NFL Midweek Update: Injury report, playoff fallout and draft order

A thrilling 2021 NFL season produced two more terrific games this past Sunday as the Cincinnati Bengals and Los Angeles Rams advanced with epic come-from-behind victories.

Joe Burrow and Cincy overcame a 21-3 deficit in Arrowhead to down the mighty Kansas City Chiefs 27-24 after overtime in the AFC Championship game. Later in the day the Rams overcame a 17-7 fourth-quarter hole to pip the San Francisco 49ers 20-17 in the NFC.

The two teams now get a fortnight to prepare for the biggest game of their lives, so there is no action this weekend (unless you count the Pro Bowl as a real game…).

The same goes for punters of course, with extra time to crunch numbers and watch tape to get ready for the mountain of Super Bowl props which are about to unload. Everything from game MVP to which team wins the coin toss to the length of the national anthem…

Our midweek update is designed to give you intel which will help your NFL betting, and keep you abreast of major events around the league.

NFL Playoff Schedule

Like we said, we are down to just one game, the biggest one of all.

Sunday February 13: Super Bowl LVI @ SoFi Stadium, Los Angeles

• Cincinnati Bengals +4 vs Los Angeles Rams -4 (2330 GMT)

Super Bowl LVI Injury Report

Our injury report is not intended to be exhaustive, but it highlights key narratives which will affect betting for upcoming games:

Cincinnati Bengals: The big story here involves Bengals TE C.J. Uzomah, who left the AFC Championship game during the second quarter with a knee injury. He was clearly done for the day, but the fear was that he could be ruled out for much much longer.

This was devastating for a player who had missed 14 games in 2020 due to a torn Achilles, and it was no wonder he left the field in tears.

Fast forward 24 hours though and there was renewed hope that he may yet be able to suit up vs the Rams in Super Bowl LVI.

Early reports are that Uzomah, who caught 49 balls for 493 yards and 5 TDs during the regular season, has a sprained MCL and could figure against the Rams. Much better than had first been feared.

The Bengals meanwhile are hopeful that the extra week to prepare for the Rams will allow WR Stanley Morgan and DLs Josh Tupou and Cam Sample to return from injury.

Los Angeles Rams: Tyler Higbee makes the early Super Bowl injury report a tale of two tight ends. Higbee exited the win over the 49ers during the first half and again things looked very bad.

Just like Uzomah though, it turned out Higbee has an MCL sprain, and while he is also doubtful to play in Super Bowl LVI, he also still retains some hope. Higbee had been a consistently productive outlet for Matthew Stafford during recent weeks.

One positive though was the performance in relief of Higbee’s backup, Kendall Blanton. He caught five balls for 57 yards.

Safety Taylor Rapp meanwhile, who has missed all three post-season games so far after sustaining a concussion in Week 18, could yet be back vs the Rams. He has now turned the corner in his recovery per head coach Sean McVay.

There is mixed news up front for the Rams - the good news was LT Andrew Whitworth returning to the starting lineup vs San Fran after missing the win at Tampa through injury.

As for the not quite so good, Joe Noteboom - who deputised admirably for Whitworth in Tampa - was inactive vs the Niners with a chest injury.

RB Darrell Henderson meanwhile is ready to be activated after returning from IR - if the Rams feel they need him. One to monitor in game week.

Championship fallout: What’s next for playoff losers?

While two teams remain in the hunt for a Lombardi trophy, two more are now back home licking their wounds after dreams were shattered for another year.

So what is the fallout like in each city? And what are the questions which come next?

Kansas City Chiefs: Chiefs fans (and players and coaches) had to be waking up Monday morning wondering just what happened at Arrowhead on Sunday afternoon.

Everything was going absolutely according to plan when KC - coming off 42-point hauls vs Pittsburgh and Buffalo in the post-season - led Cincinnati 21-3 early in the second quarter. Three drives and three scores = perfect.

The turning point though came late in the first half with KC now up 21-10 and threatening to score again with time running out.

Having pleaded for one more shot at finding the endzone with 5 seconds and no timeouts left, Patrick Mahomes hit Tyreek Hill in the flat. The WR though was tackled short of the endzone, and time expired.

It was a huge mistake from Mahomes and his expression was a mix of devastation and fury. From that moment on, the wheels came completely off.

In the second half Cincinnati’s defense did enough to totally befuddle the Chiefs QB - a mix of fine coverage and pressure up the middle had him scrambling around and taking costly sacks.

The end result was a furious Bengal rally which brought 21 unanswered points to go up 24-21 late in the game.

