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These are excerpts. To read the whole article click the link below.
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https://www.si.com/nfl/2017/12/11/s...rson-wentz-acl-injury-week-14-peter-king-mmqb
The Steelers’ Best, the Eagles’ Worst Nightmare and a Snow Game for the Ages
By Peter King
Sunday had:
• The best regular-season Snow Bowl of this century, with the best extra point ever.
• The best rivalry in the league producing a 39-38 result and a wild walkoff sack.
• The worst breaking of hearts in a terminally heartbroken NFL city.
• The best social post of the season, lasting all of 15 seconds:
View: https://twitter.com/steelers/status/940100461138296832?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.si.com%2Fnfl%2F2017%2F12%2F11%2Fsteelers-ravens-ryan-shazier-carson-wentz-acl-injury-week-14-peter-king-mmqb
“We got a W today!” Steelers linebacker Ryan Shazier, lying down, said just after midnight this morning from his hospital bed in Pittsburgh, the sheet on the bed pulled up to mid-chest. There are woo-woos in the background from family in his room as Shazier speaks.
“Y’all scary!” he says with a wide smile. “We know how to pull it off, baby. Here we go Steelers!”
The Steelers did more than win for their fallen teammate. They were planning a late-night hospital trip to see Shazier.
“Alert hospital security,” defensive end Cam Heyward told Ed Bouchette of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
Coming back from two scores down in the final five minutes, the Steelers made Shazier smile with the 39-38 victory over Baltimore, then the team FaceTimed with him as soon as the players got into the locker room. Shazier suffered a spinal cord injury a week ago in Cincinnati, and his long-term prognosis is uncertain.
For much of this game, the Steelers showed how much they missed him. Ravens back Alex Collins sprinted around the edge on runs Shazier might well have stopped; many of Collins’ 166 rushing/receiving yards were daggers to a defense that badly missed Shazier.
I was sure when firebrands like Hines Ward (2011) and Ray Lewis (2012) left the game that the Ravens-Steelers rivalry would lose its greatness. If anything, it’s better. Harbaugh-Tomlin, Flacco-Roethlisberger, Suggs and the new Steelers’ defensive stars—who hopefully will have Shazier back one day for the fun. But there won’t be many games in this rivarly as good as Steelers 39, Ravens 38.
A quick stat for you: in the past 12 games of the Steelers-Ravens series, it’s six wins apiece. Total points: 275 for Baltimore and, you guessed it, 275 for Pittsburgh.
JOE SARGENT/GETTY IMAGES
Three quick questions with Ed Bouchette, the longtime Steelers beat man for the Post-Gazette, who called at 1:35 this morning, driving home from this weird game:
MMQB: Was it a positive that the Steelers were playing for Ryan Shazier tonight?
Bouchette: A positive they were playing for him. A negative he wasn’t playing for them. He’s the Troy Polamalu of linebackers. Troy was a bolt of lightning. Ryan’s the same thing at linebacker … Calls the signals, leads ’em in tackles, makes so many plays, becoming more durable. It was tough, and is going to be tougher without him.
MMQB: What do you know about Shazier’s prognosis?
Bouchette: I don’t know anything. I truly don't. I’ve heard so many things, on both sides of the story. There was some optimism [last] Monday night in Cincinnati, calling it a concussion and comparing it to the Tommy Maddox spinal cord concussion back in 2002. But Maddox bounced back that night. That was nothing compared to this. Nobody has said how he’s doing. I know there’s been reports … but I haven’t talked to anyone who really knows.
MMQB: How will they do against the Patriots next Sunday?
Bouchette: I think they’re gonna get killed. I picked the Bengals to beat ’em. I picked the Ravens to win by one. They’re down 17-0 to the Bengals, and I think I’m looking pretty good. The Ravens are up 31-20 in the fourth quarter, and it looks like I made the right pick.
But they’re an amazing team. They’re a confounding team. But against New England, without Shazier in the middle, I just don’t see it. To win, they gotta get in Tom Brady’s face, and they gotta score a ton of points.
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A STRANGE DAY IN L.A.
Carson Wentz is such a good guy. Intimidated by nothing (“It’s just football,” he says every 15 or 20 minutes about the mega-jump from North Dakota to Silver Linings Playbook-land), happy for his teammates, caring nothing about his numbers except the one on the left in the newspaper standings.
This is how good a guy he is: When doctors told him after the game they feared he could have an ACL tear, he got emotional—but still celebrated with his teammates when they came in from the NFC East-clinching 43-35 win over the Rams.
JEFF GROSS/GETTY IMAGES
We’ll know for sure about Wentz’s fate later Monday, and whether he tore his left ACL diving for a touchdown that turns out wouldn’t count anyway because of a whistle on the play. But if he is gone, and if Nick Foles has to carry the Eagles’ hopes into January, it’s going to be the seventh significant quarterback injury this year for a team with legitimate playoff hopes: Aaron Rodgers, Sam Bradford, Andrew Luck, Deshaun Watson, Carson Palmer, Ryan Tannehill and Wentz.
View: https://twitter.com/LesBowen/status/940025866016325632?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.si.com%2Fnfl%2F2017%2F12%2F11%2Fsteelers-ravens-ryan-shazier-carson-wentz-acl-injury-week-14-peter-king-mmqb
And it almost makes having two good quarterbacks the new normal for smart NFL general managers. Ironic, really, that the three quarterbacks on New England’s roster on Sept. 1 are now all starting, two of them for teams not named the Patriots. New England has chosen to go all-in on its 40-year-old 29-year-old, Tom Brady. But with so many quarterbacks going down, and so many teams relying on backups, the smart GMs are the ones whose backups are producing well.
Case Keenum’s 8-1 record over the past 10 weeks has made Vikes GM Rick Spielman look like a genius. Ted Thompson doesn’t look so dumb now for sticking with Brett Hundley (3-2 in his past five starts) instead of a veteran in relief of Rodgers.
The rest of the relief pitchers are a mixed bag. But the Eagles have legit hopes of winning a Super Bowl, hopes that won’t be ruined if coach Doug Pederson and offensive coordinator Frank Reich can find enough good things Foles can do in the complex offense if he has to play the rest of the way.
But the bummer is this is the time the league truly needs new young stars, with the ratings down 7 percent and no-shows up and folks worried about the health of the players and the health of the game. The biggest star to come into the league in 2016 was Wentz. The biggest star to come into the league in 2017 was Deshaun Watson. It’s a very bad coincidence that both will be lost for the year, if Wentz’s injury is as bad as it appeared late Sunday.
Philadelphia GM Howie Roseman has done a very good job building up the roster around the quarterback. Alshon Jeffery, LeGarrette Blount and Jay Ajayi have been front-line offensive additions, and the offensive line has survived the loss for the season of left tackle Jason Peters.
To win, Philadelphia will have to be a top-five defense (it’s number three now) and play more ball-control; the Eagles average 4.59 yards a carry, and Ajayi will be crucial to keeping that up.
