattle Seahawks – 5/7
Money Line Tip – Minnesota Vikings – 21/20
Money Line Tip – Kansas City Chiefs – 4/6
Each team’s position in the Power Rankings from last week is shown in brackets.
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