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‘The Mack Effect’ — Before He was a Bear, OLB Khalil Mack Transformed Buffalo By Patrick Finley John Syty could feel it when Khalil Mack walked in a room. Even at 18, as a redshirt freshman at Buffalo, the future NFL superstar had presence. “There’s an aura about him different from anybody I’ve ever been around,” said Syty, who shared a college linebacker room with Mack for two years. “This guy walks into a room. You can have your back to him, but something in the air changes. And he’s always been that way.” You didn’t need to be a future NFL scout to know Mack had special physical talent — even though that’s exactly what Syty became. He’s now a Bears area scout. “As a scout,” he said, “you try to find those guys.” The Bears found Mack at a price — $141 million over six years — when they traded for him in September and made him the NFL’s highest-paid defensive player ever. Sunday, for the first time since 2002 — eight years before Mack played his first college down — the Bears will play in Buffalo, New York. Whether Mack will be on the field will be debated all week. He sat out the Jets game with a lingering right ankle problem, and the team has more relevant divisional games awaiting them.

Your point is ridiculous with everyone who plays in the NFL qualifying as a human being subject to critique of their respective on-field abilities or lack thereof.

Bills Today: Josh Allen Developing Through Mental Reps

By Ted Nguyen Oct 30, 2018 The Rosen One The numbers haven’t been pretty for rookie quarterback Josh Rosen but he’s been playing much better than they indicate. No, I’m not just saying that because I loved him coming into the draft. He’s doing the the best he can with a porous offensive line and uncreative offensive scheme — both of which led to last week’s firing of offensive coordinator Mike McCoy. First time play-caller Byron Leftwich called his first game against the 49ers in Week 8. For most of the game, the offense didn’t look much different, but it came to life late, as the Cardinals scored 15 points in the fourth quarter to squeak ahead of the 49ers for their second win of the season. What stood out in Rosen’s college tape was his ability to read coverages and throw the ball with great anticipation. Those two traits showed themselves on Rosen’s game-winning touchdown pass: The defense was in a cover 4 zone with cornerback Ahkello Witherspoon (No. 23) playing the sideline quarter and safety Tyvis Powell (No. 30) playing the hash quarter. Tight end Ricky Seals-Jones (No. 86) motioned inside of receiver Christian Kirk (No. 13) and ran an out route while Kirk ran a dig route inside. Witherspoon passed off Kirk and picked up Jones, who ran into his zone. Powell made a slight mistake by taking a couple of steps outside with Jones. Powell wasn’t terribly out of position but Rosen saw that he had his hips turned outside and knew he could fit in a pass to Kirk. When Rosen decided where he was going with the ball, Kirk was just getting into his break and wasn’t close to crossing past Powell. Rosen anticipated that we was going to get open and threw the ball with faith that Kirk was going to do his job — that’s high-level quarterbacking. The offensive line did a good job of picking up the 49ers’ defensive line stunt and gave Rosen the time he needed. If they can protect Rosen more often, the Cardinals will see more big-time throws like this from their first-round draft pick.

That was funny regardless.

Below is the full Wednesday injury report for both teams. Los Angeles’ report is an estimate, as LOS ANGELES RAMS LIMITED WR Cooper Kupp (knee) OLB Trevon Young (back) NEW ORLEANS SAINTS DID NOT PARTICIPATE DE Mitchell Loewen (neck) DE Marcus Davenport (toe) LIMITED OT Terron Armstead (knee) WR Michael Thomas (shoulder) C Max Unger (elbow) WR Cameron Meredith (knee)

Which one?

2018 NFL Midseason Awards, Super Bowl picks: Patrick Mahomes almost unanimous MVP, Saquon Barkley ROY The CBS NFL staff takes another crack at predicting the Super Bowl champs and award winners for the 2018 season by Jared Dubin Prior to the start of the 2018 NFL season, your friends here at CBS Sports set out to predict the winners of all the major NFL awards. We picked our Super Bowl winners, our MVPs, our rookies and coaches of the year, etc. But it's been eight weeks! It's time to run things back and do it all over again. This round of predictions from Pete Prisco, Will Brinson, John Breech, Ryan Wilson, Sean Wagner-McGough and myself looks quite a bit different than it did the first time around. Aaron Rodgers doesn't get any votes for MVP. The names of David Johnson, Le'Veon Bell, and Ezekiel Elliott are erased from the document entirely. The same applies to Kyle Shanahan, Bill O'Brien, Bradley Chubb, and Allen Robinson.