The season’s not over for Philadelphia if Wentz is lost. The Eagles should easily win two of the last three, at least, and cop home field through the NFC playoffs. But they’d likely have to beat two of the following four—Carolina, New Orleans, the Rams, Minnesota—to advance to the Super Bowl.
And while the energetic and strong-armed Wentz would have been a fascinating matchup against Tom Brady or Ben Roethlisberger in the Super Bowl, Foles would have to play a near-perfect game in the biggest game of his life to win on that stage.
If Wentz is gone for the season, there will be black crepe paper hung over the Walt Whitman Bridge today, and there’s nothing I can do to ease the pain. In a cruel season for a cruel game, the Eagles will have to become the best running team in football to survive this.
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TOM SZCZERBOWSKI/GETTY IMAGES
THERE’S SOMETHING ABOUT A SNOW GAME
Did anyone really care about Indy-Buffalo? Less than half of New York state was getting the game, and not even all of Indiana. But then the snow fell, and it kept falling, and the game was played as the inches kept rising on New Era Field in Orchard Park. Eight inches in all.
“I really don’t mind snow games,” Buffalo running back LeSean McCoy said an hour after the game from his locker room. He was thawed out now. “You feel like you’re a kid out there playing football, playing in the snow like a child. You get tackled and it doesn’t hurt. You’re cushioned. It’s kind of fun.”
The first- and sixth-most productive games in McCoy’s 133-game career, in fact, have come in the snow. His 217-yard day in 2013 against the Lions in the snow in Philadelphia is his best; Sunday’s 32-carry, 156-yard day was his sixth-best.
“To be honest, I haven’t had a day exactly like this,” said McCoy. “I have had better days. The 217-yard day with three touchdowns was in the snow. The difference today was, the winds were extremely strong, and it kept snowing all game. I just tried to plant extra good when I cut, if that makes sense.”
Not everyone liked playing in eight inches of snow. “It is not fun,” left guard Richie Incognito texted post-game. “Everything we practice all week techniquewise goes out the window. The snow basically turned it into a WWF wrestling match. I was just inventing moves out there, throwing people all over the place.”
Like the conditions or not, McCoy and Incognito combined to win the game in overtime. With the ball at the Indianapolis 21, and 1:39 left in OT, the Bills called for McCoy’s career-high 32nd carry. And the call was for him to go through the lane plowed out by Incognito, an excellent run-blocker. But really, how could anyone be great at anything on this ice rink?
Incognito had a tough job here. He’d have to make a combo block. First he’d have to push a strong nosetackle, Johnathan Hankins, off the path to the left, then fire out and contain linebacker Antonio Morrison. “That’s a double-block Richie’s got to make for me to make a good run,” McCoy said.
Incognito did push Hankins—lined up wider left than Incognito thought he’d be, so he had to reach over to push him out of the lane—and then, before McCoy ran into the lane, Incognito engaged Morrison straight up so he couldn’t detour McCoy. And McCoy was gone. “When I got to the end zone, I couldn’t breathe,” he said. “Guys all around me, and I was yelling, ‘I can’t breathe! Yo! Back up!’”
Bills 13, Colts 7, on the prettiest NFL tableau in a long time. “There won’t be another game like this for 10 years,” McCoy said.
One more thing for McCoy, who needs 39 rushing yards to become the 30th player in NFL history to gain 10,000 yards on the ground: I asked him if he was happy to be in Buffalo, and if he still holds hard feelings over the 2015 trade from Philadelphia. I’ve always admired McCoy for his honesty.
“I am extremely happy I am here,” said the Harrisburg, Pa., kid. “Buffalo has embraced me and my family, and they love me here. I love that. But I can’t lie and say I don't love Philly. I do. That was my home. The trade was wrong, and it was weird.”
See? An honest man.
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AFC West Playoff Race: Chiefs Rediscover Poise, Use Illusion to Beat Raiders
JASON HANNA/GETTY IMAGES
Who would have predicted Kansas City 26, Oakland 0, after 50 minutes at Arrowhead on Sunday? The Chiefs, who had given away a four-game lead over their nemeses the Chargers in two months … who had lost six of seven … who were facing an Oakland team that had put up 31 on them seven weeks ago … who were coming off an embarrassing loss in the standings and in poise the previous week.
And then coach Andy Reid booted off the team for the week his best defensive player, cornerback Marcus Peters, for being such a child in a 38-31 loss to the Jets—throwing a penalty flag in the stands, leaving the field when he hadn’t been ejected, and returning to the sideline with no socks. The Chiefs, losing their poise so critically and so publicly. How very un-Reid like.
Biggest game of the season, with a suspended Peters, with a nervous fan base, against Derek Carr, one of the best deep throwers in football. Why Peters, and why now, before the biggest game of the year?
“I don’t weigh things out like that—at all,” Reid told me from Kansas City after Sunday’s 26-15 win. “I try to weigh what’s best for the team, and what’s best for the kid, regardless where we are in the season.”
It worked. The Chiefs, playing with the poise they lacked last week and in several previous weeks, scored on six of their first nine drives, and the play-design and play-calling was vintage Reid. With offensive coordinator Matt Nagy continuing his play-calling role, the Chiefs badly fooled the Raiders on the series that changed, and probably clinched, the game.
On the last play of the first quarter, Kansas City led 3-0 and had a first down at the Oakland 17. Alex Smith lined up in the shotgun, with running back Charcandrick West a sidecar to his right. Before the snap, wideout Tyreek Hill sprinted from left to right across the motion in front of Smith … but Hill wasn’t done yet. He pivoted and sprinted around the back of West and Smith.
The ball was snapped. Hill looked for the ball, sprinting left. Smith pump-faked it to him. As that was happening, West motioned right and waved his right hand for the ball. Five Raiders either went toward Hill or took a step in that direction; two Raiders eyed and followed West. That left tight end Travis Kelce mostly alone in the middle of the field, minimal attention paid. And he steamrolled inside the 1 (originally called a touchdown, and then put back at the half-yard line).
Next play: Three wideouts clustered in a tight triangle split wide left. Smith looked that way a couple of times. Then he simply handed it to the previously slumping rookie Kareem Hunt, and he burst in for the touchdown. Chiefs 10, Raiders 0, and the lead was never in single digits after that.
“Houdini would have been proud,” Reid told me.
Rich Gannon had it exactly right on CBS, when the triangle of deceptive wideouts were flanked wide left. “Look at this Kansas City offense,” Gannon said. “They want you to look over here. It’s a big part of their offensive philosophy: illusion and disguise.”
Told of Gannon’s analysis, Reid, who is as open about his offensive philosophy as president are about nuclear codes, thought of how he could avoid answering with specifics. “Listen, that’s certainly a part of what we do,” Reid said. “We try to do things that have a disguise to them. Teams know that.”
