NFC NORTH

CHICAGO

A season-ending injury for the Bears.  Josh Alper of ProFootballTalk.com:

Defensive end Yannick Ngakoue’s 2023 season is over.

Bears head coach Matt Eberflus announced at a Wednesday press conference that Ngakoue broke his ankle late in last Sunday’s win over the Lions. He will be placed on injured reserve this week and will need surgery.

Ngakoue signed a one-year deal with the Bears in early August. He started all 13 games he played for the team and recorded 22 tackles and four sacks in those appearances.

With rehab on tap after surgery, Ngakoue may be looking at another late signing in 2024 as he’ll need to show teams that he’s healthy enough to make a positive contribution in his ninth NFL season.

– – –

Adam Jahns of The Athletic looks at Bears president Kevin Warren and his big plans for the organization:

— Chicago Bears team president/CEO Kevin Warren sat down in his office at Halas Hall last week to talk about shoes. Or cleats. It depends on the person wearing them.

The Bears were practicing right outside his window. He could sit at his desk, turn to his left and see almost everything. His team was two days away from beating the NFC North-leading Detroit Lions at Soldier Field — the first signature win of the Matt Eberflus/Ryan Poles era.

The NFL’s annual My Cause My Cleats initiative was nearing its conclusion. But this year was different for the Bears. Warren said they dialed it up a notch. But it looked and felt like several notches. More than 150 people — including Bears players, coaches, front-office members and employees from all departments — were involved in the team’s efforts this year.

Something is happening.

“I’m starting to feel it,” Warren told The Athletic.

What that is exactly is far from being written. Warren is just starting to put his pen to all the paper at Halas Hall that needs it, figuratively and literally speaking. He has a new stadium to build, a football team to guide and an organizational culture to ignite.

The participation of so many team employees from so many areas within the Bears organization became another opportunity for Warren to get to know who he’s working with at Halas Hall. In some ways, it became an extension of the one-on-one meetings he had with every employee after he officially started in April.

“What I picked up is that No. 1, we have special employees here, and what they really want, they want to be respected, they want to be supported, they want to be empowered, they want everyone to know that we’re grateful that they’re here,” Warren said. “We want to create an environment where they can come to bring the best version of themselves.

“And so that’s why I have very specific goals to build this organization where we can win multiple Super Bowl trophies, but that we have an organization that has longevity on the football field, where you have 12 to 15 years of sustainable success, to build the best stadium in the world for our fans — they deserve it so that they have an incredible game day experience.

“But also just as important is to build a culture here in this environment where people are not only excited but happy and fortunate and grateful and empowered to go to work because they feel that it is basically a very healthy playground to go to spend time with people that they really care about and that they can thrive in their careers.”

Warren is dreaming big — and he wants everyone at Halas Hall to dream big with him.

With the Bears in Minnesota for “Monday Night Football” in Week 12, Warren hosted a dinner at his house there. Seventy people were invited. It included partners from Chicago and partners from Minnesota. Staff members were there, too.

“Because we got to start,” Warren said. “We have to build this, and especially me coming in new, you know, people read things and go, ‘Is that really true? Is he really that way.’ I want to be like, ‘Yeah, these are my people.’”

Warren used the word “empower” often during a 25-minute conversation with The Athletic. His shoes for My Cause My Cleats supported his Warren Family Foundation, which benefits many community initiatives. Embrace, educate and empower are the foundation’s three principles. Those words were on his shoes.

The Bears have used plenty of buzzwords over the years amid their many changes. But nothing like this. Warren himself is a jolt. He’s putting his words into action.

His one-on-one meetings will transform into small group sessions of six to eight employees. Mai Davis, his longtime executive assistant, will pick those employees at random. They will meet in his office over lunch.

Warren also started an innovation committee that will involve everything at Halas Hall. He said that’s how WISE Ventures started for Minnesota Vikings’ ownership. That stands for Wilf Innovative Sports and Entertainment, which launched in 2018.

It’s time to think bigger to get better. That happened in Minnesota when he helped the Vikings build U.S. Bank Stadium and later their new practice facility and headquarters.

“We make winning in professional sports, especially the National Football League, much more difficult than it should be,” Warren said. “Not only on the field, but off the field in the organization, because what it comes down to is that this is all about people, and getting the right people in the right place, doing the right things at the right time for the right reasons.

“And I don’t care what organization you are running, whether it’s a paper route to Starbucks to Apple to Amazon and Google to the Chicago Bears, you follow that recipe. And you create an environment where people love coming to work. Because the human mind is absolutely incredible and the human heart is incredible.”

Warren’s shoes were completed days before the team’s unboxing event last Wednesday in the X’s and O’s room of Halas Hall. But he kept them in the box. He wanted to be there when others saw their finished shoes for the first time.

“To feel that,” Warren said, “the energy was palpable.”

Keeping that energy going with everything the Bears do is essential. The growth with My Cause My Cleats this year started with the Bears’ Young Professional Employee Resource Group, which was established in May just after Warren’s arrival. It included a partnership with Chicago-based Sneakerhead University.

“Everyone sometimes thinks in business that you have to be stressed to be able to be the best or it has to be a tense environment,” Warren said. “No, I want it to be qualitative. I want it to be competitive. I want it to be fun.”

Remember those words: qualitative, competitive, fun. They’re part of Warren’s philosophy.

Danica Lopez, a partnership activation specialist for the Bears, designed and painted Warren’s shoes. He said Lopez told him that she has painted since high school.

