We agree with this from Joe Thomas on crowd noise for games in empty stadiums:

“I think if the NFL can add more leeway for the home team to add noise at appropriate moments in the game, it would make the viewing experience much better. If the home team gets a big sack on third-and-10, let them crank up the crowd noise because that gets me at home excited. They haven’t allowed them to go over whatever certain decibel [level] yet because I know they don’t want it to be an advantage one way or the other. But homefield should be an advantage.”

We think the NHL pumps up the noise in Edmonton after a goal (for both teams, not just the home one).

Even if the NFL didn’t increase it for the home team on third down defense, couldn’t it happen briefly after big plays?

– – –

The DB is thinking the four-game preseason is doomed, not matter what happens to the regular season.  Peter King agrees:

I think the one thing that the summer of 2020 has proven is that pro football certainly does not need four preseason games, and it does not need three preseason games. I don’t think it needs two. One seems fair, to make sure a team can get whatever work it wants for the starters (two quarters, three quarters, no quarters) and to see on-the-edge-of-the-roster young players in competition. Because owners won’t want to surrender all the money from the golden goose that is the preseason, I’d settle for two games apiece. But absolutely no more.

Maybe just one set of head-to-head workouts?

– – –

Another week, another set of coaches throwing mandated caution to the winds and talking without hiding their mouth.  We saw Pete Carroll, who else?  What will NFL Justice do to make an example of them for disregarding carefully thought out protocols?

Mike Florio, who never met a face he wouldn’t have covered, named names, before Sunday night’s game:

49ers coach Kyle Shanahan has a neck gaitor that seems to be always down around his neck, not on his face. Defensive coordinator Robert Saleh was seen at one point with his mask hanging down.

Other coaches, like Colts coach Frank Reich and Dolphins coach Brian Flores, had their masks over their mouths but not over their noses. Bills coach Sean McDermott’s face also has been exposed over his covering. Rams coach Sean McVay, who has vowed to do better this week, continues to pull own his mask when communicating with others.

Broncos coach Vic Fangio, who rately had his face covereed on Monday night, doesn’t have his face covered late in the second quarter of Sunday’s game at Pittsburgh.

Regardless of whether you believe in masks (you should), the NFL does. And the NFL’s memo made it clear to all coaches and sideline personnel that compliance is expected.

– – –

As one league source explained it to PFT, the NFL likely will implement reasonable fines while also demanding a commitment that there will be no further violations. Then, if there are further violations, the financial consequences will increase dramatically.

The concern is this: Absent eventually significant punishment, the violators may simply do the math, cut the check for a full-season fine, and be done with it. The league doesn’t want anyone to view the mandate as a cost-of-doing-business-style inconvenience, but as a rule that must be, and will be, complied with.

A counterpoint from Dwight Jaynes of YahooSports.com:

Let me start by saying that when I see people in pubic wearing facemasks under their nose or, worse, around their neck, it bothers me. If you are going to wear a mask in public — as you should — it should be worn properly, which means covering your big nose as well as your mouth!

But coaches on the sidelines who are tested, surrounded by people who have been tested daily for COVID-19, do they really need to have facial coverings? Seahawks Coach Pete Carroll didn’t seem to act as if he needed it,

This thing reminds me of the NBA situation, where most coaches weren’t wearing masks during games but their assistants were — and most of the league’s players and coaches donned masks for Zoom media presentations, even though they apparently weren’t wearing them prior to sitting in front of the camera.

It smacks of Politically Correct Theater. The NBA apparently just wanted to put on a little show for the country, even though some players and some teams (the Lakers, most often) didn’t bother to do it during their media sessions.

And as for the NFL, are you mandating masks because it’s the right thing to do? Well, the games are played outside where the virus disperses rapidly. If it’s imperative that coaches be masked, why aren’t the players wearing them?

The players come to the sidelines, remove their helmets and breath all over each other.

Look, I don’t leave my house without my mask and believe it’s important. But in an environment where all have been tested and most others aren’t masked, I’m not sure I’d embrace the mask quite as much,

And as far as the NFL threatening action against those not wearing face coverings, that’s a grandstand move. Leave it up to the coaches.

NFC NORTH

CHICAGO

QB MITCHELL TRUBISKY is 2-0 – albeit close wins over the lowly Lions and Giants with medium point totals.  But he is 2-0.  Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk.com:

After Sunday’s 17-13 win over the Giants, Trubisky discussed at length a turbulent offseason that resulted in Trubisky keeping his job.

Trubisky, while driving home from Soldier Field, explained that he developed a new mindset after the Bears traded for Foles. The move came during the early days of the pandemic, giving Trubisky an opportunity to “self-reflect” on “how I wanted my career to go.”

He decided to put in the work necessary to eventually prove that he deserves the job. The team’s decision to not pick up Trubisky’s fifth-year option for 2021 added “more fuel to the fire,” causing him to “feel like I control my own destiny.”

“Now it’s up to me to prove it,” Trubisky said.

He focused on his craft, embarking on a competition that was as fair and open as coach Matt Nagy and G.M. Ryan Pace told Trubisky it would be.

“The reps were split down the middle,” Trubisky said. “I tried not to think who had the edge. I just wanted to show my teammates what I’d done in the offseason and how badly I wanted it.”

Trubisky had “no idea” he’d won until Nagy shared the decision, nine days before the regular-season opener. The news “came out of nowhere,” and Trubisky had “no idea which way it would go.”

Through two weeks, Trubisky has strengthened his grip on the job. The numbers aren’t spectacular, but they’ve been more than good enough to propel the Bears to an unlikely and unexpected 2-0 start.

More importantly, Trubisky has gained real confidence through re-winning his job and then winning two games. On the phone after Sunday’s game, he sounded different. More confident. More self-assured. More determined. If the Bears keep winning, Trubisky’s confidence will keep growing, which could lead to even more winning.

Sam Monson of ProFootballFocus.com says that if Trubisky can play okay, the rest of the Bears roster has a lot to like:

A Trubisky playing with more confidence and assurance in the pocket immediately makes his team’s pass blocking look better, and through two weeks, three of the five starters have a PFF pass-blocking grade of at least 78.0 — three grading points higher than the best mark from the group last year.

If the offense can hold up its end of the bargain, the defense has a chance to show that the unit from 2018 hasn’t disappeared, and most of the talent from that exceptional group remains.

