Week 11 couldn’t match the drama of Week 10’s litany of walk-off field goals, but it did help clear up the 2024 NFL playoff picture.
The Cleveland Browns took hold of second place in the AFC North — you know, that division with the Cincinnati Bengals and quarterback Jake Browning at the bottom — by turning the clock back to 1955 in a game that matched Dorian Thompson-Robinson up against Kenny Pickett in a race to 150 passing yards. The San Francisco 49ers kept their hopes of a first round bye alive by snuffing out the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ comeback hopes. The Los Angeles Chargers continued their onslaught against their own fans by losing yet another close, winnable game.
Here’s what stood out the most, including double duty from both Kyler Murray and the Miami Dolphins and rare, completely earnest praise for Tommy by-god DeVito.
Best: Justin Fields, who is both back and understands where his bread is buttered
Fields had missed the previous four games due to a thumb injury, paving the way for undrafted free agent Tyson Bagent to command the offense. And while Bagent led the team to a 2-2 record, his play behind center was more or less befitting a former Division II star asked to punch way above his weight class as a rookie.
Fields came in, did what he does best (running for more than 100 yards) and, when tasked with making big throws showed he understood his assignment. Enter D.J. Moore:
The @ChicagoBears 1-2 punch is BACK. @justnfields @idjmoore
📺: #CHIvsDET on FOX
📱: Stream on #NFLPlus https://t.co/jckqnJwdb2 pic.twitter.com/gMlXMdxIgK— NFL (@NFL) November 19, 2023
Fields finished his day with 273 yards of total offense, zero turnovers and a 105.2 passer rating. More importantly, he gave fans a reason to believe and then lost, preserving the team’s draft status while covering the spread. That’s the most desirable outcome for this team long term, even if Fields isn’t its quarterback of the future — particularly since he might be someone else’s.
Worst: Quentin Johnston, roaming disaster
30 seconds left on the clock in Green Bay. The Los Angeles Chargers trail the Packers 23-20. They have no time outs. The ball is on their own 30-yard line. It’s third-and-10.
Johnston, the rookie wide receiver drafted ahead of Zay Flowers, Jordan Addison, Tank Dell and many, many more, has sprinted ahead of cornerback Carrington Valentine. Justin Herbert’s pass is dropping from the heavens and directly into his hands. Catch it in stride — and it’s gonna hit him in stride — and the Chargers win.
Chargers fans already knew how this was going to turn out before it even happened.
Quentin Johnston could have won this game for the Chargers pic.twitter.com/v9dUQj1OVr
— Christian D'Andrea (@TrainIsland) November 19, 2023
Johnston, the 21st overall pick in last April’s draft, ranked 23rd among all rookies when it came to receiving yards before Week 11. He missed out on a great opportunity to join the top 20.
Best: Kyler Murray, rejecting the idea of tanking so the Cardinals can draft his replacement
Murray needed little time to prove he still has all the tools to be a dynamic starting quarterback, even in his second game back from last year’s ACL tear. Behold, his second (official) pass of Week 11, a perfect bomb dropped in a bucket for a 48-yard Rondale Moore touchdown.
I feel like the Cardinals might not be drafting a quarterback. pic.twitter.com/7xtxDuvgT9
— Mike Kadlick (@mikekadlick) November 19, 2023
Murray also added 51 yards and a touchdown on the ground to prove his knee injury hasn’t sapped his explosiveness.
Worst: Kyler Murray, wasting multiple opportunities for a comeback win
C.J. Stroud played the sloppiest game of his budding young career, throwing three interceptions vs. the Cardinals — all of which came inside the Arizona 20-yard line or deeper. This prevented Houston from running away with the game and gave Murray three different opportunities to execute a lead-taking fourth quarter drive in a 21-16 game.
All three of those drives ended in a turnover on downs. The Texans entered Week 11 ranked 24th in third down conversion rate allowed but that unit managed to put the clamps on Murray repeatedly in clutch situations, allowing the home team to escape with a win.
That’s not going to help Murray’s reputation as a quarterback who struggles in big moments. He’d led a game-winning drive a week earlier against the Atlanta Falcons at home, but with the degree of difficulty turned up a notch he was unable to capitalize on any of the opportunities the Texans’ mistakes afforded. In the end, he recorded negative-three expected points added (EPA) over the course of a game his Cardinals lost by five — but had multiple drives stall out in field goal range in the process.
Best: Dorian Thompson-Robinson, just competent enough when the Browns needed it
Thompson-Robinson, for the most part, looked exactly like you’d expect from a fifth-round rookie. He struggled to identify coverage and blitzes. He barely looked downfield and was mostly content for short gains to tight ends, tailbacks and possession-type wideouts — and even then he barely completed more than half his attempts.
But “DTR” showed up when the Browns needed him. Kenny Pickett, typically a titan late in games, shrank from the spotlight after tying the game at 10-all halfway through the fourth quarter. That gave the rookie the ball at his own 35-yard line with only 79 seconds to play. He completed all four of his pass attempts for 39 yards — almost a quarter of his total output in one-sixtieth of the game clock — to set up a game-winning field goal and move to 7-3 on the season.
