The Cleveland Browns were overwhelmed by the division rival Baltimore Ravens on Sunday, crumbling 28-3 in fifth-round rookie Dorian Thompson-Robinson’s first career start. The rookie threw three interceptions and was sacked four times while totaling 121 yards on 19-of-36 passing. However, Cleveland didn’t find out until pregame warmups if starter Deshaun Watson was going to play as he was working through a shoulder injury.
“We listed him as questionable,” Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski said after the game Sunday. “He didn’t throw all week, and we had to get to the game, that was going to be the first time he was going to throw to see, ultimately, how he felt.”
The uncertainty stemmed from Watson being medically cleared, according to Stefanski, but the 28-year-old quarterback didn’t feel like he was good enough to suit up on Sunday.
“He knows his body,” Stefanski said. “He’s played through serious pain before. Very, very serious injuries. It wasn’t a matter of pain tolerance or anything. He just did not feel like he had his full faculties.”
Pick Six Newsletter Get the day’s big stories + fun stuff you love like mock drafts, picks and power rankings.
I agree to receive the “Pick Six Newsletter” and marketing communications, updates, special offers (including partner offers), and other information from CBS Sports and the Paramount family of companies. By pressing sign up, I confirm that I have read and agree to the Terms of Use and acknowledge Paramount’s Privacy Policy. Email Address Had Cleveland won the game, they would have had sole possession of first place in the AFC North. Instead, they share second place with the Pittsburgh Steelers after a 2-2 start. Thompson-Robinson showed some flashes in the preseason, but it’s clear that in order to win this year, Watson provides the Browns with their best chance to do so.
The 2023 NFL season is off and running, and the “Monday Night Football” contests have already provided plenty of drama during the opening three weeks.
In Week 1, the Jets lost Aaron Rodgers to a season-ending injury yet stunned the Bills in overtime with a walk-off punt return touchdown. In Week 2, dominating defensive efforts from the Saints and Steelers resulted in division wins over the Panthers and Browns, respectively. And in Week 3, the Eagles ran past the Buccaneers and the Bengals got their first win with a gritty performance against the Rams.
The rest of the Monday night lineup leaves a lot to be desired aside from Eagles-Chiefs (Week 11) and Ravens-49ers (Week 16), but it’s set to look a lot better down the stretch thanks to flex scheduling, which extended to “Monday Night Football” starting this year. That gives the NFL the ability to move Sunday games to Monday night and vise versa starting in Week 13, granted the leagues makes those switches at least 12 days beforehand.
The New York Giants host the Seattle Seahawks at MetLife Stadium on Monday Night Football to close out the NFL Week 4 schedule. Kickoff is scheduled for 8:15 p.m. ET. New York running back Saquon Barkley, the highest-priced option in the NFL DFS player pool, is listed as doubtful with an ankle injury. With Barkley unlikely to play, quarterbacks Geno Smith and Daniel Jones are likely to be among the most popular NFL DFS picks for Monday Night Football. Should you target Smith or Jones in your NFL DFS strategy? Or would it make more sense to build your lineups around PPR stalwarts like Tyler Lockett, D.K. Metcalf, and Darren Waller.
Before making any NFL DFS picks for Seahawks vs. Giants on sites like DraftKings and FanDuel, be sure to check out the NFL DFS lineup advice, strategy and player stacks from SportsLine NFL daily Fantasy expert Jimmie Kaylor.
Kaylor is a NFL and DFS expert for SportsLine, who opened the 2022 NFL season by winning DraftKings’ NFL Showdown Thursday Kickoff Millionaire contest. He edged out over 355,000 other entrants in the contest and also has multiple five-figure tournament wins on his DFS resume. Kaylor, who cashed big all season in 2022, has covered the NFL and college football for over a decade as a member of the Pro Football Writers of America, and his background as a former college and NFL player gives him a unique perspective when building his fantasy lineups and locking in his betting picks.
