National Football League

[Nomad]

Pat Surtain injury: Good news for Broncos CB (these are the games he could miss)

The Broncos are not expected to place Pat Surtain (pec) on injured reserve. These are the three games he could miss.

broncoswire.usatoday.com

Strained pectoral muscle - luckily averted IR & may only have to miss 3 games. But 2 out of those 3 games are big: @ Houston then home vs Raiders & KC before their bye week.

 

[Alpe d'Huez]

I'd be more worried about Houston's D, and the Broncos inability to sustain much offense. The Raiders are a mess, so he can take that game off. KC they need him.

As to Shedeur, the biggest issue is the distraction. It's a damn circus now that he's "one play away" from (finally) being a starter in the NFL - something so many people think he should be, and think every team got wrong in not drafting him out of spite. People (fans, many scouts as you said, pundits, etc.) think he's going to be a very good QB in this league, so at some point we're going to have to find out. I think they should start him right now, get it over with. Every single game Gabriel is out there isn't fair to Gabriel, or the Browns fans. Every single throw, step, gesture, every uttered word by Gabriel is scrutinized, ready to toss him aside. And despite players and teams hating backup players getting so much attention, Shedeur seems to like it. So, just get him out there. If he has it (like he says), great, they can start winning, and faster than with Gabriel. If not, they'll find out.

Curious how the Ravens look tomorrow night. They have Lamar back, Ronnie Staley back, and are basically at full strength for the first time since the Buffalo game. Miami played well last week, so this could be an interesting game.

 

[movingtarget]

Lions agree to terms with DE Aidan Hutchinson on four-year, $180M extension

 

[Nomad]

Curious how the Ravens look tomorrow night. They have Lamar back, Ronnie Staley back, and are basically at full strength for the first time since the Buffalo game. Miami played well last week, so this could be an interesting game.

I think with "Action Jackson" back, they can get on a winning streak & win the division. They're only 2.5 games behind the Steelers with the season just approaching the halfway point. They have an easy schedule left with two tough teams that I see they play later on in the season; NE & GB. They still have to the play the Steelers twice, who have a harder remaining schedule.

If they beat the Steelers both times & win one of the tough games against either NE & GB, they go 11-6. The Steelers would need to lose at least 4 games - 2 of those would be at the hands of the Ravens. This would leave both teams tied at 11-6 but the Ravens would hold the tiebreaker having beaten the Steelers twice thus winning the division. This is definitely doable and they can start by walloping the Finns tonight.

Jackson wants some things changed in the locker room:

Lamar Jackson Asked Ravens Owner to Remove Games From Locker Room | FOX Sports

After missing three games with a hamstring injury, superstar QB Lamar Jackson assessed Baltimore's situation upon his return this week.

www.foxsports.com

 

[Alpe d'Huez]

There is however a "trap" game in there late in the season. Week 15 at Cincy, with (presumably) Joe Burrow.

 

[movingtarget]

Too many mistakes from Miami. Fans booing Tua. McDaniel probably the next coach to go...........

 

[movingtarget]

Chiefs' Patrick Mahomes expects 'great challenge' playing in Buffalo: 'They don't like us'

 

[Oldman]

I'd be more worried about Houston's D, and the Broncos inability to sustain much offense. The Raiders are a mess, so he can take that game off. KC they need him.

As to Shedeur, the biggest issue is the distraction. It's a damn circus now that he's "one play away" from (finally) being a starter in the NFL - something so many people think he should be, and think every team got wrong in not drafting him out of spite. People (fans, many scouts as you said, pundits, etc.) think he's going to be a very good QB in this league, so at some point we're going to have to find out. I think they should start him right now, get it over with. Every single game Gabriel is out there isn't fair to Gabriel, or the Browns fans. Every single throw, step, gesture, every uttered word by Gabriel is scrutinized, ready to toss him aside. And despite players and teams hating backup players getting so much attention, Shedeur seems to like it. So, just get him out there. If he has it (like he says), great, they can start winning, and faster than with Gabriel. If not, they'll find out.

Curious how the Ravens look tomorrow night. They have Lamar back, Ronnie Staley back, and are basically at full strength for the first time since the Buffalo game. Miami played well last week, so this could be an interesting game.

Ravens first: it helps to play an entirely hapless Dolphins. Tagliova didn't get much help and certainly couldn't synch with receivers. I left that broadcast early.

Shedeur may like the hype circus now because the Cleveland fans and press don't have him on the rotisserie. Cleveland has been chaotic for almost every QB except Flacco and they dumped him for his good efforts.

