Gridiron Digest: NFL Teams That Simply Refuse to Die
If you thought last Thursday night's steel cage match with the Browns marked the end of the Steelers' season, think again.
If you are waiting for the Browns to start beating themselves instead of their opponents again, keep waiting.
If you thought the Titans were roadkill after the Broncos shut them out, you may want to check the standings.
The AFC wild-card chase is full of teams that just won't go away, and this week's Gridiron Digest rounds them up and tries to figure out which of them is best suited to survive the home stretch.
Plus:
• The Cowboys keep settling for Jason Garrett, and Garrett keeps settling for field goals in another grimy Patriots victory
• The Eagles and Panthers prove they don't have what it takes to keep up with the NFC playoff pace
• Frank Gore passes a legend on the all-time rushing list
• The Bengals sink so low that not even Washington is bad enough to keep up with them
...and much, much more!
The Cockroaches in This Year's AFC Wild Card Race
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The Steelers will not go away.
They are down to third-string rookie quarterback Devlin Hodges, having benched Mason Rudolph for an 80-20 mixture of bad performance and bad karma. If you write a 250-word essay explaining just how much you really, really want to, you could be their running back next week.
The days of Ben Roethlisberger, Le'Veon Bell and Antonio Brown feel as buried in the distant past as the days of Terry Bradshaw, Franco Harris and the Steel Curtain.
Yet with a 16-10 win over the Bengals on Sunday, they moved to 6-5 on the season and stayed very much alive in the Wild Card race. They're 5-1 after starting the season 1-4. Last Thursday night's knockout punch (ahem) from the Browns didn't knock them out at all. And their decision to trade for safety Minkah Fitzpatrick and remain competitive after Roethlisberger's injury doesn't look so silly right now.
And the Steelers aren't the only AFC playoff hopeful that refuses to give up, either. The conference is full of flawed yet fascinating teams who are hoping to reach the playoffs by feasting on the Bengals-Jets-Broncos bottom-feeders while doing just well enough against each other and tougher foes to pull away from the pack.
Are any of these teams threats to the Patriots or Ravens? Probably not. But somebody's gotta play in the first round of the playoffs. And for many of these teams, getting that far would be a remarkable accomplishment:
Buffalo Bills (8-3)
Every Bills victory is essentially the same.
Their defense shuts down a (usually terrible) opposing offense. Josh Allen scrambles for one or two big plays and completes just enough passes to satisfy his boosters without coming close to silencing his detractors. There are so many punts and grinding drives that end in field goals that the folks who edit together the NFL.com highlight montages must get creative (check out this otherworldly, mind-boggling routine catch by Cole Beasley!) to pad things out to five minutes.
The Bills have run out of cupcakes, though.
Their late schedule includes the Cowboys on Thanksgiving, then the Ravens, Steelers, Patriots and a Jets team that may be a bottom-feeder but has also gotten tougher than the version the Bills beat by just one point at home in the season opener. Luckily, they did what they had to do with their mushy schedule: They have built a two-game lead over the other Wild Card hopefuls. They will probably need it.
Cleveland Browns (5-6)
The Browns rocketed out to a 28-3 halftime lead against the lowly Dolphins thanks to a hefty helping of the Baker Mayfield-Odell Beckham Jr.-Jarvis Landry-Nick Chubb heroics we were promised all through the offseason. They then allowed the Dolphins to cut the lead to 28-17 in the third quarter, reminding everyone they remain the most overconfident sub-.500 team in NFL history.
Three fourth-quarter scores helped the Browns salt away their third straight victory and prevent a disaster that might have sent all of Cuyahoga County foundering into Lake Erie.
The Browns are the most talented team on this list; their biggest problem remains that they keep telling themselves that.
Next Sunday's rematch with the Steelers is going to be much more than a junior high cafeteria brawl. It will decide which of these teams really has a crack at the postseason.
Oakland Raiders (6-5)
The Raiders entered Sunday as a 6-4 team with 3-7 talent, so their 34-3 blowout loss to the Jets should only have been a modest surprise. It has been fun watching them try to make a playoff run with late-round rookies like Maxx Crosby and Hunter Renfrow and a host of no-names playing major roles.
But after Sunday's loss, it's much easier to imagine the Browns or Titans staying hot than it is to picture the Raiders sustaining what has been this season's most unexpected playoff push.
