Week 11 of the 2023 NFL season is underway, and the big surprise of the Baltimore Ravens’ 34-20 victory over the Cincinnati Bengals was the number of key players who suffered critical injuries. Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow suffered a sprained wrist, Ravens tight end Mark Andrews suffered an ankle injury that will likely end his season and Ravens wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. suffered a shoulder injury after he totaled a game-high 116 receiving yards, his first 100-yard game in the regular season since the 2019 season.
Since anything can happen when it comes to the NFL, what’s next, you ask? Well, here are five bold predictions for this weekend’s Week 11 slate.
Browns beat Steelers by multiple scores in Dorian Thompson-Robinson’s second career start
Following Deshaun Watson’s season-ending shoulder injury, the Browns are turning to fifth-round rookie Dorian Thompson-Robinson to make his second career start in Week 11 against the Pittsburgh Steelers. The rookie threw for 121 yards and was intercepted three times in a 28-3 loss against the Ravens in Week 4.
However, the Browns will still end up beating the Steelers by multiple scores this Sunday thanks to their outstanding defense. They have the No. 1 total defense in the league this season, allowing 242.7 yards per game. That’s the fewest total yards per game allowed since the 2008 Steelers who ended up winning the Super Bowl that season. That Pittsburgh team had the 2008 NFL Defensive Player of the Year in James Harrison, and the 2023 Browns may have the 2023 NFL Defensive Player of the Year on their squad in defensive end Myles Garrett. His 11.0 sacks and four forced fumbles are both tied for the most in the entire NFL.
Inexperienced rookie quarterback be damned, Garrett and the Browns defense carries Cleveland to a multi-score win.
Commanders QB Sam Howell gets sacked no more than once vs. Giants
The Giants defeated the Commanders 14-7 in Week 7 in what has an absolute blood bath for Commanders quarterback Sam Howell. In that game, he had a season-low 52.4% completion percentage (22-42 passing) for 249 passing yards and an interception while absorbing six sacks. In Round 2 against the G-Men this Sunday, the NFL’s leader in passing yards (2,783), completions (264) and pass attempts (397) evades a Giants pass rush that no longer has Leonard Williams (who was traded to the Seattle Seahawks). Howell will be sacked only be sacked once or not at all, despite the Commanders dropping back to pass on 72% of their plays, the highest rate in the 21st Century.
Jordan Love snaps Packers’ streak of 27 straight games without 300+ pass yards vs. Chargers
The Packers’ first season without future Hall of Fame quarterback Aaron Rodgers has been a struggle. Green Bay is 3-6 and has lost five of its last six games after a 2-1 start to 2023. Quarterback Jordan Love has been bitten by the turnover bug, as his nine interceptions are the most in the NFL since Week 4 … stunning, considering he only threw one interception in Weeks 1-3.
However, facing the NFL’s worst passing defense at Lambeau Field, the Chargers — who are allowing an NFL-worst 291.2 passing yards per game — provides Love with the ability to snap out of a funk and end the Packers’ 27-game streak without throwing for 300 or more yards. That’s the longest active streak in the league and their longest streak since a stretch that partially predated the Brett Favre era in Green Bay from 1991-1993.
Matthew Stafford returns from thumb injury to help Rams sweep Seahawks
The Rams upset the Seahawks 30-13 in Week 1 in Seattle as a 4.5-point underdog, and they’re going to sweep the 6-3 Seahawks with a win on Sunday in Los Angeles. Seattle is 6-2 since that surprising blowout loss with their only defeats coming against Joe Burrow’s Bengals and Lamar Jackson’s Ravens. A key to the Week 1 victory was keeping Matthew Stafford upright. He wasn’t sacked in that game, but he has been sacked in every game since.
Stafford will likely return from thumb injury this week and thanks to telepathic connections with Cooper Kupp, whose 105.9 receiving yards per game in 29 career games with Stafford is the most by any passer-receiver duo since 1991 (minimum 25 games) and rookie Puka Nacua, the Rams will score enough to win. Los Angeles also has the NFL rookie leader in sacks (5.0) and quarterback hits (14) this season in Byron Young, a nice running mate for three-time NFL Defensive Player of the Year Aaron Donald, who still ranks among the top-three defensive tackles in sacks (5.5), pressures (40), quarterback hits (13) and tackles for loss (10) this season. That’s enough for Sean McVay to win in his 10th game head-to-head against Pete Carroll. Carroll’s nine losses against McVay are his most against any opposing head coach in his NFL career.
Joshua Dobbs stays hot, leads Vikings to fifth win in a row as an underdog — sixth in a row overall
Should they defeat the 4-5 Broncos in Denver on Sunday night, Minnesota would become the first team since the 2011 Broncos — aka Tim Tebow’s Broncos — to win five games in a row without being favored in any of them. And they will pull it off. Minnesota’s quarterback for the last two wins and likely the rest of the season is journeyman Joshua Dobbs. The Vikings are the fourth team he has received snaps with in his NFL career. He was forced into action in Week 9 at the Atlanta Falcons — just five days after joining the team via a trade with the Cardinals — despite not taking a snap in practice. Vikings rookie Jaren Hall soaked up all of the practice snaps that week in place of the injured Kirk Cousins (torn Achilles), so Dobbs had to teach center Garrett Bradbury his cadence during a timeout in the middle of the game while not really knowing the playbook.
“It’s like if you were taking AP Spanish all year and you showed up on Wednesday and someone told you you have an AP French exam on Sunday, and you have to go execute,” Dobbs said postgame, via FanNation, when asked about it after scoring three total touchdowns and racking up over 200 total yards in a 31-28 victory. “Someone’s gonna talk to you in Spanish and translate it to French.”
Last week, Dobbs had a slightly better grasp of the playbook, and he threw for a season-high 268 passing yards and a touchdown while rushing for 44 yards and a touchdown in a 27-19 win over the New Orleans Saints. His Minnesota totals so far of two wins, 426 passing yards and three touchdowns — as well as 110 rushing yards and two rushing touchdowns — set an NFL record. Dobbs is the first quarterback since the 1970 AFL/NFL merger with two wins, two passing touchdowns, two rushing touchdowns and an average of 200 or more passing yards per game (213.0). Following his eight-game run with the Cardinals this season, Dobbs is the first player in NFL history with a passing and rushing touchdown in multiple games for multiple teams in a single season.
Even though the Broncos have won three straight games since starting season 1-5 thanks to allowing an NFL-best 16 points per game in that stretch, they won’t be able to keep their magic going against the destiny of Dobbs. He feels like he’s supposed to continue playing well enough to get a decent contract for a team this offseason. Dobbs plays well enough in Week 11 to warrant that, leading the Vikings to another win as an underdog (the Broncos are 2.5-point favorites as of Friday, via Caesars Sportsbook).
