Conor Allen

The Patriots head to sunny Los Angeles Sunday, but this will be no vacation, as they'll face the 4-2 Chargers and second year QB Justin Herbert at SoFi Stadium. The Chargers will be looking to get revenge following a 45-0 loss at the hands of the New England last season. The Patriots have proven to be tough to figure out so far this season. They have yet to beat a quality opponent, with wins over the Texans and the Jets (twice). Their defense is surrendering 105.6 yards per game on the ground and 245 through the air, putting them in the middle of the pack in both categories. But they're also giving up 20.6 point per game, good for 6th. T he Pats have lost only once by double digits, and their 54-13 drubbing of the Jets on 10/17 saw them score the most points in a game since 2013.  Rookie QB Mac Jones has struggled at times, but also shown flashes of why he can be the future of the franchise. Jones has thrown for 1,779 yards, with nine TDs, six INTs and a 74.1 complet...

The 2-3 Colts will travel to Santa Clara Sunday night to take on a 2-4 49ers team coming off its bye week. This may not be the powerhouse matchup NBC predicted when they made their schedule, but there are plenty of intriguing questions coming into this game. Will Jimmy Garropolo play? Where will Trey Lance run? What is the 49ers offensive identity? If Santa Clara isn't San Francisco, then where is it? The Colts will be arriving feling good about themselves after throttling the Texans on Sunday. Carson Wentz threw for 223 yards and two Tds, while Running back Jonathan Taylor ran for 145 yards, including a run of 83 that set up one of his two Tds. The Colts defense intercepted David Mills twice and held the Texans to just a field goal in the 31-3 win.  Wentz has had a few injury issues this season, but overall is putting up the kind of numbers the Colts were hoping to see. Through five games he's competed 64.2 percent of his passes, thrown for 1,545 yards with nine Tds and just ...

The Chargers will head to Baltimore on the heels of an incredible 47-42 win over Cleveland. The Ravens will have a short week after beating Indianapolis 31-25 in overtime on Monday night. Let's hope both teams have more left in the tank for this one, because it has the makings of a classic.   The Chargers' battle with Cleveland featured eight lead changes and Justin Herbert throwing four Tds, running back Austin Eckler scoring three TDs in the fourth quarter alone, Mike Williams hauling in two Td catches and 165 yards of receiving, and anyone who had any of those players on their fantasy team having too much fun. Los Angeles has won three straight and sits atop the AFC West.  Herbert, in his second year out of Oregon, is emerging into a top quarterback. He's thrown 13 touchdowns against three INTs through five games. His 1,576 passing yards are good for fourth amongst all quarterbacks in the league, and he's completed 67.1 % of his passes. Someone get this guy a shirt t...

Raiders vs. Bears evoke memories of classic battles of times gone by. Wind-swept games at Soldier Field. Rowdy fans at the Oakland Coliseum. Jim McMahon. John Madden. Mike Ditka. Flash forward to 2021, and it's time for new rivalries. Gruden. Fields. Nagy. Carr. VEGAS. The Bears will travel to Allegiant Stadium Sunday to take on a 3-1 Raiders team that, until their Monday loss to the Chargers, was one of the last unbeaten teams in the NFL. Just keep winning baby.   Chicago got a much needed win over Detroit on Sunday, beating the Lions 24-14 a week after getting beaten up by the Browns 26-6.  Bears rookie Justin Fields got the start, completing 11 of 17 passes for 209 yards with an interception. Not exactly MVP numbers, but he was sacked only once after getting knocked down nine times against Cleveland. Fields also didn't have to do it all himself for Chicago, getting help from the running game and the defense. David Montgomery ran for 106 yards and two TDs, Damien Williams ra...

Tom Brady and the 2-1 Bucs will pay a visit to Foxboro Sunday evening to take on the 1-2 Patriots. Brady parted ways with the Patriots after the 2019-2020 season and lead the Bucs to a Super Bowl win in Tampa Bay. The 43 year-old Brady threw for over 4,000 yards while posting 40 TDs on the season, plus one sweet completed pass of the Lombardi trophy from one boat to another during the Super Bowl parade. He'll return with a Bucs squad dealing with some injuries and coming off a tough loss to the Rams.   The Pats went 6-10 in 2020, missed the playoffs, drafted Mac Jones, cut Cam Newton, swore that they didn't care about Brady's success and were definitely not in the mood for any boat parades during or after their season. They were also definitely not in a parade mood after last Sunday's 28-13 loss to the Saints in which Jones was sacked three times and threw three INTs. The loss dropped the Pats to 0-2 at home for the first time since the 2000 season.  Through three games...

The 49ers will travel to Philadelphia Sunday, with both teams looking for a 2-0 start. If you came here looking for a Game Of The Week preview that doesn't feature the 49ers you're in the wrong spot. I'm choosing to write about the Niners for a second consecutive week and I can't promise there won't be more. The only thing I can promise based on this very early 2021 season are injuries and astroturf.  Where to start with last week's 49ers/Lions game? The 49ers were up 38-10 early in the fourth quarter. Nick Bosa had taken off his tape, Jimmy Garoppolo was smiling, and I was strongly considering doing something else with my Sunday, like washing the dishes. The Lions then scored 23 points in just over three minutes of play, closing the lead to eight. At some point an onside kicked doinked off of George Kittle's helmet and Deebo Samuel fumbled a potential game-deciding first down. Suddenly, improbably,  we had a game, and I made the decision to definitely not d...

The 49ers and Lions will open their seasons this week at Ford Field in Detroit, meeting for the first time since 2018. Much has changed since then for both organizations. A head coach fired, a Super Bowl nearly won, a franchise quarterback traded, a star DE lost to injury, a North Dakota State star drafted...and Lions coach Dan Campbell said "turds" in a press conference. These two squads were a combined 11-21 last season, but expectations are sky high. One teams has Super Bowl aspirations. Another has a new quarterback, a new head coach, and is hungry for their first playoff win since 1991. It's time to start the 2021 season.  The Lions dealt quarterback Matthew Stafford to the Rams this offseason at Stafford's request. Staring down yet another rebuild, the 33 year old former 2009 first round pick wanted a fresh start, and he deserved it after throwing for 282 TDs and over 45,00 yards in a Detroit career that was very successful, save for zero postseason wins.  The L...