By Nick Shook
NFL.com
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Monday Night Football heads to the Pacific Northwest to finish Week 11 for an important NFC battle between the reigning conference champions and a contending team attempting to overcome adversity brought on by the injury bug. The Atlanta Falcons travel to Seattle to face the Seahawks in a game that could go a long way toward determining this year’s postseason qualifiers.

Offensively, these two teams are nearly identical in total production, with Seattle owning a 0.4-yard advantage in average yards gained per game. How they get there, though, is different. Continue reading →

By Nick Shook
NFL.com
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The Packers lost Sunday’s game against the Ravens, and in the process, also lost two important defenders.

Clay Matthews Jr. exited early with a groin injury and did not return. Defensive tackle Kenny Clarksuffered an ankle injury late, a development that had his teammates heated after the game.

Clark’s ankle injury came in the earlier portion of the fourth quarter on a 2-yard run up the middle by Alex Collins. The carry caused a pile-up in the middle of the line of scrimmage, with the foundation laid on the back of Clark’s bent legs. Clark had been knocked to his knees by Ravens center Ryan Jensen, who drew the ire of Packers safety Ha Ha Clinton-Dix. Continue reading →

By Nick Shook
NFL.com
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Get out the bent-arm emojis — it’s flexing season.

As we move into the latter portion of the 2017 slate, game times are suddenly subject to change. Records and stakes matter!

The Week 12 schedule gets a little juicier in the late afternoon slot, with New Orleans’ matchup against the Los Angeles Rams moving to 4:25 p.m. ET on CBS. The move, however, means the Rams-Saints won’t be flexed to Sunday Night Football, as some had speculated it could have. In the same week, Tennessee at Indianapolis stays in the 1 p.m. slot but moves to FOX. Continue reading →

By Nick Shook
NFL.com
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Drew Brees doesn’t want to play anywhere but New Orleans.

That’s fine and dandy, but there are a few details that make that less than guaranteed. Brees is in the final year of his contract. The quarterback is 38 years old. And while this might sound preposterous, the Saints are the least reliant upon him that they’ve ever been in his time in New Orleans. Continue reading →

By Nick Shook
NFL.com
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Dannell Ellerbe is getting another shot at a postseason run.

The veteran linebacker has signed with the Philadelphia Eagles, the team announced on Monday. The Eagles also waived cornerback Dexter McDougle in anticipation of the return of cornerback Ronald Darby, who lined up with the first team in practice and expects to play Sunday, per NJ.com.

Ellerbe last played with the New Orleans Saints in 2016, appearing in nine games in which he recorded 44 tackles and four sacks. The Saints placed Ellerbe on injured reserve with a foot injury in July and waived him after he was cleared to play in August, electing to move forward with younger backs Alex Anzalone and Craig Robertson. Ellerbe, who turned 32 on Nov. 29, has been without a team since August.

Ellerbe’s agency hailed the signing as “the final piece to the Eagles’ Super Bowl puzzle” on Twitter on Sunday.

Ellerbe brings depth to an Eagles linebacking corps that lost Jordan Hicks to a ruptured achilles tendon on Oct. 23. With Hicks sidelined, backup middle linebacker Joe Walker played in his place against San Francisco, logging 28 defensive snaps. But a week later against Denver, Walker played just 12 snaps as the Eagles opted to swap out a linebacker for a defensive back, going with the Nickel sub package on 41 of 60 defensive plays, per Next Gen Stats. In these scenarios, Philadelphia slid outside linebacker Mychal Kendricks toward the middle of the defense, replacing him with an in-box safety, or aligned fellow outside backer Nigel Bradham and Kendricks over the defensive tackles in a 4-2-5 look.

This should give a glimpse of how the Eagles would work in Ellerbe, either by sliding Bradham or Kendricks over (Bradham seems like the more logical choice of the two), and replacing the vacant outside position with Ellerbe, or possibly using the playmaking Ellerbe in the middle. With his injury history, though, it’s more likely Philadelphia would go with the younger backers than Ellerbe, who has appeared in just 16 games combined over his last three seasons.

By Nick Shook
NFL.com
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The New England Patriots took advantage of multiple special teams mistakes and coasted to victory over the foundering Denver Broncos, 41-16. Here’s what we learned:

1. For the second week in a row, the Broncos (3-6) allowed 40-plus points in a loss. This time, though, much of the blame doesn’t fall on the shoulders of their defense, but their special teams, which was downright abysmal and single-handedly determined the outcome of the game.

First, Denver’s Isaiah McKenzie muffed a punt after the game’s opening possession. Then, New England’s Dion Lewis returned a kick for a touchdown. And then, the Patriots blocked a Broncos punt. And as if things couldn’t possibly get worse, the Broncos were caught making a late substitution, turning a fourth-and-5 into a fresh set of downs for the Patriots (7-2). The two early mistakes were enough to sink a team — they accounted for two touchdowns, putting the Broncos in an early hole — but the additional miscues just piled onto what has quickly become an ugly season for a fading Broncos team. Worst of all, the issues (which accounted for 24 of New England’s points) reflect rather poorly upon a coaching staff, which isn’t the best for a first-year coach in Vance Joseph. If one asked a question of who’s taking the fall for this, all signs point to special teams coach Brock Olivo. Continue reading →