| | | | Friday, September 6, 2024 | | Welcome to the Friday edition of the Pick Six newsletter! | | Football truly is a game of inches, and the Ravens found out the hard way during their loss to the Chiefs on Thursday night. On the final play of the game, Isaiah Likely appeared to catch a game-tying touchdown pass, but his toes were out of bounds. If his shoe had been two sizes smaller, the Ravens might have won. The moral of the story here: He needs smaller shoes. | | We'll be breaking down that play, plus taking a look at everything else that happened during Kansas City's 27-20 win. Not to mention, we'll be taking a trip to Brazil in today's newsletter. It won't be an actual trip because our budget isn't big enough for me to take all of you to Brazil, but we will be talking about the Packers-Eagles game, which will be kicking off tonight from Sao Paulo. | | As always, here's your daily reminder to tell all your friends to sign up for the newsletter. To get them signed up, all you have to do is click here. | | 1. Recapping the Chiefs' wild win over the Ravens: Seven things to know | | | | The Ravens 2024 season started the same way their 2023 season ended: With a seven-point loss to the Chiefs. | | If you missed the game, here's a quick breakdown of what happened: | | Ravens lose by inches. The final play of the game was a wild one. With five seconds left, the Ravens had the ball at Kansas City's 10-yard line, and Lamar Jackson appeared to hit Isaiah Likely for a game-tying touchdown. But after a review, the pass was ruled incomplete because Likely's toe was out-of-bounds by just CENTIMETERS. (There's a great angle of the play that you can see here .) If the catch had stood, John Harbaugh was going to go for the two-point conversion, but instead, the game ended on the incompletion. Lamar Jackson had an up-and-down night. The Ravens QB ended the game by throwing three straight incompletions from the 10-yard line. The ugliest one came on a play where he had Zay Flowers WIDE OPEN in the end zone (you can see how open Flowers was by watching the play here). Jackson actually said he was trying to throw the ball to Rashod Bateman, which actually makes his throw even worse. One play before that, Jackson also missed Likely in the end zone. Overall, Jackson was 1 of 8 in the red zone, and that 13% completion rate is the lowest single-game percentage in franchise history. Jackson struggled to throw down field at times and also lost a fumble in the first half, but he had plenty of highlights, too. He kept the Ravens alive with his legs on a night where he ran the ball 16 times for 122 yards. He also threw for 273 yards and a touchdown. Isaiah Likely might be the new star of the Ravens offense. With all eyes on Derrick Henry's debut, it was Likely who stole the show. The Ravens tight end caught nine passes for 111 yards, including a 49-yard TD in the second half that put Baltimore back in the game. Likely also came within inches of catching the game-tying touchdown. As for Henry, he scored Baltimore's opening touchdown, but overall, he carried the ball just 13 times for 46 yards. Patrick Mahomes might have a new favorite target. The Chiefs QB played mostly smart football on a night where he finished 20 of 28 for 291 yards and a touchdown. Mahomes' favorite receiver was Rashee Rice, who caught seven passes for 102 yards. No other Chiefs player caught more than three passes. Rice, who had some offseason legal issues, finished second on the team in receptions last season. With the way he played Thursday night, he might end up being the leader this year. Xavier Worthy shines in debut. The speedy rookie was one of the offensive stars for Kansas City. Although he only touched the ball three times in the game, he made the most of those touches. Not only did Worthy score on a 21-yard run (you can see the play here), but he also caught two passes for 47 yards in a touchdown. With his performance, Worthy became just the he third receiver since 1970 to score a rushing TD and a receiving TD in his NFL debut. (Rick Upchurch did it with the Broncos in 1975 and James Brim did it with the Vikings in 1987.)New kickoff rule ends up being a dud. The NFL implemented the new kickoff rule with the hope that it would to more returns, but that wasn't the case Thursday night. Of the 11 kickoffs in the game, only two of them were returned. Only 22% of kickoffs were returned last year, which was a record low. The NFL wants to