We have three NFL games on Christmas and two more on Saturday. But before we get to those, let’s dive into the Tuesday Notes.

Cincinnati Bengals

There have been a lot of questions about the Bengals’ future after some of Joe Burrow’s comments over the past few weeks. So I’ll start with my thoughts on the situation.

My feeling is that Burrow badly wants to be a change agent for Cincinnati. His actions reflect that. He was defiant in the face of any “Same Old Bengals” narratives during the 2021 Super Bowl run. He advocated for new contracts for star teammates Ja’Marr Chase, Tee Higgins and Trey Hendrickson. His presence has pushed the organization to modernize and expand its scouting operation.

His influence is even reflected in the long-overdue construction of an on-site practice bubble.

Burrow is from Ohio, and he understood the opportunity he had before the 2020 draft, when there were rumblings that he’d pull an Eli Manning and push the Bengals to trade the first pick. He’s made the most of that opportunity when he’s been healthy, changing the face of the organization in many ways. And I don’t think he’s ready to give up on that. But he won’t be patient forever. Eventually, this could become Matthew Stafford in Detroit.

I think the people who run the Bengals are aware of that—I’ve always gotten that impression from my conversations with them. So when I spoke with Zac Taylor after Sunday’s rout of the Dolphins in Miami, I wanted to look ahead and ask what he thinks it’ll take for the team to get back to the level it was at when it went to consecutive AFC title games a few years ago.

 “We want to give ourselves a chance. We put in a lot of work, and we know we can get back to that very quickly,” Taylor told me. “This was a down year for us, a disappointing year, but that doesn’t mean that we’re not ready to get right back to it, reload and compete for a division championship, AFC championship, and get back to playing in the Super Bowl.”

As for how Taylor interpreted Burrow’s public display of frustration last week …

“I think he’s very thoughtful with his responses,” Taylor said. “If you ask him a question, he’s going to give you a thoughtful response. But I think we’ve all got a great relationship, he’s helped us lead a championship offense here, and been a part of championship teams here. And we’re going to get back to that very quickly. So I’m excited for him to lead the charge there.”

One thing’s for sure: Burrow’s capable of that. He’s proven it. Now, it’s on the Bengals to surround him with more talent, particularly on defense, capable of it, too.

I asked Taylor about the idea of shutting Burrow down after the Bengals were eliminated from playoff contention. Instead, the coach started his franchise quarterback, who responded with 309 yards and four touchdown passes in the 45–21 win.

“He wants to play,” Taylor said. “He’s a football player; he’s here to play football. He missed a big chunk this season. He wants to go out there and play, and we want to go out there and win. So everything we’re doing right now is geared toward winning here at the end of the season.”

 Atlanta Falcons

It’s that time of year. Teams that are out of the playoff race are internally asking a lot of big-picture questions on big-picture topics—and the Falcons are one.

Owner Arthur Blank’s group has brought the consulting firm Sportology, with whom they’ve partnered with for a while, in to work with them on the Falcons, as well as the MLS’ Atlanta United and the new NWSL expansion team he was awarded (they’ve worked with Blank on building the NWSL club for a little while). For the Falcons’ specifically, it’s an overall health check on the team’s operations. And it’s not been a secret within the walls of the football facility that the evaluation is ongoing.

Time will tell what this means for GM Terry Fontenot and coach Raheem Morris, but there’s plenty of buzz that some level of change is coming, with the team at 6–9, assured of its eighth consecutive season under .500 and home for the playoffs.

Mike Forde, a former executive for the Premier League’s Chelsea F.C., is Sportlogy’s founder, and former Texans GM Rick Smith is among the firm’s partners.

Carolina Panthers 

In this week’s takeaways, we wrote about the Panthers’ emphasis on culture, in bringing in the right kinds of players—and how it made a difference in Sunday’s win over Tampa Bay. One thing I left on the table was Pete Carroll’s influence on all of it.

Panthers GM Dan Morgan and coach Dave Canales joined Seattle during Carroll’s first year as the Seahawks’ coach. Morgan was a scouting intern. Canales was a strength and conditioning assistant. That was 2010. From there, those two spent eight seasons climbing the ladder together. By the time Morgan left for Buffalo in ’18, Morgan had become the pro scouting director, and Canales the quarterbacks coach.

And the marks of what they learned under Carroll are apparent in Charlotte.

“The biggest thing is just the competition,” Morgan told me. “We want to have an environment where guys are always competing. It’s not that we want our guys to feel uncomfortable, but we want to create that type of environment where we’re getting the best out of guys every single day. You’re going to have to compete, you’re going to have to keep up, or you could be left behind.

“So I think in terms of Seattle, we’re definitely carrying that philosophy over from there.”

Dave Canales has led the Panthers to an 8–7 record, with Carolina sitting atop the NFC South.
Dave Canales has led the Panthers to an 8–7 record, with Carolina sitting atop the NFC South. | Scott Kinser-Imagn Images

Tyler Shough

And one more leftover from Sunday: Through my conversation with Tyler Shough, I asked him how his unique, seven-year college experience has served him as an NFL rookie. Shough spent two years as Justin Herbert’s backup at Oregon and played his final college season last year at Louisville.

