Football

The Las Vegas Raiders fell to the Los Angeles Rams 17-16 on Thursday night at SoFi Stadium thanks to a late fourth-quarter collapse by Josh McDaniels' squad.

A series of defensive penalties and a perfectly-executed drive by Sean McVay's offense in the final moments of the game helped the Rams seal the victory.

A defensive pass interference penalty by Raiders cornerback Amik Robertson followed by an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty by defensive tackle Jerry Tillery helped Baker Mayfield and the Rams move the ball down the field on their game-winning drive.

Mayfield found Van Jefferson for a 23-yard touchdown with just 10 seconds remaining for the comeback victory. The Raiders held a 16-3 lead with under four minutes to go.

The Las Vegas defense allowed just 282 total yards to the Rams, but they were moreso ripped by NFL Twitter for their late-game collapse:

The Rams would have been eliminated from playoff contention with a loss, but their playoff hopes are still alive—for now.

With the loss, the Raiders dropped to 5-8 on the season. If they won, they would have been right on the bubble and in the thick of the playoff race in the AFC, but now the team's chances of making the postseason are pretty slim.

One of the NFL's best defensive players highlights the Madden 23 player ratings after Week 13: Nick Bosa.

The San Francisco 49ers edge-rusher rose to a 97 overall after having been rated 96 overall since Week 9.

Bosa assembled a dominant performance in San Francisco's 33-17 win over the Miami Dolphins last week, posting three sacks, three tackles, two tackles for loss, four quarterback hits and a forced fumble.

At Madden 23's launch, Bosa was rated 94 overall.

Through 11 games this season, Bosa has recorded 14.5 sacks, 36 tackles, 15 tackles for loss, 34 quarterback hits and one forced fumble. His career high in sacks is 15.5, which he posted last season.

Another player who saw his Madden 23 rating increase is Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver A.J. Brown. He rose to a 92 from a 91, which he had been at since Week 11.

Brown had an impressive performance in Philadelphia's 35-10 win over the Tennessee Titans, his former team, last week, catching eight passes for 119 yards and two scores on 10 targets.

The 25-year-old has been dominant in his first season with the Eagles, catching 61 passes for 950 yards and nine touchdowns in 12 games. He's on pace to break his career-high 1,075 yards and 11 touchdowns, which he posted in 2020.

Brown isn't the only receiver to stand out, though. Rookie wideout Garrett Wilson has been on a roll for the New York Jets, and he saw his rating increase to 82 following Week 13.

Wilson had the best game of his young career in last week's loss to the Minnesota Vikings, catching eight passes for 162 yards on 15 targets. Wilson had been rated 81 overall since Week 9.

The Ohio State product is in contention to be named Offensive Rookie of the Year, having caught 57 passes for 790 yards and four touchdowns in 12 games.

While a number of players saw their ratings rise, some ratings dropped—one of the most significant being Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady, who fell from a 93 overall to a 91.

Even though Brady led the Bucs to a miraculous comeback victory over the New Orleans Saints last week, he posted an 84.0 quarterback rating after completing 36 of 54 passes for 281 yards and two touchdowns against one interception.

The Buccaneers are set to take on Bosa and the 49ers on Sunday.

Another player who saw his rating drop after Week 13 is Indianapolis Colts running back Jonathan Taylor, who fell to a 92 from a 93.

Taylor hasn't been as significant of a factor for the Colts over the last three weeks, rushing for 84 yards, 86 yards and 82 yards, respectively, over Indy's last three games. He hasn't rushed for more than 100 yards since a Week 10 win over the Las Vegas Raiders.

New York Jets offensive tackle Max Mitchell has blood clots in his right leg and lung, his father told ESPN's Rich Cimini on Thursday.

The rookie was ruled out for the rest of the 2022 season Wednesday after being placed on the non-football injury list, per Cimini.

Mitchell's father, John, revealed the player has a hereditary condition called factor V Leiden, but it should be manageable.

"It should not affect his career long term," John Mitchell said. "Of course, we're taking a big, great deep breath with all of this, but his future is promising."

The 23-year-old started at right tackle in Sunday's game against the Minnesota Vikings but was benched in the second half. His father revealed Thursday that the player was "experiencing side pain and was having trouble breathing."

The blood clots were revealed after he underwent tests Monday.

Mitchell was a fourth-round pick in the 2022 draft out of Louisiana and quickly became a key player for the Jets, starting each of the first four games of the season. A knee injury cost him nearly two months of action before he returned in Week 12.

George Fant, who replaced Mitchell on Sunday, should remain the team's starter at right tackle.

