Cincinnati Bengals
Lots of questions with Week 6 kicking off Thursday. Here are my answers …
From Rilo (@rileygdurham): Is Joe Flacco REALLY a game changer for the Bengals?
Rilo, I think that Joe Flacco is in two ways. One, he doesn’t need to be great. He just needs to be average, which would give the Bengals a level of quarterback play they just weren’t getting from Jake Browning, who, for whatever reason, wasn’t throwing it or seeing it the way he did two years ago (his arm really died the past couple of weeks). Two, the idea isn’t that Flacco’s going to run off seven or eight consecutive wins before handing the reins back to Joe Burrow—it’s to keep the team alive through a reasonable schedule.
I’ve said it a ton, and I’ll say it again: The opportunity to enter the playoffs with Burrow as your quarterback is gold, and should be treated as such. The Bengals, I think, greatly improved their chances of making that happen on Tuesday, and don’t need to get Flacco a time machine for it. Adequate might be enough.
https://x.com/SInow/status/1975628494668271691
From “Charles” Coryell (@coryell_charlie): Does the Bengals acquisition of Joe Flacco signal anything about Joe Burrow’s timeline to return?
Charles, I’d say only in that it signals the Bengals believe they’ll get Burrow back during the regular season, which is good news—because there are some variables coming out of the surgery for that particular injury.
Cleveland Browns
From TomMY (@Tominpa5): Does Deshaun Watson ever play another down in the NFL?
TomMY, I know he’s working toward getting back, and the people around him were optimistic over the summer that he’d be cleared in late October or early November. If that remains the case, then the Browns’ situation will get interesting.
I’d remind everyone in this sort of situation—the players know. So if Watson were to come back and start looking like 2020 Deshaun Watson in practice, and Dillon Gabriel stumbles in a few games, then this could get a little hairy for Kevin Stefanski. Or tricky, presuming you wouldn’t want to put Watson out there. Which …
All right, I’m gonna try and put the off-field stuff aside here, as hard as that is to do, and ask this simple question: Is there really a better chance that Gabriel or Shedeur Sanders is the long-term answer than there is that it’s still Watson?
We can look at the numbers here for clues. Twenty-six of the NFL’s 32 teams entered this season with former first-round picks as starting quarterbacks, including the Browns. The five that didn’t are the Eagles, Giants, Cowboys, Saints, 49ers and Raiders, and a month into the season, two of those six, New York and San Francisco, for very different reasons, have turned to guys who were drafted in the first round.
Out of that half dozen, only the Eagles, Cowboys and 49ers drafted their guys outside the first round and have them entrenched as the long-term answer at the position. That makes Jalen Hurts, Dak Prescott and Brock Purdy outliers, with the bottom line being that it is increasingly rare to find a franchise player at that position outside the first round. So what sort of chance do Gabriel and Sanders really have to be the quarterback two or three years from now? Is the chance of that happening better than the chance of a Watson revival?
Maybe it is. But if I were the Browns, based on the $46 million they have tied up in Watson for 2026, I think I’d be pretty tempted to take another look at Watson before the year is out.
Miami Dolphins
From Dennis Byers (@dbyers99): How long before Miami fires everyone: head coach, GM and moves on from Tua?
Dennis, if things keep going the way they’ve gone there, lots of big-picture decisions will have to be made in South Florida. Coming out of 2024, the Dolphins were at a natural point of retooling—and they went through with that. Terron Armstead retired, and they went with 2024 second-round pick Patrick Paul at left tackle. They traded Jalen Ramsey away. I believe, before he was hurt, they’d have looked at trading Tyreek Hill before the deadline.
So seeing the point the franchise is at, it’s very fair to presume that the next question owner Stephen Ross will have to ask is whether he wants coach Mike McDaniel and GM Chris Grier leading the rest of the rebuild—and obviously how the rest of what looks like a lost season goes will be a factor in that decision-making.
As for Tagovailoa, I’d say whether it’s McDaniel and Grier or someone else running the show, the quarterback will probably get one more year in Miami. The reason: He has $54 million fully guaranteed for 2026. So even if new leadership comes in and drafts a quarterback in April, I’d think Tua would stick around as the bridge guy. After 2026, the Dolphins would be on the hook for just $3 million if they cut the quarterback.
