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The Lions moved to 7-1 with a statement victory over the rival Packers, boosting their record against their two main competitors in the NFC North (Green Bay and Minnesota) to 2-0, with both wins coming on the road. They've allowed a total of 65 points over four road games, three of which were against teams currently in the playoff mix. Despite missing the injured Aidan Hutchinson over the past three games, the defense has held strong -- and now pass-rush help is on the way in the form of trade acquisition Za'Darius Smith. Offensively, even with receiver Jameson Williams being suspended for the past two games, the Lions scored 76 points, though the defense and special teams deserve some credit for that total, too. The remaining schedule is by no means a cakewalk, but Detroit has triumphed indoors and outdoors, with Sunday's W coming in the cold rain. This group is built to win in several different ways, and it's one that few teams in this league are equipped to handle.

Patrick Mahomes once played out a postseason through a turf toe injury, so no one should be surprised by his gutty effort Monday, battling through a rolled ankle to lead the Chiefs back from a second-half deficit. Mahomes delivered two crucial touchdown drives down the stretch, and when the Chiefs' defense needed a pick-me-up after Baker Mayfield tore through the unit on the game-tying drive in the final minutes of regulation, Mahomes delivered in overtime. He received major help from DeAndre Hopkins, who caught two TDs in his second game with Kansas City; several big catches from Travis Kelce, even with a first-half fumble and a second-half drop; and the continued hard running of Kareem Hunt, who notched the game-winning TD in OT. The close-game formula remains undefeated, for this season at least.

Sunday's win over Miami not only provided a feel-good moment for Tyler Bass amid a shaky stretch, but it also marked a major step forward in Buffalo's pursuit of yet another division title. Sweeping the Dolphins makes the Bills 3-0 in the AFC East, and unless the Jets can make a charge, Sean McDermott and Co. certainly look to have open road ahead of them. The dramatic victory also revealed some issues. The Bills were shoddy against the run, outside of a huge forced fumble by Taron Johnson. They made Tua Tagovailoa look pretty comfy; he faced minimal heat (one sack, six pressures on 29 dropbacks). The Bills also had yet another slow start, trailing at halftime for the fifth time this season. They don't always look like a team with a 7-2 record and have reverted to their 2023 form of leaving plenty of meat on the bone against opponents they should dominate. Still, with MVP candidate Josh Allen leading the way, these Bills can win most games, as long as they limit the big mistakes.

The Broncos made things semi-interesting for most of the first half, but the Ravens' final two possessions before halftime, in which they drove 63 and 70 yards for scores with relative ease, show just how gnarly Baltimore is to defend. This 41-10 triumph was clearly a three-phase victory, and it surely got the Ravens back in the good graces of their fans after Week 8's shocking loss to Cleveland. They've now defeated three of their better opponents (Buffalo, Washington and Denver) by a total of 63 points. Of course, just last week, we were all guessing which Baltimore team might show up Sunday. After all, the Ravens have lost to two last-place (and offensively challenged) teams (the Raiders and Browns). More often than not, they come to play and mean business, but I understand anyone who hesitates to fully back them, thanks to their tendency to blow leads late in games and occasionally play down to their competition. Thankfully, their next four matchups before a Week 14 bye are all against teams playing well; Baltimore tends to show up for those contests.

With the Commanders completing a sweep of the Giants on Sunday, it's fair to point out that they have fattened up a bit on the weaker part of their schedule, beating only one team (Arizona) that currently sits over .500. That takes nothing away from Jayden Daniels, who proved to be too much for New York and remains a very difficult player for opponents to deal with for four quarters. I'm a little worried about the run defense, which was porous in the first half before Washington went up two scores; that will continue to be tested by opponents, especially the next two on the docket (the Steelers and Eagles). Still, as long as the Commanders have Daniels, they have a chance to win. The rookie wasn't particularly special on Sunday, but he's been very good (or better) in most games this season. So far, he has absolutely been a franchise changer, largely driving Washington's 7-2 record, even while the Commanders have improved team-wide in several areas from top to bottom.

