NFL - NEWS & NOTES

Not quite in it any more, sorry bears fans.

 

wow...

Falcons beat Panthers in crazy overtime battle, secure first place in NFC South



The Falcons are all alone in first place in the NFC South.

With a hard-fought 37-34 overtime win over the Panthers today, the Falcons are now 4-4 and in first place in the division, a game ahead of the Buccaneers and Saints, and two games ahead of the Panthers.



The win didn’t come easily: Panthers interim head coach Steve Wilks has his team playing hard, and deserves credit for continuing to compete after the season appeared to be over following the firing of Matt Rhule. The Panthers were in this game until the end.

The late fourth quarter featured a sensational 47-yard touchdown pass from Marcus Mariota to Damiere Byrd that gave the Falcons the lead, followed by an equally sensational 62-yard touchdown pass from P.J. Walker to DJ Moore that should have given the Panthers the lead back — except that Moore was penalized 15 yards for taking his helmet off, and Panthers kicker Eddy Pineiro missed the subsequent extra point, sending the game into overtime.

In overtime, Mariota threw an interception that CJ Henderson returned 54 yards to set up a game-winning field goal attempt, but Pineiro missed that as well. On the ensuing drive, a 30-yard Mariota run got the Falcons into field goal range, and they hit the game winner.

Will the Falcons stay on top in the NFC South? The smart money is probably on the Buccaneers to rally during the second half of the season and win the division. But the Falcons aren’t going to go away quietly. In a weak division, they’re real playoff contenders.

PFT

 

Barkley just scored... Giants are tough. 7 up.

 

By all means, the Falcons didn't win this one. The Panthers simply lost the game - twice - and the Falcons didn't give it back at the end.



I mentioned being interested in watching P.J. Walker and D'onta Foreman for the Panthers. Walker wasn't spectacular but was much better than you'd expect from a fourth string QB, throwing for 317 yards and a TD. Foreman had a 4.5 average and 3 TDs on the ground. Walker will be a restricted free agent after this season. Will the Panthers tender him? Pro: he's looking pretty good, and two of their other three QBs will be free agents. Con: he's probably not the long term answer as a starter, so Carolina might want to land a more "serious" contender in the offseason/draft. And in that case, they'd probably want someone cheaper than a RFA tender to be their #3.

So every other team in the league should be keeping an eye on Walker's game film. I think he's showing that he's worthy of a #2 role - if he lands with the right coaching staff and offensive system. And Foreman showed exactly why I was kinda ticked that Atlanta let him go at the roster cut deadline in 2021. He's a powerful inside runner. He's on a one-year contract with Carolina. I'm guessing they'll resign him, but you never know. His performances now are making his next contract bigger and bigger by the week.

For Atlanta, the coaches let Mariota throw it a bit more today. He ended up going 20-28 for 253 yards and notching a 105.2 passer rating with 3 passing TDs on the day. And my dark horse RB prospect from last year's UDFA signings, Caleb Huntley, got to be a workhorse for 91 yards on the ground. LOVE IT !!

 

The look on Aaron Rodgers face was priceless this guy misses Davante Adams a 4 game losing streak and the Vikings are 6-1 and in first place

 

That's one of the highlights of the season as a whole - seeing so many of the old "pretty boy" quarterbacks tanking (Rodgers, Brady, Wilson, Ryan) and those "can't miss" #1 overall draft pick phenoms (Kyler Murray, Trevor Lawrence, Baker Mayfield) still not making it happen while the not-so-highly-touted QBs like Kirk Cousins, Jalen Hurts, Ryan Tannehill (though he was out today), Mariota and Geno Smith are all leading their divisions.

 

Commanders score with 22 seconds left to beat Colts 17-16



Terry McLaurin, who was born in Indianapolis, proved the Colts’ killer Sunday. The Commanders receiver caught a 50-50 ball over Stephon Gilmore with 26 seconds remaining.

McLaurin was down at the 1, and after a Washington timeout, Taylor Heinicke scored on a quarterback sneak with 22 seconds left. Joey Slye‘s PAT, which came close to being blocked, gave the Commanders a come-from-behind 17-16 victory.


The Commanders won their third consecutive game to go to 4-4, while the Colts lost their second consecutive game in falling to 3-4-1.

The Colts held a 16-7 lead with 11:12 left but couldn’t close it out. It spoiled Sam Ehlinger‘s first career start.

The Colts faced a third-and-five at their own 30 with 3:38 left, and while holding a 16-10 lead, but Daron Payne stopped Ehlinger a yard short of the line to gain on a scramble. Indianapolis challenged the ruling on the the field and lost. They decided to punt on fourth-and-inches, and the Commanders drove 89 yards in nine plays for the win.

Heinicke went 23-of-31 for 279 yards with a touchdown and an interception, with McLaurin catching six for 113.

Ehlinger completed 17 of 23 passes for 201 yards, and Jonathan Taylor ran for 76 yards on 16 carries. It wasn’t enough.

To add injury to insult, Colts defensive end Tyquan Lewis was injured with 1:16 remaining. He was carted off the field.

PFT

 

Sunday Night Football: Bills beat Packers 27-17 for fourth win in a row



The Bills scored only three points in the second half, with Josh Allen throwing two picks. They went 2-for-7 on third down on the night and lost the time of possession 33:48 to 26:12.

It was not one of their better games of the season, but the Bills did what the Bills have done most of the season. They won again.


Buffalo beat the Packers 27-17 in a choppy, chippy game. The Bills improved to 6-1, while the Packers fell to 3-5.

