NFL - NEWS & NOTES

Terrible for Burrow and all these QB's going down.

 

Bit more serious than a sprained wrist I’d say.

 

Derp my bad I had it backwards in my brain for some reason

 

Cam Heyward to the Steelers haters: “Screw you”

The Steelers are winning ugly. They’re still winning.

It has created a rash of unfavorable narratives from many in the media. People think they’re frauds. People think it’s all smoke and mirrors. People think whatever they’re doing now won’t be sustainable in the playoffs, especially on the road where Renegade won’t be ringing from the rafters to provide a kick in the ass when the team needs it most.

The Steelers do not care about the criticism. They do not care about the statistics. Only one stat really matters. Points scored vs. points allowed, on a one-game-at-a-time basis.

Steelers defensive lineman Cam Heyward had a recent message for the haters in his Not Just Football podcast.

“Who are they judging?” Heyward said, via Mark Kaboly of TheAthletic.com. “They’re not in this. Smoke and mirrors? Screw you. We worked too hard for this. These guys dedicate their lives. We try to be a good defense. Smoke and mirrors, I think that’s a cloud of smoke.”

Cam had a specific message for LeBron James, who recently compared the Lakers to the Steelers.

“I love LeBron but man, stay away from football, my guy . . . 6-3 is 6-3,” Heyward said.

“What is pretty? For me personally, ‘pretty’ is overrated. People say ‘pretty’ is scoring a lot of points, right? Isn’t ‘pretty’ a defense dominating and making sure we can make the right plays at the right time? And your offense makes plays accordingly? I hate that we’ve gotten to a point where, ‘Oh, we’re not blowing out the teams, so we’re gonna dice these people up and not agree with how they’re winning.’ It doesn’t matter. You play football to win the game. Nothing else. Win the game. Get off the field. Keep it moving.”

Well said, Cam. And with the Steelers facing backup quarterbacks in each of their next two games, both played in Ohio, they could keep 6-3 moving to 8-3. And there’s nothing not pretty about that.

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Sometimes, lucky can go a long way. The defense has been decent only giving up, 182 points, which if you compare those numbers, the defense is close in that regard to both Baltimore and Cleveland. The 156 points scored by the offense is a different story. If you can have a -26 Points Differential and have a 6-3 record, something is happening and in a good way. Is it sustainable to keep winning more than they lose, time will tell... the numbers are against that happening, but thats why they actually play the games every week.

 

Ahead of a key divisional matchup, the Steelers are getting back another offensive weapon.

Tight end Pat Freiermuth is expected to be activated from injured reserve ahead of the Pittsburgh Steelers' Week 11 game against the Cleveland Browns, NFL Network Insider Tom Pelissero reported Saturday.

Freiermuth initially injured his hamstring during the Steelers' Week 4 game against the Texans, and after taking a game off tried to be ready for Week 6. But in the leadup to the game Freiermuth aggravated the injury, and the setback was severe enough for Pittsburgh to place him on injured reserve on Oct. 21.

Freiermuth was designated to return to practice earlier this week, and was a limited participant in Wednesday's practice before participating in a full capacity on Thursday and Friday.

Head coach Mike Tomlin had said Tuesday he felt good about Freiermuth's availability for this week's game, and after seeing how the tight end looked during the week's practices, it appears they've decided he doesn't need any more time to get back up to speed before jumping back into game action.

Before the injury, Freiermuth had played a less prominent role in the Steelers' struggling passing offense, collecting eight receptions for 53 yards and a pair of touchdowns in four games. But he has shown the potential to put up big numbers catching passes from Kenny Pickett, finishing with 732 receiving yards in 2022. The Steelers will hope he can get into that groove off the bat as Pittsburgh gets set to face a formidable Browns defense.

While the Steelers should have Freiermuth back to contribute on offense, Pittsburgh will be missing some key players on defense due to injury. Safety Minkah Fitzpatrick, who has missed the team's last two games with a hamstring injury of his own, has been ruled out for Sunday, along with safety Keanu Neal (rib).

The Steelers and Browns kick off at 1 p.m. ET on Sunday.

NFL.com

 

One thing I'll say is the combined score of two of their losses is 60-13 so that's something that can skew the numbers a bit.

They seem to try to stick around and win at the end, either with a late score or a defensive stop. It's worked six times. I dont think it works with the Chiefs and teams like that but, like you said, that's why they play.

 

The Steelers are tied for first in takeaways and turnover differential. Some teams really can get in a zone when it comes to creating turnovers.

 

The Early Games are Final...

 

Nobody finds a gap like Christian McCaffrey. He then has the ability to juke and change directions on a dime even when his getting hit... amazing talent.

 

JJ is finally putting JJ in the Cowboys ring of honor... its about time JJ quit being a JA and a JO!

Jerks.

 

I daydream of an offense with McCaffrey and Marshall Faulk on the field at the same time...

 

Tyreek Hill is first player in 62 years to top 1,200 receiving yards in first 10 games

Dolphins wide receiver Tyreek Hill is playing the game like few pass catchers ever had.

With today’s 146-yard performance against the Raiders, Hill now has 1,222 yards through 10 games this season. He’s the first player in 62 years to reach the 1,200-yard mark within his team’s first 10 games.