So the Chiefs live for another day … and another huge game. How happy is NFL Network to have the 7-6 Chargers at the 7-6 Chiefs on Saturday at 8:25 p.m. ET, as a standalone game on national TV? On a weekend of terrific games—Rams-Seahawks, Patriots-Steelers, Packers (with Aaron Rodgers presumably)-Panthers—no game will have as much at stake for both teams.
Reid has been confounded by his defense playing well one week and offense not, and vice versa. Until the last 10 minutes Sunday, he got premier play from both sides. “I go in thinking we’re going to play like that every week,” he said. “Now, next week is the same deal. I’ll feel the same way.”
And now it’s the Chargers, coming off a rout of Washington, and the hottest team in the AFC west of Pittsburgh. The Chargers are 7-2 in their last nine, and Philip Rivers has been reborn.
“The Chargers are as hot as anybody right now,” said Reid, “and we’re going to be working on a short week. My mind is right onto the Chargers right now. I’m going to look at their tape.”
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You may still think Roger Goodell would be overpaid at $4 million per, and I get that, but I’m told it’s highly unlikely he’ll make $40 million a year in this deal. I hear the same thing about Goodell’s contract that Albert Breer does, and it’s basically that there’s no way the extension will net Goodell $200 million over five years. The deal, essentially, guarantees Goodell about $3.9 million per year in 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, and 2023 before expiring in March 2024, with an estimated 88 percent of the deal incentive-based.
The fact is that if Goodell hits a few grand slams every year and reaches the max incentives in league success metrics such as attendance, TV ratings, income, etc., he’ll hit or approach $40 million. That’s unlikely to happen. At least not regularly. As Breer was told by one smart league person, Goodell’s likely to earn somewhere in the high 20s in a typical year, with a very good year in the low-to-mid-30s.
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The Award Section: Jags Fans Get the Goat for Ugly Scene After Win Over Seahawks
DON JUAN MOORE/GETTY IMAGES
OFFENSIVE PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
Ben Roethlisberger, quarterback, Pittsburgh. Playing against a Baltimore team that hadn’t allowed a quarterback to throw for 320 yards all season, Roethlisberger threw for 506—the third 500-yard passing game of his NFL life—in the scintillating 39-38 victory over the Ravens. The way he uses Antonio Brown (11 catches, 213 yards, in perfect concert with his quarterback) and trusts him down the sideline is a thing of football beauty. It’s still pretty wild to think the Steelers, down 11 to start the fourth quarter and down nine with five minutes left, pulled this one out. The win, in such large measure, was due to Roethlisberger’s game-long brilliance.
LeSean McCoy, running back, Buffalo. In eight inches of snow, with it not stopping for the entire game, McCoy had a career-high 32 rushes for 156 yards. The final 21 came on the last play of the game, a playoff-chance-enhancing touchdown run to give Buffalo a walkoff 13-7 overtime win over Indianapolis. Man, that was fun to watch.
Richie Incognito, left guard, Buffalo. On said final play of the game, the Bills called a power run on third-and-four from the Indianapolis 21-yard-line—though no one could really tell what yard line the ball was on; it was an educated guess through the storm—and Incognito had a double-block responsibility.
He had to push 308-pound defensive tackle Johnathan Hankins out of the hole to his left, then step further into the rushing lane to erase linebacker Antonio Morrison. When he did that, McCoy had the clear path. A tremendous play in ridiculous conditions by a man who has become a stalwart guard for a team that wants to mash the ball.
Cam Newton, quarterback, Carolina. This game against the Vikings was the biggest of the year for Carolina, which had played lousy in other big ones—losses to New Orleans twice and Philadelphia. Fourth quarter, 2:33 left, Carolina ball, second-and-five at the Panther 30. Newton fakes the read-option, keeps, runs over left tackle, and goes 62 yards to the Viking eight.
Jonathan Stewart scored the winning touchdown three plays later, and Carolina had a 31-24 win. Newton’s never going to be a 68-percent passer for a season, but he is going to be a man who impacts every game in different ways.
DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Sean Lee, linebacker, Dallas. The MVP of the Cowboys defense showed that in spades in the 30-10 win over the Giants. Lee had 18 tackles, and his interception of Eli Manning on the Giants’ last-gasp drive with 3:20 left in the game and a 13-point lead ended whatever feeble chance New York had to win. The schedule may be too hard for the 7-6 Cowboys to make the playoffs (at Oakland, Seattle, at Philadelphia), but they’ll always have a chance when Lee is in mission control of the defense.
SPECIAL TEAMS PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
Adam Vinatieri, kicker, Indianapolis. “He’s never kicked in worse conditions than this,” said Steve Tasker of CBS. Down 7-6 in the final 80 seconds at Buffalo. The Colts actually converted a two-point conversion with a pass from Jacoby Brissett to Jack Boyle, but they were called for offensive pass interference on the conversion. That caused a 43-yard extra-point try in the swirling snow and strong winds of Orchard Park, in the snow belt.
His linemen worked like mad to clear the eight inches of snow from the launch point, and, of course, Vinatieri would have to attempt the same kind of kick that started his career of wonder … the 45-yard field goal in the AFC playoff game against Oakland 16 years ago. “Same amount of snow as that day,” Vinatieri recalled. “But it was definitely windier today.” He booted it from the right hash, and it looked like it was going to eight feet to the right of the right upright.
Three Bills either began celebrating or made the “no good” sign. Too early. The kick hooked late and just inside the upright. What a kick. “Probably the best extra point I’ve made,” Vinatieri said. I should hope so. Sadly, he missed a 43-yard field goal try that would have won the game in the final seconds. But that extra point … that’s a career kick.
Trevor Davis, punt-returner/wide receiver, Green Bay. His deking 65-yard punt return with less that three minutes left in the fourth quarter and the Packers trailing by seven at Cleveland set up the tying touchdown and capped the 14-point Green Bay comeback. The Packers won in overtime.
COACH OF THE WEEK
Joe Woods, defensive coordinator, Denver. The high-flying Jets came to Denver after scoring 38 on the Chiefs last week, and the Broncos were in crisis, with eight losses in a row. Much pressure on the new head coach, Vance Joseph, and the new defensive coordinator, Woods. Both came through. Woods’ scheme and pressure got to the Jets all day. New York managed six first downs, the absurd number of 100 total yards … and, most importantly, zero points. The Jets never crossed the Denver 39.
GOAT OF THE WEEK
The Jacksonville fans. There is much blame to go around in the Seattle-Jacksonville game—Michael Bennett rolling into the legs of Jacksonville center Brandon Linder was terrible in that end-of-game fiasco—but the Jaguar fans were particularly shameful in the midst of one of their biggest wins in a decade. A fan threw something (it appeared to be a can) that hit Seattle wideout Tyler Lockett in the back, and several fans threw things—ice, and something green—at ejected Seahawk defensive end Quinton Jefferson, causing Jefferson to try to climb into the stands after the fans.
