1  Philadelphia        East       6-1                   4-0

2  Detroit                 North     5-2                   4-1

3  San Francisco    West      5-2                   4-1

  4  Atlanta                South     4-3                  3-2

5  Seattle                WC1      4-2                   4-1

6  Dallas                 WC2      4-2                   1-2

  7  Tampa Bay         WC3      3-3                   3-3

8  Minnesota                         3-4                  3-2

9  LA Rams                           3-4                   2-2

10 Washington                       3-4                   2-3

11 New Orleans                      3-4                   1-2

The Vikings, dead in the water two weeks ago at 1-4, are now just a half game out of the playoffs.

CHICAGO

QB JUSTIN FIELDS is doubtful for Monday against the Chargers, but apparently even if he rallies, the Bears will ride QB TYSON BAGENT. The AP:

Rookie Tyson Bagent helped lead the Chicago Bears to their first home win in more than a year with quarterback Justin Fields sidelined.

It looks as though he will get another chance to start this week.

Bagent is in line to be behind center again with Fields doubtful to play and likely missing his second consecutive game because of a dislocated right thumb, coach Matt Eberflus said Monday.

Bagent delivered a steady performance in a 30-12 victory over Las Vegas on Sunday. Undrafted after a record-setting career at Division II Shepherd University in West Virginia, he led three touchdown drives in his first start and the Bears (2-5) won for the second time in three games after losing 14 in a row.

“He understands the play design,” Eberflus said. “He understands where it’s supposed to go, and he gets rid of it in a timely fashion.”

GREEN BAY

It’s not a good sign when the Packers coach has to say his confidence in his quarterback is “not wavering.”  Rob Demovsky of ESPN.com:

The Green Bay Packers’ belief in Jordan Love remains high, but so does their injury count.

Those were the takeaways from Lambeau Field on Monday, one day after a third straight loss that saw Love and the offense struggle while players dropped out at an alarming pace on Sunday at Denver.

The Packers (2-4) were shut out in the first half of the 19-17 loss to the Broncos and have been outscored 63-6 in the first halves of their past four games. In the only victory in that stretch, the Packers came back from a 17-0 deficit to beat the Saints in Week 3.

In the first year of the post-Aaron Rodgers era, Love started fast with seven touchdowns and one interception on the way to a 2-1 start. But in the three straight losses, Love has just three touchdowns and six interceptions.

Still, the Packers had a chance to take the lead over the Broncos on their final possession, but Broncos safety P.J. Locke picked off a deep shot on third-and-20 with 1:40 to go. By then, Love was without receiver Christian Watson, who left on that series with a knee injury, and tight end Luke Musgrave, who left earlier with an ankle injury. The Packers’ offensive line also has been banged up, with left tackle David Bakhtiari lost for the season and left guard Elgton Jenkins battling knee problems.

All of that has made Love’s first season as a starter, after the 2020 first-round pick sat behind Rodgers for three years, a challenge

“It all works in unison, so the better everybody is around him, the better he’s going to look,” Packers coach Matt LaFleur said on Monday.

“Our confidence in him is not wavering one bit. Certainly as the playcaller you put a lot of onus on yourself when things aren’t going well, and we’ll continue to do that, but we’ve got to find a way to generate more points because when you’re generating points, it’s just a totally different narrative.”

It looks like Love might have Watson this week when the Packers try to rebound against the Minnesota Vikings. He said Monday that tests on his knee came back clean.

“I’m just trying to get the initial pain and stuff out of there, and I think I’ll be good to go,” Watson said. Musgrave’s status remains unclear. LaFleur did not offer any injury updates on Monday other than to say some of the injured players were still being evaluated.

The Packers lost three defensive players against the Broncos, and at least one of them will have long-term implications. Safety Darnell Savage aggravated a calf injury that he first sustained in the Oct. 9 loss at the Raiders. He left in the second quarter, and a source told ESPN that he will miss multiple weeks and could wind up on injured reserve, which would keep him out of four games minimum.

The Packers also lost defensive tackle Devonte Wyatt (knee) and cornerback Eric Stokes (hamstring) against Denver. Stokes got hurt on a special teams play. It was his first action since last November, when he sustained a foot injury. The Packers were already without cornerback Jaire Alexander (who missed his third game because of a back injury) and linebacker De’Vondre Campbell (who missed the past three games because of an ankle injury).

MINNESOTA

Nick Shook of NFL.com demands respect for QB KIRK COUSINS after Monday night’s win:

Give Kirk Cousins his flowers. Cousins has been (often unfairly) maligned as a quarterback who is good enough to give his team a chance to win, but has never been a guy who can go win them a key game. Consider that opinion indefinitely suspended after Monday night. Cousins was fantastic, finishing with a stellar line of 35 of 45, 378 yards, two touchdowns and one interception that was ripped from the grasp of his intended receiver. He routinely found outlets when under pressure, never panicking and avoiding making a crucial mistake. He spread the ball among nine different targets, and even found ways to keep the offense moving when both Jordan Addison and T.J. Hockenson briefly exited the game due to injury. And because of his play, the Vikings were able to build enough of a lead to keep the 49ers at bay. Cousins probably should have tossed another touchdown or two, but the two he did complete — plus a handful of Greg Joseph field goals — were enough to score a massive upset win, and perhaps change the narrative of the Vikings, who have now won three of their last four.