Pittsburgh Steelers (6-5)
The Steelers are doing it with a devastating defense and smoke and mirrors on offense. If they finally get JuJu Smith-Schuster or James Conner back sometime soon, things could get really interesting.
Tennessee Titans (6-5)
We can't really blame you if you tuned the Titans out after they lost 16-0 to the Broncos in Week 6, falling to 2-4 and then benching Marcus Mariota in favor of Ryan Tannehill. In fact, we can't really blame you if you never tuned into the Titans in the first place.
But they are now 4-1 with Tannehill at quarterback after a thorough 42-20 beating of the Jaguars. The Titans offense is balanced, albeit unspectacular, in most weeks (a step up from when Mariota was at the helm and they looked like a service academy from the 1960s), and they have more healthy talent on both sides of the ball than any team on this list but the Browns.
In fact, only two things stand between the Titans and the playoffs: a tough late-season schedule that features the Texans (twice), Colts, Saints and Raiders, and the fact that Tannehill will inevitably turn back into Tannehill.
Indianapolis Colts (6-5)
The Colts appear poised to finally slip off the pack after Thursday night's 20-17 loss to the Texans. They have now lost three of their last four games and may be losing confidence that Jacoby Brissett can be more than a game manager.
But they remain emblematic of this year's AFC Wild Card race: They appeared to be toast the moment Andrew Luck retired, lost other offensive stars for chunks of the season and were down to their third-string quarterback for a while, but they still have hope. And hope is what late-autumn NFL football is all about.
NFC Playoff Outsiders Digest
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While the AFC Wild Card picture remains complicated, the outlook in the NFC is much clearer after Week 12. Here's a look at some preseason playoff hopefuls who now find themselves on the outer fringe of the playoff picture as the season enters its home stretch—and whether any of them have what it takes to claw back into the race.
(Playoff probability percentages via Football Outsiders.)
Philadelphia Eagles
Playoff probability entering Sunday: 37.2 percent
With all of his receivers injured, Carson Wentz has morphed into Fumbles McStumblebumbles, a comical figure who overthrows flair passes, double-clutches instead of throwing to open receivers in the flat and coughs up fumbles and interceptions like he's trying to one-up Jameis Winston (but without the interspersed touchdown bombs).
The Eagles defense and some Seahawks blunders kept the 17-10 Seahawks victory closer than it should have been, which made Wentz's inability to either move or hold onto the ball even more noticeable.
The Eagles' fading playoff hopes rest entirely upon the Cowboys collapsing harder in December than the Eagles themselves are currently collapsing. Even Jason Garrett at his worst is probably not up to that task.
Carolina Panthers
Playoff probability entering Sunday: 1.9 percent
The Panthers battled back from 14-0 and 31-18 deficits to take the Saints down to the wire, but their fourth-quarter drive with the score tied ended with a missed 28-yard field goal, allowing Drew Brees to drive 65 yards in the final 1:56 to set up a Wil Lutz game-winner and a 34-31 final score.
Sunday's close loss was something of a moral victory for a team that looked like it might grab the golf clubs after an embarrassing loss to the Falcons the previous week. But moral victories don't count for playoff tiebreakers, and the Panthers' playoff hopes are now essentially zero.
What that means for head coach Ron Rivera (who is on the hot seat despite keeping the team competitive after the Cam Newton injury) and quarterback Kyle Allen (who has played well in two of the past three Panthers losses) remains to be seen.
Chicago Bears
Playoff Probability entering Sunday: 1.1 percent
Mitch Trubisky came up limping after a first-quarter scramble, but he remained in the game because Trubisky's injuries must line up precisely with Matt Nagy's frustration with his performance to become serious enough to require attention.
He went on to look mostly like his usual self but complete just enough deep shots to Allen Robinson II against the Giants, one of the NFL's worst defenses, to win 19-14, keep the Bears' guttering playoff hopes alive and justify Nagy's intermittent confidence in him.
Los Angeles Rams
Playoff probability entering Sunday: 14.3 percent
The bad news is that the Rams face the Ravens, who currently look like the best team in the NFL, on Monday night. The good news is that the Rams can gain some control over their fate in late-season meetings against the Seahawks (in Los Angeles), Cowboys, 49ers and Cardinals (twice).
And with the Panthers and Eagles almost totally out of the picture and the Bears still one Trubisky misfire from oblivion, at least the Rams won't have to watch their six.
