Is everyone else as surprised as me?

Everything I read and saw left me thinking we would dominate but the wheels starting falling off almost the second the season was about to start

I understand why members are already picking through the bones of this season, but wonder whether what looked like happening early will bloom late? If so, will we be a force heading into the playoffs? Similar, perhaps, to the Bucks the year they won

Until then, perhaps, we might need to keep the faith despite the frustration

Just my take. What do you think?

Indianapolis Colts vs. Denver Broncos​

Both the Indianapolis Colts and the Denver Broncos entered 2022 rebuilding their offensive systems around a new quarterback. Two veterans with Super Bowl experience, Matt Ryan and Russell Wilson, were acquired with the hopes of launching these storied franchises back into the AFC championship conversation.

Instead, as we reach this season's one-quarter mark, the jury is still out on both heading into their "Thursday Night Football" tilt on Prime Video. The Colts have just one win in the Ryan era, but it's a big one: a 20-17 upset of Kansas City where their offense outpaced Patrick Mahomes during an impressive fourth-quarter comeback.

The 2-2 Broncos have a win of their own to hang their hat on. The problem? It was an 11-10 defensive squeaker over the surging San Francisco 49ers. Surrounding that have come some frustrating losses and questionable decision-making, first-year head coach Nathaniel Hackett under fire since a decision to attempt a 64-yard field goal to win the season opener. (Spoiler alert: He lost.)

But in a year defined by parity, both teams remain within striking distance of their divisions early on. The Colts sit just a half-game out in an AFC South where no team is above .500. The Broncos sit just one game back of Kansas City in the AFC West. Which team will take a step forward in their bid to stay on track?

Thursday Night Football: Indianapolis (1-2-1) at Denver (2-2)

Kickoff: Thursday, Oct. 6 at 8:20 p.m. ET
Outlet: Prime Video
Live Stream: fuboTV (only available in Denver and Indianapolis markets)
Spread: Broncos -3.5

Three Things to Watch

1. How will the Broncos' offense recover from injuries?

Denver's nightmare in last week's loss at Las Vegas was exacerbated once starting running back Javonte Williams went down in the third quarter. A torn ACL (and LCL) in his right knee leaves the promising second-year player out for the year after racking up 204 yards in three-plus games, a total which left him 12th in the AFC.

His shoes will be filled by Melvin Gordon III, a former 1,000-yard rusher who has not inspired confidence with four fumbles already this season. The last one came on his first carry of the game against the Raiders, leading to a turnover and 68-yard touchdown return that cost his team a lead it never regained.

"Just got to be better, man," Gordon said after the game. "Ain't no excuse for it."

Gordon's presence becomes even more of a focus with Hackett revealing this week that Russell Wilson is "dinged up" with a shoulder injury suffered during a Maxx Crosby sack on Sunday. Wilson still completed his best game of the season, throwing for 237 yards, three total touchdowns (two pass, one rush), and no turnovers while averaging 9.5 yards per pass attempt.

A hobbled Wilson would put pressure on the Broncos' ground game to produce against a Colts rush defense ranked sixth in the NFL, allowing just 89.5 yards per game. Take away the Titans' Derrick Henry, in a class of his own, and the average for the Colts drops to just 77.0 yards a game, making it an uphill battle for Gordon to establish himself.

Mike Boone (3 att., 20 yds. this season) is also in the mix and Latavius Murray could be as well. Denver signed the nine-year veteran off of New Orleans' practice squad this week, ironically after Murray was elevated to the active roster to help fill in for an injured Alvin Kamara in the Saints' game in London against Minnesota. Murray went for a team-high 57 yards with a score (on 11 carries) in the 28-25 loss before he was returned to the practice squad.

2. Can Matt Ryan play turnover-free football?

Ryan threw for a season-high 356 yards in the 24-17 loss to the Titans on Sunday. His 1,125 passing yards rank third in the AFC. But once again, the veteran cost his team more than he helped it, a lost fumble and an interception leading to 14 Tennessee points that made the difference.

It adds up to an ugly season of self-induced mistakes. Ryan's nine fumbles lead the NFL by three over anyone else; his five interceptions are tied for second in the NFL behind Matthew Stafford's six. That's helped contribute to a minus-six turnover margin for the Colts, the second-worst mark in the NFL behind the New Orleans Saints (-7).

