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Bama in the NFL: 10 Things to Know For Week 11
Last week we touched upon Rashaan Evans' success with the Atlanta Falcons, and he went out and looked good again last Thursday against the Carolina Panthers.
Evans led his team with 10 tackles and tied his career high with two for a loss. Overall, he's tied for third in the NFL with 95 tackles thanks to reaching double digits in six games.
It has fans in Atlanta wondering if the Falcons could have the NFL's leading tackler for the second straight year. Foye Oluokun, who played college football at Yale, topped the league last season and is now with the Jaguars.
"Rashaan's an aggressive, gritty guy, so he's brought that to the room," linebacker coach Frank Bush said per Falcons Report. "He's a throwback linebacker in the sense of, his first option is to hit, his second is to hit and maybe the third one as well. But he's brought that grittiness and I think we needed it."
Evans, one of the most underrated players in the NFL this season, is definitely a throwback in one respect, his age. At 27, the former Alabama Crimson Tide standout heads one of the youngest position groups on the team as Arnold Ebiketie, Troy Andersen, DeAngelo Malone and Nate Landman are all rookies.
"You need a veteran guy that still has some throwback mentality, that wants to go bang around and that's what linebackers do," Bush said. "He embraces that role, he likes doing it, and the other guys see it and try to emulate that."
The Falcons host the Bears on Sunday. Eddie Jackson has been one of Chicago's defensive leaders again, and has picked off four passes this season.
2. Patrick Surtain II getting some Defensive Player of the Year Attention
There's growing talk that Patrick Surtain II may be the best cornerback in the league, although we think Marlon Humphrey and Trevon Diggs might have a few things to say about that.
According to Pro Football Focus, Surtain has surrendered just four receptions for just 18 yards in coverage since Week 6, and hasn't given up a touchdown all season.
Last week, ESPN’s Bill Barnwell named Surtain one of his three top candidates for Defensive Player of the Year, along with Micah Parsons and Nick Bosa.
The 6-foot-2, 202-pound corner has started all nine games for coordinator Ejiro Evero’s defense, logging 33 tackles (24 solo), one tackle for a loss, one forced fumble, and six pass breakups.
What he hasn't done yet is notch an interception, and his lone turnover was on a forced fumble. Mile High Huddle, though, points out that opposing quarterbacks aren't just avoiding him, but his entire half of the field. He's currently allowing seven yards per reception and has only been targeted 44 times while playing 94 percent of the Broncos' defensive snaps.
This weekend, Surtain will match up against Raiders wideout Davante Adams for the second time this season. According to Next Gen Stats, Surtain was on him for 71 percent of his routes in the first meeting, and gave up just four receptions for 46 yards. Two catches for 36 yards came on back-shoulder throws.
3. Matchup of the Week
As tempting as Surtain vs. Adams is, we're going with the Jets and Patriots and Quinnen Williams squaring off against Michael Onwenu. Williams, the AFC’s October Defensive Player of the Month, has already matched his single-season career best with seven sacks. Onwenu hasn’t allowed a sack this season. Both players figure to get serious All-Pro consideration.
4. Minkah Fitzpatrick update
The Steelers are optimistic that they might get All-Pro safety Minkah Fitzpatrick back just one week after undergoing an emergency appendectomy. Head coach Mike Tomlin told reporters on Tuesday that things seem "really positive" and he could play this weekend against the Bengals.
5. Offensive turnaround by Steelers?
Last week, Pittsburgh held the ball for nearly 39 minutes and also converted 9 of 17 third-downs opportunities against the Saints, en route to a 20-10 victory. With Najee Harris having a season-high 99 rushing yards, the Steelers had their best day on the ground since gaining 240 yards against Buffalo in 2016.
"I thought Naj ran well. I thought our line ran off the ball," Tomlin said. "I thought we got hats on hats."
According to All Steelers, the players are crediting a team meeting during the bye week, when everyone laid it all out behind closed doors, for the improved approach and execution.
Harris had said as much and few believed him:
"We talk to each other between the team rather than to social media," the running back explained. "We see what's going on here as a team and it's not something we want to talk about toward the media. If we want to achieve what we want to achieve, there needs to be more accountability for each other as players."
6. Rookie stepping up
Remember the Houston Texans being high on inside linebacker Christian Harris contributing right away after spending the first five weeks of the season on injured reserve with a hamstring issue?
Last week agains the Giants he had a season-high nine tackles and his first career pass defensed. The Texans host the Washington Commanders this week, which means he'll be zeroed in on Brian Robinson Jr.
7. Game of the Week
Don't look now but there's a chance that every team in the AFC and NFC East divisions could make the playoffs. Granted, we wouldn't bet on it, but all eight teams are .500 or better heading down the stretch. So each matchup is crucial.
Consequently, the Jets (6-3) at Patriots (5-4) is the choice. New England has 13 straight wins in the series which is tied with Kansas City over Denver for the NFL’s longest active winning streak by one team over another. The Jets’ last win over the Patriots was Dec. 27, 2015.
Should the Jets break the streak, they’ll be in first place in the AFC East, having won a head-to-head game over Miami (7-3).
Hey, last week we had: "For the league, it's Minnesota (7-1) at Buffalo (6-2). For our purposes it's Washington at Philadelphia." That worked out pretty well.
8. MVP talk
Even before Miami pulled off the win against Cleveland last week, where some fans were chanting "MVP," Dolphins wide receiver Tyreek Hil told reporters that he believes everyone owes Tua Tagovailoa an apology.
“That’s all people got to do, man—just set their pride aside” Hill said, per NFL Network’s Mike Giardi. “Everybody isn’t blessed to come into certain situations. Unfortunately, Tua, he came into a difficult situation.”
The 24-year-old leads the NFL in in passer rating (118.4), third-down passer rating (149.8), and yards per attempt (9.1), and he's second in completion percentage (71.0). He has 18 touchdown passes compared to just three interceptions this season.
The Dolphins are 7-1 in games he's started, with the only loss coming in the game he was knocked out of with a concussion
Per SI Sportsbook, Tagovailoa and Jalen Hurts have the second-best odds of being named MVP, trailing only Patrick Mahomes (both at +400, compared to +120).
9. Cover jinx?
Speaking of Hurts, Sports Illustrated did a cover story on him last week, just before the Eagles took their first loss of the season to the Commanders. It's still worth reading as the notoriously fickle town that was asking for his ouster months ago is now fully in his corner: The Fresh Prince: Jalen Hurts Is Philadelphia’s Newest Hero
10. Thanksgiving arrives a little early
We've talked about Tua and Jalen, so here's the latest from the Crimson Tide's other starting quarterback in the NFL, Mac Jones. In conjunction with Boys & Girls Clubs of America, he'll be representing one of the non-profit’s clubhouses as part of the NFL’s ‘My Cause, My Cleats’ initiative when the Patriots play host to the Bills on Dec. 1.
Jones announced his support during a visit to the Gerald and Darlene Jordan Club in Chelsea, Massachusetts last Thursday afternoon, as the Pats enjoyed their bye week. He also extended an invitation for 30 of the children to be the Patriots' Play 60 ambassadors for Sunday’s game against the Jets.
See? Game of the week.
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