NFC NORTH

CHICAGO

Peter King on the mess in Chicago:

The Eberflus Era could be short-lived. Blowing a 21-point lead at home to a winless team is bad. Losing 14 games in a row is worse. But the team just seems to careening into chaos. Case in point: the Chase Claypool situation. Lackadaisical in week one and unhappy with the coaching in week four, Claypool was made inactive for Sunday’s loss to Denver. Afterward, Eberflus (3-18 as Bears coach) was asked if Claypool was told to stay away from the team Sunday, and the coach said it was “a choice,” implying it was up to Claypool whether to show up or not. A half-hour later, a Bears PR person told the press that Claypool was told to stay away Sunday. I won’t be surprised to see Claypool released (what a waste of the 33rd pick in the 2023 draft, which is what it cost to get Claypool from Pittsburgh last season) this week. But it’s just another bad look for a team on fire, a team that’s going to start over again at the end of the season. In Chicago, what else is new?

Try something that’s not in the book – and you will be Peter King’s Goat of the Week:

Matt Eberflus, head coach, Chicago. Denver 28, Chicago 28, fourth-and-one for Chicago in field-goal range; Cairo Santos would have been sent out for a 35-yarder. Bears burn a timeout trying to get the Broncos to jump offside. Then Eberflus decides to go for it and bypass the 35-yard field-goal try. Bears get stopped. Turn it over on downs. Broncos score the winning field goal. Win the game. For the Bears to lose a game they led 28-7 is bad. Eberflus’ strategy: worse.

So if Eberflus takes the 95% field goal shot, it sounds like regulation would have ended 31-31 – so a 50% chance of victory.  If he gets, the first down, nearly a 100% chance of victory with the field goal late enough that the Broncos didn’t have a chance.  So the question is – do you have a better than 50% chance of converting the 4^th-and-1?

GREEN BAY

The Packers have been quiet about the health of veteran LT DAVID BAKTIARI.  Too quiet for the taste of Rob Demovsky of ESPN.com:

All-Pro left tackle David Bakhtiari’s future with the Green Bay Packers – for both this season and beyond – has never been more in doubt, and coach Matt LaFleur did not give much reason for optimism on Monday.

Less than a week after Bakhtiari was placed on injured reserve and underwent surgery, the fourth on his left knee in less than three years, LaFleur would not say whether Bakhtiari will play for the Packers again this season — or ever.

“Yeah, I’ll let Dave comment on that,” LaFleur said. “I know he wanted to talk to you guys later on. I’ll let him talk about his timeline.”

The 31-year-old, five-time All Pro played only one game this season, the season opener against the Bears, before problems with his knee recurred. After missing the Week 2 game at Atlanta, Bakhtiari said he had not strongly considered retirement at any point during his recovery attempts. However, that was before this latest surgery.

“He put in so much hard work to try and get back,” Packers offensive coordinator Adam Stenavich said Monday. “You just feel for him for all the things he’s been through.”

Bakhtiari has played in just 13 games since the start of the 2021 regular season after he blew out his knee in practice on Dec. 31, 2020. The Packers treated him with kid gloves this past summer during training camp, giving him days off whenever he needed them. He played in the season opener without having practiced in the week leading up to the game.

Bakhtiari signed a four-year, $92 million contract extension in November 2020, just six weeks before his injury. The team restructured that contract each of the last two offseasons. This past March, they converted $5.5 million of his base salary and a $9.5 million roster bonus into a signing bonus for salary-cap purposes. His cap number for 2024, the final year of the deal, spiked to $40.565 million as part of that restructure.

If the Packers release or trade Bakhtiari next offseason, they would save $21.5 million in cap space by wiping out his non-guaranteed base salary ($20.2 million) and bonuses ($1.3 million) for 2024. He would count $19.065 million in dead money on next year’s cap.

The Packers have injury issues on their offensive line in addition to Bakhtiari. Left guard Elgton Jenkins has missed the last two games because of a sprained MCL, and right tackle Zach Tom played last week against the Lions despite a knee injury. Right guard Jon Runyan sustained a sprained ankle against Detroit and likely will be on the injury report headed into next Monday night’s game at the Las Vegas Raiders.

MINNESOTA

The Vikings got their pass rush in Carolina from a strange location.  Peter King:

Harrison Smith, safety, Minnesota. Smith had never had a two-sack game in his distinguished career, and he’d gone 21 straight games without a sack. But he had three of Bryce Young in Charlotte Sunday, including one of the biggest plays of the game. With the Vikings down 13-7 and getting zero done on offense, Smith strip-sacked Young, and outside linebacker D.J. Wonnum picked it up and ran for a 51-yard TD. That gave Minnesota the lead for good—and took the Vikings out of the ranks of the winless.

Matthew Coller of Vikings insider with more on the best performance of the year from the defense of Brian Flores:

During Minnesota Vikings training camp, defensive coordinator Brian Flores tormented the offense with different blitz looks. Harrison Smith frustrated them by lining up all over the field, Marcus Davenport used his size/speed combination to blast through the offensive line on a regular basis and the cornerbacks were able to play hyper aggressive as the ball came out quickly. Kirk Cousins talked openly about how difficult they were making practice.

Through three games, the blitz rate was similar to training camp but almost nothing else. The defense let Baker Mayfield dominate the clock in Week 1, the Eagles steamroll them with the ground game in Week 2 and Justin Herbert complete 40 passes for 405 yards in Week 3.

With the Vikings’ season pressed up against a wall, Flores’s defense arrived. They allowed zero offensive touchdowns, just 232 yards of total offense on 3.4 yards per play and scored a decisive touchdown when Harrison Smith stripped quarterback Bryce Young and outside linebacker DJ Wonnum returned it to the end zone.

“I can’t say enough about Flo (defensive coordinator Brian Flores) and his group,” head coach Kevin O’Connell said. “It was a hot day and they were on the field a lot.”

They certainly were on the field a lot. With the Vikings’ offense sputtering, the defense spent 38:29 chasing around the No. 1 overall pick. They sacked him five times, including twice from Smith in the red zone with the Panthers down by eight points in the waning moments.

