Chiefs’ first loss could actually help them, and what else we learned in Week 11

FOX Sports’ NFL experts provide the biggest takeaways from every Sunday game in Week 11 and what they mean for each team going forward.

Chiefs: The undefeated season is over, and I think that’s a good thing. Look at the 2007 Patriots as an example. They infamously lost the Super Bowl after having a target on their back near the end of the regular season and getting absolutely no rest. The worst teams in the NFL were playing brilliantly against the Patriots, because no one wanted New England to go undefeated. It was a brutal run for the Patriots, and it seemed to fatigue the team — just battling tooth and nail for every win. That would have been the vicious road for Kansas City. I would go so far as to say that this actually makes their Super Bowl odds better. The intellectual and physical grind for perfection is over. Now they can focus on the prize that really matters: the three-peat. 

Bills: What an incredible finish from Josh Allen. What an incredible game from Buffalo. … But? But! In the Allen and Patrick Mahomes era, the Bills are now 4-1 against the Chiefs in the regular season. But in that same time span, the Chiefs are 3-1 against the Bills in the postseason. I’d bet Allen would trade all his regular-season wins for another postseason victory. Buffalo wants a Super Bowl title. That’s all it has ever wanted. But I’d be willing to bet that the road to the Super Bowl is going through Kansas City again this season. That means that this win is nice for the Bills. It’s excellent. But it’s also probably the setup for the postseason, which is where Allen still needs to make up ground in this rivalry. — Henry McKenna

Packers: Jordan Love has had his problems with turnovers in 2024, but Sunday was an example of what he can do to put a team on his back and pull out a close win. His 60-yard pass to Christian Watson late in the game was more on the receiver, who made a diving catch and got back up to run for big yardage, but Love followed with two scrambles for the go-ahead touchdown. He finished 13-for-17 for 261 yards with one score passing and the game-winner rushing, and more importantly, survived two red-zone turnovers. The Packers are still just third in their division, but a close win keeps them in good shape for a wild card and to cause trouble in January, somewhere on the road in the playoffs.

Bears: Such a strong debut for new Bears offensive coordinator Thomas Brown, stepping in for the fired Shane Waldron and coming up with a game plan to put the Bears in position to pull off the home upset and give Chicago its first win over Green Bay since 2018. A blocked field goal as time expired spoiled that, but the offense took a big step forward. The Bears definitely let Caleb Williams use his legs more — 60 yards rushing in the first half, plus safe passes that led to a high completion rate and no turnovers. Chicago had averaged 9 points per game in the previous three games, so 19 points is a relative explosion. The inability to close out a big win reflects a larger problem that persists for Matt Eberflus’ team, but the offense took a step in the right direction, even in a loss Sunday. — Greg Auman

Rams: L.A. is only a contender when Cooper Kupp and Puka Nacua are on the field together. The Rams had plenty of success against New England on the ground, and that made life a whole lot easier for Matthew Stafford, but the top two receivers were the finishers. They combined for 229 yards and three touchdowns. It’s such a special tandem and they’re keeping Stafford young. Now, I know what you’re thinking: How can you think that a win over the Patriots means anything about playoff contention? Well, I think the point stands. If the Rams need both guys performing at a high level to eke by the Patriots, they’ll obviously need those two WRs to eke by the juggernauts of the NFC. 

Patriots: There was so much (unnecessary) hoopla after coach Jerod Mayo called this defense soft a couple of weeks ago. But I think he can safely say it again. And if he won’t, I’ll say it: The Patriots defense is soft. When Mayo said it, it lifted the unit’s ferocity. But on Sunday, the defense regressed to what it is: unimpressive. Here’s the surprising part. The D had safety Kyle Dugger and defensive tackle Christian Barmore back in the lineup. The Patriots also added edge Yannick Ngakoue. They should be on the upswing. And yet they’re not. We all knew the offense would take time to rebuild, but the defense might need as much attention as the offense. And that’s probably frustrating for Patriots fans to hear. Because New England seemed to already have strong defensive pieces in place. If this unit isn’t talented enough, then you can tack on even more time for this rebuild. — Henry McKenna

Browns: This could have been a fun revenge game for Jameis Winston, going up against the Saints with a chance to beat his old team. To his credit, Winston avoided turnovers despite a ton of throws, but his defense let him down as the Saints pulled away from a 14-14 tie to a 28-14 win. Winston threw for 395 yards and two touchdowns with no interceptions — arguably his best game since his days with the Bucs — but it wasn’t enough to keep Cleveland in the game. The Browns drop to 2-8, struggling regardless of who’s at quarterback. 

