The Daily Briefing Tuesday, September 28, 2021

CHICAGO

Will ANDY DALTON or JUSTIN FIELDS start on Sunday against the Lions?  Well, actually Coach Mike Nagy has reminded us there is a 3^rd option.  Nick Shook of NFL.com:

The Chicago Bears still haven’t gotten off the runway offensively, and after a disastrous outing in Cleveland on Sunday dropped the Bears to 1-2, all options must be in play.

Bears coach Matt Nagy told reporters Monday his team has yet to determine who will play quarterback in Chicago’s Week 4 meeting with Detroit, citing ongoing health situations to monitor with rookie Justin Fields (hand) and veteran Andy Dalton (knee).

“They’re all three under consideration right now in regard to where they’re at,” Nagy said. “We’ll just have to see the next couple days where they’re all at. We know where Nick (Foles is) at, health-wise, but we just want to keep an eye on Justin and Andy and for us to just stay on that and make sure that we have a plan for any of those.”

Dalton remains week-to-week with his knee injury, Nagy said, while X-rays on Fields’ hand came back negative. The latter will be a matter of monitoring for any potential swelling and pain as the week progresses, per Nagy.

On paper, the Bears entered 2021 appearing about as well-equipped as any franchise to deal with turmoil under center. Dalton arrived as a stopgap veteran capable of handling starting reps, while Fields is the heir apparent. Behind both of them is Foles, a signal-caller with a known history for rising to the occasion when called upon (though not always, as last year told us).

So far, it’s produced little more than a whimper offensively. Chicago failed to keep pace with the Rams in Week 1, needed its defense to find the end zone to beat the Bengals, then finished with a grand total of 47 total yards of offense in Sunday’s 26-6 loss.

In Fields’ first start, the quarterback completed just 6 of 20 passes for 68 yards. He finished with a net of 1 passing yard due to the nine — yes, nine — sacks he took at the hands of the Browns’ ferocious pass rush. Schematically, the Bears didn’t give Fields much of a chance, failing to move the pocket for the mobile passer and leaving him to sit behind a leaky offensive line. Myles Garrett, Jadeveon Clowney and Co. were free to feast, and feast they did.

Fields also struggled to deliver the ball on time in certain situations, including one play in which Darnell Mooney was wide open downfield. Fields spotted him too late, launching a pass that was intercepted by Browns safety John Johnson, but nullified by a pass interference penalty. After failing to reach the end zone from the Browns’ 4-yard line, Nagy settled for a field goal to make it a 13-6 game.

It would be the last time the Bears sniffed the red zone.

“There was a combination with these plays that goes into it,” Nagy said when asked why it appeared Fields didn’t have much of a chance to make a play Sunday. “Sometimes it could be a breakdown in protection, sometimes it could be the ball’s not out on time, sometimes it could be good coverage by the defense. Or sometimes it could be a bad play call. So there’s four things that it could be when you go through the game, there was probably a combination of all that yesterday.”

That combination produced Chicago’s ugliest loss of the season by a wide margin. It might also lead to a change in play-caller before long.

“Again, just to keep it super simple, everything’s on the table,” Nagy said. “And I think that’s probably the easiest way to put it — the evaluation part, everything.”

Nagy has to be feeling like he’s experiencing some deja vu. Just last year, he was answering similar questions about who would play between Foles and Mitchell Trubisky. Nagy tried his hand with both, ultimately reverting to Trubisky and sneaking into the playoffs.

At this rate, these Bears don’t seem worthy of the postseason. The only silver lining Sunday came in the Bears’ defensive play, which managed to force two turnovers on downs via sacks of Baker Mayfield, but couldn’t carry the offense’s water along with the massive Gatorade jug strapped to Khalil Mack‘s back.

If this is the recipe going forward, the Bears might be in for a rough go. A date with the 0-3 Lions seems like the perfect medicine for whatever ails Chicago at this point, but Detroit isn’t a guaranteed win. The Ravens needed a record-breaking field goal to beat the Lions, who also played competitively in half of their first two games of the season as well.

Chicago’s offense will have to be better. The mercury in the thermometer attached to Nagy’s seat is already rising.

MINNESOTA

Coach Mike Zimmer with high praise for the Vikings offense on Sunday.  Eric Smith of Vikings.com:

Sunday was Vikings Head Coach Mike Zimmer’s 115th regular-season game in Minnesota, and the 120th overall if you include the postseason.

