MILAN, Jan 23 (Reuters) – Former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has been in Milan’s San Raffaele hospital since Thursday, a person with knowledge of the matter said on Sunday after the 85-year-old decided against running for president.
ANSA news agency reported earlier on Sunday that Berlusconi’s hospitalisation was related to routine medical checks.
A spokesperson for Berlusconi did not respond to a Reuters request for comment.
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Italy’s former prime minister, Silvio Berlusconi, reacts after casting his vote during Italian elections for mayors and councillors, in Milan, Italy, October 3, 2021. REUTERS/Flavio Lo Scalzo/File Photo
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On Saturday Berlusconi said in a statement that he had decided against running for president ahead of a parliamentary vote beginning on Monday. read more
Italy’s rightist coalition had asked him to run, but his bid was unlikely to be successful due to difficulties in mustering the broad support traditionally needed among more than 1,000 lawmakers and regional delegates. read more
The four-times prime minister had major heart surgery in 2016 and has survived prostate cancer. He has been repeatedly admitted to hospital over the past year after contracting COVID-19 in 2020.
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Reporting by Elvira Pollina, editing by Giselda Vagnoni, Emelia Sithole-Matarise and Pravin Char
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
The D.C. area is bracing for its third snowfall of the year and a bitter cold Thursday night when wind chill temperatures are expected to drop below the teens around the region.
The timing of the snow could slow the Thursday morning commute.
Rain will continue to transition to snow, starting west and moving toward D.C. Expect all snow arriving in the District in the 7 a.m. hour. Slushy to briefly snow-covered roads could be bogged down with traffic very quickly, particularly since rain would prevent crews from pretreating roads.
Weather Stories
Storm Team4 declared a Weather Alert, and a winter weather advisory is in effect in the District, most Northern Virginia counties and Maryland counties like Prince George’s, Montgomery, Anne Arundel and others. Go here for a full list.
Bundle up before you head out the door on Thursday morning. Temperatures will quickly fall to below freezing. Expect a bitterly cold afternoon with northwest winds of 15-25 mph, then feels-like temps in the teens and single-digits by late afternoon and overnight.
Federal agencies in the D.C. area will open on a two-hour delay Thursday with the option of allowing unscheduled leave/telework. D.C. government, however, will open on time, Mayor Muriel Bowser said.
Several school systems in the area have announced they are closed, delayed or doing virtual learning. Here’s a full list of school closures and delays.
WEATHER ALERT: A WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY has been issued for all of the highlighted counties until 1pm today. Light rain now (3:35am) is expected to change over to snow between 6-7am. A quick 1″ to 2″ accumulation is possible before 10am. News4Today starts at 4am. Join us. pic.twitter.com/4MDJndI3Sr
— Chuck Bell (@ChuckBell4) January 20, 2022
The Timeline (And How it Affects Your Morning Commute)
Before 7 a.m.: About half an inch of rainfall, which started late Wednesday night, is expected to melt the snow leftover from the last storm. That means roads will be mostly just wet–until snow starts to fall.
Around 7 or 8 a.m.: It’s snowing, but Storm Team4 Chief Meteorologist Doug Kammerer says above-freezing temperatures will likely prevent significant accumulation on roadways and melt it on contact.
Since it will be raining overnight, road crews will have limited options for pretreating roads. This, combined with the fact that snowplows would be stuck in the morning rush hour, could lead to a very slow commute, and things could get slippery.
The heaviest snow could fall around 8 a.m.
Thursday’s storm is going to be a challenge for road crews just as the morning commute picks up. News4’s Shomari Stone reports on residents’ last-minute preparations taking place overnight.
By noon: The snow moves out, except for a few possible showers in southern parts of the region.
Afternoon: Gusty northwest winds will blow all afternoon and evening lowering wind chills into the teens by 3 or 4 p.m.
Evening: Be prepared for a solid refreeze of any wet or untreated surface tonight. Wind chills are set to be in the single digits during the evening and overnight.
How Much Snow Could We Get Thursday? Here Are Potential Snow Totals
Bitter cold and bone-dry air from the Arctic will limit snowfall potential, Storm Team4 says.