 

[Alpe d'Huez]

Dolphins fire GM Chris Greer. Holding onto McDaniel at least through season's end. Translation: He's fired on black Monday after the season ends. Then, his services as an OC will be in high demand by several teams, and he'll likely be able to choose from them, picking the QB he wants to work with (meaning don't expect the Browns or Raiders to get him. Unless they somehow get the #1 overall draft pick. I think the Jets are getting that, and will take/ruin a QB once again).

 

[Nomad]

Chiefs' Patrick Mahomes expects 'great challenge' playing in Buffalo: 'They don't like us'

This is now the battle of the dual-threats. Mahomes has been running more this season than any season in the past. With 280 yds, he's currently #2 among QB rushing leaders behind Fields but ahead of Allen at #3 (granted Jackson & Daniels have missed some games or they would probably be ahead of Mahomes).

Mahomes is also the team's 2nd leading rusher & has scored 4 TDs. He's averaging about 6 rushes a game (up from his career average of 4 per game) & 35 yds per game. At this pace, he blow away his career high of 389 yds he rushed for in the 2023 season. He's also 4th in QBR (76).

And he's not always sliding or running out of bounds either. In last week's game against the Commanders, running toward the sideline at the 1st down marker, he put his shoulder into a defender taking a big hit as they went crashing out of bounds. Earlier in year I've seen him take off breaking free into the secondary & going head on with DBs.

Anyone that questions Mahomes' toughness...think again. He may complain to the refs a lot about not getting a flag on what he believes to be an unneccessary roughness hit, but he's been one tough SOB running the ball this season.

NFL Qb Rushing Yards Leaders 2025 To 2026 | StatMuse

Between this season and the 2026 season, Josh Allen rushed for the most yards by a quarterback, with 409 yards.

www.statmuse.com

 

[SHAD0W93]

The Dolphins were definitely practicing social distancing all of last night. They need a major rebuild to get back to even a winning record.

I’m surprised Chiefs vs Bills isn’t the night game but it should be very good.

 

[Alpe d'Huez]

I actually think the Chiefs are going to win that game, and while it may be close at times, I don't think Buffalo's defense can stop KC, while KC's can at least slow Buffalo. Aside from last week when they were served up the hapless Panthers, the Bills haven't really looked all that good going back to the week 1 crazy finish win over Baltimore. They lost to Atlanta for example. Their defense has been underperforming, and are now banged up. They lost Ed Oliver. Now DaQuan Jones, Shaq Thompson, Damar Hamlin, and Taylor Rapp are out.

Barring some astounding resurgence, I'm about to write the Bills off for the rest of the season.

I am honestly tired of both KC, and now Buffalo. And am really looking forward to the Seattle-Washington game. Two teams that look more up and coming, plus Daniels is back for the Commanders.

 

[Nomad]

You might be right: The Chiefs are 2.5 pt favorites & the ESPN predictive computer model favors the Chiefs with a 57% win probability. The weather is calling for 55 degrees with partly cloudy skies - perfect football weather (though I don't think it matters what the weather or temperature is when these two clubs meet). The Bills were 6-2 at this point last year, so if they win they'll match last year's record. Their 1st half schedule was pretty easy with the 2nd half looking a little tougher. But just like the Chiefs have Mahomes, the Bills have Allen, so I wouldn't write them off at all.

I think the Seattle-Washington game is a must win for the Commanders. Their 5 losses at only the halfway point of the season equals all of last season's total. They're already 3 games behind Philly & can't afford to keep falling back. Granted, Daniels has missed 3 games with Mariota going a lackluster 1-2 in that span, but the 5 games Daniels has played, he's only 2-3. This is surprising considering how good the Commanders were last season. Could they end up having a bad season not making the playoffs? The 2nd half of their schedule is murderous: Denver, Detroit, Dallas & Philly twice.
 

 

[Nomad]

I’m surprised Chiefs vs Bills isn’t the night game but it should be very good.

Looks like it's a Twilight game with a 4:25 pm Eastern time start (I think most of the Bills home games are 1:00 pm Eastern start time?).

 

[Sciatic]

Anyone that questions Mahomes' toughness...think again. He may complain to the refs a lot about not getting a flag on what he believes to be an unneccessary roughness hit, but he's been one tough SOB running the ball this season.

I'm not familiar with anyone questioning his toughness. The complaints are primarily about the ref/league treating him like he's some fragile snowflake. Which he uses to his advantage. I doubt many folks who watch the NFL regularly believe he's "soft." He may be a crybaby at times but he's not a baby when it comes to his playing style.

