Colts vs. Raiders: Keys to victory in Week 10

Keys to victory for Indy as they visit the Raiders in Week 10.

This week has been…interesting to say the least. The front office decided Frank Reich’s fate and fired the fifth-year head coach mid-way through the 2022 season.

Interim head coach and Colts legend, Jeff Saturday, will now take over with no college or professional coaching experience. Anybody who knows what will happen on Sunday in Las Vegas is a liar, and this team will have to shut out the noise and bounce back quickly.

The good news? Josh McDaniels and his squad are currently 2-6 on the year and have a knack for blowing games down the stretch. This will still be a challenge for this Colts team, but this mountain is not impossible to climb.

Here are the keys to victory for Jeff Saturday in his NFL coaching debut:

Lions should have interest in ex-Rams S Terrell Burgess

Lions should have interest in ex-Rams S Terrell Burgess, drafted under now-Lions GM Brad Holmes

There were a couple of safeties waived in the NFL on Tuesday who carry some level of intrigue with Detroit Lions fans. One of them is a hard “no”, but the other is someone GM Brad Holmes and the Lions should strongly consider claiming off waivers.

The hard no comes for former Raiders first-rounder Johnathan Abram. Las Vegas dumped the No. 25 overall pick of the 2019 NFL draft, who has consistently been one of the lowest-ranked defenders per Pro Football Focus his entire career. PFF grades can be somewhat debatable, but Abram’s atrocious coverage grades certainly pass the eye test. His missed tackle rate of 15.3 for his career is higher than that of Lions LB Alex Anzalone, not someone noted for his tackling prowess.

Terrell Burgess is a different story. Burgess was dumped by the Rams in the middle of his third season. He was a third-round pick in 2020 out of Utah. Holmes was the man running the Rams scouting department back in that draft cycle, his last before joining the Lions right after the 2020 campaign ended.

Burgess has not done much in the NFL. Injuries have been an issue, most notably a broken ankle that ended his rookie season after seven games. He started one game, the Rams’ Week 5 loss to the Cowboys, and recorded nine tackles in the game. The Rams have a solid starting safety duo in Taylor Rapp and Nick Scott, blocking any real room for advancement or playing time.

With a contract that runs through 2023, Burgess would cost the Lions just under $1.1 million for next season and under $500,000 for the rest of 2022. While he’s not shown the third-round potential yet, the 23-year-old would be an inexpensive trial at a position where the Lions can use upgraded young depth. At minimum, Burgess is a better option than Brady Breeze to step up in case Ifeatu Melifonwu winds up on I.R. or is incapable of playing.

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Panthers vs. Raiders: 10 matchups to watch for Week 1

Here are 10 key matchups we will be following on Sunday afternoon.

The Carolina Panthers will begin their 2020 season this weekend against the Las Vegas Raiders. At the moment, they are considered three-point underdogs despite having the home-field advantage. If they’re going to overcome those odds and pull off a Week 1 victory, then they will need to win several key individual matchups.

Here are 10 that we will be following closely come Sunday afternoon.

RB Christian McCaffrey vs. SS Johnathan Abram
Christian McCaffrey
(AP Photo/Nell Redmond)

The Raiders loaded up on linebackers this offseason, but their best run defender may be Abram, who missed most of last year with a shoulder injury. Abram is a heavy hitter who can energize his whole team like early Keanu Neal or Kam Chancellor. On the other hand, McCaffrey is the top running back in football and makes even great run stuffers look bad. He’s also underrated as a runner between the tackles. It will be fascinating to see what happens when these two butt heads.