Week 11 in the NFL concludes with Monday Night Football as the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who have lost two straight games, take on the New York Giants live on Sky Sports NFL from 1.15am in the early hours of Tuesday morning
Monday 22 November 2021 14:04, UK
Jonathan Taylor's MVP claim, Tyrod Taylor topples the Tennessee Titans, the Kansas City Chiefs' defense shines, Micah Parsons for Defensive Rookie of the Year and an epic in Minneapolis - we look back on Sunday's Week 11 action in the NFL.
WEEK 11 RESULTS
Baltimore Ravens 16-13 Chicago Bears
Houston Texans 22-13 Tennessee Titans
San Francisco 49ers 30-10 Jacksonville Jaguars
Detroit Lions 10-13 Cleveland Browns
Indianapolis Colts 41-15 Buffalo Bills
Washington Football Team 27-21 Carolina Panthers
Miami Dolphins 24-17 New York Jets
New Orleans Saints 29-40 Philadelphia Eagles
Green Bay Packers 31-34 Minnesota Vikings
Cincinnati Bengals 32-13 Las Vegas Raiders
Arizona Cardinals 23-13 Seattle Seahawks
Dallas Cowboys 9-19 Kansas City Chiefs
Pittsburgh Steelers 37-41 Los Angeles Chargers
New England Patriots 25-0 Atlanta Falcons (Thursday)
Call this an ode to the Taylors. Taylors of different talents, Taylors of different tales, but Taylors of terror on this Any Given Sunday.
Starting with how Tyrod Taylor's two rushing touchdowns helped the Texans snap their eight-game losing streak with victory over a Titans side seeking their seventh straight win. Any. Given. Sunday.
The body-on-the-line leap of faith to fly over a defender for his first epitomised why admiration soars beyond the organisations he has represented in the NFL. It was leadership through actions for a team clambering in search of some direction.
Taylor was not prolific or particularly dazzling in the air, but drew on every ounce of experience to put a limping franchise on his back and stick it to a Titans defense hailed for its resurgence this season. His 2020 season was derailed sooner than expected when a team doctor accidentally punctured his lung while administering a painkilling injection; Justin Herbert would have always taken over, but who knows how long Taylor might have remained starter? He deserved Sunday.
Speaking of those Titans, the loss of Derrick Henry looks a serious concern for a team scrambling to find its identity without him. The fake hand-offs, variation of inside and split zone, guard-pulling while running power all remains part of the Titans' approach, but a 36-year-old, newly-signed Adrian Peterson and D'Onta Foreman are not nearly as scary enough to force teams to stack the box as they did with their talisman. Even more significantly, the play-action pass fuelled by the threat of Henry, and that has seen Ryan Tannehill thrive in Tennessee, has lost its chunk-play success. They need to figure this out, and fast.
As for the other Taylor, the Colts' Jonathan offered a glowing endorsement of general manager Chris Ballard's long-commended eye for expertise with five touchdowns and 204 scrimmage yards in his side's win over the Bills.
The 2020 second-round running back now leads the NFL with 1,122 rushing yards as the latest player to chuck his hat in the ring when it comes to an ever-widening MVP race. He pin-balled through tackles, shimmied through bodies, brushed off flapping arms, ran it down Buffalo's throat and even showcased the fancy footwork to side-step a defender for his 23-yard receiving touchdown. He was sensational.
Steve Spagnuolo's Chiefs defense has a habit for being a slow burner; it could blitz and blitz to inconsistent returns, surrender chunk plays in expectance of a Patrick Mahomes-led reply, and conjure the kind of 'there-they-are' contribution from nowhere when their team needed them most. Hit and miss; missing, before gradually hitting.
It has been a problem again this season, and patience may have been wearing thin as the light dimmed on offense, but things have been clicking in recent weeks, with a season-best performance against the Cowboys the most meaningful evidence yet.
Punt, fumble, field goal, punt, punt, punt, interception, field goal, punt, field goal, punt, interception was as much as the Cowboys' No 1-ranked offense could manage as the Chiefs shut them out of the end zone while allowing fewer than 20 points for the fourth successive game - the last time they did that came in a five-game stretch in 2019 en route to Super Bowl LIV glory.
Chris Jones' permanent shift back inside continued to be a major factor as he manhandled his way to five tackles, two for loss, 3.5 sacks, a fumble recovery and three quarterback hits, as well as tipping the Dak Prescott pass that resulted in L'Jarius Sneed's fourth-quarter interception. A secondary that has tended to absorb much of the flak came up with two picks on the day, including Charvarius Ward's exceptional effort to out-wrestle, out-leap and out-time CeeDee Lamb in the end zone.
The Chiefs have never needed to rely on having a 'great' defense. Average to good is enough to make them dangerous again, and they are trending the right way.
