By Nick Shook
NFL.com
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The Eagles are the NFC’s top seed and were the darlings of the league until Carson Wentz was lost to injury.
Now that they’re riding with backup quarterback Nick Foles, the prevailing thought ahead of Saturday’s Divisional Round meeting with the Atlanta Falcons is Philadelphia doesn’t have the best chance of victory.
No skin off Fletcher Cox‘s back. Continue reading
By Nick Shook
NFL.com
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Tyrod Taylor left Buffalo’s 10-3 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars after he suffered a concussion late in the fourth quarter of Sunday’s wild-card game.
Bills coach Sean McDermott confirmed Taylor’s concussion and said he was placed in the protocol after the game.
Nathan Peterman replaced Taylor with less than two minutes left to play in the game. Peterman briefly gave the Bills life by converting a fourth-and-3 on a scramble, but he was intercepted by Jalen Ramsey a few plays later to seal the win for Jacksonville. Continue reading
By Nick Shook
NFL.com
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The Steelers are getting their most important weapon back in time for their first playoff game.
Wide receiver Antonio Brown (calf) will be at full strength for Pittsburgh’s divisional contest next week, NFL Network Insider Ian Rapoport reported. Had Pittsburgh played in the wild card round, Brown would have been ready to go, Rapoport added.
Brown has not played since suffering a calf injury in Pittsburgh’s 27-24 loss to New England in Week 15. Continue reading
By Nick Shook
NFL.com
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The what-if game is a dangerous (and unnecessary) one, but in the aftermath of a close playoff finish, it’s often inevitable.
Kansas City fans were left with only that to play for the next six months after Saturday’s loss to the Tennessee Titans. Theirs will surely revolve around two plays that, had they gone the other way, might have significantly altered the outcome of the game.
The first was a sack of Marcus Mariota on a play in which Derrick Johnson blitzed and crushed the quarterback. During the hit, which lifted Mariota off the ground, it appeared upon review that the quarterback fumbled before hitting the ground. Mariota was ruled down by forward progress, which had been stopped (though he wasn’t moving forward prior to the contact), on a quick whistle. Continue reading
By Nick Shook
NFL.com
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Alex Smith has battled the stigma earned by his early career struggles for much of the last decade and throughout his tenure with the Chiefs. Saturday night’s result won’t quiet the uninformed doubters.
Individually, the quarterback had yet another solid performance, completing 24 of 33 passes for 264 yards and two touchdowns in the 22-21 loss to the Tennessee Titans. But while Smith did his job, Kansas City crumbled in the second half, surrendering an 18-point lead to a hungry Titans team led by Marcus Mariota and Derrick Henry. As the Titans stunned fans at Arrowhead Stadium and viewers around the globe, Smith’s Chiefs couldn’t respond, with the result sending Kansas City home earlier than expected yet again. Continue reading
By Nick Shook
NFL.com
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Jon Gruden’s contract — a mammoth one — is still being worked out, but with a number like $100 million and multiple reports packing his backs for the Bay Area, ESPN decided to acknowledge the news.
ESPN broadcaster Sean McDonough opened Saturday’s broadcast of Chiefs-Titans by addressing the elephant in the room. Continue reading
By Nick Shook
NFL.com
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Playoff time is a wonderful time, even if you’re the team that snuck in by the skin of its teeth and the tripping up of a few contenders. You’re in — it doesn’t matter how you got there.
For the purpose of this space, though, it does matter, because we’re going to examine which teams have the best (or worst) chances based on their offensive line play. For the wild-card round of play, we have evenly matched games, and also ones that beg the question: Can this team’s line do a good enough job to give it a real shot at winning? Continue reading
By Nick Shook
NFL.com
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Kareem Hunt‘s rookie season included a hot start, and the regular season portion of it came to a close with a strong finish and a rushing title.
Turns out, the former Toledo Rocket wanted that last part badly enough to make a hard sell on his coach. Continue reading
By Nick Shook
NFL.com
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A year after finishing 13-3 and reaching the divisional round of the playoffs, the Dallas Cowboys are spending the postseason at home.
To owner Jerry Jones, that isn’t acceptable — and some of it has to do with the play of wide receiver Dez Bryant.
“Well, I think Dez is right. We need more from Dez. We need bigger plays,” Jones said on 105.3 The Fan in Dallas. “That’s obvious to everybody is we didn’t get big plays. I don’t know that you ever get enough of them, but we certainly didn’t get the amount that we have to have to change our fate here. And, so, I agree with him. We need to have bigger plays. Continue reading
By Nick Shook
NFL.com
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Two neck injuries that sidelined key Seahawks might spell the ends of their careers.
That’s the sentiment Seahawks coach Pete Carroll conveyed during his Tuesday appearance on KIRO-AM when speaking about defensive end Cliff Avril and Kam Chancellor. Both of the players suffered neck injuries in 2017 that ended their seasons. Continue reading
Nick Shook 