Cincinnati’s loss in Buffalo became New England’s and Baltimore’s game.
Assuming they want to play a night game in 13 days.
The NFL has flexed the Week 16 Sunday night game between the Bengals and Dolphins out of prime time. It will be replaced by the Patriots at Ravens game.
The Bengals-Dolphins game has moved to 1:00 p.m. ET.
With the Bengals falling to 4-9, and likely exiting the playoff chase, the Patriots-Ravens game consists of one team that is chasing the AFC East and the No. 1 seed and another team that is trying to win the AFC North. It will be a much more compelling game.
No teams have clinched berths in the postseason yet, but the Patriots will have a chance to do that and more in Week 15.
If the Patriots complete a sweep of their two games against the Bills by beating them at home on Sunday, they will clinch the AFC East title for the first time since the 2019 season. That would be a significant accomplishment in head coach Mike Vrabel’s first year, but Vrabel said at a Monday press conference that he won’t be making the possibility of celebrating with commemorative merchandise a focus of the team’s preparation this week.
“No, I don’t use the hat and T-shirt,” Vrabel said, via a transcript from the team. “We’re just trying to play for the championship that we have available this week, and I think it’s a great testament to our players that have put us in this position to be able to do that. Again, that’s not going to be easy. This is a very good football team. There’s a reason that they’ve won this division five years in a row. A lot of respect for them. They’re never out of it, never down, and they may be down, and just like last week, it’s a football team that understands that somebody’s going to make a play. And then the quarterback is going to give them a chance to the very end.”
Ending the Bills’ run at the top of the AFC East would be a significant development for New England, but it doesn’t sound like there’s going to be much talk about anything but the next game in New England this week.
The NFL MVP race still has two clear finalists. A third candidate is making a move.
Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford has reclaimed the favorite status from Patriots quarterback Drake Maye. Last week, Maye had -135 betting odds, and Stafford was at +135. This week, with Stafford having another strong game against the Cardinals and the Patriots on a bye, Stafford has moved to -180. Maye has fallen to +200.
Coming in at third is Packers quarterback Jordan Love. At +1000, he’s down from +1900 from last week. And if the 9-3-1 Packers keep winning and eventually secure one of the top seeds in the NFC, Love could get plenty of votes in the balloting, which happens within days after the completion of the regular season.
Bills quarterback Josh Allen is also lurking, at +1500. And he’s arguably the top overall quarterback, if not player, currently in the league. It will be hard for him to win the MVP award, however, if the Bills don’t win the AFC East.
There’s a big drop after Allen to Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott, at +7500. One week ago, Prescott had the third position, at +1500.
Bottom line? Don’t sleep on Love. The Packers continue to surge, with four straight wins since losing back-to-back home games. He has 22 touchdown passes and only four interceptions. And he’s getting it done without a high-end receiving corps.
It was inevitable. Whether it’s successful remains to be seen.
Via Anthony Olivieri of ESPN.com, former NFL receiver Antonio Brown seeks dismissal of an attempted murder charge based on Florida’s “stand your ground” law.
“Brown’s use of force on May 16, 2025, was fully justified,” Brown’s representation wrote in a motion filed this week. “Brown reasonably believed that the alleged victim intended to cause him serious harm.”
The “stand your ground” law eliminated the duty to retreat before unleashing deadly force.
The effort contains an admission that Brown did indeed fire a gun after he believed he had been attacked at a Miami celebrity boxing event.
“In that moment, Brown again reasonably feared death or great bodily harm,” the motion read, characterizing the action as “warning shots” aimed away from the person who had allegedly attacked Brown.
While I haven’t personally researched Florida law on this topic (that’s a lawyer’s way of saying “I don’t know”), it would seem that the issue ultimately will be part of the stew of facts a jury resolves at trial, like it did in the 2012 prosecution of George Zimmerman, who was acquitted for the killing of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin.
And that’s an important point. It’s one thing for Brown’s lawyers to explain his version in writing. It will be quite another for Brown to get on the witness stand and explain why he did what he did.
Even though most criminal defendants elect not to testify, it’s virtually impossible to make the “stand your ground” defense without explaining to the jury the circumstances that led to the decision to act in self-defense.
The stakes are very high. Brown faces up to 30 years in prison, with a potential mandatory minimum of 20 years.
Giants tight end Theo Johnson’s reaction to Patriots linebacker Christian Elliss’ legal hit on Giants quarterback Jaxson Dart landed him a penalty last Monday night and it also landed him more discipline from the league.
Johnson has been fined for $6,488 for his reaction to Elliss hitting Dart in bounds at the end of a run. Elliss was not fined for the hit or for one that dislodged a piece of punt returner Gunner Olszewski’s helmet later in the game.
While Elliss wasn’t fined, Patriots defensive back Jaylinn Hawkins did earn one. He was fined $9,944 for a hit on Johnson when he was deemed a defenseless player. Hawkins was also penalized during the game.
Giants cornerback Dru Phillips was also fined by the league for the same infraction. He was docked $7,292 for a play that went unflagged in the game.
