National Football League

[SHAD0W93]

Looking at the AFC standings again, Kansas should have a good chance of grabbing the last wildcard spot.

What stinks for them is they need help from other teams while still winning themselves. Only way they control everything is if they win out.

 

[Nomad]

Rodgers dodged a bullet with a slight fracture to his left, non-throwing, wrist (he missed the 2nd half of the game yesterday with Rudolph in relief). Tomlin says he's "50-50" pending further evaluation (just wrap it up & take some pain killers Aaron. Lol).

Not so lucky for Penix Jr with a knee injury:

Report: Michael Penix Jr. will be placed on IR, has damage to ACL

While it’s currently unclear whether or not Michael Penix Jr. will miss the rest of the 2025 season, he is at least going to be sidelined for four weeks.

www.nbcsports.com

 

[SHAD0W93]

Rodgers dodged a bullet with a slight fracture to his left, non-throwing, wrist (he missed the 2nd half of the game yesterday with Rudolph in relief). Tomlin says he's "50-50" pending further evaluation (just wrap it up & take some pain killers Aaron. Lol).

Just needs a quick ayahuasca hit and a darkness retreat and he’ll be 100%.

 

[Oldman]

The fact that Seattle had 4 INT’s and still could have won this game actually speaks well of their defense. I suspect this will light a fire and you’ll see a better Darnold the rest of the way.

Several reviews have noted Darnold's anxious passing for 3 games. Seahawks had huge leads and managed to ride on first half scoring; letting the D close the games out. They almost did that yesterday. If SEA had that last field goal several feet to the left and won by a single point they shouldn't feel much better than losing the game. Their D is solid and running game showed up. Darnold's gotta calm down; particularly when he needs to scramble.
LA was offensively vital in the first quarter; but Coach Mike's D had them locked down for most of the remaining game. Puka Naqua was the bulk of the LA offense and Stafford didn't look much better than Darnold. Arguably he looked worse in the last quarter. The game at the end of December could confirm which is the better playoff team with pressure on both.

 

[Alpe d'Huez]

My concern about any team drafting Penix is hopefully not coming true. The kid had multiple injuries in college.

If the Chiefs win out they'd be 12-5. I don't know anyone who sees this happening, but you never know. Here's the current AFC ranking, plus a probability rate per NextGen factoring in remaining schedule:

1. Broncos - 95%
2. Patriots - 98%
3. Colts - 90%
4. Steelers - 39%
5. Bills - 92%
6. Chargers - 60%
7. Jaguars - 64%

Teams in the hunt:

• Texans - 33%
• Chiefs - 51%
• Ravens - 77%
• Dolphins - 1%
• Everyone else: less than 1%

 

[SHAD0W93]

Dolphins at 1% and not less than is hilarious.

 

[Nomad]

Chiefs essentially have to go 5-2 (at least) to make the playoffs. That would put them at 10-7. They have four potentially tough games left: Colts, Texans, Chargers, Broncos. They also play Tenn, LV and DAL.

If Mahomes can get his passing game fixed, it's possible that they could go 5-2 & get in at 10-7. The good news is the 3 toughest teams they play in that stretch; Colts, Chargers & Broncos are all at home. And they get the rematch with the Broncos on Christmas day which could be a huge game if they're still in the hunt for a playoff spot.

But Mahomes has got to fix that passing game. For the 2nd straight week, he's terrible not looking anything like a Tier 1 QB. He finished the game with only a 79 passer rating - well below the 100+ he was averaging against the Broncos since he became the starter years ago. His QBR against the blitz yesterday was bad...really bad at 58 (his career QBR of 91 against the blitz is one of the all-time bests in the league). And the Broncos were without PS2 - Mahomes should've had a field day against the backup! For whatever reason, he's not throwing the ball well against pressure & looks lost a lot of times out there. Uncharacteristic of the Gunslinger.

OTOH, Nix really rose to the occasion with his passing game. He had no choice because the running game was essentially non-existent (59 yds). Almost 300 yds with clutch precision passes keeping drives alive there in crunch time in the 4Q. And against pressure, Nix was outstanding going 6-of-8 for 113 yds against the KC blitz. And this is from a 2nd yr QB who some experts thought was overrated as a 1st rd selection. Lol.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1990224047461073108

View: https://x.com/NextGenStats/status/1990224047461073108