KC still had a chance to win it, getting deep into the redzone as the clock ticked down. But again Mahomes could not find paydirt and a tying field goal was all the Chiefs came away with.

That misfire would come back to haunt the reigning AFC champions in OT when Mahomes was intercepted, leaving Joe Burrow to drive the Bengals into FG range for a game winner by the excellent Evan McPherson.

This one will hurt for a long long time, and that moment just before the half will be replayed often. Coming away with nothing when three should have been the worst possible return was hugely costly in the final reckoning.

Looking forward there are plenty of positives to take from this KC season. The defense was much improved before struggling in the post-season, while the offense retains unbelievable power when Mahomes, Hill and Travis Kelce are firing on all cylinders.

The salary cap will gradually become more of an issue though with Mahomes’ huge contract taking up a good chunk and LT Orlando Brown finishing his rookie deal this season. His $3.5million-per-year deal is likely to net out at $20million per next time.

Protecting Mahomes is important, but it also has a financial cost, and with guard Joe Thuney already in the books for $80million over five years, there will be knock-on implications elsewhere.

Kansas City also has talented safety Tyrann Mathieu out of contract this off-season and re-signing him should be a priority. His current deal is $42million over three years.

San Francisco 49ers: The Niners were again really tough to beat in the NFC title game on Sunday, but they fell just short of a second Super Bowl trip in three years.

This is a really talented team with a terrific coaching staff and scheme, but everybody had to be waking up Monday thinking ‘Imagine if we had a QB’.

While Jimmy Garoppolo is somebody Shanahan trusts (up to a point), when it really matters in the biggest games he does not make the plays needed to beat elite teams.

We saw it in the Super Bowl vs KC two years ago as Jimmy G missed an open Emmanuel Sanders with football immortality in sight. Franchise QBs make those throws every time.

We saw it again here as the Niners melted down offensively after leading 17-7 in the final period.

Garoppolo is out of contract after the 2022 season and his replacement is already on the roster - 2021 rookie Trey Lance. The transition cannot come soon enough.

This SF offense, with brilliant gadgets like Deebo Samuel, George Kittle expertly deployed by Kyle Shanahan, is already tough to combat. You can change that to virtually impossible if they ever do find a true answer at the game’s most important position.

Shanahan’s offensive scheme is almost built to win in spite of the QB, it’s time to change that narrative. Lance needs to be the answer, and the Niners need to ask the question.

NFL Awards

If you’re like us, you probably have bets riding on the outcome of some of the NFL’s regular-season awards. Well, the wait is almost over.

The annual NFL awards ceremony takes place in Los Angeles on Thursday February 10 (the early hours of Friday Feb 11 in the UK).

Up for grabs is the biggest award of all - league MVP - plus the likes of Comeback Player Of The Year, Rookie Of The Year and Coach Of The Year.

It’s unclear yet whether any UK broadcaster will air the ceremony live but it does stream live on NFL Network, so if you have a Gamepass sub you should be good to go.

NFL Draft Order 2022

We are now pretty close to knowing the complete order for the 2022 NFL Draft, which is scheduled to take place in Nevada from April 28-30.

The only detail outstanding is which team picks #31 and which one picks #32. That of course will be decided by the result of Super Bowl LVI.

For now, this is the updated Round 1 order for the 2022 Draft:

1. Jacksonville Jaguars

2. Detroit Lions

3. Houston Texans

4. New York Jets

5. New York Giants

6. Carolina Panthers

7. New York Giants (via Chicago)

8. Atlanta Falcons

9. Denver Broncos

10. New York Jets (via Seattle)

11. Washington Football Team

12. Minnesota Vikings

13. Cleveland Browns

14. Baltimore Ravens

15. Philadelphia Eagles (via Miami)

16. Philadelphia Eagles (via Indianapolis)

17. Los Angeles Chargers

18. New Orleans Saints

19. Philadelphia Eagles

20. Pittsburgh Steelers

21. New England Patriots

22. Las Vegas Raiders

23. Arizona Cardinals

24. Dallas Cowboys

25. Buffalo Bills

26. Tennessee Titans

27. Tampa Bay Buccaneers

28. Green Bay Packers

29. Miami Dolphins (via San Francisco)

30. Kansas City Chiefs

More NFL content

• NFL: Championship Games Review
• NFL Midweek Update: Championship Games
• NFL Report: Rams hold off Buccaneers
• NFL Report: 49ers win with late field goal
• NFL: Midweek Update: Playoffs
• NFL: The Weekend Review - Wild Card Weekend
• NFL: Midweek Update: Wild Card Weekend