What We Learned From Week 11

• We start locally with the Giants and their mishap to the Eagles. It was the G-men's second straight loss in what looks like another second-half swoon for this football team. With a win the Giants not only could have landed themselves in comfortable playoff position for the final six games but also all but eliminate Philly from a playoff push. Now Big Blue will have to contend with not only the Eagles but also a Dallas Cowboys team which has played better than their 6-4 record. With the Giants, their next three games (@New Orleans, Green Bay, and @Dallas) could truly define if Big Blue will play deep into January or end abruptly.

• Speaking of local, that brings us a team that has more problems than the injury-plaqued Giants and that's the Jets. Gang Green began Week 11 in Denver and became the latest victim of "Tebow Time" as Gang Green's defense could not do anything right on the Broncos last and game winning drive. That loss leaves the Jets at 5-5 and in the span of just 2 weeks has turned this team from a potential AFC East winner to a possible no-show come postseason. The latter seems more realistic today and why not, 11 weeks into this season the true Jets have shown themselves for all of 5 quarters (the 4th against San Diego in week 7 and all game against Buffalo in week 9) What exactly has Gang Green showned you to feel confident they can turn it around? QB = inconsistent, RB's = not where they should be, Offensive Line = bad, Entire Defense = inconsistent.

• Finally, week 11 was the week of the backup player. Three second-string players really defined why.

1. Vince Young, QB, Eagles: Hey it wasn't the best performance but for a QB who hasn't started a game in almost one calender year (November 21, 2010) he did something that Philly has had a tough time with in 2011: taking a 4th quarter lead and holding on to it. And it was Young who led the Eagles on that go-ahead 18 play, 80 yard drive that took roughly 9 minutes off the clock and eventually resulted in the game-winning TD.
2. Michael Bush, RB, Raiders: It's always going to be difficult to replace a RB who is 5th in the league in yards per attempt in Darren McFadden who has been nursing a sprained right foot for the past three weeks but Bush has stepped into his shoes and done quite well. Including last week's effort: 30 rush, 109 yards and a TD in Oakland's win over Minnesota. When McFadden returns look for a real duo in these two.
3. Kevin Smith, RB, Lions: Since the injury to Detroit's top back Jahvid Best, the team has been looking for some efficient run game. Well they got that from Kevin Smith who really struggled to stay with the team. But he showed a burst of speed and ran for 140 yards and added 61 through the air. A big reason why the Lions were able to complete their comeback against Carolina.

-Johnny Montalbano

-Follow Johnny on Twitter @MontalbanoNY and listen to his analysis of the week that was and the week that will be on "Review & Preview" Wednesday's from 5-6pm on WCWPSports.org