TThe biggest game of Week 11 was undoubtedly the matchup between the Los Angeles Rams and the Los Angeles Rams. Seattle Seahawks. Both teams came in at 7-2 and appeared to be evenly matched on both sides of the ball, with dynamic offenses and stingy defense. In the end, it was a defensive battle that the Rams won, 21-19, just barely.
Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold, who played near MVP level this season for the most part, did absolutely nothing to help his team – and did a lot to hurt them. Darnold reached a career-high with four interceptions, completing 29 of 44 passes for 279 yards, no touchdowns, those rebounds and a passer rating of 45.5.
The last time Darnold faced the Rams was when he played for the Minnesota Vikings in last season's playoffs, and he had to endure a 60-minute nightmare. With the Minnesota Vikings lost 27-9Darnold was sacked nine times, had weird pressure 25 times and completed 25 of 40 passes for 245 yards, one touchdown, one interception and a 77.6 passer rating.
It wasn't so much the pressure that doomed Darnold on Sunday, but the fact that the Rams were in the spotlight. The last time Darnold threw four picks in a game was October 2019. his infamous quote about “seeing ghosts”. Darnold was never sacked on this play, but he might have been better off getting some takedowns rather than reckless interceptions he made.
Los Angeles' defense didn't blitz too much because it didn't need to—instead, defensive coordinator Chris Shula ordered his guys into coverage six and seven at a time, blurring Darnold's readings and forcing him to process at a level higher than his station.
So how did the Seahawks stay in this game until the end? Seattle's defense played great for the most part, limiting potential MVP Matthew Stafford to 15 completions on 28 attempts for 130 yards, two touchdowns, no interceptions and an 89.9 passer rating. But when you face a team of this caliber, you can't expect to turn the ball over as often and increase your win total.
Nevertheless, if not for Ethan Evans' 50-yard punt putting the Seahawks down at their one-yard line with 1:50 left, Darnold and the Seahawks could have won. The Seahawks got to the Los Angeles 49-yard line with a few seconds left, resulting in kicker Jason Myers attempting a 61-yard field goal that he failed to make.
These two NFC West rivals will meet again in Seattle on December 18th, and we expect it to generate similar Game of the Year buzz. Because even at their worst, these teams are so good, even without supernatural intervention.
MVP of the week
Myles Garrett, cornerback, Cleveland Browns. Yes, the Browns lost to the Baltimore Ravens 23-16 on Sunday, primarily because Cleveland had Dillon Gabriel at quarterback (until he suffered a concussion) and then Sheader Sanders. But if there's one player who could be the MVP of a losing team, it's Garrett, the best defensive player in football, and the Browns would be nowhere near winning position. Garrett did what he usually does in this game – he destroyed all the blocking schemes and made life miserable for the quarterback. In this case, the quarterback was Lamar Jackson—a guy who can't be brought down easily—whom he sacked four times, adding one quarterback hit and three hurries in 27 rushing passes.
Over the past three games, Garrett has racked up an incredible 10 sacks and 17 total pressures, adding up to one of the greatest totals for a pass rusher in history. The only two other players to match his sack total over a three-game span are Richard Dent in 1984 and Derrick Thomas in 1997–1998.. Dent and Thomas are in the Hall of Fame, and Garrett may well be tailoring his gold jacket.
On Sunday, Garrett also became the only player in NFL annals with 12 or more sacks in six consecutive seasons since the sack became an official NFL statistic in 1982.
Video of the week
We'll get into the ins and outs of Minnesota Vikings quarterback JJ McCarthy in a minute, but one of the two interceptions he threw in Minnesota's 19-17 loss to the Chicago Bears had an emotional component to it. With 42 seconds left in the first half, McCarthy tried to connect with Jordan Addison in the end zone, but Chicago safety Nahshon Wright was unable to do so.
Why was Wright so excited after the interception? Because John Beam, his head coach at Laney College in 2018 before Wright transferred to Oregon State, was shot last week. Clearly, Coach Beam left his mark in every way..
Statistics of the week
Three and three. The list of quarterbacks with three passing touchdowns and three rushing touchdowns in a single game is pretty short. In fact, only two have done so in NFL history. Otto Graham of the Cleveland Browns vs. the Detroit Lions December 1954 winning the NFL championship by a score of 56-10, and Josh Allen of the Buffalo Bills… who has already achieved this feat twice. Allen's first hit came last season against the Los Angeles Rams in a 44-42 loss to the Bills. And he did it again Sunday as the Buffaloes cruised to a 44-32 victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, a win that brought the 7-3 Bills within fighting distance of the 9-2 New England Patriots in the AFC East.
