USA TODAY International Edition
Good, bad as season streaking along
Things we learned from Week 11 of the NFL season:
1. Go ahead and put the Eagles on injured reserve. The “defending” champs lost by 41 in New Orleans, the biggest blowout ever suffered by a team that won the Super Bowl the previous season. Get Nick Foles off the bench. Trade Carson Wentz (three interceptions Sunday) to the Giants. Whatever you got to do, Howie, just make it stop. Please.
2. In the course of clipping Philly, the Saints became the first team in the Super Bowl era to score at least 40 points six times in its first 10 games.
3. The least expensive, by far, quarterback in the NFC North, Chicago’s Mitchell Trubisky, might be the only one playing in January.
4. It was going so well for the Chargers’ latest kicker, rookie Mike Badgley, who had converted his first 17 professional kicks (7 field goals, 10 PATs). But you knew what was coming — Badgley misfired on a third-quarter extra point with the Bolts leading the Broncos by 12. We’re not saying he cost them this game, but the Chargers lost 23-22.
5. The Bolts faltered after winning six in a row, but three teams — Saints (9), Texans (7) and Steelers (6) — are currently surfing win streaks of at least a half-dozen games.
6. With Lamar Jackson’s first start for Baltimore on Sunday, this became the first NFL season to witness five firstround quarterbacks start as rookies. Jackson and the Jets’ Sam Darnold were the only ones in the bunch to win that initial start.
7. Jackson’s 27 rushes (for 117 yards) were the most by a quarterback since the 1970 merger, five more than Tim Tebow’s previous mark. Jackson’s Vickesque line included 13 completions on 19 throws for 150 yards and a pick. Suffice it to say, he’s an outlier in a pass-happy league, though that might make him successful — at least in the short run. But running 27 times sure doesn’t sound like a sustained model for success — just ask Tebow — or well being.
8. Bad news: The Bengals lost to Jackson’s Ravens, Cincinnati’s fourth loss in five outings — dropping them to 5-5 after a 4-1 start.
9. Good news: If the playoffs started tomorrow (they don’t), the Ravens would own the AFC’s final wild card despite a 5-5 record.
10. Bad news: If the playoffs started tomorrow (they don’t), the Bengals would be out in the cold — along with the Colts, Dolphins and Titans — even though their 5-5 record appears just as average as Baltimore’s.
11. This was the fourth week of the season when J.J. Watt and T.J. Watt combined to record at least three sacks. The brothers now have 10 apiece.
12. If the Carolina coach’s (failed) decision to go for two and the win in a 2019 loss at Detroit ultimately also costs his club a playoff spot, every armchair Panthers fan will cite this as the turning point since the team obviously would have won by playing for the tie and overtime ... even though Graham Gano badly missed two kicks, including a PAT.
13. In his 226th NFL game, Eli Manning established a career high by completing 94.4 percent of his passes (17for-18, 231 yards, 2 TDs) against the Bucs and former teammate Jason PierrePaul, who did sack the two-time Super Bowl MVP 11⁄2 times in a losing effort. Manning’s accuracy rate tied for third best in league history for a quarterback with at least 15 attempts.
14. The Buccaneers’ top-ranked offense has surpassed 500 yards in five games. Tampa Bay is 1-4 in those contests, losing four in a row after falling to the Giants on Sunday (despite amassing 510 yards).
15. Bucs QBs Ryan Fitzpatrick and Jameis Winston have combined for 23 interceptions. Per ESPN Stats & Info, they’re the first teammates with 10-plus picks since Mark Sanchez and Nick Foles did it with the 2014 Eagles.
16. How did former first-round wideouts from Alabama do in Atlanta on Sunday? The Falcons’ Julio Jones and Calvin Ridley and the Cowboys’ Amari Cooper combined for 12 receptions, 186 yards and one TD. Jones (6-118-1) did most of the damage.
17. Since he entered the league in 2012, Seattle’s Russell Wilson has never lost three consecutive starts in the same season.
18. Meanwhile, Aaron Rodgers has lost seven consecutive regular-season starts on the road for the first time in his 14-year career.
19. Feast Mode? Seattle owns the league’s top-ranked rushing attack with Chris Carson (580 yards), Mike Davis (372) and Rashaad Penny (300) all reaching the 300-yard plateau. The Seahawks have averaged 184.6 yards over their last seven games with at least 150 in each.
20. @CaptAndrewLuck is now 10-0 when facing the “Ten Sea Titans” on the field of battle. Including playoffs, Gen. John Elway was 11-0 against men claiming to be Patriots.