Here is some stuff from this week’s owners meeting that didn’t involve Covid and 2020 from ESPN.com:

NFL owners have delayed a decision on implementing a 17-game regular season for 2021.

During a teleconference call Wednesday that replaced the usual December gathering of owners in Dallas, they opted to push back any move on the expanded season until early in 2021. The NFL and the players’ union agreed during collective bargaining talks earlier this year to add one regular-season game to the schedule, but not before next season.

“We had a lengthy discussion on this. Obviously, it’s an important decision for us,” NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said. “We did not take any votes with respect to committing to do it. In the collective bargaining agreement, we have that right to do it.”

A scheduling formula for a 17th game was approved unanimously: an interconference matchup, based on divisional standings from the preceding season and on a rotating divisional basis. The idea is to facilitate competitive fairness, create additional value through quality matchups and preserve the objectivity of the scheduling process, the NFL said.

“It obviously comes into play with respect with our future media arrangements that we obviously are contemplating,” Goodell said of the scheduling. “We expect a decision will be made on that in the next several weeks.”

During the meeting, the issue of the preseason was raised, with the discussion centering on whether there should be a reduction in games. Sources told ESPN’s Seth Wickersham that Goodell seemed in favor of shortening the preseason from four games to two but that a group of powerful owners — New England’s Robert Kraft, Dallas’ Jerry Jones, the New York Giants’ John Mara and Pittsburgh’s Art Rooney II — dismissed the idea. Owners argued that a reduction to three preseason games might work but not two. No vote was taken, and the schedule remained unchanged.

Goodell acknowledged that playing through the pandemic has provided plenty of lessons and said the NFL will confer with the NFL Players Association after the Super Bowl to discuss 2020 measures that might make sense to keep in a post-COVID-19 landscape.

Changes worthy of further consideration include aspects of the virtual NFL draft, the training camp acclimation period, expanded practice squads and unlimited callbacks from injured reserve.

“This has been a period of learning,” Goodell said. “I think it’s forced us to think differently and innovate, and we’ll look at that and see how we implement it going forward.”

The owners also approved the Tennessee Titans realigning ownership, with Amy Adams Strunk remaining the primary owner. Goodell said the matter should be completed by the end of December.

“I think it strengthens our ownership in a way that is very positive,” Goodell said.

NFC EAST

DALLAS

Dan Graziano of ESPN.com on the albatross that is the contract of RB EZEKIEL ELLIOTT:

We’ve talked a lot lately about how stuck the Eagles are with Carson Wentz’s contract, but it’s worth looking at a different potential contract albatross in the NFC East. Cowboys running back Ezekiel Elliott is in the middle of the worst season of his career, on pace for 1,024 rushing yards and nine total touchdowns. His 3.9 yards per carry would be the worst mark of his career, and that rushing yardage total would be the lowest he has had in any full season. He has been over 1,300 yards in every year but the 2017 season, in which he served a six-game suspension.

The Cowboys signed Elliott to a massive extension before the 2019 season, and there’s absolutely no way out of it anytime soon. He is scheduled to earn a fully guaranteed $9.6 million salary in 2021, and if he’s on the roster on the fifth day of the league year in March, his 2022 salary of $12.4 million will become fully guaranteed as well.

He is scheduled to count $13.7 million against the Cowboys’ 2021 salary cap — the highest figure in the league for a running back. If they were to release him before the fifth day of the 2021 league year, they’d owe him $9.6 million in cash and would carry a dead-money charge of $24.5 million on their 2021 salary cap. If they cut him after the fifth day of the 2021 league year, they’d still carry that dead money charge and owe him his $9.6 million salary in 2021 but also would owe him $12.4 million in 2022, a number that would have to hit their cap in one of those two seasons. Cutting him in the 2022 offseason would result in a dead-money charge of $23.2 million on the 2022 cap.

The soonest the Cowboys could trade Elliott and get any cap relief at all would be the 2022 offseason. If they traded him then, they’d carry just a $10.8 million dead-money charge on the 2022 cap but save $5.7 million over his projected 2022 cap cost of $16.5 million. That would require a team to take on his fully guaranteed $12.4 million 2022 salary.

The Cowboys, who still want to sign quarterback Dak Prescott to a long-term deal before a 2021 season in which the salary cap is certain to be much lower than it is this year, simply have to hope that Prescott’s return from injury and improved health on the offensive line return Elliott to the level at which he was performing when they gave him that deal. Or else it’s going to hamper just about anything they try to do for at least the next two seasons.

– – –

After sinking towards the bottom, EDGE RANDY GREGORY is proud that he has risen back to the NFL.  David Moore in the Dallas Morning News:

Randy Gregory is back doing what he considers the most natural thing on the planet.

He feels good about himself, a claim that has too often eluded the Cowboys defensive end.

Gregory doesn’t take his mental health and sobriety for granted. He knows that journey is never done. But that doesn’t mean he can’t stop for a second to take pride in what he’s accomplished in his latest return to the NFL.

“I would say just the fact I never gave up,” Gregory told reporters after Wednesday’s practice. “I had times where I doubted myself. I’ve had times where I wondered what life would be like without football.

“But the biggest thing for me, the biggest thing I’m proud of is I never gave up. At the end of the day, I believe this is the place I need to be, around the people that are here.”

Having served four suspensions since entering the league in 2015 as the team’s second-round pick, Gregory has been banned from more games (52) than he’s played (35) in his Cowboys career. He was suspended for 30 of 32 games in one troubling stretch.

There are no guarantees this opportunity won’t end like the others. But Gregory feels better equipped to handle the pressures that go with being a professional athlete this time around.

“It’s a day-to-day thing,” Gregory said. “It’s something I’m constantly working on and trying to better myself not only for the sake of my career but my personal life, for my family. So [it’s] something I have under wraps right now. Very proud of myself, proud of the individuals who helped me get here, and I just take it one day at a time.’’

The list of individuals who have helped is long. Too many to single out. But Gregory’s parents moved to the area. The Jones family has been with him every step along the way.

More on that later.

