Sports blog information from USA TODAY.
We asked @TheBrownsWire five questions about the #Browns ahead of their #TNF clash with the #Broncos.
Ahead of the Denver Broncos’ game against the Cleveland Browns on “Thursday Night Football,” we asked Jared Mueller of Browns Wire five questions about Denver’s opponent and Thursday’s game. Here are our questions and Jared’s answers!
Here’s a look at the Broncos’ updated depth chart going into Thursday’s game against the Browns.
After making a flurry of roster moves earlier this week, the Denver Broncos have an updated depth chart for their “Thursday Night Football” showdown with the Cleveland Browns. Here’s a look at the team’s current depth chart going into Week 7.
Jacksonville released guard Rashaad Coward, which was clearly a statement in its confidence in fourth-year swing player Will Richardson Jr.
Jacksonville made a move along the offensive line on Wednesday, as fifth-year guard Rashaad Coward was released from the roster. Coward had signed ahead of the Miami game to help improve depth along the offensive line with starting center Brandon Linder being placed on the injured reserve, as well as guard A.J. Cann. However, Coward missed the trip to London last Sunday after surfacing on the injury report with an ankle injury.
Fourth-year swing tackle/guard Will Richardson Jr., who actually had to fill in for Ben Bartch Sunday (concussion), was dubbed by coach Urban Meyer as the team’s most improved player this offseason. He reiterated that in Monday’s press conference as Richardson took 42 offensive snaps Sunday.
“The other guy that’s arguably the most improved player on the team… is Will Richardson,” Meyer said. “He’s a swing tackle, swing guard now, and to go into that kind of game where they were playing bear defense and blitzing, that was the most pressure we’ve seen all year.”
With Meyer’s confidence in Richardson to fill in at guard if needed, it allowed the Jags to move on from Coward, who was undrafted out of Old Dominion in 2017 and spent the first four seasons of his career with the Chicago Bears. He signed with Pittsburgh this offseason, but he was released on Oct. 9.
Now, Coward will look to find his way to another roster as the Jaguars are moving on without him.
Mayfield has struggled at left guard, but the former Michigan Wolverine is staying put despite Josh Andrews’ return.
Mayfield has struggled at left guard, but the former Michigan Wolverine is staying put despite Josh Andrews’ return.
Coming off a bye in Week 6, the Atlanta Falcons have won two of three games and generally appear to be headed in the right direction. Head coach Arthur Smith addressed the media on Wednesday afternoon, giving some injury updates and discussing this weekend’s matchup against the Miami Dolphins.
One topic that came up was the return of guard Josh Andrews, who spent the first six weeks on injured reserve. Andrews figured to start this season at left guard before breaking his hand late in training camp. In his absence, rookie Jalen Mayfield filled in and despite a rough first two games, the third-round pick has shown signs of improvement each week.
Case Keenum, the last Broncos QB to play in all 16 games in a season, will start against Denver on Thursday evening.
The Cleveland Browns will start Case Keenum at quarterback when they host the Denver Broncos on “Thursday Night Football,” the team announced Wednesday.
Baker Mayfield, the team’s starter, recently suffered a complete labrum tear in his left shoulder. Mayfield wanted to play through the injury, but that would have risked making it worse. Instead, Cleveland has opted to start Keenum, giving Mayfield two full weeks between games to recover.
Keenum will be familiar with his opponent this week. The 33-year-old quarterback played for the Broncos in 2018. Denver hasn’t had another quarterback start all 16 games (now 17) in a single season since trading Keenum in 2019.
The Broncos, meanwhile, are also dealing with a quarterback injury. Teddy Bridgewater has a foot injury and he was noncommittal about his Thursday status during his Tuesday press conference. Denver coach Vic Fangio said he expects Bridgewater to play, but the QB was listed as “limited” on the team’s estimated practice report Tuesday.
If Bridgewater is not cleared to play this week, Drew Lock will start in his place. Lock has eight wins and 10 losses as a starter on his resume.
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The Seattle Seahawks have tumbled five spots to No. 17 in the latest Touchdown Wire Week 7 NFL power rankings.
The Seattle Seahawks weren’t able to eke out a win in prime time, losing their Week 6 matchup against the Steelers in Pittsburgh. Seattle was without starting quarterback Russell Wilson and running back Chris Carson, who likely could have been the difference makers.
Now at 2-4 on the season, in addition to dropping their last two outings, the Seahawks have also fallen five spots in Touchdown Wire’s Week 7 NFL power rankings. Seattle now sits in the middle of the pack, at only No. 17 overall.