“Harrison Smith just had an unbelievable performance today and it does not surprise me one bit,” O’Connell said. “He’s somebody who I lean on constantly, one of my all-time favorites and when we had to have it. He was at his best today among a lot of our other defensive performers. That was really exciting.”

Smith hugged Flores on the sideline after ending Carolina’s day by dragging down Young. O’Connell layered in a postgame comment about wanting to get Smith back to playing up at the line of scrimmage, where he did not spend much time last season.

“It’s not always going to be three sacks but creating pressure in different ways and playing coverage in different ways,” Smith said. “We did a good job of mixing it up and giving (Defensive Coordinator Brian Flores) confidence in certain calls here and there. It really was like everyone was executing our jobs.”

Everyone including Marcus Davenport, who turned out to be a key part of the attack. Having missed him for three games with an ankle injury, the Vikings struggled to find additional pass rush from the defensive line outside of Danielle Hunter. Entering the game Hunter had five sacks and the rest of the D-line totaled 0.5 sacks. Davenport got credit for one sack but was far more disruptive than the box score showed, routinely getting in the mix on pressures whenever Young wasn’t getting the ball out quickly and helping in the run game.

“It was absolutely awesome to have Marcus Davenport back in the game,” O’Connell said.

While the former Saint already topped his sack total from last year in one game, he has previously been a force. Two years ago he rated by PFF as the sixth best edge rusher in the NFL with at least 400 snaps. The issue was that the only played 437 snaps that year. He proved on Sunday how disruptive he can be when healthy.

“When I am back there playing safety, I can see him making the quarterback scramble around trying to find some space. I am very excited to have a player like him out there with us,” safety Cam Bynum told reporters. “He, for sure, definitely made an impact today.”

Flores’s schemes were enhanced by the individual performances of Davenport and Smith but his different looks at the line of scrimmage seemed to fluster the young quarterback from start to finish. Following the game, Young explained why he had issues with taking sacks against the Vikings’ pass rush.

“They do some unorthodox stuff defensively… they did a good job of mixing it up and getting home,” he said. “We talked about it and had plans for it and I didn’t do a good enough job of executing that, whether it’s getting the ball out of my hands when they are bringing too many we can block, or when it is blockable looks, making sure we’re getting to the right people, things like that. I have to do a better job of communicating, executing. Again, credit goes to them.”

NFC EAST

PHILADELPHIA

Cody Benjamin of CBSSports.com notices that WR A.J. BROWN has been more involved since he fussed on the sideline with QB JALEN HURTS:

Winner: A.J. Brown

In the two games since his sideline “spat” with close friend Jalen Hurts, the Eagles star has racked up 18 catches for 306 yards and two scores, both of which came deep against the Commanders to help Philly survive Washington, 34-31, in overtime.

NFC SOUTH

TAMPA BAY

Hunter Felt of The Guardian concedes that, for now, QB BAKER MAYFIELD is defying expectations:

When Tom Brady finally retired, the NFC South was set to be wide open. After all, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers decided to replace perhaps the best player in NFL history with Baker Mayfield, best known for his disappointing stint with the Cleveland Browns, which ended with his teammates’ dads weighing in on his faults and faint praise for his comic acting chops. The Bucs’ divisional rivals, the New Orleans Saints, were among the teams looking to take advantage of Brady’s retirement.

Heading into the teams’ first meeting of the year, the 2-1 Saints could take first place by defeating the Buccaneers, who were also 2-1 after a loss to the Philadelphia Eagles. In theory, New Orleans had the advantage at quarterback, having signed four-time Pro Bowler Derek Carr. Carr did not have a single touchdown pass during Sunday’s 26-9 Tampa Bay victory. In contrast, Mayfield went 25-for-32 and threw for 246 yards and three touchdowns.

Mayfield’s four years with the Browns were so disappointing that the team made the beyond-controversial decision to acquire Deshaun Watson. So far, it’s a decision that has not paid off. An injured Watson did not take the field for the Browns on Sunday. Instead, backup Dorian Thompson-Robinson threw three interceptions in a 28-3 loss to the Baltimore Ravens. But at this point, it’s clear that Cleveland’s institutional problems run deep enough that the mess goes beyond uncertainty at the QB position.

Mayfield’s career was left for dead after he was deemed not good enough to be a Cleveland Brown. Given his current success – and the concurrent struggles of his former franchise – he would be justified if he had any ill feeling towards the Browns.

Maybe it helps that nobody is expecting him to be the Next Brady. During Tampa Bay training camp, in fact, it wasn’t even certain he would beat out 2021 second-rounder Kyle Trask for the starting gig. He may not even be the long-term solution, given that he only signed a one-year deal. One assumes that Mayfield is looking for a multi-year contract to be a starter somewhere, something which would have sounded like a tall order just two months ago.

The teams he has beaten this season – the Saints, Chicago Bears and Minnesota Vikings – are hardly Super Bowl contenders. But Mayfield has a 69.6% completion rating this season, is on pace to throw for 29 touchdowns and more than 3,500 yards and is seventh among NFL starters in QBR rating, ahead of the likes of Lamar Jackson, Trevor Lawrence and Jalen Hurts. Mayfield will probably revert to the mean at some stage, but chances are that Trask will remain on the bench for the foreseeable future.

With the win, the Buccaneers have beaten the Saints in three straight meetings for the first time in franchise history.

NFC WEST

SAN FRANCISCO

Peter King on what RB CHRISTIAN McCAFFREY is doing for the 49ers:

Christian McCaffrey, running back, San Francisco. His four-touchdown day keyed the win over Arizona. Eleven months ago, I was concerned the Niners overpaid for McCaffrey in the trade, sending second-, third-, fourth- and fifth-round picks to Carolina for him. Now it looks like they underpaid—perhaps significantly. Think about it. The best pick, overall, in that trade was the 61st in the 2023 draft. McCaffrey has played 18 games for the Niners, including playoffs, missing none with injury. His average game: 20 touches, 117.2 rushing/receiving yards, 1.1 TDs. No wonder LeBron’s posting socially about him.