"Turnovers are… one of, if not the, most important one or two most critical stats when it comes to winning ball games," Ryan said this week. "I've got to do a better job protecting it."

It's debatable he'll do that against a Broncos defense tied for second in the NFL with 11 sacks. They're dealing with yet another injury (linebacker Randy Gregory went down with a knee problem on Sunday and has been put on IR) but still have Pro Bowl linebacker Bradley Chubb (three sacks already this year). A shaky Colts offensive line will have their problems keeping the pass rushers at bay; it's just a question of whether Ryan can minimize the damage.

3. What do the Colts do without the reigning rushing champion?

What's going on with last year's dark-horse MVP candidate? Jonathan Taylor has lost his mojo after an energetic season-opening, 161-yard performance against the Texans.

Since then? He's picked up 167 yards on 50 carries (3.3 ypc) while being held without a rushing touchdown. To add insult to injury, he rolled his ankle in the fourth quarter of Sunday's loss, and after not practicing during the short week, he was ruled out Wednesday afternoon.

This is a missed opportunity for Taylor against a Denver defense that allowed a season-high 212 rushing yards against the Raiders, including 144 to Josh Jacobs. With Taylor out, fifth-year pass-catching back Nyheim Hines will presumably take the reins after venting some frustration off the field.

"Every year, we have a new quarterback," Hines, a Colt since 2018, told The Athletic this week. "So each year we have growing pains while we sit here and watch Tennessee, which has had [Ryan] Tannehill, what, my whole career? And each year we're restarting and we have to turn the page."

Now, Hines has his chance to move the Colts offense forward on his own. The problem? He's never had a 100-yard rushing game in his career, carrying the ball just eight times this season for a paltry 11 yards.

Phillip Lindsay, who put up back-to-back 1,000-yard campaigns for the Broncos in his first two seasons in the league (2018-19), could get his chances. Lindsay, who appeared in 14 games for the Texans and Dolphins last season (combined 2.8 ypc), is currently on Indianapolis' practice squad but could be elevated to the active roster for Thursday night.

Final Analysis

The Colts came into the year knowing Ryan, at 37, might be past his prime as an NFL quarterback. Without Taylor and with the offensive line in disarray, the Broncos' defense is primed and ready to show Ryan just how much.

Expect an ugly, low-scoring game with the Denver offense adjusting to life without Williams and Wilson playing at less than 100 percent. But we just saw the Broncos win that type of game a few weeks ago against a better opponent. The Colts are no San Francisco, their likely loss leaving head coach Frank Reich on the hot seat with an un-Indy-like 1-6 record in his last seven games.

Prediction: Broncos 16, Colts 10

Dispatch your enemies when it is time.

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Agony of defeat sucks my friends.
And Misery Loves Company.

But lest we forget.
Life and football - - is a marathon.
Not a sprint.

adapt and overcome
more W's than L's
Love you guys
That's all I got.

Everyone in the NFC West is 2-2 so we can still win the Division.

We will get back players that are out on injuries and suspension.

Here is the week 5 lineup. What games are you looking forward to?

Thursday, October 6th, 2022
TNF - Indianapolis Colts at Denver Broncos

Sunday, October 9th, 2022
9:30am ET - New York Giants at Green Bay Packers - Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, London England

THE EARLY GAMES
Pittsburgh Steelers at Buffalo Bills
Atlanta Falcons at Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Seattle Seahawks at New Orleans Saints
Miami Dolphins at New York Jets
Detroit Lions at New England Patriots
Tennessee Titans at Washington Commodes
Houston Texans at Jacksonville Jaguars
Chicago Bears at Minnesota Vikings
Los Angeles Chargers at Cleveland Browns

THE LATE GAMES
San Francisco 49ers at Carolina Panthers
Dallas Cowboys at Los Angeles Rams
Philadelphia Eagles at Arizona Cardinals

SNF - Cincinnati Bengals at Baltimore Ravens

Monday, October 10th, 2022
MNF - Las Vegas Raiders at Kansas City Chiefs

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Or, "Shut it, bitch."

Mysterious Seafloor Holes Baffling Scientists to Be Probed for DNA​

BY ED BROWNE ON 8/6/22 AT 5:00 AM EDT

Mysterious holes found at the bottom of the ocean by marine researchers are set to be probed for DNA in a bid to determine what created these weird, regularly spaced features.

