The Daily Slop – 29 September 2026
Editor’s note: Each day, Hogs Haven compiles a collection of articles, podcasts & tweets from around the web to keep you in touch with the Commanders, the NFC East, the NFL and sports in general, with a sprinkling of other stuff. Enjoy!
Commanders links
Articles
ESPN
Leo Chenal to have season-ending neck surgery
Washington Commanders linebacker Leo Chenal, who was carted off the field during the team’s 33-31 upset win over the the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday, will undergo season-ending neck surgery, sources confirmed to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport.
Chenal suffered the injury
in the second quarter of Washington’s victory. The fifth-year veteran appeared to lead with his head while tackling Seattle’s Emanuel Wilson and immediately went to the ground as medical personnel were quick to run to his side.
The crowd at Northwest Stadium chanted “Leo! Leo!” as Commanders teammates surrounded Chenal, who was taken off on a cart, raising his left hand as he approached the tunnel.
Chenal was starting Sunday in place of the injured Frankie Luvu, who was missing his second consecutive game with a groin injury.
The Commanders were thin at the position because another inside linebacker, Jordan Magee, was placed on injured reserve after the opener with a hamstring injury.
The Athletic (paywall)
How Commanders rookie Sonny Styles arrived at his NFL breakout: ‘Sonny knows ball’
He is 21. He has played all of three NFL games. Just what did we see from Styles on Sunday in the Commanders’ 33-31 victory over the Super Bowl champion Seattle Seahawks that, for a week, went a long way to saving Washington’s defense?
“Tremendous leadership,” veteran defensive tackle Tim Settle said of a player in his third pro game. “Tremendous effort. He willed us to a victory today.”
There were all manner of elements that went into this unlikely result. Pick a play that popped, one that sticks in your memory: Terry McLaurin’s brilliant catch of a 30-yard pass from backup quarterback Marcus Mariota that gave Washington a two-touchdown lead in the third quarter. Kain Medrano’s sure-handed snag of an interception at midfield that turned into a rumbling, 50-yard fourth-quarter score. Mariota’s keep on a read-option on third-and-7, a run that gained nine yards and put the game away.
Any of the above — and plenty of others — would be fine choices. But how about Styles, shadowing Seattle rookie running back Jadarian Price out of the backfield?
To read more of this article, CLICK HERE
Washington Post (paywall)
Should the Commanders rush Jayden Daniels back? Not with Marcus Mariota thriving
As good as Mariota looked, there’s no uncertainty about Daniels’s standing. If he’s healthy, he’ll be the starter.
What Mariota’s performance does, however, is allow the Commanders (1-2) to avoid rushing Daniels’s return. They were always going to exercise caution coming off his second elbow dislocation, but this makes it easier to stick to that plan.
Washington will travel to London on Tuesday ahead of Sunday’s game against the Indianapolis Colts (1-2). Although Daniels watched from the sidelines Sunday, it’s unclear whether he will make the trip.
To read more of this article, CLICK HERE
Commanders.com
Mariota’s TD pass to McLaurin was more than what you think
With the Washington Commanders lined up at the Seattle Seahawks’ 30-yard line, Marcus Mariota shuffled to his left and fired a shot to McLaurin near the front of the end zone. McLaurin turned at the last moment, plucked the ball from the air and secured it as he fell to give his team a two-score lead. In the moment, it looked like the play unfolded exactly as the Commanders drew it up.
But that isn’t quite true. The Commanders got the result they wanted, but everything leading up to it was a little different from what they had planned out.
“It kind of changed on the fly,” Mariota said after the game.
McLaurin, known for creating separation at the line of scrimmage, ended up beating cornerback Josh Jobe so cleanly that it made more sense for him to run a go route. McLaurin trusted that Mariota would recognize the change, and sure enough, the quarterback put the ball in a spot where only McLaurin could make the catch.
“We don’t try to make a habit of going off key, but at the end of the day, we speak about being ball players out there,” McLaurin said. “When you get a clean release like that, and you have a chance to make a big play, you want to capitalize, and we did that.”
To read more of this article, CLICK HERE
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Last Man Standig
Commanders notebook: Does Jayden Daniels returning to practice mean Dan Quinn will be calling his name in London?
Washington will hold a lighter practice Wednesday in London before ramping up the workload Thursday and Friday. Quinn indicated those later sessions should provide the clearest indication of how close Daniels is to returning.
“Just the fact that we’re working back into that space gives me optimism heading into the week about where we’re at and the health of the team,” Quinn said.
Quinn was asked on Monday why Daniels might be able to return sooner from this dislocation. “Hearing from the medical team about where it’s at and how he’s doing, I’d say that’s the difference,” Quinn said. “But as far as the compare and contrast, I don’t have an answer for you on that.”
