Happy Monday, my friend! We've got a short week ahead of us with the holiday coming up so Tyrese Haliburton Jersey we're going to have to make the most of our time together this week. I'm ready if you are.And speaking of the holiday, I decided to put up my Christmas tree yesterday and I don't want to hear a single complaint that it's too early. (Yes, the tree is fake.) I typically subscribe to the idea that Christmas season begins as soon as Thanksgiving dinner ends but I felt compelled to get into the Christmas spirit a little earlier this year ... aka 2020 has made me sad and I'm trying to force joy into my life any way po sible. Plus, time is completely meaningle s this year so we may as well throw away any and all holiday rulebooks. Put up those lights and trees if you want.Anyway, I hope you had a good weekend yourself, even if it wasn't full of early Christmas cheer. We've got plenty of stuff to get to from the weekend that was so pour some peppermint mocha into that coffee and let's get to it. What you need to know 1. , rally late to beat Getting to watch Mahomes go to work in primetime is always a pretty good time and last night was no different. We got the Chiefs and Raiders in our Sunday Night Football showdown this weekend and it's hard to say it didn't live up to the hype. The Raiders are the only team to beat the Chiefs this season (they handed KC a 40-32 lo s in Week 5) and Las Vegas gave them a damn good game once again last night. Ultimately, though, Mahomes and the Chiefs got the final strike in another explosive battle, winning 35-31 in pretty dramatic fashion. Let's get Why the Chiefs won: Mahomes made a few mistakes on Sunday night, but he once again proved he's capable of rising to the occasion during the game's biggest moments. After the Raiders took the lead late in the fourth quarter, Mahomes and his top weapons put together a surgical and awe-inspiring game-winning touchdown drive that took all of 75 secondsWhy the Raiders lost: Vegas played really well but they weren't perfect, and their imperfections cost them -- especially toward the end of the game. They broke down defensively on the Chiefs' final drive and let Mahomes & Co. dice them apart. They had trouble covering all night and nobody was even in the tight end's zip code when he hauled in the game-winning TDThis was really one of those games where both teams can go home feeling pretty good about the way they played. That's especially true for , who had an outstanding night throwing the ball for the Raiders. Unfortunately, his team Chris Webber Jersey couldn't quite go punch-for-punch with the Chiefs but, if it makes him feel any better, not many teams can. Considering the fact that Las Vegas had a bunch of COVID-19 complications that disrupted their preparations this week, they played better than I expected. But, uh, here's a pretty wild stat for you: Last night marked the first time in his career that Mahomes has thrown a go-ahead touchdown in the final two minutes of a game. I have no idea how that can po sibly be true, but apparently it is? Insane. 2. fear is done for season after leg injury We had a really solid day of action but there was one major gut-punch that left a black cloud hanging over the rest of the day's action: . Burrow suffered an apparent knee injury when a defender fell on his left leg during the third quarter of Sunday's game in WashingtonThe rookie QB was carted off the field and the Bengals reportedly fear he's torn his ACL and MCL but won Sacramento Kings T-Shirts 't know officially until they get results from an MRIBurrow appears to believe his season is over, tweeting out "Can't get rid of me that easy. See ya next year" about an hour after his injuryWe can try to stay positive and hope it's not as bad as it looks, but the writing sort of seems to be on the wall at this point, and . It's just such a bummer for Burrow and for the NFL. There hasn't been a whole lot to slow down the hype since he was taken with the top overall pick in this year's draft. Unfortunately for the Bengals, they checked off an important rebuilding task -- draft a star quarterback -- but forgot to follow up with an equally important task: Protect the star quarterback. Injuries can happen to anyone at anytime -- that's just the nature of the brutal sport -- but Burrow has gotten crushed behind a weak line all year long. He deserved better than this.Now, it seems he'll have a long road to recovery and it may be a while before we see him dropping back again. That just sucks for everyone. 3. NFL Week 11 grades We've hit a few of the bigger NFL stories but there are plenty more notables to discu s and, with it being Monday, it's time for us to celebrate . If you tuned into yesterday's slate of action, there's a pretty good chance you know who's going to end up with the worst mark of the day: The . Our John Breech penned a great line to describe Matt Patricia's job security after his club delivered one of the most embarra sing performances of any team this entire season: "Lions (F) shut out in awful lo s to (B+): Patricia, whose calling card is his defensive acumen, saw his D give up Robert Woodard II Jersey big play after big play to a former XFL quarterback. On the other side, Carolina's defense gave Matt Stafford terrors all day, sacking him five times. The Panthers held the Lions to 185 total yards -- the first time since 2017 that they've given up le s than 200 yards , (A-) crush (D): Many people questioned Sean Payton's decision to roll with Hill as starting quarterback instead of but (and now .) Hill threw for 233 yards and rushed for another 51 with a TD. barely had time to think as he was sacked eight times benched in ' (C-) lo s to (C+): Miami's defense had a tough day and their offense couldn't get anything going either. Tua was benched in the fourth quarter in favor of , but that didn't really solve anything. They'll go back to the rookie next week, but their five-game win streak is now goneYou can find the rest of the weekend's grades right . 