DALLAS

The headline says owner Jerry Jones is taking a “subtle snot” at his highly-paid QB.  Bryan DeArdo of CBSSports.com:

Jerry Jones is content with where his Cowboys are six games into the 2023 season. He feels even better about Dallas’ chances at ending their title drought given the 49ers’ current struggles.

The Cowboys’ owner alluded to the 49ers’ recent loss to the Vikings that dropped them to 5-2 after a 5-0 start that included a 42-10 win over the Cowboys in Week 5. But after San Francisco’s two straight losses, Jones feels that the his team is capable of defeating the 49ers, who ended the Cowboys’ last two seasons in the playoffs.

“I would’ve liked to have played better against the 49ers,” Jones said on 105.3 The Fan when asked to assess the Cowboys’ 4-2 start, via The Athletic. “You see a team step up and play like Minnesota did and their quarterback did, they can be had, the 49ers.

“Four and two, I will take it, for sure. But we have better football ahead of us.”

– – –

Jones alluded to the play of Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins, who dissected the 49ers’ defense to the tune of 378 yards and two touchdowns and one interception on 35 of 45 passing. Jones’ comments could be perceived as a slight against his own quarterback, Dak Prescott, who hasn’t had his best games against the 49ers.

PHILADELPHIA

The left knee of QB JALEN HURTS should be monitored.  Josh Alper of ProFootballTalk.com:

Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts put a brace on his left knee for the second half of Sunday night’s win over the Dolphins, but said after the game that he was fine and that he didn’t anticipate needing to do anything special to get ready for Week Eight’s game against the Commanders.

On Monday, Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni was asked at his press conference about how Hurts is feeling a day after the game. Sirianni said the quarterback seemed to be doing well, but the team would keep monitoring him as the week unfolds.

“Seemed like he was in good spirits and good today,” Sirianni said, via a transcript from the team. “We’ll see later in the week of how he’s feeling and everything. I know that he battled through being uncomfortable yesterday. He can answer some of those questions as far as how he felt and all those different things. I just know this guy is tough as nails and is going to do everything he can do to help our football team win. He knows to help our football team win he has to be on the field, and just credit to him for him playing one of his better games this season through some discomfort that he had yesterday.”

Hurts has taken every offensive snap for the Eagles through the first seven weeks of the season. Marcus Mariota, who was warming up ahead of the third quarter on Sunday night, is his backup.

– – –

The 6-1 Eagles are still dealing to improve.  ESPN.com:

The Philadelphia Eagles added a much-needed reinforcement for their banged-up secondary, acquiring safety Kevin Byard in a trade with the Tennessee Titans on Monday.

The Eagles sent safety Terrell Edmunds plus two draft picks — 2024 fifth- and sixth-round selections — to the Titans.

The trade marks a homecoming for Byard, who was born in Philadelphia and has named former Eagles great Brian Dawkins as one of his favorite players.

Byard took to social media to thank the Titans organization and the team’s fans and express his excitement at joining the Eagles.

Byard will rejoin former Titans teammate A.J. Brown, the star wide receiver who was acquired by the Eagles from Tennessee during the 2022 draft.

Safety was the biggest question mark on a talent-rich Eagles roster entering the season, and those questions grew following a rash of injuries at the position. Reed Blankenship missed the team’s victory over the Miami Dolphins on Sunday night because of a rib injury, while Justin Evans is currently on injured reserve because of a knee injury.

The Eagles are high on rookie third-round pick Sydney Brown, who started against the high-octane Dolphins and acquitted himself well, but he still needs time to develop.

Byard has 27 interceptions since being drafted by the Titans in 2016. He was named a first-team All-Pro in 2017 and 2021 and finished the 2022 season with 108 tackles and four interceptions. He has 47 tackles in six games this season.

Byard, 30, has never missed a game in eight seasons with the Titans. He was a captain for four consecutive seasons and is a homegrown product, having been drafted in the third round from Middle Tennessee State, where his jersey is retired.

“I want to thank Kevin for what he means to me personally and to this team,” Titans coach Mike Vrabel said. “When I arrived, he helped carry a new message into the locker room and establish the mindset and work ethic we were trying to instill throughout the team. His play on the field speaks for itself. An intelligent and athletic player, he has led the secondary and helped us win a lot of games. Kevin and [wife] Clarke and the kids mean a great deal to me, and I wish them success in all that is in front of them.”

The Titans sit at the bottom of the AFC South with a 2-4 record and will likely be without starting quarterback Ryan Tannehill when they take the field against the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday. There’s still a possibility that All-Pro running back Derrick Henry is traded as well.

