The Daily Briefing Monday, November 21, 2022

AROUND THE NFL

Div Seed    Conf

Kansas City     West            8-2           1          5-2

Miami              East             7-3           1          5-2

Tennessee      South           7-3           1          5-2

Baltimore         North           7-3           1          4-2

Buffalo            WC1            7-3           2          5-2

New England  WC2            6-4           3          5-2

Cincinnati        WC3            6-4           2          3-3                                                                  

NY Jets                               6-4           4          5-4

LA Chargers                        5-5           2          4-3

Indianapolis                         4-6-1        2          4-4-1

The Bengals hold a head-to-head win over the Jets, putting them in despite NYJ’s superior conference record.

The Colts are 4-6-1 with one-point losses to the Eagles and Commanders – both by a score of 17-16.

– – –

We went into Week 11 with all eight of the teams in the two East divisions at .500 or better.

Now with wins by Washington and New England – all eight teams are better than .500.

Peter King:

Never have two divisions in the same year had all teams over .500 after 11 weeks. The Eagles, of course, have nine wins, and the other seven teams in the two Easts have either six or seven wins. Looks like we’ll see a lot of Eastern Time Zone teams in the postseason this year.

CHICAGO

Peter King crunches QB JUSTIN FIELD’s numbers:

If only Justin Fields could win. Fields left the field in Atlanta with a hurt shoulder; we’ll know in the next day or two if it will cause him to miss time. But he continued his amazing run of running Sunday in the 27-24 loss at Atlanta. It’s historic. Think of the greatest quarterback rushers in modern history—say, since 1960. I’m going pick three: Randall Cunningham, Michael Vick, Lamar Jackson. Let’s take their best six rushing games in a row, and compare them to the six-game run Fields is on right now.

Justin Fields, 2022: 80 rushes, 640 yards, 8.0 yards per carry, 106.7 yards per game.

Lamar Jackson, 2019: 80 rushes, 570 yards, 7.1 yards per carry, 95.0 yards per game.

Michael Vick, 2004: 60 carries, 504 yards, 8.4 yards per carry, 84.0 yards per game.

Randall Cunningham, 1990: 53 carries, 420 yards, 7.9 yards per carry, 70.0 yards per game.

The Bears have averaged 29.6 points in their last five games, and they are 1-5 in Fields’ amazing streak on the ground. It’s a great sign for the future of the Bears’ quarterback, but not such a great sign that the great run hasn’t translated into wins.

DETROIT

The Lions have won three straight – and WR JAMESON WILLIAMS looms on the horizon.  Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press:

The Detroit Lions are back in the playoff mix after three straight victories, and help for the stretch run is on its way.

The Lions started rookie receiver Jameson Williams’ three-week practice window Monday in hopes of getting him on the field in early December.

Williams, the No. 12 pick of April’s draft, tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee in Alabama’s national championship game loss to Georgia on Jan. 10.

The Lions traded up to take Williams knowing he would miss most of this season. He opened training camp on the nonfootball injury list and has kept most of his rehab out of the public eye.

Lions coach Dan Campbell said last week the team was targeting a December return for Williams, a speedy vertical threat who should help a Lions offense that has failed to top 200 yards passing in three of its past five games.

“I don’t see, there again, him playing on Thanksgiving,” Campbell said last week. “But we’ll see where it goes. He’s progressing. There’s no setbacks.”

The Lions have a light week of practice this week ahead of Thursday’s game against the Buffalo Bills and after beating the New York Giants on Sunday.

GREEN BAY

Peter King with thoughts on the offseason commitment, or lack thereof, from QB AARON RODGERS:

I think I’ve been pretty adamant that because the off-season practices for teams—with the exception of the mandatory full-squad camp in early June—are voluntary, it is a player’s right to either attend or not. He should not be forced to. So when Aaron Rodgers didn’t do much in the off-season this past year, I thought, “That’s his right. He shouldn’t be forced to be there, even with a lot of new pieces in place he needs to mesh with.” After watching Green Bay a lot this season, I’m more inclined to think differently about next spring. I think it would be fair in February to say to Rodgers (who will be 39 next month): This season showed how important chemistry with receivers is. We saw a lot of miscommunication this year. We’d like you to come in for some or all of the off-season work this year, so you can form stronger bonds with Christian Watson and Romeo Doubs and whoever else we bring in. If Rodgers says no, and I’m the leadership team of Matt LaFleur and Brian Gutekunst, I’d think about alternatives for the 2023 season. I wouldn’t think necessarily of divorcing Rodgers, but I would consider alternatives. One more thing I’d do: once Green Bay is out of it this year, give Jordan Love three or four starts. The Pack’s at the end of year three with the Love experiment. Wouldn’t it be nice to enter year four knowing a little more about what they have in him?

MINNESOTA

Minnesota is 8-2 and the second seed in the NFC.

But after laying a 40-3 egg to the Cowboys last week, and falling 24-7 to the Eagles in Week 2, their point differential in those losses is -54.

On the other hand, 7 of their 8 wins have all come in one score games for an 8-game total of 52 points.

So although the Vikings have the 2^nd-best record (tied) in the league their -2 total point differential ranks 16^th.  Among the teams with a better point differential are the 3-7 Jaguars who are +11.

To repeat, the 3-7 Jaguars (+11) have a better point differential than the 8-2 Vikings (-2).

Put another way, the Vikings are one of just four teams that does not have a single win by 9 or more points.  The Eagles and Cowboys have 5.

– – –

Bill Barnwell of ESPN.com takes stock of the Vikings after the stunning loss:

Minnesota Vikings (8-2)

Lost 40-3 to the Dallas Cowboys

If you were sick of the Vikings being discounted because of their blowout loss to one of the best teams in the NFC, well, I have good news and bad news. The good news is that we won’t have to talk about the Eagles as much anymore. The bad news is that this was the same sort of defeat. Just as the Vikings fell behind by multiple scores at halftime to Philly and didn’t score afterwards in Week 2, quarterback Kirk Cousins & Co. trailed 23-3 at halftime on Sunday and did not add to their total after the break. The Cowboys actually sat Prescott for their final two drives of the game and still broached 40 on Minnesota.

There are still serious questions about whether Cousins can drag this offense to win games from behind. I know it sounds silly to say that, given what happened against the Bills last week, but take a closer look at that wild win. Buffalo was playing a secondary with four backups. Dalvin Cook ran for an 81-yard touchdown. Justin Jefferson made the catch of his life to convert a fourth-and-16. The Vikings actually appeared to lose the game when Cousins failed on a fourth-and-goal sneak, only to be bailed out when the Bills fumbled away the ball on their own 1-yard line for a touchdown. Cousins did make a few impressive throws, but it would be difficult to count on any of those factors appearing again if the Vikings made another comeback.