Game Spotlight: Patriots 13, Cowboys 9
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What happened
The Cowboys were coming off a convincing win and had a chance to take a commanding lead in their division. The Patriots have looked more vulnerable than ever in recent weeks. All the Cowboys needed for an upset victory was for the team to execute with precision in a big game and for Jason Garrett to out-coach Bill Belichick…
(Cue the ear-splitting maniacal laughter, like a thousand Jokers echoing through a thousand Arkham Asylums.)
The Cowboys outplayed the Patriots for much of the afternoon, but Tom Brady threw a 10-yard touchdown pass to N'Keal Harry after a blocked punt deep in Cowboys territory, while Garrett settled for 27- and 29-yard field goals, the latter coming when the Cowboys trailed by seven points late in the fourth quarter, as if he secretly wanted to allow the Patriots to control both the clock and field position for the remainder of the game...
(Maniacal laughter rises again, drowning out all rational thought and causing a creeping existential terror within the heart of the reader.)
What it means
This is what Patriots football looks like nowadays, and it is ugly.
Tom Brady completed just 17 of 37 passes for 190 yards. He looks like Matt Cassel, but we're not supposed to say anything because he's a national treasure and is also a wee bit sensitive about aging (and Patriots fans are even more sensitive about his aging). While Brady runs the offense with his left directional blinking, the defense continues to stifle most opponents, turning Patriots games into a dreary succession of incomplete passes and punts.
The Cowboys moved the ball better than most Patriots opponents but kept settling for field goals and missed field goals. Because the Cowboys were facing 4th-and-medium in both cases, neither decision to settle for a short field goal was inexcusable.
According to Edj Sports: Garrett's first field goal lowered the Cowboys' chance of winning by 2.5 percent, the later one by just 0.5 percent. But giving the Patriots an extra 3 percent chance to win in Foxborough because you're Captain Conservative is a great way to lose, and most NFL coaches realize that.
The Cowboys remain just a game ahead of the disintegrating Eagles in the NFC East, and they only have a few days to shake off this loss.
What's next
The Cowboys host a Bills team no one outside of upstate New York believes in for Thanksgiving. Brady visits his old pal Bill O'Brien and the Texans. Oh, no. We wrote "Brady" and "old" in the same sentence! Avoid the inbox! Nuke the Twitter account! To the bunkers! Hurry!
.jpg?w=256 "Bills Chiefs Football")
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Game Spotlight: 49ers 37, Packers 8
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What happened
The 49ers proved what they have been proving all year. Yes, they really are that good. And no, they aren't going to be "exposed" by their next tough opponent.
Their front four, with a little help from linebacker Fred Warner, steam-rolled Aaron Rodgers and the Packers offense. Tight end George Kittle returned from a broken ankle for six catches, 129 yards and a touchdown. They built a 23-0 lead by halftime and were physically dominating the Packers on both sides of the ball in the fourth quarter.
What it means
The 49ers are the Ravens of the NFC.
Folks doubt Lamar Jackson because old-school NFL types insist running quarterbacks cannot succeed (no matter how many times they do), and folks doubt the 49ers because Jimmy Garoppolo looked bad in the preseason and the roster is full of guys who are either unproven or have come to be associated with a losing team.
So each week, we wait for each team to be "figured out." And each week, the 49ers and Ravens prove there is much more to them than gaudy sack totals or a gimmicky offense.
The Packers have now been blown out in two of their last three games. Rodgers threw for just 104 yards before being pulled in the fourth quarter of this one; that number dips to 66 net yards with sacks removed. The Packers did not convert a third down until their final drive of the game, and their only scoring drive was helped along by a ticky-tack roughing-the-passer penalty.
An easy stretch of upcoming games should help the Packers figure some things out. But as it now stands, they are in danger of entering the postseason as a one-dimensional, one-and-done playoff team. They made a lot of organizational changes over the past two years specifically to prevent that from happening.
What's next
SUPER BOWL PREVIEW ALERT: The 49ers visit the Ravens next week.
TAKE SUNDAY NIGHT'S FRUSTRATION OUT ON SOME PUNCHING BAGS ALERT: The Packers face the Giants and Washington over the next two weeks.
Inside the Numbers
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Frank Gore, RB, Bills: 15 carries for 65 yards
Gore moved past Barry Sanders and into third place on the all-time rushing list with 15,289 yards. But getting past Sanders wasn't easy, and not just because it required, you know, 15 years of sustained excellence at a grueling position.
