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Monday, November 23, 2020 |
As the resident Bengals homer here at CBSSports.com, I was so depressed last night that I thought about passing off the newsletter to someone else for the rest of the season because I HAVE NO REASON TO WATCH FOOTBALL AGAIN this year after what happened on Sunday. |
If you somehow missed it, Joe Burrow's knee is what happened. I'm not going to write anything more than that, because if I do, I'll cry and no one wants to see me cry. The only thing that kept me from having a total breakdown yesterday is the fact that signing up for a lifetime membership in the Andy Dalton Fan Club is starting to look like the best decision I've ever made. How 'bout them Cowboys! (I think that's what they say in Dallas). |
Alright, let's get to the newsletter, and just so you guys know, I promise not to spend the entire thing talking about injured Bengals quarterbacks or former Bengals quarterbacks who no longer play for them. I realize there are other teams in the league. As always, here's your weekly reminder to tell all your friends to sign up for the newsletter. All you have to do is click here and then share the link. A subscription makes a great Thanksgiving present (I'm don't think people actually give out Thanksgiving presents, but let's pretend they do). |
1. Today's Show: Week 11 winners and losers plus full recap |
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It's Monday, which can only mean one thing: I stayed up until 3 a.m. last night recording a podcast with Will Brinson and Ryan Wilson that touched on everything you need to know about Week 11 and let me just say, there is a lot you need to know, because Week 11 got a little crazy. |
One thing we do every week is hand out our weekly winners and losers from Sunday's action. For our losers this week, Ryan got lazy and picked the same team as last week, Brinson picked a team for losing to someone from the NFC East and I picked the Bengals because how could I not. |
Ryan Wilson |
Winner: Drew Lock. Raise your hand if you thought we'd see Drew Lock outplay Tua Tagovailoa in Week 11? Drew Lock's parents should be the only people raising their hands right now. It's still not clear if Lock is the long-term answer in Denver, but he keeps playing just well enough that the Broncos might have to think about keeping him around for the long-term. Loser: Ravens. It's pretty clear that Ryan hates the Ravens or at least that's the conclusion I've drawn after listening to him name Baltimore his loser for the SECOND STRAIGHT week. In Wilson's defense though, it's definitely fair to call the Ravens a loser this week: Lamar Jackson is struggling, the defense is injured, they don't have many receiving weapons and they'd be out of the playoffs if the postseason started today. Not ideal. |
Will Brinson |
Winner: Frank Reich and Philip Rivers. There have been plenty of questions this year about whether Reich made the right decision to bring in Philip Rivers and after Sunday's win, they both look like geniuses. Loser: Vikings. To get back in the NFC playoff race, all the Vikings had to do was NOT lose to the Cowboys and they couldn't even pull that off. In what was arguably the most embarrassing loss of Week 11, the Vikings went down in flames against a Cowboys team that had not won a game since Week 5. |
John Breech |
Winner: NFC East. For most teams in the NFL, having just three wins through 11 weeks is usually viewed as a total failure, but NOT FOR THE FOUR TEAMS IN THE NFC EAST. Sure, every team in this division is horrible, but all of them still have a chance at the playoffs and that's all that matters in the NFL. Loser: Bengals. I'm starting to think this franchise is cursed. I'm also starting to think I might need a new team. |
Not only did we list our winners and losers, but we also recapped every game from Sunday. If you want to listen -- and you definitely should -- you can click here. |
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2. Joe Burrow done for the season |
The Bengals have existed since 1968 and since then, they've basically suffered through 52 years of bad luck. During their game against Washington on Sunday, the Bengals saw their worst possible nightmare become a reality: Joe Burrow suffered a serious injury to his left knee. |
By the time you read this newsletter, there's a chance the diagnosis will be official, but here's what we know so far: |
Burrow is done for the year. This news comes from Burrow himself, who tweeted out "See ya next year" just minutes after the Bengals game concluded. Bengals fear the worst. CBS Sports NFL Insider Jason La Canfora has reported that the Bengals fear it's an ACL and MCL injury, but they won't know for sure until the results of the MRI come in. The Bengals obviously knew it was serious because Burrow was ruled out of the game just minutes after he was carted off the field. Recovery timeline. If Burrow did tear his ACL, he'll be looking at a recovery process that will take seven to nine months. The good news for the Bengals is that seven months would be the end of June, which means even if Burrow takes eight months, he should still be ready for the start of training camp. |
