NFL - NEWS & NOTES

Cowboys stay alive in NFC East race with 37-17 win that eliminates Eagles



The Cowboys have come back from the dead. They are alive . . . and maybe well?

Dallas won its third game in a row with a dominating 37-17 victory over the Eagles in an elimination game. Philadelphia (4-10-1) is the only NFC East team out of contention for the division title heading into Week 17.

The Cowboys (6-9) and Giants (5-10) play next week, while rooting for the Eagles to beat Washington (6-9). Washington advances to the postseason with a win over Philadelphia, while a Washington loss would send the winner of the Cowboys-Giants game to the playoffs.

Jalen Hurts‘ two red-zone turnovers ended any hopes of an Eagles’ repeat as division champs.

Anthony Brown intercepted Hurts in the end zone with 6:33 remaining with the Eagles facing third-and-12 from the Dallas 17. After the Eagles reached the Dallas 18 on their next possession, Hurts lost a fumble forced by Randy Gregory and recovered by Jaylon Smith.

It was a controversial replay decision with 3:54 remaining as Al Riveron let the fumble call stand, though there was some doubt as to whether Hurts’ knee was down before he lost control of the ball.

Hurts, who went 21-of-39 for 342 yards with a touchdown and two interceptions, ended the game throwing a pick to Cowboys rookie Trevon Diggs. Hurts also led the Eagles in rushing with 69 yards on nine carries, though the Eagles forgot about the run after eight attempts on their first possession.

The Eagles finished with 29 rushes for 151 yards against the league’s 32nd-ranked rushing defense. They threw 39 times and took three sacks, so they arguably should have run it more.

The Eagles led 17-13 with two minutes remaining in the first half, but they couldn’t stop the Cowboys’ receiving trio of Michael Gallup, CeeDee Lamb and Amari Cooper after that. Cooper caught four passes for 121 yards; Gallup had six catches for 121 yards and two touchdowns; and Lamb had three receptions for 65 yards and a touchdown, while running for a 19-yard score that put the exclamation point on the win.

Andy Dalton completed 22 of 30 passes for 377 yards with three touchdowns and an interception.

The Eagles were outscored 27-3 after they lost defensive lineman Fletcher Cox in the first half. Cox did not return from a stinger.

Gregory had 1.5 sacks, three forced fumbles and six tackles for the Cowboys in his best game as a pro.

NBC

 

Sunday Night Football: Aaron Rodgers throws four touchdowns, Packers win 40-14



Green Bay looks postseason ready.

The Packers remained in position for the NFC’s top seed with a 40-14 victory over the Titans on Sunday Night Football, improving to 12-3 on the season.

Green Bay got out to a 19-0 lead in the second quarter, though two straight Tennessee touchdowns cut that advantage to five.

But from there, it was all Green Bay. Wide receiver Davante Adams caught his third touchdown pass on the ensuing drive in the third quarter. Then running back A.J. Dillon scored the first touchdown of his career to put Green Bay ahead 33-14.

Even when quarterback Aaron Rodgers made a rare mistake — throwing across his body for a fourth-quarter interception — the Titans could not cash in. Ryan Tannehill’s pass over the middle to Jonnu Smith fell incomplete on fourth-and-4 at Green Bay’s nine-yard line.

That was Rodgers’ first interception at Lambeau Field in a December or January regular-season game since 2015.

Still, Rodgers finished 21-of-25 passing for 231 yards with four touchdowns and the pick. Davante Adams caught 11 passes for 142 yards, tying a career high with three touchdowns. Adams is one away from tying the Packers’ single-season record of 18 TD catches.

Green Bay nearly had two 100-yard rushers. Rookie AJ Dillon entered the night with 115 career rushing yards, and racked up 124 on 21 carries with his first two NFL touchdowns. Aaron Jones eclipsed 1,000 yards for the second season in a row, tallying 94 yards on 10 attempts.

On the other side, Tennessee’s Derrick Henry finished with 98 yards on 23 carries. Tannehill had the visitors’ longest run, going 45 yards for a touchdown on a designed run up the middle early in the third quarter. But Tannehill was just 11-of-24 passing with 121 yards with one touchdown and a pair of interceptions.