4. Is Auburn's self-imposed ban acceptable? We got some news out of the college basketball world yesterday when Auburn announced that it has . The ban comes in response to an NCAA probe that has generated a notice of allegations against the program. (That case has yet to be resolved by the NCAA.)So, why exactly would Auburn punish itself before the NCAA has finalized the case against the school? And why would they do it three days before the start of the 2020-21 season? According to our Gary Parrish, it's a savvy move by the school to: Get credit for being Mike Bibby Jersey proactiveTake advantage of a pandemic-shortened season in which the Tigers probably won't qualify for the anywayThe presumption is that, when the NCAA
Happy Monday, my friend! We’ve got a short week ahead of us with the holiday coming up so Tyrese Haliburton Jersey we’re going to have to make the most of our time together this week. I’m ready if you are.And speaking of the holiday, I decided to put up my Christmas tree yesterday and I don’t want to hear a single complaint that it’s too early. (Yes, the tree is fake.) I typically subscribe to the idea that Christmas season begins as soon as Thanksgiving dinner ends but I felt compelled to get into the Christmas spirit a little earlier this year … aka 2020 has made me sad and I’m trying to force joy into my life any way po sible. Plus, time is completely meaningle s this year so we may as well throw away any and all holiday rulebooks. Put up those lights and trees if you want.Anyway, I hope you had a good weekend yourself, even if it wasn’t full of early Christmas cheer. We’ve got plenty of stuff to get to from the weekend that was so pour some peppermint mocha into that coffee and let’s get to it. What you need to know 1. , rally late to beat Getting to watch Mahomes go to work in primetime is always a pretty good time and last night was no different. We got the Chiefs and Raiders in our Sunday Night Football showdown this weekend and it’s hard to say it didn’t live up to the hype. The Raiders are the only team to beat the Chiefs this season (they handed KC a 40-32 lo s in Week 5) and Las Vegas gave them a damn good game once again last night. Ultimately, though, Mahomes and the Chiefs got the final strike in another explosive battle, winning 35-31 in pretty dramatic fashion. Let’s get Why the Chiefs won: Mahomes made a few mistakes on Sunday night, but he once again proved he’s capable of rising to the occasion during the game’s biggest moments. After the Raiders took the lead late in the fourth quarter, Mahomes and his top weapons put together a surgical and awe-inspiring game-winning touchdown drive that took all of 75 secondsWhy the Raiders lost: Vegas played really well but they weren’t perfect, and their imperfections cost them — especially toward the end of the game. They broke down defensively on the Chiefs’ final drive and let Mahomes & Co. dice them apart. They had trouble covering all night and nobody was even in the tight end’s zip code when he hauled in the game-winning TDThis was really one of those games where both teams can go home feeling pretty good about the way they played. That’s especially true for , who had an outstanding night throwing the ball for the Raiders. Unfortunately, his team Chris Webber Jersey couldn’t quite go punch-for-punch with the Chiefs but, if it makes him feel any better, not many teams can. Considering the fact that Las Vegas had a bunch of COVID-19 complications that disrupted their preparations this week, they played better than I expected. But, uh, here’s a pretty wild stat for you: Last night marked the first time in his career that Mahomes has thrown a go-ahead touchdown in the final two minutes of a game. I have no idea how that can po sibly be true, but apparently it is? Insane. 2. fear is done for season after leg injury We had a really solid day of action but there was one major gut-punch that left a black cloud hanging over the rest of the day’s action: . Burrow suffered an apparent knee injury when a defender fell on his left leg during the third quarter of Sunday’s game in WashingtonThe rookie QB was carted off the field and the Bengals reportedly fear he’s torn his ACL and MCL but won Sacramento Kings T-Shirts ‘t know officially until they get results from an MRIBurrow appears to believe his season is over, tweeting out “Can’t get rid of me that easy. See ya next year” about an hour after his injuryWe can try to stay positive and hope it’s not as bad as it looks, but the writing sort of seems to be on the wall at this point, and . It’s just such a bummer for Burrow and for the NFL. There hasn’t been a whole lot to slow down the hype since he was taken with the top overall pick in this year’s draft. Unfortunately for the Bengals, they checked off an important rebuilding task — draft a star quarterback — but forgot to follow up with an equally important task: Protect the star quarterback. Injuries can happen to anyone at anytime — that’s just the nature of the brutal sport — but Burrow has gotten crushed behind a weak line all year long. He deserved better than this.Now, it seems he’ll have a long road to recovery and it may be a while before we see him dropping back again. That just sucks for everyone. 