Daily Slop - 25 Sep 25 - Bijan Robinson leads Falcons in rush yards, receiving yards & receiving TDs

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Jayden Daniels is working toward a return. But his top target is now a question mark.

Commanders Coach Dan Quinn said he's unsure whether the star quarterback or wide receiver Terry McLaurin will play in Sunday's game at Atlanta.

Washington Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels said Wednesday that he feels back to full strength and unbothered by his sprained left knee as he works toward a possible return to the field Sunday against the Atlanta Falcons.

Yet if he returns, there is a chance he could be without star wide receiver Terry McLaurin.

McLaurin missed practice Wednesday with a quadriceps injury, while Daniels participated in a limited capacity and inched closer to a return. Coach Dan Quinn did not definitively say whether either player would be able to play at Atlanta, adding that the team would have more information by the end of the week.

Luke McCaffrey

The Commanders are hoping Luke McCaffrey's long touchdown catch against the Raiders was a sign of a breakthrough.

McCaffrey, a third-round pick in the 2024 draft, contributed as a returner and a backup receiver last season and had a quiet first couple of weeks in 2025. But Sunday he flashed on a 43-yard catch for his first touchdown.

Darnell Savage

Safety Darnell Savage never envisioned joining the Commanders. But when the Jacksonville Jaguars cut him last week and Washington lost starter Will Harris to a fractured fibula over the weekend, the move came together quickly.

Savage, 28, signed with the Commanders on Monday, adding depth to a secondary that has been hit hard by injuries. He has said he's not sure whether he will be called upon to play Sunday but acknowledged that he has something to prove.

The Athletic (paywall)

The Commanders were missing a starter at every offensive positional group because of injuries -- QB Jayden Daniels (knee), RB Austin Ekeler (Achilles), WR Noah Brown (knee/groin), tight end John Bates (groin) and G Sam Cosmi (knee, PUP) -- and still collected 400 yards. At many spots, younger players had to fill bigger roles. Croskey-Merritt didn't have the production in the run game, but he had a key blitz pickup, something offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury said he hoped to see rookie wide receiver Jaylin Lane did his best work in the return game, returning a punt 90 yards for a touchdown. And Sinnott, who helped fill in for Bates, played 33 offensive snaps and was solid as a run blocker.

In Bates' absence, Kingsbury turned to offensive tackle Trent Scott -- he of the "Thick Six" TD last season -- as a big tight end for much of the game. He played 19 offensive snaps and reported as an eligible receiver on 13 of those.

After a week in which they struggled to establish their run game, the Commanders quickly went to their backs and remained committed throughout, calling run plays 58.3 percent of the time, their highest rate since Week 18 of the 2022 season. Having the lead certainly helped; the Commanders weren't playing catch-up like they were in Green Bay.

But Kingsbury mixed it up a bit, using different personnel groupings and formations. The Commanders are a heavy 11 personnel (one RB, one TE) team, using that grouping on 73.1 percent of their plays in the first two weeks, according to TruMedia. But on Sunday, they were in 11 personnel for only 42.6 percent of their plays. They were in 12 personnel (one RB, two TEs) for 13.0 percent of their plays and 21 personnel (two RBs, one TE) for 5.6 percent. They were in 21 personnel for Jeremy McNichols' 60-yard touchdown run.

And for one play, Washington was in 13 personnel. Tight ends Zach Ertz, Sinnott and Colson Yankoff were all on the field for Luke McCaffrey's 43-yard touchdown catch in the fourth quarter.

The two positional groups that concerned me the most in training camp because of their lack of depth -- wide receiver and offensive line -- are now being tested for their lack of depth -- and it's only Week 4.

Bullock's Film Room (subscription)

Commanders rookie cornerback Trey Amos has perhaps gone under the radar a bit, but is quietly putting together a very strong start to his NFL career. While he hasn't yet recorded any interceptions, he has broken up four passes in three games and has rated highly in plenty of advanced coverage metrics, both for rookies and just cornerbacks in general. The Commanders secondary has been a little bit shaky to start the season. Marshon Lattimore struggled the first two games, Mike Sainristil has also had some issues. We saw safety Will Harris struggle against the Packers too. But while all that has been going on, Amos has been quite impressive.