The Titans inserted quarterback Logan Woodside for their last drive in the fourth quarter, and he threw two incompletions.

Because the Seahawks won, the Packers did not clinch the conference’s No. 1 seed on Sunday. But they will do so with a win over the Bears next week.

The Titans are now 10-5, but will still be in the postseason with a win over the Texans next week.

NBC

 

17-game schedule reportedly a “go” for 2021



The NFL secured in March the ability to add an extra regular-season game as soon as 2021. For some reason, the NFL recently had been coy about whether a 17th game will be played next year.

The NFL reportedly will exercise its prerogative to add a game, starting in 2021.

“An announcement may not come for weeks, if not months,” the article at NFL.com explains. The fact that the report appears on the website owned by the NFL necessarily constitutes a de facto announcement, however. (Indeed, if there were important strategic reasons for continuing to keep the intended expansion of the schedule under wraps, it wouldn’t have been published by NFL.com and openly discussed on NFL Network.)

The report explains that the delay in the official announcement arises from the reality that “the NFL must first negotiate at least one new media contract in order to make the move to 17 games.” The mere fact that this report emerged suggests that the negotiation possibly has been completed (even if on an unofficial basis), perhaps as part of the broader renewal/extension of media rights that have been in the works for months.

The extra game means an extra weekend of action, with 17 games per team spread over 18 weeks. As PFT previously explained, the 17th game will be, for each team, a fifth interconference matchup against an opponent that finished in the same spot in a corresponding division.

The league has wanted to expand the regular season for more than a decade, using the potential shrinkage of the preseason to justify it. The owners, per the report, still haven’t decided whether a 17-game season will include two or three preseason games.

Our guess? The preseason will drop from four to three, leaving 20 total games in the full-season inventory. Then, if/when the league adds an 18th regular-season game, the preseason will cut to two.

As the league tries to repair the financial damage caused by the pandemic, 18 games could be on the table sooner than later. Possibly, 18 games could be part of the looming negotiations with the union on a 2021 salary cap.

Maybe that’s why the league has let it be known now that there will be 17 games in 2021. Maybe, as the NFL and the NFL Players Association move toward the time for figuring out the 2021 cap, the league wants to nudge the door open on 18 games.

Closing the door on the 17-game discussion could be the best way to do that.

NBC

 

Browns can get wide receivers back on Thursday



The Browns should be in better shape at the wide receiver position for their Week 17 game against the Steelers.

Head coach Kevin Stefanski said on Monday that Jarvis Landry, Rashard Higgins, Donovan Peoples-Jones, and KhaDarel Hodge will be able to return to the team on Thursday as long as they continue to test negative for COVID-19. All four players were placed on the reserve/COVID-19 list on Saturday as high-risk close contacts of someone who tested positive.

“We absolutely have to learn from this,” Stefanski said, via Zac Jackson of TheAthletic.com.

The Browns signed wide receiver Alexander Hollins off of Minnesota’s practice squad on Monday. Marvin Hall, Ja’Marcus Bradley, and Derrick Willies were the team’s wideouts for Sunday’s loss to the Jets.

Left tackle Jedrick Wills and right guard Wyatt Teller were also out on Sunday. Wills was sick and Teller has an injured ankle, but there wasn’t much of an update on either player on Monday.

NBC

 

Monday Night Football: Josh Allen, Stefon Diggs carry Bills to 38-9 win over Patriots



It was perfectly clear on Monday night as to which team was heading to the playoffs as the AFC East champion and which team will be watching the playoffs from home for the first time in 12 years.

Josh Allen and Stefon Diggs emphatically carried the Buffalo Bills to a 38-9 victory over the New England Patriots on Monday night. Allen tossed four touchdowns on the night, three of which went to Diggs, as the Bills earned a season sweep of the Patriots for the first time since 1999. It didn’t even take four full quarters to do it as Allen and Diggs both earned a seat on the bench for most of the fourth quarter.

Allen completed 27-of-36 passes for 320 yards and four touchdowns while Diggs caught nine of those passes for 145 yards and three scores. In the process, Allen set the Bills franchise records for touchdowns in a season (34) and completions (375), surpassing the previous marks held by Jim Kelly and Drew Bledsoe, respectively.