Khalil Mack has 12 total pressures through two games to go along with yet another PFF grade above 90.0. Robert Quinn has been deployed as a situational pass-rusher thus far and has a pass-rush grade above 90.0, even if it has resulted in just two total pressures so far. Rookie cornerback Jaylon Johnson has hit the ground running with four pass breakups while allowing only 41.7% of his targets in coverage to be caught by the receiver.

This is a team that has the ability to play postseason football, but everybody forgot that fact because their quarterback was Mitchell Trubisky. With Detroit seemingly not the force many expected them to be, and the Minnesota Vikings suffering badly from the loss of talent on that roster, the door is suddenly widely ajar for Chicago to challenge the Green Bay Packers for NFC North supremacy.

Even if they come up short within the division, there are three wild card spots up for grabs. If Trubisky plays the remaining 14 games at the level he has played the opening two, Chicago will earn one of those spots and be playing January football once more.

DETROIT

Pete King with some conventional wisdom on the state of the Lions:

It’s Sept. 21, and Matt Patricia looks done already. The Lions have lost 11 in a row, and they’re the worst finishers since 2019 Edwin Diaz. In Week 1, they blew a 17-point fourth-quarter lead and lost to the Mitchell Trubisky Bears. In Week 2, they blew an early 14-3 lead in Green Bay and lost by 21. Predictably, all the Lions stuck by their coach in the aftermath, but what are they going to say? The most troublesome thing about the Lions is that Patricia was considered a brilliant defensive mind and tactician in New England, and he just can’t get the defense right in Detroit.

The next two weeks likely won’t help. Detroit is at the 2-0 Cardinals, with the 1-0 Saints (playing tonight) coming to Detroit in Week 4. Then Detroit has its bye. There’s no way the franchise would fire him at 0-4 this year and 9-26-1 in his tenure, is there? Doubtful, but clearly, Patricia doesn’t have a lot of time to save his job, not when the Cleveland Browns have five more wins than Patricia since opening day 2018.

Dan Wetzel of YahooSports.com piles on:

With Detroit Lions coach Matt Patricia, it always goes back to where it began, namely who he replaced and why he was called to replace him.

That person was Jim Caldwell, who in four seasons with Detroit went 36-28 and reached the playoffs twice. The Lions went 9-7 in each of his final two seasons. Detroit fired him anyway, per the order of general manager Bob Quinn, who saw a talented roster not getting maximized (the Lions went 0-2 in those road playoff games).

“It’s wanting to take this team to the next level,” Quinn said at the time. “To me, that’s winning championships, that’s winning playoff games and that’s winning the Super Bowl.”

Fair enough. There was nothing wrong with wanting more, or even demanding more. This is professional football. The Lions have won just a single playoff game since 1957 (and none since the 1991 season). The setting of high standards was kind of refreshing for this franchise.

Except when Quinn went looking for a new coach, he hired Patricia, his buddy from their time together with the New England Patriots. Patricia was a first-time head coach. Quinn vouched for him.

It has been disastrous.

Matt Patricia speaks at a podium with a Lions backdrop behind him.

Detroit Lions head coach Matt Patricia is 0-2 to start the season, and it doesn’t look like much will change. (Duane Burleson/AP File)

More

Caldwell at 9-7 wasn’t good enough. But Patricia, now 9-24-1 in his third season, remains on the sideline.

He shouldn’t for much longer, at least barring some reversal of fortune of which there is no earthly evidence coming.

The latest humiliation was a 42-21 beatdown courtesy of the Green Bay Packers (“a comedy of errors” the Detroit Free Press dubbed it). It dropped the Lions to 0-2 on the season and extended their losing streak to 11 games.

It was a testament to bad plays, bad players, bad errors, bad everything, especially coaching.

“We understand we can’t have penalties. We have to keep our composure. We can’t have turnovers. We’ve got to do everything we can not to give up big plays,” Patricia said.

They may understand it, but they keep doing all of the above. About the only positive was that Detroit blew the game in the first half, not their traditional fourth-quarter meltdown (this was the fourth consecutive game the Lions had a double-digit lead and lost). The early collapse freed up the good people of Michigan to enjoy some fine fall weather on Sunday afternoon.

This team isn’t headed to the Super Bowl, as Quinn once stated was the expectation. It isn’t headed anywhere but circling the drain. The “next level” has proven to be three levels down.

They’d love 9-7 now. They’d take 7-9.

Patricia has taken a nine-win team and won six games, then three games and … well, the trend line says zero. You’d normally say that’s impossible, especially with Matthew Stafford at quarterback, but then again … the franchise has pulled that off before (2008).

“We’ve got to get better, that’s really the bottom line,” Patricia said. “We’re going to keep pushing and keep doing our work and improve. It’s early.”

That it is early is part of the problem. This looks like another lost autumn for Lions fans, and it’s still technically summer.

William Clay Ford Sr. owned the team from 1961-2014 and delivered just one playoff victory. His wife, Martha Firestone Ford, ran it until 2019 and brought in the current Quinn/Patricia regime — derisively dubbed “Quinntricia” by fans.

Now their daughter, Sheila Ford Hamp, is the franchise owner, and Lions fans can only wonder if failure will continue to be accepted.

Perhaps worst of all is that Patricia was brought in as a defensive coach, yet against Green Bay, the Lions defense was scorched all over the field. Bad personnel. Bad scheme. Bad efforts. The Packers offense tuned up for 488 yards — a near equal 259 rushing and 229 passing.

The Lions gave up a 75-yard touchdown run, like this was college football. Last week, they gave up three fourth-quarter touchdown passes to Mitchell Trubisky.

This is Quinn’s fifth season and Patricia’s third, and they’ve spent all sorts of resources on defense — high-priced free agents, top-five draft picks. None of it appears to be helping.

GREEN BAY

We’re glad to have Packers RB AARON JONES on a Fantasy team.  Peter King:

Aaron Jones, running back, Green Bay. There won’t be many better games for a running back in the NFL this year: 22 touches from scrimmage, 236 yards, 10.6 yards per touch, three touchdowns. Imagine producing a first down, in effect, every time you touch the ball. What’s so interesting about Jones is his ability to make up for the lack of depth in the Green Bay wideout corps with his ability to produce winning plays in the passing game downfield.

NFC EAST

DALLAS

As Eagles QB CARSON WENTZ tumbles down the QB rankings, Jason King of Outkick.com on the tangibles and intangibles that he sees that make Cowboys QB DAK PRESCOTT worthy of a big contract:

By engineering a 40-39, come-from-behind victory over Atlanta Sunday, Dallas quarterback Dak Prescott accomplished two things:

He reignited hopes of a Super Bowl-caliber season for the Cowboys.

