Welcome to the Tuesday edition of the Pick Six newsletter!
I have to admit, when I heard there was an NFL owners meeting this week, I thought for sure the owners were just going to get together, drink mimosas and celebrate the success of the 2021 season. However, it turns out that they're actually getting some work done.
For one, they decided to keep the combine in Indianapolis for the next two years. Also, they're thinking about ELIMINATING THE PRO BOWL. I'm not sure what they're going to replace it with, but if they need an idea, I think I could sell them on a field goal competition that would basically just be a kicker's version of H-O-R-S-E.
Alright, I need to stop talking about my idea right now so that no one steals it. Let's get to the rundown.
As always, here's your weekly reminder to tell all your friends to sign up for the newsletter. All you have to do is click here and then share the link.
1. Today's show: AFC East win totals
For the rest of this week, there's going to be a noticeable theme on the Pick Six Podcast, and that theme is regular season win totals. Now that the schedule is out, we know the over/unders for each team and we'll be going through each of those over/unders for the next few days.
Today, we started with the AFC East.
Ryan Wilson joined Will Brinson for Tuesday's episode of the pod, and they debated whether each team would go over or under their win total.
Bills over/under: 11.5
Wilson's prediction: Over
Patriots over/under: 8.5
Wilson's prediction: Over
Jets over/under: 5.5
Wilson's prediction: Over
Dolphins over/under: 8.5
Wilson's prediction: Under
If you're scoring at home, that's three overs and one under. So what gives with the under?
Wilson isn't necessarily down on the Dolphins, he just thinks they're going to struggle out of the gate with a new coach. "I have them starting the season 0-4," Wilson said.
The Dolphins open the season against New England, followed by games against the Ravens (away), Bills and Bengals (away).
Wilson also thinks the Dolphins will hit a brick wall late in the season. "I also have them losing four in a row in Weeks 13 thru Week 16." During those four weeks, they play the 49ers, Chargers, Bills and Packers, with the first three of those games all being on the road. If Wilson is right, it's going to be almost impossible to hit the over if Miami has TWO four-game losing streaks during the season.
Anyway, to see what Brinson and Wilson had to say about the rest of the AFC East win totals, be sure to click here. You can also watch today's episode on YouTube by clicking here.
2. New details about Dwayne Haskins' death
There are still a lot of unanswered questions surrounding the death of Dwayne Haskins on April 9, but some of those questions were answered Monday when the the Broward County Medical Examiner released the toxicology report from Haskins' death.
- Haskins was legally drunk at the time of his death. Two separate blood samples were taken from Haskins, and his blood-alcohol level was more than .20 in each sample. The lower sample measured at .20 while the higher sample measured at .24, which is three times the legal limit for driving. Haskins is believed to have been driving his car before it ran out of gas on the interstate. (The legal limit for driving in Florida is .08.)
- Legal drugs were also found in his system. The medical examiner also found ketamine in Haskins' system, which is a painkiller. The medical report didn't state whether Haskins had been prescribed the drug or if he had been using it recreationally.
- Haskins had been with teammates the night before his death. The Steelers QB was working out with a few teammates in South Florida on April 8, the day before his death. At some point, Haskins left his teammates and went to hang out "with a cousin or friend" named Joey. The two of them went to a nightclub where they drank heavily. At some point, they got in an argument and separated, according to the report.
- Haskins called his wife just before he died. After running out of gas on the interstate, the 24-year-old called his wife to let her know that he was going to leave the car to try and get some gas. After not hearing from her husband, Kalabrya Haskins called 911 and asked police check in on him.
- Death was ruled accidental. After leaving his car, Haskins was struck by a dump truck. The report found that since Haskins was unexpectedly in the roadway, the driver of the dump truck couldn't have done anything differently to help fix the situation. Due to the circumstances, Haskins death was ruled an accident.
After the report came out Monday, the Haskins family released a statement asking for privacy.
"On behalf of Dwayne's wife, his family, and his memory, and on behalf of the truth, we respectfully request and pray for privacy, for patience, and for the public to withhold any judgment during this period while the law enforcement authorities continue to investigate and conduct their important work," the statement said, via NFL.com.
3. Ranking each new QB-coach duo for 2022
If you look at the list of quarterbacks who will be working with a new head coach this year, it's actually a pretty crazy list: Everyone from Tom Brady to Russell Wilson to Matt Ryan will be playing for a new coach this year.
The turnover has been so crazy in 2022 that there are actually 16 new QB-coach duos in in the NFL. With 16 new duos, that means 50% of the teams in the league won't have any continuity between their head coach and quarterback heading into 2022.
Since we have so many new duos this year, Cody Benjamin decided to rank all 16 of them based on how successful they might be in 2022. Not surprisingly, Tom Brady topped the list.
Here's a look at Cody's top 10:
1. Buccaneers: Tom Brady and Todd Bowles
2. Broncos: Russell Wilson and Nathaniel Hackett
3. Browns: Deshaun Watson and Kevin Stefanski
4. Colts: Matt Ryan and Frank Reich
5. Vikings: Kirk Cousins and Kevin O'Connell
6. Raiders: Derek Carr and Josh McDaniels
7. Jaguars: Trevor Lawrence and Doug Pederson
8. Steelers: Kenny Pickett or Mitchell Trubisky and Mike Tomlin
9. 49ers: Trey Lance and Kyle Shanahan
10. Dolphins: Tua Tagovailoa and Mike McDaniel
If you want to see the entire list, which consists of 16 QB-coaching duos, then be sure to click here.
4. Division winners from 2021 who likely won't repeat in 2022
Since the NFL expanded to eight divisions in 2002, there has never been a season where all eight division winners repeated as champions the following year. Of the eight teams that won a division title in 2020, only four were able to defend their division title in 2021.
