Studs and Duds Week 11: Justin Gage Had Those Sticky Hands

Each week in the NFL, there are players that impress and players that distress. One week a certain quarterback might toss four touchdowns and run around with his finger in the air while the next he's laying on his back, holding his facemask as the other team returns one of his three interceptions for the game-winning score. With that in mind, here's Studs and Duds.

Here's Week 11 at a glance, where we point out the horses destined for the Kentucky Derby and jeer those headed to the glue factory.

Studs

Justin Gage, WR Tennessee (4 catches, 147 yards, 2 TDs) -- The biggest (and only, it appears) knock on the Tennessee Titans was that they cannot throw the ball because they have no wide receivers. After this outing by Gage, who caught some great balls thrown by Kerry Collins, maybe we can drop that for a week. This was the second straight game Gage snagged a ball in the end zone and his fourth touchdown of the year, moving the Titans to 10-0 and making people everywhere wonder if there is any way they can continue to win these scrappy contests. The pass-catch at the end of the game between Collins and Gage even got a reaction out of Vince Young, who I thought was pronounced dead a few weeks ago.

DeAngelo Williams and Jonathan Stewart, RBs Carolina (14 carries, 120 yards, 2 TDs, and 15 rushes, 130 yards, 1 TD) -- Shushhhh, if you're quiet enough, you won't hear the Panthers coming. This Carolina team is 8-2 and almost all of that can be attributed to this two-headed rushing attack that is as balanced as they come. They both had just about the same amount of carries, the same amount of yards and combined to find the end zone three times. With three tough but winnable games in the next three weeks against Green Bay, Tampa Bay and Denver, the running tandem could lift this group to the best record in the NFC before a showdown with the Giants in a month.

Aaron Ross, CB NY Giants (6 tackles, 2 INTs, 1 returned for a touchdown) -- He hadn't snagged a pick all season, but he also had yet to face Joe Flacco on the road. Flacco had been solid the last four games but just couldn't shake Ross of his leg, who took one of the tipped balls 60 yards for the touchdown and another defensive stand for the Giants. Still doubting the Super Bowl champs? They've given up more than 17 points just three times this season.

James Harrison, LB Pittsburgh (1 sack, 1 forced fumble, 1 INT, and a safety) -- I'd say that line just about says it all. In a game dictated by nasty weather, which put a premium on the run for San Diego, Harrison was all over the field most of the day. While it wasn't the prettiest of wins, it still counted and Harrison and the defense can hang their hat on a great performance against one of the more explosive offenses (that is, if they actually show up).

Duds

The Bears -- Want to know how bad that game was? This is an email from our Bears blogger, "Yes, the entire team, coaching staff, front office, waterboys, locker room attendants ... hell, and me. I blog about the team for FanHouse ... so I'm a (freaking) dud, too." Kyle Orton looked lost, Matt Forte looked young and the defense looked like all Midway flights had been canceled heading to the Wisconsin area. This is one of those games that was so bad you basically have to completely forget it, the same you do when you go all-in with pocket aces only to have some guy call and beat you with an 8-3 off-suit. "Oh well, when is the next tournament?"

Donovan McNabb, QB Philadelphia (1 TD, 3 INT, Confused) -- It is bad enough that the Eagles looked lost all afternoon against the Cincinnati Freaking Bengals. What is worse is that in overtime, the rust would not be shook and the game ended in a, you called it, tie. To make matters worse, McNabb said after the game that he was unaware that football contests could end in a tie, obviously still a little confused on where he was. Donovan, Syracuse is in New York, this game was in Cincy. (Also, I just wanted to point this out since there is no where else to do so -- a Bengals fan was bragging in the live chat last night about the tie. I can't even muster a sarcastic response to that.)

Julius Jones, RB Seattle (10 carries, 19 yards, 1 fumble) -- It was hard to not include Matt Hasselbeck on this list, who had three interceptions, but you have to look a little deeper than that to realize why Jones beat him out. See, when you touch the ball 10 times and average a measly 1.9 yards per carry, the defenses can basically key up on the passing attack. Jones got absolutely nothing going, recording his seventh straight game without 100 yards. Wait, doesn't Jones catch balls out of the backfield, you ask? Yeah, he had one snag for a sweet loss of five yards.

Philip Rivers, QB San Diego (15-26, 159 yards, 0 TDs, 2 INTs) -- I was sitting at a sports bar next to a guy that had Rivers on his fantasy team. There is really nothing more satisfying when you are going to lose your own fantasy game than sitting next to a guy sweating out his performance when you can just see it isn't there. Rivers had a chance to hit Antonio Gates in the back of the end zone towards the end of the game to put the Chargers up and missed him by, ohhh, 11 yards. That was how the day went and now Rivers has six interceptions in his last four games.

Near Studly -- Anquan Boldin, Larry Fitzgerald, Ryan Grant, Marion Barber, Steve Slaton, Kerry Collins, T.J. Houshmandzadeh, Peyton Manning, Frank Gore and Michael Turner.

Near Dudly -- Brian Westbrook, Baltimore running backs, Shayne Graham, Darren McFadden, Marc Bulger, Jason Campbell and that insane call at the end of the Steelers-Chargers game that everyone is talking about.