And Gregory readily mentions Dr. Dina Hijazi, the Dallas-based psychologist he meets with multiple times a week.

“I appreciate everything that led up to me coming back, and obviously I do appreciate me being here,” Gregory said. “I’ve said in the past football’s probably the most natural thing there is on this planet for me. I love the game. There’s been times where I haven’t loved what it meant to be a professional in the NFL, but I do love the game and everything else that comes with it is just part of being a professional.”

Now, there are issues and responsibilities that go with being an athlete in college and the professional level that Gregory doesn’t like, that he’s struggled to handle. He tested positive for marijuana in February 2015 at the NFL scouting combine and entered the league in the first stage of its substance abuse program. He tested positive for marijuana twice at Nebraska.

Gregory has spoken before about how he’s used marijuana to cope. But what were the root issues? Multiple sources have said he’s been misdiagnosed along the way. Gregory has told USA Today he has sought treatment for social anxiety disorder.

Dr. Hijazi’s bio states her clinical expertise is in the holistic treatment of intimacy disorders, anxiety, depression, addiction and obsessive compulsive disorders. She helps him handle situations or thoughts that have been triggers.

“I think everyone deals with triggers,” Gregory said. “Everyone reacts certain ways, and that’s the same for me. All I can say is I’ve gotten better about it.

“There are going to be triggers in the future, and I’m going to take the right step for it, take care of them and hopefully I won’t make some of the same mistakes that I’ve made in the past.”

NFC SOUTH

NEW ORLEANS

On Friday we learn that QB DREW BREES will indeed start against the Chiefs on Sunday.  Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk.com:

Four weeks ago, Saints coach Sean Payton led everyone to believe that Jameis Winston, not Taysom Hill, would replace Drew Brees as the team’s starting quarterback. Hill got the start, along with three more. Today, Payton once again has demonstrated his brilliance when it comes to manipulating quarterback information.

With all signs pointing to Brees sitting out one more game, Payton has pulled the ol’ switcheroo by making it known that Brees will return to the starting lineup on Sunday.

The development contradicts all available evidence and supposition. On Sunday, Jay Glazer of FOX called a Brees return on Christmas Day against the Vikings “more of a viable target” than a Week 15 resumption of duties against the Chiefs. On Thursday, Ian Rapoport of NFL Media said Brees won’t play until he’s “asymptomatic.” On Thursday, Adam Schefter of ESPN.com (who reported that Brees will start) highlighted Payton’s press-conference comment that Brees still has “a ways to go” and that “we’re not gonna just hurry [Brees] back and just put him in the game.”

Now, with the Chiefs quite possibly having spent the bulk of the week preparing for Hill, they (and the rest of us) find out that Brees will be the guy. It’s a genius move, with no real downside for Payton — and a significant potential upside in the form of, possibly, an unprepared Chiefs Defense and an opportunity to score a much-needed upset win, if the Saints hope to secure the No. 1 seed.

TAMPA BAY

QB TOM BRADY, with three weeks to go, puts forth a relatively spirited defense of his relationship with Coach Bruce Arians.  Jenna Laine of ESPN.com:

If there was any more speculation about a possible rift between Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady and coach Bruce Arians — speculation largely driven from outside Tampa Bay — Brady seemed to put an end to it Thursday.

He and Arians were supposed to go golfing together during their bye week but were unable to do so because the NFL deemed that it would be in violation of COVID-19 protocols, which don’t allow for gatherings of team personnel outside the facility.

Asked about their plans and what it has been like getting to know Arians on a more personal level, Brady said, “I feel we have a great relationship. From the moment I got here, we’ve just had great dialogue and I certainly appreciate all the insight he gives me and the way he coaches and leads.”

Brady acknowledged the obstacles of trying to build authentic relationships in Tampa during the COVID-19 pandemic. He did get to spend time with teammates during private workouts at Berkeley Prep this summer, but coaches weren’t permitted at those workouts and weren’t permitted to meet with players face-to-face until they reported for training camp, relegating their interaction mostly to video chats.

“It’s been a different year for all of us dealing with those type of circumstances where normally you would have opportunities to get to know each other in a different way,” Brady said. “One thing that’s tough for all of us around the facility is you don’t get one-on-one time with anybody [and] you don’t get any personal time where you’d be sitting around talking and eating together. There’s no close contact, so every conversation is just very different than what it’s been in the past. We’re making the best of it.”

As for Arians specifically, Brady emphasized that the two communicate well and he’s happy with their arrangement, which he said has been predicated on honesty.

“It’s a very open [and] honest dialogue about how we think [and] certainly how I can be most effective,” Brady said. “Any questions he has, we always have a great, open line of communication. I really enjoy my time getting to know him and I have great admiration for him as a coach, as a man, as what he is off the field and how he commands and leads the team.”

NFC WEST

SEATTLE

Aaron Schatz of FootballOutsiders.com on the recent decline of QB RUSSELL WILSON:

In the first month of the season, Russell Wilson was a clear MVP candidate. In the five games before the Seattle Seahawks’ bye in Week 6, Wilson had 19 touchdowns with only three interceptions. He completed 73% of his passes and averaged 8.9 yards per attempt. In Football Outsiders’ advanced metrics, this worked out to 29.5% DVOA. That means Wilson was about 30% more efficient than an average quarterback when we measured his success against an average baseline determined by down, distance and opponent.

But since Seattle’s bye week, Wilson hasn’t been nearly as impressive. He’s thrown 17 touchdowns and nine interceptions. He’s down to a 69% completion rate and 7.4 yards per attempt. Wilson has been, essentially, an average quarterback over the past eight games. His passing DVOA is only 1.0% during that period.

Which Wilson should we expect to see as the Seahawks jockey for playoff position and attempt to make another Super Bowl run? Analysis I did last year shows that midseason improvement or decline does tend to carry over to the final few games … a little bit. Particularly on the extremes, with the biggest rises and drops, players put up December numbers that come out closer to Weeks 8-14 than to Weeks 1-7. But as is often the case, the best guide to the future is to look at the biggest sample size of the past. The most likely scenario is that Wilson will play closer to what he’s done over all 13 games so far. Wilson’s DVOA for the entire season is 11.4%, ranked 11th among qualifying quarterbacks.

