| If The Season Ended Today in the NFC: NFC W-L Conf Last Week %Detroit North 11-1 7-1 1 99Philadelphia East 10-2 5-2 2 99 Seattle West 7-5 3-4 9 47 (+3%)Atlanta South 6-6 6-2 4 57 (-14%)Minnesota WC1 10-2 5-2 WC1 99 (+1%)Green Bay WC2 9-3 4-3 WC2 97 (+7%)Washington WC3 8-5 5-3 WC3 71 (-10%)Tampa Bay 6-6 6-3 8 58 (+6%)Arizona 6-6 3-5 7 37 (-14%)LA Rams 6-6 4-5 9 20 (+10%)San Francisco 5-7 3-5 10 15 (-16%)Dallas 5-7 3-5 xx 4 The Lions, Eagles, Vikings and Packers are now jockeying for playoff positioning and the Commanders are likely to be one game up in the Wild Card race after they take their bye in Week 14. Five teams are battling for two division titles with Seattle ahead of the Cardinals and Rams in the West. The Buccaneers and Falcons are now tied in the South with Tampa Bay still basically even in NextGenStats playoff probability despite Atlanta’s command of the tiebreaker. While Tampa Bay loses to Atlanta in a NFC South tiebreaker, it has a Week 1 win over Washington if they should catch the Commanders for the final Wild Card. The final week of byes is on tap for this week, with five of the six teams off in the AFC. |
| NFC NORTH |
| CHICAGO Matt Eberflus was fired on Friday. Jonathan Jones of CBSSports.com on what the Bears are looking for in their next coach: The Chicago Bears have an open head-coaching position. And there’s a certain type of coach the storied franchise plans to hire. Multiple sources tell CBS Sports the Bears want to land a “leader of men” type of head coach. Their background on offense or defense won’t matter as much as their leadership abilities with a group of pro athletes in one of the largest media markets in America. “They need to resemble the attributes of what Chicago stands for,” said one source, adding the coach will need to be battle-tested and mentally strong to be seriously considered for the job. On Friday, the Bears fired Matt Eberflus after nearly three seasons as head coach. Eberflus went 14-32 in his Chicago tenure, which ended with six straight losses capped by a calamitous ending on Thanksgiving Day against the Detroit Lions. It is unclear whether the Bears will use a search firm to assist in the next hire. The process will be led by general manager Ryan Poles and team president Kevin Warren in what will be their first head-coach hire in Chicago. Sources also reiterated that Poles is expected to remain the Bears GM into the 2025 season. The Bears believe they will have the most attractive job in this coaching cycle. The team has its franchise quarterback in Caleb Williams, a host of offensive talent, more than $80 million in expected salary cap space for next year, the history of the franchise, the allure of the city of Chicago and a new stadium project that’s on the way. Chicago is one of three open jobs along with the Jets and Saints. The Jaguars and Cowboys have been expected by league sources to open by the end of the season. And there could be as many as eight vacancies in the offseason. The leader-of-men model has become more popular in recent years. Part of that is due to a dearth of hot-shot offensive coordinator talent. But there has also been the sustained success of Mike Tomlin and more recent success of Dan Campbell. Last year, that type of coach was en vogue. Raheem Morris, Dan Quinn, Jerod Mayo and Jim Harbaugh all landed jobs in the cycle. Some coaching candidates who would immediately fit the bill include former Titans head coach Mike Vrabel, Lions defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn, Vikings defensive coordinator Brian Flores and former Patriots head coach Bill Belichick. Another name worth keeping an eye on is Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman. The Bears drafted Freeman in 2009, and he has since gone on to lead the Fighting Irish to contention for a College Football Playoff position this season with an 11-1 record. Freeman, 38, is from the Midwest, and sources have indicated he will draw NFL interest in the coming weeks as he’s midway through a six-year contract in South Bend. It’s unclear who will make the final call on the next head coach of the Bears. Owner George McCaskey will surely be involved, and decisions like this are part of the reason he hired Warren to be team president. Warren got his start in the NFL with the Super Bowl champion St. Louis Rams, and the Notre Dame Law School graduate served as Vikings COO and the Big Ten commissioner before being hired as the fifth president in Bears history. Poles was hired just two days before Eberflus, so this will be his first true search for a head coach. There were whispers around the league about Poles’ safety amid the six-game losing streak, but there is no indication he will face the same fate as Eberflus. And a source pointed to what appears to be intentional wording in Warren’s statement this week that Poles will remain. “I support Ryan and the decision that was made this morning,” Warren said in the statement announcing Eberflus’ firing. “We understand how imperative the head-coaching role is for building and maintaining a championship-caliber team, leading our players and our organization. Our fans have stood by us and persevered through every challenge, and they deserve better results. Our organizational and operational structure is strong, focused, aligned and energized for the future.” The Bears named Thomas Brown as interim head coach Friday. Three weeks ago, Brown was the passing game coordinator for the Bears before the team fired offensive coordinator Shane Waldron. The offense immediately improved under Brown, with quarterbacks coach Kerry Joseph working even more closely with Williams and wide receivers coach Chris Beatty being instrumental in coordinating the passing game each week. Brown, 38, has been considered a head-coaching candidate for more than a year. The Bears will run a search for a head coach regardless of the final five games of the season, but Brown has an opportunity to be seriously considered for the permanent job depending upon how the season finishes. “The team will rally around Thomas,” one source said. “When he talks about keys to victory, you can feel his juice. Guys are going to come in next week and punch their ticket to go to work. I guarantee that.” Despite a 5-3 finish to last season and 4-2 start to this year, the Bears struggled to close out games under Eberflus. Chicago lost to Washington on a Hail Mary, then to the Packers on a blocked field goal, then to the Vikings in overtime and then to the Lions on Thanksgiving. “You wanted to do what’s right and give him a chance and turn it around because we were playing better,” said another source. “We just couldn’t finish a game.” Would Lions OC Ben Johnson want to stay in the NFC North when he gets his head coaching job? Is he a “leader of men?” Brendan Sugrue of USA TODAY: It’s been a couple of days since the Chicago Bears made the historic decision to move on from Matt Eberflus as the team’s head coach, and though they still have five more games left in the season, the talk about who will be a serious candidate for the job is already heating up. One of the biggest names on the market the last couple of seasons is Detroit Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson. The 