Blog

The landscape of the AFC shifted in a major way this week. Just a couple weeks ago, all four AFC North teams were firmly in the playoff picture. Now, it seems unlikely all four will make the postseason, and that’s because of injuries.

Cleveland Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson broke a bone in his throwing shoulder, which will force him to miss the remainder of the season, and Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow suffered a torn ligament in the wrist of his throwing hand, which will require season-ending surgery. With the Browns and Bengals losing their starting quarterbacks, it makes life easier for their rivals — and the AFC at large. Let’s take a look at all the teams that were affected by the recent QB injures in the AFC North.  

Odds courtesy of Caesars Sportsbook; Projections from SportsLine data scientist Stephen Oh

Cincinnati Bengals

Losing Burrow is clearly a massive blow to the Bengals. Cincy was already a little behind the eight ball due to its 1-3 start — and while the Bengals rebounded to get to 5-3 — they have now dropped two straight games and just lost their franchise quarterback. 

What options do the Bengals have? Jake Browning, who completed 8 of 14 passes for 68 yards and one touchdown against the Baltimore Ravens on Thursday night, will likely be the new starter. The Bengals also have AJ McCarron on the practice squad. 

The Bengals have some tough matchups to close out the year. In fact, Tankathon says Cincinnati has the toughest remaining schedule in the NFL. The Bengals play the Pittsburgh Steelers twice, the Jacksonville Jaguars on “Monday Night Football” and the Kansas City Chiefs on New Year’s Eve. According to SportsLine’s Stephen Oh, the Bengals’ chances of making the playoffs dropped from 37.6% with Burrow to just 1.3% without him. Cincy’s win percentage dropped 14.1%, and its odds of winning the AFC or the Super Bowl have shrunk to 0.0%.

Playoff…

..

[ad_2]

Read More

The Baltimore Ravens improved to 8-3 and dropped the Cincinnati Bengals to 5-5 after a 34-20 win during “Thursday Night Football” to kick off Week 11 in the NFL.

There were two big pieces of injuries news to come out of that game. First, Ravens tight end Mark Andrews is likely done for the season with an ankle injury. The Bengals are hoping for the best after Joe Burrow had to leave the game with a wrist injury in the second quarter. (The NFL is investigating why Burrow was not on the pre-game injury report.)

Heading into Sunday, we know the Cleveland Browns will turn back to Dorian Thompson-Robinson at quarterback against the Pittsburgh Steelers after the news that Deshaun Watson’s season is over with a fracture in his throwing shoulder.

Thompson-Robinson’s first NFL start came Oct. 1 against the Ravens, a 28-3 defeat where he went 19-for-36 with 121 passing yards, no touchdowns and three interceptions.

“I know what to expect now,” Thompson-Robinson said Thursday. “I’m not stepping out there for the first time — not going out there wide-eyed anymore.”

The Browns are working out Joe Flacco on Friday as they look to add to their quarterback room.

Justin Fields (thumb) is expected to start for the Chicago Bears after missing four games when they face the Detroit Lions.

“It’s not 100 percent, but it feels good. There’s still a little bit of healing left, but it’s stable,” Fields said.

In other thumb injury news, Matthew Stafford went through a full practice Thursday and is expected to start against the Seattle Seahawks. He injured it Oct. 29 against the Dallas Cowboys, but thanks to the Rams’ bye week he only missed one game.

Keenan Allen, meanwhile, will play for the Los Angeles Chargers when they take on the Green Bay Packers, but he will suit up while dealing with an AC joint sprain in his left shoulder. The 31-year-old wide receiver suffered the injury during a tackle in the fourth quarter of their Week 10 loss to the Lions.

Here is the rest of the Week 11…

..

[ad_2]

Read More

All offseason, Bills wide receiver Stefon Diggs downplayed the notion that he’s unhappy in Buffalo. Ten weeks into the 2023 season, however, his brother, Trevon, is urging him to leave the team altogether after the Bills’ Monday night loss to the Broncos.

“Man 14 Gotta get up outta there,” Trevon posted on X (formerly Twitter) after Denver upset the Bills on a walk-off field goal in a wild ending. He also posted “let’s not forget, he didn’t start going off till bro got there,” referencing quarterback Josh Allen.

Since Stefon has arrived in Buffalo in 2020, he leads the NFL in catches (411) on the second-most targets (586) while his 5,057 receiving yards are the fourth most in the league in that span. His 411 receptions account for 28.7% of Buffalo’s entire team catches since 2020, the most by a player for a single team in the NFL. On Thursday, Diggs cooled the flames surrounding rumors of his dissatisfaction given that he clarirfied that he hasn’t spoken with Trevon about his thoughts on the Bills season of late. 

“I can’t [answer] the questions as to why he feels [that way],” Stefon said to local media. “I haven’t had the personal conversation with him [Trevon]. Obviously, he’s coming from more of a fan perspective [watching from home]. But that is my family, so I handle my family with the utmost respect, and I hope that people treat it that way. So when people speak on my family, [I hope they] have a level of integrity as well. … Tread lightly when you’re talking about my family.”  

The elder Diggs, who co-leads the NFL in catches this season (73) and is the league’s most targeted wide receiver (102), was held to just three catches for 34 yards in Buffalo’s 24-22 loss, which saw the Bills commit four turnovers and drop to 5-5 on the season. His quarterback, Josh Allen, scored a go-ahead touchdown late in the contest, only for Bills’ penalties to then assist Denver’s frenetic…

..

[ad_2]

Read More

“Where is his arrow pointed?”

That was a question a general manager once posed to me about hefty quarterback contracts. At the time, the GM’s franchise was engaged in talks with its veteran starter. The negotiation was at a particularly contentious point. The player was frustrated, his agent was angry and the GM was explaining an offer that was significantly less than what free agency could get the QB down the line. The impasse, the GM said, was about “quarterback arrows.”

For the contract the agent was seeking, the GM wanted the player’s arrow to reflect future growth potential.

“I want the arrow to be up, and his is like this … ”

The GM drew a flat line in the air with his finger.

“… until it eventually becomes this … ”

He veered the trajectory downward.

“… and that’s when you get into problems with a quarterback contract.”

When I think about NFL quarterbacks, I usually think about that conversation. It wasn’t meant to sound particularly brilliant. If anything, the point the GM made was about answering a question with simplicity: How do you feel about your quarterback’s future? Is he ascending and getting better? Is he stagnating? Or is he regressing?

Of course, there’s a multitude of numbers and circumstances that explain why the arrow is doing what it’s doing. But before you get to that, there is usually an initial gut reaction before you get to the details. Name any veteran quarterback in the NFL right now, and you likely have an immediate arrow that jumps into your mind when it comes to his trajectory.

Matthew Stafford? Baker Mayfield? Jared Goff? Patrick Mahomes?

An arrow likely jumped into your head.

Now do it for Deshaun Watson.

Deshaun Watson hasn’t played a full NFL season since 2020. (Scott Galvin/USA TODAY Sports) (USA Today Sports / reuters)

If you are limited to his remarkable last half of football for the Browns, the arrow might be up.

If you factor in the statistical similarities between 2022 and 2023 (and toss out…

..

[ad_2]

Read More