/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/73559942/1968464418.0.jpg?w=1200&resize=1200,0&ssl=1 "Chiefs open season with rematch of AFC Championship against Ravens")
Chiefs open season with rematch of AFC Championship against Ravens Contributors: Arrowhead Pride Staff The 2024 NFL season begins on Thursday night with the world champion Kansas City Chiefs hosting the Baltimore Ravens on GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium. The two teams last met in 2023’s AFC championship at Baltimore’s M&T Bank stadium last January, when the Ravens — the conference’s top seed — were 4-point favorites over the Chiefs, who had entered the postseason as the third seed. Kansas City shocked Baltimore by holding it to 10 points for the third time that season. Like both previous games, it ended as a 17-10 Ravens loss. The Chiefs moved on to Super Bowl LVIII, defeating the San Francisco 49ers 25-22 in overtime to become the first team with back-to-back NFL championships in nearly two decades. On Thursday night, the Chiefs are beginning a campaign that they hope will end with a first-ever Super Bowl three-peat — and the Ravens will be well-motivated to spoil the party.
Chiefs open season with rematch of AFC Championship against Ravens
Browns announce throwback uniform dates
Photo by Cooper Neill/Getty Images Cleveland will sport their alternate uniform combo against the Raiders, Broncos and Chiefs this season. One of the pleasures of game days for the Cleveland Browns at the old Municipal Stadium was the first glimpse of the orange helmets emerging from the baseball dugout. It did not matter which decade or which uniform combo the team was wearing – the brown jersey and orange pants of Brian Sipe’s teams in the 1970s, or the all-white that was favored by the club in the late 1980s with Bernie Kosar leading the way – those helmets signaled that it was about to go down and the opposing team better be ready. Much of that mystique is lost nowadays with the over-produced intros, but one constant is that the Browns are still sporting one of the league’s iconic uniforms. That extends to their throwback uniform set, which debuted in 2021 as part of their 75th Anniversary season. A white helmet was added in 2023 to create a look that hits all the right notes, rather than being the type of garish display that other teams are fond of rolling out. MARK YOUR CALENDARS the all-white unis are back in action three times this season @DUDEwipes x #DawgPound pic.twitter.com/Pt3PC7spec — Cleveland Browns (@Browns) September 2, 2024 On Monday, the Browns announced they will wear the throwback kit and helmet three times this fall as part of their “White Out Series.” (Sorry for the unavoidable marketing jargon.) The first game will be in Week 4 when the Browns take on the Las Vegas Raiders at Allegiant Stadium in the first of a three-game road trip. The throwbacks will return to the closet until December when the Browns will once again wear them on the road in Week 13 for a Monday night meeting with the Denver Broncos at Empower Field at Mile High. Not wanting to leave the hometown fans out of the fun, the Browns will bring the throwbacks out for the third and final time in the regular season when they host the Kansas City Chiefs in Week 15. The dates for the throwback uniforms are the latest uniform-related news from the Browns as they previously announced a return to white facemasks on their standard orange helmets.
Should it be concerning for Rams to make late position switch on offensive line?
