Sunday Rundown: Instant takeaways from Week 11's early slate

Sunday Rundown recaps the most important developments from the day's action and examines their significance moving forward.

Early kickoffs

Josh Allen does it all

The Bills have given us plenty of reasons to be skeptical about their chances of finally going on a Super Bowl run this season. The two most pressing of which - a putrid run defense and a lack of established receivers - briefly threatened to rear their ugly heads again this week. Third-string Bucs running back Sean Tucker went off for 140 total yards and three touchdowns, and Tyrell Shavers found himself leading all Bills receivers with 90 yards on the day. Running backs James Cook and Ty Johnson were next on that list. The cool thing about having a cyborg quarterback is that glaring weaknesses are often rendered irrelevant. Josh Allen put the Bills on his back when they needed it most, accounting for six total touchdowns (three passing, three rushing) in the 44-32 win. I still have major questions about whether Buffalo, given the potential for fellow AFC contenders to expose the problem spots, can string together enough of these performances in January. For that reason, I'll probably be picking against them. But I'll do so knowing full well that Allen could make me look foolish. Anything is on the table when you have a quarterback like this.

Steelers D trending up

You didn't really think the Steelers, of all teams, were suddenly going to start playing bad defense, did you? OK, fine, I did. After a disastrous first half of the season on that side of the ball, tying the Dolphins for 26th in EPA/play, I bought into the idea that a stale system and a ton of money invested in an old roster was a recipe for disaster. Perhaps that proves correct in the long run, but the Pittsburgh defense is quietly turning things around. The Steelers completely flipped the script on the Bengals after getting boat raced by Joe Flacco and Ja'Marr Chase in October, giving up just 12 points while scoring two defensive touchdowns in Sunday's win. The throwback performance sees the Pittsburgh defense move into a tie for third in EPA/play over the last three weeks. With Aaron Rodgers' wrist injury adding to the list of concerns for an already underwhelming offense, this trend will have to continue if the Steelers want to hang onto a playoff spot over the next seven weeks.

Darnell Washington rules

I've spent a lot of time dumping on that Pittsburgh offense. All of which was very much deserved. But after what we saw in Sunday's win over the Bengals, it feels important to note that this unit does have at least one thing going for it: Darnell Washington might be the coolest player in the game today. His absurd stiff-arm on Barrett Carter was only the beginning of my favorite highlight of the season so far. Having seen his teammate thrown to the ground, Geno Stone clearly wanted nothing to do with the 6-foot-7, 264-pound tight end. Washington really picked up steam after shaking that half-hearted tackle attempt, and he finished the run by plowing through a third defender for good measure. That terrifying combination of size and physicality after the catch was also on display on a huge third-and-17 conversion midway through the third quarter. The former third-round pick, who also just so happens to block like an offensive tackle, really is one of the most unique talents in all of football. I will hereby forgive the Steelers for all trade deadline malpractice if the lack of receiver depth leads to more touches for Washington. You just know defenses want nothing to do with that.

J.J. McCarthy struggling

Nobody should be making any definitive statements about J.J. McCarthy's future this early in his career. There are just too many recent examples of late breakout quarterbacks to justify any sort of overreactions at this still-early stage. Remember: Sunday's game against the Bears was only the fifth start of his young career. All that being said, we still have to be honest about what we've seen so far. McCarthy has not been good. A late go-ahead touchdown drive probably would have altered the narrative if the Vikings managed to hang on for the win, but Minnesota also wouldn't have been in that position if his accuracy issues weren't consistently stalling drives. A 16-for-32 outing against a Bears defense that entered this week as a bottom-five unit in pass success rate is simply not going to cut it. Not with this supporting cast. Justin Jefferson, who is still looking for his first 100-yard game with the new quarterback, has brought in just 51.2% of targets from McCarthy this year. This frustrating season will be worth it if the experience helps the former first-rounder make good on his draft pedigree. As things stand, though, the Vikings are probably having some regrets about letting Sam Darnold walk out the door.

Packers avoid disaster

A win is a win, right? The Packers desperately needed to snap their two-game losing streak, so they'll take the result. But Sunday's game against the Giants did little to ease any concerns about the direction in which they've been heading over the last few weeks. Even a juicy matchup with the NFL's 29th-ranked defense by EPA/play wasn't enough for the Packers' offense to starting piecing things together. Jordan Love's 174-yard output on 13 of 24 passes is the worst of any quarterback against the hapless Giants so far this season. And the run game could be in trouble now, too, as Josh Jacobs' status is unclear after he was forced to leave the game with a knee injury. The defense theoretically gives the Green Bay offense a little bit of runway to sort things out down the stretch, but it's fair to wonder whether those answers are going to present themselves at all this year. Christian Watson is going to have to parlay his two-score day into a monster second half if this receiving corps is going to have a chance of withstanding the loss of Tucker Kraft.

The best of Bryce

This is the kind of performance that makes you want to exercise a little bit of patience with Bryce Young. The former No. 1 overall pick had seemingly regressed after a strong finish to last season, with a tough first half forcing many to wonder whether his time in Carolina was up. Maybe not. Young responded with arguably the best performance of his entire career in Sunday's win over the Falcons, completing 31 of 45 passes for 448 yards and three touchdowns. And before you shrug this off as a cupcake matchup, consider that Atlanta entered this week tied with the Seahawks and Bucs for ninth in defensive EPA/dropback. This group gets brutalized in the run game, no doubt, but it's been a completely different story against the pass. Can Young build on this inspiring performance and silence questions about his future with another strong finish?

A gift from Atlanta?

Speaking of the Falcons, this is a great time to revisit their inexplicable draft-day trade. James Pearce Jr. may well end up being a valuable player. In fact, we've already seen flashes of the juice he and fellow first-rounder Jalon Walker can provide in solidifying a long-suffering pass-rush. That's not really in dispute. The issue is the process. This 3-7 start is precisely why a team like Atlanta can't justify trading a second-rounder and a future Day 1 pick to get back into the end of the first-round. That pick is currently tracking to be the No. 8 overall selection. The Falcons' roster sure could use the kind of player that will be available in that slot. From the Rams' perspective, this deal is getting better by the day. Les Snead and Sean McVay could use that selection to further bolster their Super Bowl-caliber roster, much like the Eagles were able to do with Jalen Carter. But the even more interesting scenario would come with a swing on a quarterback who could be developed behind Matthew Stafford. There's a real chance that an ultimately meaningless trade out of the first round sets the stage for the Rams to make a seamless transition to the next era at quarterback, whenever that time comes. Doing so successfully would make this one of the most savvy draft-day trades we've ever seen.

Dan Wilkins is theScore's senior NFL writer.