Still cracks me up that they went from "he's our starting left tackle" who sucks, to "he's our starting right tackle" who sucks, to cut within 4 games. Maybe he was being a malcontent after being benched, but I just can't imagine the guys who couldn't even get a roster spot over him are actually going to be better as a backup tackle than the guy who started 48 games up through week 2.

At least y'all have Nate Solder signed for $15.5m/y to lock down LT...

Maybe a guy named Schurmer just isn’t cut out to coach football.

Why can't defensive lineman remember that you're not allowed to sack the opposing QB without his consent anymore?

I agree with what you're saying. Brees doesn't get enough credit for making the Saints competitive despite horrendous defenses.

Should add though that when you make a boatload of money as the franchise QB, it means there is less to go around for a solid defense. It's why winning a championship with a QB on a rookie scale deal is still one of the best ways to go.

Football betting is so frustrating.

Everything screamed under tonight. Both offenses sputtering, shitty weather, short week.

So of course they are on pace for 60 points.

Ans what makes it worse is I parlayed the under in this game with the under in the TCU game which has 17 total points in the 4th quarter.

the Gettleman/Schurmer era is quickly becoming a disaster.

I forgot how awful Buck/Aikman are.

And all it took to remind you were a couple of Tide ads.

Once sports gambling becomes legal and easy where I live, I will be poorer for it. I suck at figuring out what's going to happen in sporting events.

What's the plan of the Giants? Ride Eli 2 more years and tank it for Tua or Fromm (or Eason maybe)? Even if they get an Oliver or lil Bosa they still won't fix much.

Remember when they tried to move on from Manning last year and there was that huge backlash?

That was strange.

Eli is gone after this year. No way they bring him back for a 20 million capnhit next year.

They are also going to win 4-5 games and likely don’t have the chance to draft Herbert, who I’m not sold on.

My guess is Eli is gone and they sign a guy like Bridgewater to be a stopgap.

That offensive line is a disaster and it doesn't matter who you put behind center.

This could ultimately work out really well for the Giants long term. This team needed a multi-year rebuild, which is the argument for taking a QB in the last draft despite how talented Saquon is. But if the Giants are going to shit the bed again this year, good. I'd much rather take a chance on the future with Herbert + Saquon than Darnold/Allen/Rosen without Saquon.

To be fair a lot of the in season backlash was because they didn't bench Eli for a prospect, they benched him to start Geno Smith, who clearly also isn't a long term answer.

I think a lot of the backlash also had to do with the consecutive games streak that Eli had going on. If he had missed a few games at any point in his career, fans might have been more open to seeing a different option.

I think it may have been a combination of the two. Even with the streak if they benched him for a player that anyone could see was the potential future of the team I think the fans would have been less upset. But Geno Smith...

Except no matter how good Saquon is, he’s never going to be worth the draft capital and whatever second contract they have to give him, at the position he plays. Saquon plus a QB also doesn’t address the terrible line, which could have been the pick this year (I have no idea if there are any franchise LT in this years draft but you usually get at least a couple)

I wasn't very optimistic for the Bengals/Steelers game today, but it's good to know that I will be surrounded by miserable Bengal fans for another few weeks.

Why? Marvin Lewis is now 2-16 against the Steelers in Cincinnati? That's a virtual sure thing. Obvious OPI notwithstanding, when you outgain a team by 200 yards you shouldn't need a last minute TD to win.

Steelers still have their issues to work out.

The Bengals are the same old Bengals until proven otherwise.

Free advice to the Bills coaches-if Josh Allen is not going to be able to play, Nathan Peterman is not a good replacement.

Oh. No doubt. This team is not one I enjoy. Same problems as last year. No real solutions. I have minimal faith in any success except making the playoffs.

Saw most of the Bears/Dolphins OT. Bears loss is squarely on the coach. Dolphins fumble at the goal line, Bears take it 40 yards with no problem, then decide to run it up the middle from the 40 to set up the routine 53 yard FG to win. I mean, WTF? They ran the ball to set up the kick like they were in the red zone. They deserved to lose that game.

I was so happy for Drake at the end. That scene of him just laying face down with relief was wonderful.

Kenyan Drake fumbled on the goal line, forcing overtime.

After his team rallied back to win, he couldn’t hold back the emotions. pic.twitter.com/IY1oMy723V

— The Checkdown (@thecheckdown) October 14, 2018

There was 1 punt in last night's game.

Patriots ban fan who threw beer on Chiefs' Tyreek Hill

Fan banned.

Case also turned over to prosecutors. Hope they charge the knucklehead with something.