And they did not. Cousins didn’t play well, but he spent most of this game running for his life against the Dallas pass rush. He was sacked seven times on 30 plays and pressured on 59.5% of his dropbacks. The latter mark ranks as the highest single-game pressure rate in 2022 for a player with 20 or more dropbacks. Cousins was under siege and mercifully was pulled from the game in the fourth quarter.

Vikings fans will rightfully note that the offensive line wasn’t at 100%. Rookie Ed Ingram was already one of the worst starters in the league at right guard, but the Vikings weren’t prepared to lose star left tackle Christian Darrisaw to a concussion after 17 snaps. (Darrisaw was the man blocking Micah Parsons when he strip-sacked Cousins in the first quarter, but given that the pressure came five full seconds after Cousins received the snap, I’m not putting the blame on the second-year tackle.) Darrisaw was replaced by Blake Brandel, who has 137 career snaps on offense and looked like it against the league’s most fearsome pass rush.

At the same time, though, the Vikings have been one of the healthiest teams in football for most of the season. Every team has some injuries, and the Vikings have been forced to place safety Lewis Cine and cornerback Cameron Dantzler Sr. on injured reserve, but the only every-down starter the Vikings have lost to injured reserve is tight end Irv Smith Jr., and he was replaced in the lineup by trade acquisition T.J. Hockenson. One of the reasons the Vikings have excelled is just how healthy they’ve been on both sides of the football.

Cousins has been particularly susceptible when flummoxed, too. He ranks 27th in the league in QBR when pressured (8.3), with a minus-12.3% completion percentage over expectation. Cousins is the league’s 13th-best quarterback by the same metric when he’s given time to throw. For a quarterback who is pressured at the ninth-highest rate in football, that is an increasingly worrisome gap. The Vikings also get the Patriots and Jets over the next two weeks, who rank second and sixth, respectively, in sack rate this season.

Other elements of this game aren’t quite as sustainable for teams who want to beat the Vikings. Minnesota went 1-for-11 on third down. It failed to sack Prescott once on 25 dropbacks despite a snap out of a horror film where Prescott turned away from the play and nearly ran directly into Vikings edge rusher Za’Darius Smith. The Vikings rank 23rd in the league in QBR allowed when they don’t pressure the opposing passer, so it’s difficult for them to hold up on defense without creating some semblance of havoc up front.

In the big picture, though, maybe this all shouldn’t have been a surprise. Even after their win over the Bills, the Vikings came into Week 11 ranked 17th in DVOA. The Cowboys were fourth. The numbers didn’t suggest that the Cowboys were going to win on the road by 37 points, but this was a lopsided matchup on paper. The Cowboys simply lived up to that billing, regardless of where the Vikings stood in the standings.

The Vikings now find themselves in weirdly rarified air. Kevin O’Connell’s team is the first in NFL history to post a negative point differential (minus-2) across their first 10 games while still managing to win eight times. There have been only four 7-3 teams to accomplish that feat, most recently the 2020 Browns. It’s been a warning sign for pretenders. The 1992 Broncos started 7-3 with a negative point differential, finished 8-8 and missed the playoffs. The 2014 49ers, 2018 Commanders, 2019 Raiders and 2021 Chargers also all started 6-4 with a negative point differential and then missed the postseason.

Even though the Vikings were dominated by a potential playoff rival Sunday and might come in below the Lions when the next set of DVOA rankings post, I’m not as concerned about their chances of falling totally flat and missing the postseason altogether. There’s a big difference between 8-2 and 6-4. Plus, the Vikings are safely ensconced atop the NFC North, where the Packers and Bears both lost this week. Minnesota is up four games on the second-place Lions and 4.5 games on the third-place Packers while holding the head-to-head tiebreaker over both clubs. ESPN’s Football Power Index says it has a 99.7% chance to make the playoffs.

I’m more concerned about Minnesota’s ceiling when it gets to January. It’s tempting to just write Cousins off as a nonentity who can’t hold up against the tough competition when it matters most, but remember that he beat a 13-3 Saints team with a very good performance on the road in New Orleans in 2020. Cousins has lost his three other postseason appearances, but we can’t just pretend that win never happened.

And as much as you might be skeptical of Cousins, remember that the Eagles won a Super Bowl with Nick Foles as their quarterback. Crucially, by virtue of having won so many games with Carson Wentz under center during his breakout season before his ACL tear, the Eagles were well-positioned once Foles took over to still finish as the top seed in the NFC. Foles won two of three, and the Eagles picked up a first-round bye and got to spend the NFC playoffs at home. Foles struggled against the Falcons but won a close game, then blew out Case Keenum and the Vikings at home before upsetting Tom Brady with the game of his life in the Super Bowl.

Cousins’ chances of making a similarly unexpected playoff run are much better with a first-round bye and two home games than they are with no bye and at least one postseason road trip. The Vikings aren’t a great team, but if they bank enough wins, they can take advantage of being the top team in the NFC. Losses to the Eagles and Cowboys — who figure to be in the running alongside the Vikings for that first-round bye — make that path much murkier.

DALLAS

Bob Sturm of The Athletic is over the moon about the Cowboys after the win in Minneapolis:

It required a response.

Losing like the Cowboys did a week ago reminded so many of how things go this time of year when the Dallas Cowboys crisis hits. In the past few decades, how many promising seasons through 10 weeks or so do not continue on that upward ascent when things get a bit stormy? How many times has one bad game spawned several more?

For this team to take a step (perhaps a big one) to forging its own identity, Sunday would need to be a game when the Cowboys pushed back and demonstrated some resolve in Minnesota against a team that is no pushover. The Vikings were sitting at 8-1 and hadn’t lost since their Week 2 trip to Philadelphia. To beat them might be a tall task, but the Cowboys at least have to fight valiantly and assure any observer that they don’t plan on allowing a Thanksgiving week slump.

Asked and answered in the most decisive way.

Not only did Dallas set a 2022 high in yardage output and a low in yardage allowed — always a winning combination — but the 37-point winning margin of its 40-3 humiliation of the Vikings is this season’s biggest win in the NFL. Buffalo had beaten Pittsburgh, 38-3, but we know that Buffalo is very good and Pittsburgh is not (also, the game was played in northern New York). That is quite a departure from one team thinking it was playing for the No. 1 seed during warmups and then getting boat-raced to the tune of the largest spanking of the league this year.

But, wait, there is more.

