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Top 10 storylines for NFL Week 11

Week 11 of the NFL season presents some bottom-rung playoff contenders opportunities to prove they’re legitimate threats heading into late November. From the Cincinnati Bengals and Buffalo Bills taking on one another to the Arizona Cardinals and Minnesota Vikings doing battle, some of these games pit two teams in must-win situations.

On the other end of the spectrum, the Dallas Cowboys look to continue their hot streak against a Baltimore Ravens team that boasts the top run defense in the NFL. How will Ezekiel Elliott perform here?

These are among the top-1o storylines for NFL Week 11.

1. The NFL’s best team looks to continue its run

The Dallas Cowboys aren’t simply the best team in the league. The difference between them and squads like the Seattle Seahawks and New England Patriots is vast. In reality, the only real weakness here seems to be from a pass-rush standpoint. Even then, Dallas ranks in the middle of the pack.

But let’s be honest here for a second. It all starts with the two rookies that continue to dazzle onlookers. Last week alone, quarterback Dak Prescott and his backfield partner Ezekiel Elliott both stepped up when the Cowboys needed it most in a narrow win over the Pittsburgh Steelers. It represented the Cowboys’ eighth consecutive win, their longest streak since the 1977 season.

Prescott is on pace to account for 4,380 total yards and 32 touchdowns compared to just four interceptions. Meanwhile, Elliott has already put up a league-leading 1,255 total yards and is on pace to break Eric Dickerson’s rookie rushing record.

Last week against Pittsburgh, the rookie scored on a 83-yard pass and catch before running in the game-winning score late in the final stanza.

All this has led to a Cowboys offense that’s averaging 28.7 points, good enough for fourth in the NFL. Defensively, Dallas has been surprisingly good. This unit ranks eighth in the NFL in points against.

Dallas faces an especially interesting test Sunday against a mediocre Baltimore Ravens defense. On paper, this looks to be a blowout in the Cowboys’ favor. Though, looking a bit further into it, there’s one thing working in Baltimore’s favor. Its defense ranks first in the NFL against the run and has yielded a total of 69 rushing yards over the past two games.

If the Ravens are able to contain Elliott, it will force Prescott to beat the team through the air. While not necessarily a daunting task for the impenetrable rookie, it would at least give Baltimore a fighting chance against the league’s best.

2. NFL football in Mexico City

We’re not expecting too much drama to occur at Azteca Stadium In Mexico City on Monday night. Well, that’s if we don’t include the game itself.

Though, there might be some concern over protests considering the political climate in the United States and how it impacts their southernmost neighbor.

On the field, this is a battle between two first-place teams. Two teams that are seen much differently from the standpoint of NFL skeptics.

Sure the Houston Texans boast a 6-3 mark, but they have not been overly impressive in putting up that otherwise solid record. Last week alone, quarterback Brock Osweiler put up 99 yards on 27 pass attempts in a narrow win over the hapless Jacksonville Jaguars.

Offensively, Houston ranks 29th in total points and in the bottom quarter of the NFL in total yards. In fact, the Texans are being outscored by an average of three points per game with five of their six wins coming by one score.

On the other hand, the 7-2 Oakland Raiders continue to entertain the NFL masses. Led by MVP candidate Derek Carr and two top-end receivers, Oakland’s offense has put up the fifth-most points and yards in the league heading into Week 11.

For the Raiders to win their eighth game of the season, it’s all going to be about finding a way to have success against a Texans pass defense that ranks third in the NFL and has given up just eight touchdown passes. Should that happen, Oakland will be in a great position in front of an international audience Monday night.

3. Packers look to stop the bleeding

Mike McCarthy, Aaron Rodgers

Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers were absolutely embarrassed by the Tennessee Titans last week. This time, it was the defense’s turn to let the team down. All said, Marcus Mariota and the Titans put up touchdowns on five of their first six possessions.

It was one of the worst performances we’ve seen from a Mike McCarthy-coached team since he took over as the Packers’ head man. Tennessee averaged nearly eight yards per play and put up a total of 19 first downs while scoring 47 points. This means that the Titans were not challenged by the Packers’ defense at all. Here’s a prime example of the embarrassing display Green Bay’s defense put up last Sunday.