The Patriots actually led 3-0 after a 45-yard Nick Folk field goal on the opening drive of the game.

It was all Bills from there. Buffalo would score touchdowns on four straight drives that didn’t include a lone kneel down to end the first half.

After a 22-yard Tyler Bass field goal, Zack Moss scored on a 5-yard touchdown run to give Buffalo a 10-3 lead. Cam Newton scored on a 9-yard touchdown run to pull the Patriots back within just a point after a missed extra point from Folk.

Lee Smith caught a 4-yard touchdown pass from Allen as the Bills lead grew to 17-9 before Diggs hogged the rest of the scoring output. Allen and Diggs connected on a 50-yard touchdown as Buffalo took a 24-9 lead into halftime. Diggs would add touchdowns from 18 yards and 8 yards before the two took a seat on the bench for the remainder of the night.

Newton completed just 5-of-10 passes for 34 yards before being pulled in the third quarter in favor of Jarrett Stidham. Stidham finished with 44 passing yards on 4-of-11 passing in his limited action. Newton’s 34 yards passing are the fewest for a Patriots starting quarterback since Scott Secules had just 16 yards passing against the Bills in 1993. Secules left the game with an injury after just seven attempts.

NBC

 

The Rams need to beat the Cardinals on Sunday to ensure that they reach the postseason. If they lose, the Rams need the Green Bay Packers to beat the Chicago Bears.

This is complicated for the Rams as Goff is having surgery today to repair his broken and dislocated thumb... he will not play Sunday.

Of course the Rams just have to beat the Cardinals with their backup, Wolford, who has yet to play an NFL game.

Very interesting if your a Rams fan.

 

I would love to see the Rams win along with Tampa losing because Rams vs the NFC East champ will be interesting. The NFL did all they could already to make sure Tom's team gets the 5 seed for the easy first round game.

 

Editor's note: Below are the following playoff scenarios for Week 17 of the 2020 NFL season.

AFC
CLINCHED:

Buffalo Bills – AFC East division title

Kansas City Chiefs – AFC West division title and first-round bye

Pittsburgh Steelers – AFC North division title

BALTIMORE RAVENS (10-5) (at Cincinnati (4-10-1), Sunday, 1 p.m. ET, CBS)


Baltimore clinches playoff berth with:

1. BAL win OR
2. CLE loss OR
3. IND loss OR
4. BAL tie + MIA loss OR
5. BAL tie + TEN loss OR
6. BAL tie + CLE tie OR
7. BAL tie + IND tie

CLEVELAND BROWNS (10-5) (vs. Pittsburgh (12-3), Sunday, 1 p.m. ET, CBS)

Cleveland clinches playoff berth with:

1. CLE win OR
2. IND loss OR
3. TEN loss + MIA win or tie + BAL win or tie OR
4. CLE tie + BAL loss OR
5. CLE tie + MIA loss OR
6. CLE tie + TEN loss OR
7. CLE tie + IND tie OR
8. CLE tie + TEN tie + BAL win + MIA win

INDIANAPOLIS COLTS (10-5) (vs. Jacksonville (1-14), Sunday, 4:25 p.m. ET, CBS)

Indianapolis clinches AFC South division title with:

1. IND win + TEN loss or tie OR
2. IND tie + TEN loss

Indianapolis clinches playoff berth with:

1. IND win + BAL loss or tie OR
2. IND win + CLE loss or tie OR
3. IND win + MIA loss or tie OR
4. IND tie + BAL loss OR
5. IND tie + CLE loss OR
6. IND tie + MIA loss

MIAMI DOLPHINS (10-5) (at Buffalo (11-3), Sunday, 1 p.m. ET, CBS)

Miami clinches playoff berth with:

1. MIA win OR
2. BAL loss OR
3. CLE loss OR
4. IND loss OR
5. MIA tie + BAL tie OR
6. MIA tie + CLE tie OR
7. MIA tie + IND tie OR
8. MIA tie + TEN loss

TENNESSEE TITANS (10-5) (at Houston (4-11), Sunday, 4:25 p.m. ET, CBS)

Tennessee clinches AFC South division title with:

