NFL - NEWS & NOTES

Bengals running back Joe Mixon will be missing at least three more games.

Mixon, who last played in Week Six, has been placed on injured reserve with a foot injury.


He has 428 yards rushing on 119 carries this season, and three touchdowns. He has 21 receptions for 138 yards and a touchdown.

Mixon signed a new contract not long before the start of the season. In hindsight, it was a smart move; it would have become difficult for Mixon to get maximum value after what would have been the final year of his rookie contract.

Gio Bernard has been the primary beneficiary of Mixon’s absence. Bernard likely will continue to get the bulk of the touches.

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I believe the bears could still sign him to their 53 man roster. Unless the titans designated him as one of their 4 protected player (which are named weekly).

 

Panthers quarterback Teddy Bridgewater might not play in Sunday’s game against the Lions.

Bridgewater injured his knee on a low hit by Buccaneers pass rusher Jason Pierre-Paul with 5:02 remaining in the fourth quarter. Officials did not penalize Pierre-Paul for the hit on the sack, but the league ruled it illegal.

The NFL fined Pierre-Paul $15,000 for roughing the quarterback, Tom Pelissero of NFL Media reports.

Bridgewater sprained the MCL in his right knee on the hit and had limited practices this week. The Panthers list him as questionable.

Coach Matt Rhule has not said if P.J. Walker or Will Grier would start in the event Bridgewater can’t play.

NBC
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Bridgewater is going to test his knee during pregame to see if he can go or not... game time decision.

 

P.J. Walker and the Panthers whip the Lions



No Teddy Bridgewater, no Christian McCaffrey, no problem for the Panthers.

Carolina backup quarterback P.J. Walker, making the first start of his career, had no trouble finding open receivers in the Lions’ secondary as the Panthers earned an easy 20-0 win. Walker was far from perfect, and the Panthers would have won by more if not for Walker’s two interceptions in the end zone, but he did a solid job for his first start.


No one on the Lions did a solid job at anything. Their record dropped to 4-6 with the loss, and any hope that they might have had of sneaking back into the NFC wild card race disappeared as well. Lions ownership has said that head coach Matt Patricia needs to be in contention to save his job. If that’s the case, Patricia will be out of a job soon.

The Panthers, at 4-7, aren’t going anywhere either. But first-year coach Matt Rhule has a more competitive team than most expected. Brian Burns, a 22-year-old pass rusher, sacked Matthew Stafford twice and looks like a very promising cog in the young defense.

The Panthers look like they’re in good shape in Year One of their rebuild. The Lions look like they waited too long to begin their rebuild.

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Patriots’ postseason hopes take a hit in 27-20 loss to Texans



It was a rare day for Dolphins fans as they were rooting for the Patriots. The Dolphins own the Texans’ first-round draft choice in 2021.

But the consolation for Dolphins fans is they got to see the Patriots’ postseason hopes take a hit.

Houston beat New England 27-20 to improve to 3-7. The Patriots fell to 4-6 and now face an uphill battle to reach the playoffs, which they have made every year since last missing the postseason in 2008 with an 11-5 record.

Deshaun Watson outplayed Cam Newton, completing 28 of 37 passes for 344 yards and two touchdowns. Watson now has thrown for 1,432 yards with 11 touchdowns and no interceptions in the past five games. The Texans are only 2-3 in those five games.

Watson also led the Texans in rushing, going for 36 yards and a touchdown on six carries.

He got help from the Texans Defense on Sunday.

The Patriots had to settle for field goals after reaching the Houston 26 and 18 on separate drives. On their next-to-last possession, the Patriots got as close as the Houston 24.

Newton had his third-down pass battled down by J.J. Watt, one of four passes defensed by Watt on the day, and he had no chance on a fourth-down blitz by the Texans that forced a throw into the ground as he was about to be sacked.

The Patriots got the ball back with nine seconds and 71 yards to go. Newton completed a 9-yard pass to Ryan Izzo and then a 50-yard Hail Mary to the 12-yard line as time expired.

Newton went 26-of-40 for 365 yards and a touchdown.

Damiere Byrd caught six passes for 132 yards and a touchdown, a 42-yarder in the third quarter.

