The NFL Week 11 will remain unfinished until after Monday’s clash between top- of-the-standings teams Los Angeles Rams, the favorites at -3 and Kansas City Chiefs (+3), but in the meantime, Sunday’s games were not without at least one eyebrow-raising result.
And for the second week in a row, Tennessee Titans were the center of this one.
Last week on their home turf they did it by thumping 2017 Super Bowl Champions New England Patriots 34-10 but this week, once more playing at home, they crashed to a 10-38 defeat to the Indianapolis Colts in a game which, based on the pre-match spread odds and the win-loss records of the two teams, was expected to be a lot closer
New Jersey punters won’t be too happy with the Titans’ rank consistency right now, but in their defense, it should be mentioned that they lost quarterback Marcus Mariota when he injured his right elbow in a sacking in the final minute of the first half.
Worst injury of Week 11, however, was the season-ending one suffered by
Alex Smith in Washington’s 21-23 loss to Houston on Sunday.
Smith broke his right tibia and fibula during a sack by Kareem Jackson midway through the third quarter and will require surgery that is expected to keep the veteran quarterback out for the rest of the season.
Smith’s leg turned the wrong way, much in the same way that famed Joe Theismann’s did 33 years ago when a sack by Lawrence Taylor ended his career.
“I know it was very painful for him and heartbreaking for a lot of people,” Redskins coach Jay Gruden told Sports Illustrated. “He’s a great guy and hard worker and one of the key leaders on this football team. “
In the only other game featuring a big margin in a week in which the bulk of the matches were tight with narrow score lines, New Orleans Saints thumped Philadelphia Eagles 48-7.
New York Giants did score as many as 38 points against Tampa Bay Buccaneers, but the Florida outfit was only three points behind with 35 of their own in this high scoring game.
Only one point separated Carolina and Detroit (19-20) and Denver and LA Chargers (23-22) and two was the difference between Cincinnati and Baltimore (21-24), Houston and Washington (23-21), and between bottom-the-standings teams Oakland Raiders and Arizona Cardinals (23-21).
This was only the Raider’s 2nd victory in 10 games and the Cardinals 8th loss in the same number of matches.
Right now with 2000, they share the bottom spot on the NFL standings with the San Francisco 49ers.
The Rams and Chiefs are currently locked together at the top of the NFL standings with .9000 each, but the winner of their Monday battle for the top spot in standings will go clear.
Week 11 NFL Football Results
Dallas Cowboys 22, Atlanta Falcons 19
Cincinnati Bengals 21, Baltimore Ravens 24
Carolina Panthers 19, Detroit Lions 20
Tennessee Titans 10, Indianapolis Colts 38
Tampa Bay Buccaneers 35, New York Giants 38
Houston Texans 23, Washington Redskins 21
Pittsburg Steelers 20, Jacksonville Jaguars 16
Oakland Raiders 23 Arizona Cardinals 21
Denver Broncos 23, Los Angeles Chargers 22
Philadelphia Eagles 7, New Orleans Saints 48
Minnesota Vikings 20 Chicago Bears 25
Green Bay Packers 24, Seattle Seahawks 27
Byes
New York Jets (3-7), Miami Dolphins (5-5), New England Patriots (7-3), San Francisco 49ers (2-8)
Current standings
(Wins, losses, draw in brackets)
American Football Conference
AFC East
Patriots (7-3-0) .700
Dolphins (5-5-0) .500
Bills (3-7-0) .300
Jets (3-7-0) .300
AFC North
Steelers (7-2-1) .750
Ravens (5-5-0) .500
Bengals (5-5-0) .500
Browns (3-6-1) .3500
AFC South
Texans (7-3-0) .700
Colts (5-5-0) .500
Titans (5-5-0) .500
Jaguars (3-7-0) .300
AFC West
Chiefs (9-1-0) .9000
Chargers (7-3-0) .700
Broncos (4-6-0) .4000
Raiders (2-8-0) .200
National Football Conference
NFC East
Redskins (6-4-0) .600
Cowboys (5-5-0) .500
Eagles (4-6-0) .400
Giants (3-7-0) .3000
NFC North
Bears (7-3-0) .7000
Vikings (5-4-1) .5500
Packers (4-5-1) .4500
Lions (4.6.0) .4000
NFC South
Saints (9-1-0) .9000
Panthers 4-6-0 .4000
Falcons (4-6-0) .4000
Buccaneers 3-7-0 .3000
NFC West
Rams (9-1-0) .9000
Sea Hawks (5-5-0) .5000
Cardinals (2-8-0) .2000
49ers (2-8-0) .2000