The Chicago Bears' tear down continues.

The Bears traded two-time All-Pro linebacker Roquan Smith to the Baltimore Ravens on Monday for a 2023 second-round pick along with a fifth-round selection in next year's draft. Chicago acquired linebacker A.J. Klein in the deal.

Smith becomes the second high-profile defensive player traded by the Bears in less than a week after sending pass-rusher Robert Quinn to the Philadelphia Eagles last Wednesday.

Smith leaves behind the rebuilding Bears to join a 5-3 Ravens team that is in first place in the AFC North.

Selected eighth overall in the 2018 draft, Smith requested a trade prior to the start of the season after being unable to work out a new contract before ultimately agreeing to play out his rookie deal.

The 25-year-old has been one of the league’s top linebackers and was looking to be paid like one.

He leads the league with 83 total tackles this season while also registering 2.5 sacks and two interceptions.

Since his rookie season, his 606 total tackles trail only Bobby Wagner for the most in the NFL and his 47 tackles for loss are tied for 14th.

In his final game with the Bears on Sunday, Chicago's defense was shredded in a 49-29 loss at Dallas, surrendering a season-high 442 yards with the Cowboys averaging 7.8 yards per play.

The loss dropped the Bears to 3-5, and the team has essentially conceded this season as general manager Ryan Poles goes into the offseason looking to build around Justin Fields, who put together a second straight encouraging performance in Week 8.

Chicago received a 2023 fourth-round draft pick for Quinn, who set a Bears franchise record for sacks in a single season last year with 18.5.

 

Auburn fired coach Bryan Harsin on Monday after less than two seasons in charge.

The decision was made to dismiss him after Saturday's 41-27 loss to Arkansas, dropping the Tigers to 3-5 on the season and 1-4 in the Southeastern Conference.

That setback was the fourth straight loss for Auburn, which included a 42-10 drubbing to top-ranked Georgia on October 8.

"Auburn University has decided to make a change in the leadership of the Auburn University football programme," the school said in a brief statement announcing the move.

''Auburn will begin an immediate search for a coach that will return the Auburn programme to a place where it is consistently competing at the highest levels and representing the winning tradition that is Auburn football."

Auburn hired Harsin in December 2020 after he went 69-19 in seven seasons at Boise State, leading the Broncos to four Mountain West titles and three bowl victories.

He was unable to find similar success at Auburn, however, going 6-7 in his first season at the helm, with a 3-5 record in the SEC.

The Tigers also struggled mightily against top-tier competition, going 2-8 against ranked opponents in the 45-year-old's time in charge.

Auburn gave Harsin a six-year, $31.5million contract, and the school still owes him more than $15m as part of his buyout

Micah Parsons believes he deserves to play some snaps on offense after his stunning fumble return for a touchdown in the Dallas Cowboys' Week 8 win over the Chicago Bears.

Parsons put the Cowboys in command in the third quarter of their 49-29 win at AT&T Stadium on Sunday when he returned a David Montgomery fumble 36 yards for the score.

Dallas' star pass rusher forced Justin Fields from the pocket before he found running back Montgomery, who subsequently coughed up the ball after a hit from Leighton Vander Esch.

Parsons got back in position to recover the ball and, after realising Fields had leapt over him rather than touch him down by contact, evaded several scrambling Bears players to find the endzone and give the Cowboys a 42-23 lead.

It marked Parsons' first touchdown of his NFL career, and he now feels he should have the chance to add to that tally on offense.

"Zeke [Ezekiel Elliott] said I look just like him," Parsons said of his touchdown.

"I think I definitely deserve a rep now. They can't say they haven't seen it in a game. So hopefully I get thrown in a goal-line package or red-zone package."

Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy, whose team are 6-2 behind only the 7-0 Philadelphia Eagles in the NFC East, is concerned the score will lead to him being pestered by Parsons to play on offense.

"I was obviously very excited," McCarthy said. "But part of me is annoyed because he wants to be on offense already.

