The Ravens had a 13-second touchdown drive as Devin Duvernay went 103 yards on the game’s opening kickoff and a 10-second touchdown on a 75-yard catch and run by wide receiver Rashod Bateman. Quarterback Lamar Jackson also threw touchdown passes of 1 yard to Mark Andrews and 12 yards to DeMarcus Robinson. Jackson had a perfect 158.3 passer rating in the first half. He completed 11 of 13 passes for 210 yards and three touchdowns. Another would-be touchdown for the Ravens was overturned on instant replay that showed Jackson was down on the goal line. The Ravens missed a punt on a fourth-down attempt from inside the 1-yard line on the next play. Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa threw a six-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Jaylen Waddle, but also threw a pair of interceptions in the first half.
Alvin Kamara is inactive as the Saints face the Buccaneers The New Orleans Saints will be without tailback Alvin Kamara as they host the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in an early afternoon game on Sunday. The Saints placed Kamara on their game day inactive list. He had been listed as questionable on the injury report due to a rib injury. Quarterback Jameis Winston will play for the Saints as they try to beat the Buccaneers for the seventh straight regular season meeting. Winston had been listed as questionable on the injury report due to a back injury. Winston is playing with four fractures in his back, Fox reported. Jameis Winston is playing with 4 fractures in his back today from L1 to L4. Playing in a lot of pain with extra padding to protect the area but still playing @NFLonFOX — Jay Glazer (@JayGlazer) September 18, 2022 The Buccaneers will be without wide receiver Julio Jones. He is on the inactive list after being listed as questionable on the injury report due to a knee injury. Jones joins colleague Chris Godwin, who is inactive after previously being ruled out with a hamstring injury. Tailback Leonard Fournette and wide receivers Mike Evans, Russell Gage and Breshad Perriman are active for the Buccaneers and will play after all were listed as questionable. In Baltimore, Ravens cornerback Marcus Peters is active and expected to make his season debut. He missed all of last season with a torn ACL in his knee. Tailback JK Dobbins and left tackle Ronnie Stanley are on the Ravens’ inactive list. Patrick McCarry is expected to start at left tackle in Sunday’s early afternoon game against the Miami Dolphins.
Tyrod Taylor Sues Chargers Doctor Over 2020 Injection Former Los Angeles Chargers quarterback Tyrod Taylor filed a lawsuit last year seeking compensation from the team doctor who administered a painkiller injection that caused Taylor to suffer a collapsed lung in September 2020. Taylor, now with the New York Giants, filed a lawsuit in May 2021 in the California Superior Court for Los Angeles County. The suit accuses David S. Gazzaniga and the Newport Orthopedic Institute of negligence, medical malpractice and medical battery and seeks at least $5 million in damages. “As a direct and lawful result of Defendants’ negligence, carelessness, and other tortious, unlawful and wrongful acts and conduct … Plaintiff Taylor was prevented and/or restricted from pursuing his profession as an NFL quarterback and, as a result, suffered Past and future lost earnings and diminished earning capacity; Plaintiff’s injuries caused him to lose his position as the starting quarterback for the Los Angeles Chargers for the 2020 NFL season,” the lawsuit states. “Plaintiff’s contract with the Los Angeles Chargers expired in 2020, and as he returned to free agency, he entered as a backup quarterback as opposed to a starting quarterback. The financial difference between a starting quarterback’s salary and a backup quarterback’s salary is at least $5,000,000.00 and is more than likely much greater.” Gazzaniga administered pain-killing injections to Taylor before a September 20, 2020 match at SoFi Stadium after Taylor suffered broken ribs a week earlier. According to the lawsuit, Taylor experienced “unusual pain” after returning to the field and “reported numbness traveling to his collarbone.” Gazzaniga was consulted and x-rayed. Taylor was taken to a hospital by ambulance on the recommendation of other medical personnel, according to the lawsuit. Tests there revealed a pneumothorax, or collapsed lung. “The failure of Dr. Gazzaniga to establish, follow and/or maintain an adequate, consistent protocol for local anesthetic injections, including but not limited to the administration of a larger volume of anesthetic, at a lower rate, and the method of administration without appropriate guidance, including but not limited to radiological imaging, in the areas around Mr. Taylor’s ribs, and then failing to promptly recognize, diagnose and treat a pneumothorax that Taylor suffered which caused and continues to cause Taylor excessive pain and suffering,” Taylor’s lawsuit states. According to ESPN, which first reported the lawsuit on Sunday, Gazzaniga was involved in the care of Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert, who suffered a rib injury during Thursday night’s loss at Kansas City. Coach Brandon Staley announced Friday that Herbert suffered a fractured cartilage in his ribs, listing Herbert’s status as day-to-day. Herbert succeeded Taylor as the Chargers’ starter after the 2020 painkiller incident. The Chargers did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
After the craziness of opening-weekend, the season really begins Now the NFL season can really begin, with the arrival of the second Sunday of the regular season. The opening weekend of the season can be a mirage. That’s especially true now that some view the first few weeks of the longer 17-game regular season as, in effect, the new preseason. Many coaches are increasingly wary of playing starting quarterbacks and other key players during the current preseason, meaning those players must shake the rust off their games once the regular season begins. That could make for a tiring game — and misleading results — in Week 1. The Los Angeles Rams, the defending Super Bowl champions, lost their NFL season opener. At least they had a good excuse, considering they were facing the team considered by many to be the Super Bowl favorite of the season, the Buffalo Bills. NFL reset: The team rankings, the Cowboys’ woes and the Broncos’ blunder The Green Bay Packers, Cincinnati Bengals, Tennessee Titans, New England Patriots and San Francisco 49ers were all losers last Sunday, results that were met with varying degrees of surprise. The Denver Broncos opened the Russell Wilson era with a loss Monday night in Seattle to the quarterback’s former team, the Seahawks. So it’s a bounce back Sunday for these teams, or at least they hope so. The Patriots play an early afternoon game in Pittsburgh. The Rams, 49ers, Bengals and Broncos make up the late afternoon slate. The Packers host the Chicago Bears at Lambeau Field on Sunday night. (The Titans don’t play until Monday afternoon at Buffalo.) This is familiar territory for quarterback Aaron Rodgers and the Packers. Remember that last season, Rodgers threw two interceptions and the Saints crushed the Packers, 38-3, in a home opener that was moved to Jacksonville, Fla., because of the effects of Hurricane Ida in New Orleans. Even so, the Packers won their next seven games on the road for a 13-4 record during the regular season and the No. 1 seed in the NFC playoffs. Rodgers secured his second straight league MVP award. The Titans, similarly, were the top seed in the AFC playoffs last season despite opening with a 38-13 loss to the Arizona Cardinals. Justin Herbert’s interception isn’t enough as Chiefs outlast Chargers Just as Rodgers once instructed Packers fans in supposedly miserable conditions that turned out to be not so insurmountable: RELAX. For some teams, it could start to feel late in the season too early. The Dallas Cowboys not only lost their game to the Buccaneers. they also lost quarterback Dak Prescott to a thumb injury that required surgery. They will have Cooper Rush at quarterback on Sunday when they host the Bengals. Niners quarterback Trey Lance struggled mightily in the wet, sloppy conditions at Soldier Field in last weekend’s loss to the Bears. It will take an improved performance Sunday at home against the Seahawks to keep speculation of a possible trade for Jimmy Garoppolo from intensifying. So the stakes are high on Sunday, as always, in the NFL. 0-1 start? This could very well be an aberration. But a 0-2 start? Well, this might be a trend.