“I’m always wondering about the hidden talents of people that we have here,” Warren said. “We have musicians, we have writers, we have artists, we have wonderful people. We have people here who have stories to share of joy, of pain. And again to create that qualitative, competitive and fun environment, that’s what we want to do.

“And hopefully, it carries over to the field and then the environment. I’ve said it all the time … you work for the Chicago Bears. I want you to be excited to tell your family that you work there. And that your children or your grandchildren or your parents or your siblings would say, ‘Yeah, my sister or my brother works at the Bears,’ and that it really means something.”

Winning on the field certainly enhances that perception. And winning football games is still the business. But it’s too early to talk all football. There are games remaining. Warren, though, did mention how excited he was to see the Bears play the Lions.

“They have an opportunity to play hard and win a football game,” he said.

And two days later, the Bears did. Quite handily and impressively.

Warren saw a connection form between Bears football operations with the business side over the last few weeks. Chairman George McCaskey had shoes made. Defensive end Montez Sweat was a late trade addition but asked to get involved with his own cleats.

Better yet, the three most important people for a football team — the GM, head coach and quarterback — actively participated. Warren described Poles, Eberflus and Justin Fields as special and passionate.

“It’s just a matter of when you drop massive boulders in water, it’s the ripples and the impact and the visibility,” Warren said.

He was particularly excited to see Fields wear his cleats for the foundation he created in his name. Supporting people’s passions comes off as a passion for Warren. It’s important to success. It’s part of dreaming big.

“You got to dream a lot,” Warren said. “I dream about the day we see this team coming together and handed that Super Bowl trophy — handing that Super Bowl trophy over to the McCaskey family and where our victory parade will be. Now, that didn’t just happen by dreaming. You got to put in a lot of work. But that ribbon cutting at the stadium, I mean, I dream about those days. Hosting the Super Bowl here — winning the Super Bowl here. And this fan base and our city and our fans, they deserve the best.”

MINNESOTA

It’s QB NICK MULLENS this week against the Bengals.  Alec Lewis and Larry Holder of The Athletic:

The Minnesota Vikings will make a quarterback switch as they’ll start Nick Mullens against the Cincinnati Bengals in Week 15, the team announced Tuesday. This will send Josh Dobbs to the bench after Dobbs started four games in relief of the injured Kirk Cousins.

Minnesota turned to Mullens in the fourth quarter in the midst of a 0-0 game with the Las Vegas Raiders in Week 14. The Vikings ended up winning 3-0. Mullens went 9-of-13 passing with 83 yards to help Minnesota to the win.

“When we lost Kirk Cousins we were 4-4,” Vikings coach Kevin O’Connell said Tuesday. W”e’re now a game over .500. Now, for the better part of four games and three quarters, Josh (Dobbs) led us to three wins. There’s a lot of teams in this league that, when they do lose their starter, it takes a lot to overcome that and continue pressing onward. The team we’re playing this week is experiencing it right now. Jake Browning is doing a lot of good things to lead them to some wins. I think Josh understands the process and where we’ve been at. I think he has respect for the opportunity he had and some of the really good things that he did. In communicating with him, I just want to make sure he knows exactly what the thought process is. The idea was to make sure that there’s full transparency with these guys.

“I do believe Nick Mullens gives us the best chance to win the football game this Saturday, and that’s the decision we made.”

Dobbs went 10-of-23 passing for 63 yards for a 50.8 passer rating before Mullens replaced him. The Vikings elected to start Dobbs this week despite his recent struggles following a quick start once he was traded to Minnesota from the Arizona Cardinals in late October.

It will be the fourth starting quarterback this season for the Vikings: Cousins, Jaren Hall, Dobbs, Mullens.

What they’re saying

O’Connell said he thought Mullens brought rhythm to the Vikings offense in a pinch against the Raiders.

“I really thought he came into the game the other day and demonstrated his ability to prepare, come in, play in rhythm, be accurate with the ball, make great decisions. And I think with where we are as an offense right now, it’s about our execution with all 11 guys,” O’Connell said.

“We’ve been able to kinda help him work through the lower back injury, and he feels really, really good. He feels ready to go. Which is a huge part of this decision. Making sure that Nick felt really good about the opportunity moving forward. As far as how we’ll go into it at the quarterback position, we’ll have all three players in uniform. But we’re working through exactly what that will look like as far as the backup and the emergency third quarterback. I can update you guys on that a little bit later in the week.”

O’Connell added, “There’s a reason we went out and got Nick when we did (last year) to really solidify that position. … He allows us to prepare with a plan and he doesn’t need a lot of reps to go in and execute that plan. We’re all excited to see what Nick can do with a week of preparation even on a short week. I think Nick’s going to have a great opportunity.”

O’Connell said he told Dobbs that he believed in him last week and that Dobbs proved he could win games for the Vikings. But O’Connell liked what he saw from Mullens.

“Getting to see Nick get a little more work last week, and then go out and execute our offense in rhythm at a really high level, understanding and running the show with a feel of what our offense felt like with him in there with some of those big-time throws on third down, where he put his back foot in the ground and gave our guys a chance to make a play. It was all positive to see,” O’Connell said.

Why Vikings are making the switch?

Because Mullens will operate O’Connell’s offense in rhythm and on time. He won’t create when the pocket breaks down. He’s not going to add to the team’s capability in the run game. He is, though, capable of operating under center and disposing of the football when he hits his back foot.

O’Connell’s passing game hinges on precision. Receivers must arrive at different depths at specific times. The quarterback’s drop and release must match up with the receivers’ arrivals at those spots. Dobbs, who has started the most recent four games for the Vikings, seemed to be hitching more than O’Connell would like.

Multiple factors played a role in his decline in performance. The Vikings dropped six of his passes Sunday against the Raiders. The offensive line regressed, partly due to injuries. Regardless, O’Connell believes a more structured Mullens gives the team its best chance this week against Lou Anarumo’s Bengals defense.

NFC EAST

DALLAS

Is this year different for the Cowboys?  Randy Mueller in The Athletic:

What we know with certainty, after 14 weeks: The NFC East is up for grabs. What we don’t know: Can the Dallas Cowboys stand prosperity? Can they keep their foot on the pedal for the next four weeks and into the playoffs and avoid a letdown?

Nobody gets more praise heaped in their direction after success than America’s Team. Whether from local or national media or from themselves, they are perennially the quickest team to be crowned as kings in the National Football League. I swear, they believe it more than others do, too. And, as a general manager, that would drive me nuts.

I am a narrative guy. I like to keep things on an even keel. The Mondays after losses should be met with the same message as after wins. Maybe that’s why Cowboy legend and Hall of Fame coach Tom Landry was my favorite of all time. Some of us just love a good poker face. Well, these are not your dad’s Cowboys.

Immediately after the Cowboys’ win over the Eagles, you had defensive end DeMarcus Lawrence using expletives to praise how tough and physical Dallas is. You had owner Jerry Jones, who just can’t not say something, deeming the win the crowning moment of head coach Mike McCarthy’s tenure with the Cowboys so far.

These were just a couple of examples. It feels like this team can never wait to take a victory lap — it’s gotta be right now. After 35 years in the league, I can tell you that dealing with prosperity is important, and some do it better than others.

My question is: Can this year be different for the Cowboys?

I realize this Eagles rematch was the Cowboys’ first “big” win this season. But here is an example. In Week 2 this year — before the dumpster fire had taken full effect in New York — the Cowboys beat the Jets 30-10 to go 2-0 … only to lay an egg as an 11-point road favorite against the Arizona Cardinals a week later. In 2021, the Cowboys lost three times when favored by at least six points. Dallas has five such losses over the past three seasons, second in the NFL behind the Buffalo Bills (eight).

Here is what is different. McCarthy is in a better position to lead and coach this team than at any other point in his Dallas tenure. Calling plays gives him a better chance to manage the game, control the pace and have a far-reaching effect on its outcome. No longer is he tiptoeing around another play caller or concerned about the authorship of this offense. And I mean no offense to former coordinator Kellen Moore, who I like and respect. But this is what Jerry Jones should have allowed from Day 1 — to be fair to everyone.

McCarthy has a higher win percentage with the Cowboys than he did with the Packers, where he won a Super Bowl. He has skins on the wall and understands how to deal with prosperity. Despite his owner’s need to run to the microphone for a state of the union address after every game, McCarthy’s experience, perspective and cachet give him a chance to reel his team in after wins like Sunday’s, if he is allowed.

Dak Prescott is also doing his best to keep the franchise on an even keel, handling things like a pro. His intangibles and business approach are always welcome in the NFL world of hot takes.

“Obviously not my best game,” Prescott said after going 24 of 39 for 271 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions as the Cowboys scored 33 points against the Eagles. “I hold myself to super high standards. If I play my best game, we were putting up 50 out there.”

All of this, coupled with a defense that coaches turnovers — and yes, turnovers are coached — might provide a different ending for Cowboys fans. I have been a part of teams with prolific turnover margins, and what I remember most is they talked about turnovers constantly. It was a mindset and a vocal identity that was first on every defender’s mind. It became an internal point of competition and pride every day, so much so that it made our offense better at holding onto the ball in practice.

The other thing that works in McCarthy’s favor is the difficult schedule — and you might think I’m crazy, but I love it. They will not be 11-point favorites against the Bills, Dolphins or Lions, their next three opponents. Facing quality opposition should keep this group focused on the task at hand and not the headlines praising them. This should also help with preparation during the week and McCarthy’s messaging to his team.

NEW YORK GIANTS

Coach Brian Daboll isn’t buying into discussion of whether or not QB TOMMY DiVITO is the next Tom Brady per Ryan Dunleavy of the New York Post:

The mention of Tom Brady and Tommy DeVito in the same breath will get Brian Daboll to pump the brakes faster than a driver who sees a deer.

The day after the undrafted rookie DeVito engineered a fourth-quarter comeback to lead the Giants to a 24-22 victory against the Packers on “Monday Night Football” and keep faint playoff hopes alive, the Giants head coach wasn’t about to stroll 23 years down memory lane to when he was an assistant coach for the Patriots and an unknown Brady jumped in for the injured Drew Bledsoe.

Twelve seconds into a question about Brady coming out of nowhere, Daboll interjected.

“Yeah, we’re four games in,” Daboll said. “I do appreciate the question.”

When the reporter finished the question by asking when teammates began believing in Brady, Daboll racked his brain.

“That’s a long time ago,” Daboll said. “I’d just say every situation is different. I couldn’t probably give you the answer that you are looking for. I couldn’t give you a tangible story or anything like that. It was a different time, different players, different team, but obviously [Brady’s rise] is well-documented.”

Brady’s legend was born when he led the Patriots to the Super as a first-year starter. DeVito has won three straight starts to get the Giants to a 5-8 record.

“We’re just trying to make a first down, execute in the red zone right now,” Daboll said, “and do a good job with our responsibilities with where we’re at.”

One point where Daboll and DeVito have connected is on performing in front of your hometown.

Daboll, a Buffalo native who was raised by his grandparents, returned home as the Bills offensive coordinator from 2018-22 – before he was hired by the Giants – when he was already deep into his coaching career.

