Week 11 Overreactions – Undefeated (Thanks to the Jets not playing)
What a week, it’s all smiles in the AFC East with the Pats, Bills and Fins all winning. And what’s even better, by not playing, the Jets were able to get as close to a win as they’ve seen in some time. So, in the spirit of leaving work early today, let’s get right to it.
In last place; we of course find the Jets. Now normally I find a place in the middle of the rankings for ateam that didn’t play, but with the three other teams winning and Jets being so utterly horrible and deplorable, they remain in last. On to the winners.
We’ll start with the Fins. The Dolphins are on a what we call a winning streak, but this week was a little disappointing. True they had to travel to the west coast for the second consecutive week, but allowing the putrid Rams offense to score a touchdown is unacceptable. Also, being down in the fourth quarter tells me that they may just be gearing up for their annual post-Thanksgiving nap (that generally lasts at least four weeks). But as Adam Gase says, it’s lucky they play 60 minutes and not 54. Tanny managed to manage the game nicely in the end, finishing with a pedestrian 172 yards passing, two TDs and a pick. Running back sensation Jay Aj@%^yi seems to be plummeting back to earth with only 79 rushing yards but as they say, a win is a win. On the plus side, Devante Parker seems to be waking up and may someday be worthy of the high draft pick the Fins spent on him. Going back to Tanny, young Lauren’s Husband has been slowly, but steadily improving this year. If he continues on this trajectory, he’ll be back to serviceable by the end of the 2025 season (just about the time Tom Brady retires).
And next up, in second place; the Buffalo Bills. The Bills righted the ship this week with the good fortune of playing a team from the rancid AFC North. And when the best player from said terrible team went down on the second play from scrimmage, a victory was all but assured. The stats weren’t all that impressive, Tyrod’s 166 passing yards would have been impressive, had they been rushing yards. Shady had one nice run in the 1 st quarter for the Bills’ lone TD of the day, but aside from that this game was another in a long line of 2016 NFL games that were less exciting than sticking needles in your eyes. All in all nothing jumps off that page here. But once again, a win is a win and good news for Bills fans, if this trend continues Sexy Rexy should get himself a sweet extension and be with you for years to come.
And in first place (more by default due to their overall record); the Pats. Tom Brady traveled to San Mateo California to play his first NFL game near the city where he grew up. The weather outside was frightful and the overall play in the game was not so delightful. Brady was good for most of the game, throwing for 280 yards and 4 TDs. He did have a brain fart or two though and his completion percentage was not great. I guess that’s what happens when you decide to only throw to Julien Edelman for the entire first half, even a terrible team like the 49ers will eventually pick up on it. One bright spot was that we had our first real Malcolm Mitchell sighting, when he caught a moderate throw from Brady and turned it into a 55yd TD. The Pats’ offensive line kind of sucked, especially Nate Soldier (who this humble “reporter” has said blows for years). Nate cost the Pats a TD with a stupid holding penalty, then then just continued to be awful all day. The defense still sucks, allowing Colin Kaepernick to have a perfect QB rating for nearly the entire first half. But they did get 5 sacks so at least there’s that. On the downside, there appears to be true locker room friction on the defensive side of the ball. It could be that Bill underestimated the effect of having nearly his entire starting defense in contract years and trading away arguably their best defender. Jabaal Sheard was left home and he decided it would be a good idea to announce it to the world by Tweeting a picture of himself at the Celtics game on Friday night (Dude, you make a decent salary. Get some good seats) So there you have it, the Pats are still in good shape to get home field advantage throughout the playoffs, but if the defense doesn’t improve (and I’m not sure how it can), we may be in for another disappointing end to the season.
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