Nothing like a blowout win to rebuild your confidence, right? The Ravens overwhelmed the Buccaneers yesterday in a 48-17 romp but quarterback Joe Flacco opted to play it cool after the game. “All that stuff really doesn’t matter. Anything we did after the first three touchdowns didn’t really mean too much at the end of the day. It’s all just statistics,” Flacco said, according to Fred Goodall of The Associated Press. “That stuff feels good and looks good, and it’s great and all that, but it really doesn’t matter. It’s all about winning the football game.” More from the AFC and NFC North..
- With Alex Mack sidelined, the Browns are expected to use John Greco as their starting center while signing a backup at the position, tweets Tony Grossi of ESPNCleveland.com. The Browns have center Braxston Cave on the taxi squad, so he could be promoted to fill the gap.
- Defensive tackle Nick Fairley says the Lions‘ new regime has the team prepared better than Jim Schwartz’s staff did, writes Tom Pelissero of USA Today Sports. “Our preparation is totally different this year by how (coaches) come in and by giving us the stuff on, say, like a guard,” Fairley said. “They might come in with a whole sheet of his weaknesses to exploit.” The Lions cruised to a 17-3 win over the Vikings yesterday.
- There’s no telling how long it’ll stay in tact, but the Lions’ defensive line is finally coming of age, writes Kyle Meinke of MLive.com. The Lions used top 15 picks on defensive lineman Fairley, Ndamukong Suh, and Ezekiel Ansah all within a four year span and yesterday, the D-line punished Vikings quarterback Teddy Bridgewater. Now, the Lions will have to focus on keeping the band together with Suh headed towards the open market.