Welcome to the Tuesday edition of the Pick Six Newsletter!
Today isn't just Tuesday, it's also the NFL trade deadline, which means there's a 47% chance that all hell is going to break loose over the next few hours. If a team wants to make a deal, they have until 4 p.m. ET to pull it off. We've already seen multiple trades go down this week with Von Miller getting shipped off to the Rams on Monday and Melvin Ingram getting dealt to the Chiefs today.
There will almost certainly be a few more trades today and since they will probably happen after this newsletter gets sent out, we've made it easy for you to stay updated on all the action today. We'll be running a live blog that will cover every trade and you can check it out by clicking here.
If you want to hang out with me later today, we'll be doing a live edition of the Pick Six podcast starting at 3:30 p.m ET and you can check that out on YouTube by clicking here. Alright, we've got a lot to cover today, so let's get to the rundown.
As always, here's your weekly reminder to tell all your friends to sign up for the Pick Six newsletter. To get your friends to sign up, all you have to do is click here and then share this link with them. If your friends don't want to sign up, you should trade them for new friends. You have until 4 p.m. today.
1. Today's show: Recapping the Chiefs' tight win over the Giants
The Chiefs were a huge favorite going into Monday night, but it seems that someone forgot to tell the Giants about that, because they actually provided some drama in a game that Kansas City only ended up winning by three points (20-17).
The only thing that had more drama than the game was the podcast we recorded afterward. Here are three key things from that game that we touched on:
- Chiefs defense actually comes up big. The Chiefs have had one of the worst defenses in the NFL this season, but on Monday night, the unit actually came up big. For one, they limited the Giants to just 300 yards of of total offense, which was the second-lowest total they've given up this season. They also came up with several monstrous plays, including a first quarter pick by Willie Gay that he returned to New York's 13-yard line. The interception set up a Chiefs touchdown, which was obviously big, since Kansas City only won by three points. The Chiefs defense also came up with three sacks, including two on the Giants' final drive of the game. The sacks were pivotal because when the Giants started their drive, they needed just 35 yards to get in field goal range.
- Chiefs offense still looks out of sync. After only scoring three points against the Titans in Week 7, the Chiefs offense had another rough night in Week 8. Not only are defenses playing them differently, but it also feels like the Chiefs just aren't on the same page. Patrick Mahomes completed just 29 of 48 passes for 275 yards and he also threw an interception in the end zone that bounced off a receiver's hands. The most concerning part for the Chiefs is how much Travis Kelce struggled. The tight end caught just four passes for 27 yards and he also lost a fumble in the third quarter that led to a Giants touchdown. The Chiefs are going to need to figure things out quickly because they have the Packers coming to town this week.
- Giants plagued by bad coaching. The Giants botched their final possession of the first half and their final possession of the game and most of that had to do with coaching. Joe Judge misused multiple timeouts in the game. After the loss, he blamed his timeout snafus on the fact that the Giants' headsets haven't been working all season. I'm not saying the Giants should fire Judge, but I'm also not so sure that I would want to keep around someone who's blaming bad coaching on broken headsets.
Besides those three things, we also spent some serious time debating whether the Chiefs will make the playoffs this year. To listen to today's episode -- and to subscribe to the best daily NFL podcast out there -- be sure to click here. You can also watch Monday's episode on YouTube by clicking here.
2. Prisco's Power Rankings heading into Week 9
We have some big news in the Power Rankings: For just the third time all season, Pete Prisco has a new team at the top. The Packers are now No. 1 after a Week 8 win over the Cardinals, who were No. 1 in last week's Power Rankings.
With that in mind, here's a look at Prisco's top 5 teams heading into Week 9:
- Packers
- Rams
- Bills
- Cardinals
- Titans
I'm not going to spoil the rest of the power rankings here, but I am going to give you a few nuggets. Here's what has changed since last week:
- The biggest jump this week went to the Saints, who moved up six spots. Thanks to their win over the Buccaneers, New Orleans made the move from 13th to sixth. Personally, I think that's kind of high for a team that doesn't have a quarterback and I will be sure to let Prisco know.
- The biggest tumble in this week's rankings went to the Los Angeles Chargers. After cracking the top 10 last week, the Chargers immediately proved they couldn't handle the pressure of being ranked so highly as they went out and lost to the Patriots. The loss dropped them from 10th to 15th.
- The most surprising move in the rankings probably went to the Chiefs, who moved up five spots following their unimpressive win over the Giants. Their 20-17 win was enough to move them up four spots from 16th to 12th.
- We also have some big news at the bottom of the rankings: THE JETS ARE NO LONGER IN LAST. After beating the Bengals, the Jets jumped up four spots from 32nd to 28th, which means we now have a new team in the cellar and that team is the DETROIT LIONS. I'm guessing they're going to be there until they finally win a game.
If you want to know where your favorite team ended up in Prisco's Week 9 Power Rankings, be sure to click here. If you want to argue with Prisco over his rankings, you can do that on Twitter by clicking here. I argue with him all the time about everything.
3. Breech's Week 9 picks
It's Tuesday, and that can only mean one thing: It's time for my weekly picks.
If you want to ignore my picks today, I won't blame you and that's because I went 6-9 last week. It was an ugly week, although I think it should have an asterisk next to it because it wouldn't have happened if cats didn't exist. I went 0-4 picking cat teams. Dumb cats. If Joe Judge can blame headsets for his loss to the Chiefs then I can blame cats for my bad week.
With that in mind, here are three of my picks for Week 9 and I'm clearly a masochist because I'm going right back to picking cat teams.
