NFL News Updates

Author: nfltalk

  • Agent’s Take: How Vikings are paying a price for going all in on J.J. McCarthy

    Agent’s Take: How Vikings are paying a price for going all in on J.J. McCarthy

    The Minnesota Vikings had high expectations heading into this season after coming up one win short of earning the NFC’s No. 1 playoff seed in 2024. The quarterback reins were handed over to 2024 10th overall pick J.J. McCarthy, who was lost for his rookie year after tearing the meniscus in his right knee during the preseason opener. A spending spree took place in free agency where upgrading the offensive line (offensive guard Will Fries and center Ryan Kelly) and interior of the defensive line (Jonathan Allen and Javon Hargrave) were the priorities. 

    Despite McCarthy’s lack of game experience, he only took 12 offensive snaps in the 2025 preseason. By contrast 2024’s 12th overall pick, Bo Nix, who was on the field for 98.73% of the Denver Broncos’ offensive plays in 2024, was under center for 40 preseason snaps.

    The 2025 season has been disappointing for a variety of reasons. A big issue is the drop-off at quarterback from Sam Darnold, who earned Pro Bowl honors last season. Outside of producing three fourth-quarter touchdowns during a 27-24 comeback win over the Chicago Bears in the regular-season opener, McCarthy struggled in the two games he played before suffering a high right ankle sprain. In the other seven quarters McCarthy has played this season, he has completed 55% of his passes for 214 yards while committing four turnovers and taking nine sacks.

    Carson Wentz, who was signed late in the preseason to back up McCarthy after Sam Howell was traded to the Philadelphia Eagles, was inconsistent while going 2-3 in five starts. McCarthy is set to return to the lineup for Week 9’s game versus the Detroit Lions with Wentz going on injured reserve because of a season-ending injury to his left (non-throwing) shoulder. McCarthy has been the emergency quarterback for Minnesota’s last two games. In order to be the emergency quarterback, McCarthy had to be medically cleared to play. This prompted…

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  • College football rankings: Kentucky debuts in bottom 25 after another loss

    College football rankings: Kentucky debuts in bottom 25 after another loss

    Entering the final month of the regular season, 11 of 67 Power Four teams are still searching for their first conference victory. Assessing the remaining schedules of those struggling squads, it appears likely that we’ll top last year’s tally of three P4 teams that finished winless in league action.

    A year ago, those three teams were Purdue, Mississippi State and Oklahoma State. Those three are once again winless in league action as calendar is about to flip to November. For now, they have plenty of company.

    If Penn State and Michigan State are still among the Big Ten’s crop of four winless teams in league play come Nov. 15, something will have to give since they play each other that day. But outside of those two, none of the other nine Power Four teams still in search of a league victory play one of their winless brethren.

    The situation looks particularly bleak for Purdue and Wisconsin. The Boilermakers play ranked opponents in three of their final four games, and the other contest is on the road against a 6-2 Washington team. Wisconsin plays four teams with records of 5-3 or better down the stretch.

    This year’s Bottom 25 formula has been tweaked to ensure fair representation from across the sport. Each of the Power Four leagues gets an automatic bid to the Bottom 25 each week, and a total of 10 Power Four schools must be represented.

    Bottom 25 Rankings

    ^ Joined Bottom 25 this week

    Bluegrass blues

    On the heels of a 4-8 season, Kentucky will exit October without a victory against a Power Four opponent. Fire Mark Stoops, right? Well, it’s not that simple. As the Lexington Herald-Leader reported, Stoops would be owed nearly $38 million within 60 days if he’s fired. That’s different than many coach buyouts, which can be spread out over the…

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  • Patriots trade S Kyle Dugger to Steelers

    Patriots trade S Kyle Dugger to Steelers

    The Patriots made a second trade of the day, sending safety Kyle Dugger and a seventh-round pick to the Steelers in exchange for a sixth-round choice, according to multiple reports.

    Earlier Tuesday, the Patriots sent defensive lineman Keion White and a seventh-round pick to the 49ers for a sixth-round pick.

    The Steelers traded safety Minkah Fitzpatrick in the offseason, leaving a hole in their secondary. They lead the NFL in passing yards allowed at 273.3 per game.

    The Patriots made Dugger a second-round pick in 2020, and he appeared in 81 games with 69 starts. The team signed him to a four-year, $58 million contract extension in the 2024 offseason. His $9.75 million salary is guaranteed for this season.

