#derek_carr

[tsportsday]

One month left of the 2023 NFL regular season. These teams are who they are at this point, and now it’s time to determine how serious their flaws are as the postseason projections begin and teams prepare for 2024. First up, a verifiably good team that’s starting to show they might not be exactly where they need to be yet.This QB class could accelerate Patriots' post-Bill Belichick reboot — as well as other teams'Quarterbacks, quarterbacks, quarterbacks. The position that makes the world go round. The beauty of the late part of the season is that it’s impossible to hide from what’s been produced over the past three months. And what's been produced by the Patriots this season has been terrible. New England seems all but done with Mac Jones, and Bailey Zappe certainly isn’t the answer.Now, there's a report from NBC Sports Boston's Tom Curran that New England team owner Robert Kraft has already made his decision to move on from head coach Bill Belichick after the season. If that's the case, then the Patriots, who currently own the No. 2 overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft, could be in position to secure a big piece of their reboot.This class has two bonafide franchise quarterbacks in USC’s Caleb Williams and North Carolina’s Drake Maye, with intriguing options like Heisman Trophy winner Jayden Daniels and Washington star Michael Penix Jr. as consolation prizes.Patriots team owner Robert Kraft reportedly made the decision to move on from Bill Belichick after losing to the Colts in Germany earlier this season. (Photo by Alex Grimm/Getty Images)The Patriots have a ton of work to do to improve the overall quality of their roster, but they could become a more attractive destination for their next head coach — again, if they do in fact move on from Belichick — if they're in position to select Williams or Maye and lock in the sport's most important position.Quarterback issues tend to be the most glaring because they normally define what is possible for an offense in any given season. It’s easy to spot when a quarterback is being let down by his surrounding talent, or is an anchor on otherwise quality teams — especially at this point with four games left in the regular season. The Patriots need to be real with themselves about how dire their situation is heading into the offseason.The position is going through a transition leaguewide right now, too, making it difficult for teams to find meaningful upgrades due to a lack of options. A handful of other teams should, at the very least, consider drafting a guy or making a play to move up for one.Just draft a quarterback, man: Bears, RaidersThis one is easy. The Bears own the Panthers’ first-round pick, which seems all but a lock to be the first overall pick next year. Moving on from Justin Fields after how he’s played this year would sting a little bit, but it’s also beneficial to start over the rookie contract timer while getting value for Fields in a trade.The Raiders are in a similar boat as far as their talent goes, but they’re a few picks away from the top of the draft as things stand right now. A trade up or taking another quarterback with their high first-round pick has to be what they do as they hire yet another head coach.Should consider drafting a quarterback: Commanders, Titans, Falcons, Saints, Buccaneers, SteelersNow, just about every single one of these teams could stand to upgrade their quarterback talent, but it either might be too expensive to trade up or they can stand pat for a year and wait it out. The Titans and Commanders might want to see what Will Levis and Sam Howell have in store for 2024, respectfully. Desmond Ridder could find himself in the same boat with the Falcons if he closes out the season with a bang, but they’re also clearly at a point where they’re underachieving based on the amount of talent they have on offense.The Steelers should move heaven and earth to get a competent quarterback under center. They could make a real play toward the top of the AFC North in 2024 if they don’t get complacent with the combo of Kenny Pickett and Mitch Trubisky.New Orleans certainly needs to move on from Derek Carr, but his contract and their cap situation will probably prevent that. Still, they should play around with the idea of getting a quarterback in the draft because they just need an upgrade if they’re going to compete in the near future as they figure out what the rest of the roster will look like because the bill has come due for all their years of restructuring contracts.Priced out: Giants, JetsJust based on where they’re drafting or projected to be drafting, the Giants and Jets taking a quarterback makes sense. Aaron Rodgers is a short-term play for the Jets and Daniel Jones probably should be a short-term play for the Giants. However, both quarterbacks are too expensive to move on from and it’s not unreasonable to expect these teams to bounce back in 2024 