#doing my Getty dive of photos from td

[neyxmessi]

weakkkk

[junker-town]

How Dak Prescott’s pregame warmup dance became a viral sensation

Photo by Rey Del Rio/Getty Images

Prescott’s movements to loosen up his hips is being imitated by players around the league.

Dak Prescott went viral during a Sunday Night Football between the Vikings and Cowboys for a, uh, dance he did during pregame warmups. Although it looks like one, what he’s doing isn’t actually a dance — the movement loosens up his hips to help his throwing motion. But it was still pretty hilarious to watch.

In case you live under a rock, you’ve probably seen it by now:

What song is @dak listening to when he does this? pic.twitter.com/06eKB609e5

— SNF on NBC (@SNFonNBC) November 11, 2019

Since this incredible moment was captured by SNF’s cameras, the “dance” has taken on a life of its own, to say the least.

First, people set his moves to various songs, and there were some gems. This one, from my colleague Hector Diaz remains my absolute favorite:

Dak dancing to Suavemente pic.twitter.com/UV0eEsc42i

— Hector Diaz (@iamHectorDiaz) November 11, 2019

There are so many more great ones on Twitter — just go ahead and search #DakDancesToAnything and go to town.

Then, other football players and athletes have been caught performing their own versions of the Dak dance.

Prescott’s teammate, Ezekiel Elliott, celebrated a touchdown against the Detroit Lions the week after the dance went viral:

ZEKE. TD. DAK. DANCE. EPIC. (via @dallascowboys) pic.twitter.com/uRVJ1XL4AV

— Blogging The Boys (@BloggingTheBoys) November 17, 2019

“I had to pay a little homage to my guy,” Elliott said after the game. He added that Prescott thinks he’s “nice at it,” and that maybe he could try playing quarterback.

Other NFL QBs have showed off similar pregame moves since, including Mason Rudolph, Jimmy Garoppolo, and Jacoby Brissett.

Though none of them appeared to be imitating Prescott, the same can’t be said for 49ers rookie Nick Bosa:

.⁦@49ers⁩ Nick Bosa doing the Dak #DakDancesToAnything #MNF #SFvsSEA pic.twitter.com/gjtKmh5crP

— Will Selva (@WillSelvaTV) November 12, 2019

Even Charlotte Hornets point guard Devonte Graham got in on the dance while warming up before a home game against the Detroit Pistons:

Gotta warm up the hips, @Devonte4Graham #AllFly | @dak pic.twitter.com/3gOwagwMN8

— Charlotte Hornets (@hornets) November 16, 2019

It extends to college too. Minnesota Gophers quarterback Tanner Morgan has a pregame ritual that looks Prescott-like:

Tanner "Dak" Morgan: pic.twitter.com/WqA268Tcsr

— Minnesota on BTN (@MinnesotaOnBTN) November 16, 2019

He insists that the movement really does help your throwing motion as a quarterback.

“Letting your hips lead the throw instead of letting your arm, and leaning into your upper body, and you don’t get any hip rotation with the throw. I got really bad doing that last year,” Morgan said via the Star-Tribune. “If you go back and watch the film. It’s probably a 75 percent chance that you’re going to see a left-leg lockout and just totally lean out, and the ball’s going to nose-dive.”

Prescott learned the movement from Tom House, a former MLB pitcher who now specializes in biomechanics. Here’s more from The Athletic:

House had his first major football client, Drew Brees, doing this same drill almost two decades ago. Tom Brady and many other NFL quarterbacks have done it for close to a decade. House calls it Step and Torque.

“When you watch Dak doing it, the shoulder goes back while the hips go forward,” says House, a former major league pitcher. “He’s actually patterning the nervous system and training the muscles in movements that are specific to what he does when he throws with an elevated core temperature.

All jokes aside, the move seems to be working for Prescott — he currently leads the league in total passing yards and has a career high in yards per attempt. Oh, and his Cowboys are sitting atop the NFC East. It might look funny, but Prescott is obviously doing something right with his warmup.

[auburnfamilynews]

Derick E. Hingle-USA TODAY Sports

Welcome back, Tiger fans! Hope everyone has enjoyed their time over the Christmas holidays and is ready to get a head start on those New Year’s resolutions today by...sitting somewhere comfortable with a tasty beverage in hand to watch what is hopefully (but probably not!) excellent football that’s not involving Auburn today (NO STRESS YET!).

With that in mind, let’s dive right in, shall we?

Peach Bowl - LSU vs. Oklahoma - 3:00 PM God’s time zone

Today is a tough edition of the Index to write for yours truly. See, a lot of folks have some very deep, real feelings of hate for the fanbase of Louisiana State University. I myself have been told that “Auburn ain’t sh*t” by a kid who had to be less than 10 years old before the 2005 John Vaughn game in Baton Rouge. I offered to go to jail with a Louisiana gentleman during the game by way to beating his ass for running up to my father and screaming in his face after a Skylar Green punt return for a TD (WHY DOES THAT HAPPEN SO MUCH NOW I’M DEFEATING MY OWN POINT HERE BECAUSE I’M THINKING BACK TO 2017 WHY GOD WHY). I was sober. The gentleman declined.

What I’m saying is that I get it. They can be awful. “But Josh, every fanbase in the SEC has fans like that!”, people might say. Which is total crap. There’s no other fanbase in any stadium I’ve ever been to that the fans have spit on me aside from those in red and black. There is only ONE fanbase in America that would have a fan have his entire personal identity so wrapped up in a football program that after a loss he would wait a few days then drive to Auburn’s campus and poison historic and cherished trees. Show me anything close to that at Auburn. Maybe we do have some of that, but from a sheer volume perspective, it’s hard to find any orange and blue needles in crimson, white, red, and black haystack.

Which leads me back to LSU. Why don’t I include them in above haystack? Especially after some of the crap I’ve had to put up with down there? Because I’ve gotten to know a fair amount of these people. When I think about LSU’s fanbase, I think about the Valley Shook crew and their tailgate, led by Zach Rau, and how truly welcoming they are. I think of how much I love getting a group of my friends in Baton Rouge to go to Juban’s or Adrian’s and have a Hallelujah Crab the night before a game.

@JoshBlack Instagram

Hallelujah Crab - Apologies for the NSFW nature of this picture

I also kinda love the nature of this LSU team. They are so engulfed in state pride, which is a legitimate, non-confederate thing for that region of the southern United States. They have an underdog Cajun head coach who I would want to run through a brick wall for if I played for him. They have a quarterback in Joe Burrow that Ohio State didn’t want, who went down to LSU and earned where he is today. And the only time they really had the hell scared out of them this year was against us, and have actually shown a decent amount of respect to us in my corner of the twitter-verse over it.