The Bills went three-and-out on their first possession, scored on five consecutive possessions and then threw two interceptions and punted on their final three possessions, not counting a kneel down to end the game. It was a thing of beauty at times and confounding at others.

Buffalo led 24-7 at halftime, but it took a missed a 55-yard field goal by Mason Crosby with 38 seconds left for the Bills to avoid a Packers’ onside kick attempt.

The Bills finished with 369 yards as Allen went 13-of-25 for 218 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions while running for 49 yards on six carries. Stefon Diggs, who chirped with the Packers defensive backs all night long, made six catches for 108 yards and a touchdown.

The Packers gained 398 yards. Aaron Rodgers completed 19 of 30 passes for 203 yards with two touchdowns and an interception. Aaron Jones ran for 143 yards on 20 carries, and Romeo Doubs caught four passes for 62 yards and a touchdown.

PFT

 

Tyreek Hill is on pace for 2,042 receiving yards



In the first season of 17 games, the single-season receiving yardage record was in danger. This year, it could be in grave danger.

Through eight games, Dolphins receiver Tyreek Hill has 961 receiving yards. He added 188 on 12 catches against the Lions on Sunday.


That’s an average of 120.125 receiving yards per game. It projects to a 17-game total of 2,042 yards.

Hall of Famer Calvin Johnson set the single-season record a decade ago, with 1,964 yards. Last year, Rams receiver Cooper Kupp came within 17 yards of tying the record in 2021, the first year of 17 games.

Per the NFL, Hill’s 961 receiving yards are the third highest in league history through eight games. Hill passed Wes Welker, who had 960 in the first eight games of 2011 with the Patriots. Hill only trailed Torry Holt (978 yards in 2003) and Marvin Harrison (962 yards in 2000).

With his ninth career game of 10 or more catches and 150 or more receiving yards, Hill is tied with Tim Brown for fifth all time and one behind the four-way tie for most ever. Antonio Brown, Andre Johnson, Julio Jones, and Jerry Rice each have 10.

PFT

 

Terrifying stat illustrates the futility of Matt Canada’s offense

We all knew Matt Canada wasn’t a good offensive coordinator. He was basically propped up last season by Ben Roethlisberger carrying the Pittsburgh Steelers offense to close win after close win. But Steelers reporter Josh Rowntree offered up a terrifying stat that really illustrates just how bad this offense is.

According to Rowntree, Canada has been the Steelers offensive coordinator for 26 games going back to last season. Pittsburgh has only scored 20 more or more points five times during that stretch. Let that one sink in a minute.

As of the end of Week Eight, Pittsburgh is the No. 32 scoring offense in the NFL and is averaging a feeble 15 points per game. If this body of work isn’t enough for the Steelers to make a change at offensive coordinator over the bye week, there might not ever be anything bad enough to prompt a move.



STEELERS WIRE
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Im not picking on Steelers Nation, just showing an amazing stat that when I saw it, I had a hard time wrapping my head around it. If your going to point fingers at someone, I suppose Cananda is fair game as he is the designer of the offense, but it would seem to me that this should have been addressed a while ago... maybe as of late, it will be .

 

We know he sucks. No offense taken.
Vikes look great, by the way.

 

Hopefully the Steelers do get rid of Canada before it ends up costing Tomlin his job.

 

NFL enjoys record number of close games



The bad news is that scoring is down this year. The good news is that close games are up.

Per the NFL, the league has had a record number of games decided by six points or less (55) or eight points or less (71) through the first eight weeks of any season.


In Week Eight, 10 of the 14 games played were one-score contests at some point in the fourth quarter. So far, 94 games have fit the description, another record.

With one game to go in Week Eight, those records could each be pushed one game higher.

Although a few teams are gathering at the extremes of good and bad, most of the league is bunched together. And from that cluster of teams that make up the vast majority of the pack, one or two serious threats to win it all can emerge.

PFT

 

I hate this. This is not, inherently, bad news.

 

I tend to agree. Score a lot... score less, its the competitive product and the outcomes/excitement that matters most too me. In essence, 'W's'.

This is what I thought the NFL has wanted all along... its nerve racking, but great for the League, I guess, when just about anyone can jump up and bite someone. (gamblers must be pulling their hair out).

Also - The League hasnt changed the game, per say, to achieve this effect this season. Some changes have been incorporated, but what we are seeing this season (parity) is maybe not the greatest in talented teams, but the NFL has their wish in equalizing things so its not the same teams show, year after year. I think we may have seen the last of the 'dynasty's' for a while. Buffalo and KV are trying, but even they could get knocked off at any given time, but just not as easily as the rest of the League.

I wonders if the whole damn NFL is just sloppy weak sometimes, lol or is just plain equaled/leveled out?

 

Report: Mark Ingram likely out for 3-4 weeks with MCL sprain



The Saints got a lot of production out of Alvin Kamara in Sunday’s win over the Raiders, with the versatile running back scoring three touchdowns.

But it sounds like New Orleans won’t have a piece of its depth at the position for a few weeks.


According to Ian Rapoport of NFL Media, Mark Ingram suffered a Grade 2 MCL sprain on Sunday and is likely out for three-to-four weeks.

Ingram — who had been playing limited snaps for New Orleans anyway — was on the field for just five offensive snaps. He caught one pass for 2 yards.

At age 32, Ingram has rushed for 196 yards with a touchdown and caught 11 passes for 46 yards this season.

Aside from Kamara, the Saints also have veteran Dwayne Washington on their 53-man roster at running back. But Taysom Hill can also take his share of carries to be a threat in the run game, as evidenced by his 10-carry, 61-yard performance in Sunday’s victory.

PFT