In July, the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) said lines of holes had been found on the ocean floor at a depth of around 8,300 feet below the surface of the Atlantic. Photos posted by the agency showed a series of holes all spaced neatly apart in a straight line. Another characteristic of the holes is that they appear to be surrounded by small piles of sediment, suggesting they had been excavated.
Researchers were so puzzled they appealed to the public for possible explanations, which ranged from escaping gasses to aliens.

To find out for sure, the NOAA researchers have taken water samples from the area in the hopes that they'll find some environmental DNA—fish scales or mucus, for example—that could point to an animal origin.

"That's useful because animals shed DNA into their environment, and you can sequence it and sometimes you can find out what animals are nearby," Mike Vecchione, a research zoologist with NOAA Fisheries' National Systematics Laboratory, told Newsweek. "But it'll be a few weeks, probably, before we get an answer back from that. I don't know whether the answer will tell us anything about what's causing the holes or not."


A photo of some of the mysterious underwater holes spotted in the Atlantic Ocean during a 2022 NOAA voyage. Scientists are working to determine their origins.NOAA OCEAN EXPLORATION, VOYAGE TO THE RIDGE 2022

Vecchione, who also discovered a similar phenomenon during a 6,800-foot dive along the Mid-Atlantic Ridge in 2004, believes an animal is the most likely cause, as opposed to geological activity, or, of course, aliens. One reason for this is because similar things have been seen in fossil records, he said.
READ MORE

• Probably Not Space Debris: Mystery Remains over Metallic Orb Found in Tree
• Shrunken Head Held at Museum Was Made From Boiled Human Skin
• Weird 'Yellow Brick Road' Discovered at Bottom of the Ocean
• Mystery 'Alien' Holes Discovered on Seafloor, 8,300ft Below Ocean Surface

This is only part of the puzzle, however. Even if an animal were the cause, it's unclear how it would have created the holes in the first place, or what purpose they would serve.

"What I think is going on is that something is burrowing under the surface of the mud and periodically poking up chimneys, perhaps to get clean water down into its burrow and make it more habitable," Vecchione said.


Another angle of the underwater holes seen during the 2022 NOAA expedition. One theory is that the holes were made by an animal or animals.NOAA OCEAN EXPLORATION, VOYAGE TO THE RIDGE 2022

"The other alternative is that something above the sediment is poking down, over and over again, sort of like a shorebird does. If you watch the peeps along the edge of the waves at the beach, they'll walk along and poke their bill down into sediment to try and find things to eat. I don't think that's it, because we don't ever see any tracks beside these lines. Somebody suggested it could be a fish swimming, or some other organism swimming just above the bottom and poking down like that, which is a possibility.

"There are a lot of other suggestions, and right now we don't have a lot of information to rule any of them out." However, Vecchione added that these suggestions still don't explain how the holes have such "remarkable" regularity in their spacing.

Bill Chadwick is a senior researcher at the Oregon State University Hatfield Marine Science Center whose expertise is in geology and volcanology. He told Newsweek he has made many remote dives but has "never seen anything like these holes."

"I would agree … that they most likely are biological and made by either an animal burrowing from below in some sort of tunnel, or perhaps digging down from above but working in a straight line for some reason," he said. "It's a bit of a head scratcher though."

Chadwick added other mysterious underwater holes, also found in the fossil record and around the world, have been observed before but in hexagonal patterns rather than a straight line. "Similarly though, people have no idea what creates those hexagonal burrows either!" he said.

Baseball is funny in that a major market team has a distinct advantage against many other teams due to their available revenue and the wonderous gift of being able to buy any athlete you need to field the best team possible.

That is not the NFL.

All teams in the NFL need to make choices on how to build their team and allocate their scarce resources to field the team best suited to achieve their blueprint.

Our Rams have made choices. They hoisted the Lombardi, so I'm pretty sure I'm feeling good about it. Unfortunately, it stings when the downside of their blueprint is exposed via injuries and underperformance of key, expensive assets.

We looked like crap last night but it's a long season and one of these outcomes I know to be true:

Either way, I've decided to be even-keeled about it. Better for my blood pressure. Better for my enjoyment on Sundays. I lived through having the second worst record of the 90's, I can do this.