Unfortunately, he did leave the Raiders game with a calf injury that has limited his practice so far this week in the build up to the Falcons game this weekend, so his status for this upcoming game is uncertain. But despite that, I thought it was time to dive into how Amos has played in these opening three games and breakdown what he's done well and perhaps any potential weaknesses too. Let's start with the most recent outing against the Raiders this past Sunday.

At the snap, Amos is helped by safety Will Harris, who is responsible for the flat. He jams Thornton at the line of scrimmage and forces him wider, knocking him off his path and delaying him from getting into his route. Amos widens to match Thornton and reads the route after he clears the jam from Harris. He feels that Thornton isn't getting into his stride, so probably isn't going vertical. As a result, Amos sits on the route and doesn't give up any ground. Thornton starts to round off his route and slow down, which tells Amos to get his eyes into the backfield and try to locate the football.

He does a great job finding the ball and breaking on the route, getting to the throw before the receiver has a chance. The receiver goes on the defensive to try and stop Amos intercepting the pass. Amos initially just looks to break up the pass, but it bounces off him and deflects up in the air. Both Amos and Harris try to pull in the pass for an interception, but they get in each other's way and the ball falls to the ground incomplete. It was a shame for Amos not to come away with the interception there because he read the route so well, but the most important thing is that he didn't give up a pass and got the defense off the field on third down.

Even when the ball wasn't thrown his way, Amos proved to be strong in coverage against the Raiders.

Heavy.com

Croskey-Merritt's knee injury that kept him from practicing Wednesday is not considered serious, Nicki Jhabvala of The Washington Post reports. Jhabvala notes that it wouldn't be a surprise if Croskey-Merritt practices Thursday after logging a DNP on Wednesday. The rookie running back had a strong Week 1 performance, rushing 10 times for 82 yards and one touchdown, but he's turned 12 carries into just 43 rushing yards (3.6 yards per carry) in the two games since, though Croskey-Merritt did save his Week 3 fantasy line with a late touchdown. Despite Austin Ekeler's season-ending Achilles tear in Week 2, the Washington backfield remains a three-man conundrum that makes it difficult to trust any for fantasy lineups.

Commanders Wire

Bates missed the Week 3 win over the Raiders, but with the Commanders dominating the line of scrimmage and maintaining possession of the ball, there were certainly plenty of plays that Bates enjoyed seeing on Sunday in Landover.

"It was a great thing to watch...moving guys off of the line of scrimmage, it was fun to watch," Bates expressed, having observed the win over the Raiders, where the offense ran for 201 rushing yards. Bates watched the game from up top in the stadium. He said he stood up immediately when Jeremy McNichols broke the tackle on his 60-yard touchdown run. Bates said it was the first time he had ever watched a game from that perspective.

However, Bates did say he was, "Itching to get back out there, for sure."

Commanders.com

Washington Legends Brian Mitchell and London Fletcher were named among the Pro Football Hall of Fame's 128 Modern-era nominees for the Class of 2026.

Mitchell, a fifth-round draft pick by the franchise in 1990, is one of the most decorated players in team and league history. He spent a decade with Burgundy & Gold, amassing 3,838 scrimmage yards with 12 touchdowns and playing a role in Washington's 1991 Super Bowl victory.

Fletcher, who played in the NFL for 16 years after being an undrafted free agent out of John Carroll, played the final seven years of his career with the Washington franchise, recording 956 tackles, 12 interceptions, 53 pass breakups, nine forced fumbles and 11.5 sacks for the Burgundy & Gold.

Commanders.com

Asked how much running and cutting he's been able to do over the past two weeks, Daniels said, "Enough to feel good if I play on Sunday. Like I said, it's not my decision."

The Commanders have faced a bevy of talented pass-rushers to start the season, leading to Daniels experiencing more pressure than normal. He's been pressured 35 times and taken seven sacks from the likes of Micah Parsons as well as Brian Burns and the New York Giants' front seven.