 

[Alpe d'Huez]

I'm not familiar with anyone questioning his toughness. The complaints are primarily about the ref/league treating him like he's some fragile snowflake. Which he uses to his advantage. I doubt many folks who watch the NFL regularly believe he's "soft." He may be a crybaby at times but he's not a baby when it comes to his playing style.

Precisely.

 

[SHAD0W93]

I'm not familiar with anyone questioning his toughness. The complaints are primarily about the ref/league treating him like he's some fragile snowflake. Which he uses to his advantage. I doubt many folks who watch the NFL regularly believe he's "soft." He may be a crybaby at times but he's not a baby when it comes to his playing style.

Exactly, all he’s trying to do is get free extra yards which is what any player does. He might play the system a little more since he knows he gets some calls but that’s not ultimately his fault.

 

[Nomad]

I'm not familiar with anyone questioning his toughness. The complaints are primarily about the ref/league treating him like he's some fragile snowflake. Which he uses to his advantage. I doubt many folks who watch the NFL regularly believe he's "soft." He may be a crybaby at times but he's not a baby when it comes to his playing style.

Why wouldn't Mahomes use that to his advantage? Getting a flag for an extra 15 yards tacked on to the end of a run is called strategy. If the league's objective is to protect QBs, then you're going to get a lot of QBs wanting flags when they take off running.

Most QBs in the league will expect & ask for a flag on what they perceive to be a late hit/unnecessary roughness situation. Take Josh Allen - everyone's fan favorite for a toughguy, no BS type QB - has complained & asked for flags. On his rushing highlights from 2024, watch this play @ 1:30 into the video where he takes off on a long run against the Colts. He slides & it looks like a defender harmlessly falls on him where Allen pops right up with open arms asking for a flag. Lol.

View: https://youtu.be/y7IkTMsSKFA?si=6cLh8H_-JWqiN4lC

They all do it but Mahomes seems to get criticized the most.

 

[Alpe d'Huez]

In other games...

MIN@DET - I think the Vikings have to win to have any real playoff chance. If they lose they go 3-5, and are in a deep hole in that division, and the NFC which is loaded with more teams. O'Connell rolled the dice, got rid of Sam Darnold, and said JJ was the guy. Here's his chance.
DEN@TEX - Two of the toughest defenses in the league. Will one offense rise up? Texans need this more.
IND@PIT - Here's the Steelers chance to play spoiler. They lose, the Ravens inch one step closer.
JAG@LVR - Raiders badly need a solid performance, especially Geno Smith. Odds are against it.
SEA@WAS - Agree, this is a key game for the Commanders. I expect them to be very aggressive on offense.

ARI@DAL - Both of these teams have played better than their record, at times. Loser's season starts to look written off. Murray still out for Cards.

 

[movingtarget]

Can't see Detroit losing to the Vikings and the Vikings defense doesn't seem to be what it was. Getting rid of Darnold doesn't seem so smart now but Seattle are happy they did.

Think Denver will do enough on defense to beat the Texans who beat a terrible 49ers last week.

Colts are looking good. Taylor is back to his best and Jones has done well so far. Steelers defense has slipped. Colts to win.

Wouldn't be surprised to see the Jags lose, like the Falcons, they have gone off the boil lately. Maybe the Raiders can get an upset.

Seattle's defense is excelling and Darnold has a good combo going with Jaxon Smith Njigba. Think they will be too good for Washington.

Murray back for the Cards. Probably take Dallas in maybe a high scoring game. Dallas are putting up points but their defense is mediocre.

49ers and Giants both have a ton of injuries. Purdy expected to be out again. Giants run defense is awful. If CMC gets going, the 49ers should win unless some Dart heroics spoil the party !

 

[SHAD0W93]

Lions are having reverse fortune in the division this year compared to last year that could put them out of the division win later. McDaniel needs to get fired already and go to Detroit as an offensive assistant.

Bengals, lord what to say. You think the seasons over because Burrow is injured again, Browning isn’t getting it done, and then you sign old man Flacco. Crazy thing is Flacco has been balling out, the team just can’t stop blowing it. Burrow needs out of the team like Stafford and the Lions.

Chiefs vs Bills lived up to the hype and Bills showed why they shouldn’t be underestimated. After that insane 4th and 17 pickup and later 2 point conversion I thought they were going to somehow win. Chiefs finally let up a 100 yard receiver and rusher, crazier it was in the same game.

