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| Monday, November 30, 2020 |
| It's Monday, and as crazy it sounds, I have to get something off my chest: I'm actually a fan of Mondays, unless it's the Monday after a holiday, then I hate them, except for this one, because it's Cyber Monday and I love buying things. |
| Speaking of Cyber Monday, I didn't expect to see any special deals from the NFL, but apparently, the league has decided to give us a three-for-one special in the form of a day after Christmas tripleheader. That's right, there are going to be three games played on Dec. 26 and the best part about that is that it's a Saturday. |
| Here's the just announced Saturday schedule for Week 16: |
| 1 p.m. ET: Buccaneers at Lions (NFL Network) 4:30 p.m. ET: 49ers at Cardinals (Amazon Prime Video and Twitch) 8:15 p.m. ET: Dolphins at Raiders (NFL Network) |
| The main takeaway here is that you're probably going to want to subscribe to Amazon Prime between now and Dec. 26, because that's the only way you're going to be able to watch the 49ers-Cardinals game. On my end, I spend 90% of my internet time during the holiday season on Amazon anyway, so the fact that this game is being exclusively streamed on Prime makes no difference to me. |
| Alright, let's get to the newsletter, because we have a lot to talk about. The 49ers are being kicked out of their stadium, the Raiders fell flat on their face and no one seems to know if the Ravens-Steelers game is going to be played tomorrow, which is an issue, because the game is only 24 hours away. As always, if you want to share this newsletter with everyone you know, I will not be offended. Just click here to grab the link and then send that link to everyone on your email list or just sign them up without telling them. That's what I did with my family. |
| 1. Today's Show: Week 12 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 12 and let me just say, it's probably for the best that you listen. If you're anything like me and you were filled up on wine and turkey for the past 72 hours, then the entire weekend was likely a blur, so this will help you remember it. |
| One thing we do every week is hand out our weekly winners and losers from Sunday's action. For our winners this week, Ryan picked a team that doesn't even have a stadium to play in right now, Brinson picked an interim coach and I picked the Titans because Derrick Henry said he'd run me over if I didn't. |
| Ryan Wilson |
| Winner: 49ers. Sure, the 49ers have been kicked out of their stadium for the next three weeks, but I'm guessing they don't care and that's because they're back in the NFC playoff race. After upsetting the Rams on Sunday, San Francisco is now just one game out of the final wild-card spot and when you look at the teams they're contending with, the 49ers feel like the best bet. Loser: Raiders. The Raiders should probably just start forfeiting all of their games in the Eastern Time Zone because they're painful to watch. |
| Will Brinson |
| Winner: Raheem Morris. Morris might not get the Falcons head coaching job, but he's making a strong case that someone should hire him. The Falcons are 4-2 under Morris after trouncing the Raiders on Sunday. I don't get to use the word trouncing often, so you know it was a beatdown. Loser: Bears. Brinson has spent the past eight weeks calling the Bears frauds and Bears fans hated him for it, but at this point, I think even they would agree that the Bears are frauds. After losing to the Packers, the Bears are now just the second team in NFL history to lose five straight games after starting a season 5-1. |
| John Breech |
| Winner: Titans. If you have Derrick Henry on your team, you're always a winner in my book. Henry makes a living off of running over people late in the season and unfortunately for the rest of the NFL, it's late in the season. Also, as someone who lives in Nashville, I'm just trying to earn some brownie points with my neighbors. Hopefully, they'll send a holiday gift card my way for the nice words. Loser: Cardinals. Two weeks ago, the Cardinals were 6-3 and seemed like a lock for the playoffs, but now, I'm starting to feel like they're not going to make it. I'm not sure if it's because Kliff Kingsbury is too handsome for his own good or if someone in Arizona made a deal with the devil to get that win over the Bills back in Week 10, but the Cards are 0-2 since winning on that Hail Mary. |
| 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. Ravens-Steelers game still up in the air |