“We would always consider trying to strengthen the team,” Vrabel said last week, “whether that’s right now, this week or in the future.”

WASHINGTON

Brad Spielberger of ProFootballFocus actually called the S KEVIN BYARD to Eagles trade six days ago.  Here’s what he thinks the Commanders should do with oft-injured EDGE CHASE YOUNG:

WASHINGTON COMMANDERS EDGE CHASE YOUNG → BALTIMORE RAVENS

Trade compensation: 2024 third-round pick, 2025 third-round pick

Contract acquired: One year, $561,111 (fully guaranteed)

You can make a legitimate case that this trade is way too much and also too little. It’s arguably too much because there’s a very realistic scenario where Young becomes an unrestricted free agent after the season and is free to sign with any team for zero draft pick capital. It’s arguably too little because Washington could, in theory, extend fellow edge defender Montez Sweat before the franchise tag deadline and then place the tag on Young.

The Ravens are already in the top three of cash spending for 2023, so pulling off another blockbuster like they did last year in acquiring linebacker Roquan Smith may be tough to accomplish. Giving up premium draft capital also makes it harder to add cheap young talent, further compounding the issue. So, as much as Ravens fans may have wanted to see a move for Carolina Panthers edge defender Brian Burns in this article, we went with a far cheaper option both contractually and in terms of draft capital. From Baltimore’s perspective, they’re effectively buying the right to franchise tag or extend Young after the season.

Another key part of the equation is that the Ravens could choose to let Young walk after the season and recoup a compensatory pick, something they do as well as any franchise in the league. They’d really just move down a bit in the draft one year later while parting ways with a third-round pick for a very talented mercenary pass-rusher during a playoff push. Among edge defenders with at least 50 pass-rush snaps this season, Young’s 20.6% pass-rush win rate and 18.2% pressure rate rank ninth. Perhaps most importantly, given his recent injury history, we’re not just talking about efficiency on a small sample, as Young’s 31 total pressures are the fifth most in the NFL among edge defenders despite his missing Week 1.

We discussed this offseason when analyzing the fifth-year option decisions for 2020 first-round picks how Washington was taking a gamble by declining Young’s option and also not extending fellow edge rusher Montez Sweat. NFL teams have only one franchise tag at their disposal each offseason, and if the team did try to engage in extension talks with Sweat or Young, he’d hold a ton of leverage.

Young and Sweat also share representation and every player benefits from reaching the open market, so there’s no real reason to entertain an extension on one player just to free up the franchise tag for the other player, unless the team is willing to pay an exorbitant price. Washington really backed themselves into a corner here. Netting only a 2025 compensatory pick when one of the two signs elsewhere in free agency is a poor process when they could recoup potentially more in a trade. Here, they’re effectively getting a 2024 third-round pick and the 2025 third-round pick that replaces the compensatory pick.

As always, a coaching staff/front office that may be fighting to keep their jobs can be averse to letting go of premium talent, but this move makes too much sense for the long-term of the franchise, and perhaps new owner Josh Harris puts his thumb on the scale.

ATLANTA

More on RB BIJAN ROBINSON and his lack of playing time Sunday in Tampa.  Charean Williams of ProFootballTalk.com:

The mystery of Bijan Robinson’s absence from Sunday’s game has been solved.

The Falcons rookie running back was limited during the victory over the Bucs, but coach Arthur Smith said Monday that Robinson is “fine.”

Robinson told reporters in postgame interviews that he began “feeling weird” Saturday night, with a headache. He had trouble sleeping and woke up Sunday “feeling completely out of it.”

He said he was not administered a COVID test and also was not tested for a concussion, via Michael Rothstein of ESPN.

Medicine did not help his headache, Robinson said.

The Falcons played Robinson only 11 snaps and used him mostly as a decoy. He had no targets and his only touch came with 33 seconds remaining, a 3-yard run on the last drive that set up Younghoe Koo’s game-winning field goal.

Smith was asked why, when Robinson hadn’t touched the ball the entire game, he was given a carry at the end of the game.

“He was in a two-minute situation,” Smith said, via Rothstein. “Gave us 3 yards, and it was situational football. He changes how people want to call it and that’s why. It’s pretty simple.”

The Falcons announced no reason for Robinson’s absence during the game, but Smith told Fox sideline reporter Kristina Pink at halftime that the first-round draft pick “just wasn’t feeling all that great.”

“Situation was good that he’d be available. How much, we’d just see how the game went,” Smith said. “The way the game went, [Cordarrelle Patterson] and Tyler [Allgeier] did a nice job, but he asked if he could go. I think he does a good job, especially in the two-minute stuff, and he went out there and how it affected the game, maybe it affected some calls, we’ll never know.

“But we got the look we wanted with Kyle [Pitt’s 39-yard] play, and [Robinson] got us a couple of yards and finished the game and helped get the field goal closer. But things come up all the time. Thought it was communicated with the players and strange things have happened on game day before, but we would never put him out there if we thought it was something we thought would be detrimental long-term.”

