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At long last, the NFL has a shutout in 2024. On Monday night, the Green Bay Packers blanked the New Orleans Saints, 34-0, en route to a victory to wrap up Week 16. On top of this win, during which Green Bay improved to 11-4 and clinched a playoff spot, it proved to be the first shutout of the entire NFL season. 

There has never been a season in league history with zero shutouts, and this proved to be the latest the first shutout has ever occurred. Those previous initial shutouts happened no later than Week 8, so waiting until Week 16 to see one in 2024 was quite the leap. The fewest shutouts in a single season is two, which has been done five times (most recently in 2015). 

As you might expect in a shutout, it was totally one-sided and quite the effort from the Packers, led by defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley. Every which way, Green Bay made stops. It forced punts on the opening two drives and then recorded a fumble on New Orleans’ third possession on the night. 

That was arguably the best opportunity for the Saints to get points on the board as they moved the ball to the Green Bay 29-yard line. However, that was when cornerback Keisean Nixon came blitzing off the edge and strip-sacked Spencer Rattler, with defensive end Rashan Gary scooping up the turnover. 

It was more of the same in the second half, which included an interception from safety Zayne Anderson. Green Bay held the Saints to just four third-down conversions on 11 attempts, and New Orleans turned the ball over on downs on both of its fourth-down tries as well. Interim head coach Darren Rizzi’s team was also held to just 3.7 yards per play.  

On top of this being the first shutout of the season, it’s also tied for the second-largest shutout win…

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Hoyer and Johnson: Patriots players defending Mayo speaks volumes originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston

The more the New England Patriots lose, the more media members and fans wonder whether Jerod Mayo will remain keep his job past the 2024 season.

But as speculation heats up about Mayo’s job security, Patriots players have delivered a consistent message about their head coach.

Rookie quarterback Drake Maye delivered the loudest message after Sunday’s 24-21 loss to the Buffalo Bills, calling reports that Mayo’s job may not be safe after this season “some B.S.” and giving a strong vote of confidence for both Mayo and offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt.

Former Patriots quarterback Brian Hoyer was particularly impressed with Maye’s ability to take accountability for his own play while supporting his coaches.

“The New England Patriots organization is lucky to have a young man who is as talented as he is,” Hoyer said on NBC Sports Boston’s Patriots Postgame Live. “He goes up there and takes the ownership and puts his own reputation on the line for the coach that everybody is trying to get out of here.”

Mayo and Van Pelt also received a vote of confidence from tight end Hunter Henry, who said he “loves” playing for the head coach and OC. And from Hoyer’s perspective, the number of veterans who have publicly praised their coaches this season carry much more weight than any criticism in the media.

“You’ve got Davon Godchaux, Christian Barmore, Jabrill Peppers, Michael Onwenu — guys that I’ve been in the locker room with that I have a lot of respect for — they’re saying it’s not the coaches,” Hoyer said. “(They) feel like, ‘Whatever (the coaches) call and we execute it and we’re on the same page, we will do it.’

“So, I think you have to listen. We can sit here and speculate all we want. But listen to the players who know. … Listen to these guys who are veteran players who’ve been coached by Bill Belichick, been in the playoffs, all of those things. Listen to what they…

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It’s been a disappointing year for the Cincinnati Bengals. At 7-8, it kind of feels like their season is over, but it’s NOT, and that’s because they could still make the playoffs. 

Thanks to their 24-6 win over the Browns in Week 16, the Bengals are still alive for a playoff spot. As Lloyd Christmas would say, “So you’re telling me there’s a chance!”

Sure, the Bengals need a Christmas miracle to make the postseason, but it can happen if a few things go their way over the final three weeks of the season. 

With that in mind, let’s check out what has to happen for Cincinnati to make the playoffs. 

1. Bengals have to win out

The Bengals have no margin for error, which means they have to go 2-0 over the final two weeks of the season, and here’s who they’ll be playing: 

Week 17: vs. Broncos
Week 18: at Steelers

The win over the Browns has now set up a showdown with the Broncos in Week 17. The advantage for the Bengals in that game is that it’s at home. As for Week 18, the Bengals will have to beat the Steelers on the road if they want to have any chance of making the playoffs. 

2. Broncos have to lose out

If Denver gets to 10 wins, the Bengals won’t be able to make the playoffs, so Cincinnati will need the Broncos to lose their final two games. The Bengals did get some help from the Chargers, who beat the Broncos 34-27 on Thursday night. 

