Just when you thought you could start counting teams out of contention, the script gets flipped and almost everyone (except maybe Chuck and Jeff) have a shot
Joe Mixon led an incredible comeback with three TDs against the hapless Plowboys as the Recliners rallied from a 45-point deficit to stun the Spread Beaters on Monday night.
Just when things appeared cut and dried, they weren't. And aren't. Who Dey shocked the Shitty Teams Division leading Band Aids, putting that division title back in play with a month left.
The Recliners remain untouchable atop the Silent Division, but they needed a rare upset win to do it. Chris Zimnoch's Texans staged a magnificent night rally to come back from a 45-point deficit and shock the Spread Beaters, who saw a lead evaporate during the Monday night game for the second time in three weeks.
The Tirades, all but written off a week ago after a third consecutive loss, had nothing to bitch about this week, winning with a score good enough to beat only three of nine possible opponents (last week they scored 115 and lost to the only other team to top 100, the division-leading Band Aids. Ouch). They also bolstered their weak lineup spots for the stretch run on Tuesday evening, completing a trade with the Gerbils to acquire the top-scoring TE Brock Bowers and Philly's top WR A.J. Brown. The Tirades gave up TE Kyle Pitts, WR Jaden Reed and their third-rounder.
And don't forget the Rangers, who managed to hold off WTNE thanks to 24 points from a kicker. Who was lobbying to get rid of kickers? Oh yeah, he quit. Nevermind.
I'll leave all the postseason what-ifs to Vern's preview of the Week 12 games on Thursday, but here's the short version: In the ST division, the Band Aids have a two-game lead over the Tirades and Who Dey but have a commanding lead in total points (1129 to 973 and 953, respectively). But stranger things have happened. In the Silent Division, the Recliners are 10-1 and not surprisingly the first team to secure a postseason berth. The Rangers (7-4) have a two-game lead over the rest of the division, but, like I said, stranger things have happened.
Here's a recap of the Week 11 games.
RANGERS 118, WTNE 113: The Rangers (7-4) entered Monday night with a 5-point lead in this critical Silent Division showdown, with Texans star WR Nico Collins making his return and Jordan Garcia countering with Texas WR Tank Dell. Neither player could manage more than 5 points, though, as Houston ran the ball down the field against Dallas, and the Rangers lead held. Kicker Chris Boswell won the game for John Lambert, with six field goals and 24 points. RB Breece Hall returned from the dead with 23 points. WNTE (5-6) was led by Saquon Barkley's 31 points, 28 more from QB Joe Burrow and 18 from first-round pick WR Puka Nacua. On the Bench: The only thing that could have turned the tide here is if Jordan had started Xavier Worthy (+7) over Dell.
WHO DEY 109, BAND AIDS 83: QB Matt Stafford scored 27 points and all but three starters scored in double figures for Matt McCumber's Who Dey (5-6) as they scored the upset win of the week, shocking the heavily favored Band Aids (7-4). Matty got a couple of TDs from TE Taysom Hill that did not count, since he did so while playing QB and not TE, or this would have been an even bigger blowout. WR Jameson Williams scored 18, RBs D'Andre Swift and James Cook had 14 each and kicker Jake Bates had 12. It's a good thing Bob Garcia made two trades last week or his team would not have scored much at all. Recent acquisitions WR Cooper Kupp (22) and RB Josh Jacobs (18) were two of four players to score in double figures. On the Bench: Bob wins easily if he starts Jonnu Smith (22) over Tucker Kraft (zero) and Jared Goff (35) instead of Lamar Jackson (14 at Pittsburgh).
RECLINERS 106, BEATERS 100: Thanks to recent trade pickup Amon-Ra St. Brown and his 28 points (by far his best game of the season), the Spread Beaters (5-6) held a seemingly invincible 45-point lead going into the Monday night game. The Recliners (10-1), however, surged back for the win behind RB Joe Mixon (32) and the Texans defense (19), which managed to score a TD against the Cowboys because, well, Dallas just did not appear to want to hold onto the football and fumbled twice on the same play (video above). I could imagine Matt Pringle tossing his flat-screen TV out the window after that one. On the Bench: Matt go zero points from both TEs and no one on the bench would have outscored a starter. Chris, who had single-digit scoring from five starters, could only have gained one point with DeVonta Smith (2) over Garrett Wilson (1) at WR.
GERBILS 102, PACKERS 89: Chuck Nelson's team snapped Jeff Lambert's modest two-game win streak. TE Brock Bowers led the Gerbils (4-7) with 18, RB Jamyr Gibbs added 17 and QB Pat Mahomes 15. QB Jordan Love appropriately led the Packers (2-9) with 19 and RB De'Von Achane added 16. On the Bench: The Gerbils could have blown this one out if they'd started QB Sam Darnold (+8) over Mahomes and WR Tee Higgins (back from injury) who was +14 over either starting WR (A.J. Brown and Drake London). For the Pack, QB Anthony Richardson was +9 over Love.
TIRADES 91, INVAIDERS 66: Ja'Marr Chase put this game away with 19 points (15 in the second half) on Monday night. Josh Allen led the Tirades (5-6) with 23 and made the play of the weekend, running for a TD on fourth-and-2 (video above) to help Buffalo hand Kansas City their first loss of the season (which was long overdue IMHO). RB David Montgomery had 21 but Christian McCaffrey (9) continued to disappoint in his second game back after missing the start of the season. The Invaiders (5-6) did their best Tirades impression, with only two starters in double figures. Those were QB Brock Purdy (18) and WR Jauan Jennings (15). Go Niners. On the Bench: QB Bo Nix was +10 over Purdy and CeeDee Lamb was +6 over Cedric Tillman for the Invaiders. The Tirades would have been better off with Jayden Reed or Brian Thomas Jr. (both +6) at WR over DeAndre Hopkins.
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