He fattened his own wallet.

Or at least potentially.

Prescott and team owner Jerry Jones likely won’t engage in contract talks until after the season, but if Prescott turns in a few more performances like the history-making effort he gave Sunday, it’s hard to imagine Dallas not giving him what he wants. And maybe even more.

Prescott completed 34 of his 47 pass attempts for 450 yards and a touchdown Sunday. He also ran for three scores, making him the first quarterback in NFL history to pass for more than 400 yards and run for three touchdowns in the same game.

Even more impressive, though, was Prescott’s leadership in the huddle and on the sideline. In one of the most woeful starts in recent team memory, the Cowboys lost three first-half fumbles and trailed 20-0 after the opening quarter and 29-10 at intermission.

The Cowboys could’ve wilted after that meltdown, but Prescott — who was playing without his two starting tackles — wouldn’t let them. That, more than anything, is why the Cowboys drafted Prescott in the first place — and it’s why he’s never relinquished the position since taking over as a rookie a week before the 2016 opener after Tony Romo was injured.

Prescott is a winner.

He make lack some of the measurables and physical traits of other elite NFL signal callers. But the intangibles he provides in the locker room and huddle, and the culture he helps create, are what vaults him into the upper echelon of the league. Prescott has a presence and likability about him that breeds success. His teammates love playing with — and for — him. That’s why Prescott thrived Sunday when so many others would’ve floundered. He relishes those types of games. They bring out the best in him.

The comeback came exactly one week after Prescott almost pulled off another impressive rally, and he likely would’ve if not for a wretched offensive pass interference call on receiver Michael Gallup wiped out what would’ve been in game-altering play in a 20-17 road loss to the Rams.

Even though it wasn’t his fault, that defeat could’ve hurt Prescott in contract negotiations. Quarterbacks, after all, are ultimately judged on winning and losing. But those negative vibes were squelched by Sunday’s triumph over Atlanta, especially since it happened in such an exciting fashion.

Prescott’s contract situation will be one of the key themes of the Cowboys’ 2020 season. Prescott essentially “bet on himself” last spring he when he reportedly turned down a five-year contract extension worth more than $30 million per season. Prescott is believed to want a four-year deal that would pay him closer to the $45 million-per-year that Kansas City’s Pat Mahomes was awarded last summer.

– – –

Peter King on the kick that hypnotized the Falcons

Dallas needed to recover the onside kick, or the team would be 0-2. Here came kicker Greg Zuerlein out for the kick. With no tee. Prescott described the next few seconds in vivid detail.

“I have never been in a game like this,” he said. “Maybe the playoff game my rookie year against Green Bay, but we lost that one, and it didn’t come down to a play like this one. It was incredible, honestly. We’ve seen it done in practice. [Offensive coordinator] Kellen Moore saw it get set up, and [quarterbacks coach] Doug Nussmeier told me, ‘Watermelon kick!’ “

It’s actually an ingenious idea. Because players can’t line up more than one yard from the spot of the kickoff (they used to be able to get a five-yard running start), kicking team players can’t get the kind of running start they used to on onside kicks. So Zuerlein and special-teams coach John Fassel had practiced a form of the onside kick where Zuerlein would kick a spinning ball diagonally, and fairly slowly. Cowboy players could run to the skidding ball and attempt to block out, as on a basketball rebound, any opposing players who might be trying to get to the ball.

Obviously, the Falcons hadn’t seen it before. They peered at the spinning, slow-moving ball like it was diseased and they didn’t want to touch it.

“I asked our punter, Chris Jones, why [the Falcons] wouldn’t just dive on it,” Prescott told me, “and he said the way it spins makes it really hard to do that. They were probably afraid that if they jumped on it, it might get loose and we’d recover.”

Better that than what happened: Dallas cornerback C.J. Goodwin, once the ball traveled exactly 10 yards downfield, jumped it and won a wrestling match for it with three Falcons. Prescott’s 24-yard dart to rookie CeeDee Lamb (“CeeDee is smart as hell, great feel for the game,” Prescott said) helped set up Zeurlein’s winning field goal with four seconds left.

It all was made possible by the Watermelon Kick.

NEW YORK GIANTS

RB SAQUON BARKLEY tore his ACL, not on the controversial turf at the Meadowlands, but at Soldier Field.  Either way, he is done for 2020.  Michael David Smith of ProFootballTalk.com:

Giants running back Saquon Barkley suffered a torn ACL on Sunday.

The Giants announced today that an MRI confirmed what was feared yesterday. Barkley is almost certainly out for the season.

The injury is a major disappointment for the Giants, who saw Barkley as a huge part of their future when they chose him with the second overall pick in the 2018 NFL draft. Now Barkley’s season appears over after he gained just 34 yards on 19 carries in two games.

Barkley led the league in yards from scrimmage as a rookie, but he struggled with an ankle injury in his second season, and his third season is now over when it had barely started.

PHILADELPHIA

Another loss, and another OL injury, for the Eagles. Josh Alper of ProFootballTalk.com:

The Eagles have another injury to deal with on their offensive line.

Left guard Isaac Seumalo hurt his knee in the second quarter of Sunday’s 37-19 loss to the Rams. Head coach Doug Pederson said at a Monday press conference that the team expects to be without Seumalo “for some time” as a result.

Seumalo’s injury came in right tackle Lane Johnson‘s first appearance of the season as he’d missed the opener with a hamstring injury. Right guard Brandon Brooks and left tackle Andre Dillard both suffered season-ending injuries before the start of the regular season.

The Eagles replaced Seumalo with Matt Pryor. The offense didn’t allow a sack after Washington notched eight of them in the opener, but the result of the game still left the Eagles with an 0-2 record.

NFC SOUTH

CAROLINA

Un oh.  RB CHRISTIAN McCAFFREY will be out until around Halloween.  Nick Shook of NFL.com:

With nearly a quarter left and a two-score deficit to erase Sunday, Christian McCaffrey received a chest pass from Teddy Bridgewater, sprinted wide left and fell forward across the goal line.

The touchdown cut the deficit to just seven points for the McCaffrey’s Panthers, but his day was done. McCaffrey exited with an ankle injury, didn’t return to the game and now is expected to miss four to six weeks with a high-ankle sprain, NFL Network Insider Ian Rapoport reported Monday, per a source informed of the situation. The revelation came following an MRI on McCaffrey’s injured ankle.