38-year-old has made a name for himself by running one of the most effective offenses in the NFL the last few years. The Lions finished last year inside the top five in many offensive categories and are on their way to doing the same in 2024 while also having the best record in the NFC. Johnson’s ability to build sustainable offenses, coupled with Chicago’s rising rookie quarterback Caleb Williams, could be a match made in heaven, and it seems he could be very interested in the job. ESPN’s NFL insider Adam Schefter appeared on Sunday NFL Countdown and only mentioned Johnson’s name when discussing the Bears head coaching vacancy when it comes to outside candidates. “Everybody’s going to have their eye on Ben Johnson…and I think he might have some interest in that job,” Schefter said pointedly via Awful Announcing’s Matt Clapp. “We’ll see if they can convince him to come to Chicago.” Sometimes it’s not what you say; it’s how you say it. Schefter mentioning Johnson to the Bears isn’t all that surprising on its own, but consider that he threw cold water on the possibility nearly a month ago. This is a different message now, and Schefter was very animated when bringing Johnson’s name up, almost like he was telling the viewer to read between the lines. Not surprisingly, his ESPN colleagues spoke glowingly about Johnson. Tedy Bruschi said he would “back up the Brinks truck to get him to come be the next head coach.” Former head coach Rex Ryan shared a similar sentiment. “Wherever Ben Johnson goes, that’s going to be an incredible hire for somebody,” he said. “I think this guy is special. You think Caleb Williams is improving now? Just wait until Ben Johnson gets ahold of him. To me, that’s going to be the biggest hire. The Bears aren’t going to be the only team trying to get him; that list is going to be long.” There is still a long way to go before the Bears settle on a new permanent head coach. For now, it’s Thomas Brown’s show through the end of the year, but Johnson and others will be at the front of the interview list once January comes around. |
| DETROITRB JAHMYR GIBBS made a social media post with confidential team information on the dry erase board in the background. Coach Dan Campbell is not perturbed on Monday. Myles Simmons of ProFootballTalk.com: Lions head coach Dan Campbell was informed at the podium over the weekend that running back Jahmyr Gibbs had posted a photo to social media from inside the team facility that showed some of Detroit’s protection calls on a whiteboard. In a radio interview with 97.1 The Ticket on Monday, Campbell downplayed the issue, saying he isn’t worried about it. “I don’t really give a crap,” Campbell said, via Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press. “If we’re going to lose because of code words then we’re not good enough anyway. So I think we’ll just post the whole fricking playbook out there and every code word we’ve got. And it doesn’t matter. It’s not going to hurt us, it won’t affect us and it’s all good.” Campbell noted that those words are used during games and opponents can pick them up from the TV copy of game film. “I mean, you guys at home get more than we do, until after the game,” Campbell said. “I’m telling you, it’s crazy. Listen, it’s all out there and you can find any and everything that you need on the tape and how to attack people, how they’re going to attack you and no, listen, I’m not losing sleep over that. “Now, do I want us posting stuff up from our locker room or our players or whatever? No, I don’t because you don’t know what’s going to happen with something like that. But no, in the grand scheme of things, it’s not a big deal.” Campbell added that he and Gibbs are fine. “As a matter of fact, I joked at him about it yesterday,” Campbell said. “I messed with him, so it’s good. I’m not even worried about it.” Gibbs has rushed for 973 yards with 10 touchdowns and caught 28 passes for 282 yards with one TD in 2024. |
| NFC EAST |
| NEW YORK GIANTSBill Barnwell of ESPN.com looks at the Giants: Brian Daboll, New York Giants (2-10)Week 13 result: Lost 27-20 to the Cowboys It’s actually remarkable just how much has changed in about two years for Daboll in New York. The 2022 Giants started 7-2, and while they were mostly average down the stretch, Daniel Jones led the NFL in Total QBR over the final month of the season. The offense scored 38 points in a rout of a hapless Colts team to clinch a playoff spot in late December. Having coaxed resurgent years out of Jones and running back Saquon Barkley with replacement-level receivers, the combination of Daboll and general manager Joe Schoen was understandably being portrayed as the duo that brought the Giants back to relevance. You know what has happened since. Jones struggled in 2023 before getting injured, didn’t look much better after his return in 2024 and was unsurprisingly benched to avoid his $23 million injury guarantee triggering for 2025 before being released. As documented on “Hard Knocks,” the Giants declined to offer Barkley a significant long-term deal in either the 2023 or 2024 offseasons, allowing him to leave for the Eagles in free agency, where he’s in the thick of the MVP race. That has overshadowed the impact of losing safety Xavier McKinney, who was also allowed to leave in free agency without a franchise tag and join the Packers, where he’s tied for the league lead with seven interceptions. The Giants might end up having lost the Offensive and Defensive Players of the Year in the NFL in free agency this offseason. At this point, none of that matters. Firing Daboll and Schoen as a punitive measure for the mistakes made in 2023 and 2024 doesn’t really do New York any favors, especially given that this ownership group’s previous hires at head coach consisted of Ben McAdoo, Pat Shurmur and Joe Judge. The personnel decisions would seemingly fall more on the general manager than the coach, anyway. With a blank slate at quarterback after the season, the Giants have to ask themselves whether Daboll is the best pick to help coach up that quarterback in 2025 and beyond. Is he? I’d argue that the Daboll who was being fawned over as a head-coaching candidate in 2020 and 2021 and for his work with Jones in 2022 — when he won NFL Coach of the Year — shouldn’t be much different as a playcaller or offensive architect than he is now. Those offenses played into Jones’ (and Josh Allen’s) abilities as a runner and scrambler. Those concepts aren’t outdated and are still in the playbook this season. Jones struggled when he held onto the football, taking too many sacks and fumbling too often, and Daboll’s offense was designed to get the ball out of his hands quickly with RPOs and quick game. That all made and makes sense. Behind an inconsistent offensive line, Barkley needed the threat of Jones as a runner and to make magic happen himself to succeed. The one positive for the Giants on offense this season might actually be at running back, where Tyrone Tracy has quietly thrived in Barkley’s absence. While he’s not putting up MVP-caliber numbers, the rookie fifth-round pick has averaged an even 5.0 yards per carry and posted a 48.8% success rate on the ground, all while making a fraction of Barkley’s salary. Giants fans