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Things I Think I Think
1. I think these are my quick thoughts on Week 14:
a. I will never understand how the Seahawks thought Alex Collins was not good enough to make their team this summer.
b. One of the coolest drives of the year: The Colts drove 19 plays, 77 yards in 9:53 in a blizzard, and then used a 43-yard PAT from Adam Vinatieri to tie the game in Buffalo. That’s the most fascinating drive and PAT of the year. Easy.
c. Underrated player of the year: Since Arizona acquired Chandler Jones in a spring 2016 trade with New England, he leads the NFL in sacks (25.0) and tackles behind the line of scrimmage (39).
d. Speaking of pressure, Case Keenum will be seeing Kawann Short in his sleep for a couple nights.
e. The 27-yard T.J. Yates touchdown pass to DeAndre Hopkins had to be the greatest throw of Yates’ NFL career, abbreviated as it is.
f. Manti Te’o, 10 tackles. That’s a good career rebound for Te’o, now a Saint.
g. That was one terrible interception thrown by Matthew Stafford in Tampa.
h. I know it’s only two Niners starts, but Jimmy Garoppolo (2-0, 8.9 yards per attempt) is the goods.
i. Davis Webb inactive. Bizarre. Good line from our Conor Orr at the Meadowlands, about the Giants’ approach to quarterback play in this meaningless last month: “This felt like a logjam of competing interests.”
j. Ask yourselves this question, all ye who love the Giants: What purpose does it serve to play Eli Manning in the last three games instead of playing the third-round rookie, Davis Webb, to be able to add info to your 2018 first-round draft decision?
k. The NFL has to explain some of these ridiculous calls, dating back to the Monday-nighter last week in Cincinnati. Phantom calls. All over the place. Antonio Brown’s invisible 15-yard unnecessary roughness call against the Ravens last night. I concur with Asshole Face about the Sheldon Rankins roughing-the-passer call Thursday night; so marginal.
l. Not a good day for Marcus Mariota in the 12-7 loss at Arizona. Just 159 passing yards, 11 rushing yards, no touchdowns, two picks. He’s just not been the dynamic player this year we all thought he’d be in year three.
m. The Bears took Jordan Howard in the 2016 fifth round. He’s given them rushing seasons of 1,313 yards and—with three games left this year—1,032 yards. On a losing team. Nice pick, Ryan Pace.
n. Oakland, 6-7. That’s something I didn’t see coming.
o. Brett Hundley told me last week that one of his goals was to be sure the Pack was still in contention by the time Aaron Rodgers returns. Kudos to him—particularly for coming back from 14 down in the fourth quarter to beat Cleveland in overtime on Sunday. Now Green Bay’s 7-6, a game out of the last wild-card spot in the NFC with a tough slate (at Carolina, Minnesota, at Detroit) and Rodgers almost ready to return.
p. Deshaun Watson-to-DeAndre Hopkins is going to be fun to watch for six or eight years. Really fun.
2. I think I hope for the sake of the franchise, the Giants consider all candidates for the GM job, and don’t have David Gettleman’s name in pen. Not that I don’t like Gettleman; he did a very good job in Carolina. But he’ll be 67 in February.
The Giants’ GM job has been sort of what the Steelers’ coaching job is. New York’s had three GMs since 1979, and none has lasted less than nine seasons; Pittsburgh’s had three head coaches since 1969. Maybe Gettleman’s the best guy out there, even if you can’t expect him to be there for more than four or five years. But I’d rather survey the field of GM candidates than pick Gettleman now and let the rest of the field go.
3. I think the combination of Nick Caserio and Josh McDaniels would be a heck of a catch for any team, by the way.
4. I think NFL teams will not have learned very much (surprise!) if Heisman winner Baker Mayfield is the fifth quarterback taken in the April draft. Or fourth. Mayfield is about 6'0¼", and scouts worry about his size. Let’s go back to 2012. Fourth QB picked: Brandon Weeden. Fifth QB picked: Brock Osweiler. Sixth QB picked: Russell (5'10¾" ) Wilson. Height, schmeight. Watch the games.
5. I think—thanks to Deadline.com, and relayed by Pro Football Talk—we’re now seeing what may be part of the future of the Rams and Chargers in Los Angeles. The Rams are really good, obviously. The Chargers might be good enough to win the AFC West this year.
On Sunday, the matchup between the 9-3 Rams and the 10-2 Eagles at the L.A. Coliseum was the game of the day in the NFL—and, obviously, FOX feared a laconic reaction when its pregame show, FOX NFL Sunday, went to the game site. Now, the pregame show would air from 9-10 a.m. West Coast time, for the 1:25 p.m. ballgame.
When ESPN sends its College GameDay show to college campus sites, and the show is on hours before the game, crowds gather at the appointed time. But FOX, obviously, feared this would not happen with so much time before the Rams game. So FOX put out a notice on Project Casting, where aspiring actors go to look for work. “Calling all LA Rams fans!…
To audition for a role in the upcoming NFL Sunday pre-game show, check out the casting call breakdown below. . . . Come out, bring your spirit, your best NFL gear & join us for NFL on FOX THIS Sunday!” More and more, I sense the NFL is going to have to resort to things like this to try to rev up the market.
6. I think the NFL and the NFLPA need to investigate—the same way I hope the Russell Wilson head-trauma examination from five weeks ago is being thoroughly investigated—the circumstances surrounding the 49ers’ brutal hit on Houston quarterback Tom Savage, and Savage’s reaction to it. Savage appeared to be twitching after the original hit and came out of the game to be looked at by the unaffiliated neurological consultant on the sidelines.
Savage was permitted to re-enter the game for one series. Then he was looked at and pulled from the game, prompting an angry reaction from Savage. Bottom line: It’s good he was pulled, but should he ever have gone back in the game in the first place? This is a vital part of the NFL’s efforts to be sure no player ever plays with a concussion or symptoms of one. The program has to strive for perfection, and this didn’t look perfect.
7. I think Jerry Jones is not happy over the Roger Goodell contract. (Not that he would be.) But I just wonder what he’s got up his sleeve for the NFL meeting in Dallas on Wednesday. I bet it’s something.
8. I think the NFL would be making a mistake if it adopted the college targeting rule, which would provide for an ejection if officials judge that a defensive player targeted a defenseless player's head or neck area with an excessive hit, and would be subject to officiating interpretation. Read those last six words again: Would be subject to officiating interpretation.
Often a hit that looks way over the top happens (as did the George Iloka hit on Antonio Brown last Monday night in the Cincinnati-Pittsburgh game) when a defensive player looks to dislodge the ball from a ballcarrier. It's a tough call.
Often the defender could be aiming for a foe's midsection, but the offensive player could duck or lunge, and then the hit could be helmet-to-helmet. It may not have been the defender's intent, but it just happens. I want to protect players as much as anyone. I'm not saying this is a bad rule. But this rule, if enacted, should be used only on obviously excessive hits.
