New England Patriots Get Their First Shutout of the Season

The New England Patriots travelled down to Atlanta, Georgia to face the Atlanta Falcons on Thursday night. They ended up winning the game 25-0. Of course, many of us probably couldn’t stay up for the entire game because it was a school night, and that applies to me, too. However, I wish I could’ve seen this game live, because based on the final score, it seemed to be a thriller for Patriots fans at the very least. Not only did the offense do well getting downfield, but the defense also did an excellent job of not letting the Falcons score any points. They were able to stop the many talented Falcons players, including rookie tight end Kyle Pitts, a first round, fourth overall draft pick from the University of Florida. Slow and steady really won the race as the Patriots didn’t win the game with long plays or acrobatic catches. Instead, they made great, shorter plays and slowly worked their way down the field to score. With this win and the Buffalo Bills’ 41-15 loss to the Indianapolis Colts, the Patriots became the first place team in their division, the AFC East. 

The Injuries Continue to Pile Up for Many Teams

We’ve learned about the rising number of knee injuries, specifically ACL tears, but the amount of injuries in general is rising at an alarming rate. The injury reports each week seem to be getting longer and longer, with the majority of teams having at least one player injured. National Football League players are dropping like flies. Many of the injuries come to big-name players, and their absence impacts their team greatly, because their teams may lose games that they could have won, or just barely win games that they could’ve won by a much larger margin, had some of the big-name players been playing. Oftentimes, when a team has many injured players, or even just a single one who is really talented, it can cause them to completely crumble. This was true with the San Francisco 49ers in the 2020-21 season, who were without quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo for most of the season, along with many others. After the 2019-20 season where the team had a record of 13-3 and made it all the way to Super Bowl LIV, they were 6-10 in the next season and didn’t even make the playoffs. This just goes to show how injuries can seriously impact a team, no matter how many players have them or how serious they are! 

The rise in injury cases is especially true with head injuries like concussions. On Sunday alone, six players across the league had to leave their games to be evaluated for concussions: Los Angeles Chargers cornerback Asante Samuel Jr., New York Jets linebacker C.J. Mosley, Jacksonville Jaguars cornerback Shaquill Griffin, Detroit Lions tackle Halapoulivaati Vaitai, Dallas Cowboys wide receiver CeeDee Lamb, and Philadelphia Eagles cornerback Darius Slay. With the ever-evolving technology that goes into making the helmets, concussion cases in the National Football League should be dropping. However, they seem to be on the rise. Hits to the head, including helmet-to-helmet contact, are now a penalty, but concussions are still a common occurrence in the league. Players are continuing to be educated on how to hit properly to avoid injuring opposing players, but it still looks like concussions won’t be going away anytime soon. 

Other Points and Storylines from This Week in the NFL 

Tampa Bay Buccaneers wide receiver Antonio Brown was accused of having a fake Covid-19 vaccination card. However, after an investigation by the team, it was discovered that none of the vaccination cards seemed to be irregular, acquitting him from any potential punishments from the team, the league, or the state (at least for now). 

Former New England Patriots quarterback Cam Newton returned to his former team, the Carolina Panthers, playing his first game back with them last week. His team played an away game against the Arizona Cardinals, and blew them out 34-10. However, this week, he lost 27-21 to the Washington Football Team at home.

Underdog Minnesota Vikings beat the powerhouse Green Bay Packers on a game winning field goal, with a final score of 34-31. 

The Detroit Lions still can’t win a game! They lost in a close game with the Cleveland Browns, with a resulting score of 10-13. 

Week 11 Final Scores

• New England Patriots versus the Atlanta Falcons (played in Atlanta) — Patriots win 25-0
• Washington Football Team versus the Carolina Panthers (played in Carolina) — Washington wins 27-21
• Baltimore Ravens versus the Chicago Bears (played in Chicago) — Ravens win 16-13
• New Orleans Saints versus the Philadelphia Eagles (played in Philadelphia) — Eagles win 40-29
• Miami Dolphins versus the New York Jets (played in New York… well, actually, New Jersey, where the Jets stadium is) — Dolphins win 24-17
• Indianapolis Colts versus the Buffalo Bills (played in Buffalo) — Colts win 41-15
• Detroit Lions versus the Cleveland Browns (played in Cleveland) — Browns win 13-10
• San Francisco 49ers versus the Jacksonville Jaguars (played in Jacksonville) — 49ers win 30-10
• Houston Texans versus the Tennessee Titans (played in Tennessee) — Texans win 22-13
• Green Bay Packers versus the Minnesota Vikings (played in Minnesota) — Vikings win 34-31
• Cincinnati Bengals versus the Las Vegas Raiders (played in Las Vegas) — Bengals win 32-13
• Dallas Cowboys versus the Kansas City Chiefs (played in Kansas City) — Chiefs win 19-9
• Arizona Cardinals versus the Seattle Seahawks (played in Seattle) — Cardinals win 23-13
• Pittsburgh Steelers versus the Los Angeles Chargers (played in Los Angeles) — Chargers win 41-37
• New York Giants versus the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (played in Tampa Bay) — Buccaneers win 30-10