This team of Snead and McVay has turned our franchise around.

We have been in 2 SB's and won one.

We are a fucking powerhouse of the NFL, unlike 25+ other teams.

At the moment we are devastated by injuries to the Oline and in the secondary and <gasp> it seems like a 2nd rounder in Atwell didn't pan out.

It happens.

Shit happens.

STFU and get over it.

There is literally no person in this forum I'd want to replace our guys.

Go, McVay and Snead.

Go Rams!

This is going to be a big test for our team in Dallas. The Boys have a defense that has done a great job vs the pass so far in this young season, making QBs uncomfortable and as a result their scoring and pass defense are both near the top of the league. That unit is going to be a big challenge for us. These guys are going to be licking their chops after seeing the shit show the Rams just put on in SF, with their one dimensional approach predictably falling short as is usual vs their division rivals.

So what is there to do? RUN THE FUCKING BALL.

Dallas is much more pedestrian vs the run. Those guys want the sacks. They don't want to do the work. They are ripe to get run on.

In both our Super Bowl years McVay emerged from his pass induced fugue state in-season and accepted that he has to run the ball. And what ensued were runs of brilliance (no pun intended there) where his team rolled the opposition with balanced attacks that were very hard to stop. Right now we are in the same exact state of being that we were in before. Where teams are going to just crash the LOS and blitz their asses off and watch our median OL struggle to do anything. But that is not necessary if McVay is willing to prioritize the run game again.

Now in both those previous seasons the run game resurgence came with the addition of a physical RB in Anderson and Michel. Both brought elements that were missing from McVay's pass happy injury clappy RB room. I don't think we're in a position to add another one. I'd love to be wrong there but chances are they have to go with what they have. Which means line the big boys up in practice this week and have some fucking padded practices where you focus the run game. Akers looks tentative as shit, but maybe if we can open some damn holes for the dude he will get sorted early and we'll see the guy who started to show a bit the other game. Hendy is running hard and so far hasn't been hurt, which I think has more to do with him wanting a big FA contract but I won't go there. But also we have Brown back and he is capable of adding physicality, well, up until the point where he gets hurt.

I think our RB backfield has a JAG problem. I think these guys just aren't good enough. But either way we do have the pieces to go get a big win vs Dallas and keep growing this offense. And McVay doesn't have a choice here either. If he doesn't do that Stafford is not going to survive this season. And we'll end up with him playing hurt and looking like shit. So prioritize running the fucking ball. Just do it. Please.

I hate to say it but this might be an 8-9 win team, y’all. Players that we all were relying upon are struggling mightily.

Preseason I thought this was a 13-14 win team despite a difficult schedule. Thought our O would be unstoppable. Boy, do I now feel foolish.

This is the second game of only 4 played where I didn’t recognize my team. Where I wondered who were these imposters impersonating my Ram heroes?

As I see it, the decimation of our OL is the root of all O problems. We were starting Bobby Evans at LG for crying out loud! Let that sink in for just a minute. Now that’s desperation on multiple levels!

Hope our regulars start coming back soon because this crew was dysfunctional vs a quality D like the 49ers. Like a boxer with one hand tied behind his back. Pitiful.

Still, Stafford should have handled it better. He compounded the problems with erratic plays, accuracy, and decision making. Worst of all worlds. I’m a big Stafford fan but he really disappointed me last night.

Don’t look now but Rams have no running game. None. How the heck can one expect to beat teams like the Bills and 49ers without a damned running game? The Impossible Dream.

Running game problems start with a crippled OL but I still think both Akers and Hendy should be getting better results. Probably an offseason priority. Enough, already!

OL will also be an offseason priority for next year, too. Maybe at the top of Snead’s draft. Wouldn’t Creed Humphrey look good in horns now?

I’m still pissed at Hopkins. So shortsighted, so stupid.

Count me among those that expected AR to be a star at WR opposite Kupp. And after those glowing camp reports? Honestly, I can’t explain his struggles. All the ingredients for great success are there. So disappointing…

Well, our concerns about lack of sufficient edge pressure have been validated. We do NOT have a SB caliber pass rush outside of AD. Period. Unless Morris sells out to manufacture one.