Suffice it to say, the rest of this year is pretty important for McDaniel and Grier, and next year will be a pivotal one, regardless of who’s in charge, for Tagovailoa.
Las Vegas Raiders
From Spitfire2328 (@spitfire2328): What’s your take on Chip Kelly with the Raiders? His play-calling looks like all they do is try to make large chunk plays and are rarely methodical enough to set it up.
Spitfire, my take is the talent on hand just isn’t there yet. And on Sunday in Indianapolis, they were missing their two best offensive players—left tackle Kolton Miller and tight end Brock Bowers—against a red-hot Colts team. The starting skill guys were Dont’e Thornton Jr., Trey Tucker, Jakobi Meyers, Ian Thomas and Ashton Jeanty. The left tackle was Stone Forsythe (great name, by the way), who couldn’t make the OL-thin New York Giants roster.
The production is the production, and Geno Smith and Chip Kelly have to answer for it. But it’s important to pay attention to the circumstances, too.
NFL's elite teams
From R.P. Macura (@RP_Macura55): Why does it seem that the NFL overall doesn’t have an elite team this year? Bills shown to be maybe the best but also beatable, same for Eagles. Also, why does it seem like there are way more injuries at the beginning of the season?
R.P., because it’s September, and this is the way it’s worked over the past 15 years. A lot of the best teams use the first month of the season to work kinks out, manage injury, and preserve older players. Last year’s Eagles were 2–2 going into October. The 2023 Chiefs went through a 3–5 stretch. The 2021 Rams had a three-game losing streak in midseason. The 2020 Bucs started 3–2, and lost three of four games at one point.
The CBA rules ushered in back in 2011 created an environment where teams are really fully developed at the start of the season, and have to find their identities on the fly. The sustained winners of this era have adapted to that by using the regular season to get there, and Philly was a great example of it last year.
I’d trust that the Bills, Eagles, Rams, Ravens, 49ers, Bucs and, yes, Chiefs have a pretty good handle on that, and, injury permitting, will be among those standing at the end.
Pittsburgh Steelers
From shum pulp (@B1Gwheat): If Rodgers retires this year, do they go full clean sweep and move off Tomlin, too, for the full reset? Or do they keep Tomlin around for a rebuild?
Shum, I think the Steelers have been set up for that the whole time—in fact, part of the equation in signing Aaron Rodgers was that they only had so many swings left with guys such as T.J. Watt and Cam Heyward, and wanted to take advantage of the opportunity in front of them.
They actually did look really hard at bringing back Justin Fields, but what stopped them, as best I could ascertain it, was that they needed to find a way to move the needle at that spot to become more than the fringe playoff team they’ve been the past few years. Basically, it was a you-know-what-or-get-off-the-pot time. So this is their swing at it, and post–Aaron Rodgers, there’s probably a pretty serious retooling coming.
Indianapolis Colts
From Lane Burks (@LaneBurks3): Does the Colts brass believe they are in win-now mode and do you see any moves for Indianapolis?
Lane, interesting question because I’m not sure there’s some glaring hole on Indianapolis’s roster.
What would you add? You could argue a true No. 1 receiver, but there’s real depth and balance at that position. Maybe another corner or some offensive line depth would help. Overall, though, that team actually looks like it’s really well-built, and well-rounded.
My favorite stat I gathered from this summer was that the Colts were 29th in total defense last year and 30th in giveaways—and still found a way to win eight games. So with Daniel Jones making the offense more efficient and Lou Anarumo in to overhaul the defensive scheme, and grabbing system fits such as Cam Bynum and Charvarius Ward, maybe we shouldn’t be surprised that they’re making a leap.
AFC playoff picture
From Clayton Anderson | 713 Sports Talk (@713SportsTalk): Is the AFC as wide open as Weeks 1 to 5 suggest? Or, will we see a regression to the mean?
Clayton, we answered this one in the video mailbag. Be sure to check it out!
(But I’d still expect the Chiefs and Bills, and injury-permitting the Ravens, to be around when it really counts …)
International Series
From Logan Franz (@LivingLikeLogan): Do you think we're any closer to a team in London? Could the success of the Vikings’ two-game stretch in Europe move the needle at all? (Not sure how but you never know what the league is thinking)
Logan, I think for now the ship has sailed on that. But don’t take my word for it. Here’s how Gerrit Meier, the NFL’s SVP/managing director of international, answered the question when I asked about it 10 days ago.
