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A22 sports
Saturday 20 OctOber 2018

Flexed: NFL’s nice move had Bengals-Chiefs in prime time

By BARRY WILNER Houston (3-3) at Jackson-
AP Pro Football Writer ville (3-3)
It’s been a while since the The other AFC South lead-
NFL flexed a game to Sun- ers.
day night. The Bengals vs. After beginning the season
Chiefs is a worthy choice. with three defeats, the Tex-
No games were moved ans have turned it around,
from day to night last sea- albeit all their wins have
son, except for the final been tight affairs, two in
weekend, when all games overtime.
are scheduled for the after- Defensive end J.J. Watt
noon until the league and , perhaps the NFL’s best
NBC figure out what is most player when healthy, is
attractive for prime time. back in form after missing
Back in 2016, there were most of the 2016 and ‘17
three flexed games, includ- seasons with injuries. Watt
ing Week 17. Not counting has seven sacks and three
that, the last flex was Bucs forced fumbles in the past
at Cowboys on Dec. 18, four games.
2016. The Jaguars have a solid
So switching a pair of first- defense, too, particularly
place teams made sense: against the pass, where
Cincinnati (4-2) is at Kansas they ranked first in yards
City (5-1). surrendered. But Jackson-
Some of the juicy plot lines ville was outscored 70-21
involve offense, hardly In this Sunday, Oct. 14, 2018, file photo, Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver Tyreek Hill strikes a pose in consecutive road losses,
a surprise in this year of as he warms up before an NFL football game against the New England Patriots in Foxborough, forcing coach Doug Mar-
points, points and more Mass. rone to return to training
points. Kansas City has the Associated Press camp practices this week
league’s lowest-ranked de- quarter touchdowns and able to move the ball on frey and QB Cam Newton, to emphasize fundamental
fense and the Bengals rank the Broncos snapped a New England, they’ll likely facing the second-stingiest football.
29th. Even worse, both are four-game losing streak. need lots of points for a rushing defense in a place Dallas (3-3) at Washington
dealing with a slew of inju- Todd Davis returned rook- chance in this one. where the Eagles are 17-4 (3-2)
ries on that side of the ball. ie Josh Rosen’s deflected New Orleans (4-1) at Balti- under Doug Pederson. Among pro sports’ most in-
So Patrick Mahomes throw- pass for a touchdown on more (4-2) As for the air game, which tense rivalries, this will be a
ing to Tyreek Hill and Tra- the second play of the Just like Patriots-Bears, this is seemingly everyone needs physical and possibly low-
vis Kelce and Kareem Hunt game and Chris Harris Jr. one terrific offense against to succeed these days, scoring affair given the
could fill the screen. So took another back 53 yards defense matchup. New Or- Carolina is far too inconsis- strength of both defenses
might Andy Dalton con- for a score with 2:02 left in leans ranks third in total of- tent. and imbalance of the of-
necting with A.J. Green the quarter as the Broncos fense and Baltimore is first Meanwhile, Carson Wentz fenses.
and Tyler Boyd. (3-4) opened a 21-3 lead. on defense. has thrown at least one Dallas, winless on the road,
“Any time you want to be Rosen threw three inter- Led by Drew Brees, who TD in his past 19 games will try to run with Ezekiel
one of the great ones on ceptions and fumbled the set the yards passing ca- played, the longest streak Elliott, second in rushing
the defense or you want ball away twice on a rough reer mark in a rout of the in franchise history and sec- yards with 586 and third in
your defense to have a night that began badly for Redskins before their bye ond-longest active streak yards from scrimmage with
statement-type game, you him and never got better. the Saints have won four behind Andrew Luck (28). 752. Washington will coun-
have to do it against the The Cardinals (1-6), down in a row. Nobody is more Wentz has thrown 133 con- ter with Adrian Peterson,
best offenses in the league,” 35-3 at the half, fell to 0-4 at balanced with the ball secutive passes without a who averaged 108.5 yards
Cincinnati defensive end home for the first time since now that RB Mark Ingram pick. His longest streak is rushing in the past two
Carlos Dunlap said. “And 1979. is back from suspension to 135 passes. home games.
right now, they’re putting Off this week are Seattle (3- team with dynamic Alvin Tennessee (3-3) vs. Los An- Minnesota (3-2-1) at New
up those points like they’re 3), Green Bay (3-2-1), Oak- Kamara. Brees, who is 0-4 geles Chargers (4-2) at Lon- York Jets (3-3)
one of the best offenses in land (1-5) and Pittsburgh vs. the Ravens, this year has don The Vikings have never
the league. So you’ve got (3-2-1). a 78 percent completion The Titans were humiliated won at the Jets, going 0-5.
to go out there and put it New England (4-2) at Chi- rate for 1,658 yards with 11 at home by Baltimore and To break that slump, the
on ‘em.” cago (3-2) touchdowns and no inter- should welcome the long main weapon could be
There are some caveats to Seems like every week, the ceptions. trip overseas. Then again, WR Adam Thielen. He had
this matchup, however. Patriots’ opponent is bat- The Ravens had 11 sacks they have lost 10 of the 11 catches for 123 yards
Although the Bengals have tered by injuries to key play- last week against Tennes- past 11 to the Chargers last week, joining Houston’s
won four straight in the se- ers. No one is more key in see and a league-most 26 and bring a sputtering of- Charley Hennigan (1961) as
ries dating to Oct. 14, 2007, Chicago than edge rusher overall. They are allowing fense into Wembley. the only players in NFL his-
they are 3-15 on Sunday Khalil Mack, who is battling an NFL-low 12.8 points per Although Tennessee has a tory with 100 or more yards
nights, losing eight straight. an ankle problem. game and the fewest yards solid D, it faces an in-synch in each of his team’s first six
The Chiefs are 7-3 in games Just what Tom Brady needs per game (270.8). Baltimore offense. The Chargers are games to begin a season.
on Sunday nights. against one of the five has four of the NFL’s past 14 13-5 since starting last sea- Thielen leads the NFL with
The weekend began with teams he’s never lost to. shutouts since the start of son 0-4 and QB Philip Rivers 58 catches, the most by a
Denver’s 45-10 victory at Brady is 4-0 against the the 2017 season. leads the AFC and ranks player in the first six games
Arizona on Thursday night Bears; the others are Atlan- Carolina (3-2) at Philadel- second in the NFL with a in league history, and 712
Emmanuel Sanders threw ta (5-0), Dallas (4-0), Minne- phia (3-3) 115.1 passer rating. He has yards receiving.
and caught touchdown sota (4-0) and Tampa Bay An intriguing matchup of a 13 TD passes and four inter- Guess what: New York’s
passes, Denver returned (4-0). solid running team in Caroli- ceptions in seven games secondary is banged-up
two interceptions for first- While the Bears should be na, led by Christian McCaf- vs. the Titans. and porous.q