WEATHER ALERT: Rain changing to snow SOON. By 7-8am at the latest. Snow could be briefly heavy and could turn the roads slushy between 8-11am. Most areas will end up with around 2″. If you can avoid travel before noon today, it will make your day easier. #SnowDay #WinterStorm pic.twitter.com/yVVNtBhUKQ
— Chuck Bell (@ChuckBell4) January 20, 2022
Snow accumulations are expected to be around 1 inch but could approach 2 inches during the 6 to 10 a.m. window.
Since the snow was slow to arrive in the D.C. area, amounts could be under an inch. But if snow hangs around for longer, higher amounts are possible.
Here are the snowfall odds predicted by Storm Team4:
80% chance for at least an inch of snow
50% chance for 2 inches of snow
10% chance for 3 inches of snow or more
Future Forecast
Breezy, arctic air will settle in for the rest of Thursday. Temperatures will start in the 30s, but drop into the 20s in many areas and windchills will fall into the teens as the day goes on.
Friday and Saturday will be below freezing. Windchills on Friday morning could be near 0° in some spots as the coldest air in nearly three years moves in. The high Friday will be a frigid 26°.
A winter storm previously expected on Saturday will skirt our area. Southern Maryland can expect some snow. The next storm chance we’ll see will be on Tuesday.
Stay with Storm Team4 for the latest forecast. Download the NBC Washington app on iOS and Android to get severe weather alerts on your phone.
Here are the most important news, trends and analysis that investors need to start their trading day:
1. Wall Street looks a bit higher after Nasdaq’s 3-day winning streak
Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York, January 12, 2022.
Brendan McDermid | Reuters
U.S. stock futures rose slightly Thursday ahead of what’s expected to be another hot inflation report. The Nasdaq edged higher Wednesday, led by tech stocks rebounding for a third straight session. The Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 eked out gains for a second day in a row, with each ending Wednesday less than 1.5% away from last week’s record closes. The Nasdaq has more work to do to dig out from its recent slide, finishing Wednesday 5.4% away from its latest record close in November.
Looking ahead, global alternative asset management firm TPG is set to debut on the Nasdaq on Thursday, the morning after pricing its initial public offering at $29.50 per share, the middle of the expected range.
Moderna expects to report data by March from its Covid vaccine trials involving children aged 2 to 5. If the study is supportive, the company said it would then file for emergency approval for vaccinating that age group. Moderna shares were modestly lower in the premarket.
2. Delta Air Lines reports strong earnings, revenue; shares rise
Delta Air Lines airplanes at the Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL) in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S., on Tuesday, Dec. 21, 2021.
Elijah Nouvelage | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Delta Air Lines shares rose more than 1.5% in the premarket after the carrier on Thursday posted its highest quarterly revenue since late 2019, a better-than-expected $9.47 billion in the fourth quarter. Earnings of 22 cents per share also beat estimates, thanks in part to strong holiday bookings and more business travel. Delta said it expects a first-quarter loss, blaming the Covid omicron variant for higher costs and weaker-than-expected bookings. However, the airline still sees a travel demand rebound further down the road and a profit this year.
3. More hot inflation numbers expected; jobless claims seen steady
The government’s December data on the producer price index, set for release at 8:30 a.m. ET on Thursday, is expected to show a year-over-year rise of 9.8%. The November PPI, a measure of wholesale inflation, rose 9.6% year over year at the fastest clip on record. Thursday’s report comes after December’s consumer price index rose 7% year over year at the quickest pace since June 1982. The response in the stock and bond markets was rather muted because while high, the CPI matched estimates.
Also at 8:30 a.m. ET, the Labor Department is scheduled to release its Thursday look at initial jobless claims. Economists expect a total of 200,000 first-time filings for unemployment benefits for the week ended Jan. 8. That would be down by 7,000 from the prior week, which showed data well anchored around a level that’s even lower than before the Covid pandemic, when new claims were averaging around 215,000.
