It is always good to have information from the OE that confirms what you suspect. Check out this tech tip below, written by Auto Service Professional, to see what they have to say about 2011 Ford Escape engine misfires and other issues
Some 2011 Ford Escape vehicles equipped with a 3.0L engine and an engine build date of 12-21-2010 to 1-7-2011 may exhibit a misfire or runs rough condition, and/or MIL on with DTC P0301.
The cause may be a faulty right-hand cylinder head.
1. Determine the engine build date. If the engine was built 12-21-2010 to 1-7-2011, determine the right-hand cylinder head manufacturing time and date. An inkjetstamp is located on the intake face of the RH cylinder head, under the upper intake manifold and can be viewed by looking over the front engine mount. The stamp will read FFV80 HH:MM MMDDYY. According to Ford, if the stamp shows 14:30 12/21/2010 to 14:00 1/7/2011, replace the RH cylinder head.
P/N PART
AL8Z-6049-A…………..RH cylinder head
4F1Z-6065-AB…………Head bolt
9L8Z-6051-A…………..RH head gasket
3M4Z-6020-AA……….Font cover gasket
9L8Z-9H486-B………..Upper intake gasket
9L8Z-9439-A…………..Lower intake gasket
9L8Z-6584-B…………..Left side cam cover gasket
9L8Z-6584-A…………..Right-hand cam cover gasket
XW4Z-9448-AD……….Exhaust manifold gasket
Source: Auto Service Professional