NFL rankings, Aaron Rodgers future, catch rule issues, NFC East

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Aaron Rodgers said in a broadcast interview on Tuesday that he expects to play for the Green Bay Packers this weekend. I feel that this is inevitable.

Rodgers underwent further tests on Monday for a rib injury that led to Sunday night’s loss in Philadelphia. He was already playing with his thumb broken. Coach Matt Lafleur went on Monday to say that if Rodgers can play, he will start Sunday’s game in Chicago.

Aaron Rodgers leaves Packers loss to Eagles with rib injury

‘We’re not excluded,’ said Rodgers during a regular appearance on Tuesday On the Pat McAfee Show“Yesterday’s scan gave me good news, so I’ll be playing this week.”

The Packers’ record slipped to 4-8 after a 40-33 loss in Philadelphia. Rodgers then stated that he wanted to play as long as the Packers were mathematically still in the NFC playoff race, but admitted that things would change if the Packers were eliminated.

During his relief appearance against the Eagles, Love looked much improved, throwing a 63-yard touchdown pass to rookie wide receiver Christian Watson. The draft the Packers invested in Love in his 2020 draft may have been the first on-field proof that his first-round pick wasn’t in vain. Some solid starts by Love in the playout-the-string portion of the season will likely encourage the Packers to move on from Rodgers, who turns 39 on Friday.

The dynamics are very different from last offseason. Rodgers is no longer a two-time defending league MVP. The Packers won’t lose another year to the NFC title from his streak in games. May need an overhaul. It might make sense for Rodgers to retire or end his career elsewhere. He said on Sunday that he won’t make a decision until the offseason on whether he intends to play next season.

If Rodgers retires, he’ll lose $59.5 million guaranteed to him for next season under a new contract he signed in March. He has to absorb a $40.3 million salary cap hit for the season. .

It shouldn’t surprise anyone if the Packers sneak preview of a possible post-Rodgers existence at some point in December or early January.

Their offense was inefficient against the Rams and repeatedly squandered red zone chances. The Chiefs will reach his fifth straight victory in Sunday’s contest in Cincinnati.

They had no problems with the Texans, improving to 8-0 with the start and finish of QB Tua Tagovailoa. LT Teron His Armstead chest injury apparently won’t end his season. It would have been a big loss.

It was a stunning offensive performance in Sunday night’s win over the Packers, with 363 rushing yards and 40 points. The only concern is that Jalen Hurts is frequently in danger.

The Thanksgiving victory over the Giants was the most watched game in NFL history. The Cowboys making it to the playoffs is very good for the league for viewers.

Now they have to show they can win anywhere but Detroit. The Patriots, Jets and Dolphins have an AFC East-focused schedule for the next few weeks.

A measure of “what is the prey?” Chaos returned to the NFL during the Week 12 games.

This should have been resolved when the NFL revised its catch rule in 2018 and tried to introduce a more common sense approach.

Most of the time it worked. The rules are much less confounded, and the debate about what’s a catch and what’s not is less frequent.

But that changed recently, with catch-rule controversy involving New England Patriots tight end Hunter Henry at Thanksgiving and New Orleans Saints wide receiver Chris Olave on Sunday.

Henry’s touchdown catch against the Minnesota Vikings was overturned by instant replay review and ruled incomplete. Olave similarly had an imperfect catch via a replay review initiated by the San Francisco 49ers challenge.

Saints coach Dennis Allen said: at the post-match press conference: “To be honest, I don’t know anymore what catches in our league. It’s changed so many times.”

It may be a bit of an exaggeration these days, but such confusion should no longer exist.

Under the revised rules, a player holds the ball with both feet on the ground and then performs a third act (takes an extra step, turns the field up, evades or drives an opponent, pushes the ball, or forward), or have enough time to do so.

It was this third factor that was key to both Henry’s and Olave’s no-catch replay rulings.

If the third element does not exist before the player touches the ground while still making the catch, the player must maintain control of the ball while on the ground before the catch is allowed. This is a remnant of the previous catch rule that caused a lot of confusion, anxiety and controversy.

Henry caught on the goal line and was quickly tackled, but was unable to take another step or make a football move. But he had to maintain control of the ball while on the ground because he didn’t meet the third element of the new catching rule. it didn’t happen. While he was rolling, the ball briefly slipped out of his hand, then he re-secured it.

Olave similarly stumbles on his third step with the ball, just before his foot touches the ground. Whether he stepped onto the turf to satisfy his third element of the rules is debatable. Officials ruled that he did not. So when he lost possession of the ball after going to the ground, it became incomplete.

In both cases, the claim may have been made that there was no clear video evidence to overrule the on-field call of a legal catch. It is not intended to re-referee a close play. Regarding Henry’s play in particular, the NFL was unable to clarify the finer points of its new catch rule in public comment on its ruling.

Sean Payton and Drew Brees haven’t passed through that door. They are?

It doesn’t help that QB Kyler Murray and WRs DeAndre Hopkins and Marquis Brown are on the pitch together for the first time this season, fueling speculation about Cliff Kingsbury’s job stability.

Matthew Stafford and Cooper Cup are not playing. Aaron Donald is also injured with a sprained ankle. Sean McVay has players running into him and even his own bystanders aren’t safe.

This is confusing. I have no reason to believe that Nathaniel Hackett can fix it. Even if he continues with all this work, it’s getting harder and harder to imagine him staying for a second season.

It doesn’t matter if Kyle Allen or Davis Mills are in QB. Neither is the answer. The Texans are basically pressed for time to get the No. 1 pick in the NFL Draft. They can take his QB of their choice.

NFC East is in full swing. It’s not a return to the glory days when Super Bowl wins were piling up practically every year. But it’s been a good week for the division’s comeback, with all four teams in playoff position in his NFC.

The Eagles are the number one seed in the conference entering December. The Dallas Cowboys are his fifth. The New York Giants are sixth. The Washington Commanders are seventh.

No NFL division has four playoff teams since the 2002 reorganization. Of course, it wasn’t until the 2020 season when the NFL expanded the playoff field to seven teams per conference (including three wildcard entries).

The turnaround is remarkable for NFC East, which won the sub-.500 division championship just two years ago. It’s a 7-9 Washington football team.

NFL Sunday highlights: 49ers surge, Broncos struggle, Jets QB switch feature

The Eagles are on a two-game winning streak since being knocked out of the undefeated ranks by a sloppy loss to the Commanders. The Cowboys have won four of their last five games, and the mysterious loss in Green Bay was their only misstep in that time. The Commanders have been gaining momentum from his 1-4 start as he won six in seven games, finding Taylor his winning combination at quarterback with Heinicke.

The Giants must rally for a stretch run. They started with him 6-1 and he has lost 3 of 4 games. And they may not even have anything to fix. This may have just returned to something similar to the real level. The Giants will have to face the Commanders and the Eagles twice each in addition to his December 24 road game in Minnesota. If Davor takes them to the postseason, he’s really done a great job in his first year.