At its most disorganized, the Bills offense relies too heavily on Allen while everyone else waits to do something… anything. But when you have a weapon like Allen's and you're desperate to win, you tend to throw style points out the window. Allen's play was especially important because the Bills decided to make wide receiver Keon Coleman, the No. 33 overall pick in the 2024 draft, a healthy scratch because he missed the team's meeting this week. Coleman was supposed to be the missing link in Buffalo's offense as he was a big deep threat, but when he misses other things, the Bills are forced to use the only weapon they know they can rely on. In Sunday's game, Allen also tied Cam Newton for the most regular-season rushing touchdowns by a quarterback in NFL history with 75.
Elsewhere in the league
— Vikings head coach Kevin O'Connell may be wondering about his offseason quarterback plans. The Vikings selected McCarthy with the 10th overall pick last year, and they're still waiting to see what they envisioned in the pre-draft on the field. McCarthy's college transcript often resembled a second- or third-round grade, but since O'Connell is arguably the NFL's preeminent quarterback developer, most were inclined to give him—and McCarthy—the benefit of the doubt. McCarthy missed last season with a knee injury, giving O'Connell the opportunity to revive the careers of Darnold and Daniel Jones. The Vikings were going to be committed to McCarthy on any grounds, leaving Darnold and Jones to find a home elsewhere, and the second-year player has done little to justify his team's faith at this point. He staged a stunning comeback against the Chicago Bears in Week 1 despite an underwhelming stat sheet, went to ground against the Atlanta Falcons in Week 2, and then missed the next five games with a high ankle sprain.
“I think adversity is one of the greatest things for individual growth, collective growth, whatever it is.” McCarthy said after the game.. “I think it's [can] to really separate teams or bring them together. And I feel like every week this team is coming together stronger and stronger.”
Unless you give O'Connell some powerful truth serum, he'll never admit he'd rather play with Darnold (well, maybe not Darnold this Sunday) or Jones. But some level of buyer's remorse would be appropriate.
— The Green Bay Packers beat the New York Giants 27-20 to improve their record to 6-3-1 on the season, putting them in the NFC North race with the Bears and Lions. But can this team be taken seriously as a Super Bowl contender? The performance differences can be maddening. Green Bay entered this game having lost its last two contests, and Jordan Love had been less than impressive in each of those contests. Love wasn't much better in the win, completing 13 of 24 passes for 174 yards, but his two second-half touchdowns changed the game against a Giants team that reset the game after firing head coach Brian Daboll and starting Jameis Winston at quarterback in place of the injured Jackson Dart.
If Winston hadn't thrown a grueling interception in the end zone with 40 seconds left in the game, the Packers might have struggled to come back against a team they should have beaten easily. Something to remember when the postseason rolls around: High variance usually doesn't help get things done.
– It was a bad day for Cam Newton and the record. Not only did Allen tie Newton's score with a rushing touchdown, but Bryce Young broke Newton's single-game record for passing yards – although Young needed overtime to do it. Newton had 432 yards in a 30-23 loss to the Packers in 2011, and he threw three interceptions in that game. In Carolina's 30-27 overtime win over the Atlanta Falcons, Young completed 31 of 45 passes for 448 yards, three touchdowns, no interceptions and a 123.2 passer rating, the best and most complete game the 2023 first overall pick has played thus far in his NFL career. The Panthers (who have won a total of five games in 2024) are now 6-5 and have two upcoming games against the NFC South rivals Buccaneers, who lead the division at 6-4.
— The Chiefs have gone 6-4 twice in the Andy Reid and Patrick Mahomes eras, in 2019 and 2021. In each of these cases, they rebounded and won the Super Bowl. What they'll do at 5-5 after a 22-19 loss to the Denver Broncos on Sunday remains to be seen. But it's the biggest hole any Chiefs team has found itself in under current management, and neither the Broncos (9-2) nor the Los Angeles Chargers (7-4) will disappear from the postseason contenders. The Chiefs have a long history. playing with food until the game really matters, but as Yogi Berra once said, it's too late and early there.
— The Lions thought they'd get the ball back and with it a last-ditch attempt to tie the game when they fell 16-9 to the Eagles late in the fourth quarter on Sunday Night Football after Jalen Hurts failed to complete the play on third down. But lions were the subject very questionable pass interference callhelping the Eagles buy time. That challenge aside, the Eagles defense is looking great as the playoffs approach, and Jared Goff was given very little time to adjust for the night.
– Finally, in an eye-catching compilation, Jacoby Brissett of the Arizona Cardinals set an NFL regular-season record with 47 completions in the Cardinals' 41-22 loss to the San Francisco 49ers. Brissett surpassed the 45-point regular season mark set by Drew Bledsoe of the New England Patriots in 1994 and Jared Goff of the Los Angeles Rams in 2019, and tied Ben Roethlisberger's 47 completions in the Pittsburgh Steelers' 47–38 playoff loss to the Cleveland Browns in January 2021.
