What is the lesson we learned from week eleven? Better coaching wins out. There were a lot of close games this week. Rivalry games. Games with playoff consequences. In almost every one of those games the better coach/coaching staff won.

There’s a lot of talk about what teams need to be successful. A franchise quarterback, a strong left tackle (for right handed quarterbacks), a pass rusher, and a star wide receiver. This is the bare minimum. At least that’s what the talking heads will say. The truth is, quarterbacks come in a variety of skillsets. Offensive lines are more than just one player. A single pass rusher can be taken out of a game. Wide receivers aren’t as valuable as they once were.

Look at the Cincinnati Bengals. Look at how they are built. Quarterback? Check. Wide Receivers? Check. Pass rusher? Check. Left Tackle, hmmm? Now look at the Denver Broncos. Quarterback, rookie. Receivers, journeymen. Pass rusher, by committee. Left tackle, hmmm? Which of these teams is currently in the playoffs and which one is out? Coaching matters. In fact, the best coaches and coaching staffs will cater their gameplans, cater their systems to match the personnel on the field. They get the most out of the players they have rather than waiting for the front office to fill the practice field with a team of all stars.

We’re seeing the best teams in this league are not the teams with the collection of the best players. They are the teams that are turning their players into stars, by coaching them up, and playing to their strengths. The Lions might be the best example of this. Jared Goff was never considered a top quarterback while with the Rams. David Montgomery bounced around before finally landing with the Lions. The defense is filled with free agents that needed a new home.

Coaching my friends. If you get the coach right, the rest follows.

WAS @ PHI
Philly looked good in this game. The defense really stood out. Saquon Barkley might be the year’s most consequential offseason signing for the whole league.

Washington has a couple of issues to work out. On defense, Bobby Wagner is a savvy veteran who knows this defensive scheme as well as Dan Quinn. He’s providing great leadership out there, but his physical skills are fading. That was never more evident than watching him trying to keep up with Barkley. There’s a hole in the middle of this defense, and it could be a real problem going forward. The other issue I had was the lack of targets for Terry McLaurin. He’s your number one receiver and your big play guy. Jayden Daniels still needs to learn that even when your number one guy is covered, he’s still open. Those passes need to keep going, you might get an incomplete, but you also might get a pass interference. Now teams know that they can double team McLaurin and Daniels won’t challenge them on it. Still a learning process and he’ll figure this out.

GB @ CHI
Are the Bears cursed? How else do you explain that loss on Sunday? There was a lot to like about the Bears in this game. The defense stiffened against the run. But more importantly, Caleb Williams had one of his better games. Scrambling from the pocket and a few designed runs seemed to give him more confidence than we’ve seen in a while. Which begs the question, why hasn’t he been running more all season?

The Packers got an unbelievable win considering how out of character they played. The run game didn’t do much and the defense struggled to get consistent pressure on Williams. Two trips into the red zone that ended with an interception and a turnover on downs could have cost them the victory. Division games are always a little wonky, but the Packers need to figure out some of these issues as they continue working towards a playoff berth.

JAX @ DET
I’m not going to accuse anyone of giving up on the field. But it was obvious the Jaguars were not ready to go against the Lions. They got pushed around at the line of scrimmage, they missed tackles, and they had no idea how to cover the receivers. On offense it was even worse. They looked like they were running in sand all game long. As of this writing Doug Pederson is still the Jaguars coach, but it wouldn’t surprise me if that changes soon.

MIN @ TEN
I’ve been pretty critical of Will Levis this year, but for this game I actually think he played pretty well. There were a couple absolute WOW throws out there. But I am going to put a little blame on the coaching staff. The offensive line didn’t look prepared for the Minnesota pressure scheme. This team is losing their discipline on defense, too many penalties and too much frustration.

This was a good get back game for both the offense and defense in Minnesota. Darnold was distributing the ball well and keeping the turnovers to a minimum. Defensively, it felt like they were getting predictable. In this game, they were able to blitz effectively and get tons of pressure on the quarterback. This is a return to the team we saw at the beginning of the season.

LV @ MIA
Watching Tua throw the ball, he reminds of Peyton Manning after he started having nerve trouble in his neck. The arm strength just isn’t there. The ball doesn’t have a lot of zip on it and his distance is limited. If Miami is going to stick with Tua for the next few years, the offensive personnel is going to need to change. Instead of speed speed speed, they need to look for big bodies in the passing game. They are already putting more emphasis on the running game, so there’s a chance this team can morph into a team that is still competitive year after year.

The Raiders offense added a few new wrinkles after replacing much of the offensive coaching staff. But the offensive line still struggled to make holes in the running game, the running backs are not very good, and the quarterbacking is still bad. Hard to overcome that much with just a coaching change.

LAR @ NE
Stafford, Kupp, and Nacua had very good games for the Rams. The defense didn’t live up to their billing. They were able to get pressure on the quarterback but very few negative plays. Instead they gave up big plays to the tight ends that kept the game close. New England has played everybody tough this year, but the Rams are trying to make a playoff push. They need more production out of the defense if they expect to compete with the top teams.

