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The Cowboys had two takeaways in the first quarter Monday night and converted with only seven points.

linchao — Wed, 12 Dec 2018 03:37:02 +0000

They got an interception early in Sunday’s game and ended up with only a field goal.Rookie linebacker Leighton Vander Esch Dallas Cowboys Hats , who is starting in place of the injured Sean Lee, made his first career pick.He intercepted Eagles quarterback Carson Wentz, who appeared to have never seen Zach Ertz as he hit Vander Esch between the numbers. Vander Esch returned it 28 yards to the Philadelphia 38.The Cowboys gained 31 yards on eight plays but stalled at the Philadelphia 7 yard-line.Brett Maher sneaked his 25-yard kick inside the right upright for a 3-0 lead with 6:59 remaining in the first quarter.Dak Prescott threw an interception in the end zone after a second Marcus Mariota fumble against the Titans last week, denying the Cowboys points. They lost 28-14.The Eagles have only one first down and 28 yards late in the first quarter. Dallas Cowboys center Travis Frederick said Wednesday he has been diagnosed with a rare neurological disorder that causes weakness in various parts of the body, and the four-time Pro Bowl player isn't sure on a timetable for a return.Frederick said he has received two treatments for Guillain-Barre Syndrome over the past 48 hours and that the treatments will continue for several days."I am very optimistic about my condition and the immediate future, as I have been told that the illness was detected at a fairly early stage," Frederick said. "My doctors have told me that it is not possible to determine a timetable for a return to the field right now, but I am hopeful that I will be able to play as soon as possible."The 27-year-old Frederick has started all 83 games Dallas Cowboys Hoodie , including three playoff games, since the Cowboys drafted him late in the first round in 2013. That streak is likely in jeopardy with the opener 2 1/2 weeks away, Sept. 9 at Carolina.According to the National Institute for Neurological Disorders and Stroke , Guillain-Barre causes the body to attack a network of nerves around the brain and spinal cord. Most people recover from even the most severe cases of the auto-immune disease, but some will continue to have some degree of weakness, according to the institute.Frederick saw a specialist in California while the Cowboys were still in training camp there because of feelings he said were similar to stingers in his neck and shoulders. When he returned to camp, he told reporters he checked out OK. He was on the sideline for the preseason game against Cincinnati on Saturday.Coach Jason Garrett said Tuesday tests for Frederick continued with doctors in the Dallas area. Garrett declined to be more specific.Joe Looney has been working at center in Frederick's absence, but the Cowboys have always considered 2014 All-Pro right guard Zack Martin a possibility there. Martin will miss the rest of the preseason after hyperextending his left knee against the Bengals.Frederick was the second of three first-round picks in a span of four years Youth Customized Dallas Cowboys Jerseys , a group that anchors what is considered one of the NFL's best offensive lines. Left tackle Tyron Smith, the 2011 choice, has battled back issues in recent years. Frederick, Smith and 2014 pick Martin have all been named to the Pro Bowl each of the past four seasons.Dallas is banking on a healthy offensive line in front of 2016 NFL rushing leader Ezekiel Elliott, with the Cowboys hopeful that quarterback Dak Prescott and a largely unproven group of receivers can feed off a powerful running game.Two years ago, Frederick signed a $56 million, six-year extension that at the time made him the highest-paid center in the NFL. He's now fourth on that list.

The Chicago Bears are heading into their Week 5 bye with a 3-1 record and they own the top spot in the NFC North for the second straight week.

linchao — Wed, 12 Dec 2018 03:25:57 +0000

Despite being 3-point favorites and being heavily picked by most experts Bryce Callahan Jersey , no one saw a 48-10 blowout coming. Even more, this was the most complete game the team has played in close to five years, dating back to their blowout win against the Dallas Cowboys late in the 2013 season.With so much good play in Sunday’s outing, who comes away with the game ball on each side? Let’s find out.QB Mitchell TrubiskyPhoto by Jonathan Daniel/Getty ImagesHoly cow. That’s my initial reaction of the second-year quarterback’s performance on Sunday.19/26 (73%) 354 passing yards, 6 touchdowns, 53 rushing yards and a 154.7 quarterback rating. That was Trubisky’s final line in route to the 38 point blowout at Soldier Field.Where do we even start?Trubisky was one touchdown away from tying the all-time NFL record (shared by Sid Luckman) and if it wasn’t for such a lopsided score, there’s little doubt that he would have reached it.For all of the talk of Trubisky’s “low ceiling” and “bust” label after 15 professional games, he silenced many doubts (at least for the time being) with the performance of a life time in Week 4.Make no mistake, this was a game Trubisky and Bears fans needed, even against a struggling Buccaneers defense. As I have continued to preach for the better part of the last 16 Trubisky starts, patience is needed. Yes, he has struggled more often than not but this is the type of game that could get him and this offense over the hump.On the other side, it’s key not to get too high on a performance like this. For as impressive as it was, this won’t be a weekly occurrence. The biggest key moving forward is building off his career game and continue to grow into a franchise quarterback that can lead them to the promised land. Honorable Mention: RB Tarik CohenPhoto by Jonathan Daniel/Getty ImagesFor the second straight week, Cohen was the featured running back in head coach Matt Nagy’s offense. Cohen finished the game leading the team in rushing (53 yards) and receiving (121 yards), while adding a touchdown to his prolific day. The former fourth round pick became the first Bear to eclipse the 100-yard mark, shortly followed by Taylor Gabriel (7 catches for 104 yards) later in the game.Cohen’s value was on full display in Nagy’s offense on Sunday afternoon and I don’t expect that to disappear any time soon.S Eddie JacksonPhoto by Jonathan Daniel/Getty ImagesThe former Alabama Crimson Tide product is quickly turning into one of the bigger playmakers in the league at the safety position.Jackson added another interception to his impressive 2018 season and locked down a prolific Buccaneers deep passing attack that had dominated through the first three weeks of the season.The second-year safety finished the game with 3 tackles, an interception and a pass defensed, but it was what the Bucs offense didn’t do that gives Jackson this week’s game ball.Outside of DeSean Jackson’s deep catch in the second quarter (that was on Adrian Amos’ side of the field), the vertical game was not there for either Tampa Bay quarterback in today’s game. All of this without the team’s best cornerback in Prince Amukamara.I highlighted Jackson as a player that had to come up big in today’s game and he did just that. Jackson’s ceiling appears high and if it wasn’t for an off-sides penalty in the final minute of last week’s win in Arizona Authentic Charles Leno Jersey , Jackson would have another interception that resulted in a pick-six to add to his resume through four games.Outside linebacker Khalil Mack could’ve easily landed the honors for the third time this season but Jackson’s impact on the field deserves to be seen. Jakeem Grant won the longest game with the longest play.Grant struck like lightning when he scored on a tiebreaking 102-yard kickoff return with 14 minutes to go, and the Miami Dolphins overcame two weather delays to win the longest game since the 1970 NFL-AFL merger, beating the Tennessee Titans 27-20 Sunday.Delays for lightning lasted a total of 3 hours, 59 minutes, and the game took 7 hours, 8 minutes to play. The previous longest game since 1970 was a Bears overtime victory against the Ravens in 2013 that took 5 hours, 16 minutes.Grant's touchdown triggered a late flurry of big plays in a season opener that was lackluster for the first six hours.After his score, Ryan Tannehill hit Kenny Stills deep for a 75-yard touchdown. Darius Jennings returned the ensuing kickoff 94 yards for a Titans score, and they were driving when Miami's Reshad Jones helped to clinch the win with a 54-yard return after he intercepted Blaine Gabbert."I love the way we responded — the way we were able to overcome the delays, to come out with energy after sitting around," Tannehill said. "To come away from this long day, this grind of a game, and get a win, it feels good."Titans starting quarterback Marcus Mariota threw two interceptions in the third quarter and then came out of the game with an elbow injury. Tight end Delanie Walker was carted off the field later in the period with a right leg injury, and tackle Taylor Lewan suffered a concussion, all of which meant a miserable start for Mike Vrabel in his head coaching debut.Walker's injury appeared the most serious."I haven't seen him since he left the field," Vrabel said. "Our thoughts and prayers are with him."Miami led 7-3 when the game was suspended for nearly two hours late in the first half. The teams went to the locker room during the delay and stayed on the field for halftime, which was shortened to 3陆 minutes.Lightning forced a halt again midway through the third quarter, and the second stoppage lasted just over two hours. Perhaps 10,000 fans remained at the finish."That's the job we have — to make sure we play through whatever situation Youth Akiem Hicks Jersey ," Vrabel said. "I felt we handled it well, but in the end we didn't do enough to win the game."Sandwiched between the delays was a brawl that started after Lewan appeared to be briefly knocked out . Jordan Phillips and Bobby McCain of Miami and Dion Lewis of Tennessee received offsetting unsportsmanlike conduct penalties for taunting, and Lewan missed the rest of the game.Gabbert drove the Titans 75 yards to make the score 10-10, but Grant needed only 13 seconds to break the tie, splitting the coverage untouched and racing into the clear near midfield."I saw it was just him and the kicker," Miami coach Adam Gase said. "I was going, 'Please run by me.'"Tannehill, playing for the first time since a knee injury in late 2016, went 20 for 28 for 230 yards with two scores and two interceptions."I left a lot out there," Tannehill said. "There are a lot of plays I wanted to have back."INJURY REPORTTitans: Mariota was hurt early in the third quarter when hit on the right side by William Hayes. Mariota missed one play, and then returned to throw two interceptions before again coming out of the lineup.He said he couldn't feel his fingers or grip the ball well, and hinted he shouldn't have returned to the game."I'm not using it as an excuse, but I should have made sure I was making the best decision for the team," he said.Teammate Adoree Jackson hurt his shoulder on a 26-yard punt return in the third quarter. ... LB Wesley Woodyard was shaken up and left the game in the third quarter.FRACASLewan was flattened on Andre Branch's blindside block during an interception return by Jones. Lewan sprawled face down on the turf, then suddenly sprang to his feet, and players exchanged words and shoves.NATIONAL ANTHEMDolphins receivers Stills and Albert Wilson knelt during the national anthem, and defensive end Robert Quinn raised his right fist. They followed the same practice before preseason games. No Titans appeared to protest.UP NEXTThe Dolphins play at the New York Jets next Sunday.The Titans face Houston in their home opener next Sunday.Follow Steven Wine on Twitter: ://Steve_Wine

The Bengals got whooped on Sunday , there is no way around that.

