Sports

The Raiders followed up their loss to the Browns on Sunday afternoon by firing offensive coordinator Chip Kelly 11 games into his first season with the team.

Kelly's work had been the subject of grumbling throughout the season and the Raiders rank near the bottom of the league in most offensive metrics, so it wasn't a huge shock for those outside the organization to hear that the team decided to make a change. It doesn't appear to have come as a great shock to Kelly either.

“I am grateful for the opportunity with the Raiders, bottom line in this league you have to win," Kelly said to Jay Glazer of Fox Sports. "I really loved those players, I’m a huge, huge Geno Smith fan, that was one of the best parts of this experience for me, working with Geno and those guys every day. But hey, we gotta win. I get it.”

Kelly is the second coordinator that the Raiders have dispatched during Pete Carroll's first season as head coach. Given how bad the team's on-field product has been, more change could be coming in Vegas before the year is out or right after the season comes to an end.

In recent years, there's been increasing talk that Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford is getting close to retirement. Rams head coach Sean McVay doesn't buy it.

McVay said after Sunday night's 34-7 win over the Buccaneers that he thinks Stafford is better than ever at age 37, and isn't even close to retirement.

"He's a fine wine. He's just getting better with age," McVay said. "I think he's going to play for about 10 more years."

Told of McVay's comments, Stafford said he's not thinking in those terms but is thinking about how enjoyable this season has been.

"I'm not trying to label it, I just know I'm having fun. My body feels pretty good at the moment," Stafford said. "It's been a lot of fun."

The Rams are the favorites to win the Super Bowl, and Stafford is the favorite to win the NFL's Most Valuable Player award. Stafford has never been an MVP, but he's also never had a season as good as this one. He's playing the best football of his career.

Giants wide receiver Malik Nabers suggested after watching his team lose to the Lions that the coaches could be tanking with bad play calls.

Nabers, who is out for the season with a torn ACL, posted on social media that the Giants' late play calling with a 27-24 lead made it look like they were purposely losing. The Giants led most of the game but lost to the Lions, 34-27 in overtime.

"Sometimes I think they b makin us lose on purpose," Nabers wrote, via ESPN. "Cause it's no way, bro you throw the ball instead of running it to make em burn 2 timeouts?? then you dnt kick the field goal?? Then they have to go down and score!!! Football common sense!!!! Am I missing something?"

Nabers later deleted the post without explanation.

Giants interim head coach Mike Kafka certainly deserves scrutiny for his play calling on the sequence Nabers is referencing. The Giants had second-and-goal at the Lions' 2-yard line with 3:11 left, and Kafka called a pass that fell incomplete, stopping the clock and saving the Lions a timeout. On third-and-goal, the Giants called a run to the outside that the Lions stopped for a four-yard loss. And then on fourth-and-goal from the 6-yard line, Kafka defied the analytics and common sense and went for it instead of kicking the field goal. The Giants threw another incompletion and the Lions took over on downs.

From there the Lions were just barely able to drive into field goal range, send the game into overtime with a 59-yard field goal, and win the game in overtime. Better play calling from Kafka in the goal-to-go situation could have clinched a win for the Giants in regulation.

The idea that Kafka is losing on purpose, however, doesn't make a lot of sense. As an interim head coach, Kafka knows he's auditioning for a head-coaching job, and pulling off an upset of the Lions would have bolstered his reputation. Kafka made some bad decisions down the stretch, but Nabers shouldn't attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity.