THE HFL CRIMSON CHRONICLE
Green Bay's perfect season ends in Philadelphia, Denver and Cincinnati are the last two teams left unbeaten, and a running back the Chronicle had never featured before is the reason why.
Green Bay's perfect season ends in Philadelphia, Denver and Cincinnati are the last two teams left unbeaten, and a running back the Chronicle had never featured before is the reason why.
It took eleven weeks, but somebody finally beat Green Bay. Jonathan Taylor ran for 170 yards and two touchdowns, the Eagles forced four Packers giveaways and committed none of their own, and a 9-0 start that looked like it might run the table ended in a 27-26 final, decided by a single point. Denver and Cincinnati both won to stay perfect at 10-0 — the two remaining unbeaten teams in the league — while Green Bay drops to 9-1 in a three-way logjam with Washington at the top of a season that just got a lot more interesting.
Week 11 Scoreboard
| Browns | 10 | Bengals | 38 |
| 49ers | 3 | Chargers | 28 |
| Eagles | 27 | Packers | 26 |
| Dolphins | 35 | Patriots | 38 |
| Chiefs | 17 | Titans | 27 |
| Saints | 31 | Vikings ★ | 24 |
| Jets | 27 | Seahawks | 7 |
| Steelers | 17 | Bills | 35 |
| Texans | 27 | Bears | 14 |
| Raiders | 17 | Broncos | 21 |
| Ravens | 10 | Cowboys | 17 |
| Rams | 14 | Cardinals | 38 |
| Lions | 41 | Colts | 25 |
| Giants | 17 | Commanders | 31 |
| Panthers | 24 | Buccaneers | 31 |
All 32 teams were in action.
The commissioner's pick of the week was a strange one to watch on paper: Lamar Jackson went 17-of-20 for 260 yards and three touchdowns, a 158.3 rating, while being sacked twelve times. Twelve. New Orleans's offensive line had one of the worst pass-protection days the Chronicle has ever logged, and Jackson simply refused to let it matter — Rashee Rice caught three passes for 105 yards and a touchdown, Michael Mayer added a touchdown catch of his own, and the Saints still found 292 total yards despite getting nowhere on the ground.
Jordan Love threw for 132 yards and ran for two touchdowns for Minnesota, and Alex Highsmith terrorized the Saints backfield with four sacks, but it wasn't enough to overcome New Orleans's lead. The Saints improve to 7-3. Minnesota falls to 2-8.
Around the League
Cincinnati stayed perfect behind a workhorse day from Jaydon Blue — fourteen carries for 100 yards and a touchdown — and Derek Stingley Jr. added an 82-yard interception return for a score. Jahdae Walker caught two touchdown passes from Nicholas Battle, who needed only 13 attempts to throw for 141 yards and three scores. Cleveland turned it over six times and never found a rhythm. The Bengals are 10-0. Cleveland falls to 1-9.
Los Angeles's defense held San Francisco to 142 total yards and forced three sacks, and the offense didn't need much more than Alec Westbrook's and Antonio Gibson's short touchdown runs to cruise. Cam Ward threw for just 119 yards with no touchdowns for the 49ers, who managed only 23 rushing yards as a team. The Chargers improve to 8-3. San Francisco falls to 7-3.
Xavier Worthy caught three touchdown passes for New England, Breece Hall ran for 148 yards and a score and added a receiving touchdown of his own, and Drake Maye threw for four touchdowns in a game that came down to the final margin. Baker Mayfield answered with 369 yards and four touchdowns for Miami, and Terry McLaurin caught two scores among his 129 receiving yards, but it wasn't quite enough. New England improves to 4-6. Miami falls to 6-4.
Dak Prescott threw for 279 yards and two touchdowns, a 137.0 rating, and Marvin Daniels caught seven passes for 91 yards and two scores as Tennessee pulled away. Jalen Milroe was held to 137 passing yards but ran for 89 yards of his own, and Kansas City's defense allowed five sacks on offense while getting almost nothing done on the ground. Tennessee improves to 6-5. Kansas City falls to 4-7.