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https://www.si.com/nfl/2017/12/11/s...rson-wentz-acl-injury-week-14-peter-king-mmqb
The Steelers’ Best, the Eagles’ Worst Nightmare and a Snow Game for the Ages
By Peter King
Sunday had:
• The best regular-season Snow Bowl of this century, with the best extra point ever.
• The best rivalry in the league producing a 39-38 result and a wild walkoff sack.
• The worst breaking of hearts in a terminally heartbroken NFL city.
• The best social post of the season, lasting all of 15 seconds:
View: https://twitter.com/steelers/status/940100461138296832?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.si.com%2Fnfl%2F2017%2F12%2F11%2Fsteelers-ravens-ryan-shazier-carson-wentz-acl-injury-week-14-peter-king-mmqb
“We got a W today!” Steelers linebacker Ryan Shazier, lying down, said just after midnight this morning from his hospital bed in Pittsburgh, the sheet on the bed pulled up to mid-chest. There are woo-woos in the background from family in his room as Shazier speaks.
“Y’all scary!” he says with a wide smile. “We know how to pull it off, baby. Here we go Steelers!”
The Steelers did more than win for their fallen teammate. They were planning a late-night hospital trip to see Shazier.
“Alert hospital security,” defensive end Cam Heyward told Ed Bouchette of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
Coming back from two scores down in the final five minutes, the Steelers made Shazier smile with the 39-38 victory over Baltimore, then the team FaceTimed with him as soon as the players got into the locker room. Shazier suffered a spinal cord injury a week ago in Cincinnati, and his long-term prognosis is uncertain.
For much of this game, the Steelers showed how much they missed him. Ravens back Alex Collins sprinted around the edge on runs Shazier might well have stopped; many of Collins’ 166 rushing/receiving yards were daggers to a defense that badly missed Shazier.
I was sure when firebrands like Hines Ward (2011) and Ray Lewis (2012) left the game that the Ravens-Steelers rivalry would lose its greatness. If anything, it’s better. Harbaugh-Tomlin, Flacco-Roethlisberger, Suggs and the new Steelers’ defensive stars—who hopefully will have Shazier back one day for the fun. But there won’t be many games in this rivarly as good as Steelers 39, Ravens 38.
A quick stat for you: in the past 12 games of the Steelers-Ravens series, it’s six wins apiece. Total points: 275 for Baltimore and, you guessed it, 275 for Pittsburgh.
JOE SARGENT/GETTY IMAGES
Three quick questions with Ed Bouchette, the longtime Steelers beat man for the Post-Gazette, who called at 1:35 this morning, driving home from this weird game:
MMQB: Was it a positive that the Steelers were playing for Ryan Shazier tonight?
Bouchette: A positive they were playing for him. A negative he wasn’t playing for them. He’s the Troy Polamalu of linebackers. Troy was a bolt of lightning. Ryan’s the same thing at linebacker … Calls the signals, leads ’em in tackles, makes so many plays, becoming more durable. It was tough, and is going to be tougher without him.
MMQB: What do you know about Shazier’s prognosis?
Bouchette: I don’t know anything. I truly don't. I’ve heard so many things, on both sides of the story. There was some optimism [last] Monday night in Cincinnati, calling it a concussion and comparing it to the Tommy Maddox spinal cord concussion back in 2002. But Maddox bounced back that night. That was nothing compared to this. Nobody has said how he’s doing. I know there’s been reports … but I haven’t talked to anyone who really knows.
MMQB: How will they do against the Patriots next Sunday?
Bouchette: I think they’re gonna get killed. I picked the Bengals to beat ’em. I picked the Ravens to win by one. They’re down 17-0 to the Bengals, and I think I’m looking pretty good. The Ravens are up 31-20 in the fourth quarter, and it looks like I made the right pick.
But they’re an amazing team. They’re a confounding team. But against New England, without Shazier in the middle, I just don’t see it. To win, they gotta get in Tom Brady’s face, and they gotta score a ton of points.
* * *
A STRANGE DAY IN L.A.
Carson Wentz is such a good guy. Intimidated by nothing (“It’s just football,” he says every 15 or 20 minutes about the mega-jump from North Dakota to Silver Linings Playbook-land), happy for his teammates, caring nothing about his numbers except the one on the left in the newspaper standings.
This is how good a guy he is: When doctors told him after the game they feared he could have an ACL tear, he got emotional—but still celebrated with his teammates when they came in from the NFC East-clinching 43-35 win over the Rams.
JEFF GROSS/GETTY IMAGES
We’ll know for sure about Wentz’s fate later Monday, and whether he tore his left ACL diving for a touchdown that turns out wouldn’t count anyway because of a whistle on the play. But if he is gone, and if Nick Foles has to carry the Eagles’ hopes into January, it’s going to be the seventh significant quarterback injury this year for a team with legitimate playoff hopes: Aaron Rodgers, Sam Bradford, Andrew Luck, Deshaun Watson, Carson Palmer, Ryan Tannehill and Wentz.
View: https://twitter.com/LesBowen/status/940025866016325632?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.si.com%2Fnfl%2F2017%2F12%2F11%2Fsteelers-ravens-ryan-shazier-carson-wentz-acl-injury-week-14-peter-king-mmqb
And it almost makes having two good quarterbacks the new normal for smart NFL general managers. Ironic, really, that the three quarterbacks on New England’s roster on Sept. 1 are now all starting, two of them for teams not named the Patriots. New England has chosen to go all-in on its 40-year-old 29-year-old, Tom Brady. But with so many quarterbacks going down, and so many teams relying on backups, the smart GMs are the ones whose backups are producing well.
Case Keenum’s 8-1 record over the past 10 weeks has made Vikes GM Rick Spielman look like a genius. Ted Thompson doesn’t look so dumb now for sticking with Brett Hundley (3-2 in his past five starts) instead of a veteran in relief of Rodgers.
The rest of the relief pitchers are a mixed bag. But the Eagles have legit hopes of winning a Super Bowl, hopes that won’t be ruined if coach Doug Pederson and offensive coordinator Frank Reich can find enough good things Foles can do in the complex offense if he has to play the rest of the way.
But the bummer is this is the time the league truly needs new young stars, with the ratings down 7 percent and no-shows up and folks worried about the health of the players and the health of the game. The biggest star to come into the league in 2016 was Wentz. The biggest star to come into the league in 2017 was Deshaun Watson. It’s a very bad coincidence that both will be lost for the year, if Wentz’s injury is as bad as it appeared late Sunday.
Philadelphia GM Howie Roseman has done a very good job building up the roster around the quarterback. Alshon Jeffery, LeGarrette Blount and Jay Ajayi have been front-line offensive additions, and the offensive line has survived the loss for the season of left tackle Jason Peters.
To win, Philadelphia will have to be a top-five defense (it’s number three now) and play more ball-control; the Eagles average 4.59 yards a carry, and Ajayi will be crucial to keeping that up.
