NFL Predictions Week 11: Matthew Stafford and More Stars That Will Struggle

Week 11 of the 2011 NFL will be arguably the most crucial week of the season for many teams, but not every team is going to get the best effort from their star players.

It's unfortunate, but such is life in the NFL.

If every team was able to come up big in every situation, the league wouldn't be the way it was. The NFL is known for its parody, and it's the stars inconsistencies that make it that way.

If your name isn't Aaron Rodgers, chances are you are going to have an off-week every now and then, and even Rodgers isn't exempt from a bad performance.

Here are some big-time stars that are going to struggle in big-time games this week:

Matthew Stafford, QB Detroit Lions

The good news is Stafford can't possibly have a worse performance than his 33-of-63 four-interception outing in Chicago.

The bad news, everything about this matchup just reeks of the traditional trap game.

The Lions have the currently undefeated Green Bay Packers coming up on Thanksgiving on a short week, and the Carolina Panthers are conveniently sandwiched in between.

Not only is Stafford coming off that horrible game, but he's dealing with a fractured finger in his throwing hand. He says it's not impacting him, but the Chicago game and his "throwing gloves" lead me to disagree.

The Lions have no semblance of a running game right now, which means defenses can rush Stafford easily knowing that they don't have to worry much about the run. The Lions' offensive line is also having problems stopping said rush, and I don't see that problem going away against the Panthers.

Overall, Stafford is being set up for the perfect storm of struggles in these next two. Don't be surprised to see it happen.

Eli Manning, QB New York Giants

There's something about the Philadelphia Eagles that makes it hard for me to pick against them, especially going against a divisional rival on Sunday Night Football.

While Manning is having one of his best seasons with 2,688 yards and 17 touchdowns so far, he does have eight interceptions under his belt.

The Eagles aren't doing much right this year, especially defensively. One thing they can do, though, is shut down a quarterback, as is evident by their 219.6 average yards given up through the air this season.

Even at 3-6, the Eagles are dangerous, if only because of all the talent they possess.

I expect that talent is going to come up big, especially defensively, and Manning will struggle.

Chris Johnson, RB Tennessee Titans

Isn't it sad that, at this point of the season, saying that Chris Johnson will struggle is almost expected?

I'm not sure what happened to Johnson, but he's obviously having a horrible year, racking up only 496 yards and two touchdowns on 148 carries. Unfortunately, I don't see him picking it up against a 5-4 Falcons team that is coming off a huge divisional loss and is at home for the second straight week.

Not only that, but they are only giving up an average of 90.3 yards on the ground.

Overall, this doesn't look good for Johnson.