Pro Football Network’s NFL Week 11 Awards might as well be painted black and yellow.
If you’re a Pittsburgh Steelers fan, you’ll enjoy this list, which also features an otherworldly quarterback performance in Motown, a Lone Star State beatdown, and Patrick Mahomes going from GOAT to a goat in front of #BillsMafia.
Who were the best of the best around the league? We break it all down in PFN’s Week 11 NFL Awards.
NFL Offensive Player of the Week
Jared Goff | Detroit Lions
Don’t let the opponent take away from what Detroit Lions QB Jared Goff did in Week 11. Yes, the Jacksonville Jaguars are a disaster, but Goff was special in a six-score Detroit victory.
Four of Goff’s 24 passes went for touchdowns. He completed 82.8% of his passes and averaged 14.2 yards per attempt. Not per completion. Per attempt.
Goff’s passer rating was perfect (158.3), and his QB+ (97.2) nearly was too. It was the league’s third-best quarterback performance dating back to 2019, per PFN’s proprietary metric.
No one throwing the “in-breaker” better than Goff for @Lions pic.twitter.com/rRYkFszWA3
— Dan Orlovsky (@danorlovsky7) November 19, 2024
Goff was accurate on all three levels, completing 9 of 11 attempts of 10 or more yards. He was 5 of 6 on third downs, with all five completions going for first downs.
Goff on Sunday became the first quarterback in the Lions’ 95-year history to throw for 400 or more yards, four or more touchdowns, and complete at least 80% of his attempts. Truly historic stuff.
Honorable mentions: Saquon Barkley, Amon-Ra St. Brown, Taysom Hill
NFL Defensive Player of the Week
Danielle Hunter | Houston Texans
This was a tough call because you could argue the two most impactful individual performances in Week 11 were by Los Angeles Chargers front seven defenders Tuli Tuipulotu and Joey Bosa — who had eight pressures apiece.
But to channel Omar Little, a weekly awards has gotta have a code. And PFN’s code is this: If your defense gives up 452 yards (including 342 through the air) and 24 first downs, you’re not getting the hardware.
Danielle Hunter, meanwhile, checked all the boxes. He was dominant — two sacks, six pressures, three tackles for loss, and a pass defensed — in a solid team performance Monday night.
The Houston Texans collectively held the Dallas Cowboys under five yards per play, had a defensive touchdown, and didn’t allow a red-zone touchdown in a 34-10 shellacking of the Cowboys.
Hunter was an expensive signing for the Texans in the offseason (two years, $49 million), but he’s held up his end. He’s fifth in pressures (48) and tied-seventh in sacks (7.5 through 11 weeks).
Honorable mentions: Tuipulotu, Bosa, Jalen Ramsey
NFL Special Teams Player of the Week
Chris Boswell | Pittsburgh Steelers
It was a peak AFC North game in Pittsburgh on Sunday. Everything down to the funky final score (18-16) was on-brand.
The Pittsburgh Steelers beat the Baltimore Ravens to put the division lead in a stranglehold despite not scoring a single touchdown.
Chris Boswell provided all the scoring they needed. The Steelers’ kicker nailed all six of his field-goal attempts — including a 50-yarder in the final four minutes that gave Pittsburgh the edge it needed to survive this rock fight.
Boswell has been invaluable to a team that is 8-2 with five one-score games. His 29 field goals through 10 games not only lead the league but also put him on pace to eclipse the league’s single-season record (44, David Akers, 2011).
Honorable mentions: Karl Brooks, Corliss Waitman, Jason Myers
NFL Rookie of the Week
Bo Nix | Denver Broncos
After a slow start to his rookie season, Bo Nix is coming on strong and had the best game of his young career in the Denver Broncos’ 38-6 beatdown of the Atlanta Falcons in Week 11.
The 2024 NFL Draft’s 12th overall pick threw a career-best four touchdowns and topped 300 yards for the first time in his career. Nix completed 28 of 33 passes and averaged a whopping 11.7 adjusted yards per attempt to lead the Broncos to their sixth win in nine games.
His QB+, 86.1, was the NFL’s third-best in Week 11 through Sunday’s games. He still ranks just 26th on the season in that metric, much to the consternation of Broncos Country.