“That has been explored,” Meier told me. “I don’t think it’s imminent. I don’t think it’s on the front burner for us, as we think through it. You just think of it on paper, How would it work? Can it be only one team? Or would it have to be two or four teams? Would it even work with a 17–3 season, or does it need to be an 18–2 season? Proximity matters, so is this more a conversation for Canada or Mexico or is it truly a conversation as it comes to Europe, considering time-zone differences and everything else?
“So this is not like we wouldn’t be looking at it; it’s definitely something that should be contemplated at some point. I would imagine we would want to look at developmental leagues. I don’t think NFL Europe back in the day was set up to a degree that it provided success, but if you actually look at how it developed fandom for the long run in countries like Germany, it actually had some positives.
“All of those elements are important. But we feel like at this very moment, the idea of regular-season games being played internationally, and expanding that series, is probably a good initial step to go into these new markets, broaden our footprint, and establish ourselves, and then see what greater opportunities present themselves.”
For background, the NFL had a goal, when the International Series kicked off in 2007, of having a team in London within 15 years. Obviously, they didn’t hit that mark, and I can say logistics are why—some of the things (like air travel) that they thought would advance over time didn’t, making the idea of parking a team over there full-time a tougher sell.
Los Angeles Rams
From Glock#9 (@GabeCampos1499): What do you think the solution for the poor playing of the Rams’ corners? Do you think they make a big trade like they did for Ramsey?
Glock, I think a huge piece of this has been philosophical, and the team-building philosophy they’ve employed has worked, mostly. They see corners as speed bumps in today’s NFL, rather than stop signs, which is why they’ve prioritized getting to the quarterback over affecting the guys he’s throwing to. That has led to heavy investment in the pass rush, which has allowed for the Rams to have one of the NFL’s best fronts, even after post-Aaron Donald.
The price of that has come, yes, at corner. After getting torched by Mac Jones and Kendrick Bourne, could the front office take a look at finding some corner help before the trade deadline? Sure. I don’t think it’ll be at a Jalen Ramsey 2019-level trade.
New York Jets
From Cali (@CaliJets): Woody Johnson is known for giving his coaches/GMs more than a year to implement their process. Is there a scenario where you see Aaron Glenn being one-and-done? Things are getting worse by the week, and the team may look to take a QB in the top 3 next year, leaving them a want to hire.
Cali, I’ll be honest—I’m surprised by how bad the Jets are. I thought the roster was in pretty good shape coming out of the Robert Saleh–Joe Douglas era, with young pieces such as Quinnen Williams, Garrett Wilson, Sauce Gardner, Olu Fashanu, Jermaine Johnson II, Will McDonald IV, Quincy Williams, Jamien Sherwood and Breece Hall on hand. And while some people will pin most of this on Justin Fields, it’s not just one phase that’s struggling. In fact, I’d argue that a defense that was routinely good under Saleh has been worse.
So there’s a lot to clean up. However, Aaron Glenn inherited several issues that went beyond personnel, and for that reason alone I think you have to give him some time to address them.
Two-point conversions
From Curtis Allen (@curtis93969): Why doesn't the NFL count stats like sacks, TFLs, INTs, or fumbles on two-point tries? Is it because they consider it an untimed down? And is there any juice to update this rule? I can think of players who had contract incentives they could have reached had it officially counted.
Curtis, I think it’s mostly because it’s the game being played in a different context than it is in the normal flow of the game—though you could argue that about overtime, too.
I’ll see if I can get you an answer on this.
Arizona Cardinals
From Jace (@AzJace): What is the Cardinals’ position on the QB and coaching staff? Could see them move off either
Jace, I think it’s probably a little early for that—this was a massive rebuild from the start—so long as the Cardinals are playing meaningful games in December. If they’re playing out the string before that, then the dynamic probably changes a bit.
The contractual situation with Kyler Murray is also a factor here, too. He has $36.8 million fully guaranteed for next year. I’d say that makes it a good bet he’ll be around in 2026, though the fact that there’s no guaranteed money beyond that point would allow for the possibility that they start planning for a Murray-less future after this season.
More NFL on Sports Illustrated
This article was originally published on www.si.com as Albert Breer’s NFL Mailbag: Why Joe Flacco Is a Game-Changer for the Bengals.