would understandably prefer to have Barkley around — and Tracy has given away some of that impact by fumbling four times — but the offense has still been able to piece together a pretty reasonable ground game. I’d argue the playcalling and scheme hasn’t always been a disaster, even if there obviously hasn’t been much production. In Jones’ last start, the loss in Germany against the Panthers, there were plays to be made. Jones just didn’t make them. Take the third-and-1 flea-flicker, where he took a sack in the scenario where that was the one thing he couldn’t do. This should be a big play; instead, with two receivers open for chunk plays, it turns into a drive-ending fiasco: Here’s the Giants flea-flicker from yesterday. Sure looks like Jones is looking at Nabers as opposed to Robinson. Nabers isn’t *as* open, but there’s still a huge window to hit here. Not surprised Daboll was furious on the sideline after this snap. pic.twitter.com/Ptpjt13LgU — Bill Barnwell (@billbarnwell) November 11, 2024 Rookie wideout Malik Nabers was frustrated when he went the entire first half without getting a target in the 30-7 loss to the Buccaneers in Week 12, so it was no surprise that quarterback Drew Lock went to Nabers early and often during Thursday’s loss to the Cowboys. Rewatching those plays, it’s clear to see an offense that uses alignments, motions and stacks to create space and opportunities for Nabers, applying many of the same ideas Minnesota’s Kevin O’Connell uses to do the same for Justin Jefferson, which stands out as the gold standard for a coach getting the most out of his star wide receiver. The problem is the Giants don’t get as much of those targets as the Vikings, owing to some combination of subpar quarterback play, inconsistent timing and the occasional drop from Nabers. The offense hasn’t been good enough around Nabers, but again, I’m not sure Daboll has gone from understanding how to get the most out of Stefon Diggs in Buffalo to struggling with doing the same for Nabers, at least in terms of the scheme. On the other hand, it’s also fair to make a case that the offense was probably a little lucky to be as successful as it was in Years 1 and 2 of the Daboll era. The Giants turned the ball over on just 7.9% of their drives over that stretch, the lowest rate for any team. Some of that was a product of the offense being relatively unambitious with Jones at the helm and relying on hitting single after single, but it was also what kept the offense afloat. Strip out the drives that ended in turnovers for every team between 2022 and 2023 and New York ranked 29th in points per possession (1.70), ahead of only the Panthers, Patriots and Jets. This season, the Giants have turned the ball over on more than 12% of their drives, the ninth-worst rate in the league. They’ve yet to win the turnover battle in a single game, which has been a disaster for a team that survived by forcing a league-high 31 takeaways a year ago. Turnover rates are noisier from year-to-year on offense than most people believe, so if Daboll’s biggest contribution was temporarily protecting the football, I’m not sure that’s sustainable or justifies keeping him around. The other big question revolves around Daboll’s strongest argument to get another year: He has never gotten to pick his guy. Daboll and Schoen inherited Jones from the Dave Gettleman regime. They declined Jones’ fifth-year option, which seemed to point toward picking a new quarterback in 2023, but after he produced a career season, they signed him to a four-year, $160 million extension. There might not have been a way to avoid that after Jones led the Giants to their first playoff win since the Eli Manning era, and with decisions like that one, there’s the distinct possibility the ownership might have been strongly involved in deciding it wanted to pay the quarterback it had been faithfully waiting to see break out for years. Most offensive-minded head coaches get at least one chance to pick a quarterback they believe in, either through the draft or by adding a veteran with a meaningful pedigree. And yet, at the same time, it seems impossible to not assign Daboll and Schoen some of the blame for deciding to build around Jones. When the Giants wanted to bring in competition for Jones this offseason, they signed Lock to a one-year, $5 million deal. After Lock struggled badly in the preseason, though, Daboll chose to bypass him and head straight to third-stringer Tommy DeVito, only inserting him after DeVito got injured during his start against the Bucs. If this leadership group couldn’t sign a backup quarterback it actually wanted to play, should it really be trusted to pick the guy to build around in 2025 and beyond? What needs to happen next: The Giants must show some sort of pulse down the stretch, something that will be harder after losing superstar defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence indefinitely after the All-Pro candidate suffered an elbow injury in the Cowboys loss. Ownership has proved to be sensitive to fan criticism in the past, with the botched benching of Manning for Geno Smith in 2017 leading to the firing of McAdoo and GM Jerry Reese. With home games against the Saints and Colts to come, Daboll will need to give the Giants a reason to believe they can turn things around if he wants to be involved in picking the next quarterback in 2025. |
| PHILADELPHIAJeff Kerr of CBSSports.com on the Eagles running the table: Which overreactions will stick? Which ones are reality? Eagles won’t lose another game the rest of the regular seasonOverreaction or reality: Overreaction The Eagles are flying high on an a eight-game winning streak, having a statement win over the Ravens in Baltimore. Philadelphia held Baltimore to just 19 points and 372 yards, the second-fewest in any game for the Ravens this season (and a majority of them came in the final minute in garbage time). Clearly in the mix for home-field advantage in the NFC, are the Eagles going to lose another game? Philadelphia has three teams with losing records left on its schedule (Carolina, Dallas and New York Giants) with a home showdown with Pittsburgh and a road contest at Washington. There’s a good chance the Eagles do win 14 games, but to finish 15-2 is a very tough task. The Steelers are one of the better teams in football and will be a tough out, even with the game at home. The Commanders are usually tough on the road, even if the Eagles beat them earlier this year. With how little the Eagles turn the ball over and how well the defense is playing, never say never with this group. A 13-game winning streak seems very tough to accomplish. |
| NFC SOUTH |
| NEW ORLEANSThe season, and we would not rule out the career, are over for SAK TAYSOM HILL. Myles Simmons of ProFootballTalk.com: What the Saints initially feared on Taysom Hill has now been confirmed. Per Adam Schefter of ESPN, tests confirmed Hill suffered a season-ending knee injury during Sunday’s loss to the Rams. Ian Rapoport of NFL Media noted Hill sustained a torn ACL and has additional damage to his knee. Hill went down in the fourth quarter after a 2-yard run to convert fourth-and-1. He was carted off the field. Hill, 34, has taken 39 carries for 278 yards with six touchdowns, caught 23 passes for 187 yards, and completed 2-of-4 passes for 21 yards with an interception in 2024. He’s been on the field for 42 percent of offensive snaps and 33 special teams snaps in games played. He is under contract through 2025. |