3. NFL Week 11 grades We’ve hit a few of the bigger NFL stories but there are plenty more notables to discu s and, with it being Monday, it’s time for us to celebrate . If you tuned into yesterday’s slate of action, there’s a pretty good chance you know who’s going to end up with the worst mark of the day: The . Our John Breech penned a great line to describe Matt Patricia’s job security after his club delivered one of the most embarra sing performances of any team this entire season: “Lions (F) shut out in awful lo s to (B+): Patricia, whose calling card is his defensive acumen, saw his D give up Robert Woodard II Jersey big play after big play to a former XFL quarterback. On the other side, Carolina’s defense gave Matt Stafford terrors all day, sacking him five times. The Panthers held the Lions to 185 total yards — the first time since 2017 that they’ve given up le s than 200 yards , (A-) crush (D): Many people questioned Sean Payton’s decision to roll with Hill as starting quarterback instead of but (and now .) Hill threw for 233 yards and rushed for another 51 with a TD. barely had time to think as he was sacked eight times benched in ‘ (C-) lo s to (C+): Miami’s defense had a tough day and their offense couldn’t get anything going either. Tua was benched in the fourth quarter in favor of , but that didn’t really solve anything. They’ll go back to the rookie next week, but their five-game win streak is now goneYou can find the rest of the weekend’s grades right . 4. Is Auburn’s self-imposed ban acceptable? We got some news out of the college basketball world yesterday when Auburn announced that it has . The ban comes in response to an NCAA probe that has generated a notice of allegations against the program. (That case has yet to be resolved by the NCAA.)So, why exactly would Auburn punish itself before the NCAA has finalized the case against the school? And why would they do it three days before the start of the 2020-21 season? According to our Gary Parrish, it’s a savvy move by the school to: Get credit for being Mike Bibby Jersey proactiveTake advantage of a pandemic-shortened season in which the Tigers probably won’t qualify for the anywayThe presumption is that, when the NCAA…
had the look of a Hall of Fame quarterback during the ' training camp practice on Sunday. Carr, in lieu of wearing his usual practice jersey, decided to wear the jersey of Ken Stabler, who was posthumously inducted into Canton in 2016. 4 12 paid his respects to one of the greats today. Las Vegas Raiders (@Raiders) There are some interesting similarities between the two Raiders quarterbacks. Both were second-round picks who enjoyed succe s during their first seasons as starters. Carr, the 36th overall pick in the 2014 draft, threw 21 touchdown pa ses during his rookie season. A year Sacramento Kings T-Shirts later, Carr earned his first of three consecutive Pro Bowl selections, as his 32 touchdown pa ses that season is the second-highest total in franchise history. In his third season, Carr was in the running to win the league's MVP award before a late-season injury prematurely ended his season. That season, Carr led the Raiders Jabari Parker Jersey to their first playoff appearance since 2002.Unlike Carr, Stabler, a second-round pick in the 1968 draft, had to sit on the bench for several seasons before getting his chance to start. Stabler quickly made up for lost time, however, as he led the Raiders to the AFC Championship Game during his first season as a starter. Stabler, nicknamed "The Snake" for his innate ability to evade opposing pa s rushers, led the Raiders to the AFC title game during each of his first five seasons as a starter. In 1976, Stabler helped lead the Raiders to a 13-1 regular season record en route to the franchise's first victory, a 32-14 win over the in Super Bowl XI.The 29-year-old Carr -- who has been under scrutiny despite putting up solid numbers during his first two seasons with Jon Gruden as his coach -- is hoping to mimic the succe s Stabler had during his age 29 season. That year, Stabler earned MVP honors after leading the in touchdown pa ses during his second year as the Raiders' starting quarterback. Carr is also surely looking to respond his critics who are calling on him to lead the Raiders back to the playoffs after three consecutive losing seasons. "There's no Harrison Barnes Jersey more excuses for Derek," Lincoln Kennedy, an All-Pro right tackle on the Raiders' 2020 AFC championship team, recently said "Now, it's either put up or shut up. He's got all the weapons in front of him. He's got an offensive line, he's got a run game, he's got a receiving corps. There' Sacramento Kings Hats s really nothing else that he shouldn't be able to do with this offense."Kennedy is right as it relates to the talent the Raiders have placed around Carr. At running back, Carr has , who last season rushed for a Raiders rookie record 1,150 yards. The Raiders' offense also includes tight end , who last season caught 90 pa ses for 1,145 yards and seven touchdowns. Las Vegas' receiving corps also includes second-year wideout (605 yards and four touchdowns in 13 games last season), veteran receiver (651 yards, six touchdowns in 2019) and rookie , one of the top-ranked receivers in the 2020 draft. In free agency, the Raiders acquired former tight end , who hauled in 63 pa ses for 529 yards and four touchdowns in 2019 after sitting out the entire 2018 season.Carr is also backed by a talented offensive line, a group that consists of left tackle , left guard , center , right guard and right tackle . Last season, the Raiders' offense finished NBA Sacramento Kings Jeresy ninth in the NFL in pa sing yards as well as seventh in third down and eighth in fourth-down efficiency. The Raiders' 22nd place finish in red zone scoring, however, largely contributed to them finishing just 24th in the NFL in scoring in 2019. Those numbers should be considerably better in 2020, given the pieces added to the Raiders' offense. After three consecutive defeats in the AFC title game, Stabler erased his stigma as a quarterback who "couldn't win the big one" after leading the Raiders to victory in the Super Bowl. Carr is looking to make a statement as well -- proving that he is the franchise's long-term starting quarterback moving forward.