And let’s talk about one other thing that pushes me towards LSU in this game...Jalen Hurts. Sure I like the kid fine. His story is a great one. But you know who is pulling for Jalen Hurts today? Tide fans. Because they need to identify with some form of greatness out of their own insecurities instead of just sitting back and enjoying the day. Oh yeah sure, we’ve all been happy for Jalen to have success away from Alabama this year. But now that they’re irrelevant, they’ve got to find a way to feel relevant. Jalen Hurts is the avenue to that for their psyche.

But you know what? The Index doesn’t give a damn about my feelings or yours. There’s not one damn thing to gain for our Auburn Tigers by LSU winning today. LSU having another national championship trophy in Baton Rouge actually hurts Auburn in recruiting. It doesn’t “enhance” the SEC at this point. It doesn’t make us look any better. Our record in 2019 is our record. But give a recruiter like Ed Orgeron a national title to show rings to 5 Star recruits in Mobile, AL? No thank you.

And don’t give me the, “But Josh, a strong LSU and Auburn means a weaker Alabama!” No. Auburn doesn’t need help from anyone in the SEC West in weakening Alabama. The SEC East is another story (YEAH TENNESSEE I’M TALKING ABOUT YOU and also LOL Georgia you have BLOWN the literal best shot you’ve had in 40 years because you seemingly CAN’T beat Alabama thanks to not getting out of your own way).

So with that in mind, and with a heavy heart for the good people of Louisiana, I say...

BAH GOD...

Photo by Jackson Laizure/Oklahoma/Getty Images

...BOOMER SOONER!

Fiesta Bowl - Clemson vs. Ohio State - 7:00 PM God’s time zone

We are all so sick of Dabo and his bellyaching about undervaluing Clemson. Their schedule sucks. I mean when you’re toughest test is against a Kellen Mond led Texas A&M at home, you don’t have a lot of room to talk in terms of resume.

Where you do have room to talk is having a death machine program that flips a switch every November without looking back and is primed and ready to get the credit they deserve in the College Football Playoff. I mean, we see it every single year. This is a loaded team that no one is talking about that may end up winning the whole dang thing.

On the other side we are all enjoying Justin Fields play quarterback for someone other than the University of Georgia. If we’re being honest, Fields should be at Auburn. Kirby Smart is a real asshole when it comes to negative recruiting, telling Fields that we would move him to another position if he signed here. Fields was extremely interested in Auburn after decommiting from Penn State prior to signing with Georgia. So yeah, it’s an absolute pleasure watching Justin Fields do the thing away from Georgia while they legitimately ponder if they will be able to score enough points to beat Baylor.

But here’s the thing about Ohio State...there’s always this...

Oh God ew gross

Those three people deserve disappointment. Why? Because why the hell not? There’s also the whole thing of the fanbase at large defending Urban Meyer for keeping an abusive husband on his staff while arrogantly thinking he could be part of the solution instead of the law. That’s beyond shameful.

But you know what? The Index is only biased towards the benefit of our Auburn University Tigers. I recognize the need for Ohio State to feel pain and agony, but there’s potential for that to happen on a larger stage in a week. This boils down once again to recruiting for the Index. We’re going head to head against Clemson for kids in Georgia and even Alabama at times. 3 titles in 5 years puts them on a level all by themself and serves to harm Auburn’s efforts on Signing Day.

So with that in mind let’s get this over with because I think I’m gonna be sick...

Go Bucks.

Oof that was gross. Let’s not ever do that again. I don’t ever want to be on the same side of an argument as folks that see fit to pour chili over spaghetti noodles. Anyways, there it is folks, a terrible national championship game with no southern flavor in New Orleans. This is the best outcome for Auburn based on who we recruit against. It’s awful. It’s ruined. Which makes it perfect.

WAR EAGLE!

from College and Magnolia - All Posts https://www.collegeandmagnolia.com/2019/12/28/21040244/rootability-index-college-football-playoff-edition

[kacydeneen]

Franks Quiets Home Crowd, Florida Beats South Carolina 35-31

Feleipe Franks placed his index finger across his lips after both touchdown runs, sending a message to a home crowd that booed him earlier.

After the second one, there was nothing Franks could have done to silence the Florida faithful.

Franks accounted for three touchdowns, including the go-ahead score with a little more than four minutes remaining, and the 19th-ranked Gators rallied to beat South Carolina 35-31 Saturday and end a two-game losing streak.

 "I'm a super emotional player," Franks said. "That what makes it a two-way street. Lots of people are going to like me and lots of people aren't going to like me. Maybe that's something I shouldn't have did. But at the same time, I'm an emotional player. I want to win as much as anybody in the world. I'm an emotional guy. That's the way I play my game. I do apologize for that."

Franks dived across the goal line on fourth down from inside the 1-yard line to put the Gators (7-3, 5-3 Southeastern Conference, No. 15 CFP) ahead for the first time all day and for good.

Coach Dan Mullen said he didn't hesitate to go for it even though a short field goal would have tied the game. The Gators overcame a 17-point deficit in the second half to prevent former Florida coach and current South Carolina coach Will Muschamp from getting a win in his second trip back to Gainesville.

C.J. Henderson sealed the victory when he intercepted Jake Bentley's third-down pass on the ensuing drive. Muschamp has dropped eighth of his last 10 games in the Swamp.

"It's a hard, tough loss," said Muschamp, who is 0-2 against his former team in Gainesville. "We had our opportunities. Give Florida credit. They made plays they had to at the end. ... When you go on the road in our league and have the opportunities in front of us, to lose the game, it's gut-wrenching."

Franks completed 15 of 21 passes for 161 yards and a touchdown. He also ran for 36 yards and two scores a week after getting benched for the third time in two seasons.

Mullen opened up the quarterback competition during the week, but backup Kyle Trask broke a foot in practice Wednesday and is out for the remainder of the regular season. That left Franks as Mullen's only viable option against the Gamecocks (5-4, 4-4).

Still, the home crowd turned on Franks quickly Saturday by booing him after consecutive plays on the first series in which he fumbled and badly overthrew a receiver.

Franks responded after his first TD run.

"He's an emotional kid," Mullen said. "I told him he's going to get booed. ... I also told him don't worry about anything that's not going to help us win the football game. Score a touchdown and get off the sidelines so we can coach you."

South Carolina (5-4, 4-4) scored touchdowns on its first two possessions and looked like it would roll on the road — much like Missouri did last week. Jake Bentley had TD passes to end both drives but did little down the stretch.