Honorable mentions: Brock Bowers, Ladd McConkey, Drake Maye
NFL Play of the Week
Karl Brooks’ Block-Off | Green Bay Packers
Without Karl Brooks and his left hand, the Green Bay Packers would be 6-4 entering Week 12 instead of 7-3.
Brooks — a rotational defensive lineman who isn’t even a core special teamer — got just enough of Cairo Santos’ 46-yard field-goal attempt at the gun to preserve the Packers’ 20-19 victory.
THE FG IS BLOCKED FOR THE WIN!#GBvsCHI pic.twitter.com/zdxGIdJyZI
— Green Bay Packers (@packers) November 17, 2024
Making it even more remarkable?
Packers special teams coordinator Rich Bisaccia called his shot.
“Rich challenged us to get a block, so I took it personally,” Brooks said postgame. “I wanted to go out there and get that block. I wanted to do that for Coach Rich.”
Because Brooks is 6-3 and not 6-2, the Packers kept pace with the Detroit Lions and Minnesota Vikings in a loaded NFC North and are now 83.7% to reach the postseason, per PFN’s Playoff Predictor.
Honorable mentions: Will Levis’ 98-yard TD pass, Payton Wilson’s no-look INT, Josh Allen’s game-winning TD run
NFL Coach of the Week
Mike Tomlin | Pittsburgh Steelers
Mike Tomlin and his staff put together a brilliant game plan to shut down MVP front-runner Lamar Jackson in Week 11.
The Steelers held the Ravens’ QB to season-lows in completion percentage (48.5%), yards per attempt (6.3), and passer rating (66.1). His QB+ (65.6) was his fourth-worst since 2019.
How did the Steelers do it? By varying their approach. Pittsburgh blitzed Jackson on just 40% of his 35 dropbacks but found success when they did.
When blitzed, Jackson completed just 7 of 14 passes for 85 yards, one touchdown, and one interception for a passer rating of 63.1. Baltimore converted a mere four first downs through the air on those 14 dropbacks.
Honorable mentions: Dan Campbell, Sean Payton, Sean McDermott
NFL Goat of the Week
Patrick Mahomes | Kansas City Chiefs
It was a bit weird seeing Larry Csonka toasting the Buffalo Bills’ success Sunday night, but they had a common adversary in Week 11.
The Bills not only beat their most important rival, the Kansas City Chiefs, in a massively important game. They also ended the Chiefs’ hopes of an undefeated season — something only Csonka’s 1972 Miami Dolphins have done.
Credit goes to Buffalo, for sure. But there’s also plenty of blame to share in K.C.
That begins with Patrick Mahomes, who just hasn’t been right in 2024. On Sunday, he threw two interceptions for the third time in nine games and could produce points on just one second-half possession. Mahomes is 10th in QB+ on the year (84.7).
lol what a hilarious interception by Mahomes pic.twitter.com/OhWmCqmfQs
— ThatsGoodSports (@BrandonPerna) November 17, 2024
PFN’s metrics have been bearish on the Chiefs all season — they’re seventh in OFF+ and 12th in DEF+ — and they probably won’t be able to overcome underwhelming performances by Mahomes in the playoffs.
Honorable mentions: Nick Sorensen, Lamar Jackson, Cairo Santos
NFL Unsung Hero of the Week
Kendall Lamm | Miami Dolphins
The only way the Las Vegas Raiders were going to beat the Dolphins in Week 11 was if Maxx Crosby wrecked Miami’s offense.
That did not come close to happening. Crosby played all 68 snaps, but thanks to Dolphins tackle Kendall Lamm, you wouldn’t have known it. Crosby didn’t have a sack, a quarterback hit, or a tackle for loss in Miami’s 34-19 win.
It was a collective effort, for sure, but special credit goes to Lamm, who was only playing because starting right tackle Austin Jackson suffered a season-ending knee injury.
Lamm has yet to allow a sack and has surrendered just seven pressures in 118 pass-blocking snaps in 2024.
Honorable mentions: Devon Witherspoon, Corliss Waitman, Kevin Zeitler