It is the biggest road win in Cowboys history. There have been 13 games since 1960 that the Cowboys have won by more than 37 points, but none of them were played outside of Dallas-Fort Worth. Let that sink in for a moment and see if it matches your expectations when Sunday began. Without getting too crazy, we could pretty easily argue that Sunday’s outcome in Minnesota is so far from the realm of possibility that we must still wonder what we saw.

Dallas answered the doubts and concerns with such comical ease that we might be tempted to knee-jerk in the other direction if we aren’t crazy. That sounds appealing given the gloom and doom of the previous seven days.

What the takeaway should be on a crazy week when Dallas scored on its first seven drives — the Cowboys have not done since at least 1978 when the record books started getting serious — is that this team has a level we haven’t seen in a while around here and when it is clicking, very few teams will want a piece of it.

This is a credit to these players and coaches. The Cowboys are building something that looks a bit more sturdy than past editions with resolve that suggests a stronger spine and a more formidable collective of talent. They hear the doubts and feel the panic when they hit a slippery spot, but the answer today should encourage those who have those doubts and panic. This team appears to have another gear. And when it gets to that extra gear, there might not be many teams that can deal with Dallas.

Minnesota would probably be willing to offer its eyewitness account. The Vikings were run over by a truck that they did not see coming. It started on the game’s third snap. Micah Parsons took on Christian Darrisaw (the Vikings fine left tackle) and after Parsons’ initial move did not find a path, he powered through with a secondary chase that ran down Kirk Cousins who tried rolling to the opposite flank. Parsons caught him with ease and with a powerful right-arm swipe, the ball was free and the Cowboys recovered.

It was the response they wanted from Parsons who had been stuck on eight sacks since Oct. 23. We realize having eight sacks on Oct. 23 is a massive feat in its own right, but could he get back on pace when the team most needed a huge performance? By the end of the day, he had his fifth multi-sack game of the season, became the first NFC player to reach double-digit sacks and only trails New England’s Matthew Judon for the league lead. Parsons left at least one more on the table as he allowed Cousins to get away in the second quarter when he didn’t know the QB still had the ball. Either way, Cousins is not looking forward to dealing with him or that Dallas pass rush again as the veteran Vikings QB looked plenty spooked early in the proceedings. When a QB is looking at the pass rush and not his receivers, we know he is tired of getting hit and Cousins was holding a good thought for his protectors early in the game.

That is why this Dallas team is a significant heavyweight and why I might start sounding like a broken record. They have the best pass rush in the NFL and are doing it mostly with four rushers. They have a defensive player of the year talent in Parsons, and while it all flows off of his excellence, we should not confuse the rest of the group as ordinary. No, Dallas has two rushers with at least seven sacks (Dorance Armstrong), three rushers with at least six sacks (DeMarcus Lawrence) and amazingly, four with at least five sacks (Dante Fowler). Those four alone have a combined 28 sacks — the NFL average for full teams is 25. Dallas has 42. … and most of it comes without the blitz.

When you can bully an opponent to that extent, then it either stays stubborn to its run game — something Green Bay did pretty well the previous week — or you try to figure out a way to pass your way around the trouble and almost nobody has been able to do that this year. Dallas generates the most pressure and therefore is the No. 1 pass defense and the No. 1 scoring defense in the league.

The best part about it all? It now appears to have the No. 1 offense from 2021 building back into form.

On Friday, I suggested that they need a huge Dak Prescott performance, preferably his best effort of the year: This place will be loud and the opponent is legit. This is where you need Prescott to be in charge, understanding the decisions that need to be made, delivering the ball on target and on time, and even making a play or two himself that is off-script but badly needed.

Prescott was as close to perfect as he has been in any game in a long time and the offense was an unstoppable machine. The Cowboys went up and down the field and called any play they wanted. They started the game by going: field goal, touchdown, field goal, touchdown, field goal, touchdown, touchdown. He had a near-perfect passer rating and they could have both named the score and his final stat line. Again, they were probably rattled by the events at Lambeau Field, but in retrospect, it produced one of the best efforts of Cowboys football against a fine opponent in a hostile setting that this generation has offered.

It was almost impossible to fathom.

Another element that should probably be touched on much higher in this column was another dazzling performance from Tony Pollard. The man has had very nice days as a Cowboys weapon, but nothing like what we saw Sunday when he had his first 100-yard receiving day and caught maybe his first vertical pass as a Cowboy. It was a thing of beauty as the 68-yard touchdown off a wheel route started off the second half and converted the game into an absolute laugher. Pollard is about to make some significant money and I would strongly advise Dallas to make sure it is here. He is too explosive to not use more down the stretch. In July I discussed the wisdom in trying to get an extension done in camp with the extra cap room, but clearly, that time has passed. There will not be savings available now that he has furthered his breakout again.

It is the rarest of Cowboys games when there are nearly no complaints. Surely, the feedback about allowing your key players to remain in the game when you are up 37 will take center stage, but I generally don’t engage in that. In this sport, we can fret about worst-case scenarios and worry ourselves into suggesting everyone is in bubble wrap between downs. But, the NFL’s team roster size does not permit teams to hide too many of their best players when the game is out of hand. College has a second and third string at the ready, but in the NFL, it is about 20 guys on both sides of the ball. Does that mean a limping Parsons should be out there trying for another sack? Probably not. But if a big part of empowering this roster to take control of its own fate means offering a little player trust to your best players, I am not here to protest. I think Cowboys fans over these past 25 years in the wilderness are trained to fret every detail and worst-case scenario, rather than enjoying the journey. I prefer not to add to it in this space. Football players play football and the debates about when to pull players in the third quarter of a thumping of an 8-1 opponent on the road is a hilarious development I did not anticipate.

Allow me to offer this assurance. This team apparently can be trusted. Trusted to respond to adversity and punch back. Trusted to build a better team as the season progresses. Trusted to have depth and another gear when people start worrying about a collapse.

We don’t know where this season is headed, but Sunday should permit you to know the Cowboys are capable of some very impressive feats. This is the type of game that should offer real self-belief in a year the NFC seems vulnerable that the Cowboys have a roster that is good enough to go win something. We know that there are many twists and turns between here and the playoffs, but I would like to echo something that we have said a lot in the past few months.

Why not these guys?

With a combination of an offense that can score every drive and a defense that frequently spooks quarterbacks, why can’t Dallas climb the mountain better than any Cowboys team since the 1990s? Mike McCarthy knows what a championship team looks like and hearing him talk about this team Sunday should absolutely clue us that he likes what he is seeing.

What is not to like?

The Cowboys are 7-3 with a three-game homestand coming. They have been on the road and are seeing things fall into place. They might have used that adversity in Wisconsin to collect themselves and not allow 2021 to repeat itself. Time will tell.

