Sam Greene/The Enquirer / USA TODAY NETWORK The microphones definitely work this week. The Cincinnati Bengals looked like a lost football team in Week 1. Struggles on both sides of the ball led to a 16-10 loss to the New England Patriots, which feels worse than it actually was, given that the Bengals were heavy favorites coming off Joe Burrow’s first full training camp as a professional. Despite the loss, Bengals wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase remains confident in the team moving forward. Ahead of the matchup with the Kansas City Chiefs, Chase said the Bengals are “the team to beat” in the AFC. Ja’Marr Chase: We’re the team to beat in the AFC. We need to act like it, and we need to play like it. — Jay Morrison (@ByJayMorrison) September 12, 2024 After failing to score more than 10 points to start the season, the offense needs to kick things in to high gear for the Bengals to be a real threat to Kansas City or anyone in the AFC, for that matter. Lou Anarumo’s defense didn’t give up a ton of points at 16, but missed tackles and poor run defense led to the New England Patriots controlling the flow of the game from start to finish. Similar issues against a Patrick Mahomes-led team could result in far more scoring on the Bengal defense than any of us want to see. We know the Bengals are a Super Bowl contender at their ceiling. Chase still believes they can be that team, and there’s no better time to prove that than in Arrowhead Stadium against the defending world champions in the late afternoon window.
Ja’Marr Chase says Bengals are the team to beat in AFC ahead of Chiefs showdown
Week 1 Colts Defensive Rankings and Analysis: Mostly bad, partly awful
Photo by Michael Hickey/Getty Images Each week during the season, I will be walking through the data from the previous Colts game and analyzing the numbers to form a sort of “what happened” narrative, as well as comparing the Colts against all other teams in the league. For a glossary of the stats listed, reference Season Stats. Thanks to Pro Football Reference, NFL.com, Football Outsiders, and the nflFastR project for being awesome sources of weekly data. There is no simpler way to say it other than in week 1, the Houston Texans bullied the Indy defense all day. The Houston offense earned 26 first downs which ties for the most in week 1 and is a higher total than 94% of games in 2023. Their 83.9% Drive Success Rate (DSR) was the 2nd highest of the week and helped them get in scoring position on 7 of their 9 drives. The Colts yielded over 400 yards and 29 points. Thankfully, Houston mismanaged the clock at the end of the first half and took a knee to end the game, otherwise the score wouldn’t have been so close. TEAM TOTALS (Use the right-left arrows to toggle between stats for the week and the season). Mouseover for definitions: Adj PPD, Team PPG, Off PPG, Yds, P/R%, DSR, yds/srs, Strt Fld, xOPPD, yds/ply, EPA/ply, adj TSR, 1st/ply, Pen 1st/ Yds, 3DC, 3rd ytg, Expl Plys, TO, TOP% The Colts defense gave up the 2nd most yards and the 5th most points per drive. They surrendered the 3rd most EPA per play and allowed Houston to have the 5th highest play Success Rate (adj TSR) along with the 3rd highest first down conversion rate. There just aren’t any good numbers to look at. PASS TOTALS (Use the right-left arrows to toggle between stats for the week and the season). Mouseover definitions: EPA/db, PSR, Cmp, Att, Yds, TD, Int, Sk, Sk Y, 1st/db, ny/d, cmp %, aDOT, cpoe, YBC, YAC, 20+ #/Yd The passing defense wasn’t altogether terrible. With the help of 4 sacks, they held C.J. Stroud to below average yardage efficiency (18th ny/d) and kept his Success Rate in check (15th PSR). Unfortunately, the Colts gave up a couple of big pass plays that boosted Stroud’s overall EPA efficiency (+0.18 EPA/d) and lands the Colts defense at 22nd against the pass. RUSH TOTALS (Use the right-left arrows to toggle between stats for the week and the season). Mouseover definitions: adj RSR, Yds, Car, TD, 1st, Fum Lost, RSR, 1st/c, YPC, 10+ #/Yd, 3rd, 3DC, epa/c, The run defense was simply atrocious, which is unfortunate because Houston ran a lot (2nd most carries, most rushing yards by any team). Anytime you give up 5 yards per carry (29th), it’s going to be tough to be effective at limiting opponent efficiency. Houston had the 5th most rushing first downs which helped them end up with the 6th best EPA per carry and 6th best adj Rush Success Rate. They gave up too many big runs, too many first downs and just simply too many yards. CONCLUSION & LOOK AHEAD This was not the way you want to start the season. The Colts defense was pushed around most of the day and gave up far too many explosive plays. They were poor against the pass and basically had no run defense at all. For week 2, the Colts travel to Green Bay to face an offense that put up the 9th most points per drive in week 1. However, that was with Jordan Love under center and his injury will almost certainly keep him on the sidelines in week 2’s contest. Back-up Malik Willis has not looked good in previous starts, so I doubt he will press the Colts defense as much as C.J. Stroud did. That means the Packers will probably lean on their run game a bit more and they have a very good run game. Last year, Green Bay had the 9th highest rushing success rate in the league and they continued that in week 1, ranking 7th best. The Colts will probably be more aggressive against the run, daring Willis to beat them with his arm and that could turn out well for Indy. At the time of this writing Colts are favored by 2.5.
