Category: NFL News

The Chiefs have looked shaky at times during the 2023 season, but their playoff debut was as good a performance as they’ve had all season.

Patrick Mahomes threw a touchdown pass, Isiah Pacheco ran for another and the Chiefs defense joined the weather to make life miserable for the Dolphins offense. The result was a 26-7 win that moves the Chiefs into the divisional round of the playoffs for the sixth straight season.

If the Bills beat the Steelers on Monday, the Chiefs will play the first road playoff game of Mahomes’ career next week. If the Steelers win, the Chiefs will host the Texans at Arrowhead Stadium.

Mahomes was 23-of-41 for 261 yards as the Chiefs came out throwing a bit more than expected given the cold and wind in Kansas City on Saturday night. His touchdown went to rookie wideout Rashee Rice to cap the first drive of the game. Tight end Travis Kelce had seven catches for 71 yards, Pacheco ran 23 times for 82 yards to lead the team’s ground attack and Rice finished with eight catches for 130 yards in his playoff debut.

Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa’s first postseason action was not as enjoyable. The best play of the day for Miami was an underthrow that Tyreek Hill turned into a 53-yard touchdown and Tagovailoa finished the game 17-of-35 for 171 yards. The Dolphins had just 261 total yards and the poor outing was a disappointing way to end the year for a unit that had found much greater success at other points this season.

The performance and the Dolphins’ low number of wins against quality competition will likely renew questions about the team’s long-term future with Tagovailoa. They have already picked up his fully-guaranteed option for 2024, though, and that means the short-term is likely to be focused on finding ways to improve on a season that ended with three losses in five games than handed the AFC East to the Bills.

Kansas City won’t have to take the same kind of stock this week. Their offense moved the ball and their defense continued a…

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For the first time in NFL history, the league will broadcast a postseason game exclusively on a streaming service. Saturday’s nightcap of the Super Wild Card Weekend doubleheader on the NBC platforms will be exclusively on the streaming service Peacock, not on free over-the-air television. 

The Saturday night contest between the Miami Dolphins and Kansas City Chiefs will only be on Peacock, unless the viewer lives in the local television markets of the respective teams (the game will air free). For everyone else across the country, a Peacock subscription plans start at $5.99 per month. 

The NFL tried to air a playoff game that wasn’t on free over-the-air broadcast television once, when the Carolina Panthers beat the Arizona Cardinals in the opening game of the wild card round of the playoffs in January of 2015 (the first year of the new television contract). That game aired on ESPN exclusively, but that lasted only a year.

ESPN simulcast the game on ABC in subsequent years, thanks to the league having the lowest rated playoff game in six years. The league hasn’t had a playoff game omitted on broadcast television since, until Saturday’s Super Wild Card round game on Peacock. 

So why is this game exclusively on a streaming service? NBC Universal paid the NFL $110 million last year for rights to carry a wild card game on Peacock — a one-year deal. This will be a trial for the league in its new television contract, which had exclusive games on streaming in the regular season (Thursday Night Football on Amazon Prime, international game on ESPN+, and Saturday night game on Peacock). 

Live sports have been a huge part of Peacock’s growth, which is why NBCUniversal is banking on giving this game a one-year trial. There will be no free trials for Peacock. 

Technically, three NFL playoff games are on Peacock this weekend. The Saturday 4:30 p.m. game between the Cleveland Browns and Houston…

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The Commanders have made their first major hire of the Josh Harris era. There’s currently a dispute among insiders as to the title.

Ian Rapoport of NFL Media says 49ers assistant G.M. Adam Peters has taken a job with the team that likely will be dubbed “President of Football Operations.” Adam Schefter of ESPN.com characterizes the new job for Peters as “General Manager.”

Given that the Commanders still have a G.M. in Martin Mayhew, either Schefter is off or Mayhew is out.

Regardless, Peters is in. He’ll run the show. We’ll see what happens with Mayhew and team president Jason Wright.

As one source explained it to PFT, the 49ers tried hard to keep Peters. He decided, in the end, to go.

His first big decision in D.C. will be head coach. It’s unclear who will make the final call. Peters surely will have some say in which way things go.

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Jan. 11, 2024 will now forever be a date remembered in New England sports history: the day the Patriots and head coach Bill Belichick parted ways. While the term is oftentimes overused, it is truly the end of an era, one that the NFL probably will never see the likes of again. For the bulk of Belichick’s 24 seasons as the leader in Foxborough, the Patriots enjoyed unprecedented success, including all six of the franchise’s Super Bowl titles. 

Mixed in between Lombardi Trophies and duck boat parades came some of the greatest coaching moments and decisions that the league has ever seen under Belichick. As the Patriots depart from their franchise icon, let’s take a look back at some of his more memorable coaching moments/decisions in New England. 

Brady over Bledsoe

Given that Tom Brady became the greatest player in the history of the sport, it might sound crazy that there was ever a debate to play him over someone else, but that was absolutely the case in 2001. After Drew Bledsoe was ready to return from a sheared blood vessel in his chest from that infamous hit from Mo Lewis, Belichick ultimately decided to stick with the then-second-year quarterback in Brady. That decision was as polarizing as it gets, especially considering that Bledsoe had just signed an NFL-record 10-year, $103 million contract back in March of that year. 

Belichick split the reps between the two quarterbacks leading up to the Week 10 matchup against the Rams — who they’d eventually beat in Super Bowl XXXVI — and ended up losing the game. It was after that contest Belichick decided to give the full reps to Brady, start him for the remainder of the year and the rest is history, proving to be the most pivotal decision the organization has ever seen. 