So the mystery continues.
For more from Ben Standig, click here
Sports Illustrated
Washington Put More on Amik Robertson Against Seattle
[Robertson played] 65 of 67 snaps while recording six tackles, four passes defensed, forcing the Jadarian Price fumble that Tim Settle recovered and led to Washington’s first score a few plays later. Jones told them to keep chopping; Robertson was the guy who finally knocked the tree down.
To be clear, Robertson has done well all season; his six PBUs (pass breakups) rank first overall among qualifying corners through Week 3. Pro Football Focus has him ranked third in several categories, including an 88.5 overall grade, an 89.3 coverage grade, and an 85.6 run defense grade. His six passes defensed are already half of what he had in all of 2025.
To read more of this article, CLICK HERE
Bullock’s Film Room (subscription)
Commanders Film Review: Amik Robertson vs Seahawks
[Note: The play discussed in this excerpt is the one in the tweet embedded below]
Perhaps the best of Robertson’s pass break ups was his third one, when he was working against Seahawks star receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba.
On this play, Robertson lines up opposite Smith-Njigba, one of the best receivers in the NFL, if not the best receiver outright. Smith-Njigba runs a slant route on second and 14 to try and give Darnold an easy completion that can get the Seahawks into a more manageable third down situation. Robertson initially lines up on the line of scrimmage but bails out deeper just before the snap.
This is the type of play this defense wants it’s cornerbacks to make. The idea of this defense is to blitz a ton, generate pressure and force the offense into quick passes underneath to avoid getting sacked. Things like slants and quick outs are what teams go to against pressure, so the cornerbacks are trained to sit about eight to 10 yards off and trigger on anything underneath aggressively. The Commanders don’t bring pressure here but the response from Robertson is the right one. Smith-Njigba breaks inside on the slant and Robertson immediately triggers on it.
Because of that quick trigger, Robertson makes up the distance between them and as the ball arrives, Robertson gets his hand in at the catch point to break it up yet again, setting up a third and long situation that heavily favors the defense. That’s exactly the type of quick, aggressive trigger on an underneath route that this defense should thrive on. We saw Sainristil hesitate in a similar situation last week against the Cowboys, but Robertson had no such hesitation and was rewarded with his third pass break up of the game.
While that play was perhaps his most impressive one, Robertson’s fourth break up was perhaps his most important.
Metro Sports Page: A sixpack of the Mondays
Commanders Look to Build Momentum After 0-2 Start
By Ken Meringolo
Welcome to the first Victory Sixpack of the new year! With a win over the defending Super Bowl champions, the Washington Commanders put a hard stop to the Seattle Seahawks’ winning streak and breathed just a little bit of hope and life into the 2026 season. Going 1-2 to start the campaign might not sound like the accomplishment it feels like it is today, but this schedule we spent all summer lamenting has started out every bit as hard as we feared. Adding to the degree of difficulty,of course, are the players unable to suit up for us already in the early stages of the year. I don’t think I was alone in my–worry–that it could have been a little bit of a wait for that first win of the season. Yesterday’s 33-31 win was a strong NFC conference win (making us 1-2 in the NFC after three weeks), but it was also the kind of win that could allow us to reset some expectations for the next month of the season.
We learned that no team had more new players snapping for a defense than the Commanders over the first two weeks. That is why we covered snap counts after week one–and it was a clear takeaway. I know Adam Peters has taken some shrapnel over the last few months as people have drilled into granular performance data on his draft picks and free-agent acquisitions, but on a rainy and blustery day in Landover, Peters gave a strong rebuttal. In addition to solid games from Amik Robertson and Tim Settle, two non-sexy offseason free-agent pickups, when it came time to attempt to recover from losing Leo Chenal, we had an Adam Peters deep cut ready to go in Kain Medrano. To be fair, all of Peters’ picks have not been home runs, but yesterday his 2025 draft class really shined, with Josh Conerly Jr., Jaylin Lane and Jacory Croskey-Merritt all joining Medrano to contribute to the win.
The Commanders have a chance on Sunday to string together some wins…back-to-back victories would do wonders not just for postseason chances, but for the confidence of so many new and young players in burgundy and gold. You can make your team younger by signing younger players and releasing older players (Kevin had a great PowerPoint presentation on this math). You can get younger and faster the same way. However, you can only build a winning culture by…winning. On the road and across the pond (technically a home game), our Commanders have a chance to help this new batch of players build something truly meaningful in sports: momentum.