linchao — Wed, 12 Dec 2018 03:13:30 +0000

Injuries no doubt played a slight part, but Cincinnati is dealing with enough issues that a 51-14 loss to the Saints isn’t anything to be Dre Kirkpatrick Jersey brushed off. Some of the more telling answers to the game lie in the game’s snap counts.Here are the snap count takeaways:75 snaps to 43. That was how many snaps the Saints had compared to the Bengals. The fact that Cincinnati had the ball for that many plays was a bit surprising when it seemed as if New Orleans had the ball for almost the entire game. The Saints did in fact have the ball for just over 39 minutes, so that actually is kind of true. It is hard to say every week that the Bengals have to get better on third down. Still, this week Cincinnati’s defense never forced the Saints to punt, and the offense was 0-6 on third downs. Not quite the winning recipe you expect.With A.J. Green injured, we saw a taste of how the snaps could shake out at receiver. Tyler Boyd (41) and John Ross (36) led the way, but for some reason the third receiver was essentially Cody Core (20) who had two catches for 17 yards on the day. To be fair to all the receivers, Andy Dalton didn’t have his best outing. He under threw a couple deep balls to Ross when he had a step on his defender. However, it is still baffling that this team is trotting Core out for meaningful offensive snaps when he has shown he won’t do almost anything with them. Especially when this was rookie wide receiver Auden Tate’s first active game of the year Authentic Geno Atkins Jersey , but he didn’t even see a snap or target until Jeff Driskel had taken over for Dalton.Speaking of Driskel, the Bengals used him as an option quarterback on their touchdown drive, and it really took the defense off guard. Then we never saw that concept again until Driskel ran it when they had the white flag unit in, and he scored their second and final touchdown of the game. The Saints have one of the best offensive lines in the NFL, so we can’t be too harsh on the defensive line. At some point you’d expect the defensive coordinator to bring a fifth guy on the pass rush more often, but it has become clear that isn’t this teams style. Jordan Willis actually led the way with 60 snaps. He had almost nothing to show for it though. For some reason Josh Tupou (42) played more snaps than Adolphus Washington (21) and Sam Hubbard (47), but it is easy to infer that was probably due to the score being so out of hand early. It will be interesting to see how this changes with Washington reportedly out multiple weeks. Jordan Evans appeared to be the guy at linebacker for the Bengals on Sunday. He played 71 snaps, but he is the player we expect him to be at this point. He is a huge liability in pass coverage, but a pretty good run defender nonetheless. Obviously Youth Carlos Dunlap Jersey , injuries have forced him into a bigger role than he should have, but he got the most snaps of any linebacker, so we have to talk about it because he gave up quite a few big pass plays. It was pretty obvious the Saints didn’t target him by accident either.It looked like the Bengals planned on having Clayton Fejedelem play a role as the third safety to help out against the pass. He played 17 snaps before getting hurt and leaving the game. That caused the team to use more of Darius Phillips (42) who also helped fill in for an injured Dre Kirkpatrick. We saw an extended amount of KeiVarae Russell (26) after that as well. Some may try to point to those injuries as a reason the Bengals got rolled over, but they were already down by at least three touchdowns before anyone went down.The biggest question mark Sunday was the lack of Joe Mixon. He only had 13 touches on the day, and he finished with 85 yards. It doesn’t make sense to abandon the run as early as the Bengals did, and it really doesn’t make sense to take your best offensive player out of the game. He only played 29 snaps. That is unacceptable when the team is without Green already.Bengals’ Snap Counts#POS.NAMESnapsPercentage of snaps#POS.NAMESnapsPercentage of snapsBengals sign former Ohio State star Adolphus Washington from Cowboys’ practice squad; Ryan Glasgow to IR UPDATEOn Wednesday, the Bengals announced that Ryan Glasgow had been placed on season-ending injured reserve. The team also signed Adolphus Washington off the Cowboys’ practice squad. Another former Ohio State Buckeyes star is joining the Bengals.According to ProFootballTalk, Adolphus Washington is being signed from the Cowboys’ practice squad to Cincinnati’s 53-man roster.This move will likely come as Ryan Glasgow goes to season-ending injured reserve due to a torn ACL.Washington, who starred at Ohio State from 2012-15 http://www.bengalsauthorizedshops.com/authentic-shawn-williams-jersey , was a former third-round draft pick of the Bills (of course) in 2016. However, he’s had a rough start to his pro career, as he ended up being cut by the Bills one week into the 2018 season before landing on Dallas’ practice squad.In 31 career games in Buffalo, Washington recorded 3.5 sacks, three pass deflections and 56 total tackles. He was someone the Bengals took a hard look at in 2016, especially after he grew up in Cincinnati and played at Taft High School.The thought was Cincinnati would sign rookie fifth-round pick Andrew Brown from the practice squad to replace Glasgow, but Washington actually has experience in the NFL, something the Bengals valued more in this instance. Depending on how fast Washington can get up to speed in Cincinnati’s defense, he could be active as early as Week 4 vs. the Falcons Kevin Huber Jersey , especially if Michael Johnson remains out with his knee injury. The Bengals obviously would rather have Johnson active and playing defensive tackle on passing downs, but if he’s out, the Bengals may have to activate Washington. Cincinnati does also have Josh Tupou, so he could be active this week after being a healthy scratch in two of the first three games. It looks like Washington’s former Bills teammate and now again Bengals teammate is excited about the news.

With the Bengals determined to improve an offense that finished last in the league their new defensive coordinator didn't expect to be very busy during the draft.

linchao — Thu, 22 Nov 2018 02:24:24 +0000

,He wound up getting six of the first eight players picked.Could he have imagined going 6 of 8?"If I was shooting free throws maybe, but not getting defensive players," Teryl Austin said.The Bengals decided they were set for now on offense and http://www.thebengalsfootballauthentic.com/billy-price-jersey-authentic turned their draft focus to upgrading a defense that slipped last season. After taking Ohio State center Billy Price with the 21st overall pick, they went defense primarily in the next four rounds.The Bengals' defense finished No. 18 overall last season, including 30th against the run, so they weren't exactly stocking up in an area of strength."We're not sure how different it's going to be until we get them here and see where they fit," Austin said. "That's going to play out over time. Infusing talent always raises the competition level."Some things to note about the Bengals' defense-heavy draft:ANOTHER GIO? Running back Mark Walton from Miami was one of the few offensive players picked, going in the fourth round. Although the Bengals' main focus on offense has been fixing the line Youth Randy Bullock Jersey , they also needed a running back to replace Jeremy Hill — Joe Mixon and Giovani Bernard return. Walton is 5-foot-10 and reminds the Bengals of Bernard in size and quickness. One big attraction: Walton played on Miami's kickoff and punt coverage teams, so he can fit on special teams immediately.THE REST OF THE CLASS: In the fifth round, Cincinnati took cornerback Davontae Harris from Illinois State, defensive tackle Andrew Brown from Virginia and cornerback Darius Phillips from Western Michigan. The Bengals had no picks in the sixth round. In the seventh, they got quarterback Logan Woodside from Toledo, guard Rod Taylor from Mississippi, and receiver Auden Tate from Florida State.SETTLED AT QB: The Bengals needed another quarterback after backup AJ McCarron left for Buffalo, and there was a question whether they would try to replace him by taking one in the middle of the draft — they got McCarron in the fifth round in 2014.Instead Womens Hardy Nickerson Jersey , they signed Matt Barkley to a two-year deal last month and decided they were set at the No. 2 spot, waiting until the seventh round to get an extra quarterback.PAYING ATTENTION: The Bengals will be watching Price closely in the next few months. He had surgery to repair a torn chest muscle after the combine, and he's expected to be ready for the start of training camp. Last year, the Bengals took receiver John Ross in the first round even though he was recovering from shoulder surgery, and it didn't turn out well. He played in only three games before another shoulder injury ended his season.NO PIES: Texas linebacker Malik Jefferson gets free pizza for a year as part of a promotion by an NFL sponsor. Pizza Hut offered free pies to the "Pi Pick" — third round, 14th choice, or 3.14. That was Jefferson. He expected to make an appearance at a local Pizza Hut on Saturday, but it didn't work out."I actually missed the pizza party Womens William Jackson Jersey ," Jefferson said. "I don't know how that's going to work. I'm still working that deal out with my marketing agent."O-H: The draft will be remembered locally for the Bengals finally taking some Ohio State players. Even though franchise founder Paul Brown won a national championship at Ohio State, the Bengals had drafted only two Buckeyes in the past 23 years — none higher than the sixth round. Over that same time, they took seven players from Michigan. This year, they took Price and Ohio State defensive end Sam Hubbard in the third round. Price will be practicing across from former Michigan defensive tackle Ryan Glasgow."The rivalry is still part of it," Price said. "He went to the team up north and I went to Ohio State. We will leave it at that. I remember playing him specifically. The last week in November, we will have a little bet."SELLING TICKETS: Bringing Hubbard aboard has already boosted ticket sales. Hubbard grew up in Cincinnati and attended Bengals games regularly."My uncle went down and got season tickets right after he found out I'm going (to the Bengals)," Hubbard said.STILL NEED: Help on the offensive line. They filled the hole at center, but they're still depending upon young players who have yet to prove themselves. Left tackle Cedric Ogbuehi struggled the past two seasons http://www.thebengalsfootballauthentic.com/tyler-eifert-jersey-authentic , prompting the Bengals to get left tackle Cordy Glenn from Buffalo. Right tackle Jake Fisher had a procedure to repair an irregular heartbeat during the season. There's still work to be done in their biggest problem area. The Bengals are expected to be without wide receiver John Ross for “a few weeks” after he aggravated the groin injury he originally suffered against the Atlanta Falcons in Sunday’s game against the Kansas City Chiefs.This according to Mike Garafolo:There are varying reports though, as on Wednesday, ESPN’s Katherine Terrell reported that a timetable has not been determined for Ross’ return and he hasn’t been ruled out for Sunday:The Bengals play the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday and then have a Week 9 bye before hosting the New Orleans Saints in Week 10. With Ross sidelined, the Bengals will look to rely more on Alex Erickson and Cody Core in addition to starters A.J. Green and Tyler Boyd.Ross has had an injury-plagued last two years with the Bengals after being selected with the No. 9 overall pick in the 2017 NFL Draft. This season he’s played in five games and has seven catches for 79 yards and two touchdowns. Ross was targeted once on Sunday but did not complete the catch. He received no other targets and was ruled out in the second half with the groin injury.Ross’ career has gotten off to a rocky start, but hopefully he’ll return to the field healthy shortly after the bye week and contribute to the team in a meaningful way. The team could surely use him against the Saints’ highly impressive offense that can stretch the field with ease.The Bengals moved Auden Tate from the roster to the practice squad last week and while it’s possible he could return to the active roster, I’d imagine the Bengals will stick with what they have for now. Josh Malone was inactive last week against the Chiefs, but he’ll likely be active again on Sunday with Ross out.

Los Angeles Rams CB Aqib Talib placed on IR after surgery , out at least eight weeks