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Derrick Henry TD helps Titans top Ravens in overtime



In a back-and-forth battle between two AFC playoff contenders, the Titans came out on top with a Derrick Henry overtime touchdown giving the Titans a 30-24 win.

It was one of this season’s biggest games in terms of its playoff implications, with the Titans improving to 7-3 and the Ravens falling to 6-4. Henry had 133 yards on the game, playing well against the Ravens just as he did in last year’s postseason.


Titans wide receiver A.J. Brown got the Titans a fourth-quarter lead when he made one of the best plays of this NFL season, catching a short pass on third-and-10 and then turning up field and running over multiple Ravens on his way to the end zone for a touchdown.

For the Ravens, Lamar Jackson managed 186 yards passing and 51 yards rushing. It wasn’t a bad game for Jackson, but it continues a season-long trend of Jackson looking just OK, not spectacular as he did last year.

The Ravens now head to a Thanksgiving meeting with Pittsburgh in which they have to worry that a loss will knock them not only out of the AFC North, but potentially out of the wild card race as well. The Titans, however, confirmed that they’re contenders in the AFC.

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Steelers move to 10-0 with four interceptions in 27-3 victory over Jaguars



Rookie Jake Luton completed his first pass for 17 yards and his second pass for 15 yards. He should have stopped right there.

Luton and the Jaguars had a tough day against the Steelers’ sixth-ranked defense that arguably is the best in the league. Pittsburgh rolled to a 27-3 victory.


The Steelers, who trailed 3-0 early, moved to 10-0 on the season with the Ravens up next.

The Jaguars gained only 206 yards, with James Robinson gaining 73 of those rushing, as Luton went 16-of-37 for 151 yards and four interceptions. His passer rating was 15.5.

Terrell Edmunds and Minkah Fitzpatrick had two interceptions each.

The Steelers had 373 yards as James Conner rushed for 89 on 13 carries and Ben Roethlisberger completed 32 of 46 passes for 267 yards with two touchdowns and an interception that prevented more Steelers points.

Diontae Johnson caught 12 passes for 111 yards, and Chase Claypool had four catches for 59 yards and a score. Claypool has 10 touchdowns in 10 career games, trailing only Billy Howton by one touchdown in NFL history for the most touchdowns in the first 10 games to start a career.

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Chargers hold off Jets to secure third win of the season



The Chargers led the Jets 24-6 at halftime of Sunday’s game and Justin Herbert was putting up monster numbers, but they weren’t able to make it a laugher against their winless visitors from the AFC East.

Joe Flacco threw two touchdowns in the second half and the Jets had a chance to tie the game with the ball on the Chargers side of the field in the final two minutes of the game. Flacco threw three straight incompletions, including a shot to Denzel Mims in the end zone, and the Chargers were able to hold on for a 34-28 victory that made a late twist away from their frequent heartbreaking losses.


The win snaps a three-game losing streak and moves the Chargers to 3-7 on the season. They’ll be in Buffalo next weekend.

Herbert threw for 277 yards in the first half of the game, but only added 89 yards after halftime as the Chargers stopped stretching the field the way they did in the opening 30 minutes. Wide receiver Keenan Allen set a team record with 16 catches, but his 145 receiving yards speak to the more conservative approach the team employed once they were ahead of the Jets.

Joey Bosa returned from a concussion and picked up five quarterback hits, but he also helped the Jets with a pair of roughing the passer penalties and the Chargers made several defensive penalties that gave the Jets a hand after halftime.

It ultimately wasn’t enough thanks to the way the first half played out, so the Jets are now 0-10 with the Dolphins coming for a visit next weekend. They’ve come close to wins in each of their last two games, so we’ll see if Adam Gase can finish the job against his former employers.

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For a moment, it appeared that Ryan Fitzpatrick was going to resurrect FitzMagic. But he and the Dolphins fell short.

Fitzpatrick, who replaced a struggling Tua Tagovailoa in the fourth quarter today in Denver, marched the Dolphins down the field on one drive to kick a field goal and cut the deficit to 20-13, then marched the Dolphins down the field again in the final minutes. But a Fitzpatrick pass into the end zone was intercepted, and the Broncos held on to win.


It’s unclear whether Fitzpatrick or Tagovailoa will be the starting quarterback for the Dolphins going forward, but either way they now face an uphill climb to the playoffs. This was a game they needed to win, and instead they lost to fall to 6-4 on the season.