Sunday night's win over the Colts marked a return to form for the Vikings' defense to the level we'd seen prior to their Week 6 bye. Brian Flores' unit hounded Joe Flacco and Jonathan Taylor, picking off Flacco for the team's 13th interception of the season, which is a terrific total through eight games. They allowed the Colts a mere six offensive points, all on field goals, with Indianapolis' only touchdown coming on a () scoop and score. Sam Darnold coughed that one up, and he had a seriously up-and-down game. Ultimately, his three-TD second half proved to be enough; until then, the defense buoyed the team while the offense stalled. There likely was some adjustment around the arrival of Cam Robinson, who took over at left tackle with less than a week's worth of practice, but Darnold's play has flatlined recently. They'll need him to pick things back up as the Vikings hit the road for the duration of November.

Don't look now, but Jalen Hurts, Saquon Barkley and the Eagles' offense have been cooking since their Week 5 bye. In the past four games, Hurts has completed 72.3 percent of his passes for 844 yards, six TDs and no interceptions, also rushing for 159 yards and six more TDs. Over that same stretch, Barkley has run 84 times for 490 yards (a 5.8-yard average) with two TDs, plus another TD catch. He's on pace for nearly 2,000 rushing yards and 17 total TDs. DeVonta Smith has been a steady producer most of the season, and A.J. Brown's return has added some juice -- luckily for Philly, the knee injury that caused Brown to leave Sunday's win over the Jags is serious. The addition of Barkley and Hurts' improvement over his 2023 play (I suspect the latter development goes hand in hand with the former, in some respects) have opened things back up. Barkley has been well worth the money the Eagles handed him so far, with or without his reverse hurdle play, which was easily one of the coolest runs of the 2024 season.

The Packers showed little discipline in a big home loss to the Lions on Sunday, with their shoddy play matching the sloppy field conditions. It's hard to win any game, home or away, when you commit 10 penalties, drop myriad passes, suffer from snap-handling issues and allow a pick-six. Jordan Love's poor decision on the interception to Detroit's Kerby Joseph (a noted Packer killer) came under heavy duress, and it raised Love's INT total to 10 through his first seven games this season. Love opened 2023 with 10 picks in his first nine games, then threw just one in his final eight regular-season appearances. We've seen Love play with better ball security before, and now we're going to need to see it again. Green Bay remains a good team in good shape overall, and Sunday can be chalked up as a bad day against a superior opponent. The Packers would be the final playoff team in the NFC field if the postseason started today -- and the good news for them is that there are not a lot of other teams pushing them for that spot.

The Steelers find themselves in a good spot coming out of their Week 9 bye. They haven't even played a divisional opponent yet, and they're already half a game up in the AFC North, boasting a 4-1 record against AFC teams. The schedule stiffens now, with three of their next four games being on the road, and two straight bangers for opponents (at the Commanders in Week 10 and vs. the Ravens in Week 11) coming up immediately. But the offense has made strides, and the defense has mostly maintained its excellence. QB Russell Wilson has gone big-play hunting, proving that -- so far, at least -- Mike Tomlin made the right QB call. With Justin Fields running the offense for six games, the Steelers' offense generated 19 plays of 20 yards or longer. The offense under Wilson has generated 11 such plays in only two games. Can Pittsburgh add some WR talent before the trade deadline? Another pass catcher might push that big-play number further north, which could be critical, with the biggest games yet to come.

The pass protection wasn't just bad in the loss to the Jets on Thursday Night Football -- it was borderline unacceptable. C.J. Stroud was sacked eight times; the only bright side is that he'll have had a few extra days' rest prior to the showcase Sunday Night Football matchup with the red-hot Lions. That one will be a real measuring-stick game for the Texans, who remain in control of the AFC South but could use another statement victory with the same degree of difficulty as their earlier triumph over the Bills. They could badly use of injured receiver Nico Collins, even with Tank Dell and Joe Mixon stepping up in Week 9. That won't fix the blocking issue, but Houston has to have as many hands on deck as possible with some tough games remaining. The defense also could stand to play more like it did in the first half against the Jets than what we saw after halftime. 

As the Falcons begin to separate in the NFC South race, some games down the stretch might not mean as much as others do. Sunday's contest was definitely not one of those throwaways, even if it came against the fading Cowboys. Atlanta has feasted on the division to this point, but was just 1-3 vs. non-NFC South teams prior to beating Dallas. The pass rush showed signs of life, generating three sacks after putting up just six in the eight games coming in. There were some shaky moments defending Dallas' supposedly poor run game. Thankfully, the offense took hold early and didn't relent. Bijan Robinson and Darnell Mooney had big afternoons, stepping up after Drake London left with . Losing London for any stretch of time would sting, no doubt, with the Falcons' bye still two weeks away. They also have back-to-back road games coming up in Weeks 10 and 11 (and again in Weeks 14 and 15), but they have some confidence and momentum, with five wins in six tries. 