“I’ll keep those conversations private,” Daboll said. “It’s a little bit different because a lot of your family are around. They kind of live it with you, as compared to [when] you are working somewhere else and maybe they are not right in the boat with you. There’s a lot of things going on for you and you have to do a really good job of keeping the main thing the main thing.”

DeVito was named the NFC’s Offensive Player of the Week.  Michael Eisen atGiants.com with more factoids:

In the 74 seasons since the NFL began tracking starting quarterbacks in 1950, DeVito became the first starter in league history to complete at least 80% of his passes, rush for 70+ yards, commit no turnovers, and take no sacks.

DeVito is the first Giants rookie quarterback to win three consecutive starts since Phil Simms won four in a row in 1979.

PHILADELPHIA

Tim McManus of ESPN.com on whether or not the Eagles should panic:

Is the Eagles’ glass half-full or half-empty?

The optimist will point out they are tied for the best record in football (10-3) despite recent blowout losses to a pair of NFC heavyweights in the Dallas Cowboys and San Francisco 49ers. And with the easiest closing schedule in the league per ESPN’s Football Power Index, they’re well-positioned to rebound and take a run at the top seed in the conference.

The pessimist will note red flags abound. They’ve fallen behind at halftime each of the past six weeks. The defense has allowed 30-plus points in three straight games, their longest streak since 2015. And they are minus-4 in turnover differential (quarterback Jalen Hurts has already set a career high with 10 interceptions) and plus-21 in point differential, suggesting the current state of affairs doesn’t line up with that rosy record.

The realist will tell you the Eagles need to get their act together, no matter how you spin it. The opportunity to secure home-field advantage and pursue a second straight trip to the Super Bowl is in front of them, but there are multiple areas of concern that need to be quickly remedied in order for the Eagles to avoid a collapse. Here are five priorities to fix:

Third-down defense

Philadelphia is last in this category with a 48% opponent conversion rate. That rate has been significantly worse (61%) over the past three weeks.

One of the more confounding stats is that the Eagles are tied for last in third-down sacks (nine) despite the heavy investment in quality pass-rushers like Haason Reddick, Josh Sweat, Jalen Carter and Fletcher Cox.

“Getting teams in second-and-long and third-and-long, that’s when we’re really, really good,” said Cox. “The past two weeks, we haven’t done that. Teams are getting second-and-manageable, third-and-manageable, and the playbook is kind of open for them.”

Red zone defense

Opponents are scoring touchdowns on over 70% of their trips inside the 20-yard line — the third-highest rate in the NFL.

The pass defense has been abysmal in the red zone, with opposing quarterbacks throwing touchdowns on a league-high 40.4% of their attempts.

“We just ain’t taking care of each other,” Sweat said. “Our rush and coverage is not taking care of each other.”

Turnovers

Hurts has not taken care of the football to his standard. He is tied for the third-most turnovers among quarterbacks with 15. A lost fumble on the Eagles’ opening possession against Dallas on Sunday ended a promising drive and kept momentum in the Cowboys’ favor. It wasn’t just Hurts: receivers A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith also lost fumbles.

“On their rips, it seemed like they had really good technique in all three of their turnovers,” Hurts said of the Cowboys. “It’s a testament to them. But we’ve got to be better on ball security as a runner.”

The Eagles are in the bottom half of the league in both turnovers (19) and takeaways (15).

Offensive game plan

Slow starts have plagued this team of late. They’re averaging just 6.3 points in the first half over their past three games, which ranks 28th. Meanwhile, their average second-half scoring both over that span (14.7 PPG) and the season (14.1) is near the top of the league. Coach Nick Sirianni and offensive coordinator Brian Johnson might be good at adjusting on the fly, but the original design is leaving something to be desired.

Scheming players open instead of relying on their top talent to win one-on-ones is one area to look at. Brown and Smith are two of the best receivers in the league, yet the average distance between Hurts’ target and the nearest defender is 3.24 yards, which ranks 28th. And Hurts is 25th in wide-open throw percentage (20%), or when the nearest defender is 5-plus yards away.

Ground attack

The Eagles have slipped from fourth in rushing yards (152 YPG) last season to eighth (124.5) so far in 2023. Hurts’ rushing totals (126 rushes, 460 yards, 3.65 average) are down compared to this point last season (139 rushes, 686 yards, 4.94 average). He was dealing with knee pain for weeks and the Eagles have generally been more conservative with him, keeping his long-term health in mind.

With Hurts drawing less attention in the ground game, there hasn’t been as much open space for the running backs to operate. Still, the Eagles could lean on the explosive D’Andre Swift more to take some pressure off both the pass game and a defense that has faced the sixth-most snaps this season at 65.3 on average — a number that has spiked to 74.3 over the past four games.

AFC WEST

LOS ANGELES CHARGERS

The Chargers may be thinking about a complete executive/coaching re-boot.  Ben Levine of ProFootballRumors.com reports on a story by Jason LaCanfora of the Washington Post:

Tom Telesco has spent more than a decade with the Chargers organization. However, with his squad eyeing another underwhelming finish, there’s a chance he’s let go after the season. According to Jason La Canfora of the Washington Post, “there’s a strong expectation within the industry” that the Chargers will be seeking a new head coach and a new GM this offseason.

After stops with the Bills and the Panthers to begin his career, Telesco worked his way up through the Colts organization, culminating in him earning the role of vice president of football operations. At the same time, the Chargers were about to miss the playoffs for the third straight season, leading to longtime GM A.J. Smith‘s ouster.