Panthers coach Matt Rhule confirmed to reporters that McCaffrey would miss “multiple weeks” due to the high-ankle sprain, but he declined to speculate on if CMC would be placed on injured reserve, which would sideline him a minimum of three weeks. Rhule also clarified that McCaffrey’s injury occurred two plays prior to the TD run, per The Athletic.

McCaffrey was in the midst of a typical Sunday afternoon for him, carrying the ball 17 times for 52 yards and a touchdown before his 7-yard scoring dash. He’d also caught four passes for 29 yards, falling short of 100 all-purpose yards but still serving as an effective and important part of Carolina’s offense, all while looking healthy.

The touchdown run, in which he was tripped up by Buccaneers linebacker Devin White as he crossed the goal line, changed that last observation. Carolina eventually fell to Tampa Bay, 31-17.

The 2020 season hasn’t been easy for the Panthers, who have shown they’re willing to fight to the bitter end, but have twice come up short in as many games under Rhule. Losing McCaffrey will undoubtedly make the going tougher for Bridgewater and Co., who will be forced to rely on the likes of Mike Davis and continue to feed the ball to D.J. Moore and Robby Anderson, who each broke 100 yards receiving Sunday.

It’s not impossible; it’s just not ideal for a team still trying to find its footing under new leadership. The Panthers will continue forward with their best player watching from the sideline.

TAMPA BAY

The first win of the TOM BRADY Era in Tampa Bay came with a boost from another newcomer, RB LEONARD FOURNETTE.  Jenna Laine of ESPN.com:

With 1:56 to go and the Carolina Panthers threatening to spoil Tom Brady’s home opener with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers Sunday, Brady put the ball in the hands of running back Leonard Fournette, whose 46-yard touchdown run sealed the Bucs’ 31-17 win — Brady’s first as a Buccaneer.

The Panthers had turned Tampa Bay’s 21-0 halftime lead into a one-score game — a situation the Bucs had seen before when they allowed the New York Giants to erase an 18-point halftime deficit to win Daniel Jones’ rookie debut last year. In fact, the Bucs’ 66 blown leads in the post-Jon Gruden era (2009 to present) are third-most in the NFL.

But Fournette, who signed with the Bucs exactly two weeks ago, told the offensive line as they huddled up on first-and-10 at the Carolina 46, “Y’all give me an inch, I’m gonna take it a mile.”

And that he did, exploding through the A-gap and reaching 21.44 miles per hour on the play, according to NFL Next Gen Stats — the second-fastest time from a ball carrier in Week 2 and third-fastest all season.

Brady came running to the end zone to envelop Fournette in his arms.

“It’s funny how everything came to pass,” said Fournette, who finished with 103 rushing yards and two touchdowns on 12 carries. “I’d seen the hole and I took it and tried to put the icing on the cake for the team.”

The Bucs have had only one other instance during the past three seasons when a running back has rushed for 40 or more yards on a single play — a 49-yard run against the Houston Texans last year from starter Ronald Jones, whose NFL career up until this point has underwhelmed, with just one 100-yard game in 18 career games as a starter. Fournette has done it six times in 33 games.

Brady has said on multiple instances since arriving in Tampa Bay that he needs to know whom he can count on. There weren’t many Sunday. Countless balls slipped through receivers’ and running backs’ hands. Jones fumbled a simple handoff at the Carolina 38 in the second quarter. Third-down back LeSean McCoy dropped what would have been a touchdown on third-and-8 with 6:25 to go.

“I know he wants that one back that he dropped for a touchdown,” Arians said of McCoy. “But he’ll make some more in the future. … RoJo — we fumbled that ball and we can’t have that on a handoff. Overall, Leonard … as he keeps practicing, learning and doing some things, we’ll keep getting him more and more touches.”

The Bucs couldn’t get anything going in the second half. Brady wound up with just 19 passing yards after halftime. Which made Fournette’s production that much more important.

“It’s nice to have a hell of a player with fresh legs in the fourth quarter,” Arians said.

NFC WEST

SAN FRANCISCO

No celebrating in the Meadowlands for the Niners after beating the J-E-T-S Jets.  Peter King:

If the 49ers can survive these injuries to contend this year, they’ve got incredible depth. “The 49ers had one of the most solemn blowout victories in the history of the NFL on Sunday,” The Athletic’s Matt Barrows aptly wrote Sunday night. Defensive linemen Nick Bosa and Solomon Thomas both were carted off with suspected torn ACLs; starting quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo went down with a high ankle sprain; and starting back Raheem Mostert—he of the 80-yard TD sprint on the first play from scrimmage in the 31-13 rout of the Jets—has a milder knee injury. The Niners already were missing three of their top 10 players (who didn’t play Sunday)—tight end George Kittle, wideout Deebo Samuel and cornerback Richard Sherman. Wow. It’s Week 2!

NFL Week 2: Joey Bosa

49ers pass rusher Nick Bosa. (Getty Images)

The Niners de-camped to White Sulphur Springs, W.Va., after the game to practice/heal this week before returning to the Meadowlands to face the 0-2 Giants next Sunday. I’ve covered the league a long time, and I don’t think I’ve ever seen a championship-caliber team lose almost every big-star player to injury (for the short or long term) by the end of Week 2. The advantage San Francisco has? Two, I’d say. The Niners face the 0-2 Giants, 0-2 Eagles and 0-2 Dolphins in the next three weeks. And GM John Lynch has built some good depth. That depth helped hold a bad team, the Jets, to 197 total yards till a garbage-time drive at the end.

LOS ANGELES RAMS

The Rams are playing 5-dimensional chess with the salary cap.  Peter King:

Much has been made in the past week about the Rams’ salary cap, and the big contracts given to Jared Goff and Aaron Donald (last year) and to Jalen Ramsey, Cooper Kupp and Robert Woods (this year). But this year isn’t the issue for the Rams. The next two years are.

In 2020, the combined cap numbers for the five big contracts will be $73.9 million, which is 37.3 percent of the NFL’s 2020 cap number, $198.2 million per team.

But look how the numbers inflate next year, with a cap that’s likely to be about a $175 million. The cap numbers of the Rams’ golden five:

Goff: $34.63 million

Donald: $27.9 million

Ramsey: $22.5 million

Kupp: $14.5 million

Woods: $12.4 million

Total of those five: $111.9 million.

On a $175-million cap, those five contracts would take up 63.9 percent of the Rams’ salary load, and leave $63.1 million for 48 other players on the active and the practice squad. Say it’s 10 on the practice squad. That creates an incredibly bottom-heavy roster.

