What we learned from Week 11 NFL results: Cowboys rise, Lions stretch, Chargers still lagging and more – The Athletic

The two men behind the 1990s Dallas Cowboys dynasty officially ended their decades-long careers on Sunday as team owner Jerry Jones finally – finally – decided to induct former coach Jimmy Johnson into the team’s Ring of Honor.

Only lasted 30 years.

“I really thought it was time and I wanted to do it this year,” Jones said Sunday as his Cowboys began their game against the Panthers.

That was about the most interesting thing that happened in Charlotte, where Dallas moved to 7-3 after a convincing 33-10 win over the worst team in the league. It’s the Cowboys’ sixth win of the season by 20 or more points, thanks once again to a strong day from Dak Prescott (two touchdowns, no interceptions) and a defense that forced two turnovers. Look for cornerback Daron Bland in the final seven games of the regular season: He had another pick-six on Sunday, giving him four points this year. One more and he’s the league’s record holder.

In Buffalo, the Bills beat the Jets 29, five days after coach Sean McDermott fired offensive coordinator Ken Dorsey and four days after quarterback Josh Allen admitted that “our backs are against the wall, the clock is ticking.” 6. It’s Buffalo’s first win in three weeks, although it remains unclear how much a win against this version of the Jets really means. New York finally benched Zach Wilson in the fourth quarter, and Robert Saleh said after the game he wasn’t sure who he would start Friday against the Dolphins. The Bills face a tougher test next week in Philadelphia.

In Miami, the Dolphins beat a rejuvenated Raiders 20-13 as wideout Tyreek Hill stayed on track for the first 2,000-yard receiving season in league history.

In Washington, the struggling Giants earned their third win of the season behind two touchdown catches by Saquon Barkley and six defensive takeaways.

In Los Angeles, the Rams scored the final 10 points of the game, then survived a 55-yard attempt by Seahawks kicker Jason Myers that fell just wide to secure a 17-16 victory. It was Myers’ first miss since Week 4 and the Rams’ first win in a month.

In San Francisco, Brock Purdy and the 49ers picked up right where they left off in Jacksonville a week ago, defeating the Bucs 27-14. After three midseason losses, San Francisco picked up two convincing victories, and Purdy had an outstanding performance: 40 of 47 for 629 yards, six touchdowns and no picks since returning from the bye. (He had a perfect passer rating of 158.3 on Sunday.) An NFC Championship Game rematch with the Eagles is coming up in two weeks.

Here’s what stood out in Week 11:

Don’t sleep on Denver…

Maybe Russell Wilson is back.

Maybe the Broncos are too.

For the second week in a row, a beautiful high arc throw from Wilson to Courtland Sutton was crucial to Denver’s win.

Denver was five minutes behind the Vikings with 3:17 left when Wilson launched a 10-play, 75-yard drive. The highlight was a 15-yard touchdown for Sutton in the corner of the end zone with 1:09 left, the decisive play in a 21-20 comeback victory. It was the Broncos’ first touchdown of the night after the offense repeatedly stalled in the red zone and settled for five field goals. Denver has won four straight, the last three against the Chiefs, Bills and now the Vikings, all teams over .500 at this point. And Wilson has already led four game-winning drives this season.

The Broncos (5-5) remain an AFC playoff contender. That 1-4 start feels like a lifetime ago.

It was Joshua Dobbs’ first loss in three games with the Vikings since transferring from Arizona last month – he technically didn’t start in his first game with Minnesota, but threw two touchdowns in the win. He’s scored a total of seven touchdowns in that span, wins over Atlanta and New Orleans and the loss to Denver, but on Sunday night he threw an interception – and almost threw a few more. Any chance of a game-winning drive was quickly dashed in the face of a relentless pass rush from Denver, and the Vikings turned the ball over on downs.

Chargers Charger (again)

With rare exceptions over the last decade – and probably even further back – the Chargers have been exactly the same team. Capable quarterback. Talented squad. Disappointing results.

Now the Brandon Staley era appears to have reached a critical point, and it’s not a stretch to think that the next seven games will determine whether he returns as the team’s head coach in 2024. The Chargers are underperforming again this season despite having one of the best quarterbacks in football in Justin Herbert and a defense that ranks third in total salary ($97 million against the cap). The preseason hype was there – as is usually the case with this team – but after ten games the results are still not there.

Los Angeles is now 4-6 and in third-to-last place in the AFC. And since Staley took over in 2020, his defenses rank 29th, 21st and 24th in points allowed.

Sunday’s 23-20 loss to a bad Packers team showed all of that. The defense allowed Green Bay quarterback Jordan Love the first 300-yard passing day of his career without forcing a single turnover. Herbert threw for 260 yards and two touchdowns, although his receivers made three drops, including one by Keenan Allen on the goal line. Austin Ekeler fumbled inside the 5. Asante Samuel Jr. called a major pass interference penalty on a third-and-20 that gave the Packers a first down.

Even though Justin Herbert racked up more than 330 yards, Rashan Gary (center) and the Packers found a way to frustrate the Chargers. (Tork Mason/USA Today)

By the end of the game, the Chargers had once again found a way to lose a game by one point. So far this season, five of the Chargers’ six losses have come by a field goal or less. And they’ve never beaten a team with a winning record.

