NFL 2017 Week 11 Preview

NFL 2017 Week 11 Preview

Playoff races around the NFL are heating up as the NFL returns to Mexico City when the Raiders host the Patriots. Here's a preview of key games and what to look for in Week 11 of the 2017 NFL Regular Season.

The NFL has entered the second half of the season and the excitement is building as playoff races tighten.

Eleven teams have at least six wins, led by the 8-1 Philadelphia Eagles -- Philadelphia (8-1), Los Angeles Rams (7-2), Minnesota (7-2), New England (7-2), New Orleans (7-2), Pittsburgh (7-2), Carolina (7-3), Jacksonville (6-3), Kansas City (6-3), Seattle (6-3) and Tennessee (6-3). Seven of those 11 teams -- Philadelphia, Los Angeles, Minnesota, New Orleans, Carolina, Jacksonville and Tennessee -- did not make the playoffs last season. Since the 12-team playoff format began in 1990, at least four teams have qualified for the playoffs in every season that were not in the postseason the year before.

Seven teams currently have an active winning streak of at least four games, led by the Eagles and Saints who have each won seven in a row. The Patriots and Vikings are both riding five-game winning streaks while the Rams, Steelers and Titans have each won four consecutive contests.

The New Orleans Saints, which started the season 0-2, are the second team in the Super Bowl era to win its next seven games immediately following an 0-2 start. The other team to accomplish the feat -- 1993 Dallas Cowboys -- won the Super Bowl in that season. Last week, the Saints rushed for 298 yards and a franchise-record six touchdowns in the team's 47-10 win at Buffalo. New Orleans became the fifth team -- and first since 1957 (Cleveland Browns, November 24, 1957) -- in NFL history (including the postseason) to rush for at least 295 yards and six touchdowns in a single game.

As the second half of the NFL 2017 regular season continues, there's a lot to be decided, with plenty of football left to play. So don't count anyone out. Since 1990, 27 teams have qualified for the playoffs with a losing record through nine games. Last year, two teams -- Green Bay (4-5) and Pittsburgh (4-5) -- accomplished the feat and both clubs advanced to the Conference Championship Game.

Also in Week 11, the NFL returns to Mexico for the second consecutive year as the Oakland Raiders host the Patriots (4:25 PM ET, CBS). Last year, the Raiders defeated the Houston Texans 27-20 in front of 76,473 fans at Estadio Azteca in Mexico City in the first-ever Monday Night Football game to be played outside the United States.

Four of the NFL's 10 largest single-game attendance totals have come in Mexico, including the top two: 112,376 fans on August 15, 1994 (American Bowl preseason game between the Dallas Cowboys and Houston Oilers) and 106,424 on August 17, 1998 (American Bowl preseason game between the Cowboys and Patriots). Both of those contests were also played at Estadio Azteca in Mexico City. Estadio Azteca underwent vast renovations in advance of the NFL's game in 2016 which reduced stadium capacity to approximately 77,000.

Week 11 kicked off with lead the Steelers easily defeating the Tennessee Titans 40-17 in Pittsburgh on Thursday night. Ben Roethlisberger threw for four touchdowns. Antonio Brown caught three of those touchdown passes. On defense, the Steelers intercepted Tennessee Titans quarterback Marcus Mariota four times. The Steelers improved their record to 8-2 and are now riding a 5-game winning streak. The week concludes with a pair of primetime games as the Dallas Cowboys host the Eagles on Sunday night (8:30 PM ET, NBC) in a key NFC East showdown and the Atlanta Falcons visit the Seahawks on Monday night (8:30 PM ET, ESPN) in a rematch of last season's NFC Divisional Playoff.

Notable games in Week 11:

Los Angeles Rams (7-2) at Minnesota Vikings (7-2)

(Sunday, FOX, 1:00 PM ET)​

The Rams, who lead the NFC West with a 7-2 record, have won four games in a row, including last week's 33-7 victory over Houston. Los Angeles leads the NFL averaging 32.9 points per game.

Rams quarterback JARED GOFF passed for 355 yards with three touchdowns and no interceptions last week and is the first player in team history to pass for at least 300 yards and three touchdowns with no interceptions in consecutive games. Running back TODD GURLEY leads the NFL with 1,160 scrimmage yards (754 rushing, 406 receiving) and 10 touchdowns (seven rushing, three receiving).

The Vikings lead the NFC North with a 7-2 record and have won five consecutive games, including last week's 38-30 win at Washington as quarterback CASE KEENUM threw four touchdown passes.