LOS ANGELES RAMS

QB MATTHEW STAFFORD toughed it out Sunday against the Colts as Cameron DeSilva of USA TODAY says he played the 2^nd half with a hip injury.

Matthew Stafford battled through what was visibly a very painful hip injury in the second half of Sunday’s game against the Indianapolis Colts, helping lead the Rams to a dramatic win in overtime. Stafford was limping throughout the final 30 minutes of the game and while the pain subsided enough for him to finish the contest, he was nowhere close to 100% healthy.

Being the tough player that he is, Stafford doesn’t seem to have any doubt that he’ll be available for the Rams in Week 5 when they host the Philadelphia Eagles at SoFi Stadium. He told reporters after Sunday’s overtime win that he’ll “be out there” next week, a huge relief for the Rams.

Stafford has fought through injuries over the course of his career and still manages to put up gaudy numbers, so it’s hardly surprising that he expects to play in Week 5. We’ll see how the Rams handle his workload throughout the week of practice but regardless, No. 9 should be on the field against Philly.

Stafford still was able to throw a walkoff winning TD to rising rookie WR PUKA NACUA.  Myles Simmons of ProFootballTalk.com:

The legend of Puka Nacua continues to grow.

The Rams fifth-round rookie receiver caught the first touchdown of his career in walk-off fashion, snagging a 22-yard pass in overtime to defeat the Colts 29-23.

Nacua set a record for most receptions in a receiver’s first four games with his first catch of the day — one he tipped to himself over the middle for a 26-yard gain on the first play from scrimmage. His last catch was also over the middle, coming wide open on what was ostensibly a blown coverage. Nacua had to fight his way in for 8 yards after the catch, but found the paint for the game-winning score.

Nacua finished the day with nine catches for 163 yards, giving him 39 receptions for 501 yards with one TD on the young season. Both his receptions and yards are NFL records for a player in his first four games.

But before Nacua’s overtime heroics, the Colts nearly pulled off a stunning comeback victory. The Rams held a 23-0 lead midway through the third quarter. But that’s when the Colts came alive, scoring 23 straight points to tie the game with 1:56 left.

Anthony Richardson threw a 35-yard touchdown to Mo Alie-Cox in the third quarter to cap a four-play, 75-yard drive. Then Richardson ran it in from 1-yard out. And finally he hit Drew Ogletree for a 5-yard touchdown and got a two-point conversion to the the game.

Both teams had a chance to get a field goal with a final possession in regulation, but couldn’t make it happen.

The Rams won the toss in overtime and didn’t give the ball to Indianapolis, going 75 yards in eight plays for the TD.

Los Angeles may not have needed overtime if the team had made one of two missed field goals. Brett Maher hit three FGs, but missed from 46-yards out wide left at the end of the first half. And then he missed from 48-yards out at the start of the fourth quarter.

Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford finished 27-of-40 for 319 yards with a touchdown and an interception in a gutty performance where he was clearly working through some kind of back and/or lower-body injury.

AFC WEST

DENVER

Can’t follow this logic from Peter King:

I think the most interesting line of the season (no way this can be topped in the next 13 weeks) was Denver favored by 3.5 points against the Bears Sunday. Interesting factors:

The Broncos were 0-3, playing on the road.

The Broncos just lost a game by 50.

The Bears, per game, were being outscored by 20 points and outgained by 157 yards, mayhem was swirling at their door, and their quarterback was the most under-fire player in the NFL west of Zach Wilson. I guess that’d be enough.

The oddsmakers, as it turned out, didn’t know nothin’.

The Broncos, at King’s oddsmaker of choice, favored by 3.5 points.  They won by 3 points.  How did the oddsmakers mess that up?

LOS ANGELES CHARGERS

EDGE KHALIL MACK now plays for the Chargers and once played for the Raiders – so this is true:

@OptaSTATS

Khalil Mack of the @chargers is the first NFL player to have 5.0+ sacks in a game against a former team (since sacks were first officially tracked for defenders in 1982).

– – –

QB JUSTIN HERBERT quoted the Black Knight:

“Tis but a scratch. Just a flesh wound.”

— Justin Herbert, channeling his inner Monty Python, talking about an injured finger in the 24-17 win over the Raiders.

“Monty Python and the Holy Grail” was released in 1975 – good that Herbert has seen it.

Maybe each week, he can tie it a quote –

“I’m not dead yet.”

“I f… in your general direction.”

“What is the airspeed of an unladen swallow?”

“It’s just a wee bunny,”

Just to name a few.

AFC NORTH

PITTSBURGH

Cody Benjamin calls the Steelers, “losers”:

Loser: the Steelers

Remember when everyone was picking Pittsburgh to surprise out of the AFC North in the preseason? Fun times. QB Kenny Pickett left Sunday’s blowout loss to the Texans (!) due to injury, but even before that, the entire operation remained dysfunctional. Coach Mike Tomlin vowed afterward that changes will be coming, but most people could’ve told you weeks ago that change was overdue.

AFC SOUTH

HOUSTON

QB C.J. STROUD could be the undisputed greatest rookie QB in NFL history by the time 2024 dawns.

Peter King puts a name to the first-year OC who is helping him get it done.

Coach of the Week

Bobby Slowik, offensive coordinator, Houston. Much has been said about how precocious C.J. Stroud has played in his first month in the NFL for the surprising 2-2 Texans. Give Slowik, a smart technical coach who also relates to players exceedingly well, his due too. To have a rookie quarterback in a new offense with no true stars as skill players play well is a credit to the staff too. For the Texans to have put up 67 points in two wins and to have won those games by 20 and 24 … very good accomplishment for the first-year Texans coordinator.

AFC EAST

BUFFALO

Peter King says he has believed in the Bills all along:

The Bills are who we thought they were. Or at least who I thought they were. Every week, there’s a different most impressive team in the league. After two weeks, we thought it was Dallas. After three, Miami. After four? Maybe San Francisco. Maybe Buffalo. It’s close.