The Jets have dealt with numerous injuries on the offensive line this year, losing Mekhi Becton (knee) and Alijah Vera-Tucker (triceps) to season-ending setbacks, while Cedric Ogbuehi is on injured reserve because of a groin injury.

The New England Patriots have struggled on offense all season long, and it has resulted in the team sitting last in the AFC East with a 6-6 record.

The Patriots are traveling to face the Arizona Cardinals on Monday night, and they must find a way to win in order to stay alive in a tough AFC playoff race. However, the Cardinals don't seem too concerned with a lackluster New England offense coming to town.

Cardinals defensive coordinator Vance Joseph told reporters Thursday that he believes the New England offense has taken a conservative approach this year, which doesn't surprise him because Matt Patricia, a defensive specialist, is calling the plays.

The Patriots enter Monday's game averaging 318.9 yards per game, which is one of the worst marks in the NFL. They're averaging 214.0 yards passing and 104.9 yards rushing per game.

Arizona's defense, meanwhile, is allowing 356.2 yards per game, including 110.8 rushing (eighth-best).

If Patricia continues taking a conservative approach. New England may be out of the postseason for the second time in three seasons.

Arizona Cardinals tight end Zach Ertz revealed Thursday he had surgery to repair both his ACL and MCL, via Darren Urban of the team's official site.

Ertz suffered a season-ending knee injury in the Cardinals' Week 10 win over the Los Angeles Rams. ESPN's Adam Schefter initially reported the team believed the ACL was still intact, but he was later placed on injured reserve.

The veteran said he hopes to return in time for Week 1 of the 2023 season.

Ertz had been productive prior to the injury, totaling 47 catches for 406 yards in 10 games. His leads the Cardinals with four receiving touchdowns, and he is only two catches off the team lead shared by DeAndre Hopkins and Marquise Brown.

The three-time Pro Bowler joined Arizona in a midseason trade from the Philadelphia Eagles last season and emerged as a go-to option down the stretch with 56 catches for 574 yards and three scores in 11 games.

It earned him a three-year contract extension worth $31.65 million, including $17.5 million in guaranteed money. Even with the injury, Ertz's roster spot is likely safe going into 2023, as the Cardinals would incur a $10 million dead cap hit by releasing him, per Spotrac.

The Cardinals have been unable to keep their top pass-catchers on the field at the same time this season. Hopkins was suspended for the first six games for violating the league's policy on performance-enhancing drugs, while Brown missed five games due to a foot injury. Rondale Moore has also been in and out of the lineup, missing the first three weeks because of a hamstring injury and Week 12 due to a groin injury.

Arizona has scuffled its way to a 4-8 record this season, but the team will hope to get back to full strength in 2023.

Rookie tight end Trey McBride has seen an increase in playing time since Ertz went down, although he has only nine receptions this season.

Amid rumors that the Dallas Cowboys may not want to pursue Odell Beckham Jr. because of concerns about his recovery from a torn ACL, the Buffalo Bills could swoop in to sign the three-time Pro Bowler.

Appearing on The Pat McAfee Show on Thursday, Bills defensive end Von Miller said members of the organization had an "amazing" dinner with Beckham at Josh Allen's house last week.

The Cowboys had long been viewed as the favorite to sign Beckham. Both sides were not being subtle about their mutual admiration for each other.

Cowboys owner Jerry Jones sounded optimistic about potentially adding Beckham during a Nov. 22 appearance on 105.3 The Fan (h/t USA Today's Lorenzo Reyes):

"When you look at a player, and the more you expend for a player, you can go up to where that's two players or that's three players. It's financial, but it's really not. At the end of the day, it's the capability, the athletic ability, the availability up against paying a lot to one player or paying lesser for two players. It's one way to measure it, so it's all relative. The main thing is what everybody would agree with: if you can improve this team right now and it's within reason, you should do it. We've got a chance."

Beckham received a hero's welcome from the Dallas crowd when he attended a Mavericks game with Micah Parsons and Trevon Diggs on Monday night.

On Tuesday, ESPN's Ed Werder reported the Cowboys have "concerns" about Beckham's physical and that his ACL hasn't progressed enough to ensure he would be able to play before mid-January and "there is a possibility" he won't get back on the field until the 2023 regular season.

Jones said Tuesday on 105.3 The Fan (h/t Pro Football Talk's Josh Alper) he's "not confident at all" about signing Beckham without an in-person workout.

In addition to the Bills and Cowboys, Beckham also met with the New York Giants last week.

The Bills lost Miller for the season on Wednesday when head coach Sean McDermott announced he had surgery to repair a torn ACL. The eight-time Pro Bowler leads the team in quarterback hits (12) and sacks (eight).

Since the Bills won't be able to find a defensive player of Miller's caliber to finish the season, perhaps they can try to upgrade the offense by pairing Beckham with Stefon Diggs and Gabriel Davis.

