With Week 15 of the NFL season upon us, NFL.com's network of reporters gets you up to speed with the hottest news and notes from across the league, including:
» A little extra motivation for Spencer Ware.
» Eli Manning on what he needs to improve.
But first, a hardware-worthy season flying under the radar ...
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The back injury that ended J.J. Watt's season in September has created a predictable question: Who deserves to be the Defensive Player of the Year, since Watt can't win it for a third consecutive time? Broncos outside linebacker Von Miller started fast and has sustained his brilliance all season. Raiders pass rusher Khalil Mack has been relentless of late, while safety Landon Collins has anchored the Giants' revitalized defense. Then there's the guy people aren't talking enough about, largely because he rarely talks about himself: Kansas City Chiefs safety Eric Berry.
Anybody who's followed the Chiefs this season understands the impact Berry has made on this team. His 42-yard interception return for a touchdown against Carolina helped Kansas City overcome a 17-point deficit in that 20-17 victory. His intense hitting set the tone in a critical 30-27 overtime win over Denver, a game in which Berry finished with nine tackles. There also are plenty of fans in Atlanta who can't believe how Berry literally stole a 29-28 victory in that city, first with a 37-yard pick-six and then when he intercepted a two-point conversion attempt -- with the Falcons leading by one -- and returned it for two Chiefs points.
These are the kinds of moments voters need to remember when determining who should win this award. Berry is having the best season of his seven-year career at a time when the Chiefs are tied for first in the AFC West and currently hold the second spot in the conference playoff seeding race.
"He's playing the best football of the four years that I've been here," Chiefs defensive coordinator Bob Sutton said. "He's made some dynamic plays in the last three or four weeks that literally changed or won games. He had a physical game against Denver. He covered [PanthersPro Bowl tight end] Greg Olsen at Carolina. He's done everything we've asked him to do, and he's willed us to a certain level."
The problem Berry faces literally revolves around a numbers game. For example, Miller (who is tied for the league high with 13.5 sacks) and Mack (11 sacks, five forced fumbles and an interception) have been known for altering games by pressuring quarterbacks. Collins also has been all over the field for the Giants, as he's notched team highs in tackles (100) and interceptions (five) while also adding three sacks. Berry has more tackles (62) than Miller (60) and Mack (61), but he has just three interceptions with three games to go.
Berry is so lacking in notoriety that he actually ranks sixth on Chris Wesseling's recent NFL.com listing of players considered legitimate candidates for the award. What Berry does bring to the table, however, is an understated brilliance that pervades the entire Chiefs team. Berry inspired this squad last season by beating Hodgkin's lymphoma and returning in time to win league Comeback Player of the Year honors, less than a year after being diagnosed. Berry also earned his fourth trip to the Pro Bowl last year and still cherishes the way that fight changed his life. In particular, Berry said he's far more grateful to be playing a game he's always loved.
"It definitely sparked me, and I look at the game different," Berry said. "I'm more detailed at what I do. I pretty much have broken it down to the smaller things. I've always had appreciation for the game. I've always loved the game. That hasn't changed, but just my attention to detail, I feel like that's what went up for me."
"He's made game-changing plays," Chiefs quarterback Alex Smith said. "And I'm not just talking about the picks and the pick-sixes. I'm talking about setting a tone. He realizes when there is a slip in practice, when guys aren't into it or aren't really feeling it, and he's not afraid to speak his mind. You know it comes from the heart, too. Nothing he does is phony."
This year also has been rewarding for Berry because it started acrimoniously. He was unable to reach agreement on a long-term deal with the team after being designated as Kansas City's franchise player this offseason. Berry responded by missing all of training camp before signing his $10.8 million tender on Aug. 28. At the time, head coach Andy Reid didn't fear any letdown in Berry's play after the holdout, and Berry confirmed that confidence with each passing week.
Berry probably would have even better numbers if the Chiefs used him as they had when Reid first arrived in 2013. Back then, Berry played closer to the line of scrimmage and impacted games more as a run defender. However, Reid and Sutton eventually decided that they needed more speed on the back end of their defense, which led to Berry operating more as a centerfielder over the last three seasons. It's a role that hasn't prevented him from being a leader on the defense, as he notably elevated his performance when the Chiefs were without Pro Bowl outside linebacker Justin Houston, who didn't take the field until Week 11.
About the only thing Berry hasn't done for the Chiefs is promote himself. He shies away from one-on-one interviews and rarely likes to discuss his play. That might be another reason why he's not getting his just due in the Defensive Player of the Year conversation, even though his teammates know what he's meant to them.
"He's the real deal," Smith said. "He's a big-time player in this league. But when it comes to selflessness and living by what he talks about, he really does that. He's a guy that, from the day I've gotten here, he's held himself to a higher standard. That earns him a lot of respect, and he's really the embodiment of our identity."
