| We say, it’s never too early for an If The Season Ended Today: AFC W-L ConfKansas City West 4-0 3-0 Houston South 3-1 2-0 Pittsburgh North 3-1 2-1 Buffalo East 3-1 2-1NY Jets WC1 2-2 2-1Indianapolis WC2 2-2 1-1Baltimore WC3 2-2 1-2L A Chargers 2-2 1-2Denver 2-2 1-1Las Vegas 2-2 2-1 AFC W-L ConfMinnesota North 4-0 3-0Tampa Bay South 3-1 3-0Washington East 3-1 2-1Seattle West 3-1 0-1Detroit WC1 3-1 3-1Atlanta WC2 2-2 2-0Chicago WC3 2-2 1-0New Orleans 2-2 2-2Dallas 2-2 1-2Philadelphia 2-2 2-2Green Bay 2-2 0-2San Francisco 2-2 0-2 We could see the AFC ending up about where it is now, maybe Baltimore a division champ and Pittsburgh a Wild Card. The NFC is a far wilder scramble.- – -Mike Florio doesn’t think it is too early to speculate on NFL MVP: We try to avoid talking about MVP candidates until at least four games have been played. After Week 4, it’s open season on MVP chatter. At the major sportsbooks, Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes is the favorite — with only six touchdown passes and five interceptions and a passer rating below 90. Bills quarterback Josh Allen, Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson, and Texans quarterback C.J. Stroud are among the other favorites. Then there’s Vikings quarterback Sam Darnold, 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy, Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow, Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels, Lions quarterback Jared Goff, and Buccaneers quarterback Baker Mayfield. Those names all make sense. The MVP has become a quarterback award, with the quarterbacks of the two teams that finish with the top seeds in the AFC and NFC the most likely winners. For anyone else to do it, something historic or close to it needs to happen. So for those who choose to peel off some of their disposable, discretionary income to make a responsible futures bet on MVP, they’re essentially betting that the player’s team will be the No. 1 seed, and that he’ll then get more votes than the quarterback of the other No. 1 seed. Burrow? He and the Bengals would seem to have a long way to go. – – -If the NFL gets its 18-game, 20-week schedule, The Commish plans on having each NFL team play an international game every year. Michael Baca of NFL.com: The NFL returns to London this Sunday for a scintillating Week 5 matchup between the undefeated Minnesota Vikings and the Aaron Rodgers-led New York Jets on NFL Network and NFL+. It kicks off a four-game slate that will take place in Europe in 2024. The league’s 2024 International Games began in Week 1 with the first-ever regular-season game in South America, when the Philadelphia Eagles topped the Green Bay Packers in São Paulo, Brazil in a high-scoring thriller. NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell joined the Good Morning Football crew on set on Tuesday to discuss the 17th season in which the league plays internationally, and how much growth he’s seen since the idea of going abroad was first discussed. “My perspective goes back to the ’90s,” Goodell said. “We went to Japan, we went to Berlin — what you saw were fans that didn’t really understand the game. Now, you go over to London and you have a hard time telling whether you’re in London or whether you’re in the Meadowlands. The fans there are sophisticated; they understand the game, they appreciate the game. And for me, that’s what I think gives us so much confidence that our game can be a global game.” The NFL has come a long from showcasing exhibition games as early as 1986. Since beginning the International Games in 2007, the NFL has reached four different countries, including the United Kingdom, Germany, Mexico and Brazil. Following his trip to São Paulo in September, Goodell is confident that not only will the NFL return to Brazil but foresees the number of international games expanding greatly in the coming years. “When we were down in Brazil a few weeks ago, it was the same thing,” he said. “A lot of enthusiasm, excitement over the game, and I believe great potential. So, we’ll be back there, I’m sure. We’re going to continue to grow. I think we’ll und up going to 16 (international) games at some point in time. The owners have already authorized us in going to eight, but I’m confident, particularly if we can do the restructuring of the season, that we would get to 16 at some point.” The DB would like to see something like 12 International games (counting Canada) and 4 neutral site US games – such as Steelers-Eagles at State College, or Broncos-Seahawks in Salt Lake. |
| NFC NORTH |