"Now I'm going to have a hard time keeping him out of my office."

The Philadelphia Eagles are 7-0, but A.J. Brown still does not believe they have played close to their best.

Brown was the star of the show for the Eagles at Lincoln Financial Field as they routed the Pittsburgh Steelers 35-13.

He caught six passes for 156 yards and three touchdowns in an emphatic demonstration of why the Eagles traded a first-round pick to the Tennessee Titans to acquire Brown.

But the former Ole Miss star still sees plenty of room for the Eagles to improve as they bid to represent the NFC in the Super Bowl.

"This team is hungry and, most importantly, humble. We know there is a lot of work to be done," said Brown.

"We still have not played a complete game, and I promise you, everybody in this room is going to know when we play a complete game.

"Once we do that, the whole world will know that."

Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts is enjoying an excellent second season as the Philadelphia starter and has rapidly developed an excellent rapport with Brown.

They have combined for 659 yards and five touchdowns through the air, Hurts registering a passer rating of 121.8 when targeting Brown.

"I have a lot of trust in A.J. I think that’s a lot of the reason why he’s here," Hurts said. "We’ve always had a great relationship.

"It’s been beautiful to see how it’s unfolded throughout the year, personally for him and I, and us on the field.

"I always had a lot of admiration for his mentality. He's been doing great things for us, I'm proud of him as a friend and as a quarterback."

Hurts and Brown will look to develop their understanding further and move to 8-0 when they visit the Houston Texans on Thursday.

The Carolina Panthers did not place the blame for their defeat to the Atlanta Falcons squarely at the feet of D.J. Moore, despite his hugely costly penalty in the final moments of regulation.

A sublime touchdown pass from P.J. Walker to Moore looked to have stolen victory for the Panthers, tying the game with only 12 seconds left.

But the extra point that would have won it for the Panthers was pushed back by 15 yards after Moore ripped off his helmet in celebration and earned an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty.

Eddy Pineiro's attempt from 48 yards missed, and the Falcons won 37-34 in overtime after another Pineiro miss.

Moore accepted his mistake, even if he described the celebration as "a natural reaction", as the Panthers slumped to 2-6, now two games back on the 4-4 Falcons in the wide-open NFC South.

Steve Wilks, the team's interim head coach, said: "We didn't find a way to finish. We had too many opportunities to win this football game, and we didn't find a way to get it done. And that falls on me.

"We've got to make sure we're smart enough. Something to learn from. Celebration penalty, big play like that, we've got to keep our poise.

"It was a great job with D.J. coming up with the big play in the end zone. Great pass by P.J. But as a team we've got to make sure that we're smart and just ready. Take it to the next level, next step."

Wilks added: "It didn't come down to that [penalty]. Of course, it would have given us an opportunity to win, but offense and defense, special teams, we could have had it way before then.

"And with me, I'm encouraging [Moore] and trying to build him up. I told him, 'Hopefully we give you the opportunity to come back and win it for us,' which unfortunately we didn't."

Moore had been a hero for the Panthers the previous week as he caught the opening TD pass from Walker in a shock defeat of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

"D.J. is smart enough to understand that's something to learn from," Wilks said.

"Very talented player, glad he's on our team. But moving forward that's something we'll learn from, and we won't make that same mistake."

Aaron Rodgers warned "nobody feels sorry for us" and the Green Bay Packers must "take a beat" after the Buffalo Bills consigned them to a fourth consecutive defeat.

The Packers slipped to 3-5 with a 27-17 loss to the Bills at Highmark Stadium on Sunday.

Stefon Diggs took six catches for 108 yards, scoring a 26-yard touchdown as Green Bay's miserable run continued.

Rodgers had some harsh words for his team-mates on the Pat McAfee Show last week, stating: "Guys who are making too many mistakes shouldn't be playing, you know. Gotta start cutting some reps, and maybe guys who aren't playing, give them a chance."

The straight-talking quarterback says the Packers must find a way to stop the rot, with the Minnesota Vikings looking like running away with the NFC North at 6-1.

