NFL Sunday gameday guide: NFC South antics, $10 tickets, Josh Allen's Buffalo Bills and Tommy DeVito as the new Tom Brady
Watch the Buffalo Bills face the Dallas Cowboys live on Sky Sports NFL at 9.25pm on Sunday evening as they look to keep their playoff hopes alive, followed by the Baltimore Ravens at the Jacksonville Jaguars in Sunday Night Football.
Sunday 17 December 2023 01:26, UK
Playoff places are being clinched, ticket sales are being slashed, late-season runs are being launched. Catch up on the latest news, views and build-up from around the league ahead of Week 15 of the NFL...
Editor's note...
The NFL is purpose-built for parity. Between its salary cap, worst-to-first draft model and equal split of TV revenue, the league has sought to prevent lop-sided competition and perennial losing while sustaining season-long interest. So it is always fascinating at this time of year to cast your eye over either end of the spectrum; where some are loading up for a Championship charge, others are already in full debrief and reset mode as they plan for 2024.
The Dallas Cowboys, the league's most in-form team aside from the San Francisco 49ers, resume their Super Bowl campaign against a Buffalo Bills side riding the momentum of victory over the defending champion Kansas City Chiefs as they look to launch a dramatic turnaround to their postseason chances. Elsewhere, tickets to watch the Carolina Panthers host the Atlanta Falcons are being re-sold for roughly $10. In fact, tickets could be purchased for as little as 45 Cents earlier this week.
Beyond this weekend, fans can buy tickets to watch the 1-11 Panthers face the Green Bay Packers on Christmas Eve for $30. We have reached peak epitome of year one in the NFL for No 1 overall pick Bryce Young, who has seen Panthers head coach Frank Reich fired, the weakest roster in the league offer him nothing and team owner David Tepper interject with unhelpful comments. He would do well to follow suit from Trevor Lawrence's Urban Meyer-inspired 'null and void' rookie year.
A few years ago the NFC East was dubbed the NFC Least in ridicule over its poor standards; somebody smarter than this writer will have to come up with a funny name to describe the NFC South, which remains primed to snatch the ugliest of playoff berths this season. The Panthers have already been eliminated, in case you were wondering.
The Baker Mayfield-led Tampa Bay Buccaneers - live on Sky Sports against the Green Bay Packers on Sunday - top the division and occupy the fourth seed in the NFC while sitting 6-7, sharing an identical record to Desmond Ridder's Atlanta Falcons, who they just defeated, and a New Orleans Saints team for whom quarterback Derek Carr has been booed by home fans. It is the division nobody wants to win, nor does anybody look good enough to win, their saving grace being that mediocrity elsewhere has amounted to one of the most wide-open NFL seasons in recent memory.
One, incredibly, is poised to snag home-field advantage on wild card weekend, with Baker, Mike Evans, Todd Bowles' defense and the Bucs feeling like the most trustworthy of the three. Some fans are demanding the division be out-lawed; others have embraced its comedic imperfections.
Throw it forward to the frontrunners, and there is an MVP race gathering in heat. Myles Garrett, Tyreek Hill and Christian McCaffrey all want in on the non-quarterback argument, though of late it feels every bit like Brock Purdy, Dak Prescott and Lamar Jackson are leading the way. Josh Allen could yet enter that discussion, Jalen Hurts is arguably still in it.
Christmas football is the best.
Around the league...
- The NFL announced on Wednesday that it will play a regular-season game in Brazil in 2024, with owners also approving the increase of international games from four to up to eight per season beginning in 2025.
- Texans quarterback CJ Stroud missed practice again on Thursday while remaining in concussion protocol ahead of Sunday's clash with the Tennessee Titans.
- 38-year-old quarterback Joe Flacco was handed a one-year $4.05m incentive-filled contract with the Cleveland Browns as he looks to lead the team to the playoffs after arriving at the end of November following Deshaun Watson's season-ending injury.
- Los Angeles Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert was ruled out for the remainder of the season this week after undergoing year-ending surgery on a broken finger.
- The Super Bowl will return to SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles in February 2027 having staged the NFL's showpiece championship game in 2022.
- The Giants designated tight end Darren Waller to return from injured reserve after his hamstring injury.
What to watch...
Tampa Bay Buccaneers (6-7) @ Green Bay Packers (6-7): Among the unsung stories of the 2023 season has been the gradual emergence of Bucs running back Rachaad White, who enters Sunday's clash with the Packers ranked seventh in the league in total scrimmage yards with 1,164. The 2022 third-round picks 419 receiving yards are third among all running backs, while he leads his position group in yards-after-catch as one of the league's most productive multi-purpose runners. Green Bay are meanwhile leaning on their own do-it-all-asset in Jayden Reed, who has seen heavy usage in the backfield over the second half of the campaign.
Dallas Cowboys (10-3) @ Buffalo Bills (7-6): Sunday's victory over the Kansas City Chiefs was a reminder of James Cook's importance down the stretch as the Bills running back tallied 15 total touches for 141 scrimmage yards and a touchdown to help Buffalo stay in the playoff race. Joe Brady has made a conscious effort to involve Cook more frequently in the passing game since being elevated to offensive coordinator following the firing of Ken Dorsey. There is also the pressing matter of reigniting Stefon Diggs, who has averaged 58 yards over his last seven outings. With the margin for error dangerously-slim, Sean McDermott's side face a Cowboys team that just blew away the Philadelphia Eagles, led by an MVP frontrunner in Dak Prescott and one of the league's best defenses.
