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Five nuggets of knowledge about Week 11:
Forget the percentages, the fourth-down call Bill Belichick made makes no sense to me. If you type my name into the search field on Pro-Football-Reference.com, you'll notice I've neither coached nor played in the NFL. So who cares what I think about a coaching decision? Apparently, dozens of readers, who have been calling me a New England Patriots homer because I didn't demand Belichick be summarily executed for not punting on fourth down from his own 28-yard line against the Indianapolis Colts.
I've repeatedly said I disagreed with the decision, but since there seems to be confusion over my stance, here are some other options I would have considered about as long: an 89-yard field goal attempt, the fumblerooski, intentionally miss the front end of a one-and-one and hope for the putback, Laurence Maroney throwing a halfback pass to Nick Kaczur, a quintuple reverse, and an onside punt.
Unless the Buffalo Bills want to make a point by refusing to play him, we haven't seen the last of Trent Edwards. I find it difficult to believe Ryan Fitzpatrick, with his 49.4 completion percentage and 49.8 passer rating, will take over the starting job and run away with it. Maybe he'll experience a quarterbacking epiphany. And maybe the next time I sit down at a piano I will play Chopin.
The Bills' offense has been a disaster under Fitzpatrick or Edwards. Seven games is too much time to endure watching one quarterback continually look less than mediocre. Unless Fitzpatrick morphs into a different player than we've seen, Edwards will get another shot.
New York Jets cornerback Darrelle Revis will have a tougher time shutting down Randy Moss compared to Week 2. There has been much talk this week about whether Revis received help in holding Moss to four catches for 24 yards. Revis said he was one-on-one. Jets defensive coordinator Mike Pettine admitted Wednesday that Revis had downfield assistance.
Either way, it's going to be more difficult to limit Moss for a few reasons. Tom Brady is much more comfortable now than he was then. Wes Welker didn't play in Week 2. Third receiver Joey Galloway, who short-circuited many plays because of his inability to get on the same page as Brady, has been cut. And, maybe most importantly, Brady and Moss would love to shut Revis up. If Revis wins this battle convincingly, he'll cement an All-Pro honor.
Don't expect Ricky Williams to carry the Miami Dolphins into the playoffs. As vital as Williams will be down the homestretch, the most critical contributor will be quarterback Chad Henne. The second-year pro, pressed into service sooner than the Dolphins preferred when Chad Pennington's shoulder came apart, quietly has evolved into an effective game manager.
Henne's 77.7 passer rating is 25th in the league, but he has thrown only one interception in the past four games, helping the Dolphins win three of them. His touchdown output is low, but the Dolphins have leaned upon two of the NFL's better goal-to-go backs. Henne will need to do increasingly more over the final six games to make sure Williams doesn't get worn out in Ronnie Brown's absence.
The Bills will need to put 12 defenders in the box to stop Maurice Jones-Drew from repairing his fantasy relationships. Jones-Drew snuffed the Jets last Sunday by brilliantly kneeling on the goal line to run down the clock for a game-winning field goal rather than score a touchdown. Jones-Drew apologized to his fantasy owners afterward.
Those owners shouldn't bench him for Sunday. Jones-Drew is going against the NFL's worst run defense. What's more, the Bills announced Friday run-stopping (theoretically) defensive tackle Marcus Stroud won't play because of a knee injury. And that's not all. Buffalo's other starting defensive tackle, Kyle Williams, is on the injury report with a knee injury. Williams has missed the past three games.