| DETROITCoach Dan Campbell did not realize that the ball did not touch the ground when QB JARED GOFF threw the ball Sunday night. Eric Woodyard of ESPN.com is among those calling Goff’s game “perfect” even though the NFL rating system does not agree: A part of Dan Campbell felt remorseful Monday night — after he didn’t save a piece of NFL history. His quarterback, Jared Goff, threw a perfect game, setting an NFL record by completing all 18 of his passes to help the Detroit Lions defeat the Seattle Seahawks 42-29 for the first time since 2012. By the time Campbell realized the significance of Goff’s all-time efficient performance, it was too late — he had already rewarded wide receiver Jameson Williams and safety Kerby Joseph with game balls in the locker room. “I just gave the game ball to somebody else, so I feel awful,” Campbell said. “I knew he played a heck of a game. I did not realize he was perfect. I did not know he was literally 18-for-18, but I knew he played really well. You could feel it. He really found his rhythm early.” Kurt Warner held the previous NFL record for passes without an incompletion, going 10-for-10 for Arizona against Houston in 2005. Goff couldn’t recall another time at any level of his football career that he finished a game with perfect passing. “Never. I don’t think I’ve ever done it. I knew I did it in the first half last week, so I was aware of it then,” said Goff, who threw for 292 yards and two touchdowns. “And I was kind of aware of it today, about the middle of the third quarter. I was like, ‘I couldn’t think of one,’ but then I threw the one out of bounds that ended up being offensive pass interference and I was like, ‘Does that count?’ I didn’t know if that counted or not. But yeah, it’s a good day.” It was a special day all-around for Goff. During the third quarter, he caught the first receiving touchdown of his career on a short pass from Amon-Ra St. Brown, something Goff said had also never happened since he started playing football at 7 years old. That play helped the Lions become the first team with a 100% completion percentage in a game while having multiple players throw a pass since at least 1933, per ESPN Research. Goff and St. Brown said the play was nicknamed “Alcatraz,” by offensive coordinator Ben Johnson, and the duo was happy to execute it on the prime-time stage after practicing it on several different occasions but never finding a game situation to pull it off. “It wasn’t too hard of a route. It was like a little wheel route, late leak. For that route, I’ll give him a 7 out of 10,” said St. Brown, who caught six passes for 45 yards and a touchdown. “It wasn’t too hard to deal.” Pro Bowl center Frank Ragnow was ruled out because of a partially torn pectoral muscle, but Detroit’s offensive line stepped up with veteran lineman Graham Glasgow shifting over to center and Kayode Awosika starting at left guard. Goff benefitted from time and space inside the pocket, where he went 14-for-14 for 270 yards and both of his touchdown passes. His receivers also found space, and he was able to complete eight wide-open passes with 5 or more yards of separation, according to NFL Next Gen Stats. One of those resulted in a 70-yard touchdown to Williams at 2:52 in third quarter that gave Detroit a 35-20 edge. As Troy Aikman wondered going off the air Monday Night, why is 18-18, 292 yards, 2 TDs, 0 TDs NOT a Perfect Game as the NFL defines it through its 51-year-old passer rating system? As Jeremy Reisman of PrideOfDetroit.com explains Goff lacked a TD pass to be considered “perfect.” When it comes to quarterback performances, it doesn’t get much better than what Detroit Lions quarterback Jared Goff did to the Seattle Seahawks. Goff finished the game going 18-of-18 for 292 yards, two touchdowns, and obviously zero interceptions. He even added a 7-yard touchdown grab. Goff’s night set an NFL record for most passes in an entire game without an incompletion. “I don’t think I’ve ever done it,” Goff said of his incomplete-less night. “I knew I did it in the first half last week, so I was aware of it then, and I was kind of aware of it today – middle of the third quarter, I was like, I couldn’t think of one.” Yet despite not throwing a single incompletion, Goff didn’t finish with a perfect passer rating. His 155.8 rating was just short of the “perfect” 158.3 rating. How in the world is an 18-of-18 performance with nearly 300 yards and two touchdowns not a perfect performance? Does it have to do with the sacks he took? The late safety he surrendered? The incomplete pass he threw that was nullified by an offensive penalty? The answer is none of that. The answer is that passer rating is an extremely flawed statistic that requires four components for a perfect rating, and Goff only had three of them. To have a perfect passer rating, a quarterback needs to (with a minimum 10 passes): Have a minimum completion percentage of 77.5%Average at least 12.5 yards per attemptHave zero interceptionsAnd have a touchdown percentage of at least 11.875% Goff obviously met the completion percentage threshold with 100% completion percentage. He averaged a whopping 16.2 yards per attempt. He didn’t throw an interception. However, his two touchdown passes out of 18 passing attempts produced a TD percentage of 11.1%, less than a single percent away from the “perfect” threshold. The obvious flaw in this formula is that Goff surpassed the other thresholds handily. If he had thrown one incompletion and gone 17-of-18, he still would have met the