Lions QB Jared Goff delivers a near-perfect performance to open the Pro Bowl Games for the NFC
Goff, after getting some help from Green Bay running back Josh Jacobs via an NFL trivia contest, showed off his passing acumen by hitting ever target and then some in one minute, 30 seconds. He racked up 44 points for the NFC, five more than teammate Sam Darnold of Minnesota.
Goff, Darnold and Tampa Bay's Baker Mayfield easily beat the AFC team of QBs comprised of Cincinnati's Joe Burrow, New England's Drake Maye and Pittsburgh's Russell Wilson.
The passing game was the highlight of the six events on opening night. The NFC also won two of three relay races, a skills contest titled 'satisfying catches' and a game show for NFL teammates titled 'helmet harmony" that somewhat resembled 'The Newlywed Game."
The conferences split two dodgeball games and defensive tackle Quinnen Williams of the New York Jets gave the AFC a victory in 'the big spike' with his powerful throwdown of a football.
Some notable highlights: the Bosa brothers, Joey and Nick, turned their leg of a relay race into speed walking; and Bengals star Ja'Marr Chase made one-handed catches on the first three balls flung his way in 'satisfying catches."
Four more skills events will be broadcast Sunday, each worth three points, before the Pro Bowl Games conclude with a flag football contest.
'We've got the lead, and that's good," NFC coach Eli Manning said. "It just shows the heart, the preparation, everything, the commitment of these guys. They've been grinding. They're looking forward to this. They want the three-peat. (Everyone) has been talking about Kansas City next week with a three-peat. Really, all eyes are on the Pro Bowl for the three-peat (for the) NFC right now.'
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New York Times
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What can Browns do for your 2025 fantasy football team? Could Shedeur Sanders be in play?
Fun fact. This author has been a Cleveland Browns fan for 45 years. It has been, um… yeah. The very first year I was a fan of the team, Brian Sipe threw an interception in the end zone against the Oakland Raiders in the divisional round of the playoffs ('Red Right 88'). I screamed at the TV while John Elway took the Denver Broncos right down the field to tie the 1986 AFC Championship Game ('The Drive'). Stared in horror as Ernest Byner fumbled away a trip to Super Bowl XXII the following year ('The Fumble'). Gawked in disbelief when it was announced in 1995 that the team was moving to Baltimore. Hurled obscenities when the team made the single-worst personnel decision in NFL history. Advertisement Rooting for the Browns has been four-plus decades of abject misery and soul-sucking despair. Punching myself in the face over and over again. The factory of sadness, indeed. The Cleveland Clowns. And it won't be a bit easier in 2025 — because the Browns will be terrible (again). If they aren't the worst team in the NFL, the Browns have a legitimate claim to the title of the worst team in the AFC. That's largely because of an offense that was 28th in yards per game in 2024 and dead last in the NFL in scoring. That steaming pile of an offense could potentially be even worse in 2025 (Go Browns!), and many fantasy managers are avoiding it like moviegoers avoided seeing 'Gigli.' But as 'Gigli' had a couple of funny scenes (not really, but bear with me), a question needs to be asked. Has the fantasy community been too quick to dismiss the entire team as a festering fecal fortress? Could there be a diamond or two in this turd of a team? OK, that's enough poop references, even for the Browns. So let's look at each fantasy-relevant position group in Cleveland — and see if there's anything there but dismay and anguish. ADPs (2025) and 2024 fantasy results are via FantasyPros. The quarterback position in Cleveland would be funny if it weren't so tragic. The Browns simultaneously have four (five if you count He Who Shall Not be Named) quarterbacks and no quarterbacks. The elder statesman of this funky foursome is Joe Flacco, who led the Browns to the playoffs in 2023 before playing last year in Indianapolis. Flacco is easily the most proven quarterback on the team, but he's also a 40-year-old journeyman who was QB25 in fantasy points per game in 2024. Then there's Kenny Pickett, who won a Super Bowl last year holding a clipboard in Philadelphia. Pickett made 24 starts over two years in Pittsburgh and entered the summer the favorite to start Week 1, but the former first-round pick has been nursing