NFL Nfl Analysis

About 20 years ago, an AP sports writer in Denver named John Mossman went through all of John Elway's games with the Broncos and wrote a story chronicling the number of times he had led fourth-quarter or overtime drives that either won or tied games.

It became an instant stat.

For the next decade, PR men extraordinaire Jim Saccomano in Denver and Harvey Greene in Miami battled annually with lists showing Elway ahead of Dan Marino, or vice versa. Joe Montana probably was ahead of both, but the 49ers PR department declined for a long time to play. But now it's standard -- teams keep lists like that on every quarterback right down to Matthew Stafford, who had his first game-winner on Sunday in the second win of his career.

Each week in the NFL, there are players that impress and players that distress. One week a certain quarterback might toss four touchdowns and run around pointing skyward, while the next he's laying on his back, holding his facemask as the other team returns one of his three interceptions for the game-winning score. With that in mind, here's Studs and Duds for Week 11.

Studs

Ricky Williams, RB, Miami (22 carries, 119 yards, three touchdowns): No, it's not 2002. Yes, Ricky Williams was on the top performers of the week. Williams, filling in as the starting running back for injured Ronnie Brown went nuts against Carolina last Thursday, topping the 100-yard mark and finding the end zone three times -- twice on the ground, one through the air -- in a 24-17 Miami win. Williams' 22 carries were the most he's had since a 28-carry day in Week 17 of 2005. He followed that up by violating the league's substance abuse policy and being suspended for all of 2006. Let's hope he's got healthier plans this time around.

When you're the Detroit Lions and you're thinking about making Matthew Stafford the No. 1 overall pick in the NFL Draft, you're a quivering Jell-O mold of fear and trepidation. Is the kid smart enough? Is he strong enough? Is he tough enough to not just play but thrive in the most crucial position any sport has? Will he represent the team well? Does he make a good impression? Is he a leader? You're risking dozens of millions of dollars and the future of your franchise on questions you really can't hope to answer by the end of April of his junior year of college, and it's scary.

But the flip side is what you know he can be, which is that rarest of NFL commodities -- a franchise quarterback. You imagine a day when he puts the team on his back, overcomes some ridiculous obstacle (an expired clock, say, or an injured shoulder ... or both!) and leads the team to an emotional, season-defining win. You believe he can be that kind of player, and so, you give him the money and hope. And then, in Week 11 of his first season, he gives you a glimpse.

The NFL season officially hit the homestretch late in the second quarter in Denver on Sunday when Josh McDaniels, his Broncos trailing San Diego 13-0, inserted gimpy starting quarterback Kyle Orton for struggling backup Chris Simms.

Denver lost, 32-3, although the offense did get better with Orton leading it.

But that's not the point. The point is that McDaniels, whose team had lost three in a row coming in, felt Sunday's game was so critical that he needed to insert Orton and risk further injury to the ligaments in the QB's ankle, even with another game coming up in four days. It's like George Allen's old slogan for the Redskins of the 70s: "The future is now.'' Except that Allen's slogan worked a lot better than Orton worked for the Broncos -- he certainly was better than Simms, but it didn't matter much.

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- It was a what-else-can-go-wrong game for the Jets that revealed their warts and showcased the Patriots' muscle. Everything about this 31-14 Patriots victory here on Sunday essentially pointed to one fact: the Jets are frauds.

They talked a big game before the first snap of the season and more smack when they toppled the Patriots 16-9 back in Week 2. They were throwing a rookie quarterback sensation at opponents, combined with a defense designed to growl and intimidate.

They sped to three straight victories -- but have since lost six of seven games. And those six losses have come in a pair of three-game losing skids, including the current one. They are a 4-6 team steamrolling to a 7-9 or 6-10 season.

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- Man, you really gotta love that NFC East. Up here in the swamps of Jersey on Sunday, the Giants played as little fourth-quarter defense as possible but still pulled out a 34-31 overtime victory over a Falcons team that refused to play any defense all day. Meanwhile, back in Texas, the Cowboys waited until the last possible second to show up and beat the Redskins. Some kind of inspiring day for the teams at the top of a division that was supposed to rank among the NFL's best. And while the Giants' players and coaches said all the right things here (a win is a win, after all, and they hadn't had one in a month and a half), the most insightful thing anybody said came out of the mouth of defensive end Justin Tuck.

"We got the win and that's great," Tuck said. "But I don't like how we finished this game at all."

It's Week 11 of the 2009 NFL season and we've got some big games ahead of us this afternoon: Colts vs. Ravens, Redskins vs. Cowboys, Falcons vs. Giants, Jets vs. Patriots and Chargers vs. Broncos are among the big games of the day.

I'll be watching all of those (and even some Browns vs. Lions) on my three-TV home office, with my wife at my side and DirecTV's NFL Sunday Ticket keeping me constantly informed, and I'll be tweeting about all of it. So if you want to know what's going on today in the NFL, follow along below or follow me on Twitter @MichaelDavSmith.

Could we all please stop telling Rex Ryan how to live his life? I mean, I think we should stop telling everybody how to live their lives, but we can start with Rex. Poor guy has coached nine games in the NFL and has already been called everything from a breath of fresh air to a blowhard to a crybaby. Yeah, in case you haven't heard the last thing on the Jets' head coach is that he cried during a team meeting Monday morning. The New York Post broke the story, and it became a big deal in New York. Ryan, to his credit, brought of box of tissues to his Wednesday news conference, joked that he'd just scored a sponsorship deal with Kleenex and said, "I'm man enough to be me."

"I'll be true to myself," Ryan said. "I'm always going to be, and I said that from day one. If I don't fit the stereotype of coach-speak or anything else, so be it. I'm always going to be myself."

Can I say I hope Ryan is reading this when I type, "Thank goodness?"

The Dolphins announced Wednesday that leading running back Ronnie Brown had been placed on injured reserve with a right foot injury, ending his 2009 season. Brown had accumulated 648 yards rushing and eight touchdowns, plus a passing touchdown, and stepped in at the "quarterback" spot in Miami's Wildcat offense.

Miami may be as equipped as any team in the NFL to lose its No. 1 back and still run a consistent offense. Ricky Williams will take over as the team's starter, with guys like Ted Ginn, Jr., and rookie quarterback Pat White capable of picking up extra Wildcat duties. Still, Miami's offense puts a lot of pressure on the running back position -- behind Williams now is second-year guy Lex Hilliard, who has zero NFL carries.

But there are lots of recognizable free agents available, should Miami go that route. A look at some of the possibilities:

If you're a Steelers fan, you know that the Steelers kick coverage has been putrid, but considering how bad the Steelers coverage teams over the years have been, it's easy to not realize just how rank this year's special teams are. Thankfully, the Football Outsiders are able to give it some perspective.

In the 15 years of stats the FO guys now have data foor, the Steelers are coming up on a very dubious record. The 1995 Bills have the record for the worst kick coverage unit of all time--they are so bad that the difference between them and the second worst team is as much as the difference between the second worst and the 53rd worst unit.