Their offensive line has been a disappointment this season, but boy, the Chargers play competitive, tough and smart football. A few plays really stood out for me in their deliberate dismantling of the Browns in Cleveland. The late block of a field-goal try, preventing the lead from shrinking to two scores, was a sign of how much better-coached this team is now under Jim Harbaugh and his staff. There also was some high football IQ on rookie Tarheeb Still's brilliant tip to Elijah Molden in the end zone -- one of three picks of Jameis Winston. Even the series of laterals on the final play of the first half looked well-executed, despite ultimately failing. In spite of two misses from reliable kicker Cameron Dicker and the shaky pass protection, the Bolts secured an extremely clean road victory and took an important step forward as they sharpen their gaze on claiming a playoff berth down the back stretch.

We’re into November, which is traditionally when Kyle Shanahan’s teams make their move. True, past 49ers clubs have been a little more successful on the whole than this one, which started 3-4, but the expected return of Christian McCaffrey lifts their profile, even with the resurgent Rams and Cardinals giving the Niners some serious competition in the NFC West. They can do what they normally do at this time of year with incremental improvements on special teams and defense, along with the expected bump of CMC's return to the offensive backfield. This stretch run also will loom large for Brock Purdy, who has been hot and cold in the first half of the season. It says here that Purdy will finish strong in the back stretch, and that will be partly contractually motivated, as he will be eligible to sign a potentially massive deal this offseason. I think his play will warrant one in a few months.

The Cardinals are for real, y’all. Jonathan Gannon has rallied a team that was throttled by the Commanders and Packers earlier in the season, apparently convincing his players they can win. And they have, taking four of the past five. Even with setbacks along the way, Gannon’s defense has made progress, with Sunday’s performance being the most encouraging of the season, or at least right up there with the Week 2 game against the Rams. The pass rush was just relentless, which is impressive for a team that already lost one of its best energy rushers in Dennis Gardeck. The Cardinals' offense is now dangerous enough that Kyler Murray can be limited to 160 combined passing and rushing yards, and they can still win with ease. The run game did most of the heavy lifting Sunday; Emari Demercado’s TD before halftime is the type of play you see in special seasons. The Cardinals are now 5-4 and in first place in the NFC West, with a favorable schedule ahead. Get on the train now.

Sunday's blowout loss to Baltimore was a hard fall for a Denver team that had won five of its previous six games and not dropped a prior contest by more than seven points. The question now: Can the Broncos handle opponents above their weight class? Three of their four losses have been to teams currently above .500, and they've only beaten one team that has not fired its coach or benched a quarterback this season: the Bucs in Week 3. That comes into play when we consider whether the Broncos will still be over .500 after their next two games, which are against quality opponents (at Kansas City, vs. Atlanta). They're currently in line for a playoff spot, but performing well against better teams is a must if that's going to remain the case come January.

What Baker Mayfield did Monday night in Kansas City can't be forgotten. Down his top three receivers in the rain, facing one of the NFL's very best defenses -- especially in close-out time -- Mayfield led the Buccaneers on a stirring game-tying drive late in regulation. He completed six of eight passes for 69 yards on the march, with a few spectacular grabs from Sterling Shepard. But why Tampa Bay didn't go for two there, I'll never understand. You're on the road, significant underdogs, and you have a chance to win the game if you convert and then hold the reigning Super Bowl champs for 27 seconds. The Bucs' defense was on the field for 33 plays in the fourth quarter. Thirty-three! But apparently, Todd Bowles was OK playing some more defense against Patrick Mahomes, and his tired, shorthanded unit went out there for 10 more plays in the rain and couldn't stop him. Tampa's defense played admirably in the first three quarters, but just ran out of gas. It's a third straight loss -- and an absolutely gutting one, considering how it played out.