completion percentage threshold and his passer rating wouldn’t have changed. He also doesn’t get any additional bonuses for averaging nearly four yards more per attempt than the “perfect” threshold. In other words, passer rating is a weird, somewhat arbitrary statistic that does not truly capture “perfection” with a perfect passer rating. In fairness to the system, prior to 1973 there was always a discussion of who should be considered the passing “champ” – the guy with the most TD passes, or the guy with the most yards or the guy with the highest completion percentage? Let’s take 1975 as an example – Ken Anderson led in passing yards, Joe Ferguson and Fran Tarkenton tied with 25 passing TDs, Len Dawson completed 66% of his passes. All four could claim to be the “passing champion” – and what about the variables in crippling INTs? So the system, painfully crafted by hand with only the help of primitive calculators, created a booklet with four sizeable charts to figure each of the four components and one superior passer was determined. By the standards of the day, 90 or so was excellent although today it is pedestrian (largely because interceptions are significantly fewer in this century). In 1975, Anderson at 93.9 was calculated to be the passing champ, just ahead of Tarkenton’s 91.8. Now, to Monday night – The flaw that got Goff is that at the extreme edge of performance, the original system reached a limit beyond which a Max number was frozen, that to go further towards infinity would be so rare (in a season) that it couldn’t be achieved. As a season-long component, with say 500 passes, this works. To achieve “perfection” in touchdown passes on 500 passes a QB would have to throw 59 TD passes. This at a time when 30 TD passes in a season was outstanding. Even today, on a season basis (min 400 passes), no QB has ever reached the “perfection” of 11,875% TD passes. Heck, no one has reached 10% Peyton Manning, 2004 9.9% 49 TD passes in 497 attemptsAaron Rodgers, 2020 9.1% 48 in 526Lamar Jackson, 2019 9.0% 36 in 401 Aaron Rodgers, 2011 9.0% 46 in 502 The DB would contend that over the course of many games – a career of 300 games, a season of 17 games, even a significant string of games – the NFL’s passer rating system is a good amalgamation of the how to balance consistent short accuracy with big-play explosiveness – how to compare a 50% passer on a heavy workload of 40 passes in a game with 400 yards, 4 TDs and 2 INTs with a 75% passer and 20 passes with 250 yards, 2 TDs and 0 INTs. But in the shorter sample size of a single game, it can get a bit wonky, mainly because of the wider importance of TD passes (and INTs). No matter how effective, a passer needs a significant number of TD passes for a good game score. And any interception is crippling. Now, turning to the unfairness of Goff and Monday night. If Goff, had thrown FIVE more passes – and only one was complete, but it was a 7-yard TD pass (instead of his 7-yard TD catch) – he would have been 19-23, 299 yards, 3 TDs, 0 INTs. And the passing rating calculator says – PERFECTION! Pass Attempts23Pass Completions19Pass Yards299Touchdowns3Interceptions0Passer Rating158.33 |
| MINNESOTAAlec Lewis of The Athletic comes up with some reasons why the 4-0 Vikings start is “not sustainable.” Late Sunday night, after the day’s NFL slate had concluded, one television network was showing game highlights. It was the usual whip-around with upbeat music in the background. An impressive 60-yard throw here, a wild interception there. Eventually, the Minnesota Vikings received their due. Justin Jefferson’s stupendous catches were lauded. The Green Bay Packers’ tidal wave of momentum made for a fun finish. Once it was all rehashed, one of the commentators asked, “Is the Vikings’ 4-0 start sustainable?” It’s a common question on many of the popular NFL podcasts, and it’s a question that encourages offshoots. Can quarterback Sam Darnold continue his stellar play? Will defensive coordinator Brian Flores’ system be figured out? These conversation points all seem sensible given how different the team’s results have been compared to the external expectations this preseason. How else would we, as humans, deal with the unexpected? Well, we’d try to figure out why we didn’t expect it in the first place. There are a few obvious contributing factors here. First, the Vikings’ offseason additions were mostly unheralded names. Jonathan Greenard, Andrew Van Ginkel, Blake Cashman, Aaron Jones, Shaq Griffin and Stephon Gilmore had all been productive NFL players, but none of them signed top-of-the-market contracts. Darnold, too, had spurts of NFL success, but they were few and fleeting. The offensive line was deemed good, not great. Depth on the defensive side was questioned. The rest of the NFC North seemed to be on the rise, and here was this Vikings team, absorbing dead cap money, moving off an experienced quarterback in Kirk Cousins and gearing up for a transitional year until first-round pick J.J. McCarthy grabbed the reins. You could poke countless holes