a hamstring injury for weeks. Advertisement Next up is rookie Dillon Gabriel, who was a surprise third-round pick by the Browns in April. Gabriel threw for almost 19,000 yards and an FBS-record 155 touchdowns over six years in college, but he's also 5-foot-11 on his tippy-toes and has a hamstring injury of his own. Finally, there's Shedeur Sanders, who was supposed to be a first-round pick until he was a fifth-round pick and Mel Kiper lost his mind on TV. Sanders looked decent in Cleveland's preseason opener, but (wait for it) he's also hurt after straining his oblique in a joint practice with the Eagles. What a Cleveland bunch. Verdict: If the Browns had half a brain, they would give both rookies extended playing time in the regular season — Cleveland needs to know if they have any kind of future at the position before a 2026 draft where they have two first-round picks. But Browns gotta Brown, so Flacco will start 10 games and win just enough to screw things up. If all four wind up starting a game in 2025, it wouldn't be surprising. Fantasy-wise, none are more than the sort of depth in 2QB and SuperFlex formats that makes you question your life choices. The Nick Chubb Era ended with a whimper last year, and with Chubb now in Houston and looking completely washed (sigh), Browns general manager Andrew Berry hit the position hard in this year's draft. In the second round, the Browns selected Quinshon Judkins, who helped lead Ohio State to a national title last season. Judkins looks the part of a three-down workhorse with a do-it-all skill-set, but in true Cleveland fashion, Judkins is both unsigned entering the second week of the preseason and facing a suspension after a domestic violence arrest. Cleveland doubled down in Round 4, selecting last year's SEC Offensive Player of the Year in Tennessee's Dylan Sampson. Sampson was wildly productive last year, averaging 5.8 yards per carry and scoring 22 rushing touchdowns. But he's an undersized back at 5-foot-8 and 200 pounds. Advertisement There's also holdover Jerome Ford, who led the team in rushing a year ago. Ford averaged 5.4 yards per carry and caught 37 passes last year, but 104 carries doesn't scream 'featured back,' and no one will confuse him with Walter Payton anytime soon. Verdict: This was supposed to be Judkins' backfield, and it may still be at some point this season. But it's anyone's guess when that will be — or even if that will be. Given that, the best-case from a fantasy perspective would be Sampson shining over the next few weeks, seizing the backfield and becoming a Day 3 revelation. But this is Cleveland, so good luck with that. The most likely scenario as things stand now is Ford opening the season as the No. 1 back, with Sampson playing a change-of-pace role. But this team has a bad offensive line that will face negative game scripts with some regularity. It's not exactly an ideal scenario. Given their respective ADPs at Fantasy Pros, Sampson (RB54) is probably the best 'value,' but no Browns backs are better than dart throws. Somewhat surprisingly, outside of the addition of veteran Diontae Johnson (No. Just No.), the Browns didn't do much to address the franchise's less-than-stellar wide receiver corps, leaving the team with just two wideouts of any potential interest to fantasy managers. There weren't many bright spots in Cleveland last year, but Jerry Jeudy was one of them. The sixth-year veteran lived up to the contract extension the Browns gave him, setting career-highs in receptions (90) and receiving yards (1,229) on the way to a WR12 PPR finish. Jeudy was sixth in the NFL in receiving yards and seventh in targets with 145. Third-year pro Cedric Tillman didn't have nearly those numbers (a 29/339/3 stat line in 11 games), but the 25-year-old had a moment in the sun. Over a four-game stretch from Week 7 to Week 11 last year, Tillman caught 24 passes for 302 yards and three scores — good for WR8 in PPR points per game over that span. Advertisement Verdict: If there is fantasy value to be had in Cleveland this year, it lies with the wide receivers, provided the team gets marginally competent quarterback play. It's not like the play under center was stellar last year, and that didn't stop Jeudy from having the best season of his NFL career. The 26-year-old's WR33 ADP has crept up since earlier in the summer, but that asking price is closer to Jeudy's floor than his ceiling. The target share should be there for a team playing from behind quite a bit. Tillman's 2025 prospects are cloudier, partly because of durability issues and