Minnesota wide receiver ADAM THIELEN had eight catches for 166 yards and a touchdown in the victory against the Redskins. Thielen, who went undrafted out of Minnesota State in 2013, has three career games (two in 2017) with at least 150 receiving yards, the most among active players who were not drafted. Thielen ranks third in the NFL with 793 receiving yards.

New England Patriots (7-2) at Oakland Raiders (4-5) in Mexico City (Sunday, CBS, 4:25 PM ET)

The Patriots lead the AFC East and are tied for the best record in the AFC (7-2). New England has won five consecutive games, including last week's 41-16 victory at Denver. The Patriots lead the NFL in total offense (409.4 yards per game) and passing offense (301.6).

New England quarterback TOM BRADY leads the NFL in completions (231), attempts (343) and passing yards (2,807), ranks second in passer rating (108.3) and ties for second in touchdown passes (19). Brady threw three touchdown passes at Denver and recorded his 86th regular-season road win, passing PEYTON MANNING (85) for the most in NFL history.

The Raiders, who had a bye last week, defeated Miami 27-24 in Week 9 as quarterback DEREK CARR threw for 300 yards with a touchdown and running back MARSHAWN LYNCH rushed for two scores.

Oakland defeated Houston 27-20 last year at Estadio Azteca in Mexico City (November 21, 2016). In that contest, Carr threw three touchdown passes, including the game-winning 35-yard score to wide receiver AMARI COOPER with 4:43 remaining.

Philadelphia Eagles (8-1) at Dallas Cowboys (5-4)

(Sunday, NBC, 8:30 PM ET)

The Eagles, who had a bye last week, have the NFL's best record (8-1) and have won seven consecutive games. This is the fifth time in franchise history the Eagles have started a season 8-1 or better (1949, 1960, 1980 and 2004) and the team advanced to the NFL Championship/Super Bowl in each of the previous four instances.

Philadelphia quarterback CARSON WENTZ leads the NFL with 23 touchdown passes and his 104.1 passer rating tops the NFC. Wentz's 23 touchdown passes are the most by an Eagle in the team's first nine games to start a season in franchise history. In Week 9, Wentz threw four touchdown passes in the Eagles' 51-23 victory over Denver.

The Cowboys have won three of their past four games and are in the thick of the NFC playoff race with a 5-4 record.

Dallas quarterback DAK PRESCOTT is one of only four players since the 1970 merger to account for at least 50 touchdowns in his first 25 career NFL games. Prescott has passed for 39 touchdowns and rushed for 11 TDs in his first 25 career games and has led the Cowboys to an 18-7 record during that span. Prescott's 11 rushing touchdowns are the most by a quarterback since the start of the 2016 season.

Atlanta Falcons (5-4) at Seattle Seahawks (6-3)

(Monday, ESPN, 8:30 PM ET)

Atlanta defensive end ADRIAN CLAYBORN recorded a franchise-record six sacks in the Falcons' 27-7 win over Dallas last week. Clayborn's six sacks are tied for the second-most in a single game since the individual sack became an official statistic in 1982 (Pro Football Hall of Famer DERRICK THOMAS, seven sacks on November 11, 1990).

Falcons quarterback MATT RYAN (40,073) reached 40,000 career passing yards in his 151st game and became the fastest player in NFL history to attain the milestone.

The Seahawks have won five of their past six games, including a 22-16 win at Arizona on Thursday night in Week 10. Seattle leads the NFC in passing offense (267.8 yards per game).

Seahawks quarterback RUSSELL WILSON threw two touchdown passes to tight end JIMMY GRAHAM in the win over the Cardinals, including a two-yard TD in the fourth quarter to extend Seattle's lead. Wilson is the NFL's top-ranked passer in the fourth quarter with a 135.2 passer rating with 12 touchdowns and one interception.

Persistent Patriots

The New England Patriots have won five consecutive games and are tied for the best record in the AFC at 7-2.

With a win on Sunday against the Oakland Raiders at Mexico City's Estadio Azteca, the Patriots will clinch a .500 or better record for the 17th consecutive season, tying the 1957-73 Cleveland Browns for the second-longest streak in NFL history. The 1965-85 Dallas Cowboys had a .500 or better record in 21 consecutive seasons, the longest such streak all-time.