Saints: Credit to New Orleans for figuring out creative ways to make Taysom Hill a playmaker in an offense depleted of its best weapons. Hill broke a 14-14 tie with a 33-yard touchdown run out of a direct snap, and his 75-yarder put the game away late. His overall numbers were vintage Taysom — seven carries for 138 yards and three scores and another eight catches for 50 yards. An interception was costly, but New Orleans has bounced back for two straight wins under interim coach Darren Rizzi, and using Hill all over the field was a big part of the win. — Greg Auman

Raiders: Tight end Brock Bowers remains one of the few bright spots in a lost season for the Raiders. On Sunday, the rookie out of Georgia finished with 13 catches for 126 yards and a touchdown — his first 100-yard game as a pro and the most single-game catches by a rookie tight end in league history. Bowers has more than justified his first-round selection. In the team’s first game with new offensive coordinator Scott Turner, the Raiders looked more like what head coach Antonio Pierce envisioned at the start of the year — a ball-control offense that takes care of the football. However, the defense — Pierce’s forte — was another matter. The Raiders had a head-scratching coverage bust that led to a game-sealing, 57-yard touchdown reception to wide-open tight end Jonnu Smith. With Las Vegas the losers of six straight, Pierce’s seat is getting warmer.

Dolphins: Don’t count Miami out of the playoffs just yet. With quarterback Tua Tagovailoa back, the Dolphins are riding a two-game winning streak after manhandling the Raiders in a game Miami never trailed. The Dolphins are playing much better football heading down the backstretch of the season. Tagovailoa has been the catalyst, throwing for six touchdowns and just one interception over the past three games after sitting out since Week 2 due to a concussion. Along with the return of Tagovailoa, Miami’s defense has stepped up, holding opponents to 21 points a contest over the past three games. If Tagovailoa and the defense keep playing at this consistent level, the 4-6 Dolphins have a chance to make some noise over the next two months. — Eric D. Williams 

Jaguars: The Jaguars have given up on Doug Pederson and they’ve given up on this season. No one expected them to beat the Lions in Detroit, but to get humiliated to this extent — allowing 52 points and 644 yards of offense — looks fake on paper. For Jacksonville to respond to rampant speculation of Pederson’s imminent firing by suffering its largest margin of defeat in franchise history (46 points) tells you everything you need to know about morale on the team. Owner Shad Khan should have no other choice but to part ways as soon as possible with Pederson and general manager Trent Baalke, whose four years as full-time general manager has produced just one playoff appearance. Pederson and Baalke, together, have failed one of the most talented teams in franchise history. A dark shadow will hover over the organization until Khan finally cuts the cord. 

Lions: The Lions might legitimately have one of the best offenses of all time. A shellacking of the miserable Jaguars must be taken with a grain of salt, but two 50-point performances in the same season is impossible to ignore. They’ve scored fewer than 20 points just once this season, which also says a lot in a year in which scoring has been down across the board. Detroit has elite playcalling and star talent and depth at every position on offense, so when Jared Goff is on — he responded to a five-interception performance last week with 400 yards passing, four touchdowns and a perfect 158.3 passer rating on Sunday — the only team that can stop the Lions offensively is itself. So while the Lions continue to grapple with mounting injuries on defense — starting linebacker Alex Anzalone broke his forearm against Jacksonville — the offense keeps Detroit in the Super Bowl conversation. — Ben Arthur 

Vikings: The Sam Darnold who played against the Titans is more indicative of who he is at this point in his career — not the turnover-prone quarterback of the past two weeks. He completed 62.5% of his passes for 246 yards and two touchdowns in the victory over Tennessee. He was credited with a lost fumble on a pitch, but it appeared to be more the fault of running back Aaron Jones. While many league observers speculated that Minnesota could lean more heavily on its run game, Kevin O’Connell continued to show faith Darnold’s arm on Sunday against a good defense. The Vikings had close to a 50-50 split on running vs. throwing plays (33 runs, 32 passes), which indicates that they view their QB as more than a game manager. That’s the Darnold Minnesota will lean on down the stretch. What that means for the team’s ultimate fate, that remains to be seen. 