had the look of a Hall of Fame quarterback during the ‘ training camp practice on Sunday. Carr, in lieu of wearing his usual practice jersey, decided to wear the jersey of Ken Stabler, who was posthumously inducted into Canton in 2016. 4 12 paid his respects to one of the greats today. Las Vegas Raiders (@Raiders) There are some interesting similarities between the two Raiders quarterbacks. Both were second-round picks who enjoyed succe s during their first seasons as starters. Carr, the 36th overall pick in the 2014 draft, threw 21 touchdown pa ses during his rookie season. A year Sacramento Kings T-Shirts later, Carr earned his first of three consecutive Pro Bowl selections, as his 32 touchdown pa ses that season is the second-highest total in franchise history. In his third season, Carr was in the running to win the league’s MVP award before a late-season injury prematurely ended his season. That season, Carr led the Raiders Jabari Parker Jersey to their first playoff appearance since 2002.Unlike Carr, Stabler, a second-round pick in the 1968 draft, had to sit on the bench for several seasons before getting his chance to start. Stabler quickly made up for lost time, however, as he led the Raiders to the AFC Championship Game during his first season as a starter. Stabler, nicknamed “The Snake” for his innate ability to evade opposing pa s rushers, led the Raiders to the AFC title game during each of his first five seasons as a starter. In 1976, Stabler helped lead the Raiders to a 13-1 regular season record en route to the franchise’s first victory, a 32-14 win over the in Super Bowl XI.The 29-year-old Carr — who has been under scrutiny despite putting up solid numbers during his first two seasons with Jon Gruden as his coach — is hoping to mimic the succe s Stabler had during his age 29 season. That year, Stabler earned MVP honors after leading the in touchdown pa ses during his second year as the Raiders’ starting quarterback. Carr is also surely looking to respond his critics who are calling on him to lead the Raiders back to the playoffs after three consecutive losing seasons. “There’s no Harrison Barnes Jersey more excuses for Derek,” Lincoln Kennedy, an All-Pro right tackle on the Raiders’ 2020 AFC championship team, recently said “Now, it’s either put up or shut up. He’s got all the weapons in front of him. He’s got an offensive line, he’s got a run game, he’s got a receiving corps. There’ Sacramento Kings Hats s really nothing else that he shouldn’t be able to do with this offense.”Kennedy is right as it relates to the talent the Raiders have placed around Carr. At running back, Carr has , who last season rushed for a Raiders rookie record 1,150 yards. The Raiders’ offense also includes tight end , who last season caught 90 pa ses for 1,145 yards and seven touchdowns. Las Vegas’ receiving corps also includes second-year wideout (605 yards and four touchdowns in 13 games last season), veteran receiver (651 yards, six touchdowns in 2019) and rookie , one of the top-ranked receivers in the 2020 draft. In free agency, the Raiders acquired former tight end , who hauled in 63 pa ses for 529 yards and four touchdowns in 2019 after sitting out the entire 2018 season.Carr is also backed by a talented offensive line, a group that consists of left tackle , left guard , center , right guard and right tackle . Last season, the Raiders’ offense finished NBA Sacramento Kings Jeresy ninth in the NFL in pa sing yards as well as seventh in third down and eighth in fourth-down efficiency. The Raiders’ 22nd place finish in red zone scoring, however, largely contributed to them finishing just 24th in the NFL in scoring in 2019. Those numbers should be considerably better in 2020, given the pieces added to the Raiders’ offense. After three consecutive defeats in the AFC title game, Stabler erased his stigma as a quarterback who “couldn’t win the big one” after leading the Raiders to victory in the Super Bowl. Carr is looking to make a statement as well — proving that he is the franchise’s long-term starting quarterback moving forward.…
tight end just got himself a major contract, earning a . On Wednesday, as he's making the media rounds to discu s his new deal with the team, the longtime pro wrestling fan received a surprise congratulatory me sage from none other than two-time WWE Hall of Jarrell Brantley Jersey Famer, "The Nature Boy" Ric Flair.95.7 The Game welcomed Kittle to its airwaves on Wednesday, and Royce O'Neale Jersey at one point, the host asked a caller -- who turned out to be Flair -- to introduce themselves and give their me sage to the All-Pro tight end."Yes, it's 'The Nature Boy' Ric Flair! Congratulations George Kittle! You're limousine ridin' and jet flyin'," Flair said.Kittle was at a lo s for words amid the surprise appearance, saying, "Wow, that's incredible, Andrei Kirilenko Jersey you guys." The larger-than-life Flair also had some life advice for Kittle during the call, saying, "Stay married, George. Stay married and you can limousine ride and jet fly forever." Kittle married Claire Till, whom he met at the Ed Davis Jersey University of Iowa in 2019. Could it be...? IT IS!!! and together on WOOOOOOOOOOOO! 95.7 The Game (@957thegame) The radio host called Flair's call a punctuation mark on the monumental deal for Kittle. Last season, Kittle and the 49ers were NFC Champions but fell short in LIV to and the . Kittle's deal on the heels of helping the 49ers reach the Super Bowl includes an $18 million signing bonus, Ricky Rubio Jersey $30 million due at signing, and has $40 million in total guarantees and makes him the highest-paid tight end in the game heading into the 2020 season.
