NFL - NEWS & NOTES

Chiefs beat Dolphins in Germany

The NFL had perhaps its best overseas game yet today in Frankfurt, Germany, as the Chiefs beat the Dolphins in a clash of first-place teams.

Kansas City jumped out to a 21-0 lead at halftime, Miami stormed back to make it 21-14, but the Dolphins’ last-gasp drive ended when Tua Tagovailoa bobbled a shotgun snap on fourth down and couldn’t get a play off.

Patrick Mahomes kneeled out from there to preserve the win.

Mahomes had a solid if unspectacular game, completing 20 of 30 passes for 185 yards, with two touchdowns and no interceptions. Tagovailoa was 21-of-34 for 193 yards, with one touchdown and no interceptions.

The Chiefs improve to 7-2 and the Dolphins drop to 6-3 as both teams head into their byes. The AFC race remains wide open, but the Chiefs got a very important win today.

NBC

 

I still miss the Berlin Thunder cheerleaders. For some games they would wear leather miniskirts...

 

I thought this would end up being difficult to watch with the backup QBs. Boy, was I ever wrong.

With a few minutes left in the third quarter, so far it's MUCH worse than that.

 

The one guy who has made this game worth watching at all wasn't even supposed to play today. I'm a big fan of Joshua Dobbs, and now he might be about to beat my Falcons. He just led a second TD drive for Minnesota late in the third quarter, and after a horrible interception by Heinecke, Dobbs now has Minnesota ready to score again to take the lead at the end of the quarter.

Great move for Minnesota to pick him up at the trade deadline.

Side note... Dobbs and Heinecke both went to high schools within about a 45 minute drive of Flowery Branch. Dobbs went to Alpharetta HS, pretty much due north of Atlanta. Heinecke went to Collins Hill HS, northeast of Atlanta.

 

I did not know that

 

Sure enough, Dobbs pulls off the late win, and Heinecke can't answer to set up the tying field goal.

Gonna be interesting to see how the media spins this one. Best guess is they'll blame everything on the coach and call for the owner to clean house... again. On the plus side, this time around at least they can't blame it all on Desmond Ridder. They were screaming for Ridder to get benched. Now they got Heinecke - and an ugly game that ended up in a loss at home.

 

What a stupid play by Reddick. Free 15 yard and a first down under a minute to go. Absolutely unnecessary late hit

 

They needed a way to stretch out the game until the final gun went off.

 

Could’ve just not idiotically hit the QB 5 seconds after the ball was released. It would have been 3rd and long from near the 40 yard line. Instead 1st and 10 inside the 20. They were lucky to hang on for the win.

 

Texans' running back Dare Ogunbowale kicks field goal on emergency notice during wild game vs Bucs

Texans' usual kicker, Ka'imi Fairbairn, suffered quad injury earlier in game

 

Teams actually do figure that stuff out in training camp. In most cases the kicker and punter would be the backups for each other, but the coaches also know who the emergency backup guy will be in case the punter can't kick or gets hurt himself or whatever. In this case, Ogunbowale was it.

The last time I remember anything like that was when Kroy Biermann (of "Real Housewives" shame) handled emergency kickoff duties for Atlanta. Michael Koenen typically did kickoff duties instead of place kicker Matt Bryant, and when Koenen got banged up in a game against the Bills, the coaches opted to have Biermann do kickoffs instead of Bryant. It was funny to watch, but Real Househubby actually did a respectable job of it.

The video:
NFL Network: Kroy Biermann Kickoff

 

Kicking and punting used to be extra work for some players
Sammy Baugh was arguably the best punter of all time and held the record for best gross average until last season. HoF QB, DB and punter
Paul Horning RB and FG kicker
Lou the toe Grizzou oline and kicker
At one time they really didn’t have kickers or punters that they only did the kicking duties.

 

The Philadelphia Eagles' rivalry win Sunday didn't come without a significant loss.

Eagles tight end Dallas Goedert suffered a fractured forearm in Philadelphia's win over the Dallas Cowboys and is expected to need surgery, NFL Network Insider Ian Rapoport reported Monday on Good Morning Football.