AFC WEST

LAS VEGAS

The Raiders suffered a critical and heart-breaking (if RAIDERS have hearts) loss to the Chargers when Jon Gruden meekly took a field goal in overtime.  Anthony Galavaz of the Fresno Bee:

The Las Vegas Raiders had success on fourth-down conversions against the Los Angeles Chargers.

With the game on the line in overtime Thursday and perhaps a playoff shot, perhaps Raiders coach Jon Gruden would go for it and hope for a touchdown for the win?

Not even close.

Gruden sent out Daniel Carlson, who made a 23-yard field goal for a 27-24 lead.

That turned out to be a costly move.

The Chargers got the ball back and drove down the field as Justin Herbert sneaked it in from 1-yard in a 30-27 win over the Raiders at Allegiant Stadium.

There was never a thought on going for it, Gruden said.

“It was fourth and five (at the Chargers 5-yard-line),” he said. “If we got a little bit closer, we would’ve thought about it (going for it), but it was fourth and five. I know I went for it a few times earlier in the game, but to take the lead with three minutes left, I thought it was the right play to make at that time.”

The Raiders (7-7) were 4-of-4 on fourth downs in the game. They converted when it was fourth and two twice and fourth and one twice.

The Raiders got the ball first in overtime and seem to be on their way to a much-needed win to keep their playoff hopes alive.

Big plays later led to a Josh Jacobs 12-yard run that pushed the ball to the Chargers’ 4-yard line.

The next plays resulted in a Jacobs one-yard run and a minus-two yard run, then an incomplete pass from Marcus Mariota, who replaced an injured Derek Carr in the first quarter, that resulted in fourth down.

“It is always frustrating when you get to the red-zone area and don’t convert,” Jacobs said. “We were down there a couple times and we didn’t do that.”

While the FG was an arguable decision, Gruden was caught in a definite fashion faux pas.  Paul Gutierrez of ESPN.com:

Jon Gruden began the Las Vegas Raiders’ game against the Los Angeles Chargers on Thursday night wearing a cap that read “Oakland Raiders.”

Gruden had changed into a Las Vegas Raiders cap by the second quarter.

“I apologize for not having the right hat on. Somebody played a pretty good trick on me,” Gruden said after the Raiders fell to the Chargers 30-27 in overtime.

The Raiders are in their first season in Southern Nevada after calling Oakland, California, home from 1995 through 2019. (They were in Los Angeles from 1982 to 1994 and Oakland before that from their inception in the AFL in 1960.)

Gruden is in his second tenure with the franchise, having coached the Raiders from 1998 to 2001 and again since 2018, and has long called himself a fan of the franchise.

The Raiders, who began their season 6-3, lost three of their previous four games entering Thursday night, and then lost quarterback Derek Carr to a groin injury against the Chargers. He was replaced by Marcus Mariota as Las Vegas dropped to 7-7 on the season and most likely out of the playoff picture.

– – –

TE DARREN WALLER was playing with a heavy heart on Thursday night.  Kevin Patra of NFL.com:

Darren Waller put up a monster performance in the Las Vegas Raiders’ 30-27 overtime loss to the Los Angeles Chargers.

The tight end dominated every defender sent his way, gobbling up nine of 12 targets for 150 yards and a TD.

From the outside, Waller was his usual brilliant self. On the inside, the matchup nightmare was hurting.

Waller had found out his friend and former Baltimore Ravens teammate Lorenzo Taliaferro, 28, died Wednesday night, less than 24 hours before kickoff.

“To be real, I didn’t even feel like playing tonight honestly,” Waller said, via the team’s official website. “I had no juice today. I thank God and the people that support me for speaking life into me today, and telling me to go out and play and represent him and to have him on my mind while I was playing.

“I feel like him and his presence and what his time on the earth meant to me is what’s motivating me to play football with a sense of urgency.”

Waller broke into the NFL in 2015 and spent two seasons as Taliaferro’s teammate in Baltimore. The time with the Ravens was a struggle for Waller, who dealt with addiction issues he famously overcame before joining the Raiders in 2018.

After his second-quarter touchdown catch, Waller gestured the numbers 3 and 4, in honor of Taliaferro’s No. 34.

Since his time with Baltimore, Waller has become one of the best tight ends in the NFL. A speedy playmaker who can dust CBs, box out safeties and punish linebackers is a rare combination.

Thursday marked Waller’s second game of 150-plus receiving yards in the last three weeks. Only three other TEs in the Super Bowl era have had two such games in an entire season: HOF Shannon Sharpe, HOF Kellen Winslow, and fellow Raider Todd Christensen, per NFL Research.

Waller was a huge reason for Marcus Mariota’s impressive performance in relief of an injured Derek Carr. You wouldn’t have known watching that he was playing with a heavy heart.

Taliaferro died of an apparent heart attack, at age 28, in York County, Virginia.

LOS ANGELES CHARGERS

Despite the win, it is torture if you are one of the few Chargers fans.  Grant Gordon ofNFL.com:

Perhaps any win is cause for celebration, but puzzlement still prevails as it relates to the Chargers coaching and special teams despite the victory. Two go-ahead field goal attempts inside the final four minutes and, of course, the Chargers missed them both. Badgley’s 51-yard attempt with 53 seconds to go in regulation had the distance, but fluttered left. Minutes earlier, it was a bad snap and a bad kick. With a tie ballgame with 3:38 left in the fourth after a bad no-call that should’ve been pass interference against the Raiders, Badgley attempted a 47-yard field goal. It was pulled left. This is the Chargers. Of course it was no good. Everyone knew it was going to be no good, because the Chargers are a tortured franchise when it comes to kicks going every which way but through the uprights when it matters most. It wasn’t all on the special teams though, as the fourth quarter played out as an indictment on the offensive play-calling. Herbert had just one pass attempt in the stanza. With Herbert slinging it and Badgley struggling, the Chargers went conservative and played to set up two field goal attempts gone awry. It was puzzling play-calling to be kind that led to more special teams struggles. Badgley’s missed an NFL-high nine field goals. The football gods can be mean. And the Chargers’ game management can be confounding.

