The Daily Briefing

THE DAILY BRIEFING  Ben Solak of ESPN.com: What a Week 3! I don’t know what’s going on! Once again, big favorites just straight up … lost. The Bengals fell to the Commanders on Monday night, chasing losses by the 49ers (to the Rams) and the Browns (to the Giants) on Sunday. Four games were played in Week 3…

THE DAILY BRIEFING  As anyone in a Survivor Pool knows, this has not been a season for big favorites.  Scott Kacsmar: Big favorites continue to go down at alarming rates. On Sunday, the four teams who were favored by 6.5 points were 0-4 SU (Buccaneers, Browns, 49ers, and Raiders). There were 18 such losses all of…

THE DAILY BRIEFING  NFC NORTH  MINNESOTAThe self-diagnosis from WR JUSTIN JEFFERSON is that he is indeed playing in Sunday’s Battle of the Unbeatens with the Texans.  Kevin Seifert of ESPN.com: As far as Justin Jefferson is concerned, there is no doubt that he will play Sunday against the Houston Texans — despite a right quadriceps contusion that…

THE DAILY BRIEFING This is the long-awaited year that we find out if Eli Manning walks into the Hall of Fame because of two Super Bowl wins where his team scored a total of 38 points.   Two-time Super Bowl MVP Eli Manning, former Defensive Players of the Year Luke Kuechly and Terrell Suggs, and…

THE DAILY BRIEFING Scott Kacsmar draws some comparisons: @ScottKacsmar The paradigm is shifting and I’m not sure if I like it.   Mahomes – Brady (dynasty QBs) Allen – Peyton (keep coming up short in January) Lamar – McNabb (playoff chokers) Burrow – Rodgers (arrogant front-runners) Herbert – Brees (Chargers’ curse) Stroud – Roethlisberger (rookie…

THE DAILY BRIEFING Three rookie QBs starting, two weeks – and this: @AndyMSFW Two games in and Minnesota Vikings quarterback JJ McCarthy remains tied atop the rookie leaderboard for TD passes He doesn’t have any TD passes, but Washington’s JAYDEN DANIELS has done everything else right including 2 TD runs: Stats through two weeks 40…

THE DAILY BRIEFING Kevin Patra of NFL.com says we shouldn’t worry about the demise of the passing game: Passing attacks have been grounded: OVERREACTION After the opening weekend of the 2023 season saw just 37 touchdown passes across the league, this year’s Week 1 air-score tally dipped even lower to 34. The good folks over…

THE DAILY BRIEFING NFC NORTH CHICAGO The Bears don’t yet think that the tenderness in WR ROME ODUNZE’s knee will keep him out of Week 2. Chicago Bears rookie receiver Rome Odunze suffered a Grade 1 MCL sprain in Sunday’s win against the Tennessee Titans, which puts his status for Week 2 against the Houston…

THE DAILY BRIEFING A couple of Week 2 scheduling oddities – There are two shared stadiums in the NFL, and usually one of the tenants is home each week.  But in Week 2, both Sofi Stadium in Los Angeles and MetLife Stadium in the Meadowlands of New Jersey will be dark as the Chargers, Rams,…

THE DAILY BRIEFING WEEK ONE QUICK HITS * After Week 1, the Steelers and the Texans are the team’s in sole possession of their division lead.  Seattle would join them if the Jets beat the 49ers tonight. * The Jets need to win to stay out of sole possession of last in the AFC East. …