"Nobody feels sorry for us, and we've got to find a way to get one win," he said. "I feel like if we can just get one, then the whole momentum changes."

The Bills charged into a 24-7 half-time lead but were restricted to only three points in the second half. 

Rodgers says Green Bay's first-half display was not good enough, but he took heart from their play in the second half.

He added: "We felt like the Packers again. I felt like, for whatever reason, we didn't have the confidence for a few weeks and weren't playing with a lot of energy, weren't amped up before the game, so I liked the way we felt before the game.

"Maybe it's not football, maybe it was being counted out, maybe it was this environment, but that's encouraging. But the play in the first half wasn't very encouraging."

The Packers lost Christian Watson to concussion early on, while De'Vondre Campbell departed with a knee injury and Quay Walker was ejected in the first half for shoving a member of the Bills staff.

Cooper Kupp is hopeful he dodged "a bullet" with the right ankle injury he sustained late in the Los Angeles Rams' defeat to the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday.

The wide receiver was taped up during the postgame news conference, having looked to have rolled his ankle in the fourth quarter of his side's 14-31 loss, sparking fears of a potential lay-off.

But Kupp is optimistic he has not done serious damage as he waits to discover the extent of his injury.

"It just got rolled up a little bit," he said. "[My] foot got caught, but I think it was able to slide out of there before there was too much damage done.

"So, we'll see over these next few days how it responds. Right now, things are pointing towards dodging a bullet."

Rams head coach Sean McVay felt he should not have put Kupp - who made eight catches and scored a touchdown - in the position to suffer the injury in the first place.

The 29-year-old has no issue with his boss, stressing that such an injury is simply the nature of the game.

"Beyond just the coach that he is, he cares about his guys and about his players, and so I know he feels bad about that," he added.

"But at the end of the day you're playing a football game. So I obviously don't hold anything against him in that regard.

"It's a violent random game, and you play it as hard as you possibly can until the fourth quarter hits zero. And I can respect that and appreciate that."

Bill Belichick has become the outright number two in NFL career victories as a head coach after claiming his 325th win on Sunday.

The New England Patriots head coach surpassed George Halas' tally, notching up his 258th regular season scalp at the expense of the New York Jets.

Combined with the 36 wins he claimed in charge of the Cleveland Browns, along with postseason victories and six Super Bowl triumphs, Belichick now trails only Don Shula (347). 

After a 22-17 win over the Jets, to move 4-4 for the season, the 70-year-old expressed his gratitude to the players who have enabled him to have such success.

"Maybe we can talk about that [his tally of wins] when it's over," Belichick stated. "Add them up at the end here or whatever. I appreciate all the great players we've had that have won those games.

"We had a couple of them in the locker room there. Besides our players -- guys like [Devin] McCourty and [Matthew] Slater -- [Jerod] Mayo, Troy Brown, those guys won a lot for us, for me. So it's really a team win."

Belichick's record now stands at 325 wins from 440 games, with Halas racking up 324 in 497.

He is significantly behind Halas for regular season victories as a head coach with one team, with his 258 wins in charge of the Patriots considerably fewer than the former Chicago Bears chief, who notched 318.

Christian McCaffrey declared he was "proud to be a 49er" after his rare touchdown hat-trick inspired San Francisco's 31-14 win over the Los Angeles Rams.

Playing in only his second game for the Niners following his blockbuster trade from the Carolina Panthers, McCaffrey made a huge impact at SoFi Stadium on Sunday.

The star running back ran for a touchdown, took a pass from Jimmy Garoppolo to score another and also picked out Brandon Aiyuk with a 34-yard pass for a rare treble.

McCaffrey is the first NFL player since LaDainian Tomlinson in 2005 to achieve a touchdown trifecta feat.

He racked up 94 rushing yards and 55 receiving yards, as well as turning provider for wide receiver Aiyuk.

