NFL Week 11 preview: Mahomes to shine again in Super Bowl rematch

Following on from a week that saw a number of upsets in the NFL, the top teams and star players will want to get back on track in Week 11.

With a re-run of last year’s Super Bowl on the agenda, as well as some eye-catching matches from across the league, we take you through two of this week’s marquee matchups.

We preview two of Week 11’s standout games below.

Las Vegas Raiders @ Miami Dolphins, Sunday 18:00

The Miami Dolphins, fresh off the back of a rest week, head into this game comfortably atop the AFC East table with a record of six wins and three losses – but their season has not necessarily been as great as it looks on paper.

The Dolphins have now gathered a reputation for being a winning team who don’t seem to be able to beat other winning teams. Three of their six wins this season have come against the New England Patriots, whom they have beaten twice, and the New York Giants – two teams who have a combined record of four wins and 16 losses.

It is no wonder the Dolphins head into this game as the clear favourites at 2/17, given the Raiders have only managed a 50% win-rate this season, with five wins and five losses so far.

Miami’s star quarterback Tua Tagovailoa has already thrown 19 passing touchdowns this season, the joint highest in the league, and he could dominate this game with his impressive arm. If Tua is at his best after a week off then selecting him to throw over 267.5 yards (5/6), with him to secure over 1.5 passing touchdowns (1/2), looks a good option should he be up to his usual tricks.

Things are starting to look up for the Raiders after the appointment of Antonio Pierce as their interim head coach. The former Super Bowl champion has taken them to two consecutive wins after joining when their record read 3-5.

Pierce has had it relatively easy, however, scoring both of his wins over the Jets and the Giants, who have a combined record of 6 wins and 13 losses. This game against a strong Dolphins side looks like it may be a bridge too far for the Raiders as the clear underdogs at 23/4.

Philadelphia Eagles @ Kansas City Chiefs, Tuesday 01:15

With both teams coming into this game off the back of a bye week, this re-run of the most recent Super Bowl looks set to be one of the games of the season. Both coaches are specialists in winning after a week off so this one is going to be tough to call!

Chiefs head coach Andy Reid is the master of getting a result off the back of a week off, with his current record in games after a bye week reading 21 wins and three losses in the regular season.

His side head into this clash as the 20/29 favourites, almost certainly partly down to Reid’s record. Another huge factor is the NFL’s star man Patrick Mahomes who can single handedly get a chokehold on any game when he is in the mood.

Mahomes is one of the best passers the game has ever seen but he has seen his role change slightly in the Chiefs’ last two victories. Against the Broncos and the Dolphins, Mahomes threw for just 240 and 180 yards respectively; a significant reduction when compared to earlier in the season when he threw for a combined 1,011 yards against the Vikings, Broncos and Chargers. For these reasons we don’t think Reid will want to change his side’s current winning formula, with Mahomes to throw under 284.5 yards the pick at 5/6.

Philadelphia head into this game off the back of three consecutive victories, but the market suggests that this is where their run will come to an end as they are slight underdogs at 5/4.

The Eagles have a top-level quarterback of their own in Jalen Hurts. He has made eight passing touchdowns in his last three appearances, but we expect him to find the Chiefs defence a much tougher test than his last matchups and Hurts to complete under 1.5 passing touchdowns could be the play at 7/10.