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    • Steelers and Bills triumph in rivalry
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    Steelers and Bills triumph in rivalry

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    The 32 things we learned from Week 11 of the 2024 NFL season:

    1. Sunday provided ample evidence that the league should mark at least one official rivalry weekend per season. Several consequences emerged in important matches between opponents who know each other all too well.

    2. No bigger game so far in this regular season than the one between the Kansas City Chiefs and Buffalo Bills, with the latter handing the former their first loss of the 2024 season. Now only half a game behind KC in the AFC overall standings, the Bills pose a very legitimate threat to gain home field advantage.

    3. We can also forego the obligatory celebration of the undefeated ’72 Miami Dolphins, although it’s sad that the recently deceased Mercury Morris is no longer part of that.

    4. Buffalo’s win was secured thanks to QB Josh Allen’s highlight reel, a 26-yard TD run with just over two minutes to play. He may not end up with stats as gaudy as those of Baltimore Ravens counterpart Lamar Jackson, but Allen’s success with a team seemingly depleted this offseason should put him squarely in the conversation for his first MVP award .

    5. In their last seven meetings with the Chiefs, the Bills have won all four regular-season games but dropped all three in the playoffs.

    6. Could the difference between them in 2024, amid the spirited and overwhelming rivalry between the Ravens and Pittsburgh Steelers, be their kickers? Will the decisive lead go to Pittsburgh’s Chris Boswell? Boswell scored all of Pittsburgh’s points in Sunday’s 18-16 win, three of his field goals from 50+ yards, including a 57-yarder. Meanwhile, Baltimore’s Justin Tucker missed from 47 and 50 yards — essentially costing his team the win — in what continues to hold up as the Hall of Famer’s potential worst season.

    7. Meanwhile, Boswell has now hit 29 of his 30 field goal attempts in 2024, including all 20 inside 50 yards (yes, he’s 9 of 10 beyond that). He has scored at least four field goals in four games this season, and Sunday marked the second time he scored a six-pack for all Iron City points in Pittsburgh.

    8. By the way, wasn’t QB Russell Wilson supposed to solve the Steelers’ red zone problems? Pittsburgh went 0-for-4 against the league’s worst pass defense on Sunday and is 3-for-12 in the past three games. Wilson’s 22-game TD pass streak — the longest active in the NFL — came to an end.

    8a. The Steelers had 18 points and 18 first downs. The Ravens had 16 points and 16 first downs.

    9. Leave it to Steelers coach Mike Tomlin to sum up the state of play for his 8-2 squad: “I love Boz, man. I’m tired of him getting (special teams) player of the week. He probably won player of the week.” This week he deserves it, but it reminds us of our warts. It reminds us of the work we have to do. But man, I’m undoubtedly grateful to have him on our team.

    10. Baltimore’s offense, which in the game compared favorably with the best units in league history – at least in numbers – scored the fewest points of the season and also recorded the fewest yards (329).

    11. Could another uninspiring performance against Pittsburgh cost Jackson his third MVP award? Stay informed.

    12. And as much as we’d like to think of Pittsburgh-Baltimore as the NFL’s best rivalry in the last fifteen years, it should be noted that the Steelers have won eight of the last nine meetings.

    13. The number of penalties the foul-prone Tennessee Titans committed in their 23-13 loss to the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday. The Titans came into the game among the league leaders with an average of 7.7 flags per game before nearly doubling that number.

    14. Vikes WR Justin Jefferson didn’t have a big game, but his 81 receiving yards gave him 6,811 for his career, the most ever for a player in his first five seasons – and ‘Jets’ has seven more games to extend that mark.

    15. Speaking of Jets — lesser models, anyway — the New York Jets were expected to have one of the league’s elite defenses, and perhaps the best in 2024, but they’ve allowed at least 23 in five of six games points allowed since former coach Robert Saleh’s abrupt attack. shoot after week 5.

    16. It appears the Indianapolis Colts have returned QB Anthony Richardson just in time. After a two-game benching, his four-yard TD run in the final minute not only kept Indy’s playoff hopes alive with a 28-27 victory, it might have officially put Gang Green on the line. Richardson’s passer rating of 106.5 Sunday was his best in an entire NFL game, and he matched his career high by accounting for three touchdowns (1 passing, 2 rushing). Richardson’s completion percentage of 66.7% was also his best in a game in which he attempted at least 15 throws.

