Articles by Tyler Hayes

Despite the matchup at hand, health and safety remain a top concern in the NFL. Carolina had another positive COVID-19 test on Sunday and the team is waiting to see if more positive results come in, up until game time. If more Panthers test positive, that could trigger the game to be moved to a different time.

Whenever these two teams do go head-to-head it likely won’t mean much. At week 14, both teams hold a 4-8 record in divisions that have multiple playoff contenders. There probably won’t be anything at stake except pride and personal stats. Christian McCaffrey should be back at running back for Carolina which is at least a little bit of good news.

If you’re a betting person, the Panthers do hold a slight favorite in the matchup. That’s one way to stay engaged in the game. Put some money on it.

Denver Broncos vs. Carolina Panthers: Where and when?

The Denver Broncos take on the Carolina Panthers on December 13, at 1:00 PM ET. You can catch all the action on CBS as well as the st…

Both the Buccaneers and the Vikings are fighting for their playoff spots in week 14. On paper this is a fairly even matchup and should be close. Both teams are second in their divisions. The Vikings sit at 6-6 while the Bucs are 7-5 — meaning if the Vikings can pull out a win both would have the same record.

In terms of what is most likely to happen, Tampa Bay is the favorite pick by most and will likely be able to pull out the win. The Vikings are trending upwards while the Bucs are holding steady, if not trending down slightly. Both teams have been shaky at times, but Tampa Bay has Tom Brady who is really hard to bet against no matter what happened the week prior.

Kirk Cousins will need to be on his game and take advantage against the Bucs defense. In each of their losses Tampa Bay’s defense has just been crushed. The performance on that side of the ball will likely be a telling sign early in the game.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers vs. Minnesota Vikings: Where and when?

The Bucs take on…

Division rivals the Detroit Lions and the Chicago Bears meet again in week 13. The Lions are one game back from the Bears and the Bears are tied with the Vikings for second. A win for the Lions would be a huge boost at this juncture. While neither team is completely out of the playoff hunt yet, the Detroit Lions are fading fast and need this win.

The Lions have made some big changes between week 12 and week 13 so it’s unclear exactly what to expect from this match up. Both head coach Matt Patricia and GM Bob Quinn were let go. Stepping in to take the lead is OF coordinator Darrell Bevell. Can Bevell salvage the season for Detroit and possibly pull off an unexpected upwing? Fans are hoping so.

The Lions have yet to win a game against another NFC North team in 2020 with an 0-3 record. The Bears, however, don’t fare much better at 1-2, but at least have already beaten the Lions once. This should be one of the week’s most interesting matchups with new leadership at the helm for a divis…

Despite falling to the Falcons last week, in spectacular fashion, the Raiders have to feel a little confident in their chances against a 0-11 New York Jets. The Raiders made no excuses for their loss to Atlanta, but promised to focus solely on the game against the Jets. Las Vegas is the favorite by more than a touchdown, but head coach John Gruden still praised the Jets efforts and didn’t seem to take a win for granted.

In a much different season last year, the Jets crushed the Raiders in a similar point which became a low point for a flailing team. The Raiders still have playoff hopes as they reside at 6-5. Quarterback Derrek Carr assured fans his performance during the Falcons game was not who he is and would work on not giving up the ball this coming week.

It’s a little unclear if the Jets want to break their impressive losing streak at this point, but if they can it will put a huge dagger through Raiders fans and the team hoping not to repeat a slide into a losing record for th…

Green Bay and Indianapolis are both coming off big weeks as they face each other. Philip Rivers officially passed Dan Marino to become the fifth all-time passing yards leader of all time. The Colts also handedly beat the Titans as they slid into a first place tie in the division.

Green Bay may have beaten the Jaguars, but it wasn’t pretty. Aaron Rogers gave up several interceptions and the team made it harder on themselves than they needed to. The Colts are the very slight favorites going into the matchup, but both teams have played well this season — the Colts picking up and the Packers slowing down slightly.