End of Super Bowl XLIX 

The end of Super Bowl XLIX against the Seattle Seahawks was a coaching masterclass by Belichick. Of course, we all know that Malcolm…

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The Bill Belichick era is over in New England.

Belichick and the Patriots have mutually agreed to part ways, according to multiple reports.

It ends a 24-year run as head coach of the Patriots that saw New England win six Super Bowls, an unprecedented level of success.

It also ends after the worst season in Belichick’s coaching career, an ugly 4-13 record in 2023, a season in which the Patriots looked nothing like the Patriots of old.

Belichick will have a bust in the Pro Football Hall of Fame some day, but when that day comes remains to be seen, as we don’t know whether his coaching career is over. He instantly becomes a strong candidate for some of the NFL’s other seven head-coaching job openings, as multiple owners will surely be interested in the possibility that Belichick could bring their teams instant credibility.

But for now, Belichick is out of work. And the Patriots are looking for a new head coach.

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After 14 seasons on the job, Pete Carroll is done as the Seahawks’ head coach, moving off the sidelines and into an advisory role on Wednesday. Carroll had told reporters following the 2023 season he expected to return to his post in 2024, but now the 72-year-old former Super Bowl champion has cleared the way for a successor.

Seattle experienced sustained success under Carroll’s leadership, making the playoffs in 10 of his 14 years atop the staff, but failed to reach the postseason in two of his last three seasons. Who’s most likely to take over now that he’s hung up the headset? Here are five logical candidates to become the Seahawks’ next head coach:

5. Ben Johnson

Current title: Lions offensive coordinator

If it’s new and innovative designs the Seahawks are seeking by bumping Carroll upstairs, then Johnson, 37, could very well be their guy. Hailed for designing a quarterback-friendly system in Detroit, where he’s a big reason for the Lions hosting their first playoff game in 30 years, Johnson could help usher Seattle into a more forward-thinking era.

4. Mike Vrabel

Current title: Former Titans head coach

All indications are that Vrabel, 48, was ousted in Tennessee not so much for a lacking track record — he led three playoff runs in his first four years on the job — but a misaligned vision with changing team brass. In Seattle, where presumably the goal is to remain in win-now mode with veterans at key positions, he might find a welcome new home. His defensive prowess could also be a perfect addition considering Seattle’s recent struggles on that side.

3. Shane Waldron

Current title: Seahawks offensive coordinator

Carroll staying within the organization could signal an effort to maintain as much continuity as possible, in which case Waldron, 44, makes a world of sense as an in-house promotion. After four years under Sean McVay in Los Angeles, he became Seattle’s OC in 2021, helping the…

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The Chargers completed an interview Tuesday with their offensive coordinator, Kellen Moore, for their head coaching vacancy, the team announced.

Moore spent his first season with the Chargers in 2023, taking over the play-calling job in late January.

It was Moore’s sixth season as an NFL coach, his fifth calling the plays.

Moore parted ways with the Cowboys last year, and in his first season with the Chargers, they ranked 18th in total offense and 21st in points.

The Chargers, though, lost receiver Mike Williams and center Corey Linsley the last 14 games of the season. Quarterback Justin Herbert, running back Austin Ekeler and wide receivers Keenan Allen and Joshua Palmer all missed multiple games.

Herbert threw for 3,134 yards with 20 touchdowns and seven interceptions while also adding 228 rushing yards and three scores in 13 games. He missed the end of the season with a fractured finger on his throwing hand.

The Chargers are replacing Brandon Staley, who they fired during the season.

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En route to winning the AFC South, C.J. Stroud was one of nine quarterbacks to eclipse 4,000 yards passing, did so with the third-best yards-per-attempt average a 8.2 and tossed 23 interceptions to just five picks. Quite easily, he just completed one of the finest rookie quarterback seasons we’ve ever seen. 

Where does his rookie season rank among the best recent rookie quarterback campaigns? 

We’ll go back to 2010 for stylistic similarity as to how the quarterback position is now played. And I’ve only ranked the top 8 full rookie quarterback seasons for a reason. They’re really the only ones worth ranking. Let’s dive in. (NOTE: This is an update from November, and I had to change Robert Griffin III and Baker Mayfield. Had those wrong to begin with.) 

Murray won the Rookie of the Year in 2019 but his first year in the NFL doesn’t quite stack up to the rest of those on this list. His big-time throw rate of 4.0% was very respectable, as was his 2.7% turnover-worthy play rate. His yards-per-attempt average of 6.9, not so much. While good for the vast majority of rookies, it’s just not amazing here, and his aDOT was just 7.6 in Kliff Kingsbury’s Air Raid offense that also featured a plethora of screens and quick underneath throws. Murray did run for 544 yards at a 5.8 yards-per-carry clip and looked like Mario on most of those scampers. 

Not that it was Prescott’s fault, but he landed in the coziest environment of any quarterback on this list. In 2016, the Cowboys had an elite offensive line and a dynamic rookie power back in Ezekiel Elliott. Out wide, Prescott had in-his-prime Dez Bryant, in-his-prime Cole Beasley, and Jason Witten at his disposal. Prescott didn’t just ride the coattails of his teammates. He orchestrated the offense calmly for the entire duration of his rookie campaign with 11 of his 16 games featuring a quarterback rating over 100. 

In young Kyle Shanahan’s…

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