Our secondary has been decimated also. It’s deep and has a bright future but when a D is down to starting it’s 5th CB plus a guy off of practice squad you’re in trouble. By season’s end this secondary will be a team strength but that is then and this is now.

I expected more from Bobby Wagner. Actually, a helluva lot more. Yeah, I knew he was on the back 9 physically, but I still thought he was a quality ILB with unparalleled experience. So far I think he’s only been so-so and outplayed by Jones, frankly. Another bummer.

AD can only do so much. Frankly, he’s not getting the help from teammates that he deserves when getting double and sometimes triple teamed. So what’s new? Such a shame.

ST backslid on coverage and return units. Picked a bad game for it. Gay and Dixon played well, though.

It’s a short list for me of Ram players that I noticed that played well…

AD (what’s new)
Kupp
Gay
Dixon

That’s about it. Sorry.

I’m a big results oriented guy but the results in this game were unacceptable. Coaching, game planning, and certainly most players all really screwed the pooch in this one.

I have rarely been so embarrassed about a Ram performance.

Ill take my chances with the Defending Super Bowl CHamps.

No one said it would be easy.....and it hasnt been...

Lets go win next week.

which is annoying as shit

However, wanted to point out that we have won the division 3 times in Mcvay's 5 years

Shanaclown has won 1 division title in 5 years.

1. There are a lot of negatives to unpack after tonight's debacle, but let's be perfectly clear: it ALL starts with the offensive line.

2. After losing Coleman Shelton in the first half, the Rams' interior OL consisted of three guys who ranged from back-ups to a practice squad call-up. They did their best, but let's be perfectly honest here... they had no chance of holding off the 49ers front seven.

3. From there, its a chain reaction. The running game is a non-factor, so that puts it all on the passing game...

4. In the passing game, pressure is coming with no more than 5, and as little as 4 pass rushers...

5. Stafford does what you expect - force feeds Cooper Kupp (and to a lesser extent, Tyler Higbee)...

6. Opposing defense is able to key on Kupp, and even he can't beat a top defense all by himself...

7. The Rams defense eventually makes some mistakes, allowing big plays...

8. Stafford finally makes a big mistake, and that's all she wrote.

9. Understand, that while the OL situation is the ROOT CAUSE, that does not absolve players who did not deliver.

10. Stafford HAS to hit a wide-open Higbee for what would have been a potentially game-changing TD, and he CAN'T throw that pick 6.

11. Cam Akers has to do more. Unless... maybe he can't. There's clearly a difference between getting back on the field after a torn Achilles, and getting all the way back to pre-injury form. Right now, my eyes are seeing a lot more explosion from Darrell Henderson.

12. Way too early prediction: the Rams will draft a RB with their first selection in next year's draft (again).

13. The defense CAN'T allow big plays like it did. The first TD was a gaffe. Allowing Deebo's long TD run was shameful. Letting a blown assignment turn a swing pass to Juszczyk turn into a 35 yard play was humiliating. I agree with those condemning the pass rush (not AD's fault - he pushed the pocket despite double and triple teams). While JimmyG does use the quick pass to avoid the rush, he had too many clean pockets when he had to scan the field. Where has Leonard Floyd gone?

14. While history will remember this as a runaway loss, its amazing how this is a game of inches. Deebo's TD could have been a pick 6 if the pass was a tad lower. The Rams miss out on a momentum changer when a fumbled kickoff return bounces right to a 49er. Of course, the 49ers dropped 2 or 3 interceptions and missed out on a TD by a toe, so....

15. One guy I'm not prepared to condemn is Allen Robinson. Granted, I do sense some budding disgruntlement from him, but he's coming by it honestly. The patterns he was brought here to run just don't work well (or, at least, don't present a better option than just feeding Kupp) when there's little to no time to throw.

16. OBJ is so much more versatile than Robinson. If we're going to make another run this year, we'll need him back.

17. So how do the Rams fix the OL on the fly? Well... hopefully we'll get Brian Allen and David Edwards back in the next two weeks, and... fingers crossed... Shelton's injury is a short-term deal.

18. Beyond that, its a tough situation. Quality OL are not often traded in the middle of a season. We're just going to have to find 5 starters who can stay on the field long enough to gel as a unit. It will need to be fairly quick... the Cowboys have the ability to add to Stafford's disturbing sack total (14 sacks in the two losses alone) next Sunday.