Raiders-Ravens injury report: Las Vegas getting thin at defensive end at wrong time
Tyree Wilson, Malcolm Koonce | Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images Defense will be digging deep for pass-rush help on Sunday Part of the reason why the Baltimore Ravens dropped the season opener last week is because quarterback Lamar Jackson was pressured 15 times, per Pro Football Focus. Jackson’s completion percentage went down to 44.4 percent, compared to 68.8 percent when kept clean, and he fumbled while trying to do too much under pressure. So, the Las Vegas Raiders’ pass rush will be key to pulling off the upset in Week 2. FanDuel Sportsbook has the Raiders as an 8.5-point underdog and a +385 bet on the money line to win outright. In other words, Las Vegas is a heavy underdog and injuries at defensive end are likely part of the reason. Malcolm Koonce was placed on injured reserve this week and Tyree Wilson missed his second consecutive practice on Thursday, via the team’s injury report. Wilson suffered a knee injury last week against the Los Angeles Chargers which limited him to just six snaps. Also, head coach Antonio Pierce said Wednesday that the 2023 No. 7 overall pick’s status for Sunday is “not looking good”. Granted, the Raiders still have Maxx Crosby and Christian Wilkins to put pressure on Jackson. But being without Koonce and having to dig deep into the depht chart for supplemental pass rushers certainly isn’t an ideal for a team that’s more than a touchdown underdog. That makes the Ravens the better bet even if they have to win by at least two possessions. Las Vegas did get some good news on Thursday’s injury report, though. Center Andre James and offensive tackle Kolton Miller were upgraded from limited to full participants in practice. The full report from Thursday can be seen below. Raiders Injury Report TE Brock Bowers (foot) FP LB Divine Deablo (shoulder) FP LB Tommy Eichenberg (knee) FP C Andre James (elbow) FP LT Kolton Miller (knee) FP C Jackson Powers-Johnson (illness) LP CB Decamerion Richardson (hamstring) DNP DE Tyree Wilson (knee) DNP Ravens Injury Report LB Adisa Isaac (hamstring) LP ILB Roquan Smith (shoulder) FP LB Kyle Van Noy (eye) DNP CB Nate Wiggins (neck) DNP Smith was limited on Wednesday, meaning his status got upgraded on Thursday’s practice so it seems like he’ll be playing this weekend. However, Van Noy, one of Baltimore’s best returning pass rushers, broke an orbital bone last week and expressed some frustrations with the Chiefs’ training staff in the video below. A couple of other notes about the Ravens’ report, Wiggins was not listed on Wednesday so his addition is new, and Jackson returned to the field after missing time on Monday. #Ravens LB Kyle Van Noy, who suffered a fractured orbital bone on Thursday night, opens up about his experience with the Chiefs training staff: “They took an entire quarter to get down to talk to me in the locker room, which to me, is unacceptable. … As a player, people have… pic.twitter.com/jGQudappG3 — Bobby Trosset (@bobbybaltim0re) September 10, 2024
Full highlights of the Bills’ win over the Dolphins
Full highlights of the Bills’ win over the Dolphins Full highlights of the Bills’ win over the Dolphins Nick Wojton The Buffalo Bills remained unbeaten after their Week 2 “Thursday Night Football” clash. The Bills (2-0) topped the Miami Dolphins (1-1) in their first AFC East contest of the year in a 31-10 final. Whether it was offense or defense, Buffalo held their own. Specifically, running back James Cook. Miss the action? Just want to check it out again? See the YouTube player below for the full highlights:
Bills vs. Dolphins final score, immediate reactions as Miami loses, Tua Tagovailoa injured
