Sunday’s NFL Week 11 action provided us with a ton to talk about. The early-afternoon slate saw the Houston Texans move to 6-4 on the season despite rookie quarterback C.J. Stroud throwing three interceptions.
Meanwhile, Kenny Pickett and the Pittsburgh Steelers’ offense was a disaster class in a 13-10 loss to the division-rival Cleveland Browns.
As for the late afternoon, the New York Jets’ offense couldn’t get anything going against the Buffalo Bills, while Brock Purdy put up another stellar performance as the San Francisco 49ers defeated the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. These are among the winners and losers from NFL Week 11.
Related: NFL Week 11 power rankings
Winner: Devin Singletary leads Houston Texans to big win
Likely NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year C.J. Stroud struggled with turnovers against the Arizona Cardinals. He threw three interceptions, one more than his first nine starts of the season.
Despite this, Houston (6-4) was able to come out on top, 21-16, for its third consecutive victory.
Replacing an injured Dameon Pierce as RB1, veteran free agent signing Devin Singletary went for 112 yards on 22 attempts to provide the balance Stroud needed on offense. It represented the second consecutive game that Singletary has gone for north of 100 yards in place of Pierce.
Loser: Kenny Pickett struggles in Pittsburgh Steelers loss
Pittsburgh had a real opportunity against a Cleveland Browns team that was without starting quarterback Deshaun Watson. Kenny Pickett and Co. knew it wouldn’t be easy against one of the NFL’s top defenses.
Boy, that was an understatement. Pickett completed 15-of-28 passes for 77 net passing yards without a touchdown or an interception in the 13-10 loss. It’s just the continuation of major struggles on the sophomore quarterback’s part this season. He entered NFL Week 11 averaging less than 183 yards per game while throwing six touchdowns in nine games. That’s just gross.
Related: NFL Week 11 QB rankings
Winner: Daron Bland is the man for the Dallas Cowboys
A game that saw Dak Prescott throw for a mere 189 yards on 38 attempts also saw others step up as Dallas defeated the Carolina Panthers, 33-10. That included forcing two turnovers from Panthers rookie QB Bryce Young.
With Dallas up 24-10 early in the fourth quarter, Daron Bland picked off Young and returned it to the house 30 yards for a touchdown.
This represented Bland’s fourth pick-six of the season, tying an NFL record. It’s simply sensational given that he’s only in the starting lineup due to the season-ending injury Trevon Diggs suffered back in September. Initially, teams picked on Bland opposite Stephon Gilmore. Obviously, that hasn’t proven to be a great idea.
Loser: Brutal loss for the Seattle Seahawks
Taking on a three-win Los Angeles Rams team on the road, most figured Seattle would be able to come away with a win and keep pace with the San Francisco 49ers in the NFC West. It looked that way for a while, with the Seahawks holding a 16-7 lead heading into the fourth quarter.
That’s pretty much when everything went to hell. Geno Smith suffered a triceps injury and was replaced under center by Drew Lock. Lock’s first drive saw Seattle go three-and-out before Los Angeles drove down the field 68 yards for a touchdown to make it a one-score game. Lock then threw an interception, which led to a Rams field goal and a 17-16 deficit.
While Smith toughed it out and returned to the field, he was nowhere near 100 percent. Once Jason Myers missed a 55-yard field goal late in the game, that was it. Now set to take on the aforementioned 49ers on a short week Thanksgiving night, there is no telling whether Smith will be ready. Not a great NFL Week 11 for Seattle.
Related: NFL Playoff and Super Bowl predictions
Winner: Tommy DeVito comes up big for New York Giants
We’re pretty sure Giants fans would rather have them lose in order to collect a higher first-round pick in the 2024 NFL Draft. But that’s not what head coach Brian Daboll and Co. had in mind heading into NFL Week 11 against the division-rival Washington Commanders. It was all about overcoming last week’s blowout loss to the Dallas Cowboys.
About that? DeVito, an undrafted free agent who looked like he was in over his head during his first three NFL appearances, did his thing against Washington.
All said, DeVito completed 18-of-26 passes for 246 yards with three touchdowns and zero interceptions despite being sacked a whopping nine times. That included two touchdown passes to Saquon Barkley. While DeVito will never be mistaken for a starter-caliber quarterback, his performance Sunday was pretty darn awesome.
Loser: Brandon Staley, Los Angeles Chargers blow another opportunity
At some point, Staley’s seat is going to be incredibly hot. After what we saw during Sunday’s ugly 23-20 loss to a bad Green Bay Packers squad, it could be molten hot. Los Angeles’ defense allowed a struggling Jordan Love to complete 27-of-40 passes for 322 yards with two touchdowns and zero interceptions. It was yet another miserable performance from the league’s worst defense.
By virtue of this loss, the Chargers are now at 4-6 on the season and pretty much completely out of the AFC playoff race.
As for Staley, his bread-and-butter is supposed to be defense. Given just how crappy this unit has been in 2023, there really isn’t much of a reason for Staley to continue to be employed. That’s the harsh reality of the situation.
Winner: Brock Purdy picks up where he left off
Purdy was brilliant in last week’s 34-3 win over the Jacksonville Jaguars, completing 19-of-26 passes for 296 yards with three touchdowns and zero interceptions. This came after a brutal three-game stretch in which the sophomore quarterback threw five interceptions.
Well, Purdy was even better during San Francisco’s 27-14 win over the Tampa Bay. The youngster completed 21-of-25 passes for 333 yards with three touchdowns and zero interceptions. He’s the first 49ers quarterback to finish a game with a perfect 158.3 QB rating since Joe Montana since back 1989. That included an awesome 76-yard touchdown pass to Brandon Aiyuk.
Through his first 10 starts this season, Purdy is completing 70 percent of his passes for 2,662 yards with 18 touchdowns and five interceptions for a league-best 115.1 QB rating. That seems pretty good, no?
Loser: Zach Wilson benched in New York Jets loss
At the midway point in the second quarter of Sunday’s game against the Buffalo Bills, New York had exactly zero total yards, with Zach Wilson boasting negative net yardage. Even then, Jets head coach Robert Saleh waited until late in the third quarter with the Jets down 29-6 to bench Wilson in favor of Tim Boyle.
The embattled quarterback finished NFL Week 11 completing 7-of-15 passes for 51 net passing yards with a touchdown and an interception. Through his first nine starts this season, Wilson has thrown six touchdowns with seven interceptions.
It led to a blowout 32-6 loss to Buffalo and a 4-6 record on the season for New York. It remains to be seen whether this will be the last time we’ll see Wilson on the field. Saleh would not commit to him for Black Friday’s game against the Miami Dolphins. Can you blame him?