Week 11 of the NFL season brought plenty of storylines and moments as we head towards Thanksgiving.
Following are three thoughts on Sunday’s games. Including Carson Palmer’s regression, the red hot Miami Dolphins and the breakout star of the New York Giants who might just be an MVP candidate.
1. Carson Palmer’s turnover demons are back for the Cardinals
Carson Palmer’s run with the Arizona Cardinals has been largely successful save for a few injuries, but the veteran quarterback’s old woes are back this season. The interceptions have piled up for the 36-year-old quarterback, and as a result, the Cardinals are now on the outside looking in when it comes to the Wild Card picture in the NFC.
Palmer threw a costly interception near the endzone against the Vikings that was returned 100 yards by safety Xavier Rhodes that turned the momentum and led to a 30-24 that has pushed the Cardinals to 4-5-1 on the season. Bad news for a team that is now behind the likes of the Vikings, Giants, Washington, Eagles, and Bucs for the two Wild Card spots.
🔥🔥 PICK-6 ALERT! 🔥🔥@XavierRhodes29_ takes Carson Palmer's pass 100 yards to the HOUSE. #AZvsMIN https://t.co/ImQE7C0QHL
— NFL (@NFL) November 20, 2016
The two interceptions from Palmer pushed his total for the year to ten in nine games, and it appears that the ball security the veteran quarterback showed over the past few seasons in Arizona could be gone. For the bulk of his career, Palmer had struggled with interceptions before he revived his career in Arizona. If the turnover prone Palmer that haunted Bengals and Raiders fans throughout the first stage of his career is back, the Cardinals will be hard-pressed to get back into the playoff picture in a season of regression for the entire franchise highlighted by the slide from their starting quarterback.
2. The Miami Dolphins five-game winning streak demands attention
Many would be surprised to know that the Miami Dolphins are on a five-game win streak, but a dramatic comeback in the fourth quarter against the Los Angeles Rams on Sunday has brought the ‘Phins back to life after their 1-4 start. A turnaround that nobody saw coming after Miami faltered during their difficult opening month schedule that included road games against the Seattle Seahawks and New England Patriots to open the season.
The Cowboys, Giants and Dolphins are the ONLY teams in the NFL on a 5 game winning streak. Yet….nobody is talking about Miami.
— Omar Kelly (@OmarKelly) November 21, 2016
The Dolphins have since benefited from a much easier schedule to roll five consecutive wins, but have also earned wins over winning teams in the Pittsburgh Steelers and Buffalo Bills along the way to push themselves back into the Wild Card picture. Welcome news for a franchise that just over a month ago was wondering if their franchise quarterback in Ryan Tannehill was the answer going forward and newly hired head coach Adam Gase was firmly on the hot seat in the midst of their horrible start to the season.
With the AFC West bidding to send three teams to the playoffs, the Dolphins still have work to do if they want to get into the playoffs in Gase’s first season in charge. However, this recent stretch has provided much-needed optimism and clarity that this current team can get the job done. Five straight wins is a task that is hard to accomplish in the NFL and the Dolphins deserve their due praise this week as they look to keep rolling towards a playoff spot in the midst of their now lengthy winning streak.
3. Landon Collins is the best safety in the NFL right now
The New York Giants are back in the spotlight with a 7-3 record, but the offense hasn’t led their turnaround in head coach Ben McAdoo’s first year in charge despite the headlines that Eli Manning and Odell Beckham Jr. receive every week. Instead, the Giants revival has been led by safety Landon Collins, who might just be the best safety in football right now and a dark horse candidate for this season’s Defensive Player of the Year Award.
Aaron Donald, Bobby Wagner and Von Miller will get mentions, but I'd give my DPOY vote to Landon Collins today
— Matt Miller (@nfldraftscout) November 21, 2016
Collins secured the win for the Giants in the final seconds with a massive interception that kept them just two games back of the Dallas Cowboys in the NFC East and first place in the NFC Wild Card standings. It was also Collins fifth straight game with an interception as the former Alabama safety has finally emerged as the playmaker that the Giants thought he would become when they made him a second-round pick in the 2015 NFL Draft.
Currently, there are few players who have the body of work to be considered for the DPOY and Collins big plays in the Giants secondary should be recognized when writers sit down to vote at the end of the season. Just a second-year player, even if Collins falls short of the award at the end of the year, there will be plenty of general managers who will be killing themselves for passing on a player who shined at Alabama at two different safety positions before breaking out this year as a potential superstar. Right now, Collins is the best safety in football and the Giants are lucky to have him anchoring a defense that could be good enough to make a run at the Cowboys for the division lead over the final six games of the season.