But Franks and the Gators responded.

The Gators ended up with 367 yards rushing. Jordan Scarlett had 159 yards on the ground. Lamical Perine added 107 yards and two scores. Dynamic receiver Kadarius Toney chipped in 51 yards on four carries.

THE TAKEAWAY

South Carolina: After being up 17 points late in the third quarter, the Gamecocks found themselves in another nail-biter late. It was the team's fifth consecutive game decided by four points or less. They are 3-2 in those.

Florida: The Gators still have hopes of making a big-time bowl game and reaching 10 wins for just the second time in the last six seasons.

MUSCHAMP CONNECTION

Although Muschamp will forever be tied to Florida, he won't have many connections to his former school after this game.

The Gators have six fifth-year seniors who signed with Florida before Muschamp's final season in 2014. Florida also has one more payment to Muschamp to fulfill his severance, a $787,500 deposit later this month. That will complete his $6.3 million buyout.

MISSING MEN

Florida was without three key players: guard Brett Heggie, safety Brad Stewart and receiver Freddie Swain. Heggie and Swain were injured last week against Missouri. Stewart has missed two of the last three games.

UP NEXT

South Carolina hosts Chattanooga of the FCS, a welcome break after eight consecutive conference games.

Florida concludes a three-game homestand against Idaho, also an FCS team. It's the Gators' home finale and senior day.

Photo Credit: Getty Images Franks Quiets Home Crowd, Florida Beats South Carolina 35-31 published first on Miami News

[junker-town]

The Lions getting hosed is the latest black mark for NFL refs

Photo by Leon Halip/Getty Images

Detroit got worked by Aaron Rodgers and the refs. More so than usual. Can the NFL do anything to fix this?

The Lions had held down Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay offense throughout much of a rivalry game on Monday Night Football. With a combination of solid coverage and Packer red zone mistakes, they’d overcome a handful of stalled-out scoring drives to lead their NFC North rival 22-13 with 10 minutes left in the game.

And then Rodgers roared back — with the help of some flags and no-calls from the officiating crew that ranged from questionable to outright destructive.

The Packers rallied to a 23-22 victory in Week 6 that put them atop their division while casting Detroit to the bottom. It didn’t come without controversy. The Lions found themselves on the unfortunate side of four different late calls that made the home team’s comeback a little easier and enraged Barry Sanders in the process.

That is sickening... the @NFL needs to look at a way to prevent that from happening. Two phantom hands to the face calls really hurts us tonight. Yes, we could have scored TDs, but @Lions played too well to have the game end this way. #DETvsGB @espn

— Barry Sanders (@BarrySanders) October 15, 2019

Two phantom illegal hands to the face calls were the headliners for Monday night’s officiating ineptitude, but those weren’t the only decisions that derailed the Lions’ road to victory. Detroit’s inability to turn early drives into touchdowns left the door open for a Packers comeback at Lambeau Stadium. Some bad calls served as the powerful wind that kept it from swinging shut.

There was a long list of iffy calls throughout Monday’s game, but none were as costly as the ones that gutted the Lions in the fourth quarter. Here’s how it played out.

Detroit was actually hosed by four different calls in the fourth quarter

The decisions ranged from questionable to completely unacceptable,

1. The debatable incomplete pass (that was probably the right call)

It started with 12:26 to play. The Lions faced third-and-2 from inside field goal range when Matthew Stafford fired a quick pass to a streaking Kerryon Johnson out of the backfield. Johnson secured the ball, appeared to take three steps with it, and then fumbled it out of bounds as a defender approached. The pass was ruled a catch and then a lost ball, granting the Lions a first down at the Green Bay 30.

Packers coach Matt LaFleur challenged the ruling, and it paid off. While the ESPN announcing crew suggested a catch had been made, the shifting of the ball in Johnson’s hands as he moved it to his outside arm made the play anything but cut and dry. The replay official saw enough movement to rule the play an incomplete pass, and Detroit settled for a field goal that made the score 22-13. That was a possibly unlucky call for the Lions, but an understandable one.

2. The first drive-sustaining hands to the face penalty

The refs’ next gaffe against Detroit was much less forgivable. Rodgers crumpled to the ground on a third-and-10 sack for a loss of 11 yards that almost certainly would have set up a punt. In the process, the umpire threw his flag into the mix. He called illegal hands to the face on Trey Flowers — giving Green Bay five yards and an automatic first down.

A quick review of the play would show Flowers had a firm grasp on left tackle David Bakhtiari’s shoulder pads and, with the exception of possibly a small slip upward toward the end of the play that had no bearing on the actual outcome itself, stayed there.

here's the first non-existent hands to the face that turned 4th-and-20ish into a first down (and, later, a Packer touchdown) pic.twitter.com/nHnIEFI76B

— Christian D'Andrea (@TrainIsland) October 15, 2019

Three plays later, Rodgers hit Allen Lazard for a 35-yard touchdown pass that made this a one-possession game.

3. The blanked deep-ball pass interference

Still, the Lions led after that touchdown and could salt away the game with a sustained drive. And it looked like they might, until some dicey coverage on second down knocked away a Stafford deep ball that should have put Detroit in field goal range.

Safety Will Redmond got beat off the line of scrimmage by Marvin Jones, but recovered in time to get back to his assignment and make a play on the ball. Except he recovered too quickly, making contact with Jones and impeding his progress toward the pass before it could get to the eager receiver.

No pass interference flag was thrown on the play. Lions head coach Matt Patricia didn’t challenge the no-call, probably because he knew pass interference challenge flags had resulted in just one reversal in 21 reviews between Week 3 and Monday night’s game. Instead, he chose not to risk a timeout, took his chances on third-and-6, and then punted the ball back to Rodgers when that failed to pan out.

4. The game-deciding, second phantom hands to the face call

Rodgers drove Green Bay back to Detroit territory when he faced third-and-4 from the Detroit 16 with 1:45 remaining in the game. After facing some pressure in the pocket, he uncorked an incomplete pass to the corner of the end zone ... only to be bailed out by the same official on the same phantom hands to the face call.

oh my god the refs bailed out Green Bay with a nonexistent hands-to-the-face penalty on third-and-long FOR THE SECOND TIME THIS QUARTER (both on Trey Flowers, good lord) pic.twitter.com/Hg3k0OxS3L

— Christian D'Andrea (@TrainIsland) October 15, 2019

Coincidentally enough, Billy Turner — No. 77 on the right side of that clip — is doing the exact same damn thing to defensive tackle A’Shawn Robinson by grabbing a hold of his collar. He wasn’t called for hands to the face or holding in the aftermath.