Colts with a bad loss while the Steelers continue to get breathing room. Rodgers just might do better than 8-9 like I thought.

Broncos with a good comeback win but how long can they survive like this. Though they’re happy with a 2 game lead and two games to play against the chiefs.

By the way, what year is it in the AFC right now?

 

[Alpe d'Huez]

Agree with most of that. Though the Lions offense was still somewhat inventive, they just stalled when they needed to score. I was wrong on most of my predictions, except I did think some of the Colts success was a mirage. I just expected it to be exposed against the Chiefs. I was also surprised the banged up Bills D played as well as they did.

I'm also surprised that the Chargers are eeking out games the way they are. They easily could have lost to a terrible Titans team today.

End of the Bears-Bengals game was one of the most wild I've seen in ages.

 

[Nomad]

Action packed Sunday!

Broncos D stuffs the Texans holding them to just FGs. Nix does just enough offensively to win the game including a nice 27 yd run on 3rd & long to put them in game winning FG range. Sadly, Stroud got knocked out of the game with a concussion early on a run where he started his slide & was blasted by Kris Abraham-Draine. It was a clean hit with contact made in the upper chest & shoulder area. I think with Abraham-Draine just 178 lbs (I weigh that much. Lol) & Stroud a solid 218, he should have just went head-on with Abraham-Draine & probably wouldn't have been hurt. Davis Mills ineffective in generating any meaningful scoring offense. Hard to believe they're paying him a 1-yr fully guaranteed $7m contract. Lol.

The oddsmakers got it all wrong with the Chiefs-Bills game. Bills were ready - vintage Josh Allen (now 5-1 in head to head regular season matchups against Mahomes). Bills 6-2 exactly their record last yr at this point. IMO, they'll win the division & go deep in the postseason...again. Chiefs falling further behind the Broncos - almost time to hit the panic button?

Chargers eek-out win over the Titans - staying a game behind the Broncos. Herbert throwing & running the ball very effectively. In fact, he's now a bonafide dual-threat showcasing his running skills. His 57 yds gives him a total of 305 yds putting him #1 on QB rushing yards list as of this weekend's games. He also ties last season's career high rushing yards which he'll easily blow away this season. Again, Greg Roman was dead serious that he wants Herbert to run more.

Did the City of Cinncinati sound the air raid sirens? Lol. Flacco throwing for a career high 470 yds & 4 TDs!!! He also becomes the oldest cat to throw for that many yards. Too bad they lost - a performance like that deserved a win.

Steelers bring the Colts back down to Earth. Solid performance by Rodgers as that experiment seems to be working very well so far. Jones an uncharacteristically 3 picks.

Panthers over GB? No way...must be fake news. Lol. Wow...and the Panthers go 5-4 just a couple of games behind TB. I imagine Tepper is jumpin for joy as his Panthers finally look competitive this year & Young is having a breakout season. Costly loss for GB - Tucker Kraft looks to have sustained an ACL tear.

Lastly, a shout out to the Raiders for playing their guts out in the loss against the Jags. Taking them to OT & going for 2 after they tied it up was impressive. And what a monster day by Bowers with 12 catches & 3 scores! Raiders aren't quitting & that's a good sign with this new coaching staff. Cam Little kicks NFL-record 68 yard FG & the Jags improve to 5-3 one game behind the Colts.

 

[Oldman]

I actually think the Chiefs are going to win that game, and while it may be close at times, I don't think Buffalo's defense can stop KC, while KC's can at least slow Buffalo. Aside from last week when they were served up the hapless Panthers, the Bills haven't really looked all that good going back to the week 1 crazy finish win over Baltimore. They lost to Atlanta for example. Their defense has been underperforming, and are now banged up. They lost Ed Oliver. Now DaQuan Jones, Shaq Thompson, Damar Hamlin, and Taylor Rapp are out.

Barring some astounding resurgence, I'm about to write the Bills off for the rest of the season.

I am honestly tired of both KC, and now Buffalo. And am really looking forward to the Seattle-Washington game. Two teams that look more up and coming, plus Daniels is back for the Commanders.

Tough night for Daniels. Seattle's defense is for real and he was kept on the field too long.

 

[Oldman]

Action packed Sunday!



Did the City of Cinncinati sound the air raid sirens? Lol. Flacco throwing for a career high 470 yds & 4 TDs!!! He also becomes the oldest cat to throw for that many yards. Too bad they lost - a performance like that deserved a win.

Did the Browns even call Flacco after they one-night-standed him? Seems like he had some point to make. Shame Bengals didn't win that game although I couldn't see it.