NFL Week 11: Kelce brothers to play against each other for first time since Super Bowl – CNN
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Week 11 of the NFL season kicked off with the Baltimore Ravens’ dominant Thursday Night Football victory over the Cincinnati Bengals. The divisional win kept the Ravens atop the AFC North, but the bigger storyline of the day was the devastating injury to Bengals’ quarterback Joe Burrow.
On Sunday, six more divisional matchups will be played across the league. The Week 11 action concludes with the biggest game of the week – a Kelce vs. Kelce Super Bowl rematch.
It’s been a long time coming.
On Monday Night, the Kelce brothers will face off for the first time since their epic “Kelce Bowl” showdown. Jason Kelce’s Philadelphia Eagles will travel to Kansas City to take on Travis Kelce’s Chiefs in one of the most highly-anticipated matchups of the season – a Super Bowl LVII rematch and a potential Super Bowl LVIII preview.
While neither Kelce brother played football last week, the pair still managed to make headlines. Travis traveled to Buenos Aires to attend Taylor Swift’s “Eras Tour” and Jason was named one of People Magazine’s “Sexiest Men Alive.” The brothers also released a Christmas song, “The Fairytale of Philadelphia,” from “A Philly Special Christmas Special,” a holiday album created to benefit local charities in Philadelphia.
“It’s been a whirlwind. It kind of started last year with the podcast and it’s continually built up more and more from the Super Bowl and my brother’s love life and People magazine,” Jason told reporters.
“It’s continued to get more and more and you just kind of take it one day at a time, I think you try and stay grounded with it, you try and be realistic about it and you try to be the same person you are.”
Now with the bye week in the rearview, the pair are ready to direct their attention back to football.
On the most recent episode of the New Heights podcast, the brothers described how it feels to compete against each other.
“I just enjoy being in the NFL with you, let alone when we actually get to share the field,” Travis said. “It brings all of our family, all of our friends, together to watch one game. Outside of the score at the end, I know all the family, and I know I definitely have fun in every single game that we’ve ever played.”
Nine months have passed since they last faced off, in a game that ended in elation for Kansas City and heartbreak for Philadelphia.
The pain of that Super Bowl loss still lingers heading into Monday’s game. Jason, however, isn’t motivated by the past.
“I don’t need the Super Bowl to motivate me to beat my brother, or Andy Reid. I’ve never beat them in my career, so maybe I’m more motivated by that. I don’t buy into Super Bowl revenge games,” he told reporters.
“I think if you look at that outside noise, you’re really doing yourself a disservice. So, the same things that allow us to be successful every week are going to come down to this game. Taking care of the football, being smart, executing in the red zone.”
Pittsburgh Steelers @ Cleveland Browns, Sunday, 1:00 p.m. ET
Sunday afternoon features the second AFC North battle of the week – the Pittsburgh Steelers vs. the Deshaun Watson-less Cleveland Browns.
Watson suffered a “displaced fracture” in his right shoulder during last week’s win over the Baltimore Ravens, and the team announced on Wednesday that he would receive season-ending shoulder surgery, a devastating outcome for the quarterback.
“I’m still in disbelief. I’m still trying to process all the information,” Watson told reporters. “I felt like we were turning a corner to really make a run and still believe we still will with the guys in this locker room. I just wanted to physically be a part of it … It’s tough to try to wrap everything around my head right now.”
In his absence, rookie Dorian Thompson-Robinson will make his second career start at quarterback. The 24-year-old signal-caller made his first career start against the Ravens back in Week 4. He threw three interceptions and was sacked four times during the 28-3 loss.
Earlier this week, Thompson-Robsinson described how he learned from that experience.
“I’ve gotten that first one under my belt. I know what it takes now to be an NFL quarterback and not just be a college quarterback being in the NFL,” Thompson-Robinson told reporters.
“So, I think I’ve taken that next step. You know, I’m just trying to grow every day. Like I said, lean on my teammates. We have a wonderful team here with guys that love me and are embracing me this week. So, if I can just go out there and lean on my teammates, I think I’ll be alright.”
On Sunday night, one of the league’s longest active win streaks will come to an end as the Minnesota Vikings face the Denver Broncos.
Despite each losing their first three games of the season, Minnesota have won their last five games and Denver their last three, including a win over the AFC-leading Chiefs.
Broncos head coach Sean Payton discussed the teams’ similar starts to the season earlier this week.
“Both teams battled back. [The Vikings] pulled off, I think, five wins in a row. Especially with some of the injuries and when you look at losing a guy like [Vikings QB] Kirk Cousins and then another quarterback – it’s really impressive,” Payton told reporters.
“I think each week they’re playing better and better defensively [and in the] kicking game. [It’s] their own story of how they’ve been able to do that, and that’s impressive because it requires energy and rolling up your sleeves and working hard. They’ve been able to do that. Fortunately, we’ve been able to get that started as well.”
While the Vikings are favored to win on Sunday, extending their winning-streak to six games won’t be easy as they haven’t won in Denver since 1999.
“We’re very much aware of the challenge it’s going to be [playing in] one of the more difficult environments in the league,” Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell said.
“They’re playing very well right now. Coach [Sean] Payton has got those guys rolling. So we’re gonna have to go have one of our best efforts of the season to go get our seventh win. And the guys seem really locked in. We gotta go make it come to life on Sunday night.”
One of the major keys to this game will be controlling the turnover margin. Minnesota began the season on the wrong side of the turnover battle with 12 turnovers and just three takeaways. Since the start of their five-game winning streak, they’re on the right side of the turnover margin with 11 takeaways and five turnovers.
The Broncos have been on the right side of the turnover battle since the start of their winning streak. They forced nine turnovers in their last two games, including five against Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes and four against Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen.
“It was the difference [in the game],” Payton said of the takeaways against the Bills. “Our defensive takeaways — and honestly, it’ll be the key for us as we move forward these next few weeks.”
Whichever team can win the turnover battle on Sunday will have a major edge in what is expected to be a very tight game.
Sunday
Dallas Cowboys @ Carolina Panthers, 1:00 p.m. ET
Pittsburgh Steelers @ Cleveland Browns, 1:00 p.m. ET
Chicago Bears @ Detroit Lions, 1:00 p.m. ET
Los Angeles Chargers @ Green Bay Packers. 1:00 p.m. ET
Arizona Cardinals @ Houston Texans, 1:00 p.m. ET
Tennessee Titans @ Jacksonville Jaguars, 1:00 p.m. ET
Las Vegas Raiders @ Miami Dolphins, 1:00 p.m. ET
New York Giants @ Washington Commanders, 1:00 p.m. ET
Tampa Bay Buccaneers @ San Francisco 49ers, 4:05 p.m. ET
New York Jets @ Buffalo Bills, 4:25 p.m. ET
Seattle Seahawks @ Los Angeles Rams, 4:25 p.m. ET
Minnesota Vikings @ Denver Broncos, 8:20 p.m. ET
Monday
Philadelphia Eagles @ Kansas City Chiefs, 8:15 p.m. ET
Here’s how to catch these teams in action, from wherever you are.
Australia: NFL+, ESPN, 7Plus
Brazil: NFL+, ESPN
Canada: NFL+, CTV, TSN, RDS
Germany: NFL+, ProSieben MAXX, DAZN
Mexico: NFL+, TUDN, ESPN, Fox Sports, Sky Sports
UK: NFL+, Sky Sports, ITV, Channel 5
US: NFL+, CBS, NBC, FOX, ESPN, Amazon Prime