“They saw something different than what actually happened,” a frustrated Flowers, who’d never been called for hands to the face in his five-year pro career before Week 6, explained to the media at his locker after the game. “They called what they thought they saw. So ... yeah.

“I didn’t think hands to the chest was a penalty.”

Instead of settling for a 34-yard field goal to take the lead and hand the ball back to Stafford with roughly 90 seconds left, the Packers were able to milk the clock before Mason Crosby kicked a game-winning 23-yard attempt as time expired. The Lions had no opportunity to mount a comeback in a game where Stafford had averaged 14.7 yards per completion, and the blame for that falls directly on the officiating crew’s shoulders.

So where do we go from here?

The Lions have the same case the Saints had after losing to the Rams in last year’s NFC Championship Game, albeit with much smaller stakes. Bad calls directly impacted their ability to win, which is not an especially foreign feeling on Monday Night Football or against the Packers. See: the batted ball game, and the nonexistent facemask that gave Green Bay an untimed down and led to Rodgers’ legend-building Hail Mary in 2015.

After getting the benefit of the doubt on an unclear Kerryon Johnson goal-line dive in the first quarter, Detroits fortunes shifted considerably. While Rodgers may have been able to work his magic and beat Detroit without any help from the men in stripes, there’s no denying his job got a lot easier thanks to a pair of free first downs — the same amount of first downs taken away from the Lions in 50/50-ish calls that same quarter.

If referee Clete Blakeman was questioning his crew’s decisions after the game, he sure wasn’t telling the press about it.

Pool report on the hands to the face penalties by Trey Flowers pic.twitter.com/qKGLdEshlU

— kyle meinke (@kmeinke) October 15, 2019

But changing the rules for one high-profile example of incompetent officiating seems like an overreaction, especially given the impressive waste of time 2019’s reformed pass interference policies have been. Time-burning challenges don’t seem like a viable path forward for the league, either. Maybe a dedicated replay crew — a group of officials headquartered in New York City who review every flag thrown in real time and buzz down to appropriate referees to signal when a flag should be picked up and dismissed — could add an extra layer of protection in situations like these.

The good news is the league’s fall meeting starts Tuesday, and the Lions’ latest loss will be fresh on the minds of owners and executives. The bad news is any meaningful reform will take a lot of work and have to go through several bureaucratic layers of discussion and voting to have a shot at becoming protocol.

So all we really learned Monday night is that we’ve got a long, long way to go before NFL teams can feel like their best efforts in a season where every play counts won’t go to waste because an umpire can’t tell the difference between someone’s shoulder pads and their facemask.

And that the football gods still hate the Lions.

[junker-town]

The 12 dumbest mistakes from a preseason-ish Week 1, ranked

Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images

The Dolphins are worse than we thought, the Lions and Cardinals refused to win, and everyone was ejected. Oh, and never dance again, Kirk Cousins. Please.

If the 2019 kickoff game between the Packers and Bears taught us anything, it’s that sometimes Week 1 can still feel like the preseason. That’s the case now more than ever, when most starters spend the month of August standing on the sideline in their comfiest athleisure wear.

While that means some teams take a little longer to find their rhythm once September rolls around, it also produces the kind of cringe entertainment that we’re only used to seeing in the preseason or when we decide to fire up an episode of The Office.

The first week this season was chock full of moments that had us looking away in secondhand embarrassment. But that wasn’t all it delivered. There were also several ejections that suggested some players weren’t ready to end their summer vacation just yet.

Somehow, we narrowed this list down to 12, and that doesn’t even include the Jets blowing a game to the Bills, and the Patriots stomping all over the Steelers right after hooking up with their ex. Here are the dumbest mistakes from the first Sunday of the season:

12. Kirk Cousins celebrated a 1-yard TD dive by dancing like your grandma

Cousins didn’t have to do much to beat the Falcons Sunday; he only threw 10 passes for 98 yards. Rather, the Vikings did their damage on the ground in a 28-12 home victory. The veteran QB even got in on the action with a 1-yard dip into the end zone in the second quarter.

Then Cousins, so delighted to have scored, gave the world his best Andrews Sisters impression.

jesus pic.twitter.com/2N4oI7MODP

— Arif Hasan (@ArifHasanNFL) September 8, 2019

You’ve been told, Adam Thielen. Don’t wait under the apple tree for anyone else but Kirk.

11. Patrick Mahomes no-looks a pass right outta the end zone

Patrick Mahomes has an innate ability to shock the NFL with streetball-style plays that seem impossible in real life but lead to major gains on the gridiron. This was not one of them.

Mahomes already getting tricky with it pic.twitter.com/8A7WmEPDy3

— The Checkdown (@thecheckdown) September 8, 2019

Mahomes’ latest no-look pass was also a no-catch pass, soaring over Travis Kelce’s head and out of the end zone on third down. Just because you can do it doesn’t mean you always should.

10. Pittsburgh’s backup center forgot to snap the ball

B.J. Finney made his first appearance of the season when he entered a Steelers-Patriots blowout in relief of Maurkice Pouncey. He blanked the count on his very first snap, leading to a rare, four-man false start penalty that left Finney standing like an untouched bowling pin.

"false start, all the linemen but the center" pic.twitter.com/tl84yoHmoQ

— Christian D'Andrea (@TrainIsland) September 9, 2019

Ben Roethlisberger threw an interception a few plays later. The two probably aren’t related, but it’s important measuring point for just how awful things were for Pittsburgh Sunday night.

9. A Cardinals OL tried to leap over Kyler Murray and sacked him instead

This honestly might be our favorite GIF of the season, and we say that being fully aware this is only Week 1:

Kyler Murray just got sacked by his own lineman lmao pic.twitter.com/ZatJyFp5mq

— Pete Blackburn (@PeteBlackburn) September 8, 2019

We’ve all had this kind of moment when you know you’re going to bump into someone and there’s no way of avoiding it, and this is dialed up to 11.

Guard J.R. Sweezy is 6’5, 310 pounds. Something in his brain told this exceedingly large man that his reaction should be “leapfrog my quarterback.” Spoiler: He couldn’t.

Honestly, it’s a miracle this just looked like a WWE move and he didn’t crush poor Kyler Murray.

8. Eli Manning needs to know who Eli Manning is

Mistake No. 1 for the Giants was rolling Manning out of the pocket inside the red zone. Even when he was 24 that would’ve been a brave play call for a quarterback who’s very much a pocket passer. It’s even worse now that he’s 38. He has 37 rushing yards in the last three years combined.