The season’s not over for Philadelphia if Wentz is lost. The Eagles should easily win two of the last three, at least, and cop home field through the NFC playoffs. But they’d likely have to beat two of the following four—Carolina, New Orleans, the Rams, Minnesota—to advance to the Super Bowl.
And while the energetic and strong-armed Wentz would have been a fascinating matchup against Tom Brady or Ben Roethlisberger in the Super Bowl, Foles would have to play a near-perfect game in the biggest game of his life to win on that stage.
If Wentz is gone for the season, there will be black crepe paper hung over the Walt Whitman Bridge today, and there’s nothing I can do to ease the pain. In a cruel season for a cruel game, the Eagles will have to become the best running team in football to survive this.
* * *
TOM SZCZERBOWSKI/GETTY IMAGES
THERE’S SOMETHING ABOUT A SNOW GAME
Did anyone really care about Indy-Buffalo? Less than half of New York state was getting the game, and not even all of Indiana. But then the snow fell, and it kept falling, and the game was played as the inches kept rising on New Era Field in Orchard Park. Eight inches in all.
“I really don’t mind snow games,” Buffalo running back LeSean McCoy said an hour after the game from his locker room. He was thawed out now. “You feel like you’re a kid out there playing football, playing in the snow like a child. You get tackled and it doesn’t hurt. You’re cushioned. It’s kind of fun.”
The first- and sixth-most productive games in McCoy’s 133-game career, in fact, have come in the snow. His 217-yard day in 2013 against the Lions in the snow in Philadelphia is his best; Sunday’s 32-carry, 156-yard day was his sixth-best.
“To be honest, I haven’t had a day exactly like this,” said McCoy. “I have had better days. The 217-yard day with three touchdowns was in the snow. The difference today was, the winds were extremely strong, and it kept snowing all game. I just tried to plant extra good when I cut, if that makes sense.”
Not everyone liked playing in eight inches of snow. “It is not fun,” left guard Richie Incognito texted post-game. “Everything we practice all week techniquewise goes out the window. The snow basically turned it into a WWF wrestling match. I was just inventing moves out there, throwing people all over the place.”
Like the conditions or not, McCoy and Incognito combined to win the game in overtime. With the ball at the Indianapolis 21, and 1:39 left in OT, the Bills called for McCoy’s career-high 32nd carry. And the call was for him to go through the lane plowed out by Incognito, an excellent run-blocker. But really, how could anyone be great at anything on this ice rink?
Incognito had a tough job here. He’d have to make a combo block. First he’d have to push a strong nosetackle, Johnathan Hankins, off the path to the left, then fire out and contain linebacker Antonio Morrison. “That’s a double-block Richie’s got to make for me to make a good run,” McCoy said.
Incognito did push Hankins—lined up wider left than Incognito thought he’d be, so he had to reach over to push him out of the lane—and then, before McCoy ran into the lane, Incognito engaged Morrison straight up so he couldn’t detour McCoy. And McCoy was gone. “When I got to the end zone, I couldn’t breathe,” he said. “Guys all around me, and I was yelling, ‘I can’t breathe! Yo! Back up!’”
Bills 13, Colts 7, on the prettiest NFL tableau in a long time. “There won’t be another game like this for 10 years,” McCoy said.
One more thing for McCoy, who needs 39 rushing yards to become the 30th player in NFL history to gain 10,000 yards on the ground: I asked him if he was happy to be in Buffalo, and if he still holds hard feelings over the 2015 trade from Philadelphia. I’ve always admired McCoy for his honesty.
“I am extremely happy I am here,” said the Harrisburg, Pa., kid. “Buffalo has embraced me and my family, and they love me here. I love that. But I can’t lie and say I don't love Philly. I do. That was my home. The trade was wrong, and it was weird.”
See? An honest man.
* * *
AFC West Playoff Race: Chiefs Rediscover Poise, Use Illusion to Beat Raiders
JASON HANNA/GETTY IMAGES
Who would have predicted Kansas City 26, Oakland 0, after 50 minutes at Arrowhead on Sunday? The Chiefs, who had given away a four-game lead over their nemeses the Chargers in two months … who had lost six of seven … who were facing an Oakland team that had put up 31 on them seven weeks ago … who were coming off an embarrassing loss in the standings and in poise the previous week.
And then coach Andy Reid booted off the team for the week his best defensive player, cornerback Marcus Peters, for being such a child in a 38-31 loss to the Jets—throwing a penalty flag in the stands, leaving the field when he hadn’t been ejected, and returning to the sideline with no socks. The Chiefs, losing their poise so critically and so publicly. How very un-Reid like.
Biggest game of the season, with a suspended Peters, with a nervous fan base, against Derek Carr, one of the best deep throwers in football. Why Peters, and why now, before the biggest game of the year?
“I don’t weigh things out like that—at all,” Reid told me from Kansas City after Sunday’s 26-15 win. “I try to weigh what’s best for the team, and what’s best for the kid, regardless where we are in the season.”
It worked. The Chiefs, playing with the poise they lacked last week and in several previous weeks, scored on six of their first nine drives, and the play-design and play-calling was vintage Reid. With offensive coordinator Matt Nagy continuing his play-calling role, the Chiefs badly fooled the Raiders on the series that changed, and probably clinched, the game.
On the last play of the first quarter, Kansas City led 3-0 and had a first down at the Oakland 17. Alex Smith lined up in the shotgun, with running back Charcandrick West a sidecar to his right. Before the snap, wideout Tyreek Hill sprinted from left to right across the motion in front of Smith … but Hill wasn’t done yet. He pivoted and sprinted around the back of West and Smith.
The ball was snapped. Hill looked for the ball, sprinting left. Smith pump-faked it to him. As that was happening, West motioned right and waved his right hand for the ball. Five Raiders either went toward Hill or took a step in that direction; two Raiders eyed and followed West. That left tight end Travis Kelce mostly alone in the middle of the field, minimal attention paid. And he steamrolled inside the 1 (originally called a touchdown, and then put back at the half-yard line).
Next play: Three wideouts clustered in a tight triangle split wide left. Smith looked that way a couple of times. Then he simply handed it to the previously slumping rookie Kareem Hunt, and he burst in for the touchdown. Chiefs 10, Raiders 0, and the lead was never in single digits after that.
“Houdini would have been proud,” Reid told me.
Rich Gannon had it exactly right on CBS, when the triangle of deceptive wideouts were flanked wide left. “Look at this Kansas City offense,” Gannon said. “They want you to look over here. It’s a big part of their offensive philosophy: illusion and disguise.”
Told of Gannon’s analysis, Reid, who is as open about his offensive philosophy as president are about nuclear codes, thought of how he could avoid answering with specifics. “Listen, that’s certainly a part of what we do,” Reid said. “We try to do things that have a disguise to them. Teams know that.”