see more returns, but instead, they got less Thursday night with only 18.2% of the kicks being returned. Ravens get burnt by new officiating emphasis. For the 2024 season, the NFL has told its officiating crews to be on the lookout for illegal formation penalties. During the opener, the Ravens got flagged FIVE times for illegal formation while the Chiefs were penalized zero times. It was a difference that didn't sit well with Ravens offensive lineman Ronnie Stanley, who said the officials were trying to make an example of him. Ravens shot themselves in the foot. When it comes down to it, the difference in this game was mistakes: The Ravens made some big ones and the Chiefs didn't. The Ravens had a nightmare stretch during the first half where they lost a fumble, missed a field goal and failed on a fourth down, and all of that happened on consecutive possessions. The fumble by Jackson led to a Chiefs field goal. The missed kick by Justin Tucker was from 53 yards, and the Ravens kicker is now just 1 of 6 on his last seven attempts from beyond 50 yards. | | And just in case you were wondering, Taylor Swift WAS at the game. The Chiefs are now 11-3 when the pop star attends their games. | | Anyway, if you want to check out more of our takeaways from the game, be sure to click here. | | | | 2. NFL set to invade Brazil: Everything you need to know about Eagles-Packers in Sao Paulo | | For the first time ever, the NFL will be holding a game in South America, and that will be going down Friday with the Eagles playing the Packers. This matchup will mark the first time since 1970 that the NFL has held a Week 1 game on a Friday. | | If you're planning to watch this game on TV, you better make some different plans, because the game won't be televised. The game will be streaming exclusively on Peacock, although it will be on TV for people who live in Philadelphia or Green Bay. | | Here's what to look for tonight: | | Why the Eagles can win: Saquon Barkley will be playing in his first game with the Eagles, and he could make a statement right away. Barkley will be going up against a Packers defense that surrendered the fifth-most rushing yards in the NFL last season. The Packers went 2-5 last season when they surrendered 145 yards or more on the ground, and if the Eagles rushing attack gets anywhere near that number, that likely means Philly will be in control of the game. The other upside for the Eagles is if the Packers focus on stopping Barkley, then A.J. Brown and Devonta Smith could go off. Of course, there could be a learning curve for the Eagles on offense since they'll be breaking in a new offensive coordinator in Kellen Moore. Why the Packers can win: This will likely come down to Jordan Love. He was one of the best quarterbacks inthe NFL over the second half of the season, and he'll be going up against an Eagles defense that surrendered the second-most passing yards in the NFL last year. The Eagles have revamped their secondary, but they'll be starting one rookie (Quinyon Mitchell) with another (Cooper Dejean) likely getting some solid playing time, which makes this feel like a defense Love should be able to take advantage of. | | You can get a full preview of the game from Cody Benjamin by clicking here. | | The NFL's first game in South America has been an adventure so far. Here's what you need to know: | | Eagles were asked not to wear green. The game will be played at Corinthians arena, and since the Brazilian soccer team that normally plays there (Corinthians) has a rivalry with a team that wears green, wearing green is highly frowned upon in the stadium. According to the Associated Press , Corinthians actually asked the Eagles not to wear green. The colors for Corinthians are black and white, which is why the Eagles decided to sport a black and white look for tonight (Black helmet, white jersey, black pants). It's OK for road teams to wear green, so the Packers will be wearing their green uniform. You can read more about the situation here. Packers stuck in a bizarre hotel situation. The Eagles are staying at a hotel near the stadium, but the Packers decided to stay a little bit further away. The problem there is that due to Sao Paulo traffic, it could take the Packers 1.5 to two hours to get to the game tonight, CBS Sports lead NFL insider Jonathan Jones has reported. That's quite the hike and definitely puts the Eagles at a small advantage. You'd think the Packers would have looked to stay