What I think I'm trying to say here is that there's basically a 100% chance that several division winners from 2021 won't be repeating as champs in 2022. With that in mind, Cody Benjamin decided to take a look at the most vulnerable division winners AKA the teams he views as the least likely to repeat as champions in 2022.
Here's Cody's list, and remember, this is not a list you want to be on top of, because it means you're the most vulnerable division champion heading into 2022.
1. Bengals (AFC North)
2. Cowboys (NFC East)
3. Titans (AFC South)
4. Chiefs (AFC West)
5. Rams (NFC West)
6. Packers (NFC North)
7. Bills (AFC East)
8. Buccaneers (NFC South)
As the resident Bengals homer here at CBSSports.com, I can tell that Cody made this list with the sole purpose of upsetting me. If I had handled these rankings myself, I would have put the Bengals at three. I would have put the Cowboys on top (because no NFC East champ has repeated in 17 years) and the Titans at two. Basically, this feels like a pretty solid ranking. I mean, it would be a total shock if the Buccaneers and Bills both don't win their division this year.
If you want to see Cody's full explanation for why he ranked the teams the way he did, be sure to click here.
5. Predicting the Raiders' final record for 2022
With Memorial Day right around the corner, that means the dead part of the NFL offseason is almost upon us, and although things can get kind of boring during that period, we're going to keep things spicy around here by going through and predicting teams' records for the 2022 season.
Yesterday, we hit the Packers, and today, we're moving on to the Las Vegas Raiders. CBSSports.com's Jordan Dajani went through their entire schedule to figure out how many games they're going to win and how many games they're going to lose.
Here's a look at his predictions for three key games:
- Week 1: Raiders at Chargers. "This is almost a bit of a revenge game since the Chargers missed the playoffs last season due to their Week 18 loss to the Raiders. Justin Herbert is going to come out firing." Prediction: Chargers 27-23 over Raiders.
- Week 5: Raiders at Chiefs. "Remember how bad this Chiefs team looked at the beginning of last season? They started 2-3 and got absolutely manhandled by the Buffalo Bills on 'Sunday Night Football.' Maybe something like that could happen again in this Monday night game as Kansas City's offense looks to reboot without Tyreek Hill. Raiders score an upset victory. " Prediction: Raiders 31-27 over Chiefs.
- Week 10: Patriots at Raiders. "It's Bill Belichick vs. McDaniels. While the Patriots didn't have the most impressive offseason or most impressive draft class, this team is still going to be competitive because of second-year signal-caller Mac Jones." Prediction: Patriots 23-21 over Raiders.
Final record prediction: 8-9
Personally, I actually think the Raiders could be good this year, but the problem for the Raiders is that good might not be good enough in a loaded AFC West. This definitely feels like a team that could finish anywhere between 8-9 and 10-7. Jordan is clearly going with the bottom end of that spectrum, and if you're a Raiders fan who disagrees with him, you can let him know on Twitter by clicking here.
If you want to see Jordan's prediction for each game, be sure to click here to check out his entire story.
6. Rapid-fire roundup: Cardinals headed for Hard Knocks, Commanders on verge of $100 million land deal
It's been a wild 24 hours in the NFL, and since it's nearly impossible to keep track of everything that happened, I went ahead and put together a roundup for you.
- Cardinals headed for "Hard Knocks." For the second straight season, the NFL will be holding an in-season version of "Hard Knocks," and this year the Cardinals will be starring in it. Last year was the first time ever that "Hard Knocks" was filmed in-season with the Colts serving as guinea pigs. The first episode of the in-season "Hard Knocks" won't air until November. That's usually when the Cardinals' late-season collapse starts, which could make for good television.
- Commanders looking to make monstrous land purchase. There were some reports Monday suggesting that the Commanders dropped $100 million on 200 acres of land in Virginia, but that's not quite the case. According to The Washington Post, the team actually has an "option-to-purchase" agreement in place. This basically means the Commanders will be doing their due diligence before finalizing the purchase. The Commanders are also hoping to get tax money from the state of Virginia to help build a new stadium, and they'll likely want to see that contribution confirmed and finalized before they agree to buy the land. If they do buy the land, the plan is to put a stadium there, and you can check out some early renderings of the stadium by clicking here.
- Cowboys star being sued by trading card company. Cowboys receiver CeeDee Lamb is being sued for breach of contract by a card company in Texas. According to the company, Lamb didn't sign enough autographs to fulfill his contract, and now the company is dealing with some upset customers. For more details on the lawsuit, be sure to click here.
- Todd Gurley sounds like he's retired. The former Rams running back hasn't officially retired yet, but he sounds like he's done with football. During an interview with lx.com over the weekend, Gurley had this to say about the NFL. "There was never not one time where I watched a game and was like, 'I wish I was out there.' I appreciated my time in the league and I've done things I could have never even dreamed about." He was never itching to get back last season -- he didn't play at all in 2021 -- and he's talking about his career in a past tense. That feels like someone who's retired.
- Combine will be staying in Indianapolis for the next two years. For the past 12 months, the NFL had been hinting that the combine could be switching locations for 2023, but that won't be happening. The NFL announced Tuesday that the combine is now locked into Indy through 2024, which means the next two combines will definitely be in Indiana. Things could change after that, but for now, the event is staying put in the city where it's been held since 1987.
- NFL might scrap Pro Bowl. One topic being discussed at the annual league meeting today is scrapping the Pro Bowl. According to NFL.com, there would still be a Pro Bowl week; there just wouldn't be a game played that Sunday. The NFL is trying to come up with alternative events that could take the place of the game, but nothing has been decided yet.