Going in to week 11, the USFFL featured several marquee matchups and the game action lived up to the hype. The key games this week featured New England vs Philadelphia, Dallas vs Detroit, and Baltimore vs. Houston with each game having division leading implications. Starting in the AFC, the Patriots held off the Eagles 27-17 helping the team from New England to maintain their first place position in the East, and dropping the boys from Philly a game out of first place in the NFC East. The Ravens dominated the Texans 27-10 to maintain their lead in the AFC North. The Tennessee Titans were on Bye, but due to the Texan’s loss the Titans were able to extend their lead in the AFC South by a half game. Out in the AFC West the Chiefs beat the Chargers 20-6 to maintain their 2 1/2 game lead over the Broncos. On the NFC side of the ledger, in a game of division leaders facing off against each other, the Cowboys defeated the Lions 30-19. Combined with the Philadelphia loss, the Cowboys now have sole possession of first place in the NFC East. Even with the loss, the Lions kept their claws on the first place spot in the North due to the Bears’ loss to the Rams 27-10 in Los Angeles. In the battle in Tampa Bay, New Orleans’ 34-18 win enabled the Saints to creep closer to the Falcons who lost to the Panthers 29-17. Finally, in the NFC West, the Niners maintained their lead over the Seahawks by defeating the Cardinals in San Francisco by a score of 30-0.
Division Leads
AFC
East – Patriots by 3 over the Bills
North – Ravens by 2 over the Bengals
South – Titans by 2 over the Texans
West – Chiefs by 1 1/2 over the Broncos
NFC
East – Cowboys by 1 over the Eagles
North – Lions by 1 over the Bears and Packers
South – Falcons by 1 over the Saints
West – Niners by 1 over the Seahawks
Wildcard preview
If the season were to end after week 11, Denver would hold one of the two slots in the West. Cincinnati and Oakland are tied for the second slot, with both teams having records of 6-4. In the NFC, Seattle would take the first slot and New Orleans, and Philadelphia are tied for the final wild card slot with both teams holding records of 6-4. It’s too early in the season to start analyzing the tie-breakers, but I will start to details those out as we get closer to the end of the season.
Week 12 Preview
Week 12 is set to feature several interesting games including a Division leader matchup between the Cowboys and the Patriots. Other games of note include Tampa Bay at Atlanta, Seattle at Philadelphia, and Denver at Buffalo.
Game of the Week
Dallas at Detroit
Michael Gallup scored three touchdowns and had 200 yards receiving to lead the Dallas Cowboys to a 30-19 come-from-behind win over the Detroit Lions, who were down to their 3rd string QB because of injuries. The Lions jumped out to a 10-0 lead on a 22-yard TD pass from David Blough to Marvin Jones with 5:06 left in the 1st quarter. The teams traded field goals before Dak Prescott hit Gallup on a 13-yard TD pass with 4:12 left in the half to make it 13-10. The Lions Matt Prater kicked a 50-yard FG as the first half ended and the Lions went into the locker room up 16-10.
After a Cowboy’s field goal made it, 16-13, Dallas took its first lead of the game with 6:36 left in the third on a 3-yard TD pass from Prescott to Gallup. The play was set up by a 71-yard pass to Gallup that gave Dallas the ball at the Detroit 3-yard line. Prescott hit Gallup on a 47-yard scoring strike on the Cowboy’s next possession to put Dallas up 27-16 with 2:42 left in the third.
Prater kicked a 53-yard FG early in the final period to bring Detroit to within one score at 27-19. Dallas then went on a 7 minute drive which ended at the Lion’s six and ended in a FG which ended the scoring.
The loss ended a five-game winning streak for the Lions who were still in first place in the NFC North after week 10. Detroit was 3-12-1 in the actual 2019 season so Michael has done a great job with them so far and has at least qualified for the Coach of the Year Tournament. The Cowboys improved to 7-3. They travel to New England (8-2) for an interconference matchup next week. They host the red-hot Buffalo Bills in two weeks in a Thanksgiving Day matchup. The Lions will travel to Washington to take on The Football Team (3-7) before they will host Chicago (4-6) in a big Division matchup on Thanksgiving Day.
Weekly Leaders
Quarterback
Dak Prescott 370 yards passing and 3 TD’s versus the Broncos. Josh Allen 350 yards passing and 3 TD’s versus the Dolphins.
Receivers
Michael Gallup 200 yards, 3 TD’s. Noah Fant 185 yards. Stefon Diggs 181 yards and 2 TD’s.
Running Backs
Phillip Lindsay 157 rushing yards and 4 TD’s. Dalvin Cook, Miles Sanders, and Joe Mixon each rushed for over 140 yards. Mixon also had 2 rushing TD’s.
Odds and Ends
Joe Haden had 2 picks for Pittsburgh. Cameron Jordan had 3 sacks for the Saints.