| TAMPA BAYQB BAKER MAYFIELD gutted out a bum ankle to carry Tampa Bay to a late win. Myles Simmons of ProFootballTalk.com with an update: Buccaneers quarterback Baker Mayfield briefly had to exit after he was stepped on during Sunday’s win over the Panthers. He was able to come back and finish the game, and head coach Todd Bowles said in his Monday news conference that Mayfield should be fine to play in the Week 14 matchup against the Raiders. “I think he’ll be comfortable game-time,” Bowles said. “I’m not sure about his practice status during the week, though.” Mayfield did not have his best performance on Sunday, finishing 21-of-33 for 235 yards with a touchdown and two interceptions. Bowles chalked that up to “two errant throws.” “You can’t make those throws right there,” Bowles said. “We’ve got to be smarter with the football. One was third-and-short. One, he scrambled and nobody was open, he flipped it to the side, and the guy made a play — just got to get it out of bounds at that time. Less than two minutes, or two-minute situation going on. “He’s going to make some mistakes, he understands that. But he gathered himself, he got back together after halftime, and he made some plays.” With Sunday’s win, the Bucs are 6-6 and tied for first place in the NFC South with the Falcons. The club will play the Raiders, Chargers, Cowboys, Panthers, and Saints in its last five games. |
| AFC WEST |
| LAS VEGASBill Barnwell of ESPN.com on whether or not Antonio Pierce should get a second year: Antonio Pierce, Las Vegas Raiders (2-10)Week 13 result: Lost 19-17 to the Chiefs One of the NFL’s other two-win teams came much closer to getting a critical victory this week, as the Raiders nearly repeated their feat of beating the Chiefs in Kansas City. That win in 2023, coupled with a 63-21 shellacking of the Chargers the prior week, was enough to land Pierce the full-time job in Las Vegas. As a former player whose head-coaching experience before this consisted of four years at the high school level, there weren’t many doubts about his ability to connect to players. His ability to manage games and make critical decisions was going to be questioned, however. Those concerns have been warranted, although not in the situation in which Pierce has taken some criticism after Friday’s loss. The Raiders were right to avoid repeating one of Eberflus’ mistakes and try to advance the ball forward with 15 seconds to go on third-and-3, given that they were still only in position to attempt a 50-yard field goal with Daniel Carlson. While that’s technically in his range, they had time to pick up a few yards and spike the football, yards that could have been valuable. Carlson had also missed three 55-plus yard field goals earlier in the game. What happened with quarterback Aidan O’Connell losing a fumble on a snap was a disaster, but I support Pierce & Co. trying to create an easier field goal in that situation. Then, after the game, I read that Pierce merely wanted to throw the ball out of bounds to burn time off the clock before attempting the field goal. While understanding that the Chiefs have made magical things happen in late-game scenarios in the past, the Raiders did need to chase a few more yards and trust that they could spike the ball after getting a first down. He also made a bigger mistake on the prior drive, one which impacted the end-of-game scenario for the Raiders. Trailing by two points with 2:24 to go, Pierce didn’t seem to have a strong handle on what to do. After two incompletions produced a fourth-and-11 for Las Vegas on Kansas City’s 40-yard line, he initially sent out the punting unit with a two-point deficit, then called a timeout with a stopped clock to send Carlson and the field goal unit out instead. That turned out to be a critical timeout, as it forced the Raiders to attempt their two-minute drill without any ability to stop the clock. Heading into third down with a pass play called, Pierce needs to know his team is going to do if it fails to pick up any yardage. Whether that’s just knowing from experience or trusting someone on staff to make the call is the head coach’s choice, but he can’t burn a timeout because of indecisiveness late in a close game. This wasn’t the first time in 2024 that Pierce has seemed overmatched. After Week 1, I wrote about Pierce costing his team somewhere between 6 to 9 percentage points of win expectancy by punting on a fourth-and-1 trailing by six points with 7:43 to go, a decision in which virtually every other team has learned to go for a conversion over the past five years. All coaches are going to make decisions that disagree with win probability models at one point or another, but these are huge unforced errors the Raiders simply aren’t good enough to overcome. We have to be realistic and sympathetic toward the situation in Las Vegas. I’ve repeatedly underlined the disastrous state of this roster after years of poor draft picks and foolish decisions by former coaches Jon Gruden and Josh McDaniels. The Raiders (understandably) traded away wideout Davante Adams for a Day 2 pick and have been without defensive tackle Christian Wilkins, their top free agent addition, for most of the season after he fractured his foot in early October. They entered the season with a quarterback competition between O’Connell and Gardner Minshew that didn’t look good on paper and hasn’t played out well in reality. This team wasn’t going to be good in 2024, with or without Pierce. At the same time, though, what’s the best case Pierce can make for justifying his status moving forward? While the Raiders did upset the Ravens, their other win came against the Browns and Deshaun Watson. Pierce was understandably given some credit for a defense that played well after McDaniels’ firing last year, but the Raiders rank 27th in points allowed per possession and 22nd in expected points added (EPA) per play this season. Pierce’s big hire this offseason, offensive coordinator Luke Getsy, was fired last month. The defensive playcaller is Patrick Graham. If Pierce is a CEO coach who doesn’t call plays and can’t handle fourth-quarter decision-making, what is he bringing to the table? What needs to happen next: Pierce has to prove he is up to the task of managing and winning close games. With games against the Falcons, Jaguars and Saints in December, the Raiders should be able to keep things close and make those matchups competitive. Pierce can’t be a liability in those moments. |
| AFC NORTH |
