Saints suddenly healthier vs. Bears
The Chicago Bears will be without a couple of key starters Sunday, while the New Orleans Saints will be getting a couple of impact players back in their NFC wild card game.
The Bears have ruled out leading tackler Roquan Smith and secondleading receiver Darnell Mooney for their wild card game against the New Orleans Saints on Sunday.
They were injured in the regular season finale against Green Bay and did not practice during the week. Smith injured his left elbow and Mooney suffered an ankle injury after setting career highs with 11 catches for 93 yards.
Smith’s injury leaves the Bears without a disruptive force at inside linebacker and makes containing the Saints much more difficult, particularly with star running back Alvin Kamara activated after missing last week’s win over Carolina because of COVID-19 concerns.
Smith had a career-high 139 tackles and ranked second in the league with 18 tackles for loss.
Kamara missed the regular-season finale last Sunday because of COVID-19 protocols, while Thomas was on injured reserve for the final three games because of a nagging ankle injury.
Kamara led the Saints in yards rushing (932) and yards receiving (756) in 15 games. He also set Saints records for TDs rushing in a season with 15 and total TDs in a season with 21. He was placed on the reserve/COVID-19 list last week after testing positive for the coronavirus.
The Saints also actiated wide receiver Michael Thomas, who has missed nine games this season because of the ankle issues but returned to practice this week. He had 40 catches for 438 yards and no touchdowns in seven games during the regular season.
Ravens at Titans: Both teams feature plenty of offensive weapons.
The Tennessee Titans average 30.7 points per game as the No. 2 scoring offense in the AFC.
Derrick Henry won his second straight rushing title with 2,027 yards, the fifth-most in NFL history. Ryan Tannehill has passed for 238.7 yards per game, with 33 TDs and seven interceptions. A.J. Brown is a Pro Bowl wideout with 1,075 yards receiving, and Corey Davis also had a career year with 984 yards receiving.
The Baltimore Ravens are almost as good, averaging 29.3 points per game, No. 4 in the AFC. They also lead the NFL in rushing at 191.9 yards per game. Quarterback Lamar Jackson is a 1,000yard rusher, and he passed for 26 TDs and nine interceptions. But the Ravens don’t have as many proven weapons as the Titans.
The Ravens tout the No. 1 scoring defense in the AFC, allowing 18.9 points per game. It has tremendous balance, ranking No. 2 in both rush defense and pass defense
Browns at Steelers: The Browns flew to Pittsburgh for the playoffs with some reinforcements – and missing some regulars.
Top cornerback Denzel Ward stayed in Cleveland as he recovers from COVID-19, leaving a massive hole in the Browns’ secondary as they get ready to face Ben Roethlisberger and the Steelers in an AFC wild-card game on Sunday night.
The Browns, who were limited to just two practices this week because of another wave of positive COVID-19 cases, including coach Kevin Stefanski, were hoping Ward would be back in time after he tested positive with the virus last week.
However, he’s not ready to return. Cleveland finally caught a bit of a break Saturday as safety Ronnie Harrison, tight end Harrison Bryant and linebacker Malcolm Smith were activated from the COVID-19 list, giving the Browns some much needed depth
Harrison’s a hard hitter and he’ll slow Pittsburgh’s run game, but the bigger issue for the Browns will be covering wide receivers Juju SmithSchuster or Chase Claypool.