    Dugger played last season on a high-ankle sprain that went misdiagnosed for almost three months and required tightrope surgery on his right ankle in January.

    The Patriots attempted to trade him before the season but couldn’t find a satisfactory deal. Dugger played seven games with four starts this season, totaling 17 tackles.

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  • Arizona coach Brent Brennan comments before Colorado football matchup

    Arizona coach Brent Brennan comments before Colorado football matchup

    The Colorado Buffaloes return home this week after a blowout loss Saturday to Utah in Salt Lake City. Their Week 10 opponent is Arizona, which comes in off a bye week and will look to get back in the win column after dropping two close games to BYU and Houston.

    Arizona head coach Brent Brennan shared his thoughts on Colorado and what he expects for Saturday evening’s game against the Buffaloes in Boulder.

    “When I look at Colorado, I think they are a team that is incredibly tough at home. We know going into this that we’re going to have to play in an incredible atmosphere. It’s homecoming, it’s sold out,” Brennan said. “It’s going to be a really challenging atmosphere. Crowd noise, elevation, all that good stuff.”

    Brennan said the Big 12 this season has been unpredictable and competitive across the board.

    “I think any given Saturday in the Big 12 is a challenge. Any given Saturday in college football,” Brennan stated. “I think every team in this conference is really good and every time you line up, you got to be ready to play… Every game in this conference is a fricking battle, and we’ve lived that already.”

    Despite Colorado’s 53-7 loss to Utah last weekend, Brennan believes the Buffaloes and any Big 12 team are capable of beating anyone on any given day. His comments reflect the growing parity in the conference and the narrowing of the talent gap between programs.

    Kickoff for Arizona vs. Colorado is set for 5 p.m. MT. The game will broadcast on FS1, with Arizona listed as a 4.5-point favorite as of Tuesday, Oct. 28.

    Contact/Follow us @BuffaloesWire on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook for ongoing coverage of Colorado news, notes and opinions

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  • Dolphins vs. Ravens odds, picks, ‘Thursday Night Football’ prediction, best bets from proven model

    Dolphins vs. Ravens odds, picks, ‘Thursday Night Football’ prediction, best bets from proven model

    AFC squads coming off much-needed victories will kick off NFL Week 9 when the Miami Dolphins host the Baltimore Ravens on ‘Thursday Night Football.’ Baltimore (2-5) ended a four-game skid with a 30-16 win over Chicago on Sunday, while Miami (2-6) had lost three in a row before beating Atlanta, 34-10, in Week 8. Both teams currently sit in third place in their respective divisions, and the Ravens are 9-3 versus the Dolphins over their last 12 meetings. Lamar Jackson (hamstring) is expected to play after being sidelined since Week 4. 

    Kickoff is at 8:15 p.m. ET from Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Fla. Baltimore prevailed, 56-19, when the teams last met in 2023. The latest Dolphins vs. Ravens odds have Baltimore as 7.5-point road favorites. The over/under for total points is 50. Before making any Ravens vs. Dolphins picks, be sure to see what the SportsLine projection model has to say. 

    New users can also target the DraftKings promo code, which offers $300 in bonus bets if your $5 wager wins + 3 months of NBA League Pass:

    The model, which simulates every NFL game 10,000 times, is up well over $7,000 for $100 players on top-rated NFL picks since its inception. The model is on a sizzling 43-28 run on top-rated picks dating back to 2024. Anybody following its NFL betting picks at sportsbooks and on betting sites could have seen strong returns.

    New users can also target the latest Underdog promo code, good for $100 in site credits when you play $5 with the promo code CBSSPORTS2 in select states.

    Now, the model has zeroed in on Miami vs. Baltimore. You can head to SportsLine now to see its picks. Here are several NFL odds and betting lines for Ravens vs. Dolphins:

    Dolphins vs. Ravens spread

    Baltimore -7.5 at DraftKings Sportsbook

    Dolphins vs. Ravens over/under

    50 points

    Dolphins vs. Ravens money line 

    Baltimore -412, Miami +316

    Dolphins vs. Ravens picks

    See picks at…

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  • Brian Kelly fired: Why he never fit at LSU and what led to his downfall

    Brian Kelly fired: Why he never fit at LSU and what led to his downfall

    When Brian Kelly arrived Sunday morning, intent on making staff changes to try to fix an LSU season quickly going off the rails, he could not get into LSU’s football facility. 

