Tag: Week 18

Packers elevate CB David Long Jr. from practice squad for wildcard round vs. Cowboys

The Packers elevated CB David Long Jr. from the practice squad to the gameday roster for the NFC Wild Card Round vs. the Cowboys.

The Green Bay Packers elevated cornerback David Long Jr. from the practice squad to the gameday roster for the NFC Wild Card Round. The move was announced Saturday, making Long available for Matt LaFleur and the Packers for Sunday’s showdown with the Dallas Cowboys at AT&T Stadium.

The Packers re-signed Long to the practice squad on Friday. He played in three games with the Packers after being claimed off waivers in early December but was released last week. Long was on the field for 14 special teams snaps.

Long’s elevation is an obvious answer to Jaire Alexander’s status for Sunday. The All-Pro cornerback is questionable to play with an ankle injury, meaning the Packers have only four healthy cornerbacks — Keisean Nixon, Carrington Valentine, Corey Ballentine and Robert Rochell — on the 53-man roster. Alexander will be a game-time decision. Long, who has played in 62 career NFL games, provides valuable experience and depth at the position entering a game against Dak Prescott and the NFL’s No. 1 scoring offense.

This will actually be the second time Long faces the Cowboys this season. He played eight snaps on defense and 12 on special teams while with the Carolina Panthers in a 33-10 loss to the Cowboys on Nov. 19. Sunday will be Long’s first playoff game since winning the Super Bowl with the Rams on Feb. 13, 2022.

The Packers didn’t elevate a wide receiver, which could be good news for Christian Watson, who is also questionable to play. Last week, the Packers elevated rookie Grant DuBose from the practice squad but made him inactive.

The Packers had only three players with status designations on the final injury report: Alexander, Watson and running back A.J. Dillon. Emanuel Wilson and Patrick Taylor will back up Aaron Jones, so no move was required at running back.

All teams are allowed to elevate up to two players from the practice squad each week. An individual player can only be elevated from the practice squad three times per season, so Long has two elevations remaining. On Monday, Long will revert back to the practice squad.

The Packers elevated at least one player during 15 of their 18 games this season. Long represents the 23rd time a player has been elevated from the practice squad by the Packers this season.

Elevations by week

Week 1: RB Patrick Taylor, DB Innis Gaines
Week 2: RB Patrick Taylor, DB Innis Gaines
Week 3: RB Patrick Taylor, CB Corey Ballentine
Week 4: CB Corey Ballentine, CB Kiondre Thomas
Week 5: CB Corey Ballentine
Week 7: None
Week 8: None
Week 9: DB Innis Gaines
Week 10: None
Week 11: S Benny Sapp III
Week 12: S Benny Sapp III, FB Henry Pearson
Week 13: RB James Robinson, FB Henry Pearson
Week 14: RB Kenyan Drake
Week 15: RB Kenyan Drake, WR Bo Melton
Week 16: WR Bo Melton, S Benny Sapp III
Week 17: WR Bo Melton
Week 18: WR Grant DuBose
WC: CB David Long Jr.

Packers QB Jordan Love named NFC Offensive Player of the Week for Week 18

For the second consecutive week, Green Bay Packers QB Jordan Love was named the NFC Offensive Player of the Week.

For the second consecutive week, Green Bay Packers quarterback Jordan Love was named the NFC Offensive Player of the Week. He first earned the award for producing four total touchdowns in a 33-10 win over the Minnesota Vikings in Week 17, and he won it again after completing 27 of 32 passes for 316 yards and a passer rating of 128.6 in the Packers’ playoff-clinching win over the Chicago Bears in Week 18.

Love set new season highs in completion percentage (84.4) and passer rating. He finished first in completion percentage, fourth in passing yards and third in passer rating among NFC quarterbacks in Week 18.

Love threw only five incompletions, including two that could have resulted in touchdowns.

The win was the team’s 10th in a row over the Bears and also clinched a playoff berth for the Packers as the No. 7 seed in the NFC.

Love is the first player in Packers history to be named NFC Offensive Player of the Week in back-to-back weeks. Brett Favre and Aaron Rodgers won the award 31 total times but never in back-to-back weeks. Love is also the first quarterback since Jalen Hurts in 2022 to win the award in back-to-back weeks.

