NFL - NEWS & NOTES

Hall of Fame linebacker Sam Huff has died. He was 87.

According to his family, via the Associated Press, Huff died of natural causes in Virginia.

 

NFL officials acknowledge refs erred on multiple calls against Bears in Week 9 loss to Steelers

The NFL is standing behind Monday night's controversial taunting call against Bears linebacker Cassius Marsh, affirming it Friday with a fine.

But privately, members of the NFL's officiating department who reviewed the game acknowledged that referee Tony Corrente and his crew erred on at least three separate critical calls and non-calls that went against Chicago in that 29-27 loss -- including a low block penalty on the Bears that nullified a Justin Fields touchdown pass, sources familiar with the league's thinking said.

Officials also missed multiple penalties by the Steelers, including a late hit on Fields that would've given the Bears first-and-goal on the same third-quarter drive and offsides by multiple Steelers on Cairo Santos' 65-yard field goal attempt that fell short as time expired.

A league spokesman declined comment, which is common on officiating matters. A Bears spokesman also declined comment.

The NFL generally doesn't discipline officials for judgment calls, though being downgraded for performance can affect officials' postseason assignments.

Corrente's nationally televised taunting call on Marsh wiped out a third-down stop in the final minutes and became the new centerpiece of the public debate over the NFL's point of emphasis on calling that foul. NFL senior vice president of officiating Perry Fewell indicated in a social media video the call was correct, and Marsh was fined $5,972 for unsportsmanlike conduct.

But no call was more impactful than the low-block flag on right guard James Daniels, who appeared to be at the edge of the tight end box and made minimal contact with the defender. The penalty reversed a 1-yard touchdown pass from Fields to tight end Jimmy Graham on the Bears' first possession of the second half, leaving them facing second-and-goal from the 16.


Two plays later, Steelers linebacker Alex Highsmith knocked down Fields from behind well after he released the ball, but no flag was thrown and the Bears had to settle for a field goal that cut Pittsburgh's lead at the time to 14-6. Fields said after the game he told Corrente that "Big Ben just got that call" -- referring to a roughing call against Mario Edwards on the previous drive -- and he needs it called both ways.

Several Steelers appeared to be lined up in the neutral zone on Santos' attempt at a game-winning field goal, which came up well short. A penalty would've given Santos another chance from five yards closer, or perhaps brought Fields back on for a Hail Mary attempt.

Instead of Fields leading a signature road win and keeping Chicago within a half-game of the No. 7 NFC playoff spot, the Bears went into this weekend's bye at 3-6. They host the Baltimore Ravens next Sunday.

NFL.com

 

I didn’t mind flagging Marsh for taunting. I think the taunting rule is stupid as it’s being called this season. But Marsh’s post sack celebration was excessive and unnecessary and he shouldn’t have walked towards the Pittsburgh sideline, whether that violates the rule or not. You did your little kick…cool. Give someone a high five and walk away.

The way Corrente went about it bothers me.

The NFL refusing to acknowledge it and say something really irritates me. All the other missed calls still bother me as much today as they did Monday night. And now the NFL basically admits mistakes were made. Which doesn’t solve anything.

The NFL has always had an officiating problem. Games get altered far too often by the zebras mishandling calls and noncalls. In the regular season and playoffs. It’s reached embarrassing levels and the NFL doesn’t seem to have any sense of urgency to fix it.

Maybe there are discussions behind the scenes where the officials are being told they messed up. But we aren’t seeing it alter the way games are called on Sundays. It’s irritating. Really f’n irritating.

 

Most (all) of you missed some epic battles between Sam Huff and Jim Brown.

 

You didn’t

 

James Washington, ladies n gentlemen... first TD of week 10. Steelers up early on the Lions.

 

11 plays, 84 yards for the Browns... their up on the Patriots, 7-0.

 

It's been all downhill from there. Mac Jones is giving Baker Mayfield a lesson on how to play QB since.

 

Thats too bad and surprising to me.

 

Kyler Murray and DeAndre Hopkins, both out.

 

Washington is up 10, 23-13 on the Buccaneers.

 

Some surprises, some blow-outs and now, TJ Watt goes out with injury (no details).

 

Seen Baker Mayfield go out also (no details).

 

Brady to Evans and its tightened up in Washington. 23 - 19... missed the PAT.

 

Another week….more calls impacting games.

 

The Patriots had no trouble taking care of business against the Browns.

With three touchdown passes by quarterback Mac Jones and a pair of rushing TDs by Rhamondre Stevenson, New England blew out Cleveland 38-7 in Foxborough on Sunday.



And to add injury to insult, Browns quarterback Baker Mayfield left the game with a knee injury in the second half. He was on the bench and was officially questionable to return. But with the game out of reach, the Browns stuck with backup Case Keenum for the rest of the contest.

Things were so out of hand that New England backup Brian Hoyer entered the contest with 8:15 left in the fourth quarter.

Jones played arguably the best game of his young career, completing 19-of-23 passes for 198 yards with three touchdowns. Two of those TDs went to tight end Hunter Henry, who now has seven scores this season.

Stevenson finished with a solid 100 yards on 20 carries, scoring on runs from 5- and 2-yards out.

New England’s offense had three touchdowns drives of at least 90 yards, one of which came with Brian Hoyer at quarterback. It was generally an ugly day for Cleveland’s defense, which forced only one punt. The Patriots started 6-of-6 on third down in the first half.

On the other side, Cleveland’s offense did little right after an opening-drive touchdown. Mayfield finished 11-of-21 passing for 73 yards with a touchdown and an interception. He threw an interception in the first half while looking for tight end David Njoku, but defensive back Kyle Dugger undercut the route to pick off the pass.