Both defenses scored: DeMarvion Overshown returned an interception 82 yards for a touchdown for New York, and Ernest Jones IV answered with a 79-yard pick-six of his own for Seattle — the difference was that the Jets' offense did the rest, Ben Bush breaking off a 52-yard run and finishing with a rushing touchdown, and Dillon Day adding a score through the air. The Jets improve to 8-3. Seattle falls to 1-9.
Dalton Kincaid caught three touchdown passes, Josh Allen threw for 273 yards and three scores, a 157.2 rating, and Alvin Kamara ran for 76 yards and two touchdowns as Buffalo pulled away comfortably. Emmett Bennett threw for 181 yards and ran for 78 more with a touchdown for Pittsburgh, but three Steelers giveaways were too much to overcome. Buffalo improves to 4-6. Pittsburgh falls to 2-8.
Bijan Robinson ran for 125 yards and a touchdown and caught four passes for 44 more, and Denzel Ward returned an interception 88 yards for a score as Houston forced five Chicago giveaways in all. Lorenzo Whitworth threw five interceptions for the Bears, and Terrelle Dodson's 103-yard receiving day was one of the only bright spots. Houston improves to 7-3. Chicago falls to 6-4-1.
Jahmyr Gibbs carried Denver again — 23 carries for 80 yards and three touchdowns, plus four catches for 82 yards, 162 total yards and three scores — in a game that was closer than the final margin suggests. Jaxson Dart threw for 116 yards and ran for 69 more with a score, and Jeremy Chinn returned a fumble for a touchdown, but Las Vegas couldn't complete the upset. The Broncos are 10-0. Las Vegas falls to 1-10.
Chigoziem Okonkwo caught six passes for 95 yards and a touchdown, and Spencer Rattler threw for 199 yards and ran for a score of his own as Dallas held off Baltimore. Quinshon Judkins ran for 82 yards and a touchdown for the Ravens, but the offense stalled behind him. Dallas improves to 5-5. Baltimore falls to 1-9.
Arizona ran for 233 yards as a team and forced four Los Angeles giveaways, including eight sacks, to cruise despite the Rams actually out-gaining them through the air — Jaylin Noel caught six for 133 yards, and Justin Jefferson and Romeo Doubs both scored, but none of it translated to points that mattered. Blake Corum and Jabari Howard combined for 183 rushing yards for the Cardinals. Arizona improves to 7-3. Los Angeles falls to 4-6-1.
Jerry Jeudy caught seven passes for 193 yards and two touchdowns, a 68-yard catch among them, and C.J. Stroud threw for 311 yards and five touchdowns, a 156.2 rating, as Detroit's offense was too much for Indianapolis all afternoon. Hayden Andrews threw for 112 yards and ran for two more scores for Indianapolis, and Christian McCaffrey added a receiving touchdown, but three Colts giveaways were too much. Detroit improves to 4-7. Indianapolis falls to 1-10.
Anthony Richardson Sr. threw for 276 yards and three touchdowns, a 139.4 rating and no interceptions, spreading scores to DeVonta Smith, Dennis Loftus and Tutu Atwell. Puka Nacua caught seven passes for 83 yards and a touchdown for New York, and Patrick Mahomes threw for 227 yards, but five Giants sacks allowed and a giveaway kept New York from ever threatening. Washington improves to 9-1, tied with Green Bay at the top of the standings. New York falls to 5-5.
Brandon Hart ran for 144 yards and a touchdown, an 80-yard burst included, and added 18 receiving yards and a second score, 162 total yards in all — and it still wasn't enough, because Justin Herbert threw for 257 yards and four touchdowns without an interception for Tampa Bay. Ladd McConkey caught two of them, and Tucker Kraft added 83 yards and a score of his own. Tampa Bay improves to 5-5. Carolina falls to 5-5.
The All-HFL Weekly Team
Week 11's honor roll, built straight from the box scores.
