5 Things We Learned From NFL Week 11

The Kansas City Chiefs are killing their fans (probably), Peyton Manning is winning the MVP (maybe) and more observations on this week’s games (definitely).

The Kansas City Chiefs are killing their fans (probably), Peyton Manning is winning the MVP (maybe) and more observations on this week’s games (definitely).

1. Peyton Manning Will Win Another MVP


The Broncos have bitten off five wins in a row and are comfortably on top of the AFC West. Last year’s Denver team — known for a rushing attack, stingy defense and a messianic quarterback – was radically different from this incarnation, which has the sixth ranked passing offense in the league. For Peyton Manning to come back from a career-threatening injury, enter a totally new offense (at age 36), and dominate a brand new division (albeit one that includes the craptacular Chargers, Chiefs, and Raiders) should be enough to win him a fifth MVP trophy. That is if he can keep up this performance and a Vietnamese factory doesn’t institute a neck recall on 2012 models.

2. Speaking of the Chiefs, Their Terribleness Killed Some Guy


Or at least that’s what his Kansas City Star obituary claimed (we’d link to the actual obituary on the Kansas City Star website, but they didn’t see fit to actually post it online because “LOL who needs page views? Definitely not the struggling newspaper industry”, we imagine). The obit lists Loren Leckteig’s cause of death as multiple sclerosis and the “heartbreaking disappointment caused by the Kansas City Chiefs.” Leckteig’s daughters wrote the obituary, not Leckteig, so maybe one of his kids has been losing bundles betting on the massive cannons of Matt Cassel and Brady Quinn. Or maybe we’re just reading way too much into this, as usual. Anyway, rest in peace, sir, and we hope your team fares better in heaven (it would have to, really).

Photo: Jared Wickerham / Getty Images | Licensed to Alpha Media Group 2012

3. Hope You’re Ready for Your Fantasy Playoffs. Oh, Rob Gronkowski Broke His Forearm? Sucks to Be You!


As we enter what is likely to be the last few weeks of the fantasy football season, team owners are looking to shore up their battered offenses with waiver wire pickups and castoffs. Of course, most of your draft picks are injured, useless, or riding the bench just because you hate them so much and oh God why do you suck so hard. And if you’ve got TD machine Rob Gronkowski and his forearm injury on your team, you’re probably screaming just a little extra hard at your computer today.

4. The Saints Might Actually Make The Playoffs


New Orleans is sitting at 5-5, and in the NFC South that puts the team square out of contention for a division win and automatic playoff berth. With the Atlanta Falcons on top at 9-1, nobody is catching up there, but that doesn’t mean the plucky Saints couldn’t wrangle a wildcard spot. While they trail Seattle, Green Bay and a red-hot Tampa Bay for said spot, we wouldn’t discount the arm of Drew Brees and a team still mightily pissed about Bounty Gate.

5. Bart Scott Can’t Wait to Not Talk to the Media


Though we normally love the Jets linebacker’s enthusiasm, his reported call for a media boycott after New York’s win over St. Louis hurts our feelings. Never mind that it lasted all of two seconds, that Scott himself broke the boycott that same day, and that it just went to prove how totally undisciplined and goofy the Jets are as an organization – it’s just really mean to not want to talk to us, Bart. 

5 Things We Learned from NFL Week 10

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