Kaylor hit on epic NFL DFS picks all season in 2022. He was all over Travis Kelce’s four-touchdown performance against the Raiders on Monday Night Football, Kirk Cousins’ 460-yard, four-TD performance on Thanksgiving Day, and T.J. Hockenson’s 13 catches for 109 yards and two touchdowns in Week 15.
In the Week 2 Eagles vs. Vikings Thursday Night Football matchup Kaylor was all over Justin Jefferson (11-159), D’Andre Swift (175-1), DeVonta Smith (4-132-1), and T.J. Hockenson (7-66-2). Anyone who followed his picks cashed in big.
Now, Kaylor has turned his attention to the Week 4 Seahawks vs. Giants matchup on Monday Night Football and just locked in his top daily Fantasy football picks. You can only see his picks and analysis at SportsLine.
Top NFL DFS picks for Seahawks vs. Giants on MNF One of Kaylor’s top NFL DFS picks for Monday night is Seattle running back Kenneth Walker III. The former Michigan State standout burst onto the NFL scene as a rookie in 2022, rushing for 1,050 yards and nine touchdowns. Walker has gotten off to a strong start in 2023, producing four touchdowns and 200 total yards of offense over the last two weeks. Kaylor is expecting another highly productive night for Walker against the Giants on Monday Night Football.
“Kenneth Walker III is one of the top young running backs in the league, and he will be facing a Giants defense that is statistically one of the worst defenses in the NFL against the run. Walker averages 4.3 yards per carry, and New York allows 138 rushing yards per game. I expect those numbers to carry over and lead to a highly productive game for Walker on Monday night,” Kaylor told SportsLine.
Part of Kaylor’s MNF DFS strategy also includes rostering Giants quarterback Daniel Jones. The former first-round pick out of Duke has gotten off to a rocky start to the 2023 season, but was one of the most productive fantasy quarterbacks in the NFL in 2022. Jones’ dual-threat ability adds another avenue to fantasy scoring and Kaylor expects that to be a factor on MNF.
“Daniel Jones has dual-threat ability, which is huge from a DFS perspective. With Saquon Barkley likely sidelined, the Giants will have no choice but to lean heavily on Jones on Monday night. I expect Jones to be the highest-scoring fantasy player on the New York side,” Kaylor said. You can see the rest of Kaylor’s NFL DFS picks here.
Week 4 brought lots of NFL action, from the Bills and Dolphins’ shootout to Justin Fields’ historic resurgence against the Broncos. But Sunday’s slate also brought another wave of big-name injuries. Here’s a look at some of the notable names to go down:
The Chargers’ QB suffered a fractured left (non-throwing) middle finger during Sunday’s win over the Raiders. According to NFL Media, he’s not expected to miss any time after the Chargers return from their Week 5 bye. Herbert himself doesn’t seem too worried about it, joking Monty Python-style that the issue, “‘Tis but a scratch, just a flesh wound.”
The Steelers’ struggling signal-caller suffered a knee injury on a failed fourth-down try in the third quarter. He was helped off by trainers and immediately replaced by backup Mitchell Trubisky. He had guided just 93 net passing yards while throwing his fourth interception in as many games before exiting. Pittsburgh ruled him out shortly afterward. Pickett is dealing with a bone bruise in his knee and could sideline him this week, per NFL Media. The team reportedly isn’t ruling him out for this week, but could choose to hold him out until after their Week 6 bye.
Four games into his redemption tour following a serious 2022 knee injury, Williams was held to zero yards on two carries against the Bears before leaving with a hip injury. He was quickly ruled out and replaced by Jaleel McLaughlin and Samaje Perine. According to ESPN, Williams injured his hip flexor and is not expected to miss much if any time.
The Raiders’ star wideout was ruled questionable to return due to a shoulder injury suffered during Las Vegas’ third drive against the Chargers. He walked to the locker room under his own power and later returned to the game, aiding his team’s comeback effort in what ended up as a 24-17 defeat. Adams revealed his shoulder isn’t feeling the greatest postgame.