But I do not expect the Rams to stay status quo on those five deals. In the NFL salary space, teams can convert base salary to signing bonus at any time, meaning, for instance, that Goff’s salary next year could be reduced from $25.33 million to $1 million. That would allow the Rams to spread $24.33 million equally over the cap numbers of the last four years of his contract. Upside: Goff’s cap number in 2021 would be reduced by $18.2 million. Downside: Each of the last three years of the deal would have the cap number jacked up by $6.1 million.

That’s why—and the Rams aren’t the only team thinking this—it’s vital that the NFL get back to some semblance of normalcy in 2021, so the 2022 and future caps are not continually hamstrung by the economic effects of this COVID-affected season.

AFC WEST

DENVER

The Broncos have lost QB DREW LOCK for awhile, maybe two games.  Josh Alper of ProFootballTalk.com:

The good news for the Broncos is that quarterback Drew Lock is expected back this season, but the bad news is that they will have to play without him for a spell.

According to multiple reports, Lock has been diagnosed with a rotator cuff strain. He is set to miss the next two games before the condition of his shoulder is re-evaluated to see if he’s ready to return to action.

Jeff Driskel took over for Lock in Sunday’s loss to the Steelers and is now in line to start against the Buccaneers in Week Three. Assuming he doesn’t get hurt, he’ll also likely start against the Jets in a Thursday night game in Week Four.

Driskel is the only other quarterback on the active roster, but Denver does have Brett Rypien available for promotion from the practice squad.

When Lock returns, he won’t have WR COURTLAND SUTTON to throw to:

The Denver Broncos will be without another one of their best players for the foreseeable future.

An MRI confirmed receiver Courtland Sutton suffered a torn ACL, NFL Network Insider Ian Rapoport and NFL Network’s James Palmer reported, per a source informed.

The wideout left Sunday’s loss to Pittsburgh after injuring the knee making a tackle on an interception by Steelers corner Joe Haden. Sutton had three catches for 66 yards after missing Week 1 due to an AC joint injury.

Sutton’s injury is devastating for a Broncos team that is already without Von Miller on defense and expects quarterback Drew Lock to miss at least the next two weeks after suffering a bad rotator cuff strain.

Sutton busted out last season, earning 1,112 yards on 72 catches with six TDs despite instability at the QB spot. A boundary receiver with the ability to leap over defenders and owns sticky fingers, Sutton is Denver’s most dangerous weapon. Losing him for the year could threaten to crater a potentially fun, young offense, even if Lock returns in short order.

Without Sutton, rookie Jerry Jeudy figures to have an increased role, as would K.J. Hamler. Tight end Noah Fant could also see an uptick in targets sans the Pro Bowl wideout.

KANSAS CITY

Peter King on PK HARRISON BUTKER’s big finish:

I’ve never seen anything like what happened at the end of Kansas City 23, L.A. Chargers 20 (overtime). With two minutes left in overtime in a 20-20 game, this sequence occurred:

• KC kicker Harrison Butker, 53-yard field goal attempt. Good. Nullified by a false start by KC guard Nick Allegretti. Five-yard penalty.

• Butker, 58-yard field goal attempt. Good. Nullified by a last-millisecond whistle. Time out, Chargers.

• Butker, 58-yard field goal attempt. Good. No whistles. No flags.

Before Sunday, the 25-year-old Butker had never kicked a field goal of 58 or more yards in a game. In the span of 90 minutes, he kicked three of them, and two counted.

“Definitely the hardest situation I’ve ever been put in,” Butker said from the locker room post-game. “But what gave me a little confidence is how we practice. In practice, I have to hit eight to 10 long field goals, like 54, 63, 65, 58. So some kickers, maybe their leg would get tired kicking three long ones in a row like that.

“So I lined up for the 53-yarder, and I figured they might call a timeout. But I don’t hear a whistle, and I kicked. Then there’s a flag and we go back five yards. I smashed that one—knew it was good. I figured, let me make this thing and let’s get out of here. But then I saw they called time. And I just did it again.”

That was it. Except for this tidbit: “I kicked one from 67 pre-game, and then 70 at halftime. This is definitely the coolest stadium I’ve played in. Absolutely beautiful.”

The current NFL record for longest FG should be easy pickings for a number of NFL kickers based on what we’ve seen with the ease with which mid-50s FGs often clear the bar.  They just need someone to let them pull the trigger from 65+.

LOS ANGELES CHARGERS

QB TYROD TAYLOR couldn’t answer the bell Sunday against the Chiefs.  Rookie QB JUSTIN HERBERT came in and played somewhere between okay and pretty good.  Coach Anthony Lynn says, he can’t wait to have Taylor come back and start.  Jim Trotter of NFL.com:

Less than a minute before the opening kickoff Sunday in SoFi Stadium, Chargers coach Anthony Lynn walked over to rookie quarterback Justin Herbert and told him he was starting against the defending Super Bowl champion Chiefs.

“I think he thought I was joking,” Lynn would say later.

“I was surprised,” Herbert admitted.

From that a potential legacy was born. The Chargers may have stumbled in the 23-20 overtime loss, but they never blinked — in large part because Herbert confirmed the hype surrounding his talent is warranted.

The former Oregon star, who was drafted sixth overall and displays a quiet confidence that is as long as his 6-foot-6 frame, threw for 311 yards and a touchdown and rushed for 18 yards and a score. But in answering any questions about his ability, at least for one game, he created an even more intriguing question: Do the Chargers have a quarterback controversy on their hands?

Lynn said afterward that Tyrod Taylor, who left during warmups and was taken to the hospital with “chest pain” (the team announced he has since been discharged), remains the starter “if he’s 100 percent and ready to go.” Maybe that’s true, but so is this: History is unrelenting in reminding us that the sand in the hourglass empties quickly when it comes to highly drafted quarterbacks seeing the field. It’s never a matter of if. It’s always a matter of when.

The NFL is cruel that way. It doesn’t help that the Chargers’ offense was underwhelming in the season opener at Cincinnati, scoring just 16 points while putting up only 207 yards through the air. The Chargers left Paul Brown Stadium with a victory, but they also were dogged by questions about just how long it would take for Herbert to be ready to step in.

Taylor has been through this before. In 2018 he was repeatedly affirmed as the unquestioned starter after the Browns drafted Baker Mayfield No. 1 overall. But when the offense failed to score more than 21 points in the first two games and Taylor went down with a minor injury in Week 3, Mayfield took the field and the starting job for good.

