11 random thoughts on the NFC after NFL Week 11

The hierarchy of the NFC is taking shape as we enter the 2024 season’s stretch drive.

There’s something comforting about watching an entire slate of Sunday NFL games warm in the knowledge that the Eagles took care of business in a huge divisional match-up a few nights before.

No stress. No queasiness in the pit of your stomach. An opportunity to watch some of the other teams around the league and see how they compare to the Birds.

The Eagles are sitting pretty right now, and when you look around the NFC, it’s obvious they are a cut above everyone else in the conference except for Detroit. After watching much of what went down in Week 11, here are 10 random thoughts on the NFC with seven weeks left in the regular season.

Nobody May Be Able to Stop the Lions

I’d like to think the Eagles can go toe-to-toe with Ben Johnson’s offense, but even with all the improvements we’ve seen from Vic Fangio’s unit, Jared Goff and the Lions look like a runaway locomotive. Their 52-6 win over the pathetic Jaguars set franchise records for margin of victory (46), total net yards (644) and total first downs (38) in a game. They are the third team in the Super Bowl era to have three wins of 35 or more points in their first 10 games. Their starters scored touchdowns on all seven of their possessions. The numbers are insane.

They’ve beaten some quality teams (Rams, Cardinals, Seahawks, Vikings, Texans and Packers) and also handled potential trap games with ease (Jags & Titans) and dominated an early statement game against the Cowboys, 47-9. They have the look. They won’t lose in the playoffs in Detroit, so the Eagles better hope they keep winning and Detroit stumbles at some point over the last two months of the season to get them at home in the postseason.

The Commanders are Heading In Reverse

Kliff Kingsbury and Jayden Daniels’ offense looked nothing like it had through the first seven games of the season on Thursday night and, after starting the season 7-2, have lost two in a row. If you consider they would have lost the Bears game were it not for the miracle Hail Mary, they should be 6-5.

It’s been a remarkable turnaround for Washington, and Daniels is no doubt a star in the making, but he’s been battling a bruised rib cage, which could account for some of the drop-off in production, and it’s been noted Kingsbury’s offenses have historically swooned in the second half. It’s still a two-team race in the NFC East, but we could be watching a bit of a fade from an improved Commanders team as they learn what it takes to win with their rookie QB.

The 49ers are Hungover

This is what a Super Bowl loser hangover looks like.

Running back Christian McCaffrey missed the first half of the season with an Achilles injury, an ailment he and the team will have to manage the rest of the season. Discord with star wide receivers Deebo Samuel and Brandon Aiyuk this off-season triggering bad vibes all over the place. Brock Purdy has regressed a bit in his second full season under center, and there has been some standard bad luck that seems to befall teams that lose the Super Bowl the following year.

It just hasn’t been right for them all season.

Jonathan Gannon is Actually Doing a Good Job

I’ll admit it, I thought Gannon was going to bomb as a head coach, but here he is, atop the NFC West with a 6-4 record, fueled by an encouraging season from Kyler Murray and a defense that is 10th in yards allowed. They’re not perfect, but are riding a rushing attack led by James Connors and Murray that is 6th in total yards this season.

They’re a tough, competitive football team leading a tightly packed division.

1. Cardinals (6-4, +18 point differential)
2. Rams (5-5, -26)
3. Seahawks (5-5, -8)
4. 49ers (5-5, +28)

Hats off to Gannon, I didn’t think he had it in him.

I Still Don’t Believe in Sam Darnold

Sam Darnold is the starting quarterback of an 8-2 football team. That is hard to believe.

Following their 23-13 win over the Titans on Sunday, Minnesota continues to stick with Detroit, just a game back in the NFC North, breathing down their necks.

Incredibly, Darnold’s 100.0 passer rating is 10th in the NFL, better than Jayden Daniels (99.6), Josh Allen (98.2), Purdy (95.9), Matthew Stafford (92.1), Jordan Love (90.6) and, incredibly, Patrick Mahomes (90.3, 20th in the NFL!).