But, for now, I walk away from this game blown away by the result. This team needed to answer the bell and it could not have done it in a more emphatic way. The Cowboys were asked a serious question about their status and ability and left the Vikings in ruins after that team just went to Buffalo and got a win.

If you want to know if the Cowboys are on a higher level than they were last year and are growing into a legitimate championship contender, I don’t know how much more clearly they could have answered.

They just scored their biggest road win in 63 years of football against a team that hadn’t lost in two months.

That is a pretty clear answer.

NEW YORK GIANTS

You may not know WR Wan’DALE ROBINSON, but he’s a big loss for the Giants going forward.  Jordan Raanan of ESPN.com:

New York Giants rookie wide receiver Wan’Dale Robinson will miss the remainder of the season after tearing the ACL in his right knee during Sunday’s 31-18 loss to the Detroit Lions at MetLife Stadium, coach Brian Daboll said Monday.

Robinson’s knee buckled when he was getting tackled near the home sideline on the first play of the fourth quarter. He fell to the ground and immediately began writhing in pain as he grabbed at the knee. A source told ESPN after the game the fear was that the injury was serious.

It was, leaving the Giants incredibly thin at an already concerning position. Robinson’s rookie season ends with 23 catches for 227 yards and a touchdown in six games.

The second-round pick out of Kentucky was having the most productive game of his career prior to the injury. He had nine catches on 13 targets for 100 yards.

The Giants’ already struggling receiving corps will now be without one of its better players for the rest of the season. They must figure it out by Thursday.

– – –

Fluke loss or sign of a fundamental flaw?  Bill Barnwell of ESPN.com on the Giants loss to Detroit:

New York Giants (7-3)

Lost 31-18 to the Detroit Lions

The Giants have generally operated by a simple formula this season. They protect the football. They rely on running back Saquon Barkley for big plays. Their defense wins on third down and in the red zone. And even if they’re losing in the fourth quarter, they find a way to come up with a big play and pull out the victory. There are exceptions, of course, but the Giants have been remarkably consistent on a week-to-week basis.

Nothing about this game fit that formula, so perhaps it should be no surprise that the Giants were stomped at home by a 4-6 Lions team. To start, quarterback Daniel Jones threw two interceptions. The Giants were forced to throw more by the game script, and one of the turnovers required a spectacular play by second overall pick Aidan Hutchinson, but the two picks doubled Jones’ total from the first half of the season.

Barkley had his worst game of the season, and I’m at least a little concerned about his workload. A week ago, the Giants handed their oft-injured back 35 carries in a win over the Texans. Barkley ran for 152 yards, but this was a game the Giants led comfortably for most of the second half. I’m not sure it’s ever a good idea to give any back 35 carries in a game, but I really wouldn’t want to feed my star back with a win expectancy north of 90% against the worst team in football.

This week, after the heavy workload, Barkley’s efficiency cratered. Yes, the Lions did load up the box, as Barkley faced a blocking deficit on 46.7% of his carries (up from his prior average of 29.3%). The NFL Next Gen Stats model attempts to account for the added defenders to estimate what an average back would do in the same situation, though, and Barkley still underperformed. The 22 rushing yards he gained on 15 carries was 38 fewer than what an average back would have gained on the same attempts, the worst mark for any running back in football this week. Barkley had posted 176 rushing yards over expectation over his prior nine games, so he had been productive in the eyes of the model before this point.

The Giants have actually been better by expected points added per play without Barkley on the field this season, but I don’t think that’s a universe that Brian Daboll wants to see in 2022. If receiver Wan’Dale Robinson misses extended time with the right knee injury he suffered Sunday, it only further the reliance on Barkley.

Before the week, I wrote about how the defense couldn’t rely on succeeding on third down and in the red zone as its sole means of survival. Bad defenses don’t just suddenly get great in key situations, at least not for any extended period of time. And this Lions game was an example of what happens when that performance regresses to what the Giants do on first and second down, or outside of the 20-yard line.

The Lions converted six of their 13 third downs, the eighth-best mark for any team in Week 11. (One of those stops was a kneeldown to end the game.) The Giants had allowed opposing offenses to convert just 32.7% of the time before Sunday. Furthermore, their 38.2% red zone conversion rate was also the second-best mark in football, but the Lions went 4-for-5 on their trips inside the 20 on Sunday, scoring four short-yardage rushing touchdowns. Their running backs finished the day with 150 rushing yards on 31 carries.

Giants fans shouldn’t expect their defense to totally crater on third down and in the red zone. They shouldn’t expect Barkley to regress into one of the league’s worst backs. Jones won’t throw an interception to a defensive lineman every week. So yes, this could be in the bad day at the office territory if the Giants return to their old ways in the weeks to come.

On Thanksgiving, though, New York will travel to face a Cowboys team that has been terrifying opposing quarterbacks with its pass rush and that sacked Jones five times the first time these teams played. When Dak Prescott has been in the lineup, the Cowboys have converted 47.8% of their third downs and scored touchdowns on 80% of their red zone trips — which would rank fourth and first in the NFL, respectively.

The Giants are a team that has built its self-belief over the first half of the season by winning a very specific way. If New York loses two straight games to teams that exploit those strengths, my concern will grow.

PHILADELPHIA

A funny from Philly scribe Jeff McLane:

@Jeff_McLane

John Mellencamp just walked by me in the tunnel under Lucas Oil Stadium.

Was tempted to say, (Jalen) Hurts so good.

Alas, I did not.

– – –

Dan Graziano with a take on whether or not the Eagles have been sunk by the loss of TE DALLAS GOEDERT:

The Philadelphia Eagles spent the entire week refusing to overreact. They suffered their first loss of the season Monday night, then got right back to work telling themselves it was just one bad game, that everybody has them, and there was no reason to panic.

Then they rolled into Indianapolis on Sunday and almost let another one get away.

The Eagles sleepwalked through the first three quarters against the Colts, trailed 13-3 entering the fourth and didn’t hold a lead until quarterback Jalen Hurts scampered into the end zone with 1 minute, 20 seconds left on the clock. They escaped Indy with a 17-16 victory and a sense that they had gotten away with something.

“Lots to clean up, for sure,” center Jason Kelce said. “We played a bad game on offense.”

Of course, the Eagles are 9-1. Just about every team in the league wishes they had the Eagles’ problems. If you can win the games in which you don’t play your best, that’s just extra. It only sets you up that much better for everything from playoff seeding to handling adversity. One of the many people who were here from Philadelphia asked me after the game, “Did the Eagles deserve that win?” and I said, “Who cares? They got it!” And I stand by it.