This was exactly it. Damn near every one of my friends is a Giants fan and none of them had a problem with benching Eli in a lost season. The backlash was all because of Geno.

It was completely moronic of the front office to bring in, as the backup, a guy who had already failed with the team you share a stadium with. And the hatred of Geno locally wasn't even just for the on field struggles which made the whole thing even dumber.

I saw that live and thought that Hill (and whoever ran in to calm him down - Watkins?) did a really good job of not escalating the incident.

Also, if that was in Philly it would be front page on every sport site. Glad they are taking care of it.

I wonder if anyone was ever charged in this incident?

Exactly.

Would have been fine if he was benched so they could see what Webb could do. Instead its Geno, and Webb is gone and Eli is backed up by a rookie from Richmond and a guy with zero experience.

The way it was all handled was dreadful.

Geno was still young and was fairly decent the previous times he had played the year before. Was handled horribly but it's a defensible look.

No he hadn't and no it wasn't.

Umm ... he only played in 2 games the year before. And only 1 the year before that (the broken jaw season). In both of those years AND his stint with the Giants, his QBR was lower than Eli's is in 2018, as was his completion % and his TD:INT ratio.

Sorry, but no, at no point in his entire NFL career did Geno Smith ever reach -- in a single season nor cumulative -- being as good as 2018 Eli Manning. THAT is how bad Geno Smith sucked as a QB.

I'm looking back at the reaction, the articles about the tweets from old Giants players and the fans, and the rage was broader than just being about Geno Smith. That's at least how it was played nationally. That Manning deserved the opportunity to finish the season, for all he's done for the Giants. The one common rallying point though was an opportunity to vent against McAdoo, who they were obviously done with by then. Maybe more Giants fans would have been fine with it if it was Webb, but, damn, that backlash was huge and I don't think it goes from that to zero if it was Webb and not Smith.

The QB of the future is probably not on the Giants now too, so, does that mean it's Manning until the end no matter what?

They don't have a viable alternative and the Giants suck far beyond just Manning, so I think they'll stick with him. Or, if they switch, it won't be to see what they have, it'll just be to throw something new out there to try to win a game/appease fans before the year ends.

The Giants schedule has been one of the most brutal opening 7 game runs you will ever see. Once they get past Atlants it gets much easier. I suspect they win a few games in that stretch vs SF, Was, TB, Chi, Tenn, and they ride it out with Eli. Then Eli gets released, and they bring in Bridgewater as a stop gap.

Gruden loves old QBs and the Giants need to move on from Eli.

Carr for Manning straight up this offseason :-)?

CJ Beathard to the Giants?

If I was a very casual fan seeing him play for the first time, I would think he's a top 5 pick who has been sitting and learning.

I watched him at Iowa. The guy has a swagger to him. He is a gamer and has a real strong arm.

The call on Sherman that extended the last drive was weak sauce. That kind of contact happens on nearly every play. I'm so sick of watching games get decided by officials.

I missed the replay of the illegal contact, but it just seemed too convenient

As Rodgers was scrambling to his right and being sacked, Adams (on the left side) switched direction to back across the middle and Sherman briefly reached out and contacted him. Didn't look like it had anything to do with the play, but I never saw it frame-by-frame with where Rodgers was at the time of the penalty. In the end zone, when guys are scrambling around, you see that kind of contact on nearly every receiver and it's not called all that often. But 3rd-and-long deep in GB territory, flag just had to come out.

By letter of the law, it was a penalty, but he barely impeded him and he was still open after the penalty. What I didn't see was the synch-up between when the foul occurred and what Rodgers was doing - if he was in the process of being sacked, it's even more of a BS call and IMO, those types of flags should be waved off. But I also think it's stupid to penalize a receiving team for holding on a fair catch or punt/kick-off that's not even returned.

Ok, he seemed to turn a corner in 2014 after getting benched, last 5-6 games of that season plus the smattering of other games after that he wasn’t great. But he also wasn’t hopeless. Turnovers down, I’m not arguing he was spectacular but he wasn’t super shitty Geno anymore.


Im not using advanced stats

As a Packer fan, we've seen "questionable calls" impact two games and directly cost us one (Minnesota). I think it was a pretty weak penalty, but so were the two defensive holding calls against GB that gave the 49ers first downs earlier in the game. I think what happens is the one official is tasked with watching the CB/WR battle and doesn't really see the rest of the play. So, whether it made an impact or not, if that official sees something - he calls it. Along with holding on a fair catch, I'd throw in holding on the opposite side of the line in a big run. A vast majority of the time, that hold has nothing to do with the gain. It would be nice if there was a "relevance" aspect to the penalty - almost like if the ball is catchable for PI.