Photo by Ric Tapia/Getty Images At the last minute, the Rams switched Steve Avila back to left guard. Should we be concerned? One of the biggest storylines of the 2024 offseason for the Los Angeles Rams was that Steve Avila was moving from left guard to center. The Rams signed Jonah Jackson in free agency to play left guard, giving Avila that freedom to move back to his more natural position that he played at TCU. Of course, there was going to be an adjustment period and a learning curve. That comes with every position in the NFL. However, that’s even more so the case at center in the Rams offense. While the quarterback is still in charge of some of the protection calls, much of that falls on the center due to the quarterback also needing to dictate motion pre-snap. In an ideal world in the McVay offense, the quarterback is able to handle all of the motion calls while the center handles protection. Just as the clock was about to strike midnight before Week 1, the Rams made the surprising decision to move Avila back to guard and announced that it would be Jackson playing center. The odd part about this move isn’t just that the Rams are doing this less than two weeks before the start of the season, that they are moving Avila back to left guard, or that they are moving Jackson to center after signing him to play guard. It’s a combination of all three that make the entire situation strange. The big question is of course, why now? Part of the issue here is that the Rams have been playing musical chairs along the offensive line for a majority of the offseason. Jonah Jackson has hardly practiced all summer, Alaric Jackson missed time due to injury as well as Rob Havenstein on the right side. Even if the Rams had wanted to experiment with Jackson at center, they wouldn’t have been able to until last week when Jackson returned to practice. Still, it does seem strange after paying Jackson as one of the highest paid guards in the NFL. At an average of $17M per year, Jackson would be the second-highest paid center behind only Creed Humphrey. In fact, there is a $3.5M gap between Jackson and Frank Ragnow in third. Meanwhile, Jackson was signed as the third-highest paid left guard. That makes Jackson the second-highest paid center despite not playing more than 100 snaps at the position since 2017 when he was at Rutgers. This isn’t to say that Jackson can’t play center, only that the timing of it is weird. Jackson’s PFF Grade in 2017 at Rutgers was a 67.8 which would have put him at 50th among centers. Coming out of the draft, Bleacher Report’s Matt Miller noted Jackson as, “a versatile prospect who could play any of the interior positions as needed.” NFL.com’s Lance Zierlein had Jackson as a guard/center prospect. While the Rams seemed open to the idea of moving Avila back to left guard, earlier in August it sounded as if they wanted to do what they could to keep him at center. Said McVay, “However long Jonah (Jackson) is out, if we deem that whoever can plug in that center gives us a better opportunity for him to play at guard, then that’s what we’ll do. We’ll find the best five. It’s really important…I think we want to be able to pick and choose, but we want to keep (Steve Avila) at center. If we have to move him to guard, that’s not something we’re afraid to do either.” The Athletic’s Jourdan Rodrigue added, “It’s clear the Rams will NOT move Steve Avila from center unless there’s an emergency.” If that’s the case, what constitutes as an emergency? Things can of course change as the NFL landscape is always changing. Again, it is worth nothing that the Rams have had to navigate injuries along the offensive line all offseason. That doesn’t mention Alaric Jackson’s suspension that will put him out for the first two weeks. It’s possible that the Rams feel more comfortable with Avila playing next to Noteboom than Jackson. This could also be a case of the Rams only having to change one player on the offensive line as opposed to two if Jackson does go down in the first two weeks. With Noteboom at left tackle, the Rams are thin at guard depth whereas Beaux Limmer could step in at center. Still, it seems odd to put a player in a position that they haven’t played regularly since 2017. Where this does become interesting is if the switch is permanent. There is a legitimate reason to put Jackson at center now. With the lack of guard depth in combination with the emergence of Limmer, it makes sense to put Jackson at center so that only one change needs to be made on the offensive line if he suffers an injury. For example, if Jackson were to go down, the Rams would slot Limmer in at center rather than having to move Avila to left guard in addition to Limmer at center. However, when Alaric Jackson returns, Noteboom would be able to provide depth at left guard. If the concern is still that Jackson could get injured due to his history, that seems like something that should have been known prior to signing him to a top-3 contract in free agency. The Rams have made this type of l ate move before. Back in 2021, the Rams trained Austin Corbett at center all offseason only for Brian Allen to be named the starting center right before the season. Allen ended up playing at a high level and the late move paid off. However, even that move was made in early August. The decision to move Jackson to center comes with a little over a week before Week 1. With the move coming this late in the process, it is also worth wondering how
Trenton Simpson says it’s ‘awesome’ to be teammates with Nate Wiggins again
Trenton Simpson says it’s ‘awesome’ to be teammates with Nate Wiggins again Kevin Oestreicher The Baltimore Ravens drafted Nate Wiggins in the first round of the 2024 NFL draft. He is expected to play a big role as a young member of Baltimore’s defense, but he isn’t the only former Clemson star to have that role with the Ravens this year. Wiggins’ college teammate Trenton Simpson was selected in the third round of 2023, which means the two are re-united in Baltimore. Simpson was asked about playing with Wiggins again, to which he said it’s been “awesome” to have Wiggins on his team once more. “It’s been awesome. Just us being at Clemson and growing together, winning some games together, [and] being on the ACC championship team with [Nate Wiggins] was awesome. But [I’m] just seeing him come in every day, competing. I mean, he’s young, just like I was last year, so him asking ‘Marlo’ [Marlon Humphrey] questions, ‘B. Steve’ [Brandon Stephens] questions, it’s awesome, because the vets we have in this organization are taking all the guys under, and I feel like that’s good to help improve a lot of guys’ careers.” Simpson had plenty of good things to say about Wiggins, a player that the Ravens will need to play well in order to continue being a top defense in the NFL this season. Both Clemson alumni hopefully have big things ahead, and have the tools to have long and successful careers.