That said, just because the Eagles won’t overreact to a couple of bad games doesn’t mean we can’t, right? Let’s lead the Week 11 overreactions column with an escape by the league’s top team.

The Eagles’ offense is in trouble without Dallas Goedert

Goedert, the Eagles’ starting tight end, was injured in Monday night’s loss to the Washington Commanders and is now on injured reserve, which means he missed Sunday’s game and will miss at least three more. Without him, Philadelphia stalled several times on offense Sunday for several reasons, including multiple penalties by the tight ends who are working to replace him. Philly didn’t do much right on offense all day until they got to the fourth quarter and appeared to tell Hurts, “You know what? You just take over and win this thing for us, OK?” Which he did.

The Eagles are set up well in their division, but they can’t afford to take their foot off the gas. Washington appears to be coming alive. The New York Giants probably have a drop-off coming, but they are 7-3. The Dallas Cowboys look as if they’re going to push the Eagles all year. Philly has to keep winning, and most weeks, that’s going to mean playing a lot better on offense than they did Sunday.

Verdict: OVERREACTION

First of all, the Colts’ defense has been tough on everybody this year. There’s no shame in scoring just 17 against Indianapolis, especially on the road in a short week. Philly was coming off a tough division loss, playing a tough defensive opponent and really shouldn’t feel worried just because they struggled to score. The turnovers (two more Sunday, six total in their past two games) and the penalties should worry them a bit, but they haven’t been a team that’s beaten themselves all year, so it’s easy to chalk this up to a blip.

Goedert will be back at some point, and in the meantime, the Eagles have enough good players on offense that they should be able to figure it out without him. They play the Green Bay Packers next Sunday night. All you have to do against them is run the ball. The Eagles will be fine. Oh, and by the way, they were a lot better on defense Sunday than they were last week. So, consider that, too.

WASHINGTON

John Breech of CBSSports.com is among those seeing the Commanders as legitimate contenders for bigger and better things:

The Commanders might have the most underrated defense in the NFL right now. After shutting down the Eagles in Week 10, the Commanders looked even better in Week 11 while facing a hapless Texans offense. The defense made a statement on Houston’s opening drive with a Kendall Fuller pick-six. The Commanders pass rush racked up five sacks while simply overwhelming an overmatched Houston offensive line. Washington also got 11 points from kicker Joey Slye, who hit three field goals. The Commanders offense could have missed the flight to the game and Washington probably would have still won. At 6-5, the suddenly hot Commanders are now in the thick of the NFC playoff race.

Dan Graziano of ESPN.com also agrees:

Taylor Heinicke is good enough to take the Commanders to the playoffs

The Commanders followed up their Monday night victory over the previously unbeaten Eagles with a ho-hum 23-10 victory over the woeful Houston Texans. Houston had just 5 total yards of offense in the first half, and Washington held a comfy 20-0 halftime lead. Heinicke was an unspectacular 15-of-27 for 191 yards, but he didn’t turn the ball over and he operated the offense competently while the defense dominated.

Washington has won five of its past six games (losing only that zany game to the Minnesota Vikings) after starting the season 1-4, and the turnaround coincides with Week 1 starter Carson Wentz getting injured and Heinicke taking over. The team seems to have responded to him in a positive way. And while they’re still in last place in the NFC East, the Commanders’ 6-5 record would be good enough for first place in the NFC South and has them right on the fringes of the wild-card race.

Verdict: NOT AN OVERREACTION

Seven teams now make the playoffs in each conference, and the NFC does appear to be the weaker of the two conferences this year. Those No. 6 and 7 spots are kind of up for grabs, especially the 7, which currently belongs to the 5-4 San Francisco 49ers, who play on Monday night. Washington is right there, and its schedule is another one of those relatively soft NFC East ones.

The Commanders play the Atlanta Falcons next week (more on them in a second), then oddly have consecutive games against the Giants wrapped around their bye week. After that, they get a visit to San Francisco for what could have massive wild-card implications, then finish with home games against the Cleveland Browns and Cowboys. They could be getting Chase Young back to boost their defense here in the next week or so. Look, you might think the Commanders are playing over their heads, and they might be. But the math says they’re in this thing, and Heinicke brings just enough YOLO factor to this surprise stretch of his career that you can’t rule him out.

We question whether Atlanta, Giants, Giants, San Francisco, Cleveland, Dallas is “soft” but we do feel the Commanders are at least “good.”  The key to getting to 10-7 are the two games with the Giants.

ARIZONA

Much like the Commanders with QB CARSON WENTZ, the Cardinals don’t seem in any hurry to get QB KYLER MURRAY back.  Michael David Smith of ProFootballTalk.com:

Colt McCoy is preparing to start his second consecutive game at quarterback for the Cardinals.

McCoy is set to start against the 49ers because Kyler Murray is still dealing with a hamstring injury, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL Network.

Although McCoy himself was limited in practice last week with a knee injury, he’s doing well enough that the Cardinals didn’t even list him on their injury report for tonight’s game. Murray is officially listed as questionable with a hamstring injury.

McCoy started last week’s game, a 27-17 win over the Rams. McCoy completed 26 of 37 passes for 238 yards, with one touchdown and no interceptions.

The Cardinals are 8-point underdogs for tonight’s game against the 49ers in Mexico City.

DENVER

It wasn’t Coach Nathaniel Hackett who had the big game management error in Denver’s latest loss – it was QB RUSSELL WILSON.  Josh Alper of ProFootballTalk.com:

The Broncos tried something different on Sunday by having quarterbacks coach Klint Kubiak call the team’s offensive plays instead of head coach Nathaniel Hackett.

A game-opening 92-yard touchdown drive made that look like a wise move, but the Broncos weren’t able to find the end zone again. The 16 points that they managed still might have been enough, but a blunder by quarterback Russell Wilson left the door wide open for the Raiders at the end of the fourth quarter.

Wilson threw an incompletion on a third down on the first play after the two minute warning when he should have taken a sack in order to keep the clock running. The Raiders had no timeouts, but got the ball with 1:43 left and drove to tie the game on a Daniel Carlson field goal thanks in large part to Wilson’s generosity.

The Raiders would go on to win on a Davante Adams touchdown in overtime and Wilson said after the game that “the ball just kind of went away from me” while trying to get it to rookie wideout Jalen Virgil. Hackett’s take was that the Broncos needed to do whatever they could to keep the clock running.

“We called a pass — you got to keep the clock running,” Hackett said of the third-down play. “One way or the other . . . you just want to be sure the clock is running . . . but if something happened in the pocket, that’s one of those situations where you can take a sack or you can just run the ball. Obviously we want the clock running in that situation.”

