Week 11 of the 2015 NFL season saw the champions of the NFC North impose their will, two different players rush for over 200 yards and two former No. 1 overall picks throw for five touchdowns.
Sunday also featured a few teams getting blown out at home and an injury-filled ending in Baltimore.
Here is the rest of the best and worst of Week 11:
Best
QB Cam Newton, Carolina Panthers
Newton threw a career-high five touchdown passes, including four in the first half, as the still-perfect Panthers rolled over Washington in Carolina.
He found five different players for scores, including a running back (Jonathan Stewart), fullback (Mike Tolbert), tight end (Greg Olsen), receiver (Ted Ginn) and rookie (Devin Funchess). It was another MVP-quality performance for one of the league’s front-runners for the award. Dance on, Cam.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Running back Doug Martin ran for an NFL season-high 235 yards, rookie quarterback Jameis Winston threw five touchdown passes and the Tampa Bay defense forced four turnovers, including a pick-six, to power the Bucs’ 45-17 drubbing of the Philadelphia Eagles.
Tampa Bay gained 521 yards, including a franchise record 283 rushing. Martin came 16 yards short of tying his career high, while Winston became just the third rookie quarterback to throw five touchdowns in a single game. Quietly, Tampa Bay is now 5-5.
WR DeAndre Hopkins, Houston Texans
Hopkins thoroughly enjoyed his visit to Revis Island, catching five passes for 118 yards and two touchdowns for the Texans—who improved to 5-5 with a 24-17 win over the New York Jets.
It really doesn’t matter who is playing quarterback for Houston. Hopkins has now caught touchdowns from Brian Hoyer, Ryan Mallett and T.J. Yates this season. His highlight play Sunday came when he roasted Darrelle Revis for a 61-yard score in the first half. Through 10 games, Hopkins has 76 catches, 1,045 yards and nine touchdowns.
RB Thomas Rawls, Seattle Seahawks
Without Marshawn Lynch in a game the Seahawks couldn’t afford to lose, an undrafted rookie running back stole the show. Rawls rushed for a career-high 209 yards (the second most in franchise history), added 46 yards receiving and scored two touchdowns. He also became the first undrafted player to rush for more than 160 yards in a game twice in his rookie season.
Rawls has received more than six carries in a game four times this season. He is averaging 132.5 rushing yards in those games. Is Lynch becoming expendable in Seattle?
Green Bay Packers
The Packers snapped their three-game losing streak in impressive style, beating the Minnesota Vikings by a 30-13 final at TCF Bank Stadium. Aaron Rodgers threw two touchdowns and Eddie Lacy rushed for 100 yards, while the Packers defense sacked Teddy Bridgewater six times and held Adrian Peterson to just 45 rushing yards.
The win elevated Green Bay back into first place in the NFC North and took away Minnesota’s opportunity to take hold of the division. The kings of the north still wear green and gold.
Worst
Reckless Rams
The Rams lost four fumbles, missed an extra point and gave up a 10-point lead in the fourth quarter, falling to the Baltimore Ravens and dropping to 4-6.
The final sequence summed up the day. Rams quarterback Case Keenum stayed in the game after absorbing a skull-rattling hit and promptly fumbled, which set up Joe Flacco to lead the Ravens to the game-winning field goal despite tearing his ACL and MCL earlier on the drive. St. Louis has lost three straight games.
Philadelphia Eagles
This might be rock bottom for head coach Chip Kelly. Sunday’s 45-17 shellacking at the hands of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers sent the Eagles to 4-6.
Philadelphia might only be one game out in the spectacularly average NFC East, but it’s hard to sugarcoat getting blown out in your own building by the team that picked first overall this past April. The Bucs converted 10 third downs and gained 521 yards, while the Eagles had four giveaways, including three interceptions from Mark Sanchez. Philadelphia has now lost back-to-back games at home.
QB Matt Ryan, Atlanta Falcons
Ryan threw for 280 yards and three touchdowns, but he also misfired on 21 attempts and tossed three picks as the floundering Falcons lost to Matt Hasselbeck and the visiting Colts.
Atlanta has lost four of its last five games, but this one will especially sting. The Falcons led by 14 points twice, but Ryan helped spark the Indianapolis comeback when he threw a pick-six to Colts linebacker D’Qwell Jackson in the fourth quarter. Atlanta’s 5-0 start now feels like a distant memory.
San Diego Chargers
The Kansas City Chiefs sent the 2-8 Chargers to their sixth straight loss on Sunday, drilling San Diego by a 33-3 final in front of a mostly pro-Chiefs crowd at Qualcomm Stadium.
The Chargers allowed nose tackle Dontari Poe to score a 1-yard touchdown, and quarterback Philip Rivers threw an ugly pick-six. First-round pick Melvin Gordon rushed 15 times for just 37 yards, while Kansas City’s one-two punch of Charcandrick West and Spencer Hall gained 165 total yards and scored two touchdowns. Even Ron Burgundy couldn’t put a positive spin on San Diego’s lost season.