closer to the stadium, but instead, they chose a hotel that was out of the way. X is banned in Brazil. There are plenty of NFL reporters down in Brazil right now, but they won't be able to offer updates on the social media site formerly known as Twitter because it has been BANNED in Brazil. It will be interesting to see how the NFL handles things along with the Packers and Eagles social media teams. Players weren't thrilled with going to Brazil. Eagles star Darius Slay was one of multiple players who said they would probably spend the entire trip in their hotel because they were worried about the crime rate in Brazil . So far, things have gone off without a hitch, and by the end of this trip, it won't be surprising if the players change their tune about the trip. NFL planning on returning to Brazil. During an interview this week, Roger Goodell said the NFL is planning to play seven international games in 2025, and the current plan is for one those to be in Brazil. You can read more about that here. | | Finally, if you're wondering who we're picking, here's who we have tonight: | Cody's pick: Packers 27-26 over Eagles
My pick: Eagles 27-24 over Packers | | Over on our CBS Sports picks page, six of our eight experts are taking the Packers to win. You can see our picks for this game, along with all of our other picks for Week 1 here. | | 3. NFL Week 1 picks: Steelers and Lions both go down | | | | Everyone loves reading picks -- at least I think everyone loves reading picks -- which is why we're giving some out today. | | I rounded up five NFL experts -- Pete Prisco, along with Will Brinson, Jordan Dajani, Tyler Sullivan and myself -- and I asked them kindly to give me one pick for the newsletter. | | Here's how things are going to work: I'm going to give you one pick from each guy and then direct you to the rest of their picks. That way, if you like their pick, you'll be able to go through all of their Week 1 picks, but if they pick against your favorite team, you can ignore the rest of their picks and move on. | | Pete Prisco -- Falcons (-3) 23-17 over Steelers. From Prisco: "Wilson and the Steelers didn't look good in the preseason, but Cousins didn't play and is coming off a torn Achilles. The Steelers defense will be a tough matchup, but I think the Falcons will be able to turn over Wilson and get some short fields. Falcons win it at home." For the rest of Prisco's Week 1 picks, be sure to click here. Tyler Sullivan -- Texans (-2.5) 27-17 over Colts. From Sullivan: "Houston has won and covered in its last eight games against AFC South opponents while the Colts are 0-8-1 ATS in Week 1 dating to 2015." For the rest of Sullivan's Week 1 picks, be sure to click here.Will Brinson -- Titans (+3.5) to cover against Bears. From Brinson: "Everyone loves the Bears this year, and with good reason. But their expectations have gotten a bit inflated and we are talking about a rookie quarterback in Caleb Williams. A hiccup or two wouldn't be shocking." For the rest of Brinson's Week 1 best bets, be sure to click here.Jordan Dajani -- Dolphins (-3.5) 30-24 over Jaguars. From Dajani: "The Dolphins have one of the most explosive offenses in the league, and the defense is now headed by Anthony Weaver, who comes over from Baltimore. The Dolphins are 10-1 straight up and 9-2 against the spread as a favorite when Tua Tagovailoa starts, so give me Miami in Week 1." For the rest of Dajani's Week 1 best bets, be sure to click here.John Breech -- Rams (+3) 30-27 over Lions. Matthew Stafford probably circled this game on his calendar four seconds after the schedule came out in May. After losing to the Lions during last year's playoffs, I have to think Stafford would love nothing more than to finally get a win against his old team. It won't be quite make up for the playoff loss, but it will probably still feel good. For the rest of my Week 1 picks, be sure to click here. | | For more Week 1 NFL picks, you can check out out our CBSSports.com picks page here. | | | | 4. Quarterbacks with the most to prove in 2024 | | It seems like almost every quarterback in the NFL -- besides Patrick Mahomes -- will be looking to prove themselves this season. Some are looking prove they can still play, some are looking to prove they deserve the huge contract extension they just got, and some are looking to prove they can be a franchise QB for their team. | | So who has the most to prove? Cody Benjamin came up with a few names. | | Jets