based on the core that they have built. They’re in better shape than the Saints, so they can pass here and take another elite talent.Lions need their good team to come backTwo things can be true at the same time. The 2023 Detroit Lions are easily the best Lions team since the peak days of Matthew Stafford throwing to Calvin Johnson, and they’ve run into a bit of a wall that has caused people to pump the brakes on this version of the team. Jared Goff has struggled for much of the last month of football and the defense has devolved into one of the worst units in the league. At 9-4 with a strong core that’s going to be around for a long time, this may feel like nitpicking, but that’s the curse of competency. Getting to the level of the championship contenders is the next step for the Lions and it appears they’re not quite there yet.To be fair, they’ve suffered some tough injuries this season. Offensive lineman Halapoulivaati Vaitai, cornerback Emmanuel Moseley, safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson and linebacker James Houston have all missed extended time this season and all four were going to be huge pieces of their success in some form. Still, there’s enough left in the cupboard for Detroit to fare better than it has over the past month. The overall strength of the offense has allowed it to score in most of these games, but the defense has just been cut through by everyone, including Derek Carr and the Saints.Goff’s season has hit a snag in the road as well, starting discussions on how much money the Lions should pay him when his contract comes due for an extension next offseason. Goff is a quality quarterback who can put up monstrous numbers in the right circumstances, but he’s had some moments that are a harsh reminder that he’s just about hit his ceiling as an NFL player. He’s not going to be the guy that’s able to stand tall through adverse situations, which is fine — there are only a handful of those guys in the league at any given time.It's been a rough go for Jared Goff and the Lions lately. (Photo by Todd Rosenberg/Getty Images)Last week against the Bears was a perfect example of that idea. Star center Frank Ragnow missed the game with a knee injury and Penei Sewell had an uncharacteristically sloppy day. The result was four sacks on Goff, nine quarterback hits and a whopping 19 pressures by the Bears’ defensive line according to the NFL’s Next Gen Stats. That’s not a great situation for any quarterback, but that specific environment accentuates the flaws of Goff. The Lions struggled blocking and in turn, Goff took a backseat to a vastly improved Bears defense.If Goff has a game where he struggles, things can get spooky for Detroit in a hurry because of the state of their defense. They gave up far too many explosive plays to the Bears on Sunday and that theme was mirrored in their games against the Packers, Saints and Chargers. That’s a serious concern to have whenever the playoffs start and they eventually have to go against the Eagles, Cowboys and 49ers. They’re putting too much on their quarterback’s plate and they need to find a way to alleviate that pressure in a hurry.The sky is not falling. The Lions are still set up to be an NFC player for years to come, but the 2023 Lions are trending in the wrong direction at the worst possible time.Chicago has done a 180 on the seasonThere might not be a team that’s made more progress this season than the Bears. In the first few weeks of the season, the Bears’ defensive coordinator resigned, their defense was getting punked every week, Justin Fields had to answer questions about the coaching he was receiving, and Ryan Poles did something most general managers never do: hold an early season news conference. Their season seemed destined for unmitigated failure with Poles and head coach Matt Eberflus on the hot seat through the first half of the season.The tune has changed with the Bears becoming a formidable team as the final month of the season approaches. The defense might have gone through the biggest turnaround of any aspect of the team. According to RBSDM.com, the Bears ranked 30th in expected points added per play on defense (0.067) through the first eight weeks of the season. They acquired Montez Sweat, their pricey free agent acquisitions at linebacker started playing better and they’ve been one of the toughest defenses to play since then. Since Week 9, the Bears are sixth in expected points added per play (-0.126) and 13th in success rate (41.1%).In their most recent game against the Lions, they were able to make life hell for what has been one of the better offenses in the league over the past two seasons. As a former defensive coordinator, Eberflus needed this swing in performance to keep his job and they’ve been so good recently that it would be a bit surprising if he loses his job. The turnaround has been that stark and they’ve built some serious momentum going into the 2024 offseason