To read more of this article, CLICK HERE
ESPN
Big loss for Seattle Seahawks on visit to Washington
The champs were riding a 12-game winning streak and hadn’t lost in 314 days. They had survived Sam Darnold’s hip injury to beat the Patriots and Cardinals, and they were getting their starting quarterback back in the mix against the Commanders, who were going to be without arguably their three best offensive players in Jayden Daniels, Laremy Tunsil and Sam Cosmi. While the Seahawks were banged up at safety, this would have been a game they expected to win.
Losing to an 0-2 team with a backup quarterback is never going to feel great, and I’m sure this wasn’t a pleasant flight back to the Pacific Northwest for the Seahawks. It also doesn’t feel like a disastrous performance. Mariota’s arguably the best backup quarterback in the league. The defense limited the Commanders to 2.6 yards per carry on the ground and 4.0 yards per play overall. In his return to the lineup, Darnold threw for 379 yards and four touchdowns, and the Commanders weren’t able to sack him even once.
What the Commanders did create, though, was something we haven’t seen from the Seahawks offense in a while: turnovers. Between the Week 18 victory over the 49ers that clinched the top seed in the NFC, their three-game playoff run to a Lombardi Trophy and the first two games of the 2026 season, the Seahawks had turned the ball over just once across six contests. they’re 20-1 when they either go turnover-free or turn the ball over just once. Everyone’s better when they protect the football, of course, but the Seahawks are virtually unbeatable when they do so.
One of the places they don’t really seem to trust Price is near the goal line, where new coordinator Brian Fleury has instead used the combo of Emanuel Wilson and George Holani. It’s not going all that well. Running backs typically convert about 49% of their carries inside the 2-yard line into touchdowns. During his time in Seattle, Walker scored on 11 of his 26 attempts inside the 2, which was below average but still a pretty reasonable 42% figure.
Yet Wilson and Holani are 0-for-6 to start the season, picking up a combined minus-2 yards in the process. Wilson tried to bounce outside away from an unblocked Chenal and lost 2 yards early in the second quarter, and after a penalty gave the Seahawks a new set of downs, Javon Kinlaw split through a pair of blockers to stuff Holani for no gain.
To read more of this article, CLICK HERE
From The Ringer:
Seattle lost 33-31 to a Washington team that was playing without Jayden Daniels. It didn’t matter that the Seahawks outgained the Commanders 437 yards to 258. Or that Darnold’s final stat line featured 379 passing yards and four touchdowns. The possessions they squandered explain why they lost.
The damage started in the first quarter, when Jadarian Price fumbled at his own 21-yard line. Washington needed just four plays to turn the gift into a touchdown. Then, late in the first half, the Seahawks drove 78 yards to the Commanders’ 2-yard line, only for Darnold to throw three straight incompletions and turn the ball over on downs.
Darnold’s interceptions will draw the most attention from this loss, but Seattle’s problems extend beyond its quarterback. The offense has struggled to get to the line on time and avoid procedural penalties.
The problem is that the high-powered Darnold experience also comes with mistakes. Seattle got its starting quarterback back—and with him came the reason this offense can lose when its defense isn’t totally in control of the game.
To read more of this article, CLICK HERE
Commanders Roundtable
Austin Ekeler is back in burgundy & gold
The expected return of Ekeler also comes after Rachaad White, who notched his first touchdown as a Commander, suffered a shoulder injury in the first half against the Seattle Seahawks in week three before returning to the game. Whether Ekeler takes White’s spot on the 53 man roster remains to be seen, yet he returns to the organization stockpiling depth at the position alongside Bill Croskey-Merritt and Kaytron Allen.
Ekeler saw his 2025 season cut short after suffering a torn Achilles in the week two loss against the Green Bay Packers, amassing just 52 yards of scrimmage on 19 total touches. Ekeler also ran for 367 yards and four touchdowns on 77 carries in addition to 35 catches for 366 yards during his first season with the team in 2024.
The bad news is the linebacker room has taken another hit after Leo Chenal is expected to undergo season ending surgery.
To read more of this article, CLICK HERE
Too Deep Zone
NFL Power Rankings and Week 4 Catch-Up Show
The Raiders are 3-0. The Texans are 0-3. The Dream Team to End All Dream Teams is 1-2. The Factory of Sadness is 2-1. Tyler Shough is cruising. Drake Maye is malfunctioning. Just about the only things you can count upon are 49ers injuries.
What follows are not mere Power Rankings, but a catchup show on all 32 teams: everything that has happened so far in the 2026 NFL season, summarized in 2,500 words or so. The rankings themselves are informed by DVOA, but not married to it.
26. Washington Commanders (1-2)
Narrow, competitive loss to the Eagles. Jayden Daniels injury. Closer-than-the-score loss to the Cowboys. Weather-assisted upset of the Seahawks.