QB, Lions
HB, Broncos
WR, Lions
TE, Bills
REDGE, Vikings
WILL, Jets
K, Titans
Streaks & Trends
- Green Bay's perfect season is over. The Packers fall to 9-1 after losing to Philadelphia, and now share the best record in the league with Washington. Denver and Cincinnati remain the only two unbeaten teams left, both 10-0.
- Lamar Jackson posted a 158.3 rating while being sacked twelve times — an almost unbelievable combination, and probably the single strangest stat line the Chronicle has logged all season.
- Two defensive touchdowns in the same losing effort. Seattle's Ernest Jones IV returned a pick-six even as the Seahawks fell to 1-9 — a reminder that individual brilliance and team results don't always move together.
- Three teams turned the ball over five or more times. Cleveland (6), Chicago (5) and Los Angeles Rams (4, with 8 sacks allowed on top of it) all had the kind of day that turns a competitive game into a blowout.
- The bottom of the league keeps getting more crowded. Las Vegas, Baltimore, Seattle and Cleveland are all within a game of the league's worst record. Indianapolis, at 1-10, is alone at the very bottom.
Milestone Watch
- Jahmyr Gibbs, HB, Broncos. Another three-touchdown week keeps him on pace to break Bijan Robinson's single-season rushing record — the Chronicle will keep checking his pace as the season's back half plays out.
Record Book Watch
Nothing fell this week. C.J. Stroud's five touchdown passes and Jerry Jeudy's 193 receiving yards were both strong performances but well short of the all-time single-game marks (8 touchdown passes, 291 receiving yards). Wil Lutz's 72-yard field goal remains the most recent record to fall, still standing three weeks later.
Feature Story: The Streak Ends
Green Bay opened this season 9-0 and looked like it might not lose at all. Eleven weeks in, that streak is over. Philadelphia forced four Packers turnovers and committed none of its own, and Jonathan Taylor — a name that had not appeared in a Chronicle honor roll or feature all year — ran for 170 yards and two touchdowns to make sure the difference held up. Green Bay actually outgained Philadelphia through the air, 294 yards to 171, and still lost by a point.
That leaves two: Denver and Cincinnati, both 10-0, both with a full head of steam and neither one showing signs of the kind of vulnerability that just caught up to Green Bay. Washington, fittingly, moved into a share of the league's best record on the same day — beating the Giants to reach 9-1 itself. The math has changed in one important way: for ten weeks, the question was which of three or four teams would be the first to lose. Now it's simpler and somehow bigger. Two teams are left standing, and the Chronicle would not bet against either one finishing what Green Bay couldn't.
A word for Philadelphia, too, because ending a nine-game winning streak deserves more than a footnote. The Eagles are 7-4, not a great record by the league's standards this year, and they just played their best game of the season on the road, against the best team in the league, and won it clean.
Press Row & Transaction Wire
Press Row
The column stays open. No new quotes reached the desk this week, but Green Bay's streak ending gives every coach in the league something to say about their own team's chances now that the door is open a little wider. Send it in — a word about your own team, a shot across the division, a prediction you'll put your name to. Wit, not venom, as always. It runs in Issue 12.
Transaction Wire & Injury Report
Nothing crossed the trade wire this week, and the injury report is unchanged from Issue 10: Zach Sieler, DT, Dolphins, Bobby Brown III, DT, Dolphins, John Campa, TE, Vikings and Cam Beasley, FS, Patriots remain the only players the Hub's tracker currently lists as out.
Rookie Watch
All three of the rookies the Chronicle has tracked all season played this week.
- Warren Davis, QB, Broncos. 15-of-23 for 229 yards, no touchdowns but no interceptions either, in a game Jahmyr Gibbs carried on his own. Still 10-0 as a starter — the last unbeaten record of any kind left in the league belongs partly to him.
- Nicholas Battle, QB, Bengals. 9-of-13 for 141 yards and three touchdowns, a 104.9 rating, in a blowout win that kept Cincinnati perfect at 10-0.
