The Replacements Rule: Week 11 in The Weekly Assist

Top draft picks Joe Burrow and Chase Young during Sunday's game that saw Burrow go down with a season ending injury

Geoff Burke - USA TODAY Sports

As Ferris Bueller might say: The world of sports moves pretty fast; if you don't stop and look around at least once a week, you could miss it.

Here we'll review what you might have missed in the past week all in one place. Why spend hours scrolling through Twitter to catch up on the news you want? We've already done that for you, so remember to check back every Monday to get your dose of weekly sports review.

Taysom Hill, Andy Dalton, and P.J. Walker all lead their teams to Week 11 victories filling in for injured starting QBs. Cleveland moved ahead of the Ravens in the AFC North with their win over the Eagles while Baltimore fell to the Titans. The Steelers continued to roll and now sit at 10-0 atop the NFL. The Colts outlasted the Packers in an overtime thriller as Indianapolis is now positioning themselves as a team nobody wants to see come playoff time as they boast the best defense in the NFL.

Joe Burrow was injured in the Bengals' game against Washington and he miss the remainder of the season with a knee injury. This should make Justin Herbert the odds on favorite to win Rookie of the Year if you're interested in a futures bet.


NFL

Along with the Colts' win this past Sunday, the Seahawks' victory over the Cardinals this week was just as important to keep pace in a competitive division. Both teams currently lead their respective divisions, but their margins of error are slim. The Titans beat the Ravens to match the Colts' 7-3 record, but the Colts hold the tie-breaker over them.

Taysom Hill contributed 284 total yards and two rushing touchdowns in a win over division rival Atlanta. The Falcons couldn't get their offense working all game and New Orleans was able to keep the Falcons' defense guessing all game. Michael Thomas led the way with nine catches for 104 yards.

P.J. Walker helped the Panthers get a win against Detroit showing his mobility and arm strength on a 52 yard strike to D.J. Moore and tossed for 258 yards and a touchdown. Mike Davis had 64 rushing yards and a TD as Carolina won 20-0.

The Dallas Cowboys beat the Vikings in one of the most surprising outcomes from Week 11 and are now tied with Washington and New York for second place in the NFC East. The Eagles still lead with a record of 3-6-1 but it's truly anyone's prize to win. Ezekiel Elliott had over 100 yards on the ground and Tony Pollard pitched in with 60 yards and a TD. Andy Dalton had three touchdown passes in the game.

Despite an early touchdown pass to DeVante Parker the Dolphins offense stalled under Tua Tagovailoa and the Dolphins brought in Ryan Fitzpatrick to spell the struggling rookie as their five game win streak came to an end after a loss to the Broncos 20-13.

The Chiefs avenged their only loss on the season defeating the Raiders in a barn burner 35-31 and are now 9-1 on the year and arguably the best team in football even though the Steelers remain a perfect 10-0. Patrick Mahomes threw for 348 yards and two touchdowns, but Derek Carr nearly outdueled him in a losing effort throwing for 275 yards and three TDs. Clyde Edwards-Helaire fantasy owners were happy as he had two scores which has been his Achilles heel all season is a lack of touchdowns.

A few other notable performances from Week 11 include Keenan Allen finishing with 16 receptions for 145 yards and a touchdown. Deshaun Watson had 344 yards passing along with three touchdowns (two passing and one on the ground). Derrick Henry had 133 yards and the game-winning touchdown to beat the Ravens.



NBA

There's been a lot of player movement in the past week in the NBA and there may not have been a more impactful signing than Montrezl Harrell agreeing to terms with the defending champion Lakers. Harrell is the reigning sixth-man of the year and averaged 18.6 points and 7.1 rebounds per game during the 2019-2020 season.

It appears that Anthony Davis will be asked to play more at the center position this upcoming season. Now that Dwight Howard is on his way to Philadelphia and JaVale McGee was traded to Cleveland to make room for the eventual signing of Marc Gasol, Davis will likely be asked to play the 5 more often rotating with Gasol and Harrell.

Lakers coach Frank Vogel proved throughout the 2020 playoffs that he is very adept at finding good lineups with the talent at his disposal and with the league shifting to smaller and quicker lineups, Los Angeles is gearing up for a title defense.

The Clippers will hope to replace Harrell's production with veteran Serge Ibaka who is signing with the Clippers and should provide some nice spacing for Kawhi Leonard and Paul George to work in this season.

Gordon Hayward in a surprise move is headed to Charlotte to join newly drafted LaMelo Ball. The Hornets are an organization that has struggled with bad contracts weighing down their flexibility to make roster changes. Hayward signed a 4 year deal for $120 million and has struggled to stay healthy since arriving in Boston three years ago.

Goran Dragic signed an extension to remain with the Miami Heat and best friend Jimmy Butler. The Heat and head coach Erik Spoelstra will look to make another run for the Finals, but the Nets, 76'ers and Bucks will be serious contenders to take the Eastern Conference Championship crown from them.

The Golden State Warriors lost Klay Thompson to yet another season ending injury. Thompson missed all of last season after tearing his ACL in the 2019 NBA Finals, and will now miss the entire 2020-2021 season after an Achilles' tendon tear suffered during a workout this past week. All is not lost however for the once dominant Warriors.

Steph Curry will be making his return and he will be joined by a couple new faces. The team's top draft pick was James Wiseman out of the University of Memphis. The big man will add a level of scoring versatility that they haven't had during the Steph years and will make defending the perimeter shooting of the Warriors considerably more difficult.

Golden State also traded for Kelly Oubre Jr. sending a future first and second round pick in exchange to Oklahoma City. Oubre averaged 18.7 points per game last season in Phoenix and shot over 35% from three. This is obviously an attempt at replacing Thompson's skill set and shows that the organization feels like they can jump right back in and contend in a deep western conference.



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