The 49ers stormed back in the second half to move to 4-4 ahead of their bye week and McCaffrey says the victory was more important than personal achievements. 

"Obviously, those things are really cool," McCaffrey said. "I think the biggest thing is coming out with a win and playing a second half like that, too. ... But I'm just proud to be a 49er and it felt good to get a win today."

Niners head coach Kyle Shanahan knows he is fortune to have McCaffrey after they got back on track despite being without Deebo Samuel.

"I think everyone knows how good of a player he is, but I just like how consistent he is and under control in what he does," Shanahan said.

"He's a very smart player, and he makes a lot of plays and stuff, but it's the consistency of how he plays his game. I feel like he was a great guy to add for us."

A win for the Niners leaves them second in the NFC West ahead of the 3-4 Rams.

Seattle Seahawks quarterback Geno Smith is the real deal according to head coach Pete Carroll after he kept them into first place in the NFC West with their third straight win on Sunday.

Smith threw two touchdowns, completing 23 of 34 passes for 212 yards with no turnovers, in the Seahawks' 27-13 victory over the New York Giants on Sunday. He should have had a third TD pass if not for a Tyler Lockett drop on a would-be score.

The 32-year-old Seahawks quarterback has been a revelation this season, having spent the past seven years primarily as a back-up, before taking over from Russell Wilson after his trade to the Denver Broncos.

Smith has already this year matched his career-best 13 touchdown passes in a single season from 2014, with nine games remaining.

"He's the real deal, we're seeing it," Carroll told reporters. "There's no mystery or, 'Oh, he's going to run out of gas or something.' It's not like that.

"He knows exactly what he's doing and he shows you week in, week out, throw after throw after throw. There's nothing for us to hold him but in the highest of expectations, really.

"What a thrilling story for the kid. He just hung in there so tough and outlasted it and now he's enjoying all the fun of it. He did great."

Smith has completed 181 of 249 attempts with a 72.7 completion rate for 1,924 yards with three interceptions this season.

The Seattle QB has also rushed for 158 yards with one touchdown, but would not get caught up in the universal praise coming for him as the surprise of he season.

"Man, we just got a win today," Smith said. "We only got a chance to play one game today, and we won it.

"We've got to continue to play hard throughout the season. Every single game is going to be a test. We know that.

"We always talk about each game being a championship opportunity and so we're just going to continue to focus on it day by day, not get caught up in the outside noise - and just do what we do."

The Seahawks are top of the NFC West with a 5-3 record, ahead of the San Francisco 49ers (4-4) and the Los Angeles Rams (3-4) and the Arizona Cardinals (3-5).

The Buffalo Bills advanced their record to 6-1 as star wide receiver Stefon Diggs ignited his side's air attack in a 27-17 victory against the Green Bay Packers on Sunday.

Bills quarterback and MVP favourite Josh Allen ended up completing only 13 passes in the win, but that did not stop Diggs from enjoying a big day.

After a one-yard touchdown pass from Allen to tight end Dawson Knox gave the Bills a 7-0 lead at quarter-time, they doubled that advantage with the first play of the second quarter when Allen found Diggs streaking down the sideline with a 26-yard bullet.

Diggs helped the Bills add another three points in the final seconds of the first half when his 53-yard catch deep down the center of the field set up a field goal to make it 24-7 at the long break.

Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers was determined to make a game of it, and he ended up completing touchdown passes to rookies Romeo Doubs and Samori Toure to trim the margin to 10 points with six minutes remaining.

But after two fourth-quarter interceptions from Allen, the Bills safely navigated the closing stages with a run-heavy, clock-chewing attack.

Allen completed 13-of-25 passes for 218 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions, and nearly half of his total production went to Diggs, who collected six catches for 108 yards and a touchdown.

Both teams ran the ball well, with Devin Singletary (67 yards), James Cook (35 yards) and Allen (50 yards) combining for 152 yards for the Bills, while the Packers, led by Aaron Jones (143 yards on 20 carries), racked up 208 rushing yards.