then, and still could now, especially after the Packers’ scare Sunday. In the second half, Darnold threw an interception and lost a fumble. The Vikings struggled in short-yardage situations. Flores’ defense lost its bite as the Packers posted chunk plays through the air. For the first time in 2024, these Vikings did not seem bulletproof. Kevin O’Connell became the Vikings’ head coach in 2022, and since then, Minnesota is 21-0 in games when it has broken even or won the turnover margin. This offseason, the Vikings’ offensive coaches and players made ball security a priority. Defenders did not talk about it as much, but Flores and the coaching staff entered the season with one goal: be all about the ball. The Vikings have deflected 32 passes in four games, seven more than any other team. Of those numbers, the only eye-opener is the Vikings’ standing in allowing explosive plays. Last year, the Vikings ranked second in the NFL in this category. Preventing passing game chunks and lengthy runs resides at the core of Flores’ philosophy, so what’s happening? The competition deserves some credit. Green Bay ranks first in explosive play rate. Houston is fourth. San Francisco is 15th, but the 49ers do lead the NFL in plays of 10 yards or more. The other aspect of the Vikings’ ranking returns us to Sunday’s game. Minnesota allowed 12 plays of 10 yards or more in the second half against Green Bay. No NFL team tallied more in the second half in Week 4. “What we’ve done great all year,” Cashman said Sunday, “was our (pass) rush and coverage have matched up. Green Bay did a good job of slowing our rush down and keeping plays alive, which allowed them to get a lot of chunk plays.” No postgame comment hit more at the heart of what is essential for Flores’ defense to continue suffocating offenses. In the first three games, the Vikings pressured the opposing quarterback on nearly 45 percent of snaps when rushing four. Minnesota’s pressure rate dipped by more than 10 percent in that same situation Sunday. The decisiveness and downfield vision of quarterback Jordan Love contributed to the Packers’ chunk plays, but tempo was also an important element of their success against the Vikings. Green Bay deployed five no-huddle snaps from Weeks 1 to 3 — then did it 19 times on Sunday. Several times, the Vikings’ typical third-down pass-rush package remained on the field on rushing downs, so it’s also possible the Packers’ pace affected the Vikings’ pass rush. “I think (the Packers) went into the game with a good game plan trying to trap us in different personnels,” Vikings linebacker Kamu Grugier-Hill said. “In that second half, I think, yeah, maybe we got a little tired. Things were going fast.” The Vikings had potential counters available in the form of bringing more pass rushers or playing more drop-eight coverages, as Flores began to do down the stretch. Notably, cornerback Byron Murphy Jr. snatched an interception on a 50-50 ball that Love lobbed up with safety Harrison Smith screaming toward him off the edge. It is also worth mentioning the Packers rank No. 1 in the NFL in pass-blocking grade, according to Pro Football Focus, which also played a role in the Vikings’ pass-rush struggles. Offensively, the sustainability question revolves around Darnold’s historical tendency to turn the ball over. His turnover-worthy play rate through four games is 3.8 percent, just a smidge beneath his career average of 4.1 percent. Comparisons are fraught with issues, but most high-level NFL starting quarterbacks have career averages in the range of 3.2 to 3.8 percent. Two of Darnold’s interceptions, O’Connell said Monday, were direct results of poor play calls. O’Connell was referencing Fred Warner’s interception for the 49ers and Xavier McKinney’s pick Sunday. Darnold’s fumble, meanwhile, occurred on a creative cornerback blitz on second down. Trouble in short-yardage situations also affected drives Sunday, and in general, the Vikings were stifled when attempting to run between the tackles. This was partially a byproduct of the Packers applying more defenders up front on early downs to stop the Minnesota rushing attack. Green Bay utilized an eight-man box once in the first half and five times in the second half. That explains why Minnesota adjusted and passed more down the stretch even though they were winning and wanted to kill the clock. All of these issues — opposing tempo, the less effective pass rush, Darnold’s turnovers and short-yardage inconsistency — are relevant in the overall evaluation. So is the fact that the Vikings have not played from behind, a point legendary coach Bill Belichick made in one of his media appearances last week. These potential cracks in the foundation, though, feel much less worrisome than major personnel or coaching holes. And that reality may answer the sustainability question better than anything else. The DB would ask – what is sustainable? We don’t think anyone expects 17-0? But 13-4 would be a great season for Minnesota and would require 9-4 the rest of the way. Here are the remaining 13 games with a brutal finish (we went with Green for favored, Black for close favorite, Red for tough): Oct. 6 NY Jets (London)Oct. 13 BYEOct. 20 Detroit Oct. 24 at LA Rams Nov. 3 IndianapolisNov. 10 at Jacksonville Nov. 17 at Tennessee Nov. 24 at Chicago Dec. 1 Arizona Dec. 8 AtlantaDec. 16 Chicago Dec. 22 at Seattle Dec. 29 Green Bay PackersJan. 5 at Detroit So, if the Vikings win the 3 Green games – 7-0Go 4-2 in the 6 Black games – 11-2And 2-2 in the 4 Red games – 13-4 Doable? |