Let’s take a look at Denver’s schedule: 

Week 17: at Bengals
Week 18: vs. Chiefs

If the Broncos lose to the Bengals in Week 17, that will make things incredibly interesting. That being said, if the Chiefs clinch the top seed in the AFC before Week 18, then they’ll almost certainly be benching their starters for their finale against Denver. However, with Patrick Mahomes banged up, it’s certainly possible that Kansas City could lose on Christmas to the Steelers, and if that happens, the Chiefs would probably have to play their starters in Week…

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The Baltimore Ravens crossed a major hurdle this weekend as far as their hopes for competing for a Super Bowl are concerned.

They’ve struggled against the Pittsburgh Steelers for much of the last few years, but the Ravens beat the Steelers 34-17 on Saturday and now are tied with them for first place in the AFC North at 10-5 with two games left in the regular season. After a rough stretch in the middle of the season, the Ravens have begun to turn a corner and are starting to resemble the championship-caliber team that everyone expects them to be.

Baltimore’s defense had one of its best games of the season against the Steelers (who were missing their best wide receiver in George Pickens). They held them to 1.7 points per drive and had three sacks and five tackles for loss, and also returned an interception for a touchdown that sealed the game at the end. This defense has come a long way from the early portion of the season where they were allowing explosive plays routinely and getting gashed through the air. They held the Pittsburgh passing game to -0.27 expected points per dropback and did a good job of surviving the few explosive plays that Russell Wilson was able to create.

The defense dominated the Steelers in general in the second half, holding them to a success rate of just 31.8%, according to TruMedia. They were able to really put the clamps on when Pittsburgh was trying to get back into the game, especially when it needed to throw the ball. All Wilson and his teammates could manage was 6.1 net yards per attempt in the second half, which just wasn’t enough with the Ravens offense taking over the game.

This is why the defensive improvement is so crucial for this Baltimore team — the offense is capable of winning a Super Bowl. Lamar Jackson threw three more touchdowns to give him 37 passing touchdowns for the season to just four interceptions, and Derrick Henry was able to run over the Steelers to close out the game. In the second half, Henry had 87 yards…

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Teams already locked into the NFL playoff bracket will clash when the Houston Texans battle the Kansas City Chiefs on Saturday. It will mark the second of three games in a 10-day span for both teams. Houston is coming off a 20-12 win over the Miami Dolphins, while Kansas City defeated the Cleveland Browns, 21-7, in Week 15. The Texans (9-5), who have already clinched the AFC South title, are riding a two-game winning streak. The Chiefs (13-1), who have clinched their ninth consecutive AFC West championship, the second-longest streak in NFL history, have won four in a row. Patrick Mahomes (ankle) was a full participant at practice this week and is active for Kansas City. Chiefs offensive tackle D.J. Humphries (hamstring) is inactive.

Kickoff from GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, Mo., is set for 1 p.m. ET. Kansas City is a 3.5-point favorite in the latest Texans vs. Chiefs odds, while the over/under for total points scored is 42.5. Kansas City is the -186 favorite (risk $186 to win $100) on the money line. Before locking in any Chiefs vs. Texans picks, make sure to check out the NFL predictions and betting advice from the SportsLine expert Larry Hartstein, considering his mastery of picks involving Houston.

A former lead writer for Covers and The Linemakers, Hartstein combines a vast network of Vegas sources with an analytical approach he honed working for Pro Football Focus. He tied for 52nd place (out of 1,598 entries) in the 2022 Westgate Las Vegas SuperContest, going 53-34-3 ATS. Hartstein’s weekly Vegas contest selections form the basis of his NFL best bets column, which is 79-48-2 (62.2%, +25.95 units) since its inception in 2022. He’s also an amazing 46-30-4 (+1299) on his last 80 NFL picks involving the Texans. Anyone following at sportsbooks and on betting apps has seen huge returns.

Now, Hartstein has locked in on Texans vs. Chiefs and just revealed his coveted…

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Kittle still receives advice from former 49ers tight ends coach Embree originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

The connections between the 49ers and Dolphins run deep and that includes George Kittle’s relationship with Miami tight ends coach Jon Embree.

Embree was Kittle’s first NFL position coach in when the 49ers drafted the All-Pro tight end in the fifth round of the 2017 NFL Draft. The two still communicate to this day as coach and player, but also as friends.

“I’ll get a random coaching point from him at 5 a.m. our time, 8 a.m. Miami time that says, ‘Your footwork was trash last week,’” Kittle shared on Thursday. “‘You need to fix your stance. You got to stand like this.’ And I always appreciate those coaching points.”