| BALTIMOREPK JUSTIN TUCKER would be gone if he was anyone else but PK JUSTIN TUCKER. Jamison Hensley of ESPN.com on his continued accuracy issues on Sunday: The Baltimore Ravens continued to express confidence in Justin Tucker after the worst game of the seven-time Pro Bowl kicker’s career. Tucker failed to convert two field goals and an extra point Sunday, which proved to be the difference in a 24-19 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles. This marked the first time in Tucker’s 13 seasons in the NFL that he missed three kicks in a game. In a matter of three months, Tucker went from being the most accurate kicker in NFL history to having his job on the team questioned. “If you’re asking me, ‘Are we going to move on from Justin Tucker?’ I’m not really planning on doing that right now,” Ravens coach John Harbaugh said. “I don’t think that’d be wise.” After his extra-point attempt hit off the left upright in the first quarter, Tucker had two chances to put Baltimore ahead in the third quarter. With the Ravens trailing 14-12, Tucker missed wide left on a 47-yard attempt and pushed a 53-yard try wide right. It looked like a high snap might have factored into the last miss, but that was no consolation for Tucker. “I feel like I cost us this one, but it doesn’t really do anybody any good to dwell on it,” Tucker said. “The only thing that we can do — that I can do — is just continue to work, move forward, take it one kick at a time. I hate that I’ve had to have this same conversation over the course of this season, but that’s something that comes with the territory in this job description. The kicks are either good or they’re not, and today, I did not do a good enough job to help our team win the football game.” Tucker made two field goals Sunday, hitting from 34 yards in the first quarter and from 50 yards just before halftime. But the repeated misses have become a surprising storyline for Tucker, who had held the highest field goal conversion rate in NFL history for most of the past eight seasons. Tucker’s eight missed field goals are his most in any single season. Asked if he has confidence in Tucker, Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson quickly replied, “Hell yes.” Jackson added, “He’s the GOAT still. Let’s get back to who he is, that’s all. Whatever is going on, just block it out.” Tucker, 35, is the lone remaining member of the Ravens’ last Super Bowl championship team in 2012. He entered this season with an NFL-best 90.2% success rate, making 395 of 438 field goals. It was only three years ago when he set the NFL record by hitting a 66-yard field goal in Detroit. Tucker’s track record of consistency and clutch kicks is why his struggles this season have been so unsettling. Through 13 weeks this season, Tucker ranks 33rd in the NFL with a 70.4% conversion rate (19-of-27). His 10 missed kicks (eight field goals and two extra points) lead the NFL. “He’ll be the first to tell you he needs to make kicks, because he can,” Harbaugh said. “I just think if you look at Justin Tucker’s history, you’d have to say he’s capable of doing that. That’s something that he’s going to want to do, and we’re all going to want him to do it.” This is Tucker’s biggest slump, but it’s not his only one. Tucker’s previous worst season came in 2015, when he missed seven field goals. The next season, he bounced back to make 38-of-39 field goals (97.4%). Tucker said he will use the upcoming bye week to figure out what he needs to correct. “We’re going to turn over every stone,” Tucker said. “I will do that, individually, for sure, just to address any and all issues I may have with my technique, anything tangible, anything concrete that I can make it a point to remedy. The only thing that we can do is just back to work and do the things that we know will help our team win football games.” |
| CINCINNATIBill Barnwell on whether or not Coach Zac Taylor should worry about 2025: Zac Taylor, Cincinnati Bengals (4-8)Week 13 result: Lost 44-38 to the Steelers Let’s finish with a team that continues to make the extraordinary seem all too common in the wrong ways. For the third time this season, the Bengals scored 35 points. The rest of the league is 35-0 when they make it to 35 points. Cincinnati is 1-2. Even that might undersell how frustrating the Bengals have been. Change the arbitrary cutoff to 33 points and they have gotten there six times, more often than any other team. The rest of the league is 52-1 when scoring 33 points. The Bengals are 2-4. No team has ever had four losses with 33-plus points in a single season. Taylor’s has done that with five games to go. The defense has been an incredible disappointment. It showed some semblance of fight early Sunday, when Cam Taylor-Britt picked off a slant and took it back for a 51-yard touchdown to give the Bengals a 7-0 lead. For just a moment, with the Steelers coming off a loss and the Bengals having that vaunted track record as second-half heroes, Cincinnati fans must have allowed themselves a moment to believe they were about to spring a stunning turnaround on their division rivals and the NFL. It lasted for about four minutes. The Steelers scored touchdowns on each of their next three drives and eventually finished with 28 first downs, the most they’ve had in a regular-season game since Week 2 of the 2018 season, which was Patrick Mahomes’ third career start. Russell Wilson followed up the pick by going 29-of-38 for 414 yards and three touchdowns, the second-most passing yards he has ever posted in a game. Facing a quarterback who has run a sack rate close to 10% each of the past three years, the Bengals sacked Wilson twice for four yards on 42 dropbacks. The play that will stick with the Bengals into the offseason, though, will be the final one. Defending desperately to try to get the ball back with no timeouts, they were handed a lifeline by the Steelers when tight end MyCole Pruitt was flagged for holding with 1:54 to go. While Cincinnati had to decline the penalty, the whistle stopped the clock, meaning it could get the ball back with about 1:10 to go if it could come up with a stuff on third-and-4 from its own 40-yard line. The Steelers brought Justin Fields on for the ensuing play, which had to trigger the Bengals to be looking for one of a few things. He has thrown a couple of passes since being put into the part-time role, but this was an obvious run call. The Steelers had run split-flow inside zone with Fields earlier in the game and a couple of other times as part of his packages, so that was an option. They had run Fields on QB Power out of otherwise-empty backfields like the Saints do with Taysom Hill, but the concept the Bengals had to be expecting was some sort of zone-read or power-read look. They got the former. What happened next simply wasn’t good football. Germaine Pratt ran onto the line of scrimmage as the end man and shot inside to try to take away the interior run. He ended up getting blocked 6 yards downfield by Pruitt. Nobody scrape-exchanged with Pratt and took his gap, meaning there was absolutely nobody to threaten Fields on the edge, where his zone-read was likely to take him. Furthermore, cornerback Josh Newton also shot inside, meaning there was no defender in the alley capable of forcing Fields back to help. The quarterback had little trouble bouncing outside for a 7-yard run to seal Pittsburgh’s victory. Some of this is simply subpar personnel. The three guys staring at Fields as he ran by them to end Cincinnati’s season were Newton, Jordan Battle and Akeem Davis-Gaither, none of whom were playing significant defensive snaps most of this season. Battle and Davis-Gaither were close to every-down players for the first time all season on Sunday, while