4. Senate panel to hold hearing on Brainard’s Fed vice chair nomination
U.S. Federal Reserve board member Lael Brainard speaks after she was nominated by U.S. President Joe Biden to serve as vice chair of the Federal Reserve, in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building’s South Court Auditorium at the White House in Washington, U.S., November 22, 2021.
Kevin Lamarque | Reuters
The Senate Banking Committee holds a confirmation hearing at 10 a.m. ET on Thursday to consider Federal Reserve Governor Lael Brainard’s nomination to become the next Fed vice chair. In prepared remarks, Brainard said that controlling decades-high inflation is the “most important task” facing central bankers. Brainard’s prepared remarks stuck close to the monetary policy script used by Fed Chairman Jerome Powell on Tuesday at his confirmation hearing for a second term. He said the Fed will act as needed with higher interest rates and other measures to be sure inflation returns from its current highs to the central bank’s 2% target.
5. Biden to highlight the federal response to omicron surge
U.S. President Joe Biden delivers remarks on voting rights during a speech on the grounds of Morehouse College and Clark Atlanta University in Atlanta, Georgia, January 11, 2022.
Jonathan Ernst | Reuters
President Joe Biden plans to deliver remarks Thursday about his administration’s “surge response” to spiking Covid cases due to the highly contagious omicron variant. Biden will highlight the federal government’s efforts to use military medical personnel, starting next week, to help hospitals hit by the dual problems of a crush of Covid patients and staffing shortages due to sick health-care workers. The president will also announce that six additional military medical teams will be deployed to Michigan, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Ohio and Rhode Island.
— Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report. Follow all the market action like a pro on CNBC Pro. Get the latest on the pandemic with CNBC’s coronavirus coverage.
SATURDAY AM: Refresh for chart and more analysis….Despite Omicron sending many back to the comfort of their households for January, people are still going to the movies, specifically Sony/Marvel’s Spider-Man: No Way Home which is snatching a fourth weekend of $30M at 4,012 locations, which is higher than the fourth session takes of previous big Christmas Star Wars titles Last Jedi ($23.7M), Rogue One ($22M) and Rise of Skywalker ($15.1M), and behind Force Awakens’ $42.3M.
Spider-Man took in $8.3M yesterday, and by end of Sunday will raise his cume to $666.5M, which will make it the 6th highest grossing movie at the domestic box office, ahead of James Cameron’s Titanic ($659.3M). Box Office firm Entelligence says that 54.4M tickets have been sold for the Jon Watts-directed MCU sequel to date in U.S. and Canada.
An insider keeps mentioning to me that Spider-Man isn’t the norm, it’s an anomaly at the pandemic box office. I highly disagree with that: It’s an event that plays to all quads and sub-quads and underscores how you can still draw audiences away from their sofas with the right mass-appealing product, even if we’re freaked out over the variant. Deep down, no matter if you’re blue or red state, everyone wants to get out and live their lives and manage safety in a Covid environment. It just boils down to the type of movie you’re going to make extra time for outside your house, and if it looks similar to anything in a Netflix queue, you’re not going to sacrifice time.
Jessica Chastain in “The 355” Everett
The Simon Kinberg-directed-produced and co-written all femme action movie The 355seemed like a perfect title for Universal to acquire domestic on at $20M, the movie fitting in its theatrical slate which is about diversity and representation. However critics and moviegoers have detected a cookie-cutter action film, and that bad word of mouth is deep-sixing The 355 with a $4.3M result in 3rd place. Critics at 26% Rotten are saying to avoid, while CinemaScore is better at B+. According to EntTelligence The 355‘s weekend B.O. translates to 360K admissions.
RelishMix says about the social media chatter, “Convo for The 355 swings mixed-negative as fans feel like they’re being served a bit of a cliché cookie cutter action package in the spirit of Charlie’s Angels or “James Bond’s daughters” with a diverse mix of kick-ass super charged women. Fans of Jessica Chastain, Lupita Nyong’o and Penelopé Cruz are super supportively cheering for success, but amidst the Covid-resurge, moviegoers are tapping their finger for Peacock or another streaming service drop date.”