The Hackett-Wilson partnership has not fulfilled any of the expectations that the Broncos had coming into this season and it will be interesting to see what course the Broncos chart for the future once this season finally reaches the finish line.

KANSAS CITY

QB PARTICK MAHOMES is tracking history.  Michael David Smith of ProFootballTalk.com:

Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes may break an impressive NFL record this season — with some help from a 17th game.

After Sunday night’s win over the Chargers, Mahomes has a league-leading 3,265 passing yards through 10 games this season. That puts him on pace to pass for 5,551 yards in 17 games.

And that would be a new NFL record, surpassing Peyton Manning’s record of 5,477 yards, set in 2013. Manning, of course, did that in only 16 games, and Mahomes is on pace to need a 17th game to top Manning’s record.

Mahomes is averaging 326.5 yards per game this season, short of the 342.3 yards per game that Manning averaged in his record-setting season. So while Mahomes may set the record, Manning would be justified if he felt that the more impressive season was his own.

Mahomes is thrilled to have TE TRAVIS KELCE along for the ride.  More from Smith

Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce caught three touchdown passes from Patrick Mahomes in Kansas City’s dramatic win in Los Angeles on Sunday night, and afterward Mahomes had high praise for Kelce.

“Travis, I mean, it’s Travis, greatest tight end of all time, he makes plays like that to win games,” Mahomes said.

If he’s not the greatest, Kelce is on the list with Tony Gonzalez, Antonio Gates, Rob Gronkowski, Mike Ditka, Ozzie Newsome, John Mackey and Shannon Sharpe. Mahomes says what sets Kelce apart is how much his competitive nature and work ethic inspire the rest of the team.

“He just competes,” Mahomes said. “He’s gonna keep fighting until the very end. When you see that, not only is it impressive for him, but it gets other guys going. Like I said, he’s one of the best if not the best tight end of all time, but he’s coming to work every day to get better. So that shows you, whenever you step in the facility, you’re like, ‘Man, I’ve got to get to work, if this guy is doing that, I have to at least match that.’”

Mahomes said Kelce is the one tight end he’d trust to win a one-on-one matchup with Chargers safety Derwin James.

“If he’s man to man, I’m gonna give him a chance, and he’s gonna win most of them,” Mahomes said. “They’ve got Derwin, Derwin is going to win his battles because he’s probably the best safety in the league, but I’m going to give him a chance because I know how great he is.”

BALTIMORE

Kyle Barber of BaltimoreRavens.com on the mood in Baltimore after the Ravens scored 1 TD in a win over Carolina:

The Ravens exited M&T Bank Stadium on Sunday riding a four-game winning streak after besting the Carolina Panthers, 13-3.

In the fourth quarter, the defense staved off comeback attempts by the Panthers and secured their one-game lead in the AFC North division race for another week. According to The Athletic’s Jeff Zrebiec, that’s what’s important for the Ravens right now, but he questions they’ve demonstrated enough to expect it moving forward.

“If the Ravens just beat the teams they are supposed to, continuing next Sunday against the Jacksonville Jaguars (3-7), they should clinch a playoff spot and put away the division long before their plane touches down in Cincinnati on the second weekend of January,” Zrebiec wrote. “Of course, Sunday’s performance offered a reminder of why it’s silly to assume anything in the NFL and why it’s foolish to think the Ravens are just going to steamroll through the rest of November and December. They simply haven’t played good enough football in all three phases on the same day to have that sort of confidence.”

Part of “beating the teams they are supposed to” has to do with the Ravens’ remaining schedule, which has been widely deemed the easiest in the NFL. According to The Baltimore Sun’s Jonas Shaffer, it allows them some breathing room.

“The Ravens’ schedule will give them some more margin for error. Next up is a road game against the 3-7 Jacksonville Jaguars, who will be returning from a bye,” Shaffer wrote. “After that, a return trip to Baltimore, where the Ravens will face the disappointing Denver Broncos (3-7). The only team remaining on the Ravens’ schedule with a winning record is still the Cincinnati Bengals (6-4).”

Still, after a sluggish offensive performance, has pundits concerned.

“Carolina took a familiar approach to slow the Ravens, cutting off outside running lanes, using their safeties to clog the middle and always remaining alert to potential Jackson scrambles,” The Baltimore Sun’s Childs Walker wrote. “They dared Jackson to beat them outside the numbers, and though he was successful connecting with wide receiver Demarcus Robinson (nine catches on nine targets for 128 yards), the offense never flowed for long.”

According to Zrebiec, right now it’s about taking the season one game at a time … and winning them.

“The Ravens just need to bank wins and avoid major missteps,” Zrebiec wrote. “They’ve put themselves in a position where that will suffice. They’ll need to play far better to beat good teams in January, but the first step is getting to the playoffs, and grinding out wins will do just fine for now.”

Media Concerns Regarding Injury Loom Over Victory

The greatest concerns following Sunday’s victory were the injuries to left tackle Ronnie Stanley and rookie safety Kyle Hamilton. Following the game, Head Coach John Harbaugh did not have updates on the players and media outlets view the pending news as a determining factor in the Ravens’ ambitions.

Shaffer: “The Ravens have to hope this isn’t a Pyrrhic victory. Yes, it’s another win, their fourth straight, but at what cost? Left tackle Ronnie Stanley (ankle) and safety Kyle Hamilton (knee) have been two of the team’s best players over the past month, and neither returned to action after third-quarter injuries.”

The Baltimore Sun’s Tim Schwartz: “But the Ravens’ hopes of a deep playoff run might’ve taken a massive hit if left tackle Ronnie Stanley’s ankle injury is serious. He has been their anchor since returning earlier this season.”

ESPN’s Jamison Hensley: “Stanley is one of the few Ravens players not named Lamar Jackson whom they cannot afford to lose for a significant period. … Jackson and the Baltimore offense is at its best when the offensive line is dominating up front. This could be a tough blow if Stanley’s injury is serious.”

Russell Street Report’s Rob Shields: “All that matters are the injuries. How is Stanley? How is Hamilton? The injuries, especially to Stanley, could determine where this team can go.”

Sports Illustrated’s Todd Karpovich: “The win came at a potentially high cost as the Ravens lost left tackle Ronnie Stanley (ankle) and rookie safety Kyle Hamilton (knee) to injuries.  Stanley had led the resurgence of the offensive line and his absence would be devastating.”

Though many are worried about Stanley’s status, Jackson spoke to his tackle following the game and told him he’ll be “good,” but the fanbase will wait with bated breath on what that means.

