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The latest
Denver Broncos safety Kareem Jackson has been suspended for four games | Mile High Report
Jackson was flagged for unnecessary roughness and ejected from the game because of this hit. He is a repeat offender and has now been ejected from a game twice this season, so a bigger punishment was coming. He was fined heavily earlier in the season but now, the NFL is coming in much stronger and suspending him for four games.
NFL’s Vice President of Football Operations Jon Runyan issued the suspension of Jackson had explained his reasoning. In the release, Runyan stated that Jackson delivered a “forceful blow to the head/neck area of a defenseless receiver when you had time and space to avoid such contact”. He continued by saying that Jackson could have made a legal hit on Musgrave but “you chose not to”.
In week one, Jackson hit Raiders receiver Jakobi Meyers in the head/neck area and left him concussed on the field. The following week vs. the Commanders, Jackson hit tight end Logan Thomas in the head/neck area and was ejected from that game and fined heavily. So, there is unfortunately a pattern here and one the NFL is clearly not a fan of.
Jackson will reportedly appeal his four-game suspension so we shall see if the suspension gets lowered here in the coming days.
Scott Van Pelt’s One Big Thing - Ravens, Patriots surprise in Week 7 | ESPN
Speaking of which, I’m convinced Patrick Mahomes has it in perpetuity. Kansas City just keeps rolling along and I’m becoming convinced Mahomes will never play a road playoff game. He has played 14 postseason games with 11 at Arrowhead Stadium and three in the Super Bowl. That feels unfair, but not as unfair as Mahomes when he is scrambling. It feels almost unjust. I don’t mean he is breaking rules — I just mean it is third-and-15 and he scrambles for first downs. After Sunday, he has a pair of runs for a first down on third-and-15 or more this season — the rest of the NFL has one.
And since he became the Chiefs’ starter in 2018, they have converted on 22% of their third-and-15s while the NFL average is just 9%. If I were playing against him I would want to pull my hair out — and I’m in no position to do that.
The Chiefs are handling their business as they usually do at this time of year. They’re 6-1. They’ve already set themselves up nicely for an eighth straight AFC West title. Just as scary: They’re boasting the best defense of the Patrick Mahomes era, a unit that is creating quite the reputation for shutting down opponents at crucial junctures of games. That was very much the case in Sunday’s win over the Chargers, when Los Angeles couldn’t find anything resembling success in the second half of that contest. If that defense keeps improving — and it should after Sunday’s return of suspended defensive end Charles Omenihu — the Chiefs will be hard to beat in the race for that first-round bye in the AFC. As much as we’ve scrutinized Kansas City’s flaws at wide receiver, this team still has Mahomes, head coach Andy Reid and a belief that it should be playing in the Super Bowl every year.
Ranking NFL’s best defenses in 2023: Which team has best case? | ESPN
2. Kansas City Chiefs (6-1)
Uh-oh. Quietly, we let general manager Brett Veach and the Chiefs build a great defense around Patrick Mahomes. If you want even worse news as an AFC West fan, that defense is just getting started. The average age of their defenders on a snap-weighted basis is 25.4 years old, which makes them the youngest defense in football, too. While Sunday was the reigning MVP’s best game of the season, Kansas City is winning games as much with its defense as it is with its offense this season, a scary thought for teams hoping to dethrone the champs.
The script for the Chiefs in the Mahomes era has been simple and successful: dominate on offense and hope a handful of stars and coordinator Steve Spagnuolo can create enough havoc on defense to force a few sacks and takeaways. They have posted solid raw numbers, but advanced metrics have typically rated them as a middling-or-worse defense, with 2019 as an exception.
The best sign of how dramatically the Chiefs have improved might be looking at how they perform when they don’t get pressure. No team is good on defense when it doesn’t get home, but Kansas City has been particularly brutal without that pass pressure in previous seasons. It ranked last in QBR without pressure as recently as last season, and the only time it ranked higher than 22nd in that metric was 2019, when it was the sixth best in football.
NFL Team Needs: Prioritizing Every Roster’s Biggest Weaknesses After Week 7 | Bleacher Report
Add Now: WR JuJu Smith-Schuster, New England Patriots
The Chiefs already reunited with a former wide receiver by trading for Mecole Hardman last week. Yet they were still reportedly gauging the trade market for receivers, per Jeremy Fowler of ESPN. The most popular and impactful trade targets are in the division. It feels unlikely that the Raiders would hand them Hunter Renfrow or the Broncos want to see Jerry Jeudy or Courtland Sutton donning red and yellow.
