Gosselin also is one of the 12 voters for the AP 32, the weekly ranking of NFL teams conducted by the Associated Press.
Three winnable games, which would secure Green Bay the top seed in the NFC playoff bracket for the second consecutive season and the third time in Aaron Rodgers’ 14-year tenure as the Pack’s starting QB.
Daniel Jones, Mike White, Lamar Jackson and Carson Wentz have had all 400-yard passing games this season while Justin Herbert, Aaron Rodgers and Matthew Stafford have not.
LA Rams. There have been 24 field goals of 55 yards or more in the NFL this season, including one each of the last two weeks by Rams kicker Matt Gay.
Tom Brady was sacked four times – the most in his 34-game tenure with the Buccaneers and the most since October of 2019 with the Patriots.
Trevon Diggs became the eighth cornerback to intercept 10 passes in a season since then – but none of the previous seven got to 11.
The 9-5 Patriots have lost all three games that he has suffered a block – to New Orleans, Dallas and, last weekend, Indianapolis.
It forced head coaches Mike McCarthy, Sean Payton, Kliff Kingsbury, Matt Nagy and Kevin Stefanski to take a week off.
Two of the losses were understandable – fellow Super Bowl contenders the Packers and Rams. But the other two losses are inexplicable – blowouts delivered by the 5-9 Carolina Panthers and 2-11-1 Detroit Lions.
The Buccaneers lost at home and the Cardinals were blown out by the hapless Lions but the other four were all underdogs in their games.
The Chargers had their franchise quarterback in place in Justin Herbert and stars on both sides of the ball with Keenan Allen and Austin Ekeler on offense and Joey Bosa and Derwin James on defense.
In two of the games, coach John Harbaugh opted to go for a two-point-conversion-and-the-win in the closing seconds rather than kick the extra point and send the game into overtime.
When the Bengals went on the clock with the fifth overall pick of the 2021 draft, they had their choice of the best wide receiver or the best left tackle.
The 8-6 49ers have won five of their last six games to make a late charge for a playoff spot.
Ben Roethlisberger failed to throw a touchdown pass in last weekend’s victory over Tennessee, snapping a streak of 27 consecutive games with a TD pass dating to September 2019.
The NFL is supposed to be a passing league, right? Not necessarily when the weather turns cold.
With home games remaining against Miami and Carolina plus a season finale at Atlanta, the Saints still find themselves in a position to run the table and secure a playoff berth.
Miami managed only 12 sacks through the first eight games of the season on the way to that 1-7 start.
Remember the days when the Raiders lined up Hall of Famer Mike Haynes and five-time Pro Bowler Lester Hayes at cornerback and competed for NFL championships? They defined the term “shutdown corners.” Hayes once intercepted 13 passes in a season and Haynes retired with 46 career picks.
Clinging to slim playoff hopes with a 7-6 record, the NFL forced the Browns to play Monday night with 18 players on the Covid list, including eight starters…plus their head coach.
There’s a sign outside the visitors’ lockerroom in Denver that reads “Elevation: 5,280 feet above sea level.” That’s left many a foe gasping over the years in that thin mountain air, giving Denver one of the most daunting home-field advantages in the NFL.
But Washington allowed Cousins to leave in free agency after the season and the quarterbacking in the nation’s capital has been a mess ever since.
But Wilson missed three games this season with a finger injury and has managed to win only four of his 11 starts …
Cam Newton has played in five games since his return to Carolina and has rushed for a touchdown in each of them.
Only four quarterbacks who are primary starters have not lost a fumble this season – Kyler Murray, Aaron Rodgers, Tua Tagovailoa and Russell Wilson.
Only three teams have not had an individual 100-yard rusher yet this season – and two of them play in the same building.
It took Craig Reynolds three seasons and four teams before finally getting his chance to start an NFL game – and he rewarded Detroit’s confidence in him last weekend with a 112-yard rushing effort in the Lions’ 30-12 upset of the Arizona Cardinals.
In his six starts away from home, he was sacked six times by both Carolina and Miami, five times by Denver, four times by Houston and twice by both Atlanta and New England.
There is an exclusive subset in that fraternity of two-time interim coaches – and Darrell Bevell became the sixth such member last weekend with the Jaguars.
Rick Gosselin has covered the NFL for 49 years for United Press International, the Kansas City Star and the Dallas Morning News.