So the Chiefs live for another day … and another huge game. How happy is NFL Network to have the 7-6 Chargers at the 7-6 Chiefs on Saturday at 8:25 p.m. ET, as a standalone game on national TV? On a weekend of terrific games—Rams-Seahawks, Patriots-Steelers, Packers (with Aaron Rodgers presumably)-Panthers—no game will have as much at stake for both teams.
Reid has been confounded by his defense playing well one week and offense not, and vice versa. Until the last 10 minutes Sunday, he got premier play from both sides. “I go in thinking we’re going to play like that every week,” he said. “Now, next week is the same deal. I’ll feel the same way.”
And now it’s the Chargers, coming off a rout of Washington, and the hottest team in the AFC west of Pittsburgh. The Chargers are 7-2 in their last nine, and Philip Rivers has been reborn.
“The Chargers are as hot as anybody right now,” said Reid, “and we’re going to be working on a short week. My mind is right onto the Chargers right now. I’m going to look at their tape.”
* * *
You may still think Roger Goodell would be overpaid at $4 million per, and I get that, but I’m told it’s highly unlikely he’ll make $40 million a year in this deal. I hear the same thing about Goodell’s contract that Albert Breer does, and it’s basically that there’s no way the extension will net Goodell $200 million over five years. The deal, essentially, guarantees Goodell about $3.9 million per year in 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, and 2023 before expiring in March 2024, with an estimated 88 percent of the deal incentive-based.
The fact is that if Goodell hits a few grand slams every year and reaches the max incentives in league success metrics such as attendance, TV ratings, income, etc., he’ll hit or approach $40 million. That’s unlikely to happen. At least not regularly. As Breer was told by one smart league person, Goodell’s likely to earn somewhere in the high 20s in a typical year, with a very good year in the low-to-mid-30s.
* * *
The Award Section: Jags Fans Get the Goat for Ugly Scene After Win Over Seahawks
DON JUAN MOORE/GETTY IMAGES
OFFENSIVE PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
Ben Roethlisberger, quarterback, Pittsburgh. Playing against a Baltimore team that hadn’t allowed a quarterback to throw for 320 yards all season, Roethlisberger threw for 506—the third 500-yard passing game of his NFL life—in the scintillating 39-38 victory over the Ravens. The way he uses Antonio Brown (11 catches, 213 yards, in perfect concert with his quarterback) and trusts him down the sideline is a thing of football beauty. It’s still pretty wild to think the Steelers, down 11 to start the fourth quarter and down nine with five minutes left, pulled this one out. The win, in such large measure, was due to Roethlisberger’s game-long brilliance.
LeSean McCoy, running back, Buffalo. In eight inches of snow, with it not stopping for the entire game, McCoy had a career-high 32 rushes for 156 yards. The final 21 came on the last play of the game, a playoff-chance-enhancing touchdown run to give Buffalo a walkoff 13-7 overtime win over Indianapolis. Man, that was fun to watch.
Richie Incognito, left guard, Buffalo. On said final play of the game, the Bills called a power run on third-and-four from the Indianapolis 21-yard-line—though no one could really tell what yard line the ball was on; it was an educated guess through the storm—and Incognito had a double-block responsibility.
He had to push 308-pound defensive tackle Johnathan Hankins out of the hole to his left, then step further into the rushing lane to erase linebacker Antonio Morrison. When he did that, McCoy had the clear path. A tremendous play in ridiculous conditions by a man who has become a stalwart guard for a team that wants to mash the ball.
Cam Newton, quarterback, Carolina. This game against the Vikings was the biggest of the year for Carolina, which had played lousy in other big ones—losses to New Orleans twice and Philadelphia. Fourth quarter, 2:33 left, Carolina ball, second-and-five at the Panther 30. Newton fakes the read-option, keeps, runs over left tackle, and goes 62 yards to the Viking eight.
Jonathan Stewart scored the winning touchdown three plays later, and Carolina had a 31-24 win. Newton’s never going to be a 68-percent passer for a season, but he is going to be a man who impacts every game in different ways.
DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Sean Lee, linebacker, Dallas. The MVP of the Cowboys defense showed that in spades in the 30-10 win over the Giants. Lee had 18 tackles, and his interception of Eli Manning on the Giants’ last-gasp drive with 3:20 left in the game and a 13-point lead ended whatever feeble chance New York had to win. The schedule may be too hard for the 7-6 Cowboys to make the playoffs (at Oakland, Seattle, at Philadelphia), but they’ll always have a chance when Lee is in mission control of the defense.
SPECIAL TEAMS PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
Adam Vinatieri, kicker, Indianapolis. “He’s never kicked in worse conditions than this,” said Steve Tasker of CBS. Down 7-6 in the final 80 seconds at Buffalo. The Colts actually converted a two-point conversion with a pass from Jacoby Brissett to Jack Boyle, but they were called for offensive pass interference on the conversion. That caused a 43-yard extra-point try in the swirling snow and strong winds of Orchard Park, in the snow belt.
His linemen worked like mad to clear the eight inches of snow from the launch point, and, of course, Vinatieri would have to attempt the same kind of kick that started his career of wonder … the 45-yard field goal in the AFC playoff game against Oakland 16 years ago. “Same amount of snow as that day,” Vinatieri recalled. “But it was definitely windier today.” He booted it from the right hash, and it looked like it was going to eight feet to the right of the right upright.
Three Bills either began celebrating or made the “no good” sign. Too early. The kick hooked late and just inside the upright. What a kick. “Probably the best extra point I’ve made,” Vinatieri said. I should hope so. Sadly, he missed a 43-yard field goal try that would have won the game in the final seconds. But that extra point … that’s a career kick.
Trevor Davis, punt-returner/wide receiver, Green Bay. His deking 65-yard punt return with less that three minutes left in the fourth quarter and the Packers trailing by seven at Cleveland set up the tying touchdown and capped the 14-point Green Bay comeback. The Packers won in overtime.
COACH OF THE WEEK
Joe Woods, defensive coordinator, Denver. The high-flying Jets came to Denver after scoring 38 on the Chiefs last week, and the Broncos were in crisis, with eight losses in a row. Much pressure on the new head coach, Vance Joseph, and the new defensive coordinator, Woods. Both came through. Woods’ scheme and pressure got to the Jets all day. New York managed six first downs, the absurd number of 100 total yards … and, most importantly, zero points. The Jets never crossed the Denver 39.
GOAT OF THE WEEK
The Jacksonville fans. There is much blame to go around in the Seattle-Jacksonville game—Michael Bennett rolling into the legs of Jacksonville center Brandon Linder was terrible in that end-of-game fiasco—but the Jaguar fans were particularly shameful in the midst of one of their biggest wins in a decade. A fan threw something (it appeared to be a can) that hit Seattle wideout Tyler Lockett in the back, and several fans threw things—ice, and something green—at ejected Seahawk defensive end Quinton Jefferson, causing Jefferson to try to climb into the stands after the fans.
