NFL Week 11 Picks: Detroit Lions and Teams Desperate for Bounce-Back Wins

The unpredictability of the NFL in 2011 sure has taken its toll on, say, the vast majority of the league, in one way or another.

More specifically, it's turned the dregs of the football world into dangerous spoilers from week to week and, conversely, pushed playoff contenders to the brink of madness. These three teams will need big wins in Week 11 to restore some semblance of sanity after enduring the disappointment of defeat this past Sunday.

Detroit Lions

It wasn't all that long ago that the Lions were the toast of the NFL. After enduring a decade of football irrelevance, Detroit found itself at 5-0, behind the brilliant play of its young stars, particularly Matthew Stafford and Calvin Johnson on offense and Ndamukong Suh on defense.

Then came the loss at home to the 49ers and the "Backslap-Gate" that followed, kicking off a stretch of three losses in four games that brought about Sunday's shocking 37-13 loss to the Bears at Soldier Field.

A punchless ground game, dragged down by the absence of Jahvid Best, would've been enough to doom Detroit, but it was Stafford's four interceptions, among them two pick-sixes, that sealed the Lions' fate.

Now, at 6-3, the Lions find themselves hanging onto a spot in the postseason by a thread, though a game against 2-7 Carolina should serve as a golden opportunity to correct at least some of what ails them.

Especially after the Panthers got pummeled by the Titans, 30-3.

New York Jets

Inconsistency and disappointment might as well be Mark Sanchez's middle names (right next to "bust"), especially after that game of catch he played with Rob Ninkovich on Sunday night.

Ninkovich, mind you, plays for the Patriots, who jettisoned the Jets from the top of the AFC East by way of a 37-16 stomping.

Sanchez and his Gang Green 'mates will have to shake off the sting from another loss to the Pats in a hurry, as they're scheduled to play on Thursday night in Denver against a Broncos team that's won three of its last four games.

Rather than trying to measure himself against an elite quarterback like Tom Brady, Sanchez instead will be asked simply to not look worse under center than Tim Tebow, who—somehow, someway—has managed to pile up victories despite looking about as comfortable throwing the ball as, well, you or me.

Frankly, I have my doubts about whether Sanchez can do even that much, though the Jets will certainly need him to if they're going to hang around the playoff picture for much longer.

Baltimore Ravens

Nobody in the AFC seems comfortable carrying the mantle of "Best in Show" for more than a week or two, with the Ravens checking in as just the latest example.

Baltimore parlayed a thrilling victory over the arch-rival Pittsburgh Steelers into a perplexing 22-17 loss to the lowly Seahawks, in which they surrendered two David Reed fumbles, a Joe Flacco interception and five Steven Hauschka field goals to set themselves back.

Of course, the Ravens would've won the game had Billy Cundiff hit all three of his field goal attempts, but to pin the blame on his leg would be to distract from just how much of a Jekyll-and-Hyde operation Baltimore has been this season.

A Week 11 matchup with Cincinnati will be crucial to the team's hopes of contending in the AFC North. Both teams find themselves at 6-3 and tied for second place in the division, a half game behind the first-place Steelers. Should the Ravens drop this one, they'd find themselves trailing both the Bengals and the Steelers in the North and hanging amongst the Bills, the Titans and the aforementioned Jets in a scramble for the sixth seed in the AFC playoff picture.

The Ravens have performed well in big games this season and will need to do so once again to keep from drowning in their own inconsistency.