Mistake No. 2 was when Manning decided not to throw the ball, but to try to juke Cowboys linebacker Leighton Vander Esch on fourth-and-1. It went exactly as you imagine.

Eli Manning looking like Michael Vick out there! What a move pic.twitter.com/3AakWbjn79

— Eric Rosenthal (@ericsports) September 8, 2019

Let Saquon Barkley do the running, Eli.

7. Kwon Alexander was ejected for lowering his helmet straight into Jameis Winston

One of San Francisco’s bigger additions this offseason was former Bucs linebacker Kwon Alexander. He was having a great first half against his former team before he made a very, very stupid play that got him ejected.

maybe dont do that kwon pic.twitter.com/WXQosHIuXJ

— James Brady (@JamesBradySBN) September 8, 2019

Regarded as a rangy linebacker who occasionally has issues with his tackling form, Alexander elected to hit Jameis Winston, who slid head-first on a scramble, with a blatant helmet-to-helmet shot. He was immediately ejected, with three quarters left and the 49ers only up by three points.

6. The Jaguars are still fighting everyone

The Jaguars’ hopes of returning to the top of the AFC South took a huge hit when Nick Foles broke his clavicle after throwing a touchdown. That was completely out of their control, though. It’s simply the hand fate deals what is a habitually hard-luck team (and any resident of north Florida).

What the Jaguars didn’t do was keep their cool. Myles Jack, who recently received a big raise and was named a team captain, was ejected for throwing a punch against Chiefs receiver Demarcus Robinson:

#Jaguars LB Myles Jack ejected for throwing a punch at a #Chiefs player after the play is over. pic.twitter.com/24OJ2WYypD

— Big Cat Country (@BigCatCountry) September 8, 2019

He then had to be held back and escorted off the field.

Although Jaguars players fighting has been a fairly common occurrence in recent years, that it happened in Week 1 was a sign that this team might not be ready to contend again. Instead, they just found ways to embarrass themselves — like the once-proud Jacksonville defense surrendering 40 points and almost 500 yards.

5. Greg Robinson’s ejection summed up the Browns’ Week 1 experience

The Browns reign as AFC North favorites may be over after just one week, and some of their offensive struggles can be chalked up to the left tackle who took his reputation as the club’s weak link to a new level Sunday. Greg Robinson only played 1.5 quarters in Week 1, earning an early trip to the locker room for kicking Kenny Vaccaro in the face.

welp, the Browns will have to play the second half without their starting left tackle. Greg Robinson ejected for kicking Kenny Vaccaro right in the face pic.twitter.com/y324hpluQ7

— Christian D'Andrea (@TrainIsland) September 8, 2019

This was awful timing. With Kendall Lamm hurt and both Austin Corbett and Wyatt Teller inactive, Cleveland was reduced to fielding a rotation of misplaced blockers and backups. Justin McCray, an interior lineman acquired from the Packers eight days earlier, moved to right tackle. Right tackle Chris Hubbard moved to the blindside. Neither was especially helpful in pass protection; the Browns gave up five sacks, including one in the end zone that resulted in 2019’s first safety.

Even worse, Robinson’s 15-yard unsportsmanlike penalty was one of 18 times the Browns were flagged. They gifted the Titans 182 yards on those penalties.

4. Jameis Winston is still making rookie mistakes in year 5

Once upon a time, Winston showed everything the Buccaneers could’ve asked for out of a No. 1 overall pick. He was mistake prone, but made enough big plays to inspire promise. Fast forward to his fifth NFL season and Winston’s inability to avoid turnovers is going to get him run out of Tampa Bay.

The Buccaneers hired Bruce Arians hoping the quarterback guru could finally get Winston to pull it together. Unfortunately for Tampa Bay, Winston still makes plays like this:

The @ahkello pick six to clinch it!#GoNiners pic.twitter.com/cNSR9kgGLP

— San Francisco 49ers (@49ers) September 8, 2019

The Buccaneers had a chance win, but Winston’s off-balance lob into traffic sealed the win for the 49ers. That was his third pick of the game. What else is new?

3. Just everything about the Dolphins

Yo. We knew the Dolphins were going to be bad this year, but what the hell was that?

Miami got trounced by the Ravens 59-10 and it was 42-to-freakin’-3 at halftime. It legitimately looked like the Ravens were playing one of those faceless “FCS Southwest” teams that were in Dynasty mode on NCAA Football 14.

Ryan Fitzpatrick threw an interception to start off his day. The Dolphins had two receivers in the general area — bad spacing leads to interceptions! And just like that, Earl Thomas had an easy read for his first pick as a Raven.

INTERCEPTION @Earl_Thomas ‼️ pic.twitter.com/JOlsdWRxcc

— Baltimore Ravens (@Ravens) September 8, 2019

The Dolphins’ defense was even worse somehow. They let the first catch of Marquise Brown’s career go 47 yards for a touchdown. There was somehow not a single Dolphins player in front of Brown as he raced to the end zone.

first catch of his career pic.twitter.com/RtYwDnLtvT

— charles mcdonald (@FourVerts) September 8, 2019

His second touchdown catch was somehow even more embarrassing for the Dolphins. Miami only rushed three defenders on third down and, amazingly, let Brown beat them deep for an 83-yard touchdown.

Eight defenders in coverage!

second catch of his career pic.twitter.com/zsE9vMpKHL

— charles mcdonald (@FourVerts) September 8, 2019

Miami gave up 643 yards and gained just 200. 643 yards.

And now some members of the team want to get off this sinking ship and are reportedly begging to be traded. We’re so, so sorry Dolphins fans.

2. Does Kliff Kingsbury think the NFL has college football OT rules?

Kliff Kingsbury’s NFL debut did not get off to a promising start. Early in the fourth quarter, the Cardinals were trailing the Lions 24-6 and Kyler Murray’s passer rating was hovering around 28.

Then they surged back, tying the game on a touchdown and two-point conversion with less than a minute left in regulation. They had all the momentum heading into overtime.

After both teams traded field goals, the Cardinals got the ball back. At this point, any score would win the game; if neither team scored, it would end in a tie. Murray got the Cardinals to midfield, but when a third-down pass fell incomplete, Kingsbury had a decision to make with a minute left: go for it on fourth-and-7, or punt and almost assuredly settle for a tie.