(from left) Jessica Chastain, Lupita Nyong’o and director Simon Kinberg on ‘The 355’ Universal
The title was the code name of the first female spy in the American Revolution and became jargon for a female intelligence agent. As Kinberg told us on Crew Call recently, star Jessica Chastain, who worked with him on his X-Men: Dark Phoenix and The Martian production, approached the scribe/filmmaker with the idea of an all-female spy ensemble. They reached out Penelope Cruz, Diane Kruger, Lupita Nyong’o and Bingbing Fan with the pitch to make the movie outside the Hollywood system so that they could retain fiscal ownership and authorship of the $75M production and share in the pic’s upside in various percentages. FilmNation sold foreign at Cannes, with CAA Media Finance selling domestic and China as Deadline first reported. Universal held this title throughout the pandemic. I’m under the impression that tight deals didn’t allow this movie to be sold to a streamer, however, we’ve seen other foreign sales titles become unwound and head to streamers due to the pandemic.
Of course, older adults aren’t storming movie theaters. The results here aren’t that far off from 2020 spy bomb The Rhythm Section which opened to $2.7M. Traditionally we’d rake The 355 over the coals on how it’s poised to be unprofitable. However, with studios practicing streaming, they’re trying to adapt the streamers’ volume sense of accounting to their ledgers in that they spend so many multi-million dollars on content and hope to offset that with subscriptions and other ancillary revenues and global film rentals. What happens now with The 355? Well, it’s on a 17-day theatrical window and heads to PVOD very soon. In its 45th day of release, The 355, like the rest of Uni’s slate moving forward will appear on the pay-tier of Peacock. The 355 will live on Peacock for four months, then head to Amazon Prime, available free to members, for another ten months before moving back to the NBCUni streamer service. Some how, some way, Universal will squeeze blood from this rock.
Sing 2 Universal
Speaking of Universal’s short windows and titles appearing on PVOD after 17 days, Illumination’s Sing 2 became available in homes to be rented yesterday. That’s not stopping the Garth Jennings-written and directed animation title from scoring a $10.3M third weekend, -49% and hitting $107.3M. That officially makes Sing 2 the highest grossing animation movie of the pandemic at the domestic B.O. (since mid-March 2020) and demonstrates that families will go out to animated movies. (Do you hear that, Disney?).
Disney
Yesterday Disney announced they were pulling their Pixar movie Turning Red from theaters and sending it to Disney+ on March 11. Actions speak more than words, and that maneuver screams the following: Disney+ is in desperate need of new content to keep their subs growing; the ambitious slate of MCU, Lucasfilm, etc series they announced back at Disney Investor Day in 2020 seems quite slow to populate the service. In addition, original animated titles are a challenge to launch at the box office, and it’s conceivable that the studio wanted a healthier marketplace to capitalize on that. In addition, the Pixar movie wasn’t booked in the summer, rather the off-season (like Pixar’s Onward before the pandemic) and odds are the audience diagnostics on the movie weren’t good. Otherwise, why send Turning Red into homes? Again, at this moment, with experts predicting Omicron to peak this week, no one is expecting the pandemic to get worse by the spring; Warner Bros. currently sticking to its March 4 release date of The Batman. Says one mid-sized exhibitor to Deadline this morning, “Turning Red would easily do $100 million at the box office. It is not like it’s going to push the needle on subscribers. Send it to Disney + but give it to me too.”
Other big deals this weekend: UAR/MGM’s The House of Guccicrosses $50M, still the highest grossing older-skewing drama out there in the pandemic.
Sarigama Cinemas’ RRR directed by S.S. Rajamouli is poised to gross $83K at 23 theaters, after close to $30K Friday from 23 theaters. A majority of Friday night’s gross came from the Galaxy Grandscape in Dallas. The movie follows two legendary revolutionaries and their journey away from home before they started fighting for their country in 1920s.
MORE…
FRIDAY AM: Universal and FilmNation’s greatly panned (24% on Rotten Tomatoes), but star-studded female spy movie The 355 is not off to the best of starts with $350K from Thursday night previews which started at 7PM yesterday at 2,300 theaters.