Give Jalen Hurts his due, he is playing the best football of his young NFL career and like the legitimate starting quarterback many doubted he could become, without anybody really taking notice. The second-year play-caller threw for 147 yards and rushed for three touchdowns, including a game-icing ankle-breaker in the fourth quarter, to lead the Eagles to victory over the Saints and their third win in four. Slowly and steadily, he and the Eagles are looking fun, particularly when Jordan Mailata is tossing pass rushers around with one hand (go search for it on Twitter).
Elsewhere in a Packers and Vikings spectacular, Davante Adams (seven receptions, 115, two touchdowns) and Justin Jefferson (eight receptions, 169 yards, two touchdowns) traded excellence in a pay-per-view duel as two of the league's pass-catching, playmaking rock stars. Aaron Rodgers (22/33, 385 yards, four touchdowns) and Kirk Cousins (24/35, 341 yards, three touchdowns) also joined in.
Austin Ekeler's air guitar celebration enjoyed encore after encore as he scored four touchdowns (two rushing, two receiving) while putting up 115 scrimmage yards in the Chargers' win over the Steelers, during which Justin Herbert finished 30 of 41 for 382 yards, three touchdowns and one interception in addition to 90 rushing yards from nine carriers.
Joe Mixon flourished with 123 rushing yards for two touchdowns in Cincinnati's win over the Raiders, while Colt McCoy continued his quest for unofficial back-up quarterback of the year by completing 35 of 44 passes for 328 yards and two touchdowns in the absence of Kyler Murray to lead Arizona to victory over Seattle.
49ers edge rusher Nick Bosa recorded two sacks on Trevor Lawrence as he reached a career-high 10 on the back of his season-ending ACL tear in 2020, and Deebo Samuel continued to shine as one of the league's most absorbing doer-of-all-things with 79 rushing yards for a touchdown in addition to a 15-yard reception.
Outside linebacker Robert Quinn shone for a losing Bears side with five tackles, three for loss, 3.5 sacks and four quarterback hits against the Ravens, for whom linebacker Tyus Bowser had five tackles, one for loss, two sacks, two quarterback hits and three pressures.
Rookie Jets receiver Elijah Moore provided the first substantial NFL-staged insight into his sparkling potential with a career-best eight catches for 131 yards and a touchdown in New York's defeat to Miami, and Texans cornerback Desmond King came away with two interceptions in Houston's shock win over the Titans.
While a playing-through-injury Baker Mayfield struggled again and Tim Boyle looked every bit a Lions quarterback making his first career start, the search for quality came on the ground in Cleveland as Nick Chubb spearheaded the Browns with 130 yards and D'Andre Swift led Detroit with 136 yards and a touchdown.
Micah Parsons is lifting already-trendy position-less defense to new heights as the hunt-to-kill flyer and grappling edge-crushing heart of the Cowboys' defense. Regardless of the result, Sunday was another glaring testimonial for a draft decision the organisation struck gold with.
On a night when it was the Chiefs' defense earning rare plaudits, the Dallas rookie linebacker refused to go quietly with four tackles, two for loss, two sacks, three quarterback hits and seven pressures as he lined up on the edge for 56 of 58 defensive snaps (Next Gen Stats), a variation that had initially been by necessity in light of injuries only to become an inspired exploitation of his talents.
Everything is freakishly quick, everything is urgent. His maintenance of speed while bending off the edge is frightening, his ability to finish plays inevitable. Parsons now has eight sacks on the season; introducing your Defensive Rookie of the Year in-waiting.
With Amari Cooper already missing due to Covid, the Cowboys lost their other star wide receiver CeeDee Lamb to a concussion while trailing 16-3.
Bears rookie quarterback Justin Fields was dealt a setback as he exited in the second half of Chicago's loss to the Ravens due to a rib injury. Speaking post-game, head coach Matt Nagy was unable to confirm whether it will be Fields or Andy Dalton who starts under center against the Lions in Thursday's Thanksgiving clash.
The Packers suffered a crushing injury blow as star left tackle Elgton Jenkins left Green Bay's defeat to the Vikings with what is feared to have been a season-ending torn ACL.
Quenton Nelson's injury woes continued when the Colts left guard picked up another ankle problem against the Bills, while the Browns lost wide receiver Jarvis Landry to a knee injury in Cleveland's win over Detroit.
Washington saw center Tyler Larsen (knee) and tackle Samuel Cosmi (hip) leave their victory over the Panthers, and the Jaguars lost offensive lineman Cam Robinson (knee), wide receiver Jamal Agnew (hip) and cornerback Tyson Campbell (shoulder) early on against the 49ers.
Titans wide receiver AJ Brown sustained a chest injury against the Texans, Eagles running back Jordan Howard (knee) and linebacker Davion Taylor (knee) were ruled out in their win over the Saints and the Jets saw explosive rookie running back Michael Carter (ankle) leave against the Dolphins.
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