Robinson has 106 touches for 590 yards and two touchdowns this season.

Hate to disagree with Charean – we have an explanation, yes, not sure the mystery is “solved.”

The DB agrees with Mike Florio here:

The Falcons angered gamblers and fantasy-football owners throughout the nation on Sunday, by barely using rooking running back Bijan Robinson. The problem wasn’t that he had only 11 snaps and one touch. The problem was that no one outside of the Falcons knew anything was amiss.

It’s clear from Robinson’s comments that it was not a sudden illness. He said he was “feeling weird” on Saturday night, and that by Sunday morning he was “feeling completely out of it.”

And that’s when the Falcons should have said something to the Buccaneers and to the NFL. The easy approach would have been to describe him as “questionable” with an illness.

That would have put the Buccaneers on notice that Robinson might not play, and/or that he might not play his usual amount. More importantly, it would have allowed people who either used Robinson in for-money fantasy games and/or made wagers on various Robinson-based props to go in a different direction.

The league has told PFT that it will “follow up with the club.”

The league should. And, frankly, the Falcons should be sanctioned for failing to disclose the situation.

There’s a clear strategic incentive in such situations to say nothing. It’s for the NFL to create a disincentive strong enough to deter teams from keeping quiet. Otherwise, teams that are trying to win football games (especially if/when the coach of the team thinks he might be approaching the hot seat) will choose to say nothing and regard the penalty as a cost of doing business they way in which the team chooses to do so.

The punishment must exceed the perceived or actual benefit the Falcons got from keeping the Bucs in the dark about Robinson. And, surely, the Falcons saw a benefit. Otherwise, they would have done the right thing and informed the league that Robinson was ill, and that it might affect his availability. Because he was, and it did.

The DB thinks teams have been fined and sanctioned for games in which a player did not miss a snap, but had an injury/illness that was withheld.

We found this in 2009 when Brett Favre was a Jet:

The league’s decision to fine the Jets, G.M. Mike Tannenbaum, and former Jets (and current Browns) coach Eric Mangini for failing to disclose quarterback Brett Favre’s partially torn biceps tendon on multiple injury reports at the conclusion of the 2008 season prompted us to seek out further explanation regarding the differences between Favre’s situation and other instances involving injuries that were not disclosed. (Previously, the league addressed the decision not to fine the Patriots, despite the fact that running back Laurence Maroney played with a broken shoulder that hadn’t been disclosed on the injury report.)

A more recent similarity was the failure of the Steelers to list quarterback Ben Roethlisberger as having a rib/back injury prior to Super Bowl XLIII. Before to the game, we reported that Roethlisberger had been x-rayed. Roethlisberger awkwardly denied it, and coach Mike Tomlin relied on the inherently disengenuous “not that I heard.”

NFL spokesman Greg Aiello distinguished the Roethsliberger situation from the Favre injury in an e-mail message sent to us late this afternoon.

“Roethlisberger was x-rayed before the Super Bowl by the Steelers and it was negative,” Aiello said. “So he had soreness, which was known by all, but the club cleared him to practice and play and did not list him on the injury report because the x-rays were negative. He fully practiced (with pool reporter Peter King watching every practice and reporting he looked sharp) and played well, as we know. After the Super Bowl, an MRI was performed and determined he had a fractured rib.”

Here’s our concern with that explanation. If Roethlisberger’s side was sufficiently bothering him to justify an x-ray, this means that he had . . . wait for it . . . AN INJURY. The fact that the X-rays were negative meant only that there was no obvious fracture.

But he was still injured. And, for the same reasons Favre’s injury should have been reported, Roethlisberger’s injury should have been reported.

That said, a separate comment from Aiello helped us differentiate Favre from Roethlisberger.

Asked about the specific reason for the league’s decision to begin looking into the Favre injury last week, Aiello said the following: “Favre’s comment [from last week] prompted our review because he disclosed previously undisclosed information — that an MRI performed by the club determined he had a torn bicep, that he cut back his practice time, and the club knew he had a torn bicep. This injury was not disclosed last December. Mike Tannenbaum admitted publicly this week that they made a mistake and should have listed him as probable.”

The fact that Favre cut back his practice time means that he definitely should have been listed on the injury report, as a limited participant in practice.

Still, we’re concerned that the league apparently lacks a mechanism — or the will — to launch investigations before a player with a tendency to talk (and talk . . . and talk . . . and talk) inadvertently blows the whistle on his former team.

In this case, word of Favre having a partially torn biceps tendon emerged not in September 2009, but in December 2008.

On December 30, two days after the regular-season finale, ESPN reported that Favre had a torn biceps tendon, and that he had been dealing with the injury “for quite a while.”

So if the league were zealous about enforcing the injury-reporting rules, that report should have sparked an immediate effort by the league office to investigate the situation, given that Favre hadn’t been listed on any injury report.