AFC NORTH

BALTIMORE

After going to the videotape, Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk.com does not believe the denials of CB MARCUS PETERS:

Like Keith Hernandez, Marcus Peters denies spitting within the confines of a sporting event.

Browns receiver Jarvis Landry claims, and the video seems to confirm, that Peters spat at Landry on Monday night. On Thursday night, the Ravens issued a statement in which Peters denies spitting.

“I didn’t spit at Jarvis,” Peter said. “Where I come from, when you have an issue with someone, you deal with it face-to-face, man-to-man. Anyone who believes that I intentionally spit at him does not know me — plain and simple.”

Said Landry on Thursday or Peters, “He’s a coward. Behind my back he may do that but to my face he wouldn’t. I saw the video after the game.”

Spitting accusations emerge from time to time in the NFL. In this case, an apparent loogie can be seen flying from Peters’ mouth. Unless there was a second spitter, Peters looks to be guilty, despite his denial.

CLEVELAND

Robert Mays of The Athletic on whether or not QB BAKER MAYFIELD is truly improved:

Baker Mayfield isn’t just another quarterback. That’s important to understand before we get started. Taking over as the Browns’ starting quarterback is the football equivalent of moving into a haunted house. It doesn’t matter who you were before. You could be a clean-cut Ethan Hawke in a cardigan, or Patrick Wilson in a sweater vest. Once you cross that threshold, nothing will ever be the same.

Cleveland’s horrific QB history means that the stakes for Mayfield are different than they’d be for most quarterbacks — even those drafted first overall. If Mayfield fails, he becomes another name on the infamous Browns QB jersey, a relic of despair that’s served as a wearable tombstone for the past two decades. If he succeeds, the evil spirit that has tormented the Browns since their return to Cleveland will be exorcised. And with the soul of an entire franchise hanging in the balance, you can excuse Browns fans if they’re overly invested in how this pans out.

Over the past month, as the Browns have escaped a miserable run of rain-soaked and wind-torn games, Mayfield has played some of the best football of his career. During the Browns’ recent 3-1 stretch (which included a heartbreaking last-second loss to the Ravens on Monday night), Mayfield has thrown for 1,139 yards and eight touchdowns while averaging nearly 8.7 yards per attempt. Over that span, Mayfield trails only Aaron Rodgers and Ryan Tannehill in Expected Points Added per play. At 9-4 with their first playoff bid in nearly 20 years on the horizon, Cleveland and its QB certainly look like the real deal. The question that even the most optimistic Browns fans have to ask —  after Mayfield’s red-hot rookie season and with nightmare performances against Pittsburgh and Baltimore still visible in the rearview mirror — is how much of his recent development is real, and how much is a mirage. And the answer may very well shape the next several years of football in Cleveland.

– – –

When the Browns hired former Vikings’ offensive coordinator Kevin Stefanski as their head coach in January the move didn’t elicit the same sort of hype that plagued the Browns in 2019. He wasn’t touted as a Mayfield savior, but rather an analytics-forward option that certain factions in the Cleveland front office had preferred over Kitchens a year earlier. But Stefanki’s arrival — and the offensive system he brought with him — have played a massive role in Mayfield’s success this season. Through Week 14, Mayfield ranks eighth in EPA/play among quarterbacks, and Cleveland’s offense ranks 10th in offensive DVOA. The Browns’ stockpile of talent and bruising ground game have certainly helped, but Stefanski’s offense has consistently channeled all that talent in effective ways.

During his only full season as the Vikings’ play-caller, Stefanski got to fully adopt his version of the Mike Shanahan-Gary Kubiak play-action system, and the design of that system helped Kirk Cousins have the most efficient season of his career. Cousins finished ninth in EPA/play among QBs in 2019, for an offense that ranked 10th in offensive DVOA. Even after parting ways with Kubiak in Minnesota, Stefanski has brought the bones of his system with him to Cleveland, and Mayfield’s numbers this year have been eerily similar to the ones that Cousins posted in 2019. That shouldn’t come as a surprise. The Kubiak-Shanahan system is a notoriously QB-friendly offense, thanks to the heavy amount of play action and bootlegs built into the offense. And if we dig a little further, the resemblance between Cousins and Mayfield becomes even more striking.

According to Pro Football Focus, Cousins used play action on 31.4 percent of his drop backs in 2019, which was the sixth-highest rate in the NFL. This year, Mayfield is at 33.6 percent, which is — you guessed it — the sixth-highest rate in the league. Under Stefanski, Cousins averaged 9.7 yards per attempt using play action. Mayfield has averaged 9.7 yards per play-action under Stefanski this season. Cousins in 2019 and Mayfield in 2020 are essentially the play-action version of the pointing Spiderman meme. And the crazy part is that it goes even deeper.

The defining characteristic of Stefanski’s version of the Kubiak-Shanahan offense is the frequency that his quarterbacks boot to the left. Traditionally, most offenses haven’t utilized boots to the left with right-handed QBs, as the sequence can be awkward for most QBs as they move the “wrong” direction. But Stefanski has used the rarity of those plays — and defenses’ lack of familiarity defending them — to his advantage. Last season, Cousins ran twice as many bootlegs to his left as any QB in the NFL and was stunningly efficient on those throws. This season, Stefanski has cranked up the dial even more. Mayfield already has 43 attempts on boots to the left this season, according to Sports Info Solutions. That’s 19 more than Jared Goff, who’s ranked second each of the past two seasons. So far, Mayfield has racked up a ridiculous 455 yards on those attempts — more than 16 percent of his total yardage this season and 189 more yards than second-place Aaron Rodgers.

