Tomlin not ruling Conner out for Week 15
Pittsburgh coach Mike Tomlin suggested Tuesday that running back JAMES CONNER might be in play to suit up for the Steelers' crucial game against New England in Week 15. Tomlin called… More Conner's progress in recovering from the ankle injury that held him out last week "impressive," then said his availability for Sunday would be largely a function of the extent to which he is able to practice and prepare later this week. No real news, in other words, but at least not a firm no ... yet. Less
Source: Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
Big Ben says he's playing vs. Pats
Pittsburgh quarterback BEN ROETHLISBERGER missed four series of this past weekend's game at Oakland with a rib injury -- just enough, by the looks of it, to prevent the Steelers from… More beating a theoretically inferior opponent. But the next opponent is better, and Roethlisberger told a local radio station on Tuesday that he sees no reason why he wouldn't play in Week 15 against New England. Given his extensive history of playing through injuries, and further given that he did reenter Sunday's game to play through the very injury that might otherwise cast doubt on his status, we are inclined to take him at his word. Less
Vikes fire OC DeFilippo
Vikings offensive coordinator John DeFilippo is no longer Vikings offensive coordinator John DeFilippo; the team fired him Tuesday, hours after a hideous 21-7 loss at Seattle the night before. There had… More long been rumors that DeFilippo, hired in the offseason on the strength of his previous work as the Eagles' quarterbacks coach, was not meshing with head coach Mike Zimmer. Whether the blame lies with any coach or not, the Vikings have slipped to 20th in points per game in 2018 after ranking 10th in 2017, and they find themselves (at 6-6-1) with a precarious hold on the last Wild Card spot in the NFC. Quarterbacks coach Kevin Stefanski will serve as the interim coordinator and primary playcaller. Less
Seahawks throttle listless Vikes
First the positive: Seattle beat Minnesota 21-7 on Monday, looking more or less worthy of a Wild Card berth in notching its fourth straight victory. Now the rest: RUSSELL WILSON did… More not play well, finishing 10-of-20 for just 72 (!) yards passing, and the convincing nature of the win may have had as much to do with the other team not showing up as with the Seahawks being good. Add the Vikings to the long list of NFC "contenders" who seem uninterested in actually making the playoffs. At 6-6-1 they lead the chase for the conference's 6-seed, but only because their closest pursuers (Carolina, Philadelphia and Washington) all lost on Sunday. December could be a very long month as this sorts itself out -- to say nothing of an AFC Wild Card race that still features the likes of Miami, Tennessee and even Cleveland. Less
Shady McCoy day-to-day
Buffalo running back LESEAN MCCOY has been diagnosed with a strained hamstring after leaving Sunday's game in the first quarter. He's officially day-to-day, although there wouldn't seem to be much incentive to get him back on the field for this week's game against going-nowhere Detroit.
Hogs' Reed could be done for 2018
In keeping with his usual habit of missing gobs of time to seemingly minor sorts of injuries, Washington tight end JORDAN REED may be shut down for the rest of the… More season after suffering a strained muscle in his big toe on Sunday. Believe this or not, Reed had surgery on both big toes over the offseason, and yet this is a new issue. It would be a lot easier to get excited about filling in with VERNON DAVIS, of course, if the team wasn't down to JOSH JOHNSON -- backup's backup Mark Sanchez's backup -- at quarterback. Less
Mostly good news on Cowboys' Martin
Cowboys All-Pro guard ZACK MARTIN underwent an MRI after leaving Sunday's game early with a knee injury, but fortunately that appears to be as bad as the news gets. The MRI… More showed no new damage; rather, Martin merely aggravated the same injury (a sprained MCL) that has plagued him for much of the season. It isn't yet clear whether he'll be able to play at Indianapolis in Week 15, but this could have been far worse. Less
Source: Dallas Morning News
Hill dealing with foot injury, but ...
