BILLS FINALLY PRIME-TIME AGAIN
Buffalo’s upcoming clash with Steelers moved to prestigious Sunday night slot
The NFL makes some wise decisions and one to applaud was moving the Buffalo Bills-Pittsburgh Steelers game on Dec. 15 from an afternoon time slot to Sunday Night Football.
The first time the surprising Bills have played on Sunday night in a dozen years will have serious wild card ramifications for both sides.
A win at Heinz Field could move Buffalo past the New England Patriots atop the AFC East. Wouldn’t that be refreshing?
Meanwhile, losing the prime time slot as a result will be the Minnesota Vikings and Los Angeles Chargers, and we can all be thankful for not having to watch Philip Rivers’ career continue to fade into oblivion.
It’s just too bad something can’t be done about this week. It’s much easier to move Sunday games than it is to change a Thursday or Monday nighter — and when the schedules came out, the two bookend matchups had some appeal.
They still do, to a certain extent. But while the 6-6 Bears need a home-field victory to keep alive their slim playoff hopes and the 6-6 Cowboys are clinging to top spot in the NFC East, the game isn’t exactly lining up as a classic.
Of their combined 12 wins, the Bears and Cowboys have beaten one team that currently has a winning record. That was Chicago’s 16-6 victory over Minnesota Sept. 29.
The Bears are 3-1 in their last four and Dallas is 3-6 in its last nine, yet the visitors are 2 1/2 point favourites. Deservingly so. Then there’s a Monday night matchup that lacks much enticement. The Eagles are mathematically alive, but even coach Doug Pederson said the fact they still have a playoff shot is “crazy.”
The dreadful Giants, meanwhile, have lost eight in a row. Of the millions of eyes in the New York market, most are covered when either of their NFL teams take the field these days.
The one reason to take a peek at the Giants this week will be to get a last look at Eli Manning, who is scheduled to start with rookie Daniel Jones nursing a high-ankle sprain.
The two-time Super Bowl winner will presumably move past Ben Roethlisberger into seventh place all-time in passing yards (he’s currently eight yards back), but depending on how long Jones is out, this may be his last hurrah, or it could also be the start of Manning’s fourgame sendoff into retirement.
The thing is, everyone is expecting the 38-year old to hang them up later this month, even though he sounds reluctant to go anywhere.
“You never want to make a decision about your future while you’re still kind of living in the present and don’t know the circumstances of what could happen,” Manning said Wednesday. “Just got to go out there and try to get a win for the Giants … I’ll analyze everything else after the season.”
Its probably time for Manning to walk away from the game and get ready to be fitted for a Hall of Fame jacket. But here’s hoping we still see him on TV — making more entertaining commercials with his brother. HANDING OVER THE KEYS: In their must-win game against the Dallas Cowboys tonight, the Chicago Bears must buy some time for quarterback Mitch Trubisky. It won’t be easy. According to ESPN Analytics, the Cowboys
have the league’s best passrush win rate — a statistic that measures how often pass-rushers beat their block within 2 1/2 seconds. Applying most of the heat at the instruction of Cowboys defensive co-ordinator Rod Marinelli — who held the same post with the Bears from 2010-12 — will be Robert Quinn (9 1/2 sacks), Michael Bennett (5 1/2 sacks) DeMarcus Lawrence (5 sacks) and Maliek Collins (4 sacks). Quinn ranks first in the pass-rush win rate.
Thanks to their pass rush, Cowboys have held opponents to a 32.45 per cent success rate on third downs, third best in the league.
“They’re a team, a defence, that gets home with four guys,” Bears coach Matt Nagy told reporters in Chicago. “They can get after you.”
QUICK SNAP: You would have to think the Panthers have already made up their mind about what they’re going to do with Cam Newton, who was into his ninth year as their starting quarterback before going down with a season-ending foot injury in Week 2.
According to reports, Newton has decided to have surgery, with hopes he’s as good as new in plenty of time to prepare for the 2020 campaign. But there are no guarantees and the new coach the Panthers hire will want to know who his guy is.
Newton has one more year on his contract with a cap hit of $21.1 million. The Panthers can cut him and free up $19 million in cap space.
On Instagram, Newton said he was “hurt deep” by the firing of Rivera, the only coach he has known in the NFL.
“Will be forever grateful because of the impact you had on my life,” he wrote.
“Thank you for giving me an opportunity. Thank you for believing in me. I can go on and on, but most importantly, thank you for allowing me to be me.”
If the 30-year old Newton is set free, he could very well wind up reunited with Rivera on any team that hires him as coach.