The Commanders' next matchup against the Falcons will be somewhat of a reprieve from that onslaught, although they are tied for 10th in the league with eight sacks. Defensive linemen Brandon Dorlus and Zach Harrison lead the Falcons with 1.5 sacks each, but the likes of James Pearce Jr. and Leonard Floyd present other problems for Washington's offense.

In one of those four recent meetings where Washington beat Atlanta, Mariota was under center for the Falcons (2022). Unfortunately, Mariota's one season in Atlanta ended prematurely, leaving a sour taste in his mouth. Atlanta was 5-8 late in the season, and the coaching staff wanted to give rookie quarterback Desmond Ridder a chance to play with the playoffs out of the question. Mariota had no problem with that; instead, he chose to undergo surgery for a chronic knee injury and went home for the birth of his first daughter. His departure was framed as him quitting the team. If you ask any teammate who has ever played with Mariota, including his current team, that depiction couldn't be further from the truth. Mariota set the record straight on his departure, and he was justifiably unhappy with how he was portrayed.

Commanders draft pick became: Most of the draft capital in a deal that landed them CB Mike Sainristil, TE Ben Sinnott and S Dominique Hampton

At the time: One year after a disastrous in-season trade to acquire Claypool, Ryan Poles decided that he needed to make another addition. The Bears sent a second-round pick to acquire Sweat and then gave him a massive contract; Sweat had never made a Pro Bowl, but the Bears signed their new addition to a four-year, $98 million deal, making him the fifth-highest-paid edge rusher in football.

The most popular logic for both trades was similar: The Bears needed to address a position of weakness and were paying a draft premium to add a player who was better than the options they might be able to find in free agency. It hadn't worked out with Claypool, but Sweat was a much better player. The Commanders, meanwhile, were dumping salary as they rebuilt their roster under new ownership.

What happened: Sweat was good enough to earn that Pro Bowl nod in 2023, as he racked up six sacks in nine games down the stretch for the Bears. Chicago fielded one of the league's best defenses in the second half of the season, but it was driven by a massive spike in turnover rate as opposed to a significantly improved pass rush. And in 2024, hampered by an ankle injury, Sweat was limited to 5.5 sacks and 12 knockdowns as the Bears' defense fell apart. He has one sack in three games so far in 2025.

Sweat is a good two-way defensive end, but he's miscast as a team's primary pass rusher, let alone the superstar the Bears are paying him to be for them. The subsequent free agent class featured Danielle Hunter and Jonathan Greenard, both of whom signed for less than Sweat and have been much better since then. Although there's no guarantee that the Bears would have landed either player, ask any NFL agent what wins bids in free agency and they'll tell you money talks. With Greenard signing for $19 million per season and Hunter coming in at $24 million per year on a two-year pact, the Bears would have been in position to win either negotiation if they had offered the same deal they gave to Sweat.

The Commanders traded down out of the pick they got from the Bears, with the primary return being Sainristil, who has emerged as one of the league's best young cornerbacks. One of the other players in that group? Cooper DeJean, whom the Eagles took after acquiring that Bears second-round pick from their division rivals. Both corners are making a fraction of their true market value for four years, while Sweat's a good player being paid like a star in Chicago.

At the time: All-in to try to win a Super Bowl, the 49ers took a swing on a player with great traits who was still only 24 years old. Young was widely regarded as the best player in the 2020 draft and won Defensive Rookie of the Year in his debut season, but a torn ACL in Year 2 cost him most of the 2021 and 2022 seasons. Young had five sacks and nine knockdowns midway through 2023 when the 49ers acquired him, hoping that he could form a devastating one-two punch with former Ohio State teammate Nick Bosa.

What happened: Young didn't take in San Francisco. He managed 2.5 sacks and six knockdowns in nine regular-season games and added one more during the postseason. He didn't have a great Super Bowl, and the 49ers decided to move on after the year, allowing Young to sign with the Saints in free agency. GM John Lynch did pick up a fourth-round compensatory pick for Young, turning the trade into a short-term rental at the cost of a relatively modest draft pick swap.