If there is a difference this time, it’s that Lynn is an unabashed believer in Taylor. The two were together in Buffalo in 2015 and ’16, when Taylor was 14-14 as the starter before leading the Bills to the playoffs in 2017, the year that Lynn took the Chargers job. But loyalty can be a tricky thing. It may win a coach respect, but it can also cost him his job. Owners are often fickle to the whims of their paying customers, if not their own desires. Taylor represents the safety of the known; Herbert represents the promise of what can be.

Hence, Lynn is smart enough to know he will face tremendous headwinds if he stays with Taylor. If Herbert can look this good on the shortest of notice, with little-to-no first-team reps in practice, imagine what he can do with a full week of preparation this coming Sunday against the 0-2 Panthers. Herbert wasn’t just good against the Chiefs; at times, he was very good against a Kansas City defense that dominated Houston and quarterback Deshaun Watson the previous week. Fans saw it on television, and — perhaps more importantly — Chargers players saw it in person. Their postgame praise for the youngster didn’t sound perfunctory. It sounded foretelling.

“I like what I see,” defensive end Joey Bosa said. “He has great vision back there. His arm was a little too strong today on a few passes, but I just really like what I’m seeing from him. He’s got a great head on his shoulders. It’s going to be exciting to see him grow.”

“I thought he had a great first game,” said cornerback Chris Harris Jr. “I thought he played with toughness. He definitely gave us a lot of confidence that he can go out there and do the job.”

– – –

Herbert was steady. He had only one three-and-out on his first nine possessions. He looked seasoned, such as when he would slide to the left or right in the pocket to create space to make a throw. Or when he placed the ball on the inside to avoid a defender closing from the outside, or another time when he perfectly dropped the ball beyond the trailing safety but in front of the cornerback.

But just when he seemed mature beyond his years, he reminded us that he is still a rookie who was making his first start in only his second game. The first time came early in the third quarter, when he rolled left off play-action and took a sack instead of throwing the ball away — or getting it to the fullback who, after being hit at the line, was open in the flat.

The second reminder was more consequential. Near the end of the third quarter, on second-and-2 from the Kansas City 39, he rolled left and had a clear field to run. Instead, he threw deep against his body, into triple coverage, seeking a big play from wideout Keenan Allen. Result: interception.

When he took a seat on the bench, Lynn walked over.

“I just told him you don’t have to try to win the game — just execute, one play at a time,” the coach said. “I felt like he had 8 yards in front of him on that second-and-2. He turned that down and was looking downfield. I like that he was looking downfield and not looking to run it, but that was a bad decision.”

Really, it was a devastating decision, as the Chargers, who appeared in complete control of the game, were driving to make it a two-score contest. Instead, the turnover rejuvenated the Chiefs, who went 95 yards in six plays to tie the score at 17 early in the fourth quarter. Tyreek Hill, who was invisible for much of the game to that point, got free for the 54-yard score. He finished with five receptions for 99 yards and the aforementioned TD.

There was no stopping Kansas City at that point. The Chiefs drove for field goals on each of their next two possessions, claiming victory with 1:55 to go in overtime when Harrison Butker kicked his third field goal — and second from 58 yards. Patrick Mahomes finished 27 of 47 for 302 yards and two TD passes, but we’ve come to expect that from him. He’s a known commodity. Herbert is not — or, should I say, was not.

– – –

You are in overtime against the Chiefs.  You win the toss, you get nine yards on three plays.  Do you punt to the Chiefs on 4^th-and-1 from your own 34?  The mighty Chiefs who would seem to be about 75% likely to score the winning FG or TD if they get the ball?  But Anthony Lynn punted – and here is the reaction as charted by The Spun:

Before Lynn even sent his punting unit out, CBS analyst Tony Romo openly disagreed with the decision. On Twitter, the consensus opinion agrees with Romo.

Jason McIntyre

@jasonrmcintyre

There’s no way Anthony Lynn is going for that. If you’ve bet on this guy since he’s been in LA, that decision is not in his DNA

@DougESPN

“It shows you the confidence Anthony Lynn has in his defense”

No it doesn’t. It shows how archaic these coaches are

@sportsrapport

No one thinks the Chargers are getting the ball back right?

But this:

@SethWalder

ESPN’s win probability model did not have an issue with Anthony Lynn’s decision to punt on 4th and 1 in overtime.

WP go = 0.444

WP punt = 0.445

It considers overall team strengths, but doesn’t specifically isolate the advantage the Chiefs’ offense holds over the Chargers’ defense.

For what it’s worth, we agree with Romo and masses here. It is absolutely foolish to put the game in the hands of your defense there against Patrick Mahomes.

If it works, it is more because you got lucky than you made the right decision.

Actually, forcing the Chiefs to try a 58-yard FG meant it sort of worked.  If Butker missed, the Chargers take over on their own 42 with about two minutes left.

AFC NORTH

PITTSBURGH

For Week 2, C MAURKICE POUNCEY bucked the NFL narrative with the name on his helmet.  Ryan Gaydos of FoxNews.com:

Pittsburgh Steelers center Maurkice Pouncey wore the name of a fallen officer for Sunday’s Week 2 game against the Denver Broncos days after drama over who the team was going to support.

Pouncey wore the name Eric Kelly on the back of his helmet. Kelly was one of three East Pittsburgh police officers who were killed in a 2009 domestic incident in Stanton Heights, according to WTAE-TV.

The offensive lineman’s decision came amid some drama over the team deciding to wear the name of Antwon Rose Jr. on their helmets during their first game of the season on Monday.

Rose was shot and killed in 2018 by Pittsburgh police. Officers stopped his car he was riding in because it matched one that was described to have allegedly been in a drive-by shooting. Officer Michael Rosfeld opened fire on Rose when he and another person in the car ran from police. Rose was shot three times.

An investigation later linked the vehicle to the shooting with the passenger in the incident pleading guilty to opening fire during the drive-by, according to the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. Rosfeld faced charges in the shooting but was acquitted in a four-day trial.

The Steelers had honored Rose but Alejandro Villanueva broke from the team and wore the name of a fallen soldier instead.

Pouncey released a statement on the issue earlier in the week, saying he should have done more research before choosing to wear Rose’s name on his helmet.

“I want to personally clarify what transpired this past Monday night in regard to having Antwon Rose’s name on the back of my helmet,” he wrote in an Instagram message on Thursday.

