NFL Week 11 Match Ups

by Dennis "The Viking" Altenburg

Atlanta Falcons hope they are not repeating their 2005 performance. Last year, Atlanta started 6-2 and missed the playoffs. This year, the Falcons started 5-2 and are now 5-4. Atlanta still leads the league in rushing, but they are up against the second best run D in the NFL. Falcons QB Michael Vick will have to win with his arm if Atlanta hopes to improve on their record.

Last week, Baltimore was down 26-7 at the half against Tennessee, then scored the only points in the second half to win 27-26. The Ravens have now won 3 straight since Head Coach Brian Billick took over the offensive play calling. Baltimore QB Steve McNair had a good game against his former team, Tennessee, but LB Ray Lewis will miss this game so Atlanta’s rushers could still determine the outcome.

Buffalo at Houston

Houston WR Andre Johnson is having a great year, second in the NFL with 808 reception yards, but with only 4 touchdowns. Buffalo will have to limit his catches if they hope to win. Buffalo has lost 4 games on the road but only one, 7-40 in Chicago, was a blowout. Of the other three, the Bills lost to Indy 16-17, Detroit 17-20, and New England 17-19.

Both teams are 3-6 and coming off big games – Houston beating Jacksonville 13-10 in their first road victory and Buffalo losing a squeaker to the Colts 16-17. If the Bills offense wasn’t ranked 31st in the league, they might have pulled out a huge upset. Last field goal wins.

Chicago at N.Y. Jets

The Jets won a huge game last week against the AFC East division leading Patriots and now look to knock off the second powerhouse team in as many weeks. New York has a very easy finishing schedule after Chicago and could end up 11-5, even if they lose to the Bears. 12-4 if they beat them.

Chicago had trouble moving the ball in the first half against the Giants last week and allowed RB Tiki Barber to roll for 141 yards. The Bears kicked it up a notch in the second half, scoring 28 points to seal the win. The talented Chicago defense had two interceptions leading to points and they will have to play 60 minutes of football against New York QB Chad Pennington and the potent Jets potent backfield.

Cincinnati at New Orleans

The Bengals have now lost 5 of their last 6 games, including last week’s heartbreaker loss to San Diego, 41-49. In that game, Cincinnati QB Carson Palmer, with 440 yards passing and WR Chad Johnson, with 260 yards receiving both set personal yardage records. Even with their dismal record over those 6 games, Cincinnati is still in second place in the AFC North, but they are now 3 games out of first behind the Baltimore Ravens. The Bengals had a 21 point lead over the Chargers and still lost.

For New Orleans to keep winning, they have to keep their turnovers down and protect the football. In the Saints three losses, they have coughed up the ball three times on average. Through their 6 wins, the average is one. This game will display lots of fireworks. The Bengals and Saints lost last week to the Chargers and Steelers but, in the process, those 4 teams generated almost 2000 yards of offense.

Indianapolis at Dallas

Horseshoes, rabbits' feet, and four-leafed clovers are the only reasons the Colts are still undefeated. Well, maybe not the only reasons. But if Buffalo hadn't missed a field goal last week, Indianapolis would not be 9-0.

Dallas RB's Julius Jones and Marion Barber will pound the weak Indy defensive line with success and that will give QB Tony Romo lots of opportunities to throw downfield to the Cowboys talented receiving corps. Dallas will be able to score on the Colts, but the Cowboy defense will allow Indianapolis QB Peyton Manning to find WR's Marvin Harrison and Reggie Wayne often enough for the Colts to go to 10-0.

Minnesota at Miami

The Miami Dolphins have done a good job of surprising the world in their last two games, defeating the Chicago Bears and Kansas City Chiefs. Just like last year when Miami won their last six games, the team is picking things up with good efforts from their offense and defense. RB Ronnie Brown was a major factor in those two wins, but will be playing hurt against a decent Vikings defense.

All eight second and third place teams in the NFC are either 5-4 or 4-5, so the two wild card spots are anybody's to claim. Minnesota is one of those teams and have the talent to grab one of those spots before the season ends. The talent, yes, but commitment is another story. The Vikings have lost three straight, Miami has won their last two, but both teams have scored more than 20 points only twice. This will be a low scoring game, and the winner decided late.

New England at Green Bay

The Patriots are not used to losing two games in a row, but they have. The last time New England lost 3 games in a row was in 2002, and the team that beat them for the third time was the Green Bay Packers. Brett Favre looked 10 years younger last week beating Minnesota 23-17. He threw for 347 yards and 2 TD’s with no interceptions. WR Donald Driver had 191 yards receiving. But now the Pack plays the AFC East division leading New England Patriots and the Pats are not the Vikings.

New England won’t gain many yards running against a solid Packers front seven, but that is not the Patriots strength. NE QB Tom Brady has not looked great the past two weeks, throwing 4 interceptions against Indianapolis and losing to the Ney York Jets last week, so if New England hopes to get back on track, Brady has to rebound.

