Week 11 of the NFL saw plenty of truths being handed out around the league, fitting since Thanksgiving is around the corner and the playoff races are heating up. The Kansas City Chiefs own the AFC West and the Tennessee Titans control the AFC South to start, virtually locking up playoff berths with their wins this week.
The Dallas Cowboys had their largest road win in franchise history by thrashing the Minnesota Vikings, while the Philadelphia Eagles continued controlling the NFC East and conference with Minnesota and the New York Giants losing. The San Francisco 49ers even took the NFC West lead with their big victory over the Arizona Cardinals on Monday night.
As the playoff picture starts to come into focus, what did we learn about each team in Week 11? Here’s one thing that’s worth mentioning.
Second-half offense was typical Kliff Kingsbury: The Cardinals offense has gone through inconsistent stretches in games all season, typically in the first half. Arizona saved the poor stretch for the second half — with its backup quarterback in tow.
The Cardinals ran 32 plays for 129 yards in the second half, averaging 4.03 yards per play. They turned the ball over on downs twice and punted twice, with the final possession resulting in an interception when Colt McCoy was pulled.
Arizona ran 22 plays for 80 yards on the four possessions McCoy was in (3.6 yards per play). The Cardinals didn’t score any points and the 49ers scored 21 on three of their five possessions (not counting kneel downs). Different quarterback, same story.
The Kyle Pitts injury made the pass offense less efficient: The Falcons haven’t used Pitts much on offense this year (or utilized him to his strengths), but his knee injury in the third quarter was devastating. Atlanta threw for only 25 yards since the Pitts injury, as Marcus Mariota went 3 of 4 during the stretch.
Of course, Atlanta is a running team. Drake London only had three targets and Damiere Byrd only finished with two targets, so throwing the football isn’t exactly part of the game plan anyway. Without Pitts on the field, it’s fair to wonder if the Falcons will even throw the ball 15 times next week.
DeMarcus Robinson is WR1: Robinson steeped up for an offense that only rushed for 115 yards Sunday — Baltimore’s second-lowest total of the season. He finished with nine catches for 128 yards on a day where no other wide…
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