    His thumbprint to get into the LSU Football Operations Center didn’t work, sources told CBS Sports. It took a couple minutes and some help before Kelly finally got in and was able to get up to his office, where the trouble continued. 

    When it was shared Sunday morning, the fingerprint snafu felt like a funny anecdote just hours after a disastrous 64th birthday for Kelly, whose LSU Tigers had been crushed at home, 49-25, by No. 3 Texas A&M. It was reminiscent of the famous clip of former LSU Tiger Jamal Adams being unable to get into the New York Jets’ football building and immediately thinking he might have gotten cut. But for all its humor, that moment did capture something real about Kelly’s LSU tenure: From the day he arrived, he never seemed to fully belong. 

    By Sunday night, Kelly again needed help getting buzzed into the football facility. This time there was intent behind it. He had already been informed of his firing after four seasons as LSU’s head coach. 

    A hire once celebrated as a home run for LSU AD Scott Woodward now ends in the second-largest buyout in college football history ($53.8 million), though negotiations are ongoing to lower that total number. 

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    Why didn’t it work for Kelly at LSU?

    You’ll hear the word fit — or lack thereof — thrown around a lot in hindsight of LSU’s decision to fire Kelly. From the early weird pronunciation of “family” mishap to calling out LSU fans for being spoiled, Kelly never seemed to understand how to authentically connect with the LSU fanbase. It always felt like a politician trying too hard to be…

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  • Four running backs topped 100 yards and 10 yards per carry Sunday

    Four running backs topped 100 yards and 10 yards per carry Sunday

    Sunday was a very big day for big-play running backs in the NFL.

    Four different running backs ran for more than 100 yards and averaged more than 10 yards per carry on Sunday: Bills running back James Cook had 19 carries for 216 yards, Colts running back Jonathan Taylor had 12 carries for 153 yards, Eagles running back Saquon Barkley had 14 carries for 150 yards and Eagles running back Tank Bigsby had nine carries for 104 yards.

    On a day of blowouts across the NFL, it’s no surprise that those running backs led their teams to big wins: Cook and the Bills won 40-9, Taylor and the Colts won 38-14 and Barkley and Bigsby led the Eagles to a 38-20 win.

    It was the first time four different running backs topped 100 yards and 10 yards per carry on the same day since 1991.

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  • Texas A&M will face Missouri freshman QB Matt Zollers in Week 11

    Texas A&M will face Missouri freshman QB Matt Zollers in Week 11

    An update on Missouri QB Beau Pribula, who suffered an ankle injury yesterday:

    Further testing revealed a bad sprain and ligament damage, but no surgery necessary and there’s maybe even an outside chance he could return during the regular season, sources tell @CBSSports. pic.twitter.com/YiaqMvHKwk

    — Matt Zenitz (@mzenitz) October 26, 2025

    No. 3 Texas A&M (8-0, 5-0 SEC) continued to look like one of the best teams in the country after dismantling LSU (5-3, 2-3 SEC) 49-25 in Death Valley, which serves as the Aggies’ first win in Baton Rouge since 1994. By all accounts, this win further proves that Texas A&M isn’t just a College Football Playoff contender, but a team worthy of National Championship discussion.

    After trailing 18-14 going into halftime, head coach Mike Elko’s now-legendary second-half adjustments took hold, leading to a 35-7 run, as starting quarterback Marcel Reed, despite his two first-half interceptions, threw for two and ran for two touchdowns, while leading the Aggies in rushing with 108 yards, which has continued to frustrate defenses.

    On defense, Texas A&M’s defensive line, which has produced 18 sacks in the last four SEC games, continued to wreak havoc in the backfield with 20 pressures, seven sacks, and eleven tackles for loss, which was the key to keeping LSU behind the sticks throughout the night. Entering the bye week, the Aggies will now rest up before heading to Columbia to face the Missouri Tigers in Week 11.

    However, during Missouri’s 17-10 home loss to Vanderbilt, Tigers starting quarterback Beau Pribula was carted off with an injury. According to 247Sports reporter Matt Zenitz, the senior signal caller did not sustain ligament damage, but is dealing with a “bad sprain” that will keep him sidelined for the time being, with an “outside chance” to return by the end of the season.

    This means…

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