Baltimore Ravens (10-3) @ Jacksonville Jaguars (8-5): There has been a growing feeling in Jacksonville that Travon Walker's breakout has been brewing. Now would be the perfect time for the former No 1 overall pick to help the Jaguars cement their playoff spot with a defining role at the business end of the season. He was never quite the stat-padding edge rusher within a star-studded Georgia defense at college, but instead one of the nation's most gifted and selfless quarterback displacers. As much is seemingly earning its recognition as his pressure rate and sacks threaten a rise; how he contributes to Mike Caldwell's front across from Josh Allen is a storyline to follow as the Jags gear up for the playoffs.
Who can secure playoff spot this week?
- The Ravens can clinch a playoff spot with a win plus a a Broncos loss/tie and a Bills loss/tie (among multiple scenarios)
- The Cowboys can clinch a playoff spot with a win or tie (among multiple scenarios)
- The Lions can clinch a playoff spot with a win plus a Seahawks loss/tie and a Packers loss/tie (among multiple scenarios)
- The Eagles can clinch a playoff spot with a win or tie (among multiple scenarios)
- The 49ers - the only team to have already secured a playoff berth - can win the NFC West with a win or tie
Best quotes
Patrick Mahomes on his message to Kadarius Toney after his costly penalty vs Bills: "Just be you. That's all you can do in life or in this league. You make one mistake, that's not going to define you. It's going to be how you respond to that mistake."
Former NFL MVP quarterback Cam Newton speaking on a podcast: "Brock (Purdy), they (the 49ers) are not winning because of him. He's managing the game. Purdy, Tua Tagovailoa, Jared Goff and Dak Prescott -- these are game managers. They're not difference makers."
Giants head coach Brian Daboll when asked about comparisons between Tommy DeVito and Tom Brady: "We're four games in. I do appreciate the question."
Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni on his team's successive defeats: "We're not hitting a panic button as far as, 'we've got to do everything.' We didn't play well and we didn't coach good the last two weeks. It wasn't up to our standard, so we're p***** and we're looking for ways to fix that."
Former Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger on the current Pittsburgh team: "I've felt that certain guys on the team aren't in it for the team, they're in it for themselves. Well, now some of the guys on the team are saying the same thing, maybe the tradition of the Pittsburgh Steelers is done."
Bills quarterback Josh Allen on Mahomes' apology for his post-game comments: "He reached out to me and I was just like, it's football. It's a game of emotion. I know he didn't mean anything by it, and I know the cameras kind of caught the last few seconds of what we were talking about, but he's an ultimate competitor. He wants to win and that's why he is who he is."
Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel on Tyreek Hill's ankle injury: "He's such an important part of our team that we're going to make sure that when he's on the field, he's not at risk of further injury to himself."
The stats
- Giants quarterback Tommy DeVito can become the first undrafted rookie quarterback in the common-Draft era to win four games as a starter against the New Orleans Saints this weekend
- Bill Belichick (301) and Andy Reid (255) will combine for the most regular-season wins by two opposing coaches in a single game when the Patriots take on the Chiefs this weekend
- 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy is looking to become the second quarterback in NFL history after Joe Montana to post seven successive games with a completion percentage of 70-or-higher when San Francisco take on the Arizona Cardinals
- Ravens defensive tackle Justin Madubuike's 11 sacks in 2023 are the most in a season by a Ravens player since Terrell Suggs in 2017
- Cowboys edge rusher Micah Parsons needs just a half sack against the Bills to join Reggie White as the only players to produce at least 13 sacks in each of their first three seasons since 1982, when the sack became an official stat
- Tyreek Hill currently sits on 1,542 receiving yards in his bid to reach the 2,000 mark, though could be slowed by the ankle injury that limited him the recent defeat to the Titans
Essential reading:
From Brazil to the NFL... and back? Santos dreaming of homecoming
"They have been begging for this experience, and now the NFL gets to experience Brazil. It's the dream of so many millions of Brazilians."
Cairo Santos was born in Sao Paulo, and grew up using Coca-Cola cans as goal posts in the street while lining up chairs as a make-shift wall in his garden as he tried to imitate Roberto Carlos' famous free-kick. He would watch Ronaldo and Kaka, or Adriano, while developing a love for Frank Lampard and Chelsea.
The Chicago Bears kicker is now dreaming of a homecoming as the first ever Brazilian to play in the NFL.
Box office Josh Allen IS the 2023 NFL season
With Josh Allen and the realm of free-reined carnage in which he operates, the Buffalo Bills always have a chance and the NFL is always a far better place.
Season on the line and the weight of western New York counting on its farm-boy hero to strap on the cape once again, Allen delivered as Allen delivers best. Cue unadulterated chaos in another duel with Patrick Mahomes, whose frustration after weeks of Kansas City Chiefs inadequacy finally, and understandably, boiled over into helmet-tossing fury at the conclusion of another classic between the league's two best quarterbacks.
Allen came for a street fight. And in doing so, helped the Bills stay alive in the race to the playoffs.
Her Huddle: Meet Bills reporter Maddy Glab
Hannah Wilkes speaks to Buffalo Bills team reporter Maddy Glab, who describes her journey from local Television and looks back on Damar Hamlin's cardiac arrest and subsequent comeback...
Inside the Huddle: Vrabel back to New England?
Neil Reynolds and Jeff Reinebold discuss the announcement of Brazil as the NFL's newest international host partner, as well as the possibility of Mike Vrabel succeeding Bill Belichick in New England...
Thursday night rewind...
The Las Vegas Raiders scored 42 points by half-time before posting a franchise-record tally as they embarrassed the Los Angeles Chargers 63-21 on Thursday night.
Watch the Buffalo Bills face the Dallas Cowboys live on Sky Sports NFL at 9.25pm on Sunday evening as they look to keep their playoff hopes alive, followed by the Baltimore Ravens at the Jacksonville Jaguars in Sunday Night Football.
