NFL 2024 Season - Week 11
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Articles published multiple times per week, offering insights and picks on upcoming games.
 
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Week 11
Improv
To the Brink
Week 10
Odd Man Out
Lions come Calling
Rookie versus Veteran
Call to Action
Full Reverse
When 8-0 is 4-4
Game of Contradictions
NFC West Bunch
Early Boarding
Week 9
Not Enough, Too Much
Real or Imposters
Groin Shot
Best Show
Saddle Up
Dull Edges
Telling Actions
Annihilation Formula
Week 8
No and No
Old Glory
Rookie Face Off
Adding it Up
Holding On
Jets Down
Unload and Reload
No Surprise
Career Paths
It Hurts
Week 7
Harbaugh Monday
Kids Camp
Barkley Back
Bird Battle
Mouse Time
Too Many?
Gone Shopping
Not Bad
40 for 3
Week 6
Try New
Night Vision
Trap Door
Looking Up
Wake Up Call
All Good Things
Bad Idea
Unexpected
Fire One
Week 5
Yes & Yes
Old Rivals
Rookie Sensation
So Close
Lunch in Seattle
Wake the Roosters
No Respect
Too Sweet
Turtle Flip
Week 4
Landmine
Bottoms Up
Winners and Losers
Call Me
Short Line
Reality Bites
Like Tonight
Uptick
Challenge Generates Performance
Week 3
Two Times
Reduced Value
Stars Down
The Other 21
Opportunity Knocks
Lots of Questions
Move Along People
Times Up
Week 2
Confidence Game
First and Second Picked QB's
Avoiding the Donut
Do or Die
One for the Road
Likewise
Adjustment Bureau
Down ... Not Out
Week 1
Time Marches On
Cashing the Trade
Start Here
Say What
Quick Up, Quick Down
Brazil Play Date
Top Two Open
Super Bowl Pick
Season Win Totals
Moving on Up
Breakout to Breakdown
Preseason 4
Preseason Wrap
Rookie Playoff Run
Preseason 3
Short Memory
Two In, One Up
Eagles Hunt
Winning Formula
Preseason 2
Quarterback Shuffle
One Two, or Two One
Starters Sit
Remote Control
Money be Damned
Preseason 1
One Season to the Next
Public Shift
Comets in the Night
Offseason
Mahomes Chasing History
All's Well that Ends Well
Ups and Downs
     
 
Finding the Best
by Dennis Ranahan

Knowing who the best three teams are in the National Football Conference is a lot clearer than trying to plot the top three in the American Football Conference.

The defending Super Bowl Champion Kansas City Chiefs have lost two straight games and two more contests this season than they lost in all of their title campaign in 2022. They got beat three times last season and have fallen victim five times already this year.

With those credentials, it is safe to say the Chiefs are not the best team in the AFC. If we are to go strictly by the won and loss records, the Baltimore Ravens top the charts. John Harbaugh’s team is 10-3 this year and own a two game edge over second place Cleveland in the AFC North Division.

Two weeks ago, the Jacksonville Jaguars could have been considered the top team in the conference, and had they won their Monday night home game against the Cincinnati Bengals they would have elevated themselves to the top seed. They lost to Cincinnati, and followed that setback up with another defeat last Sunday against the Browns on the road.

So, based on season records and recent results, scratch the Jags from the top spot.

Okay, how about the Miami Dolphins? They had a shot at a share of the best record in the conference with a home win last Monday night, but they got upset while favored by 14 points in a home loss to the Tennessee Titans.

The Dolphins have something else that taints their excellent record, they have lost to all three teams they played that came into the game with a winning record. They got clobbered by the Buffalo Bills to snap their season opening three game winning streak, and lost in games against top competition to the Philadelphia Eagles and Kansas City Chiefs.

If the Dolphins don’t have a win against a winning team, they are certainly not the best in the conference.

But, before you anoint the Ravens the best among the 16 AFC teams, know this, everything is not based on past results alone. What if I was to tell you the best team in the AFC is not even currently a division leader, and needed a narrow win on Sunday night to avoid falling to a losing record.

That is the case.

From a handicapping standpoint, I’m much more interested in who is going to do great in the coming weeks than how well a team has played in games that have already exhausted their earning potential.

Who’s the best team in the AFC?

My money is on the Buffalo Bills.

Sure they have suffered surprise losses to the New York Jets and New England Patriots in their AFC East Conference, but they are also capable of beating any team anywhere in any weather.

Don’t yet believe me?

Perhaps a win over the high flying Dallas Cowboys this Sunday will go a long way to convince you that the Bills are the team with the brightest days ahead of them. Perhaps even, I contend, the best team in the AFC.

Qoxhi Picks: Buffalo Bills (-2) over Dallas Cowboys