The Broncos are 4-6 and out of contention, but they should be commended for putting together a strong performance. Denver’s defense was relentless in sacking Tagovailoa six times, and Melvin Gordon and Philip Lindsay both ran the ball well. It was a solid effort for the Broncos in a game few expected them to win.

NBC

 

That is really a bummer for the Vikes.

 

It was a heartbreaking loss the Vikings got to learn how to win!

 

Colts beat Packers in wild overtime contest



In a game that saw a little of everything, the Colts and Packers went back and forth all day before a Green Bay fumble in overtime set up the Colts’ game-winning field goal.

The Colts trailed 28-14 at halftime, but they dominated the second half to take a 31-28 lead. However, they failed to put the game away after stopping the clock with a whopping six penalties on a late drive when they were trying to ice the game. Eventually, the Colts had to punt back to the Packers, Aaron Rodgers got Green Bay into field goal range with an incredible 47-yard completion to Marquez Valdes-Scantling, and it went into overtime tied at 31.

In overtime, however, a Valdes-Scantling fumble handed the Colts the ball in field goal range, and the Colts got a 34-31 win.

Colts quarterback Philip Rivers completed 24 of 36 passes for 288 yards with three touchdowns and one interception, while Rodgers completed 27 of 38 passes for 311 yards with three touchdowns and one interception.

The win made Indianapolis 7-3 and kept the Colts atop the AFC South. The Packers fall to 7-3, and although they still lead the NFC North, today’s loss deals a major blow to their hope to earn home-field advantage throughout the NFC playoffs.

This was one of the most exciting games of this NFL season, and fans can only hope the Colts and Packers have more games like this as they jockey for playoff position down the stretch.

NBC

 

Sunday Night Football: Patrick Mahomes rallies Chiefs for a 35-31 win over Raiders



The Chiefs might be taking a victory lap around Allegiant Stadium after pulling out a 35-31 win over the Raiders in Sunday Night Football.

The Raiders drew the ire of the Chiefs for having their buses circle Arrowhead Stadium as they departed for the airport following a 40-32 victory in Week 5. They nearly pulled off the sweep, scoring a go-ahead touchdown with 1:43 remaining.

But it was too much time for Patrick Mahomes and the defending Super Bowl champions.

The Chiefs scored on a 22-yard pass from Mahomes to Travis Kelce with 28 seconds remaining. It capped off a seven-play, 75-yard drive in only 1:15.

Daniel Sorensen picked off Derek Carr on the Raiders’ first snap after Kelce’s touchdown to assure the Chiefs’ fifth consecutive win.

The Chiefs moved to 9-1, while the Raiders fell to 6-4.

The rivals’ two games, though, were so entertaining as to root for a third meeting between them in the postseason.

Raiders tight end Jason Witten, two plays after he had a false start on first-and-goal from the 1-yard line, caught a 1-yard touchdown pass from Carr on third-and-goal with 1:43 remaining. Witten caught the ball in front of Tanoh Kpassagnon after Carr had all day searching for a target.

The Chiefs had two crucial defensive penalties in the 12-play, 75-yard drive. Chris Jones jumped offsides on third-and-one from the Kansas City 29, and Bashaud Breeland was penalized for defensive pass interference in the end zone on third-and-10 from the Kansas City 23.

Mahomes saved the day for the Chiefs, though.

He was surgical in the game-winning drive, going 6-for-7 for 75 yards as Kelce had two catches for 37 yards and Tyreek Hill two for 19. Mahomes showed why he now is the favorite for the MVP award.

Mahomes finished 34-of-45 for 348 yards with two touchdowns and an interception that denied the Chiefs points before the half. Kelce caught eight passes for 127 yards and the game-winner, while Hill made 11 receptions for 102 yards and a score.

The Chiefs had three rushing touchdowns, two by Clyde Edwards-Helaire and one by Le'Veon Bell.

Carr went 23-of-31 for 275 yards with three touchdowns and an interception.

NBC

 

Amazing day of NFL football... OT's, lead changes, close hard faught battles, big comebacks and upsets and some really nice hitting. Kinda had a playoff feel to things yesterday and for all intents and purposes, it was a playoff type thing for a lot of teams that played.

Very good stuff... exciting.

 

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