Week 11 of the NFL season delivers one of the most anticipated matchups of the entire season as the Philadelphia Eagles host the Detroit Lions in a Sunday night showdown.
Meanwhile, we might finally learn if the Denver Broncos are for real or if their weekly high-wire act comes to a crash vs. the Kansas City Chiefs.
The two best teams in the NFC West go head-to-head as NFL favorite Matthew Stafford and the Los Angeles Rams host the Seattle Seahawks in a game that features two of the top three receivers (in terms of yards) in the NFL.
Will the Green Bay Packers and Buffalo Bills wake up?
Storylines abound Sunday and Monday as another NFL weekend gets underway. We break it all down here.
5 Best Games Sunday
(All game times ET; all point spreads from ESPN Bet)
1. Detroit Lions (6-3) at Philadelphia Eagles (7-2)
8:20 p.m. Sunday on NBC/Peacock
Philadelphia and Detroit are Nos. 1 and 3 in our latest NFL power rankings, so this is as good as it gets for a midseason regular-season matchup.
That said, the prevailing theme of this NFL season is that there is no singularly dominant team, no overwhelming Super Bowl favorite. Every great team has a curious loss (or two) on its resume already.
The Lions lost at home to struggling young QB J.J. McCarthy and the Vikings two games ago, but they bounced back with a dominant 44-22 win at Washington last week.
The Eagles had that wild fourth-quarter collapse vs. Denver and then got blown out by the New York Giants, but they’ve won three straight since then (including that 10-7 standoff in Green Bay last Monday night).
Philadelphia is, of course, the reigning Super Bowl champ and has all of the key pieces back to make a return, but the offense has been unpredictable from week to week and star receiver A.J. Brown continues to vent about his lack of usage (understandably).
Detroit has no such offensive questions. When the Lions are rolling, they are probably the best offense in football with Jared Goff (2,235 passing yards, 20 TDs, 3 INTs) steady as usual, Jahmyr Gibbs having a stellar season (920 combined rushing and receiving yards and 9 TDs) and Amon-Ra St. Brown as dependable as any wideout in the league (64 catches for 693 yards and 8 TDs).
Home-field advantage matters as two of Detroit’s losses have come on the road in outdoor stadiums (Green Bay and Kansas City), while the Eagles fans will of course make their presence felt for a Sunday night showdown like this.
But will the Eagles offense show up as well?
Among the key injuries or Detroit, Pro Bowl tight end Sam La Porta was put on injured reserve with a back injury and cornerback Terrion Arnold has been ruled out for this game following a concussion.
Philadelphia is a 2.5-point favorite
Prediction: Lions 33, Eagles 27
2. Kansas City Chiefs (5-4) at Denver Broncos (8-2)
4:25 p.m. on CBS
Denver is without question the toughest team in the league to evaluate.
The Broncos have won seven straight games and their two earlier losses came by a combined four points. On paper, that would suggest they are one of the top teams in the NFL.
But then there’s the details.
Denver almost never makes it easy. Aside from comfortable wins over the Bengals and Cowboys — which doesn’t necessarily reveal much — the other five games in this winning streak have all been dramatic to varying degrees, including the wild 18-point fourth quarter rally to beat the Eagles, the even wilder 33-point fourth quarter rally to beat the Giants, an 11-point fourth quarter rally to beat the Texans, needing a late field goal to squeak past the Jets and a 10-7 win at home last week over the lowly Raiders.
The fourth quarter Broncos are elite. The rest of the time … hard to say.
Kansas City is the current betting favorite to win the Super Bowl, per BetMGM, despite being 5-4. At some point, though, the Chiefs are either going to have to assert themselves or stop being viewed as the Chiefs of old.
Denver RB J.K. Dobbins is having season-ending foot surgery while star cornerback Patrick Surtain has been ruled out for a third straight game. Kansas City remains without RB Isiah Pacheco.
Kansas City is a 4.5-point favorite
Prediction: Kansas City 27, Denver 24
3. Seattle Seahawks (7-2) at Los Angeles Rams (7-2)
4:05 p.m. Sunday on FOX
The first of two clashes between the NFC West’s best teams. Both come in having won four straight games and playing their best football of the season.
