Neil Reynolds of Sky Sports has the final say in Week 11 in the NFL; join Neal and the guests at Inside the Huddle every Tuesday at 9pm on the Sky Sports NFL as they recall the weekend’s highlights …
Another NFL week on the horizon, and even more surprises awaited us when the Houston Texans, after losing an eight-game streak, turned the Tennessee Titans over, having just won six in a row; The Minnesota Viking slipped past the Green Bay Packers and the Indianapolis Colts absolutely beat Buffalo’s bills.
With all the top quarterbacks in the league taking turns sighing, why not Jonathan Taylor for the Most Valuable Player in the NFL this season? The significance of the second year begging for the Indianapolis Colts was evident during Sunday’s 41-15 win over the Bills.
Taylor ended his career day in the rain with 204 scrum yards (185 snatches) and five touchdowns. He fled with patience, foresight, and explosive strength; all Colts defender Carson Wentz had to do was stay clear and avoid mistakes.
JT was the driving force behind the Colts winning five of their last six. And its outstanding form extends even further; On Sunday, he set an NFL record with 100 scrum yards and a touchdown in his eighth straight game, matching the Ladinian Tomlinson Hall of Fame in 2006’s most valuable player in the NFL.
The Dallas Cowboys headed to Arrowhead Stadium to face Kansas City averaging 433.9 yards and 31.6 points per game. They left without a touchdown, losing 19-9 at a surprisingly low level.
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The cowboys have been strangled from start to finish by Kansas City’s furious and excited defenses, which are heading in the right direction at exactly the right time of year. The Chiefs fired Prescott five times, with Chris Jones leading with three and a half takedowns. They also fought off the quarterback who was chasing the MVP twice, kept the Cowboys just 82 yards away, and flew into football to smash a few passes down the field.
Week 11 is a continuation of the sustained improvement in defense that received much criticism at the start of this season. Over the past four games – all wins – defensive coordinator Steve Spagnolo’s team have lost just 11.8 points per game and kept all opponents below 20 points. Kansas City lost an average of 29 points per game during the first seven weeks of the season. Now we need to see if this protective form will hold up when it really matters.
For the third week in a row, the Arizona Cardinals are heading into action without their two main offensive weapons, quarterback Kyler Murray and broad receiver DeAndre Hopkins. But they found a way to remain the leader of the league with nine wins and just two losses.
Several players have come to the fore as Arizona won a respectable two out of three without their star performers. Colt McCoy moves like he’s 25, not 35, and played very well as quarterback in Sunday’s 23-13 win over Seattle Seahawks, shooting 328 yards and two touchdowns.