This will result in likely a single digit opening for the weekend for the Jessica Chastain, Penelope Cruz, Lupita Nyong’o, Bingbing Fan, and Diane Kruger title. The 355‘s Thursday night is slightly ahead of Paramount/Eon’s January 2020 disaster The Rhythm Section ($235K Thursday night, $2.7M opening; and below 20th Century Studios first month of 2020 failure, Underwater, which saw a $500K Thursday night, $7M 3-day.
Sony
Meanwhile, Sony/Marvel’s Spider-Man: No Way Home fell to its lowest daily gross with an estimated $3.9M yesterday, -11% from Wednesday. Daily grosses have slowly fallen Monday through Thursday for the movie. The pic’s running total stands at $635.7M, the 8th biggest movie ever at the domestic box office, behind Jurassic World‘s $652.3M, and ahead of The Avengers ($623.3M) and Star Wars: The Last Jedi ($620.1M)
Now, before you streaming heads begin to yell “Look what Omicron is doing to the box office!” realize that Spider-Man‘s daily dip here is par for the course for a big Christmas event title in the New Year. Recent Star Wars movies saw their weekday grosses fall to single digits immediately after New Year’s weekend with the Thursday before their fourth weekend hitting a low point, i.e. Force Awakens ($5.9M on Jan. 7, 2016), The Last Jedi ($4.3M on Jan. 4, 2018), Rogue One ($3.8M on Jan. 5, 2017), and Rise of Skywalker ($2.1M on Jan. 9, 2020). Comscore reports that most K-12 schools were already in session yesterday with only 8% off and 84% colleges still on holiday break.
The fourth weekend of No Way Home, after a $56M third weekend, is expected to be down around 46% to hopefully $30M. Previous fourth weekends for the Star Wars movies include Force Awakens ($42.3M), Last Jedi ($23.7M), Rogue One ($22M) and Rise of Skywalker ($15.1M). In other words, don’t assume the floor is falling out of the box office if Spider-Man swings to a $20M-$30M weekend.
Distribution sources are giving me mixed messages: Yes, Omicron is to blame for the slowdown at the box office; no it’s not to blame; that Covid isn’t the reason why some studios pushed titles. Like all things stalling the business, yes, Covid, is the reason why Morbius moved despite Spider-Man‘s success and Sony keeping its Imax and PLF screens. Why is that? The next Sony/Marvel movie was poised to open at the end of the month, and the studio didn’t want an unpredictable business situation after the success of Spider-Man. Best to have the Jered Leto title launch during a warmer and hopefully healthier time on the calendar.
All eyes are on Warner Bros.’ The Batman on March 4. If that movie pushes further in the calendar, then we know we’re in a Covid deja vu like 2020 where a release calendar shuffle occurs, but I’m hearing that is not expected to happen. So rest easy, and remember, in case I haven’t said it enough, box office is product-driven and January is notoriously a horrible time for theatrical releases.
The rest of Thursday’s top 5 according to industry estimates: Uni’s Sing 2 ($1M, -11%, $97M total), Disney/20th’s The King’s Man ($455K,-5%, $21.8M total), Warner/Village Roadshow’s Matrix Resurrections ($299K, -6%, $32.5M), and Lionsgate’s American Underdog ($290K, -5%, $16.3M).
The debate between Chicago Public Schools and the teachers’ union took a significant step forward on Tuesday as educators voted to switch to remote learning, and classes will be canceled for a second consecutive day on Thursday as negotiations continue.
After the CTU vote on Tuesday, CPS announced that classes would be canceled Wednesday, and they will remain out for Thursday after consultation with principals in the district.
“We have no choice but to cancel classes,” CPS CEO Pedro Martinez said. “We’ve already sent another notice to families. As I had conversations with our principals and said ‘what is the best path forward,’ they came back to me and said, ‘CEO, we got to continue to be the champions, and to advocate for in-person instruction.'”
The decision comes as school officials and teachers continue to spar over COVID safety issues that have been the center of a heated debate for months.
“For me, it’s a day of mourning,” Pedro Martinez, CEO of Chicago Public Schools, said earlier Wednesday. “I’m sad for how, as a district, we are responding to parents…because parents are losing in this process.”