In its last two games, Seattle walloped the Commanders and Cardinals by a combined 46 points. Jaxon Smith-Njigba is the NFL’s first 1,000-yard receiver this season (63 catches for 1,041 yards and 5 TDs) and is more than 200 yards ahead of anyone else. Sam Darnold has thrown interceptions in four of his last five games, but he’s also been very efficient otherwise. He has just 5 incompletions total in those last two games (21 of 24 for 330 yards, 4 TDs, 1 INT vs. Washington and 10 of 12 for 178, 1 TD, 1 INT vs. Arizona as the game was a blowout early).
All of that said, perhaps no team in the NFL is playing better right now than the Rams, who won those four straight games all by two touchdown or more (17-3 at Baltimore, 35-7 vs. Jacksonville, 34-10 vs. the Saints and 42-26 at San Francisco).
Veteran QB Matthew Stafford is the favorite to win the MVP, per BetMGM’s odds, with 2,427 passing yards, 25 TDs and 2 INTs. When star WRs Puka Nacua (66-775-4) and Davante Adams (42-568-9) are healthy, this is one of the two best offenses in football along with Detroit, but Seattle has a feisty defense.
Adams is expected to play Sunday despite an oblique injury while DE Kobie Turner is questionable with a back injury.
Los Angeles is a 3.5-point favorite
Prediction: Rams 27, Seahawks 21
4. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (6-3) at Buffalo Bills (6-3)
1 p.m. Sunday on CBS
Sean McDermott gets credit for his role in elevating the Bills back to a perennial playoff team and viable Super Bowl contender, but his tenure will also be remembered for two things to this point.
First, the almost annual playoff losses to Kansas City. And second, his teams too often coming out flat against lesser opponents and dropping head-scratching games, like the inexplicable 30-13 loss at Miami last week.
There’s no overlooking this game against Tampa Bay, though, especially on the heels of that debacle vs. the Dolphins. Expect Buffalo to be the best version of itself at home in a bounce-back game, led of course by reigning MVP Josh Allen and James Cook, who is second in the NFL with 920 rushing yards and 7 TDs.
Tampa Bay is coming off a 28-23 loss to New England, and despite their hot start the Bucs might just be a good but not great team — the one that wins the games it should and loses its toughest games. They do have wins over Seattle (which seems to have reached another gear since) and San Francisco (with Mac Jones at QB), but the Bucs have lost to the Eagles, Lions and Patriots. The Bills would fit in that group, so this will be a chance for Tampa Bay to buck that narrative.
The Bucs will again be without RB Bucky Irving and WR Chris Godwin (along with, of course, WR Mike Evans).
Buffalo will be without emerging tight end Dalton Kincaid.
Buffalo is a 6.5-point favorite
Prediction: Bills 31, Buccaneers 24
5. Chicago Bears (6-3) at Minnesota Vikings (4-5)
1 p.m. Sunday on FOX
The Bears have won six of their last seven games, and second-year quarterback Caleb Williams has led game-winning touchdown drives in the final minutes of the last two victories.
There’s no denying first-year head coach Ben Johnson has Chicago on an upward trajectory, but it’s also fair to acknowledge their wins have come against the Cowboys, Raiders, Commanders, Saints, Bengals and Giants — none of those teams is better than 3-5-1.
The Vikings don’t have a winning record either and quarterback J.J. McCarthy is just a few very up-and-down starts into his NFL career, but much of the framework of their 14-win team last year remains in place. McCarthy truly is the wildcard week to week. Minnesota beat Detroit despite getting just 143 passing yards, but it lost to Baltimore as McCarthy completed less than half his passes and tossed 2 interceptions.
Minnesota is a 2.5-point favorite
Prediction: Vikings 24, Bears 20
Rounding Out The Week 11 Schedule
Thursday night result:
New England Patriots 27, New York Jets 14: Drake Maye passed for 281 yards and a TD and TreVeyon Henderson had 93 combined rushing/receiving yards and 3 TDs as the Patriots (9-2) pushed their winning streak to eight games.
Sunday morning in Spain:
Miami Dolphins 16, Washington Commanders 13: Jack Jones intercepted Marcus Mariota on the first play of overtime, and the Dolphins won on a 29-yard Riley Patterson field goal for their second straight victory (and third in four games) to improve to 4-7. De’Von Achane rushed for 120 yards in the win. The game was played in Madrid, Spain.
