NFL – 2024 WEEK 11 – STATS THAT STICK OUT

PASSING – JARED GOFF (QB, LIONS) JAX 6 at DET 52

In Week 11, the Lions embarrassed the Jaguars with a +46 margin of victory by dominating their opponent on both side of the football.  While Detroit’s defense held Jacksonville’s offense to only 170 total yards and 0 TDs, their offense had a historic day with 645 total yards, 38 first downs, 7 TDs, no turnovers, and scored TDs on their first 7 possessions of the game.  At the helm of this offensive triumph was 30-year-old Lions QB Jared Goff who connected with his receivers 24 of 29 times, threw for 412 yards, had 4 TDs, and a perfect 158.3 passer rating. Only 6 other players in the league have ever had at least 1 game with 400 passing yards, 4 passing TDs & a perfect QB rating in and Goff has now done it twice. (In 2018 as a Ram, Goff had 465 yards, 5 TDs and a 158.3 rating.).  Outside of a poor showing in Week 10 when he threw 5 interceptions, Goff is really hitting his stride in his ninth year in the league and fourth with the Lions. This season, he has a career best 73% completion, leads the league in yards per attempt (9.2), has 20 TDs to 9 interceptions and leads the league in fourth quarter comebacks (3). And with his Week 11 stats, he tied Dan Marino for the most games in his first 9 seasons with at least 350 passing yards… As for the rest of the season, I believe the Lions can win a majority of the 7 games they have left. But I will be focusing hard on the Week 15 matchup with the Bills, a possible early Super Bowl preview.  

RUSHING – SAQUON BARKLEY (RB, EAGLES) WAS 18 at PHI 26

The Eagles started 2023 with a 10-1 record but lost 5 of their last 6 games and suffered a bad wild card loss to end their season. Optimism rebounded in the offseason when Philly addressed the late season collapse by hiring new coordinators and making roster adjustments.  And while the team struggled early in their 2024 campaign, they’ve won 6 straight since their Week 5 bye and at 8-2 look poised once again to make a push to the playoffs. Now, with 7 games left in this season, will last year’s dodgy outcome continue to hang over this team? According to some players, there is positivity that Philadelphia will handle the late season challenges better than last year. Eagles WR Britain Covey recently said, “I feel like coach Sirianni has done a really good job with his messaging. This whole week’s message was that we’re 6-0 but it doesn’t matter. Don’t get complacent. Everyone’s kind of buying into that, which is a good feeling. You trust the trajectory.” One thing is for certain, the team does have a major advantage it didn’t have a year ago: RB Saquon Barkley.  In his first season with the Eagles, the 27-year-old is having an MVP caliber year. He currently leads the league in most yards per game (113.7), most rushing attempts (197) and most scrimmage yards (1,347), plus he has the second most rushing yards (1,137) and is sixth in rushing TDs (8)… Stats aside, he’s also been instrumental in helping the Eagles push through games they may have lost last season. One example is Week 11’s matchup with division rival Commanders when the former Pro Bowler had 26 carries for 146 rushing yards (5.6 AVG) and scored 2 TDs.  But he really proved his mettle when over the last 15+ minutes, he had 11 rushes for 90 yards to help Philadelphia turn a near loss at home to a virtual win… Barring any injuries, Barkley should continue to pad his wallet in addition to his stats this season. Per the three-year, $37.8 million contract he signed with the Eagles earlier this year, Barkley is set to earn $13.5 million via a signing bonus, base salary, and workout bonus, but he could earn $3 million more in individual and team incentives. For example, he is 153 yards shy of earning an extra $250,000 for hitting 1,500 rushing yards this year. For 2,000 yards, he will earn an additional $250,000. Also, if the Eagles win the NFC Championship game and/or the Super Bowl, he would get an additional $250,000 for each win. Finally, if the Eagles make a deep playoff run and Barkley gets the team incentives, that money would be added to next year’s salary.  Those are some incentives!

RECEIVING – AMON-RA ST. BROWN (WR, LIONS) JAX 6 at DET 52

When I watch how extraordinary Detroit has been this year, it reminds me of the 2023 San Francisco 49ers leading up to their Super Bowl run.  The Lions have a similar balance, grit, ease of getting TDs, high Red Zone Scoring percentage, chemistry and elite weapons that give me the feeling the team could be on its way to their first Super Bowl appearance in franchise history…  Since their only loss during Week 2’s playoff rematch to the Buccaneers, the 9-1 Lions have won 8 straight and have become only the seventh team in NFL history to have at least three wins of 38+ points in a single season.  In fact, in two of their wins they scored 52 points and at least 40 points in four games of the ten they’ve played so far.  The Lions have also scored 336 points in 10 games for a 33.6-yard average per game.  As a whole, the group has been special, but some individuals like WR Amon-Ra St. Brown have been key contributors towards making the offense look so electric.  In Week 11, the 25-year-old Pro Bowler became only the third player in franchise history to post a game with at least 10 receptions, 150 receiving yards and 2 receiving TDs with his 11-11, 161 yards and 2 TD performance.  St. Brown has also produced a receiving TD in his eighth straight game which is tied for third for the longest single-season streak in the NFL since 1970.  And if that wasn’t enough, in Week 11 he had his eighteenth 100-yard performance, the third most in Detroit Lions history.  St. Brown admitted recently that he does think about his lasting legacy in the NFL (and how could you not), but he also is keeping his eyes on the bigger prize like the rest of the team.  “Everyone wants to have a lasting mark, or legacy, whatever you want to call it in this league, or you want to be remembered for something,” St. Brown said. “We’re doing some special stuff right now, but like I told everyone, right now is not the time to really think about that. Right now, we’re in the thick of it, we’re in it. One week at a time. We’ve got the Colts this week, and we’re just gonna keep continuing to try and put up points, make plays and help the team win.”