| NFC EAST |
| WASHINGTONCharles McDonald of YahooSports.com makes the case that the Commanders, now 3-1, will still be above water come December: Every NFL season has its fair share of surprises where teams overperform or underperform based on the preconceptions that people had for them coming into the year. Through the quarter mark of the season, there hasn’t been a team that has exceeded initial expectations more than the Washington Commanders, who sit at 3-1 and currently hold a one-game lead for first place in the NFC East. That is incredible, considering they were coming off a season where they were bad enough to need a new coaching staff and quarterback. A week after they scored 38 points against the Bengals, the Commanders went to Arizona and absolutely lit up the Cardinals en route to a 42-14 beatdown on the road. This is the most impressive performance of any team in the early portion of the season. Jayden Daniels has taken a strong command on the Rookie of the Year race, completing 47 of his past 53 passing attempts over the past two weeks. This stretch has shown just about everyone why the Commanders felt comfortable making him the second pick in the draft and immediately making him the fresh new face of the franchise in the post-Dan Snyder era. He has comfortably been the most productive rookie quarterback in the league and his start has allowed the Commanders to perform like one of the best offenses in the league — which is genuinely a surprise! There was reason to be skeptical that this level of production was possible this early into the regime. The offensive line was shaky last year, offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury ran an incredibly plain scheme toward the end of his Cardinals tenure, and rookie quarterbacks tend to struggle in general. None of that has stopped the Commanders up to this point in the season, particularly over the past two weeks. They’ve combined for 80 points in those games and are first in success rate (57.9%) in that timespan according to data collected from rbsdm.com. Daniels has meshed perfectly with a rejuvenated Kingsbury, who spent time coaching at USC last year after some time away from football following his exit from Arizona and has gradually built Daniels into the offense instead of throwing everything at him at once. One of the coolest parts of Daniels’ game right now is how confident he is and how decisive he is throwing the ball. He hasn’t been making a whole lot of mistakes from holding onto the ball too long, and he’s gotten better at working under pressure from defensive lines, which was a concern for talent evaluators and scouts coming into the draft. After taking seven sacks the first two weeks, Daniels has been sacked only twice during the Commanders’ offensive explosion and wasn’t sacked at all in their game against Arizona. One of the biggest reasons why teams with rookie quarterbacks usually struggle is an abundance of negative plays. That hasn’t been a problem for Daniels yet. Every game likely won’t feature an 80% completion percentage as the Commanders play tougher defenses than the Bengals and Cardinals moving forward, but there’s no reason to not believe in this start from Daniels — he’s been getting better every single week and has raised the ceiling and floor of the Commanders’ offense. It’s impossible to say what’s next for this team because no one expected it to be in this position in the first place. The defense is still a concern, but the NFC East doesn’t appear to have any dominant teams with the Eagles (2-2) and Cowboys (2-2) floundering and the Giants (1-3) being the Giants. Why not the Commanders? They at the very least appear to have an offense, and a quarterback, to give them a fighting chance to win the division. That’s a massive win compared to where they were a few months ago. Can the 3-1 Commanders get to say 10-7? Let’s look at their schedule as we did Minnesota’s with Red, Black and Green games: Oct. 6 Cleveland Oct. 13 at Baltimore Oct. 20 Carolina Oct. 27 Chicago Nov. 3 at NY GiantsNov. 10 Pittsburgh Nov. 14 at PhiladelphiaNov. 24 Dallas Dec. 1 Tennessee Dec. 8 – – – byeDec. 15 at New OrleansDec. 22 Philadelphia Dec. 29 Atlanta Jan. 5 at Dallas This is kind of tricky – are the Eagles really worth a red? But maybe the Falcons are. We made the Giants a green, but Washington just recently beat them by only 3 points at the gun. Still – let’s give them 3-1 in the Green games for 6-2How about 2-2 in the Black games for 8-4And 2-3 in the Red games – 10-7 (or if 1-4, that would be 9-8) |