1. TEN win OR
2. IND loss OR
3. TEN tie + IND tie

Tennessee clinches playoff berth with:

1. BAL loss OR
2. MIA loss OR
3. TEN tie + CLE loss OR
4. TEN tie + MIA tie OR
5. TEN tie + BAL tie

NFC
CLINCHED:

Green Bay Packers – NFC North division title

New Orleans Saints – NFC South division title

Seattle Seahawks – NFC West division title

Tampa Bay Buccaneers – playoff berth


ARIZONA CARDINALS (8-7) (at L.A. Rams (9-6), Sunday, 4:25 p.m. ET, CBS)

Arizona clinches playoff berth with:

1. ARI win OR
2. ARI tie + CHI loss

CHICAGO BEARS (8-7) (vs. Green Bay (12-3), Sunday, 4:25 PM ET, FOX)

Chicago clinches playoff berth with:

1. CHI win OR
2. ARI loss OR
3. CHI tie + ARI tie

DALLAS COWBOYS (6-9) (at N.Y. Giants (5-10), Sunday, 1 p.m. ET, FOX)

Dallas clinches NFC East division title with:

1. DAL win + WAS loss or tie OR
2. DAL tie + WAS loss

GREEN BAY PACKERS (12-3) (at Chicago (8-7), Sunday, 4:25 PM ET, CBS)

Green Bay clinches the first-round bye with:

1. GB win or tie OR
2. SEA loss or tie

LOS ANGELES RAMS (9-6) (vs. Arizona (8-7), Sunday, 4:25 p.m. ET, CBS)

Los Angeles clinches playoff berth with:

1. LAR win or tie OR
2. CHI loss or tie

NEW ORLEANS SAINTS (11-4) (at Carolina (5-10), Sunday, 4:25 p.m. ET, FOX)


New Orleans clinches the first-round bye with:

1. NO win + GB loss + SEA win

NEW YORK GIANTS (5-10) (vs. Dallas (6-9), Sunday, 1 p.m. ET, FOX)

New York clinches NFC East division title with:

1. NYG win + WAS loss

SEATTLE SEAHAWKS (11-4) (at San Francisco* (6-9), Sunday, 4:25 p.m. ET, FOX)

Seattle clinches the first-round bye with:

1. SEA win + GB loss + NO loss or tie

WASHINGTON FOOTBALL TEAM (6-9) (at Philadelphia (4-10-1), Sunday night, 8:20 p.m. ET, NBC)

Washington clinches NFC East division title with:

1. WAS win OR
2. WAS tie + DAL loss or tie

From- NFL.com

 

There’s a lot of teams still alive in the NFC. Parity is good for ratings.

 

It was an impressive show!

 

Editor's note: Below are the following playoff scenarios for Week 17 of the 2020 NFL season.


Well Done Will.........thank you.

Titans win and they are in.

It is great to see all the other scenarios......I want to see Cleveland in the Playoff's.

And the Giants to beat the Cowboys and get in.

 

VV . . . Check your PM's

 

VV . . . Check your PM's


Hi....I already read it.........I'm thinking about it OK........I'm the Shits at managing......I think I was Last place year ???

I will let you know before the New Year........Happy New Year Lyman.

 

You can do it... we need you!

 

There are no finish places determined. We're all "Woke"

 

Sean McVay: Rams will be resilient after injuries, two-game losing streak

A couple weeks ago, the Rams looked like locks to make the playoffs. Now they’ve lost two games in a row, they’ve lost their starting quarterback to an injury, their top receiver is on the COVID-19 reserve list, and their leading rusher is on injured reserve.

Rams coach Sean McVay says his team has to show resilience, and that they’ll look at other teams for inspiration.

“I think it’s important to take into perspective, a week and a day ago we were feeling pretty good, we were at 9-4. A couple of games later, because of a couple of different things that could go either way, you’re sitting at 9-6,” McVay said, via the Orange County Register. “We’ll never make any excuses for how we got here, but I also think you have to be careful to let the outside-in narrative shape the way that our guys are feeling about their ability to go perform. Look no further than some of the resilient responses from some of the other teams. You look at what the Steelers did on a short week against an excellent Indianapolis Colts team. They start out at 11-0, they have a couple of tough games that aren’t really characteristic of what they had been. They found a way to respond.”