linchao — Wed, 07 Nov 2018 03:35:16 +0000

The Los Angeles Rams defense will suffer a massive loss as the team will be without starting cornerback Aqib Talib who is placed on injury reserved and will undergo ankle surgery.The injury was suffered in the third quarter last week against the Los Angeles Chargers. Prior to this news it was assumed that although Talib had suffered a high-ankle sprain and that he would only miss a month of action. The new expected timeline Cheap Aaron Donald Jersey for Talib will make his return around the time of the Rams bye week which will be on Thanksgiving weekend.The Rams are scheduled to play their next game against the Minnesota Vikings on Thursday Night Football. With the Rams also missing Marcus Peters as he recovers from his injury. The team will have Sam Shields, Nickell Robey-Coleman and Troy Hill fill the void. Also the Rams have promoted Dominique Hatfield from practice squad to the active roster.Los Angeles Rams vs. Minnesota Vikings: The Professor’s Preview OverviewComing into the 2018 season, the Minnesota Vikings were picked by many football experts to be the team favored to represent the NFC Conference in the Super Bowl this year. I was not among them despite their appearance in the NFC Championship Game last year.Had it not been for the Minneapolis Miracle, the New Orleans Saints at least would have made a better showing then the Vikings did against Philadelphia Eagles.Another reason I wouldn’t crown the Vikings right away stems from my belief that when you lose your offensive coordinator and replace your starting quarterback from last year swapping QB Case Keenum with QB Kirk Cousins, it takes time to get things rolling.Sure enough, the Vikings’ offense has struggled to this point.The Vikings rank 22nd in points scored, 14th in total yards and 31st in rushing yards per game. Minnesota’s only respectable stat is their 4th place rank in passing yards per game.While it’s still early in the season, the Vikings record right now stands as 1-1-1. Minnesota is coming off a huge upset loss to, of all teams, the Buffalo Bills who were 0-2 at the time and made the decision to start rookie quarterback Josh Allen.But throw out the records of both the Los Angeles Rams at 3-0 and the Vikingsfor this Thursday Night nationally-televised game because our Rams defense comes limping into the game with the loss of starting CBs Marcus Peters and Aqib Talib due to injuries. It’s therefore reasonable to conclude that Minnesota is gonna win this game.I’m not buying it.If the Rams’ offense can score their league average of more then 30 points and the defense can get to Cousins, then the Rams will win this game. While this may appears to be a mighty task, here’s how the best team in the NFC Conference gets it done.What the Rams need to do on defenseStop the run first and foremost.The Vikings’ offensive line isn’t that good, and the stats through three weeks prove it. This will put the Vikings in must-pass situations. The Vikings wide receivers http://www.officialramsfootballstore.com/aaron-donald-jersey-cheap , composed of Stefon Diggs, Adam Thielen and Laquon Treadwell along with TE Kyle Randolph as a unit are considered one of the best in the league. So the Rams have to ensure they provide the quarterback no time to throw. Hurry him consistently to force bad decisions even with a depleted secondary.Despite being a short week, Defensive Coordinator Wade Phillips is gonna come up with a lot of exotic blitz packages designed to help out his secondary. If the Rams defense can find ways to get to Cousins with their vaunted “Fearsome Threesome,” they will be fine. If the Rams are unable to do this, then you wind up in a game where the last team with the ball on offense will probably have the best chance to win. This might be too much for the old Professor to take after last week.So I say this without hesitation that this game will boil down to the battle on the Rams defensive line against the Vikings offensive line and our beloved Wade Phillips finding a way to put pressure on Kirk Cousins.The Rams’ defense doesn’t have to be perfect, just good enough to keep the Vikings score down to under 25 points leaving it up to the Rams’ offense do their job.What the Rams need to do on offenseMinnesota’s defense ranks 17th in points allowed per game, 9th against the pass, 14th against the rush and 10th in total yards while the Rams are averaging a whopping 34 points per game.I hate to say this, but for this offense an average performance still means the Rams offense can’t be stopped.Stay away from the turnovers and unforced penalties. Score every time they cross the fifty into Vikings territory, whether its a field goal or touchdown.The Rams need to put up thirty tonight. What the Rams need to do on special teamsMake the critical long field goals. Punt the ball deep so that the Vikings’ offense has to start inside their 20-yard line.For this game considering that the Rams are now onto their third punt returner of the season (seemingly WR Cooper Kupp), just fair catch the ball. No muffs. If Cooper thinks he can SAFELY pick up yardage, do it. Otherwise, just hand the ball over to the offense.The X-FactorsIt’s a short week Cheap Todd Gurley II Jersey , but an even shorter week for Head Coach Mike Zimmer to get his Vikings prepared as they have to fly across the county giving more time for the Rams to prepare.X-factor rating: slight advantage, RamsHead Coach Sean McVay is credited by Cousins for making him the 26-million dollar man for the Vikes. I normally take the teacher over the student, but last year, when Cousins played for Washington, he bested the RamsX-factor rating: pushThe timing in the schedule is critical. The Rams have a two-game lead over their rivals in NFC west division, and a letdown could be very easy for the Rams here as the Vikings come off a huge upset loss to the Bills...X-factor rating: advantage, VikingsHistoryThree teams which long-time diehard Rams fans like me have no love for: the San Francisco 49ers, the Dallas Cowboys and the Minnesota Vikings. The Vikings make this list because of all those times they beat the Rams in the playoffs back in the 70’s. In the frigid cold of Minnesota without the heaters and hot packs, the Rams froze even though they had a better team.Forty years has passed since the last time I saw the Rams play a meaningful game against the Vikings in the Coliseum... The Mud Bowl. That game became one of those painful losses one never forgets. At that time, the Rams had the home-field advantage able to avoid the sub-zero weather in Minneapolis. But it rained all week in Los Angeles right up to the game causing the Coliseum grass to turn to mud. The Rams played like they stuck in it leading to another playoff loss to Vikings.Going into the 1999 Divisional Playoff Game, the Rams were 0-4 in playoff games against Minnesota, but that year the Rams had the comfortable confines of playing in a dome where weather would not be a factor. Before that game I told anyone in Los Angeles who still rooted for the team that that if the Rams could finally get over their playoff drought with the Vikes, they would win the Super Bowl. For me http://www.officialramsfootballstore.com/todd-gurley-ii-jersey-cheap , that was my Super Bowl Game. The Rams blew out the Vikings in the second half with ultimate team effort on special teams, offense and defense. I never celebrated so much, running into the street screaming “The Rams Win! The Rams Win!” The drought was over and I knew right then my St. Louis Rams of Los Angeles were a team of destiny as the Super Bowl Championship I had dreamed about in my youth, stolen from me by the Minnesota Vikings so many times, was going to be ours. The Vikings never deserved to be in the big game in the first place all those years relying on mother nature rather then the quality of their team to beat my Rams accumulating an 0-4 record in the big game ranking right up there with the Buffalo Bills.Wounded, hobbled and injured coming into the game, I call this a “no excuses” game. If you’re the best, you have to beat the best. But if the Vikings are as good as advertised by the football experts who picked them to go the Super Bowl, you don’t lose to an 0-2 Buffalo Bills.The time has come to enter into a new era between the Rams and Vikings. This time, it’s gonna be my Rams taking home the trophy this time. While a lot has happened since those bygone days of my youth, this is a different Rams team. But no matter how different the times are, nothing changes for me.I don’t like the Vikings.GO RAMS! NO EXCUSES!

The ‘18 Chiefs offense is so different , Travis Kelce was speechless

linchao — Wed, 07 Nov 2018 03:21:28 +0000

Travis Kelce took the podium for his first press conference of the regular season Wednesday, as the Kansas City Chiefs began preparing for their Week 1 matchup against the Los Angeles Chargers. Believe it or not, if you include his injured year in 2013, it is the start of Kelce’s sixth campaign with the team.There is a stark difference Xavier Williams Jersey in 2018, of course, as it will be his first year working with a quarterback other than Alex Smith, the Chiefs turning the organizational reins over to second-year QB Patrick Mahomes this offseason.Photo by Peter Aiken/Getty ImagesKelce no doubt has a different manner to him early in 2018—and I find it to be a good thing. His approach to each press opportunity is cool, calm and collected, like that of someone who knows he is a team leader, a role he may need to play this season.Even at the ripe age of 28, Kelce is one of the eldest Chiefs on the starting offense.Kelce was asked early on in the press conference about how the Chiefs’ offense may be different with Mahomes than with Smith in previous seasons, and the question gave him pause. “Um...it’s uh...without saying too much it’s, um...”Well what is it?“I can’t really—I don’t want to give away too much of the secret,” Kelce finally said. “It’s going to be fun to get out there. It’s new for everybody, so I think it’s something everyone can really get excited about, even the fans.”But would he say there are going to be some tangible differences?“Oh, without a doubt,” he said, this time more sure of himself. “Definitely some differences in a good way.”At this point Authentic Harrison Butker Jersey , we had to know, right?So I asked Mahomes—what is the 2018 brand of Chiefs football?“We want to attack every aspect of the field,” Mahomes said. “I feel like we have the weapons to attack short, we can run the ball, we can stretch the defense deep, we can attack the middle with the guys that we have. “We just want to make sure that we have to keep the defense honest on every single play. They can't send everybody back and try to cover the deep ball—we’ll run the ball on them. And then if they bring everybody in the box, we want to be able to attack them deep.“We just want to make sure we can attack everywhere on the field.” It sounds like it could be a bit for the Chargers to manage. Four more days until we find out.New for the 2018 season: True power rankings For me — like many Arrowhead Pride readers — AP’s weekly rundown of power rankings is must-reading during the season.I know perfectly well that power rankings are meaningless since they represent nothing more than the opinion of some NFL pundit.But I can’t help myself.I read them anyway.Going into the 2017 season, I started wondering: Is there a way to do it better?Is there a way to make power rankings more meaningful? And wouldn’t it be nice if you could look at them side by side, and more easily compare rankings from different sources?So I spent the season collecting data and experimenting with it, revising my methods and calculations as I went along.You’ll see the results starting this season, as we present Arrowhead Pride True Power Rankings — a more complete look at the state of the NFL each week.Part 1: Pundit Power RankingsOn Tuesdays — just as we’ve always done — we’ll give you power rankings from a variety of sources, including each pundit’s comments about the Chiefs.But we’ll present the rankings side-by-side, so you can more easily compare how different sources view each NFL team.Then we’ll add an extra feature.We’ll aggregate the rankings into a single ranking based on the power rankings from ESPN, Sports Illustrated’s MMQB, NFL.com, the Sporting News, Yahoo.com and CBS.com.Why these particular six?All are well-respected national sources that we know will publish power rankings each week.The rankings published by two of them — ESPN and MMQB — represent the opinion of all their writers, rather than just one.Since we could consider their group opinion as more valid, our calculations will weight those two more heavily than the other four.As an example of what this will look like Youth Terrance Smith Jersey , here’s what the Pundit Power Rankings looked like going into Week 17 last season.Pundit Power Rankings for Week 17Chiefs AFC West Teams Other AFC TeamsLike all the tables we’ll show you each week, rows for the Chiefs will be in one color, rows for AFC West teams will be in another color, and rows for the remaining AFC teams will be in yet another.This immediately draws your eye not only to the information about your favorite team, but also to the teams that will most concern the Chiefs during the regular season: their division and conference opponents.We’ll also repeat the header row every eight rows, which will make it a little easier for you to read the table as you scroll through it, and also neatly divide the teams into quarters.Wait... did I say all the tables?I sure did.Part 2: Cruncher Power RankingsWe know, of course, there are other ways to evaluate the relative strength NFL teams — ones that do not depend on a sportswriter’s opinion, but instead on hard data.So on Wednesdays starting after Week 2, we’ll give you NFL rankings generated by four well-known methods used by number-crunchers: ELO from FiveThirtyEight.com, DVOA from FootballOutsiders.com, SRS (for Simple Rating System) from Pro-Football-Reference.com, and PE (for Pythagorean Expectation — sometimes called expected wins) as originally adapted for pro football by Football Outsiders.All of these methods have strengths and weaknesses.All but DVOA use points scored (both for and against) as the base data for their calculations.All but PE take opponent strength into consideration.Only Elo includes how a team did in the previous season.Two of them — Elo and PE — were originally developed for different purposes, but have been adapted for pro football.There are other differences — if you’re really interested, click the links to learn more — but for our purposes, only one thing matters: they don’t depend on the personal opinion of a writer who doesn’t watch every game of every team.As you might expect, we’ll not only present these power rankings from the number-crunchers, individually http://www.chiefsauthorizedshops.com/authentic-eric-murray-jersey , but average them together, too.Here’s what that looked like going into Week 17 last season.Cruncher Power Rankings for Week 17Chiefs AFC West Teams Other AFC TeamsYou may have noticed that the 2017 playoff teams are marked with asterisks in these first two tables.We’ve done this so you can see whether the pundits or crunchers better predicted the outcome of the 2017 playoffs.As you might expect, it’s a mixed bag.The pundits had the advantage of knowing which teams had the best shot of making the playoffs with one week to go.On the other hand, the crunchers predicted the eventual Super Bowl winner.You can also see the how pundits — in general — are influenced by quarterbacks.Going into Week 17 last year, they unanimously thought the Patriots — with Tom Brady — had the best chance to win the Super Bowl.The crunchers had more variance in their evaluations, but weren’t distracted by the fact that backup quarterback Nick Foles would be under center for the Eagles in the postseason.This is not to say that the crunchers will always be more accurate.They won’t be.But it illustrates how much fun it was for me last season, as I watched how the pundits and the crunchers agreed — and sometimes, how they disagreed.Part 3: Combined Power RankingsEach week, we’ll make it easy for you to compare how the pundits and crunchers differ by presenting their rankings side-by-side — and, of course, give you a cumulative ranking that averages them together.Combined Power Rankings for Week 17Chiefs AFC West Teams Other AFC TeamsI should note here how these rankings will be averaged together.Sharp-eyed readers may already have noticed that some of these seem... wrong.Two and six for the Steelers averages to four, and five and one for the Eagles averages to three.So why would the Steelers be ranked ahead of the Eagles?This is because we’re not averaging the rankings from each table.Instead, we’re averaging the numbers behind those rankings.In the Pundit rankings for Week 17, the Steelers average ranking was 2.25, while it was 5.25 in the Crunchers rankings.That’s an average of 3.75.The Eagles Pundit average was 5.125, and their Crunchers average was 2.5.That averages out to 3.8125.Therefore, the Steelers ranked ahead of the Eagles in the Combined rankings.But we’re not done yet.Part 4: Cruncher GradesIf you’re familiar with my past writing, you may recall that I am not a fan of statistical rankings.They can be misleading because they can only show that one number is larger (or smaller) than another — not how close they are to each other.Statisticians have a trick to fix this problem.They calculate standard deviations from average for a set of values, which is used to tell if the difference between two values from the set is statistically significant.Standard deviations from average are expressed as a number that is almost always between -3 and 3 Ron Parker Jersey , and is usually carried out to multiple decimal points.But you’re not going to have to compare -1.6875 to 1.3496.Instead, we’ll do the same thing your school teachers did: convert them to letter grades ranging from FF (less than -3) to AA (greater than 3) — like this:The key thing to remember is that only a difference of a full letter grade (or more) is statistically significant.So if one team has a B+ and another team has a B, the difference between them is measurable, but not significant.If one team has a C and another has a D+, the difference is a bit more measurable, but still not significant.But a team with a B+ grade is significantly better than one with a C+ grade.We can’t do this for Pundit rankings, because there is no numerical value behind each pundit’s opinion.But we can do it with the data underlying the Cruncher rankings, because they are numerical values.Since the Cruncher numbers are all based on entirely different systems, we can’t compare the raw numbers directly; that would be comparing apples to oranges.But by calculating standard deviations from average for each set of values, we effectively convert all of them to juicy red tomatoes — which we can compare directly.Here’s how that looked going into Week 17 last season.Cruncher Grades for Week 17Chiefs AFC West Teams Other AFC TeamsThese grades reveal an essential truth about ranking statistics of any kind: numbers that we spend a lot of time comparing sometimes don’t turn out to be significantly different from each other.While it might be true — for example — that one quarterback has a completion percentage of 60.1 and another has one of 60.4, the difference is measurable, but not necessarily significant.The same is true of ranked statistical values.We might assume — for example — that the top five rushers in the league are elite. But by grading the values this way, we might learn that only one is head and shoulders above everyone else.The other four might be merely above average.What we see here is that going into Week 17 last season, there were six teams that were roughly equivalent — at least in terms of how the crunchers evaluated them.So going into the playoffs, there really wasn’t one team that stood out as having the best chance to win it all.That might turn out to be the case in 2018, too.Or... it might not.It’s possible that when we reach Week 17, we’ll see that one or two teams are clearly above the rest of the field — or it’ll be anybody’s postseason to win.We’re looking forward to watching how it all unfolds, and hope that this weekly dive into what the pundits and crunchers think will be entertaining — and enlightening.Watch for it every Tuesday and Wednesday during the regular season on AP!