Everyone agrees that Kansas City receiver TYREEK HILL is not completely healthy at the moment, as he missed snaps on Sunday with both a wrist injury and a foot injury, the… More latter of which had him walking with a pronounced limp after the game. But there are also suggestions almost everywhere -- including from coach Andy Reid -- that Hill should be able to play through his injuries, despite the quick turnaround to Thursday night's showdown with the Chargers. What gives? The Chargers' former hometown newspaper, the San Diego Union-Tribune, has an interesting theory: the foot injury is likely a bone bruise (or something similar) on Hill's heel, such that he is able to run -- with most of the impact toward the front of the foot and into the toes -- far more comfortably than he can walk at present, as walking involves more constant pounding on the heel specifically. (We should note that this isn't just some newspaper hack spitballing; the Union-Tribune regularly runs stories on NFL injuries that are written in consultation with a sports doctor.) In any case, given Hill's importance to the Kansas City offense and so many fantasy teams alike, we will of course be watching his status closely in the coming days. Less
Source: San Diego Union-Tribune
Raiders dump GM McKenzie
Oakland fired general manager Reggie McKenzie on Monday, a move foreshadowed by any number of instances in recent months in which he and coach Jon Gruden did not seem to be… More in perfect harmony. We have our doubts about the wisdom of consolidating organizational power in Gruden, whose first year back on the sidelines in Oakland has not gone well, but McKenzie had been with the Raiders since 2011, and his track record -- particularly in the draft -- was not exactly sterling. In any case, having won whatever power struggle actually existed here, Gruden now figures to get at least one more season to prove that the NFL has not entirely passed him by. Less
Week 14 injury roundup
The usual rash of injuries struck teams around the NFL on Sunday, and of course we won't know how major or minor many of these will prove to be for several… More days yet. The list of players whose status we already know we'll be tracking this week includes Buffalo RB LESEAN MCCOY (hamstring), Denver WR COURTLAND SUTTON (thigh), Jets RB ISAIAH CROWELL (foot) and Washington TE JORDAN REED (foot), all of whom left their respective games early. Stay tuned. Less
Top defenses go 1-1 against top offenses
There were two really premium matchups of defenses against offenses on Sunday, and the defenses held their own -- no small feat in 2018. Baltimore took PATRICK MAHOMES and Kansas City… More to overtime before losing 27-24, and while Mahomes's numbers were superficially excellent (377 yards passing, 2 touchdowns), he was clearly less comfortable against the Ravens (and especially against some of the more exotic looks they showed him) than he has been against any other opponent this season. And if Baltimore's moral victory doesn't give you hope that defense might still win championships, perhaps this will: Chicago didn't merely keep its game against a top offense close; the Bears thoroughly dominated the previously high-flying Rams on Sunday night, limiting JARED GOFF to 180 yards passing and coming away with 4 interceptions en route to a 15-6 win. The loss could prove especially costly to Los Angeles, which led the Saints for homefield advantage in the NFC playoffs coming in, but now falls back to being the projected No. 2 seed. Less
Josh Allen runs wild (again)
Buffalo quarterback JOSH ALLEN had another huge rushing game on Sunday, carrying 9 times for 101 yards and a touchdown in the Bills' loss to the Jets. Allen has now totaled… More 335 rushing yards over the past three weeks, breaking a record previously held by Michael Vick for the most QB rushing yards over any three-game stretch in the Super Bowl era. Now if Allen can just limit his interceptions (he's thrown 2 in each of the past two games) and push his completion percentage up near 60 percent, he might really have something. For the time being he's a lot of fun to watch, but we certainly wouldn't say he's good. Less
Source: Rochester Democrat & Chronicle
Roethlisberger exits with rib injury, returns
Pittsburgh suffered another disappointing loss on Sunday, this time at Oakland, but for much of the game that eventual result seemed like it might be of secondary concern. Quarterback BEN ROETHLISBERGER… More left the field before halftime with a rib injury, and though he reappeared on the sideline thereafter he did not immediately check back into the game, merely watching as the offense scuffled and the Raiders took the lead. So call this a bad news, good news situation. It's obviously not great that Pittsburgh dropped a third straight game, falling to 7-5-1 on the season and finding itself closely pursued not only for the AFC North lead but also (should the Steelers lose the division) for a Wild Card berth. On the other hand, Roethlisberger did reenter eventually, sparking the offense and providing hope that he will be available for next week's crucial home matchup against New England. Less
Shocker: Mark Sanchez is out of a job
If you thought Washington was done shuffling its quarterbacks after turning to veteran punchline MARK SANCHEZ in the wake of Colt McCoy's broken leg, you are a spectacular optimist -- so… More we kind of hate to break the following to you, but you were also spectacularly wrong. Sanchez was comically ineffective on Sunday, finishing 6-of-14 for 38 yards with 2 interceptions before his latest stint as an NFL starter came to a merciful end when coach Jay Gruden benched him in favor of JOSH JOHNSON. Johnson did enough in relief (11-of-16 for 195 yards, 1 touchdown, 1 interception) to earn a starting nod next week, but given that he hadn't attempted a pass in a regular season game since 2011 -- and that this same team has already had McCoy and Sanchez start games for it in 2018 -- one wonders who could possibly be next if Johnson were to falter. Jay Cutler? Joey Harrington? Less
Amari Cooper continues to deliver, and then some
Safe to say that being a Dallas Cowboy agrees with wide receiver AMARI COOPER, who had one of the biggest fantasy games by any player all season on Sunday, finishing with… More 10 catches for 217 yards and 3 touchdowns. Cooper alone provided most of the fireworks in a 29-23 overtime win that gives Dallas a commanding lead over visiting Philadelphia in the NFC East. The game was Cooper's third straight with at least 8 catches, and marked his second 30-point-plus fantasy eruption in the same span. In other words, he's about as hot now as he was cold in Weeks 5-6, his last two outings as a Raider. One gloomy note for the Cowboys: star guard ZACK MARTIN left the game early with a knee injury, and while the early word is that there does not appear to be any structural damage, losing Martin for any length of time would obviously ding the whole offense. Less
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