19. There's still a long season ahead of us. At the near-one quarter mark, the NFC West is deadlocked at 2-2. We'll get another shot at the hated 49ers in a few weeks. Still a lot of football to be played.

20. Oh... and I'd still definitely trade one NFCG win for 7 regular season losses.

When was the last time we sacked crapalo. Zero in the NFC championship. Sack CRAPALO

@ottoman89 and myself are probably drinking Busch Lite. @Merlin is going Chardonnay and Brie..... @CGI_Ram is going Lablatt's Blue.

So what are you eating and drinking?

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Made an off-handed comment in the late game thread about Matt Rhule's shitty offense and what this guy would look like in an actual NFL offense.

Sure we couldn't afford it but fun to dream...

What will we be talking about Tuesday morning?

Let’s hear yours.

MONDAY - OCTOBER 03, 2022

Game Day Thread

The GDT is a live thread tradition here at ROD.

While we all get fired up watching the game, please remember our core principles;we always show respect for our team and each other.

Despite the emotional highs and lows watching a game, we will moderate this thread with that in mind, however please refrain from name calling. This applies to players, the Rams organization, and others.

This is the core rule of the GDT. Moderators are tasked to issue thread bans, at a minimum, to maintain this standard.

This is our team. Win or lose. Good days and bad. We are here for FUN, not to be dragged down.

A more loosely moderated atmosphere can be found in the chat room.

Go Rams!

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ROD Chat Room;

Game Day Room

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Kansas City Chiefs vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers​

A rematch of Super Bowl LV is the highlight of the Week 4 NFL schedule, even if both offenses aren't clicking as well as they'd hoped.

Any matchup between Tom Brady and Patrick Mahomes is immediately appointment television.

The Chiefs and Bucs each enter this "Sunday Night Football" matchup at 2-1 and among the favorites in their respective conferences despite head-scratching losses last week. A depleted receiving corps left Tampa Bay's offense neutered as they fell 14-12 to the Packers. Kansas City, meanwhile, lost on a two-minute drill drive to a Colts team that looked destined for the top of the draft.

But regardless of their last outings, this game will be a great measuring stick of how these teams stack up since they last met at Raymond James Stadium in February 2020.

Can Brady revitalize the Bucs' offense and score another big win over the Chiefs' would-be-GOAT? Or can Mahomes even this head-to-head matchup at three wins apiece?

Sunday Night Football: Kansas City (2-1) at Tampa Bay (2-1)

Kickoff: Sunday, Oct. 2 at 8:20 p.m. ET
TV: NBC
Live Stream: fuboTV (Start your free trial)
Spread: Chiefs -1

Three Things to Watch

1. Can the Buccaneers fix their offensive woes?

The Buccaneers' scoring this season is nearly half of what it was in 2021 – from 30.1 points per game to 17.0. Now, much of that has to do with a group of wideouts that is starting to look like the Patriots team Brady bolted two years ago. And the good news is that Mike Evans will return from his one-game suspension while Chris Godwin (hamstring) and Julio Jones (knee) will be game-time decisions. But more than a lack of playmakers ails this offense.

Despite all of those absences, Tampa Bay is still far more successful passing the ball on first down (0.17 EPA/play) than running the ball (-0.06 EPA/play). And yet they keep digging themselves into holes by handing it off to Leonard Fournette. Fournette hasn't been terrible this season (4.0 ypc), but running often on first down is rarely the right answer, and his efficiency is dropping as he gets to 19 carries per game.

The Bucs could get some good news as left tackle Donovan Smith returned to practice Wednesday, although he remains a game-time-decision. But since the Chiefs' pass rush has generated pressure 35.8 percent of the time (second in the NFL) and hurries 16.1 percent of the time (third), Tampa Bay ought to have Brady do what he does best and get throws out quickly, regardless of who is protecting the blind side.

2. Can the Bucs force the Chiefs to run?

Despite losing Tyreek Hill over the offseason, Mahomes has been as effective as ever. In fact, his completion rate (67.9 percent), adjusted yards per attempt (8.9), and passer rating (112.1) are all even above his career averages. The Bucs boat-raced the Chiefs in their last meeting because Kansas City's O-line was decimated, but they have a respectable 58 percent (16th in the NFL) pass block win rate this season, so rushing the passer won't be as easy this time around.