- Brandon Hart, HB, Panthers. 144 rushing yards and 18 receiving yards, two touchdowns, 162 total yards — his best statistical day of the season, in a loss.
Offensive Rookie of the Year lean: it's now a real three-way conversation. Davis and Battle are a combined 20-0 as starters between them; Hart has quietly put together the best per-game rushing profile of any rookie in the league.
Defensive Rookie of the Year lean: still wide open. No rookie had a signature defensive week.
Upcoming Week Preview — Week 12
New England is 4-6 and just won a shootout in Miami; Jacksonville is 4-6 and coming off its bye. Neither team is chasing anything at the top of the standings, but two teams with nothing to lose can make for one of the more entertaining games on the board.
A housekeeping note: Colts and Rams are idle in Week 12. That leaves fifteen games on the board, and the picks below cover all of them.
Tennessee is 6-5 and just won its second straight; Detroit is 4-7 despite a huge win of its own last week.
Two teams near the bottom of the league meet, and Baltimore's 1-9 is a shade better than Las Vegas's 1-10.
Washington is 9-1, tied for the best record in the league; Houston is 7-3 and playing well itself, but not 9-1-well.
Denver is 10-0, one of two unbeaten teams left; Los Angeles is 8-3 and coming off a dominant win of its own.
New Orleans is 7-3 and just won the Game of the Week despite twelve sacks allowed; Atlanta is 4-6.
Miami is 6-4 off a shootout loss it will want to answer; Chicago is 6-4-1 despite five giveaways of its own in a loss to Houston last week.
Pittsburgh is 2-8 at home; Cleveland is 1-9 and turned it over six times last week.
Philadelphia just ended Green Bay's unbeaten season; New York is 5-5 off a loss of its own.
San Francisco is 7-3 despite last week's rough outing; Seattle is 1-9.
Cincinnati is 10-0; Dallas is 5-5.
Tampa Bay is 5-5 and just beat Carolina behind four Herbert touchdown passes; Kansas City is 4-7.
New York is 8-3; Buffalo is 4-6 despite a big win of its own last week.
Green Bay is 9-1 and will want to answer last week's loss immediately; Minnesota is 2-8.
Arizona is 7-3 and just posted 233 rushing yards as a team; Carolina is 5-5.
Ten right, five wrong in Week 11 — the 49ers over the Chargers, the Packers over the Eagles, the Dolphins over the Patriots, the Bears over the Texans and the Panthers over the Buccaneers were the five the desk missed. Green Bay's loss was the one nobody saw coming.
Fan Mailbag
No letters reached the desk this week, so the Chronicle wrote the questions it's confident somebody in this league is asking. The real mailbag is open and runs with your name on it.
League Poll
Results from last issue's poll are in: 4 votes on which Week 10 performance was most fun to watch, and Omarion Hampton's three-touchdown breakout in the Raiders' first win took it — 2 votes (50%). De'Von Achane's 248-yard game and Lukas Van Ness's absurd defensive line each got 1 (25%), and nobody picked Jalen Milroe's rushing day.
Eleven weeks down, seven to go, and the league just lost its most dominant storyline of the season in a single afternoon. Green Bay is human. Denver and Cincinnati are the only ones left who haven't found that out yet, and Washington is right there with a case of its own.
Jonathan Taylor did what nobody else in this league had managed all year, and he did it as a name nobody was talking about entering the week. That's the kind of thing this league keeps doing to the Chronicle's expectations.
Press Row is open, the mailbag runs with your name on it, and the poll is live — vote, and the Chronicle will see everybody back here after Week 12.
Until next week, the Chronicle stands with all 32.
— Jenna Tulls, Senior HFL Correspondent
Beat Jenna
Every Game of the Week pick, scored. Jenna is 7-1 on the 8 games she has called.
| Member | W | L | Beat Jenna | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | MrPlanters NE | 7 | 0 | 1/5 |
| 2 | luke2612 | 1 | 0 | 0/0 |
| 3 | skeem__ | 0 | 1 | 0/0 |
| — | Jenna Tulls DESK | 7 | 1 | — |
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