| This game was originally supposed to be played on Thanksgiving and now, it's starting to feel like it's never going to be played. After being postponed from Thanksgiving to Sunday, the NFL had to postpone it again to Tuesday due to a COVID outbreak with the Ravens. Although the NFL has been insisting that the game will happen tomorrow, there's still a very good chance that it gets moved. |
| The biggest problem for the NFL is that players in Baltimore keep testing positive. Over the past eight days, the Ravens have added 18 players to the reserve/COVID-19 list, including Lamar Jackson and SEVEN other offensive starters. The Steelers have also added five players to their COVID list, including James Connor. |
| Not only are the Ravens down multiple starters, but they also haven't practiced since Nov. 21. The Ravens were supposed to practice on Monday morning, but the NFL called them and told them to hold off until at least 5 p.m., which is when the team's next batch of COVID tests are supposed to come in. If the new batch shows any new positive tests, it won't be surprising at all if the game gets postponed. |
| At this point, the NFL is running out of options. If the game can't be played this week, it's going to force the NFL to add a Week 18, but that's only if the game has playoff implications. If we get to Week 18 and the game wouldn't have any bearing on playoff seedings, then the NFL could just cancel it. If I were the NFL, I'd try to move the game to Thursday (Dec. 3) and then have both the Ravens (vs. Cowboys) and Steelers (vs. Washington) play on Tuesday in Week 13. |
| My personal opinion is that the league should move the game to Thursday, but the NFL never listens to me. |
| 3. Monday preview: Prepping you for Seahawks-Eagles |
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| The NFC East might be the worst division in football, but that's actually going to work out in our favor tonight, because that's one thing that's going to make this game watchable. Normally, I try to avoid Eagles games, but I'll be watching this one because if they win, they'll have first place all to themselves in the NFC East. |
| Actually, there's a lot on the line for both teams. The Seahawks will also be in first place in their division with a win, but will fall out of first place with a loss. |
| With that in mind, let's take a look at a few nuggets from our Seahawks-Eagles preview. |
| The Seahawks have spent the entire season trying to "Let Russ Cook" and if there's one game where they should just hand him the keys to the kitchen, it's definitely this one. The Eagles secondary hasn't been great this year, which means there's a good chance we're going to see the Seahawks throwing the ball more than usual tonight. If you have Russell Wilson or Tyler Lockett or D.K. Metcalf on your fantasy team and you need a big night from them to pull out a win, you might want to stay up for this game, because that big night might actually happen. As for the Eagles, they have so many injuries every year that I never know who's healthy and who's not. The only person I know for sure who will be on the field in this game is Carson Wentz, which may or may not be a good thing for Philly. Wentz has struggled so much this year -- he's thrown a league-leading 14 interceptions -- that Jalen Hurts has apparently been taking some snaps with the first team offense. The Eagles are banged up on offense and the Seahawks will be rested after getting 11 days off, which seems like a recipe for disaster if you're Philadelphia. |
| Breech's prediction: Seahawks 30-27 over Eagles. |
| 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: Raiders 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, we had to seriously consider expelling Derek Carr from our imaginary football school after his ugly performance against the Falcons. |
| Here's a look at the grades from two notable games that were played Sunday: |
| Falcons 43, Raiders 6 (Click here for full recap) |
| Falcons takeaway: The Falcons went into this game with one of the worst defenses in the NFL, but you wouldn't know that based on the way they played. Not only did they force five turnovers (including a pick-six from Deion Jones), but they also limited Josh Jacobs to just 27 yards on the ground. Oh, and they also sacked Derek Carr five times and didn't surrender a touchdown. Grade: A+ |
| Raiders takeaway: If you bet on Derek Carr to win the MVP this year, you should just go ahead and set that ticket on fire, because he played his way right out of the conversation on Sunday. The Raiders turned the ball over five times in this game with four of those coming from Carr, who lost three fumbles and threw a pick-six. Grade: F |