The Commanders are as good as a team headlined by Marcus Mariota, Stefon Diggs and Rachaad White can be in 2026. They’ll improve when Daniels returns in a few weeks. Then regress when he gets hurt again.
To read more of this article, CLICK HERE
ESPN
Betting buzz: 8.5 the magic number for underdogs
Big underdogs are having a historic start to the 2026 NFL season, and it’s all revolving around one number.
On Sunday, the Washington Commanders upset the reigning Super Bowl champion Seattle Seahawks after coming into the matchup as 8.5-point underdogs. In Week 2, the New Orleans Saints defeated the Baltimore Ravens outright as 8.5-point underdogs and the Cleveland Browns beat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers as underdogs by the same number. And in Week 1, the Arizona Cardinals pulled off the first big upset of the season when they defeated the Los Angeles Chargers … again, as 8.5-point underdogs.
The four straight-up wins by underdogs of eight points or greater is the most through three weeks of a season since 1978 when five teams accomplished the feat, according to ESPN Research.
Because public bettors generally like to back big favorites — via straight spread wagers, teasers or money-line parlays — the underdog wins have been a boon to sportsbooks. At DraftKings, Washington’s outright win against Seattle during Week 3 was “a good outcome for the book” after the Seahawks became the sportsbook’s fourth-most-backed team of the day, pushing the line up from 6.5 earlier in the week, according to a sportsbook representative.
“The Commanders’ win was the most impactful result for the book,” Caesars Sportsbook head of football Joey Feazel told ESPN over email. “The news throughout the week created a perfect storm for bettors to focus on Seattle. With Sam Darnold returning and Marcus Mariota starting for Washington, the Seahawks became the perceived ‘free square’ in parlays.”
To read more of this article, CLICK HERE
From ESPN
2026 NFL playoff picture: AFC, NFC seed projections, chances
To read more of this article, CLICK HERE
Power Rankings
The Athletic (paywall)
Week 4 NFL Power Rankings: Raiders, Broncos on the rise as Seahawks, Rams, Patriots tumble
5. Seattle Seahawks (2-1)
Last week: 3
Sunday: Lost to Commanders 33-31
QB confidence: Still very high (right?)
13. Philadelphia Eagles (2-1)
Last week: 9
Monday: Lost to Bears 27-7
QB confidence: Not as high as they always say
Most Eagles fans will defend Jalen Hurts vehemently — at least to outsiders. In private, there must be doubts. Hurts couldn’t get anything going Monday night against a Bears defense that gave up 361 yards to Bryce Young just two weeks ago. He finished 16-of-25 for 153 yards, no touchdowns and an interception, and he’s now 27th in the league in EPA per dropback (minus-0.03). Still, Monday was just his second loss in his last seven starts.
17. Dallas Cowboys (1-2)
Last week: 16
Sunday: Lost to Ravens 34-31
QB confidence: Higher than in the head coach
19. Indianapolis Colts (1-2)
Last week: 20
Sunday: Beat Texans 19-17
QB confidence: Meh
It’s hard to get too worked up about Daniel Jones being good or bad at this point of his career. Jones is 26th in the league in passer rating (80.8), 27th in yards per attempt (6.2) and tied for 29th in touchdown-to-interception ratio (3-to-3). He’s not a running threat anymore (19 yards for the season), and the Colts are treading water in the AFC South. If blah had a color scheme, it would be whatever the Colts are wearing each week.
21. New York Giants (2-1)
Last week: 24
Sunday: Beat Titans 12-7
QB confidence: Does Eli Manning have anything left?
The Giants traded for J.J. McCarthy on Monday. That sums things up pretty well.
23. Washington Commanders (1-2)
Last week: 29
Sunday: Beat Seahawks 33-31
QB confidence: Does weeping count?
Backup Marcus Mariota threw three touchdown passes to shock the Seahawks, but Commanders fans are still in a corner crying about Jayden Daniels. Since Daniels’ breakout rookie season, he has missed 11 games because of injury, and Washington is 2-7 in the games he has started. When Daniels returns from his second dislocated elbow, Commanders fans will be holding their collective breath and hoping he can stay healthy and play well again.
To read more of this article, CLICK HERE
Photos
Commanders.com
PHOTOS | Commanders vs. Seahawks, Week 3
Check out the top photos of the Washington Commanders at Northwest Stadium during their Week 3 matchup against the Seattle Seahawks
Podcasts & videos
The District Film Room – Week 3: David Blough’s Offense
NFC East links
Bleeding Green Nation
Eagles-Bears final score: Philadelphia bullied by Chicago again
After getting bullied by the Bears in Philly last year, all eyes were on this Eagles defense to be better this time around. They were not. Vic Fangio’s group got owned by Ben Johnson. They got torched by 38-year-old Case Keenum, a third-string quarterback who hadn’t played in an NFL game since 2023. Keenum’s final numbers: 24/34, 247 yards, two touchdowns, zero interceptions, and a 110.8 passer rating. And one of those incompletions was Rome Odunze dropping a touchdown.