The Two NFL Running Backs With ‘Hardest’ Fantasy Schedules In 2024
As we get closer and closer to the start of NFL training camp, we’re also approaching the start of many fantasy football drafts. For one of the key positions, running back, there are two players that could be in for a rough time. On Wednesday, Pro Football Focus (PFF) released a ranking of the two … SANTA CLARA, CALIFORNIA – JANUARY 22: Ezekiel Elliott #21 of the Dallas Cowboys looks on prior to an NFL divisional round playoff football game between the San Francisco 49ers and the Dallas Cowboys at Levi’s Stadium on January 22, 2023 in Santa Clara, California. (Photo by Michael Owens/Getty Images) Michael Owens/Getty Images As we get closer and closer to the start of NFL training camp, we’re also approaching the start of many fantasy football drafts. For one of the key positions, running back, there are two players that could be in for a rough time. On Wednesday, Pro Football Focus (PFF) released a ranking of the two players at every position who have the toughest schedules according to their metrics. In the case of the running back position the two starters who look primed for a rough season are Ezekiel Elliott of the Dallas Cowboys and Bijan Robinson of the Atlanta Falcons. For Elliott, PFF rated his matchups 0.0/10 due to the brutal slew of run defenses that the Cowboys face this season. “The Dallas Cowboys didn’t make much of an investment in the run game this offseason, missing out on Texas prospect Jonathon Brooks in the draft and eventually re-signing veteran Ezekiel Elliott with not much else in the way of competition outside of Rico Dowdle,” PFF wrote. “Elliott heads into his age-29 season coming off a campaign where he posted career lows with 3.5 yards per attempt, 69.2 rushing grade, 2.54 yards after contact per attempt and a 2.6 breakaway yard percentage. Pair his waning performance with shakeups on the offensive line and the absolutely brutal schedule ahead, and Elliott suddenly looks like one of the biggest red flags on the draft board, even if he could be in line for significant volume on one of the league’s most productive offenses.” As for Bijan, who received a matchup rating of 0.6/10, the Falcons’ schedule and changes to the passing game are believed to be a big reason that he may not do as well as he did as a rookie. Does this information make you any less likely to take the two in fantasy football? Related: Dak Prescott Doesn’t Hold Back On Cowboys Signing Ezekiel Elliott
2024 Bengals captains announced
Photo by Jeff Dean/Getty Images Joe Burrow is 5/5 on being a Bengals captain. The Cincinnati Bengals have announced their 2024 captains. On offense, quarterback Joe Burrow, offensive tackle Orlando Brown Jr., and center Ted Karras received the nod. On defense, safety Vonn Bell, linebacker Germaine Pratt, and defensive end Sam Hubbard got the nod. And on special teams, kicker Evan McPherson and backup linebacker Akeem Davis-Gaither are getting the captain patch. Burrow is a captain for a fifth straight year, while Hubbard got the honor for a fourth time. This is Bell’s fourth time as a captain with the Bengals, the last three coming during his first stint in Cincinnati (2020-22). Karras is also a three-time captain for the Bengals. Brown, Davis-Gaither, Pratt, and McPherson are first-time captains. The Generals : https://t.co/UAjTUaOL27 pic.twitter.com/wDmjOuWtqM — Cincinnati Bengals (@Bengals) September 2, 2024 Follow our Twitter page and go like our Facebook page for more Cincinnati Bengals news, views, and more fun stuff. Check out our podcasts here on CJ, the Bleav in Cincy podcast feed, Spotify, Amazon, our YouTube channel, and iTunes! And Who DEY!