“Definitely does not feel good right now,” Adams said postgame, per NFL Media. Adams said he had to “nut it up” to return for the second half. Fortunately for the Raiders, Adams has a longer lead-up to their next game since they will host the receiver’s first NFL home, the Green Bay Packers, on “Monday Night Football” in Week 5.
Baker Mayfield’s top target secured three passes for 40 yards before suffering a hamstring injury against the Saints. The longtime standout, who’s made a strong case for a new contract early in his age-30 campaign, was ruled out soon afterward. Bucs coach Todd Bowles said after the game “He’s just tweaked it right now. We’ll see how serious it is or isn’t once they run some more tests on it.”
The Bengals can’t really afford anymore bad news on offense, but Higgins managed just two catches for 19 yards against the Titans before exiting the eventual loss with a rib injury. Now, Higgins is said to have suffered a rib fracture that could keep him off the field for a while, according to NFL Media.
The Dolphins’ most accomplished blocker suffered a knee injury in Miami’s shootout with the rival Bills and was ruled out at halftime, with Kendall Lamm taking over at left tackle. In his 11-year NFL career, Armstead has yet to play a full season.
The Patriots’ top pass rusher left New England’s blowout loss to the Cowboys early in the fourth quarter after appearing to hurt his arm. Judon suffered a torn biceps tendon, per reports, and will be out indefinitely, per ESPN.
The Bills’ Pro Bowl cornerback suffered what appeared to be a non-contact leg injury in the third quarter against the Dolphins, requiring a cart to exit to the locker room. White previously missed 17 combined games from 2021-2022 due to an ACL tear. The Bills announced White suffered a torn Achilles, and will miss the remainder of the year.
New England’s first round rookie is out indefinitely after suffering a dislocated shoulder during the loss to the Cowboys and is undergoing further testing, according to ESPN. The injury occurred on a five-yard run by Tony Pollard where Gonzalez seemed to land awkwardly on that shoulder. He was checked out in the blue medical tent before departing to the locker room.
After the New York Jets’ 23-20 defeat on “Sunday Night Football” against the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday night, Jets head coach Robert Saleh was tight-lipped on his opinion of how the final drive was officiated in light of a couple controversial calls. Trailing by three, Gang Green’s defense was in an advantageous situation with the Chiefs facing a third-and-23 with just over six minutes to play. Reigning NFL MVP and Super Bowl MVP quarterback Patrick Mahomes scrambled downfield for a gain of 25 after having an extended amount of time in the pocket. Despite the possibility that the Kansas City offensive line may have held Jets edge rusher Jermaine Johnson II, no call was made.
Watch how long Jermaine Johnson (11) gets held on this play with no call 😂 #KCvsNYJ pic.twitter.com/IB5FniTFh0
— Bad Sports Refs (@BadSportsRefs) October 2, 2023 Just a few minutes later, the Chiefs found themselves in another third-and-forever situation. On a third-and-20 with 4:29 to play, Mahomes’ pass to receiver Marquez Valdes-Scantling was intercepted by Jets cornerback Michael Carter II. However, the takeaway was taken away after a defensive holding penalty was called on All-Pro cornerback Sauce Gardner.
They called this holding on Sauce Gardner…
Thoughts?
pic.twitter.com/dVGyOrb5Jo
— NFL Stats (@NFL_Stats) October 2, 2023 After reviewing both plays overnight, Saleh felt comfortable unleashing his frustration.
“It was kind of a bizarre last drive, a series of unfortunate events,” Saleh said Monday. “It was a seven-and-a-half-minute drive that was aided by non-calls, calls. It was just bizarre. I don’t know if I’ve ever been part of a drive like that to end a football game, especially a game like that on national television. So, it’s unfortunate. I’m still trying to understand what we could’ve done better and we’re still trying to figure out how we can coach things better. I’ll get clarification [on the Sauce penalty] and we’ll go from there.”