Offensively, Rodgers found himself sacked five teams en route to Green Bay turning the ball over three times. That’s just not acceptable football from a squad as talented as the Packers are.

Now set to take on a red-hot Washington Redskins team in D.C. on Sunday Night Football, Green Bay’s season is pretty much on the line. Sure it’s just one game out of first in the NFC North. That’s not really the point here. The Packers cannot expect to even sniff the playoffs should they head into late November with a 4-6 record.

And in reality, this is an extremely difficult matchup for Green Bay. After being torched by Mariota at home last week, the Packers will now be forced to take on a quarterback in Kirk Cousins that has tallied 14 total touchdowns compared to three interceptions since starting the season slow. Overall, Washington has lost a grand total of one game since Week 2.

Should Green Bay drop this game, not only will it be on life support in the NFC Playoff race. We already know that. Questions will continue to come up regarding McCarthy’s job status and the direction the franchise is headed.

4. Season-defining game for the Cardinals and Vikings

Despite last week’s narrow win over a horrible San Francisco 49ers squad, the Arizona Cardinals find themselves one game out of the final playoff spot in the NFC. And while the Minnesota Vikings remain a playoff team as of now, they’ve lost four in a row after a 5-0 start to the season.

In fact, Minnesota is just the third team in the history of the NFL to lose four consecutive after starting the season with a 5-0 mark. Needless to say, there’s a whole heck of a lot on the line here.

Here are two teams that entered the regular season with Super Bowl aspirations fighting for playoff spots heading into Week 11. Should it come down to these two squads for one of the final wildcard spots, the winner of this game will have the major upper hand.

For the Vikings, it’s really all about getting back on track offensively. During their four-game losing streak Sam Bradford and Co. are averaging just 14 points per game. That very same span has seen Minnesota’s ground game came to a crashing halt, averaging less than 70 yards per outing.

It’s going to be extremely important for this area of the Vikings’ offense to pick it up. After all, they’re taking on a Cardinals defense that ranks second in the NFL against the pass and is yielding a 71.2 quarterback rating. With All Pro Patrick Peterson set to shadow Stefon Diggs, this is magnified even further.

The same can pretty much be said for Arizona. Playing the role of a true shutdown corner (more on that here), Xavier Rhodes will be shadowing Larry Fitzgerald. The presence of all-everything running back David Johnson should take on even more importance in this one.

Either way, the winner of this titanic Week 11 matchup will be in much better position heading into late November than the loser. That’s not really in question here.

5. The mess in the NFC North

We covered both Minnesota and Green Bay above, but this division in its entirety deserves its own blurb. Based primarily on the play of Matthew Stafford under center, the Detroit Lions head into Week 11 in first place. This, despite the fact that their pass defense has been absolutely atrocious on the season.

With Detroit set to take on a hapless Jacksonville Jaguars squad at home on Sunday, we can pretty much mark that up to a win. This places even more pressure on Minnesota and Green Bay to end their recent swoons and come out on top in their respective games.

Meanwhile, the disaster that is the Chicago Bears are sitting just three games out of the first place with a 2-7 record. No one is suggesting that Chicago will somehow find a way to get back in the division race. But the longer it remains semi relevant, the more we will question the legitimacy of the NFC North as a whole.

6. Tom Terrific’s return to the Bay

Tom Brady, Martellus Bennett

Following last week’s surprising home loss to the Seattle Seahawks, Brady and his New England Patriots head to the Bay to take on a San Francisco 49ers squad that’s in the midst of an eight-game losing streak. Normally a heavy mismatch like this wouldn’t get much play.

But it is the first time in his career that Brady, a native of Silicon Valley, has squared off with the 49ers on the road. A fan of this team growing up, Brady has actually faced San Francisco just twice during his career. He boasts a 1-1 record and has thrown just three touchdowns compared to three picks in those two games.

Based on Brady’s age, this might be the only time he ever gets to suit up in front of his home-town crowd. And coming off a loss to Seattle, we know very well he’s going to want to put on a show here.

7. Can the Browns win one football game?

This seems like a cruel joke. Are the Cleveland Browns capable of winning one football game this season? At 0-10 on the year and with a complete mess at the quarterback position, that question is becoming even more prevalent in mid November.