The Takeaway Bills vs. Packers: Mike Pettine’s defense dominates third down

linchao — Wed, 07 Nov 2018 03:11:44 +0000

A trend emerged over the first three games of the Green Bay Packers’ 2018 season.While the overall numbers painted the picture of a team still largely unable to halt opponents with regularity, a closer look revealed that the Green Bay defense thrived on third down with 4 or more yards to go. Forcing those situations proved to be the challenge at times, but once there new defensive coordinator Mike Pettine could dial up exotic blitzes and consistently short-circuit drives.Against the Buffalo Bills on Sunday, Pettine and his defense Green Bay Packers T-Shirt put on a show on those third-down situations. The Packers forced third-and-4 or longer an impressive 13 times, eight of which resulted in a stop. That third-down defensive success largely won the game for Green Bay and, given the context of the previous three weeks, suggests meaningful progress for the unit after just one quarter of the season.But those numbers don’t fully illustrate the Packers’ third-down dominance. All three of the Bills’ turnovers -- two interceptions and a fumble loss -- came on third down and at least 4 yards to go. Pettine’s exotic blitzes, particularly his affinity for rushing defensive backs, turned the defense into a play-making unit.And perhaps that explains why Aaron Rodgers referred to the defensive performance as “championship” level during his post-game press conference. During the Packers’ best defensive seasons under previous coordinator Dom Capers, the group finished near the top of the league in turnovers. Those takeaways hadn’t totally evaporated in Green Bay over the past few years, but that production needs to improve in order to take the pressure off an offense that remains a work in progress. Forcing more long third downs seems like a reliable way to up those numbers.Ultimately, the Bills present one of the weaker challenges on Green Bay’s schedule, and that factors into any discussion of Sunday’s shutout. At the same time, a good defense should give up few if any points to an offense led by rookie quarterback Josh Allen and arguably the worst collection of offensive talent in the league, and the Packers pulled it off with minimal mistakes.Aaron Jones shows off more than just his running abilityMidway through Aaron Jones’ rookie season, it became clear that the UTEP product had the skills and physical tools to lead the Packers’ ground attack. Injuries derailed that effort, but even so, it seemed Jones would take over the backfield during his second season.Despite missing the first two games of 2018 with a suspension, Jones has once again emerged as a dangerous part of the Packers offense. In his season debut, he led the team with 42 rushing yards on just six carries. Jones built upon that start with an 11-carry, 65-yard performance against the Bills, which also featured his first touchdown of the year. Already, he has moved ahead of Ty Montgomery in rushing yards on the year. At some point over the next week or so, Jones should eclipse Jamaal Williams as well.Since he entered the league, pass blocking has proven to be the biggest obstacle standing between Jones and a larger role. He finished third among the Packers’ running backs in snaps during Week 3, and he remained in a timeshare with Williams and Montgomery seven days later despite far superior production.However, the existing split could change in the near future. Against Buffalo, Jones showcased improved pass protection and willingness to take on difficult blocking assignments. The best demonstration came on third-and-1 with 8:26 remaining in regulation. With Rodgers’ back turned to the defense during a play fake, the second-year running back came up and de-cleated defensive end Trent Murphy, ensuring the necessary time for the play to develop. Such a “wow” moment would have seemed inconceivable a year ago, but Jones appears to have made a concerted effort to develop that part of his game.Blocks like that could encourage the coaches to increase Jones playing time in the future. He might never reach Williams’ proficiency as a pass protector, but Jones only needs to earn the trust of Rodgers and the staff to further tilt the backfield rotation in his favor.Aaron Rodgers’ wheels returnFrom the moment Rodgers returned from his Week 1 knee injury, it became evident that he lacked the mobility to extend plays and punish defenses with his legs. Though Rodgers did scramble at times against the Minnesota Vikings and Washington over the past two weeks Green Bay Packers Hats , such plays made up a smaller percentage of his plays than usual.Though Rodgers’ knee probably remains significantly below 100 percent healthy, he looked more comfortable and mobile against the Bills Sunday than at any time since the injury. The veteran quarterback scrambled five times for 31 yards, including a 15-yard sideline scamper that set up a field goal just before halftime. Just as importantly, Rodgers looked fluid and comfortable moving around in the pocket, working outside the play design when necessary.Those developments, combined with the fact Rodgers’ practice workload increased this past week, suggest that the most dangerous version of the Packers’ quarterback could return soon barring a setback. The next two weeks feature matchups with the Detroit Lions and San Francisco 49ers, two teams with middling-at-best pass rushes, followed by Green Bay’s bye. If Rodgers can safely navigate that stretch, he could look fully recovered in time for the all-important Week 8 tilt with the currently undefeated Los Angeles Rams.College Football Schedule, Week 2: Ohio State-TCU, LSU-Auburn, & much more Week two of the college football season was mostly devoid of stellar matchups, but as we arrive in week three, that’s all changing. Today we have a pair of games pitting two teams in the top 15 against one another — one comes in a conference opener for two teams with same mascot while the other is technically a neutral-site game but is played in the backyard of the lower-ranked school.The first matchup is in the SEC West, where LSU and Auburn each look to claim a quality victory in the division. With both teams still looking up at defending champions Alabama, this game should put an early stamp on which team will be the Crimson Tide’s top competition in the division.A non-conference battle is the other game on the schedule, with #4 Ohio State traveling to Texas to play TCU at Jerry World in Arlington. Sure, it’s technically a neutral-site game, but AT&T Stadium is just 18 miles from the center of TCU’s campus in Fort Worth. For fans of the Wisconsin Badgers, tune in for a mid-afternoon test against BYU. The Cougars were no match for Wisconsin in Provo a year ago, but they are 1-1 against Pac-12 foes so far this season, beating Arizona 28-23 in week one before losing last week to California (coached by former Wisconsin defensive coordinator Justin Wilcox) 21-18. Non-Wisconsin fans should tune in just to hear the name of BYU’s top running back, Squally Canada.Here’s a selection of the best games on today’s slate, or click here for a complete breakdown of the day’s entire schedule.Early Games#5 Oklahoma Sooners at Iowa State CyclonesJack Trice Stadium, Ames, IA11:00 AM CT (12 Noon ET)ABCFlorida State Seminoles at Syracuse OrangeCarrier Dome, Syracuse, NY12:00 Noon ETESPN#21 Miami Hurricanes at Toledo RocketsGlass Bowl Stadium, Toledo, OH12:00 Noon ETESPN2Kent State Golden Flashes at #11 Penn State Nittany LionsBeaver Stadium, University Park, PA12:00 Noon ETFOX Sports 1NOTE: #18 UCF @ North Carolina and East Carolina @ #13 Virginia Tech were scheduled for 12:00 Noon ET but have been cancelled due to Hurricane Florence.Afternoon KickoffsVanderbilt Commodores at #8 Notre Dame Fighting IrishNotre Dame Stadium Green Bay Packers Womens Hoodie , South Bend, IN2:30 PM ETNBCBYU Cougars at #6 Wisconsin BadgersCamp Randall Stadium, Madison, WI2:30 PM CT (3:30 ET)ABC#12 LSU Tigers at #7 Auburn TigersJordan-Hare Stadium, Auburn, AL2:30 PM CT (3:30 ET)CBS#17 Boise State Broncos at #24 Oklahoma State CowboysBoone Pickens Stadium, Stillwater, OK2:30 PM CT (3:30 ET)ESPNGeorgia Southern Eagles at #2 Clemson TigersMemorial Stadium, Clemson, SC3:30 PM ETESPN2Southern Methodist University Mustangs at #19 Michigan WolverinesMichigan Stadium, Ann Arbor, MI3:30 PM ETBTNHouston Cougars at Texas Tech Red RaidersJones-AT&T Stadium, Lubbock, TX3:00 PM CT (4:00 ET)FOXSan Jose State Spartans at #20 Oregon DucksAutzen Stadium, Eugene, OR2:00 PM PT (5:00 ET)Pac-12 NetworkNOTE: #14 West Virginia @ NC State was scheduled for 3:30 PM ET but has been cancelled due to Hurricane FlorenceNight Games#1 Alabama Crimson Tide vs. Ole Miss RebelsVaught-Hemingway Stadium, Oxford, MS6:00 PM CT (7:00 ET)ESPNMiddle Tennessee Blue Raiders at #3 Georgia BulldogsSanford Stadium, Athens, GA7:15 PM ETESPN2Louisiana-Lafayette Ragin’ Cajuns at #16 Mississippi State BulldogsDavis Wade Stadium, Starkville, MS6:30 PM CT (7:30 ET)SEC Network#4 Ohio State Buckeyes vs. #15 TCU Horned FrogsAT&T Stadium, Arlington, TX7:00 PM CT (8:00 ET)ABC#22 USC Trojans at Texas LonghornsDarrell K. Royal—Texas Memorial Stadium, Austin, TX7:00 PM CT (8:00 ET)FOX#10 Washington Huskies at Utah UtesRice-Eccles Stadium, Salt Lake City, UT8:00 PM MT (10:00 ET)ESPN#23 Arizona State Sun Devils at San Diego State AztecsSDCCU Stadium, San Diego, CA7:30 PM PT (10:30 ET)CBS Sports Network