Realistically, the playoffs were always a stretch for the Bears this season, but that’s not going to appease fans who saw the sparkle of 4-2 and the improvement of Caleb Williams. The past two games have been two decisive steps back. Call the Fail Mary loss a fluke if you wish, but there were coaching and execution errors throughout that game and Sunday’s defeat at Arizona. Even the Bears’ defense, shorthanded as it might have been last week, has regressed. Offensively, the old problems -- trouble protecting Williams, trouble running the ball, trouble with Williams and his receivers being on the same page -- have resurfaced since the Week 7 bye. The blocking was pretty atrocious Sunday, and that was the case before Darnell Wright left the game in the fourth quarter with injury. This has been a humbling week-plus for the Bears, and they now face the toughest remaining schedule in the ����������down the stretch. Those playoff hopes, however faint they might have been, are even more faded now. 

If the Rams can somehow crawl out of the 1-4 hole they dug for themselves to make the playoffs -- making yet another improbable run -- they might look back at Sunday's comeback victory in overtime at Seattle as the turning point. Sure, beating the Vikings in Week 8 was a big step, but by winning this past week (without Puka Nacua, who was ejected in the second quarter), they crossed a huge hurdle, considering the circumstances. Kamren Kinchens' first career INT was run back 103 yards for a go-ahead score in the fourth quarter. His second career pick, a few minutes later, was a massive save after the Seahawks blocked a Rams punt deep in their red zone. The Seahawks eventually tied it and forced OT, then Matthew Stafford's walk-off TD pass to Demarcus Robinson ended it in dramatic fashion. Don't forget the overall work of the Rams' defense, which logged seven sacks and three turnovers, not to mention the key stop on fourth-and-1 in OT to set up the game-winner. This team just doesn't quit, even when things are looking rough.

Seattle earned a reputation as one of the toughest, loudest places to play in the ����������during the Pete Carroll era, with the Seahawks finishing .500 or better at home in all but one of his 14 seasons as head coach. Following Sunday's loss to the Rams, the 'Hawks now find themselves at 2-4 in games played at Lumen Field -- and 0-4 there since Week 3 -- in Mike Macdonald's first season, with only three home games remaining. They're also below .500 for the first time under Macdonald, having committed a slew of self-inflicted errors in each home defeat over the past two weeks. Granted, the Seahawks were without DK Metcalf for both contests, but that doesn't explain away more or Geno Smith's bad interception in the end zone, one of three picks that he had Sunday. Seattle will receive some OL reinforcements when OT Abraham Lucas , but it feels like this will be a long, soul-searching bye week. The season is starting to teeter, and several big tests await on the other side of the break. 

The Bengals have begun each of the previous three seasons with a 5-4 record, including 2021, when they were a few plays away from winning a Super Bowl. This year is slightly worse, although 4-5 looks a lot better than the 3-6 mark a loss to the Raiders would have brought, and it certainly stands as a major bounceback after Cincinnati started the year 0-3 (and 0-4 in home games until Sunday's win). Joe Burrow continues to operate at a near-MVP level, even while missing Tee Higgins, but most outsiders won't be buying any Bengals stock until they show they can go toe to toe with the league's heavyweights. None of their victories have come against teams with winning records. The march toward respectability will officially commence with back-to-back road contests at Baltimore and the Chargers, followed by a home game against the Steelers after the Week 12 bye. Take, let's say, two out of those three, and then we can talk.

When Shane Steichen made the move to Joe Flacco last week, it sure seemed like the Colts were going headlong into the second half of the season with the veteran the quarterback, no question, while Anthony Richardson remained vaguely in their plans. Then Flacco went out and struggled against the Vikings' defense, and Steichen was forced to answer questions about potentially making another switch at the position, saying he still considers the 39-year-old his best option "." Remember, that the move was made more because of what Flacco offered than because of what Richardson did or didn't do, including the infamous “tap out” on a third-and-goal play in the Colts’ loss to the Texans in Week 8. So now Flacco will be seriously tested against a battering ram in the next three games, with Indy hosting the Bills and Lions, sandwiched around a road game against the desperate Jets. These appear to be shaky times for this team. 