Belichick Praises Rodgers, but Still Picks Brady (1:14) Bill Belichick Respects Aaron Rodgers' Game but Won't say If He Would Rather Have the Packers Star over Tom Brady.

Brady vs. Rodgers: The Divergent Styles of the QBs Sunday night’s Patriots-Packers game will bring a level of quarterbacking that any football connoisseur would love—breaking down at the divergent, unique styles of Tom Brady and Aaron Rodgers. By ANDY BENOIT October 31, 2018 When Aaron Rodgers and Tom Brady squared off for the first—and, until Sunday, only—time on November 30, 2014, the two dueled down to the wire in an illustrious display of quarterbacking proficiency. Brady, on his final snap, was sacked by Mike Neal and Mike Daniels, forcing the Patriots to try a field goal that would leave them down 26-24 with 2:40 remaining (Stephen Gostkowski missed, leaving the score at 26-21). Just before the two-minute warning, with Green Bay facing third-and-4, Rodgers hung in a perfect pocket and hit Randall Cobb for a win-sealing seven-yard gain. Brady, denied the opportunity to lead a last second comeback drive, screamed an F-bomb and took a seat on the bench, where he fumed (almost literally—it was cold and every few seconds you saw a furious cloud of breath escape his nose). NFL regular season scheduling rules dictate that the Patriots and Packers to play once every four years. Most viewers of that tremendous 2014 showdown would have guessed that the next battle between these teams would have involved the league’s best quarterback—few would have guessed that quarterback would still be Brady. It’s not just that Tom Brady has mastered so many of football’s intellectual details and subtleties. It’s that, physically, at age 41, he might be better now than he was in his mid-30s.

Bears Are NFL’s No. 1 Team in Aikman Ratings The Aikman Efficiency Ratings measure offensive and defensive performance using a combination of seven key statistics identified by Hall of Fame quarterback Troy Aikman, and then measured against league norms. An offense or defense performing exactly at league norms in all categories will earn a score of 75. Based on total yards alone, the Bears rank 10th on offense and seventh on defense.

Quotes from Los Angeles Rams head coach Sean McVay's conference call - October 31, 2018 Quotes from Drew Brees media availability - Wednesday, October 31 Drew Brees: 'It's a big challenge.' Marcus Davenport: 'I'm taking it one day at a time.' Mike Triplett ESPN Staff Writer Rookie DE Marcus Davenport wasn't the only big name on New Orleans' injury report. Four others were limited in practice Wednesday: WR Michael Thomas (shoulder), LT Terron Armstead (knee), C Max Unger (elbow) and WR Cameron Meredith (knee). Backup defensive linemen Mitchell Loewen also missed practice with a neck injury. It's too early in the week to tell if any of them are in jeopardy of missing Sunday's game against the Rams or just getting additional rest time. Sean Payton said the Rams under Sean McVay have become one of the "must-watch" teams when the Saints study what other offenses are doing, both in the offseason and during the season. Payton said they put together a reel of all the touchdowns scored in the NFL every week, and "here's (Todd) Gurley from 28 yards, here's Gurley from 30 yards, here's Gurley catching a screen for a touchdown, here's Gurley (again). He's an outstanding player, both in the running game and passing game, and I think the design, along with his skillset, has been a great fit." Mike Triplett ESPN Staff Writer Always a Bridesmaid, Drew Brees Could Make Best MVP Case Yet vs. Rams The Saints QB has finished as a runner-up for the regular-season award an astonishing three times. Could 2018 be the season he catches the bouquet? Lindsey Thiry ESPN Dante Fowler is at the Rams' training facility and has passed his physical, Sean McVay said. The Rams will not practice Wednesday, but Fowler will participate in the team's walk-thru and McVay said depending on how quickly he is able to absorb information, will be expected to contribute Sunday against the Saints. OLB Dante Fowler passed his physical exam and participated in a team walk-thru on Wednesday. Fowler said he already is learning the playbook and that he would be ready to play as fast as possible. "Linebacker is a natural fit for me so it's pretty easy to teach me," Fowler said about the transition into Wade Phillips' 3-4 scheme. DT Aaron Donald said he smiled "from ear-to-ear" after he learned the Rams traded for Fowler. "I'm excited," Donald said. "The help was what we needed, definitely from an edge rusher."

Rams vs. Saints Week 9 Preview | NFL Playbook (6:47) NFL Network's Brian Billick and Shaun O'Hara preview the upcoming matchup between the Los Angeles Rams and the New Orleans Saints in Week 9 of the 2018 NFL season.

Quotes & Notes 10/31/18: Dante Fowler’s First Day as a Ram