At the most basic level, the similarities between Cousins and Mayfield over the past two years suggest that Stefanski uses tried and true methods to make life easier on his quarterback. When you watch some of Mayfield’s completions on boots to his left, he’s essentially handing the ball to a receiver with nothing but grass in front of them. Mayfield deserves credit for how comfortable he’s looked on those plays. The muscle memory associated with those movements can take a long time to develop, and unlike Cousins (who spent multiple years in Kyle Shanahan’s offense when they were in Washington), those designs were foreign to Mayfield when Stefanski took over. But even if Mayfield’s feel for those throws has been impressive, there’s no denying that the threat of the Browns’ dominant running game and its harmonious marriage with their play-action approach have done a lot of work to buttress their quarterback. According to PFF, no quarterback in the league has a larger gap than Mayfield between their yards per attempt average on play-action throws (9.7) and passes without play action (6.3). During Mayfield’s recent hot streak, that chasm gets even larger. As the weather has let up over Cleveland’s past four games, Mayfield has averaged a stupefying 12.8 yards per attempt with play action but only 6.5 yards without it.

If Cleveland’s play-action prowess didn’t complicate matters enough, Stefanski has developed arguably the most effective screen game in the NFL. According to Sportradar, the Vikings led the NFL in screen yardage last season, and this year, Cleveland has averaged a league-leading 8.7 yards per attempt on screen passes. Take this early completion from Cleveland’s first drive against the Ravens. After Baltimore brought heat on the first play of the game, Stefanski countered with a quick screen to tight end David Njoku that dug Cleveland out of a second-and-10 hole and helped jump start a TD drive on its opening possession. The Browns rarely play behind the chains, but on the rare occasion when they are facing a difficult down-and-distance situation, Stefanski has a unique ability to tap into his collection of screens and manufacture easy gains. When you combine every aspect of this offense, the result is arguably the most QB-friendly system in the entire league, and that can make it difficult to discern where Stefanski’s contributions end and where Mayfield’s begin. But that doesn’t mean that Mayfield hasn’t shown that he’s comfortable in the deep end of the pool.

The structure of Stefanski’s offense consistently eases the burden on Mayfield, but the third-year QB has still made some eye-popping throws over his past few games. Even taking into account the space that play action creates for Mayfield, the overall degree of difficulty on his attempts is still fairly high. Mayfield is averaging 9.2 air yards per attempt this season, which is the third-highest mark in the entire league. According to Next Gen Stats, Mayfield’s 62.3 completion rate is actually higher than his expected completion percentage of 60.8 percent — a metric based on a variety of factors including route depth and receiver separation. Take this throw from the first half of Cleveland’s loss to the Ravens on Monday night. The Browns run a two-man, play-action concept designed to high-low cornerback Marcus Peters on the right side of the field. With Peters trying to split the difference between the two receivers, Mayfield finds Donovan Peoples-Jones on the corner route with a 43-yard missile outside the numbers from the opposite hash.

Along with his excellent ball placement on some of these play-action shots, Mayfield has also done a better job working through his progressions and delivering well reasoned, well placed throws as the field shrinks near the goal line. This throw against the Titans is a useful example of what it looks like when Mayfield’s ability, Stefanski’s scheme, and the Browns’ skill-position talent work in perfect harmony. Just before the snap, wide receiver Jarvis Landry comes in short motion toward the formation, which creates space between him and the sideline and forces the cornerback to respect any route back to the outside. Instead of heading back that direction, Landry feigns a move to the corner and sharply redirects toward the middle of the field. After initially looking toward Rashard Higgins in the right corner of the end zone, Mayfield snaps his eyes back to Landry and delivers a quick strike before the middle-of-the-field safety can recover for a 2-yard touchdown.

For an undersized quarterback, Mayfield is actually a gifted thrower, capable of delivering fireballs to every level of the field with zip and accuracy. When Mayfield has time and space to unleash throws, he looks every bit the part of a former No. 1 pick. The problems start to arise when Mayfield isn’t given ample time via bootlegs or the Browns’ excellent pass protection. According to PFF, Mayfield is averaging just 4.4 yards per attempt when pressured this season. That shouldn’t come as a shock, considering all quarterbacks play worse when pressured. But Mayfield’s dropoff is even more pronounced when the walls start closing in. Among quarterbacks with at least 300 attempts, only rookie Joe Burrow (37.3) and Drew Lock (34.3) have a worse completion percentage when pressured this season than Mayfield (39.5), and those issues are even more apparent when you watch Mayfield on tape.

The rigidity of Cleveland’s play-action offense has alleviated some of Mayfield’s issues with panicking in the pocket and bailing to his right at every opportunity, but it hasn’t eliminated them. On Monday, Ravens defensive coordinator Wink Martindale consistently overloaded the offense’s left and brought several slot pressures off that side. By bringing a blitzer off that side, the Ravens were able to disrupt the boot actions to the left that Stefanski prefers and speed up Mayfield’s mental clock multiple times on those plays. Mayfield has a tendency to lock onto his No. 1 option at times, especially on shot plays that Cleveland had clearly emphasized throughout the week. Take this first-and-10 incompletion from the third quarter of Monday’s game. The Browns are running one of their staple boot plays to the left, but just before the snap, cornerback Marlon Humphrey creeps toward the line of scrimmage. Humphrey’s pre-snap movement and the eventual blitz off the edge should cause Mayfield to immediately get his eyes to the open tight end on the second level. Instead, he lingers on the double move to Higgins and sails an incompletion.

Along with mucking up Cleveland’s boot plays to the left side, the Ravens’ overload pressures also influenced Mayfield to drift right, playing into his tendencies and into the hands of the defense. At 6-foot, Mayfield struggles to find throwing lanes when there’s traffic in the pocket. Defenses know this, and smart coordinators do what they can to bring heat, trigger Mayfield’s jitters, and ultimately get him to bail out and create an open window. Mayfield has undeniably improved areas of his game from last season, but this particular quirk — his uneasiness in the pocket and tendency to pull the ripcord when things get hairy — is the one area of this game that should trouble Browns fans the most. A feel for pressure and how to operate in close quarters are innate traits for most quarterbacks. They’re difficult to teach, and no amount of QB-friendly designs can totally mask the problems that poor pocket presence can create. The positive aspects of Mayfield’s game and the comfort he’s shown in this offense so far outshine the negatives, but if anyone is looking for a reason to be skeptical about his future, this would be it.

