CLEVELAND, Ohio — The Browns fell to 2-8 on the season as they lost on Sunday in New Orleans, 35-14, to the Saints. But there was more happening across the NFL than just this game.
Every week, we’ll go through the biggest storylines and examine narratives from around the NFL.
To help us examine these storylines and narratives, we’re following in the footsteps of the 1990s show, “Beyond Belief: Fact or Fiction,” which you may know better from the memes of host Jonathan Frakes.
In an homage to Frakes, we will decide every week whether several of the top storylines from around the league are fact or fiction.
Here are this week’s six biggest storylines:
JEUDY 89-YARD TD!! 😳
📺: #CLEvsNO on FOX
📱: https://t.co/waVpO909ge pic.twitter.com/pPwT9dYWZs— NFL (@NFL) November 17, 2024
1. Jameis Winston has earned the right to be the Browns bridge quarterback in 2025
Verdict: Fact.
The Browns were blown out on Sunday in New Orleans by the Saints. But Jameis Winston can say he mostly did his part in the loss.
Winston was 30 of 46 passing in the loss for 395 yards and two touchdowns, giving him a traditional quarterback rating of 106.7. One of those TDs was an 89-yard play by Jerry Jeudy, which is the fourth-longest pass play in team history.
But in the game, the defense and special teams let them down. Dustin Hopkins missed three field goals, one of which was negated by a penalty. One of the two official misses on the stat sheet was a 27-yard attempt.
The defense also gave up 138 yards and three rushing touchdowns by Taysom Hill on just seven carries, including a 75 yarder to put the game away. Cleveland’s punt coverage team also gave up a 53-yard return by Dante Pettis to set up a touchdown in the fourth quarter.
In three starts, Winston has had two good games and a bad one. To me, he’s done well enough to prove he should be the bridge quarterback for the Browns in 2025.
Unless the Browns finish with a worse record than the Giants, Raiders and Titans, they’re probably not going to be able to draft Colorado quarterback Shedeur Sanders. Miami’s Cam Ward could be an option, but his last three games have shown the warts that remain in his scouting report.
It also doesn’t help that there really hasn’t been a third quarterback to step up and firmly establish himself.
So for now, if the Browns can’t get Sanders, the best bet might be to roll with Winston in 2025. Let him have the reigns to start the season instead of having to take over in what has essentially been a Murphy’s Law 2024 season.
Even if the Browns draft Ward, Winston should be the Week 1 starter to allow Ward to develop in the background.
The way this season has unfolded showed there are more issues to fix than just the quarterback. Winston and a rookie quarterback right now looks like the best way to go if possible going forward.
The Winston experience is a roller coaster. But it’s clear the Browns look much better with him running the show. That’s why he right now deserves to be the bridge quarterback in 2025.
PAYTON WILSON RIPS IT AWAY. WILD @STEELERS INT.
📺: #BALvsPIT on CBS/Paramount+
📱: https://t.co/waVpO8ZBqG pic.twitter.com/lisvTk1lt7— NFL (@NFL) November 17, 2024
2. The Steelers have stolen the AFC North from the Ravens
Verdict: Fiction.
The first round of Ravens-Steelers belongs to Pittsburgh after Sunday’s 18-16 win at Acrisure Stadium. Despite the way both teams have played on offense, it looked like a traditional Ravens-Steelers game: physical and low scoring.
The Steelers won despite not scoring a touchdown and now have a 1.5-game lead atop the AFC North.
Even though they won, this division race is far from over.
The biggest reason is that Lamar Jackson only has to see the Steelers one more time this season.
The Steelers play Jackson better than anyone else, holding him to a 66.8 traditional quarterback rating, which is the lowest he has against any opponent, coming into Sunday. He had thrown just four touchdowns to seven interceptions in his previous six games vs. the Steelers.
Jackson struggled again, completing 16 of 33 passes for 207 yards, a TD and an INT. He also rushed just four times for 46 yards.
The Steelers also have a very brutal schedule the rest of the way, facing the Chiefs and Eagles along with all three AFC North road games.
The Ravens have a tough schedule as well. But they also get the Browns, Eagles and Steelers at home which is a huge advantage. Plus, Jackson is just so much better against everyone else than he is against the Steelers.
That’s why it’s still too early to call the AFC North despite the statement the Steelers made on Sunday.
Amon-Ra TD 🔁 🔁
📺: #JAXvsDET on CBS/Paramount+
📱: https://t.co/waVpO909ge pic.twitter.com/d1AtqmZNaY— NFL (@NFL) November 17, 2024
3. The Jaguars are the team in the biggest need of an organizational blowup
Verdict: Fact.
In possibly the least shocking outcome of Week 11, the Jaguars lost in Detroit. It doesn’t change the fact that the Lions’ 46-point demolition of the Jaguars isn’t noteworthy.
