NFL Week 11 Preview - Early Games, Part I

Week 11 is already underway. The league has nine 1:00 games slated for this Sunday. We'll cover them, but we're breaking it up into two separate posts this week.

Pittsburgh (6-3) @ Kansas City (2-7)

Steelers: Eveyone's entitled to a bad game, right? Not the Steelers, in their minds anyway. There were a couple of major issues that surfaced during last week's 18-12 loss to Cincinnati. QB Ben Roethlisberger was sacked four times and RB Rashard Mendenhall only managed 36 yards. There's only one place to go to correct both of those...the O line. And I guarantee you they get corrected this week. Or they should. The Chiefs defense has more holes than Swiss cheese. 27th overall, 24th against the pass and 27th against the rush.

Head coach Mike Tomlin said on Tuesday that S Troy Polamalu (knee - PCL strain) is questionable for this game. He's still not been ruled out, but as the days go on and nothing is said, it makes you wonder. The best news is that it's not the same ligament. Same knee, different ligament.

Chiefs: Another win, but here's one bizarre stat. Kansas City is averaging 15 points a game in their two wins, 16 points a game in their seven losses. Sure, their wins are against a horrible Raiders team and a Redskins team that has little going for it. The offense is a stagnant unit at best. And it may get worse as WR Dwayne Bowe will miss the next four games for violating the league's drug policy. RB Jamaal Charles (left) did get the start last week and produced rather well in place of the departed Larry Johnson (18 carries, 103 yards, TD). It's going to bew tough sledding against the Steelers D which ranks 1st against the run and 2nd overall.

Where is the pass rush? 12 sacks (31st)? Where's the turnovers? 5 picks (30th)? A 2-7 record really makes sense now.

Indianapolis (9-0) @ Balitmore (5-4)

Colts: Did you see how the Colts won the game on Sunday night? All kidding aside, Indy did have the offense in gear during the fourth quarter. Especially passing. Wait, they have this guy named Manning and he sure can throw. And he may get a lot more yards this week. Manning has to get a lot of yards since the Colts have yet to have a produce a 100+ yards rushing effort. That's how you get to the Ravens. I say that despite the fact Baltimore is better against the run. Got to keep them honest. Then....forget it. We are talking about Peyton Manning. And WR Reggie Wayne may have yet another field day against a pair of CBs that have tendencies to lax in coverage.

One thing to point out here. Indy had 13 players not participate in prctice on Wednesday. As of Friday, that number had dwindled...to 11.

The matchup of the game will be the Ravens O line against the DEs Dwight Freeney and Robert Mathis. While RB Ray Rice is fast becoming a common name around the league, getting pressure on a still young QB Joe Flacco can make the difference.

Ravens: Baltimore stayed alive with a 16-0 win against the Cleveland Browns last Monday night. But it was a costly win as DE Terrell Suggs suffered a knee injury at the hands of Browns QB Brady Quinn after a Raven INT. First tings first. RB Ray Rice is 11th in rushing yards and 10th in receptions. He is definately Pro-Bowl worthy. But Ravens offense has somewhat fizzled as of late. We thought we were seeing Baltimore become a pass happy team...maybe even too pass happy. A lesson learned as when QB Joe Flacco (right) throws multiple INT in a game (he's only done it twice), they lost. Baltimore cannot force the pass, but with Rice thay can force the run.

I said it last week...the Ravens do miss Rex Ryan. No Suggs means less pressure on Peyton Manning. We all know what that means. The secondary will have to hold up tis end of the bargain this week. And that's been a sore spot for Baltimore. CBs Fabian Washington and Dominique Foxworth have been burned many a time this season. And Indy has excellent receivers. Good luck guys.

Washington (3-6) @ Dallas (6-3)

Redskins: Where do you start? RB Clinton Portis will miss his second straight game due to a concussion. RB Ladell Betts, coming off a spectacular 26 carry, 114 yard effort against the Denver Broncos, will again man the backfield. Another major point in Washington's 27-17 win last week, no turnovers. Another...the Redskins had the ball over 11 minutes more than Denver (35:43 to 24:17). One more...Washington had 388 total yards of offense compared to 305 for Denver. If that effort can be duplicated this week in Dallas, the Redskins will have win #4. And put a big hurt on Dallas' chances of winning the division.

The defense got a bit on track last week, too. Three sacks, a INT, a forced fumble led to a +3 in turnover ratio for the game. Dallas will turn it over. And Washington must hope they are giving hosts.

Cowboys: Has anyone figured these guys out yet? You just never know which team will show up. Will it be the Cowboys that went to Philly or will it be the one that went to Green Bay? The Dallas faithful hopes it's the one that went to Philly because Dallas was too soft against the Packers. So what went wrong? RB Marion Barber only had 5 carries. What? Your best offensive player and you only call 5 plays for him? WR Roy Williams had a 100+ game, but it doesn't mean a thing if an L is attached to it.

The defense only allowed 17 points to the Packers. If you limit a team to 17, you should win. There's not much else the D could have done last week. And with Portis out, I see the D going after Redskins QB Jason Campbell.

Cleveland (1-8) @ Detroit (1-8)

Browns: What can you say about the Browns offense that already hasn't been said. Last in scoring (8.7 points a game), last in total offense (214.3 yards a game), last in passing (116.2 yards a game). Maybe seeing the Lions will help. They do give up more points that anyone and are last in passing defense. QB Brady Quinn may find Ford Field to his liking.

Despite losing on Monday night, the Browns defense played their butts off. Even though they're last in total defense, they held the Ravens to 274 total yards. More impressive is that Ravens RB Ray Rice was held under 100 yards. This is an effort the D can build on. The exact same thing will have to occur if Cleveland even wants to think about winning against Detroit.

Lions: The matchup will be WR Calvin Johnson on the Browns CBs. If Johnson and QB Matthew Stafford (right) can get in a rhythm, it will spell victory for Detroit. RB Kevin Smith will also play a vital role as Cleveland is inept at stopping the run. Using the run to set up the pass. Sounds like a solid offensive gameplan to me. Averaging 15.9 points a game won't cut it and Cleveland allows 25.

But the Lions defense has been the stinging point this year as no one has allowed more points...or more passing yards. Good thing Cleveland has no passing attack.

Tomorrow...the other five 1:00 games which include San Francisco @ Green Bay and Atlanta @ New York Giants.