Newton went into the lineup in the Week 11 game against the Chargers when Taylor-Britt was benched for the second time this season. Injuries and inconsistent play have plagued the Bengals on defense all year. There’s just not enough of a pass rush beyond Trey Hendrickson, who still has more sacks (11.5) than the rest of his team combined (10). The Bengals have the second-lowest sack rate of any team, and when they don’t get pressure on the opposing quarterback, the 72.8 QBR the Bengals allow ranks 25th in the league. While there’s certainly grumbling about Taylor, who has followed trips to the Super Bowl and AFC Championship Game by going 13-16 over the past two seasons, it’s more likely the struggles will fall on defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo, who was widely praised for his game plans and adjustments when they slowed down Mahomes and Matthew Stafford during that improbable run to the championship game. This defense has been compromised since Jessie Bates left for Atlanta in free agency after the 2022 season, and the pieces the organization drafted to theoretically replace its veterans on the defensive side of the ball haven’t worked out. The Bengals used their top three picks in 2022 and 2023 on defensive players, but Taylor-Britt, Battle, Dax Hill, Zach Carter, Myles Murphy and DJ Turner are all either struggling, injured or gone from the organization. Anarumo needed to develop those guys into regular contributors. Some are only playing out of sheer desperation, which is telling. The Bengals have been unlucky. They’re now 1-7 in games decided by seven points or fewer, making them a lock to appear in the list of teams likely to improve next season. (I’m going to spare myself the indignity of being wrong about the Steelers again in 2025, thankfully, because their underlying level of play has improved dramatically.) They lost all three fumbles Sunday. This should probably be something closer to a 6-6 team, in which case they would still be comfortably in the wild-card picture, especially with the Cowboys, Titans and Browns still to come on their schedule. That’s great for people like me, but it’s not great for the actual Bengals as they try to win during quarterback Joe Burrow’s peak. Next year’s team will likely be worse than this year’s, as wideout Tee Higgins could leave in free agency and receiver Ja’Marr Chase will be due a massive contract in the final year of his deal. Burrow has been phenomenal and would be in the MVP conversation with better defensive play. Barring a truly incredible run to finish the season, though, Cincinnati appears to be done in 2024. What needs to happen next: Taylor is probably safe, but the defense has to improve if it wants to ensure Anarumo returns in 2025. Players at all three levels are likely playing for their starting jobs in 2025 over the final month of the season. On the other hand, Jeff Kerr of CBSSports.com thinks that Taylor will get canned: Bengals will miss playoffs and Zac Taylor will get firedOverreaction or reality: Reality The Bengals’ Super Bowl hopes appear cooked for 2024, as they needed to beat the Steelers to have any shot at the postseason. Once again, the Bengals scored enough to win a football game — but the defense allowed 44 points to the Steelers to bury them in the playoff standings. The Bengals are 1-2 when they score 38+ points this season and the rest of the NFL is 21-0. Something is wrong with this Bengals team. Joe Burrow is playing the best football of his career and this team can’t get off the field. They have 99 points in their last three games and are 0-3 in that stretch. They have four losses with 33+ points (the most in NFL history) and six losses with 25+ points (tied for the most in NFL history). No coach can survive that with this talent on the roster. The Bengals need a change, as they sit three games behind the Broncos in the loss column for the final playoff spot. They need to win out to have a shot, but the defense just isn’t good enough. Taylor will take the fall, and the Bengals will retool this offseason. |
| PITTSBURGHCan the Steelers afford to continue to put talented WR GEORGE PICKENS on the field? Coach Mike Tomlin implores him to grow up per Brooke Pryor of ESPN.com: Third-year Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver George Pickens drew the ire of his head coach for drawing two costly unsportsmanlike conduct penalty flags in Sunday’s 44-38 win against the Cincinnati Bengals. “He’s just got to grow up, man,” coach Mike Tomlin said. “This is an emotional game, man. These divisional games are big. He got a target on his back because he’s George, he understands that. But he’s got to grow up. He’s got to grow up in a hurry.” Pickens, who was also involved in a scuffle with Cleveland Browns cornerback Greg Newsome II during a Hail Mary attempt last week, led the Steelers with 74 yards receiving on three catches with a touchdown, but he drew 15-yard penalties after two of his catches. He also punted the ball into the stands after scoring the 17-yard touchdown in the first quarter, a celebration that could earn him a fine from the NFL. After the game, Pickens said there wasn’t anything he needed to do differently in those situations. “No, honestly, like I said, I can just keep running my routes, keep playing,” he said. “We got refs out there to make certain calls for certain penalties, certain flags. If they don’t make it, then I’m pretty sure they’ll take it up [inaudible].” He added: “To be honest, it was kind of a ticky-tack game, and I’m just glad we came out with the dub.” Pickens was called for his first unsportsmanlike conduct penalty as he threw the ball down at a gaggle of Bengals defenders after making a 21-yard snag on the third drive of the first quarter. The Steelers were still credited with the first down, but the penalty resulted in just a 6-yard gain. Then in the third quarter, Pickens was flagged for another unsportsmanlike penalty when he appeared to make a gun-like gesture after a 36-yard gain on a moon ball from Russell Wilson that would have put the Steelers at the 13-yard line. Instead, the Steelers were backed up to the 28, and after three unsuccessful plays, the team brought out Chris Boswell to try a field goal. Boswell’s kick was blocked — his first ever unsuccessful field goal attempt at Paul Brown Stadium — and the Steelers turned the ball back over to the Bengals with just a six-point lead. Afterward, Pickens said the official misinterpreted his hand signal. “They said they got the gesture wrong,” Pickens said. “You know what I mean? Thought it was something else. You can’t hurt the team. I never intended to hurt the team, but he just thought the gesture was different. … I was doing the first down; he stated he thought [it was] something else.” Though that was Pickens’ second unsportsmanlike flag of the afternoon, he wasn’t disqualified because the action wasn’t directed at the Bengals, referee Shawn Hochuli said in a pool report. “The rule of two unsportsmanlike conduct fouls for disqualification really applies to taunting-type acts directed towards an opponent,” Hochuli said. “The first of those fouls was of that nature — his first in the first half was a taunt for throwing the ball