Overrated and Underrated NFL Teams: Week 11 AFC Contenders and Pretenders

The NFL season can be a roller-coaster ride with lots of twists and turns. Every year, certain franchises capture the spotlight with early-season success, while others silently climb the ranks, avoiding the media's attention.

In the world of professional football, the line between being a contender and a pretender is razor-thin, and it's a subject that sparks passionate debates among fans and experts alike.

In this article, we'll take a deep dive into the dynamic landscape of the NFL and examine the overrated and underrated teams that have emerged as contenders or pretenders in the AFC ahead of Week 11 of the 2023 NFL season.

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Week 11's Most Overrated AFC Team

Pittsburgh Steelers

• Record: 6-3
• Current Division Standing: Tied Second Place (AFC North)

What can we say, Mike Tomlin is a miracle worker. Tomlin has been the head coach of the Steelers for 16 years and the 2023 campaign has been some of his finest work due to his ability to squeeze wins out of this vanilla squad that's dealt with a plethora of injuries and is largely devoid of talent.

Mike Tomlin finding a way every week despite having Pickett/Canada pic.twitter.com/0GNdDEizTJ

— Ronnie (@ronnie_harter) November 12, 2023

Pittsburgh rolls into a Week 11 divisional clash with the Cleveland Browns sporting an impressive 6-3 record that has them tied for second place in the competitive AFC North. While it looks nice on paper, it has been anything but smooth sailing for the Steelers. Tomlin's crew holds a negative point differential of 26 on the year, which is the largest deficit for any team in the NFL with a winning record through the season's first 10 weeks.

The bottom line...there are issues that could have this ship sinking down the stretch. The majority of them are on the offensive side of the ball and correlate directly to the underwhelming play of second-year QB Kenny Pickett. Pittsburgh's passing attack is currently averaging a measly 180.3 passing yards per game, a mark that's 29th in the NFL. It's led to struggles on the scoreboard, as the Steelers' 17.3 points per game is just 26th in the league.

It’s time to ask the question.

Is Kenny Pickett franchise QB material?#Steelers pic.twitter.com/4XTm2C3lgX

— PickensBurgh🫡 (Tino) (@PickensBurgh) November 13, 2023

The crazy thing is, Pittsburgh's defense hasn't been much better. The Steelers are allowing opponents to rack up an average of 379.7 yards of offense per game - the fifth-most in the NFL - yet they've somehow held the opposition to a reasonable 20.2 points per game. It's a true "bend but don't break" system that's been aided by an aggressive pass rush and timely plays that've helped the unit average a league-high 2.0 takeaways per game.

Other AFC Pretenders

• Cleveland Browns
• Jacksonville Jaguars
• Las Vegas Raiders

Week 11's Most Underrated AFC Team

Houston Texans

• Record: 5-4
• Current Division Standing: Second Place (AFC South)

You never really know what you're getting when you draft a quarterback. Ten weeks into the season it looks as though the Houston Texans have hit the franchise QB lottery with C.J. Stroud. The second overall pick of the 2023 NFL draft, Stroud has been better than even his most ardent supporters could have predicted. His 2,626 passing yards are currently the second-most in the league, while his 15:2 TD:INT ratio is otherworldly.

66 seconds of b-e-a-utiful C.J. Stroud throws pic.twitter.com/HlphadJM5H

— Ian Hartitz (@Ihartitz) November 7, 2023

Stroud's field-tilting play is a big reason the Texans have now won two in a row, including their most impressive victory of the year - a road win over the Cincinnati Bengals - in Week 10. The rookie's first pro campaign has been aided by an underrated group of pass catchers that includes Nico Collins, fellow rookie Tank Dell, and a pair of former Dallas Cowboys in Noah Brown and tight end Dalton Schultz. This passing attack is averaging the NFL's second-most passing yards per game (274.3) to this point.

While Stroud deserves an enormous amount of credit for Houston's trending play, first-year and first-time NFL head coach DeMeco Ryans shouldn't go overlooked. Ryans, a former Texans player, and San Francisco Niners defensive coordinator, has drastically changed the culture of this entire franchise in a short period of time. That turnaround includes his decision to bring in Bobby Slowik from the Niners to groom Stroud and run the offense.

CULTURE CHANGE

DeMeco Ryans owns this room. You can tell these guys would run through a wall for this man. pic.twitter.com/9LWz3jVTkh

— V̷a̷t̷o̷r̷ (@VatorSports) November 13, 2023

Though the Texans' brightest days appear to be in the coming years, we shouldn't forget about what this team could accomplish in the here and now. Standing at 5-4 in the AFC South and trailing only a Jacksonville Jaguars squad that they drubbed in 37-17 in Week 2, Houston should be considered serious playoff contenders. The Texans draw the lowly Cardinals this week before a monumentally important rematch with the division-leading Jaguars in Week 12.

Other AFC Contenders

• Buffalo Bills
• Cincinnati Bengals
• Los Angeles Chargers

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