Telesco ended up earning the Chargers GM job, and he helped build a roster that ultimately won a playoff game in his first season at the helm. However, the Chargers only won one more playoff game over the next nine seasons, with the organization only having a pair of playoff appearances over that span. The exec has a had a few highs (including a 12-4 season in 2018) and more lows (including three seasons with five or fewer wins), but he’s managed to stick around as one of the longest-tenured GMs in the NFL.

The organization’s lack of success might finally catch up to Telesco in 2023. The Chargers currently sit at 5-8, and with Justin Herbert set to miss the rest of the season, things probably aren’t going to get much better in Los Angeles. Owner Dean Spanos will reportedly conduct an offseason evaluation of the organization, and it could ending up leading to significant changes.

As for head coach Brandon Staley, it’s seeming like a foregone conclusion that the head coach will be canned following the season. As the criticism mounts, the Chargers have already been connected to potential replacement options. However, La Canfora warns that Staley might not even make it to the offseason and could be an in-season casualty. With his defense stumbling and his franchise quarterback sidelined, Staley could be facing a brutal end of the season, and a humiliating loss could ultimately cost him his job.

AFC NORTH

BALTIMORE

The Ravens have a healthy QB LAMAR JACKSON this year, and that could make all the difference.  Jamison Hensley of ESPN.com:

Last week, Baltimore Ravens coach John Harbaugh emphasized the importance of the upcoming games to his players.

“December football has a meaning to it,” he told them. “It’s preparation for great events to come. You have to put yourself in position with December football for what’s to come.”

For the third straight year, the Ravens head into Week 15 atop the AFC North with a chance to capture the No. 1 seed in the AFC. But, unlike the past two years, Baltimore (10-3) is seen as a legitimate Super Bowl contender at this time of the year.

The difference: a healthy Lamar Jackson. Heading into Monday night’s games, Baltimore was the projected favorite to earn to the No. 1 seed in the AFC at 53%, according to ESPN Analytics.

Jackson showed how valuable he is in Sunday’s 37-31 overtime win over the Los Angeles Rams when he totaled more than 300 yards passing and 70 yards rushing in the same game for just the second time of his career.

“I think Lamar played one of the best quarterback games yesterday that you can play,” Harbaugh said.

In 2021 and 2022 — when Jackson dealt with season-ending ankle and knee injuries — Baltimore went 2-3 in December without him. Sunday marked the first time since Dec. 5, 2021, that Jackson had started and finished a game in December.

Jackson is one of the NFL’s best at this point in the season. He improved to 14-3 (.824) in December, which is the NFL’s second-best mark since 2018 behind Aaron Rodgers (17-3).

“He’s one of a kind,” Harbaugh said. “There’s nobody like Lamar Jackson.”

Jackson’s record will get tested by one of the toughest December schedules in the NFL. Baltimore plays division leaders in Jacksonville, San Francisco and Miami the next three weeks. ESPN’s Football Power Index ranks it as the toughest remaining schedule in the NFL.

Here is what makes Jackson and the Ravens so dangerous:

UNPREDICTABILITY

There was talk when Jackson was a rookie that his dual-threat style would be unsustainable. In his sixth NFL season, Jackson still puts defenders on their heels because he is one of the few quarterbacks who can beat a team with a touchdown pass or convert a third down with a scramble.

In Sunday’s win, Jackson recorded his ninth career game with three touchdown passes and 70 or more rushing yards. That’s four more than any other quarterback in league history.

“You never know what he is going to do,” Ravens wide receiver Zay Flowers said. “[He] just runs around the field like — I don’t even know.”

It was the 35th game in which Jackson has finished as the Ravens’ leading rusher, which is the second most by any starting quarterback since 1950. He trails only Cam Newton, who accomplished the feat 42 times.

CLUTCH PLAY

Before this week, Jackson had struggled in the fourth quarter. He ranked 27th with a 33.7 Total QBR, throwing two touchdowns and two interceptions in the fourth.

On Sunday, Jackson stepped up on Baltimore’s final drive of regulation, when the Ravens trailed the Rams 28-23 late in the fourth. He completed 7 of 10 passes for 73 yards, including a 21-yard touchdown pass to Flowers.

That scoring throw came on third-and-17 with 1:16 remaining in the fourth and All-Pro defensive tackle Aaron Donald barreling down on Jackson.

“[We’re] just proving we can make it happen,” Jackson said. “When we really need it, we’re down [and] trying to win the game, we don’t want to put them back out there on the field, but we just have to score. We have to score, and we delivered.”

DEEP PASSING

The weakest part of Jackson’s game has been his downfield throwing, but he made strides in the right direction against the Rams.

He averaged a season-high 11.4 air yards per attempt Sunday, throwing his two deepest touchdown passes of the season. There were 27 air yards to tight end Isaiah Likely (on a 54-yard TD) and 43 air yards to wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. (on a 46-yard TD).

“This is why they paid him the big bucks,” Beckham said. “He’s very special. We’ll be a dangerous team.”

AFC SOUTH

JACKSONVILLE

The Jaguars lost to the Browns, but QB TREVOR LAWRENCE and his ankle did survive to fight again this week. Michael David Smith of ProFootballTalk.com:

Coming off of losses in their last two games, the Jaguars will have another significant AFC matchup when they host the Ravens on Sunday.

While quarterback Trevor Lawrence suffered a high right ankle sprain on Monday night of Week 13, he’s set to return to a full practice workload on Wednesday.

“Should be, yes, should be — shouldn’t have to limit him today,” Pederson said in his Wednesday press conference.

