Week 11 in the books

Week 11 of the NFL season has come and gone, and it left us fans of the AFC East a little surprise: a Jets win! We were also left with the now expected Patriots win, as well as losses for the Bills and Dolphins.

The Jets were able to pull off one of the bigger upsets of the year on Sunday when they knocked off the Pittsburgh Steelers, 19-16, thanks in large part to running back Thomas Jones, who had 117 yards on 30 carries. Jones was the first running back in 35 games to rush for more than 100 yards in one game against the Steelers defense. The Jets were also helped immensely by kicker Mike Nugent, who kicked 4 field goals on the day, including the game tying kick with just 10 seconds remaining and the game winner in overtime. The Jets defense played their best game of the season, holding Pittsburgh running back Willie Parker to just 52 yards rushing while sacking QB Ben Roethlisberger 7 times. Definitely a huge win for the Jets, and a very tough loss for the playoff-hopeful Steelers.

The Miami Dolphins went into Philadelphia on Sunday hoping to notch their first win of the season. For the first 30 minutes or so it looked like they might pull it out, but Eagles’ backup QB (and former Dolphin) A.J. Feeley led the team on two second half touchdown drives to seal the 17-7 win for Philly. Rookie return man Tedd Ginn, Jr. put Miami on the scoreboard first with an electrifying 87-yard punt return to put the Phins up 7-0. Alas, it would be the last time Miami scored on the day. The Dolphins had their chances, but were denied by the Eagles defense whenever they got within sniffing range of the end zone.

Up in Buffalo the bright lights of the national audience paled in comparison to the firepower displayed by the Patriots offense in a 56-10 rout of the Bills that wasn’t nearly as close as the score indicated. QB Tom Brady was his usual ruthless, efficient self, throwing for 373 yards and 5 touchdowns. 4 of those touchdown passes were to WR Randy Moss, who hauled in 10 passes for 128 yards. The Patriots outgained Buffalo by 281 yards (510-229) and forced 2 turnovers, one of which was returned for a touchdown by Pats’ DB Ellis Hobbs just 1 minute into the 4th quarter and made the score 56-10. From then on the Pats offense called off the dogs and settled for draining the clock with simple fullback dives. The Pats extended their unbeaten streak to 10 while the Bills fell back to .500 at 5-5.