It’s hard to think of many that have looked better on offense.

“I told the team that it’s the best offensive performance that I’ve seen in the eight years that I’ve been here,” Zimmer said after a 30-17 home win powered by 453 yards of offense.

That marked the seventh time in Zimmer’s tenure that Minnesota’s offense gained that many yards while also scoring at least 30 points. (The Vikings are now 6-1 in such games—the lone loss was last year in Week 3 against Tennessee).

But a big reason for the Vikings strong showing against the Seahawks (and really, in the past 10 quarters) is the play of quarterback Kirk Cousins.

The Vikings fourth-year starter was nearly flawless again Sunday, completing 30 of 38 passes (78.9 percent) for 323 yards with three touchdowns and no interceptions.

Teammates and Zimmer heaped praise on Cousins, who was only sacked once, after Minnesota’s first win of the season.

“Kirk’s playing his [butt] off, the offense played their [butt] off,” said Vikings defensive end Everson Griffen. “I haven’t seen Kirk play like this in a long time. He’s playing great football right now. You’ve got to recognize that, and we’ve just got to keep it going.”

Zimmer said: “I think he’s playing outstanding. But not only that, he’s playing with a lot of confidence. He’s also … I really appreciate the leadership that he’s been doing lately. It’s been so much better, something he wanted to work on. He’s done a great job with that. He’s very confident where he’s throwing the football. He’s very confident with these receivers. I think the offensive line has helped him do some of those things as well.”

Wide receiver Adam Thielen added: “It’s been a different Kirk. He’s just locked-in and on time; he’s trusting it. I think a big part of that is our O-line and the way they’re blocking and giving him enough time to sit back there and make his reads. He’s got a progression, and then finding open guys.”

Cousins, meanwhile, deflected any individual praise. Instead, he said Vikings Offensive Coordinator Klint Kubiak, quarterbacks coach Andrew Janocko and quarterbacks Sean Mannion and Kellen Mond have all had a hand behind the scenes in his success.

“I think I play with really good football players. I think that helps,” Cousins said. “I also think that Klint Kubiak’s doing a phenomenal job. I think Andrew Janocko’s doing a phenomenal job, and I can’t say enough about the working team around me getting me ready for Sunday.

“Kellen and Sean are with me on a Wednesday and Thursday well after 7 o’clock at night helping me talking through plays in walkthrough and watching tape, and I can’t say enough about the kind of working team that helps get me ready for Sunday,” Cousins added. “It starts with Klint and Andrew, but Sean and Kellen, too, the help they’ve been. I think all that has made a big difference.”

Of course, there’s also the noticeable swag Cousins is playing with in 2021. Through three games, he’s averaging 300-plus yards per game and hasn’t turned the ball over once.

And while the first two games of the season were losses, Cousins certainly did his part to put the Vikings in a position to win.

“He has a little more swag to him this year actually,” said running back Alexander Mattison. “Being around [Justin Jefferson] in the locker room, the lockers are switched around a little bit.

“He has a little more swag to him. He’s one of those playmakers, he always has been that way,” Mattison said. “He’s just stepped up even more honing in on his craft and making everyone better around him. Huge credit to Kirk for the way he played today and the way he led us.”

Cousins, now in his 10th season, is well-aware of his (lack of) swag.

“Kyle Shanahan used to say that my swag was having no swag. He told me as a rookie to never change,” Cousins quipped. “When I came out for my first preseason game, he said my jersey looked so big it looked like I was wearing a Halloween costume.

“Someone said something about, ‘You should get a different facemask and a better jersey and this or that, wear your socks different,’ and Kyle cut him off and said, ‘No, his swag is having no swag.’ I like it that way,” Cousins added. “I kind of laugh because there’s a hint of truth in the joke.”

Cousins compiled a passer rating of 128.4 on Sunday, his highest of the season. He’s been at 100-plus in that category in each game this season and now has 17 consecutive games with a passer rating of 90 or higher.

But his best throw of the game wasn’t a touchdown to Thielen, Jefferson or Conklin. Instead, it was a pass to K.J. Osborn midway through the fourth quarter.

Up 10 points and facing third-and-5 from the Seattle 37-yard line, Cousins backpedaled to give himself just enough time to evade a blitzer before lofting a pass to Osborn on a crossing route for a first down.

