Daily Briefing

AROUND THE NFL The 15 Hall of Fame Finalists are announced.  Barry Wilner of the AP:   Reggie Wayne and Troy Polamalu are among 15 finalists for the Pro Football Hall of Fame’s modern-day 2020 class.   The former Colts receiver and Steelers safety are joined by five others who have never been finalists: Packers…

AROUND THE NFL ProFootballZebras.com has the referee assignments for this week’s games:   Saturday, Jan. 4   ₅Bills at ₄Texans, 4:35 p.m. ESPN ABC — Tony Corrente ₆Titans at ₃Patriots, 8:15 p.m. CBS — John Hussey   Sunday, Jan. 5 ₆Vikings at ₃Saints, 1:05 p.m. FOX — Carl Cheffers ₅Seahawks at ₄Eagles, 4:40 p.m. NBC…

AROUND THE NFL Here are Bovada’s current odds to win the Super Bowl:   Odds To Win Super Bowl 54   Team                             Odds Baltimore Ravens         +220 Kansas City Chiefs       +375 San Francisco 49ers     +400 New Orleans Saints      +600 Green Bay Packers    +1000 New England Patriots +1000 Philadelphia Eagles     +2800 Seattle Seahawks       +2800 Houston Texans         …

AROUND THE NFL Peter King on the thrilling finish in Seattle:   What hit me at 2 this morning, digesting this game:   How did Seattle mess up two goal-line snaps with the NFC West on the line? Crazy enough that Russell Wilson hit a player on fourth-and-10 who never caught a pass before (seventh-round…

AROUND THE NFL Field Yates with some numbers:   @FieldYates Major stat leaders this decade: Passing yards: Drew Brees, 46,517 Rushing yards: LeSean McCoy, 10,434 Receiving yards: Julio Jones, 12,047 TD scored: LeSean McCoy, 85 Tackles: Luke Kuechly, 1,086 Sacks: Von Miller, 105 Interceptions: Richard Sherman, 35   Brees also leads with 342 TD passes,…

AROUND THE NFL NFC NORTH   CHICAGO Jeff Dickerson of ESPN.com on QB MITCHELL TRUBISKY’s future:   The Chicago Bears are officially on the clock with quarterback Mitchell Trubisky.   Almost three full seasons after Trubisky went second overall in the 2017 NFL draft, the Bears face the uncomfortable reality that, barring growth in Year…

AROUND THE NFL Playoff Scenarios – we took out the ones that involved a tie.   AFC   CLINCHED:   Baltimore Ravens – AFC North division and homefield advantage throughout AFC playoffs Houston Texans – AFC South division Kansas City Chiefs – AFC West division New England Patriots – AFC East division Buffalo Bills –…

AROUND THE NFL NFC NORTH   CHICAGO Was Chiefs QB PATRICK MAHOMES reminding the Bears what could have been?  Kalyn Kahler of SI.com is among those doing the math:   half hour before the start of Sunday’s game between the Bears and the visiting Chiefs, a woman wearing a Chiefs winter pom-pom hat brandished a…

AROUND THE NFL NFC NORTH   DETROIT Dan Wetzel of YahooSports.com on no change coming in 2020 at the top of the Lions hierarchy:   On Sunday, during another Detroit Lions loss, amid another lost Detroit Lions season, the Detroit Lions fans who still bother to attend Detroit Lions games tried to send a message…

AROUND THE NFL NFC NORTH   CHICAGO QB MITCHELL TRUBISKY was critical of something after Sunday’s loss at Lambeau, but he says it wasn’t Coach Matt Nagy.   First, this from Eric Edholm of YahooSports.com in the aftermath:   After the game, Bears quarterback Mitchell Trubisky was asked about the Packers’ pass rush affecting him.…

AROUND THE NFL NFC NORTH   DETROIT The Lions “almost” had a chance to hire a respected Hall of Fame coach.  But then 30 seconds passed, and Tony Dungy was back to being retired.  Peter King:   On missing his old life, embracing his new one, and whether anything would make him go back to…

AROUND THE NFL Vic Fangio with a radical proposal.  Kevin Patra of NFL.com:   Every few years when a division is won by a team with a less-than-sterling record, eating up a playoff spot while a better team sits at home during the postseason, reconstruction comes to the forefront of the NFL.   The year…