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Bengals WR Ja’Marr Chase (hip) expected to play Week 13 vs. Chiefs | NFL.com
The streaking Cincinnati Bengals should have Ja’Marr Chase back for Week 13’s showdown with the Kansas City Chiefs.
Chase is expected to return this week after missing the past four games due to a hip injury, NFL Network Insider Ian Rapoport reported Monday, per a source informed of the plan.
The star wideout was close to returning for Sunday’s 20-16 win over the Tennessee Titans, but the Bengals played it safe.
Last week, Chase was limited in practice and listed as questionable before being ruled out.
Getting the second-year pro back for the stretch run would be a big boon for the Bengals’ playoff chances. In seven games this season, Chase has surpassed the 125-yard barrier three times. He has 605 total receiving yards on 47 catches with six touchdowns on the season.
Rams-Chiefs: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly | Turf Show Times (Los Angeles Rams SB Nation site)
The defense bends but does not break
The defense for LA did allow the Chiefs offense to go 350+ yards on offense, but they also made multiple goal line stands that kept the game within reach, unfortunately for them they play with one of the worst offenses in the league. The Rams were up against one of the best red zone offenses in the NFL and forced three field goals and had a crucial interception when their backs were against a wall. There are plenty of issues that will need to be sorted out next year, but for now give credit where credit is due.
The First Read, Week 13: Players who could be stretch-run heroes; Chargers’ staying power | NFL.com
2 - Isiah Pacheco
Kansas City Chiefs · RB
The Chiefs have been using a combination of backs all season (veteran acquisition Melvin Gordon promises to be the latest to join the fray), but Pacheco, a seventh-round pick in this year’s draft, has become the best of the bunch. He’s a violent runner who brings an intriguing combination of speed and power to this backfield. To be blunt, Kansas City’s offense simply looks different when Pacheco is on the field. Chiefs head coach Andy Reid was so enamored with this rookie’s skill set that Reid named Pacheco the starter prior to the team’s win over San Francisco on Oct. 23. The head coach wanted to get Pacheco more touches, and that’s exactly what has happened since that point. Pacheco has averaged 18 carries and 86 rushing yards over the last three games. The Chiefs had hoped former first-round pick Clyde Edwards-Helaire, who’s currently on injured reserve with an ankle injury, could be this type of runner. Instead, he’s lost his job to a player who came out of nowhere.
1. The NFL will think seriously about flexing out of a Sunday night Patrick Mahomes game on Dec. 11. Weird to think about, because Mahomes and Kansas City are ratings gold. But Mahomes flogging the incompetent Broncos—just when you think Denver can’t play worse on offense, this shockingly bad team always does—would not be ratings gold. Denver has done nothing to show it can play competitively with Kansas City. Having Mahomes on in prime time is great, but not if the game’s a slaughter in the middle of the second quarter. Three other candidates for the league to consider: Dolphins-Chargers, Eagles-Giants, Bucs-Niners. Tampa Bay-San Francisco has been protected by FOX, which would have to lift that (and maybe it would if it could get a Mahomes game cross-flexed in exchange). Taking the Philly game away would leave FOX very light in the early Sunday window, with only two games there. The Giants will be on a major slide if they lose to Washington this week anyway. I’d flex into the Tua-Herbert show. Miami’s been underexposed, and America should get to know an exciting team it could be seeing a lot of come the postseason. Roger Goodell will make the call by late tonight, to be announced Tuesday, if there’s a flex.
On Oct. 28, Jones tweeted, “Sure would like a RELEASE right about now.” That was amid a 10-week stretch when he was announced as a game-day inactive behind Chiefs running backs Edwards-Helaire, Isiah Pacheco and Jerick McKinnon.
Jones spoke about that comment Sunday night, saying it resulted from him being a competitor.
“You know me, man. Gotta get out there. Gotta get the touches. Gotta feed the family,” Jones said. “It’s a kids’ game at the end of the day. Just having fun with it.”
Jones, in early November, declined comment regarding the tweet. When asked about it on Nov. 4, coach Andy Reid said Jones would be playing for most teams even if things hadn’t worked that way yet with the Chiefs.
“Listen, I appreciate his passion,” Reid said on Nov. 4. “He didn’t have to do all that (with the tweet), but I appreciate his passion.”
Read more at: https://www.kansascity.com/sports/nfl/kansas-city-chiefs/article269278462.html#storylink=cpy
Round 1 - Pick 31
BJ Ojulari EDGE
LSU • JR • 6’3” / 250 LBS
Ojulari, whose brother played at Georgia and plays for the Giants, has had a solid campaign for the Tigers, and he has many of the same explosive qualities that made his brother so hard to block for the Bulldogs. Ojulari could end up being better than Azeez, and that’s saying something.
Around the NFL
2022 NFL season, Week 12: What We Learned from Steelers’ win over Colts on Monday | NFL.com
Kenny Pickett is starting to figure it out. The rookie isn’t lighting up the stat sheet, nor is he compiling a highlight reel for the ages, but with each week, Pickett is taking positive steps toward becoming a quality NFL quarterback. He completed 20 of 28 passes for 174 yards and a passer rating of 87.5, but it wasn’t about the numbers Monday night. Pickett looked composed, decisive and made the plays necessary to keep scoring drives going. What was most impressive was how Pickett navigated the pocket, escaped when necessary, and consistently found targets downfield for important completions. It’s not as if he’s playing behind a steel wall — Yannick Ngakoue had a short outburst of sacks that exposed Pittsburgh’s inconsistencies up front — but Pickett’s mobility and athleticism are precisely what a young quarterback needs to overcome a lack of reliable protection. Again, his numbers aren’t gaudy and won’t win any awards, but those who watched the game Monday night will likely agree: Pickett went out and won the game (with the help of a number of teammates).
Browns activate Deshaun Watson after ban, waive Joshua Dobbs | ESPN
Cleveland officially added Deshaun Watson to its 53-man roster Monday, clearing the way for his Browns debut Sunday against his former team, the Houston Texans.
The Browns waived quarterback Joshua Dobbs in a corresponding move.
Watson served an 11-game suspension for violating the league’s personal conduct policy by committing sexual assault, as defined by the NFL, on massage therapists. He was also fined $5 million and has had to undergo a mandatory treatment program.
Watson’s return Sunday will mark exactly 700 days since he last played in a regular-season game (with the Texans on Jan. 3, 2021).
In case you missed it on Arrowhead Pride
Andy Reid says Nick Bolton is ‘definitely having an All-Pro-type season’
The turnovers have been the only thing missing from the surging Kansas City defense. Following its Week 8 bye — and despite solid defensive performances — the team failed to force any turnovers for two straight games. But in the past two weeks, the defense has accumulated four turnovers — three of them interceptions that Bolton credits to simply being more focused when there are opportunities to make plays.
“We’re just catching the balls that come to us,” noted Bolton. “We had a couple early in the year that we just dropped, so we just kind of made a focus on that — and just get the ones they give us. [We want to] execute down the stretch and try to get our hands on as many footballs as we can.”
Bolton’s impact on Sunday (and over the course of the season) has caught the attention of head coach Andy Reid.
“His ability to tackle in tight areas — and then also in the field, I think — is big,” observed the coach. “He’ll tell you that it helps to have a good defensive line, too. But he’s definitely having an All-Pro-type season. He’s [a] heck of a football player.”
A tweet to make you think
PMIII https://t.co/FnatroMNLA
— Arrowhead Pride (@ArrowheadPride) November 29, 2022
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