This quote matches his on-field emotions during the game in which he displayed visible frustrations throughout the contest.
Robert Saleh went through all the emotions Sunday night 😳 #KCvsNYJ
📺 NBC pic.twitter.com/60EbZGcqO3
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) October 2, 2023 The Jets have another emotional game coming up in Week 5 with a trip to Denver to face Sean Payton’s Broncos. Current Jets offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett was Payton’s predecessor during a 5-12 season in which Hackett was the coach for their 4-11 start. This offseason, Payton called Hackett’s tenure “one of the worst coaching jobs in the history of the NFL.”
The NFL has flexed the Week 6 matchup between the Detroit Lions and Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Instead of a 1 p.m. ET kickoff, the game has been flexed to 4:25 p.m.
Both teams’ surprising starts undoubtedly led to this matchup being flexed. Tampa Bay is 3-1 and currently in first place in the NFC South division. Detroit is also 3-1 through four games and currently resides in first place in the NFC North division.
The Buccaneers’ fast start can largely be attributed to their defense that is currently seventh in the NFL in points allowed. Tampa Bay has also received steady quarterback play from Baker Mayfield, who has completed nearly 70% of his passes with seven touchdowns and just two interceptions.
Detroit currently boasts the NFL’s eighth-ranked scoring offense after the unit put up 34 points in last Thursday night’s win in Green Bay. Like the Buccaneers, the Lions are receiving solid play from their quarterback and former first-round pick Jared Goff, who like Mayfield has completed nearly 70% of his passes with more touchdown passes (six) than interceptions (three).
Tampa Bay is currently entering its bye week, while the Lions will host the currently winless Carolina Panthers this Sunday. The Buccaneers are hoping to have perennial 1,000-yard receiver Mike Evans back for Week 6 after he tweaked his hamstring during Sunday’s win over the Saints.
The Atlanta Falcons made tight end Kyle Pitts the highest-drafted player at his position in the Common Draft Era (since 1967) by taking him fourth overall in the 2021 NFL Draft. He rewarded that faith with 68 catches that went for 1,026 receiving yards and a touchdown — joining Pro Football Hall of Famer Mike Ditka as the only rookie tight ends in league history to eclipse at least 1,000 yards in a season.
However, he hasn’t been close to reaching those heights since, and head coach Arthur Smith is finally explaining what could be the reason. Pitts missed seven games in 2022 with knee complications that ended with him needing surgery for a torn MCL. Following Pitts’ latest performance, two catches for 21 yards in a 23-7 loss against the Jacksonville Jaguars in London, Smith inferred that Pitts isn’t fully healthy.
“Look at him, obviously he’s out there,” Smith said Monday. “There are no perfect timetables. But there are certain things, you see him, and he’s doing really well right now and there are certain things that he can’t [do well]. It’s been a journey back. He’s going to get there.”
View Profile Smith also refused to reveal how close he believes Pitts is to being healthy, only saying the soon-to-be 23-year-old is “getting close.”
“I’d hate to put percentages on it, but you have to acknowledge that I thought [against Jacksonville] that there were some things outside that he looked as fast as he did as a rookie,” Smith said. “It’s getting close… but to Kyle’s credit he continues to work and work behind the scenes and has never made an excuse out of anything.”
The Falcons offense is averaging 15.5 points per game, tied for the fourth-lowest scoring offense in the NFL, which is why Atlanta is facing questions about second-year quarterback Desmond Ridder and how to best get their offense “jumpstarted,” in Smith’s words. Finding a quarterback and a scheme that can get the Falcons’ 6-foot-4, 215-pound tight end going should be at the top of the to-do list.
The final game of Week 4 sees the New York Giants play host to the Seattle Seahawks on “Monday Night Football.”