We’re pretty sure first-year head coach Hue Jackson would like nothing more than to defeat his long-time rivals for his first win as a member of the Browns. That opportunity will present itself against a Pittsburgh Steelers squad that’s lost four in a row heading into Week 11.

Outside of the obvious mismatch of Antonio Brown going up against one of the worst pass defenses in the NFL, there’s actually a few things working in Cleveland’s favor here.

As we mentioned above, Pittsburgh has lost four consecutive games. During that span, its defense is yielding 28.3 points and over 380 yards per outing. Also important to note, this is a road game for the Steelers. They boast a 1-3 record away from Heinz Field on the season and are averaging just 10.7 points in their past three road dates.

This might very well be enough for Cleveland to keep it close, but it’s definitely going to be up to the team’s offense to do something of substance against a poor Steelers defense. Should that not happen, the Browns will be looking at a 0-11 record squarely in the face heading into Week 12.

8. Titans look to make a statement in AFC South

With four wins in their past six games, the Titans have been on an absolute roll recently. They now find themselves just a game behind the Houston Texans in the win column in the AFC South. To put all this into perspective, Tennessee has won as many games (five) through 10 weeks of the 2016 campaign as it won over the past two seasons combined.

There’s one factor that’s led to this recent success from the Titans. And in reality, that’s also the one area Tennessee needed to see progression from this season.

In addition to Marcus Mariota’s super performance over the past several games, DeMarco Murray continues to lead one of the top rushing attacks in the NFL. In what might be a comeback player of the year performance, Murray has tallied an absurd 1,189 total yards and is averaging 5.3 yards per touch.

Now set to take on an Indianapolis Colts team that’s coming off a bye, the Titans have a real opportunity to make a statement here. Indianapolis might not be the team we’ve seen in the past, but it sure is still capable of putting up a ton of points in a given game. In the Colts’ last game prior to their Week 10 bye, they went into Green Bay and come away with a 31-26 win.

The key here for Tennessee will be to continue its dominance on offense while containing Andrew Luck and Co. Should that happen, the Titans will find themselves over .500 heading into Week 12.

9. Bills and Bengals playing for playoff relevance

One of these things is not like the other. No one really expected the Buffalo Bills to be in playoff contention this late into the season after they lost their first two games. And in reality, Buffalo’s hopes of remaining in contention rests squarely on this one game. After running off a four-game winning streak earlier in the year, the Bills have now lost three consecutive.

It’s an interesting situation to look at. Despite this three-game losing streak, Buffalo has been playing decent football. Prior to its Week 10 bye, this squad dropped a close game to the Seahawks in Seattle on Monday Night Football.

Now 2.5 games out of the final wildcard spot in the AFC, Buffalo is in desperate need of a win here. Its playoff path is narrowed down by the presence of the Patriots in the division, so a win here becomes even more important.

As it relates to the Cincinnati Bengals, no one really expected Marvin Lewis’ squad to be fighting for its playoff life heading into Week 11. However, a recent stretch of horrible football has the Bengals’ season on the brink. Cincinnati has won a grand total of two games since Week 1. Last week saw the Bengals put up a disastrous all-around performance in a loss to the New York Giants on national television.

Unlike Buffalo, the Bengals’ only real path to the playoffs is through a division title. They currently sit at 3-5-1 on the season, but are just one game behind Baltimore in the loss column in the AFC North.

10. Jared Goff’s NFL debut

Jared Goff

After sitting on the sideline collecting dust for the first 10 weeks of the season, this rookie No. 1 overall pick will make his NFL debut Sunday against the Miami Dolphins. It comes with some uncertainty within the Los Angeles Rams’ organization regarding Goff’s readiness. It also comes with backup Case Keenum surprisingly retaining his captain tag after being benched.

Whether the Rams plan to go with Goff long term this season or not, they aren’t necessarily putting him in the best situation to succeed. Armed with the likes of Ndamukong Suh and Cam Wake upfront, the Dolphins have racked up 22 sacks in nine games and rank in the top five of the NFL in quarterback pressures. On the other hand, Keenum was sacked 23 times in nine games before being benched in favor of the rookie.

Simply put, the Rams are going to have to rely a whole heck of a lot on struggling running back Todd Gurley to get the job done here. Should that not happen, Goff likely won’t have the NFL debut he’s been dreaming of.

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