Comment on The Fifth Down: N.F.L. Playoff Preview - Conference Championships

Class 5A 1. Cherry Creek (2-1) at Highland Park (Texas), 7 p.m. Friday. Next week: vs. No. 10 Pine Creek, 7 p.m. Sept. 27. 2. Mountain Vista (4-0) Bye: After rampaging through their first four games with a combined scoring margin of 215-18, the Golden Eagles get a week to recuperate ahead of the second half of the season.

Oliver Kylington was excited about a new opportunity, but he did not have spending more than two weeks in a Canadian hotel room on his offseason preparation bingo card. Kylington signed a one-year contract on Aug. 5 with the Colorado Avalanche. The 27-year-old is one of several new defensemen with the organization who, along with Sam Malinski, are competing for one of two openings on the blue line in the Avs’ lineup. When training camp started Thursday, Kylington had to wait.

After the Broncos’ road matchup against Tampa Bay, a trip to West Virginia awaits. Denver will practice at the Greenbrier Resort in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia, ahead of traveling to New Jersey for its Week 4 matchup against the New York Jets. The team’s getaway in West Virginia is a call back to head coach Sean Payton’s days in New Orleans. Payton took the Saints to Greenbrier to practice for three straight seasons, starting in 2014.

For one game and 12 snaps, Baron Browning put together a powerful start to his 2024 season. Then the fourth-year outside linebacker dropped out of Denver’s 13-6 loss to Pittsburgh with a foot injury. Head coach Sean Payton on Friday ruled Browning out for the Broncos’ Week 3 trip to Tampa Bay.

Baylor (2-1) at Colorado (2-1) When/where: 6 p.m. Saturday, Folsom Field TV/Radio: KDVR/850 AM BetMGM Line: CU -1.5, 52 over/under Weather: Possible Thunderstorms and 54% chance of rain, 57 degrees at kickoff Three storylines Welcome back: Amid Saturday’s homecoming festivities, the Buffs will be marking a return to Big 12 competition for the first time since 2010 — though it’s not clear if that’s a homecoming or more of a marriage of convenience after fleeing an imploding Pac-12.

Josh Reynolds is a dagger expert. That’s “dagger” as in the NFL passing concept, of course. In Detroit, Reynolds got all the glory on the play. Somebody else handled the clear-out vertical, running a safety down the field to create a void about 18-20 yards past the line of scrimmage, a couple of yards inside the numbers. Then Reynolds, lined up outside, would run a deep in-cut into that void, find the ball and make hay. “That was one of my routes, for sure.