The Commanders landed the last pick in the third round and used it on Luke McCaffrey, who hasn't been able to carve out significant time in the slot for Washington. He scored his first career touchdown Sunday against the Raiders, but that took him to 243 receiving yards in 20 career games. He still has plenty of time to go, but this has been a relatively underwhelming deal for both sides.

"It's up to the doctors, not my decision," Daniels said.

Daniels was limited in practice Wednesday after not participating last week before sitting out a 41-24 victory over the Las Vegas Raiders. Receiver Terry McLaurin (right quad) was not on the practice field, putting his status in question for the Commanders (2-1) when they play the Falcons (1-2).

Daniels wore a brace on his left knee during practice but said that, if he plays, he's not sure yet whether he'd need it in a game. He said he has never wore one in a game.

"It's something to get used to," Daniels said. "The doctors haven't said that decision yet, so that will be a conversation."

And when asked whether he feels any level of discomfort when on the field, Daniels said, "No, I'm myself."

"I feel good so I don't think [the knee] affects me," he said.

The Athletic

Dallas has allowed 9.1 passing yards per play thus far. Not only is that the highest in the league, but it's more than a full yard more than the next closest team. They are 15th in pressure rate, 27th in sack rate, and 31st in EPA per pass. For context, the Miami Dolphins have the worst EPA/Pass in the league at +0.40. The Cowboys are right behind them at +0.34. The next closest team is New Orleans, at +0.17.

So is the collapse of the Dallas defense due to new coordinator Matt Eberflus? Is it because Micah Parsons was shipped out of town? Well, why not both?

"On defense, when you're trying to figure out a coordinator, you go out and get a guy who wants to play a ton of zone when you have constructed your entire DB room over the last four or five years to be this sticky man coverage team," Mays said. "At the same time, while you're doing that, you trade away one of the best defensive players in the league. And so on multiple different fronts, you're just sabotaging whatever this was supposed to be on that side of the ball, and this is what you're left with."

While the short-term outlook is bleak thanks to a multi-week injury to CeeDee Lamb, things don't get much brighter if Dallas fans peer into the intermediate or long term. The problems on the field are significant, but they are dwarfed by the problem in the owner's box.

"In previous eras of the Cowboys, when Jerry was actually the one pulling the strings and making a lot of the personnel decisions, it was haphazard. It was scattershot. It was not rooted in any sort of logic most of the time. But at least there was a level of ambition to it, right?" Mays said.

"They were trying something. He was making moves. He was trying to go get talent. They were trying to win. And even if you could argue with the effectiveness of it, I think you at least had to appreciate the fact that he was trying to get stuff done. Now, it's all of the incompetence and incoherence with none of the ambition."

There was no indication that Smith was even injured at all, let alone a candidate to go on IR and miss at least four games. Bizarre.

Smith's injury reportedly doesn't require surgery.

There were already questions about the Eagles' edge rusher talent with Nolan Smith healthy, so, losing him certainly isn't ideal. But the hope is that they can piece a pass rush together with this group until he's able to return.

Hunt and Za'Darius Smith figure to start with Uche seeing an increased role.

JAKORIAN BENNETT

It was previously reported that Bennett could miss this weekend's game. Now we know he'll be missing at least four weeks. 6ABC's Jason Dumas notes that Bennett could be looking at "a six week recovery."

Bennett was the Eagles' top outside cornerback behind Quinyon Mitchell and Adoree' Jackson; he's filled in for the latter, who has been banged up. There's been thought that Bennett might eventually take over for Jackson as a starter but that clearly won't be happening any time soon now.

[T]he Giants will face the Chargers with a new starter in rookie Jaxson Dart. A move that might have happened last week if not for Dallas' awful pass defense, Dart takes over while the season is still salvageable on paper. Rookie QBs have a pretty good track record in the NFC East, so we'll see if this sparks something in New York or just helps Dart prepare for future campaigns.