tight end just got himself a major contract, earning a . On Wednesday, as he’s making the media rounds to discu s his new deal with the team, the longtime pro wrestling fan received a surprise congratulatory me sage from none other than two-time WWE Hall of Jarrell Brantley Jersey Famer, “The Nature Boy” Ric Flair.95.7 The Game welcomed Kittle to its airwaves on Wednesday, and Royce O’Neale Jersey at one point, the host asked a caller — who turned out to be Flair — to introduce themselves and give their me sage to the All-Pro tight end.”Yes, it’s ‘The Nature Boy’ Ric Flair! Congratulations George Kittle! You’re limousine ridin’ and jet flyin’,” Flair said.Kittle was at a lo s for words amid the surprise appearance, saying, “Wow, that’s incredible, Andrei Kirilenko Jersey you guys.” The larger-than-life Flair also had some life advice for Kittle during the call, saying, “Stay married, George. Stay married and you can limousine ride and jet fly forever.” Kittle married Claire Till, whom he met at the Ed Davis Jersey University of Iowa in 2019. Could it be…? IT IS!!! and together on WOOOOOOOOOOOO! 95.7 The Game (@957thegame) The radio host called Flair’s call a punctuation mark on the monumental deal for Kittle. Last season, Kittle and the 49ers were NFC Champions but fell short in LIV to and the . Kittle’s deal on the heels of helping the 49ers reach the Super Bowl includes an $18 million signing bonus, Ricky Rubio Jersey $30 million due at signing, and has $40 million in total guarantees and makes him the highest-paid tight end in the game heading into the 2020 season.…
When it comes to the 2020 NFL season, there are a lot of unknowns. We don't yet know when teams will collectively gather at their facilities, if and when training camps will actually happen, what the preseason will look like, whether or not fans will be in stadiums for regular season games, or, if we're being totally honest, how many regular season games there will even be, a suming the season does get underway at some point.One thing we do know for sure, though, is that whenever the 2020 season does begin, the will look a lot different than they have in quite some time. We know that for the first time in nearly two decades, the Pats won't have under center, and we know that it's likely will replace him there. There has been a bunch of speculation about how the shift from Brady to Stidham will affect New England's offense, but not much of it Derrick Favors Jersey has focused on what it will mean for the team's backfield situation.With Brady at quarterback, the Patriots almost always deployed their backs in a committee. Pro-Football-Reference.com has snap-count data going back to 2012, and only twice in that span did any Patriots running back see the field for more than 50 percent of the team's offensive snaps. There were more seasons during that same span where the Pats used at least three different backs on at least 20 percent of their snaps.One of those seasons was in 2019, when New England gave 42.7 percent of the snaps while Bojan Bogdanovic Jersey also handing 36.6 percent to and 23.0 percent to . The division of labor was fairly clear: White was the pa s-catching back, and the Patriots pa sed 84 percent of the time when he was on the field; Michel was the power back, and New England ran the ball 66 percent of the time when he was in the game; and Burkhead was the pa s-catching back whose presence was slightly le s of a tell than that of White, as the Pats pa sed 68 percent of the time with Burkhead on the field.Having those designated roles made sense with Brady under center, as he had shown a consistent ability to utilize pa s-catching backs like White (and and Kevin Faulk before him) to take advantage of linebackers and safeties in coverage, identifying the mismatch before the snap and getting the ball out quickly in order to afford him time and space to run after the catch. Whether Stidham can do the same is an open question. In his two years as the starter at Auburn, his running backs combined for only 60 catches -- just 12.3 percent of the team's total. By contrast, Donovan Mitchell Jersey White, Burkhead, and Michel combined for 29.8 percent of New England's catches last year. If Stidham is not as willing or able to throw to backs as often as Brady was, that dramatically reduces the utility and effectivene s of two of New England's three top backs, and of White, in particular. White has never carried the ball more than 123 times in a season, and his career average of just 4.1 yards per carry is below average for the modern . Burkhead's career high is 74 carries, and he, too, carries a career average of just 4.1 yards per tote. Michel is the only one of the trio with extensive ball-carrying experience, and he was dramatically le s effective last season (3.7 yards per carry) than he was as a rookie in 2018 Andrei Kirilenko Jersey (4.5 per carry).Michel is also reportedly recovering from , according to a report from ESPN.com, and may even have to begin training camp on the Physically Unable to Perform list. Michel has also been hobbled by several knee injuries since he entered the league, and they seemed to have an effect on his performance last year. If Stidham can't properly utilize White and/or Burkhead and Michel is not the same player, the Patriots may have to turn a significantly larger role than expected to 2018 third-round pick , who played all of five offensive snaps for them last season despite Michel's repeated struggles. That does not seem like an advantageous situation for them to be in.In the background of these various i sues is the drop-off the Patriots experienced last season in their run-blocking, as they fell out of the top-10 in Pro Football Focus' run-blocking grades for the first time in five years and saw 21 percent of their rush attempts stopped at or behind the line Tony Bradley Jersey of scrimmage, per Football Outsiders. Getting center back on the field should help, and staying healthy for the first time would be a boost as well, but the retirement of legendary offensive line coach Dante Scarnecchia could conceivably offset those gains. That's what happened the last time Scarnecchia retired, after all. This would all be le s of a concern if we could expect the Patriots to have a top-flight pa sing game that can threaten defenses down the field and provide some more space for the backs, but considering the state of the pa sing game last season, the probable downgrade at quarterback, and the lack of any real deep threat among the wide receivers, that seems fairly unlikely. The Patriots figure to try to execute a ball-control style of offense while counting on their defense to keep them in games, but that becomes considerably more difficult once you take a deeper look at their backfield situation.