Titans: The Titans shouldn’t be sold on ending the Will Levis experiment this offseason just yet. The growth that Brian Callahan has been banking on is starting to show itself. Levis’ 98-yard touchdown pass highlighted a performance in which he threw for a season-high 295 yards. He has just one turnover in the past two weeks. He’s making better decisions with the football overall. His connection with Calvin Ridley, Tennessee’s leading receiver, is growing too. Levis still has a long way to go to completely dispel the Titans’ potential pursuit of a new quarterback in 2025 — his tendency to hold the ball too long doesn’t help an already below-average pass protecting offensive line — but he’s shown enough to where the team can start to feel encouraged, which is all you can ask for with seven weeks left in the season. — Ben Arthur 

Ravens: They have the best rushing offense in the NFL and the most dangerous 1-2 punch in Derrick Henry and Lamar Jackson, yet for some reason they keep forgetting that in the middle of some games. In a game the Ravens never trailed by more than a touchdown, they somehow called 35 pass plays and 19 runs. That’s crazy, even before you get to the part where Henry (65 yards on just 13 carries) was averaging 5 yards per rush and Jackson (46 yards on four carries) was averaging 11.5. The run was working. It’s their strength. Yet they took to the air anyway. That may not be what cost them this game, but it is something to remember because getting away from the run is what cost them the AFC Championship Game last year. 

Steelers: Despite their great first half of the season, the Steelers aren’t often on the list of the best teams in the AFC, but maybe it’s time for that to change. After what they did to the Ravens on Sunday, it’s clear they have a defense good enough to help them beat any team in the league. They held the Ravens to just 323 yards — their lowest total of the season. They also forced three turnovers. Yeah, things might have been different if Justin Tucker hadn’t missed field goals of 47 and 50 yards. But the Steelers somehow kept both Derrick Henry and Lamar Jackson in check, which not a lot of teams have the ability to do. If they can do that to those two, no one will look unstoppable to them. — Ralph Vacchiano

Colts: Sitting out and watching Joe Flacco the past two weeks sure looked like it did Anthony Richardson a lot of good. He had his finest game of the season on Sunday against a usually tough defense. Most importantly, he calmly led two brilliant, 70-yard touchdown drives in the fourth quarter. The last one, which led to his touchdown run with 46 seconds remaining, was a thing of beauty that included a 39-yard strike to Alec Pierce. Ricjardson played with poise and mostly stayed out of trouble (one interception) and showed off his big arm when it was needed. He’s always had the talent to be one of the most dangerous two-way quarterbacks in the league. On Sunday, he showed that the rest of the package is coming along, too. 

Jets: Aaron Rodgers is a huge problem for the Jets, but a bigger one for them is this: What the heck has happened to their defense? The Colts, with an erratic second-year quarterback, marched down the field for touchdowns on the Jets twice in the fourth quarter like the defense wasn’t even there. This is a unit that ranked in the top five each of the past two seasons and was somehow still ranked seventh heading into this game. Last week the Jets were torched for 31 points and 406 yards by the Cardinals, and they follow that by having no answers for Anthony Richardson? Robert Saleh was a heck of a defensive coach and he was fired. Jeff Ulbrich was his defensive coordinator and now he’s the interim coach. Maybe it shouldn’t be surprising that the defense looks directionless at the moment. — Ralph Vacchiano

Falcons: The Falcons may be on the fast track to winning the NFC South, but they’re shaping up to be a pretender come playoff time. They’ve scored fewer points than the previous week in three straight games. They’ve scored fewer than 20 points in three of their past five games. Kirk Cousins has zero passing touchdowns in back-to-back contests. Atlanta has too much talent on that side of the ball to be looking so out of sync in November. It’s also concerning how the Falcons have been losing as of late. They’re 2-3 in their past five games — with two of those losses coming by at least 20 points, and the third coming to a bad division rival in the Saints. This kind of regression makes the Falcons look like a team that will be going home early in January. 

