The Departed: Maclin Snaps Chiefs Streak

A day after the Eagles saw just one receiver catch a pass in their win over the Jets, former Birds wideout Jeremy Maclin caught eight passes for 141 yards and a touchdown as the Packers beat the Chiefs, 38-28, Monday night.

It was Maclin’s first score of the season, and the first touchdown caught by a Kansas City receiver since the 2013 regular season.

“[That is] the one positive,” Chiefs quarterback Alex Smith told reporters after the game. “We don’t have to deal with the receiver talk anymore.”

Through three games, Maclin, Kansas City’s big free agent signing, is on pace for another extremely productive season.

He’s projected to finish the year with 91 catches for 1,333 yards and five touchdowns, which would be six more catches, 18 more yards and five fewer touchdowns than his 2014 season with the Eagles.

Here’s what local and national media are saying about the rest of the Eagles’ offseason departures.

Todd Herremans was benched in the Colts’ first win of the season against Tennesssee, writes ESPN’s Mike Wells.

 

Something had to change and coach Chuck Pagano couldn’t wait any longer. That’s why he shook up the offensive line by benching guards Todd Herremans and Lance Louis on Sunday against the Tennessee Titans. Pagano moved [Jack] Mewhort back to guard and inserted Hugh Thornton at the other guard spot and had Joe Reitz start at right tackle.

“We just felt like we needed a change,” Pagano said. “We need to get a spark. I felt like we need to get some guys in there and give them an opportunity.”

LeSean McCoy scored his first touchdown of the year this week but remains hampered by a hamstring injury. His status is up in the air going forward, per NFL.com’s Chris Wesseling.

Nursing a nagging hamstring injury, LeSean McCoy is unlikely to play this week, NFL Media’s Rand Getlin reported, via a source briefed on the injury.

Although a quick-footed McCoy appeared to be over the hump in Week 2, he spent much of Sunday’s victory on the stationary bike, trying to keep his hamstring loose.

The St. Louis Dispatch gave Nick Foles a C-minus for his performance in the Rams’ Week 3 loss to the Steelers.

Nick Foles did a terrific job with the play-action passing scheme, but he needed a bit more help to produce points. He made the potential go-ahead play in the third quarter, hitting TE Lance Kendricks in stride streaking towards the end zone. But Kendricks dropped the ball.

And when Foles tried again for Kendricks late in the fourth quarter, this time down the middle, safety Will Allen interceded an interception that helped doom the Rams.

Evan Mathis and the Denver Broncos’ offensive line have produced the worst run game by a 3-0 team in NFL history, writes 9News.com’s Mike Kils.

The Broncos are the first-ever NFL team to start a season 3-0 and not rush for at least 70 yards in any of the games. Last week, we reported the Broncos were the second team to start 2-0 and not rush for 70 yards in either game. That other team – the 1992 Broncos – lost game 3 on their way to 8-8.

This leads to three conclusions for the current team: One, Denver is winning because of its terrific defense. The Broncos are ranked No. 1 in total defense, allowing just 259.0 yards per game.

Two, Peyton Manning is a splendid quarterback who will soon become the winningest quarterback of all time. He has 182 lifetime wins; Brett Favre is the all-time leader with 186.

Three, the Broncos’ running game stinks.

From ESPN’s Mike Reiss, Bradley Fletcher was inactive in the Patriots’ Week 3 win over the Jacksonville Jaguars.

New England Patriots veteran cornerback Bradley Fletcher is inactive for Sunday’s game against the Jacksonville Jaguars, a potential move that was foreshadowed Saturday, as rookie Justin Coleman is active for the first time this season.

Fletcher has struggled at times over the first two games. Coleman entered the NFL with the Minnesota Vikings as an undrafted player out of the University of Tennessee.

Coleman will likely serve as the No. 4 cornerback behind Malcolm Butler, Tarell Brown and Logan Ryan. The Patriots’ depth at cornerback has been one of the early question marks this season.

With Kam Chancellor back in Seattle’s secondary, Cary Williams and the Seahawks shut out the Bears, writes the Seattle Times’ Larry Stone.

In other words, don’t get too carried away with the Seahawks’ 26-0 win, in which the Bears ventured into Seattle territory only one time —and that foray went a mere 5 yards early in the second quarter. The Bears got to the Seahawks’ 45-yard line before retreating back to their own side of the field, never to leave again.

But with Chancellor back in the fold after a 54-day holdout, the Seahawks could feel the difference, and felt their play reflected his return just as much as a lackluster opponent,

“You could just see,’’ coach Pete Carroll said. “He made us whole again.”

Brandon Boykin playerd just two snaps in the Steelers’ win over Foles and the Rams, per Pro Football Focus, and has been on the field for 13 snaps in all this year so far.