When it comes to the 2020 NFL season, there are a lot of unknowns. We don’t yet know when teams will collectively gather at their facilities, if and when training camps will actually happen, what the preseason will look like, whether or not fans will be in stadiums for regular season games, or, if we’re being totally honest, how many regular season games there will even be, a suming the season does get underway at some point.One thing we do know for sure, though, is that whenever the 2020 season does begin, the will look a lot different than they have in quite some time. We know that for the first time in nearly two decades, the Pats won’t have under center, and we know that it’s likely will replace him there. There has been a bunch of speculation about how the shift from Brady to Stidham will affect New England’s offense, but not much of it Derrick Favors Jersey has focused on what it will mean for the team’s backfield situation.With Brady at quarterback, the Patriots almost always deployed their backs in a committee. Pro-Football-Reference.com has snap-count data going back to 2012, and only twice in that span did any Patriots running back see the field for more than 50 percent of the team’s offensive snaps. There were more seasons during that same span where the Pats used at least three different backs on at least 20 percent of their snaps.One of those seasons was in 2019, when New England gave 42.7 percent of the snaps while Bojan Bogdanovic Jersey also handing 36.6 percent to and 23.0 percent to . The division of labor was fairly clear: White was the pa s-catching back, and the Patriots pa sed 84 percent of the time when he was on the field; Michel was the power back, and New England ran the ball 66 percent of the time when he was in the game; and Burkhead was the pa s-catching back whose presence was slightly le s of a tell than that of White, as the Pats pa sed 68 percent of the time with Burkhead on the field.Having those designated roles made sense with Brady under center, as he had shown a consistent ability to utilize pa s-catching backs like White (and and Kevin Faulk before him) to take advantage of linebackers and safeties in coverage, identifying the mismatch before the snap and getting the ball out quickly in order to afford him time and space to run after the catch. Whether Stidham can do the same is an open question. In his two years as the starter at Auburn, his running backs combined for only 60 catches — just 12.3 percent of the team’s total. By contrast, Donovan Mitchell Jersey White, Burkhead, and Michel combined for 29.8 percent of New England’s catches last year. If Stidham is not as willing or able to throw to backs as often as Brady was, that dramatically reduces the utility and effectivene s of two of New England’s three top backs, and of White, in particular. White has never carried the ball more than 123 times in a season, and his career average of just 4.1 yards per carry is below average for the modern . Burkhead’s career high is 74 carries, and he, too, carries a career average of just 4.1 yards per tote. Michel is the only one of the trio with extensive ball-carrying experience, and he was dramatically le s effective last season (3.7 yards per carry) than he was as a rookie in 2018 Andrei Kirilenko Jersey (4.5 per carry).Michel is also reportedly recovering from , according to a report from ESPN.com, and may even have to begin training camp on the Physically Unable to Perform list. Michel has also been hobbled by several knee injuries since he entered the league, and they seemed to have an effect on his performance last year. If Stidham can’t properly utilize White and/or Burkhead and Michel is not the same player, the Patriots may have to turn a significantly larger role than expected to 2018 third-round pick , who played all of five offensive snaps for them last season despite Michel’s repeated struggles. That does not seem like an advantageous situation for them to be in.In the background of these various i sues is the drop-off the Patriots experienced last season in their run-blocking, as they fell out of the top-10 in Pro Football Focus’ run-blocking grades for the first time in five years and saw 21 percent of their rush attempts stopped at or behind the line Tony Bradley Jersey of scrimmage, per Football Outsiders. Getting center back on the field should help, and staying healthy for the first time would be a boost as well, but the retirement of legendary offensive line coach Dante Scarnecchia could conceivably offset those gains. That’s what happened the last time Scarnecchia retired, after all. This would all be le s of a concern if we could expect the Patriots to have a top-flight pa sing game that can threaten defenses down the field and provide some more space for the backs, but considering the state of the pa sing game last season, the probable downgrade at quarterback, and the lack of any real deep threat among the wide receivers, that seems fairly unlikely. The Patriots figure to try to execute a ball-control style of offense while counting on their defense to keep them in games, but that becomes considerably more difficult once you take a deeper look at their backfield situation.…