Maye played a good game. He was able to make quick throws to avoid the pressure, and other than his last throw, it worked well for them. The problem with the Patriots in this game boiled down to conservative decisions by the coaching staff. I understand the wind was a bit of a factor, but passing up a makeable field goal was questionable. When they had the ball inside the ten and kicked the field goal on fourth down instead of going for the touchdown was also very questionable. Of course the Patriots are not in the business of winning too many games this year, they have too many needs to address in the offseason and need a good draft pick. But these are the confidence building moments that a young quarterback needs. Even if he doesn’t deliver, just knowing the coaching staff trusted him to try is big.

CLE @ NO
Is Taysom Hill the New Orleans secret weapon? I know he’s been a big part of the offense for years, but this game was something different. Running, throwing, receiving, heck he even returned kicks! He made big plays all over the field and it speaks to the injury problems the Saints have been dealing with. The offense was heavily dependent on Alvin Kamara and now Hill has provided another option to move the ball down the field.

Winston didn’t have a great game outside of a few big plays to Jeudy. Cleveland looks like a team that expects to lose. In fact, they look like a team that’s ready to pack it in and call it a season.

IND @ NYJ
Anthony Richardson is going to be a running quarterback in the vein of Justin Fields and Cam Newton. There’s a limit on his ability to throw the ball. But, he’s a phenomenal athlete with the ball in his hands. Being a physical runner, he can put defenses on their back foot and run a option style offense effectively. The Colts just need to decide if that’s the style of offense they want to play.

Breece Hall proved yet again that he can be the focal point of this offense. He proved yet again that he is the best option out of the backfield. Why is he not getting more touches in this offense? Is there a problem behind the scenes? Is he hurt? This offense needs the ball in Hall’s hands more than Rodgers.

BAL @ PIT
Lamar has had a couple of games this season like this. Just doesn’t seem to e able to get the offense going. But it doesn’t all fall on his shoulders. Offensive penalties, especially early in the game, killed drives and momentum. Pair that with a couple of missed field goals and you can see why the offense appeared to struggle putting up points on Sunday. The bright spot was seeing the defense play at a high level from start to finish. They controlled the line of scrimmage and shut down the Steelers offense.

Russell Wilson did just enough to get the win. But I didn’t like him scrambling around trying to make big plays when there were underneath throws that were open to him.

ATL @ DEN
That was an old school butt whooping that Denver put on the Atlanta Falcons. Bo Nix has shown amazing growth through the season and I think this was his best game yet as a pro. But I want to give some love to the Denver offensive line. They were fantastic all game, especially blocking downfield on screens and draws.

The Falcons offense could not get out of neutral. They couldn’t run the ball, they couldn’t get open downfield, and even when they did make a play it was called back on penalties. But the defense was worse. They were pushed around at the line of scrimmage and the secondary couldn’t cover anybody. Fortunately, they get a bye week to try and right the ship. But the schedule is brutal coming up and they need to fix a lot of things quickly.

SEA @ SF
Two teams coming out of this game at 5-5, but far different reactions to it. Hope in Seattle, despair in San Francisco. How badly is Bosa hurt? Can they get the running game going? These are serious questions the 49ers are going to have to answer in the coming weeks. On a side note, Jennings looks like a future star in this league. For a front office that has done so much right, did they make a big mistake not trading Aiyuk and turning to Jennings from the beginning of the season?

In Seattle, this was a big win. The defense looked so much better in this game. With all the turmoil on the roster, especially with the team replacing linebackers, it looked like it was the right move. But going forward, with a running back like Walker III, maybe it would be better to give him a handful of carries in each quarter. Take some stress off Geno Smith and grind up some yards.

KC @ BUF
Well everyone watched this game, I’m sure. And there’s already been plenty of ink spilled on this, so I won’t waste too much of anyone’s time rehashing what we all saw. The headline was Josh Allen outdueling Patrick Mahomes, but there was something else interesting that happened in that game. The Bills ran the ball a little bit better than the Chiefs. They played better defense, too. It’s significant because the calling card for the Chiefs all season has been that they were good running the ball and playing tough defense.

The Bills have done this before – winning in the regular season. But they never can replicate it in the post season. Is this the year?

CIN @ LAC
After Herbert got hit and fumbled the ball, setting up another score for the Cincinnati offense, more than just the momentum changed. Herbert’s confidence changed. His passes were more conservative – in that they were inaccurate to the open part of the field. Earlier in the game he was zinging those passes all over the field. But from that moment on, his ability to get the ball to his playmakers was compromised. It almost cost them the game.

Burrow looks like a guy who knows this team is about to get blown up. They can’t pay both Higgins and Chase. The defense isn’t very good. The offensive line can’t keep him upright. And there’s a good chance the coaching staff is going to be replaced. How long is he going to stay?

HOU @ DAL
The fake punt, the fourth down tries – were they a sign of desperation that cost the Cowboys the game? Or were they the aggressive moves that gave the team the confidence they needed to stay close for the first three quarters of the game? Unfortunately, it doesn’t matter in the long run. Mike McCarthy got another loss and his tenure with the Cowboys is coming to a close. Fortunately for him, most of the NFL understands this season is a result of a bad front office, not necessarily a bad coach.

Joe Mixon was certainly fired up for this game! It was good to see Houston put it all together again. Nico Collins wasn’t a big factor on the stat sheet last night, but his presence seemed to give CJ Stroud confidence. His passes were crisp and he was getting the ball out quick. That’s a great sign for this team going forward.