Last Fan Standing: Week 11
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- I really thought this was going to be the farewell. After what happened in Week 10, I was ready to crown the champion, pack it up and call it a year. It would have been the quickest finish for a Last Fan Standing/Survivor Pool of over 20,000 contestants in the history of American football (probably). But alas, the show goes on. Fans remain standing.
It turns out, in order to last this long, you have to use some of the good teams along the way. So when two double-digit favorites and stone-cold locks like the Packers and Bengals go down this late in the game, the damage isn't the same. Those two only knocked out 24 of the 126 that got the boot this week. Most of the mess happened right in our backyard.
That would be the Philadelphia Eagles. The team is teetering on the edge of irrelevancy, and the slip-up against the Dolphins cost 48 people the chance at an actually attainable championship. Peyton Manning's (air quotes) injury (end air quotes) in a game he'd like to forget because of four interceptions, but will remember forever because he also set the all-time passing record, eliminated 31, the second-most of the week.
I feel for the two people who took the Raiders, a pick I felt good about (note to self: STOP PICKING AGAINST THE VIKINGS THEY ARE 7-2 AND HAVE WON EIGHT STRAIGHT AGAINST THE SPREAD), and a Randy Travis link for the 12 that went against my Jaguars pick and lost with the Ravens. Finally, one person had the Saints. I hope it was Rob Ryan.
So there are 45 fans left.
That's incredibly low but surprisingly high considering the nonsense we've gone through all season. Only 11 teams are over .500 after 10 weeks, and even those teams are unreliable. The Packers have lost three straight, while the Falcons and Jets have lost three of their last four games. The two most common records in the league right now are 4-5 (11 teams) and 2-7 (five teams). Besides the 9-0 Patriots and Panthers, these teams can all beat each other and we've seen it on repeat.
Transition into ill-advised picks!
Congratulations, Houston Texans, on that Monday night win. I'm very happy I wasn't around to feel the wrath of T.J. Yates. I will once again be picking against you. Coming off a win like that, on a short week, has letdown written all over it. The Jets played last Thursday, giving that defense more than enough time to get ready for whatever QB Houston puts out there. It will probably be Yates. He has started seven NFL games, including playoffs, has a record of 3-4 but two of those three wins were against the Bengals. Andy Dalton better hope the Texans don't go on a run and make the playoffs, because it's pretty clear his kryptonite is T.J. Yates.
The Jets have the top-ranked run defense, per DVOA, and are giving up just 57.5 yards a game to no. 1 wide receivers. They should be able to turn the Texans and their 28th-ranked rushing attack into a one-dimensional offense and use Darrelle Revis to take away their only threat through the air, DeAndre Hopkins. The Jets over the Texans.
Look away if you want, but here come the Chiefs! Andy Reid's team is a game out of the final AFC Wild Card spot and three games behind the all of a sudden uh-oh Broncos. Kansas City has won three straight games, finding a way to weather the storm that comes with losing Jamaal Charles for the year. In those three wins, replacement Charcandrick West has rushed for 276 yards and three touchdowns. He has also caught nine passes for 136 yards, including an 80-yard catch-and-run-and-score against Denver on Sunday. The Chiefs have scored 32 points per game during this current streak, and are averaging just shy of 25 on the year, which is 10th best in the NFL.
The Chargers, their Week 11 opponent, are terrible at everything other than offense, but are below the Chiefs in points scored. During their current five-game losing streak, San Diego has scored just 23 points per game. These teams appear to be going in different directions, and if there's one road team you can take without having to worry about a home field advantage it's whoever is traveling to San Diego. The Chiefs over the Chargers.
I'll keep this one brief since I'm ending on a low point. We have reached the week when Tony Romo returns to the Cowboys and they rip off a bunch of wins only to miss the playoffs and hurt their draft position. Romo will lead his team of leaders into Miami and beat a mediocre Dolphins team that has scored more than 20 points just twice this season (against the Titans and Texans).
I know you still have the Cowboys available, just don't lock it in until the official word that Touchdown Tony will get the start. The Cowboys over the Dolphins.