All that said, this Packer team is extremely flawed. I don't understand how McCarthy can't figure out a capable offense with Rodgers. You look at the other elite QBs and their coaches (Mahomes-Reid, Brees-Payton, Goff-McVeigh, Brady-Belichick and even what Shanahan has done with his QBs) and all seem to have an aspect of explosiveness to their offense. Outside of the last two minutes when Rodgers is basically running everything, Rodgers looks like he is playing in quicksand. There are no schemes to get guys open and it seems like every play is "Rodgers avoid the rush for 4-5 seconds and buy time until a someone can get open". At some point, McCarthy needs to be held accountable for this. I just can't imagine an offense with Rodgers, Adams, Graham, capable 2nd/3rd WR, a solid young RB in Jones and a pretty good OL would struggle like this if Reid, McVeigh, Shanahan or Payton were the coach. There is just no creativity in this offense.

I love how poor Geno Smith somehow became the super villain of the Eli Manning saga. I haven't followed him closely or anything, but I remember him being considered an OK young QB who was getting better when he got punched out that time. And now he hasn't really placed since. I didn't even realize that he was with San Diego. It'd be interesting to see what he could now for a game or two with that offense.

Geno Smith sucks. He sucks because he punished RU for years being a good college QB, then he sucks because my Jets drafted him thinking he would actually be good.

Putting my conspiracy hat on for a minute, it does feel like there is a massive increase in the number of penalties called that really affect the game and keep drives going late on when the game is close . I'm not sure I'd go as far as saying there's a directive out there that the NFL wants to increase dramatic late drives and hero QB narratives, but I'm not saying there's definitely not either.

With that being said, if any team deserves to not get griped at for a questionable late call it's the Packers, so meh. It all evens out eventually. I was expecting a flag to come out on Clay Matthews on that late sack, and I think everyone's head would have exploded.

I feel like Beathard is this year's Matt Flynn. He looked really good, don't get me wrong, but a significant number of the stats were "Marquise Goodwin is faster than you" and he had him again late in the game and badly underthrew him to end it.

This year's Matthews hits aside, I can't imagine I'm the only fan of another NFC North fan to balk at this statement. In my (entirely biased) mind half of Aaron Rodgers success, and at least 2-3 Packers wins every year, are based on questionable calls extending plays/drives.

It’s a good thing this Cardinals team has a win on the board because I can’t see them winning another one. I think they look worse overall across every phase of the game than the Browns did last season. They are making a bad Broncos team look like the Patriots.

Yeah they are looking real bad right now. Going to be massive changes to the coaching staff next season I think, probably too soon for a head coach firing though.


And hey the Cards play the Niners again this season, so they could get 2 wins :)

If only Denver had to play with elevated SAT standards ...

This game can't be good for the TV ratings.

Need to fire the GM and start over. McCoy should be fired already

Ask and you shall receive:


Cardinals Let Mike McCoy Go, Promote Byron Leftwich to Offensive Coordinator

Byron Leftwich an OC. I feel like I'm playing FOF...

I thought it was a bit much when the rest of the staff carried Leftwich to the podium so he could answer questions from reporters.

Yeah my concern about Leftwich is that he has almost no experience calling plays. He was an intern under Bruce Arians where he got to call some plays, but that's about it. New coach kept him on as QB coach. At this point I guess it doesn't matter too much who the OC is so I guess Leftwich can't hurt things more than they already were.

Last night’s Broncos-Cards game that from what I could tell “nobody” watched still got 2.5 million more viewers than a baseball playoff game.

The NFL really is a beast unto itself.

I have to admit, I had the football game on and completely forgot there was baseball being played.

(Now, the amount of attention I was giving the game was next to nothing - I looked up when DEN scored its fifth TD and went "whaaaaa???" But it was on.)

Baseball isn't as popular regardless, but they are killing themselves by spreading postseason games all over cable. I want to watch the games and can't find them sometimes. I'm sick of going through a rotation of DTV channels 219/247/213/206 trying to figure out what games are on what channels.

I do think that's part of it.

Saints and Ravens each suffering from under-the-radar O-Line injuries. Betting the under would be a sneaky good play.

No line might just mean they throw a bunch of times though

Welcome back to earth Mr. Beathard.

The under hit, but it was close, so this would be a case of winning the bet, but my overall theory was off. I thought it would be more of a 17-20 type game.

Former Panther WR Rae Carruth released from prison at age 44 today. I'm sure someone will sign him now:


Former Carolina Panthers WR Rae Carruth released from prison

Went to the Chiefs game last night. The rest of the AFC teams better hope that the Chiefs stumble along the way this year, because this team is basically unstoppable at home.