Gore rushed three times for 13 yards in the first half, with Devin Singletary getting the bulk of the carries for the Bills. He then pulled to within one yard of Sanders, only to lose three yards on a fourth-quarter carry. Luckily, the Bills took control of the game with a Josh Allen-to-John Brown touchdown on the very next play, allowing Gore to pass Sanders while helping munch the clock.
Gore's momentary backtrack in pursuit of Sanders recalls the story of 1970s running back Dave Hampton, who became the Falcons' first 1,000-yard rusher in 1972, only to lose yardage on late carries and end the season with just 995 rushing yards. (Find out more about Hampton here.)
Gore is now nearly 1,500 yards behind Walter Payton for second place on the all-time list and remains over 3,000 yards behind Emmitt Smith for first place. He'd have to play as a committee back until he's nearly 40 years old to pass Emmitt. Don't bet against it happening.
Michael Thomas, WR, Saints: 10 catches on 11 targets for 101 yards and one touchdown
Thomas now has 104 receptions for 1,242 yards and six TDs, putting him on pace for 151 receptions, 1,807 yards and nine touchdowns.
The all-time single-season reception record is 143, set by Marvin Harrison in 2002 when Peyton Manning was his quarterback for all 16 games—unlike Thomas, who has stayed on pace while splitting time between Teddy Bridgewater and Drew Brees. Thomas also has 17 more receptions this year than any other receiver; DeAndre Hopkins is second on the list with 87 catches.
If any non-quarterback deserves MVP consideration—and if non-quarterbacks do not deserve MVP consideration, then it's a really boring award to talk about—it's Thomas, who is having a historic season under less than ideal circumstances to keep his team in Super Bowl contention.
Kerrith Whyte Jr., RB, Steelers: Six carries for 43 yards
Just who is this week's Steelers Mystery Running Back? Is his brother one of the team's linebackers? Did his great uncle help win Super Bowl III? Is he even more obscure than Tony Brooks-James, last week's Steelers Mystery Running Back?
No, no and maybe.
Whyte was (spins the wheel of Steelers running back randomness) Devin Singletary's backup at Florida Atlantic, and he was drafted by the Bears in the seventh round and spent the early season on their practice squad. In other words: He is a former backup at a mid-major program who couldn't crack the roster of a team with no offense. Yet he rushed for 21 yards on his first NFL carry and added a 16-yard run later in the first quarter.
It's almost as if most running backs are just replaceable parts or something.
Mike Glennon, QB, Raiders: 4-of-7 for 20 yards with no TDs or interceptions and three fumbles
Glennon replaced an ineffective Derek Carr late in the blowout loss to the Jets for reasons we are sure to hear more about from Jon Gruden as the week unfolds. He fumbled his very first snap, but the Raiders got the ball back after the Jets fumbled the recovery. One play later, he fumbled again but was able to pounce on it himself.
Later in the fourth quarter, he fumbled yet again but managed to retrieve the ball and dump a pass to Jalen Richard. Glennon's longest completion against a bad defense in prevent mode for the entire fourth quarter went for nine yards.
In his past 171 pass attempts (dating back to his stint as the Bears starter in 2017), Glennon has fumbled eight times and thrown five interceptions.
He still has an NFL job. And Colin Kaepernick does not.
Awards Digest
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Defensive player of the week: 49ers teammates Fred Warner and Arik Armstead share this week's award. Warner shut down the Packers running game with 11 solo tackles, and he pried a fumble away from Aaron Rodgers to set up a 49ers touchdown. Armstead finished the game with two official sacks and forced Rodgers to run for his life (or straight into the arms of another 49ers defender) on several other plays.
Offensive line of the week: The Titans line of Taylor Lewan, Rodger Saffold, Ben Jones, Nate Davis and Jack Conklin helped Derrick Henry and others rush for 219 yards and four touchdowns, while Ryan Tannehill was sacked just once when Lewan left the game briefly with an injury.
Special teamer of the week: When times are tough, the Patriots can count on their ageless perennial All-Pro to come through with a clutch play. Yes, we're referring to Matthew Slater, the greatest special teamer in history (sorry, Steve Tasker!), who blocked a Cowboys punt to give the Patriots the ball deep in the red zone in the first quarter. One of Slater's long-time teammates then threw a touchdown pass to give the Patriots a lead they would never relinquish.