Oakland at Kansas City

This game will see the return of Raiders QB Aaron Brooks and Chiefs QB Trent Green. If Green shows his former stuff, the Chiefs should be able to handle Oakland and their stingy defense. If not, Head Coach Herm Edwards has backup Damon Huard to put into the game. Either way, Oakland's D will have to work overtime just to stay in the game. KC TE Tony Gonzalez will not play and RB Larry Johnson had only an average game last week in Miami. Look for him to step it up and have a huge day against the Oakland front line.

This used to be one of the great rivalries in football. But that was back when Oakland had a football team and Kansas City couldn't be beat at Arrowhead. Only one thing has changed -- Oakland doesn't have a football team.

Pittsburgh at Cleveland

Pittsburgh had almost 500 total yards against New Orleans last week with RB Willie Parker rushing for 216 of them, but the Saints DID have 500 yards. The Steelers were lucky to win that game 38-31 and will now face a Cleveland team capable of forcing turnovers and showing a better defense than they saw from the Saints.

Browns QB Charlie Frye had a pretty good game last week in beating Atlanta, but he didn't put up big numbers -- something he will have to do to offset the points Pittsburgh are going to score in this game.

St. Louis at Carolina

At 4-5, St Louis is behind San Francisco in the standings. After starting the season 4-1, the Rams have dropped their last 4 games, including 2 to Seattle, the NFC West leaders. The Rams will have to finish the season without Pro Bowl LT Orlando Pace due to injury. St Louis has a potent offense, but only average 22 points per game. That will not be enough against a Carolina team that takes advantage of poor defenses, and the Rams have a poor D.

The Carolina Panthers looked pretty tame in the first half Monday night against Tampa Bay before surging back to win 24-10. Playoff bound teams need to play 60 minutes of football and the Panthers learned that against the Bucs. DE Julius Peppers has 11 sacks on the season and will be in the Ram backfield all game.

Tennessee at Philadelphia

Philadelphia really needed that win last week against Washington to stop their three game losing streak. And they need this game against the Titans to get into their heads that they can keep winning. Then comes Indianapolis. Based on yards per game, this contest features the Eagles number 1 offense versus Tennessee's last ranked defense. That smells like a blowout.

There's lots of talk about how Titans QB Vince Young is developing into a good playcaller, but after 8 games, I just don't agree. His completion percent is only 47, he has only passed for 5 touchdowns, and thrown 8 interceptions. Nuff said

Washington at Tampa Bay

Washington Redskins at 3-6, and Tampa Bay Buccaneers at 2-7 are both done for the year. The Redskins lost Clinton Portis for the season with a hand injury and they sidelined QB Mark Brunell. Rookie QB Jason Campbell will see his first NFL action in place of Brunell. The only good news for Washington is their seventh ranked rushing game. But without Portis, the weight will be placed on RB Ladell Betts to rush against a terrible Buccaneer run D.

Washington sports one of the worst defenses in the NFL, so Tampa Bay should be able to move the ball on the Skins. RB Cadillac Williams needs to get untracked to help out his quarterback, rookie Bruce Gradkowski, and show some of the greatness he displayed last season. Gradkowski will have a good day passing against the weak Redskin secondary.

Detroit at Arizona

Detroit at 2-7 meets Arizona at 1-8. This isn't the game to watch this week. The strange thing is that both teams have some talent that could make the game entertaining if not for the costly mistakes both teams will make.

I am convinced the Cardinals will finish the season still fuming about their infamous Monday Night Football loss to the Bears in week 6. In the games since then, they haven't come close to winning.

San Diego at Denver

This is the Game of the Week with first place in the AFC West up for grabs. San Diego has scored more points than any other team in the NFL, and Denver has been scored on the least. Something’s gotta give. Charger RB LaDainian Tomlinson already has 18 TD’s and is a threat to break Seattle RB Shaun Alexander's single-season touchdown record of 28 scores. If he can remain healthy, the record should be his.

Denver QB Jake Plummer threw 3 interceptions in their 17-13 win against Oakland last week. If he doesn’t make vast improvements, San Diego will chase him off the field. The Broncos needed 10 fourth quarter points to secure the victory and didn’t look like the Bronco team we saw through week 7. Denver might be the best team to stop L.T. with their excellent all round defense. There are tons of offensive and defensive stars on both teams, and on both sides of the ball to make this one of the season’s best.

Monday, Nov. 20

N.Y. Giants at Jacksonville

This Giants team is so banged up, they are getting their mail at the hospital. Neither team is playing good defense and each team‘s offense is one dimensional – Jacksonville can only count on their passing game while the Giants only seem to be able to run the ball with any success. Jaguars QB David Garrard, filling in for the injured Byron Leftwich, threw 4 interceptions in the Jag loss to Houston and New York RB Tiki Barber injured his thumb in the Giant loss to Chicago.