NFL injuries were epidemic on Sunday. Even if you weren’t a Tennessee Titans fan, you had to be excited to see how well Marcus Mariota was playing this season and what it meant for the future of the NFL. Well, now all you can do is look to the future. Mariota sprained his ACL in Sunday’s loss to the New England Patriots and will not play again in 2015.
The good news is that Mariota should be fine when the Titans take the field next season and, if the team hires the right coach, he could be better than fine. Frankly, as skeptical as I’ve been about Chip Kelly’s position in the NFL, the idea of him and Mariota teaming back up in Tennessee is definitely intriguing. With the Philadelphia Eagles losing badly to the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday night, Kelly’s return to Philly is definitely in doubt.
While injuries like Mariota’s are a bummer, they aren’t game-changing, but a few playoff teams took hits Sunday, none bigger than Tyrann Mathieu with the Cardinals who tore his ACL and will miss the rest of the season and postseason. For a team on a legit Super Bowl run, losing one of its best defensive players is definitely a blow.
The New England Patriots took a hit again, losing both Danny Amendola and Dont’a Hightower in the game with the Texans. A banged up Adrian Peterson left the Minnesota Vikings game early and Houston Texans’ sometimes back-up/sometimes starter T.J. Yates is out for the rest of the year with a torn ACL of his own. A.J. Green was held out of the second half of the Bengals’ game with an injured back and, though their playoff dreams were dashed, it still had to be a bitter pill for the Buffalo Bills to swallow losing LeSean McCoy to a torn MCL against the Washington Redskins.
Steven Jackson strikes in the nick of time
Former St. Louis Rams and Atlanta Falcons running back Steven Jackson stayed in shape and waited teams out and seems to have won the lottery. Monday he was signed by the Patriots to replace LeGarrette Blount after he was put on injured reserve.
I'm back. pic.twitter.com/rjd0JDXgPi
— Steven Jackson (@sj39) December 21, 2015
Jackson will add to his 11,388 career rushing yards with the Patriots, who should also find plenty of use for him in the passing game as well. Frankly, I’m shocked it took Jackson this long to find a job, but this one might come with a ring at the end of it so I’m sure he’s feeling OK about all of it today.
Stedman Bailey recovering
Just about a month ago, St. Louis Rams wide receiver Stedman Bailey was shot twice, once in the head, in Florida. Today he’s back on his feet and posted a video of himself on Instagram jogging through the hospital.
See it by clicking here.
Before last Thursday’s game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Bailey spoke to his fellow Rams via FaceTime and then was visited Saturday morning by eight Rams players, including Todd Gurley and Tavon Austin.
Rams coach Jeff Fisher has said that expects Bailey to be released from the hospital later this week.
Seahawks clinch, Steelers pass up Jets
After looking like they’d miss the playoffs for only the first time under head coach Pete Carroll, the Seattle Seahawks turned it around thanks to quarterback Russell Wilson tossing the team on his back and willing them to win. The Seahawks officially clinched a wild card spot with their 30-13 win over the Cleveland Browns on Sunday.
As for the Pittsburgh Steelers, they had been right outside the wild card race for the last few weeks, but beating the Denver Broncos on Sunday night changed all that. The Steelers jumped the New York Jets and now tenuously hold on to the final AFC wild card spot.
The second hottest team in the league still hasn’t clinched anything, but with a win over the Browns next week will do two things. The Kansas City Chiefs can not only clinch a playoff berth by beating Cleveland, they’ll be the first team in history to lose five straight games then win 10 straight. The only team better than Kansas City since November is the undefeated Carolina Panthers.