This loss isn’t JUST on the defense. The offense had a chance to take a lead to start the second half … and instead went three-and-out three times in a row. They ran nine plays for just seven yards. One of those drives ended with Nick Sirianni inexplicably deciding to punt from 4th-and-1 at the minus 49-yard line. Sirianni did not have a very good night in terms of strategy. Not to mention that his team didn’t exactly look ready to play on Monday night.
Pretty bad and concerning loss.
To read more of this article, CLICK HERE
NFL.com
What We Learned from Chicago’s 27-7 win over Philadelphia
Philadelphia finally gets bitten by uneven play. The Eagles made it to 2-0 by the skin of their teeth, stopping a Commanders’ two-point conversion in Week 1 to avoid overtime and requiring a game-winning two-minute drill to dispatch the now 0-3 Titans in Week 2. The margin for error should presumably have been manageable against the Bears’ third-string quarterback. Unfortunately for the Philly faithful, the Eagles went on to make a parade of errors.
Even while turning the Bears one dimensional early on by allowing only 27 rushing yards in the first half — a great accomplishment, considering Chicago ran all over them for 281 yards last season — the Eagles could not stop Case Keenum and Co. consistently through the air.
Penalties were a big problem, as well. Philadelphia doubled Chicago’s five penalties, getting tagged for 10 infractions and 61 penalty yards. The secondary committed three penalties that resulted in first downs, two of which came on third-down plays. With the game still technically in reach, defensive tackle Moro Ojomo committed a neutral zone infraction on a fourth-and-2 when the Bears seemed content to let Keenum break off the rust on his hard count until the play clock expired. Too many mistakes let the Bears blow things open, and the Eagles offense was too stuck in the mud to do anything about it.
NFL Research: Case Keenum is the second player aged 38 or older with two-plus passing touchdowns and a rushing touchdown in a prime-time game, joining Tom Brady (Week 5, 2018).
To read more of this article, CLICK HERE
ESPN
Sirianni regrets reaction to hit on QB Hurts in Eagles’ loss
Sirianni had a different perspective on the pivotal hit on Hurts postgame compared with his initial reaction.
“Those guys are out there trying to make a play. It was close on the sideline, ended up being a penalty,” Sirianni said. “Obviously, you never want to see your quarterback get hit like that, but it’s in the heat of the moment. I know nobody is trying to hurt anybody out there, and I always have remorse when I act that way. But I always love fighting for our players.
“I have to be more steady in that situation. … I didn’t like how I handled that.”
To read more of this article, CLICK HERE
Blogging the Boys
Cowboys vs. Ravens Stock Report: Brian Schottenheimer failed the team
Sunday’s loss to the Baltimore Ravens was as inconsequential as a game can get in terms of tiebreaker worth. Dallas lost to an AFC team and one that isn’t even a common opponent with their division rivals. If you had ranked games before the season by which would be the “best” to lose then this would have been number one for those reasons.
But while it isn’t a tiebreaker or measurable variable, the narrative matters. This was an opportunity for the Cowboys to prove that they could hang (which they did, to be clear) and maybe even beat (which they didn’t, also to be clear) one of the better teams in the NFL. It was the proverbial measuring stick game and the Cowboys did not measure up.
the biggest stock down here has to be Brian Schottenheimer. He is both the head coach who oversees the entire operation and the offensive play-caller who got way too cute for much of this game and handicapped things at the end.
Schottenheimer’s hiring is now being called into question and it is hard to push back on any of those sorts of conversations. He was the most direct reason for the Cowboys’ loss on Sunday and directly inhibited the team’s chances of winning. Your head coach has to be your advantage in games and on Sunday he was the opposite.
To read more of this article, CLICK HERE
NFL.com
Giants’ Brian Burns suffered torn ACL in win over Titans, will miss remainder of season
The loss of Burns is a big blow to the 2-1 Giants, who were already trying to stay on track in Harbaugh’s first season without starting quarterback Jaxson Dart, who was lost in Week 2 to a knee injury.
With Burns out, the Giants will lean on Abdul Carter and Kayvon Thibodeaux. It will be interesting to see if Big Blue tweaks rookie linebacker Arvell Reese’s role as well to help fill the void.