| NFC WEST |
| SAN FRANCISCOA 49ers injury update from Nick Wagoner of ESPN.com with good news for LB FRED WARNER, progress for WR RICKY PEARSALL and a clarification (at the bottom) on how many of RB CHRISTIAN McCAFFREY’s legs have Achilles tendonitis: The San Francisco 49ers departed their win against the New England Patriots with a lengthy injury list headlined by an ankle issue for Fred Warner. But coach Kyle Shanahan said Monday that none of those injuries is considered significant enough to keep anyone out for the long term. That, most notably, includes Warner, the star linebacker who will be day to day this week after missing the second half Sunday. Warner had additional imaging done on the ankle Monday morning, and the results alleviated any fears the Niners had about it Sunday night. “We definitely feel better when it says day to day,” Shanahan said. “When it says high ankle sprain or anything like that you know that’s always some time. I know he’s hurting today but just from the reports and everything, when it says day to day that gives him a chance to heal up this week.” Warner injured the ankle just before halftime against the Patriots after playing 27 snaps and making seven tackles to go with an interception return for a touchdown. He was seen on the sideline in a helmet and testing the ankle to open the third quarter but did not return. After the game, Warner didn’t seem overly concerned that the injury was too serious. “It was all based off of feel,” Warner said. “Like I said, it’d take a lot for me to tap out, so I mean if I could have been out there, I would’ve been. We’ll get more information as we go with scans and all that, but I feel good right now.” Warner isn’t the only Niner who will be considered day to day this week. In fact, every player who was listed on the injury report after the game has that same designation. That group includes fullback Kyle Juszczyk (shoulder), tight end George Kittle (ribs), defensive tackle Jordan Elliott (knee), receiver Jacob Cowing (shoulder) and receiver Chris Conley (oblique). The 49ers could also be getting some reinforcements from injured reserve this week. Receiver Ricky Pearsall was placed on injured reserve after suffering a gunshot wound in an attempted robbery on Aug. 31 in San Francisco. Pearsall has now missed the required four games that go with being on injured reserve and is eligible to have his practice window opened. Shanahan said a decision on that will be made in the next couple of days. Defensive tackle Kalia Davis is also eligible to return to practice, something Shanahan said is in the works. “There’s a good chance we open his window this week,” Shanahan said. “I’d be surprised if it’s not open for Wednesday’s practice.” Shanahan also confirmed what general manager John Lynch told KNBR radio in San Francisco on Friday, which is that running back Christian McCaffrey has been dealing with tendonitis in both Achilles, though one has been more problematic than the other. McCaffrey remains on injured reserve, though Shanahan said Friday that he will begin ramping up his rehab this week. “He’s had it in both,” Shanahan said. “I think it started in one, you overcompensate, it went to the other. Mainly one of them has just been bothering him, but he’s had it in both.” |
| SEATTLEMichael David Smith of ProFootballTalk.com on some honor for the Seahawks in defeat: The Seahawks lost on Monday night, but their offense played an extraordinary game. Seattle gained 38 first downs, the most in any NFL game in more than 10 years and the most in NFL history for a losing team. Seahawks quarterback Geno Smith was excellent, picking up 22 passing first downs. The Seahawks also got 10 first downs running, and six from penalties committed by a Lions defense that was playing very physical coverage with DK Metcalf and the Seahawks’ other receivers — sometimes too physical. Detroit has to be pleased with its 3-1 record, but the performance by its defense on Monday night was a concern. On top of allowing 38 first downs, the Lions allowed the Seahawks’ offense to gain 516 yards, the most in any game so far this season. The Lions won because their own offense made NFL history, because they won the turnover battle 2-0, and because the Seahawks lost five points between a missed field goal and a bad call on a two-point conversion. But the Lions’ defense needs to play a lot better. Here are the four games between the Seahawks and Lions in the Dan Campbell Era: 2021 – Seahawks, 51-292022 – Seahawks, 48-452023 – Seahawks, 37-31 (OT)2024 – Lions, 42-29 Average score – 45-34 Losers all with 29+ points. Love to see this again in the playoffs.The Seahawks want to find out if T JASON PETERS has anything left in the tank per Myles Simmons of ProFootballTalk.com: Jason Peters isn’t done yet. Per Tom Pelissero of NFL Media, Peters is signing with the Seahawks practice squad. The 42-year-old offensive lineman appeared in eight games with two starts for the Seahawks last season. He was on the field for 217 offensive snaps. Peters started his career way back in 2004 as an undrafted free agent with the Bills. He then spent 11 seasons with Philadelphia, winning Super Bowl LII with the club. Since his last season with the Eagles in 2020, he’s played for the Bears, Cowboys, and Seahawks. |