Lawrence didn’t practice last Wednesday and was limited on Thursday and Friday before extending his starting streak to 47 games in the loss to Cleveland. Lawrence finished the game 28-of-50 passing for 257 yards with three touchdowns and three interceptions. He also took four sacks.

Additionally, Pederson noted that offensive linemen Walker Little and Ezra Cleveland are trending in the right direction. Little missed last Sunday’s game with a hamstring injury.

– – –

Although many of the purchases that put former Jaguars employee Amit Patel on the radar of authorities seem to speak to a lust for material things, his attorneys are saying he was a victim of a gambling addiction, combined with incredible stupidity.  David Purdham of ESPN.com:

Amit Patel, the former Jacksonville Jaguars employee accused of defrauding the franchise of $22.2 million, was a high-volume, high-stakes daily fantasy sports player known for racking up big losses, according to online records of his account and multiple sources familiar with his play.

Federal authorities allege Patel, 31, manipulated the Jaguars’ virtual credit card program (VCC) and used the proceeds to fund a luxury lifestyle between 2019 and this February, when the Jaguars terminated him. During that time, Patel was also playing daily fantasy sports (DFS) under the username “ParlayPicker” on FanDuel and DraftKings, multiple sources with direct knowledge of his account told ESPN.

Rotogrinders, a popular daily fantasy sports and betting site that tracks individual players’ results, shows ParlayPicker put nearly $500,000 into fantasy tournaments on the NFL, Major League Baseball, PGA Tour and UFC since 2017. He often entered dozens of lineups into fantasy tournaments with large prize pools, the online records show. But DFS players familiar with the ParlayPicker account believe his biggest losses came from the high-stakes three-man contests they say he regularly entered. The contests were against elite competition and had buy-ins upward of $24,000. Rotogrinders does not track such contests, and the results and buy-in figures would not be included in its online records.

Patel’s attorney, Alex King, did not respond to multiple requests for comment. He said in a statement last week that his client suffers from a gambling addiction that fueled the alleged scheme.

“Mr. Patel did not use the Jaguars’ VCC to fund his lifestyle, but in a horribly misguided effort to pay back previous gambling losses that utilized the Jaguars’ VCC program,” King said.

King said in the statement that “approximately 99% of the funds misappropriated from the Jaguars’ VCC were gambling losses, almost all of which occurred” on FanDuel and DraftKings. King told The Athletic that Patel “bet on football” and daily fantasy sports. Details of Patel’s betting outside of his daily fantasy play are unknown.

Drew Crawford, an avid DFS player, noticed the emergence of ParlayPicker in recent years. ParlayPicker’s first play recorded on Rotogrinders was in 2017, and the records show his total stakes risked on fantasy tournaments peaked in 2021 and 2022.

“He came out of nowhere,” Crawford told ESPN. “Usually in our circle of DFS guys, we kind of know the identities of the guys who were playing at extreme volume. They’ve been around for a while. But with this guy, I remember having side conversations with some of my friends, who were like, ‘Who is this guy? And what is he doing?'”

Eventually, ParlayPicker developed a reputation for loose play and rookie mistakes. Crawford remembered ParlayPicker submitting rosters that included players who weren’t in the starting lineup.

Matt Smith, a well-known daily fantasy pro, told ESPN that ParlayPicker would “occasionally not even submit a lineup, despite it being a $3,000 buy-in.”

“My friend and I texted back and forth about how rich this guy must be,” Smith added.

As ParlayPicker’s play escalated and word of his missteps spread in the DFS community, players made a point of seeking out contests against him, according to multiple daily fantasy sources. One veteran DFS player, who communicated with ESPN on condition of anonymity, said they believe ParlayPicker is “the biggest loser ever on FanDuel.”

“He was legendarily bad,” the person added.

DraftKings and FanDuel declined to comment.

AFC EAST

BUFFALO

The Bills abandoned drafted punter MATT ARAIZA after a lawyer made terrible allegations against him last year.  Now, the allegations have been abandoned and Araiza can only wonder if an NFL team will give him a shot.  Alaina Getzenberg of ESPN.com:

Former San Diego State and Buffalo Bills punter Matt Araiza has been dismissed from a lawsuit that alleges a 17-year-old girl was raped at an off-campus party in October 2021 after an agreement was reached with the girl, identified as Jane Doe.

Doe dropped Araiza from the lawsuit filed in August 2022, while Araiza agreed to dismiss a defamation suit against Doe filed in July 2023.

The settlement was obtained and reviewed by ESPN.

Doe retains the right to continue the suit against the four other named defendants, former San Diego State teammates of Araiza. No money will be exchanged in the settlement agreement. Araiza also maintains the ability to sue the plaintiff’s attorney, Dan Gilleon, and his law office, and he has retained counsel to do so.

Gilleon did not respond to multiple requests for comment from ESPN.

Araiza’s lawyers, Dick Semerdjian and Kristen Bush, said in a statement that Araiza has always maintained his innocence and that he will never get back the time spent defending himself from the accusations.

“Thankfully, there was extensive evidence that was key to securing Matt’s voluntary dismissal from this lawsuit,” the statement said. “Matt was and has always been innocent. The case is over, and Matt has prevailed.”

His lawyers said that Araiza has the full intention of returning to the NFL to resume his football career.

The Bills released Araiza, who the team selected in the sixth round of the 2022 NFL draft, on Aug. 27, two days after the lawsuit was filed. The New York Jets brought him in for a workout in May.

On Dec. 7, 2022, the San Diego District Attorney’s office announced that criminal charges would not be filed in the case. Prosecutors said Araiza was not present when the alleged gang raped occurred, according to witness testimony included in evidence that prompted charges not to be filed. Araiza has said they had consensual sex outside the house earlier in the evening, but that he never entered the home.