* * *
Things I Think I Think
1. I think these are my quick thoughts on Week 14:
a. I will never understand how the Seahawks thought Alex Collins was not good enough to make their team this summer.
b. One of the coolest drives of the year: The Colts drove 19 plays, 77 yards in 9:53 in a blizzard, and then used a 43-yard PAT from Adam Vinatieri to tie the game in Buffalo. That’s the most fascinating drive and PAT of the year. Easy.
c. Underrated player of the year: Since Arizona acquired Chandler Jones in a spring 2016 trade with New England, he leads the NFL in sacks (25.0) and tackles behind the line of scrimmage (39).
d. Speaking of pressure, Case Keenum will be seeing Kawann Short in his sleep for a couple nights.
e. The 27-yard T.J. Yates touchdown pass to DeAndre Hopkins had to be the greatest throw of Yates’ NFL career, abbreviated as it is.
f. Manti Te’o, 10 tackles. That’s a good career rebound for Te’o, now a Saint.
g. That was one terrible interception thrown by Matthew Stafford in Tampa.
h. I know it’s only two Niners starts, but Jimmy Garoppolo (2-0, 8.9 yards per attempt) is the goods.
i. Davis Webb inactive. Bizarre. Good line from our Conor Orr at the Meadowlands, about the Giants’ approach to quarterback play in this meaningless last month: “This felt like a logjam of competing interests.”
j. Ask yourselves this question, all ye who love the Giants: What purpose does it serve to play Eli Manning in the last three games instead of playing the third-round rookie, Davis Webb, to be able to add info to your 2018 first-round draft decision?
k. The NFL has to explain some of these ridiculous calls, dating back to the Monday-nighter last week in Cincinnati. Phantom calls. All over the place. Antonio Brown’s invisible 15-yard unnecessary roughness call against the Ravens last night. I concur with Asshole Face about the Sheldon Rankins roughing-the-passer call Thursday night; so marginal.
l. Not a good day for Marcus Mariota in the 12-7 loss at Arizona. Just 159 passing yards, 11 rushing yards, no touchdowns, two picks. He’s just not been the dynamic player this year we all thought he’d be in year three.
m. The Bears took Jordan Howard in the 2016 fifth round. He’s given them rushing seasons of 1,313 yards and—with three games left this year—1,032 yards. On a losing team. Nice pick, Ryan Pace.
n. Oakland, 6-7. That’s something I didn’t see coming.
o. Brett Hundley told me last week that one of his goals was to be sure the Pack was still in contention by the time Aaron Rodgers returns. Kudos to him—particularly for coming back from 14 down in the fourth quarter to beat Cleveland in overtime on Sunday. Now Green Bay’s 7-6, a game out of the last wild-card spot in the NFC with a tough slate (at Carolina, Minnesota, at Detroit) and Rodgers almost ready to return.
p. Deshaun Watson-to-DeAndre Hopkins is going to be fun to watch for six or eight years. Really fun.
2. I think I hope for the sake of the franchise, the Giants consider all candidates for the GM job, and don’t have David Gettleman’s name in pen. Not that I don’t like Gettleman; he did a very good job in Carolina. But he’ll be 67 in February.
The Giants’ GM job has been sort of what the Steelers’ coaching job is. New York’s had three GMs since 1979, and none has lasted less than nine seasons; Pittsburgh’s had three head coaches since 1969. Maybe Gettleman’s the best guy out there, even if you can’t expect him to be there for more than four or five years. But I’d rather survey the field of GM candidates than pick Gettleman now and let the rest of the field go.
3. I think the combination of Nick Caserio and Josh McDaniels would be a heck of a catch for any team, by the way.
4. I think NFL teams will not have learned very much (surprise!) if Heisman winner Baker Mayfield is the fifth quarterback taken in the April draft. Or fourth. Mayfield is about 6'0¼", and scouts worry about his size. Let’s go back to 2012. Fourth QB picked: Brandon Weeden. Fifth QB picked: Brock Osweiler. Sixth QB picked: Russell (5'10¾" ) Wilson. Height, schmeight. Watch the games.
5. I think—thanks to Deadline.com, and relayed by Pro Football Talk—we’re now seeing what may be part of the future of the Rams and Chargers in Los Angeles. The Rams are really good, obviously. The Chargers might be good enough to win the AFC West this year.
On Sunday, the matchup between the 9-3 Rams and the 10-2 Eagles at the L.A. Coliseum was the game of the day in the NFL—and, obviously, FOX feared a laconic reaction when its pregame show, FOX NFL Sunday, went to the game site. Now, the pregame show would air from 9-10 a.m. West Coast time, for the 1:25 p.m. ballgame.
When ESPN sends its College GameDay show to college campus sites, and the show is on hours before the game, crowds gather at the appointed time. But FOX, obviously, feared this would not happen with so much time before the Rams game. So FOX put out a notice on Project Casting, where aspiring actors go to look for work. “Calling all LA Rams fans!…
To audition for a role in the upcoming NFL Sunday pre-game show, check out the casting call breakdown below. . . . Come out, bring your spirit, your best NFL gear & join us for NFL on FOX THIS Sunday!” More and more, I sense the NFL is going to have to resort to things like this to try to rev up the market.
6. I think the NFL and the NFLPA need to investigate—the same way I hope the Russell Wilson head-trauma examination from five weeks ago is being thoroughly investigated—the circumstances surrounding the 49ers’ brutal hit on Houston quarterback Tom Savage, and Savage’s reaction to it. Savage appeared to be twitching after the original hit and came out of the game to be looked at by the unaffiliated neurological consultant on the sidelines.
Savage was permitted to re-enter the game for one series. Then he was looked at and pulled from the game, prompting an angry reaction from Savage. Bottom line: It’s good he was pulled, but should he ever have gone back in the game in the first place? This is a vital part of the NFL’s efforts to be sure no player ever plays with a concussion or symptoms of one. The program has to strive for perfection, and this didn’t look perfect.
7. I think Jerry Jones is not happy over the Roger Goodell contract. (Not that he would be.) But I just wonder what he’s got up his sleeve for the NFL meeting in Dallas on Wednesday. I bet it’s something.
8. I think the NFL would be making a mistake if it adopted the college targeting rule, which would provide for an ejection if officials judge that a defensive player targeted a defenseless player's head or neck area with an excessive hit, and would be subject to officiating interpretation. Read those last six words again: Would be subject to officiating interpretation.
Often a hit that looks way over the top happens (as did the George Iloka hit on Antonio Brown last Monday night in the Cincinnati-Pittsburgh game) when a defensive player looks to dislodge the ball from a ballcarrier. It's a tough call.
Often the defender could be aiming for a foe's midsection, but the offensive player could duck or lunge, and then the hit could be helmet-to-helmet. It may not have been the defender's intent, but it just happens. I want to protect players as much as anyone. I'm not saying this is a bad rule. But this rule, if enacted, should be used only on obviously excessive hits.