Photo by Megan Briggs/Getty Images The Miami Dolphins hosted the Buffalo Bills on Thursday Night Football in Week 2. We react to everything that happened. The Miami Dolphins lost to the Buffalo Bills on Thursday night in the kickoff to Week 2, but the story of the game is not the Dolphins losing their fifth-straight game to the Bills. Miami’s Pro Bowl quarterback Tua Tagovailoa sustained a concussion in the third quarter of the game. After he sustained three concussions during the 2022 season, another head injury for Miami’s quarterback is more than worrisome. Miami will try to figure out what went wrong during the game, with stupid mistakes and unfortunate luck putting the team behind the Bills and never giving them a chance to make an impact on the game. They have 10 days until the Dolphins head across the country to face the Seattle Seahawks. Besides the injury to Tagovailoa, the team also had left guard Robert Jones and left tackle Terron Armstead leave the game early due to injuries. The Dolphins have to get healthy in a hurry if they are going to rebound from another beatdown at the hands of the Bills. Final Score Bills 31 – 10 Dolphins Immediate Reactions 1. What an incredibly unlucky start to the game. The Dolphins opened with the ball, then on the fifth play of the possession, quarterback Tua Tagovailoa threw a pass targeting wide receiver Grant DuBose, but the receiver was not ready for the pass. The ball bounced off DuBose’s shoulder pads and was picked off. Six plays, 37 yards later, Bills quarterback Josh Allen found running back James Cook in the flat and he turned up field to score a touchdown. Bills 7-0. 2. Great answer by the Dolphins. They were systematic. They were even, with five passes and five runs. Running back De’Von Achane looked like the 2023 version of himself, breaking runs for five, six, or seven yards at a time. The Dolphins tied the game with a five-yard pass from Tagovailoa to Achane. Tied 7-7. 3. Another pick. That was some combination of an overthrow, a slip by wide receiver Robbie Chosen, and/or the wrong route being run. Unlucky couple of throws for Tagovailoa. Miami cannot make mistakes like this and is hoping to beat this team. Bad things seem to happen every time the Dolphins target someone at the wide receiver position other than Tyreek Hill or Jaylen Waddle. It might be time to rely on Achane and tight end Jonnu Smith as targets other than the two top receivers. The Bills score off the pick, kicking a field goal. Bills 10-7. 4. Three-and-outs are not going to cut it, either. Miami’s offense is getting in their own way right now. They are succeeding against the Bills’ defense, but then they make some mistakes and give it all back. An offensive holding penalty backed up Miami 10 yards, and they could not make up for it. Hill was probably held on an incomplete pass on third down, but Miami put themselves in a position where they had to make a big play to keep the ball. The defense seems to make a stop – driving the Bills into a 3rd-and-12 and flushing Allen – only for him to find running back Ty Johnson for 33 yards and a 1st-and-Goal. One play later the Bills scored. Bills 17-7. 5. The first half never got better. Just outplayed all over the field and the Dolphins made way too many mistakes. The half ended with the Dolphins kicking a field goal to at least put up some points, but, with the Bills getting the ball to start the second half, this could be a blowout fast. Miami struggles with the Bills and, at least in the first half, that has not changed in 2024. Bills 24-10 – halftime. 6. The defense forced a punt on the Bills’ opening drive of the half, setting up Miami with the ball and a chance to get back into the game. Five plays later, as the Dolphins saw multiple offensive lineman leave the game with injuries, Tagovailoa attempted to throw the ball away, only to have it picked off and returned for a touchdown. Another self-inflicted wound and Miami cannot keep up with Buffalo. This is just ugly. Bills 31-10. 