The district attorney’s office also was unable to prove that there was awareness of the then-17-year-old’s age or her intoxication level. At least two witnesses at the party allegedly heard the girl say she was 18, while others said they didn’t recall her age coming up.

The other named defendants in the case have all said the sex was consensual.

In May, San Diego State University concluded there were no findings against Araiza after investigating allegations of rape and gang rape.

MIAMI

Mike Florio speculates on what the Dolphins might be thinking about WR TYREEK HILL and his bid for history on a balky ankle:

The Dolphins have entered a delicate phase of their season.

Star receiver Tyreek Hill has an ankle injury. (Hill said after Monday’s loss to the Titans that he has “been dealing with some ankle injuries this whole season.” He was listed on the injury report with an “ankle” in Weeks 3, 13, and 14 only.) The latest ankle injury limited his participation on Monday night, after he was brought down with a combination horse-collar and hip-drop tackle.

So what happens this weekend? He’s day-to-day, according to coach Mike McDaniel. One of these days very soon, the Dolphins will have to decide whether to let Tyreek play with an injured ankle.

He’ll want to go. He clearly wants to become the first player to generate 2,000 receiving yards. He surely covets the opportunity to be the first receiver named NFL MVP, even if he routinely downplays it. If he misses Sunday’s game against the Jets, it will become much harder to achieve either. (Then again, his true value could be proven by his absence.)

The Dolphins have far bigger goals. They want to win a Super Bowl, for the first time in 50 years. To do that, they’ll need a fully healthy Tyreek Hill. It might therefore be in the best interests of the team to give Hill this weekend off, or maybe longer, in order to get him healthy for the playoffs.

It’s a tough balance. Beyond the importance of keeping a key player happy, the Dolphins can’t take anything for granted. Their hammerlock on the AFC East has suddenly softened. They could still miss the playoffs entirely.

Jets, Cowboys, Ravens, Bills. They haven’t been able to beat a great team with Hill; how would they do against the Cowboys, Ravens, or Bills without him?

It will be interesting to see whether this becomes a major storyline on Hard Knocks. If it’s a true reality show, it will be the main focus of the coming week.

NEW ENGLAND

An ominous report about Bill Belichick’s future with the Patriots from Tom Curran:

The Patriots’ stirring upset of the Pittsburgh Steelers on “Thursday Night Football” has introduced a hypothetical: If New England somehow wins its final four games or at least finishes the season strong, will ownership be convinced to keep head coach Bill Belichick for another season?

The short answer, it appears, is no.

According to Patriots insider Tom E. Curran, the Patriots’ embarrassing 10-6 loss to the Indianapolis Colts in Frankfurt, Germany on Nov. 12 led to the team concluding it would part ways with Belichick after the 2023 season.

“When they came out of Germany, conversations I had that week made it very clear that a decision was made,” Curran said Monday on NBC Sports Boston’s Arbella Early Edition, as seen in the video above. “They were going to play out the string, and at the end of the year there would be a parting of the ways, for a variety of reasons.”

That loss on the international stage — which dropped the Patriots to 2-8 — was so bad that some wondered if team owner Robert Kraft would fire Belichick mid-season. That scenario always seemed highly unlikely, but it sounds like the Krafts had already seen enough through 10 games to understand a change needed to be made in 2024.

“You don’t fire Bill Belichick during the season. It’s just not gonna happen,” Curran said. “Additionally, though, he’s an asset. He’s under contract for another year, which we reported after NFL Media reported there was a long-term extension in place that would keep Bill locked up long-term. It’s only through next year, so that would not be an impediment to them changing course, and it had gone too far.

“The Germany game, the Commanders game, the Saints game: all huge marquee games, and then there was the Chargers game after that. Just because they won last week in Pittsburgh in prime time, I don’t think it quells anything.”

The Patriots indeed have hit a series of “rock bottoms” this season, starting with blowout losses to the Dallas Cowboys (38-3) and New Orleans Saints (34-0) and continuing with a 20-17 home loss to a mediocre Washington team, a flop against the Colts in Germany and back-to-back losses to the New York Giants and Los Angeles Chargers.

So, while Belichick’s legacy as a six-time Super Bowl winning head coach is irrefutable, his recent track record — especially as de facto general manager — has necessitated a change.

“Even if they win out, they still end up with seven wins, out of the postseason, trending in the wrong direction,” Patriots insider Phil Perry added. “And it doesn’t erase all of the personnel errors that Tom and I have been talking about for a long time here.

“So, I’m sure the Krafts are looking at that and also looking at this offseason and all the cap space they have and what looks like could be a top-three pick in the draft, and it would be fair for them to ask, ‘Is Bill Belichick the right guy to lead us through that offseason into 2024 and beyond?'”

And this from Julian Edelman on QB MAC JONES:

Julian Edelman was a critic of Mac Jones well before the New England Patriots quarterback’s tumultuous 2023 season.

Last year, the former Pats wide receiver took exception to Jones’ outbursts on the field and his lackluster tackle attempt on the final play of the infamous Jakobi Meyers lateral game vs. the Las Vegas Raiders. Since then, Jones hasn’t done much to earn Edelman’s praise.

Jones was benched in favor of Bailey Zappe four times this season before finally losing his starting job in Week 13. There’s a strong chance the 2021 first-round pick has thrown his final pass in a Patriots uniform.

On a new episode of Tom E. Curran’s Patriots Talk Podcast, Edelman shared his candid thoughts on Jones’ demise.