Seattle has won consecutive games after dropping the season opener in surprising fashion, while New York has sandwiched its rollicking, comeback win in Week 2 with blowouts at the hands of NFC contenders. In order to keep pace with the teams at the top of their respective divisions, both the Seahawks and Giants need to be stacking wins, and that includes this game.
Will the Seahawks extend their winning streak, or will the Giants bounce back from last week’s disappointment? We’ll find out soon enough. Before we break down the matchup, here’s a look at how you can watch the game.
How to watch Date: Monday, Oct. 2 | Time: 8:15 p.m. ET Location: MetLife Stadium (East Rutherford, N.J.) TV: ABC | Stream: fubo Follow: CBS Sports App Odds: Seahawks -1.5, O/U 47 (via Sportsline consensus odds)
When the Seahawks have the ball After a disastrous showing in Week 1 against the Rams, Seattle’s offense bounced back in a big way in Weeks 2 and 3 against the Lions and Panthers. Seattle had just 180 total yards in the opener, then piled up 393 against Detroit and 425 against Carolina.
The big difference has come in the performance of Geno Smith. He completed 61.5% of his passes at an average of just 4.3 yards per attempt against the Rams, then cleared 8 YPA against both the Lions and Panthers while raising his completion rate to 71.4%. The passing game has, as usual, flown through DK Metcalf and Tyler Lockett, even after the team drafted Jaxon Smith-Njigba in the first round. JSN sustained a wrist injury late in camp and is likely still working up to speed, but it’s notable that he hasn’t made a big impact yet because that means the potential still exists for the offense to hit another level.
The Seahawks could be set to reach that level against a Giants defense that has been extremely flammable through the air. New York’s opponents have averaged 7.1 net yards per attempt through three weeks, the sixth-highest (i.e. worst for the defense) mark in the NFL. With rookies starting on the perimeter in Deonte Banks and Tre Hawkins, both Metcalf and Lockett will have matchup advantages all night. Perhaps the G-Men shift Adoree’ Jackson outside to deal with one or the other (Lockett would make more sense given Metcalf’s size and that Jackson’s strength is his speed), but there will still be openings in the secondary, if the first few weeks of the season are any indication.
Really, the Giants’ best chance at slowing down the aerial attack is for their defensive front to take over the game. Seattle’s second-year tackles, Charles Cross and Abraham Lucas, are injured, and the interior of the offensive line was considered arguably the team’s biggest weakness coming into the season. This is a game where the Giants need the likes of Kayvon Thibodeaux, Azeez Ojulari, Dexter Lawrence and Leonard Williams to dominate the proceedings and make it so that Smith simply does not have the time to get the ball down the field to either Metcalf or Lockett and is instead forced to work underneath to JSN and the tight ends.
On the ground, Kenneth Walker hasn’t been quite as much of a boom-bust back as he was a year ago. As a rookie in 2022, Walker averaged 4.6 yards per carry and broke 10 runs of 20 yards or more on his 228 carries, but he had a success rate of just 39.9% on his runs, according to Pro-Football-Reference. This season, he’s at 4.3 yards per carry thanks to a poor performance in Week 2, but his rushing success rate is up to 55.3%. The Seahawks obviously still want Walker to break the big play (and he does have a 35-yard run and a 36-yard catch), but given how much of their passing game is built off of play-action passing, they need to at least credibly sell that they can have success running the ball.
The Giants have allowed at least 122 rushing yards to each of their three opponents, but some of that has obviously been due to the fact that they have been trailing for almost the entirety of every game. The 1.70 yards before contact per rush they have allowed, which ranks 26th in the NFL, according to TruMedia, is a more worrisome sign regarding their run defense. It means opposing offensive lives are getting a good push against a defensive line group that is supposed to be this unit’s strength.
