Week 11 Provides Tough Test for NFL Teams Lacking in Muscle

A half-dozen strong teams entered Week 11 of the NFL with winning records, but questions remain as to whether they have enough muscle to keep up the good work.

These teams have spent part of the season playing different roles—from division favorites to conference leaders—but are still in position to make a second-half push for the playoffs.

Here’s a look at the main bubble teams ahead of the Week 12 matchups.

The Kansas City Chiefs

Last season’s Super Bowl runner-up is stumbling through this season. In fact, the Chiefs tumbled to the turf on Sunday, falling 22–19 to the division-leading Denver Broncos on a boot through the uprights on the game’s final play.

They won numerous games last season in the waning minutes or seconds and flipped the switch in the playoffs to reach the Super Bowl, but Kansas City now sits at 5–5. Most experts believe the team can rebound to make the postseason, but quarterback Patrick Mahomes and the offense have to pick things up.

The Chiefs are 1–4 on the road and have lost their past two games—both by one score. Despite not being able to play complementary football, Mahomes and his squad have a line of sub-.500 teams on the schedule, featuring the Dallas Cowboys, Las Vegas Raiders, and Tennessee Titans, so a 4–2 finish is in the cards.

Los Angeles Chargers

A lot of observers want to pull the plug on quarterback Justin Herbert, who shoulders a lot of the blame for the failures of a team that has never won a Super Bowl. The Chargers were unable to connect on Sunday, falling 35–6 to the Jacksonville Jaguars.

The Chargers are 7–4 and in second place in the division, but they seem to lack the juice needed to make a serious playoff run.

Los Angeles’s No. 2 NFL team fell behind early and faded in the second half to the 6–4 Jaguars, who have been as up and down as any of the mediocre AFC teams.

Herbert was 10 of 18 for 81 yards and was sacked twice for -18 yards. The Jags are clinging to playoff relevancy, but looking as inconsistent as their fifth-year quarterback Trevor Lawrence.

The Seattle Seahawks

Sam Darnold might have a Rams problem. Seattle’s four-game winning streak came to a halt after the quarterback’s four-interception game, which Los Angeles won when a last-second Seahawks field goal from 61 yards sailed wide in a 21–19 loss.

Darnold had a choppy performance in his home area of Southern California. The eighth-year quarterback completed 29 of 44 passes for 279 yards, but the four turnovers were a death knell.

That’s a concern for Seattle, whose quarterback lost to Los Angeles in the wild card round of the playoffs and in the middle of campaign last season. The postseason debacle featured nine Rams sacks in a 27–9 demolition of Darnold’s Minnesota Vikings.

Ghosts or demons, Darnold looks haunted in Los Angeles.

Chicago Bears

Second-year signal caller Caleb Williams and first-year coach Ben Johnson are giving their fans heart problems or ulcers with all the close games, but they won their third consecutive game, this one a 19–17 decision on a walk-off 48-yard field goal after Devin Duvernay delivered a 56-yard kickoff return with less than a minute on the clock.

The Bears are 7–3 but have been walking the tightrope like circus performers, coming up with last-minute miracles or capitalizing on opponents’ mistakes. However, good fortune is not a sustainable plan against quality teams, even if the Bears are now alone atop the NFC North.

Green Bay Packers

The book on Jordan Love is turning into a mystery—the biggest question being how good it is. Right now, it’s more borderline snoozy. Love tossed two touchdowns but was just 13 of 24 for 174 yards, and brought myriad experiences to Sunday’s 27–20 slog to victory against the New York Giants.

The victory halted a two-game slide and pulled the 6–3–1 Packers back into relevancy in the NFC North, a game behind the Bears. Green Bay needs consistency from Love and the offense if it expects to make a serious postseason run.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Quarterback Baker Mayfield has shown a great deal of grit this season, playing without a number of offensive weapons and bringing his team back from the brink numerous times early on, but in a 44–32 slugfest against the Buffalo Bills on Sunday, the Bucs ran out of steam.

The loss dropped them to 6–4, still very much a part of the NFC South Division title, but a tier behind the NFC’s elite. And the worst part about the loss might be the way the defense gave up too many chunk plays to Josh Allen and the 7–3 Bills.