Week 11 of the 2021/22 NFL season has now been and gone. It began on Thursday the 18th of November in Atlanta, where the Falcons welcomed the New England Patriots, in what was a repeat of the infamous 2017 Super Bowl. While this game wasn’t quite so dramatic, the end result was the same, as the Patriots ran out comfortable winners, with the final score 25-0. This result puts New England top of the AFC East, and after winning 5 consecutive matches, they now look strongest to make it to the playoffs. The Falcons, meanwhile, are bottom of the NFC South, with a 4-6 record.
Several shock defeats to playoff hopefuls
There were a number of shock results this week, none more so at the Nissan Stadium in Nashville, where the Tennessee Titans played host to the Houston Texans. The Titans were the NFL’s form team, having won 6 straight fixtures. The Texans, meanwhile. Have been languishing near the bottom of the power rankings for some time, having only won one game. The odds were heavily stacked in the Titan’s favour, and surely the majority of people would have placed bets for the Texans to lose yet again. However, that is not what happened at all, as after a strong first 2 quarters, which saw Houston 12-0 up, they did enough in the 2nd half to leave Nashville with a precious 22-13 victory.
Over in the NFC North, and we had the Green Bay Packers taking on the Minnesota Vikings. The Vikings have been in reasonable form, 4-5 going into this game, but the Packers were certainly the oddsmakers favorites, having a record of 8-2. Those bettors out there looking for NFL betting lines would likely have placed bets for Aaron Rodgers and co to win this one, so they will have been mightily displeased to see the Packers fall to their 3rd defeat of the season. They are still in the driving seat in the NFC North, but will want to get back to winning ways quickly this weekend against the LA Rams.
The Buffalo Bills had been performing very well up until recently, with impressive results against the Kansas City Chiefs and the Washington Football Team. However, they stumbled massively against the Jacksonville Jaguars, where they only managed 6 points in an incredibly low scoring 9-6 defeat. They did secure a victory against the New York Jets in week 10, but in this game week they were humbled in front of their home crowd by the Indianapolis Colts 41-15. They have lost their grip on the AFC East, and will need to get a win by any means necessary this week against the New Orleans Saints.
Cardinals stake claim for strongest side
It has been a funny season so far, in that no side has really looked like a dominant force in the NFL. The side who could claim to have been the best would be the Arizona Cardinals, the only team to have won 9 games. They may have lost 2 of their last 4 matches, to the Packers and the Carolina Panthers, but each time they have recovered the following week, quickly putting the defeat behind them.
In game week 11 they took on the Seattle Seahawks, who welcomed quarterback Russell Wilson back into their side following his injury. However, the Seahawks are not the force they once were, and the Cardinals had little trouble here, with the final result 23-13. Next up for Arizona are the Chicago Bears, who are currently languishing in 3rd over in the NFC North. This should be another routine win for the Cardinals, and one that would cement their status as the NFC’s most in form side.
The Chiefs and Mahomes continue their revival
Few would argue that the Kansas City Chiefs have been one of the strongest sides in the NFL in recent years, as they won the 2020 Super Bowl, and made it to the final in 2021. A lot of this success was down to Patrick Mahomes, their superstar quarterback, who at that time could do no wrong.
However, the shine seemed to have come off the Chiefs at the beginning of this season, as they really struggled in their opening few fixtures, losing 3 of their opening 5 games. There also was a worrying 27-3 smashing by the Titans, where Kansas City didn’t really seem to have a plan whatsoever.
Thankfully, either some harsh words were said in the dressing room, or some new plays were worked on, as since then they have been in fine form, winning 4 straight games, including notable victories over the Cardinals, and last weekend against the Dallas Cowboys. Now, they are back on top in the AFC West, and will be hoping to keep on winning for the rest of the season. They have a bye this week, but take on the Las Vegas Raiders next on the 6th of December.
