With most of the Week 11 NFL schedule in the books, it is time to take a look at some of the biggest losers from around the league on Sunday.
Aaron Rodgers era, New York Jets
At some point, we have to stop being surprised at how bad this New York Jets team is, but they lost again on Sunday, giving away a game late to the Indianapolis Colts. While Rodgers did have two touchdown passes and zero interceptions, he was not great, and they are 3-8. He is a big reason for that record. His winning percentage with the Jets is now worse than the Jets' winning percentage with both Sam Darnold and Zach Wilson. That is not supposed to be happening here. It is also not even close.
Winning % as Jets starting QB:
— Steve Palazzolo (@StevePalazzolo_) November 17, 2024
Zach Wilson .364
Sam Darnold .342
Aaron Rodgers .273
Shahid Khan, owner, Jacksonville Jaguars
Before the season, Jaguars owner Shahid Khan said this was the best roster in the history of the franchise. That roster is now 2-9, was completely humiliated in a way no Jaguars team has ever been and is now facing the prospect of another head-coaching and front-office reset.
Justin Tucker, kicker, Baltimore Ravens
Tucker was consistently the most reliable kicker in the NFL for a solid decade, with no kick being out of his range. He did his job better than almost any other player in the NFL did theirs. Those days appear to be over. The worst season of Tucker's career continued on Sunday in an 18-16 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers, where he missed two field goals. Yes, they were long kicks from 47 and 50 yards, but those are the types of kicks Tucker used to make without effort. Tucker is now 16-of-22 on the season, which is only a 72.7% accuracy rate. That is by far the worst mark of his career.
New England Patriots defense
The defense is supposed to be the Patriots' strength. That is where most of the talent is. They hired a defensive-minded head coach, and it was supposed to be the thing that gave them a chance to win games this season. Too often, it has not. Sunday was another one of those days. They allowed the Rams to go for over 400 yards and score 28 points, with Matthew Stafford completing four touchdown passes in the win.
Matt Eberflus, head coach, Chicago Bears
On one hand, it might be difficult for the head coach to take too much blame for a potential game-winning field goal being blocked. There are a lot of things that go wrong there out of the coach's control. But Eberflus seemed a little too willing to settle for a 46-yard field goal when he had time to run at least one more play and get a little closer, perhaps preventing an attempt by kicker Cairo Santos. Eberflus has had some big mistakes late in games recently (including in Washington on the play before the Jayden Daniels' Hail Mary play) that have cost his team games. The offensive coordinator has already been fired. The head coach is likely next.
Tony Pollard, running back, Tennessee Titans
The Titans let a franchise icon in Derrick Henry leave this offseason and brought in Pollard to replace him. For the most part, Pollard has been fine and not one of the biggest issues with a 2-8 Titans team. But he had a miserable game on Sunday, rushing for just 15 yards on nine carries.
Kirk Cousins, quarterback, Atlanta Falcons
The Falcons paid Cousins a lot of money this offseason ($180 million over four years) and have mostly received inconsistent results so far. Sunday's game in Denver was another tough one, as he ended up getting benched in an ugly 38-6 loss. He has not thrown a touchdown pass in two weeks.
Patrick Mahomes, quarterback, Kansas City Chiefs
You do not get to say this often, especially on a day when Mahomes still threw three touchdown passes. But in what has become a little too common of a theme this season, Mahomes threw some bad passes, including two interceptions, and missed a chance for a potential big play to Xavier Worthy that could have helped change the game. So far this season, the Chiefs have been able to overcome some uncharacteristically sloppy play from Mahomes. They did not on Sunday.
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