FOOTBALL

Bills hope to bounce back with win vs. Chargers

The quirkiest of NFL seasons has provided yet another twist as the Buffalo Bills head into the stretch drive with an eye toward securing an AFC East title.

The Bills, who are seeking their first division title since 1995, are coming off their bye week and will enter a home matchup with the Los Angeles Chargers on Sunday with a one-game division lead over the Miami Dolphins with six to play. That includes a meeting with those Dolphins in the final scheduled game of the regular season.

The Chargers, meanwhile, simply are trying to plug a leaky boat, though the vessel does have a captain they can believe in with rookie sensation quarterback Justin Herbert.

The Bills (7-3) enter off a 32-30, heartbreaking defeat at Arizona on Nov. 15, while the Chargers (3-7) take the field after a 34-28 victory Sunday over the hapless New York Jets that ended a three-game losing streak.

Yet it is the Bills who can find plenty of positives in the defeat, while the Chargers’ concerns actually mounted in the victory.

As they have done all season, the Bills moved the ball well against the Cardinals, and quarterback Josh Allen engineered a late go-ahead drive. But the work was derailed when Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray found receiver DeAndre Hopkins on a 43-yard Hail Mary pass among three Buffalo defenders in the closing seconds.

Allen threw for 284 yards and two touchdowns against the Cardinals, and is seventh in the NFL with 2,871 yards passing and eighth with a 68.4 completion percentage.

While a rare late bye prevented the Bills from purging the loss from their system last weekend, it offered them time to heal some mounting bumps and bruises.

“It almost feels like it’s a new season, a new beginning,” Bills wide receiver Cole Beasley said. “… You grind, grind, grind and then you get a bye week late. Now we have six games to go and you have time to refresh and get your legs back up underneath you.”

Despite the disappointing team results this season, Herbert continues to roll along. He was 37-of-49 passing against the Jets for a personal-best 366 yards on Sunday with three touchdowns. He now has rookie records with five games of three TD passes or more and seven consecutive games where he has at least two scores.

Herbert had 277 yards passing in the first half alone Sunday, but as the Chargers’ defense has been known to do, it struggled in the second half. Los Angeles led by as many as 18 points Sunday and 15 in the fourth quarter but needed to make a play deep in their own territory to seal the victory.

Already this season, the Chargers have blown leads of at least 16 points in four consecutive games and had the Kansas City Chiefs down 11 before losing.

Staff changes have begun as Chargers coach Anthony Lynn demoted special teams coach George Stewart and replaced him with assistant Keith Burns and coaching assistant Chris Caminiti.

“It’s never one person’s fault,” Lynn said Wednesday. “As coaches, this is what we sign up for. We sign up to work with these young men. If they don’t execute the way we need them to execute, then we lose our jobs. That’s just the way it is.”

Three Chargers defensive players did not practice Wednesday: cornerback Casey Hayward Jr. (groin), and defensive ends Melvin Ingram III (knee) and Uchenna Nwosu (shoulder/chest). Nwosu is expected to miss multiple games.

Chargers running back Austin Ekeler (hamstring) returned to practice Wednesday, but it is unknown if he will play Sunday. He has been out since carrying the ball twice in an Oct. 4 loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

The Bills were without defensive end Mario Addison (knee) and wide receiver John Brown at Wednesday’s practice.

Report: Ravens-Steelers move to cost NBC millions

The moving of the Baltimore Ravens-Pittsburgh Steelers game from the highly coveted Thanksgiving primetime slot to Sunday afternoon could cost NBC tens of millions of dollars in ad sales revenue, Sportico reported.

The decision to move the game from Thursday night — when it would have been the NFL’s lone game in that time slot — to Sunday afternoon was made after an outbreak of COVID-19 swept through the Ravens’ headquarters in Owings Mills, Md. The team has seven players on the reserve/COVID-19 list, which indicates a player has tested positive or is considered a “high-risk” close contact with an infected person.

The Ravens disciplined a strength and conditioning coach who didn’t inform them of COVID-19-related symptoms and had not consistently worn a mask or tracking device, as required by NFL protocols, the team and NFL.com reported.

Last year, NBC generated $70.9 million on its in-game advertising sales of the Thanksgiving night game, which was between the Atlanta Falcons and New Orleans Saint, based on an average unit cost of $1.05 million per 30-second spot. The game averaged 20.8 million live TV viewers, which included 7.85 million advertiser-coveted adults between 18 and 49 years old, Sportico reported.

In 2018, NBC’s Thanksgiving night game, also between the Saints and Falcons, averaged 21.7 million viewers and 8.46 million members between the 18 and 49-year-old demographic. It was NBC’s third-highest number since the network began showing the Thanksgiving night game in 2012, Sportico reported.

NBC now likely has to renegotiate its in-game advertising rates since the Ravens-Steelers game is among a dozen games kicking off around the same time during Sunday’s early time slot. While the Ravens-Steelers’ game can be shown nationally by NBC, advertising slots won’t be as valuable since it is competing against so many games. For example, CBS and Fox charge between $100,000 and $300,000 per 30-second advertisement spot, depending on how many markets receive the broadcast, according to Sportico.

The two AFC North games annually between the Ravens (6-4) and Steelers (10-0), who are off to their best start in the franchise’s storied history, are among the NFL’s most anticipated of the season. The teams have combined for eight of the past 10 division titles after the Ravens finished atop the division in each of the past two seasons.

Pittsburgh won the teams’ first meeting of the season, 28-24, in Baltimore on Nov. 1.

Tagovailoa back at QB as Dolphins face Jets

Rookie Tua Tagovailoa, benched in the second half last week, will be back at quarterback on Sunday when the Miami Dolphins travel to face the winless New York Jets.

