Smyth's gamble pays off
After a game-winning 47-yard field goal last week, Mayobridge man Charlie Smyth has been signed to the active roster for the New Orleans Saints ahead of Sunday's clash with the New York Jets. The club confirmed the news on Friday evening.
The Down man has had an international player exemption, which has now expired after being elevated to play three times in a row, meaning he had to be signed to the 53-man roster to continue.
"He earned the right to keep kicking for us," special teams coordinator Phil Galiano said earlier this week.
"It’s a great story. We just want him to keep going and executing.
"I’m excited for him, and I want him to keep making kicks. It’s good for everybody."
The significantly better-paid Smyth will go up against a battered 3-11 Jets. With the game inside a dome in New Orleans, there could be ample opportunities for the Irishman to further add to his NFL CV.
Enniskerry’s Daniel Whelan will face the Chicago Bears when the Green Bay Packers head to Soldier Field this weekend – more on that shortly – but Pro Bowl voting has now closed and we will hear soon if Whelan will make history as the first Irish Pro Bowl player in the NFL.
Rodgers in Detroit
The Detroit Lions need to pick up a result against the Pittsburgh Steelers.
After the Seattle Seahawks' win on Thursday night, the road becomes more challenging for Dan Campbell’s men. It seems likely that the NFC North will only now have two representatives in the big dance in January and right now, the Lions are behind.
Sunday becomes crucial.
The issue for Lions is that they are going up against a rejuvenated Steelers side, fresh off a win on Monday night. Aaron Rodgers had a near perfect game, throwing for two touchdowns and completing 23 of 27 attempts.
This is peak football season and former MVP Rodgers knows what it takes to win close games. He has waited to be back in this position after a barren time in New York.
The Lions have serious weapons on both sides of the ball and they have a really impressive run duo in Jahmyr Gibbs (above) and David Montgomery. The ground game was limited to 70 yards in Los Angeles last week.
It will be intriguing to see who wins the battle on Sunday – the Lions run, or the Steelers defence.
At the time of writing, TJ Watt has still not returned to practice after a lung injury, and that could be a defining factor in the game.
NFC North Classic
It’s great to see a rejuvenated rivalry between the Chicago Bears and Green Bay Packers. It’s even better to be sitting in Week 16, knowing that the result of this game will make a huge difference in the NFC play-off race.
On Saturday night, it will be -7C in Chicago, with a chance of snow.
This is pure football weather.
It’s been a hard week for the Green Bay Packers. Apart from losing to the Denver Broncos last Sunday in a close match, star edge rusher Micah Parsons went down without contact and suffered a season-ending torn ACL in his left knee.
Parsons had a debut season to remember in Green Bay. He ended the year with 12.5 sacks, meaning he was the first player in the history of the league to have at least 12 sacks in each of his first five seasons in his career.
That’s impressive. The Packers making a deep run into the play-offs without him would be impressive also. He is a game-changing player and this is a huge loss to a Packers team that is struggling with injuries going into this game.
No fewer than ten Packers players are questionable for the Soldier Field fixture, with running back Josh Jacobs (knee/ankle) and receiver Christian Watson (chest/shoulder) among the current casualty list.
It will be up to quarterback Jordan Love to try and find a way in what will be an intense atmosphere in Chicago.
The Bears easily dispatched the Cleveland Browns last weekend in a game that was over before the end of the first quarter. We have seen how impressive they can be at times this season and they will still be reeling from the loss in Lambeau Field two weeks ago.
If you were ever going to stay up for a game at 1.20am on Monday, this is it.
NFC South slow bicycle race
Does anybody want to win the NFC South?
You would be forgiven for thinking otherwise at the moment.
The Tampa Buccaneers and Carolina Panthers sit locked at 7–7 at the top of the division and it is looking ever more likely that only one will make it to the post-season.
There are so many things that we could look at here, but this game allows us to examine both Emeka Egbuka and Tetairoa McMillan as they go head to head.
Both have had standout first seasons in the league. Egbuka leads Tampa Bay in receptions, yards and receiving touchdowns in a year where the Bucs have struggled with injuries, with Mike Evans notably out for a considerable amount of time earlier in the season.
Panthers quarterback Bryce Young will count his lucky stars for the arrival of McMillan. The attack looks more sound and confident with him on the field. He too leads the Panthers in receptions, yards and receiving touchdowns.
You would think we are set for a shootout, surely?
It’s hard to know. Carolina has been a stop-start. They were beaten by one Charlie Smyth last weekend. The Bucs will be itching to get out on the field again after losing to the Falcons in primetime last week; a game they frankly should have won (they also lost to the Saints in Week 14).
This game will go a long way to determine who wins the division and therefore makes it to late January.
Monday Night Tipple
We have three games next Thursday fort Christmas Day, so only two days to wait after a Monday night meeting between the Indianapolis Colts and San Francisco 49ers.
The Seattle Seahawks victory on Thursday night now means that the 49ers will control their own destiny in terms of winning the NFC West and also the number one overall seed in the NFC.
They just need to win out.
Enter 44-year-old Philip Rivers. The future Hall Of Famer will take to the field in Indianapolis on Monday night, knowing that they need to win to continue their hopes of making the play-offs. At the time of writing, the Colts sit just on the bubble, as the AFC’s eighth seed.
Rivers didn’t have a game for the ages in his return against Seattle last week, but he was playing in a cauldron, with a play-off like atmosphere. He went 18-of-27 for only 120 yards, one touchdown and one interception.
Can he turn it up a gear this week and add another layer to the madness of this NFL season?
Time will tell.
