Tag: Week 7

Packers elevate OLB La’Darius Hamilton from practice squad to gameday roster for Week 7

The Packers elevated outside linebacker La’Darius Hamilton from the practice squad to the gameday roster for Week 7 against the Commanders.

The Green Bay Packers elevated outside linebacker La’Darius Hamilton from the practice squad to the gameday roster for Week 7. The move was announced Saturday, making Hamilton available for Matt LaFleur and the Packers for Sunday’s showdown with the Washington Commanders.

The Packers will now have five outside linebackers available for Sunday: Hamilton, Rashan Gary, Preston Smith, Jonathan Garvin and rookie Kingsley Enagbare. While Gary is dealing with a toe injury, Hamilton’s elevation could be based primarily on contributions to the special teams.

Hamilton (6-2, 260) played in five games for the Packers last season. He was on the field for 64 snaps on defense (three pressures, two stops) and six more on special teams.

This is Hamilton’s first elevation of the 2022 season.

The Packers did not elevate a receiver from the practice squad after activating Sammy Watkins from injured reserve. Juwann Winfree has been elevated three times and is out of available elevations, but Travis Fulgham was an option if the Packers felt they needed extra depth at receiver.

With Tipa Galeai on injured reserve, defensive coordinator Joe Barry and special teams coordinator Rich Bisaccia clearly wanted more help at edge rusher.

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 Hamilton now has only two more elevations available this season. On Monday, he will revert back to the practice squad.

Elevations by week

Week 1: WR Juwann Winfree, S Micah Abernathy
Week 2: RB Patrick Taylor
Week 3: WR Juwann Winfree
Week 4: CB Kiondre Thomas
Week 5: None
Week 6: WR Juwann Winfree
Week 7: OLB La’Darius Hamilton

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Behind Enemy Lines: 6 questions with Niners Wire for Week 7

In order to find out more about the #49ers ahead of Week 7, we went behind enemy lines with @TheNinersWire to ask some questions.

The Kansas City Chiefs will play the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday at Levi’s Stadium in Week 7 of the 2022 NFL season. It’s the first time these two teams have met in a meaningful game since Super Bowl LIV.

To learn more about Kansas City’s opponent, we spoke with managing editor Kyle Madson over at Niners Wire and asked him a few questions.

Colts’ keys to victory vs. Titans in Week 7

Here are the keys to victory for the Colts against the Titans in Week 7.

After a slow and frustrating start to the season, the Indianapolis Colts (3-2-1) find themselves in a position to go atop the AFC South with a victory in Nashville over the Tennessee Titans (3-2) on Sunday.

After the first meeting between these two teams did not go Frank Reich’s way, this Colts team is now on the verge of three straight wins.

Both sides are banged up heading into this contest, with Indy likely getting their All-Pro running back, Jonathan Taylor, back on the field after he suffered a high ankle sprain against the Titans in Week 4.

With Taylor’s return and the emergence of Alec Pierce, and the offensive line finally starting to mesh this Colts offense should look very different from a few weeks ago.

Here are the keys to victory for Frank Reich, Matt Ryan, and the rest of the team if they want to stay in the race for the division title:

4 Chiefs players to watch in Week 7 vs. 49ers

Keep an eye on these four players when the #Chiefs take on the #49ers on Sunday afternoon.

The Kansas City Chiefs are back on the road with another Super Bowl rematch. This time they’re taking on the San Francisco 49ers with just a week to go to the bye week.

The Chiefs are coming off a loss against one of their fiercest AFC conference rivals. The 49ers are coming off an embarrassing loss against the Atlanta Falcons. Which team’s players will put together the performance necessary to get their team back in the win column?

Here’s a look at four players who we’ll be paying close attention to when the Chiefs face the 49ers on Sunday:

Referee Alex Kemp’s crew assigned to work Chiefs-49ers game

The #Chiefs pulled referee Alex Kemp and his crew for the first time since 2020 in the Week 7 game against the #49ers.

Fifth-year NFL referee Alex Kemp and his crew are set to officiate the Kansas City Chiefs’ Week 7 game against the San Francisco 49ers according to Football Zebras.

Kemp and his crew didn’t officiate a single Chiefs game during the 2021 NFL season. You have to go all the way back to Week 13 of 2020 against the Denver Broncos to find the last time that Kemp has officiated a game that Kansas City has played in.

In total, Kemp has only ever been a head referee for two Chiefs games and the team is 2-0 in those two games. He called a combined seven penalties for 56 yards against K.C. and a combined nine penalties for 69 yards against their opponents in those two victories.

With just five games officiated this season, Kemp and his crew have called the fifth-fewest penalties in the NFL with 63 total penalties for 503 yards of penalty yardage. Kemp also has the second-most dismissed penalties in the NFL with 16. This crew also officiates the home and away teams pretty evenly with 31 penalties called on home teams and 32 penalties called on away teams.

In terms of what this crew calls most frequently, defensive holding and false start penalties have both been called 10 times apiece this season. Offensive holding (9), delay of game (7) and unnecessary roughness (7) have all been called quite frequently as well.

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4 Falcons to watch against the Bengals in Week 7

Falcons CB Darren Hall is one of four players to watch during Sunday’s game against the Bengals.

The Atlanta Falcons have been one of the NFL’s biggest surprises through the first six weeks of the season, but they’ll be tested by a talented Cincinnati Bengals team in Week 7.