Mystery touch of the week: Vita Vea, a 350-ish pound Buccaneers defensive tackle, lined up as a goal-line fullback and sneaked into the flat for a touchdown pass from Jameis Winston. Bruce Arians is a genius: Why didn't anyone think of teaching Winston to throw to defenders on purpose earlier?
Kicker fail of the week: Giants kicker Aldrick Rosas missed 42- and 43-yard field-goal attempts that could have changed the outcome of a 19-14 loss to the Bears. In fairness to Rosas, the snaps and holds were terrible, particularly on the first one. On the other hand, Rosas hasn't made a kick from beyond 40 yards all season. So add snapping, holding and kicking to the list of things the Giants do poorly. Also, it turns out that the Bears can both win and lose games due to kicker failures.
Meaningless fantasy touchdown of the week: No, this week's award does not go to the Falcons because Matt Schaub replaced Matt Ryan late in the game, making Calvin Ridley's touchdown less useful to most fantasy gamers. But Carson Wentz and (especially) Zach Ertz are still starting in a lot of leagues, so their touchdown hookup with 20 seconds to play meant a lot more in the fantasy world than it did in the Eagles' 17-9 loss to the Seahawks.
Best supporting actor in someone else's highlight: Devlin "Duck" Hodges' 79-yard touchdown pass to James Washington was made even more delightful to watch thanks to the comic stylings of Bengals defenders William Jackson III, who slipped on a banana peel as Washington crossed the middle of the field, and B.W. Webb, who fell over backward as if he were force-pushed by a Jedi about two seconds after Washington stiff-armed him. Does this award go to a Bengals defender every week? It feels like this award goes to a Bengals defender every week. Oh well, at least the Bengals get to win something this year.
Tank Watch
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Tankin' ain't easy, folks, as this week's look at the battle for the first overall pick in next year's draft illustrates:
Steelers 16, Bengals 10
At 0-11, the Bengals now have a two-game "lead" over all the other terrible teams, meaning they may have the first pick in the draft all sewn up. They probably won't take a receiver with that draft pick: Tyler Boyd caught five passes for 101 yards and a touchdown, including a leaping one-handed 47-yarder, while the rest of the Bengals offense combined for 143 yards.
At this point, if anything happened to Boyd, the Bengals would be eligible to play in the Belk Bowl.
Redskins 16, Lions 13
Tickets for this game were selling for as low as $4 and would have been a ripoff at half the price.
Washington took an early lead on a 91-yard kickoff return that Steven Sims Jr. initially mishandled. The Lions, playing through a severe injury crisis, came back with the help of a touchdown pass from Jeff Driskel to quarterback-turned-tight end Logan Thomas, who no Washington defender bothered to cover.
But Driskel threw an interception to Quinton Dunbar with the score tied in the final minute, and while Dwayne Haskins threw two near-interceptions on the final drive, a scramble and a completion to Terry McLaurin were enough to set up a game-winning Dustin Hopkins field goal.
Washington won't play at home again until it hosts the Eagles in Week 15 and Giants in Week 16. Tickets for the latter game can be given as early holiday gifts to relatives you really don't like.
Browns 41, Dolphins 24
We covered this game in an earlier segment. The Washington victory was huge for the Dolphins, who lost to Washington and therefore need to finish one game lower in the standings to pick ahead in the draft. This is the sort of thing fans of terrible teams must convince themselves to cheer for.
Bears 19, Giants 14
The Giants are officially on Tank Watch after their seventh straight loss. Among other sins and misdemeanors, they were 1-of-12 on third-down conversions against the Bears, though Daniel Jones did throw a touchdown pass on a 4th-and-18.
Maybe the Giants' plan was always to tank this year and then unleash Jones, Saquon Barkley and the top pick in the draft (or a haul of extra players gained in return for trading the top pick) next year. Maybe it was Dave Gettleman's three-dimensional chess gambit all along. Or maybe the Giants are just a slow-motion catastrophe. Probably the last bit.
Exclusive Gridiron Digest Power Rankings!
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These rankings are based on team records, stats, strength-of-schedule, upcoming schedule, and whatever popped into the Gridiron Digest staff’s heads after our fourth pot of coffee early on Monday morning.
1. Baltimore Ravens. The only thing better than looking forward to watching Lamar Jackson on Sunday afternoon is looking forward to watching Lamar Jackson on Monday night.