7. Miami showed a spark on the next drive. They got the running game moving, with both Achane and rookie Jaylen Wright working out of the backfield. The game’s story changed on a 4th-and-4 from the Bills’ 13. Tagovailoa attempted to convert on a scramble, picking up six yards; he lowered his head as Bills safety Damar Hamlin came in to make the stop. Tagovailoa was concussed on the play and backup Skylar Thompson entered the game as Tagovailow was escorted back to the locker room and immediately ruled out of the game. 8. The Dolphins turned the ball over on downs at the Bills 15 yard line, with the defense then forcing a punt early in the fourth quarter, but the story of the game is clearly going to be the injury to Tagovailoa and the rest of this game is just an ugly memory. Immediate Post-Game Reactions There is not a lot left to say about this game. It was brutal from start to finish – injury-wise and the on-field performance. The Bills took it to the Dolphins, made them pay for mistakes, and Miami had no answer for anything. Obviously, everything is about Tagovailoa and his health at this point.
Ravens vs. Raiders: Rookie cornerback Nate Wiggins added to Thursday’s injury report
Nate Wiggins added to Baltimore Ravens Thursday’s injury report Ravens vs. Raiders: Rookie cornerback Nate Wiggins added to Thursday’s injury report glenn erby The Ravens released their Thursday injury report and stud rookie Nate Wiggins popped up with a neck injury that was likely suffered in Wednesday’s practice. Wiggins and Kyle Van Noy sat out practice, while Adisa Isaac took steps towards making his NFL debut against the Raiders. Roqquan Smith is dealing with a shoulder injury, but was a full participant. For the Raiders, rookie tight end Brock Bowers (foot); linebackers Divine Deablo (shoulder) and Tommy Eichenberg (knee); center Andre James (elbow); and tackle Kolton Miller (knee) were all full participants; while guard Jackson Powers-Johnson(illness) was listed as limited. Cornerback Decamerion Richardson (hamstring); and defensive end Tyree Wilson (knee) all missed practice.
Cam Taylor-Britt sends message to Xavier Worthy, saying he’s fast and ‘that’s about it’
Photo by David Eulitt/Getty Images Taylor-Britt didn’t hold back on the rookie receiver. The Cincinnati Bengals and Kansas City Chiefs hope to meet in the AFC Championship Game this season, but they got off to polar opposite starts. The Chiefs beat the Baltimore Ravens, who some think is the best current team in the AFC, while the Bengals lost at home to the Patriots, who are considered one of the worst teams in the NFL. Cincinnati will right the ship, but on the road against the back-to-back world champion Chiefs may make it a bit more difficult. Did the Chiefs need extra motivation? Maybe not, but Cam Taylor-Britt gave it to them. The cornerback spot on Chiefs rookie receiver Xavier Worthy. Per Caleb Noe, Taylor Britt said this of Worthy: “He can run straight — run jet sweeps and just run straight. He can’t do too much else, so that’s about it.” Taylor-Britt, the Bengals top cornerback, will draw Worthy much of Sunday. Worthy ended with two receptions for 47 yards and a score, along with a rushing touchdown against the Ravens in his career debut. “Speed … He can run straight.” — Bengals CB Cam Taylor-Britt, on what Xavier Worthy adds to the KC Chiefs offense#Bengals #Chiefs@WCPO pic.twitter.com/E6BDEE7ZZj — Caleb Noe (@CalebNoeTV) September 11, 2024 Go follow our Twitter page and then ‘like’ our Facebook page for more Cincinnati Bengals news, views, and some other fun stuff for our readers. Who Dey!