In two weeks, the Giants have lost two massive stars as they attempt to flip the script in the NFC East. New York has a winnable slate ahead, with the 1-2 Cardinals, 1-2 Commanders and 1-2 Saints over the next three weeks.
To read more of this article, CLICK HERE
Big Blue View
J.J. McCarthy trade: NY Giants acquire quarterback from Minnesota Vikings
The Giants, of course, lost starting quarterback Jaxson Dart for the season with a knee injury during their Week 2 loss to the Los Angeles Rams. Jameis Winston’s play since has been uninspiring, and the only other quarterback on the roster was journeyman Jake Haener.
The Giants had an opportunity to draft the 23-year-old McCarthy out of Michigan with the sixth overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft. They passed on McCarthy, as well as Bo Nix and Michael Penix, to select wide receiver Malik Nabers. The Vikings took McCarthy No. 10 overall.
That, of course, worked out well for the Giants. Nabers had a sensational rookie season, and the Giants were able to move up in the 2025 NFL Draft to select Dart as their quarterback of the future.
Things did not go well for McCarthy in Minnesota.
McCarthy missed all of his rookie season with a torn meniscus in his right knee. He started 10 games for the Vikings last season, compiling a 6-4 record. He completed 140 of 243 passes (jusy 57.6%) for 1,623 yards with 11 touchdowns, 12 interceptions and a 72.6 passer rating.
In his recently-launched Substack, ‘The Sweep’, NFL insider Tom Pelissero said this about why the Giants made the deal:
The Giants extensively scouted McCarthy (and the rest of the 2024 quarterback class) before deciding to wait and taking Dart in 2025. McCarthy’s athletic ability and play style is a fit for the offense that OC Matt Nagy and company built for Dart, and he should be capable of running many of the QB movement concepts that figure to be dormant as long as Winston, a pocket passer, is in the lineup. At age 23, McCarthy is less than four months older than Dart. He’s 6-4 as an NFL starter. He’s cost-controlled for 2027. And in the event McCarthy takes over and flourishes down the stretch this season, the Giants have the right to exercise his fifth-year option for 2028.
To read more of this article, CLICK HERE
ESPN
Giants trade for Vikings QB McCarthy but say Winston is QB1
Giants coach John Harbaugh said after Sunday’s victory over the Tennessee Titans that Jameis Winston would remain the Giants’ starter even if the team added another quarterback. He reiterated that Monday after the trade for McCarthy.
The Giants host the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday.
“Jameis is starting. You guys asked me that [Sunday] night. He’s our starting quarterback, and that’s how we’re rolling,” Harbaugh said. “We’ll be ready to play this next game and going forward. Excited about Jameis. … I’m looking forward to seeing where we go, and as we go we’ll get a chance to build around Jameis’ strengths.”
To read more of this article, CLICK HERE
From ESPN:
Giants get: QB J.J. McCarthy
Vikings get: 2027 fifth-round pick
Giants grade: C
Vikings grade: B+
To read more of this 2nd ESPN article, CLICK HERE
Upcoming opponent – Colts
Commanders next game is in London vs Indianapolis on Sunday at 9:30 am
Stampede Blue
Horsepower or Horseplay? Individual highlights from Week 3’s big victory vs. Texans
Colts Offensive Line: Make no mistake about it, the Texans are a formidable defense foe. The Colts offensive line had their hands full with their front seven featuring the star pass rushing edge pairing of Will Anderson Jr. and Danielle Hunter. Jones was pressured on 46.3% of his dropbacks, which was the 3rd most in the NFL during Week 3 t0-date.In particular, starting right tackle Jalen Travis, despite an initial solid start to the 2026 campaign, clearly struggled containing Anderson Jr. in pass blocking. Specifically, Travis surrendered 3.0 sacks, 11 QB pressures, 7 hurries, and 1 QB hit in pass protection for what was clearly a long afternoon for the Colts’ first-year full-time starter at right tackle.
I was a bit disappointed that the Colts also couldn’t get the run game going either. Colts star running back Jonathan Taylor, was largely bottled up all afternoon, averaging just 3.0 yards per carry on 23 carries, with his lone big run being called back because of a Laquon Treadwell hold. The Texans are really good up front, but even with the mismatch in pass blocking, and conceding that the Texans are elite in getting after the quarterback off the edges, I expected the Colts to be a bit better in the offensive trenches, particularly in run blocking collectively as a unit.
To read more of this article, CLICK HERE
Stampede Blue
More hard-to-believe Colts defense stats and facts
“31 points per game” … “led in all 5 losses” … CBS broadcast comedy
Again, more hard to digest Colts defence facts. The CBS crew noted that in the Colts’ 9-game losing streak, they allowed an average of 31 points! You are not winning many NFL games doing that, unless that Manning guy (Peyton) is your QB.