    17. The Chicago Bears’ new offense – now run by promoted coordinator Thomas Brown – largely outperformed the hated Green Bay Packers on Sunday, with more yards (391-366) and first downs (23-19), a significantly better time of possession. almost 12 minutes) and didn’t turn the ball over (Green Bay did that once). But Windy City residents will hate that the Packers had more points in a 20-19 win and more blocks on game-winning field goal attempts.

    18. The Pack have run their record in the league’s most storied rivalry at 108-95-6, including wins in the past eleven meetings.

    19. The Seattle Seahawks ambushed the team they have come to love most in recent years, beating the San Francisco 49ers 20-17 in Silicon Valley and – technically – moving the Niners to last place in the NFC West to drop.

    20. The inactive Arizona Cardinals (6-4) continue to lead the division, but are just one game ahead of cellar-dwelling San Fran (5-5).

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    21. The Detroit Lions’ 52-6 demolition of the Jacksonville Jaguars is as bad a defeat as you’ll see in the NFL, especially in this age of equality. It was the worst loss in the Jags’ 30-season history.

    22. The Lions had 475 yards… more than Jacksonville. Detroit scored a touchdown on each of its first seven possessions.

    23. Now 9-1, the Lions are off to their best start since going 10-0 in 1934 – their first year in Detroit after being born in 1930 as the Portsmouth Spartans.

    24. The number of consecutive games – a league record – in which the current NFC leaders have scored at least one rushing TD. The Lions had three against Jacksonville.

    25. Note to Lions WR Jameson Williams: The NFL will eventually edit your highlights — although that didn’t happen on Sunday — if you continue to celebrate like Marshawn Lynch.

    25a. And that would be a shame, as Williams scores are always lightning, all seven of his regular season TDs coming from beyond 30 yards.

    26. Detroit QB Jared Goff had a 158.3 passer rating after completing 24 of 29 throws for 412 yards and four touchdowns against the Jaguars. It was only the second perfect score in Goff’s nine-year career, but the third time he has surpassed 150.0 in the past seven games.

    27. While it seems like a foregone conclusion that Washington Commanders QB Jayden Daniels will ultimately be named Offensive Rookie of the Year, don’t count out Las Vegas Raiders TE Brock Bowers just yet. He leads all freshmen with 70 catches for 706 yards after a 13-grab, 126-yard burst Sunday at Miami.

    27a. Bowers’ 13 receptions on Sunday are a single-game record for a rookie tight end.

    28. However, Bowers wasn’t the man with the most impact at this position on the same field Sunday. The Dolphins’ Jonnu Smith posted a career day (6 catches, 101 yards, 2 TDs) as Miami won again and continued to push back toward the confines of the playoff picture.

    29. While it seems like a foregone conclusion that Washington Commanders QB Jayden Daniels will ultimately be named Offensive Rookie of the Year, don’t rule out Denver Broncos QB Bo Nix just yet. In Sunday’s 38-6 loss to the NFC South leader Atlanta Falcons, Nix eclipsed 300 passing yards for the first time this season and threw four touchdowns for the first time in an NFL game. Nix, the sixth quarterback drafted in the first round this year, can’t match Daniels’ talent, but he could certainly make an equally impactful splash as a rookie with both Denver and Washington currently in the wild-card position.

    30. Is an NFC Offensive Player of the Week award coming to New Orleans Saints QB/RB/FB/TE/KR Taysom Hill after piling up 188 yards from scrimmage on 15 touches while scoring three touchdowns in a 35-14 blowout of the Cleveland Tanning? He even returned a kickoff 42 yards.

    30 hours Or do we stop Hill’s interception and fumble him?

    31. Regardless, the Saints are now 2-0 since firing HC Dennis Allen and quietly climbing back up the NFC South standings.

    32. Uniform Note of the Week: The Cincinnati Bengals seem to be really committed to the orange pants they debuted this season. Sunday night was the first time they wore them with their white jerseys and…meh. Team founder Paul Brown deliberately mimicked the Browns uniforms when he founded the Bengals in 1968, and his son, current owner Mike Brown, appears to be reviving that “tradition.”

    ***

    Follow Nate Davis of USA TODAY Sports on X, formerly Twitter, @ByNateDavis.

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