Martinez says the district’s immediate goal is to get through Jan. 18, the day the CTU’s work action is scheduled to end.
“We’re figuring out a plan…a plan forward,” he said. “The biggest concern and the questions we are getting is how long will this continue?”
While Mayor Lori Lightfoot called the teachers’ vote to return to remote learning an “illegal work stoppage,” union officials described it as a necessary step to keep teachers and students safe, with the union’s membership feeling unsafe with going back into buildings during a surge in COVID cases.
“Right now, going into schools puts us at risk, puts our students and family at risk of contracting the coronavirus,” union President Jesse Sharkey said. “That’s the simple truth of the matter.”
During a virtual news conference Wednesday, Sharkey suggested that more testing could get his membership back in the classroom more quickly, and pointed to a similar program in Los Angeles schools as a model.
“Provide a test so that people are negative when they come back into a school,” he said. “Then have a meaningful screening program so that we know, that we have some assurance that the people who are in front of us…aren’t positive for coronavirus.”
Both CPS and the CTU have said that they are willing to continue negotiations toward a solution to the issues the union has raised, but it is unclear what the result of those talks will be as parents are left wondering when their children will be allowed to return to classrooms.
The call was requested by Putin, according to an administration official, and Biden accepted because “he believes when it comes to Russia there is no substitute for direct leader-leader dialogue.”
Horne added that “the Biden Administration continues to engage in extensive diplomacy with our European Allies and partners, consulting and coordinating on a common approach in response to Russia’s military build-up on the border with Ukraine. President Biden has spoken with leaders across Europe, and Biden Administration officials have engaged multilaterally with (the North Atlantic Treaty Organization), the (European Union), and the (Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe). They have also held numerous consultations with counterparts, including those from eastern flank countries bilaterally and in the (Bucharest Nine) format as well as Ukraine.”
The Bucharest Nine is a reference to nine European nations that form the eastern edge of NATO — Poland, Romania, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Bulgaria, Latvia, Lithuania and Slovakia.
Biden plans to preview the upcoming bilateral talks between the US and Russia set to take place on January 10, the official said, and will also discuss the NATO-Russia and Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe meetings slated for January 12 and 13. Close consultation with US allies and partners has been “a priority for the administration from the get-go,” the official said, and Biden will underscore that to Putin as well.
In that spirit, Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Wednesday about the ongoing tensions and previewed Biden’s upcoming call with Putin, according to the State Department.
The Biden-Putin call, scheduled for 3:30 pm ET, will be the second direct contact between the two leaders this month as the US continues to pressure Russia to draw down its large military presence near Ukraine’s borders. More than 100,000 Russian troops are still stationed there, and US intelligence officials have warned Ukraine and allies that Russia could be planning to launch an attack as soon as January.
Biden warned Putin during a virtual meeting earlier this month that an invasion would result in serious consequences, such as harsh economic penalties and US military reinforcements on NATO’s eastern flank.
Putin, in turn, has warned the US and NATO that Russia will be forced to act if its “red lines” are crossed, specifically if NATO expands its military capabilities further eastward and into Ukraine. Putin has demanded legally binding security guarantees from the US and NATO, some of which US officials have already called nonstarters but without detailing what exactly is off the table.
But US and Russian officials have agreed to sit down for security talks on January 10, where “Russia can put its concerns on the table, and we will put our concerns on the table with Russia’s activities as well,” an NSC spokesman said on Tuesday. The State Department will lead that delegation, the administration official said on Wednesday.
The status of the talks is not contingent upon Russia first drawing down its forces, a White House official said on Tuesday, because the Biden administration still believes diplomacy is the most responsible path forward “even if we don’t get everything we want.”
US officials plan to consult with Ukraine regularly on the side as the negotiations with Russia take place next month, the White House official told CNN.
Sean Koerner, our Director of Predictive Analytics, reveals his favorite NFL props for Titans-49ers on Thursday Night Football. He has a 503-398-9 (55%) all-time record on NFL bets he’s tracked in the Action app, where you can follow all of his picks.