If there’s a silver lining to Mayfield’s propensity for quickly escaping the pocket to find space, it’s that his movement skills add an aspect to his game that Cousins, Goff, and most other QBs reliant on play-action heavy systems have lacked. Take this 4th and 4 play from Monday’s game against the Ravens. Baltimore brings a five-man pressure, and in the early part of the play, it looks like the pocket is going to collapse, Mayfield is going to be sacked, and the game might be over. Instead, Mayfield moves up in the pocket, keeps the play alive, and finds Higgins for a 21-yard touchdown to keep the win in reach. Cleveland’s go-ahead touchdown later in the quarter came on a similar play, with Mayfield finding space as a scrambler and finishing off a five-yard touchdown run as the pocket crumbled around him.

Mayfield’s knack for making off-schedule plays is one skill that Cousins lacked, and that ability creates a margin of error for Stefanski that he didn’t have in 2019. It’s also a helpful window into understanding Mayfield’s place within the league and his ceiling as a quarterback — both within this offense and within the league at large. The similarities between Mayfield’s production and what Cousins accomplished in Stefanski’s offense are illuminating. Both are talented throwers whose belief in their arm and preference for the big play occasionally get them in trouble.

Sifting through all the factors that have contributed to Mayfield’s recent surge, the (somewhat boring) conclusion is that he probably exists somewhere in the Goff-Cousins-Tannehill phylum of play-action quarterbacks. All the QBs in that group have unique strengths and weaknesses while falling in the same general category. Tannehill is excellent at delivering throws under pressure, and his mobility mirrors what Mayfield can do on second-reaction plays. Goff may have the best and most accurate arm of the group. Yet despite their idiosyncrasies, all three are capable of guiding a top-tier offense. Mayfield has proven this season that he’s certainly good enough for a team to win with him, while also showing that he’s best in a system that can hide his flaws and give him the type of structure he desperately needs.  He may never been the type of transcendent player that Mahomes and Watson have become, but with this group of pass catchers (which will eventually include Odell Beckham), this play caller, and this offensive line/running game, Mayfield is both talented and daring enough for Cleveland to feel dangerous on offense. After the letdown that was 2019 and some of Mayfield’s struggles early this season, that should be more than enough for a fan base starving for a quarterback.

AFC EAST

BUFFALO

Dan Graziano of ESPN.com thinks the Bills, not the Steelers or Titans, will be the biggest obstacle for the Chiefs in the AFC.

The Bills did a lot of impressive things Sunday night in a 26-15 victory over the Steelers that got you thinking (if you weren’t already) about the correct way to look at the top of the AFC. Most impressive might have been the way they closed out the game.

Up 11 points with 7:11 to play, Buffalo intercepted a Ben Roethlisberger pass and never gave the ball back. The Bills ran 13 plays and gained 52 yards the rest of the way while Roethlisberger and the Steelers’ offense just stood there on the sideline, powerless to do anything about it. Josh Allen converted a third-and-11 with 5:52 left, a third-and-1 with 2:06 left and one final third-and-1 with 1:08 left that allowed him to kneel down twice and put the thing in the books.

It was a soul-snuffing finish to a night on which the Bills looked like the better team. And while it left Pittsburgh 11-2 and Buffalo 10-3, it got us thinking about whether the Bills just might be the answer to the AFC’s critical question: Which team can beat the Chiefs in the playoffs?

My friend and “Get Up” show colleague Paul “Hembo” Hembekides has, as he often does, some numbers to back up what my eyes thought they saw. There are two big reasons to think the Bills are the team best equipped to beat the defending-champion Chiefs, and one of those reasons is that they might be equipped to keep Patrick Mahomes on the sideline as much as possible.

Buffalo knows how to take its time on offense. The Bills have run 28 scoring drives of 10 or more plays this season, which is the second-most in the league, according to Hembo and ESPN Stats & Info. The length of their average touchdown drive is 4:03, which is the fifth-longest in the league. And they rank third in third-down conversion percentage (49%) and first in fourth-down conversion percentage (83%).

You might not think of Buffalo as the kind of dominant run team that keeps the ball away from its opponent, and it isn’t. It ranks 22nd in rushing yards (1,333) and 23rd in yards per rush (4.0). But the Bills are top-10 in yards per game (375.4), yards per play (5.9), offensive points per game (27.7) and time of possession (31:19), so they’re a killer combination of deliberate and productive. This is potential kryptonite for Mahomes, who is 19-1 as the starter in games in which the Chiefs win time of possession.

But keeping Mahomes off the field isn’t the only way Buffalo is suited to give Kansas City trouble. The other way is to match the Chiefs’ explosiveness. In the nine games Mahomes has lost as a pro, the Chiefs average 31.3 points per game — the highest points average in losses for any quarterback since 1950 with at least five losses. You’re not going to beat the Chiefs 19-17. You have to score to beat them.

Kansas City has lost once this season — 40-32 in Week 5 against the Raiders. Las Vegas produced five plays of at least 40 yards in that game, the most by any team in any game against the Chiefs this season. It gained 262 yards on those five plays, and two resulted in touchdowns.

Can Allen and the Bills create explosive plays? You bet they can. Allen has 50 explosive pass plays (20-plus yards) this season. Only Mahomes, Aaron Rodgers and Deshaun Watson have more. Add in explosive run plays, and Buffalo ranks third in the league with 57, behind only the Chiefs’ 68 and the Packers’ 58. The Bills throw the ball on first down 63% of the time, which is more than any other team in the league. Their success rate on pass plays is 54.5%, second in the league behind only the Chiefs (54.9%).

Now, it’s worth noting that the Bills did none of these things in their 26-17 loss to the Chiefs nine weeks ago. In that game, Buffalo had just 206 yards of offense and a 22:15 time of possession. It was one of the better defensive games the Chiefs have played all season, and it’s possible they could repeat it if the teams rematch. But it’s also worth noting that the Bills are 6-1 since that game, and that it came during a point in their season when they were in an offensive lull, from which they have recovered.