DEFENSE – KAMREN KINCHENS (DB, RAMS) LAR 28 at NE 22

Before the season began, I thought the Rams had a chance to make the post season due to their outstanding offensive weapons like QB Matt Stafford and elite WRs Puka Nacua and Cooper Kupp.  I also felt the team’s outlook would be affected by the health of these players.  So far, that prediction has held up.  Los Angeles started the season 1-4 (with three one-score losses) when both Nacua and Cupp went down with injuries.  But, since they’ve both come back healthy, the Rams have gone 4-1.  Now, at 5-5 and due to a mediocre division, it does appear there is still hope for the Rams to make the post season.  But the team will need other players to step it up down the stretch to beat the odds (BetMGM Sportsbook: Rams have a 24.4% chance to make the post season) and beat playoff contenders Eagles and Bills, plus division competitors Niners, Cardinals and Seahawks.  One such player that could make help a difference is rookie DB Kamren Kinchens, who some experts think could be a budding star in the NFL.  In Week 11’s road game the 22-year-old out of Miami had 8 tackles (6 solo), 2 defensive stops, 1 forced fumble and a game changing interception on the final drive to stop the Patriots from getting a go-ahead TD.  For this performance, Kinchens earned the NFC Defensive Player of the Week honor, his second time in three weeks.  It was also his best game in the league to date.  According to PFF, Kinchens also earned a 92.6 grade which led all other defensive players in Week 11.  Kinchens has previously shined in the secondary in Week 9 when he had 2 interceptions against the Seahawks including a 103-yard pick six TD return.  Head Coach Sean McVay likes the confidence the rookie has been building and how he could keep getting better. “He’s tough. I thought he played pretty – it felt like he was sometimes playing at a different speed than everyone else yesterday.” McVay said. “You could see he doesn’t flinch at the point of contact. I thought he made some great open-field tackles. He’s continuing to get an understanding. He’s got great range and great athleticism, but he’s continuing to get an understanding of, where do I fit within these coverage contours? Where are people trying to attack me? It’s another game where he ends up making a game-changing play to be able to close it out. I appreciate his awareness as a young guy to go down and just let us knee it out… I thought he really made his presence felt throughout the course of the game and the confidence is continuing to grow as he’s getting reps.”

SPECIAL TEAMS – CHRIS BOSWELL (K, STEELERS) PIT 18 at BAL 16

It’s been fascinating to follow along with kickers this season to see how their successes (and failures) have affected the overall outlook for the teams they play for.   Some kickers like the Lions’ Jake Bates have hardly been called upon to make field goals (only 15 attempts) because of the Lions abilities to get Red Zone Scoring TDs (4th best – 68.29%).  Then there are others like Steelers kicker Chris Boswell who have been instrumental in putting up points to help their teams get over the finish line because of their poor Red Zone Scoring (Steelers are 30^th ranked, or 44.74%).  This fact was on display in Week 11 when Boswell scored all of Pittsburgh’s 18 points, or 6 Field Goals since the Steelers could not score a TD against the Ravens.  Thus, without Boswell making all of his field goals, Pittsburgh would have fallen to their division rival and likely playoff contender, the Baltimore Ravens.  That game was obviously very important for both teams, as the 8-3 Steelers and 7-4 Ravens will vie for the division lead as we head down the stretch to the playoffs.  It’s why Boswell was named AFC Player of the Week for the second time this season…  This is not the first time Boswell has scored 6 field goals in a single game for Pittsburgh.  He had done it two other times (2024 Week 1 versus Atlanta and in 2017 during a playoff win against KC). Boswell now has 260 career field goals ranking second all-time in franchise history only behind Gary Anderson who had 309 FGs in his 13 seasons (1982-1994).  If the Steelers continue to lack the ability to score TDs this year, Boswell will come very close to breaking the all-time FG record for the Steel City.

APPRECIATION POST – MARCEDES LEWIS (TE, BEARS)

The two oldest players in the NFL right now are both 40 years old.  One is QB Aaron Rodgers, who most people have heard of.  The other is tight end Marcedes Lewis, who most never heard of, including myself before I researched the oldest players in the league.  

I wanted to find out this info, because I wanted to show my appreciation to players who continue to grind in one of the toughest sports on Earth and whose careers tend to be relatively short.  

In fact, according to Statista.com, the average NFL career is only 3.3 years.  For tight ends, it’s even shorter: 2.85 years.  So, for Marcedes Lewis to last 19 YEARS in the league and appear in 278 games, it’s a huge deal.    

Lewis first appeared in the league in 2006 for Jacksonville who drafted him as the 28th overall pick in the first round of the 2006 draft.  He has played for so long- he is now the only active player from the 2006 NFL Draft.  

The native Californian played for Jacksonville 12 years (2006-2017), then he played for Green Bay 5 years (2018-2022) and finally, he found himself with the Bears for the last two seasons.  

In 2023, Lewis was asked how he has managed to stick around the league for so long.  The 6’6, 267-pounder said it’s a combination of a consistent mental and physical routine.  He basically gets up at the same time every day and does consistent training each day of the week and he invests in recovery time which is very important to him.  He uses a combination infrared sauna and cold tub and then will add “synthetic drainage boots, medical-grade”, then a possible visit to the hyperbaric chamber or acupuncture.  Then perhaps even cryotherapy.

But Lewis said “the most important part” of his plan is sleep.  He makes sure to give his muscles this recovery time and also, he uses the quiet time to reflect, meditate and set his goals for the next day.  

When asked how old he actually feels, Lewis said, “28 or 29”.  This is amazing, considering Lewis is older than some head coaches in the league…

For the full fascinating interview with Marcedes Lewis, visit GQSports.com.

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