Nobody can say that Alvin Kamara doesn’t back up his words after his New Orleans Saints shutout the Las Vegas Raiders 24-0 on Sunday.

After saying his team intended to 'whoop' the Raiders, Kamara did his part as he scored his first three touchdowns of the season while the Saints' defense limited the Raiders to 183 total yards, rebounding from last week’s prime-time loss to the Arizona Cardinals. 

"I stick to what I said," Kamara said. "We was going to go out there and beat their [butt], and we did that."

Kamara unleashed in a fiery postgame speech after the loss to the Cardinals, preaching accountability and playing "Saints football". 

"I think [the swagger] is probably on its way back," Kamara said. "We had a nice performance right there, but swag ain’t s*** if it’s not consistent.

"You can do it one time, but you’ve got to be able to string it together. We’re looking for the same type of preparation this week. I know I am." 

Next up for Kamara and the Saints is a Monday night matchup with the Baltimore Ravens. 

"Just because we had a nice game this week doesn’t mean that there’s a fall-off or taper down," Kamara said. "We’ve got to do the same thing the next week, and the next week and the next week. Put it together. That’s really what swag is. Swag is consistency." 

Kamara believes the win was especially gratifying for head coach Dennis Allen, who was fired by the Raiders four games into the 2014 season. Kamara said Allen made no mention of what a win would mean to him until he addressed the team in the locker room after the game. 

"He didn’t really say anything about it," Kamara said. "But in the locker room, he was like, ‘yeah, I lied. This game meant a lot to me'."

Even at 3-5, New Orleans are just one game behind the NFC South-leading Atlanta Falcons.  

"The defence was challenged this week, in terms of stepping up and playing the way they’re capable of playing," Allen said. "I thought they came out and played with energy, passion. I thought they played with swagger, which was good to see."

Christian McCaffrey accomplished a feat not seen in 17 years as he delivered a starring performance in the San Francisco 49ers' 31-14 road win against the Los Angeles Rams on Sunday.

After being acquired in a trade from the Carolina Panthers less than two weeks ago, McCaffrey showed exactly why he is considered arguably the best running back of his generation.

Against the reigning champions, he became the first player since LaDainian Tomlinson in 2005 to score a rushing, receiving and passing touchdown in the same game.

His first score came through a trick play in the second quarter, as what appeared to be a regulation toss play to the right-hand side turned into a halfback pass as McCaffrey dialled up a 34-yard rainbow pass to Brandon Aiyuk in the end zone.

Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford had his side leading 14-10 at half-time after a one-yard quarterback sneak for a touchdown and a 16-yard toss to Cooper Kupp, but McCaffrey put the 49ers ahead with a nine-yard touchdown catch late in the third period.

It was followed by a quick Rams punt, before McCaffrey put the exclamation point on his day by punching in a one-yard touchdown to begin the fourth quarter.

The 49ers offense fired on all cylinders, with quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo completing 21 of his 25 passes for two touchdowns and no turnovers, as Aiyuk and George Kittle also caught touchdown passes.

McCaffrey finished with 18 carries for 94 yards on the ground, eight catches for 55 yards through the air, and completed his only pass attempt for 34 yards.

King Henry continues to own the Texans

Tennessee Titans workhorse Derrick Henry was unstoppable against the Houston Texans, carrying the ball 32 times for 219 yards and two touchdowns in a grinding 17-10 win.

Incredibly, it is the fourth consecutive matchup against the Texans where Henry has posted at least 200 yards and two touchdowns, and the sixth total time of his career against all teams. No other player in the history of the league has more than three career games of at least 200 yards and multiple touchdowns.

With his second touchdown, Henry – who had such a significant workload due to rookie quarterback Malik Willis making his debut start in place of the injured Ryan Tannehill – broke the Titans' career touchdown record with his 75th.

Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts threw a career-high four touchdown passes in Sunday's big 35-13 home win against the Pittsburgh Steelers.