Instead, the league waited until Favre, after talking about the injury for months, finally said enough to force the league to act.

So while plenty of people drive their cars over the speed limit with only a small percentage being caught, the authorities affirmatively try to catch some of them. In this case, it appears that the Jets were fined only because Favre walked into the police station and announced to the chief that Eric Mangini and Mike Tannenbaum had been drag racing.

Favre never missed a snap.  Robinson missed quite a few.

NEW ORLEANS

Things have not gone as smoothly for WR CHRIS OLAVE in 2023 as they did as a rookie.  And now, he has a legal problem that sends signals of personal irresponsibility.  This from The Athletic:

New Orleans Saints wide receiver Chris Olave was arrested and booked Monday night on suspicion of reckless operation of a motor vehicle, according to the Kenner (La.) Police Department. He has bonded out of jail, per the police.

According to Kenner Police, Olave was driving 70 mph in a 35 mph zone.

Olave, 23, is in his second season with the Saints. Through seven games in 2023, the 2022 first-round pick has 39 receptions for 471 yards and one touchdown.

SAN FRANCISCO

Just get five or more points ahead of the 49ers last in the game and you will win:

The 49ers, who are 0-29 under Kyle Shanahan when they are trailing by five or more points entering the fourth quarter, according to CBS Sports Research.

We double-checked and that is true including one postseason game.

While some teams don’t win much more than that, the 49ers are the only team without a win since 2017 when trailing by 5 or more after 3.

The Lions are 1-41 for example, the Seahawks 1-30.  Jerry and Dak’s Cowboys are 2-31/

Still, the Steelers are 11-26, the Packers 10-29.  Kansas City only has trailed by that much 16 times after 3 in that span and the Chiefs are still 7-9.

LOS ANGELES RAMS

Only one NFL kicker has as many as 4 field goals of 60+ yards in his career.  He’s now on the street.

The Los Angeles Rams released Brett Maher on Tuesday, two days after the veteran kicker missed three crucial kicks in a loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers.

The Rams are planning to sign former Indianapolis Colts kicker Lucas Havrisik off the Cleveland Browns’ practice squad, sources told ESPN’s Adam Schefter.

Maher missed field goal attempts of 53 and 51 yards and an extra point in Sunday’s 24-17 home loss to the Steelers. He has made 73.9% of his field goals this season.

Maher said after the game that he “could have made a very positive impact on that game” but that he didn’t do his part.

“Felt like I couldn’t find it today,” Maher said Sunday.

Rams coach Sean McVay said after the game that the team would “look at it and we’ll see,” and added Monday that he would talk with general manager Les Snead and that moving on from Maher is something the Rams “could possibly look into.”

“He’s got to be better,” McVay said Sunday. “That’s seven points that we missed out on that were key and critical for the momentum of the game and the type of game that it was”

The Rams signed Maher last offseason to replace Matt Gay, who signed a four-year, $22.5 million contract with the Colts during free agency.

Maher, as you may remember, missed 5 PATs in one playoff game last year.

DENVER

The NFL comes down hard on S KAREEM JACKSON after his latest violent hit.  ESPN.com:

The NFL has suspended Denver Broncos safety Kareem Jackson for four games for repeated violations of unnecessary roughness rules.

Jackson is appealing his suspension, a source told ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler. Jackson would forfeit $558,889 in salary if the four-game suspension stands after appeal.

Jackson was ejected from Sunday’s game against the Green Bay Packers for his sideline hit on Packers tight end Luke Musgrave in the fourth quarter. It was the second time this season that Jackson was ejected for an illegal hit.

“On the play in question, you delivered a forceful blow to the head/neck area of a defenseless receiver, when you had the time and space to avoid such contact,” vice president of football operations Jon Runyan wrote in a letter to Jackson. “You could have made contact with your opponent within the rules, yet you chose not to.”

Runyan noted that Jackson has had multiple instances of violations of player-safety rules.

Entering Sunday’s game, Jackson had been fined four times this season for unnecessary roughness — for a total of $89,670.

He was also ejected from a Week 2 loss to the Washington Commanders after a hit on tight end Logan Thomas.

If Jackson’s four-game suspension is upheld, he will miss games against the Kansas City Chiefs, Buffalo Bills, Minnesota Vikings and Cleveland Browns. He would be eligible to return to Denver’s active roster Monday, Nov. 27.

On Sunday, Musgrave caught an 18-yard pass from Jordan Love and, as linebacker Alex Singleton closed in, Jackson arrived and knocked Musgrave to the turf. Two flags were immediately thrown. After a brief discussion among the officials, referee Alex Kemp announced that Jackson had been ejected in addition to the 15-yard penalty.

Some Broncos players said they believed Jackson had led with his shoulder and hit Musgrave slightly below the head and neck area. Green Bay players on the sideline near the hit shouted at Jackson after the play as Packers coaches quickly got between Jackson and the group.