The Eagles head to Tampa Bay for a battle of unbeaten teams. Philly's 3-0 record isn't as surprising as the Bucs', although the Falcons, Texans, and Jets aren't exactly a murderers' row of opponents. The Eagles are by far the toughest test that Tampa's faced so far this season, but you could argue the same going the other direction.

The Commanders will likely be without Daniels again when they go to Atlanta in Week 4, but that may not be much of a problem. The Falcons just went down 30-0 to the Carolina Panthers, and Mariota is probably the better QB right now over Michael Penix Jr.

Before the Cowboys and Packers kick off, we'll know how the rest of the NFC East fared in their games. If things go as projected, Dallas will be facing an even deeper hole in the division going into October.

The Athletic (paywall)

Shipping off Micah Parsons to start the season was bad enough. The ragtag bunch charged with collectively filling his massive shoes have yet to deliver consistently.

Dallas can't stop the run, and the Cowboys look just as inept in their secondary. Defensive struggles expound the pressure on the offense to carry this team. But extended injury absences for wide receiver CeeDee Lamb and starting right guard Tyler Booker mean Dak Prescott will have to shoulder an even more massive load. Returning to the playoffs under the direction of a first-year head coach and relatively inexperienced coaching staff already seemed challenging, but given the disarray of the defense and injuries plaguing the offense, Dallas' chances of contending appear shot.

It's one thing to lose to lowly Carolina. But a 30-burger shutout? Hit. The. Button.

There's no shame in a 23-20 loss to four-time NFC South winner Tampa Bay to open the season, but the Falcons can't lose like that to Carolina. Second-year quarterback Michael Penix Jr. has completed just 58.6 percent of his passes (sixth worst in the league) and Raheem Morris' team has scored just one touchdown in its last 23 possessions.

This week, Morris fired wide receivers coach Ike Hilliard, but it'll take much more than that to solve the inconsistencies and lack of an identity that have limited this team. In time, Penix may wind up being a fine quarterback, but the Falcons would be wise to consider a permanent switch to Kirk Cousins to help their offense get back on track and to avoid falling further behind Tampa Bay.

Since their Week 1 victory over New England, the Raiders have regressed. First came a turnover-filled 20-9 loss to the Chargers, and then an absolute debacle in Washington, where the Commanders didn't even have Jayden Daniels. The offense hasn't produced at the clip the Raiders expected Chip Kelly and Geno Smith would lead them towards. The offensive line and run game are sluggish. The run defense is atrocious and special teams units have also played poorly.

The Giants hit the panic button this week when they decided to bench Russell Wilson after Sunday's 22-9 loss to Kansas City. In that game, Wilson completed just 56.3 percent of his passes and threw two interceptions, extending his streak of games with at least one turnover to three. Two weeks ago, Wilson racked up 450 passing yards and three touchdown passes against the Cowboys. But Brian Daboll and his staff clearly saw those gaudy numbers as fool's gold.

The Giants have converted only 27.5 percent (11 of 40) third downs for first downs (second worst in the league). So, now Daboll, who's already on the hot seat, hopes that rookie Jaxson Dart can provide a spark with his athleticism and strong arm. If the rookie can display some promise, it buys his coach and GM some time. But the Giants aren't going anywhere this season. Barring some eye-popping wizardry from Dart and Daboll the rest of the way, New York will undergo a dramatic overhaul this offseason.

ESPN

There were plans and hopes and dreams of Russell Wilson magically finding the fountain of youth while serving as the bridge quarterback to the No. 25 pick out of Ole Miss. It didn't matter. The answer ultimately was Week 4 against the Los Angeles Chargers.

Dart will be the Giants' starter against the Chargers at MetLife Stadium on Sunday (1 p.m. ET, CBS). The decision came down Tuesday after coach Brian Daboll left the door open to a change on Monday.

At that point, it was over. There was no turning back. Dart starts and Wilson will be the backup.

This was always going to be the way it played out. Wilson would start until the Giants couldn't justify him being the starter anymore. At that point, Daboll and general manager Joe Schoen, in need of results, would have no choice but to turn to Dart.

