Week 11 NFL thread

Chiefs (9-0) at Broncos (8-1) is a dandy for Sunday night. Denver opens as an 8 1/2-point favorite.

Other games of note:

--Washington (3-6) at Philadelphia (5-5). Redskins were 3-6 last year too, and ran the table.

--Cleveland (4-5) at Cincinnati (6-4). The Browns are ... legit? A win here and they have a sweep for tiebreaker purposes.

--Green Bay (5-4) at NY Giants (3-6). If the Packers can't win that one, even with whoever ends up under center, all hope is lost.

--New England (7-2) at Carolina (6-3). In preseason you'd look at the list and wonder what idiot thought that would be a good MNF matchup.

And an excellent stat for the week:

Jim Harbaugh's W-L with Alex Smith as his starter: 20-6-1
Jim Harbaugh's W-L with Colin Kaepernick as his starter: 13-6

 

And ... of course ...

 

I've seen that Alex Smith/Kaepernick stat in about a hundred different places since they lost to Carolina.

I don't know if it's a question of teams figuring him out since last season, because there were quite a few teams that spent the off-season trying to figure out how to stop the offense that Kaepernick led to the Super Bowl last season.

I don't think the move to get rid of Smith was a bad one. They did get a very high No. 2 for him and since the Chiefs have won eight or more games this season, the conditional second pick is also a second-rounder. That's not a bad deal since a lot of people thought he was just going to be released.

Seattle is such an overwhelming favorite in the NFC at this point that it's not even funny. Even if it's by default, the Niners are probably still the second or third best team in the NFC. I'm assuming as a Wild Card they would handle Detroit and whoever wins the East in the first round.

I think the team with the best chance to go into Seattle and win in the playoffs would be Green Bay, but at this point, I'll be pretty stunned if the Packers make the playoffs unless Detroit and Chicago both go into the tank, which is possible.

 

Well, one other game of significance might be the Niners (6-3) @ New Orleans (7-2). The Saints may have something to say about the NFC championship before we anoint the Seahawks.

And another game of note is the Atlanta at Tampa Bay. With the Falcons free fall, and the Florida zeroes winning this week, the top draft pick may be within Atlanta's reach.

 

Yeah I don't know how I glossed over that one.

With that game and the next Seattle matchup, 49ers could drop into five- or six-loss territory pretty easily. I think 10-6 would keep them in the playoffs, but they might be looking at the #6 seed.

 

Yeah, that's definitely possible. I think the Niners will make the playoffs, but if Cutler and Rodgers were healthy, they might not make it. The Niners will lose at least one more game that they should win. If Kaepernick doesn't start playing better, the Niners-Saints game could resemble the Cowboys-Saints game.

 

I guess we'll find out if it's January weather that does in Peyton, or if it has to actually be January.

 

Dwayne Bowe got popped for speeding and weed possession on Sunday night. It happened in Riverside, and if you know anything about the KC burbs, you know you can get pulled over for a wet fart in Riverside.

Interesting side note: Dwayne's middle initial is 'L'

 

Colts-Titans has some significance for Thursday night. Colts have a 2-game lead in the division, but both teams are coming off bad losses and have a short week to prepare. If Tennessee wins, the AFC South suddenly gets interesting.

 

NFL: Texans to Release 9-Time Pro Bowl Safety Ed Reed Today, According to the Houston Chronicle

 

Texans cut Ed Reed, two days after he said they were "outplayed and outcoached" against the Cardinals.

http://blog.chron.com/ultimatetexans/2013/11/texans-release-ed-reed/

I'd look for the 49ers to sniff around if Eric Reid's concussions are thought to be a big problem. The one Sunday was his second of the season.