The NFL schedule makers have a thankless job.
No matter what they come up with, somebody somewhere is bound to be unhappy about it.
But here in Week 11 of the NFL season, we must applaud their work. According to the NFL.com power rankings, eight of the 10 best teams in the NFL are playing against each other on Sunday.
The Eagles will host the Detroit Lions in the Sunday night game on NBC in what many thought was going to be last year’s NFC Championship.
Here’s a look at each of the games among top contenders Sunday and how the Eagles fit in among the elite with eight weeks remaining before the start of the postseason.
Tampa Bay (6-3) at Buffalo (6-3), 1 p.m.
The Eagles held on to beat the Bucs in the blistering Tampa heat in Week 4. Tampa Bay rebounded with a wild win at Seattle in Week 5, but since then have lost at Detroit and at home against the surprising Patriots. The next two weeks will tell us a lot about the Bucs with road games against the Bills and Rams, but even if they lose both games they are still likely to win the weak NFC South for a fifth straight season. At the moment, I’d rank the Bucs fifth among NFC teams with a chance to reach the Super Bowl and 12th among teams with a chance to win the Super Bowl. That could change when receivers Mike Evans and Chris Godwin return from injuries, but the Bucs’ defense isn’t as fierce as it once was.
The Bills have won the AFC East five straight years, but the Patriots, who won 19 of the 21 division titles before that, are back on top with a 9-2 record. The Pats won in Buffalo in Week 5 and the Bills have lost three of four, including their ugliest performance in a long time last week at Miami. With Josh Allen at quarterback, they are still very capable of turning things around, but the Patriots only have one team with a winning record left on their schedule so the road to the Super Bowl that has eluded and Allen could be more difficult than ever.
Seattle (7-2) at L.A. Rams (7-2), 4:05 p.m.
Former Ravens defensive coordinator Mike Macdonald is the favorite for coach of the year in his second season with the Seahawks and Seattle has a defense capable of winning it all. The Seahawks have allowed 20 points or fewer in seven of nine games and more than 100 yards rushing just three times. They also struck gold by signing Sam Darnold following his breakout season with the Vikings last year. If there’s any remaining concern about Darnold it’s his turnover total of 10, which is tied for the sixth month in the league. He has thrown six interceptions and lost four fumbles.
We’ll know a lot more about the Seahawks after this game, but I remain a little skeptical because they have only one win over a team with a winning record. I have the Seahawks with the fourth best chance of winning the NFC and the seventh best chance of winning the Super Bowl.
The Rams are the biggest threat to take down the Eagles as NFC champions and to win the Super Bowl at this stage of the season. Yes, the Eagles beat them in Week 3 at the Linc, giving Nick Sirianni a 4-0 record against Sean McVay, but they needed the miracle of two blocked field goals to do it.
Matt Stafford looks like the best quarterback in the league right now and he has the most weapons with running back Kyren Williams and the wide receiver duo of Puka Nucua and DaVante Adams. The Rams also have a fierce pass rush led by Byron Young and Jared Verse.
Kansas City (5-4) at Denver (8-2), 4:25 p.m.
The Chiefs are the only four-loss team on this list, but they are also the only four-loss team with Patrick Mahomes at quarterback and Andy Reid at head coach. They’ve been to the last five Super Bowls and won three of them, so they know how to figure things out and they are once again healthy. Their Week 5 loss at Jacksonville has turned this into a must-win game for the Chiefs. Lose here and their streak of nine straight AFC West titles is likely to be history. Even as a wildcard, however, I’d still put the Chiefs’ odds of winning the AFC at no lower than third behind Buffalo and Denver. I’d also still have the Ravens, despite their 1-5 start, in the top four.
Sean Payton has enhanced his already impressive legacy as a future Hall of Fame coach by returning the Broncos to prominence. Bo Nix hasn’t been quite as good in his second season (his eight interceptions are a concern), but the Broncos’ defense makes them a legitimate contender. Denver is No. 3 in points and yards allowed and leads the league with 46 sacks. Despite that immense pressure, the defense only has eight takeaways and the Broncos are a minus-four in turnover differential. They remain my fourth choice behind the Chiefs, Bills and Ravens to reach the Super Bowl and I have them at No. 8 when it comes to winning the Super Bowl.
Detroit (6-3) at Eagles (7-2), 8:20 p.m.
The Lions, led by quarterback Jared Goff, have perhaps the most explosive offense the Eagles will face this season and yet they have already lost one more game than they did a year ago when they were sure they were destined to reach the Super Bowl. Instead, they lost to the Commanders at home in the divisional round and watched the Eagles win it all. Now, they get a chance to prove they are the best team in the NFC.
Goff has a great offensive line and weapons galore. His top two running backs — Jahmyr Gibbs and David Montgomery — have combined for 1,159 yards and 13 touchdowns while averaging a combined 5.0 yards per carry. The receiving trio of Amon-Ra St. Brown, Jameson Williams and tight end Sam LaPorta has combined for 131 catches for 1,656 yards and 13 touchdowns. The Lions are good on defense, too. Their 30 sacks, led by Aidan Hutchinson’s seven, are the second most in the NFC. A win here would put the Lions in great position to win their third straight NFC North title. Right now, I’d put the Lions at a very close No. 2 behind the Rams to win the NFC. Those two teams play in Los Angeles in Week 15 on Dec. 14.
Finally, we get to the Eagles. No team in the NFL is better situated to win their division and it could be argued that no team received a bigger boost from a single player at the trade deadline than the Eagles did with the acquisition of edge rusher Jaelan Phillips.
But look at the overall numbers and the temperature of the locker room and it’s hard to love the Eagles right now. They are 12th in the league in scoring and 23rd in offensive yards. On defense, they are 10th in points allowed and 18th in yards allowed. A.J. Brown has made it known that he wants the Eagles to be a more explosive offensive team and they are going to have to be if they want to return to the Super Bowl.
Right now, I have them behind the Rams and Lions in the NFC, but ahead of every team in the AFC. The Eagles would obviously help themselves a lot with a win today because they’d then have the inside track to the top seed in the conference after beating both the Rams and Lions.
We’ll see how it all plays out, but today there’s a lot of good football on the schedule so sit back and enjoy it.
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