Other Sunday 1 p.m. games:
Carolina Panthers (5-5) at Atlanta Falcons (3-6): One week the Panthers are winning 16-13 over the Packers at Lambeau Field and the next they’re losing 17-7 at home to the Saints. Good luck trying to guess what this team is going to do from week to week. Carolina’s Bryce Young and Atlanta’s Michael Penix are both struggling former first-round picks and weekly wild cards. The Falcons have lost four straight but are 4-point favorites at home. Prediction: Falcons 34, Panthers 28
Houston Texans (4-5) at Tennessee Titans (1-8): Backup QB Davis Mills is making a second-straight start with C.J. Stroud (concussion) remaining out. Mills led Houston to 26 unanswered points in the fourth quarter last week to rally for a 36-29 win over Jacksonville, passing for 292 yards, 2 TDs and 1 INT. The Texans have the NFL’s best defense at 16.7 points per game allowed and 261.3 yards allowed. Houston is a 5.5-point road favorite. Prediction: Texans 24, Titans 17
Green Bay Packers (5-3-1) at New York Giants (2-8): With Jaxson Dart sidelined with a concussion, the Giants are starting Jameis Winston at quarterback (as he leaps over Russell Wilson on the depth chart) in their first game since firing head coach Brian Daboll. Green Bay, meanwhile, is reeling after consecutive losses at home to Carolina and Philadelphia, scoring just 20 combined points in those games. The loss of star TE Tucker Kraft to a season-ending injury has hurt, but the Packers should be better than that with QB Jordan Love, RB Josh Jacobs and a bevy of young, talented WRs. Expect a bounce-back game from Matt LaFleur’s team. Green Bay is a 7.5-point road favorite. Prediction: Packers 31, Giants 17
Cincinnati Bengals (3-6) at Pittsburgh Steelers (5-4): Aaron Rodgers played his worst game as a Steeler last week (161 yards, 1 TD, 2 INTs) in a lopsided loss to the Chargers, as Pittsburgh lost for the third time in four games. Meanwhile, the Bengals’ defense is the worst in the league and keeps squandering potential wins for the team as Cincinnati lost 39-38 to the Jets and 47-42 to the Bears the last two games. The Bengals’ only win since losing QB Joe Burrow early in the season was that 33-31 win over the Steelers last month. Pittsburgh is a 5.5-point favorite. Prediction: Bengals 28, Steelers 25
Los Angeles Chargers (7-3) at Jacksonville Jaguars (5-4): These are two teams going in completely opposite directions. The Chargers have won three straight and looked dominant in that 25-10 victory over Pittsburgh last week, while the Jaguars’ only win in the last four games came by one point over the lowly Raiders. Star receiver Brian Thomas has been ruled out this week for Jacksonville. Los Angeles is a 2.5-point favorite. Prediction: Chargers 38, Jaguars 25
Other Sunday 4:05/4:25 p.m. games:
San Francisco 49ers (6-4) at Arizona Cardinals (3-6): QB Brock Purdy (toe) is back for San Francisco, making his first start since Sept. 28 and his third of the season overall. Mac Jones was serviceable in his stead, but the 49ers have alternated wins and losses for the last eight games. The Cardinals had the big win in Dallas on Monday night two weeks ago, but they got humbled last week by the Seahawks, falling behind 35-0 midway through the second quarter. San Francisco is a 3.5-point favorite. Prediction: 49ers 34, Cardinals 21
Baltimore Ravens (4-5) at Cleveland Browns (2-7): The Ravens are rolling again with Lamar Jackson back at QB. They’ve won three straight and have the eighth-best Super Bowl odds despite having a losing record still. The Browns are … well, the Browns. Rookie QB Dillon Gabriel has been held under 170 passing yards in three straight games. Baltimore is a 7.5-point favorite. Prediction: Ravens 28, Browns 10
Monday Night Football:
Dallas Cowboys (3-5-1) at Las Vegas Raiders (2-7): This will be Dallas’ first game since trading for DT Quinnen Williams and LB Logan Wilson. The Cowboys are always capable of piling up points with Dak Prescott, CeeDee Lamb and George Pickens, and if that defense can improve a bit maybe they can make some noise the rest of the way. The Raiders … well … TE Brock Bowers is fun to watch! So there’s that. Dallas is a 3.5-point favorite. Prediction: Cowboys 31, Raiders 27