And now, the rest of this week's notes from NFL.com's reporters:
NFL: Raiders, Chargers remain in limbo. The relocation sagas of the Oakland Raiders and San Diego Chargers dragged on this week, with an owners' meeting producing only incremental movement. Pittsburgh Steelers owner Art Rooney II said he thought a vote on the relocation of the Raiders (the Chargers already got approval to move to Los Angeles last year, as part of the deal that allowed the Rams to move there from St. Louis first) would come no earlier than the league's annual meeting in late March -- leaving four months in which the league and teams could try last-ditch efforts to find solutions in their current home areas.
The long wait is because there is so much information left to be gathered and assessed. One thing is clear: Unlike last year, the preference of the NFL is to have the teams stay put, with Commissioner Roger Goodell calling relocations "painful" and "something we want to avoid at all costs" -- the strongest language he has used in explaining the league's position. One part of the league's reluctance: The Las Vegas market (where the Raiders could go) is considerably smaller and less lucrative than the booming Bay Area, and while Goodell praised Las Vegas on Wednesday, several owners said they are awaiting further information on studies of it.
"It's not really as big a market," said Houston Texans owner Bob McNair. "We prefer to have a bigger market. But you've got to go where you have the opportunity."
McNair also said owners were hoping San Diego would come up with a viable plan to keep the Chargers.
The limited activity backed up that grudging understanding of relocation. Owners approved two measures for the Chargers that inch them closer to going to Los Angeles: they approved the lease terms for the Chargers to play at Rams owner Stan Kroenke's new stadium in Inglewood, and they approved a debt waiver that makes it easier for the Chargers to borrow from a bank a portion of the hefty relocation fee they would have to pay with a move. And owners and league officials expressed skepticism about a planapproved by the Oakland City Council and the Alameda County Board of Supervisors for a deal with developers, an effort fronted by Ronnie Lott, designed to keep the Raiders in Oakland.
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ARIZONA CARDINALS: Floyd's release about sending a message. The surprising Wednesday release of former Cardinals receiver Michael Floyd maybe shouldn't have been much of a surprise at all. Floyd was arrested Monday on drunken driving charges (he had also been arrested in 2011 for driving under the influence). Team president Michael Bidwill explained as he left the owners' meeting in Dallas on Wednesday afternoon that coach Bruce Arians talks to the team often -- after games, before bye weeks, before holidays -- about the team's standards. The message: "Don't be that guy."
But make no mistake: Bidwill's position influenced the team's decision. Bidwill, a former federal prosecutor, is the chairman of the league's conduct committee, which oversees the personal conduct policy. And while Bidwill said the decision to released Floyd was difficult, when asked if the move could be interpreted as a statement, given his role within the league, Bidwill replied: "It's a statement."
Then a reporter noted that it had been a tough season -- the Cardinals are 5-7-1 and seem likely to miss the playoffs -- and Bidwill chuckled. "It's definitely a different feeling than last December."
Floyd was claimed by the Patriots on Thursday.
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CINCINNATI BENGALS: A new side of Burfict. Has Vontaze Burfict really undergone a personality transformation?
The sometimes-mercurial, always-fierce force of a linebacker was suspended by the NFL for the first three games of this season for repeated violations of player safety rules. Since serving that suspension, Burfict has drawn exactly one penalty flag. For five yards. That's 71 tackles, two interceptions and not one personal foul.
Consider this: Coming into the season, Burfict had been flagged for 16 personal fouls. (A particularly egregious year was 2013, when he drew eight unnecessary roughness flags and another for a facemask penalty.)
"Vontaze has come into his own," Bengals defensive end Carlos Dunlap said. "He's starting to understand the repercussions of his mistakes."
Now, Burfict hasn't become a complete altar boy. He was fined $12,154 for making an obscene gesture to Buffalo fans in Week 11, and $75,000 for stepping on Patriots' running back LeGarrette Blount in Week 6. And count Steelers back Le'Veon Bell -- whose season was ended by Burfict on Nov. 1 last season -- as a non-believer.
"He still does sly little things after the whistle, or when refs aren't looking, things to try to get you out of character," Bell said. Still, Bell stated that he's not looking for any payback, that the best revenge "is running all over them. That would make him most mad, right?"
There is definite bad blood between these two teams (see: the Bengals' absolute meltdown in the playoffs last year), and Burfict is the lighter fluid. His concussing hit on Antonio Brown, with 22 seconds remaining in that playoff game, was even cited by the NFL in its release announcing Burfict's suspension. And his hit on Ben Roethlisberger knocked the quarterback briefly out of that same game.
Bengals corner Adam Jones said this week that he expected the Steelers to try to goad Burfict into some flag-inducing behavior. For their part, the Steelers -- on a four-game win streak -- uniformly said they don't have time for that.
Regardless, it's a good bet that the chippiness Sunday will see an uptick from the teams' mostly civil Week 2 meeting: In the last eight meetings between the Steelers and Bengals, the five games in which Burfict has played have produced nearly twice as many penalty yards (140.6) as the three he hasn't (71.3).