CINCINNATI

Dan Graziano of ESPN.com isn’t willing to hand the AFC North to Baltimore:

The Cincinnati Bengals are still the AFC’s most dangerous team

The defending AFC champions avenged their lousy Week 1 loss to the Steelers with a 37-30 victory in Pittsburgh. It wasn’t easy — nothing with the Bengals is this year — but even with top running back Joe Mixon out of the game for large stretches and star wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase still out with a hip injury, Joe Burrow, Trey Hendrickson, Tee Higgins and the Bengals found a way.

The Bengals improved their record to 6-4 — still just one game behind the Baltimore Ravens for first place in the AFC North and, at the time their game ended, good enough to hold the No. 7 spot in the projected AFC playoff field, pending the result of Sunday night’s Los Angeles Chargers-Kansas City Chiefs game.

Verdict: NOT AN OVERREACTION

They still have Burrow. They still have the memory of last January/February. They still have Chase coming back at some point soon. Cincinnati still has an uphill climb as a result of heartbreaking early-season losses to Pittsburgh, Dallas and Baltimore, but they have the ability and the self-belief to do the climbing. They might not catch the Ravens in the division. They might not have enough to go to Kansas City and win in the playoffs again this season. But no one’s going to be comfortable having the Bengals in contention until someone knocks them out.

And Sunday’s victory over an admittedly substandard Pittsburgh team showed that. You can laugh all you want about the Steelers, but the history between these two teams is real and it’s painful for Cincinnati. It doesn’t matter how tough it might be — beating the Steelers tells you things are good right now with the Bengals.

HOUSTON

A story of 2022 is that teams with favorable draft position last year have shown significant improvement – think Miami, the Jets, the Giants, Philadelphia, Seattle, even Detroit.

In 2023, the Texans will take up that mantle.  Peter King:

All’s not lost, Houston. The Texans, 1-8-1, are brutal, and Davis Mills has earned the right to be replaced as starter at season’s end. The good part for the Texans is that they now sit with the first and seventh picks in the 2023 NFL Draft, with three quarterbacks jockeying for position to be picked in the top five. The Texans would pick first with their own choice; they’d have the second pick in the top 10 from Cleveland, by virtue of the Deshaun Watson trade. As of now, four teams in the top six—Houston, Carolina, Seattle (from Denver) and Detroit (from the Rams) will be scouting quarterbacks aggressively before the 2023 draft.

TENNESSEE

Mike Vrabel can coach.

Peter King:

Thursday’s victory over Green Bay was the 80th game of Mike Vrabel’s head-coaching career, including playoffs. In the five seasons since Mike Vrabel became head coach in Tennessee, his record versus his mentor’s:

                                                                        W-L         Win Pct.

Mike Vrabel, Titans                                          50-30           (.625)

Bill Belichick, Patriots                                     49-31            (.613)

BUFFALO

Peter King is all over the Bills and their exodus from Buffalo to play a home game in Detroit:

When the power went out in Bills coach Sean McDermott’s house Friday night, the generator kicked in, but then the generator went out. So McDermott, snow above his waist, went out to try to fix it. “An NFL head coach in a blizzard, trying to fix his generator,” he said Sunday. “Crazy.” Finally, a repair guy came around 10:30 and fixed it so the McDermotts could go to bed. Good thing, because the power went out again. This time the generator worked through the night.

The Bills set up a system to get all the coaches and players to the stadium so they’d be able to fly to Detroit late in the afternoon on Saturday. A couple of players had to walk, with luggage, a half-mile to get rides to the buses.

A retired farmer from Orchard Park, Dave Winter, aka “Squirrel,” has a John Deere tractor with an eight-foot-wide bucket on the front, good for clearing eight-foot-wide swaths, like driveways, in short order. So Squirrel was out in Orchard Park Saturday afternoon being the good neighbor he is, when he came upon a neighbor at the end of one of the longest driveways in town. A small plow was no match for this driveway, with maybe 55 or 60 inches. “Oh, quarter-mile long, I’d say,” said Squirrel. “Maybe more.”

Squirrel stopped. “I said to my neighbor Norm, who was there, ‘You need a path blown through?’ He said, ‘I don’t know, ask that guy.’ Well, I don’t know that guy, an older gentleman, but he says he went to school with my cousin, and so I asked if he needs help here and he says, ‘Sure!’ So I did the driveway, cleared a good path there, and I get up to the garage and the door opens and Josh [Allen] is standing there. Probably the whole thing took a half hour. Got out, shook his hand. Told him, ‘Good luck tomorrow.’

“I introduced myself. ‘Dave. Dave Winter. When you think of snow, think of me, Winter.’ I says, ‘We got that red machinery shop, the farm just down the road.’ Looked like he was in a hurry. Didn’t have time to chit-chat. So that was it.”

“What would have happened if you didn’t come along?” I asked this man known as Squirrel.

“Oh, my guess is they woulda put him on a snowmobile, taken him down that long driveway and out into the street, and somebody woulda come and got him,” Squirrel said.

When the Bills finally boarded buses after 4 for the trip to the airport, the two main roads were closed. So the Bills had to crawl through town streets that had been plowed. “Classic western New York towns,” McDermott said. “Orchard Park, West Seneca, a few more.” Depew, Lancaster, Cheektowaga. “It was so great. People on the side of the road, giving us the thumbs-up, taking pictures, waving, cheering. Just awesome.”

Ever hear of barn-raising? In Amish communities, when a farmer needs a barn built, or some other project done, people from miles around come in for two or three days to do the building or the job. That’s Buffalo. That’s what happened here, with the Bills, and with the neighbors. Raise your hand if you need help.

“This weekend is a reminder that there’s a lot of good in this world, still,” McDermott said.

Now for the game. After no practice Friday or Saturday, the Bills got to Detroit around 7 Saturday evening. Cleveland went up 10-3 as the Buffalo offense sputtered through the first 25 minutes of the game. But a late second-quarter TD pass from Allen to Stefon Diggs in the back of the end zone gave Buffalo the lead, 13-10. The Bills rolled to a 28-10 lead and the game was over midway through the fourth quarter.

MIAMI

Jimmie Johnson has a new book out – and the memoir adds some nuggets to Dolphins lore.  Peter King:

On Shula: Johnson had Shula’s son David on his Cowboys’ coaching staff when he took the job in 1989. In ’89 and ’90, David Shula was offensive coordinator and QB coach. In 1991, Johnson decided to hire Norv Turner as offensive coordinator and move David Shula to receivers coach. Out of professional courtesy, Johnson called Don Shula. In the book, Johnson writes: “Don was angry in a way that never left him.” In 1996, when Johnson succeeded Don Shula as Dolphins coach, he writes that in their first meeting after Shula retired, the ex-coach told Johnson, “You really f—ed up.” Shula told him he’d cut too many veterans like Troy Vincent, and Johnson told him he had little choice because he inherited a salary-cap mess.