Goedert is scheduled for an MRI and additional tests on Monday to confirm the diagnosis and need for surgery, per Rapoport, who added that the procedure would likely happen as soon as today, and the hope is that Goedert would only miss around four weeks.

 

This is why i think the trade deadline is way to early in the NFL there were a couple of injuries this weekend that might prompt teams to make a trade.

 

You could tell as soon as it happened. I cringed in real time, then they played a replay. I'm sure the defender didn't do it on purpose, but the way he tackled him with his arm, then his full body weight came down on the arm, you could tell immediately it wasn't going to be good.4 weeks is a good prognosis though, should be back for playoffs.

 

Ravens’ +115 point differential is easily the NFL’s best

No NFL team is dominating its opponents like the Ravens.

After Sunday’s 37-3 win over Seattle, Baltimore has a +115 point differential, easily the best in the NFL. The Ravens have scored 239 points, the sixth-most in the league, while allowing only 124 points, the fewest in the league.

No other team is even close; the Bills have the second-best point differential at +80.

The Ravens are 7-2, tied with the Chiefs for the second-best record in the NFL behind the 8-1 Eagles, but point differential has shown to be a better measure of a team’s overall quality than record. The best teams aren’t just the teams that win, but the teams that dominate their opponents.

And the Ravens are dominating. They’ve beaten the Seahawks 37-3, Lions 38-6, Browns 28-3 and Texans 25-9. Both of Baltimore’s losses have been close games, 22-19 in overtime to Indianapolis and 17-10 to Pittsburgh.

Public opinion has already swung several times this season about which NFL team is the best. But right now, the most dominant team in the league resides in Baltimore.

PFT
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If Lamar stays healthy, the Ravens look like big time trouble in the AFC come playoff time.

 

In the AFC my money is still on KC you know the old until someone knocks them off. The ravens should win the north but don't look now but the Bengals the last two games have looked better with Burrow playing like he did last season. Proving what Chase and the rest of us knew and that it Burrow should not have been playing in week one.

I'm sure one of my fellow Steelers fans will rush to point out Jackson and the Ravens can't beat the Steelers but as they say all good things must come to an end. Had his receivers caught a damn ball in the last game they likely would have beat them.

Lots of noise from Steelers fans about being 5-3 and if the playoffs started today they are in but if I'm any of the other AFC playoff teams the Steelers scare me the least (sorry to my fellow Steelers fans who will take offense at that and try to correct me by saying they are a good team).

 

Monday Night Football: Chargers sack Jets 27-6

In a game that might have set offensive football back several years, the Chargers leaned on their defense and their special teams to beat the Jets 27-6 on Monday Night Football.

Both teams are 4-4.

It was one of the uglier games of the season, with the teams combining for two offensive touchdowns, 461 yards, 13 sacks, 15 punts, 12 penalties and three turnovers. The two quarterbacks were 49-of-79 for 399 yards, much of it in garbage time by Zach Wilson.

The Chargers’ two offensive touchdowns were scored by running back Austin Ekeler on runs of 1 and 2 yards following fumble recoveries by the defense that led to scoring drives of 50 and 2 yards. The team’s other touchdown came on an 87-yard punt return by rookie Derius Davis.

Chargers kicker Cameron Dicker made field goals of 55 and 38 yards, and Jets kicker Greg Zuerlein had makes of 47 and 46 yards.

The Chargers had eight sacks of Wilson and three forced fumbles, two of which Los Angeles recovered. Joey Bosa had 2.5 sacks, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery; Tuli Tuipulotu had two sacks; Khalil Mack had two sacks and a forced fumble; and Alohi Gilman had a forced fumble and a fumble recovery he returned 48 yards to the 2-yard line to set up Ekeler’s second touchdown.

Wilson was 33-of-49 for 263 yards against the league’s 32nd-ranked passing defense. Garrett Wilson caught seven passes for 80 yards, and Breece Hall ran for 50 yards on 16 carries.

The Jets actually outgained the Chargers 270 yards to 191, with the Jets defense doing its job. Bryce Huff had 1.5 of the Jets’ five sacks of Justin Herbert, who was 16-of-30 for 136 yards. Keenan Allen made an unbelievable one-handed catch and finished with eight receptions for 77 yards, and Ekeler had 16 touches for 70 yards.

PFT