Colts HC Shane Steichen on injured WR Josh Downs: He’s ‘progressing well,’ but no further update
Filed under: Colts HC Shane Steichen on injured WR Josh Downs: He’s ‘progressing well,’ but no further update The Colts are still hoping to get Josh Downs back for the regular season opener this week, but they’ll be cutting it close—with no clear date yet for his expected return. By Luke Schultheis Sep 2, 2024, 5:36pm EDT
Raiders open as 3-point underdogs in Week 1 vs. the Los Angeles Chargers
Photo by Katelyn Mulcahy/Getty Images Raiders open up as 3-point underdogs in their first game of the 2024 season The Las Vegas Raiders and their fanbase are ready for Week 1. The preseason is over and it is time for the real games that count. Las Vegas head coach Antonio Pierce made his case for the job in 2024. His leadership and personality are connected with the players, and he had the defense playing at a high level. It helped the Raiders win games and have a chance at the playoffs late in the season. Now he has a chance to put his imprint on Raiders history with the full-time job. His first test is the Los Angeles Chargers with new head coach Jim Harbaugh on the road. Fan Duel Sportsbook posted odds for all the Week 1 action, with the Raiders opening as 3-point underdogs on the road against the Los Angeles Chargers next Sunday with an O/U of 40.5 With every team playing in Week 1. According to FanDuel, the biggest favorites for the upcoming games are the Cincinnati Bengals, who are 9.5-point favorites over the New England Patriots. Check out the opening odds below: Raiders vs. Chargers Moneyline: Raiders+146 , Colts -174 Opening point spread: -3 Opening point total: 40
Khalil Shakir names his top-three receivers in the NFL
Who are your top three? Khalil Shakir names his top-three receivers in the NFL Nick Wojton Khalil Shakir was tasked with answering who he believe are the best wide receivers currently in the NFL. Appearing on the “Centered in Buffalo” podcast with Eric Wood earlier this offseason, Shakir was not allowed to select any of his teammates. That’s how the likes of Keenan Allen, Ja’Marr Chase and CeeDee Lamb came into the fold. How did he rank those three? Shakir’s breakdown can be found in the clip below: Read all the best Bills coverage at the Democrat and Chronicle and Bills Wire.
Vikings’ NFC North Rival Oppo Research: Chicago Bears
Photo by Perry Knotts/Getty Images I conclude my series on the Minnesota Vikings division rivals with a closer look at the Chicago Bears. Recap of the Bears’ 2023 Season If running the ball well and stopping the run were what mattered the most in the NFL, the Bears would’ve been a good team last year. They ran it the second-most offensively, with the sixth-best yards per attempt, and allowed the fewest rushing yards and 5th lowest yards per carry defensively. But the NFL is a passing league and the Bears struggled offensively and defensively when the ball was in the air. They were near the bottom of the league in passing yards and passing yards allowed, and in yards per attempt and yards per attempt allowed. The one positive is they led the league in interceptions with 22 on the season. Overall, the Bears ranked 18th in points and 20th in yards offensively, and 20th in points allowed and 12th in yards allowed defensively. They also ranked 31st in the red zone defensively, which explains the differential between points and yards allowed. They also ranked 29th in 3rd down conversions allowed but were 5th in takeaways. In DVOA terms, the Bears finished 22nd in total DVOA at -7.1%. Offensively, they ranked 22nd at -6.5% and 17th defensively at +0.8%. Those stats suggest a slightly below average team overall and that was reflected in their 7-10 season record. In terms of luck factors, the Bears were moderately unlucky, with a -54.6% net win probability added. They also ranked 9th in adjusted games lost due to injury, which is relatively fortunate in that regard, with just 50.5 AGLs last season. As a baseline for the 2024 season, the Bears offensive in 2023 can be thrown out given the changes in personnel and coaching, but defensively 2023 remains