“I know Kareem, I know his heart and I know the way he’s played,” Broncos coach Sean Payton said Monday before the suspension was announced. “I think it’s an easy narrative to say, ‘Well he’s just an old-timer playing in a new-timer’s game.’ When you see the play, his head is removed from the forceable contact. Defenseless is a little bit more of an issue relative to the position the receiver’s in.

“I just know where he’s at as a player. We’ll keep working on that. I know he’ll keep working on it. He’s someone that’s smart and really wants to do the right thing. It’s one of the toughest parts of our game for the officials, for the players, for all of us involved of getting that to where it’s clear and easy. Sometimes, it’s just not.”

Jackson’s suspension is the longest punishment for violating player-safety rules since 2019, when Cleveland Browns defensive end Myles Garrett was suspended indefinitely for hitting the Pittsburgh Steelers’ Mason Rudolph with the quarterback’s helmet. Garrett ended up missing six games and was reinstated in February, 2020. Also in 2019, Raiders linebacker Vontaze Burfict was suspended for the remainder of the season (12 games) for a helmet-to-helmet hit on Colts tight end Jack Doyle. The NFL cited Burfict’s repeated violations of unnecessary roughness rules for the severity of the punishment.

BALTIMORE

S GENO STONE has surprised himself with the NFL interceptions lead. Michael David Smith of ProFootballTalk.com:

Ravens safety Geno Stone picked off his fourth pass of the season on Sunday against the Lions, giving him the most of any player in the NFL this season — and exceeding even the goals he set for himself.

Stone said last week, after he had grabbed his third interception of the season against the Titans, that during the offseason he wrote down a list of goals for the 2023 season, and one of them was that he wanted to get three interceptions.

“I had five goals on there, and three-plus interceptions was one of them,” Stone said.

Stone said the rest of the goals are team goals that the Ravens still have ahead of them. But with four interceptions and the league lead, he’s already done what he set out to do individually.

It’s been a long road for Stone to reach the point where he’s a significant contributor on defense. He originally joined the Ravens as a seventh-round draft pick in 2020 and was cut during his rookie year and picked up by the Texans. The Texans then let him go and the Ravens brought him back in 2021, and he has steadily seen his role on the defense increase. Now he’s having what is easily the best year of his career.

PITTSBURGH

Mike Tomlin on the Steelers’ struggles early in games.

The Steelers have posted wins in each of their last two games, but neither performance found the team clicking offensively for the full 60 minutes.

Early drives have been a particular issue for the Steelers. They have not scored a touchdown in the first half of a game since Week Three and had just six total points in the first halves of their back-to-back wins.

Those sluggish starts have added to criticism of offensive coordinator Matt Canada, but head coach Mike Tomlin said on Tuesday that he doesn’t think they require a “change of agenda” for the team. He noted a pass to an open George Pickens that wound up being caught out of bounds on a third down and a missed blitz pickup on the second play of the game as examples of things the Steelers have to do better to illustrate his point that major changes aren’t needed.

“We just need to do routine things routinely at the early stages of games,” Tomlin said.

There are other examples that people would point to as issues with the game plan or play-calling, but execution certainly matters as well and Tomlin believes the Steelers have fallen short on that front early in games.

TENNESSEE

If you have two QBs, does that mean you don’t have any QBs?  The Titans are going to replace ailing QB RYAN TANNEHILL with a two-QB system.  Kevin Patra of NFL.com:

The Tennessee Titans could utilize a two-quarterback game plan in Week 8 versus the Atlanta Falcons.

Head coach Mike Vrabel told reporters that starter Ryan Tannehill won’t practice on Tuesday due to an ankle injury sustained in Week 6. If Tannehill can’t play on Sunday, the coach expects both Malik Willis and rookie Will Levis to see action.

“We’ll see where (Tannehill) is at the end of the week,” Vrabel told reporters. “If Ryan can’t play, I would anticipate both of those quarterbacks playing in the football game.”

Tannehill suffered an ankle injury in the Titans’ loss to Baltimore in London before their Week 7 bye. NFL Network Insiders Ian Rapoport, Mike Garafolo and Tom Pelissero reported over this past weekend that the QB’s injury was similar to the one suffered last year that required surgery but not as significant. The Insiders noted that it was unlikely Tannehill would be able to suit up on Oct. 29 versus Atlanta.

Willis earned three starts last season in Tannehill’s absence but struggled mightily, leading the Titans to import Joshua Dobbs to make two starts at the end of the season with a playoff shot on the line. Willis again struggled in relief in Week 6, completing 4 of 5 passes for 74 yards and adding three rushes for 17 yards while taking four sacks in two fourth-quarter drives.

The Titans traded up to draft Levis early in the second round of the 2023 NFL Draft. However, the rookie suffered a thigh injury during a joint-practice in August, wiping out the final two preseason games and much-needed reps for the Kentucky product.

Given Wills’ lack of development and Levis’ lack of reps, it’s little surprise Vrabel would see which fares better in live action. But two-QB systems rarely work well for long.