Maybe it’s a play Cousins doesn’t make in his first three seasons in Purple, but he’s making them now.

“If you’re really trying to protect the football, maybe there’s a time to eat that and not put it out there,” said Cousins, who was walloped at midfield. “I felt pressure, I felt K.J.’s gonna be 1-on-1 with a shallow cross.

“I have of trust in K.J.’s ability to separate versus man coverage and go get the football,” Cousins continued. “I felt like if I put it out there, there’d be green grass and at worst it’s incomplete, and K.J. made me right.

“You see a flash of purple,” Cousins added. “You have a ballpark idea, but I think when I talk about getting reps, reps give you the ability to play on instinct, and so when you get a lot of reps on a play, you can see flashes of purple and just feel where you need to throw the ball.”

Zimmer gave his assessment of the play:

“He knows when the extra rusher belongs to him, and he knows when he has to get it out. He’s hung in there before and done it. I think we just had a good play call on. They were in man-to-man and they were blitzing, and we had some crossing routes, which it’s hard to cover those things.”

Cousins’ monstrous performance helped the Vikings improve to 1-2 in a season that will be 17-games long for the first time.

The Vikings host the Browns next week, and Minnesota will need Cousins to play like he did Sunday in order to get back to .500 on the young season.

“There’s a lot of football up ahead,” Cousins said. “You say it when things are going poorly — that we have a lot of football left as an encouragement, but I would also say you say the same thing when you win.

“We’ve got to stack them up,” Cousins added, “One win doesn’t do it, we’ve got to keep going.”

DALLAS

T LA’EL COLLINS is suspended for a novel reason.  Adam Schefter of ESPN.com:

Dallas Cowboys right tackle La’el Collins was suspended after trying to bribe the league’s drug-test collector, sources told ESPN.

Players cannot be suspended for positive marijuana tests under the NFL’s collective bargaining agreement, but Collins’ issue was multiple missed tests and trying to bribe the test collector, sources said.

The NFL initially was preparing to suspend Collins five games for his actions, but the NFL Players Association — aware of the intended five-game suspension — helped negotiate a reduction to what would have been a two-game ban.

Collins, however, appealed the suspension, and the appeal was heard by an arbitrator appointed jointly by the league and the NFLPA. The arbitrator not only rejected Collins’ appeal but also ruled that, based on the evidence, the suspension should be increased back to the original five games.

Collins’ lawyer is attempting an appeal of the arbitrator’s decision, but league sources believe the suspension, which was announced Sept. 10, will not be reduced.

Both the NFL and NFLPA declined comment this weekend when contacted by ESPN.

Collins served the first game of his suspension in last Sunday’s victory over the Los Angeles Chargers and will also miss Monday night’s matchup against the rival Philadelphia Eagles.

He believed he had legitimate reasons for missing seven drug tests, one of which was scheduled for the day that Cowboys strength and conditioning coach Markus Paul died in November. Collins missed another drug test the day of his uncle’s funeral.

Collins is not the first NFL player to attempt to circumvent the league’s drug-test policy. In 2013, the NFL suspended Denver Broncos star Von Miller six games after he was caught attempting to corrupt the drug-test program with the help of a urine collector.

If his suspension is not reduced or overturned, Collins will be eligible to return to the roster Oct. 18, the day after the Cowboys play the New England Patriots.

The suspension will cost Collins roughly $2 million and, per the CBA, voids the injury guarantee worth $6.48 million in his 2022 salary.

Collins has started 62 of the 63 games he has played for the Cowboys since 2015 at left guard or right tackle. He missed 13 games in 2016 because of a toe injury and all of last season because of hip surgery.

NEW YORK GIANTS

Jason Garrett is still the OC of the 0-3 Giants.  Jordan Ranaan of ESPN.com:

Don’t expect any major shakeup or significant changes with the New York Giants just because they have lost their first three games and ownership and their beleaguered tight end were showered with boos during Sunday’s 17-14 loss to the Atlanta Falcons.

The Giants are sticking with Jason Garrett as their offensive coordinator despite failing to top 14 points in two of their three games so far this year after finishing 31st in the NFL in total offense last season.

“In terms of who is going to be calling the plays, no, directly to the question in terms of offense, defense and kicking game, the coordinators (Garrett, defensive coordinator Patrick Graham and special teams coordinator Thomas McGaughey) will still be making the play-calling this week,” coach Joe Judge said Monday during a conference call with reporters.

