Oh what fun football is when a perfect pick-6 play occurs like this.
Drew Brees’ pass gets tipped and then intercepted by Kansas City Chiefs safety Daniel Sorensen.
Sorensen then brings it all the way back for a touchdown to hand the Chiefs a 14-7 lead in the first quarter.
Watch the play unfold here:
It’s the Cincinnati Bengals vs Baltimore Ravens this Sunday night at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore, Maryland as Joe Burrow and Lamar Jackson go head-to-head in an AFC North Showdown. Live coverage begins at 7:00 p.m. ET on NBC and Peacock with Football Night in America. See below for additional information on how to watch the game.
Football Night in America will feature a weekly segment hosted by former NFL quarterback Chris Simms and sports betting and fantasy pioneer Matthew Berry, which highlights storylines and betting odds for the upcoming Sunday Night Football game on NBC, Peacock, and Universo. Real-time betting odds on the scoring ticker during FNIA also will be showcased. Peacock Sunday Night Football Final, an NFL postgame show produced by NBC Sports, will also go deep on the storylines and BetMGM betting lines that proved prominent during the matchup.
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Be sure to start your NFL Sunday with Matthew Berry’s Fantasy Football Pregame show beginning at 11 AM ET on Peacock and the NFL on NBC YouTube channel.
Joe Burrow and the Cincinnati Bengals (2-2) are coming off a 21-15 victory over the Miami Dolphins last Thursday night–the Bengals’ second straight win after an ugly 0-2 start to the season. Cincinnati’s offensive line has improved significantly over the last 2 games. In Weeks 1 and 2, Burrow was sacked a total of 13 times but in Weeks 3 and 4, the Bengals franchise QB was sacked only 3 times–going down just once in last Thursday’s win. In his career, Burrow–who has been sacked more times than any other quarterback since entering the NFL in 2020–is 11-2 when dropped 2 times or fewer. The protection of Burrow will be a crucial factor in determining whether or not Cincinnati can avoid the Super Bowl hangover and actually reach the playoffs again. Only eight of the 56 teams to lose a Super Bowl have made it back the following year.
RELATED: Joe Burrow – I had all the time I needed in the pocket
Lamar Jackson and the Baltimore Ravens (2-2) blew a 17-point lead and fell 23-20 to the Buffalo Bills at home last Sunday afternoon. Ravens head coach John Harbaugh opted to try and go for a touchdown rather than a field goal on 4th-and-goal from the Bills’ 2-yard-line with just over four minutes left in the game but Jackson’s pass was picked off in the endzone.
Sunday’s loss marked the second time that the Ravens have blown a lead of 17+ points this season, the first was a Week 2 loss against the Dolphins where Baltimore had a 21-point lead. Despite forcing multiple turnovers in each game this season, consistent defense has continued to be an issue for the Ravens who have allowed 425.0 yards per game through four weeks. On offense, Jackson–who made the decision to bet on himself and is playing this season on the $23 million 5th-year option of his rookie contract–has continued to exceed expectations. Jackson has 13 total touchdowns, including 11 pass touchdowns, and leads the Ravens with 316 rush yards –the most of any QB in the NFL this season.
RELATED: Lamar Jackson – If we had executed on third down, there wouldn’t have been a fourth-down question
Kickoff is at 8:20 p.m. ET.
RELATED: 2022 Sunday Night Football Schedule: TV channel, live stream info, NFL schedule
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If you have access to NBC via your TV provider, you can watch Sunday Night Football on your TV or with a TV provider login on the NBC Sports app, NBC app, or via NBCSports.com. Check your local listings to find your NBC channel. If you can’t find NBC in your channel lineup, please contact your TV provider.
RELATED: What to know about Super Bowl 2023 – Date, location, halftime performance info, and much more
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RELATED: 2022 NFL Regular Season Schedule – How to Watch, Live Stream, Dates, Times, Matchups
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The best thing that can be said about the Tua Tagovailoa concussion drama is that the league and the players union seem on the verge of taking the game to a safer place with their joint admission that they “anticipate changes to the [concussion] protocol” in the coming days.
But the process of how they’re getting there is clunky, at best. From the time Tagovailoa was slammed to the turf in Miami eight days ago, to being rag-dolled to the turf in Cincinnati Thursday night and stretchered off the field, what seemed obvious over the five-day period was made questionable by the adults in the room. And late Saturday, after reports of the NFL players union dismissing the unaffiliated neurotrauma consultant (UNC), which is their right under the concussion protocol, the league and union admitted they had a fractured process.
“The NFL and the NFLPA agree that modifications to the Concussion Protocol are needed to enhance player safety,” Saturday’s joint statement said. “The NFLPA’s Mackey-White Health & Safety Committee and the NFL’s Head Neck and Spine Committee have already begun conversations around the use of the term ‘Gross Motor Instability’ and we anticipate changes to the protocol being made in the coming days based on what has been learned thus far in the review process.”
When I talked to NFL Chief Medical Officer Allen Sills Sunday morning, he stressed that no decisions had yet been made about changes to the concussion protocol. He made the point that it’s possible that when players stumble on the field after a play—as Tagovailoa did against Buffalo four days before he was concussed in Cincinnati—it’s not always because of head trauma. “Sometimes players stumble and it’s not coming from the brain,” Sills said. “Did he (Tagovailoa) stumble from a brain concern or something else?”
It’s plausible, of course. We’ve got to be cognizant that it’s possible—possible—that Tagovailoa might not have had head trauma the previous Sunday against Buffalo, when he was shoved by linebacker Matt Milano and his head slammed against the turf. Tagovailoa claims it was his back, not head, that hurt. And apparently the UNC and Dolphins team medical officer who examined him at the half agreed, because he returned to play that afternoon.
But there’s a problem with clearing a player to return to play after he: a) has his head slammed to the turf; b) demonstrates instability getting up; c) has to go to a knee to steady himself to avoid falling. First, did the medical officials see the back of Tagovailoa’s head slam into the turf? They should have, because they’re supposed to review visual evidence of the incident. And when the head hits the turf at great force, and it is followed by a player appearing punch-drunk and needing to go to the ground to avoid falling, that must be cause for a player to be removed from the game immediately.
Mike Florio reported Sunday night that the “gross motor instability” loophole is going to be removed from the concussion protocol. That is the best result from this ugly situation.
Not that other factors should come into play on a pure safety issue. But you’d be naïve to think the NFL isn’t concerned about its long-term talent pool. And think of parents of young athletes who saw Tagovailoa get knocked down, return to play, then get stretchered off the field four days later. What must they be thinking?
I asked my readers, particularly those with kids who might play football, how the situation affected them. This, from George Recine of Andover, Mass.: “I played four years of high school and four years of college football. I believe strongly in the good football has done for me and can do for my 9-year-old son. I want him to be able to play when the time comes. But my wife was watching the game with me Thursday night, and when Tua’s fingers locked in that grotesque position she turned to me and said, ‘And that’s why Charlie’s not playing football.’ What possible comeback could I have had?”
Multiply Recine by how many? Fifty thousand? More? Don’t dismiss those parents. They matter to the NFL.
The NFL says it’s serious about player health and head trauma. Now’s the time to prove it. Force a player to the bench when he suffers a major blow to the head and can’t stand or walk straight. In this case, that’s where the fix must start.
Read more in Peter King’s full Football Morning in America column