5 things we learned from the Bengals’ win over the Falcons

linchao — Wed, 07 Nov 2018 03:01:08 +0000

Everyone who goes into Atlanta should expect a shootout. The Falcon’s high-powered offense combined with their banged-up defense makes for a Big 12-like matchup. Only a team with a defense as bad as the Falcons’ can score at least 36 points in two straight games and lose them both.So the Bengals Cincinnati Bengals Hats , looking to rebound from a disappointing outing against the Panthers the week before, were in prime position to put up points.If you like defense, look away. Andy Dalton and Matt Ryan combined for nearly 750 passing yards and six touchdowns, while each earning a passer rating well over 100. There were six receivers with over 50 yards and three with over 100. Two-thirds of all third down and fourth down attempts were converted. Pretty much any way you look at it, it was by far the most offense-heavy game the Bengals have played, and probably will play, all season.Which leads us to the first thing we learned from the Bengals win over the Falcons:The pass defense needs helpIt is a tall order to ask any defense to cover Julio Jones, Mohamed Sanu, Calvin Ridley, Austin Hooper, and Tevin Coleman out of the backfield. Imagine what this offense will look like once they get Devonta Freeman back.That being said, Jones and Sanu combined for nearly 300 yards of offense, part of Ryan’s 409-yard passing day. The defensive backs and linebackers couldn’t cover anyone if their lives depended on it.The other problem with the pass coverage is the turnover margin. In the first two games, the defense forced five turnovers and kept opposing offenses to only 23 points. In the last two weeks, the Bengals defense has forced no turnovers and given up over 30 points in both games. Teryl Austin has been all about takeaways, and his defense is proving that it is much more difficult to win games without them.The defensive line wins games.The defensive line proved that the only way to stop Ryan was to sack him.Geno Atkins sacked Ryan on fourth-and-five in the first quarter, giving the offense a short field and setting up Giovani Bernard’s first touchdown.Carlos Dunlap sacked Ryan in the red zone on the Falcons’ possession ensuing a blocked punt. The Falcons could have easily scored a touchdown, starting their drive on the eight-yard line. But the Falcons lost two yards on the drive and had to settle for three points instead of six.Carl Lawson sacked Ryan to force a third-and-goal on the 19-yard line in the fourth quarter. On the ensuing play, Ryan overthrew Hooper in the end zone, making the Falcons settle for three once again.In a game where both teams combined for nine touchdowns, every stop was important. Instead of ending possessions with touchdowns, the defensive line single-handedly stopped the Falcons from scoring touchdowns three times. In a one-point game, even allowing a touchdown on one of those drives probably would have changed the outcome.The Bengals’ offense is dangerousThe Falcons probably planned on double-covering Green for most of the game, but that proved to be an ineffective strategy.First of all, this led to Tyler Boyd being the most targeted receiver in the game. Boyd’s 15 targets and 11 receptions netted him exactly 100 yards, which makes this the second 100-yard game in a row for Boyd. In fact, Dalton connected with Boyd four times in the game-winning drive five times before finding Green for the last score of the game. It’s not that Boyd’s chemistry with Dalton is better than Green’s; the Falcons were doing a better job of covering Green, but Boyd kept getting favorable matchups.Boyd wasn’t the only beneficiary of Greens’ prowess. Tyler Eifert was left one-on-one against strong safety Brian Poole when the free safety Damontae Kazee was drawn towards Green and Boyd’s side of the field. You never want to leave a defensive back one-on-one against Eifert.Later on, Green and Boyd drew Kazee to their side of the field, leaving the speedster Ross alone against cornerback Isaiah Oliver, who only ran a paltry 4.5 in the 40-yard dash at the combine.The Bengals offense, much like the Falcons, has become too potent for defenses to cover. As long as Dalton takes care of the ball, the Bengals should have no problem putting up points.John Ross is not bustedA week ago, many were already calling Ross a bust after having only 16 receiving yards and allowing two picks to be thrown when he was targeted. Boyd and Green said after the game that Ross needed some work Cincinnati Bengals Hoodie , but they were sure that he could overcome whatever problems he was facing.There were also those on Twitter that were clamoring for Ross’ head, calling him a “bust” three games into his second season.Then Ross torched the Falcon’s secondary for a 39-yard touchdown, exceeding his second-longest catch of the season by 30 yards. He might have had more, too, if he could have played through his injury.Was Ross going through some issues? Clearly. But was nothing to get worked up over. Boyd had similar problems at the beginning of last season, yet the Bengals stuck with him, and he is now 11th in the NFL in receiving yards and leading the team in receptions and yards.Even Chad Johnson had to go through a similar struggle before he could become the Bengals all-time leader in every statistical category.So, while Ross was struggling, he had the mental toughness to get through it. He’s not out of the woods yet, and still has to work on his game every single week. But there is a reason the Bengals drafted Ross. Expect more touchdowns out of him as the year goes on.Joe Mixon is the Bengals’ best cheerleaderThe Bengals’ second-year running back was expected to have a huge impact this year, but he has been sidelined for at least two games with a knee injury. Even though he clearly wants to play, he is forced to stand on the sidelines wearing a t-shirt. It must be killing him to not play, but that hasn’t stopped him from cheering on his team.On almost every touchdown, the first person to greet the scoring player on the sidelines is Mixon. He helped encourage Dalton while they were waiting for the officials to review and overturn his fumble. He even helped pump up the crowd after the final whistle blew.No one was rooting harder for the Bengals last week than Mixon. Hopefully, he will be able to switch out his t-shirt for a jersey and help his team win from the field instead of the sideline.Bengals make unreal comeback to beat Dolphins, 27-17 Coming off a hard-fought win over the Falcons, the Bengals hosted the Dolphins who were looking to rebound from a thumping against the Patriots.After a miserable first half, the Bengals stormed back into the game with some dominant second half play from offense, defense and special teams. Cincinnati scored 27 unanswered points to win the game, 27-17. It was sealed by a Carlos Dunlap strip sack, which turned into a Sam Hubbard touchdown and then further sealed by Jessie Bates’ second career interception to end the game. The rookies stepped up, the defense stepped up, everyone stepped up. It was a glorious second half after nothing went right in the first half.The biggest pre-game news for the Bengals was that Vontaze Burfict was playing his his first game since serving his four-game suspension. He made an instant impact, getting three tackles in the first defensive drive and helping to force a punt from the Dolphins on the opening possession.Andy Dalton got off to a hot start, with Bill Lazor calling the plays against his former team. Dalton completed each of his first four attempts for 62 yards, spreading the ball out to four different receivers. But the drive ended when Dalton’s pass to A.J. Green was tipped and caught by Dolphins linebacker Kiko Alonso, setting up the Dolphins on the Bengals’ 19-yard line after returning the interception for 15 yards.The Bengals defense held up against the Dolphins offense in the first quarter, keeping them to only 44 yards and no third down conversions. Even though the Bengals had 109 yards on their first two drives combined, the game remained scoreless well into the second quarter.The Dolphins broke the deadlock with a 22-yard touchdown pass to running back Kenyon Drake. After an excellent punt from Kevin Huber, the Dolphins drove all the way from their own five yard line. The 11-play, six-minute drive was manufactured by quarterback Ryan Tannehill’s arm, with eight passing plays to only three running plays. The touchdown on the wheel route to Drake was the longest play of the drive. After the score, Jason Sanders converted the extra point and the Dolphins were ahead 7-0 with 7:22 remaining in the second quarter. Dalton responded and found Green and Tyler Boyd for huge gains. But the Bengals faced third down later on the drive, which would become a nagging issue throughout the course of the half. The Bengals settled for a field goal, but Bollock’s 37-yard attempt was blocked Customized Cincinnati Bengals Jerseys , so the Bengals would come up empty handed yet again. Special teams wasn’t done messing things up for Cincinnati though.The Bengals punted the ball away with less than one minute left in the half, but Jakeem Grant returned the punt 68 yards for the score. Sanders’ extra point was good, so the Dolphins took a 14-0 lead right before halftime. Once again, the Bengals allowed their opponent to score with seconds remaining before halftime and this one was hard to watch. Here are some of the ugly first-half numbers. Dalton (8) had nearly half the amount of rushing yards as Joe Mixon (19).The Bengals got the ball back and promptly punted after losing nine yards on their first three plays. Assisted by a personal foul from Michael Johnson, the Dolphins were able to get into field goal range, and Sanders knocked his 41-yard attempt through with 9:30 left in the third quarter. We never saw why Johnson was penalized...Dalton got the offense going with a pass to Green for 22 yards, followed by a pass to C.J. Uzomah for 10 yards. But Dalton couldn’t finish off the drive after getting sacked on third-and-two, which brought the field goal unit into the game. Bullock finally got the Bengals on the board with a 51-yard field goal with 5:07 left in the third quarter to put an end to the Dolphins’ scoring run.Green and Boyd helped get the Bengals moving downfield, as well as some Dolphins penalties. Joe Mixon recorded a 12-yard rush which was his longest run he had at that point in a game where he never had any holes to run through. But his most impressive play of the game was on the first snap of the fourth quarter. Dalton, facing pressure, was forced to throw while taking contact. Mixon, who was downfield, adjusted to the pass and beat Alonso to break the plane for the Bengals’ first touchdown of the game. With 14:54 left in the game, the Bengals were starting to make a comeback, down only 17-10 after Bullock’s extra point.The Bengals’ momentum kept growing, and they would not trail for much longer. Tannehill faced pressure from Preston Brown and Andrew Billings, and his throw bounced off of the offensive line. Johnson gathered the ball and ran it back 21 yards for an easy pick-six. Bullock knocked the extra point through, and tied the game at 17-17 with 11:43 left in the game. Suddenly, the momentum had shifted.The Bengals defense was miles ahead of where they were in the first half, and put too much pressure on Tannehill. Mixon finally turned up the heat on the next drive, following up an 11-yard run with a 31-yarder to get the Bengals in field goal range. Bullock came in for a 19-yard kick, and the Bengals took their first lead of the game not a moment too soon, up 20-17 with 3:30 to go in the game.On that drive, Green caught a 10-yard pass from Dalton to make franchise history, putting him over 100 yards on the day. That catch allowed Green to have his 32nd career 100-yard game, breaking the record for the most 100 yard games in Bengals’ history.The Bengals’ defensive line proved too much for the Dolphins yet again. Carlos Dunlap came off the edge, and, despite being held, he forced Tannehill to fumble the ball. Cincinnati native Sam Hubbard picked it up and took it 19-yards to the house for his first career touchdown. Bullock’s extra point was good, and the Bengals extended their lead to 27-17 with two minutes remaining in the game.The Dolphins made one last push to try to get back in the game, but Jessie Bates grabbed the second interception of his career when Tannehill tried to air one out to Kenny Stills. The Bengals would get the ball with 1:35 left in the game, and even tough they punted it away, the game was too far out of reach for the Dolphins.The score would hold and the Bengals would end up winning 27-17 to improve to 4-1 on the year. Next up, the Bengals welcome the Steelers to Paul Brown Stadium on Sunday.