So there are no major changes coming in that regard. The Giants will make schematic alterations like they do every week instead to try and fix everything in time for their matchup with the New Orleans Saints on Sunday.

It is the first game for the Saints back in New Orleans since being forced on the road by Hurricane Ida.

Judge didn’t exactly give Garrett, the former coach of the Dallas Cowboys, a vote of confidence on Monday, but more accurately doesn’t seem interested in any major overhaul. Quarterback Daniel Jones already had two offensive systems in his first two years in the NFL and has played well early in Year 3, his second with Garrett.

“We’re going to stay consistent with doing things improving as a team right there,” Judge said. “There are a lot of things we could clean up coaching wise, execution wise. We’re going to stay on the track with it and make sure that we get those things right before we make any radical changes.”

It’s only three weeks into the season, but already it’s getting late for the Giants (0-3). This is the third time in five years they have started with three straight losses.

PHILADELPHIA

QB JALEN HURTS may not be worthy of a game plan that puts it all on him. Michael David Smith of ProFootballTalk.com with the explanation offered by Coach Nick Sirianni:

The Eagles’ running backs totaled just three carries in Monday night’s loss to the Cowboys, with Miles Sanders finishing with two carries for 27 yards and Kenneth Gainwell having one carry for two yards. Coach Nick Sirianni was questioned after the game about why he didn’t run the ball more.

“We wanted to make sure we were able to keep up with them,” Sirianni said, via the Philadelphia Inquirer. “We knew they were an explosive offense. We wanted to be able to push the ball down the field and hit some of the underneath zones that we saw while also obviously mixing the run game in there and the screen game. You fall behind a little bit, you have to get off that game plan a little bit. We knew we had to score with this team because we knew they were able to score and score quickly.”

Sanders and Gainwell also had three catches, and Sirianni noted that the Eagles did get the ball to the running backs in the passing game.

“The first half, just with how that went, not getting a lot of plays, those [rushing] numbers get skewed sometimes,” Sirianni said. “I know they are what they are, but when you don’t have that many plays in the first half, whether you have penalties that stop drives, the defense was on the field quite a bit and then you’re in a position in the second half where we’re down two scores the whole time and that’s where that kind of comes into play. I know we were trying to get him the ball on some screens and stuff like that, but obviously he’s a good playmaker and we wanted him to touch the ball more. Just the way the game went, we weren’t able to do that.”

It was an ugly game for the Eagles, and an unusual offensive approach for Sirianni, the former Colts offensive coordinator who was hired to build an offense.

WASHINGTON

The most disappointing unit in the NFL could be the WFT defense.  Jason Owens ofYahooSports.com:

Armed with the NFL’s most exciting young pass rusher and fresh off a top-five 2020 finish, the Washington Football Team’s defense was pegged as something special this season.

Justin Herbert suggested otherwise in Week 1. Two weeks later, it’s clear the unit isn’t what we thought it was.

Josh Allen torches WFT D

The Buffalo Bills gashed Washington for a 43-21 win at Orchard Park on Sunday. Josh Allen had his way while completing 32 of 43 (74.4%) pass attempts for 358 yards with four touchdowns and no interceptions. He added another touchdown on the ground. The Bills tallied 481 yards of total offense and didn’t turn the ball over. They controlled the football with a decisive win in the time-of-possession battle (35:37 to 24:23).

Perhaps most damning is the sack tally. A Washington defense built around a ballyhooed defensive front failed to record a sack on Sunday.

No, this defense doesn’t resemble one that can anchor a playoff run on a team with quarterback concerns. A popular pick to upend the preseason favorite Dallas Cowboys for the NFC East title, Washington sits at 1-2 on the heels of three straight disappointing defensive efforts. And with zero sacks through three games, Young doesn’t look like a Defensive Player of the Year candidate in his second season.

Washington’s hefty defense spending

Washington has invested heavy draft capital in building its defensive front. It spent a first-round pick in four straight drafts selecting defensive linemen, taking Jonathan Allen (No. 17 pick) in 2017, Daron Payne (No. 13) in 2018, Montez Sweat (No. 26) in 2019 and Young (No. 2) in 2020.

In April’s draft, it spent the No. 21 pick on Kentucky middle linebacker Jamin Davis. All five players are 2021 starters. Thus far this season they’re not getting the job done. Not as a unit, at least.