The Dolphins (6-4) had their five-game winning streak snapped last Sunday in a 20-13 loss to the Denver Broncos. Tagovailoa completed 11 of 20 passes for 83 yards before he was lifted in favor of Ryan Fitzpatrick, the veteran who held the job at the start of the season.

“Tua wasn’t injured,” Dolphins head coach Brian Flores said, settling any doubts. “We just felt (Fitzpatrick) gave us the best chance to win the game.”

Flores said Tagovailoa will return to the starting lineup with the expectation of getting Miami back on track.

“He’s a confident kid,” Flores said.

That confidence surely was tested when Tagovailoa was sacked six times by the Broncos, who blitzed him repeatedly.

The Jets are a dismal 0-10 on the season and 0-6 when Sam Darnold is the starting quarterback. The third-year pro has not played since a Nov. 1 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs because of a shoulder injury.

Darnold took all the first-team repetitions Wednesday and is on track to start on Sunday.

“I finally have a bit more confidence in my shoulder to withstand a hit,” Darnold said.

If Darnold can’t go, veteran quarterback Joe Flacco will make his third straight start. He is 0-4 as the starter.

Defensively, the Jets and veteran defensive coordinator Gregg Williams would love to draw up some successful blitzes against Tagovailoa. But Dolphins wide receiver DeVante Parker still needs plenty of attention with a team-leading 44 receptions and four touchdowns.

The Dolphins have starting offensive lineman Jesse Davis on the reserve/COVID-19 list, while defensive tackle Christian Wilkins was removed from the list Wednesday.

The Jets will be without rookie running back La’Mical Perine (high-ankle sprain) and kicker Sam Ficken (groin) after they were placed in injured reserve.

Perine has rushed for 202 yards and a 3.7 average. Veteran Frank Gore, 37, who leads the team with 447 rushing yards (3.6 per carry), figures to get even more work.

Gore, a native of Miami who is No. 3 on the NFL’s list for career rushing yards with 15,794, played for the Dolphins in 2018.

“You don’t want to go 0-16, especially if this is my last year,” Gore said. “I can’t wait to get a win. I’d be so happy.”

The backups to an aging Gore are expected to be Ty Johnson and Josh Adams, who have combined for just 65 yards this season.

Replacing Ficken will be Sergio Castillo, who was solid (6-for-7 on field goals) when he got a shot with the Jets earlier this year.

Jets right tackle George Fant is expected to miss the game due to ankle and knee sprains. His backup, Chuma Edoga, has been limited in practice with a low-ankle sprain.

The Jets had at least two bright spots in last week’s 34-28 loss to the Chargers. Rookie wide receiver Denzel Mims, a second-round pick, caught three passes for a season-high 71 yards; and defensive end Harry Anderson had five tackles, one stop for a loss and a blocked punt. Yet the day ended in another defeat.

“This is,” Anderson said, “the most frustrating year I’ve ever had playing football.”

Rams seek payback against rival 49ers

The Los Angeles Rams seek to avenge an earlier loss while attempting to remain unbeaten in their new home when they host the San Francisco 49ers in an NFC West duel on Sunday afternoon.

Jimmy Garoppolo outgunned Jared Goff and the 49ers dominated time of possession when the defending NFC champs ran off to a 21-6 halftime lead and held on for a 24-16 home win over the Rams in Week 6.

Much has changed since, including the fact that Garoppolo has gone on injured reserve with a high-ankle sprain. He threw three touchdown passes in the win, all to receivers who are currently injured (tight end George Kittle), trying to return from an injury (wide receiver Deebo Samuel), or attempting to get reinstated from the COVID-19 list (wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk).

Having lost three in a row and at risk of missing the playoffs one year after they represented the NFC in the Super Bowl against Kansas City, the 49ers (4-6) are coming off a much-needed bye last week.

It wasn’t an ordinary bye. The 49ers were locked out of their practice facility all week as nine players had to go on the COVID-19 list.

San Francisco coach Kyle Shanahan admitted earlier this week that his team could not have taken the field for a game had one been scheduled last Sunday.

“We knew we couldn’t go any place since we had to get tested each day. It was just weird for guys not to be able to do anything for seven straight days,” he noted. “I keep saying maybe it’ll work for us because we did need some rest.”

Among those who benefited from the time off were Samuel, top running back Raheem Mostert and standout cornerback Richard Sherman. Shanahan hopes to have all three on the field in Los Angeles.

He won’t have Garoppolo. Nick Mullens replaced the starter during the club’s 37-27 defeat at the hands of Seattle in Week 9 and has subsequently started losses to Green Bay and New Orleans.

While the 49ers were watching, the Rams (7-3) ran their winning streak to two games with a 27-24 win at Tampa Bay under the Monday night spotlight. Los Angeles had beaten Seattle the week before and currently stands tied with the Seahawks (7-3) atop the NFC West.

Defense has been key to the two impressive wins. The Rams recorded six sacks and two interceptions against Seattle’s Russell Wilson before limiting Tampa Bay’s Tom Brady to just 216 passing yards with two interceptions.

Goff threw for 376 yards and three TDs in his head-to-head with Brady.

“We can be as good as we want to be, honestly,” Goff boasted after the win. “We have it all in front of us. We have some division games coming up — some big ones — but everything is there for us to take. We have to take it one week at a time and keep playing good ball.”

The 49ers have won three straight in the rivalry, including 20-7 in October 2019 when the Rams hosted the game at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. The team has since moved seven miles to the southwest to SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, where the Rams have gone 4-0, beating Dallas, the New York Giants, Chicago and Seattle.