a good baseline for the 2024 season. Coaching Changes The Bears moved on from Luke Getsy as offensive coordinator, replacing him with Shane Waldron. He was previously offensive coordinator for the Seahawks for three seasons and before that passing game coordinator for the Rams under Sean McVay. As such, Waldron runs a new-school West Coast offense with plenty of pre-snap motion and some newer concepts. But expect the Bears to be as pass-heavy as they’ve ever been, given the personnel changes since last season. The Bears also changed defensive coordinators, replacing Alan Williams with Eric Washington. He was previously defensive line coach for the Bills for several years and spent many years as the Panthers defensive line coach before being promoted to defensive coordinator for his last two seasons in Carolina. I wouldn’t expect much change defensively for the Bears, however, as head coach Matt Eberflus is the de facto defensive coordinator and will continue to call the defensive plays this season. Player Moves The Bears completely transformed their offense over the off-season, moving on from Justin Fields and selecting Caleb Williams with the first pick in the draft, while also adding Keenan Allen and first-round draft pick Rome Odunze to D.J. Moore to create a formidable passing attack. The Bears also signed running back D’Andre Swift, who’ll be their new lead back. Defensively, the Bears added safety Kevin Byard while extending top cornerback Jaylon Johnson in a big money deal. Injuries The Bears do not have any injured starters at the moment. Schedule The Bears have the easiest schedule in the division this season, drawing the Panthers, Commanders and Patriots based on division rank last season. A week seven bye isn’t too bad either. The toughest part of their schedule begins Week 11, with five division games in six weeks, along with the 49ers, and a three-game road stretch. Their first real test will be the Texans in Week 2. But overall the Bears have an easier schedule than the rest of the NFC North, which should help them. Week 1: Tennessee Titans Week 2: @ Houston Texans (Sunday night) Week 3: @ Indianapolis Colts Week 4: LA Rams Week 5: Carolina Panthers Week 6: Jacksonville Jaguars (London) Week 7: BYE Week 8: @ Washington Commanders Week 9: @ Arizona Cardinals Week 10: New England Patriots Week 11: Green Bay Packers Week 12: Minnesota Vikings Week 13: @ Detroit Lions (Thanksgiving) Week 14: @ San Francisco 49ers Week 15: @ Minnesota Vikings (Monday night) Week 16: Detroit Lions Week 17: Seattle Seahawks (Thursday night) Week 18: @ Green Bay Packers Forecast for 2024 There is a wide range of outcomes this season for the Bears, given both a rookie quarterback with a less-than-ideal offensive line and a defense still missing some pieces. But Caleb Williams’ high-end potential is undeniable and he has as good a wide receiver trio as any quarterback could hope for. Williams is often compared to Patrick Mahomes for his off-script playmaking ability, but I believe Kyler Murray is the more apt comparison. Williams is a big-play hunter with the rare ability to make them happen, but also the fault for making them for the other team too. Williams’ turnovers in college are hardly mentioned, and yet often they accompany quarterbacks into the NFL. He didn’t have as many turnover-worthy plays per game as Sam Darnold (who also played at USC), including both turnover-worthy passes and fumbles, but he was up there. Kyler Murray, who has a similar style of play, also has had a lot of turnovers in Arizona. Williams also took a lot of sacks while at USC. We’ll see if he’s able to overcome those downsides, but there is definitely an explosiveness to his play style that can and probably will lead to a lot of big plays, particularly given three top receivers to throw to. But the other downside offensively for the Bears is their offensive line. Apart from left guard Teven Jenkins, who is good not great, the Bears have average to mediocre starters across their offensive line. Opposing defenses will try to exploit this and pressure the rookie quarterback, rather than play coverage with