Unless Kingsbury forgot about the NFL’s OT rules, he decided a tie was better than nothing in his first game. Arizona surrendered:

ARI decided to punt to DET from the DET 46 on 4th & 7 with 1:10 remaining in the OT while tied 27 to 27. With a Surrender Index of 58.73, this punt ranks at the 100th percentile of cowardly punts of the 2019 season, and the 99.6th percentile of all punts since 2009.

— Surrender Index 90 (@surrender_idx90) September 9, 2019

And yes, the game ended 27-all.

In fairness to Kingsbury, Tramaine Brock Sr. almost validated the decision to punt when Matthew Stafford’s ill-advised pass went straight into his arms ... and the veteran cornerback dropped it.

Murray’s reaction says it all:

The Cardinals dropped a potential game-winning pick with 5 seconds left in OT. Kyler Murray and Christian Kirk had the exact same reaction as you did pic.twitter.com/HHW1jm6vP0

— FOX Sports: NFL (@NFLonFOX) September 9, 2019

Yet, that wasn’t even the worst mistake in the Lions-Cardinals game.

1. Why did you call that timeout, Darrell Bevell?

The Lions needed just five yards to pick up a likely game-clinching first down in the fourth quarter. The Cardinals were out of timeouts and the Lions were near midfield. At the very least, the Lions would’ve been able to milk the majority of the remaining clock and give the Cardinals just a few seconds to spare.

So you can understand Matthew Stafford’s frustration when a first down pass to J.D. McKissic was nullified by a timeout. Especially when offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell was the one who called it.

The play clock was running dangerously close to zero, but Stafford’s in his 11th NFL season — let him handle it.

Instead, the Lions followed that timeout with an incomplete pass. The punt that followed was blocked and Kyler Murray led the Cardinals 60 yards for a game-tying touchdown. The game finished as a tie, but it almost certainly would’ve finished as a Lions win if Bevell just put his hands in his pockets.

[auburnfamilynews]

Photo by Daniel Dunn/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

Auburn’s fast start and ability to capitalize when it mattered most allowed the Tigers to leave College Station last weekend with a huge SEC victory.

In Auburn’s first 2 games to open the season, Gus Malzahn’s opening script found very little success. Against the Ducks, Auburn went 3 & out to start the game. The following week vs Tulane, Auburn’s opening 4 series resulted in three 3 & outs and a fumble.

Things went quite differently Saturday. All week Malzahn reiterated the need to get out to a fast start on the road in College Station and his team responded. Auburn scored two touchdowns on their opening 3 drives putting A&M on their back foot early Saturday afternoon.

It was as well coached a game as we’ve seen from Malzahn in awhile. Unlike Jimbo Fisher, Malzahn recognized that it would be tough sledding between the tackles Saturday afternoon so instead of trying to establish the run the conventional way, he attacked A&M’s aggressive tendencies by breaking some of his own.

To be clear though Auburn was far from perfect on offense. After that fast start, Auburn fell into a hole in the 2nd quarter going 3 & out on three of their next 4 possessions. That’s been a bugaboo for this offense early this fall. They have been opportunistic and have come through when Auburn has needed them most but they have to cut down on the number of 3 & outs. Not every drive has to end with points but picking up some first downs to give Auburn’s defense a chance to rest and to gain a field position advantage will be critical as the Tigers advance through their SEC slate.

Still, it’s hard not to be excited about this offense moving forward. Each week they seem to get a little better. If they can find a way to be a bit more consistent and Nix can find a way to hit some of these HR balls then they could be more than good enough for Auburn to beat almost anyone left on their schedule.

Quarterback

Photo by Daniel Dunn/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

#10 Bo Nix - 66 snaps

#1 Joey Gatewood - 4 snaps

A lot of the talk this week was about how Nix would perform in his first true road start. While Nix didn’t light up the box score and missed some big plays over the top, he took care of the ball and did nothing to diminish Auburn’s chances of winning. He’s not good enough right now to carry this offense but he’s also not losing games for the Tigers. He’s too talented to not eventually start making some bigger plays but as long as he continues to manage the game effectively and come through in critical moments, Auburn will be just fine most Saturdays.

Joey Gatewood’s role continues to grow though Auburn has to do a better job of executing those shift changes when Gatewood comes into the game. On one 3rd & short play, the right side of Auburn’s offensive line went early robbing the Tigers of a possible conversion. Later, during Auburn’s game sealing drive, some formation issues lead to Gus burning a timeout (and a hole in Matthew Hill’s ear) and Gatewood did not return to the field on the next play.

Gatewood is clearly a weapon and Auburn has had a lot of success moving the chains and putting points on the board with his packages. But they have to clean up some of these pre snap issues when subbing Gatewood in. If they do clean it up, then Joey’s role can continue to grow along with his effectiveness.

Running Back

Photo by Daniel Dunn/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

#28 JaTarvious Whitlow - 44 snaps

#8 Shaun Shivers - 12 snaps

#22 Harold Joiner - 5 snaps

#32 Malik Miller - 4 snaps

#9 Kam Martin - 1 snap

I loved Auburn’s running back strategy this past Saturday afternoon. Malzahn gave running backs coach Carnell Williams the credit for coming up with the game plan to use Auburn’s younger, more speedier backs early in the game so Boobee was fresh in the 2nd half. It worked brilliantly as Whitlow clearly had a bit more juice in his legs than A&M’s defense on Auburn’s game sealing 4th quarter drive.

Shivers continues to flash in his limited work. His numbers aren’t pretty but he continues to run hard and he’s so close to breaking some big plays. There was one moment during that long, impressive 4th quarter drive by Auburn that Shivers almost broke free.

Spencer Nigh lays down an outstanding block while Sal Cannella is driving his man an out of the play. The cornerback is chasing Williams deep which leaves only the safety to make the play. Shivers tries to cutback but the Aggie defender does a good job not over pursuing, coming in under control and makes the tackle. If he misses, it’s “TAILLIGHTS” for Worm.

As for Boobee, I was really happy with his performance Saturday afternoon. He continues to develop as a runner and made some outstanding plays reading his blocks and picking up some nice yardage. This might have been my favorite run of the afternoon.

This is Inside Zone so Boobee’s aiming point is the left A-gap or the area between Marquel Harrell and Kaleb Kim. Kim fits on the inside linebacker but Harrell gets caught in his double team and can’t reach the backside linebacker. Boobee shows tremendous patience and vision on this play, pressing the playside gap which sucks in the LB. When Whitlow reaches the line of scrimmage, he puts a foot in the ground and cuts into the wide open backside B-gap. The result is a nice gain.