The Bills’ 48-20 win was notable for a few reasons. Miami had lost nine of the last 10 games in this series; since the Bills got good again with Josh Allen, Buffalo owned Miami. So this meeting was about division supremacy. A win would give the Dolphins a two-game AFC East lead over Buffalo, with tough road games against Cincinnati, Philadelphia, Kansas City and Miami remaining for the Bills. The league advantaged the Dolphins in the scheduling too. With their two meetings on Oct. 1 and Jan. 7, Miami could have to travel to play in Buffalo in full winter weather. Putting Miami at Buffalo in the first game this year meant playing on a bright 70-degree afternoon with a soft 5-mph breeze. Perfect football weather. Everything was setting up for the Dolphins.

Well, the crowd wasn’t.

“The crowd, man,” Sean McDermott said from his office a half-hour after the game. “They were deafening. In all my years in this league, I’m not sure I’ve heard … No, this crowd was as loud as I’ve heard any crowd in an NFL stadium. And that mattered today. I tip my cap to Bills Mafia.”

Leading into the game, it was hard to keep the outside noise out of the building. “They put 70 points on another team last week,” McDermott said. “We saw that, and we saw the tape. They were so impressive. But we really tried to keep it as ‘Next game.’ Respectfully, we treat every game like that. But we watched the 70 points on film, and they didn’t even have [Jaylen] Waddle. So we’re just emphasizing, one play at a time, one series.”

Miami began in track-meet style, going 77 and 70 yards for touchdowns in the first 17 minutes. But Buffalo defensive front seven started winning consistently—Ed Oliver, Daquan Jones and Greg Rousseau in particular—and Miami had four straight three-and-outs. That seemed so counter-intuitive after four quarters last week and the first one Sunday. Another factor was Miami left tackle Terron Armstead leaving with a knee injury in the second quarter. And when Tua Tagovailoa had time, he missed receivers more than he had in his starry September.

Josh Allen was superb in three ways: no turnovers, no major collisions in the open field, and the first perfect passer rating in his career. In 11 career games against Miami, he has 36 TD throws and five interceptions. It helped Sunday to have an inspired game from Stefon Diggs. His 55-yard catch-and-run for a TD, after being interfered with, then being in the grasp of corner Kader Kohou and breaking free, was the most impressive play by a receiver in week four.

“I think the Buffalo Bills proved why they are the team that our whole division is trying to beat,” Mike McDaniel said. That’s what this game was about: one team trying to wrest a division away from the once and future kings of it, the other team battering the challenger. Reality was a bitter pill for Miami Sunday. For Buffalo, as impressive as Allen and Diggs were, McDermott had to be thrilled with a defense that held Miami to six points in the last 42 minutes. “On defense, our guys really took over,” he said.

Sunday’s upshot: The window’s closing on all that talk about the Bills’ championship window closing.

But this is a tough loss for their defense.  Alaina Getzenberg of ESPN.com on CB TRE’DAVIOUS WHITE (whose first name has all five vowels):

Just over 10 months ago, Buffalo Bills cornerback Tre’Davious White made his return to football a year after tearing his left ACL. On Sunday, just four games into the 2023 season, White suffered yet another noncontact injury.

White suffered what is believed to be a torn right Achilles in the third quarter of the Bills’ commanding 48-20 win over the Miami Dolphins, sources told ESPN’s Jeff Darlington.

Bills coach Sean McDermott said after the game that White is still being evaluated. An MRI is set for Monday.

“He’s been through a lot. And sometimes you wonder, right? Why things like that happen twice, you know, to someone,” McDermott said. “I’m not saying what it is, what it isn’t. I’m just saying like, you know, you just wonder why.

“Because you watch him and how hard he’s worked to get back. And yeah, you know, I just, I know he’s a man of faith. And I know how strong he is. And you know, he will, he will rebound.”

White suffered the injury while covering wide receiver Tyreek Hill on a fourth-and-1 play in the last minute of the third quarter. Defensive tackle Ed Oliver sacked Tua Tagovailoa on the play.

White was attended to by athletic trainers and threw his helmet in frustration. The entire Bills sideline surrounded him before he was carted off into the locker room.

Safety Micah Hyde said that they were all around White just trying to talk to him.

“Sometimes, at that point, there’s really nothing you can say,” Hyde said. “It’s kind of one of those situations that words can’t really help Tre’Davious at that point. He understands we’re there for him. We love him. And like I said, 2-7 is a big part of this team.”

The crowd at Highmark Stadium shouted “Tre” as he was driven into the tunnel.

The injury comes less than two years after White tore his left ACL on Thanksgiving in 2021. It took the cornerback exactly a year to return to a game from that injury, but he has started every game this season after six regular-season and two playoff games last year. White had an interception in last week’s victory over the Washington Commanders. Per Next Gen Stats, White allowed eight receptions on 15 targets, two touchdowns, two passes defensed and just 3.2 yars per attempt as the nearest defender in coverage this season.

“This game, people really don’t understand, weighs on you,” wide receiver Stefon Diggs said. “… With everything he’s already been through, it’s kind of tough. Keep him in your prayers. It’s easy to say it’s unfortunate, but football means the world to him. You can tell by how he works, how he grinds, how he approaches each and every day. He really doesn’t care about the limelight; he cares about being the player and teammate he can be. … At a time like this, it’s rough.”

McDermott’s first draft pick with the Bills was White in 2017. Since then, White, 28, has started 81 games, totaling 18 interceptions and 67 passes defended. He is a two-time Pro Bowler and was named first-team All-Pro in 2019.

Being back to healthy to start a full season was a big and exciting step for the cornerback after a tough recovery.

“He personifies what it is to be a Buffalo Bill. His family is tremendous,” an emotional McDermott said. “And he works as hard as anybody I’ve ever been around. And I love him.

“I mean, to see him on that field, the way he was hurting, is hard. It’s hard to watch. But I’m so proud of the team and the way they rallied around him. And I know, like I said earlier, I know that he will rebound. He’s just, he’s too tough.”