“In college, I really only played 30-something games,” said Shough, referencing his 32 collegiate starts. “It wasn’t a drastic amount, but I’ve just seen a lot of different sides of the coin, as far as being a backup, being a starter, and having a lot of success and a lot of failure. It leveled me out mentally, as far as expectations and the importance of preparation. I started the season as a backup and I got to manage a scout team, and that was the greatest thing for me because it was treated like the game. You know how scout team goes, it’s often worse than the game because it’s the first-string defense. And I was kind of tearing it up.

“It’s a credit to my coaches and all the guys around me. It goes back to preparation and not making it bigger than what it is, and just going out and operating.”

It’s an interesting perspective, I think, and one that applies to players at any level of the sport.

Arrowhead Stadium

I’m gonna miss Arrowhead Stadium if the Chiefs go through with the move to Kansas.

I understand the realities of the situation. Kansas badly wanted the team and was willing to fork over $1.8 billion in public funding, a record in American sports, for a new stadium. In taking the money, the Chiefs have a shot at securing their future, creating a venue that could host events outside of the 10 NFL home dates and would line everyone’s pockets in a way that wouldn’t be possible in a renovated Arrowhead.

Still, Arrowhead’s one of the few places left that doesn’t make games feel like some sort of corporate retreat. Buffalo and Green Bay are two others, and I’ll give the Bills credit for doing all they can to retain that with the open-air, grass-surfaced stadium they’re opening next fall. Seattle created something unique in a new place 20 years ago.

But the overwhelming trend now is toward trying to put multipurpose domes with plastic fields in suburbs, because the escalating price of stadiums means building one for only those 10 NFL games no longer makes sense, and so owners can add what they’ll call “mixed-use” real estate around the stadium (allowing them to make more money off such a project that they don’t have to share with the players).

The cost here is some of the best atmospheres in sports. The Chiefs may be able to create that in their new home. Based on history, though, it’d be hard to count on that.

Brock Purdy

I’ve asked Brock Purdy, on a couple of occasions since he received his new contract in the spring, whether he feels the need to do more to carry the team. The premise, of course, is that when a team pays its quarterback, it loses some flexibility to build depth around the guy taking the snaps, which naturally creates a need for that guy to be even better.

Purdy answered that question interestingly. His take has been that, as a quarterback, it’s crucial not to fall into the trap of trying to do too much, something he admits he’s fallen into, at times, as a young player trying to prove himself. The overarching idea, for him, has been to trust his coaching, the offense and his teammates. And this year, it’s fair to say that’s working.

On Monday night, Purdy threw for 295 yards, five touchdowns, a pick and a 126.8 rating, while hitting seven different receivers, in the 49ers’ 48–27 win. With two weeks left, he’s fifth in the NFL in passer rating (102.1), fighting through a pesky turf-toe injury, and with Deebo Samuel and Brandon Aiyuk—his top two receivers over the first three years of his career—on the active roster. He’s done it, too, while the defense has had to fight through a rash of injuries, which, on paper anyway, puts more on the offense.

And he’s done it by not overextending, which is to his and his team’s credit.

NFL playoff picture

The 49ers’ win over the Colts locked up playoff spots for the Jaguars, Bills and Chargers, and left both conferences with only two postseason spots.

In the NFC, one will go to the South champion, either the Panthers or Bucs, and the other will go to the Packers or Lions. In the AFC, one will go to the North champ, either the Ravens or Steelers, and the other will go to either the Texans or Colts (who are hanging by a thread). And if the Packers beat the Ravens on Saturday, then Green Bay and Pittsburgh will clinch spots, and if the Texans beat the Chargers earlier in the day, then they’ll clinch, too.

Which means we’d go into the Sunday of Week 17 with just one playoff spot left. And if the Panthers win and the Bucs lose that afternoon, then Week 18 will be for seeding only.

Throughout the offseason, the idea of open seeding was raised, and many folks thought it was about fairness after Minnesota was the No. 5 seed last year and had to go on the road in the first round after winning 14 games. But the bigger issue for owners was the seeding as-is, which gave the Rams the leeway to rest players, taking the teeth out of their Week 18 game. The Rams went through with that, even though their seed wasn’t quite locked in (they could’ve landed third or fourth), and it paid off the following week when they beat up on the Vikings in the wild-card round.

The Rams resting players scared the owners, who knew that in a 17-game (and maybe eventually 18-game) format, and the “load management” era of pro sports, more coaches would look at an idea like the one Sean McVay had. That, in turn, would devalue games. And if you’re an owner and you look at the 272 regular-season games as a piece of real estate to sell to broadcasters (and they most certainly do), you’d see that as a significant problem.

Which is without getting to the fact that Max Brosmer, Josh Johnson and Chris Oladokun could be the starting quarterbacks in the three games on Thursday (Merry Christmas, Netflix).

NFL scheduling 

And to close out, while we’re there, I do think it’s interesting to look at all the non-Sunday games in Week 17 and consider what it might do to competitive balance. Six of the league’s 16 games this week aren’t on Sunday. In the case of Ravens-Packers, playing on Saturday could affect the availability/effectiveness of Lamar Jackson and Jordan Love.  

I don’t think you can argue that’s good for the sport, at a juncture in the calendar when players have already taken on a full season’s worth of damage.

But, of course, things weren’t set up this way for the good of the sport in the first place.

More NFL on Sports Illustrated


This article was originally published on www.si.com as It’s Time for the Bengals to Do Right By Joe Burrow.

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