NFL scores, news and highlights: What happened Sunday in Week 11

1. Cardinals refuse to lose

The Cardinals moved to 9-1 with another impressive win, this time over the Detroit Lions. Arizona has won six in a row, is now 6-0 at home, and have positioned itself as the top seed in the NFC. The Cardinals have done it with an aggressive approach to the offense from Bruce Arians and some ballsy play by Todd Bowles' defense. All this despite playing without some of their key defensive players from last season and even without starting quarterback in Carson Palmer, lost for the season last week with a torn ACL.

Backup quarterback Drew Stanton threw for 306 yards, 21 of 32 passing, with two touchdowns and two picks against Detroit's top-ranked defense. He connected with 10 receivers on the day. More importantly, Arians' backed up his claim the Cardinals could win the Super Bowl even with their backup at quarterback. Arians dialed up vertical passes down the field, including a touchdown bomb to Michael Floyd, who caught both touchdowns.

The big thing for Arizona though, was its continued dominance on defense. The Cardinals limited a very good Lions team to just six points on a pair of field goals. The combination of Patrick Peterson and Antonio Cromartie locked down Golden Tate (two catches, 41 yards) and Calvin Johnson (five catches for 59 yards) all day.

Arizona may have to go down the stretch and into the playoffs with a backup quarterback under center, but with a suffocating, multiple, and aggressive defense holding teams to fewer than 20 points, the Cardinals give themselves a chance to win every week. The Arizona defense has now dominated three straight weeks, giving up 17 to the Cowboys, 14 to the Rams and just six against the Lions.

2. What happened to the Broncos?

In the most surprising result of the weekend, the Denver Broncos fell hard to the Rams in a shocking 22-7 contest in St. Louis. Going into a weekend of high-profile NFL matchups it would have been easy to completely overlook this game and pencil in another victory for Peyton Manning and the Broncos.

So what's wrong with Denver? The Broncos' problems are very simple, but hard to fix. Their running game is completely impotent without Ronnie Hillman or Montee Ball toting the rock to cover up the weakness of their offensive line. C.J. Anderson got the call today and was only able to manage 29 yards rushing. Expect the Broncos to have issues until Ball or Hillman can return to the lineup. Manning is an incredible quarterback who gets away with having limited mobility as long as he has the threat of an average running game to keep defenses honest. When you combine a third-string running back with the Broncos well-documented O-line issues and the Rams formidable front seven, you can end up with a very ugly result.

The Broncos need to get healthy at the tight end position as well. Julius Thomas left the game early, which gave the Rams one less player to worry about burning them over the top. When you add all of this together, you end up with a Rams defense that gets to play a step closer to the line of scrimmage over the course of a game, and those small steps make a big difference:

The Rams continue to live up to their reputation as the most confusing team in the NFL. Jeff Fisher is the best coach in the history of football in terms of knowing exactly which games to win in order to barely not get fired. Captaining a last-place team that has beaten both the Seahawks and the Broncos is exactly the type of thing Fisher can point to in terms of "progress" when he makes his case for sticking around next year. But the unit that should be getting the credit today is the Rams defense for an impressive performance against one of the most prolific offenses in recent history.

3. The Chiefs pull even with the Broncos in the AFC West

The Hawks rushed for 204 yards, including 124 from Marshawn Lynch and an efficient 71 from Russell Wilson, but the Chiefs answered with 190 of their own against a normally stout Seattle run defense. The two teams combined for an incredible 28 first downs via the run. Jamaal Charles' effort helped KC win the day, 24-20. He averaged 8.0 yards per carry and grabbed two touchdowns. Seattle didn't have much of an answer for the Chiefs' rushing attack.

The Seahawks had a chance to take the lead back from the Chiefs late in the game on three separate drives, but the Chiefs tough defense stopped the Hawks in their tracks on three crucial fourth down plays. Seattle's last-ditch effort to drive 96 yards down the field to score a go-ahead touchdown was stymied by Justin Houston and Tamba Hali constantly harassing Wilson. The Chiefs' big win puts them at 7-3, tied with the Broncos for first in the AFC West.

Meanwhile, the Seahawks' loss drops them into a tie with the 49ers at 6-4. Their Super Bowl title defense just got that much harder. Seattle's road to the playoffs is not easy -- the Seahawks face the Cardinals twice, the Niners twice, the Rams once and have to play at Philadelphia. They will need to get healthy and start getting more consistent play from all three phases.

4. Does J.J. Watt have a case for NFL MVP?

J.J. Watt is absurd. The unblockable Houston Texans defensive lineman came into this week with 8.5 sacks, a forced fumble, 11 tackles for a loss, two defensive touchdowns, and by Pro Football Focus' tracking, 27 quarterback hits, 24 quarterback hurries, seven pass breakups. He added to those totals today with another sack, three more tackles for a loss, and another forced fumble.