WFT’s defense can’t get off the field

Week 1 didn’t signal red flags. The defense couldn’t be completely blamed for Washington’s 20-16 loss to the Los Angeles Chargers. But a closer look at the stats raised concerns. Washington’s defense had no answer for the Chargers on third down.

L.A. dominated time of possession (36:03 to 23:57) as it converted an astounding 14 of 19 (73.6%) third-down attempts. For comparison’s sake, the Green Bay Packers led the NFL in third-down conversions in 2020 with a 51% success rate.

Herbert wasn’t off the charts that day but he completed 31 of 47 (66%) passes for 337 yards with a touchdown and an interception. He was sacked twice for a grand total of 3 yards lost. It’s an anomaly that that Chargers didn’t score more than 20 points.

Danny Dimes deals

If Week 1 was concerning, Week 2 sounded alarms. New York Giants quarterback Daniel Jones actually looked worthy of his “Danny Dimes” moniker as a Giants offense that ranked 31st in the NFL in 2020 posted 29 points. Only a late Giants penalty on a missed Washington field goal salvaged Washington’s 30-29 win.

Washington defensive backs regularly found themselves beat as Jones completed 22 of 32 passes for 249 yards with a touchdown and an interception. 

It was easily Jones’ best start this season with his 102.2 passer rating eclipsing all but one of his starts in 2020. He also added 95 yards and a touchdown on the ground.

Washington pressured Jones with four sacks for 21 yards lost but it was a rare bit of solace in a start to the season that’s seen Washington tally just six sacks through three games. Sunday’s disaster against the Bills just piled on.

The numbers don’t look great

Through Sunday afternoon, Washington is allowing opponents 432 yards of offense per game, a rate good for 31st in a league of 32 teams. Only three teams allow more yards in the air. The would-be signature pass rush is regularly a step too slow.

No, this isn’t what Washington fans expected in Year 2 under Ron Rivera, who made his name in the NFL as a defensive coordinator before rising to the rank of head coach. And it shouldn’t stay this way. Young didn’t suddenly lose his all-world athleticism. The talent that led Washington’s stout 2020 unit didn’t just disappear.

But Washington needs to find an answer, and quick. A 1-2 start can go off the rails in a hurry, and Taylor Heinicke can’t be the source of a turnaround.

The DB was sitting in a room where the consensus about the proposed names for Washington’s franchise was that the place-filler Washington Football Team had more going for it than  Red Hogs, Defenders, Armada, Presidents, Brigade, Commanders and Red Wolves which have been said to be the other seven finalists.

The Syracuse grad at the table had a twist that we liked, although some may feel it harkens too much to soccer.  How about FT Washington?

We would endorse it, what say you?

CAROLINA

An optimistic report on RB CHRISTIAN McCAFFREY from Cameron Wolfe of NFL.com:

@CameronWolfe

Panthers HC Matt Rhule says RB Christian McCaffrey will not be placed on IR with his hamstring injury. Seems to indicate they think he has a chance to be back in less than 3 weeks. Jaycee Horn will go on IR with potentially season-ending foot injury.

NEW ORLEANS

The Saints with an injury on the offensive line.  Ian Rapoport of NFL.com:

@RapSheet

#Saints Pro Bowl LT Terron Armstead, ruled out yesterday with an elbow injury, is expected to miss several weeks based on the initial tests, sources say. This is good news. The ailment is not believed to be season-ending, barring a surprise from later exams.

ARIZONA

Not since Jeff Triplett hit T Orlando Brown in the eye in 1999 (also in a game involving the Jaguars albeit in Cleveland), has a flag done such damage.  Josh Weinfuss of ESPN.com:

Arizona Cardinals coach Kliff Kingsbury had never seen an official’s flag hit a punt in midair until Sunday in Jacksonville. Had the play turned out differently, however, Kingsbury would’ve wanted that official to be immediately reprimanded.

The play in question took place early in the first quarter of Arizona’s 31-19 win over the Jacksonville Jaguars. Jacksonville punter Logan Cooke launched a 51-yard punt with 13:38 left in the first. As the ball descended to Cardinals returner Rondale Moore, field judge Dyrol Prioleau threw a flag for a penalty during the play. However, the flag hit the ball in midair and redirected it away from Moore, who muffed it. Arizona recovered it to retain possession, but if the Jaguars had recovered, Kingsbury would’ve called for Prioleau to be replaced.