The teams with the most consecutive seasons with a .500 or better record in NFL history:

 

Consecutive Seasons with .500 or Better Record

 

Yo, Adrian

Atlanta Falcons defensive end ADRIAN CLAYBORN recorded a franchise-record six sacks, forced two fumbles and a fumble recovered in the Falcons' 27-7 win against Dallas last week.

Clayborn's six sacks are tied for the second-most in a game since the individual sack became an official statistic in 1982. Only Pro Football Hall of Famer DERRICK THOMAS (seven on November 11, 1990) had more sacks in a single game.

With 2.5 sacks at Seattle on Monday Night Football, Clayborn would surpass Thomas (eight) for the most sacks in a two-game span in a single season since the individual sack became an official statistic in 1982.

The players with the most sacks in a two-game span in a single season since the individual sack became an official statistic in 1982:

 

Most Sacks Two-Game Span in a Single Season

 

Carson Wentz: Four Scores And Two Years

Philadelphia Eagles quarterback CARSON WENTZ, who had a bye in Week 10, threw four touchdown passes in the Eagles' 51-23 win against Denver in Week 9, his third career game with at least four touchdown passes.

This Sunday night at Dallas, Wentz can tie Pro Football Hall of Famer FRAN TARKENTON (four) for the second-most games with at least four touchdown passes in a player's first two seasons in NFL history.

NFL quarterbacks with the most games with at least four touchdown passes in their first two seasons in NFL history:

 

Games with 4+ TD Passes In 1st 2 Seasons

 

Big Game Goff

Los Angeles Rams quarterback JARED GOFF completed 25 of 37 passes (67.6 percent) for 355 yards with three touchdowns and zero interceptions for a 125.4 rating in the Rams' 33-7 win against Houston in Week 10.

Goff has passed for at least 300 yards with three touchdown passes and zero interceptions in consecutive games, becoming the first player in franchise history to accomplish the feat.

With at least 300 passing yards, three touchdown passes and zero interceptions on Sunday at Minnesota, Goff will join TOM BRADY (2007) as the only players in NFL history to accomplish the feat in three consecutive games. ​

Rising Roethlisberger

Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback BEN ROETHLISBERGER passed for 236 yards and two touchdowns in the Steelers' 20-17 win at Indianapolis last week.

With 299 passing yards against Tennessee on Thursday Night Football, Roethlisberger, who now has 49,411 career passing yards, passed Pro Football Hall of Famer WARREN MOON (49,325) for the eighth-most passing yards in NFL history.

The quarterbacks with the most passing yards in NFL history:

 

Most Passing Yards in NFL History

 

Roethlisberger's 30 completions on Thursday put Big Ben 4,021 career completions. Roethlisberger become the ninth quarterback in NFL history to reach 4,000 career completions.

Roethlisberger, who was selected 11th overall in the 2004 NFL Draft, joins ELI MANNING (No. 1 overall, 4,287 completions) and PHILIP RIVERS (No. 4 overall, 4,005) as the only trio of quarterbacks from the same draft class to each record 4,000 career completions.

The Quarterbacks with at least 4,000 career completions in NFL history:

 

Most Completions in NFL History

 

Michael Thomas: Well Received

New Orleans Saints wide receiver MICHAEL THOMAS ranks fourth in the NFL with 59 catches this season.

Thomas has 151 receptions in 24 career games, and needs four catches on Sunday against Washington to surpass ANQUAN BOLDIN (154) for the second-most catches by a player in his first 25 games in NFL history. The players with the most receptions in their first 25 games in NFL history:

 

Most Receptions in First 25 Games

 

Fifth For Fitz

Arizona wide receiver LARRY FITZGERALD, who has 15,066 career receiving yards with the Cardinals, had 10 catches for 113 yards in Week 10 and joined Pro Football Hall of Famer JERRY RICE (19,247 receiving yards with San Francisco) as the only players in NFL history to reach 15,000 career receiving yards with a single team.

With 62 receiving yards on Sunday at Houston, Fitzgerald will surpass TONY GONZALEZ (15,127) for the fifth-most receiving yards in NFL history.

The players with the most career receiving yards in NFL history:

 

Most Receptions in First 25 Games

 

Robert Woods Running Rampant

Los Angeles Rams wide receiver ROBERT WOODS had eight receptions for a career-high 171 receiving yards and two touchdowns in the Rams' win against Houston in Week 10.

Woods, who had a 52-yard touchdown catch in Week 9 and a 94-yard touchdown reception in Week 10, can become the fifth player since 1970 with a touchdown reception of at least 50 yards in three consecutive games.

 

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