NFL Winners and Losers from Week 11: Pickett struggles big-time, Cowboys devour Panthers

It's Week 11 of the NFL season, which means the stretch run is here. With the trade deadline in the rearview mirror, we have a generally solid understanding of which teams can contend, and which teams are biding their time until the 2024 NFL Draft.

The early afternoon slate was a pleasant mixture of upsets, close games, and dominant showcases. The Dallas Cowboys completely tore apart the Carolina Panthers. The Jacksonville Jaguars, fresh off a 31-point loss to the San Francisco 49ers last week, turned in a 20-point smackdown of the Tennessee Titans to retain first place in the AFC South.

On the upset front, the New York Giants won rather handily over the Washington Commanders behind an impressive showing from Tommy DeVito. The Green Bay Packers survived a last-second defensive breakdown to shock the Los Angeles Chargers, and the gutsy Cleveland Browns edged out the Pittsburgh Steelers in an important division matchup, despite Deshaun Watson's absence.

Here are the week's winners and losers.

NFL Week 11 winner: Micah Parsons

Micah Parsons has put together a compelling Defensive Player of the Year case for the Dallas Cowboys this season. On Sunday, he made his best pitch yet, completely wrecking the Carolina Panthers' shoddy offensive line and putting constant pressure on Bryce Young.

Parsons finished the game with 2.5 sacks, his highest mark of the season. At one point the broadcast credited him with 3.0 sacks, which would have been the first three-sack performance of his career. He ultimately finished with 2.5 in the official records, but it was a singular, career-best performance all the same.

Dallas won't get a ton of credit for beating up on the NFL's worst team, but contenders have to start with taking care of business in the "easy" matchups. Dallas tends to do so.