NFL Props: Titans-49ers-Titans
D’Onta Foreman Over 48.5 Rush Yards
After Derrick Henry went down in Week 8, things were looking a little bleak for the Titans. But Foreman has emerged as the Henry replacement in this offense.
The Titans have been very run heavy of late, average 38.2 team rush attempts over the past three games, despite going only 1-2 over that stretch. Foreman himself is coming off of a 22 touch, 108-yard performance on the ground last week against The Steelers.
I like the Titans +3.5 tonight, meaning I foresee this game featuring a more positive, run-heavy game script than the market thinks. The return of A.J. Brown and Julio Jones to the lineup should help take defensive pressure off of Foreman. Plus Tennessee can use Foreman heavily to set up the play action.
Despite the 49ers having a very good run defense (second in Football Outsiders’ DVOA) and the Titans offensive line being without Taylor Lewan and Rodger Saffold, I believe Foreman will see enough rush attempts to overcome a decrease in efficiency.
I project Foreman closer to 15 carries and 60 rush yards on Thursday Night Football. I would bet this up to 53.5.
Pick: Over 48.5 Rush Yards (-115) at DraftKings
What Are NFL Player Prop Bets?
Bets on a player’s statistics or various outcomes can be considered a player prop. Betting on the over or under on a quarterback’s passing yards, over or under on a wide receiver’s number of receptions, and whether a running back will score a touchdown are all considered player props.
To learn more about the various types of props you can bet on, check out our Betting 101 series.
Kicking off Week 15 of the NFL season, the Kansas City Chiefs defeated the Los Angeles Chargers 34-28 via a walk-off overtime touchdown in a pivotal AFC West matchup.
With the win, the Chiefs improved to 10-4, reaching 10 wins for the seventh straight season.
Kansas City has now won seven straight headed into Week 16.
Here are the top plays from Thursday’s matchup.
Kansas City Chiefs 34, Los Angeles Chargers 28 (OT)
FIRST QUARTER
The Chargers got off to a hot start, thanks to this monster kickoff return courtesy of Andre Roberts.
But L.A. was unable to put points on the board, and it was the Chiefs who were first to strike, as Michael Burton ran it up the middle to take a 7-0 lead.
SECOND QUARTER
On the Chargers’ ensuing drive, Justin Herbert was picked off at midfield, which resulted in a field goal for K.C.
L.A. cut the Chiefs’ lead to 10-7 when Herbert escaped the pressure, faked a toss and scrambled for six.
The 23-year-old star QB made history in the second frame, surpassing four-time Pro Bowler Andrew Luck’s mark of 8,196 passing yards through a QB’s first two seasons.
The Chiefs went three-and-out on the following drive, and the Chargers got the ball back a minute later.
Then, Herbert capped off a nine-play, 42-yard drive with a TD pass to Jalen Guyton, giving L.A. the lead, 14-10.
Misfortune continued to strike K.C., as Joey Bosa came up with the strip-sack on Patrick Mahomes late in the second frame.
The Chargers weren’t able to capitalize on the turnover, however, and it stayed a four-point game at the half.
THIRD QUARTER
The Chiefs added a field goal early in the second half to make it a one-point game, 14-13.
With momentum on K.C.’s side, not even a defensive pass interference could stop this incredible catch by Tyreek Hill, who picked up 40 yards on this play.
After surging downfield, Mahomes & Co. came up short in the red zone on fourth down, however, turning the ball over on downs headed into the final frame.
FOURTH QUARTER
Oh this? Just another dazzling Herbert throw at which to marvel:
Later on that drive, the Chargers were denied when L.A.’s Joshua Kelley fumbled on the Chiefs’ one-yard line.
But three plays later, Mahomes was picked off by Chargers linebacker Uchenna Nwosu to put L.A. right back in the red zone …
… which resulted in an Austin Ekeler TD — his 17th of the year — as the Chargers jumped out to a 21-13 lead.
On the following drive, the Chiefs didn’t waste any time charging down the field.
K.C. pulled within two when Mahomes found Hill in the back of the end zone.
Then, the Chiefs knotted things up midway through the fourth after Clyde Edwards-Helaire punched in the two-point conversion.