This isn’t about whether the Bills are as good as the Chiefs. They probably aren’t, because right now it’s likely that no team is. It’s about whether, on a given Saturday or Sunday in January, they are the team that can take out the defending champs. (The Raiders likely would scare the Chiefs, since they beat them once and nearly twice, but ESPN’s Football Power Index gives the 7-7 Raiders only a 4.6% chance to make the postseason.)

There appear to be two ways to beat the Chiefs: light up the scoreboard the way they do and/or play keep-away from them. The Bills are a team built to do both, and Bills-Chiefs might just be the best possible AFC Championship Game matchup.

THIS AND THAT

GM CANDIDATES

Jonathan Jones of CBSSports.com looks at the GM market and gives us 30, yes 30, candidates for any openings:

Hiring season will soon be upon us in the NFL, and there may be a half-dozen or more positions to fill come January.

There are currently four openings (Atlanta, Detroit, Jacksonville and Houston) with Washington using a GM-by-committee. More on that in a bit, but there should be more vacancies coming soon.

League scuttlebutt is that Chicago will eventually fire GM Ryan Pace after six years in large part due to his failure to figure out the quarterback position. Howie Roseman (Eagles), Tom Telesco (Chargers), Dave Gettleman (Giants) and John Elway (Broncos) are viewed as safe according to people I’ve spoken to.

One wild card — and a vacancy that would shoot to the top of anyone’s rankings — is Pittsburgh. Long-time GM Kevin Colbert has been operating on one-year deals for the last two years. I’m not reporting that he definitely will or won’t stay or go, just simply that people around the league are keeping an eye on what may happen in Pittsburgh once its season is complete.

Carolina’s job could very well open up in a few weeks. I’m told Marty Hurney loves it in Carolina, but if team owner David Tepper makes a move, there’s strong speculation around the league that GM Marty Hurney could join Ron Rivera in Washington. That’d reunite the two from their time in Carolina along with cap guru Rob Rogers, who spent more than two decades with the Panthers.

You’re going to hear a lot of names thrown around in these searches. First of all, it’s much easier to conduct a bunch of interviews over video conference than gassing up the jet and flying around the country. Secondly, it behooves a team to give the appearance of a robust search even if it’s just for looks.

Below are 30 candidates I’ve identified through sources as quality personnel men who are ready to take a GM role. I looked for as much diversity in age, race, experience and backgrounds in coming up with what I believe is a list of legitimate names. I’ve listed them below in alphabetical order.

Kevin Abrams, Giants VP of football operations/assistant GM

Every Giants contract goes through Abrams. For nearly two decades he’s been at the right hand of Ernie Accorsi, Jerry Reese and now Dave Gettleman. He served as interim GM back in 2017 and interviewed for the full-time gig that Gettleman eventually landed, and he had previously interviewed for the Lions job in 2016. His time working with a respected and storied franchise will be valued by team owners.

Kwesi Adofo-Mensah, Browns VP of football operations

A former Princeton basketball player turned commodities trader turned NFL personnel man, Adofo-Mensah has the sort of unique background a forward-thinking team should gravitate to. He spent seven years with the Niners in research and development before joining forces with Andrew Berry in Cleveland following San Francisco’s NFC championship run.

Mike Borgonzi, Chiefs director of football operations

He worked his way up from a college scout administrator in 2009 to the top of the football ops department for the defending world champs. He took over the role that Chris Ballard once held in Kansas City. A former fullback at Brown, Borgonzi has the playing and front-office experience to lead.

Ran Carthon, 49ers director of pro personnel

A former NFL running back, Carthon worked for four years as a scout before joining the St. Louis Rams as their director of pro personnel for five years. He was instrumental in identifying Emmanuel Sanders last season and Trent Williams this past offseason. His father also played and coached in the league.

Nick Caserio, Patriots director of player personnel

Caserio is essentially Bill Belichick’s co-GM. He’s been with the team since 2001, and he’s been tied to the Houston job for more than a year even though sources say he’s cooling on that opportunity.

Ryan Cowden, Titans VP of player personnel

He’s helped make deft moves for players like Kenny Vaccaro, Malcolm Butler and Ryan Tannehill in his time in Tennessee. Cowden spent 16 years in the Panthers scouting department before joining forces with Jon Robinson in Nashville, where they’ve put together five consecutive seasons of 9-or-more wins for the first time in franchise history since Warren Moon was under center.

DuJuan Daniels, Raiders assistant director of player personnel

He spent 13 years in the Patriots organization before joining Mike Mayock and the Raiders in 2019. Daniels official title in New England was national scout, but that organization is infamous for assigning greater duties with lesser job titles. Daniels has experience with the best franchise this century and with helping construct a new front office (amid a move) with Mayock and the Raiders.

Lake Dawson, Bills assistant director of college scouting

A former Notre Dame and Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver, Dawson served as VP of football operations with the Titans from 2011-2015 before joining Buffalo. He was a hot name throughout the 2010s, interviewing for no fewer than six GM jobs but never locking one down. The success in Buffalo should reignite interest in Dawson.

Thomas Dimitroff, former Falcons GM

Dimitroff oversaw the most successful stretch of Falcons football as GM but sputtered with head coach Dan Quinn in their final two seasons. His drafts had big hits and big misses, but he’s proven to work incredibly well with folks in the organization and brings outside-the-box thinking to a football program.

Mike Disner, Lions VP of football administration

He’s the cap guru in Detroit, after being the cap guru in Arizona, after being part of the NFL’s Management Council helping to arrange the 2011 CBA. Disner is already playing a big role in helping the Lions secure their next GM but should get internal and external looks.

Ed Dodds, Colts assistant GM

People around the league respect the (quiet) work Dodds has done over the years. Most GM searches will include his name based on what he’s done with Chris Ballard in Indy as well as his resume prior to the Colts. Dodds was part of Seattle’s staff that put together those Super Bowl runs, and many feel it’s time for him to get the big chair.