partly because he's a downfield threat on a team with major questions at quarterback. But that red-hot month has more than a little appeal, especially given Tillman's WR69 ADP means he's essentially free. The fantasy king in Cleveland (at least in terms of positional finish) in 2024 was David Njoku, who turned 64 catches for 505 yards and 5 touchdowns into a TE11 PPR fantasy finish and TE4 finish in PPR points per game. Njoku missed half a dozen games last season, but he was on pace for 150 targets — a number that would have trailed only Las Vegas' Brock Bowers. The Browns also added a tight end in the 2025 draft, selecting Bowling Green's Harold Fannin Jr. in Round 3. The 6-foot-3, 241-pounder is a prototypical size-speed field-stretcher, and while he's raw, Fannin piled up the stats a season ago — 117 receptions, 1,555 yards and 10 scores. The question now is whether he can do that against a slightly higher level of competition. Verdict: Njoku's ADP of TE9 seems about right — the durability and quarterback concerns are genuine enough to knock the 29-year-old into the second tier at his position, but Njoku could be among the most-targeted tight ends in the league on a weekly basis and has legitimate top-five fantasy upside. Fannin is much more of a wild card. Given Cleveland's lack of talent out wide, it's not hard to envision a scenario where Kevin Stefanski trots out a lot of 12-personnel sets. Of course, that depends on how quickly Fannin acclimates to the NFL — there is no shortage of big, fast tight ends who never made a dent at the game's highest level. Now, if you'll excuse me, after 1,500 words on the Browns, this guy needs a shower. Gary Davenport is a two-time Fantasy Sports Writers Association Football Writer of the Year. Follow Gary on X at @IDPGodfather. (Photo of Shedeur Sanders: David Jensen / Getty Images) Spot the pattern. 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NBC Sports
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Netflix sells out all ad time for Christmas NFL games
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NEW YORK — The NFL can be put on trial over civil claims that Brian Flores and other Black coaches face discrimination, a federal appeals court ruled Thursday, rejecting the league's attempt to force Flores into arbitration with Commissioner Roger Goodell as the arbitrator. The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan upheld Judge Valerie Caproni's ruling that Flores can proceed with claims against the league and three teams: the Denver Broncos, the New York Giants and the Houston Texans. In a decision written by Circuit Judge Jose A. Cabranes, the appeals court said the NFL's arbitration rules forcing Flores to submit his claims to arbitration before Goodell do not have the protection of the Federal Arbitration Act because it 'provides for arbitration in name only.' The 2nd Circuit said the NFL constitution's arbitration provision 'contractually provides for no independent arbitral forum, no bilateral dispute resolution, and no procedure.' 'Instead, it offends basic presumptions of our arbitration jurisprudence' by forcing claims to be decided by the NFL's 'principal executive officer,' the appeals court said. NFL spokesperson Brian McCarthy said: 'We respectfully disagree with the panel's ruling, and will be seeking further review.' Messages for comment were sent to lawyers who argued before the appeals court. In February 2022, Flores sued the league and several teams, saying the league was 'rife with racism,' particularly in its hiring and promotion of Black coaches. Two other coaches later joined the lawsuit, which seeks to proceed as a class action, although Caproni ruled that their claims could go to arbitration based on the language in contracts they signed with teams. After filing his lawsuit, Flores said he believed he was risking the coaching career he loves by suing the NFL, but he said it was worth it for generations to come if he could succeed in challenging systemic racism in the league. Flores is currently the defense coordinator for the Minnesota Vikings after working previously as a coach for the New England Patriots from 2008 to 2018, the Miami Dolphins from 2019 to 2021 and the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2022. He joined the Vikings in 2023. Caproni said in a March 2023 decision that descriptions by the coaches of their experiences of racial discrimination in a league with a 'long history of systematic discrimination toward Black players, coaches, and managers — are incredibly troubling.'