“I was given limited information on the situation regarding Antwon, and I was unaware of the whole story surrounding his death and what transpired during the trial following the tragedy. I should have done more research to fully understand what occurred in its entirety.

“My work with the police, both in Pittsburgh and back home in Florida, is well documented. I don’t always feel the need to highlight what I do with police departments, but I also want to make sure they understand I inadvertently supported a cause of which I did not fully comprehend the entire background of the case. I take responsibility for not doing more investigating into something that is sensitive to the community and his family, but it is a less learned as it relates to political issues that occur every day in our society.

“Moving forward, I will make my own decision about what to wear on the back of my helmet. Make no mistake, I am against racism and I believe the best thing I can do is to continue helping repair relationships between the police and their communities. Systemic racism issues have occurred in our country for too long, and that needs to stop.

 “My focus will continue to be on helping the police in our communities, and I will support making any necessary changes to help those efforts.”

AFC SOUTH

HOUSTON

Peter King on why Houston’s 0-2 is better than most:

I think I wouldn’t fret too much about being 0-2 if I were a Texan. It’s a hole, of course, But honestly: Did you think the Texans would win at Kansas City? No one did. Did you think they’d beat a powerhouse Baltimore team, the same team that slapped them around 41-7 last year? Maybe a few thought they’d win, but that was a long shot too. Houston has played, possibly, its two toughest games of the season in the first two weeks, and now, after a sobering but understandable start, they head into three reasonable games: at Pittsburgh, then Minnesota and Jacksonville at home. If they’re 1-4 in three weeks, then it’s time to worry. But not yet.

– – –

J.J. WATT didn’t hesitate to express his thoughts on hot-headed rookie DL ROSS BLACKLOCK:

J.J Watt is furious. Not only did the Houston Texans fall to 0-2 on the season after getting embarrassed by the visiting Baltimore Ravens to the tune of 33-16 in Week 2, but defensive lineman Ross Blacklock helped torpedo the defensive effort. The rookie second-round pick was ejected from the contest for shoving after a whistle, also earning himself an unnecessary roughness penalty before being forced to hit the showers. Asked about it after the game, Watt pulled no punches in making his feelings known.

“It’s stupid,” the three-time Defensive Player of the Year said, via The Houston Chronicle. “It’s selfish. It was a stupid play. It was selfish.”

Watt wasn’t done there though, noting he’s said the same to Blacklock directly.

“I’ve spoken to Ross before,” Watt continued. “It pisses me off. It’s a very selfish move late in the game, and it’s dumb. It’s very dumb to hurt your team in that type of setting for no reason.”

Blacklock’s ejection made it that much more challenging to stop a red-hot Lamar Jackson and Co., who entered NRG Stadium as favorites to down the unsettled Texans. The reigning league MVP had his way with the Houston defense, not needing gawdy numbers to push them into the ropes early and ultimately beat them into submission. The 0-2 start is far from what Watt envisioned heading into the season and, now healthy, one of the best defensive players in NFL history knows how valuable it is to remain available for his team — having been sidelined so often in recent years with injury.

So when he drops the hammer on a rookie who took that for granted on Sunday, no one should bat an eye. And as for Blacklock’s wallet, well, the league office might make it a bit lighter this week by way of a fine, adding salt to a self-inflicted wound.

JACKSONVILLE

The Jaguars, tight losers at Tennessee, aren’t playing like they are Tanking For Trevor. Peter King on QB GARDNER MINSHEW:

Gardner might be good. Really good. Last week, on Colin Cowherd’s show, NFL Films tapemeister Greg Cosell raised some eyebrows after Gardner Minshew’s 19-of-20 opener against the Colts. ”I don’t believe the Jaguars need a quarterback. I think Gardner Minshew can play quarterback in this league and be very effective.” Cosell called Minshew “refined, accurate,” had “good feel in the pocket, and deceptive movement ability.” Some of the throws he’s made while starting with a 75.4-percent accuracy rate show great presence and touch, and he mostly knows exactly when to leave the pocket and when to hang in.

Minshew took an idiotic 20-yard sack at Tennessee on Sunday, but made two great throws downfield: He hit D.J. Chark with a 45-yard strike between two Titans defenders, then dropped a touchdown into a bucket to tight end Tyler Eifert between three Titans. Two perfect throws, against a good defense. The rest of this year is going be very interesting for a team with four picks in the first two rounds next April—and three or four bright-prospect quarterbacks in the draft.

Peter King on the Jaguars and their version of PrimeTime:

Jacksonville plays Miami on Thursday night this week. The NFL often tries to pair two underachievers (nice way of saying “bad”) on a Thursday night game—Bengals-Browns this weekend, for instance; Dolphins-Jags in Week 3—to get their lone annual prime-time game out of the way.

A couple of interesting points about the Jaguars and prime time.

They have not played a Sunday or Monday night game since a December Monday night loss to the Chargers in 2011. Last Sunday night appearance: 12 years ago.

Between 2014 and 2019, they played five times on Thursday nights—all against Tennessee.

But there will be fans in the stands!

TENNESSEE

Peter King on the strange start to 2020 for Hall of Famer in waiting PK STEPHEN GOSTKOWSKI:

Stephen Gostkowski, kicker, Tennessee. The least effective kicker in the league through two weeks has two game-winning field goals through two weeks; he’s the first kicker this century to kick game-winners in the last two minutes of the first two games. You explain it. I can’t. His 49-yard field goal with 1:41 left Sunday beat the Jags 33-30. Last Monday, his 25-yarder with 17 seconds left beat Denver 16-14. All of that, of course, happened after missing an extra point in each of the two games, and missing three field goals last week in Denver. So for a guy who’s missed five kicks in two weeks, it’s fairly amazing he’s won both of them with field goals.

AFC EAST

NEW ENGLAND

Classy Patriots RB JAMES WHITE did not play Sunday in Seattle after his parents were involved in a fatal auto accident.  CNN.com with the story, including the heartfelt tweet from Tom Brady:

Miami-Dade Police Department Captain Tyrone White was killed in an off-duty car crash on Sunday, the department announced Sunday evening.

White, who is the father of NFL running back James White of the New England Patriots, was pronounced dead on the scene. His wife Lisa, who was also in the car, and another person were airlifted to the hospital, according to the office. Lisa White remains hospitalized.

Deputies responded to the scene of a two-car crash in Cooper City, Florida, the Broward County Sheriff’s Office said, where they found one car flipped over and the other on fire. First responders provided emergency medical assistance and extinguished the vehicle fire.