Of course, this depends on Beckham's ability to get on the field. It's unclear at this point if it will happen this season.

Beckham won a Super Bowl as a member of the Los Angeles Rams last season. He finished 2021 with 44 receptions, 537 yards and five touchdowns in 14 games between the Rams and Cleveland Browns.

Buffalo Bills pass-rusher Von Miller believes he has a lot left to his career despite suffering a torn ACL two weeks ago, as he told The Pat McAfee Show on Thursday:

"It's nothing but work, you're never out of the fight, man," Miller said. "I plan on playing four, five, six more years, and this is the route I had to take to get there."

Bills head coach Sean McDermott announced Wednesday that Miller would miss the rest of the 2022 season after tearing his ACL in Week 12. The 33-year-old had eight sacks in 11 games.

Returning to the NFL level after a serious knee injury is difficult, but Miller has a timeline to get back on the field and is ready to put the work in. He also suffered a torn ACL in 2013 and missed the entire 2020 season because of an ankle injury.

Of course, Miller has little to prove with a resume that should put him in the Hall of Fame even if he doesn't play another down.

The 2011 second overall pick was the Defensive Rookie of the Year and has been selected to eight Pro Bowls and earned three first-team All-Pro honors. He has won two Super Bowl titles, including last year with the Los Angeles Rams and with the Denver Broncos in the 2015 season when he was named MVP of Super Bowl 50.

Miller's 123.5 career sacks rank first among active players, and he has tallied at least eight sacks in each of his 10 seasons with at least 10 games played.

The veteran, who signed a six-year, $120 million deal with the Bills in March, appears determined to add to his accolades.

The final report from a 14-month-long investigation into Washington Commanders owner Daniel Snyder by the House Committee on Oversight and Reform was released on Thursday, and it included information about the leaked emails of former Las Vegas Raiders head coach Jon Gruden.

Per Mark Maske of the Washington Post, the 79-page report stated that former Commanders president and general manager Bruce Allen testified that he was told by NFL senior vice president Lisa Friel that the Commanders leaked the emails containing racist, homophobic and misogynistic language that led to Gruden's resignation in October 2021.

Allen also testified under oath that Snyder hired private investigators last year and spoke of plans to follow other individuals, including NFL commissioner Roger Goodell. The committee's report said Snyder gave misleading testimony and didn't admit to targeting Goodell.

"For example, although Mr. Snyder admitted to using private investigators, he testified that he was 'unaware' whom his investigators approached and did not 'remember' having conversations with his counsel about the individuals targeted," the report stated.

A bombshell report from the New York Times contained the leaked emails Gruden sent to Allen's team account from 2011 to 2018 while Gruden worked as an analyst for ESPN's Monday Night Football. The committee's report stated that Allen called Friel upon learning about the leak to complain and "she indicated that the team was responsible for the leak, stating: 'We didn't do it at the league office. It came out of their side.'"

Last November, Gruden filed a lawsuit against the NFL and commissioner Roger Goodell alleging that he was "forced to resign." The 59-year-old said that the leak of the emails was "a malicious and orchestrated campaign" to "destroy [his] career and reputation."

Maske and Jhabvala reported that Commanders co-CEO Tanya Snyder told fellow NFL owners at a league meeting in October 2021 that the emails were not leaked by her or her husband.

However, the committee's report stated that Daniel Snyder's lawyers sent the committee "a batch of internal emails containing inappropriate content from Mr. Allen's Commanders email account" one day prior to Allen's remote deposition subpoena in September, and that batch included the leaked emails from the New York Times report.

It remains to be seen what repercussions this new revelation will have on Gruden's lawsuit against the NFL.

A coaching decision in a Week 3 loss to the Minnesota Vikings continues to haunt Detroit Lions coach Dan Campbell.

"Look, it burns me," Campbell told reporters Thursday. "Of course it burns me. That'll be there until the day I die. That's not going to go away."

The Lions led the Vikings 24-21 with 1:14 left in the fourth quarter. On fourth down with four yards to go, Campbell sent Austin Seibert out for a 54-yard field-goal attempt instead of trying for the game-sealing first down.

Seibert missed the kick, and the Vikings needed just three plays to score the go-ahead touchdown. Minnesota closed out the 28-24 win and the Lions suffered the first of five straight losses.

Campbell acknowledged the mistake after the game even before getting questioned by reporters.

"I freakin' regret my decision there at the end," the coach said. "I should have gone for it on fourth down. I told the team that we should've gone for it."

The Lions have turned their season around and enter Week 14's rematch against the Vikings with a 5-7 record, but it's clear Campbell still thinks about that call.