By Nick Shook
NFL.com
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Tampa Bay’s season might have just taken a turn for the worst.

The Buccaneers are shutting down quarterback Jameis Winston (shoulder) for the next few weeks, head coach Dirk Koetter told reporters on Monday.

Winston left Sunday’s game against the New Orleans Saints due to the issue, which he aggravated after suffering the initial injury nearly a month ago. Veteran backup Ryan Fitzpatrick replaced him, completing 8 of 15 passes for 68 yards and one touchdown in the 30-10 loss to the Saints. Continue reading →

By Nick Shook
NFL.com
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The Dallas Cowboys (5-3) outlasted the Kansas City Chiefs (6-3) in a back-and-forth affair at AT&T Stadium on Sunday. Here’s what we learned from the Cowboys‘ third-straight win, a 28-17 triumph:

1. It’s been a while since we’ve had a back-and-forth game between two of the NFL’s contending teams. Well, OK, we’ll count last week’s Seattle-Houston game. But this one was of a higher caliber. This one felt like two heavyweights, trading blows in a slugfest. First, it was Dak Prescott‘s scramble for a score and seemingly a 14-3 lead heading into halftime. But being the contender it is, Kansas City did not relent, scoring in unlikely fashion thanks to Tyreek Hill right at halftime.

As the game unfolded, both teams’ records floated on the screen below their abbreviations: 6-2 (Kansas City) and 4-3 (Dallas). For most of this contest, you could have swapped records and it would have been believable. We can’t say that too often about games being played at this time of the year. Continue reading →

By Nick Shook
NFL.com
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Joe Thomas recently saw his consecutive snaps streak broken, his triceps muscle torn and his season ended.

On Friday, he also saw a nice bump to his bank account.

The Cleveland Browns increased Thomas’ 2017 pay by $1.5 million via a roster bonus that was due Friday (Nov. 3), NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero reported. Thomas is also receiving a $3.5 million raise in 2018 in the form of a March roster bonus, which was increased from $1 million to $3 million, and a base salary increase from $8.8 million to $10.3 million, Pelissero added. Continue reading →

By Nick Shook
NFL.com
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Josh Gordon is getting yet another chance.

The Cleveland Browns receiver — who hasn’t played in a regular-season game since 2014 — is set to be reinstated on a conditional basis by the NFL, the league announced Wednesday.

“Effective immediately, Gordon may join the Browns to attend meetings, engage in conditioning work and individual workouts,” the league stated in a release. “Subject to compliance with clinical and other requirements, he will be placed on the Commissioner’s Exempt list and be permitted to practice with the team beginning on Monday, November 20. Beginning Monday, November 27, Gordon will be eligible at the team’s discretion to return to active status or to remain on the Commissioner’s Exempt list for an additional week before returning to active status.” Continue reading →

By Nick Shook
NFL.com
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Acquiring a potential franchise quarterback will put any fanbase into a frenzy.

But hold your roars: The latest deal for such player might not actually put him on the field for a while.

That’s the word from San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan, who met with reporters Wednesday to discuss the franchise’s acquisition of Jimmy Garoppolo via trade with the New England Patriots. Continue reading →

By Nick Shook
NFL.com
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The Kansas City Chiefs forced Denver Broncos quarterback Trevor Siemian into plenty of mistakes and took advantage of them in a sleepy Monday night affair in Kansas City. Here’s what we learned from the Chiefs‘ 29-19 win over the Broncos:

1. It’s truly a shame that Denver doesn’t have a more complete team, because this defense is rather remarkable to watch. The Broncos made Kansas City’s offense look about as bad as it has all season, keeping Alex Smithbelow a completion percentage of 50 (minimum 20 attempts) for the first time in a regular season game since Week 11 of 2013. Smith completed 14 of 31 attempts for 202 yards and one touchdown, and the Chiefs‘ offense was much quieter than every other contest this season, almost alarmingly so. Kareem Hunt rushed for just 46 yards on 22 attempts, his first game of his career in which he was held under 100 yards from scrimmage.

(Smith fell below 50 percent once last season — Week 8 vs. Indianapolis, exactly one year from Monday night — but it was in a game in which he twice left due to injury.)

This should heap all of the credit on Denver’s defense, which blew a coverage early (Darian Stewartguess wrong on a route run by Travis Kelce) for a touchdown, but rebounded to record an interception (made by Stewart) and a Shaquille Barrett strip sack that caused a fumble recovered by Domata Peko. This felt like a game that should have been 42-6 in the third, but was 20-6 because of the defense. If we were giving grades, they’d get an A-minus. When the offense put the defense in bad positions or gave the players little sideline time to rest, the unit just kept coming back out fighting, keeping the game within striking distance until the latter part of the fourth. That’s all you can ask for from your defense. Continue reading →

By Nick Shook
NFL.com
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We have our whopper trade of 2017.

The New England Patriots have traded quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo to the San Francisco 49ers for a 2018 second-round pick, the 49ers announced on Tuesday.

ESPN first reported the development.

In a corresponding move, the 49ers informed quarterback (and former Patriots backup) Brian Hoyer of his release, Rapoport reported. Hoyer was originally included in the Garoppolo deal, but was taken out of the deal because of compensatory pick reasons, Rapoport added. The Patriots will now need to add a quarterback to their roster to backup Tom Brady after trading away Jacoby Brissett, and now Garoppolo — Hoyer could be a potential option. Continue reading →