NFL Week 11 Recap — How ‘Bout Them Cowboys?
Dallas maintained the best record in the NFL with a convincing defeat of Baltimore. Here’s what else we learned in Week 11 of the 2016 NFL season:
The Cowboys Look Unbeatable
Dak Prescott threw three touchdown passes, including two to Dez Bryant in the second half, and the Dallas Cowboys rallied to beat the Ravens, 27-17, in Baltimore on Sunday. The victory was the ninth consecutive win for Dallas (9-1) — a franchise record.
The Cowboys were able to win nine of 10 games without franchise bellwether Tony Romo. The once-immovable starting quarterback served in a reserve role on Sunday. He never had to remove his baseball cap.
Tied 10-10 with the Ravens at halftime, Dallas drove 92 and 88 yards for scores on their first two possessions of the second half and held on for the win. Prescott was 27 of 36 for 301 yards. Fellow rookie Ezekiel Elliott had 97 yards rushing for the Cowboys against the NFL’s top-ranked defense.
Baltimore (5-5) suffered its first-ever loss to Dallas, which looks like a serious Super Bowl contender.
There Is No D In Green Bay
Kirk Cousins threw for 375 yards and three touchdowns, and the Washington Redskins beat the Green Bay Packers, 42-24, on Sunday night. Washington (6-3-1) never trailed after the second quarter and piled on points late.
Cousins made several throws for big gains, including a 70-yard TD pass to Pierre Garcon and a 53-yard strike to Jamison Crowder that set up a Robert Kelley score.
Aaron Rodgers and Green Bay (4-6) cut the Redskins’ lead to 29-24 with 10 minutes to play, but the Packers defense was atrocious, giving up points on two subsequent drives.
Kelley ran for 137 yards and three touchdowns for Washington. Both Garcon and Crowder finished with more than 100 receiving yards and a touchdown each.
Rodgers finished with 351 passing yards and three touchdowns for Green Bay.
The Chiefs Suffered A Bad Loss
Jameis Winston passed for 331 yards and a touchdown, and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers shocked the Kansas City Chiefs, 19-17, on Sunday. Tampa Bay (5-5) capitalized on the absence of Chiefs’ cornerback Marcus Peters while snapping a five-game winning streak by Kansas City (7-3).
The Buccaneers moved into second place in the NFC South, while the Chiefs suffered a bad home loss to a mediocre opponent. Kansas City’s offense did little against a leaky Bucs defense. Alex Smith completed 23 of 30 passes for 268 yards and a score.
The Chiefs had a chance to pick up a half-game on idle Denver in the AFC West, and pressure Oakland to win on Monday night. Now, they’ll need to win against the Broncos next week.
The Vikings Finally Won
Two 100-yard returns for touchdowns gave the Minnesota Vikings a 30-24 win against the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday. Xavier Rhodes returned one of his two interceptions 100 yards for a score, and Cordarrelle Patterson returned the second-half kickoff 104 yards for a touchdown for Minnesota (6-4), which snapped a four-game losing streak with the much-needed victory.
Carson Palmer was characteristically terrible for Arizona (4-5-1). He passed for 198 yards with two interceptions and two scores, and he was sacked four times. David Johnson ran for 103 yards and a touchdown for the Cardinals.
Sam Bradford was awful for the Vikings, throwing for 169 yards and a score, but the return TDs bailed him and Minnesota out.
A.J. Green’s Season May Be Over (His Team’s, Too)
LeSean McCoy ran for a touchdown, and the Buffalo Bills squeezed past the Cincinnati Bengals, 16-12, on Sunday. Cincy star wide receiver A.J. Green injured his right hamstring on the first pass of the game. He was carted off the field and could miss the rest of the season, not that there will be much more of it for his team.
Bengals kicker Mike Nugent missed both of the extra points he attempted — part of an NFL-record 12 missed PATs on the day. The bad kicks meant that Cincinnati (3-6-1) couldn’t attempt a game-winning field goal on their final drive, which stalled just short of the red zone.
The Bengals’ offense missed Green; they were held to just five first downs in the second half by Buffalo (5-5). The Bengals now seemingly need a multi-game win streak to qualify for the playoffs.
McCoy dislocated his left thumb late in the first half for the Bills, who are still very much in postseason contention with six games left to play.
Other Scores
Thursday, Nov. 17
Carolina 23, New Orleans 20
Sunday, Nov. 20
Pittsburgh 24, Cleveland 9
Detroit 26, Jacksonville 19
Indianapolis 24, Tennessee 17
N.Y. Giants 22, Chicago 16
Seattle 26, Philadelphia 15
Miami 14, Los Angeles 10
New England 30, San Francisco 17
Bye Week:
Atlanta, Denver, N.Y. Jets, San Diego