Vrabel underscored that any discussion about QB usage on Sunday would revolve around Tannehill’s health.

“We’ll see what the game plan looks like,” he said. “First of all, see where Ryan’s at, and then talk about what we may want to do throughout the course of the game.”

The Titans sit at 2-4, last in the AFC South.

BUFFALO

Wrist surgery for TE DAWSON KNOX.  Myles Simmons of ProFootballTalk.com:

The Bills won’t have one of their key offensive contributors for a bit.

Head coach Sean McDermott told reporters on Monday that Knox will undergo wrist surgery to deal with a lingering injury first suffered against the Jaguars.

But McDermott noted there isn’t currently a timeline for Knox’s return.

“I wish I could tell you. It’s too early right now,” McDermott said. “The decision was just made to go ahead and get that done.”

Knox played 63 percent of Buffalo’s offensive snaps on Sunday. He had one catch on three targets for 10 yards.

In seven games, Knox has recorded 15 catches for 102 yards with one TD this season.

With Knox out, the Bills will likely rely more on rookie tight end Dalton Kincaid. He led the team with eight catches for 75 yards in Sunday’s loss.

“Very impressed and it was great to see, honestly,” McDermott said of Kincaid. “It’s good for our offense. The question was asked earlier about some of the things I saw yesterday and I was happy with that to say the least.

“That’s something that we’ve needed to get going for some time now. And obviously, he was out the week prior with a concussion so it’s good to see him getting going, building a rapport with Josh [Allen]. I think that can help us moving forward here.”

The No. 25 overall pick of this year’s draft, Kincaid has recorded 25 receptions for 193 yards in six games so far this year.

NEW YORK JETS

Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk.com parses what QB AARON RODGERS had to say on the ManningCast last night about his return to action:

Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers continues to rehab a torn Achilles tendon. And he continues to talk about playing again this season.

He’s the one who started the chatter. Last week, he tried to take the steam out of the narrative he hatched. Last night on ESPN’s ManningCast, he addressed his desire to return this year.

“Listen, I’d love to come back this season,” Rodgers said. “I think for me you always have to set a goal, otherwise you go kind of crazy. And so the goal is to definitely come back. But there’s a lot of factors that go into that. But I’ve got to get to the point where I can protect myself and do what I do.”

Last week on Pat McAfee’s show, Rodgers mentioned that there are various markers that much be reached before Rodgers can return. Surely, he has a plan in mind for when to hit each one. Surely, he has a close-to-the-vest target for returning. Surely, he’s not going to say it out loud.

It will be interested what he says about it later today, on his weekly visit with McAfee and crew. Is Rodgers targeting the playoffs or something before the postseason?

THIS AND THAT

MVP ODDS

From Larry Holder of The Athletic:

Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes stands alone as the favorite to win the 2023 NFL MVP award, via BetMGM. Here’s what you need to know:

After Week 6, Mahomes and Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa tied for the top spot. Mahomes produced huge numbers in Week 7, while Tagovailoa and the Dolphins lost to the Philadelphia Eagles.

Jalen Hurts significantly aided the Eagles in Week 7, pushing the quarterback to a tie with Tagovailoa for No. 2.

Lamar Jackson, the 2019 NFL MVP, is making a push after a dazzling performance in the Baltimore Ravens’ Week 7 win over the Detroit Lions. He enters Week 8 ranking fourth in the race.

Here’s a look at the odds from all of the NFL individual awards (odds are live and will shift accordingly):

AP MVP Winner

Patrick Mahomes                  +250

Jalen Hurts                            +450              

Tua Tagovailoa                     +450

Lamar Jackson                     +700

Josh Allen                             +1000

Jackson has been as accurate as he’s ever been in his career. He’s never finished with higher than a 64.4 completion percentage. Through seven games, he’s amassed a 71.0 completion percentage. Only once this season has Jackson not completed 70 percent of his passes in a game. Jackson only achieved that percentage in four of his 12 starts last season and twice in 11 games where he’d be passer rating qualified in 2021. His Week 7 passer rating was only topped by two perfect 158.3 outings in 2019, his MVP season.

TRADE URGENCY?

Charles Robinson of YahooSports.com:

Twice, Brock Purdy had his chance to summon his inner Joe Montana for the San Francisco 49ers.

Twice, he channeled Jimmy Garoppolo.

And just like that, the 49ers find themselves in the midst of their first losing streak of Purdy’s career as a starter, having dropped back-to-back games against the Cleveland Browns and Minnesota Vikings. If nothing else, each loss was instructive for San Francisco — the first coming against a dominant defense and a backup quarterback, the second suffered at the hands of a solid quarterback and a mediocre defense. That tells us at least two things about the 49ers: that they are capable of losing games in different ways; and that they are not quite the dominant Super Bowl certainty that we thought only a few weeks ago.