at the player. On the second, however, it was not directed at an opponent and so it’s not considered a taunt. It’s an unsportsmanlike conduct foul but not considered a taunt that would apply towards disqualification.” Pickens has been a frequent headline-maker since he was selected by the Steelers in the second round of the 2022 draft, including earlier this season when he was fined for writing an explicit message on his eye black for the Sunday night game against the Dallas Cowboys. In that game, Pickens earned another fine for pulling Cowboys defensive back Jourdan Lewis down by the face mask after the final play. Pickens is also no stranger to altercations in games against the Bengals and was ejected in the final seconds of a 2022 matchup for a late hit on receiver Tyler Boyd during an onside kick attempt. Pickens was frustrated early in Sunday’s win when he got tangled up with Bengals defensive back Cam Taylor-Britt on the first series and fell to the ground. Taylor-Britt appeared to grab Pickens’ helmet and force him down, but Hochuli said in the pool report it was “incidental contact.” “We ruled the receiver stumbled right off the line and then there was incidental contact that brought him down,” Hochuli said. “If there was a potential grab or hold, that was at an angle that we wouldn’t have seen.” As a result, Taylor-Britt picked off Wilson’s pass intended for Pickens and returned it for a touchdown while Pickens sat on the field gesturing to the official over the lack of a penalty. “Plays happen,” Pickens said. “Guys hold me. I’m going to get held. I’m one of the top receivers, so I’m going to get held. You just got to make plays when it happens.” Asked if he thought officials had a target on his back, Pickens said he hoped not. “I’m only out here just playing like every other receiver in the league,” Pickens said. “Certain calls don’t go my way. All you can do is just keep playing.” Offensive lineman Broderick Jones, who spent two years with Pickens at Georgia, tried to calm his teammate down during the game, talking with him intently on the field after the penalties. “I don’t try and give him a whole speech or whatnot, just a couple words of encouragement or just, ‘Be smart,'” Jones said. “‘Everybody knows you’re a playmaker, we just got to stop the stupid things.’ That’s with me, too, as well. He talks to me as well, so I try and do the same thing for him. |
| AFC SOUTH |
| HOUSTONAlthough there are some with the rogue opinion that Jaguars QB TREVOR LAWRENCE started his slide late and that Houston LB AZEEZ AL-SHAIIR had no choice but to deliver a vicious forearm hit to the head of Lawrence, Josh Alper of ProFootballTalk.comsays the expectation is that NFL Justice is going to hammer him like he hammered Lawrence: The NFL is reviewing the hit that led to Texans linebacker Azeez Al-Shaair being ejected from Sunday’s game for a possible suspension and a report on Monday morning indicates that the league is moving in the direction of a ban. Al-Shaair delivered a shot to Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence’s head well after Lawrence started sliding at the end of a running play in the second quarter of the game. The hit touched off a brawl and left Lawrence with a concussion. Adam Schefter of ESPN reports that the expectation is that Al-Shaiir will be suspended, although the length of that suspension is to be determined. Al-Shaiir was also fined earlier this season after punching Bears running back Roschon Johnson during a confrontation that developed after a hit the linebacker made on quarterback Caleb Williams. The Texans have a bye in Week 14, so their Week 15 game against the Dolphins would be the first possible game he’ll miss during any suspension. Al-Shaiir will not endear himself with his defense of his conduct, while casting the blame on the beliefs of those he believes are accusing him. Houston Texans linebacker Azeez Al-Shaair broke his silence on Monday morning after he received criticism for the hit he put on Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence, which left him with a concussion. Al-Shaair also took a shot at reporters and those who scrutinized him for his pro-Palestinian cleats in the aftermath of the hit. “I’ve always played the game as hard as I could. Never with the intent to harm anyone and anybody that knows me knows that. My goal is to hit you as hard as I can then I pray you’re still able to get up and play the next play,” he said in a statement. “And when the game is over go home to your family unharmed because it’s not personal! It’s just competition. We both are trying to do the same thing which is provide for our families! “I genuinely didn’t see him sliding until it was too late. And it all happens in the blink of an eye. To Trevor I genuinely apologize to you for what ended up happening. Before the game we spoke and I told you how it was great to see you back out on the field and wished you well. I would never want t see any player hurt because of a hit I put on them especially one that’s deemed ‘late’ or ‘unnecessary.’ To the rest of his teammates I can definitely understand you having his back and defending him in a situation like that. “To the rest of the people who I’ve been called every single name in the book from reporters with their hands ready for a story to find their villain, to racist and Islamophobic fans and people, you don’t know my heart nor my character which I don’t need to prove to any of you. God knows my intentions and anyone who has been a teammate or friend of mine knows my heart.” Al-Shaair was ejected from the Texans’ 23-20 win over the Jaguars because of the hit to Lawrence’s head and neck area. It sparked a brawl, which led to the ejection of Jacksonville cornerback Jarrian Jones. Jaguars players defended Lawrence and called Al-Shaair’s hit “dirty.” |
| AFC EAST |
| NEW ENGLANDMuch like the Panthers under Dave Canales, the Patriots have settled in a bit under first-year head coach Jerod Mayo. Darren Hartwell of NBCBoston: Jerod Mayo’s first calendar year as New England Patriots head coach has been rocky, to say the least. Since replacing the legendary Bill Belichick in January, Mayo has endured turbulence both on and off the field. His team enters Sunday with a 3-9 record — fourth-worst in the NFL — and he’s already dealt with his starting safety facing assault charges, his starting offensive tackle leaving the team after Week 2 and public criticism after calling his team “soft” following a London loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars, among other issues. All of that criticism has led some to wonder whether Mayo and his new-look coaching staff will keep their jobs in 2025 and beyond. According to The MMQB’s Albert Breer, however, Patriots owner Robert Kraft and his son, team president Jonathan Kraft, understand that Mayo’s growing pains come with context. “Just from having talked to (the Krafts) and having talked to people around them, I just get the feeling that they know where they are and this is going to take a couple of offseasons to get through,” Breer said on Patriots Pregame Live ahead of Patriots-Colts, as seen in the video player above. “There wasn’t anybody blind to the fact that the roster was not in a