2. San Francisco 49ers. The upcoming schedule remains tough, but at least they don’t have to face their toughest foe anymore: the mighty Arizona Cardinals.
3. New Orleans Saints. Jared Cook has established himself as a third weapon for Drew Brees. Be very afraid.
4. New England Patriots. A-plus defense, A-plus mystique, and an offense that would make the Jaguars cringe.
5. Kansas City Chiefs. Andy Reid's teams always come out of the bye week red hot.
6. Minnesota Vikings. Something something something Kirk Cousins will let you down something something.
7. Seattle Seahawks. They spent a lot of time on Sunday trying to hand the game back to the Eagles.
8. Green Bay Packers. There’s probably a reason why their ugly Chargers and 49ers losses were Mike McCarthy’s fault.
9. Houston Texans. The best talented-but-poorly-coached team in Texas.
10. Dallas Cowboys: The second-best talented-but-poorly-coached team in Texas.
11. Los Angeles Rams. Still competitive but no longer fun.
12. Tennessee Titans. We’re as stunned by this ranking as you are.
13. Buffalo Bills. Somewhere, a Bills fan is reading this and screaming that they should be higher than the Titans because they beat them head-to-head. Yep. And that’s the most impressive thing the Bills have done all year.
14. Indianapolis Colts. If anyone finds Frank Reich’s play-calling aggressiveness, please contact Colts headquarters immediately.
15. Pittsburgh Steelers. There’s a difference between loving the Devlin Hodges story and thinking that we’ll still be talking about him eight weeks from now.
16. Oakland Raiders. They’ve been outscored by opponents 228-284. Don’t be surprised when the bubble bursts.
17. Carolina Panthers. All the talk about their quarterback situation masks the fact that they cannot stop the run or cleanly field a punt or kickoff.
18. Cleveland Browns. This is the average of the 9th-to-29th place they could rank each week, based upon their mood swings.
19. Chicago Bears. They’ve discovered a winning formula: play the Giants every week and hope they miss some field goals.
20. Philadelphia Eagles. Carson Wentz is turning into Mitch Trubisky.
21. Arizona Cardinals. More plucky than good.
22. Jacksonville Jaguars. At least watching Gardner Minshew provided a contact high.
23. Los Angeles Chargers. Were they on bye this week or did they play a game that no one watched or attended? [Checks schedule] Nope, still not sure.
24. Tampa Bay Buccaneers: Jameis Winston remains both the cause of and the solution to most of the Buccaneers problems.
25. Atlanta Falcons. Two weeks of “Save Coach’s Job” intensity left them all tuckered out.
26. New York Jets: They’re turning things around, thanks to all the guys they tried to trade three weeks ago.
27. Detroit Lions: Just about every Lions player you can name is either injured or Danny Amendola.
28. Denver Broncos: Ready or not, it’s Drew Lock time. (Narrator: “In fact, no one was ready. Especially not Drew Lock).
29. Miami Dolphins: Never underestimate Ryan Fitzpatrick’s knack for inflating his own stats when trailing 28-3.
30. New York Giants: Remember when it looked like they were turning things around in Week 4?
31. Washington Redskins: Dwayne Haskins will look more like a franchise quarterback if he can face Jeff Driskel every week.
32. Cincinnati Bengals. We’re starting to actually miss Marvin Lewis.
Point-Counterpoint
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Myles Garrett tells the NFL during his suspension appeal that Mason Rudolph directed a racial slur at him before their altercation in Nov. 14's Browns-Steelers game.
Point: Nonsense! Sources leaked me the audio of the incident. Listen for yourself! [CLICK] "Yes, We'd love to send you that money. But first you have to do us a huge favor involving Hunter …" [CLICK] Oops, wrong leaked audio. Forget you heard that.
Counterpoint: I'm against racial slurs. I'm against helmet whacking. And I'm really against a player saying something in confidence to league representatives that he chose not to announce publicly and then having it appear on the crawl 45 minutes later.
The NFL 100 all-time team's roster contains no running backs who played the bulk of their careers in the 21st century.
Point: Great decision. Adrian Peterson and LaDainian Tomlinson couldn't hold a candle to Dutch Clark, who weighed 185 pounds, played a tailback-quarterback-safety-kicker position that hasn't existed for 75 years and missed one of the most important games in NFL history because he left his team (the Portsmouth Spartans) for his offseason gig as a high-school basketball coach.