Welcome to the NFL’s parity party in 2023. It’s officially a wide-open race for the Super Bowl and the 49ers are in a growing fraternity of very good, but still reaching for elite. Just like the Kansas City Chiefs, Philadelphia Eagles, Miami Dolphins, Baltimore Ravens and a handful of other franchises that legitimately could put it all together down the stretch. All showcasing reasons to believe they have the recipe to beat anyone, but all knowing there is a varying list of requirements still outstanding. Perhaps it’s an element of health, or stringing together enough wins to galvanize a locker room. Or maybe it’s just a matter of identifying a helpful piece and adding it to the mix.

With the NFL trade deadline looming on Oct. 31 at 4 p.m. ET, the window to achieve that latter objective is closing. Which means division leaders or teams with realistic playoff hopes have to strike as soon as possible. We’ve seen two of them plug holes already in the last week, with the Chiefs acquiring wideout Mecole Hardman from the New York Jets and the Eagles making a huge addition to their secondary by dealing for Tennessee Titans safety Kevin Byard. Both were significant need-related deals, filled with good players who will almost certainly make an impact down the stretch.

They were also done before the trade picture could get more complicated — especially the Eagles deal.

As an NFC general manager noted to Yahoo Sports after the Eagles deal was announced on Monday, the best window to get deals done is right now — and even now might be too late.

“[Eagles GM Howie Roseman] did the trade before anyone could have second thoughts,” he said. “I know that went through his mind. Obviously part of it is that you don’t let someone swoop in and get your guy. But if you wait and [the Titans] win before the deadline — trade partners winning into a deadline can kill conversations. When you win, you find a reason to keep good players. … Four 1-win teams all won [last] week. I can’t remember that ever happening in one week. Now that’s four conversations about whether things are turning. Or now it could be four owners that now don’t want to look like they’re waving a white flag on the season.”

The four teams he was referencing: the Denver Broncos, Chicago Bears, New York Giants and New England Patriots. All were (or are) potential sellers at the trade deadline.

“If a couple of them win again this week, they won’t trade good players out,” he added. “I’d bet whatever on it — just watch.”

It’s a fair point. One week ago, the Broncos looked like a surefire team that could be raided for assets. But after beating the Green Bay Packers on Sunday, there have now been flickers of hope on both the offensive and defensive side of the ball. Maybe not enough for Denver to mount a run to the playoffs, but at least enough to churn out a solid season of measurement and growth that could actually salvage quarterback Russell Wilson in the process. That kind of season might be the ceiling for the Bears, Giants and Patriots, too. But it’s realistic that all three keep their limited talent bases together for the sake of the culture. After all, Matt Eberflus has to believe he’s coaching for his job in Chicago, and neither Bill Belichick nor Brian Daboll is going to punt a season in favor of draft positioning.

Interestingly, the “selling” Vikings might now be a part of that “holding” collection, too. Considered to be a franchise in the midst of a soft rebuild, Minnesota has one of the league’s biggest trade targets in edge rusher Danielle Hunter. For weeks, it has looked like Hunter was almost sure to be the big fish landed at the deadline by a team pushing all-in on a Super Bowl run. But after Monday night’s win over the 49ers and with a soft portion of the schedule unfurling in front of them, Hunter’s availability is less certain than ever. And even if he remains available, the Vikings have more mental leverage at the table, knowing that if a deal falls through, it just means Minnesota gets to see if it can mount a run with its best defensive player still on the depth chart.

That’s problematic for the good teams looking to make an “ignition addition” — guys plucked to make some difference in an area of weakness, or added to pile strength on strength and send a message to the locker room that ownership and the front office are supplying everything for a Super Bowl shot. The current 49ers regime has taken those deadline swings a few times, adding wideout Emmanuel Sanders to a needy receiver room in 2019, and piling on running back Christian McCaffrey to an already-loaded team last season. In 2019, Sanders helped propel the 49ers to the Super Bowl. Last year, the McCaffrey addition was undercut by an injury to Purdy in the NFC title game.

Sometimes it works wonders (the Los Angeles Rams’ addition of edge rusher Von Miller at the deadline in 2021), other times it’s simply not enough (look up any year in the last decade and take your pick). But the effort is hardly ever seen as a totally futile act, even when hindsight reveals most trades never quite bring it all together. Especially in seasons like this one, when the deadline arrives and every single team has suffered some kind of loss that makes it clear there is an Achilles heel that can be exposed.

Right now, you can mount a convincing argument that every single good team in the league still needs at least one more difference-maker on the roster to maximize a 2023 Super Bowl window. Even the Eagles after landing Byard — and even the Chiefs after bringing back Hardman. That’s how wide open the championship picture is right now, with the best teams just one mini-slump away from showcasing their fallibilities.

If you don’t believe that, you weren’t watching a trade deadline buyer in the 49ers lose to a trade deadline seller in the Vikings on Monday. But that’s OK. All you really need to know about that game is that it’s that kind of season for the elites — where Joe Montana dreams can turn into Jimmy Garoppolo nightmares in one quarter of prime time. And with it, turn Super Bowl assumptions upside down.