| AFC WEST |
| LAS VEGASThe Raiders may indeed be gauging the market for WR DAVANTE ADAMS. This tweet from Vinny Bonsignore of the Las Vegas Review-Journal: @VinnyBonsignoreMore on this to come: A league source with knowledge of the situation confirmed that the @Raiders are growing open to the idea of trading Davante Adams. The source said the club has begun reaching out to teams to gauge interest in the veteran wide receiver. This is what Adams had to say, per ESPN: Davante Adams said he hasn’t spoken with Antonio Pierce since a social media account associated with the Las Vegas Raiders coach liked a post wondering whether the star wide receiver had played his last down with the team. Adams, appearing Tuesday on the “Up & Adams Show with Kay Adams,” was asked about the verified account linked to Pierce liking the Instagram post from Sports Illustrated. The Pierce account’s like has since been removed from the SI post. “I haven’t heard from him. I haven’t talked to him,” Davante Adams said when asked if he’s heard from Pierce. “… Social media is a beast so it’s a lot of people out there that saw it and wondering what’s going on and reaching out.” Told by Kay Adams that a lot of people think he has played his last down with the Raiders, Davante Adams said, “All I can control is this talk we’re having right here and after we’re done with this all I can control is the next thing that I’m on to.” Adams missed the Raiders’ Week 4 victory over the Cleveland Browns with a hamstring injury he suffered Thursday in practice. The injury is expected to sideline him on a week-to-week basis, league sources told ESPN’s Adam Schefter over the weekend. |
| LOS ANGELES CHARGERSAre Jim Harbaugh and OC Greg Roman stifling QB JUSTIN HERBERT? Jeff Howe of The Athletic: Justin Herbert has opened the season with four consecutive games with fewer than 200 passing yards. Before the season, he’d never even gone back-to-back games with that little production, and he only had seven total games with fewer than 200 yards through the air. Herbert has played efficiently with a 96.3 passer rating and a single interception while adjusting to an overhaul at the skill positions and playing through a high ankle sprain. League evaluators believed before the season that he’d operate a more conservative offense under new head coach Jim Harbaugh, so it’s not a major cause for concern, but it would be nice to see the Los Angeles Chargers open it up a bit more when he’s healthier. Another hurdle: Herbert has been sacked six times — the 6.19 percent sack rate would be the highest of his career if it doesn’t improve. With Herbert’s injuries seeming to mount each season, the protection issues are certainly a concern. It’s still too early to know who the Chargers really are as they enter their bye week, partly because they’re deploying Herbert in a different manner. They’ve beaten the Las Vegas Raiders and Carolina Panthers but lost to the Pittsburgh Steelers and Chiefs. There’s not a lot of middle ground with those opponents. They’ve played very good defense in all four outings and ran the ball extremely well in their two victories. Harbaugh is likely still trying to figure out what he’s got for a team before unleashing Herbert — to an extent, anyway — but their ceiling hinges on their star quarterback’s ability to go throw for throw with his top-tier counterparts. |
| AFC NORTH |
| PITTSBURGHCoach Mike Tomlin says its more QB JUSTIN FIELDS this week, but won’t call him “the starter.” Bryan DeArdo of CBSSports.com: As he has in recent weeks, Mike Tomlin is once again operating under the assumption that Justin Fields will start at quarterback for Sunday night’s game against the Dallas Cowboys. Tomlin did acknowledge, however, that Russell Wilson’s workload will ramp up this week as he continues to work his way back from a calf injury. Wilson has yet to play this season after aggravating his calf at the start of the regular season. With Wilson out, Fields has led the Steelers to a 3-1 start. In a losing effort against the Colts this past Sunday, Fields made history by becoming the first player in franchise history to throw for 300 yards, run for 50 yards and run for two touchdowns in a game. “He’ll have another strong work day today,” Tomlin said of Wilson during his weekly press conference. “We’ll see how he feels in the morning, and we’ll let that be our guide in terms of his participation. But it seems like he’s in a place where his participation is going to pick up some in terms of a practice. “We won’t draw too many conclusions, but we’ll just start that process, and we’ll comb through that day by day, evaluate his ability to move and function and protect himself, and obviously, evaluate his level of productivity. And we’ll let that be our guide in terms of whether we get into serious consideration as we push forward toward game time this week.” Tomlin acknowledged that the Steelers may get to a point where Wilson’s availability will be a moot point regarding who will start at quarterback. Tomlin said that he isn’t there yet, though. |
