Friday Football Footnotes: Pittsburgh native in charge of Bears’ plans for Chase Claypool; Steelers’ next opponent faces Ravens
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Yes, the Pittsburgh Steelers have a bye this Sunday. But there is plenty of NFL action to keep you intrigued this weekend.
For this week’s “Friday Football Footnotes,” we tell you what the plans are for Chase Claypool’s debut in Chicago. Monday night’s game has lots of Steelers implications.
And there are some tough opponents lined up to face the AFC elites.
Claypool’s pool of plays
For Steelers fans who want to track how Chase Claypool is doing with the Chicago Bears (3-5) in his debut, they play at 1 p.m. at home against the Miami Dolphins (5-3).
It appears Claypool is going to get some playing time but perhaps with a limited menu of snaps. How much he is deployed will depend on the decision making of Luke Getsy. The former Pitt Panther quarterback and Steel Valley graduate is the offensive coordinator of the Bears.
“We’ll give him as much as he can handle, and at the end of the week we’ll determine, ‘OK, we have X amount of plays for Chase,’” wide receivers coach Tyke Tolbert told the Chicago Sun Times. “You don’t know when those plays will come up. … He could have anywhere from 10 to 30 snaps depending on how many times (Getsy) calls those plays.”
Tolbert has faith that Claypool will pick things up quickly, though.
“He’s a smart enough guy to know what the play concept is, but knowing how to line up and shift in motion is the most important thing. … He won’t be expected to know the whole playbook this week, but he’ll have his specific plays and hopefully give us some good quality snaps in the game.”
BetRivers.com lists the Bears as 4.5-point underdogs.
Monday moon over New Orleans
Monday night’s game should be of particular interest to Steelers fans.
The Baltimore Ravens are in New Orleans to play the Saints. The Ravens lead the AFC North at 5-3. The 3-5 Saints are the next opponent of the Steelers. So they’ll visit Acrisure Stadium on Nov. 13 on a short week, while the Steelers are coming off a bye.
The Ravens are only 2.5-point favorites. That seems like a nice line to play.
The ground game will be of particular interest. The Ravens are the second-best running team in the NFL at 165.6 yards per contest. The Saints are eighth at 141.3.
On the other side of the ball, though, the Ravens stop the run much better. They only allow 97.5 yards rushing per game. That’s good for fifth in the league. New Orleans is 14th at 112.5.
The Ravens have been good on the road this year, winning three times in four tries. They have covered the spread on the road three of four times as well.
Another matchup to watch will be to track how the New Orleans offense handles the pass rush of the Ravens. Baltimore has 23 sacks thus far. That’s tied for fifth with the Denver Broncos and New England Patriots.
New Orleans has only allowed 15 sacks, though — ninth best in football. Given that T.J. Watt is likely returning for the Steelers against New Orleans, it’ll be interesting to see how they protect the passer this week.
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Out of the ‘Chase’?
I want to watch how the Bengals look in their second game without star wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase.
Last week was ugly, as the Browns easily handled Cincy 32-13 on “Monday Night Football.” Chase missed the game due to a hip injury that could keep him out multiple weeks. Without him, Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow only had 232 passing yards and was sacked five times.
Tee Higgins and Tyler Boyd (Pitt/Clairton) both caught touchdowns. But no pass catcher on the Bengals roster topped 50 yards on the day. Higgins led the way with 49.
This week, Cincinnati (4-4) is a 7.5-point favorite against the 2-6 Carolina Panthers. If they can’t cover that spread at home, something is really wrong with the defending AFC champions.
They come to Pittsburgh in two weeks (Nov. 20) for “Sunday Night Football.”
Conference supremacy
The two top dogs in the AFC are both heavy favorites this weekend. Yet both of their opponents are currently in the AFC playoff picture.
BetRivers has the Bills as 11.5-point favorites over the New York Jets at MetLife Stadium. That’s a 1 p.m. kick Sunday afternoon. At 6-1, Buffalo has a 1½ game lead on the Jets and Dolphins in the AFC East. Buffalo has won four in a row and five of six against the Jets.
As for the 5-2 Kansas City Chiefs, they are hosting the 5-2 Tennessee Titans. The Chiefs are atop the AFC West. The Titans lead the AFC South. K.C. is a 12.5-point favorite.
Even with rookie Malik Willis potentially starting at quarterback for Tennessee again, that line seems too high to me. I’ll pick the Chiefs to win, but the Titans to cover.
If the playoffs started today, Buffalo would be the top seed in the AFC. The Titans would actually be the No. 2 seed, in front of the Chiefs at No. 3. The Jets would be the top wild card, winning a tie-breaker with sixth-seeded Miami.
On the Eagles’ wings
Meanwhile in the NFC, East-leading Philadelphia won again Thursday night, improving to 8-0. The Eagles struggled to pull away from the Houston Texans during the first half of “Thursday Night Football,” but eventually did so by the final score of 29-17.
Their closest competition in the conference is 6-1 Minnesota. The North-leading Vikings are 3.5-point favorites in Washington this weekend. Both teams are hot. Minnesota has won five in a row. The Commanders (4-4) have won three straight.
Philly’s top competition in the East division are both off with the Steelers. The 6-2 Dallas Cowboys and 6-2 New York Giants are also enjoying their bye week.
Next week Dallas is in Green Bay, while the Giants welcome Houston. The Eagles attempt to reach 9-0 on “Monday Night Football” against Washington.