Then there was the note about … in the Colts’ 5 straight losses to the Texans, they led in all of them. Vintage stuff.
To read more of this article, CLICK HERE
NFL league links
Articles
ESPN
Big Week 3 losses: Pats, Texans, Chargers, Panthers
On one hand, there’s nothing unrealistic or shocking about the Patriots losing to the Jaguars in Jacksonville. On the other, unlike the other four games I’ll talk about, this loss wasn’t particularly close. While Mike Vrabel & Co. might feel like they played better than the final score indicated and lost 10 points on sloppy play in the red zone and a missed field goal, the Patriots aren’t building on what they put together in 2025. They look like they’ve gone back in time to the first half of the 2024 season, when Drake Maye was a rookie, Vrabel was out of football and a half-dozen dismal plays per game typically doomed them to losses.
Since A.J. Brown went down in the second half of the Week 1 loss to the Seahawks, the Patriots have looked like a completely different offense. Maye was playing well in that game, continuously taking checkdowns and small profits. With Seattle quarterback Drew Lock being summoned to play on short notice with Sam Darnold’s early injury and the Seahawks struggling to score, that was a logical way for the Patriots to try to win.
Instead, Maye threw three interceptions to turn that game, all on throws he never should have considered making. He was better against the Steelers in Week 2 but badly underthrew a pass on a crosser that was intercepted by linebacker Patrick Queen, one play after he had escaped pressure and found Romeo Doubs on the sort of scramble drill creation Maye had excelled with last season.
And on Sunday against the Jaguars, Maye continued to unnecessarily put the ball in danger. His first interception was a disaster — a throw offensive coordinators try to pry out of their quarterbacks after they turn pro. Booting to the right on the same fast-to-the-flat concept so many teams are running these days, Maye’s first option, running back Rhamondre Stevenson, was taken away. Under pressure from Foyesade Oluokun, Maye realistically should have thrown the ball away on a third-and-goal situation and either lived to try on fourth down or picked up three points. Instead, he threw against his body to Hunter Henry, and Travis Hunter made the interception. It was the wrong risk at the wrong time.
Maye also had the ball slip out of his hands in the middle of a dropback for a fumble, an issue he attributed after the game to a bloody football. He lost another one at the end of a scramble, costing the Patriots another drive that ended inside the 5-yard line. And while his second interception might have been more on wide receiver Kyle Williams (who didn’t offer much physicality on a contested catch situation on the sideline), it certainly feels like Maye is pressing or trying to make too much happen.
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From The Ringer:
Maye’s turnover and decision-making problems date back to last year. In seven games from the beginning of last season’s playoffs to now, he’s turned the ball over 15 times.
He looks panicky and hesitant when deciding where to go with the ball. And his issues seem more mental than physical. Still, he’s danced around questions about whether the shoulder injury he played through last postseason is completely healed.
Maye’s age (24), talent, and importance to the Patriots franchise mean that he’d have to continue much further down this worrisome path before his job is seriously questioned. New England seemed like a regression candidate heading into this season after facing a soft schedule on its run to the Super Bowl last year, and injuries have been a significant factor in its struggles this year. Still, I don’t think many in New England expected to be heading to Buffalo next week with the season genuinely seeming like it was on the ropes—or for the team’s biggest problem to be QB1.
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Front Office Sports
Sunday’s biggest NFL games plagued by debatable pass interference calls
The NFL’s two highest-profile games Sunday included highly debatable defensive pass interference calls at key moments that threatened to affect the outcomes—and, in one case, actually did.
Those calls served as major talking points during and after the Ravens-Cowboys and Rams-Broncos games. They are among the biggest officiating controversies of the young NFL season to date.
The fact that the calls may have been erroneous and were not subject to being overturned via replay is not an immediate threat to the league’s popularity; if anything, in the short term, such officiating controversies merely generate more public conversation about the league. But any questions about the accuracy and fairness of officiating are amplified in the current atmosphere of immense viewership, legalized sports betting, and widespread conspiracy theorizing.
Rams coach Sean McVay was visibly angry on the sideline about the call. He said during his postgame news conference: “I’ll look at it. Looked like it was a good, competitive play from my vantage point. But we’ll go back and look at it and we’ll see what they say.”
The game Sunday night in Denver marked a flashback of sorts for McVay, Broncos coach Sean Payton, and referee Bill Vinovich. All were on the field for the Rams-Saints game with the infamous non-interference ruling, although Vinovich was not directly involved in either call. Payton coached the Saints then.
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ESPN
J.J. McCarthy traded to Giants: Will he succeed in New York?