Terry Fontenot, Saints VP/assistant GM of pro personnel

He’s spent his entire 18-year career with the Saints, and he’s essentially had this role for much longer than his August promotion. Fontenot’s moves, like identifying All-Pro Demario Davis in 2018, has helped bring the Saints’ defense from worst to first in a matter of a few years. Detroit and Atlanta are hot on him with other teams lurking as end-of-year decisions loom. 

Brad Holmes, Rams director of college scouting

He hasn’t been able to pick a first-rounder in more than four years but keeps hitting on mid- and late-round prospects for the current NFC West leaders. He’s been part of Les Snead’s robust and forward-thinking personnel department that has created a model for the modern NFL team.

Joe Hortiz, Ravens director of college scouting

Baltimore has had some incredible drafts in recent years, and you could argue they’ve hit on more first-rounders the last five years than anyone else. Credit to their two GMs, of course, but Hortiz has been there from the beginning too. He started in 1998 with the Ravens organization, just two years after Eric DeCosta.

Brandon Hunt, Steelers pro scouting coordinator

He started as an intern with Pittsburgh in 2004 before moving to the Texans as a pro scout before returning to the Steelers in 2009. Hunt has been instrumental in one of the most consistent franchises in sports, and he’s on a very short list of internal candidates who could replace Kevin Colbert.

Jeff Ireland, Saints VP/assistant GM of college personnel

His scouting career dates back to 2004, and he served as Dolphins GM from 2008-2013. Ireland came to New Orleans in 2015 and led the team in its spectacular 2017 draft. There will be questions in his interviews about his Dolphins tenure but he’s proven himself to be a great talent evaluator. His Baylor ties and NFC South familiarity could be enticing to Carolina.

Dwayne Joseph, Raiders pro personnel director

Joseph was Philly’s pro scouting director when the Eagles won a Super Bowl and he jumped to Mayock’s staff in 2019 to build something in the desert. The former Bears defensive back could be a candidate to return to Chicago as its next GM.

Champ Kelly, Bears assistant director of player personnel

He’s been with Chicago since 2015 and was key in executing the trade for Khalil Mack. He worked at IBM a couple of decades ago so he brings that business-analytics background to the role. Kelly was thought to be runner-up to Joe Douglas for the Jets GM gig.

Trent Kirchner, Seahawks VP of player personnel

He’s been key in GM John Schneider’s department the last several years, and Kirchner got interviews a few years ago with San Francisco and Detroit. He spent eight years as a scout in Carolina before joining Seattle to build up their juggernaut at the start of last decade.

Martin Mayhew, 49ers VP of player personnel

He’s spent the last four years in San Francisco after being the Lions GM from 2018-2015. A promising start in the Motor City fizzled out, but he’s been open about his mistakes (like drafting Eric Ebron over Aaron Donald) and seems ready for a second shot at the helm.

Will McClay, Cowboys VP of player personnel

He’s been with the Cowboys since 2009 and has helped put together one of the most talented rosters in the league the last few years, as injuries have hit the group and coaching has failed them. McClay was at the controls when the Cowboys made the best draft-day move of 2020 by selecting CeeDee Lamb at pick No. 17.

Reggie McKenzie, Dolphins senior personnel executive

The former Raiders GM from 2012-18 drafted Derek Carr, Amari Cooper and Khalil Mack but lost the tug-of-war with Jon Gruden. Since joining Chris Grier in Miami, McKenzie has helped oversee one of the most successful one-year tank jobs in recent NFL history. That sort of experience will be crucial in his next job.

Dan Morgan, Bills director of player personnel

A tackling machine at linebacker for the Panthers, Morgan had been in Seattle’s personnel department for nearly a decade before Brandon Beane brought him on in Buffalo. Morgan’s time as a GM is coming after helping build a consistent winner in western New York.

Scott Pioli, former Chiefs GM, Patriots exec

A good fraction of this list has worked with or for Pioli, which speaks to his influence and a keen eye for talent. A five-time executive of the year with the Chiefs and Patriots, Pioli has been working in media since leaving his post as Atlanta’s assistant GM. He has a sterling record on diversity and inclusion, and he’ll be able to identify and develop talent in personnel, coaching and roster.

Ryan Poles, Chiefs assistant director of player personnel

One of the hottest names under 40 years of age circulating, Poles linked with Pioli in Kansas City and has since learned under John Dorsey, Brett Veach and Andy Reid. Working in those different, disparate systems and finding successes in them are ideas he can marry when he gets his shot.

Jerry Reese, former Giants GM

He spent nearly a quarter-century in the Giants organization and won two Super Bowls as their GM. Things fell apart in the final years with coaches and failed first-round picks Ereck Flowers and Eli Apple, but time away has been good for Reese’s reputation and will be a top name for a team looking for a veteran GM like Detroit.

Joe Schoen, Bills assistant GM

He scouted for the Panthers and Dolphins before becoming director of player personnel in Miami. Beane poached him in 2017 and has been at his right hand to deliver a playoff contender to Buffalo. Schoen played a role this offseason in trading for Stefon Diggs and inking both TreDavious White and Dion Dawkins to extensions that didn’t cripple the team’s cap.

Rick Smith, former Texans GM

His tenure in Houston looked good in real time, but with what’s happened there since he left, it looks incredible. Smith was on the front-end of things like sleep science in the NFL and built a winner in the AFC South. He traded up in the 2017 draft to get Deshaun Watson — the best thing going for Houston.

Samir Suleiman, Panthers director of player negotiations

Carolina owner David Tepper poached Suleiman from Pittsburgh, where he owned part of the team, to join him in Charlotte earlier this year. Suleiman is adept at navigating the salary cap, which will come in handy more this offseason than others. An analytics-based front office could use him.

Louis Riddick, former Eagles director of pro personnel

The ESPN NFL announcer has popped onto the radar the last year-plus for GM jobs. The Falcons have expressed interest in the former player turned scout who had stints in both Washington and Philadelphia.