If the playoffs started today, the Titans, Jaguars, Eagles, Vikings, Saints and Rams would all be in while the Cowboys, Falcons, Lions, Packers, Raiders, Broncos and Texans would be left watching. The NFL is a strange place for sure as we head into the business part the schedule, and there are some massive games this week that will help decipher the landscape for the rest of the campaign.
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The Numbers
1: The number of wins the Bills has in the state of California since 2004. The good news for Buffalo is that that one win did come last season when it visited the Rams at the Los Angeles Coliseum. Now back in L.A. for the second straight year, the Bills will take on the Chargers and hope to end a two-game skid in which the team was woeful against the Jets and Saints. Buffalo has failed to win each of its last five games on the road against AFC West foes. The last AFC West team the Bills beat on the road was Kansas City in 2011.
3: The number of road games in which the Jaguars have been favored this season. It’s the first time Jacksonville has been favored in three road games in the same campaign since 2008. The Jaguars are laying nine at Cleveland on Sunday, marking the first time since 2006 that they were favored by more than a touchdown on the road.
12.5: The number representing the highest point spread of Week 11. The Chiefs are giving 12.5-points to the Giants at the Meadowlands. It’s the first time since 2007 that the Giants have been double-digit underdogs at home, and it’s the first time Kansas City has been a double-digit road favorite since 1992. Ben McAdoo’s club keeps finding new lows with seemingly every week. It can’t possibly get much lower than giving up 51 points to the Chargers or losing to the 0-9 49ers… right?
14: The number of times the Chargers have been beaten by one possession over the course of the last two seasons. The Bolts have played 23 games in that span and have lost 14 of them by one score. San Diego/L.A. has easily been the unluckiest team in the NFL between horrible injuries and close losses. One could suggest that good fortune will come around at some point. Then again, one could also suggest that this is exactly what Dean Spanos deserves for moving the team out of San Diego in the first place.
49: The number of points in the over/under of the Redskins/Saints game, the highest total amongst the Week 11 betting odds. New Orleans’ resurgence on defense this year has been something else. This is a team that notorious can’t run the football and struggles to make Drew Brees’ epic passing performances stand up. Yet on a day that Brees didn’t even throw for 200 yards last week against the Bills, the Saints became the first team since 1942 to rush for six touchdowns without a single touchdown pass in a victory. This is a really bad spot for a must-win game for the Redskins, but that’s the reality they’re facing at 4-5. Each of the last four games in this series have featured at least 53 points, and all four have gone past the total.
Opening Week 11 NFL Odds
Titans at Steelers (-7, 43.5)
Lions at Bears (+3, 44)
Chiefs at Giants (+12.5, 44)
Buccaneers at Dolphins (-3)
Ravens at Packers (+2.5, 38)
Rams at Vikings (-1.5, 46)
Cardinals at Texans (+2.5)
Jaguars at Browns (+9, 38)
Redskins at Saints (-8, 49)
Bills at Chargers (-3.5, 44)
Bengals at Broncos (-3)
Patriots at Raiders (+5.5)
Eagles at Cowboys (+3.5, 47)
Falcons at Seahawks (-3, 45)
(Odds Courtesy of BookMaker.eu)