When 49ers star Deebo Samuel made , he didn't offer any specific reason for wanting out of San Francisco. In most situations like this, a player makes a trade demand because he's unhappy with his contract, but that doesn't seem to be the case here.As a matter of fact, ESPN.com the 49ers WANT to pay Samuel, but it's not happening because he's cut off all contract talks with the team.So why did Samuel make the trade demand? According to multiple reports, it's because he doesn't like the way he's being used in the 49ers offense. During the 2021 season, Samuel had a historical year while playing both wide receiver and running back. Not only did the Joe Harris Jersey Pro Bowler haul in 1,405 yards and six touchdowns through the air, but he also added 365 yards and eight touchdowns on the ground. Thanks to those numbers, Samuel became just the third player in the history to finish a season with at least 1,000 receiving yards along with at least five receiving touchdowns and five rushing touchdowns. With 1,770 scrimmage yards, Samuel accounted for 28% of the 49ers' offensive total, which was the fourth-highest percentage .Despite those historical numbers, it seems that Samuel isn't thrilled with the amount of hits he's been taking as a utility player. According to NFL Media's Ian Rapoport, Samuel isn't "comfortable" with the way the 49ers are using him. "There are some questions and some frustrations from his standpoint about this usage," Rapoport said Wednesday . "He takes a lot of hits, used like a running back, put all over the field and it just does not sound like he's comfortable with the way he's being used."Samuel's usage at running back went into overdrive starting in Week 10 when he had five carries for 36 yards and a touchdown in a 31-10 win over the Rams. Over the final 11 games of the season, including the playoffs, Samuel lined up in the backfield for just over 21% of San Francisco's offensive snaps, . To put that into perspective, Brooklyn Nets Jeresy Samuel had only lined up at running back for 2.1% of the offensive snaps in his career before Week 10 of the 2021 season.With Samuel spending so much time at running back, his receiving production fell off over the final 11 games of the season. Samuel caught five or more pa ses in seven of San Francisco's first eight games in 2021. However, in the final eight games he played in last year, including the playoffs, Samuel only caught five or more pa ses in two of them. Tom Peli sero of NFL Media has reported that Samuel's preference is to dump his NBA Brooklyn Nets Jeresy running back role so he can focus on just being a receiver."Deebo Samuel wants to be a receiver and not a receiver-slash-running back," Peli sero said . "His rushing attempts were significantly up last season from where they've been in the past. We all know that he's a really, really physical player, but there probably are some concerns here about longevity."Former NFL player Su'a Cravens made the same point about longevity in a tweet about Samuels and the point is that the 49ers star isn't going to last much longer in the NFL if he keeps taking a beating at two positions. Deebo knows theres zero longevity in how he played last year. Im surprised Percy Harvin did it for so long before he started suffering injuries. No way Deebo can keep taking that beating regardle s of how versatile he is. Smart move on his part, fans not gone like it though. Sua Cravens (@iammsuzy) Basically, it seems like Samuel wants to cut down on the amount of hits he's taking.Samuel's usage probably isn't the only reason he wants out of San Francisco, but at this point, it does seem to be the main one. Pro Football talk has that Samuel just wants to be closer to home. The 26-year-old went to high school and college in South Carolina.Whatever the reason is, the 49ers star hasn't felt the need to reveal it just yet. Samuel has kept pretty quiet since his trade demands went public on Wednesday, but he did do two notable Jordan Bowden Jersey things on Twitter over the past 24 hours. The first one came when he "Liked" a tweet that said he would look great in a Cowboys uniform (He later unliked the tweet so that it wouldn't show up in his profile anymore). Deebo Samuels most recently liked tweet is about how he would look awesome wearing a Dallas Cowboys helmet.(h/t ) RJ Ochoa (@rjochoa) Samuel also sent out a tweet of his own that he later deleted."Reporters jobs is to make stories only people know the truth about situation is 49ers, my agent Tory Dandy , and Deebo Samuel," the 49ers star wrote.You can see the tweet below. Now deebo deleted this tweet. Man trade this guy. This shit Taurean Prince Jersey is way too much drama Derrick (@49ers_battlerap) The problem for the 49ers is that it's not going to be easy to negotiate with a player who doesn't want to play for your team. It's also going to be difficult to negotiate with a player when you're not exactly sure what his role will be going forward. Just over a month ago, Samuel told 49ers fans that he wasn't going anywhere, but now, it seems that something has changed his mind over the past six weeks. I train in Miami thats why I asked for a realtor down there Im not going nowhere. Calm down Deebo (@19problemz) A trade might end up being the best move for all parties and since the po sibility is now on the table, we made a list of po sible landing spots for Samuel and.