The last player to do it was Charlie Hennigan, who had 1,245 yards in the first 10 games of the 1961 season. Others who have done it are Raymond Berry with 1,264 yards in the first 10 games of 1960, Elroy “Crazylegs” Hirsch with 1,268 yards in 1951 and Don Hutson with 1,204 yards in 1942.

Hill is on pace to finish this season with 2,077 yards in 17 games. The NFL record for receiving yards in a season is 1,964, set by Calvin Johnson in 2012. Hill has a good chance of setting a new NFL record.

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Browns safety Rodney McLeod’s season is over.

McLeod suffered a biceps injury during Sunday’s win over the Steelers and head coach Kevin Stefanski told reporters on Monday that McLeod needs to have surgery to repair it. The veteran will miss the rest of the season as a result.

McLeod signed with the Browns in May and started five of the team’s 10 games this season. He had 29 tackles, two tackles for loss, and a pass defensed in those appearances.

Ronnie Hickman and D’Anthony Bell joined starter Grant Delpit as the other safeties on Sunday. Juan Thornhill has started all eight games he’s played this season, but he was inactive with a calf injury.

 

49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan confirmed on a Monday conference call that safety, Hufanga tore his ACL during the team’s victory over the Buccaneers. Shanahan said that Hufanga avoided any other damage to the knee, so the hope is that he will be ready to go for the start of the 2024 season.

 

Report: Cooper Kupp dealing with low-ankle sprain

Rams receiver Cooper Kupp had to exit Sunday’s game due to injury, but it doesn’t sound like he’ll miss too much time — if any at all.

Per Ian Rapoport of NFL Media, Kupp is dealing with a low-ankle sprain and the club will evaluate him over the course of the week.

Kupp suffered the injury late in the first half of Sunday’s victory over the Seahawks.

“He was going to try to come back and play,” head coach Sean McVay said in his postgame press conference. “He was moving around at the beginning of the second half and we were hoping that he’d be able to go, but it just didn’t quite feel good enough.”

Kupp, who missed four games to start the season with a hamstring injury, has made 24 receptions for 375 yards with one touchdown this season. He caught one pass for 11 yards before exiting the Week 11 win.

The Rams will play the Cardinals on the road in Week 12.

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Linebacker Kyzir White played the first 709 defensive snaps of the Cardinals season, but he won’t be playing any more.

White tore his bicep during Sunday’s loss to the Texans. Head coach Jonathan Gannon said on Monday that the injury will force White to be shut down for the year and that the linebacker tried playing through the injury before ultimately leaving the game.

“It was kind of gut-wrenching to watch, because I didn’t know he tore his bicep and he’s out there playing with one arm,” Gannon said, via the team’s website. “That’s why he is who he is.”

White has a team-high 90 tackles to go with two sacks, nine tackles for loss, and three passes defensed this season. White, who followed Gannon to Arizona from Philadelphia, is signed for 2024.

Krys Barnes stepped into White’s spot while Josh Woods took over the responsibilities of calling the defense after White’s departure.

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Chargers pass rusher Joey Bosa is headed to injured reserve.

He will miss at least four games, and head coach Brandon Staley said it is “to be determined” whether Bosa will return this season.

Bosa sprained his right foot in Sunday’s loss.

He was carted to the training room after going down with 13:06 left in the first quarter and returned to the sideline in street clothes, wearing a boot and on crutches.

In eight games this year, Bosa has 6.5 sacks, six tackles for loss and eight quarterback hits.

He has not played every game in a season since 2019.

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For the second time this season, the NFL has announced a four-game suspension for Broncos safety Kareem Jackson.

Jackson was suspended today for lowering his helmet and drilling Vikings quarterback Josh Dobbs on Sunday night. The hit caused a fumble that set up the Broncos’ first score in their 21-20 win, but it wasn’t flagged on the field.

NFL Vice President of Football Operations Jon Runyan informed Jackson of the suspension by letter today.

“You were involved in a play that the League considers a serious violation of the playing rules,” Runyan wrote. “The video of the play shows that you lowered your head and made forcible contact to Vikings quarterback Josh Dobbs. You had an unobstructed path to your opponent and the illegal contact could have been avoided. Illegal acts that are flagrant and jeopardize the safety of players will not be tolerated. The League will continue to stress enforcement of the rules that prohibit using your helmet to make forcible contact with your opponent. On the play in question, you lowered your head and delivered a forceful blow to the shoulder and head/neck area of an opponent when you had time and space to avoid such contact. You could have made contact with your opponent within the rules, yet you chose not to.”

Sunday night’s game was Jackson’s first game back from a two-game suspension for previous violations of the same rule against leading with the helmet. That suspension was initially announced as a four-game suspension but was reduced to two games on appeal. Jackson will surely appeal this suspension as well.

Jackson has also been ejected from two games and fined four times this season for illegal hits. At some point, he’s going to change the way he plays, or the NFL is going to keep him from playing anymore.

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That clown needs to get his head out of his ass... and that 4 games is good, but it doesnt help the Vikings at all when Jackson illegally popped Dobbs and there was no call.