| Titans 45, Colts 26 (Click here for full recap) |
| Titans takeaway: Derrick Henry's nickname should probably be the human steamroller after what he did to the Colts. The Titans running back rushed for 170 yards and three touchdowns as Tennessee coasted to a win in this AFC South showdown. Grade: A |
| Colts takeaway: We finally got the answer to the age old riddle, "What happens when your two best defensive tackles can't play in a game where your team is going up against Derrick Henry?" With DeForest Buckner and Denico Autry both on the sideline, the Colts had no chance to stop Henry. The Colts offense also looked out of sync. It was an ugly loss all-around. 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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| For fans of the Jets and Jaguars, you guys can skip this section, because both teams have officially been eliminated from playoff contention. For everyone else, let's take a look at the playoff picture. |
| 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 end up making that playoffs if the NFL ends up expanding the postseason to 16 teams. That proposal has already been approved, but the expansion to 16 will only happen if multiple regular season games are canceled and can't be made up. For instance, if the Ravens-Steelers game got canceled, that could nudge the NFL |
AFC
1. Steelers (10-0)
2. Chiefs (10-1)
3. Titans (8-3)
4. Bills (8-3)
5. Browns (8-3)
6. Dolphins (7-4)
7. Colts (7-4)
First team out: Ravens (6-4) |
| The most notable part of the AFC playoff picture is that the CLEVELAND BROWNS are currently the top wild-card team. Am I jinxing them by pointing this out? Probably, but after 18 years of missing the postseason, I'm starting to think that the Browns are the one team where being jinxed might actually work in their favor. We should all be rooting for a Browns-Bills wild-card game, because that means someone has to win, which would be weird, because neither of those teams has won a playoff game this century. |
NFC
1. Saints (9-2)
2. Packers (8-3)
3. Seahawks (7-3)
4. Giants (4-7)
5. Rams (7-4)
6. Buccaneers (7-5)
7. Cardinals (6-5)
First team out: Vikings (5-6) |
| The Monday night game between the Seahawks and Eagles could shake things up in the NFC, so don't print out this NFC playoff picture and hand it to your friends just yet. If the Eagles win, they'll move to first place in the NFC East, which will bump the Giants off this list. An Eagles win will also drop the Seahawks from the third seed to the fifth seed and move the Rams up to No. 3. If the Seahawks win, they'll jump up to the two-seed and the Packers will fall to three. |
| 6. 49ers being booted out of Levi's Stadium |
| If you have a guest room at your house that's going to be available for the next few weeks, you might want to give the 49ers a call, because they need a place to crash. The 49ers have been kicked out of Levi's Stadium after Santa Clara County, where the stadium is located, issued new COVID-19 regulations that include a temporary ban on all high school, collegiate, and professional sports for at least the next three weeks. |
| The 49ers are trying to convince the county to make an exception for them, but it's looking like that's not going to happen. If the county doesn't change its mind, the 49ers will have at least two home games that need to be moved. |
Week 13 (Dec. 7): Bills
Week 14 (Dec. 13): Washington |
| As things stand now, the most likely scenario is that the 49ers play those two games in Arizona. The 49ers' schedule for 2020 was actually designed so that all of their home games could be moved to Arizona in the event that the state of California didn't allow professional sporting events to be played this year. |
| Although this move is going to turn the 49ers into nomads, it might be for the best and that's because they're 1-4 at Levi's Stadium this year, but 4-2 at all other stadiums. |
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| 7. The Kicker! |
| The newsletter usually ends on a high note with this section, but not this week and that's because we have some sad news. Colts punter Rigoberto Sanchez has been diagnosed with cancer and will be taking some time off to deal with it. Sanchez is expected to undergo surgery on Tuesday. The good news in all of this is that Sanchez's doctors caught the tumor before it spread all over his body. |
| Get better Rigoberto! |
| See you guys Tuesday! |
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