For a full look at his injury and the play where it happened, be sure to click here. |
3. Monday preview: Prepping you for Rams-Buccaneers |
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The older I get, the more I hate staying up late and although that might be weird thing to talk about right now, I'm only bringing it up because I'm pretty sure Tom Brady agrees with me. The man is 43 years old, he normally goes to bed at like 8 p.m. ET and because of that, I have to think he hates playing in primetime games. |
Is this the only explanation I can come up with for why the Buccaneers have been so bad in primetime game this year? Yes. Is it true? I have no idea. |
Anyway, I think the reason I'm telling you all of this is because the Buccaneers are favored by four points tonight and that feels like too many points for a team that's been outscored 81-47 in primetime games this year. |
With that in mind, let's take a look at a few nuggets from our Rams-Buccaneers preview. |
On the Rams end, Sean McVay is going to have to do everything in his power to make sure Jared Goff doesn't see much pressure in this game, because Goff is terrible when he's under pressure. In nine games this season, Goff has a QB rating of just 36.9 when facing pressure and the ugly part for him is that he's going up against a Tampa Bay defense that ranked second in the NFL in sacks going into Week 11. Don't be surprised if McVay calls a lot of short passes, wide receiver screens and jet sweeps so that Goff can get the ball out before Tampa Bay's pressure gets to him. As for the Buccaneers, their offensive line is a work in progress right now, which isn't great news for Tom Brady, who will be trying his best not to get destroyed by Aaron Donald. The Buccaneers have struggled against good defenses this year, totaling just 45 points in losses to the Bears, Saints and Saints. The Rams have a good defense, which means it could be a frustrating night for Brady. |
Breech's prediction: Rams 26-23 over Buccaneers. |
For a more in-depth preview on this game from Jared Dubin, be sure to click here. |
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4. Week 11 grades: Lions get an 'F' for embarrassing loss |
Every week, I team up with six of my colleagues here at CBSSports.com to hand out grades, and this week, the Detroit Lions failed out of our imaginary football school. Actually, it's probably more accurate to say that they were expelled because we don't want to see them around anymore after their performance on Sunday. Speaking of getting expelled, the Lions front office might want to think about expelling Matt Patricia from the team. |
Here's a look at the grades from two notable games that were played Sunday: |
Panthers 20, Lions 0 (Click here for full recap) |
Panthers takeaway: With Teddy Bridgewater and Christian McCaffrey both out, the Panthers knew they'd need a huge performance from their defense to win and that's exactly what they got. The defense sacked Matthew Stafford five times, held the Lions under 200 yards and pitched Carolina's first shutout since 2015. Grade: B+ |
Lions takeaway: It's not easy to get shut out in today's NFL, but the Lions managed to do it. The offense couldn't move the ball, the defense couldn't stop a former XFL quarterback (P.J. Walker) and all of that led to the Lions getting shut out for the first time since 2009. Matt Patricia's seat is so hot I can feel it from where I'm sitting and I live 535 miles away from Detroit. Grade: F |
Saints 24, Falcons 9 (Click here for full recap) |
Saints takeaway: For the past few years, it feels like all we've heard Sean Payton talk about is how Taysom Hill is destined to become the next Steve Young. Now, I'm not sure if that's going to happen, but Hill did look pretty good in this game. Not only did he throw for 233 yards, but he did something you never see from Drew Brees: He rushed 10 times for 51 yards and two touchdowns. For a deeper dive into Taysom Hill's first start, be sure to click here. Grade: A- |
Falcons takeaway: I'm not sure what happened at halftime in the Falcons' locker room, but whatever it was, it couldn't have been good, because Atlanta basically fell asleep at the wheel in the second half. After moving the ball pretty easily in the first half, the Falcons only made it into Saints territory one time in the second half. A lot of that probably had to do with the fact that Matt Ryan had zero time to throw in a game where he got sacked eight times. Grade: D |
As for the other 20 grades we handed out on Sunday, you can check those out by clicking here. |
5. NFL playoff picture heading into Monday night |
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I don't know how it happened, but there are only six weeks left in the season and since I'll be in a food coma for the next seven days, it's going to feel more like there's only five weeks left. With that in mind, it's time to take a look at the playoff picture heading into the end of Week 11. |