Over Weeks 17 and 18, Love completed 51 of 65 passes for 572 yards, five touchdown passes, zero interceptions and a passer rating of 129.0. He finished his first season as the Packers starter with 32 touchdown passes, 36 total touchdowns and a passer rating of 96.1.

Love and the Packers take on the Dallas Cowboys in the NFC Wild Card Round on Sunday.

GALLERY: Shots from Tampa Bay’s Week 18 win over Carolina

Tampa Bay got it done in Carolina, and we put together some of our favorite photos from the contest.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers to traveled to Charlotte, North Carolina, in hopes of getting a win to clinch the NFC South and punch their ticket to the playoffs — and they did exactly that.

The team won 9-0 over the Carolina Panthers Sunday, and although there wasn’t a lot of action to speak of due to the low-scoring game, it was a beautiful day in Charlotte and the Bucs were able to get the job done. Here are some top shots from the proceedings:

How former Alabama players performed in Week 18 of NFL season

Roll Tide Wire takes a close look at how former Alabama players performed in Week 18 of the NFL season.

Alabama is one of the top programs in the country when it comes to producing NFL talent. The Crimson Tide are well-represented on both sides of the ball and at just about every position on the football field.

Week 18 of the 2023 season kicked off on last Thursday night and concluded on Monday night, which means there were a lot of former Alabama players suiting up for their respective professional teams.

Believe it or not, 26 of the 32 teams in the NFL have at least one Alabama player on its roster. There are not many college programs that can say the same.

Roll Tide Wire breaks down how former Alabama players performed in their Week 18 matchups.

Chiefs DL Malik Herring led Kansas City in PFF grade vs. Chargers

#Chiefs DL Malik Herring earned Kansas City’s best PFF grade for his performance against the Chargers in Week 18.

The Kansas City Chiefs’ remarkable win over the Los Angeles Chargers in Week 18 presented an opportunity for many of the team’s lesser-known players to get meaningful snaps against a bitter divisional rival.

Kansas City elected to rest many of its starters for the game after cementing their spot as the No. 3 seed in the AFC playoffs in Week 17. One defensive lineman, Malik Herring, made the most of his chance to see the field against Los Angeles.

He was given an 84.8 grade from Pro Football Focus for his effort against the Chargers, which was the best mark of any Chiefs player in the win.

While Herring is unlikely to see significant action in the playoffs, his stellar performance in Week 18 may make him a candidate to get more playing time next season.

It isn’t often that a relatively unknown player leads a championship-caliber roster in any category, so Herring’s accomplishment against Los Angeles shouldn’t go unnoticed by fans or his coaches.

Breaking down Lions PFF grades from Week 18 win over the Vikings

Breaking down the Detroit Lions PFF grades from Week 18 win over the Vikings

The regular-season finale against the Minnesota Vikings wasn’t the best showing by the Detroit Lions. The Lions’ 30-20 win was effective without being superlative.

The team’s grades from Pro Football Focus reflect that, by and large. Here are the best and worst individual grades from PFF, as well as a few notable standout metrics.

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Monday Night Football’s ManningCast will return in first round of NFL playoffs

The NFL regular season has concluded so there’s no ‘Monday Night Football’ tonight, but the ‘ManningCast’ will be back for the playoffs.

After a hilarious fake search for a third host this offseason, Peyton Manning and Eli Manning returned to ESPN2 this fall for a third season of the ManningCast (without a third host).

As they have done for the past two seasons, Peyton and Eli will have special guests join them on the alternate broadcast of Monday Night Football, but they will remain the two hosts of the popular show.

Disney will continue to carry its standard MNF broadcasts on main ESPN with Joe Buck and Troy Aikman serving as the commentators for the primary broadcast. The ten alternate ManningCasts featuring Peyton and Eli will be broadcast on ESPN2 and available to stream on NFL+.

Here is the full ManningCast schedule of games during the 2023 season.