“It seems quite unfair that we would lose the ball if that ref happens to hit it,” Kingsbury said. “I think the ref should probably be ejected at that point.”

Kingsbury didn’t know the ball was redirected by the flag during the game, and Moore, a rookie, didn’t mention anything to his head coach, either.

“He’s hard on himself and I don’t know if he even knew what had happened,” Kingsbury said. “But, it looked kind of like a Twilight Zone. Like, he had it and then all of a sudden he didn’t have it.

“And, so, I didn’t know that had occurred, but you would think that maybe we can adjust that rule.”

Kingsbury was asked if he’s going to bring the play up to the league.

“Considering it’s probably the first time it’s ever happened in the history of the league, I don’t know if they’ll really put it up at the owners meeting rules proposals,” he said. “But I would be all for it.”

You would really eject the official?  And leave those covering deep throws one short for the rest of the game?  Now, we would think it could be treated as a successful fair catch.

The Chiefs at 1-2 are in last place in the AFC West, trailing the 3-0 Broncos, the 3-0 Raiders and the 2-1 Chargers (who have a head-to-head win).  Jeffri Chadiha of NFL.com notes the five-time defending champs now have their work cut out for them:

The AFC West just got real: The Kansas City Chiefs have won five straight AFC West titles, but their chokehold over this division doesn’t feel that firm anymore, now that they’re sitting at 1-2 and in last place. It’s easy to say it’s early, that the Chiefs will find their way back to the top before the postseason begins. That also would be the view of someone who’s unwilling to accept what’s happening with the other three teams. The Chargers just scored a huge win in Kansas City over the weekend. The Raiders and Broncos are the only two undefeated teams left in the AFC, one winning with exceptional offense (Las Vegas) and the other with stifling defense (Denver). The consensus in the past was that these teams, no matter how promising they might look early, would find a way to implode late. It’s a safe bet that won’t be the case this year. The Chargers aren’t fighting the same slew of deflating injuries that have plagued them in the past, while the Raiders and Broncos are more talented than they’ve been in years. All three also have benefited from strong quarterback play, with the Raiders’ Derek Carr off to an MVP-caliber start. The Chiefs still have a stellar offense built around Patrick Mahomes, Tyreek Hill and Travis Kelce. They added Josh Gordon. What they also have is an inept defense and a recent habit of turning the ball over in tight games. Those factors will make for a far more interesting race in a division where every other team clearly has improved.

KANSAS CITY

Whatever happened Sunday, Andy Reid will be back at work on Tuesday.  Myles Simmons of ProFootballTalk.com:

The Chiefs have provided another positive update on head coach Andy Reid after he left the stadium in an ambulance following Sunday’s game against the Chargers.

According to the team, Reid has been released from the hospital and is expected to return to the facility for work either later on Monday or on Tuesday. The Chiefs noted Reid is in good spirits and is doing well.

Defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo and offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy are slated to speak to the media in Reid’s place on Monday.

“The most important thing is coach Reid, so we’re glad that he’s feeling better,” Spagnuolo said, via Herbie Teope of the Kansas City Star.

– – –

The Chargers decided that NFL officials wouldn’t call pass interference no matter what on a final Hail Mary, they were right – and Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk.com is livid:

The NFL has benefited from multiple exciting games this season, several of which have happened in prime time. The NFL also has benefited from the fact that Sunday’s game between the Chargers and Chiefs didn’t unfold under the lights.

As noted by former NFL referee and Sunday Night Football rules analyst Terry McAulay, the Hail Mary attempt by Kansas City resulted in multiple instances of uncalled pass interference. Tight end Travis Kelce was wiped out. A bear hug applied to receiver Tyreek Hill kept him from having a shot at making the catch.

Tony Romo of CBS downplayed the situation. “Everyone getting tackled,” he said over the replay, laughing. “They don’t even call these. The reality is you almost can’t.”

You can. And, when appropriate, it’s called.

The fact that the game landed in the cluster of 1:00 p.m. ET kickoffs allowed the NFL to avoid the kind of controversy that would have emerged if, say, it had happened on a Thursday night, Sunday night, or a Monday night. Indeed, Fail Mary of 2012 happened on a Monday night. In that situation, Seahawks receiver Golden Tate blatantly shoved a Packers defensive back before catching the game-winning touchdown pass. Almost immediately, the league ended the lockout of the game officials.