good spot coming out of 2023, and it’s not like they had a bunch of young talent that they could start to build off of. “So, I think ‘resigned’ is probably the right word — that this was going to take a little while, that they were going to have to evaluate things on the fly, that there were going to be some bumps for Jerod Mayo as a first-year head coach.” But what if things go even further south this season? If the losses continue to pile up over the final five games, will the Krafts change their view of Mayo? Breer suggested that changes on the coaching staff around Mayo are very possible, but that Mayo is very likely to return next season. “There are a lot of aspects of the organization that I think will be under evaluation over the next six weeks,” Breer said. “That said, I do think (the Krafts) have respect for the spot that Jerod Mayo has been in and was in coming into this (season). And all the chatter and the pressure to win and everything else — I actually think they believe he’s handled that pretty well given the circumstances, given his lack of experience being thrust into this role. “I still think Jerod Mayo is on really solid ground going into 2025. The question is, how different will it look around him? And I think there are fair questions to ask when it comes to that.” Kraft admitted earlier this year that he tabbed Mayo as Belichick’s successor as early as 2019, and our Tom E. Curran has reported that Mayo was thrust into his one year earlier than the Krafts originally planned. So, it makes sense why ownership would stand by Mayo in 2025 despite the team’s myriad issues. But it sounds like the rest of the coaches — and perhaps the front office as well — don’t have the same assurances and will have to prove themselves over the final six weeks to remain with the organization. |
| NEW YORK JETSDid QB AARON RODGERS start his last game for the Jets on Sunday? Rich Cimini of ESPN.com picks up a funny postgame vibe: Things have gotten so bad for the New York Jets and quarterback Aaron Rodgers that the future Hall of Famer’s job security might now be in jeopardy. One day shy of his 41st birthday, Rodgers played one of his worst games of the season in a 26-21 loss to the Seattle Seahawks at MetLife Stadium on Sunday, leading to a tepid postgame endorsement from interim coach Jeff Ulbrich. Ulbrich punted when asked to give an assessment of Rodgers’ performance, which included a red zone interception — a game-changing pick-six in the second quarter. Ulbrich said he needed to watch the film before giving an evaluation. It’s highly unusual for a team official to give a “coachspeak” answer when discussing an all-time great. Ulbrich was asked if he’s contemplating a quarterback change. Instead of shutting down speculation with a direct “no,” he replied, “Not as of today.” It would be a stunner if Ulbrich replaces Rodgers with veteran Tyrod Taylor. Then again, who knows? Owner Woody Johnson suggested benching Rodgers when the team was 2-2, sources said after general manager Joe Douglas was fired on Nov. 19. Now the Jets are 3-9, having clinched their ninth consecutive losing season. “Yeah, I don’t know. We’ll figure that out when we have those conversations,” Rodgers said about the possibility of a change, adding, “I’ll have a conversation with [Ulbrich] if that’s what he’s thinking.” Rodgers declined to comment on how he’d react, saying it’s hypothetical. He did say he wants to keep playing and that he feels “as good as I’ve felt all season” from a physical standpoint. The only other time in his starting career that he thought he might be benched was in 2018, when the Green Bay Packers finished 6-9-1 in Mike McCarthy’s last season. Rodgers rebounded to win his third and fourth MVPs in 2020 and 2021, cementing his place in history. Those days appear gone. Rodgers (21-for-39, 185 yards) failed to reach the 200-yard mark for the third straight game and the fifth time this season, as the Jets blew leads of 14-0 and 21-7 and imploded with eight penalties in the fourth quarter. For the fifth time, Rodgers had a chance to pull out a win on the final possession — and came up short. The Jets drove to the Seattle 29 at the two-minute warning, but they went backward and ended on a hopeless heave to nobody in the end zone. “It’s disappointing. What else can you say?” he said. “We’ve had a lot of chances in these situations. A lot of these games come down to one play, whether you make it or miss it. Sometimes that play happens in the second quarter. If I make that play, [it’s] 28-7 — a different ballgame.” He was referring to his overthrow on a second down from the Seattle 9. Wide receiver Garrett Wilson was wide open in the end zone, but the pass sailed over his head. On the next play, Rodgers threw his first red zone interception of the season — his second pick-six of the year. Rodgers said he didn’t see former Jets defensive tackle Leonard Williams, who had dropped into coverage. Williams tipped the pass to himself and returned it 92 yards for a touchdown — the longest pick-six for a defensive lineman in NFL history. “I think he’s an older guy, doesn’t want to take big hits like that anymore,” Williams said of Rodgers. “So sometimes if he feels a guy coming full speed at him, he’s just going to chuck it and duck. We had him in a situation where [Seahawks coach Mike MacDonald] called a great call and it paid off.” It was a potential 13-point turnaround. Instead of a 28-7 lead, the Jets’ advantage was cut to 21-13 after the Williams touchdown and a failed PAT. “Those plays in the second quarter cost us the game,” Rodgers said. He did throw an 8-yard touchdown to wide receiver Davante Adams, and there was a 4-yard shovel pass to running back Isaiah Davis for a score. Otherwise, he struggled with his accuracy, completing only 2 of 14 passes of 10-plus air yards, according to Next Gen Stats. Rodgers, choosing his words carefully, distributed the blame, shifting the full brunt away from himself. “Well, there are 11 guys on the field,” he said, explaining his struggles. “Sometimes it’s my fault. Definitely multiple times today. And then the details aren’t there in some other spots, too.” Running back Breece Hall contributed to the collapse by fumbling in the third quarter, which set up a Seattle field goal. He was disconsolate after the game, saying, “I feel like this year has probably been the most trying year of my life … If I can’t take care of the ball, I shouldn’t be in the game. So, I have to be better, and I felt like today I lost us the game.” The Jets are spiraling to one of their worst seasons in franchise history, prompting cornerback Sauce Gardner to say, “It’s unacceptable, man. It’s unacceptable.” But this on Monday as we go to press from Zak Rosenblatt of The Athletic: on Monday, (Ulbrch) changed his tune: Rodgers will remain the Jets starter. When asked if that meant permanently or if it’s a week-to-week decision, Ulbrich would only say: “He’s our quarterback.” “We have great belief in Aaron,” Ulbrich added. “We think he gives us the best opportunity to win.”It’s fair to wonder if that’s actually the case anymore. Rodgers had his worst game of the season on Sunday by some metrics, including EPA per attempt and completion percentage. |