If I’m going to be fair here, this game shouldn’t change the opinion of where the organization is. But it’s an unfortunate validation of how much the Jaguars have failed to progress the last two seasons.
The Jaguars became the first team in the NFL to clinch a losing season in 2024, falling to 2-9. The loss also sinks the record of GM Trent Baalke to 23-39 in four seasons.
This is a team that should be much better considering it had the first pick in 2021 and 2022. Trevor Lawrence in 2021 was the best of what we now know is a weak quarterback class. But the Jaguars clearly missed in 2022 when they took Travon Walker, who has been good but not great, instead of Aidan Hutchinson, who has NFL Defensive Player of the Year potential.
Doug Pederson hasn’t gotten the most of his team either, going 11-17 in the last two seasons following a playoff win in 2022.
Lawrence isn’t going anywhere after signing a five-year deal worth $275 million back in June. But the Jaguars need to clean house to get the most of the team around him because Baalke and Pederson simply haven’t made the most out of their assets.
4. Anthony Richardson should start the rest of the way for the Colts if healthy
Verdict: Fact.
The Colts decided after last week to put former fourth overall pick Anthony Richardson back on the field after benching him in favor of Joe Flacco for the last two games.
Richardson rewarded the move by throwing for a career-high 272 yards in a 28-27 win vs. the Jets.
Richardson was 20 of 30 passing, giving him a career-high completion percentage (66.7%) in a game in which he threw at least five passes. He also had two fourth-quarter touchdown drives, throwing a TD pass to Josh Downs and then rushing for four yards for the game-winning score.
When he was drafted back in 2023, Richardson was clearly the quarterback of the top three — along with Bryce Young and C.J. Stroud — who needed the most development.
It’s hard to be patient in the NFL now more than ever, which helps explains why Richardson was benched. However, Sunday proved that patience may pay off given Richardson’s tantalizing tools. That’s why he should be starting every game the rest of season that he is healthy enough to play in.
JK DOBBINS. GO-AHEAD TD WITH 18 SECONDS LEFT.
📺: #CINvsLAC on NBC/Peacock
📱: Stream on #NFLPlus pic.twitter.com/ou4r33q38K— NFL (@NFL) November 18, 2024
5. Beating the Chiefs proved that 2024 will be different for the Bills
Verdict: Fiction.
The Chiefs’ unbeaten start to the 2024 season came to an end on Sunday night as the Bills handed Kansas City its first loss of the season, 30-21. It’s also the Chiefs’ first loss since Christmas Day of 2023 when they lost at home to the Raiders.
Josh Allen had two touchdowns, including a 26-yard run on a fourth down to put the game away, and James Cook also rushed for two scores.
But the thing for the Bills is that we have seen this story before. Buffalo has beaten Kansas City in each of the last four regular season meetings. That hasn’t been the issue.
They, like the rest of the AFC, have to figure out how to beat the Chiefs in the playoffs.
We also must acknowledge that while the Chiefs still have the NFL’s best record, they haven’t been looking quite like their usual selves. Their offense came into the game ranked 11th in scoring (24.3 points per game), and seven of their nine wins have been one-score games.
So you can argue that the Chiefs have been very lucky this season.
However, last season proved that the Chiefs can simply flip the switch for the playoffs. The Bills didn’t have an answer for that a year ago.
We won’t know until January if they finally do. But there isn’t anything they can do until then.
6. Zac Taylor’s days as Bengals head coach should be numbered
Verdict: Fact.
When the Cincinnati Bengals missed the playoffs last season, everyone could understand why. Joe Burrow was not right as early as training camp, and a wrist injury limited him to 10 games this season.
But this year, there is no excuse in Cincinnati.
Joe Burrow has been healthy, he has been sensational, and his team has failed him throughout the season. The latest example came in Sunday night’s 34-27 loss to the Chargers.
Burrow almost single-handedly helped the Bengals erase a 21-point halftime deficit. But his defense gave up a four-play, 84-yard drive in just 27 seconds to cost his team the game and sink Cincinnati to a 4-7 level.
Given how poorly the season started and the fact that it might take a miracle to make the playoffs, it’s hard to imagine Zac Taylor keeping his job after the season.
His teams have started the season slowly with three consecutive 0-2 starts, and they opened this year with a 1-4 record. The Bengals have barely been in the mix despite coming into the day sixth in scoring offense (27.0 points per game).
The Bengals go into their bye week with a ton of questions and not many answers for the rest of the season. But this feels like a team in need of a new voice as head coach in 2025.
Taylor deserves some credit for helping the Bengals get to a Super Bowl. However, it feels like he’s taken the Bengals as far as he can take them, and his time in Cincinnati might not be much longer.