The Giants (0-3) are one of six winless teams. Their head coach and GM are under pressure, having amassed a 9-28 record since the start of the 2023 season, and in 2025 their offense has produced fewer than 300 yards of offense in two of the three games.

"I'm aware of how many games we've won and obviously the results are not even close to what we want them to be," Giants owner John Mara said this past January. "They're going to have to get better if we're going to move on to year [five]."

It's impossible to ignore those words with another lost season potentially on the horizon. And so far, the results haven't been better, prompting the move to Dart. It's perhaps the final card for Daboll and Schoen to play. The futures of the coach and general manager likely hinge on Dart's instant success.

The Athletic (paywall)

Dubious distinction: Tenth team since 2000 with more red zone drives ending on downs (three) than touchdowns (two) through first three weeks.

Lost 21-6 to Washington

Lost 40-37 to Dallas

Lost 22-9 to Kansas City

With so much focus on the Giants' inconsistent offense, the defense is actually ranked lower, having allowed touchdowns on eight of 10 red zone drives (plus an end-of-half field goal by Kansas City on one of the other two drives). Getting to 0-3 has been a team effort.

The big news with the Falcons continues to be the health of corner A.J. Terrell. Hamstrings are unpredictable with some players being able to bounce back quickly, while others take multiple weeks to months. Terrell remains 'week-to-week' as of Wednesday. My prediction is that he will be back following the Falcons' Week 5 bye week, and play against the Buffalo Bills in Week 6 on Monday night. We shall see though.

ESPN

Graziano: The whole thing looks like a mess. Sure, Penix is playing like a quarterback who has made only six starts in the NFL, but a couple of people I talked to Monday said they don't think the team is doing enough to help him. There were a few instances Sunday -- a 30-0 loss to Carolina -- where plays seemingly took too long to come in. Receivers also dropped passes.

Penix has absolutely not played well (20th in QBR) and he looked perplexed by what the Panthers were showing him in Week 3. But the Falcons continue to believe in him, and the moves they announced Monday -- moving offensive coordinator Zac Robinson from the booth down to the sideline for Sunday's game against Washington and firing receivers coach Ike Hilliard -- addressed the overall offensive situation, not Penix specifically.

Fowler: As one NFL coaching source who has studied the Falcons put it, "[Penix] can throw it, he just can't see it right now." In other words, defenses are clouding the picture and confusing the young quarterback. Penix appeared to be playing more freely late last season, and he has the arm strength to utilize the entire field.

It caught my attention when the Falcons relied a lot on 12 personnel (one running back, two tight ends) and a run-heavy attack against Brian Flores' Vikings defense, which resulted in 218 rushing yards and a 22-6 win. The Falcons got away from that Sunday in Carolina. Charlie Woerner, the team's second tight end, played 14 snaps vs. 56 the week before, though Woerner was banged up because of an ankle issue during the week.

Still, Atlanta's offense needs to lean into the run game to ease the pressure on Penix and loosen up passing lanes. Giving running back Bijan Robinson the ball as much as possible is always a good way to help a young quarterback. Falcons coach Raheem Morris says Robinson is the league's best player, and he might be right.

The division is still winnable, though Tampa Bay has emerged as the clear-cut favorite. Penix should have a long runway for a team that doesn't want any part of a QB carousel, and a Week 3 blunder won't change that. To your point, the entire offense looked out of sync Sunday, and Morris is hoping for a spark with these big changes.

Washington Post (paywall)

Second-year QB Michael Penix Jr. has struggled early this season, but Atlanta doesn't seem interested in turning the job over to Kirk Cousins.

How badly does embattled Atlanta Falcons offensive coordinator Zac Robinson want to avoid any semblance of a quarterback controversy? It's fair to say he would go to great lengths.

How about being down 30 points to a division rival you were supposed to stomp and, rather than letting backup quarterback Kirk Cousins move the ball in garbage time to score, you call seven straight running plays for your third-string running back in the final four minutes? Sunday's ominous 30-0 defeat to the Carolina Panthers came after second-year quarterback Michael Penix Jr. looked uncomfortable and unsettled again -- before he watched the final quarter from the bench after his pick-six cemented the outcome.