| AFC EAST |
| MIAMICoach Mike McDaniel fumes that change is coming after an inept performance against Tennessee. Marcel Louis-Jacques of ESPN.com: After his team’s 31-12 loss Monday night to the Tennessee Titans, “everything is on the table” for Miami Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel, who forecast changes to the NFL’s worst scoring offense through four games. The Dolphins scored a touchdown late in the fourth quarter Monday to snap a 10-quarter drought without one, and they are averaging just 11.3 points per game. Their 1-3 start is their worst under Mike McDaniel, who said the team was “not even close to good enough.” “I have to look at the tape. There was a tremendous disconnect between preparation and execution,” McDaniel said. “So, there was a multitude of contributors to it, I believe, but I have to check the tape out. Bottom line is it doesn’t matter what we’re doing behind the scenes. On the field, that’s not even close to good enough, so you just have to go back to the drawing board and assess very critically.” Miami finished with just 184 total yards against the Titans, 85 of which came on its lone touchdown drive of the night. It converted on just 2 of 12 third-down attempts, dropping it to 3-of-24 over its past two games. The Dolphins also committed 10 penalties, giving them 21 over the past two weeks. Starting in place of the injured Skylar Thompson and Tua Tagovailoa, quarterback Tyler Huntley completed 14 of 22 passes for 96 yards. It was Huntley’s first start since signing with the team in Week 3, and several miscues with star wide receiver Tyreek Hill marred the signal-caller’s performance. |
| THIS AND THAT |
| BRANDON McMANUS UPDATEThe lawsuit has been thrown out (for now) and the NFL won’t discipline PK BRANDON McMANUS. But he’s still without work. Michael DiRocco of ESPN.com with the latest, including the names of those filing the complaints and the contention of the attorney for McManus that the flight attendants’ past behaviors mitigate against victimhood. The NFL’s investigation into allegations that former Jacksonville Jaguars kicker Brandon McManus sexually assaulted two women on the team’s overseas flight to London in 2023 found there was insufficient evidence that McManus violated the league’s personal conduct policy. The investigation — which included interviews with 30 people — concluded last Friday and the NFL believes the case is closed from any potential discipline,” league spokesperson Brian McCarthy said in a statement. “There was insufficient evidence to support a finding that a violation of the personal conduct policy occurred. As always, if new evidence is presented it would be taken into consideration.” However, Tony Buzbee, the attorney representing the two women, said he was confused about the NFL’s conclusion. “We are still working to schedule a meeting between the NFL’s investigators and our clients,” Buzbee said in a statement to ESPN. “The NFL hasn’t yet spoken with our clients so I’m a bit confused as to why anyone could conclude that at this point.” Daisy Torres and Nicole Anderson, who were working as flight attendants on the chartered airline the Jaguars used for their trip to London last September, filed a lawsuit on May 28 accusing McManus of sexually assaulting them on the trip. The two women did not initially use their names — they were referred to as Jane Doe I and Jane Doe II — and a Duval County Circuit Civil Court judge in Florida dismissed the lawsuit Sept. 3 by ruling that, per Florida law, the use of pseudonyms did not meet the “exceptional case” criteria required to warrant anonymity. Torres and Anderson refiled their lawsuit on Sept. 6 with their names. The lawsuit accuses McManus of getting drunk and grinding against them multiple times and of trying to kiss Torres. It also accused the Jaguars of failing to supervise McManus, failing to create a safe environment for staff serving the team, ignoring NFL rules regarding alcohol and drugs on team flights, and telling the flight attendants to ignore FAA rules. Torres and Anderson are seeking more than $1 million and demanding a jury trial. On Sept. 5, Gallaway filed a request for admissions, which asks the other party to either deny or admit to certain actions, statements or documents. In that filing, Gallaway claims the women made sexually explicit social media posts, used a racial slur, had previous sexual relationships with NFL players while working, had an addiction to drugs and drank on the job, among other things. |
| BROADCAST NEWSBengals at Giants will not be flexed out of Sunday Night Football in Week 6. The DB hears that CBS had alertly protected Commanders at Ravens in the early slot and that none of the other options (such as Bucs at Saints) were chosen to be flexed. |