“Too many inopportune turnovers for the Seahawks to overcome against the Steelers in a 23-20 overtime loss,” writes Touchdown Wire’s Nick Wojran. “Injuries are clearly hampering Seattle . . . Russell Wilson probably doesn’t turn the ball over in crunch time . . . again. Sorry, Geno.”
The Seahawks have a chance to right the ship Monday night when they are set to host the Saints at Lumen Field.
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The Broncos can attempt to save their season against the Browns on TNF. A loss would almost certainly sink them.
Playing in a nationally televised “Thursday Night Football” showdown with the Cleveland Browns this week, the Denver Broncos will attempt to save their season.
Yes, just seven weeks into the year, Denver’s season is on the line.
After starting the year 3-0 against bad teams, the Broncos have since lost three straight games. It’s not just that they lost, but how they lost: Denver has looked terrible over the last three weeks.
After an embarrassing double-digit loss at home to the Las Vegas Raiders last week, the Broncos faced a short turnaround before traveling to face the Browns. That’s just the way star defender Von Miller would like it.
“I feel like it’s easier this way,” Miller said Sunday. “Whenever I lose, I’ve always been the type of guy to say, ‘Let’s run it right back.’ If you beat me in cards, I want to run it right back so I can get that win. If you beat me in a video game, I want to run it right back so I can get a win. I want another shot at it super quick. There’s no better time to do it.
“We’ve got 96 hours to get it done. I like it like this. I want it as fast as possible. I want to get this taste out of my mouth fast as possible. I want to play right now and it’s the perfect situation to be in. We get to play extremely fast, and we get a break right after that. It’s all about winning though.”
If Denver does not bounce back and get a win in Cleveland, the team will drop below .500 with five more tough division games remaining on their schedule, plus a road showdown against the Super Bowl-contending Dallas Cowboys.
With six more difficult games on deck, the Broncos can’t afford to fall to 3-4 this week. A win would give them momentum going into a 10-day break before a winnable game at home against the 2-4 Washington Football Team. Denver would still face a tough road to playoff contention if the team improved to 5-3 over the next two weeks, but it would be within reach.
“We have to rally back,” coach Vic Fangio said after Sunday’s loss to the Raiders. “The way you rally back is have a good week of preparation — albeit a short week — and then go out and play well. There’s nothing that rallies you back and gets your confidence up like making some good plays and playing some good football. That’s what we have to do.”
It all starts this week against the Browns, who will be without their two star running backs. There’s a lot of football left to be played this year, but the forecast for the rest of the Broncos’ season will likely be determined on Thursday evening.
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The #Chiefs have released their latest “unofficial” depth chart ahead of the Week 7 game against the #Titans.
The Kansas City Chiefs have released their updated depth chart ahead of their Week 7 game against the Tennessee Titans.
The Chiefs haven’t made any changes to the 53-man roster so far this week. That means players like Jody Fortson will still be reflected on the depth chart, even though we know he suffered a season-ending Achilles injury. That said, there are a few changes to the depth chart after the team made some roster changes last week. That includes one change that Chiefs fans have long been waiting for.
Remember that these depth charts are considered to be “unofficial.” They are assembled by the team’s PR staff, instead of the coaching staff, which means you should take them with a grain of salt. They don’t always reflect the reality of the team’s roster depth come game day.
Let’s take a look at the most recent depth chart out of Kansas City and see what we can learn about the 2021 Chiefs:
The Detroit Lions are 15.5-point underdogs entering the Week 7 game against the Los Angeles Rams
The odds are firmly stacked against the Detroit Lions when they head to Los Angeles to face Matthew Stafford, Aaron Donald and the Rams in Week 7. The current line at Tipico Sportsbook sees Detroit as 15.5-point underdogs.
How dramatic is the huge line? It’s two points bigger than the final game of the 2019 season, when David Blough got the start against Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers. Detroit entered that game 3-11-1 and the Packers came in at 12-3, and even with a backup QB and no Marvin Jones or T.J. Hockenson, the line was still just 13.5 in favor of the Packers.
It’s the largest point spread for a game the Lions have been involved in since 2009. The year after the Lions became the first team to ever go 0-16, they headed to Minnesota in Week 10. The 1-8 Lions were 17-point underdogs to the 8-1 Vikings. Minnesota won by a score of 27-10, exactly matching the point spread.