Before his first season in Miami, Johnson said he knew he was supposed to talk about the great tradition of the Dolphins, and to pay tribute to those who’d laid the groundwork there. “Well, forget that,” he said. “I only care about one thing—the present. The people who are here to win now.”

Now you know why Don Shula, the winningest coach in NFL history, was no Johnson fan.

Archie Manning called Johnson before the ’98 draft to ask him to try to work a trade so Peyton would land in Miami. One insurmountable problem, as Johnson writes, was offering Miami’s entire draft to Indianapolis to move up. “We picked 19th,” Johnson said. “People say, well, what would you have done with Dan Marino there? Well, you know, Peyton would’ve been behind Dan. But the way it worked out, Dan missed games every year and so Peyton would’ve been thrown into the lineup.”

Added Johnson: “On top of that, Bill Belichick came that close to coming down and being my defensive coordinator. We could’ve had Peyton Manning as our quarterback and Bill Belichick as my defensive coordinator. But he had too much loyalty to Bill Parcells [on the Jets’ staff].”

NEW ENGLAND

There had not been a punt return TD in all of 2002 until the final seconds of Sunday’s game.  John Breech of CBSSports.com:

With just under 30 seconds let to play in the Patriots-Jets game on Sunday, it looked like the two teams were going to be headed to overtime, but then the impossible happened: The Patriots beat the Jets 10-3 by getting the NFL’s first punt return touchdown of the year and it came in the waning seconds of the game.

With the score tied at three and just 26 seconds left to play, the Jets decided to punt on fourth-and-3 from their own 32-yard line. Jets punter Braden Mann then did his job by blasting a 52-yard kick down to New England’s 16-yard line and that’s when things got crazy.

Marcus Jones fielded the ball for New England, then ran 25 yards up the sideline before cutting back across the middle to finish off an improbable 84-yard score with five seconds left that ended up winning the game for the Patriots.

Jones’ score was the latest go-ahead TD on a punt return since 2010 when DeSean Jackson beat the Giants on a punt return as time expired.

In a game where neither offense scored a touchdown, it was almost fitting that Jones’ punt return ended up being the game-winning score.

The return didn’t come without some controversy, though, as it appeared there was a block in the back committed by New England’s Mack Wilson.

Unfortunately for the Jets, the officials didn’t throw a flag on the play and the return ended up counting.

It was a wild game that featured almost zero offense. The Jets were so bad in the second half that they only totaled 2 YARDS of offense.

With just under 30 seconds let to play in the Patriots-Jets game on Sunday, it looked like the two teams were going to be headed to overtime, but then the impossible happened: The Patriots beat the Jets 10-3 by getting the NFL’s first punt return touchdown of the year and it came in the waning seconds of the game.

With the score tied at three and just 26 seconds left to play, the Jets decided to punt on fourth-and-3 from their own 32-yard line. Jets punter Braden Mann then did his job by blasting a 52-yard kick down to New England’s 16-yard line and that’s when things got crazy.

Marcus Jones fielded the ball for New England, then ran 25 yards up the sideline before cutting back across the middle to finish off an improbable 84-yard score with five seconds left that ended up winning the game for the Patriots.

Jones’ score was the latest go-ahead TD on a punt return since 2010 when DeSean Jackson beat the Giants on a punt return as time expired.

In a game where neither offense scored a touchdown, it was almost fitting that Jones’ punt return ended up being the game-winning score.

The return didn’t come without some controversy, though, as it appeared there was a block in the back committed by New England’s Mack Wilson.

Unfortunately for the Jets, the officials didn’t throw a flag on the play and the return ended up counting.

It was a wild game that featured almost zero offense. The Jets were so bad in the second half that they only totaled 2 YARDS of offense.

NEW YORK JETS

Peter King piles on, and it’s a big pile, QB ZACH WILSON after his poor play in New England:

Zach Wilson, quarterback, N.Y. Jets. Two games against the Patriots this year, two awful performances by the second-year QB from Brigham Young. In 26 second-half plays, the Jets generated two yards. You have to try to be that miserable. Really try. But get this: Wilson had seven second-half drives. The furthest he drove the Jets was to his own 35-yard line. I watched the Jets’ post-game show on SNY in New York, and I thought Willie Colon was going to burst out into orbit, he was so enraged over the Jets’ play. (And he thinks, as I do, that Robert Saleh has to worry less about the feelings of Zach Wilson and more about winning games this year with this team, keeping in mind that benching Wilson isn’t a dumb idea.)

Also pouring it on is last year’s first round pick is one of this year’s Jets first round picks.  Tyler Greenwait of YahooSports.com:

Neither the New York Jets nor the New England Patriots found any semblance of offense in their Week 11 matchup, and it took a last-second punt return touchdown to seal the 10-3 win for New England.

But Jets rookie wideout Garrett Wilson couldn’t find any positivity after New York put up just 103 total yards on offense.

“This s*** is not OK. Straight up, it is not OK,” Wilson said after the loss. “How many total yards did we have? That s*** is not going to fly. We got the dudes. It’s time to be consistent. It’s time to win the games we should win.”

Jets quarterback Zach Wilson was equally inefficient as he was inept in the loss. He finished with 77 passing yards on just 9-of-22 completions. He was also sacked four times for 33 yards, meaning his net passing yards were an abysmal 44. Wilson’s day would have been worse if the Patriots hadn’t dropped two near-interceptions.

Moreover, a report from SNY’s Connor Hughes said some teammates were upset with Wilson’s attitude, “walking around after the game ‘like he isn’t the problem.'”

Wilson (the receiver) didn’t call out his quarterback by name, but he also noted that the Jets need to rely on their receivers more. New York’s top pass catcher was Denzel Mims with two catches for 35 yards on six targets. Wilson finished with only two catches for 12 yards on three targets.

“Honestly, I feel like they gotta put more trust in the receiver room,” Wilson said. “We can go up and make plays, do things, and I don’t know if everyone feels that way, but hopefully by next week everyone feels that way.”

Despite Wilson’s horrific quarterback performance, head coach Robert Saleh refused to waver in his confidence in the second-year passer. He said that making a change from Wilson to backup Mike White was the “furthest thing from my mind.” However, he didn’t mince words when asked about the Jets’ second-half offensive performance where they totaled 2 yards:

This isn’t a new phenomenon for the Jets. Wilson has held back the team’s potential all season. The defense has proven to be one of the best in the NFL — as evidenced by six sacks and allowing just three points to the Patriots. But Wilson hasn’t proven he can set up scoring drives on a consistent basis this season.