To say that relations are strained between Penix and Cousins, the veteran who signed a hefty free agent deal in 2024 only to be usurped by the Falcons drafting Penix, is a gross understatement. Rumblings around the NFL about this being a compromised coupling only resonated more loudly as Sunday's ugly defeat played out. Call it puzzling at best that, after Cousins came in cold to complete 5 of 7 passes, Robinson didn't call a passing play for the rest of the afternoon. It's certainly a bit troubling that Penix, selected eighth in 2024, does not look more at ease yet -- despite getting all of the reps as the unquestioned starter since Cousins was benched last season.

Cousins's relationship with the Atlanta coaching staff has soured after he struggled mightily in 2024 coming back from an Achilles injury; he never seemed a fit physically or schematically in Robinson's offense, and the two never quite clicked personally.

Zac Robinson can start bracing for pointed questioning if his prized pupil doesn't start making strides, especially when facing defenses as forgiving as Carolina's.

Robinson might be in over his head, of course, and it takes a village to develop a quarterback. Too often it appears Penix is waiting for plays to come in, and he was visibly frustrated Sunday.

A few more Penix clunkers, and there could be mounting calls for Cousins -- as crazy as that seems after so many Falcons fans were clamoring for him to be dealt this offseason. Calls for a new coach might not be far behind.

ESPN

The Baltimore Ravens have ruled out defensive tackle Nnamdi Madubuike for Sunday's game at the Kansas City Chiefs, with coach John Harbaugh acknowledging he's worried about the Pro Bowler's neck injury.

"I would say I am concerned about it," Harbaugh said Wednesday when asked if he's worried that Madubuike's injury could be long term.

He then added: "But I'm not really in a position to comment on it right now. I haven't been given the OK to comment on it at this point."

It has been a huge loss for a struggling Ravens defense that ranks last in the NFL for the first time since Week 16 of 2021. The 27-year-old Madubuike, the Ravens' best defensive lineman who has made the Pro Bowl the past two seasons, has 21.5 sacks since the start of the 2023 season -- the most by any defensive tackle in the league.

Without Madubuike, the Ravens allowed 207 yards rushing between the tackles -- the most they've allowed in a game since ESPN began tracking the stat in 2006 -- in Monday's 38-30 loss to the Detroit Lions. Baltimore also didn't record a sack in a game for the first time in four years.

The Ravens are trying to avoid their first 1-3 start in 10 years.

Front Office Sports

As soon as the Micah Parsons trade happened, the Packers-Cowboys game became a further highlight on the schedule. NBC is reflecting that by deploying additional resources.

NBC's Sunday Night Football game this weekend between the Packers and Cowboys, a highlight of the early-season schedule, will include the network bringing its Football Night in America pregame show on-site to AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas. John Fanta, newly hired by NBC Sports to call men's college basketball games, will also make his FNIA debut to provide updates and highlights from network headquarters in Connecticut.

NBC, of course, did the same thing for the kickoff game Sept. 4 in Philadelphia between the Cowboys and Eagles -- a contest that was on course to set a ratings record before a weather delay. CBS was at Lambeau Field with its pregame show for a season-opening matchup between the Lions and Packers that similarly fueled a strong start for that network. Fox then brought its pregame show to Kansas City for the Super Bowl LIX rematch Sept. 14 between the Eagles and Chiefs, also generating historic viewership.

Surprisingly, the game will be the first on a Sunday night in Dallas between the two, despite the teams' rivalry being one of the NFL's best for decades.

The commitment of additional resources to NFL game productions is also not surprising, given the hefty viewership registered so far this season. The first two weeks of the NFL season overall have averaged 20.7 million viewers per game, the best mark at that point of the schedule in league history.