It was also a career day for Hurts' top receiver, A.J. Brown, who caught three touchdown passes for the first time – and he did it all in the first half.

Brown's first score came on a 39-yard deep-ball into the endzone, coming down with it between two Steelers defensive backs in the first quarter. He then added two more scores in the second quarter –  a 27-yard touchdown and a 29-yard touchdown to open up a 21-10 lead.

He finished the game with six catches for 156 yards and three touchdowns, becoming the first Eagles receiver to total at least 150 yards and three touchdowns in a single game since 2007.

Hurts would start the second half with his fourth touchdown pass, this time to Zach Pascal, and a fourth-quarter rushing touchdown for Miles Sanders would complete the rout.

For the Steelers, rookie quarterback Kenny Pickett completed 25 of his 38 passes for 191 yards and one interception, getting sacked six times and fumbling twice.

C.J. Gardner-Johnson collected one of those six sacks for the Eagles, and he also had the game's only interception.

The Eagles have a great chance to move to 8-0 on Thursday when they travel to take on the Houston Texans.

Tagovailoa leads strong Dolphins comeback

The Miami Dolphins had to claw their way out of an early deficit to defeat the Detroit Lions 31-27 in a high-scoring shootout.

Detroit jumped out to a 14-0 lead in the first quarter after touchdown runs to D'Andre Swift and Jamaal Williams, and after Jaylen Waddle got on the end of a Tua Tagovailoa touchdown pass to trim the margin, Williams ran in his second score of the opening half to make it 21-7.

Tagovailoa then found his rhythm and delivered another touchdown to Waddle, with the talented young receiver going on to finish with eight catches for 106 yards and two scores. He was not alone as teammate Tyreek Hill gave the Lions' secondary headaches all game, catching 12 of his 14 targets for 188 yards.

A one-yard fullback dive from Alec Ingold and an 11-yard touchdown to Mike Gesicki would pull the Dolphins ahead 31-27 late in the third quarter, and their defense would rise to the challenge down the stretch to shut the door.

Cook carries the Vikings to impressive 6-1 start

The Minnesota Vikings are one of the most surprising stories of the season and are likely playoff-bound after moving to 6-1 with a 34-26 win over the Arizona Cardinals.

Star running back Dalvin Cook was at his best, shouldering 20 carries for 111 yards and a touchdown, while quarterback Kirk Cousins and backup running back Alexander Mattison also collected rushing touchdowns.

Top Cardinals receiver De'Andre Hopkins enjoyed a big performance, catching 12 passes for 159 yards and a touchdown, but it was not enough as the Minnesota defense stepped up and denied Arizona a potential game-tying score on their final three drives. 

The Denver Broncos survived a frustrating first half at Wembley Stadium to beat the Jacksonville Jaguars 21-17 as Russell Wilson returned from a hamstring injury.

Wilson, who sat out last week, looked extremely rusty early on, almost throwing an interception from his first pass and then giving up a pick that presented Trevor Lawrence with a short field for the first touchdown of Sunday's game.

Having capitalised on that mishap, however, the Jaguars failed to make the most of a sloppy Broncos display thereafter.

Although Denver had an alarming 10 penalties for 71 yards at halftime, they trailed only 10-7, with a Lawrence pass picked on the goal line by Justin Simmons before Wilson led the Broncos up the field late in the second quarter for Jerry Jeudy to score.

Pressure had again been building on Wilson and coach Nathaniel Hackett up to that point, but a 98-yard drive early in the second half allowed Melvin Gordon to run in and secure the Broncos a first lead.

Lawrence, rather than Wilson, had struggled badly since his earlier interception, but Travis Etienne Jr. gave the Jaguars hope of a first win since Week 3, adding a touchdown to his 156 rushing yards.

Instead, Wilson came to the fore again with a 47-yard pass to K.J. Hamler that set up the game-winning drive, finished off by Latavius Murray before Lawrence threw a second pick to K'Waun Williams, ensuring there was no route back into the game for Jacksonville.

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