Landing a fifth-round pick for McCarthy was an obvious call for the Vikings. Once their quarterback of the future after they traded up to take him in the first round of the 2024 draft, McCarthy had quickly and brutally fallen out of favor in Minnesota. After being the NFC Offensive Player of the Week in his NFL debut last season — an opening-week win over the Bears — McCarthy’s inability to work all areas of the field, operate within the structure of the offense or avoid negative plays frustrated a Vikings organization that had let Sam Darnold leave in free agency to hand the job to him.
While it was no surprise when McCarthy lost something resembling a QB competition to new starter Kyler Murray in training camp this summer, the writing was really on the wall once it became clear that Kevin O’Connell preferred Carson Wentz as his second option. Trading McCarthy netted some small amount of draft capital for the Vikings while also saving them $4.6 million over the next two years in the process.
So, the trade makes sense for both organizations. Will it work out for McCarthy, who is still only 23 years old and younger than Ty Simpson, whom the Rams took with their first-round pick in this year’s draft? We’re living in a bit of a golden era of second (or third) acts for quarterbacks around the NFL, with the likes of Darnold, Bryce Young, Malik Willis, Baker Mayfield and others enjoying varying levels of success after their first organization gave up (and/or benched) them before the end of their rookie deals. Could McCarthy be the next to follow in their footsteps and turn his career around after a rough start?
[O]ver his final four starts in 2025, McCarthy was quietly … pretty good? Returning from a concussion, he oversaw four victories as the Vikings worked their way back to respectability over the end of the year. And over that stretch, McCarthy wasn’t a problem for the Minnesota offense. He completed 64.3% of his passes, averaged a robust 8.4 yards per attempt and threw five touchdown passes against two picks, adding two more scores with his legs. McCarthy’s sack rate dropped to 7.7%, which is still higher than you would like but much improved on what he had produced early in the season.
Those aren’t superstar numbers, but the McCarthy of the first six games was one of the worst QBs we’ve seen over the past decade, whereas the guy over the final four starts was completely playable. His 70.3 Total QBR over that stretch was the seventh-best mark in the league, just behind Matthew Stafford, who was finishing up an MVP season for the Rams. He was fourth in yards per dropback and eighth in passer rating.
He hasn’t been healthy enough to stay on the field for any meaningful stretch of time. He missed all of his rookie year after tearing his meniscus, which required season-ending surgery. He was then sidelined for seven games in 2025 amid a high-ankle sprain, a concussion and a hand injury. It’s unclear whether McCarthy would have beaten Darnold out for the job as a rookie in 2024, but he was healthy enough to start 10 of 34 possible contests over his first two seasons in the league before the Vikings moved on to Murray this offseason.
You can’t develop as a quarterback if you can’t stay on the field to get regular reps. And while McCarthy was relatively healthy during his time under Jim Harbaugh at Michigan, he has yet to make it to a fifth consecutive start as a pro without getting hurt. The Giants were already worried about this with Dart, and now they’re acquiring a second quarterback who hasn’t been able to stay healthy or protect himself as a pro.
The numbers from that four-game stretch in 2025 are real, but they come with some incredibly large qualifiers. That run started against the Commanders, who fielded the league’s second-worst defense by QBR. It continued against the Cowboys (fourth-worst) and then these Giants (10th-worst). And it finished with the Packers, who would have been the league’s second-worst defense by QBR if we just consider their snaps without Micah Parsons on the field. (The star edge rusher missed that Week 18 matchup with the Vikings after tearing his ACL.) Total QBR adjusts for quality of opposition, but that’s a particularly friendly slate of opponents.
Even in those games, the Vikings very clearly didn’t trust McCarthy. They dialed up designed runs nearly 46% of the time, which would have been the fifth-most run-heavy offense in the NFL. The Vikings asked McCarthy to throw only 21 passes per game over that stretch, a barely-there workload for most quarterbacks, albeit one more in line with how rarely McCarthy threw at Michigan (22 times per contest). Minnesota played at the third-slowest pace in the league to try to shorten games and lean heavily on the defense, which was both smart and likely telling about how the team viewed McCarthy.
Obviously, if there’s something more here and he turns into a solid NFL starter, this would be a heist for the Giants in the big picture.
You just really have to squint and be incredibly selective about what you leave out to have any optimism about McCarthy given what we saw from him in 2025. Even guys like Darnold and Young weren’t as bad early in their careers as McCarthy was in 2025, and they were much more impactful college passers in terms of their responsibilities.
[A]s we saw a year ago, the floor for what he might offer as a quarterback can be painful to watch. I can’t fault the Giants for trying to do something, given Dart’s injury, but I would be very surprised if McCarthy was any sort of short- or long-term answer for this organization.
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