Week 11 NFL Recaps: History Repeats Itself...Six Years Later!

By Wayne Lin

Philadelphia @ Cincinnati: After six years it finally happened. Both teams played for a tie when it was all said and done.

The last time there was a tie in the NFL was in 2002 when the Falcons and Steelers tied their game at 34 apiece.

This may have a direct effect on the playoff chances of the Eagles (5-4-1), as they need tie breakers to make the wild card and not ties.

Both teams played gutsy performances, Ryan Fitzpatrick looks like a good fantasy choice, and McNabb looks like reverting back to his days as a turnover machine. McNabb had

339 yards passing with a touchdown and three interceptions. Brian Westbrook had a bad game rushing for 60 yards and no touchdown. L.J. Smith was the lone touchdown recipient for McNabb.

Cincinnati (1-8-1) had a pretty good day from Fitzpatrick, but they were unable to convert that into a win.  T.J. Houshmandzadeh had a touchdown and 149 yards receiving. The Bengals struggled in the running game again rushing for only 56 yards combined.

The Bengals had 19 first downs and that only lead to 13 points. Turnovers were the name of the game for Philadelphia, but at least they squirmed to a tie. 

Philadelphia 13 -- Cincinnati 13 (OT)

New York Jets @ New England Patriots: The Jets now reign atop the AFC East with a win over the New England Patriots. What appeared to be a blowout early on, the Patriots (6-4) surged back from 18 down to tie the game at 24.

The Jets (7-3) came rumbling back with a late touchdown to go ahead 31-24, but in Tom Brady-like fashion, Matt Cassel led the charge back with one second left on the clock with a toss to Randy Moss to tie the game, sending it to overtime. 

Favre threw for 258 yards on 26 pass attempts and two touchdowns. Leon Washington ran a kick back 92 yards, while also catching a touchdown pass from Favre. Jericho Cotchery and Dustin Keller (down the stretch) both had 87 yards receiving. Jay Feely kicked the game-winning 34-yard field goal.

The Patriots drop one game below the Jets in the AFC East division, but Matt Cassel had a career day, passing for 400 yards and three touchdowns. Randy Moss only had three catches, but one of them was a touchdown to tie in the game in regulation. 

Matt Cassel lead the Patriots in rushing yards with 62, and the Jets contained BenJarvus Green-Ellis to nine yards. 

New York Jets 34 – New England Patriots 31  OT

Chicago @ Green Bay: Even with injuries in the Green Bay defense, they managed to contain the Bears offense to only a field goal. Ryan Grant finally broke out with a great game rushing for 145 yards and a touchdown.

Aaron Rodgers bounced back and passed for 227 yards, two touchdowns, and a pick.  The most impressive feat of the day for the Packers was converting on 50 percent of third down conversions, with 30 percent of that 50 at five yards or less. The Bears  trounced a defense that was in the top 10 in total defense. That is surely to change when the sun comes up tomorrow morning.

Kyle Orton came back but didn't have a great game. He went 13/16 passing and 133 yards. The Bears only managed 83 yards on the ground amongst four rushers on the day compared to the 200 yards the Packers ran.

Rex Grossman came in relief and didn't do much better.  He had 26 yards on four completions. Matt Forte had 104 yards from scrimmage but failed to score. Both teams are now 5-5, but Green Bay takes the lead over the Bears in a tiebreaker, should they get to that point.

They only have the Vikings to worry about. 

Chicago 3 — Green Bay 37


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