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KANSAS CITY CHIEFS: Ware can give himself a raise.Chiefs running back Spencer Ware has plenty of motivation to play well down the stretch in the form of incentives in his contract that are tied to individual and team performance. With 790 rushing yards on the season, Ware is only 60 yards away from triggering a $300,000 escalator on next year's salary. And if he picks up 150 more yards to get to 1,000, that number goes up to $600,000. (He can make it $900,000 by getting to 1,200 yards, though that seems unlikely.)
The pot gets even sweeter for Ware if the Chiefs make the playoffs. A postseason appearance doubles whatever individual escalator he achieves. So if Ware goes over 1,000 rushing yards and the Chiefs clinch a playoff spot, he'll pick up an extra $1.2 million next season. Considering he's due to earn $825,000 in 2017, that's quite a boost and quite the motivating factor to play well these last three weeks.
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NEW YORK GIANTS: Manning determined to play better. Mostly, in good times and bad, Eli Manning prefers the pronoun "we." This week, he went with "I," particularly when it came to blame for an offense that continues to depend on its defense to close out games.
Manning fumbled twice against the Cowboys -- on one, he was untouched, and the ball slipped out of his hands -- and threw one interception, though he could have thrown three. Manning has 17 giveaways this season; among quarterbacks, only Philip Rivers (22) and Blake Bortles (19) have more.
Manning does have five game-winning drives in the fourth quarter this season. But it's been the Giants' defense that has been on the field to close out, or effectively close out, six of their nine wins. With the way the defense is playing, Manning knows he just has to do his job for his team to win.
"That's what I'm trying to do; do my job, find completions, score points, move the ball," he said. "We got to clean some things up, and I got to play better and smarter football."
Making do without JPP. Speaking of the Giants' defense, it responded as well as it could have in its first game without Jason Pierre-Paul, who underwent core muscle surgery last week and will miss at least the rest of the regular season.
During the week leading up to the Dallas game, defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo said, "I don't see anybody blinking," when asked how his players were handling the absence of JPP.
Turns out, he wouldn't let them blink.
Privately, Spagnuolo told his defense, "Failure is not an option." Across the board, his players accepted that challenge, none more so than Romeo Okwara. Playing in place of JPP, the undrafted rookie out of Notre Dame led the Giants with eight tackles, a sack and three hits of Dak Prescott. And the overall defense, which is having a resurgent season, probably turned in its most complete performance in holding Dallas to seven points.
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PITTSBURGH STEELERS: Teammates backing Foster's appeal. The way Ramon Foster saw it, he was standing up for a teammate. The way his teammates saw it? Exactly the same.
The Steelers left guard was fined $9,115 after Pittsburgh's 24-14 win over the Giants on Dec. 4, for what he said the league deemed retaliation. During a pile-on tackle of Le'Veon Bell, Giants linebacker Kelvin Sheppard appeared to reach under the running back's facemask and twist his neck. A furious Foster heaved Sheppard out of the pile. And when quarterback Ben Roethlisberger heard of the fine, he took up a collection.
"It was definitely a cool thing to do," said Foster, who hopes not to collect from his teammates. He's appealed the fine and will be heard Tuesday. If the fine stands, he said, it's still "good to know my teammates have my back."
Like he has theirs.
Bell carrying load, wants more still. It was snowy, it was cold, the Buffalo defense was swarming and Le'Veon Bell missed exactly three snaps, two of which were at the end of the game, when the Steelers were in victory formation. And yes, afterward, Bell was annoyed. He wanted to play every snap.
"I don't like coming out. I don't want to come out. It's a pride thing," said Bell, who finished the game with 236 yards rushing, 62 yards receiving, three touchdowns and an absurd 42 touches. Only one other player in the modern era has rushed for 225-plus yards while also notching 50-plus receiving yards: Hall of Famer Jim Brown.
Since Week 4, Bell has accounted for a greater percentage of his team's yards from scrimmage (41.6 percent), rushing yards (90.2 percent) and touches (57.5 percent) than any other player in the game. But neither Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin nor offensive coordinator Todd Haley said last Sunday's reliance on Bell was a need thing; they both said it's their winning formula, and one they have no plans to move away from.
"If we are waiting for him to tap out, it's not going to happen. He has been very productive. We haven't seen any drop off and he hasn't asked for any time off," Haley said. He went on to praise Bell's conditioning, praise that the 24-year-old back later said he's worked hard to earn.
"Everybody has a different feel for the game," Bell said. "I feel really good."
Bell did miss the first three games of the season, while serving a suspension. He said feeling good has less to do with the lack of wear and tear than his aggressive style.
"I'm delivering the hits, instead of taking them," he said, fully serious. The one thing he would cop to "feeling" is the blitz pickups in pass protection. As he put it, "That's a bang thud." But with veteran running DeAngelo Williams slated to make his return Sunday in Cincinnati after knee surgery, Bell could get an occasional breather on that front. If he allows it.
"I don't want it to be easy to take me out," he said. "This is what I do."
