By Nick Shook
NFL.com
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Much has been made of the admission of the Vikings defensive backs ignoring head coach Mike Zimmer’s defensive game plan, and rightfully so. Players play and coaches coach for a reason, and it isn’t often that a position group completely disregards a coach’s game plan.

Hall of Fame corner Deion Sanders took issue with the collective action of a defensive backs group that includes Terence Newman, a veteran with 14 years of experience, calling the undermining “stupid and ignorant.” Continue reading →

By Nick Shook
NFL.com
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With two weeks left in the regular season, the playoff scenarios only deepen. Here’s the scenarios for the rest of Week 16.

NFC

CLINCHED: Dallas Cowboys — playoff berth, NFC East title, first-round playoff bye, home-field advantage in NFC playoffs; Seattle Seahawks — NFC West title; Atlanta Falcons — NFC South title; New York Giants — playoff berth
ELIMINATED: San Francisco, Los Angeles, Chicago, Arizona, Philadelphia, Carolina, New Orleans, Minnesota.

DETROIT LIONS
Detroit clinches a playoff berth:
1) DET win + TB loss or tie
2) DET tie + TB loss

AFC

CLINCHED: New England Patriots — AFC East title title and first-round bye; Oakland Raiders — playoff berth; Houston Texans — AFC South title; Pittsburgh Steelers — AFC North title; Kansas City Chiefs — playoff berth; Miami Dolphins — playoff berth
ELIMINATED: Cleveland, Jacksonville, NY Jets, San Diego, Cincinnati, Indianapolis, Tennessee, Buffalo, Baltimore, Denver

By Nick Shook
NFL.com
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We’ve had some close calls with parabolic mic people over the years, and an actual collision with some broken glasses in 2016. But no one has felt the need for the folks standing on the sidelines with what look like inverted plastic shields quite like Rex Ryan.

Hanging onto a lead and their playoff lives, the Bills lined up to defend a Dolphins field goal attempt in the final seconds of regulation. Ryan claims he tried to call a timeout well before the ball was snapped, so much so that he broke down the multi-part process of him experiencing communication breakdown in real time. Continue reading →

By Nick Shook
NFL.com
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Cam Newton hasn’t been quite himself this season.

Whether it has been his up and down play, his dress code fiasco or his beef with officiating, there’s frequently been something to do with the star quarterback in a season that has been one to forget for Carolina. He had one of his worst games Saturday in a loss to Atlanta, completing just 18 of 43 attempts for 198 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions.

But we can’t overlook the shoulder injury he’s been battling through, which could have been responsible for his afternoon filled with errant passes and below-average play. Ron Rivera thinks that might be the case, saying the injury — which the Panthers have been reluctant to disclose additional information on — “probably” had a negative effect on Newton’s play.

Cam won’t accept that crutch. Continue reading →

By Nick Shook
NFL.com
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The Rams held a one-touchdown lead Saturday in a game that seemed to drag on forever with little cause for excitement.

Then the fourth quarter arrived, the Niners mounted a furious comeback and Jared Goff had a nice little opportunity to boost his Q Score. A game-sealing interception likely isn’t what he had in mind, though. Continue reading →

By Nick Shook
NFL.com
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Every Sunday at the Oakland Coliseum during the 2016 season has felt like one big party — until Week 16.

The Raiders were again rolling to what appeared to be another win when quarterback and rejuvenating sparkplug Derek Carr went down with a leg injury. He knew it immediately, and it didn’t take long for team doctors to also learn the severity of the injury: a broken fibula, surgery on deck and an indefinite amount of time away from the field. Continue reading →

By Nick Shook
NFL.com
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What began as a scary occurrence that could have produced a serious accident turned into a hassle and nightmarish Friday evening that has roundly summed up 2016 for the Minnesota Vikings.

While taxiing after a safe landing in Appleton, Wisconsin, the Vikings‘ team plane slid off the runway and became stuck, the team announced. The Vikings faced an additional two-hour wait on the plane after the incident, NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo reported, before a firetruck was dispatched to carry the passengers off the plane. Continue reading →

By Nick Shook
NFL.com
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In the aftermath of Luke Kuechly‘s latest concussion, and his extended time away from the field, the opinions of the linebacker’s next move have run the gamut. Perhaps none, though, carry more weight than that of Kuechly’s superstar teammate.

“Luke is a person that could potentially to be the greatest linebacker that has ever played — straight up,” Panthers quarterback Cam Newton said Thursday. “… I don’t think, for me, I would want to jeopardize that for a long, long-term issue just to bring him back.” Continue reading →

By Nick Shook
NFL.com
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The Buccaneers surprised the football world with a key inactive that no one saw coming.

Tampa Bay listed running back Doug Martin as inactive for Saturday’s game against New Orleans. NFL Network Insider Ian Rapoport reported Martin was a healthy scratch via a coach’s decision, which is fairly peculiar for a team that has dealt with a bevy of injuries at the position. Continue reading →