“I mean, last year was definitely a tough situation,” Edelman said. “But I think of it like this. If you’re a guy, you figure your way out how to make plays. If you’re a guy in this league, you do that. I mean, look at Justin Herbert. I know this year is particularly worse than what he’s been having. But, I mean, the guy found out he was playing and starting his first game 20 minutes before the game, and he went in and became productive and built something, and he’s made plays. You’ve seen confidence when you shouldn’t probably have had the confidence. So I don’t know. If you’re a guy, you make plays.

” … It’s a tough situation. I feel bad for the kid. It was tough but he didn’t help himself with how he acted in a lot of ways. You can’t follow up a guy that was notoriously known to take hard coaching (Tom Brady), who did it for 20 years, and yeah there was friction here or there or whatever, but we never really heard about it out of Tom’s camp. We never heard about that. …

“When you go out and you’re shushing up the coaches — and I don’t want to sound like an old guy, like an old-school guy, but that’s not what you want to see from a starting quarterback. A guy grabbing dudes’ ballsacks, kicking a guy, like, that’s not gonna help you when these kinds of conversations come up.”

Edelman believes there’s still a chance Jones could find success in the NFL, but it won’t be as the Patriots’ starting QB.

“You never know, he could have a career that (works out). I just don’t think it’s gonna happen in New England,” he added. “I think he’s definitely broken. Maybe he goes on and gets another shot somewhere, but sometimes you gotta toughen it out.”

THIS AND THAT

INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS

Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk.com endorses the idea that each team would play in international game every other year:

The NFL’s international experiment continues to expand. As it should.

Via NFL Network, owners will vote Tuesday on a proposal that would increase the minimum number of international games from four to eight. Given that the annual Jaguars home game falls beyond the league’s initiative, that would mean a minimum of nine games every year not on American soil.

They should run it all the way to 16, frankly. If the NFL will be sticking with 17 regular-season games, it’s imperative from a competitive-balance standpoint that all teams have eight true home games, eight true road games, and one neutral-site game. Today’s proposal, if successful (and it will be), would get the league more than halfway to the magic number of 16.

That’s the best long-term solution for the NFL. Moving a team to England or Germany raises too many issues. Export six games to England, six to Germany, and four elsewhere.

The expansion of international games also means more 9:30 a.m. ET Sunday kickoffs. Which will become a potentially lucrative window to be sold, in time, to a network or a streamer.

It makes sense to play more games internationally. It makes sense for every team to play an international game, every year. It feels like that’s where it’s heading, sooner than later.

If the NFL were to go to 16 neutral site games, we think some of them should be within North America – say St. Louis, Columbus, San Antonio, Salt Lake City, Toronto, Vancouver, Lincoln, Norman, Knoxville, Tuscaloosa etc.

And the NFL is going to Sao Paolo.

The NFL on Wednesday awarded a 2024 regular-season game to Brazil to be played in Sao Paolo at Corinthians Arena.

Corinthians Arena, the home of Brazilian soccer club SC Corinthians, has been a venue for both the 2014 FIFA World Cup and the 2016 Summer Olympics.

Since the Dolphins are the only team with NFL marketing rights in Brazil, look for Miami to be one of the teams in the game.

SUPER BOWL 61

When it was built it was expected the SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles would be on the fast track for many Super Bowls.  It appears that is so.  Jonathan Jones of CBSSports.com:

Multiple sources tell CBS Sports the NFL expects to announce Wednesday that the Los Angeles area and SoFi Stadium will host Super Bowl LXI, scheduled for February 2027.

A vote is still required to finalize the announcement, and there was still work being done on negotiations as late as Tuesday evening at the NFL league meetings in Texas. But the belief and hope was that all sides could reach the finish line for a Wednesday announcement.

The return to the greater Los Angeles area for Super Bowl LXI would coincide with the 60th anniversary of Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum hosting Super Bowl I in 1967. Eight times Southern California has hosted the Super Bowl, and only New Orleans (10) and South Florida (11) have hosted more.

SoFi Stadium, which opened in 2020, hosted Super Bowl LVI in 2022, and already it’s going to get another world championship. The league hasn’t repeated a Super Bowl site within such a short timespan since the home of the Miami Dolphins hosted Super Bowl XLI in 2006 and then again for Super Bowl XLIV three years later.

The league used to have a bid process for Super Bowls, but it did away with that in 2017. Now host committees, in conjunction with the teams and owners of the stadium, work with the NFL directly on deals for the big game.

Super Bowl LVIII will be held in Las Vegas in about two months — Feb. 11 — and broadcast on CBS and Paramount+. Super Bowl LIX will be held in New Orleans on Feb. 9, 2025. New Orleans was originally supposed to have the Super Bowl this season, but scheduling conflicts with Mardi Gras pushed the game out a year. And the league awarded the Bay Area Super Bowl LX on Feb. 8, 2026, ten years after Levi’s Stadium hosted its first Super Bowl.

The league likes having the Super Bowl in L.A. — and SoFi Stadium is physically located in Inglewood, Calif. — because of the massive revenue the league can generate in that wealthy part of the country in a stadium with more premium suites than the average NFL venue.

Super Bowl LXI would take place less than one year after SoFi Stadium is scheduled to host the 2026 FIFA Men’s World Cup.

That’s five Super Bowls in six years on the West Coast (if you count Vegas and Phoenix, and we do).

We are still stunned that SB60 went to Santa Clara with an emphasis on San Francisco during the week.

The last Florida Super Bowl was in Tampa for the COVID game of 2020/21.  The next would not be until at least 2027/28.