(Newswire.net— October 5, 2022) —
Mahomes Fastest To 20,000 Yards, Rodgers Hits 500 Career Touchdowns
Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes and Aaron Rodgers of the Green Bay Packers both hit special milestones in Week 4.
Mahomes had a field day against Tom Brady’s Tampa Bay Buccaneers, completing 37 pass attempts for 249 yards and three touchdowns. In the victory, Mahomes became the fastest quarterback to reach 20,000 career passing yards.
Hours earlier, another MVP and future Hall of Famer Rodgers reached a career milestone of his own. In the fourth quarter of Green Bay’s home tilt against the New England Patriots, Rodgers threw his 500th career touchdown pass (including playoff games) to Romeo Doubs.
For his career, Rodgers has 455 career regular-season touchdown passes. Per Grant Gordon of NFL.com, Rodgers is the fifth quarterback to reach the historic mark, joining Brady, Drew Brees, Brett Favre, and Peyton Manning. The Packers won 27-24 in overtime thanks to Mason Crosby’s 31-yard field goal.
Sports betting launched in The Wheat State back on Sept. 1, and the Chiefs are among the top teams that residents of Kansas can bet on. The BetMGM Kansas sportsbook is offering new customers a risk-free wager of up to $1,000 upon signing up. As well, they’re running a promo where if you bet $10, you’ll win $200 in free bets as long as a team scores a touchdown in any game.
The Chiefs will try to improve to 4-1 on the season when they host the AFC West rival Las Vegas Raiders next Monday night (8:15 p.m. EST). The Packers will travel to London to take on the 3-1 New York Giants at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London, England.
Harbaugh Explains Gutsy Fourth Down Call That Backfired
For the second time in three weeks, the Baltimore Ravens endured an uncharacteristic second-half collapse at the home field and found themselves on the losing end.
Back in Week 2, the Ravens saw a 21-point fourth-quarter lead evaporate against the Miami Dolphins, and they went on to lose 42-38. In Week 4, they blew a 17-point lead to the Buffalo Bills, losing on a last-second field goal by Tyler Bass.
John Harbaugh’s Ravens had an easy opportunity to regain the lead late in the fourth quarter. The game was tied 20 apiece with just over four minutes remaining, and Baltimore could have brought out kicker Justin Tucker for a short field goal.
Instead, Harbaugh kept his offense on the field to run a fourth down play from the Buffalo two-yard line. The Bills’ pass rush got to Lamar Jackson and forced him into a risky throw that was easily picked off by Jordan Poyer in the end zone.
Josh Allen then pieced together a surgical drive which culminated in Bass’ game-winning field goal. After the game, Harbaugh explained why he passed on an easy field goal and went for it on fourth-and-goal.
“I felt like it gave us the best chance to win the game because seven (points), the worst that happens is if they go down the field and score – and I think we’ll get them stopped – but if they go down the field and score a touchdown, the worst thing that can happen is you’re in overtime,” Harbaugh said, via ESPN’s Jamison Hensley.
Harbaugh and the Ravens are renowned for heavily implementing analytics into their decision-making, and that simply means plenty of ultra-aggressive play-calling.
Last year, the Ravens lost two games following late failed two-point conversion attempts when they could have kicked the extra point for overtime (against the Pittsburgh Steelers in Week 13 and against the Packers in Week 15).
Harbaugh took the chance and asked his prolific offense to make one more play. It simply didn’t pan out, and now the Ravens find themselves at 2-2 through four weeks. They’ll look to rebound with a Week 5 home game against Joe Burrow and the reigning AFC North Champion Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday (8:20 p.m. EST).
Patriots Reunite With Veteran Linebacker Jamie Collins
The Patriots are bringing back former Pro Bowl linebacker Jamie Collins for another go.
Per Collins’ agent, David Canter, Collins, and the Patriots have reached an agreement on a contract. This will be Collins’ fourth tenure with the organization that drafted him 52nd overall back in 2013.
Collins, who won a Super Bowl 49 ring with the Patriots in the 2014 season, was traded to the Cleveland Browns during the 2016 campaign. He returned to the Patriots on a one-year pact in 2019 before signing a three-year deal with the Detroit Lions in 2020 free agency.
Detroit released Collins in the midst of the 2021 season, and sure enough, Bill Belichick and the Patriots happily brought him back on a one-year deal.
The Patriots’ loss to the Packers dropped them to 1-3 through four games for the second straight season. They’ll look to rebound with a home game against the Lions, Collins’ former team, on Sunday (1:00 p.m. EST).