Monday’s Quick Hitters: Week 11
November 17, 2025
Commanders vs Dolphins
The international games have officially wrapped up with the biggest snoozer of them all when the Dolphins and Commanders took the field in Spain. Nothing will gain you more global fans than a riveting matchup between Tua, the league interception leader, and Commanders back up quarterback Marcus Mariota, right? Yeah, it played out that way too. But my biggest takeaway was McDaniel dang near coaching his team OUT of a win. With under two minutes to go, the Dolphins ran it up the gut four times in a row for a turnover on downs instead of just kicking the field goal for a 16-13 lead. I’ve complained quite a bit about McDaniel’s lack of an imagination when it comes to play design and calling, but the issue reared its ugly head once again. Fine. But at least he’s going to go for the field goal. No, he isn’t, he’s going to run it up the middle on 4th down. The Commanders stormed down the field and would have won the game had Matt Gay not missed his own field goal attempt. Mariota’s first pass attempt in OT was an interception for the Dolphins. Four or five more runs up the middle later and Miami got out of there with a win. The Dolphins need a change. McDaniel continues to show why his time has run out in Miami but, hey, they lucked into another win so I guess he survives another week.
Bills vs Bucs
Next Gen Stats had a fun stat showing that we’ve only seen a quarterback both rush and pass for 3+ scores in the Super Bowl era twice. The man responsible for both of those accomplishments is none other than Josh Allen. This matchup featured 76 total points scored and nine lead changes which ties for the second most in NFL history. Josh Allen took this one over despite Baker Mayfield’s best efforts to keep his team in it all game long. Buffalo responded as you would hope they would after getting humiliated by Miami in week 10. While they were gashed on the ground by a duo of back up Bucs runners, they slowed down the passing game enough to ensure they could pull away late. Keeping up with the Patriots won’t be easy in the AFC East, but winning tough games like these is a good start.
Rams vs Seahawks
The Rams forced Sam Darnold to force not one, not two, not three.. But four interceptions as they beat Seattle to take ownership of the division. Teams like the Jets are out here just looking for their second takeaway of the season, Los Angeles makes it look too easy! To Seattle’s credit, they continued to fight and their defense held Matthew Stafford to a season low 130 passing yards. Davonte Adams still wound up with his 1,000th career reception which also went for a touchdown. Adams is just the 17th player to ever reach this milestone. Speaking of talented wide receivers, JSN notched his 7th 100 yard game of the season. Mind you, this is just their tenth game. Seven games of 100 yards or more surpasses Steve Largent and is now the best is franchise history – It’s a record that has stood since 1979.
Despite the Rams dominance, Seattle found themselves with an opportunity to win the game late but a missed field goal by Jason Myers sealed the win for LA.
Falcons vs Panthers
Tampa Bay took the loss, but Carolina took a win and made the division race a little interesting. The Carolina/Atlanta matchup had plenty of scoring, as it always does, but this day was owned by Bryce Young. Young set a career high in passing yards with 448 and 3 touchdown passes. The Falcons contained the running game, so Young took to the air and had himself a DAY with a near 70% completion percentage. Rookie first round receiver Tetairoa McMillan also had a career day bringing in 8 grabs for 130 yards and 2 scores. Believe it or not, Xavier Legette was spotted with 80 yards and a touchdown of his own! It was a coming out party of sorts, at least we hope so. The Panthers/Falcons games are known for producing fireworks, so we’ll see if this Panthers team can keep it up moving forward. But right now, they find themselves right in the race for their division. If they can keep this up, two of their last three games of the season will be against the Bucs which could be for the NFC South crown.
Eagles vs Lions
One thing that is clear for Philly is that their defense can hold them down while the offense figures themselves out. That Eagles defense flexed HARD on a Lions team that put up 546 yards and 44 points just a week ago. Jared Goff had no time! Completing just 38% of his passes with many of those appearing to be wildly inaccurate. Footballs were sailing out of bounds, landing at the feet of receivers, launched over the targets head. The thing is, Goff had to sling it quickly because the pass rush was right in his face, and even batted a few balls right back at him. Jahmyr Gibbs struggled on the ground but ate through the air with a 100 yard receiving game. It was the speed of the Detroit offense that gave Philly some issue, but given the results, I think they were good with how it played out as Gibbs was completely ineffective rushing the ball. Dan Campbell went 0/5 on fourth down calls. Perhaps if they attempted an extra field goal or two, they would’ve had a shot late. However, as long as Philly has this defense, they’ll continue to bully around their opponent.
Keith, Author
Keith runs youth flag football leagues by day, and by night he hosts the podcast and writes articles with the confidence of a man who’s been rushing quarterbacks since dial-up. A longtime flag football DE and lifelong Falcons fan, he’s no stranger to heartbreak and enjoys watching the bears get slaughtered each week. Equal parts coach, critic, and chaos, Keith calls it like he sees it… even if it hurts.
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