San Francisco 49ers at Minnesota Vikings: Thursday Injury Reports
Photo by Luke Hales/Getty Images Let’s see if there have been any changes We’re continuing to push through the week and get closer to the Minnesota Vikings’ home opener at U.S. Bank Stadium. They’ve put out their second injury reports of the week, as have the San Francisco 49ers, so let’s take a look and see if either team made any changes from yesterday’s initial reports. San Francisco 49ers Did Not Practice No players listed Limited Participation G Aaron Banks (calf/finger) DE Yetur Gross-Matos (knee, upgrade from DNP on Wednesday) S Talanoa Hufanga (knee) WR Jauan Jennings (ankle) RB Christian McCaffrey (Achilles/calf) LB Dee Winters (ankle, upgrade from DNP on Wednesday) Full Participation No players listed All of the players on the Niners’ injury report participated in a limited capacity in their practice on Thursday. The rumors continue to swirl around McCaffrey’s availability, with most making it sound like he’s not going to be available. The Niners’ offense was fine without him on Monday night but his absence would obviously change the complexion of this game significantly. Minnesota Vikings Did Not Practice WR Jordan Addison (ankle) S Harrison Smith (hip, new addition to injury list) Limited Participation C Garrett Bradbury (knee) OT Brian O’Neill (elbow, new addition to injury report) OLB Andrew Van Ginkel (foot, upgrade from DNP Wednesday) Full Participation WR Jalen Nailor (ankle) Seeing O’Neill and Smith added to the list isn’t necessarily a welcome sight, given that they both had pretty solid performances in the season opener. My guess is that the team is just letting a couple of their older players take things a little easier and giving them some rest through the week. Van Ginkel is back to practice in a limited capacity after sitting out of Wednesday’s session. Indications are that he should be good to go for Sunday’s game. Addison, on the other hand, is appearing more likely to be out for this one. Those are the second injury reports of the week, folks. Final injury reports for Week 2 will be out tomorrow afternoon and we’ll have them here for you after they drop.
Thursday Night Football preview, predictions and discussion
Photo by Perry Knotts/Getty Images This week’s NFL action begins with Buffalo against Miami on TNF. The Kansas City Chiefs will host the Cincinnati Bengals at 3:25 p.m. (Arrowhead Time) on Sunday. But Week 2 of the NFL season kicks off with a big AFC East matchup between two teams the Chiefs faced in the 2023 playoffs. The (1-0) Miami Dolphins are hosting the (1-0) Buffalo Bills on “Thursday Night Football” on Amazon Prime, WKBW (ABC/7-Buffalo) and WFOR (CBS/4-Miami). Kickoff is set for 7:15 p.m. Arrowhead Time. According to FanDuel Sportsbook, the Dolphins are favored by 2.5 points. In Week 1, the Dolphins trailed by as many as 14 points against the Jacksonville Jaguars before tying the game with less than five minutes remaining — and then winning 20-17 with a 52-yard field goal as time expired. The Bills also opened the season behind the 8-ball, trailing the Arizona Cardinals 17-3 with just over two minutes left in the first half — but then scored 21 unanswered points on the way to a 34-28 victory. It’s a division game between two 2023 playoff teams. I think the line looks about right. I’m calling for Miami to reach 2-0 with a 30-27 win. Let’s talk about the game!
Tua Tagovailoa suffers concussion in 3rd quarter as Dolphins face Bills
Photo by Carmen Mandato/Getty Images Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa was injured during the third quarter of the team’s Thursday Night Football game against the Buffalo Bills. Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa was injured during the third quarter of the team’s Week 2 contest against the Buffalo Bills. Tagovailoa was attempting to convert on a 4th-and-4 play deep in Bills territory. The run was able to gain enough yardage for the Dolphins to convert for a 1st-and-Goal, but Tagovailoa lowered his head as he ran into Bills safety Damar Hamlin and stayed down on the turf after the tackle. Tagovailoa was able to walk off the field after several minutes, but went straight to the locker room. Skyler Thompson replaced Tagovailoa as the team’s quarterback. The injury was reminiscent of a head injury Tagovailoa sustained in 2022 when his head hit the turf and his hands began to twitch in front of his face, commonly referred to as the “fencing response”. The quarterback sustained three concussions that season. The Dolphins ruled Tagovailoa out with a concussion shortly after he reached the locker room.