With Nick Chubb out, running back D’Ernest Johnson rushed for 99 yards on 19 carries. But when Cleveland got behind, the run game was not a factor.

This was an important game for both teams for potential playoff seeding. But the Patriots looked much more like a team that could make some noise in January than the Browns.

Now on a four-game winning streak, New England will face Atlanta on Thursday in Week 11.

The Browns have an opportunity for a get-right game against the Lions.

PFT

 

Dak Prescott, Cowboys rebound with 43-3 rout of Falcons



Everything that went wrong last week against the Broncos went right against the Falcons today.

Dallas steamrolled Atlanta 43-3, with the backup quarterbacks from both teams finishing up the fourth quarter. The Cowboys led 36-3 at halftime, with Dak Prescott‘s 4-yard touchdown run on fourth down with 31 seconds left in the third quarter as the only second-half scoring.



The Cowboys were 3-for-3 on fourth down.

They blocked a punt for the second game in a row, getting a touchdown when Nahshon Wright recovered Dorance Armstrong‘s block of Dustin Colquitt‘s punt in the end zone. The Cowboys converted a two-point conversion with 37 seconds left in the half.

Wright was the player who touched the blocked punt beyond the line of scrimmage last week that allowed the Broncos to retain possession early in the third quarter.

Prescott, who was rusty last week in his return from a right calf strain, was efficient Sunday. He completed 24 of 31 passes for 296 yards and two touchdowns before exiting. He also had the touchdown run. CeeDee Lamb caught six passes for 94 yards and two touchdowns.

Ezekiel Elliott also scored two touchdowns, rushing for 41 yards on 14 carries.

Cowboys defensive coordinator Dan Quinn held his former team to 214 yards, with 94 of those coming on the Falcons’ first two drives that resulted in one field goal. Matt Ryan was 9-of-21 for 117 yards and two interceptions. The Cowboys also picked backup quarterback Josh Rosen.

Trevon Diggs had his league-leading eighth interception in nine games. Anthony Brown and Jourdan Lewis also had picks.

PFT

 

Washington knocks off Bucs for 29-19 win



The Buccaneers were able to close Washington’s lead to four points with just under 11 minutes left in Sunday’s road game, which meant they were one defensive stop away from giving Tom Brady a chance to win the game.

That stop never came, however. Washington picked up seven first downs and converted five third downs to maintain possession for more than 10 minutes before an Antonio Gibson touchdown capped the 19-play drive. The score put them up 29-19 and they took a knee on the two-point conversion to eliminate any chance that the Bucs could return it for two points of their own.



It was the longest drive of the season for Washington and quarterback Taylor Heinicke came up big on the series. He was 6-of-6 for 41 yards, including completions to Adam Humphries and Terry McLaurin to convert two of those third downs.

Heinicke was 26-of-32 for 252 yards and a touchdown overall in his first game since word broke that Ryan Fitzpatrick is not expected back this season. The win leaves Washington with a 3-6 record and hope that the second half of the season can be more frutiful for them. A trip to Carolina and a possible date with Cam Newton awaits in Week 11.

Defensive end Chase Young is almost certainly going to miss that game as the team fears he tore his ACL on Sunday. If tests confirm that, the 2020 defensive rookie of the year will be gone until 2022.

The Bucs have now lost two games in a row and their offense never really caught fire. They picked up 273 yards of offense on the day and 40 of them came on the Mike Evans touchdown that brought them within one score in the fourth quarter. Tom Brady was intercepted twice in the first half and went 23-of-44 for 220 yards as the Bucs failed to return from their bye week with a strong performance.

They’ll try to right the ship at home against the Giants next Monday night.

PFT

 

Bills get back on track by thrashing Jets 45-17



Plenty of people wondered what was wrong with the Bills after Week Nine, but all is well again in Buffalo after Week 10.

Buffalo didn’t score a touchdown in their 9-6 loss to the Jaguars, but they found the end zone six times against the Jets this Sunday and throttled their AFC East mates in a 45-17 victory. The win moves the Bills to 6-3 with a home date against the Colts looming on the horizon in Week 11.

The Bills’ performance killed one storyline that dominated the pregame chatter and Jets quarterback Mike White‘s outing did the same to another one. There was talk about when Zach Wilson might get his job back, but there’s unlikely to be much call for White to remain under center after Sunday. He was 24-of-44 for 251 yards and four interceptions to put memories of his unexpected win against the Bengals deep in the rearview mirror. Joe Flacco finished out the afternoon and Wilson figures to start against the Dolphins next weekend.

Jets wide receiver Corey Davis also lost a fumble late in the first half. The Bills capitalized on that for a touchdown to make it 17-3 at the break and then used two White interceptions to help them score three touchdowns that blew the game open in the third quarter.

Josh Allen was 21-of-28 for 366 yards, two touchdowns, and an interception while Stefon Diggs posted eight catches for 162 yards. The Bills also posted 140 rushing yards in response to head coach Sean McDermott’s plea for improvement in that area. They’ll need to keep the offensive momentum rolling with the Patriots doing all they can to catch them in the AFC East.

PFT

 

The second season for Washington defensive end Chase Young could be over.

Per a source with knowledge of the siaution, Young is currently getting an MRI to confirm the initial fear — that he tore his ACL.


Young suffered the knee injury without contact during the first half of Sunday’s game against Tampa Bay.

The date of the injury will raise questions about when Young will be ready to go in 2022. The rehab process can take plenty of time, and different players respond to the process differently.