Shortly before the Patriots game Sunday night, James White was listed as inactive for his team’s game against the Seattle Seahawks. Following a Patriots touchdown in the game, White’s teammate Devin McCourty ran to a camera in the end zone and yelled “2-8, we love you, bro!”

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James White’s former teammate Tom Brady was among many in the NFL community who expressed their condolences to the White family.

“So heartbroken to hear the news of the tragedy of my great friend and forever teammate @SweetFeet_White. There are few people that come into your life that do EVERYTHING the right way,” Brady said on Twitter. “James is one of them. Kind, gentle, loving, fiercely competitive and hardworking. His parents raised an amazing son. And we are all grieving with James as he is going through this difficult time. Love you my friend.”

– – –

Sometimes the gruffest of men (at least as portrayed through our media) can have the sweetest of moms.  Peter King:

I think many times we assume the male influence, particularly when the male influence is a football coach, becomes the biggest influence on a person in football. And what does it matter, really, about the respective contributions of parents Steve and Jeannette Belichick on the fate of the best coach of this era, Bill Belichick? Suffice to say they’re both very big factors in what he became. But you should not underestimate the power of Jeannette Belichick, who died last week at 98, in forming the person and coach Bill Belichick is. She was an absolute giant in his life. In 2004, to research a profile on Bill Belichick after the Patriots’ second Super Bowl victory, I went to Annapolis, Md., to see his childhood home and to talk to his parents about him. Steve, of course, was a long-time college football assistant coach and wrote the first authoritative book on scouting. Bill, a huge football nerd at a young age, used to sit silently in Navy meetings when Steve broke down the upcoming opponent for the team. Jeannette, who knew seven languages, emphasized education. To this point: Sometimes, while his mom was getting dinner ready, Bill would sit in the kitchen and read to her. She loved to read, and read the New Yorker cover to cover most weeks. She was such a sweet lady. Sympathy to the Belichick family.

I think a re-read of that 2004 SI profile on Belichick is in order. How I led my story 16 years ago:

“Would you like to see Bill’s room?”

The kindly voice belongs to Jeannette Belichick, a petite 82-year-old who is standing in the living room of her Annapolis, Md., home. Back when she taught Spanish at Hiram (Ohio) College, Jeannette spoke four languages fluently and understood seven, but now, as she says with a smile and a twinkle, “The only language I speak is football.”

It’s a short walk to the onetime bedroom of Steve and Jeannette Belichick’s only child, now 52 and coach of the two-time Super Bowl champion New England Patriots. The twin beds are made pristinely, as though awaiting military inspection. Two maritime paintings done by amateur painter Steve—hang on the walls. A high school graduation photo of Bill sits on the dresser. The bookshelf is crammed with volumes from his days at Annapolis High. A Separate Peace, by John Knowles. Future Shock, by Alvin Toffler. The Case of the Screaming Woman, a Perry Mason mystery by Erle Stanley Gardner. There’s The Gettysburg Civil War Battle Game and a signed football from the 1963 Navy team and four trophies from Bill’s childhood athletic triumphs. “That room hasn’t changed in 40 years,” Bill says, asked about it later.

The room is, to be frank, a little barren. “It’s not a big deal,” Jeannette says. “That’s the way we live.”

The contents of the room provide a window into the mind of Bill Belichick. They tell us that the hottest coach in the NFL is well-educated and uncluttered in his thinking.

THIS AND THAT

TIME SUCK

In Week 1, we only learned on Sunday, Al Riveron was not in the NFL Command Center as he recovered from COVID-19.

Things proceeded without major controversy in Week 1.

We’re not sure if he was back on Thursday night for Cincinnati at Cleveland, but Peter King was not happy with how his (and everyone else’s) time was wasted on the first play:

It’s amazing, sometimes, to think that this is the 28th season that the NFL has had some form of instant replay on the books, and there are still times the system works like it’s 1965. Replay is a great tool, when used correctly. When it isn’t, and when a totally obvious call takes two minutes and 33 seconds to adjudicate, it just sucks the air out of the game and ticks off viewers at home and needlessly motivates people to change the channel because people just can’t realize why this officiating insurance policy, can take so long.

I refer to the first snap from scrimmage of Week 2. Cincinnati at Cleveland. Bengals ball. Cincinnati receiver A.J. Green made a diving 35-yard catch near the left sideline and fell out of bounds. The side judge, 12th-year NFL official Jimmy Buchanan, right on top of the play, ruled a completed catch, with both feet in-bounds. From the moment Green hit the ground, it looked dubious that both feet were down before he went out.

I went to NFL GamePass the next day to chart this play, second by second. I started the clock when Green hit the turf.

:00 — Green fell to earth with the ball, on the wide white sideline stripe, at the Cleveland 26-yard-line.

:13 — The first slo-mo replay from FOX showed clearly that Green’s right knee and foot were in the air when his body crashed out of bounds.

:16 — Cleveland coach Kevin Stefanski threw his red flag, challenging the ruling of a completed pass with the receiver inbounds.

:26 — On FOX, Troy Aikman said: “I’m surprised the official missed that.”

:48 — The fourth completed replay on FOX ended, all of which showed clearly the right leg was not in bounds when Green hit the ground out of bounds.

:56 — Referee Shawn Smith announced to the crowd the play was under review.

1:11 — “Everyone knows this is incomplete,” Joe Buck said. Aikman chuckled derisively. Sixty-five seconds of prime-time filler followed.

2:22 — “The crowd of 6,000 is getting restless,” Buck said.

2:33 — Referee Smith announced: “Incomplete pass. It will be second down.”

I get wanting to be correct. The league can rightfully say, “We got it right, and that’s what matters.” But that’s not all that matters. This game was a 3-hour, 21-minute affair that should have been 3:19, if one simple call took seconds, instead of two-and-a-half minutes, to fix. What should happen, in cases like this, is that senior VP of officiating Al Riveron, in charge of replay review on game days, should have the power to get in the on-field ref’s ear and say, “Overturn it. Guy was clearly out of bounds.” That should happen instead of the ref, in this case Smith, going under the hood and going through the motions of fixing a call everyone knows was blown. In that case, it would have been a 35-second delay, not 2 minutes and 33 seconds. (Adam Schefter reported that Riveron was sidelined in week one because of COVID-19 but was back at work in Week 2. Riveron is a good man, and here’s hoping he’s in good health now.)

It’s not like there was another game Thursday night that was demanding the Command Center’s attention.