Bills cornerback Tre’Davious White was emotional after suffering an injury to his Achilles in Sunday’s game against the Dolphins. Bryan M. Bennett/Getty Images

Bills cornerback Christian Benford also suffered a shoulder injury in the game and received an X-ray but was able to return in White’s absence. Dane Jackson filled in for Benford when he first went out with injury and then played the rest of the game after serving as a backup and special teams contributor through the first three games of the season.

If Benford is healthy, he will be expected to continue to start alongside Jackson.

Kaiir Elam, the team’s 2022 first-round pick, has been a healthy scratch through the first four games. He will be in position to get opportunities on the active game-day roster with White’s injury.

The Bills’ secondary is dealing with a variety of injuries as safety Jordan Poyer (knee) missed the game and an entire week of practice. Nickel corner Taron Johnson left briefly in the fourth quarter.

Despite the injuries, the defense kept the Dolphins in check and adjusted well after giving up back-to-back touchdown drives to start the game. Miami had four straight three-and-out drives after its early success. The Bills forced two turnovers — a fumble forced by linebacker Matt Milano and recovered by linebacker Terrel Bernard and an interception by Hyde — and sacked Tagovailoa four times.

Miami was successful on just 3 of 10 third-down conversion attempts and scored only six points after the first drive of the second quarter. The Dolphins gained an average of 6.8 yards per play, down from a 7.6 average over Weeks 1-3.

“Ultimately, we’re a defense that tries not to give up big plays,” Hyde said. “Everybody can say that around the league, but we’ve been successful doing that since 2017. So, you know, we’re going to stick to our DNA. And from there, let’s roll the ball out and see what happens. So that’s kind of our mindset.”

While answering a question about his own return to game action Sunday, safety Damar Hamlin made a point of talking about White.

“In Cincinnati, I was in the hospital [recovering from cardiac arrest], watching [White] sit at this same podium and speaking so highly of me. I watched him come in the building every day and, you know, work his ass off,” Hamlin said. “He’s probably the hardest worker on the team.

“And just being a young player, they always tell you, find some older guys to find yourself through about routine, about the way they carry themselves, by just who they are, who they become over the league. … From a distance, I admire his work ethic, I admire who he is as a person, his consistency, his discipline, everything. So we’re with him, for sure.”

NEW ENGLAND

Once again, Peter King, who talks to people who talk to people, hints at the unthinkable:

Expiration date? Mac Jones may have one on him after that awful cross-field pick-six he threw at the Cowboys. But this is looking very much like the fourth straight year since Tom Brady walked that New England won’t win a playoff game, and the way Robert Kraft thinks, the head coach and draft czar has to be responsible for that.

This from Chad Graff of The Athletic:

Bill Belichick wandered around midfield after Sunday’s game in search of a few hugs and hellos from former colleagues and players while the massive video screen in this spaceship of a stadium revealed the reality of the New England Patriots’ situation, the one that contributed to Belichick’s shell-shocked look.

He walked under a scoreboard that beamed the final tally from the worst loss in the Patriots’ 24-year Belichick era — Cowboys 38, Patriots 3 — but didn’t look up to read it.

Never before had the Patriots lost by more than 31 points with Belichick on the sideline. Never before had they trailed by 25 points at halftime, as they did on this day. But during this season that was supposed to get Belichick closer to the all-time record for coaching wins, the Patriots are instead setting new marks of futility.

Belichick teamed up with Tom Brady for a historic run that brought New England a level of success that has been unmatched in this league. That’s why owner Robert Kraft was so confident Belichick could rebuild this franchise, even after the departure of the greatest player of all time.

He knew it would take time. You don’t lose a player of Brady’s stature and expect an instant turnaround.

But three-plus years later, Belichick has built a team that looks so different from the ones that were the class of the NFL. These Patriots make inexplicable mistakes, like Mac Jones’ two horrific interceptions Sunday. They have no depth at vital positions like wide receiver and cornerback. They’re a team devoid of electric playmakers, one that needs everything to go right in every phase to find success.

Above all else, this is a mediocre team. That’s just what the record indicates. The Patriots are 1-3 — but they’re also 26-28 in the last four seasons. They haven’t won a playoff game since the 2018 season.

The results of late have been even worse. After the Cowboys steamrolled them Sunday in a contest that was basically over before halftime, the Patriots fell to 3-8 in their last 11 games. All three of those wins came against teams playing backup quarterbacks: the New York Jets (Zach Wilson), Miami Dolphins (Skylar Thompson) and Arizona Cardinals (Colt McCoy). New England has only six wins in the last 350 days — and three of those came against Wilson and the Jets.

“At this point, I think we’re a lot better team than we showed out there tonight, but that’s what we showed and that’s what it was,” Belichick said. “We’ve got a lot of work to do.”

This was not how the season was supposed to go. Belichick built this team to his liking.

• He hired Bill O’Brien as the offensive coordinator because he trusted him to build a competent unit that ran well and took care of the ball — though the offense has done neither of those, gift-wrapping the Cowboys 17 points off of turnovers.

• He let Jones have more say in the offense, hopeful that would yield better results after a dismal 2022 season. Instead, things got so bad Sunday that he was either benched or, as Belichick would have you believe, shown mercy amid a butt-kicking.

• He thought a greater investment in the defense would cement that group’s status as a top-five unit — an idea that seemed far-fetched as the Cowboys averaged 6.8 yards per play in the first half.

The 71-year-old Belichick was excited for this year. He had the Patriots zigging when everyone else was zagging. They were going to play a positionless defense to counteract what offenses around the league are doing. He was going to build an offense around yards after the catch on underneath passes amid a league-wide trend to take away the deep part of the field.

But it hasn’t worked. Only one Patriots player Sunday, tight end Hunter Henry, caught more passes than Cowboys cornerback DaRon Bland, who picked off Jones twice. The Patriots have now trailed by 14 or more in the first half of three of their four games this season.

“We got punched in the mouth today,” safety Jabrill Peppers said. “Got our ass kicked. We didn’t come out here and do what we were supposed to do.”