The starting lineup introduction for Mahomes is just insane. I went to the season opener as well. Both times, you hear 'And the QB, out of Texas Tech, #15............' and then nothing but crowd noise. Didn't hear his name either time.

Also, I think the defense criticisms are a bit much. The first half of the schedule was really tough. They have one of the easiest schedules in the league going forward. In addition, the defense has been playing a lot of soft defense with some of the big leads they've had. I think you'll see some improvement, especially with points scored.

Sometimes, after a long day at work I will come home and play Madden on rookie mode so I can just run and throw all over the field and veg out and not have to worry about being challenged.

The Chiefs' offense right now looks like when I do that.

Oakland Raiders to trade Amari Cooper to Dallas Cowboys

What a dumpster fire of an organization they have been

While I am not sure what's going on the Amari Cooper, he hasn't been all that productive the last couple of years. A first round pick seems like a lot for him. It's sort of like when the Cowboys traded a first round pick to the Lions for WR Roy Williams.

That said, this Gruden thing has been a dumpster fire, as was expected. Then again, our man has a 10-year contract, so I guess he is allowed to think long term. The 10 Year Plan has begun!

Gruden prefers an empty cupboard challenge.

Seems way too much for the likes of Cooper.



Meanwhile rumors are out that Patrick Peterson has requested a trade before the trade deadline. Can't say as I blame him really given the current state of the team, but would hurt to lose him

A completely Cowboys trade to make. At least they did give up slightly less for Cooper than williams, so progress?

Which one?

I hate the internet. Currently fighting with a guy on twitter who thinks this move puts the cowboys on par with the rams.

Haha. Excellent point but the raiders come out of this looking like the pats.

:lol:

I fail to see how this is a bad deal for Oak. They stink, and somebody is willing to vastly overpaid for a guy who has not produced and is just getting older.

I think it's an overpay that will look bad unless the Cowboys win their dumpster fire of a division too, but Cooper has 2 70+/1000+ pro bowl seasons in 3 years since entering the NFL and is still only 24.

Booger and this MNF crew is horrific.

Booger just said Barkley has to learn to take the 3 or 4 yard gains and not always look for the homerun. What a dumb statement. Barkley is one of very few guys who can take it to the house every touch he gets. He should always be looking for the HR.

He also said that Janoris Jenkins and Eli Apple are the weak spots in the defense.

Edit: Of course, right when I post that, Jenkins bites and gives up a TD...

Especially with that QB!

Wtf. How do you go for 2?

I like the move if you think your chances of making it are iver 50%. OBJ just needs to catch the ball.

It is a good move.

If you make it, get a stop, you need a TD to basically win, assuming you make the PAT.

If you miss you still can go for 2 for the tie. Makes perfect sense, especially if you think going making 2 is better than 50%.

Thinking like yours is dying in the NFL and the broadcasters are the last to figure it out.

Now going for the FG here is a terrible move.

Go for the first down and ice it

With all the kicking issues the Chargers, Vikings, Browns, have had how do the Falcons sign this guy off the street?

Field goal was definitely a hold my beer moment.

2 point conversation rate is about 47% or something

Hilarious clock mismanagement there. Wonder how many people just lost their fantasy leagues with that OBJ touchdown or the Barkley two pointer.

I had a rather large parlay

Over 227.5 in the knicks game with Falcons -4.

Gross

#Raiders have made 13 first-round picks since 2004. The only 2 of those players to make a Pro Bowl are Khalil Mack and Amari Cooper

— Josh Dubow (@JoshDubowAP) October 23, 2018

I'm fine with situational decisions & if for whatever reason you don't like your chances in OT then maybe you flip that switch ... it's an idiotic move otherwise.

What the Giants and all the "it was a good move" folks are sitting on another loss. So maybe what needs to be "dying" is the sudden appearance of all the self-appointed geniuses who need to think they're so much smarter than the world, which is nothing short of hubris.

If they had kicked extra points after both TD's they would have lost by 3, and they lost by... 3. They lost because their offense completely sucked for the first 3 quarters and the defense couldn't stop the Falcons after they got within one score, not because of any 2-pt/XP decision.

#Football

Raiders QB Derek Carr reportedly has a "fractured relationship" with teammates, due in part to the perception that he cried after being injured https://t.co/dSvPc50wYe

— ProFootballTalk (@ProFootballTalk) October 23, 2018

The only thing left to do is trade Carr to the Cowboys... for 3 1st round picks.