It’s not just about making the right cut as a back, it’s also making the right cut at the right time. Boobee still isn’t perfect and has a tendency to get impatient at times or makes a poor decision but every week you see more and more consistency out of him. The Tigers really need to find a way to consistently move the chains with a 2nd back (DJ Williams please save us) so they can continue to use Boobee strategically. He’s not a guy that can grind out 25+ carries every week but if you can keep him between 15-20 touches, he’s going to do some damage.

Also shoutout to Malik Miller for throwing one of the best blocks of the day. The veteran doesn’t get a ton of play but tends to make an impact when he gets his chance.

H-Back/Tight End

Photo by Bob Levey/Getty Images

#99 Spencer Nigh - 31 snaps

#42 Jay Jay Wilson - 20 snaps

#47 John Samuel Shenker - 20 snaps

I continue to be impressed with Auburn’s three man rotation at the 3-back position. Replacing Chandler Cox was never going to be easy but Auburn has found a way to get reliable production from that position by using three different guys with very little drop in level of play between them. Nigh is probably the best blocker of the bunch while Wilson is the stronger pass catching option but Shenker might end up the best of the group as he continues to show he can do a little of everything.

But I wanted to spotlight Nigh this week. He came through with two absolutely critical blocks in key moments for the Tigers. The first was on Gatewood’s touchdown pass to Shenker.

Gatewood is supposed to roll out to his left but A&M’s defense end comes hard upfield and looks in position to make the sack. Instead, Nigh makes a diving effort to knock the A&M defender out of the way, giving Gatewood enough time to set his feet and hit Shenker for the touchdown.

The other big moment came on Auburn’s final play of the game.

AU runs Split Zone Read. Nix is reading the standup defensive end. Nigh comes across the formation, bluffs the read man and then arcs outside to seal the edge for Nix. Because Nigh leaves the right man unblocked, Nix is able to read this play correctly, pull it and then follow behind Nigh to green grass and victory.

The 3-back is never a glamor position in Gus’s offense but it’s so vital to its success. Auburn needs this trio to continue to play at a high level as the Tigers move deeper into their SEC schedule.

Wide Receiver.

John Glaser-USA TODAY Sports

#80 Sal Cannella - 61 snaps

#18 Seth Williams - 57 snaps

#12 Eli Stove - 54 snaps

#5 Anthony Schwartz - 14 snaps

#35 James Owens Moss - 6 snaps

#19 Matthew Hill - 1 snap

#33 Will Hastings - 1 snap

Seth Williams went from being a questionable about even playing in this game to playing almost every durn snap. There is a noticeable difference when #18 is on the field and you have to think the Aggies defense is sick of seeing the sophomore wideout. In 2 games against Texas A&M he now has 6 catches for 69 yards and 3 TDs. Oh and he almost went full Sammie Coates on the Aggies out the gate.

I thought this was one of Sal Cannella’s best games despite not catching a single pass. He was outstanding most of the afternoon blocking on the edge (as were most of Auburn’s wide receivers) which helped play a big role in the Tigers’ ability to get some success running horizontally.

Auburn continues to be cautious in their use of Anthony Schwartz. He’s been very effective in his limited action but it’s a little surprising he’s still seeing less than 20 snaps each week. Some of that is he’s playing same position as Eli Stove and Williams has taken over the 9 spot but Auburn needs to find more ways to get him on the field. He’s just too special a talent to not see 8+ touches a week.

Finally, not sure what is up with Will Hastings. Unless I missed some things, he only had one snap Saturday afternoon and it was the double move where he lost the ball in the sun and Nix overshot him a bit. My guess is with Auburn’s game plan built more on outside running they needed guys out there that could block. As much as love Hastings he’s long been a liability as a blocker. Interested to see if he gets more work this week.

Offensive Line

Photo by Daniel Dunn/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

#76 Prince Tega Wanogho - 67 snaps

#77 Marquel Harrell - 67 snaps

#54 Kaleb Kim - 67 snaps

#64 Mike Horton - 67 snaps

#71 Jack Driscoll - 67 snaps

I thought overall Auburn’s offensive line had a solid day. They kept Bo Nix clean for the most part and opened up enough holes inside when it mattered most to seal the win for the Tigers. They struggled at times with A&M’s outstanding defensive tackle tandem but when #5 Bobby Brown went down, they capitalized big time and it lead to a crucial 7 points.

Big opportunity for this group this weekend. Mississippi State always has quality players up front but they are not as talented as last season’s bunch and I think Auburn has seen two, possibly three better defensive lines already this season. It could be a chance to gain some confidence before traveling to the Swamp next week to face the most disruptive front 4 in the nation.

War Eagle!

from College and Magnolia - All Posts https://www.collegeandmagnolia.com/2019/9/26/20885475/2019-snap-tracker-offense-vs-texas-a-m

[junker-town]

Monday Morning Pleighbook: Fitzmagic is dead. Long live Fitzmagic.

The Chicago Bears crushed the Bucs, Earl Thomas sent a message, and Alvin Kamara has left the building in Week 4’s Monday Morning Pleighbook.

Fitzmagic officially fizzled out on Sunday, when Khalil Mack and the Chicago Bears poached whatever was left of it after the Steelers embarrassed Ryan Fitzpatrick for a half in Tampa on Monday Night Football a week earlier.

Mack forced a fumble on Fitzpatrick in the second quarter with the Bears up 21-3. Then down 35-3 late in the first half, Fitzpatrick threw an interception in Bears territory. You know the script from here: Fox cameras show Jameis Winston with his headset on, and he comes out for the second half, effectively ending this magical journey.

Fitzpatrick’s rope was shorter on Sunday because the Buccaneers secondary at times looked like the plot of a Ballers episode — it had many holes in it. Because of these holes, the Bears got out to a big lead fast, making it easier to pull the plug on Fitzpatrick for Winston.

Fitzpatrick is an accomplished NFL journeyman (some, like Joe Tessitore are kinder with words and call him “well traveled” instead) that finds his way to incredible peaks, while also diving in the deepest of valleys with seven different NFL teams throughout his career.

The Fitzmagicking of 2018 was an amazing peak, even for him. Nobody really saw it coming — any conversation around the NFC South focused on either the Saints, Falcons, or Panthers. ESPN’s FPI gave the Buccaneers just a 7.2 percent chance of starting the season 2-0.

And yet Fitzpatrick came out during the first two weeks of the NFL season looking like a Hall of Famer. He joined Tom Brady and Cam Newton as the only three players in league history to throw for at least 400 yards in each of their team’s first two games of a season. He also had four touchdown passes in both of those games, which were played against the defending Super Bowl champions, and 2017’s NFC runner-up.