They’re not dead yet, and all it took was a fourth-quarter comeback with Garrett Wilson authoring one of the catches of the season on third-and-19 and Davante Adams returning from concussion testing to deliver the knockout touchdown. We shouldn’t downplay a victory over the Texans, especially when the Jets had to win to keep their season alive, but there’s still a lot of work left to do. There are several toss-up type games upcoming, and the Jets still need to tighten some screws. The defense made a big improvement against the Texans overall, but the tackling was an issue in defending the run and short passing game. Malachi Corley and Eric Watts each made huge mistakes that could have cost the Jets the game. Aaron Rodgers struggled in the first half before turning things around. There’s still a torrent of nervous energy around these Jets, but they’re not yet in offseason mode, so that’s a good thing.

After the Cowboys beat the Steelers in Week 5, I would have guessed they might have been trade-deadline buyers. But following three straight losses and Dak Prescott's hamstring injury, I assumed the 'Boys would be sellers. Instead, they swung a deal for WR Jonathan Mingo. OK ... Even with a Micah Parsons return possibly on the horizon, everything feels like it’s in question in Dallas, with Jerry Jones saying Prescott is likely headed to IR. CeeDee Lamb was banged up in Atlanta, too. The Mingo move might make sense for beyond this season, but it’s hard to imagine it paying major dividends in the present, especially if backup QB Cooper Rush is forced to start four or more games. This is just a tricky spot to navigate right now, with their next three opponents all comfortably above .500. Even with the first two games in Dallas (Eagles and Texans), that doesn't mean what it once did. The season has not felt quite right since the rousing Week 1 victory, and now it feels like it’s slipping away. 

What if I told you Tua Tagovailoa hasn’t been the problem -- in fact, he’s been better than he was before his latest concussion -- but that the Dolphins still can’t figure out how to win games? Miami has now lost three straight heartbreakers, and two with Tua, that all have come down to the final minute. In all three, the defense allowed the opponent to take the lead in the final minutes. The Dolphins' D was really disciplined early against the Bills, forcing Josh Allen into short throws and intercepting him in the red zone. Miami was also running the ball extremely well until Raheem Mostert coughed up a key fumble and the tide started turning Buffalo’s way. The Fins hung tough, and they finally started to get Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle involved in the offensive game plan, but it’s yet another one that slipped away. The season is now on the brink at 2-6, facing the red-hot Rams in L.A. on Monday night. It’s then or never.

In the first half, the Giants ran 28 plays against the Commanders. Seven of those were pass plays, with Daniel Jones attempting six throws and being sacked once. Five of those were Jones runs, most of them called -- and they were largely successful. But when the Giants' defense couldn’t hold the Commanders, only then did Big Blue ask Jones to start throwing the ball for real, to the tune of 20 pass attempts as New York tried to make it a game. The Giants drove for two fourth-quarter touchdowns to give themselves a shot, but once again couldn’t get a crucial stop. So while the defense remains a major concern, struggling the past three games, the question also circles back to how much the Giants truly trust Jones to lead a more traditional attack. They seemingly threw the ball only when they felt they had to. Facing Carolina’s defense this Sunday could be a salve for that, but there are longer-term ramifications at stake here, with Jones’ future with the club coming to a head down the stretch.

Even the return of Derek Carr couldn’t bring a little sunshine in the bayou. Carr played better Sunday against Carolina than his replacements did while he was out, but it wasn’t enough to prevent another loss -- that’s seven straight now -- and a major domino falling with Monday’s firing of head coach Dennis Allen. This didn’t feel close to probable after the 2-0 start, nor even after the two narrow losses that followed. But the team’s complete meltdown made the Allen move seem inevitable. Each defeat felt more disheartening. The playoff hopes are long gone. Fans would not be blamed for checking out on the season. The Saints have been guilty of mental mistakes, coaching errors and issues with execution, often during pivotal parts of games. Injuries started mounting at shocking rates. Players started . The whole operation has come unglued, and that presumably would portend more big changes this offseason.

After scoring 29 points in the inspiring upset over the Ravens in Week 8, the Browns managed just 10 against the Chargers, which somehow was Cleveland’s low-water mark of the season. Jameis Winston threw three picks and was lucky not to have more; he also was sacked six times. The Browns managed just 57 first-half yards and were stuck on three points until the game's final minute. So Cleveland crawls into the bye week as a team right back to where it was before: lacking identity. The Browns coming back to earth after the one-week offensive outburst was disappointing, even if it wasn’t totally shocking, but the regression of the defense on the whole has been just as big a concern. Selling off assets like Za'Darius Smith (sent to Detroit) before the deadline makes sense, but it only underscores just how big this coming offseason will be in Cleveland. There’s a lot to figure out.