Worst: Zach Wilson, second-worst quarterback on his own team (behind the punter)
There is good news for Zach Wilson. Yes, he was benched after a putrid performance Sunday evening. But he outplayed backup Tim Boyle, a man who has spent seven inexplicable seasons in the NFL despite a 12:26 touchdown:interception ratio in five collegiate seasons with Connecticut and, phew, Eastern Kentucky.
This did not make Wilson the best quarterback in the Jets’ lineup. That honor belonged to punter Thomas Morstead.
To Morstead’s credit, it was a pretty good throw!
Thomas Morstead throwing dimes!
📺: #NYJvsBUF on CBS
📱: Stream on #NFLPlus https://t.co/jckqnJwdb2 pic.twitter.com/U1Qkgy7Eyf— NFL (@NFL) November 19, 2023
This was only Morstead’s second fake punt and his first official NFL pass attempt. It tied for the team’s longest gain of the week at 18 yards.
Best: Calvin Ridley, showing up when the Jaguars needed him
Ridley has been an enigma in his first season with the Jacksonville Jaguars. He’s struggled against press coverage and gotten little help from a fairly conservative offense with plenty of other useful skill players in the lineup.
This has led to a boom/bust start that’s leaned more toward the former. When Ridley has 40 receiving yards or fewer, Jacksonville is 3-3. When he has 80 or more, the Jags are 4-0. That includes Sunday’s rout over the Tennessee Titans.
Ladies and gentlemen, @CalvinRidley1 🥲#TENvsJAX on CBS pic.twitter.com/2SRmBxl3ht
— Jacksonville Jaguars (@Jaguars) November 19, 2023
Ridley came alive for seven catches on nine targets while showcasing the kind of route versatility that can stretch opposing defenses. Nearly half his catches came on deep throws more than 20 yards downfield.
Worst: Sauce Gardner, who had arguably the worst football game of his life
Look, Gardner was annoyed even before the tide turned against his Jets Sunday. He and Stefon Diggs battled all evening. While the second-year cornerback got the better of those exchanges in the first half, the cracks began to show around halftime.
i give you ,,, the SaucePlex ™
(15 yards, automatic first down. hooooo buddy Stefon Diggs has got him pisssssed) pic.twitter.com/Nxj0M1sFda
— Christian D'Andrea (@TrainIsland) November 19, 2023
That was stupid, but it wasn’t as damaging as his high-risk, high-reward attempt to undercut a deep Khalil Shakir route. The ball snuck through and, 81 yards later, the Bills had a 28-6 lead.
.@KING_KHALIL2‼️ Let's go‼️
📺: @CBS pic.twitter.com/j4ICq4jfTN
— Buffalo Bills (@BuffaloBills) November 19, 2023
Gardner took to Twitter afterward — in a now-deleted tweet — to shed some of the blame, which was fair. He jumped the route assuming there was more help behind him. Instead, no on could bring Shakir down.
Still, the only way the Jets could stay afloat in Week 11 was to once again shut down the Bills offense. That required a nearly superhuman effort from a defense that has to be so, so exhausted by now. Gardner didn’t just end up visibly on the wrong side of a highlight reel or on the wrong side of 20 yards worth of penalties. He also had to watch his offense flail under Zach Wilson, then Tim Boyle, once more. Truly, a worst case scenario.
Best: The Miami Dolphins, who got their best win of the 2023 season to date
Congratulations to the Dolphins, who emerged from their bye week to hang on to a 21-14 win over a .500 AFC opponent. Please stop reading here if you’d like to remain encouraged by Miami.
Worst: The Miami Dolphins, who beat the 5-6 Las Vegas Raiders
Oh right. Miami nearly lost to Aidan O’Connell and an interim head coach at home. The Raiders and the Denver Broncos were the only wins on their resume, before Sunday night’s game, over teams as much as one game below .500 (other wins came against: the New England Patriots, Los Angeles Chargers, New York Giants, and Carolina Panthers). The Dolphins rule the AFC East, but they’ve beaten one playoff team (who either made it last season or are projected to in 2023) since Mike McDaniel took over as head coach in 2022.
But hey, at least that 70-20 rout of the Broncos is looking better in hindsight!
Best: Tommy DeVito, who has a win as an NFL starting quarterback
The Giants entered Week 11 with a slim chance at being the least competitive team, in terms of point differential, in NFL history. That’s off the table now after hastening Ron Rivera’s exit in Washington D.C. and beating the Commanders 31-19.
The man behind it all was DeVito, the undrafted third string rookie who now has more touchdown passes in 2023 than Zach Wilson and more multiple-touchdown games than Kenny Pickett. He’s the first New York quarterback with at least five touchdown passes in his first two starts since 1950.
DeVito deep to Slayton for six!
📺: FOX pic.twitter.com/u9T77KV9oj
— New York Giants (@Giants) November 19, 2023