With 2:19 to play, Keenan Allen came up with a late-game TD to give the Chargers back the lead.
But L.A.’s lead was short-lived.
Mahomes connected with Kelce to knot things up once again with 1:16 to spare, and things headed to OT after L.A. couldn’t score to end regulation.
OVERTIME
After winning the toss, the Chiefs sealed their fate thanks to this route from Kelce, who went untouched on his way to the end zone on this 34-yard catch and run.
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The Week 15 edition of “Thursday Night Football” features a showdown for the top spot in the AFC West.
As the Kansas City Chiefs travel to Los Angeles to take on the division rival Chargers, they currently hold a one-game advantage in the standings. Because the Chargers won the first game between these two teams, though, they’d overtake the division lead and clinch the head-to-head tiebreaker with another win tonight. The Chiefs, meanwhile, can put two games’ worth of distance between themselves and the Chargers with only three games to go if they’re able to secure a victory on the road.
So, will Kansas City solidify its hold on the division by taking a two-game lead, or will L.A. make things a whole lot more interesting down the stretch? We’ll find out later this evening. Keep it locked to our live blog throughout the night as we update you with stats, scores, and highlights all game long.
The Minnesota Vikings just can’t do anything easy.
After jumping out to a 29-0 lead over the Pittsburgh Steelers, it took a Harrison Smith pass breakup of a throw into the end zone to Pat Freiermuth on the final play of regulation to ultimately seal away a 36-28 victory on Thursday night.
Dalvin Cook rushed for 205 yards and two touchdowns to help Minnesota jump out to their massive lead. The Vikings out-gained the Steelers by a 300-66 margin in the first half in building their 23-0 advantage at the break.
Pittsburgh didn’t get on the board until four minutes were left in the third quarter on a 3-yard touchdown pass from Ben Roethlisberger to Najee Harris. But the Steelers would score three touchdowns in a five-minute span — including a rushing touchdown from Harris and a 30-yard strike from Roethlisberger to James Washington — to trim the lead to 29-20 with 12:11 left to play.
Harris finished the game with 94 yards rushing with a touchdown and three catches for 10 yards and a touchdown.
A 62-yard touchdown strike from Kirk Cousins to K.J. Osborn then seemingly provided the knockout blow for the Vikings as the lead was extended to 36-20 with just under 11 minutes left to play. However, Ahkello Witherspoon intercepted Cousins for a second time to set up another Steelers touchdown, a 15-yard connection from Roethlisberger to Freiermuth, to make it an eight-point game with just over four minutes left to play.
Cook came through again catching a 17-yard pass from Cousins on third-and-8 with 2:38 left to allow Minnesota to force Pittsburgh to expend its allotment of timeouts. Pittsburgh took over with 2:16 left needing to go 96 yards for the tying touchdown and two-point conversion.
Chase Claypool caught a 38-yard bomb up the right sideline from Roethlisberger despite being interfered with by Bashaud Breeland to move Pittsburgh near midfield. Claypool then cost Pittsburgh several seconds celebrating a conversion on fourth-and-1 as the clock continued to tick down. Ultimately, the Steelers got one attempt from the 12-yard line with three seconds left as Smith dislodged the ball from Freiermuth to give the Vikings the victory.
No team in NFL history had lost a regular season game when leading by 29 or more points. The Vikings sure tried to become the first. The San Francisco 49ers rallied from a 35-7 deficit to beat the New Orleans Saints 38-35 in overtime in 1980. The Buffalo Bills hold the postseason record, overcoming a 32-point lead from the Houston Oilers in January, 1993.
Justin Jefferson caught a 14-yard touchdown from Cousins to open the scoring for Minnesota. After a 38-yard field goal from Greg Joseph, Cook’s two touchdown runs made it a 23-0 lead at the half. Joseph would add kicks from 42 and 25 yards in the third quarter to extend the lead to 29-0 before the Steelers began their rally.
Roethlisberger finished with 308 yards and three touchdowns with an interception for Pittsburgh with 240 yards coming in the second half.
Cousins threw for 216 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions for Minnesota.
