NFL Week 11 Preview: Bills and Browns escape snowstorm in Buffalo
By Hannah Brewitt, CNN
The Buffalo Bills (6-3) and Cleveland Browns (3-6) were supposed to square off at Highmark Stadium in Buffalo this Sunday.
However, the decision was made earlier this week to play the game at Ford Field in Detroit due to a snowstorm headed for western New York. On Friday, the Buffalo Niagara International Airport temporarily closed runways and the city announced a travel ban.
Approximately 77 inches of snow dumped on the greater Buffalo area, almost trapping the team inside state lines. The airport reopened on Saturday morning and the team were set to jet at 4 p.m.
The Bills enter the matchup third in their division and have lost their last two games.
They’ve had a bit of a backslide since the start of the season, facing a difficult schedule and dealing with a slew of injuries. A contest with the 3-6 Browns could be exactly what this team needs to get back into the playoff conversation.
What will it take to get back on track?
Consistency from quarterback Josh Allen, avoiding turnovers, and containing Nick Chubb.
Allen is undoubtedly one of the league’s best quarterbacks. He leads the league with 3,209 combined passing and rushing yards and has provided 84.1 percent of the Bills’ total yards.
He has to be firing on all cylinders to keep the offense active but this was not the case last week against the Vikings.
He threw two interceptions in the red zone and fumbled the ball at the Bills’ own 1-yard line to allow a Vikings touchdown. These critical mistakes are the difference between wins and losses.
On defense, the Bills’ top priority must be to shut down Nick Chubb. The running back is Cleveland’s main weapon, with 904 rushing yards, five 100-yard games, and a 5.7 average per carry.
Cleveland has lost five of its last six games. As the underdogs in this scenario, it doesn’t hold many advantages but it has a chance to capitalize on the Bills’ recent losing skid.
Unlike the Bills, the Browns had a full week of normal practice. While Buffalo was dealing with getting themselves out of a snow storm, Cleveland was working business as usual.
As previously mentioned, the Browns also have Nick Chubb. Since Week 8, the Bills have been among the league’s worst at covering outside runs.
Chubb is the perfect player to exploit this deficiency. The results of this game will largely depend on his performance.
Tune in on Sunday at 1 p.m. ET to see how it all plays out.
Chiefs vs Chargers
The AFC West rival Kansas City Chiefs (7-3) and Los Angeles Chargers (5-4) face off for Sunday’s primetime event.
Patrick Mahomes’s Chiefs enter the matchup first in the division and on a three-game winning streak. The Chargers are in second place as the only relative challenge to the Chiefs’ throne.
A win on Sunday would all but guarantee Kansas City their seventh straight AFC West crown. The Chiefs’ reign since the rise of Mahomes has been nothing short of dominant. Since 2016, they are 33-5 in the division.
In the last four years, they’ve had two Super Bowl and two Conference Championship appearances. On top of all that, Mahomes has never lost a divisional road game.
Los Angeles has its work cut out.
For the Chargers, their biggest threat to success this season has been injuries. Pretty much all of Los Angeles’ best players have battled an injury or are currently injured.
Back in Week 2, quarterback Justin Herbert suffered a fractured rib cartilage that seemed to impact his play until very recently.
Receivers Keenan Allen and Mike Williams returned to practice this week, but are questionable heading into the contest. Allen has played just two games due to recurring problems with left hamstring strain, and Williams was out the last two weeks with a high right ankle sprain.
If history repeats itself, this week’s matchup could be a very close game. Since 2020, the two teams have met five times. Two of those games ended in overtime and four were decided by six points or less.
To see these teams in action, tune in on Sunday at 8:20 p.m. ET.
49ers vs Cardinals
The San Francisco 49ers (5-4) and Arizona Cardinals (4-6) travel to Mexico City on Monday night for a rematch of the NFL’s first-ever regular season international game. This will be the fifth contest hosted at Estadio Azteca dating back to 2005.
Entering the matchup, the 49ers and Cardinals sit at second and third in the NFC West, respectively. The first place Seattle Seahawks have a bye this week and San Francisco is just a half game behind.
Since the 49ers beat the Seahawks back in Week 2, a win in Mexico could leapfrog the 49ers into first place. As the season reaches the midpoint, divisional positioning becomes increasingly important and non-playoff contenders begin to fall to the wayside.
The game marks the first of two meetings between these NFC West rivals. Kickoff is set for Monday at 5:15 p.m. ET.
How to Watch
Here’s how to catch these teams and others across the league in action, from wherever you are.
Australia: NFL Game Pass, ESPN, 7Plus
Brazil: NFL Game Pass, ESPN
Canada: CTV, TSN, RDS, NFL Game Pass on DAZN
Germany: NFL Game Pass, ProSieben MAXX, DAZN
Mexico: NFL Game Pass, TUDN, ESPN, Fox Sports, Sky Sports
UK: NFL Game Pass, Sky Sports, ITV, Channel 5
US: NFL Game Pass, CBS Sports, Fox Sports, ESPN, Amazon Prime
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