Should the LA Rams trade Jared Goff before giving him a massive deal?

linchao — Thu, 25 Oct 2018 02:50:13 +0000

An interesting topic came up on twitter today Womens Marcus Peters Jersey , when ESPN’s Bill Barnwell suggested that a team would potentially try to - and the Rams might be interested in listening to - trade offers for Los Angeles Rams’ quarterback Jared Goff a year or two down the road.Now this is obviously not a rumor or speculation, but more so a look at how the Rams could continue to keep star talent all over their roster by not having to potentially pay Goff $100M(+) when the time comes due. It’s certainly a very risky proposition, as there are no guarantees the Rams don’t completely fall apart without a strong QB. There are a few things to consider here. First of all, you’d have to come to grips with trading away the No. 1 overall pick without any guarantees of acquiring an even half decent starter. Sean Mannion certainly wouldn’t be able to carry the team to the postseason. And then you’d have to consider whether or not Sean McVay would be the QB whisperer to another young QB and provide the same type of results we saw from Goff in 2017. But if you can wrap your brain around the idea, the next question is what the compensation would look like.If the Rams were to be offered a 1st round pick, the answer is definitely no. But if a team, let’s say a not very good team with a huge need for a QB, was to offer you TWO first round picks, then maybe it’s something to consider. Maybe not. But at some point in time the potential trade compensation has to get you thinking. At any rate, the TST staff were having some fun with the idea...well, we were mostly bickering, but I felt it might be something the TST fans - who are smarter than us - might enjoy. Here are a few of our thoughts. We hope you’ll share yours in the comments below: Sosa KremenjasYeah, I’d be open to it. I think it could be a stroke of brilliance if performed properly, though the NFL is a very old-school type of league so let me preface this by saying I don’t think it’ll ever happen. But back to the pros/cons. This offense has far more to do with Sean McVay than it does with Jared Goff. He simplifies the game for the QB. His route combinations and plans of attack are downright brilliant. You have arguably the best RB in the league. The offensive line is strong. The trio of weapons are among the best in the league. If you can find another QB who can offer you 5 years of controlled costs (as well as potentially multiple draft picks) to improve the team elsewhere, you’re a Superbowl contender. It also helps to do it in a year where there’s a strong draft, particularly at QB, such as the past two drafts. Lastly, how many QB’s could start for Sean McVay right now and give you what Jared Goff gives you? 10? 15? Maaaybe 20?Again, I don’t think it will happen, but it would absolutely be something I’d be open to.Tevin BronerI can’t see the Rams trading Goff. Teams are scared to trade or get rid of QBs like Blake Bortles or Andy Dalton. Hell, I was surprised when the Rams got rid of Sam Bradford.With that being said, I could imagine a scenario with the Rams finding a QB in the draft and maybe Goff gets injured. But it just seems far-fetched, even if I think that he’s a system QB.Charlie HillerI’ve wondered about the idea of flipping Goff for a rookie/FA when the time comes but it’s incredibly risky. If you think that McVay truly is a QB whisperer who can turn an average-to-replacement-level guy into a serviceable starter, then pull the trigger. But if Goff had any bit to do with last season’s success, I think you have to keep him and build around him. Who knows, maybe he’s one of those “team friendly” guys when it comes to be contract time. That being said, if there’s a QB projecting to be a late 1st or 2nd rounder and McVay wants him...I think he’s earned the benefit of the doubt. Even at the risk of plunging the team right back into quarterback hell.Eric NagelNo Authentic Austin Blythe Jersey , trading Goff is a silly idea. Quarterback is easily the most in demand position in football, and getting rid of someone, who admittedly the jury is still out on (but put up nearly 4000 yards and 30TDs last year) is quite frankly stupid.Teams would kill for that level of production, and there is no guarantee a rookie would be able to replicate that.Put it this way - you don’t trade him, and you’ll probably get similar stats. Trade him and it doesn’t work out? Somebody is getting fired. If that’s your level of risk, cool. But it isn’t mine.HotdaddywagsShort answer: no. No, you don’t deal a promising QB prospect at or near the end of his rookie deal. We’ve played hell trying to find a capable signal caller for a decade, and we’ve got a kid who has a high ceiling and is a good fit for our offense. Still, it’s an intriguing notion – if Goff is average in 2018 and the Rams fall short of expectations based on his play, you have to wonder how that impacts his sticker price. And if that price is too high, and you’ve established a strong trade market, identified a veteran stopgap solution and a draft target, you definitely consider it. But until we have more information, I’m in the “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it,” camp and am hopeful Goff silences his critics and becomes a guy worthy of the big bucks.Joey AucoinI would hope that if Goff isn’t a top 5-10 QB, his agents won’t ask for the farm. Like, if it’s clear that he’s Andy Dalton or Blake Bortles (which is not the case yet), he shouldn’t get Derek Carr money. I want Goff to succeed and still feel like he’s getting better. I want this season to be proof that all of the “Goff sucks” jerks have been jumping the gun.seattleramsRight now I’m a big no. The Rams spent 8 years looking for someone to fill the position after Marc Bulger left. Goff might not be Drew Bree’s, but it’s working, so leave things as they are.However, with that said... I am on board with allowing Sean McVay to do anything he wishes with this team. If he wants to move Jared Goff along for a used pizza box, I am going to trust his beautiful ass to make it work.Brandon BateI’d definitely listen to offers. I realize it’s a huge risk trading away your quarterback. I also think Sean McVay has the potential to turn an average QB into a very good one — especially if he’s able to maintain the talent level around him. The setup the Rams have now, with Goff on his rookie contract, is ideal. It’s a large part of what’s allowed them to build the roster as you see it today. Again, it’s risky, but I would put my trust in McVay to get a signal caller - whether it be a free agent or a rookie - ready and make the Rams a consistently solid team.Los Angeles Rams vs. Arizona Cardinals: Bold predictions So http://www.losangelesramsteamonline.com/rodger-saffold-jersey , I sometimes like to pretend that I know what’s going to happen in this league, but no one does and that’s why the NFL is an extremely entertaining sport. Last week, I predicted that QB Jared Goff was going to have the game of his life (nope), Tyler Higbee was going to breakout as a fantasy stud (not even close), and John Johnson III would once again make the case that he was a steal in last year’s draft. So, I got one right and that wasn’t even much of a stretch. So, when in doubt, swing harder, right?Let’s get bold.Robert Woods is going to get 10+ catches for 120+ yards and 3 TDsI think Coach McVay knows that the Cardinals are well aware that the Rams aren’t going to use WR Brandin Cooks as a decoy like they did with WR Sammy Watkins last year. Cooks is going to get the ball and the Cardinals defense, namely CB Patrick Peterson, will be covering him like an extremely wet blanket. Enter Robert Woods. With several drops last week that weren’t entirely his fault, Woods is due for a game that cements him as an integral part of this offense. Aaron Donald is going to eat Sam Bradford on live televisionChomping at the bit for a big defensive play, Donald will get his this week, sacking QB Sam Bradford 3 times. I’m talking a highlight reel in one game. Pass defections, forced fumbles, and even a tackle where he knocks some dude’s helmet off. Donald hasn’t been with the team for more than a month, so he’s still getting back in the rhythm of this team. And this week, he proves that he’s the best damn football player in the NFL. Marqui Christian will shine as inside linebacker opposite Cory LIttletonWith Mark Barron still not healthy to start at ILB, Grandpa Wade is moving around the chess pieces on the board in an effort to mask the fact that the Rams defense is very vulnerable in the middle of the field, especially if the offense has big pass catchers. So, in obvious passing situations, look for Christian to be out there at ILB and expect great things. The guy had a great camp and was responsible for the effective pass defense last week in the second half. I boldly predict a pick 6 for Marqui Christian. Sam Bradford will NOT blow out his knee, but Josh Rosen will playIf I get this right, I will be very insufferable on Twitter. @LARamsRamsRams btw. The biggest surprise will be that this will actually be a football game, with drama and excitement. Rams win, 35-33.

Rapid Reaction: Chiefs make flurry of roster moves Sunday

linchao — Thu, 25 Oct 2018 02:28:58 +0000

The Kansas City Chiefs made a flurry of moves Sunday. Let’s react!First Authentic Patrick Mahomes II Jersey , the Chiefs’ announced their official 10-man practice squad: WR Josh Crockett, WR Gehrig Dieter, OL Ryan Hunter, DL Dee Liner, QB Chase Litton, LB Rob McCray, S Leon McQuay, C Jimmy Murray, CB Arrion Springs and CB D’Montre Wade.No big shockers here, but some quick takeaways:Big kudos goes out to Josh Crockett and Rob McCray for turning offseason tryouts into practice squad spots.The Chiefs keep their starting quarterback’s best friend in Gehrig Dieter.I always figured Ryan Hunter was a practice squad candidate when he was in the first-team mix back in OTAs. Hunter last appeared on the Chiefs’ depth chart as the backup left guard prior to roster cuts.Leon McQuay is a former Chiefs 2017 sixth-rounder and has been in the system. He provides some safety depth without having to own a roster spot.The Arrowhead Pride Nerd Squad was especially high on McCray, Arrion Springs and D’Montre Wade, so it is nice to see them all back.Here is some good by-the-numbers stuff from old friend BJ Kissel of Chiefs dot com.Luckily for the Chiefs, quarterback Chase Litton passed through waivers, so they were able to keep him. That led to...A surprise! The Chiefs cut Matt McGloin and will go with only two quarterbacks on the active roster.Going with only two quarterbacks—in this case, Patrick Mahomes and Chad Henne—on the active roster is strange for Andy Reid. “I’m not sure I’ve ever done it with two quarterbacks,” Reid said on a conference call Friday. “We’ll just see how the numbers game goes here. You got to juggle a few things.”The Chiefs gave McGloin’s free roster spot to...Guard Ike Boettger, who the Chiefs claimed from the Buffalo Bills.Boettger is a 6-foot-5, 313-pound offensive lineman who originally entered the NFL as an undrafted free agent out of Iowa in 2018. Boettger switched from tight end to offensive lineman at Iowa before catching on with the Bills. Boettger last played right guard for the Bills the other night. This is from NFL.com’s Lance Zierlein, via Boettger’s draft profile:That makes 10 offensive linemen on the Chiefs roster. Yes...And finally Womens Harrison Butker Jersey , as expected, S Daniel Sorensen was moved to injured reserve to make room for the returning Ron Parker. I know Parker could have played better last season, but I like his familiarity with the system, and, at 31, he provides leadership in the locker room. Parker is certainly happy to be back:So there you have it. 53 players, plus 10.And away we go.Five NFL daily fantasy plays for Week 3, and the Chiefs’ pick of the week Below, you’ll find a list of players I have spotlighted for daily fantasy selections leading into the third week of the NFL season.I use the following criteria to try and find players — NFL Vegas totals, NFL team stats, what the fantasy gurus are saying, and my GUT.Let’s not wait any longer. Let’s see who’s made my list of five players this week!Kenny Golladay, WR LionsRaj Mehta-USA TODAY SportsThe Lions will be playing a home game against the Patriots, and the total is a fairly high 51.5 points. Kenny Golladay already has 203 receiving after two games.With the Lions likely needing to play catch up, the Patriots having an average passing defense, and such a large total — it’s likely Golladay could have a perfect storm to continue his streak of good numbers.Eric Ebron, TE ColtsGeoff Burke-USA TODAY SportsThis game has a fairly high line, with the total sitting at 47.5 points.But I’m not picking Eric Ebron just because of the line; it only plays a small role. The main reason is due to the Eagles allowing 7.5 NY/A on defense. Truth be told, the Eagles passing defense has not been that efficient at the start of the season.To make matters more interesting http://www.chiefsauthorizedshops.com/authentic-laurent-duvernay-tardif-jersey , Carson Wentz has been cleared to play and I envision a game between Andrew Luck and Carson Wentz to have some scoring. Luck continues to settle in after an injury drought, and I look to see Luck connecting with Ebron against the Eagles.Austin Hooper, WR FalconsReinhold Matay-USA TODAY SportsThe Saints are giving up a terrible 10.7 NY/A on the young season. With Julio Jones likely costing an arm and a leg, it may be a good idea to invest some draft capital into Austin Hooper.Hooper has been relatively quiet thus far in the season, but with the Saints likely pushing this game into a shootout, Hooper could see a boost in his targets. Over the course of the first two games Hooper saw nine targets and caught eight of them.I’m thinking Hooper could be a cheap option for a team looking to flesh out the rest of their roster.Peyton Barber, RB BuccaneersSteve Mitchell-USA TODAY SportsLook, I’m trying to find cheap options that could have a big impact on Sunday (or Monday in this case), and Peyton Barber should come pretty cheap.The Steelers are giving up 4.8 yards per attempt which is the seventh-worst mark in the NFL. Add in the fact Vegas has the total for this game set at 53.5 points and there should be plenty of fantasy points to be had.I’m hopeful Barber can be a cheap buy and turn his 2.6 yards per attempt average into a much better number after facing the Steelers defense, which has been very shaky at the start of the season. If the Bucs are able to hang around the goal line enough, Barber could get a touchdown.Dante Pettis, WR 49ersSergio Estrada-USA TODAY SportsI saw Pettis play against the Vikings in the first week of the season and I came away impressed with Pettis’ skill set and he may cause the Chiefs some troubles.I believe the 49ers are going to be involved in a shootout with the Chiefs and it’s no secret the Chiefs defense has had a number of issues stopping the pass. Pettis could be open down the field on a number of occasions on Sunday.Add the fact the Chiefs are allowing 7.6 NY/A (bottom five in the NFL) and you have a favorable situation for Pettis to rack up some fantasy points, all the while being relatively cheap.My Chiefs pick for last week was Sammy Watkins, and he fared pretty well, having six receptions for 100 yards receiving with another 31 yards rushing.This week my player to watch for the Chiefs is...Kareem HuntCharles LeClaire-USA TODAY SportsHunt has been pretty quiet to start the season by his standards. Hunt has rushed for 124 yards on 34 attempts with a pedestrian 3.6 yards per attempt.I think the Chiefs/49ers game may result in a blowout and with the Chiefs getting a big lead Kareem Hunt will be asked to run the ball in the fourth quarter. We all know if Hunt keeps getting carries he will eventually break a few tackles and rip off a huge run.The 49ers have allowed 4.3 yards per rushing attempt in 2018, and that’s modestly below average — just another reason Hunt could be set up to have a good day.