“I have full confidence in the way we play, full confidence in myself as a (defensive) game manager and the way we teach and the way we plan, full confidence in those,” Staley said, speaking about it increasingly angry post-game press conference. “We need to bring this group together and do this consistently.”

Joey Bosa’s ankle injury – the star defender left the game in the first quarter and was emotional as he was wheeled off the field in a cart – won’t help. For a team that hasn’t won a division title since 2009 and has three playoff draws since 2010, including blowing a 27-0 lead in last year’s wild-card round in Jacksonville, this season feels like more the same story.

However, this time it looks like there isn’t even a playoff spot, despite all the talent on this roster.

One has to wonder how much longer the owner can watch the same script unfold.

The best Lions team since the Barry Sanders era? Or longer?

It’s been a magical season in the Motor City as Dan Campbell’s Lions have become one of the NFL’s best stories. Sunday was the final chapter, and one of the most improbable: His team, hampered by three Jared Goff interceptions and four total turnovers, trailed the inferior Bears by two points with four minutes left in the fourth quarter.

This looked like an ugly loss with a nationally televised Thanksgiving game against the Packers looming in four short days.

Detroit then scored the final 17 points of the game and sealed the victory with a walk-off safety by Aidan Hutchinson.

“The pressure rose,” Campbell said, “and the heart rate stabilized.”

Campbell’s Lions are now 8-2, the franchise’s best record since the Kennedy administration. He is one of the frontrunners for Coach of the Year. Sunday’s 31-26 win over Chicago spoiled a mostly encouraging return for Bears quarterback Justin Fields, who played his first game in a month and finished the game with 169 passing yards and a touchdown for DJ Moore.

The Lions’ sixth-ranked offense has scored 25 or more points six times this season. Goff was crucial – the Rams’ outcast revived his career in Detroit, and Sunday spoke clearly: As costly as the three interceptions were, Goff was surgical late in the game, leading 75- and 73-yard touchdown drives to steal the ball victory in the final quarter. Hutchinson’s strip-sack safety provided the exclamation point.

Despite Stroud’s interceptions, the Texans remain red hot

The Houston Texans won all seven games in the 2021 and 2022 seasons while using five quarterbacks and two head coaches – David Culley and Lovie Smith.

Then DeMeco Ryans came home and everything was different. A few days before Thanksgiving, the Ryans’ Texans are one of the hottest teams in football, winning three straight and winning six of the last eight teams.

Houston (6-4) won its third straight in the final seconds on Sunday, fending off a late charge from Kyler Murray and the Cardinals for a 21-16 victory, currently placing the Texans in the sixth seed in the AFC playoffs stand. CJ Stroud, the front-runner for the NFL’s Offensive Rookie of the Year award, struggled with three interceptions on the first day of his career – one came on a tipped pass – but still managed 336 passing yards and two touchdowns, his fifth 300-yard game already this season.

Ten games into his career, he has the fourth-most passing yards of all time.

Most passing yards, first 10 games

“Steph Curry never stops shooting,” Stroud said after the win, asking him about his interceptions. “I’ll let it continue.”

Browns win (again) on a last-second field goal

Even though they kept winning, it was hard to imagine the Steelers’ formula working for an entire season, with Mike Tomlin’s team fighting its way to the AFC North title or even a playoff berth despite being one of the most inconsistent teams had – and often unproductive – offenses in the league.

Nine games into the year, Pittsburgh was somehow 6-3 despite being outnumbered in total yards in every contest. Entering Sunday, they ranked 26th in points and 28th in yards. Was it sustainable? No. At least unlikely. But there was something to be said for Tomlin’s team finding ways to win, ugly as it often was.

Criticism of offensive coordinator Matt Canada appeared to have subsided, if only slightly, as Pittsburgh picked up four wins in five games.

Then came Sunday’s 13-10 loss to a Browns team that was playing without its starting quarterback. It was the fourth time this season that Pittsburgh scored 10 points or fewer in a game (all losses). Days after losing Deshaun Watson this season, Cleveland prevailed over the Steelers with a last-second field goal from Dustin Hopkins. Dorian Thompson-Robinson, Watson’s replacement, led an eight-play, 48-yard drive late in the fourth quarter, setting up Hopkins’ second straight victory. So far this season, the Browns have won four games on last-second kicks.

Cleveland’s punishing defense once again led the way, allowing just 106 passing yards to Kenny Pickett, who did not throw a touchdown (and had just 34 passing yards in the first half). Pittsburgh didn’t score until running back Jaylen Warren scored on a 74-yard touchdown run two plays into the second half. The Steelers are now 6-4 and in the seventh and final AFC playoff spot.

In the crowded AFC North race, the Browns (7-3) stayed in the race with the win. How far can this top-ranked defense take them? Her schedule isn’t too daunting, by the way; They face only two teams that currently have a winning record (the Jaguars and the Texans).

But it’s still Baltimore’s division that will lose. After Thursday night’s win over the Bengals, who lost Joe Burrow for the season a day later, the Ravens are 8-3.

AFC North standings

(Top photo: Kara Durrette / Getty Images)

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