When 49ers star Deebo Samuel made , he didn’t offer any specific reason for wanting out of San Francisco. In most situations like this, a player makes a trade demand because he’s unhappy with his contract, but that doesn’t seem to be the case here.As a matter of fact, ESPN.com the 49ers WANT to pay Samuel, but it’s not happening because he’s cut off all contract talks with the team.So why did Samuel make the trade demand? According to multiple reports, it’s because he doesn’t like the way he’s being used in the 49ers offense. During the 2021 season, Samuel had a historical year while playing both wide receiver and running back. Not only did the Joe Harris Jersey Pro Bowler haul in 1,405 yards and six touchdowns through the air, but he also added 365 yards and eight touchdowns on the ground. Thanks to those numbers, Samuel became just the third player in the history to finish a season with at least 1,000 receiving yards along with at least five receiving touchdowns and five rushing touchdowns. With 1,770 scrimmage yards, Samuel accounted for 28% of the 49ers’ offensive total, which was the fourth-highest percentage .Despite those historical numbers, it seems that Samuel isn’t thrilled with the amount of hits he’s been taking as a utility player. According to NFL Media’s Ian Rapoport, Samuel isn’t “comfortable” with the way the 49ers are using him. “There are some questions and some frustrations from his standpoint about this usage,” Rapoport said Wednesday . “He takes a lot of hits, used like a running back, put all over the field and it just does not sound like he’s comfortable with the way he’s being used.”Samuel’s usage at running back went into overdrive starting in Week 10 when he had five carries for 36 yards and a touchdown in a 31-10 win over the Rams. Over the final 11 games of the season, including the playoffs, Samuel lined up in the backfield for just over 21% of San Francisco’s offensive snaps, . To put that into perspective, Brooklyn Nets Jeresy Samuel had only lined up at running back for 2.1% of the offensive snaps in his career before Week 10 of the 2021 season.With Samuel spending so much time at running back, his receiving production fell off over the final 11 games of the season. Samuel caught five or more pa ses in seven of San Francisco’s first eight games in 2021. However, in the final eight games he played in last year, including the playoffs, Samuel only caught five or more pa ses in two of them. Tom Peli sero of NFL Media has reported that Samuel’s preference is to dump his NBA Brooklyn Nets Jeresy running back role so he can focus on just being a receiver.”Deebo Samuel wants to be a receiver and not a receiver-slash-running back,” Peli sero said . “His rushing attempts were significantly up last season from where they’ve been in the past. We all know that he’s a really, really physical player, but there probably are some concerns here about longevity.”Former NFL player Su’a Cravens made the same point about longevity in a tweet about Samuels and the point is that the 49ers star isn’t going to last much longer in the NFL if he keeps taking a beating at two positions. Deebo knows theres zero longevity in how he played last year. Im surprised Percy Harvin did it for so long before he started suffering injuries. No way Deebo can keep taking that beating regardle s of how versatile he is. Smart move on his part, fans not gone like it though. Sua Cravens (@iammsuzy) Basically, it seems like Samuel wants to cut down on the amount of hits he’s taking.Samuel’s usage probably isn’t the only reason he wants out of San Francisco, but at this point, it does seem to be the main one. Pro Football talk has that Samuel just wants to be closer to home. The 26-year-old went to high school and college in South Carolina.Whatever the reason is, the 49ers star hasn’t felt the need to reveal it just yet. Samuel has kept pretty quiet since his trade demands went public on Wednesday, but he did do two notable Jordan Bowden Jersey things on Twitter over the past 24 hours. The first one came when he “Liked” a tweet that said he would look great in a Cowboys uniform (He later unliked the tweet so that it wouldn’t show up in his profile anymore). Deebo Samuels most recently liked tweet is about how he would look awesome wearing a Dallas Cowboys helmet.(h/t ) RJ Ochoa (@rjochoa) Samuel also sent out a tweet of his own that he later deleted.”Reporters jobs is to make stories only people know the truth about situation is 49ers, my agent Tory Dandy , and Deebo Samuel,” the 49ers star wrote.You can see the tweet below. Now deebo deleted this tweet. Man trade this guy. This shit Taurean Prince Jersey is way too much drama Derrick (@49ers_battlerap) The problem for the 49ers is that it’s not going to be easy to negotiate with a player who doesn’t want to play for your team. It’s also going to be difficult to negotiate with a player when you’re not exactly sure what his role will be going forward. Just over a month ago, Samuel told 49ers fans that he wasn’t going anywhere, but now, it seems that something has changed his mind over the past six weeks. I train in Miami thats why I asked for a realtor down there Im not going nowhere. Calm down Deebo (@19problemz) A trade might end up being the best move for all parties and since the po sibility is now on the table, we made a list of po sible landing spots for Samuel and.…
