Somehow, the Chiefs remained undefeated, this time by blocking a potential game-winning field goal by the Broncos as time expired. The Steelers won a 1-point game in Washington, as did the Ravens over the Bengals in Baltimore. The Vikings struggled to win in Jacksonville, while the Bears lost at home to the Pats. The Cardinals continue to lead their division by spanking the Jets, and the Saints surprised the Falcons in the Superdome. The Bucs lost another close game, this time to the Niners, and on Sunday night the Lions had an amazing comeback win over the Texans in Houston.
This week, the Steelers will, quite surprisingly, play their first division game of the season when they host the Ravens. Washington and Philly meet on Thursday night in a battle for the lead in the NFC East, and KC travels to Buffalo in what should be a classic AFC matchup. The Niners host the Seahawks in an NFC West battle, while Houston visits Dallas on Monday night in a battle for bragging rights in Texas.
This week’s games. All spreads taken from FanDuel on Tuesday, November 12 at 9:50 am CT.
I think it will be interesting to see what Cincy does against the Chargers this week. The Bengals have rebounded to 4-5 after a bad start to the season (while playing the Ravens tough twice, and losing both). But then you look at their 4 wins: LV, NYG, CAR, CLE
In this week’s ESPN Power Rankings, that would be the 32, 31, 28, 27 ranked teams. Also, their week one loss was against NE which is 26 in this week’s power rankings.
I also think that should be an interesting game. Chargers are 6-3 and ranked #11 on ESPN.
But their six wins are over the Raiders, Panthers, Broncos, Saints, Browns, and Titans. All of those teams, except 5-5 Denver, are well below .500. Their 3 losses are all to division leaders: Steelers, Chiefs, and Cardinals.
Cincy is on the edge of being eliminated from the playoffs. They need this conference win to stay in the running. I expect a close, down-to-the-wire game, which is what usually happens on Sunday night.
Actually, the Bengals/Chargers game WAS flexed into Sunday night. It was originally Colts/Jets (yikes!).
Some of the flexing decisions aren’t about getting the ‘best’ game of the week. Otherwise, CBS and Fox would never agree to allow flexing into Sunday or Monday nights at all. Why would they pay billions to the NFL for broadcast rights if they’re going to get screwed every week?
With the change, the only late afternoon CBS game will be Chiefs/Bills, so they will get a ratings boost for that game, NBC doesn’t get a stinker, and the peace will be maintained between the NFL and the TV networks. It’s a balancing act with plenty of money involved.
ETA: Note, a flex requires more than a week of advanced notice, so the decision was made last week.
I’m sure there’s also a slight preference to have the Sunday night game outside of the Eastern time zone. It’s bad enough for people watching on TV when it ends at 11:30 pm, but it’s even worse for those attending the game and all the stadium employees.
Yesterday, the Bears fired their offensive coordinator, Shane Waldron, and elevated passing-game coordinator Thomas Brown to the OC role. Waldron had replaced Luke Getsy, who had been fired from the position at the end of last season; the Bears’ offense has severely under-performed in recent weeks, rookie QB Caleb Williams has been struggling, and some of their top receivers – WR D.J. Moore and TE Cole Kmet – had not been targeted often under Waldron’s offense.
In another “shaking things up” move, this morning, the Bears released offensive lineman Nate Davis, whom they had brought in as a free agent last year. Davis, who was making $10 million a year, had only started two games this season, and was a last-minute scratch from last week’s game against the Patriots
This team is a fucking dumpster fire. Davis probably should have been given the boot in training camp, but a combination of salary and lack of depth kept his bum-ass around for 10 weeks.
Waldron too should have been canned sooner than this, but when it comes to coaches, you want to give them a chance to adapt. Still, waiting until the Tuesday before the Packers game is a pretty terrible time for a change. At worst they should have been locked and loaded come Sunday afternoon. The fact that it took 2 days following that fiasco on Sunday suggests that this was the first time they seriously entertained a change which is an indictment of the entire leadership group. The replacement, Thomas Brown, is the same guy that helped destroy Bryce Young’s rookie season, so I’d say we’re in a great spot.
I noted in the OP that the Steelers would finally play their first divisional game this week, which is week 11. I have wondered if that’s ever happened before.
I still don’t know the answer to that question, but I just now learned that the Bears will also play their first divisional game this week, when they meet the Packers. That means, of course, that six of their final eight games are against the Packers, Vikings, and Lions. Their other two games are against the Niners and Seahawks. Currently, the Bears are 4-5. A final tally of 4-13 is a possibility.
Good game in Philly tonight, at least in the fourth quarter, when there were 28 points scored.
Eagles took their first lead, 12-10, with 12 minutes left. On the ensuing drive, Washington drove to the Eagles 26 where they had a fourth-and-two with 8 minutes left. Rather than attempting a go-ahead field goal, they went for it and failed. Philly then drove for another touchdown and essentially took control of the game.
I didn’t understand the play call on fourth down, particularly when their kicker had already made a 45-yard field goal earlier in the game.
Heck, they were 2nd and one. Three tries to get the first. If you’re going to win this away game, go for it. Props to the Philly defense for stopping the Commanders. It was a pivotal series. Washington will be fine; the QB looks legit but still a bit raw.
I had no problem with the decision, also no money or emotions invested.