Packers scratch almost the entire first-team offense against Raiders

linchao — Thu, 25 Oct 2018 02:08:05 +0000

If you were tuning in for the Green Bay Packers-Oakland Raiders game this evening expecting to see any of the Packers’ starters on offense because it is the third preseason game Green Bay Packers T-Shirt , think again. All but one of the Packers’ projected offensive starters is sitting out tonight’s game, with only wide receiver Geronimo Allison taking the field tonight.It’s no surprise that Aaron Rodgers is skipping this contest, but Mike McCarthy clearly wants to take no chances with the remainder of his first team this evening. The entire starting offensive line will take a seat, so get ready to hear the names Spriggs, Bell, Murphy, Patrick, and Day for most, if not all, of tonight’s game. In addition, wide receiver Jake Kumerow will sit out after missing all of this week’s practices.That’s ten of eleven starters on offense out, and there are another handful of players who will not dress tonight. 18 Packers in all will be watching from the sidelines, including defensive starters Nick Perry and Mike Daniels.One of the biggest surprises — and most disappointing names — on the list, however, is rookie linebacker Oren Burks. The third-round draft pick and projected starter next to Blake Martinez suffered a shoulder injury during warmups for the game and will be unavailable. Stay tuned to APC for more updates on Burks as we learn of them.Here’s the long list of players who won’t be suiting up in Green and Gold this evening:WR Davante AdamsOT David BakhtiariOT Bryan BulagaILB Oren BurksWR Randall CobbDT Mike DanielsWR Trevor DavisTE Jimmy GrahamCB Davon HouseCB Kevin KingWR Jake KumerowC Corey LinsleyRB Devante MaysG Justin McCrayOLB Nick PerryQB Aaron RodgersG Lane TaylorRB Jamaal WilliamsPackers vs. Steelers Green Bay Packers Hats , Preseason 2018: Second half game updates & discussion The Green Bay Packers lead the Pittsburgh Steelers After Tramon Williams ripped off a pick-six on the game’s first play from scrimmage, Aaron Rodgers went to work on his only drive of the night. Rodgers completed a quick slant to Davante Adams for a catch-and-run for 27 yards, then found Jimmy Graham for an 8-yard touchdown to cap off the series and give the Packers a 14-0 lead.The defense gave that lead back quickly, however, allowing a big rushing performance and touchdown to James Conner. Then after a Ty Montgomery fumble on the ensuing kickoff, Mason Rudolph tied the game with a two-play touchdown drive capped off by a scoring pass to Juju Smith-Shuster.Brett Hundley had less success, but still led three scoring drives. He scored a rushing touchdown and led the Packers to a pair of field goal drives and a 27-14 lead before DeShone Kizer took over late in the first half.We’re looking for more readers to join the Acme Packing Company FanPulse group and weigh in on polls tracking the Packers’ 2018 season!Click here for more information or click here to sign up.Kizer led a late scoring drive from midfield, finding Jake Kumerow, Equanimeous St. Brown, and Robert Tonyan for gains of 12, 12, and 14 yards. After a pass interference penalty on Pittsburgh, Kizer found Tonyan on a one-yard goal-line fade for another touchdown, giving the Packers a 34-14 halftime lead. The Packers also got 1.5 sacks from Reggie Gilbert on one series late in the half as well.Stay tuned for the second half here!Game Updates from APC StaffA Twitter List by acmepackingco Game Updates from Packers MediaA Twitter List by TexWestern

Bengals Week 2 snap count distribution: Tyler Eifert gets a huge bump in play time

linchao — Thu, 25 Oct 2018 01:41:34 +0000

The Bengals saw some young players get an increase in snaps after several big contributors went down during the game. It was also nice to see those players make an impact with those snaps as well. Guys replacing Preston Brown and Michael Johnson really helped put the Bengals over the top. Shawn Williams return after being ejected last week also ended up being a huge difference as well. Here are the snap count takeaways for Week 2:Michael Johnson (4) left the game early http://www.bengalscheapstore.com/c.j.-uzomah-jersey-cheap , which opened the gates for Sam Hubbard (49 defensive snaps and one offensive snap) to give Cincinnati fans a taste of why he was taken in the third round. He had 1.5 sacks on the night, and he was always around the ball when he was on the field. Shawn William (70) had quite the comeback game against Baltimore. He didn’t even get to 20 plays in Week 1 before he was ejected. In Week 2, he picked off Joe Flacco and then got a sack fumble deep in Ravens’ territory that helped seal the game for the Bengals. All in all, he really made up for missing Week 1.Overall, the Bengals still ran less plays than the Ravens. Cincinnati ran a total of 76 while Baltimore hit 85. The Bengals’ defense was better on third down, as Baltimore only converted seven of 16, but Cincinnati had their own issues, only converting five of 13. Not to mention the Bengals also forced three turnovers which helped close the gap.Joe Mixon (39) and Giovani Bernard (39) split the snaps right down the middle. That is a bit deceiving though as both running backs shared the field a couple of plays. The split was so close to 50/50 because Mixon dealt with a knee injury for most of the night. He missed several drives due to the issue. Both backs combined for over 100 yards rushing.Tyler Boyd (58) has cemented himself as the second receiver behind A.J. Green (69). He took advantage of his snaps by catching six of his nine targets for 91 yards and a touchdown. John Ross (45) was third in snaps for receivers, but he failed to make too much noise only catching one of his four targets for eight yards.Tight end continues to be run by committee. C.J. Uzomah (37) and Tyler Kroft (34) took a back seat to Tyler Eifert (49) this week after only receiving 22 snaps in Week 1. Eifert remained under his snap count limit of 50, and the other tight ends were benefited by the Bengals constantly going into two tight end sets. Uzomah was the most productive of the group though with three catches for 45 yards.Hardy Nickerson Jr. (84) only missed one snapwhile he was replacing Preston Brown, who couldn’t go due to injury. It was a pretty mixed bag for the young linebacker. He struggled a bit in coverage, but he was around for a few stops. Jordan Evans, who is playing in place of the suspended Vontaze Burfict, only played 22 of the snaps. Meanwhile, Vincent Rey failed to see the field on defense again in Week 2.Also for those keeping track, Cedric Ogbuehi and Christian Westerman were both still inactive again. Meanwhile, Alex Redmond (76) and Bobby Hart (76) both played the entire game.Bengals vs Ravens snap counts#NAMEPOS.SnapsPercentage of snaps#NAMEPOS.SnapsPercentage of snapsBengals at Panthers: Odds http://www.bengalscheapstore.com/clint-boling-jersey-cheap , expert picks, analysis, predictions for NFL Week 3 The Bengals will be looking to keep their perfect season alive against the Panthers in Week 3. Carolina, meanwhile, is fighting to keep up with the rest of NFC South. Cincinnati will be without their starting running back Joe Mixon, and a number of other injuries will impact this game. The Panthers have also been a pretty good team so far this season, but a close loss last week has them sitting at (1-1).What do the experts and oddsmakers make of this Week 3 NFL matchup?OddsThe Panthers are three-point favorites against the Bengals, according to Bovada. This line hasn’t moved since the opening odds this week. Usually the home team is a slight favorite, which means oddsmakers view this as a relatively close game. The jury is still out on what kind of team the Bengals are as their opponents are a combined 2-2. A win Sunday for the Bengals could go a long way to earning Cincinnati some respect.The over/under sits at 43.5 points currently. It is one of the lowest, which means the oddsmakers expect a relatively low scoring game from these two.Here are some trends for both teamsCincinnati is 4-1 against the spread in its last five gamesCincinnati is 4-1 straight up in its last five gamesCincinnati is 4-1 against the spread in its last five games on the roadCincinnati is 5-11 straight up in its last 16 games on the roadCincinnati is 1-3-1 against the spread in its last five games when playing CarolinaCarolina is 8-4 against the spread in its last 12 gamesCarolina is 8-4 straight up in its last 12 gamesThe total has gone over in seven of Carolina’s last 10 gamesCarolina is 5-1 against the spread in its last six games at homeCarolina is 5-0 straight up in its last five games at homePicksFox Sports projects a 22.5-20 victory for the Bengals.Only four of ESPN’s 10 experts went with Cincinnati.SB Nation has four of their seven experts picking the Bengals to stay perfect.CBS Sports only has three of their eight experts sticking with the Bengals.NFL Pick Watch, which takes into account picks from around the internet, has the Panthers receiving 63 percent of the picks.It is pretty clear that most of the oddsmakers and experts see this as a toss up. It is strange to see a 2-0 considered suck an underdog in the expert picks, but Cincinnati clearly needs to show this is sustained success and not a flash in the pan. The absence of Mixon likely hurts the perception of the Bengals as well, but Giovani Bernard could surprise some nay sayers on Sunday.So far the Bengals have come out in 2018, and they have announced their presence. A win against the Panthers in Carolina would undoubtedly catch everyone’s attention. Hopefully the Bengals are able to win with their backs against the wall again this week.

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linchao — Tue, 09 Oct 2018 08:28:46 +0000

Quarterback Blaine Gabbert quickly stopped the reporter asking him about learning his fourth offense in four years.

"Eighth in eight years Donte Moncrief Jersey ," he said.

The Tennessee Titans, who signed Gabbert in March to back up Marcus Mariota , are the fourth team that the quarterback has played for since being drafted by Jacksonville in 2011. But coach Mike Vrabel is his ninth different head coach and has the eighth different scheme that Gabbert has had to learn since he entered the NFL out of Missouri.

"There's going to be bumps in the road," Gabbert said. "We're installing new plays every night, but at the same time it's about mastering all the little things. Not getting ahead of yourself and kind of run the system."

It's a bit of a coincidence that Gabbert finds himself back in the AFC South where his professional career began. The Jaguars drafted him at No. 10 overall in 2011, two picks after Tennessee selected quarterback Jake Locker out of Washington. Locker retired from football when his rookie contract expired in March 2015, and Gabbert already was in San Francisco with his second team, preparing to work with his fifth different head coach.