And yet, I don’t believe in Sam Darnold. Minnesota has a voracious defense, a unit that should be feared in any potential playoff match-up, but the Eagles would have to be salivating to get the Andy Dalton look-alike winner in a postseason match-up in January.

I Still Don’t Believe in Kirk Cousins

I also still don’t believe in Cousins who, at 36 years old, has the Falcons at 6-5, the only team in the NFC South with a winning record. But after an ugly 38-6 loss to the Broncos on Sunday, Atlanta’s point differential sits at -30. Only the Panthers (-143), Cowboys (-82) and Giants (-66) are worse. The offense is in mud, and Cousins is no savior.

Atlanta will probably get to the postseason and will probably be the No. 4 seed. Cousins will then have to face the No. 5 or 6 seed, likely to be either Darnold and the Vikings or Jordan Love and the Packers. He doesn’t make it past the divisional round, if that.

I’m Trying to Believe in Jordan Love

It’s been a weird year for Love, who has been dealing with injuries and inconsistency playing for a Green Bay offense that seems to want to make him more of a game manager than one of the brightest young talents at the position. He, Mahomes and Geno Smith are tied for the most interceptions in the NFL (11) and his 90.6 passer rating ranks 19th.

But then you also have this.

It’s been a very uneven season but, as we saw last year, if Love gets hot, he can carry the Packers on a deep playoff run.

The Bears’ Future is Bright with Caleb Williams

Chicago’s rookie QB hasn’t made the splash Washington’s Daniels has, but we’re still seeing flashes of what he can do, especially now that their old offensive coordinator, Shane Waldron, has been replaced. New OC Thomas Brown leaned more on the run game against Green Bay on Sunday and worked on getting the ball out of Daniels’ hand quicker, resulting in a very clean, 23-for-31 day with 231 yards and 70 yards rushing. He made some absolutely hero throws on the final drive which should have won the game for the Bears, had it not been for a blocked field goal as time expired.

At 4-6, the Bears are in last place in the devastatingly difficult NFC North, but would be 6-4 were it not for the Commanders’ Hail Mary and Sunday’s blocked field goal attempt.

Daniel Jones’ Benching Is Utterly Hilarious

So to recap: the Giants decided not to pay Saquon Barkley this off-season, with part of the rationale being they were paying Daniel Jones big money to be their starting QB, and that they should lean on that investment rather than pay Barkley. Now, Jones is benched for the rest of the season, with back-up Drew Lock taking over the rest of the season, earning $5 million against the cap. Barkley costs about $3 million, by the way.

Thanksgiving Day between Cooper Rush and Drew Lock is going to be OUTSTANDING.

Sean McVay Remains a Coward

Holding a 28-22 lead, McVay’s Rams have the ball on the Patriots’ 35-yard-line. It’s 4th-and-6 and there is 2:22 remaining in the game. McVay has three choices, up by six points with New England holding just one timeout left.

1. Try a 52-yard field goal that would have given them a nine-point lead with just over two minutes left, essentially icing the game.
2. Attempt to convert the 4th-and-6 and either get the first down with an opportunity to run out the clock or pad the lead with a field goal in the waning seconds.
3. Punt the ball away.

McVay clearly didn’t trust his rookie kicker, Joshua Karty, who had made 5-of-6 attempts the previous week against Miami but badly missed a 26-yarder just before halftime. Hey, I get it, I still would have tried it, otherwise why are you rostering him?

But why punt? Why not let Stafford and the offense, with Cooper Kupp and Puka Nakua, try to get you those six yards to ice the game?

In the end, it all worked out, as New England started their final drive from their own 10-yard line and managed just five plays before an interception iced the game with 1:55 left. Still, it was just another example of McVay’s conservative nature.

The Cowboys Stink

The Cowboys play the Texans tonight on Monday Night Football. They are 0-4 at home this year. They will try to win their first home game in the calendar year of 2024.

At least the sun won’t be an issue tonight.