The Chiefs might have to go out of the box if they want to acquire a receiver. Smith-Schuster is not a popular trade candidate because he’s in the first year of a three-year deal, but it’s a team-friendly contract and the Patriots have not really used him.
Around the NFL
The Minnesota Vikings moved to 3-4 on the season with their 22-17 win over the San Francisco 49ers on Monday night, a victory that was keyed by the breakout play of their rookie wide receiver Jordan Addison.
The night got off to a dubious start for the 21-year-old receiver when it appeared he had a catch on his first target of the game, but San Francisco cornerback Charvarius Ward wrestled the ball out of Addison’s hands for an interception. But the rookie rebounded.
After Minnesota got the ball back on a fumble recovery, Addison had catches of 4, 11, and 20 yards on the ensuing drive, the last of which was a touchdown to take the early lead.
Falcons say Bijan Robinson will be ‘fine’ after headaches, limited use | ESPN
Atlanta Falcons running back Bijan Robinson will “be fine,” coach Arthur Smith said Monday, after the rookie was severely limited during Sunday’s victory against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Robinson said after the game that he was suffering from headaches and began “feeling weird” Saturday night. He struggled to sleep and woke up Sunday “feeling completely out of it.” He took medicine to try and feel better, but his head continued to hurt.
Robinson said he never considered sitting out of Sunday’s 16-13 victory, but he ended up playing just 11 snaps with no targets and only one touch — a 3-yard run on the game’s last drive to set up Younghoe Koo’s game-winning field goal.
Kevin Byard trade: Eagles land standout safety from Titans | USA Today
After one of the team’s best defensive performances of the season, the Philadelphia Eagles are adding another marquee talent ahead of the NFL’s trade deadline.
The Eagles are acquiring two-time All-Pro safety Kevin Byard from the Tennessee Titans, a person familiar with the deal told USA TODAY Sports’ Tyler Dragon. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the trade was not yet official. The Titans will receive fifth- and sixth-round draft picks in 2024 as well as safety Terrell Edmunds.
Byard, 30, has been one of the NFL’s most prolific ballhawks since entering the league in 2016, recording at least four interceptions in five of the last six seasons. His 27 career interceptions rank 10th among active players.
Miami Dolphins to be featured on HBO’s ‘Hard Knocks In Season’ | NFL.com
The high-flying 5-2 Miami Dolphins are coming to Hard Knocks.
HBO, NFL Films and the Dolphins announced on Monday that Miami will be featured on this season’s edition of Hard Knocks In Season, coming to MAX later this fall.
A release date has yet to be announced. The Arizona Cardinals (2022) and Indianapolis Colts (2021) were featured in the previous two iterations of the show.
In case you missed it on Arrowhead Pride
Chiefs News: Charles Omenihu happy to ‘add more fire’ to pass rush
Defensive lineman Charles Omenihu made his Chiefs debut in Week 7, racking up one sack, two quarterback hits, another tackle, and a pass defended. He was one of five Chiefs to bring down Chargers’ quarterback Justin Herbert, but he was the only one to hit him multiple times.
It was the fifth-year defender’s first live action in nearly two months — his last was the August 26 exhibition against the Cleveland Browns. He had only missed six games in his entire career leading into this season; Omenihu was chomping at the bit away from the team.
“Seeing those boys go out there and eat, I wanted to be a part of it,” Omenihu told reporters in his post-game press conference. “Especially coming in and trying to be a piece to a puzzle that’s already been put together, it was eating at me.”
The veteran complimented defensive lineman Mike Danna for his strong year and noted George Karlaftis and Chris Jones as well. He mentioned Felix Anudike-Uzomah, Tershawn Wharton, Malik Herring all working and how it influenced him to add to it.
A tweet to make you think
If Mecole Hardman can be a Pro Bowl-level kick returner, he can rewrite his narrative with the Chiefs.
— Rocky Magaña (@RockyMagana) October 23, 2023
He doesn't have to be the guy who was selected before DK Metcalf anymore. He just has to make the most of his opportunities.
Dante Hall is a #Chiefs Hall of Famer after all.
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