When the Giants have the ball Last week, we detailed all the reasons the Giants were extremely unlikely to carry over their strong second-half performance against the Cardinals into their “Thursday Night Football” date with the 49ers. That game played out as expected. Many of the reasons to be down on the Giants offense are still there, in large part, but they do have the benefit of going against a defense that is not nearly as stingy as San Francisco’s, so the chances of Daniel Jones and Co. getting untracked on Monday night are a bit better than they were last week.
Jones, though, has struggled badly in five of six halves he’s played so far this year. In the second half of the Arizona game, he completed 17 of 21 passes (81%) for 259 yards (12.3 per attempt) and two touchdowns, and also ran the ball eight times for 58 yards and an additional score. Otherwise, Jones is a paltry 46 of 76 (60.5%) for 303 yards (4.0 per attempt) and four interceptions, and he’s run the ball 16 times 49 scoreless yards.
He hasn’t been given much of a chance for success behind the Giants’ debacle of an offensive line, but that’s unlikely to change on Monday night given the start left tackle Andrew Thomas is set to miss the game with an injury. The right side of New York’s offensive line has been an epic disaster already, with the combination of Evan Neal and Mark Glowinski/Marcus McKethan yielding a preposterous 16 pressures on 134 total pass-blocking snaps. That’s a pressure rate of 11.9%, which is just absurd. With Thomas also sitting out last week, the Giants had to resort to using Joshua Ezeudu at left tackle, and it was … not pretty.
It’s unlikely to go quite as badly against Seattle as it did against San Francisco, but it’s fair to expect this unit to struggle given how it has performed to this point. And if it does struggle, it is just difficult to envision Jones finding much in the way of success. The Giants should be able to generate mismatches for Darren Waller in the slot or by flexing him to the perimeter, but again, Jones needs to be well-protected in order to find him for anything other than small chunks of yardage on dump-offs. The Giants’ other wide receivers haven’t been all that threatening down the field (not that they have had much of a chance to get there); it would be a good idea to get speedy rookie Jalin Hyatt more involved, even if only to loosen up the underneath coverage and give Jones some wider throwing lanes.
They especially need the big-play element Hyatt potentially brings to the offense with Saquon Barkley likely sidelined yet again thanks to the high ankle sprain he suffered on the second-to-last play of the comeback victory over Arizona. The combination of Matt Breida, Gary Brightwell and Eric Gray doesn’t provide much in the way of dynamism, and as previously mentioned, New York hasn’t been able to push the ball downfield with regularity at all through the first three games of the year. Even with Seattle’s relative struggles on the back end, the injury issues seem likely to hamstring the Giants again.
Prediction New York’s offensive line issues and defensive shortcomings are probably just too much to overcome right now — even at home. Perhaps if the Giants had Barkley suiting up and thus had someone could was capable of breaking big plays, we would feel differently. But that doesn’t seem to be in the cards.
Saquon Barkley’s ankle injury will keep him on the sideline against the Seattle Seahawks, as he is inactive for the “Monday Night Football” showdown.
Giants coach Brian Daboll labeled Barkley as day-to-day last week after the Pro Bowl running back missed New York’s Week 3 loss to the 49ers. Barkley, who sustained the injury during New York’s come-from-behind win over Arizona in Week 2, was hoping to be ready for the team’s upcoming matchup against Seattle.
When healthy, there aren’t many players better than Barkley. A two-time Pro Bowler, he was a key cog in the Giants’ surprise playoff run last season. Barkley gained 1,650 all-purpose yards in 16 regular season games before tallying 106 total yards and a pair of scores in New York’s upset over Minnesota in the wild card round. He was playing at his usual Pro Bowl level through two games this season prior to sustaining the ankle injury.
View Profile Barkley’s presence was missed during the Giants’ 30-12 loss in San Francisco. Without Barkley, the offense gained a meager 121 yards that included just 29 yards on the ground. New York’s 11 rushing attempts were the fewest by a Giants team in a game since 1989.
New York’s workload will be handled by Matt Breida and Gary Brightwell, who have combined to run for 41 yards and a touchdown on 12 carries through three games.