Bill Belichick responsible for the lack of moves to improve the Patriots offense

So where do they go from here?

While the schedule lightens up, the news only got worse after the game. Matthew Judon might miss the rest of the season with a reported bicep injury. Christian Gonzalez, the best defensive rookie in the league through three games, suffered an early shoulder injury that ended his day and could sideline him for a few games.

And then there’s the quarterback situation.

After Jones’ second interception of the afternoon, he retreated to the team’s bench and studied a few papers showing the Cowboys’ formations. O’Brien initially gave him space then took a seat next to his quarterback. They stared at the papers before them without saying much.

What was there to say?

This Patriots roster doesn’t have the talent of the Cowboys’. The game plan wasn’t as good. The execution was a mess. They now have a quarterback whose confidence might be shot, and questions will continue to swirl about whether he’s the guy or whether New England will be headed back to the drawing board this offseason in search of another player at the game’s most important position.

Belichick has had three-plus years to rebuild the Patriots. No one expected them to win the Super Bowl this season — just to show progress. Just to get the offense back on track. Just to qualify for the playoffs and be competitive there.

Instead, it seems the Patriots are just getting worse.

Earlier this week, players showed up to the locker room to discover sweatshirts had been gifted to them, an idea spearheaded by assistant head coach Joe Judge. On the back of the sweatshirts was a simple message: “No one is coming. It’s up to us.”

That’s a frightening proposition after Sunday’s loss.

Bill Barnwell looks at the Patriots and makes this pronouncement:

There weren’t many positive takeaways for Mac Jones from Sunday’s loss to the Cowboys. An early 42-yard completion to Demario Douglas seemed to augur a promising day, but things went south fast. Jones converted a second-and-16 by extending the play and throwing all the way across the field to Kendrick Bourne, who broke two tackles for a first down. When Jones tried it again two minutes later, DaRon Bland jumped the pass for an easy pick-six.

Those are Zach Wilson-esque throws from Jones, and not the much-improved version of Wilson we saw Sunday night against the Chiefs. Quarterbacks can’t throw late and short to the opposite sideline regularly in the NFL and keep their jobs for long. Jones also lost a fumble to a hit from behind while scrambling, which is one of the easiest ways to be benched by Bill Belichick. Although Belichick kept Jones in for most of the game, he eventually pulled the 2021 first-round pick in the second half for Bailey Zappe.

Jones’ hero ball isn’t going to work against anyone, let alone the Cowboys. The fact that he was resorting to hero ball probably reveals more about what’s wrong with the Patriots. Nobody is afraid of him or the playmakers on this offense, and it’s dramatically capping what the Pats can do. Douglas’ 42-yard catch came on a broken coverage at the end of a scramble drill where the Cowboys failed to successfully pass off crossing routes. It counts just the same as a great receiver Moss-ing a cornerback for 42 yards, but one is more likely to recur than the other.

Jones is 3-for-17 on deep passes this season, and his 13.7 QBR on those throws ranks 30th. Those three completions have included two blown coverages. Teams like the Dolphins force opposing defenses to bust coverages more often with their speed and motion, but the Patriots can’t consistently do that. (They did sneak Pharaoh Brown out for a 58-yard touchdown in Week 3.) They might benefit from the occasional coverage bust, but they don’t have the sorts of players who give opposing defensive backs nightmares.

Of course, this roster shouldn’t have that guy on paper. Tyquan Thornton, a 2022 second-rounder drafted two picks before George Pickens, is on injured reserve. DeVante Parker hasn’t been consistent in that role for most of his career. JuJu Smith-Schuster has played only about 59% of the offensive snaps and isn’t an explosive receiver. That burden has fallen on Douglas, a rookie sixth-round pick, and even he was benched by Belichick after a fumble in the loss to the Dolphins.

Teams can win without one of those guys if they have an incredible pre-snap processor (like Tom Brady) and a great offensive line opening up holes on the ground, but the Patriots don’t have a single run for 20 yards or more all season. Expected starting tackle Riley Reiff is also on IR, while guards Cole Strange and Mike Onwenu have missed time. Strange was sidelined Sunday, and Onwenu played but committed three penalties. He was the only offensive player in the league to commit three penalties in Week 4.

There are some positives. New coordinator Bill O’Brien has restored more play-action to this attack, and Jones ranks 12th in QBR when the Pats use play fakes. Tight end Hunter Henry has made a handful of spectacular catches. Douglas shouldn’t be forced to be any team’s primary deep threat as a late-round rookie, but he has made plays. The offense doesn’t look broken in the way that it did with Matt Patricia in charge a year ago.

Instead, it looks more hopeless than dysfunctional, and that might be even worse. The one silver lining for the Patriots is that they’ve faced a brutal schedule to start the season. The Eagles, Jets and Cowboys have three of the league’s best defenses, and the Dolphins are typically better than they looked against the Bills on Sunday. The Saints are another very good unit, but their pass rush is struggling, and after facing them in Week 5, the Pats get a Week 6 matchup with the Raiders in the Jakobi Meyers Double Revenge Game. If you’re a Patriots fan looking for short-term hope, an easier schedule — at least for a couple of weeks — should probably be your first stop.

NEW YORK JETS

After falling behind 17-0, the Jets nearly overcame the Chiefs, but a curious defensive holding penalty denied them a key interception.  Justin Fried of The Jet Press speaks for Jets fans everywhere:

The NFL should be ashamed about what took place on Sunday Night Football between the NY Jets and Kansas City Chiefs. The Jets were screwed. Robert Saleh knows it. The Chiefs know it. Everyone in the Jets’ locker room knows it. Everyone at MetLife Stadium knows it. Heck, everyone watching from home knows it.

What happened on Sunday night was an embarrassment for the NFL and its officiating crew. Despite an outstanding game from Zach Wilson, the Jets fell short against the powerhouse Chiefs following consecutive blown calls on the final drive of the game.

The first came on a 3rd-and-23 from the Chiefs 40-yard line with 6:21 to play. Mahomes scrambled up the middle for a 25-yard game, all the while Jets defensive end Jermaine Johnson was being held.