While it’s hard to see this game as anything other than a quarterback matchup between Philip Rivers and Aaron Rogers, there will be more factors at play. The Colts shutdown the Titans which is a tall order, but they’ll have to do it again against another strong offense. On the other side, the Colts’ offense has been manageable, but it really needs a kick in the pants to mat…

The Cleveland Browns remain right in the thick of it as they head into week 11 to take on the Eagles. The Browns’ division is crowded with talent and despite sitting at 6-3, the team sits at third place. The Browns have also managed to keep things moving forward even without Odell Beckham Jr out for injuries.

The Browns’ offense has slumped a little, but they should be able to run all over the Eagles and use the ground game to pick up extra needed yards. On defense, Myles Garrett looked really good against the Texans putting tremendous pressure and forcing mistakes. Cleveland needs that same Garrett to show up and pressure the Eagles in the same way.

The Eagles have bright spots, but have struggled all season. The team sits in first place in their division with a 3-5-1 record. The unfortunate things for the Eagles is that this matchup with the Browns is probably the team’s easiest in the coming weeks. It will be a tough road ahead for Philadelphia.

Philadelphia Eagles vs Cleveland…

The Buccaneers and Saints sit within a few percentage points of each other atop the NFC South division. The Panthers and Falcons are well in the rear view mirror at this point so this head-to-head matchup could be a momentum shift in determining whether Brady and the Bucs pull ahead or if Brees and the Saints will keep things interesting for the remainder of the season.

Wide receiver Antonio Brown is slated to be available for this week nine game as his eight week suspension comes to an end. It looked like Brown might be signed by the Seahawks and provide Russell Wilson with another weapon in Seattle, but Tampa Bay swooped in and picked up the receiver for Tom Brady instead. As of mid-week it was unclear how much Brown would be used in his first game back, but it should make the Saints a little nervous regardless.

While both quarterbacks are over the age of 40, they each remain highly competitive. Brees has been more shaky at times, especially compared to other younger QBs, but he …

In yet another NFC East game, the expectations have sunk to a new low. Nine weeks into the 2020 season and it’s clear that any team has the ability to lead the division with merely two good weeks. It’s also clear that none of the NFC East teams deserve to head to the playoffs for topping the others. If Washington can put together another win, the race will start to look more like it’s between them and the 3-4-1 Eagles.

The Giants are the underdogs here, but this is truly a game that could go either way. Daniel Jones has shown those glimpses of a star, but as he did against the Bucs, he’s just been too unreliable to count on this season. The Giants usually start well, but have a habit of blowing leads. Washington really just has to stay steady and build off the successes they had against Dallas two weeks ago.

At this point, NFC East games are spectacles that are hard to look away from. It’s becoming a little fun to tune in and see all the craziness unfold in real-time. Of course, if y…

Thursday Night Football will be a tale of overcoming injuries. Both the 49ers and Packers, like a lot of teams this year, have faced an inordinate amount of sidelined players due to injuries. The question is which team can push through and relay on their second and third string to show up?

On the Niners side, George Kittle and Jimmy Garoppolo are both out for Thursday. Garoppolo suffered an ankle sprain last week against the Seahawks which will take him out of the spotlight on Thursday, but it is unclear how much longer the injury will keep him from playing. It’s likely the San Francisco quarterback has been hurt all along and has just been playing through the pain. Possibly more critical is the loss of Kittle for at least eight weeks with a broken bone in his foot.

The Packers have a chance to capitalize if running back Aaron Jones and receiver Allen Lazard can be healthy enough for Thursday’s matchup. Linebacker Christian Kirksey may also make it back too if Green Bay is lucky. T…

The Cowboys versus the Eagles is literally the best the NFC East division has to offer and now after seven prior weeks, the one thing that’s clear is this game will find some way to hurt these teams even more. Unless you’re a die-hard Cowboys or Eagles fan, you’re probably just tuning in because it will be the only sport on TV. The World Series is over, the NBA finals are finished and now it’s just two teams with losing records trying to be a little better than the other one.

To be fair, most of the hurt for these two teams has come through literal injuries which have sidelined key players. The Eagles have the upper hand with a defensive line that outmatches a Cowboys offensive line.

While Philadelphia will have multiple ways to get the ball down the field, a strategic run game would do them well against a Dallas team that is having trouble stopping the run. Dallas has ranked near last through the first seven weeks, allowing just a ton of yards on the ground, compared to when the b…