The Jaguars played a listless first half, eventually falling behind 22-zip in the third quarter, before rallying to make a breathtaking comeback. Travon Walker’s terrific fumble recovery returned for a TD spurred the rally, but it ended up being the longest play of the game for the Jags, outside of Tank Bigsby’s 41-yard kick return. Maybe they need to get Walker some goal-line snaps on offense. Anyway, after an Eagles missed field-goal try, the Jags had a chance to pull off a stunner, down 28-23 with 1:42 left at the Philadelphia 13-yard line. But that was when Trevor Lawrence forced a pass to RB3 D’Ernest Johnson, which was picked in the end zone. Injuries surely have caused major attrition to the roster, but that was such a crushing turn of events for Lawrence and Doug Pederson. The Jags also fumbled away the opening punt of the game deep in their own zone and allowed a TD run on third-and-17 late in the first half, in addition to the painful pick late. Those comprise the anatomy of a lost game -- and a lost season -- right there.

Want to win a bar bet this week? Ask your drinking buddies which team currently allows the fewest yards per game in the NFL. Yep, it’s the Titans, who yield just 269.1 yards per game, which is on pace to be the lowest average allowed since the 2014 Seahawks. On Sunday, the Titans allowed the Patriots only 284 yards in four quarters plus one overtime series, and turned over rookie QB Drake Maye three times, including the game-sealing pick in OT, while also sacking him four times. Tony Pollard and Calvin Ridley made some big plays on offense, but it was the defense that set the tone -- as it has for most of the season. It’s to the point that I think defensive coordinator Dennard Wilson could even earn some head-coaching interviews this coming offseason. That -- and the fact the Titans simultaneously allow 26.6 points per game, which is bottom five in the ����������-- speaks volumes about how inefficient their offense and special teams have been. But earning their first win since September lifted a big load off the back of head coach Brian Callahan in a trying first season.

Who knows how the Bryce Young story will turn out in Carolina? Sunday was a small victory for the beleaguered quarterback. Even with some miscues, last year's No. 1 overall pick delivered down the stretch for the Panthers in his first win as starting QB since last December. The well-comported Young even showed some rare on-field fire, appearing miffed at head coach Dave Canales’ conservative play-calling at one point prior to leading the game-winning drive in the final minutes. Young deserves the start this Sunday in Germany against the Giants, and the Panthers can figure out after that game how they’ll proceed at the position. If Young struggles overseas, maybe he heads back to the bench. But he did enough Sunday, even against a down-and-out Saints club, to earn another start. Carolina needs to keep investing in Young, even if there’s already a massive sunk cost. 

The blowout loss to the Bengals had pretty big effects, as the Raiders benched Gardner Minshew midgame and then fired offensive coordinator Luke Getsy. They now get to chew over more potential changes and how the second half of the season will go, with the bye week upon them. In fact, the franchise just brought back one of its former head coaches, Norv Turner, hiring him as an assistant on Tuesday. The Raiders went into Sunday’s game down a quarterback (Aidan O'Connell) and their starting center (Andre James), and they already traded their best receiver (Davante Adams) to the Jets a few weeks ago. Losing several key players (including left tackle Kolton Miller and backup Andrus Peat) during the game certainly didn’t help. But that also leads us back to the roster, which is just not competitive enough. Las Vegas didn’t make any major upgrades at QB and hasn't gotten enough from Minshew, who has eight interceptions and five fumbles and now has been benched three separate times. The Raiders simply are not talented enough to compete in a division with the Chiefs and the improved Chargers and Broncos.

Drake Maye’s made all the highlight reels, deservedly so, giving New England fans some hope that maybe they really did get this QB thing right. But why did Jerod Mayo and the win? The Patriots were road dogs, outgained by more than 100 yards at that point, looked pretty gassed and hadn’t come close to the end zone in the three prior drives. What did they have to lose? There’s a whole lot more valor in losing with a “gutsy” call (I use quotes because I really didn’t even think there was much risk in that spot) than in being worn down in overtime. Maye deserved a chance to take the game right there. The OT interception he forced really stung, but Maye did plenty of encouraging things out there Sunday. He just needs Mayo and his teammates to start giving him more help and more chances to win.