"Football careers go many different ways," Gabbert said. "That was eight years ago."

In that span, Gabbert has played for Jack Del Rio, Mel Tucker, Mike Mularkey and Gus Bradley in Jacksonville before being traded to San Francisco J'Mon Moore Jersey , where he played for Jim Harbaugh, Jim Tomsula and Chip Kelly. Then he went to Arizona last season to play for Bruce Arians, starting five games and going 2-3, with one of those wins coming in December against Tennessee .

As Gabbert churned through different head coaches, the Titans had their own revolving door at quarterback: Locker, Matt Hasselbeck, Rusty Smith, Ryan Fitzpatrick, Charlie Whitehurst, Zach Mettenberger, Alex Tanney and Mariota 鈥?Tennessee's second quarterback drafted in the first round in a five-year span. Matt Cassel started a game in each of the past two seasons with Mariota out with injuries.

That led the Titans to release Cassel in March, looking to upgrade Mariota's backup. They went from Cassel Oren Burks Jersey , who was 35 last season, to Gabbert, who turns 29 in October. Gabbert said he was persuaded to join the Titans after sitting down with Vrabel , general manager Jon Robinson, offensive coordinator Matt LaFleur and quarterbacks coach Pat O'Hara.

"They're great guys, and that was something I wanted to be a part of," Gabbert said. "They're a young, hungry group and then just being able to meet the guys in the locker room. We have one of the best, if not the best, locker room I've ever been around. The guys genuinely care about each other on and off the field."

The Titans get a quarterback who is big. The 6-foot-4, 235-pound Gabbert has had to be a quick learner in his career. He has started 45 of 48 games, throwing for 8 Authentic Jason Motte Jersey ,437 yards with 44 touchdowns and 43 interceptions. He also is more mobile than Cassel, having run 170 times for 631 yards with three TDs.

Gabbert was 9 of 15 for 76 yards in the Titans' 31-17 loss to Green Bay in the preseason opener .

"Blaine's a professional," Vrabel said Sunday. "He's got a good arm. I think he's come in, and he's been with a lot of quarterbacks, he's been with a lot of teams, so I think he gives good perspective to the room, first and foremost. He started in this league, and he continues to develop, and I think like any other player out there, he's got some good plays, and he's got some plays that he'd like to have back."

NOTES: Rookie LB Rashaan Evans worked out Sunday on a side field . The 22nd pick overall out of Alabama left practice with an undisclosed injury on the first day of pads on July 28 and had not practiced since.

Follow Teresa M. Walker at teresamwalker

The Arizona Cardinals have added depth at defensive end by signing free agent Benson Mayowa to a one-year contract.

The five-year NFL veteran spent the past two seasons with the Dallas Cowboys, appearing in 28 games Youth Ryan Switzer Jersey , eight as a starter. With the Cowboys, he had seven sacks, 38 tackles, 11 tackles for loss, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery. He had a career-high six sacks in 2016.

Mayowa made the Seattle roster as an undrafted free agent out of Idaho in 2013. He played two games for the Seahawks as a rookie and 28 games for Oakland over the following two seasons. He has nine sacks in 58 games.

Arizona already is strong at the starting defensive end position, with All-Pro Chandler Jones (the NFL sack leader with 17) and Marcus Golden, who is coming off knee surgery.

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linchao — Tue, 09 Oct 2018 08:23:59 +0000

NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS (15-4)

OPEN CAMP: July 26 Rasmus Ristolainen Jersey , Foxborough, Massachusetts

LAST YEAR: New England lost twice in its first four games but recovered to win 11 of its final 12 behind MVP season of quarterback Tom Brady. He impressed at age 40, throwing for 4,577 yards, 32 touchdowns and eight interceptions. He did so despite reported issues between himself, coach Bill Belichick and team owner Robert Kraft following midseason trade of backup Jimmy Garoppolo to 49ers. Defensive inconsistency was ongoing issue and it caught up with Patriots in Super Bowl loss to Philadelphia. It included surprise benching of cornerback Malcolm Butler, one of several players to sign with new teams during free agency.

IMPORTANT ADDITIONS: RB Jeremy Hill, RB Sony Michel, QB Danny Etling, DE Adrian Clayborn, WR Jordan Matthews, OT Trent Brown Ryan Murray Jersey , OL Isaiah Wynn, CB Jason McCourty, DT Danny Shelton,

IMPORTANT LOSSES: Defensive coordinator Matt Patricia, WR Danny Amendola, WR Brandin Cooks, CB Malcolm Butler, CB Johnson Bademosi, RB Dion Lewis, OT Nate Solder, OT Cam Fleming.

CAMP NEEDS: Wide receiver will be hot topic. After sitting out 2017 with torn right ACL, Julian Edelman is suspended for first four games of regular season for violating NFL policy on performance enhancers. Combined with losses of Amendola and Cooks in trades to Dolphins and Rams Ryan Jensen Color Rush Jersey , respectively, it leaves Chris Hogan (34 catches, 439 yards, five TDs) as top returning wide receiver. Something also must be done to solidify defense that needs more edge rushing and someone to start alongside Stephon Gilmore at cornerback.

EXPECTATIONS: Even with offseason roster changes, Patriots enter camp as team to beat in AFC East. All-Pro TE Rob Gronkowski considered retirement in offseason; he and Brady skipped voluntary offseason workouts. But both returned for mandatory minicamps and say they are focused on helping New England reach what would be its fourth Super Bowl in five seasons. One of biggest question marks will be how linebackers coach Brian Flores does in new role as defensive play caller.

A quirk in the schedule has the Colorado Avalanche about to make their only visit of the season to Northern California — and perhaps not a moment too soon for the San Jose Sharks.

Looking to end a late-season swoon, San Jose will try to extend its dominance on home ice over playoff-hopeful Colorado on Thursday night.

The Sharks’ losing streak reached four after falling 4-2 to the Dallas Stars on Tuesday. San Jose gave up three goals in the final 5:17 and managed one shot on goal in the third period.

“Tough lesson learned, but we still control our own destiny,” Sharks coach Peter DeBoer said.

San Jose (44-26-10) is second in the Pacific, one point over Anaheim and two ahead of Los Angeles. The Sharks, who have lost twice in overtime to the Wild this season, meet them in the season finale on Saturday at SAP Center.

Anaheim clinched a spot by beating the Wild on Wednesday, while Los Angeles clinched when St. Louis lost 4-3 to Chicago on Wednesday.

San Jose winger Logan Couture Zach Werenski Jersey , who scored his team-high 33rd goal against the Stars, told the league’s official website that team must find a way to win again.

“We’re fighting for home ice in the first round here. We have to dial it up. You can’t coast for very long in the NHL and win hockey games,” he said.

San Jose has dropped both matchups with Colorado in Denver this season, but it’s been a much different story when the teams meet in the Bay Area.

The Sharks have won 15 of the last 16 matchups dating back to March 2009. San Jose has been held to fewer than three goals twice, while Colorado has scored one goal or fewer 10 times in those contests.

Martin Jones has two wins — but he also has the only loss — in that span versus the Avs. He also stopped only 34 of 41 shots in this season’s series. Jones, who still needs one win to reach 30 for the third time with San Jose, has been reached for 10 goals while losing three straight starts.

Backup Aaron Dell has never faced Colorado, which fell to 1-3-1 in its last five games with a 3-1 loss to Los Angeles on Monday.

“Our mindset is we’re underdogs. We go out there, and we’re having fun. We have a young team, but there are still no excuses. We should be in this playoff spot, and we should be in the playoffs.” Avalanche defenseman Nikita Zadorov said.

Colorado (42-29-9) holds a one-point lead over the St. Louis Blues for the second wild card in the Western Conference. With one playoff spot up for grabs, the Avs and St. Louis each have two games left — and close the regular season against each other Saturday in Denver.

Saturday’s game will likely decide the final playoff spot. St. Louis plays at Chicago on Friday.

“We cannot control what the Blues did or what they are going to do later. We got one game against them William Perry Jersey , we got a game in San Jose. We need to focus, reload, and then go up there and win those two hockey games,” Zadorov added.

Jonathan Bernier has surrendered only four goals while beating the Sharks twice this season. Bernier, who’s taken over with Semyon Varlamov (knee) out for the season, has won each of his last two starts in San Jose.

Nathan MacKinnon and Mikko Rantanen are tied for the team lead with three points apiece against the Sharks this season.

MacKinnon, who leads the team with 94 points, needs two goals to reach 40 for the first time in his career. Rantanen is two goals shy of 30 for the season and 50 in his career.

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On the day Aaron Rodgers called out “piss-poor” performance from the team’s young receivers Youth Sebastian Aho Jersey , he specifically exempted DeAngelo Yancey from that criticism. It wasn’t enough to save Yancey’s job.

The 2017 fifth-round pick has been waived by the Packers.

Also gone are guard Kofi Amichia颅颅, linebacker Vince Biegel, running back Joel Bouagnon, cornerback Donatello Brown, tight end Emanuel Byrd, running back LeShun Daniels, center Austin Davis, center Dillon Day, linebacker Kendall Donnerson, safety Marwin Evans, cornerback Demetri Goodson Da'Ron Payne Jersey , cornerback Josh Hawkins, linebacker James Hearns, running back Bronson Hill, linebacker Naashon Hughes, receiver Adonis Jennings, fullback Joe Kerridge, defensive lineman Tyler Lancaster, receiver Kyle Lewis, defensive lineman James Looney, linebacker Greer Martini, linebacker Joey Mbu Fred Warner Jersey , linebacker Chris Odom, offensive lineman Adam Pankey, linebacker Marcus Porter, tight end Kevin Rader, fullback Aaron Ripkowski, defensive lineman Conor Sheehy, tight end Ryan Smith, linebacker Ahmad Thomas, and long snapper Zach Triner.

The Packers also placed running back Devante Mays, tackle Kyle Murphy, and cornerback Quinten Rollins on injured reserve. Running back Aaron Jones was sent to the reserve/suspended list.

The McCourty twins are back together.

The Cleveland Browns traded cornerback Jason McCourty to the New England Patriots on Thursday Trent Brown Color Rush Jersey , reuniting him with his brother Devin. The Browns also sent a seventh-round pick to the Patriots to get a sixth-rounder in return.

"Cleveland it's been real!" Jason McCourty wrote on the Twitter account the brothers share. "I wish nothing but the best to the guys in that locker room!"

The Browns have been one of the most active teams in the NFL this offseason as they try to rebuild from last season's 0-16 record. They have already traded for quarterback Tyrod Taylor and three-time Pro Bowl receiver Jarvis Landry, while signing seven free agents, including running back Carlos Hyde.

They also made a deal on Wednesday to send defensive lineman Danny Shelton to New England for a third-round pick in 2019. But the defending AFC champion Patriots have mostly been losing players, including receiver Danny Amendola, left tackle Nate Solder, defensive back Malcolm Butler and running back Dion Lewis.

After spending his first eight seasons with Tennessee, Jason McCourty, 30, started 14 games and led the Browns with three interceptions and made 65 tackles last season, the most for any player in the secondary.

He became a locker room leader, but also ruffled feathers by saying the team never should have gone winless after both coach Hue Jackson and new general manager John Dorsey bemoaned the team's lack of talent.

"The talent in this locker room is not the talent to go win a Super Bowl this year Walter Payton Jersey , but this locker room is far more talented than 0-16," Jason McCourty said following the season-ending loss in Pittsburgh.

"I'm kind of tired of hearing so many people say, even within the organization, is we don't have the guys or we need more guys. Let's work with the guys we do have and find ways to win games."

Also Thursday, the Patriots re-signed running back Rex Burkhead. A 2013 sixth-round draft pick who spent his first four seasons with the Bengals, Burkhead has run for 639 yards and eight touchdowns and caught 64 passes for 542 yards and four touchdowns in his career.

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