NFL Week 11 in review

–All the Philadelphia Eagles do is win. The Eagles boosted their record to 9-1 – best in the NFL – by beating the Kansas City Chiefs, 21-17, Monday night in a rematch of their Super Bowl loss to the Chiefs last year. But the Eagles rarely look like a dominant team. Six of their wins came by seven points or less. And the Chiefs were victims of their own mistakes as Patrick Mahomes threw a pick in the first half and in the second half when the Chiefs were blanked, Travis Kelce fumbled in the red zone and two receivers dropped passes on the final drive. The Chiefs lead the league in dropped passes, which may make it difficult for them to repeat. Meanwhile, the Eagles hope to keep finding ways to win all the way to another Super Bowl. They are trying to become the second Super Bowl loser to win the Super Bowl the following year since 1972.

–The Detroit Lions boosted their record to 8-2 – second best in the NFL – as Jared Goff led them to two drives in the last four minutes to overcome a nine point deficit to beat the Bears, 31-26. He had thrown three interceptions earlier. Meanwhile, the Lions are 8-2 for the first time since 1962, the year the crushed the Packers on Thanksgiving Day. A year later, Vince Lombardi pulled the Packers out of the annual game. It is just a coincidence the Lions will be playing the Packers this Thanksgiving Day. The loss was good  for the Bears, who currently have the fourth pick in the draft with a 3-8 record. Carolina has the first pick at 1-9 but they traded the first pick last year to the Bears, who could have two of the first four picks. 

–Dallas and San Francisco  both posted easy victories over the Panthers and Bucs to boost their records to 7-3. The Cowboys are two games back of the Eagles and seem likely to get a NFC wild card spot if they don’t catch the Eagles. The Forty-Niners are a game ahead of 6-4 Seattle with the Seahawks currently the sixth seed. Denver rallied to beat Minnesota, which is still the NFC seventh seed at 6-5. New Orleans leads the NFC South at 5-5 after having a bye last week.

–Kansas City’s loss to the Eagles dropped them to 7-3 as they fell behind the 8-3 Ravens in the battle for the top AFC seed. The Ravens who beat Cincinnati, which lost quarterback Joe Burrow for the season and felt to 5-5. Buffalo also is 5-5 after beating the Jets. Both the Bengals and Bills are currently out of the playoff chase. 

–Although 8-3 Baltimore is the top AFC seed after 11 weeks, the race is wide open with five teams with three losses. The Chiefs, Dolphins and Jaguars, who all lead their divisions, are 7-3 while the 7-3 Browns are a half game behind the Ravens. The Dolphins, Jaguars and Browns all won last week. 

–Surprising Houston overcame three C.J. Stroud three interceptions to beat the Cardinals with the help of a good defense to boost their record to 6-4. The are currently in a wild card spot but could take over first place Sunday in the AFC South with a victory over the Jaguars. Houston won the first meeting so a victory would give them the tie-break over the Jaguars.

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