Perhaps the best way to beat Mahomes is to dare him not to throw. The Bengals were able to beat the Chiefs in the AFC Championship Game by dropping eight men into coverage on Mahomes, and he wound up throwing two picks, taking four sacks, and only averaging 7.1 yards per attempt. Of course, the Cardinals tried playing quarters defense in Week 1, only to allow a good performance from Clyde Edwards-Helaire. But the Bucs do have the benefit of actually having a good run defense (3.8 ypc, 0 TDs allowed).

The Chiefs have never had a great rushing offense to pair with Mahomes, but it's been particularly mediocre this season. After averaging 4.8 yards per carry (seventh) last season, they're down to 3.6 (20th) this year. Jerick McKinnon has led KC RBs in snaps each week, and he's only averaging 4.3 yards per rush. Rookie breakout candidate Isaih Pacheco hasn't done much outside of one 22-yard run, and Edwards-Helaire continues to disappoint. If the Chiefs can beat a tough run defense on the ground, you just have to tip your hat to them.

3. Will special teams sink the Chiefs?

One of the key reasons why the Chiefs lost to the Colts last week was poor special teams play. With kicker Harrison Butker sidelined by a left ankle injury, Kansas City had to turn to Matt Ammendola, and that proved to be the difference in the three-point loss.

Ammendola missed a PAT in the first quarter and then a field goal with two minutes left that would have given the Chiefs a seven-point lead. The team also had such little faith in him that they attempted a fake field goal on fourth-and-10 rather than attempt a 42-yarder with 13 minutes left. Ammendola wasn't long for the Chiefs, since Butker's return is imminent, but his tenure was cut shore when the Chiefs released him Monday.

With Butker not practicing this week, the Chiefs will likely be turning to recently signed Matthew Wright. The former UCF kicker was 21-of-24 with the Jaguars last season, which should present an upgrade on last week's debacle. At least the punting unit is in good shape with Tommy Townsend, who leads the NFL with 55.6 yards per punt and a 49.6-yard net average.

Final Analysis

This should be a much more competitive game than the 22-point blowout in the Super Bowl, and it's easy to see how both teams' disappointing Week 3 performances could be the kick in the butt they need to show up Sunday. Brady won a ring in their last face-off, but expect the Chiefs to pull away on the strength of their comparative offensive edge at this point in the season.

Prediction: Chiefs 27, Buccaneers 20

Sunday, October 02, 2022

LATE GAMES
Arizona Cardinals at Carolina Panthers
New England Patriots at Green Bay Packer's
Denver Broncos at Las Vegas Raiders

SNF
Kansas City Chiefs at Tampa Bay Buccaneers

EARLY GAMES
Buffalo Bills at Baltimore Ravens
Cleveland Browns at Atlanta Falcons
New York Jets at Pittsburgh Steelers
Washington Commodes at Dallas Cowboys
Jacksonville Jaguars at Philadelphia Eagles
Chicago Bears at New York Giants
Los Angeles Chargers at Houston Texans
Tennessee Titans at Indianapolis Colts
Seattle Seahawks at Detroit Lions

9:30 AM ET
Minnesota Vikings at New Orleans Saints

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Already Played

Thursday, September 29, 2022

TNF
Miami Dolphins at Cincinnati Bengals

Sunday, October 02, 2022

9:30 AM ET
Minnesota Vikings at New Orleans Saints

EARLY GAMES
Buffalo Bills at Baltimore Ravens
Cleveland Browns at Atlanta Falcons
New York Jets at Pittsburgh Steelers
Washington Commodes at Dallas Cowboys
Jacksonville Jaguars at Philadelphia Eagles
Chicago Bears at New York Giants
Los Angeles Chargers at Houston Texans
Tennessee Titans at Indianapolis Colts
Seattle Seahawks at Detroit Lions

LATE GAMES
Arizona Cardinals at Carolina Panthers
New England Patriots at Green Bay Packer's
Denver Broncos at Las Vegas Raiders

SNF
Kansas City Chiefs at Tampa Bay Buccaneers

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Already Played

Thursday, September 29, 2022

TNF
Miami Dolphins at Cincinnati Bengals