Two key things to remember before checking out the standings below is that SEVEN teams will be getting in and that only the top seed will be getting a bye. Also, the "First team out" is being listed because that team could be the last one in if the playoffs are expanded to 16 teams. That proposal has been approved, but the expansion to 16 will only happen if multiple regular season games are canceled and can't be made up. |
AFC 1. Steelers (10-0) 2. Chiefs (9-1) 3. Bills (7-3) 4. Colts (7-3) 5. Titans (7-3) 6. Browns (7-3) 7. Raiders (6-4) First team out: Ravens (6-4) |
The most notable part of the AFC playoff picture is that the Baltimore Ravens wouldn't be in the playoffs if the season ended today. Before the season started, the Ravens were favored to win the AFC North, but now, they look like a shell of the team that went 14-2 last season, which probably isn't even fair to say, because it's an insult to shells. |
NFC 1. Saints (8-2) 2. Packers (7-3) 3. Seahawks (7-3) 4. Eagles (3-6-1) 5. Buccaneers (7-3) 6. Rams (6-3) 7. Cardinals (6-4) First team out: Bears (5-5) |
The Monday night game between the Rams and Buccaneers could shake things up in the NFC, but only if Los Angeles wins. If Tampa Bay wins, then the Rams will flip flop with the Cardinals and everything else will stay the same. On the other hand, if the Rams pull off the upset, they'll move to the three-seed, the Seahawks will drop to the five-seed and the Buccaneers will fall one spot to sixth. Basically, you probably shouldn't print out this NFC playoff picture, because it's definitely going to be changing after tonight's game. |
6. NFC East is total chaos |
Somehow, the worst division in football is giving us the most competitive race. I've seen enough episodes of "The Bachelorette" to know that America loves trash television as long as it gives us drama and that's exactly what's happening with the NFC East. |
All four teams now have three wins on the season, which means this race is likely going to get pretty crazy down the stretch. I have no idea how the division is going to play out, but I'm going to try and predict it anyway. Let's take a look at the remaining opponents for each team plus my prediction for each team's final record. |
Eagles (3-6-1) Remaining schedule: Seahawks (7-3), at Green Bay (7-3), New Orleans (8-2), at Arizona (6-4), at Dallas, Washington. Schedule observation: All I have to say about this remaining slate is YIKES. Final record prediction: 4-11-1. |
Giants (3-7) Remaining schedule: at Bengals (2-7-1), at Seahawks (7-3), Cardinals (6-4), Browns (7-3), at Ravens (6-4), Cowboys. Schedule observation: If the Giants can beat the Cowboys and Bengals and then sneak one win out of the other four games, that actually might be enough to win the division. I don't think that's going to happen though. Final record prediction: 5-11. |
Cowboys (3-7) Remaining schedule: Washington, at Ravens (6-4), at Bengals (2-7-1), 49ers (4-6), Eagles, at Giants Schedule observation: In a division where everyone is terrible, having the most remaining divisional games is an advantage. If the Cowboys win two out of three divisional games AND beat the Bengals (Andy Dalton revenge game), that will get them to six wins and six wins is likely going to win this division. Final record prediction: 6-10. |
Washington (3-7) Remaining schedule: at Cowboys, at Steelers (10-0), at 49ers 4-6), Seahawks (7-3), Panthers (4-7), at Eagles. Schedule observation: Washington has to play three straight road games starting on Thanksgiving and let me just say that nothing kills your division title hopes quite like playing three straight road games starting on Thanksgiving. Final record prediction: 5-11. |
There you have it, I'm predicting the COWBOYS to win the division. Was there some sort of unconscious bias at play here because I'm Andy Dalton's biggest fan and because Dallas was my preseason prediction to win the division? Probably, but I'm still taking them. |
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7. The Kicker! |
Guys, I have a very important kicker update: There are only two kickers left who have made all their field goals this season. Going into Week 11, there were three kickers who were still perfect on the year, but now that number is down to TWO after Steelers kicker Chris Boswell missed a 45-yard field goal against the Jaguars. That leaves us with Jason Myers (Seahawks) and Mason Crosby (Packers) as the only two kickers who are still perfect on the season. |
Speaking of Crosby, he got into a kicking duel with Rodrigo Blankenship on Sunday and as we all know, the first rule of kicking is to never get in a kicking duel with someone who wears rec specs. Blankenship pulled off the most impressive kicking performance of Week 11 with four field goals, including three that came over the final nine minutes of Indy's 34-31 win over Green Bay. The final kick was a 39-yard field goal in overtime that gave the Colts the win. |
I'm very partial to overtime kicks because my dad (Jim Breech) holds the NFL record for most OT kicks without a miss. Speaking of my dad, I should probably call him this week and when I do, I'll be sure to tell him you guys said hi. See you Tuesday! |
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