Best of the Best: Top Week 11 Performances

New England's rampant 34-point game closes out what was another solid slate of games this past weekend. Lets take a look back at some of the better performances that made up the 11th week of the season.

Criteria: To make this list of top performances, the performer must either put up a great stat-line or make a couple of huge plays to lead his team to victory. As in, the player may not have been playing for a team that lost this past weekend. Crazy stat-line, or crazy antics, will land yourself on this list for Week 11 action..

Tim Tebow, DEN–9/20, 104 yards, 8 carries, 68 yards, 1 TD

The stat-line was ugly. Heck, the first three quarters of play were pretty ugly for Tebow and his Broncos. Denver's offense had just one third-down conversion before the final drive of the game and Denver's defense certainly kept them in the game. But Tebow's 95-yard drive, capped by a 20-yard run proved his gutsiness and that he has leadership skills.

Now, of course, people are still going to doubt his throwing ability. Why wouldn't they? He has completed just 44.8 % of his passes this season. But for now, Tebow has turned the Broncos around to a playoff contending team in the West. And for that, he gets a spot on the Top Performances list.

Matthew Stafford, DET–28/36, 335 yards, 5 TDs, 2 INTs

Tebow's last-second antics got him on this list, but Stafford is a different story. His five touchdown tosses in Detroit's 49-35 triumph over Carolina gets him on the list. He spread the ball around, throwing each touchdown to a different player, none of which were named Calvin Johnson. Shocking, right?

Kevin Smith added 140 yards and a pair of touchdowns on the ground, but if it wasn't for Stafford's video game-like stat line the Panthers (put up 35 points) would have won the game.

LeSean McCoy, PHI–23 carries, 113 yards

He didn't manage to get in to the end zone for the Eagles on Sunday night, but he was a huge reason why the Eagles pulled out an upset of the New York Giants. Granted the defense stopped Eli Manning and the G-Men's offense to just 10 points, but without the help of McCoy's productiveness in the run game, it would have been awfully tough for Philly to finish off those scoring drives. Vince Young, filling in for the injured Michael Vick, threw three picks. If McCoy is ineffective, Philadelphia may not have been able to overcome those mistakes and put together those three scoring drives.

McCoy's production seemed to have overshadowed VY's mistakes in the passing game.

Torrey Smith, BAL–6 Rec., 165 yards, 1 TD

Two weeks after his game-winning touchdown reception against division rival Pittsburgh, the rookie out of the University of Maryland went out and set a personal-best with six receptions and 165 yards. It was his second 100-yard game of his short career, and his 38-yard touchdown reception in the fourth quarter ended up being the deciding score in Baltimore's 31-24 victory over rookie quarterback Andy Dalton's Bengals.

Chris Clemons, SEA–5 tackles (3 solo), 3 sacks, 1 PD

Seattle dominated the St. Louis Rams on Sunday afternoon, defeating them 24-7 and dropping them to 2-8. The offense gained 289 yards and three touchdowns on offense, but it was the defense that stopped St. Louis in its tracks. Clemons led the team with five tackles and sacked second-year quarterback Sam Bradford on three separate occasions. Great defensive effort from the Seahawks, who improved to 4-6.

Jason Babin, PHI–3 solo tackles, 1 sack, 1 FR, 2 PD

Babin's game-clinching sack and strip of New York quarterback Eli Manning was the biggest play the Eagles' defense had all day, with the exception of maybe linebacker Jamar Chaney's interception and 14-yard return of a Manning pass. He played tough football all game and was finally able to make the game-changing play on New York's final drive to complete the NFC East upset, 17-10.

Von Miller, DEN–10 tackles (9 solo), 1.5 sacks, 3 TFL, 1 PD

I believe I stated this in an earlier post, but Miller is in the middle of the running for the Defensive Rookie of the Year award at this point in the season, and he may very well be the favorite. Miller was the biggest play-maker on the field when New York had the ball, and he ran sideline-to-sideline making tackles all game. His 1.5 sacks on the night puts him at fifth in the entire league through 11 weeks of play. Not to mention he hit Mark Sanchez a total of four times throughout the game, and it's not like he really blitzed too often.

Tramon Williams, GB–9 tackles (7 solo), 2 PD, 2 INTs

Green Bay quarterback Aaron Rodgers had a spectacular game once again, but that's nothing out of the usual. It was, to be honest, the GB cornerback Williams who won the game for the Pack this time. Tampa Bay quarterback Josh Freeman had a decent outing (342 yards, 2 TDs), but his two interceptions, both picked off by Williams, kept the Bucs out of the win column.

Williams was the game's leading tackler with 9, and his two INTs sealed a 9-point victory, improving Green Bay to 10-0 on the season.

Honorable mentions: Matt Moore, Kevin Smith, Jordy Nelson, Rob Gronkowski, Patrick Willis, Kyle Arrington, Bernard Pollard


Photo credit
T. Smith: AP Photo/Gail Burton
Babin: Al Bello/Getty Images