in multiple ways.Now that the defense gives them a chance to stay in games, the attention has turned to Fields, who is really starting to grow into a quality quarterback. Since his Week 4 breakout game against the Broncos, Fields ranks 10th in expected points added per play (0.122). The athleticism is still tantalizing, and now he’s achieving a level of consistency that’s breathed new life into his NFL career. It's up in the air whether the Bears keep him at this point, since they have the first overall pick from the Panthers that would allow them to reset their quarterback contract timer. (I argued above they should trade him.) But with the way Fields is playing, there will be a handful of teams at least reaching out to see what it would take to get him in the offseason. It’s a matter of circumstance, not performance, that may lead Fields to another team.The Bears are in a rare great spot for their franchise. They have a ton of asset value waiting to be unleashed with Fields and the likely first pick in next year’s draft. The offensive line has improved, the defense is playing at a near-elite level right and it’s looking like the vision that Poles and Eberflus share is finally coming together. Incredible place for them, considering where the season startRams have makeup of a playoff spoilerThe Rams have this thing moving back in the right direction after a tough, injury-filled 2022 season. Matthew Stafford is healthy, Cooper Kupp and Puka Nacua feel like a damn near unguardable wide receiver duo, Aaron Donald is still playing at a high level and Sean McVay has found the next phase of what his offense will look like. They probably don’t have the overall talent level needed to win a Super Bowl this year or go on a run, but as the Ravens saw on Sunday, this Rams team won’t be a walk in the park if they manage to make the playoffs.This team had a clear roster-building strategy in the past of just acquiring all the elite talent that they can possibly afford to acquire. Most of the players from their peak run are gone to other teams or retirement, but the holdovers that are on the team continue to give that top-heavy approach some merit. Stafford just played the game of his life on Sunday in their loss to the Ravens, making several throws that would have people turning off their gaming consoles if it happened in "Madden." It didn’t matter if the throw was to the middle of the field, down the sideline, corner of the end zone, draped in coverage — Stafford was finding space to fit it in.That kind of precision paired with the talents of Kupp and Nacua gives the Rams a passing game that can ignite any week. The Rams have scored 30 points in each of their past three games, including games against the Browns and Ravens, the two best defenses in football this season. According to the NFL’s Next Gen Stats, Stafford ranks fifth in expected points added per dropback (0.17) among the 31 quarterbacks with at least 50 passing attempts since the start of Week 12. He’s thrown 10 touchdowns to just one interception in that timespan. Any worry of his career being in trouble after his elbow injury last season should be over. He’s balling right now.Having that kind of talent at the top of their roster gives the Rams a fighting chance against any team, but they’ve done a good job of identifying rosterable talent with their diminished draft assets in recent years as well. Nacua, offensive lineman Steve Avila and edge rusher Byron Young have all been fantastic pickups for the Rams from the 2023 draft. Kyren Williams has developed into a workhorse back for this offense in his second season in the league and Tutu Atwell is another non-first rounder that has allowed them to stay competitive without the premium pick.The Rams are currently the eighth seed in the NFC playoff race behind the Packers (who own the head-to-head tiebreaker over them in a game Stafford missed), but if they can have enough breaks fall their way over the final month of the season, it’ll be fascinating to see what they can accomplish. Of course, that means they’re likely to face Dallas, Philadelphia, San Francisco or Detroit in the wild-card round, but that shouldn’t be seen as an automatic dub with the way the Rams look right now. McVay has done a fantastic job getting this team back into working order and they look like the team no contender wants to see in the early part of the playoffs.

[correctsuccess]

Marcus Mariota earned financial incentives in debut [ad_1] After an harm to Derek Carr throughout Thursday night time’s recreation in opposition to the Chargers, Raiders backup quarterback Marcus Mariota made his debut for the  staff and ended up making some critical extra cash within the time beyond regulation loss. The 27-year-old ended the sport as the primary participant since “at least” 1948 to return off the bench and document a minimum of ... #derek_carr #las_vegas_raiders #marcus_mariota #sunday_night_football