QB Aaron Rodgers. "Rodgers has little to prove from a career perspective; he's already a safe bet for the Pro Football Hall of Fame as one of the game's most accomplished precision passers. In terms of late-stage legacy, however, it all boils down to whether he can live up to the Super Bowl aspirations that instantly flooded into New Jersey upon his trade from the Green Bay Packers in 2023. Going on 41, coming off an Achilles tear that robbed him of all but four snaps in his Gang Green debut, Rodgers is looking to show the world once and for all that he's still got gas in the tank as the headlining leader of a playoff-caliber lineup."Steelers QB Russell Wilson. "Settling for a one-year, prove-it deal and fending off fellow outcast Justin Fields in a summer competition, Wilson once boasted dual-threat magic for a contender. At 35 on a perpetually scrappy but often unspectacular Steelers squad, this might be his last crack at a top job."Browns QB Deshaun Watson. "Since being traded to Cleveland, here's what the former Texans star has provided for the Browns: Barely 12 games of healthy availability, a 59% pass completion rate, and nearly as many turnovers (11) as touchdown throws (14)." | | It's definitely worth checking out Cody's full list, which you can do that here. | | 5. NFL coaches on the hot seat heading into 2024 | | | | The NFL season hasn't even started for 30 of the league's 32 teams, but believe it or not, there are definitely already some coaches on the hot seat. Before the meat of the Week 1 schedule kicks off this weekend, we thought we should unveil our initial hot seat rankings for 2024, so that's what we're going to do today. | | Jeff Kerr handles the hot seat rankings around these parts, and here are five coaches sitting on the hottest seat heading into Week 1: | 1. Mike McCarthy (Cowboys)
2. Robert Saleh (Jets)
3. Dennis Allen (Saints)
4. Nick Sirianni (Eagles)
5. Brian Daboll (Giants) | | If you want to know why 75% of the NFC East made it on this list, you'll have to click here so you can read Kerr's full explanation for his rankings. | | | | 6. Extra points: Russell Wilson dealing with calf issue | | It's been a busy 24 hours in the NFL, and since it's nearly impossible to keep track of everything that happened, I went ahead and put together a roundup for you. | | Wilson's first start with Steelers in jeopardy. Wilson was limited in practice on Thursday after letting the team know that he was dealing with tightness in his calf. The 35-year-old originally suffered the injury at the beginning of training camp and the fact that it's still bothering him definitely isn't a good sign. If Wilson can't go, then the Steeiers will roll with Justin Fields for their opener against the Falcons. Jalen Ramsey gets huge extension. The Dolphins have agreed to a three-year, $72.3 million extension with Ramsey that will pay the cornerback an average of $24.1 million per year, which makes him the new highest-paid corner in the NFL. Patrick Surtain earned that title earlier this week, but he only go to hold it for a couple of days, before Ramsey passed him. DeAndre Hopkins trying to play through MCL tear . The Titans receiver said he tore his MCL about a month ago and that he's going to try and PLAY THROUGH the injury this year. "I had the MCL tear maybe four and a half, five weeks ago so the thing about those is it takes a whole year for them to heal," Hopkins said this week, via paulkuharsky.com . "Obviously, it's pain at that point." Hopkins is planning to play on Sunday against the Bears, but if the injury gets worse, he could be forced to undergo surgery, which could sideline him for a month or two. Cowboys have made progress on contract extension with Dak. With less than 48 hours to go until the start of the season for the Cowboys, it appears that a deal with Dak Prescott could still happen. Prescott said on Thursday that both sides are still working hard to get a deal done. Chiefsaholic gets 17.5 years in jail. Chiefs superfan Xaviar Babudar got sentenced to nearly 20 years in jail on Thursday after pleading guilty to a string of 11 bank robberies that took place in seven different states. You can read more about Babudar's sentence here. | | | | | | | | NFL Kickoff | | Big Ten on CBS | New season, new rules, new action and it all starts SUNDAY! Watch your local game live this Sunday at 1 ET on CBS and streaming on Paramount+.
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