To stop an explosive Bengals offense, the Falcons need a big day from their undermanned secondary. Not only did the the team place starting cornerback Casey Hayward on injured reserve, Atlanta has ruled out nickel CB Dee Alford for Sunday’s game.

These four players must step up in order for the Falcons to secure their fourth win of the season.

Final injury report for Chiefs vs. 49ers, Week 7

The final injury report for the #Chiefs vs. #49ers Week 7 game is here, complete with game status designations.

The Kansas City Chiefs and San Francisco 49ers released their third and final injury reports of the week on Friday. You can find the injury reports from earlier this week here: Wednesday — Thursday.

Check out the injury report for each team, complete with game status designations, down below:

Packers rule out rookie WR Christian Watson, two others for Week 7 vs. Commanders

The Packers ruled out three players, including rookie WR Christian Watson, for Sunday against the Commanders.

The Green Bay Packers ruled out wide receiver Christian Watson for Sunday’s showdown with the Washington Commanders, meaning the rookie will miss a second-straight game because of a hamstring injury. Watson was joined by slot receiver Randall Cobb (ankle) and offensive lineman Jake Hanson (biceps) as the three players ruled out by the Packers on the final injury report of Week 7 released Friday.

All three players missed practice on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday this week. Cobb and Hanson, who were injured last week against the New York Jets, could go on injured reserve come Saturday.

Watson initially injured his hamstring in London against the New York Giants. He’s played in just four games, catching seven passes for 52 yards and rushing three times for 19 yards and a touchdown.

The Packers removed left tackle David Bakhtiari, linebacker Rashan Gary, right tackle Elgton Jenkins, tight end Marcedes Lewis and quarterback Aaron Rodgers from the injury report, and all five players are expected to play against the Commanders.

Receiver Sammy Watkins practiced all week but has not yet been activated from injured reserve to the 53-man roster. Coach Matt LaFleur said his status is “up in the air” as the team wants to see how he “responds” to this week of practice. He could be activated on Saturday.

Washington will be without receiver Dyami Brown, cornerback William Jackson, tight end Logan Thomas, quarterback Carson Wentz and running back Jonathan Williams. All five were ruled out Friday. Receiver Jahan Dotson is questionable.

Chiefs HC Andy Reid provides injury update following Friday practice

A quick injury update from #Chiefs HC Andy Reid on Friday with comments on CBs Rashad Fenton and Trent McDuffie.

Kansas City Chiefs HC Andy Reid gave his typical post-practice injury update to media members on Friday.

Reid told reporters that there was one player who sat out of his third consecutive practice session of the week on Friday.

“The only person who didn’t practice today was (Rashad) Fenton,” Reid said. “Everybody else practiced. His hamstring is getting better, but he’s not ready right now.”

Fenton appears to be on a collision course to miss his second consecutive week, but a return after the bye week looks promising.

Everyone else practiced in some capacity on Friday, including Mike Danna and Joe Thuney, who were both listed as limited in practice on Thursday. One player who also continued to practice was rookie CB Trent McDuffie, who could possibly be activated from injured reserve this week.

Reid wasn’t ready to commit to activating McDuffie as he’d yet to meet with VP of Sports Medicine and Performance Rick Burkholder to make the final determination.

“We’ll see,” Reid said of McDuffie. “I’ll see about all of these guys here in about a minute.”

Burkholder will have the final say on whether McDuffie made enough progress in practice this week to be able to be activated and play. If McDuffie doesn’t return and Fenton is ruled out, it will be rookie CB Joshua Williams playing in his place once again.

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Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes’ improvisation reminds Kyle Shanahan of John Elway

In 2018, #49ers HC Kyle Shanahan said that #Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes reminded him of #Broncos QB John Elway. He reiterated that comparison when talking about Mahomes’ improv skills this week.

San Francisco 49ers HC Kyle Shanahan first compared Kansas City Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes to John Elway back in 2018 ahead of his first regular-season matchup against him.

He said the way he moves, throws the ball and looked in the pocket was reminiscent of Elway with the Denver Broncos. He would have a keen idea of that comparison too. His father, Mike Shanahan, was the head coach of the Broncos from 1995 to 2008 and won consecutive titles with Elway in Super Bowl XXXII and Super Bowl XXXIII.

Ahead of the Chiefs’ Week 7 tilt with the 49ers, Kyle was asked about watching tape on Mahomes and his improvisation skills. It again elicited the comparison to Elway.

“Just because you don’t ever see people play like that really,” Shanahan explained. “There’s not many people in the history of football as good as him. Reminds me of [Hall of Fame QB John] Elway a ton watching him. Just how he’s a top thrower on the planet and the way he can move. He’s not always doing it just with a flat-out 40, just running away from people, but the way he feels space and can create time and as he does it, his vision down the field with that arm talent is tough to deal with.”

Shanahan isn’t the only one to make this Elway comparison. Another quarterback who knows Elway quite well — a guy by the name of Peyton Manning — made the comparison back in July of 2019.

It’s high praise coming from the 49ers’ head coach and it’ll certainly be a challenge for him and his defense to prepare for a quarterback like Mahomes. Shanahan is 0-2 against Mahomes in his career, including Super Bowl LIV. Will Shanahan be able to turn the tides against Mahomes in Week 7 or will the all-world quarterback still best San Francisco?

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