This would have been — and perhaps still should be — Fail Mary 2. An uncalled instance of clear and obvious pass interference that decided a game. Or, more accurately, that prevented the Chiefs from having an untimed down from the one yard line.

In 2019, the league adopted replay review for offensive and defensive pass interference. That system almost certainly would have (or at least should have) drawn a flag, even with the league applying a looser definition of interference in a know-it-when-you-see-it Hail Mary situation. A booth umpire or sky judge could have, should have, and maybe would have communicated to the officials on the field and pointed out the blunder.

Instead, nothing. Crickets. It would have been a plague of locusts, however, if it had happened last night on NBC or tonight on ESPN.

And that’s yet another reason for the NFL to come up with an effective way to fix glaring errors. Merely hoping that the errors aren’t sufficiently glaring is no way to do business.

– – –

The Chiefs are taking a chance on WR JOSH GORDON.  Adam Schefter of ESPN.com:

Former All-Pro wide receiver Josh Gordon, who recently was informed that he is being reinstated, is planning to sign with the Kansas City Chiefs, sources told ESPN.

Gordon was flying to Kansas City on Monday and was expected to be signed to the Chiefs’ practice squad on Monday night with the expectation that a promotion to the active roster will follow shortly thereafter.

Gordon, 30, had multiple teams contact him and express interest in signing him. But one of the attractions of playing in Kansas City was making it a long-term stop and spending multiple seasons there, according to his agents, Eric Dounn and Matt Leist from LAA Sports.

The Chiefs have been searching for a wide receiver who can play every down along with Tyreek Hill since losing Sammy Watkins as a free agent in the spring. They’ve given significant playing time to Mecole Hardman, Demarcus Robinson and Byron Pringle, but none of those players have consistently delivered for the Chiefs.

Hill is behind only tight end Travis Kelce in receiving yards for the Chiefs with 267. The other three wide receivers have combined for 260 yards.

Gordon was suspended indefinitely in December 2019 for violations of the league’s policies on substance abuse and performance-enhancing substances. It was Gordon’s sixth suspension since the 2013 season and his fifth for some form of substance abuse, according to ESPN Stats & Information.

Gordon submitted his reinstatement letter to NFL commissioner Roger Goodell in July, and the NFLPA recommended that he be reinstated. His application for reinstatement was approved by Goodell on Monday, a source said.

HOUSTON

Jay Glazer hears the Texans are starting to come off their huge demand for the services of QB DESHAUN WATSON, services they themselves no longer value at all.  Mollie West in the New York Post:

The Texans are reevaluating their trade demands for Deshaun Watson.

Fox NFL Insider Jay Glazer reported Sunday that Houston is beginning to “soften” their asking price for the disgruntled Watson, who is still facing 22 civil lawsuits accusing him of sexual assault. ESPN reported two weeks ago that Houston GM Nick Caserio was seeking a package of six players and draft picks for Watson.

Asked whether there was a possibility of Watson suiting up for the Texans amid their quarterback woes, Glazer said there was no chance.

“Nope, not at all. And Deshaun Watson made it clear he does not want to play for the Houston Texans,” Glazer said Sunday on Fox’s NFL pregame show. “But it’s interesting because while we went into this season, the Texans were not really fielding phone calls. They weren’t open to trade talks unless somebody was going to give them a ridiculous trade offer – more than six draft picks.

“They’ve already been offered three ones and three threes. However, I was told this past week their stance started to soften a little bit with that.”

The Texans (1-2) went with rookie third-rounder Davis Mills at quarterback for their Thursday night loss to the Panthers after Tyrod Taylor, Watson’s replacement, suffered a hamstring injury in Week 2.

Watson is not only facing 22 civil lawsuits accusing him of sexual assault but also nearly a dozen police complaints. The NFL has an ongoing investigation into the allegations against Watson. However, Glazer mentioned that Watson could immediately play for any team he is traded to.

“If [the Texans] end up trading Deshaun Watson right now he’s eligible to play,” Glazer said. “He’s eligible to play next week. He’s not on the Commissioner’s Exempt List. He’s not on the suspension list. So he can play immediately.”

Last season, the 26-year-old quarterback posted a career-high 4,823 yards and 33 touchdowns with 12 interceptions.