There was speculation back in August that the Jets could potentially trade Hall, but head coach Aaron Glenn dismissed the notion and said they would utilize all three of their RBs -- Hall and 2024 draft picks Braelon Allen and Isaiah Davis. Three weeks into the season, OC Tanner Engstrand has indeed spread the rock around, and New York's run game is one of the few bright spots, ranking ninth in rush yards and rush TDs. Hall leads the team in carries (38) and rush yards (157) -- but has yet to get into the end zone -- while Allen and Davis have combined for just 16 attempts. Most of the other carries have gone to quarterbacks Justin Fields, who missed Week 3 with a concussion, and Tyrod Taylor.

Little has gone well so far for the 2025 Jets, who dwell in the AFC East cellar alongside the also winless Dolphins. Hall is in the final year of his rookie contract and knows he's not the new regime's guy. His potential departure in the coming weeks would allow Allen and Davis to take on bigger roles in Engstrand's offense and net New York some quality draft capital, as well. Hall is a big back who can do everything asked of him as a rusher and receiver out of the backfield.

Teams don't usually want to part with young, versatile playmakers like Achane. But if things continue to go sideways down in South Beach, and rookie Ollie Gordon II keeps building on his early promise, dealing Achane could become more palatable for Miami's front office. The third-year pro routinely flashes speed between the tackles and after the catch, leading all RBs in targets (110), receptions (96), receiving yards (733) and receiving TDs (8) since 2024. Like Hall and Kamara, the do-it-all back undoubtedly would be an asset for multiple playoff contenders, including the Chiefs, Cardinals and Commanders -- if the Fins are open to a trade.

The Athletic (paywall)

There are quite a few answers to this, and I won't pretend to suggest I've covered them all here. But let's give some of the big ones airtime.

The most obvious point is the relative lack of downside risk in the NFL. There are 32 teams in professional American football's top flight, and the competition's format means none of them can be relegated at the end of a season, no matter how badly they perform. That, from a financial perspective, provides an earnings floor that simply doesn't exist in football/soccer.

We don't get much insight into the finances of the NFL other than from the annual accounts of the league's only publicly owned franchise, the Green Bay Packers, but even those help make clear why its franchises have such value placed on them. In the year to March 31, 2025, covering the 2024 season, the Packers received $432.6million (£328.8m) in national revenues -- an equal share that all 32 teams receive. That is just the equally distributed amount; teams make more on top from local revenues, some of them substantially so.

NFL teams also share part of ticketing revenue equally, and merchandise and licensing deals are also organised centrally. It all adds up to one thing that investors love: stability. The NFL's broadcast deals are huge in their own right but a big attraction to would-be team owners is the fact that they're also long-term. The NFL's current agreement runs to 2033, meaning its franchises can model revenues way down the line. Such long-term deals don't exist (yet?) in football.

Alongside that earnings floor is a cost ceiling: the NFL's (hard) salary cap. That is rising steadily but is pegged to the league's revenue growth. In the 2024 season, the salary cap was $255.4million (£194.1m), or just 59 per cent of each team's share of national revenues. There are many other costs besides player salaries, but the league's financial model is clearly pointed toward limiting expenditure and making teams profitable.

Scarcity value plays its part. The NFL has 32 teams -- English football's top two divisions alone have 12 more than that. And the NFL only plays from September to February; as few as 17 games per team each season if they aren't among the 14 to make the...playoffs. Football, it could be argued, is diminishing its worth by almost never taking a break and playing virtually year-round.

The value of such a small cohort of teams also increases when some of the NFL's most important rules seek to prevent one or two sides from dominating the league for years on end. Think of how its annual college draft gives the previous season's worst-performing team the chance to pick the best player among that year's intake from the university level. In the past eight years, five teams have won the Super Bowl. In the same period, only two clubs have been Premier League champions. In the eight NFL seasons from 2008 to 2015, eight different sides won the big prize.

Then there's where the NFL is based. The United States has one of the highest per capita incomes in the world, and most of the NFL's fans are concentrated there. That gives plenty of scope to charge top dollar for tickets, merchandise, whatever. Football, and the Premier League in particular, is watched by more people globally but, on average, those fans will have less money in their pockets than their NFL peers.