Counterpoint: That's OK. Frank Gore is gonna keep playing until he makes the all-time team for the next 100 years.
Lions-Redskins tickets sell for as little as $4 on Sunday.
Point: I was gonna go to the game but splurged and bought a Popeyes Chicken Sandwich Combo instead.
Counterpoint: Dan Snyder will solve this problem the only way he knows how: by firing everyone in the ticket sales department.
The state of Tennessee changes laws on pyrotechnic displays in the wake of the September mishap before the Titans game. An independent engineer must now inspect each display.
Point: Oh, here we go. Next, big government is gonna tell us that country rock bands aren't allowed to rig a dozen bottle rockets to a propane grill for their big finale just because they might accidentally blow up a honky-tonk.
Counterpoint: Hue Jackson has volunteered to serve as the independent engineer to ensure that no one ever sees any pyrotechnics again.
Gridiron Digest Sportsbook's Thanksgiving Locks Spectacular!
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"Locks" may be too strong a word for Gridiron Digest Sportsbook's takes on a very strange slate of Turkey Day games. Maybe it's more of a "Thanksgiving Suggestions Spectacular."
(All lines as of Sunday afternoon and likely to change drastically, of course.)
Chicago Bears +1.5 at Detroit Lions
The Lions are 5-10 ATS on Thanksgiving since 2004, including last year's 23-16 loss to the Bears as three-point underdogs. So they don't derive any benefit from their peculiar Turkey Day tradition.
With uncertainty at quarterback for the Lions and unfortunate certainty for the Bears, this is a miserable matchup to try to project four days out. But if you need to place a wager while the bird is basting, here's a trend for you: The Bears are 8-1 ATS in divisional games under Matt Nagy, while the Lions are 3-6 in divisional games under Matt Patricia. It's not much, but neither is this game.
Buffalo Bills +6.5 at Dallas Cowboys
The Bills beat the Cowboys 16-6 in their last meeting, on December 27, 2015. Karlos Williams and Mike Gillislee scored the game's only touchdowns. Tyrod Taylor threw for 179 yards and an interception while rushing for 67 yards. Kellen Moore was 13-of-31 for 186 yards and an interception as the Cowboys quarterback. Moore is now the Cowboys offensive coordinator, of course, and Taylor was exiled from upstate New York years ago. It's been an eventful four years for both teams.
This early line suggests a lack of public faith in the Bills, who entered Week 12 facing the easiest past schedule in the NFL, per Football Outsiders. But the Cowboys faced the fourth-easiest past schedule before facing the Patriots on Sunday, so touchdown-favorite confidence may not be warranted. Gridiron Digest still leans Cowboys, but the trap potential is high; we'd love to tease this line down to Cowboys -3 to insulate ourselves against a 24-20 final.
New Orleans Saints -5.5 at Atlanta Falcons
Who the &$%^ scheduled the Falcons on Thanksgiving? This holiday is supposed to be about peace and togetherness, not disappointment and regret! It's also a rematch of the Falcons' stunning 26-9 upset of the Saints in the Superdome, meaning that it has the potential to befuddle wagerers whose brains are marinating in tryptophan.
There's a reason Gridiron Digest Sportsbook always throws shade on the Falcons: Heading into Sunday's game against Bucs (at -3.5), they were 17-27 ATS since losing in the Super Bowl. They're a bad play that keeps disguising itself as a shrewd one through mini hot streaks and offensive surges.
Take the Saints, and beware an over-under (48.5 at press time) that gets inflated by big-name quarterbacks and domed stadiums: The total has gone under in four of the past five Saints-Falcons games.
Lest we forget, Monday Night Action: Baltimore Ravens -2 at Los Angeles Rams
This is only the seventh official meeting between these two clubs; the Ravens lead the series 4-2, with three straight wins. The Ravens won the last meeting 16-13 on November 22, 2015, thanks in part to three Justin Tucker field goals. Remember when scoring 16 points and waiting for Tucker field goals were as good as Ravens football got? Times have changed. Thank heavens.
The Ravens have covered in four straight games after beginning the season 1-6 ATS. They failed to cover in victories over the Cardinals, Steelers and their first meeting with the Bengals. If you think the Rams defense will cause problems for Lamar Jackson: A) You must have missed the Patriots game; and B) Imagine what the Ravens defense will do to Jared Goff. Take the Ravens as two-point favorites while you can; you'll have to lay a lot more points than that against most of their future foes.
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