Johnson could be seen flailing his arms as the Chiefs’ offensive lineman had a hold around his neck. It didn’t matter. Instead, the Jets were flagged for illegal contact. That wouldn’t be the only pseudo-stop the Jets would get, however.

The NFL stole a game from the NY Jets on Sunday Night Football

Three plays later, facing a 3rd-and-10, Mahomes lobbed a pass into double coverage on the sideline. The pass was intercepted by Jets cornerback Michael Carter II in what seemed to be a game-changing play for the Jets.

However, the play was called back following an egregious holding penalty on Sauce Gardner. The NBC broadcast immediately questioned the call, as did every person in the stadium. Saleh looked like he was ready to square up with the official.

In the end, that call would be the death of the Jets’ defense and the game. The Jets would never get the ball back as a gassed Jets defense wasn’t able to get off the field.

And that was it. No Zach Wilson heroics. No massive defensive turnover to change the complexion of the game. Instead, the NFL referees decided who the winner was going to be.

The referee in question can be seen double-clutching before he throws the flag. He waited until the interception was secured before deciding it was an interception for a penalty that occurred before the pass was thrown.

That’s as blatant as it gets. The referees decided the outcome of this game.

The NFL will likely issue the Jets an apology, just as they did following the team’s Week 2 loss to the Dallas Cowboys. That doesn’t change the outcome, though.

The Jets lost this game because the refs stole it from them. There’s no other way to frame it.

How good was QB ZACH WILSON?  Well, he did something never before seen on a college or NFL football field that also had QB PATRICK MAHOMES of the Chiefs.

@OptaSTATS

Zach Wilson of the @nyjets is the only opposing QB to have more completions, more passing yards, more TD passes and fewer interceptions than Patrick Mahomes in a Mahomes start, college or pro (out of 127 total starts, including postseason).

This from Coach Robert Saleh postgame per Michael David Smith ofProFootballTalk.com:

After the game, Jets head coach Robert Saleh said he loved what he saw from Wilson.

Saleh praised Wilson for his decisiveness and said he was in command of the offense.

“He was letting it rip. I thought he did a really, really nice job,” Saleh said. “I’m happy for him to go out and show that he does belong, that he can play in this league. If he plays that way we’re going to win a lot of football games.”

Saleh defended Wilson for his struggles and said he hasn’t wavered in his confidence in Wilson.

“Playing quarterback in this league is hard,” Saleh said. “He gave his guys a chance.”

The Jets had a great chance, and Wilson deserves credit for playing well in defeat.

Peter King’s review:

Zach Wilson ruined every New York narrative Sunday night. “You can’t play quarterback better than this,” Cris Collinsworth said when the Jets tied KC at 20 in the third quarter. The Jets let him play football Sunday night. His game defined “moral victory.”

THIS AND THAT

RUSS FRANCIS

At 71 years of age, former NFL TE RUSS FRANCIS has died in a private plane crash:

Former Pro Bowl tight Russ Francis was killed in a plane crash in Lake Placid, New York, on Sunday, according to family members. Francis was 70.

Francis and Richard McSpadden, a former commander of the U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds, rolled hard to the left after takeoff from Lake Placid Airport before crashing, according to an NTSB spokesperson. It was not immediately clear whether Francis or McSpadden was flying the plane.

Francis was taken by the New England Patriots in the first round of the 1975 draft. He made three Pro Bowls for the team.

In 1982, he moved on to the San Francisco 49ers where he won a Super Bowl in the 1984 season. Francis returned to the Patriots in 1987 before concluding his career the following season.

The Patriots released a statement on social media, saying: “We are deeply saddened by the sudden and tragic loss of former New England Patriots tight end Russ Francis. Our condolences are extended to Francis’ family and friends.”

In retirement from football, Francis explored his passion for aviation and recently bought Lake Placid Airways. The Boston Globe reports that FAA records show that he was authorized to fly single- and multiengine planes and helicopters.

“My older brother Russ Francis was just killed in an airplane crash in Lake Placid, New York,” Francis’ brother Ed Francis wrote on Facebook on Sunday. “Flying was my brother’s lifelong passion, and perhaps a fitting way for him to go. God speed to you my big brother!!”

2024 DRAFT

This 2024 Mock Draft from Ric Serritella of All Access Football:

Oh what a rush! Hard to believe that we are one quarter of the way through the football season. This fall has brought excitement, drama and plenty of unknown. However, that won’t prevent us from taking a stab at an early season NFL Mock Draft. There’s sure to be plenty of moving and shaking between now and April but here’s a look into our crystal ball as to how the 2024 NFL Draft in Detroit could possibly unfold. Thank you for reading All Access Football, the number one independent football newsletter on the planet.

1.     Chicago Bears – Caleb Williams, QB, USC, Jr: The way things are trending in Chi-Town it could be a clean sweep (GM/HC/QB could all be gone). No better way to start anew than with the most anticipated quarterback since Trevor Lawrence.

2.     Las Vegas Raiders – Drake Maye, QB, North Carolina: While Jimmy Garoppolo is a nice placeholder and Aidan O’Connell has shown well, the opportunity to select Maye is too enticing.

3.     Chicago Bears (via Panthers) – Marvin Harrison Jr, WR, Ohio State, Jr: Coming back around again due to their trade with Carolina, the Bears add an elite receiver to pair with their new blue chip quarterback.

4.     Los Angeles Chargers – Jer’Zhan Newton, DT, Illinois, rJr: A steady riser, Newton is big, athletic, explosive and can disrupt the backfield. The Chargers need to get more physical up front on defense.

5.     Arizona Cardinals – Kool-Aid McKinstry, CB, Alabama, Jr: This has been a stingy defensive unit and if Arizona is able to add a lockdown corner to the mix, it’ll open up the pass-rush possibilities.

6.     Arizona Cardinals (via Texans) – Laiata Latu, OLB, UCLA, rSr: If head coach Jonathan Gannon learned anything from his time in Philly, it’s that you can never have enough pass-rushers; the Cardinals double-down on defense.