- Cleveland at Cincinnati (-3): Since Baker Mayfield's injury, the Browns offense has been nothing short of a disaster. Over the past three weeks, the Browns have scored 14, 17 and 10 points, and that 17-point performance didn't even come from Baker because it came in the only game that Case Keenum started. Not being able to score is kind of a big deal in a sport where the entire objective is to outscore the other team. I'm taking the Bengals. PICK: Bengals 23-20 over Browns.
- Minnesota at Baltimore (-5.5): Since taking over the Ravens starting QB job in 2018, Lamar Jackson has started 11 games against NFC teams and he as gone 11-0 in those games, which means I will be picking the Ravens in every game they play against an NFC team going forward until they actually lose one. PICK: Ravens 30-20 over Vikings.
- Arizona at San Francisco (+2.5): The last time these two teams played in Week 5, the 49ers didn't have Jimmy Garoppolo or George Kittle and they still almost won (They lost 17-10). This time around, not only will both of those guys likely be on the field, but Kyler Murray is dealing with an ankle injury and that's going to take away some of his mobility, which is obviously a key part of his game. I think the 49ers are going to be desperate and I think they're going to pull off the upset. PICK: 49ers 27-24 over Cardinals.
To check out the rest of my picks for Week 9, be sure to click here.
4. One thing we learned about each team in Week 8
Now that all 15 games from Week 8 have been played, CBS Sports' Cody Benjamin decided to wade through the aftermath to figure out what we learned about each team.
Here's a look at what we learned about five teams:
- Ravens: They might want to look for some offensive line help before the trade deadline. "The Bengals, Browns and especially Steelers all boast scary pieces up front, and this division is still tight at the midway point."
- Panthers: Stephon Gilmore makes the defense better. "Their defense came back to life in a surprise rout of the Falcons. Let's see what happens at QB moving forward, with Sam Darnold now banged up."
- Browns: It doesn't feel like this team is going to win the AFC North. "At 4-4, they're not out of it. But they're also at the bottom of the division, and each week, different vets -- Baker Mayfield, Jarvis Landry, etc. -- take turns undermining their chances."
- Lions: They might actually go 0-17. "Dan Campbell got plenty of credit despite their 0-7 start, but they were utterly lifeless against the Eagles, bowing down on both sides of the ball."
- Vikings: It feels like Mike Zimmer is on the hot seat. "Losing to Cooper Rush at home? Playing it safe against a vulnerable Dallas 'D'? Things could get really ugly over the next few weeks."
If you want to see the one thing we learned about each of the 25 other teams that played in Week 8, you can check out Cody's entire story by clicking here.
5. Steelers trade Melvin Ingram to the Chiefs
With the Chiefs in dire need of some help on the defensive side of the ball, they were widely expected to be looking to add some players before today's trade deadline and they made their first move by adding Melvin Ingram.
Here's a look at the details of the deal:
Chiefs get: Melvin Ingram
Steelers get: 2022 sixth-round pick (via NFL.com)
It was reported over the weekend that Ingram wanted out of Pittsburgh, so it's not a huge shock to see him get traded. The only surprise here is that the Steelers sent him to an AFC rival, which basically tells you how badly Pittsburgh wanted to get rid of him. Although Ingram didn't do much with the Steelers this year, he still might be able to help improve a Chiefs' pass-rush that has been one of the worst in the NFL.
One upside to adding Ingram is that he's extremely familiar with every team in the AFC West since he spent the first nine seasons of his career with the Chargers. Ingram had one sack and six QB hits in six games with the Steelers this year.
This won't be the only trade to go down today and as I mentioned at the top, if you want to keep track of every deal that goes down before today's 4 p.m. deadline, then make sure to follow along in our live blog by clicking here. And you can check out our grades for every deadline trade here.
6. Rapid-fire roundup
It's been a busy 24 hours in the NFL, and since it's nearly impossible to keep track of everything that happened, I went ahead and put together a roundup for you.
- Adrian Peterson signs with the Titans. After losing Derrick Henry for the season, the Titans have decided to fill his shoes by signing Adrian Peterson. If Peterson has any gas left in the tank, this could end up being a great signing. The 36-year-old running back rushed for 604 yards and seven touchdowns while playing for the Lions last season.
- Saints not likely to add a QB. With Jameis Winston out for the season, don't look for the Saints to bring in anyone to replace him. Saints coach Sean Payton hinted that he'll likely be sticking with the quarterbacks on his roster saying that it would be a "challenge" to bring someone else in at this point.
- Russell Wilson looking like he'll be on the field for the Seahawks' next game. Less than four weeks after undergoing surgery, Wilson had the pin removed from his finger, setting the stage for a possible return in Week 10. The Seahawks have a Week 9 bye, which means Wilson's finger will have another week to heal before he'll potentially have to play. Seattle's next game will come in Week 10 against the Packers, so it goes without saying that the Seahawks could really use him on the field as soon as possible.
- Ravens linebacker shot over the weekend. Malik Harrison, who has started five games at linebacker for Baltimore this season, was hit by a stray bullet over the weekend. Harrison was hit in the left calf, but is expected to be OK, according to Ravens coach John Harbaugh.
- Browns lose their starting right tackle. Browns coach Kevin Stefanski announced on Monday that right tackle Jack Conklin won't be on the field for the next few weeks due to a dislocated elbow that he suffered during Cleveland's loss to the Steelers. Conklin has already missed two games this season and now, he's going to miss more. The hits keep coming for a Browns team that's trying to make consecutive playoff appearances for the first time in more than 30 years.
- Odell's dad calls out Baker Mayfield. Odell Beckham Sr. decided to make a montage of all the time Mayfield has missed on throws to Beckham Jr. this year and you can check it out by clicking here. I think we can all agree that having your quarterback called out by a receiver's dad on the day of the trade deadline definitely isn't something the Browns wanted to see today .
