Every Sunday of the regular season, follow NFL REDZONE on RDS Direct
Three NFL games will be shown today on the various RDS channels.
Chargers c. Bengals
RDS Info, RDS Direct – 13 h
PRE-MATCH
It’s been a long time since the Bengals looked so good in December.
Cincinnati (7-4) may aspire to the best record in the American, but the fight is close.
“We’re ready,” summed up safety back Jessie Bates, who had 10 interceptions in four years.
“We believe we have the talent and the ability to go far in the playoffs,” added tackle Jonah Williams. At the same time, we don’t want to take anything for granted. “
The club will play four of their last six games at home.
Visitors on Sunday will be the Chargers (6-5), who haven’t won in a row since the start of October.
Sunday in Denver, Justin Herbert had two touchdown passes, but he also committed two interceptions. One of them was brought down for 70 yards for a touchdown.
Focused more on the pass since the arrival of Joe Burrow, the Bengals have turned to veteran running back Joe Mixon for two matches.
Mixon just delivered two performances of at least 100 yards, including a personal high of 165 yards (and two touchdowns) in the easy 41-10 win over Pittsburgh last Sunday.
In defense, the efforts of recent years are bearing fruit this season.
Defensive end Trey Hendrickson had 10 and a half sacks and caused three fumbles. His colleague Sam Hubbard got seven sacks.
In the cornerbacks, Eli Apple has stolen a ball in the last two games and Mike Hilton has signed a touchdown against the Steelers, after bringing in an interception on 24 yards.
On the Los Angeles side, we sometimes struggle to catch the ball.
The Chargers missed 28 passes, finding themselves in the bottom of the league in this regard.
Keenan Allen has dropped five in four games – despite catching seven or more assists in each of those games.
Brandon Staley was hired as head coach in part because of the work he did in defense of the Rams last year. He’s not as successful this year.
The Chargers have the worst brigade against the run and the penultimate to counter Third Downs. They have also allowed at least 24 points in each of their last seven matches.
Ravens c. Steelers
RDS2, RDS Direct – 16 h 25
PRE-MATCH
It’s basically now or never for the Pittsburgh Steelers.
With a 5-5-1 record, the Steelers must win Sunday against the Baltimore Ravens to stay in the playoff race in the American Association.
The Steelers have made it difficult for themselves lately with no wins in their last three meetings.
The Ravens can get a little closer to a third North American North Division title in four years with a victory.
Baltimore’s offense could benefit from the Steelers’ poor rush defense, which allowed 180.5 yards per game on average in the past month.
Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson is particularly threatening when he carries the ball himself. With 707 rushing yards to his record this season, he’s more than twice the harvest for the team’s second-best running back.
Jackson is 1-1 against the Steelers as a starter and will look to bounce back from a game against the Browns in which he suffered four turnovers. Last year, the Steelers managed to contain the star Ravens player, making two interceptions at his expense and leading to two fumbles from him.
Broncos c. Chiefs
RDS, RDS Direct – 20 h 15
PRE-MATCH
The Kansas City Chiefs have won their last 11 games against the Denver Broncos. Under head coach Andy Reid, the Chiefs have won 19 of their 22 games following a week off.
In short, it looks bad for the Broncos.
Still, Denver cannot afford to give up. Like the Los Angeles Chargers and the Las Vegas Raiders, the Broncos (6-5) are only one game behind the first row in the West American Division occupied by the Chiefs. One win tonight and they could end up in the picture for the playoffs.
The Chiefs (7-4) lost four of their first seven games of the campaign, so the rest of the NFL clubs were questioning whether they had finally found the recipe to oust them from the top of the league table. division.
Four consecutive wins before their break were enough to dispel doubts, however. However, it was not the attack led by Patrick Mahomes that revived the Chiefs. It is rather to their revamped defense that they owe this turnaround. Since acquiring defensive end Melvin Ingram, they have limited their last four opponents to 18 points or less.
When it comes to the Broncos, few expected them to fight their rivals for the division title. The play of veteran quarterback Teddy Bridgewater, as well as that of the receiving group led by Courtland Sutton, allows them to elbow. Especially since the defense led by Justin Simmons and Bradley Chubb remains solid.
Also, don’t forget that despite the fact that the Broncos haven’t beaten the Chiefs since the 2015 season, they held the lead until the middle of the third quarter in their most recent duel in December 2020.