This is not normal protocol in the NFL where knowledge can be seen as power and keeping secrets from opposing teams is the expectation. Coach Kyle Shanahan, however, understands the relationship between the two and appreciates anyone helping his players improve.

“If they were in our own division, I’d say yes,” Shanahan joked when asked if the communication was a form of tampering. “I’d try to get back at them. But no, I love Jon sending those texts. Jon’s an awesome dude, a hell of a coach and that’s his style. He’s going to ride guys like that. I’ve got no problem with him riding our guys if it helps him.”

Kittle was not always an All-Pro pass-catching tight end with only 48 receptions for 737 yards and 10 touchdowns over his four years at Iowa. Once in the Bay Area, Embree helped develop Kittle into the dominant force on offense that is seen today.

“Coach Embree did a great job showing me the ropes, throwing me a life vest because I was thrown out to sea starting as a rookie,” Kittle said. “He said a lot of awesome things that I still do to this day [like] not running out of bounds.”

At the end of the 2017 season Kittle quickly became the favorite target of now-Los Angeles Rams quarterback Jimmy…

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The game between the Chargers and Broncos got a little confusing toward the end of the first half on Thursday night when Los Angeles decided to take advantage of an obscure NFL rule known as the fair-catch kick. 

With eight seconds left to play in the first half, the Broncos were facing a fourth-and-12 from their own 16-yard line, which was an obvious punting situation for Denver. Chargers returner Derius Davis called for a fair catch on the play, and that’s where the rarely used fair-catch kick came in. 

Basically, the rule goes like this: If a team fair catches a punt, they’re allowed to attempt a free kick on the next play. The kick isn’t a typical field goal, either. The defense has to line up 10 yards off the ball — similar to a kickoff — and the defense is NOT allowed to try and block the kick. The “free kick” is more like a kickoff, except the kicker has to attempt the field goal off the ground and there’s also a holder (The kicker also has the option to dropkick the ball, but that almost never happens). 

Here’s how the NFL describes the rule: 

“After a fair catch, the receiving team has the option to put the ball in play by a snap or a fair-catch kick (field goal attempt), with fair-catch kick lines established ten yards apart. All general rules apply as for a field goal attempt from scrimmage. The clock starts when the ball is kicked. (No tee permitted.)”

Now that you know how the rule works, let’s get back to the game. Davis actually called for a fair catch from his own 38-yard line, but the Broncos were called for fair-catch interference on the play, which is a 15-yard penalty. That moved the ball to Denver’s 47-yard line, and under the fair-catch kick rule, that meant the Cameron Dicker got to attempt a field goal from that exact spot. 

Dicker nailed the kick, which made him the first player since Ray Wersching in 1976 to make a fair-catch kick. 

Dicker’s field…

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Eagles injury report: Landon Dickerson, Sydney Brown return to practice originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

All 53 players on the Eagles’ active roster were practicing on Thursday during the portion of practice open to reporters.

Among those of note were Landon Dickerson (knee, rest), Sydney Brown (concussion) and DeVonta Smith (rest, back).

Dickerson left Sunday’s win over the Steelers after just 31 snaps with a knee injury and was replaced by Tyler Steen. Dickerson was one of nine players who was listed as a non-participant to start the week. But on Thursday, Dickerson went through warmups and was at least participating in offensive line drills.

Meanwhile, Sydney Brown seems to be moving through the NFL’s concussion protocol. After working on a side field to start the week, Brown was with the group on Thursday. The second-year safety/special teamer was concussed on the opening kickoff against the Steelers.

All nine players who started the week as non-participants on a big rest day practiced on Thursday: RB Saquon Barkley (rest), G Mekhi Becton (rest), WR AJ Brown (rest), S Sydney Brown (concussion), G Landon Dickerson (knee/rest), T Lane Johnson (rest), C Cam Jurgens (rest), T Jordan Mailata (rest), WR DeVonta Smith (back/rest).

Bryce Huff (wrist) practiced again on Thursday after starting the week listed as limited. Huff’s three-week practice window was opened this week after spending four weeks on IR after wrist surgery. Huff has a big wrap/cast on his left hand.

The two players who began the week as full participants — WR Britain Covey (neck) and QB Jalen Hurts (left finger) — practiced again on Friday.

This game will be Dallas Goedert’s third game missed with a hamstring injury that landed him on IR. He’ll be eligible to return in Week 18 against the Giants. The expectation is that the Eagles will have their starting tight end for the playoffs.

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