NFL: One More Look Back at Week 11

What a difference a couple weeks makes in the NFL.

It was just a couple weeks back that the Buffalo Bills were playing the New England Patriots for first place in the AFC East. The Bills were that close to being at the top of their division. And now they are in the basement.

The Bills got hammered by the Patriots and they’ve yet to recover in the couple of weeks that have passed since that game.

Last night the Bills lost to the lowly the Cleveland Browns. (The Browns must wish they could just keep playing New York teams – they’ve beaten the Bills and the Giants.) The Bills are now 5-5 after starting the season at 5-1.

So 6 weeks of great football have been completely wiped out by 4 weeks of horrendous football. And it would take a minor miracle for the Bills to go to the playoffs now.

The Carolina Panthers may be the worst 8-2 team in the history of the NFL. They have back-to-back horrible wins over two of the worst teams in the NFL. But a win is a win and they all count toward winning the division and making the playoffs. But don’t be surprised if you see the Panthers drop back and lose their division to the Bucs or the Falcons.

Suddenly it looks like the Panthers don’t even know how to throw the ball. Delhomme has been horrible. If not for playing teams that are just bad, the Panthers would be reeling at 6-4 right now.

Of course, things can change in their favor just as fast as things have become to look a little less than okay. The Panthers may play great next week and run away with their division. Who knows?

That’s what makes the NFL so much fun to follow. Just when you think you have things figured out, you don’t. And just when a team looks like they’ve found their identity, they slip back.

So let’s begin preparing for Week 12 and see what happens then.