Broncos: Bo Nix is the NFL’s best rookie quarterback not named Jayden Daniels. Nix had the best game of his career to this point against Atlanta, completing a season-high 84.8% of his passes for a season-high four touchdowns with no interceptions. He’s had a passer rating above 115 in three of his past four games, showing how efficient he’s playing. Over the past month, there are very few quarterbacks in the league playing more effective football than the former Oregon star. He’s protecting the ball (just one turnover in the last four games), making quick decisions, completing high-percentage throws, and avoiding sacks — all of which can be hard for young quarterbacks to do consistently. Nix’s recent play, plus a growing defense, should keep Denver in the driver’s seat for a wild-card berth. — Ben Arthur 

Seahawks: Geno Smith finally conquered the 49ers, exorcizing some demons in the process. The Seahawks had lost six straight games to San Francisco (including postseason). However, Seattle earned a hard-fought victory over its NFC West division rivals, the team’s first win over San Francisco in three years. Smith was the catalyst, leading the Seahawks on an 11-play, 80-yard drive that he capped with a 12-yard scramble for a touchdown with 12 seconds left. Seattle ended a two-game losing streak with the win, improving to 5-5 on the year and staying in the playoff conversation in the NFC. And Smith, who entered the game 0-5 against San Francisco, earned his first win as a starter over the 49ers. “I love when the ball’s in my hand at the end of the game. What more can you ask for,” Smith said. 

49ers: Injuries could derail San Francisco’s quest to get back to the Super Bowl with a roster that is talented but aging. In a late-game loss to Seattle, the 49ers played without two of the team’s best players due to injury and failed to close out a game again because of it. Tight end George Kittle was inactive due to a hamstring injury, and defensive end Nick Bosa left the game in the second half after aggravating a hip injury. All both could do is watch helplessly from the sideline as San Francisco blew a fourth-quarter lead for a third time this season. The loss snapped a two-game winning streak and dropped San Francisco to 5-5 on the year. The 49ers seemed invincible a year ago as the top team in the NFC. But this season, San Francisco has lost to every opponent in the NFC West. Injuries to frontline players and poor team chemistry could have the 49ers on the outside looking in when the playoffs arrive. — Eric D. Williams

Bengals: A 21-point comeback in the second half fell short as kicker Evan McPherson hooked two kicks wide left that could have given Cincinnati the winning margin in the fourth quarter. McPherson’s errant attempts overshadowed another impressive performance by quarterback Joe Burrow, who finished with 356 yards and three touchdowns. Now 4-7 heading into their bye week, the Bengals pretty much must win out to have a realistic shot of reaching the postseason, and their schedule includes two games against the AFC North-leading Steelers. A Bengals winning streak would require more consistent play from their defense, which has given up 32.5 points per game over the past four contests. 

Chargers: This was a game that in years past the Bolts would have lost. Under Jim Harbaugh, however, they figured out a way to avoid “Chargering.” After L.A. blew a big halftime lead, running back J.K. Dobbins scored the winning points on a 29-yard run with 18 seconds remaining, and safety Derwin James sealed the win by knocking down Joe Burrow’s Hail Mary at the buzzer. In a battle between 2020 first-round quarterbacks, Justin Herbert lived up to the moment, throwing for nearly 300 yards and two scores, while running for 65 yards. Winners of four straight, the 7-3 Bolts have crept into the conversation of AFC contenders. Led by the top scoring defense in the league, a strong running game and a franchise QB who can close out games, the Chargers could be a dangerous team on the road in the playoffs. — Eric D. Williams 

The following writers contributed to this story: Ben Arthur (@benyarthur); Greg Auman (@gregauman); Henry McKenna (@McKennAnalysis); Eric D. Williams (@eric_d_williams); Ralph Vacchiano (@RalphVacchiano).

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