7.     Tampa Bay Buccaneers – Quinn Ewers, QB, Texas, rSo: The Baker Mayfield resurgence is a cool story but a reality check could be in store; there’s a reason why it was a one-year deal.

8.     Denver Broncos – Brock Bowers, TE, Georgia, Jr: It remains to be seen if the Broncos can get out from the albatross contract of Russell Wilson and considering how much they gave up, it could be hard. Only other choice is to keep building around him.

9.     Washington Commanders – JJ McCarthy, QB, Michigan, Jr: With new ownership could come a new head coach and/or signal-caller. The poised, accurate McCarthy could be the best quarterback DC has had since Kirk Cousins.

10.  Indianapolis Colts – Joe Alt, Jr, OT, Notre Dame, Jr: With the need of quarterback being so great around the league, it could result in some top players such as Alt to slide. He would be an excellent blindside protector for AR5.

11.  Minnesota Vikings – Bo Nix, QB, Oregon, rSr: The worst-kept secret in football is the Vikings’ desire to move on from the aforementioned Cousins (go figure). With the dual-threat Nix, the offensive could evolve from being a mobilized offense.

12.  New England Patriots – Olumuyiwa Fashanu, OT, Penn State, rJr: While New England could also be in the quarterback market, they are on the outside looking in of the run on signal-callers. It would be great value to land Fashanu here.

13.  New Orleans Saints – Jared Verse, DE, Florida State, rJr: It has been and always will be about defense, so long as Dennis Allen remains. The damage Verse could do lining up opposite of Cameron Jordan and company is exciting to think about.

14.  New York Jets – Graham Barton, OT, Duke, Sr: If Aaron Rodgers returns, keeping him upright should be top priority. Mekhi Brown has been a debacle and injured stop-gap Duane Brown is on a one-year deal.

15.  New York Giants – Malik Nabers, WR, LSU, Jr: The G-Men desperately need playmakers; nabbing Nabers would provide a solid young nucleus alongside rookie wideout Jaylin Hyatt.

16.  Tennessee Titans – Trey Benson, RB, Florida State, rJr: Both Ryan Tannehill and Derrick Henry will be unrestricted free agents this offseason. Tennessee may want to reconstruct with a young, big-bodied back such as Benson for a fraction of the cost.

17.  Los Angeles Rams – Emeka Egbuka, WR, Ohio State, Jr: Even with the emergence of Puka Nacua as a premier talent, the Rams need a dependable complimentary target and will have several pending free agents at the wideout position.

18.  Houston Texans (via Browns) – Amarius Mims, OT, Georgia, Jr: The Texans offensive line unit seems to revolve weekly due to injuries and mishaps; adding Mims provides a foundational building block to help protect new franchise signal-caller CJ Stroud.

19.  Atlanta Falcons – Dallas Turner, OLB, Alabama, Jr: While the Falcons have quite a few needs, with several aging vets coming up on free agency, Atlanta needs to inject some fresh legs into the pass-rush unit.

20.  Cincinnati Bengals – JC Latham, OT, Alabama, Jr: Maintaining a healthy Joe Burrow has been concerning and starter Jonah Williams will be seeking a significant pay raise on the open market.

21.  Green Bay Packers – Tyler Nubin, S, Minnesota, Sr: Green Bay has been seeking stability on the backend of the secondary for quite some time and the heat-seeking Nubin offers mega versatility.

22.  Pittsburgh Steelers – Maason Smith, DT, LSU, rSo: The lengthy, strong and physical Smith would fit right in with the Pittsburgh DNA. They have had turnover up front on defense and Cameron Heyward could hang up the cleats—with a valid case for Canton.

23.  Dallas Cowboys – Nate Wiggins, CB, Clemson, Jr: There are several directions that Dallas could choose to go in but by pairing Wiggins with Trevin Diggs, the Cowboys would have one of the more formidable corner duos in the league.

24.  Jacksonville Jaguars – Xavier Worthy, WR, Texas, Jr: It’s unlikely that Jacksonville will be able to re-up both Calvin Ridley and Jamal Agnew, who duals as an excellent return man. The Jaguars like speed and Worthy could challenge John Ross’ record forty-yard dash in Indy.

25.  Philadelphia Eagles – Chop Robinson, DE, Penn State, Jr: A natural replacement for Brandon Graham who is playing out the final year of his contract and would seem to be his swan song in Philadelphia.

26.  Buffalo Bills – Cooper DeJean, CB, Iowa, Jr: Former first round pick Kair Elam has been a healthy scratch and is officially a bust, while Tre’Davious White has apparently suffered yet another season-ending injury.

27.  Detroit Lions – Kamren Kinchens, S, Miami, Jr: The Chauncey Gardner-Johnson experiment was short-lived and he can’t be depended upon. Enter Kinchens who aligns with the Lions philosophy and can serve as an enforcer as the last line of defense.

28.  Kansas City Chiefs – Keon Coleman, WR, Florida State, Jr: The wide receiver committee is cool and all but this offense was much more lethal when it had a bonafide number one wideout; Coleman could assert himself rather quickly with the current group of castoffs.

29.  San Francisco 49ers – Kris Jenkins, DT, Michigan, Sr: A legacy player who bringstoughness and tenacity, Jenkins could also help offset the potential loss of Javon Kinlaw who will enter free agency. 

30.  Miami Dolphins – Ja’Tavion Sanders, TE, Texas: How about some more speed at the only position that Miami seems to lack playmakers. Sanders would add another dynamic weapon into the offensive fold.

31.  Seattle Seahawks – Cedric Gray, LB, North Carolina, Sr: Expect Gray to be a combine riser and shoot up draft boards as we approach April. He is fast, quick to diagnose and constantly shows up around the football.

32.  Baltimore Ravens – Keon Coleman, WR, Florida State, Jr: The gamble on Odell-Beckham Jr., who was signed to a one-year deal has yet to payoff, so the constant search to find Lamar Jackson more weapons continues.