The Patriots versus Raiders in Mexico City highlights a decent slate of pro football games in Week 11. Four games in particular stand out, conveniently with one in each time slot.
NFL Week 11 looks like it will have plenty of close games. There are no double-digit favorites, and only one game with a spread of more than seven. Home teams are favored in only half of the 14 scheduled games, and nine games have odds of 3½ or fewer points.
Some New England fans and certain sports talk radio hosts are whining about the New England Patriots not looking impressive enough in their latest win to improve their conference leading record to 8-2. For another perspective here is a sampling of reactions from Northern California to the Patriots’ 30-17 victory over the 49ers.
The latest post on Tom Brady’s Facebook page celebrates a happy TB12 – and some sad 1849ers – in the aftermath of the New England Patriots 30-17 victory over San Francisco.
Dallas has reeled off eight wins in a row, and now possess the best record in the league. In an early Sunday game the Cowboys host Baltimore, who has won each of their games since a Week 8 bye and are now atop the AFC North.
Week 11 features three games between teams with winning records. In the early time slot on CBS 5-4 Baltimore travels to 8-1 Dallas; that is followed by 5-4 Philadelphia at 6-2-1 Seattle. NFL fans are treated to a rare quality game on Monday night as the 6-3 Texans face the 7-2 Oakland Raiders.
There are only two home teams in Week 11 that are not favored. Not surprisingly these are the two worst teams in the NFL this season, San Francisco and Cleveland. The Forty Niners have the misfortune of being on New England’s schedule next week. The Patriot 2016 Vindication for Defamegate Tour travels to Santa Clara for a late afternoon game (4:25 pm ET) at Levi’s Stadium on Sunday November 20.
The Patriots host the 5-4 Buffalo Bills in a battle between the longtime division rivals on Monday night. A victory by the Pats all but mathematically clinches the AFC East for New England; it also would keep the Pats in the number one seed in the AFC, setting up a crucial game next week at 7-2 Denver. Buffalo currently owns the sixth seed in the AFC playoff picture, but needs a win to stay ahead of six other teams that are no more than one win behind them.
For the second straight week a game involving the Patriots shapes up to be one of, if not the most compelling matchup of the week. As an unintended side effect of the NFL’s quest for parity, for the second week in a row there are just three games between two teams with winning records. Following Thursday’s dud between the two-win Titans and three-win Jaguars, not a single one of the eight early games features a pair of winning teams, and overall for the week eleven of the fourteen games do not match up two winning teams. Only the last three games consist of two teams with records over .500: Green Bay at Minnesota in the late afternoon game on FOX, Cincinnati at Arizona Sunday night, and Buffalo at New England on Monday night. That game will also be a time where New England fans can “welcome” ESPN to Gillette Stadium and let the self-proclaimed world wide leader know exactly how they feel about their “integrity” and “unbiased” reporting.
For the second straight week a game involving the Patriots shapes up to be one of, if not the most compelling matchup of the week. This is one of only three week 11 games (Packers-Vikings, Bengals-Cardinals) between two teams with winning records. It will also be a time where New England fans can “welcome” ESPN to Gillette Stadium and let them know how they feel about their integrity and unbiased reporting