McVay said he’s coaching a team that can respond in the same way.

“I believe in this team,” McVay said. “I trust in their mental toughness and I think that the overarching message is let’s put everything that we have into this. Let’s not be afraid to put it all out there one more time. Get back up off the mat and keep swinging and have no regrets no matter how this thing ends up.”

If the Rams lose on Sunday and the Bears beat the Packers, the Rams will be somewhere no one expected them to be: out of the playoffs.

NBC

 

Washington, Dallas favored as NFC East race goes down to Week 17



The NFC East is the only division in football that’s still a three-team race heading into Week 17. If the favored teas win, Washington takes the division.

Washington is currently a two-point favorite on the road in Philadelphia on Sunday Night Football, while Dallas is a three-point favorite on the road against the New York Giants on Sunday afternoon.

The Cowboys-Giants game is an elimination game: The loser is out of the playoffs, while the winner watches Sunday Night Football with great anticipation. The Cowboys-Giants winner will win the division if Washington loses to Philadelphia.

But if Washington wins, the Cowboys-Giants winner stays home. And Philadelphia is the only team in the division with nothing to play for this week, so it may be hard for the Eagles to get up for the game against the Football Team.

The NFC East is the worst division in football, but someone has to win it, and that team gets to host a playoff game next weekend.

NBC

 

The NFL has successfully navigated multiple COVID-19 outbreaks this year, without ever having to pull the pin on an 18th week. As Week 17 approaches, the league has one more regular-season challenge.

With the Browns apparently in the throes of a full-blown outbreak, Sunday’s Steelers-Browns game becomes jeopardized. Unlike other weeks, however, postponing the contest to Monday or Tuesday will serve only to complicate matters on the back end.

As one team executive connected to neither the Browns nor the Steelers opined to PFT on Wednesday morning, the league will strongly resist any potential postponement of the game, because of the impact it will have on Pittsburgh’s preparation for the wild-card round of the playoffs.

Thus, the league likely will compel the Browns to play on Sunday, no matter how many players the Browns may be missing. But what if positives keep being generated as Sunday approaches? The Browns won’t be able to practice and, at some point, Cleveland players will become as concerned as Baltimore players were about returning to the facility and/or entering the stadium locker room and/or being on the sideline with others who may be shedding virus.

If the game can’t be played, would Pittsburgh-Cleveland become the Week 18 game? That would push the entire postseason back by a full week. While the league has planned for that eventuality all year long, the sudden possibility of slamming the brakes on the playoffs for a week so that the Steelers and Browns can play one last regular-season game makes the prospect of an extra Sunday seem far less palatable than it did earlier this year.

Also, would it be fair for the Steelers for every potential wild-card opponent (except the Browns) to get a full week off before playing an elimination game?

Delaying the postseason by a full week also would create more opportunities for other outbreaks, which could further complicate the playoffs, potentially undermining the integrity of the results.

It’s also possible, if Pittsburgh-Cleveland can’t safely be played, that the league would cancel the game entirely, if the Colts lose to the Jaguars on Sunday, clinching a playoff berth for the Browns. Given that the Jags have lost 14 games in a row, that seems like a fairly remote possibility.

So, yes, the Steelers-Browns game needs to be played. And it needs to be played as scheduled. Whether that’s possible will be determined in the coming days.

NBC

 

Oh, I think there are some teams out there that would vehemently disagree with this...

 

Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski said at his Wednesday press conference that he hoped the team would be given the green light to practice after closing the facility in the morning due to a pair of positive COVID-19 tests.

Stefanski’s wish has been granted. The Browns announced that they have been cleared to reopen he facility and they will hold a practice on Wednesday afternoon.

The team also announced that practice squad center Javon Patterson has been placed on the reserve/COVID-19 list. He’s the 10th player to land on the list in less than a week, although most of those players were close contacts who will be able to return in time for Sunday’s game against the Steelers with continued negative tests.

Stefanski said a member of the coaching staff had the other positive test and the NFL said that they anticipate playing Sunday’s game as scheduled.

nbc