NFL Week Date Monday Night Football Game TV Channel
Week 1 Sept. 11 Buffalo Bills at New York Jets ESPN2, ESPN+, NFL+
Week 4 Oct. 2 Seattle Seahawks at New York Giants ESPN2, NFL+
Week 5 Oct. 9 Green Bay Packers at Las Vegas Raiders ESPN2, NFL+
Week 7 Oct. 23 San Francisco 49ers at Minnesota Vikings ESPN2, NFL+
Week 9 Nov. 6 Los Angeles Chargers at New York Jets ESPN2, NFL+
Week 10 Nov. 13 Denver Broncos at Buffalo Bills ESPN2, NFL+
Week 11 Nov. 20 Philadelphia Eagles at Kansas City Chiefs ESPN2, ESPN+, NFL+
Week 13 Dec. 4 Cincinnati Bengals at Jacksonville Jaguars ESPN2, NFL+
Week 14 Dec. 11 Titans at Dolphins AND Packers at Giants ESPN2, NFL+
Week 15 Dec. 18 Philadelphia Eagles at Seattle Seahawks ESPN2, NFL+
Wildcard Jan. 15 TBD Playoff Game ESPN2, ESPN+, NFL+

There’s no Monday Night Football game in Week 18 of the regular season, but the ManningCast will return for the Wild Card round of the playoffs.

Peyton and Eli both won a pair of Super Bowls as quarterbacks in the NFL.

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WATCH: Highlights from Bucs at Panthers in Week 18

If you like field goals, we have just the video for you.

Another week, another game with little highlights.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers bested the Carolina Panthers 9-0 on Sunday to become champions of the NFC South. With a score like that, you’d think the highlights would be hard to find, and you’d be entirely correct — there were no touchdowns in this matchup and it was largely a war of attrition with Buc defensive turnovers to keep them in the game.

There were two of those, to be exact, with one coming from Antoine Winfield Jr. as he continues to prove Pro Bowl voters made a mistake and another one coming from edge rusher Joe Tryon-Shoyinka to force a fumble on Bryce Young. Aside from that, kicker Chase McLaughlin nailed all three field goals he was asked to make, and you can watch him do that down here below.

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Chiefs stock watch: Which players impressed during Week 18 vs. Chargers?

Here’s a look at the stock trends for some #Chiefs players after the Week 18 victory over the #Chargers. | from: @EdEastonJr

The outcome of Week 18 bore no influence on the Kansas City Chiefs heading into postseason play next weekend. The Los Angeles Chargers were focused on playing out the string and giving their fans a moment to smile, while Chiefs head coach Andy Reid gave his backup quarterback and many reserves time on the field.

The offense led at quarterback by veteran backup Blaine Gabbert was utilizing the availability of Mecole Hardman, who shook the rust off after spending most of his second tenure with the Chiefs on injured reserve. La’Michael Perine was effective as the every-down running back while the team dealt with injuries to tackles Jawaan Taylor and Wanya Morris in the first half.

Mike Edwards’ got the scoring started on defense with an electric 97-yard fumble return for a touchdown in the first quarter. The game’s highlight for many on the team was Chris Jones collecting a sack to hit 10.5 on the season and get his contract incentive bonus.

The season finale served its purpose in allowing many reserve players to showcase their value and be prepared if needed during the postseason. The home crowd at Arrowhead Stadium will have much to be excited for next week in the Wild Card round.

Here’s a look at how the stock is trending for some players after the Week 18 game at SoFi Stadium:

NFL power rankings: Final standings from 2023 season

The Broncos end the 2023 season ranked 21st in the NFL (12th in the AFC).

The NFL’s 2023 (regular) season wrapped up on Sunday night when the Buffalo Bills (11-6) claimed an AFC East title with a 21-14 victory over the Miami Dolphins (11-6).

Elsewhere, the Baltimore Ravens (13-4) won the AFC North, and they are the No. 1 team in the AFC going into the NFL playoffs.

The AFC South came down to the final week of the season and the Houston Texans (10-7) emerged as the division champions.

The Kansas City Chiefs (11-6) won the AFC West, marking their eighth straight division title.

The NFC East went down to Week 18 and the Dallas Cowboys (12-5) pulled ahead of the Philadelphia Eagles (11-6).

The Detroit Lions (12-5) took care of business in the NFC North, claiming their first division title since 1993.

The NFC South also came down to the final week of the year and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (9-8) came away with a division crown.

The San Francisco 49ers (12-5) strolled through the NFC West on their way to a division title and the No. 1 seed in the NFC.

With the playoff picture now set, here are our final NFL power rankings from the 2023 season, ranked by the league’s final standings.