Fitzmagic also gave us this postgame classic:

Ryan Fitzpatrick’s postgame look: pic.twitter.com/4qkRyu7l7X

— Greg Auman (@gregauman) September 16, 2018

With the great outfit came a great performance, as Fitzpatrick joked about not letting a big game change you while having gone from looking like a Civil War vet to Conor McGregor. When he was asked about the origins of the outfit, he credited a shirtless DeSean Jackson who was standing on the side for the fresh get up.

Well, except for this part of the outfit:

“The chest hair is mine.”

In case you’re wondering — yes, chest hair is an accessory for some.

Fitzmagic wasn’t meant long for this world, but it was fun while it lasted. It brought us more than we ever could have imagined Ryan Fitzpatrick, Starting Quarterback For An NFL Team In The Year 2018 would have.

Shoot, Fitzmagic was such a thrill that one of the NFL’s most popular factoids, his Harvard education, became an afterthought. Now, we’ll get back to that practice, but with a little bit more respect for him than before.

Elsewhere, Earl Thomas flipped off the Seahawks sideline

Earl Thomas has been trying to preserve his health in an effort to get either a contract extension with the Seahawks, or a trade to another franchise. He’s been hesitant to participate in practice, and hasn’t done more outside of the 60 minutes on the field every Sunday than he has to.

While that’s a good strategy for somebody trying to maximize their value and earnings, sometimes injuries are just unavoidable in the NFL. Thomas broke his leg on Sunday, and left the game on a cart, in an air cast.

He then delivered a middle finger to the Seahawks’ sideline. Because most of the videos online right now are choppy, here is a nice, clean, Getty image of Thomas speaking his mind. Because this moment deserves it:

Photo by Norm Hall/Getty Images

When asked about the middle finger after the game, Pete Carroll deflected and said “it’s a big stadium.”

Yeah, it’s a big stadium. But I don’t think that was directed at Cardinals Fan Paul in the 14th row, Pete. The jig is pretty clear, and now Thomas will likely go into the offseason hoping a team believes in him just as much after the injury as they did before.

We all got robbed of some classic Marshawn Lynch

It would appear that the world came awfully close to another legendary Lynch run during the second quarter of the Raiders’ game against the Browns. However, officials blew this one dead before Lynch could take matters into his own hands:

Beastmode went Beastmode again @MoneyLynch pic.twitter.com/KMuO4OLIgy

— The Checkdown (@thecheckdown) September 30, 2018

While Lynch didn’t get to finish his path of destruction, it was nice to see that the old BeastMode is still alive and well. He ended up finishing the game with 130 yards on 20 carries. He even had a few catches for 27 yards.

There’s still plenty of season left, so maybe we’ll get another iteration of the BeastQuake.

Alvin Kamara is still Alvin Kamara

Kamara single-handedly beat the Giants on Sunday. He finished the game with 180 total yards and three touchdowns, which included this one that erased any doubt as to whether or not the Saints were going to win:

KAMARA! 3 TDs. Incredible.#GoSaints #NOvsNYG pic.twitter.com/qJJ79h4CKJ

— NFL (@NFL) September 30, 2018

He ended up in the tunnel, and honestly probably should have just stayed there.

When you’re playing the Saints and you see the No. 41 and that tape on the arms out in front of you, there’s not much to be done except hope you get it right the next time.

Saquon Barkley can fly

Speaking of the Giants, we knew No. 2 overall pick Saquon Barkley was going to be special. But we probably didn’t expect him to look like Walter Payton so early in the season with this diving flip into the end zone:

AIR @SAQUON! ⬆️#GiantsPride #NOvsNYG : CBS pic.twitter.com/7L5uRMzGNz

— NFL (@NFL) September 30, 2018

Barkley’s been having a solid start to his career minus the Giants just not being very good. Feats of amazing athleticism will always make it into the pleighbook, so welcome, Saquon.

REJECTEDDDDDD

Josh Rosen’s career, unlike Barkley’s, has not been off to a good start.

Rosen got thrown into the fire last week to try to pull out a victory against the Bears, and it simply didn’t go well at all. This week, he went up against the Seahawks, and things were better, except for this firm denial:

They really did Rosen like that pic.twitter.com/R68vnEOx66

— The Checkdown (@thecheckdown) September 30, 2018

Rosen’s going to make a lot of rookie mistakes, and that’s fine. But this is one that even many normal ass human beings wouldn’t make. Bobby Wagner didn’t even appear to offer Rosen a hand up, and he reached for assistance anyway.

I personally didn’t get to watch much of that particular game on Sunday, though I’m going into Week 5 questioning his in-game decision making strictly because of that situation.

Baker Mayfield’s happiness for Nick Chubb

Baker Baker, Touchdown Maker got his first start on Sunday, and nearly got the Browns a second-consecutive win, and their first on a Sunday since 2016. But the Browns lost in overtime, because they are still working out this whole Being The Browns thing.

However, after Nick Chubb broke loose for a 63-yard touchdown, Mayfield sprinted down the field with him so he could celebrate with his teammate:

Some call it Moxie. Others call it Baker Mayfield. @bakermayfield pic.twitter.com/D2XewjnpXZ

— The Checkdown (@thecheckdown) September 30, 2018

If you don’t have at least one friend that gets excited for you like Mayfield did for Chubb there, find one. Reassess everything, and then let me know how that goes for you in the comments below, via tweet, or via email.

The Atlanta Falcons

This space is usually reserved for the good, weird, and funny things about an NFL Sunday. For some of y’all, this is going to fall into two of those categories (good, and funny). For myself, one of SB Nation’s handful of Falcons fans, this isn’t any of those.

The Falcons seem to have figured things out on offense — something once we all believed impossible under one Steve Sarkisian — and they still aren’t winning games. I’m not mad, I’m just disappointed.

Here’s a Falcons-ass stat:

Since 1940, teams scoring 36+ points at home with 0 turnovers are 402-4. The Atlanta Falcons are 0-2 since last week when doing that. Half of the losses are Atlanta now.

— Scott Kacsmar (@FO_ScottKacsmar) September 30, 2018

Here’s another one:

Matt Ryan is the first player in NFL history to lose back-to-back games with 350 Pass yards, 3 Pass TD and 0 Int. pic.twitter.com/VjUnou4D1a

— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) September 30, 2018

And here’s one from the previous week:

Matt Ryan just put up the highest passer rating (148.1) in a loss in NFL history (min. 25 attempts).

— Scott Kacsmar (@FO_ScottKacsmar) September 23, 2018

I just had to get that off my chest. I’ll see y’all next week.

OTHER THINGS FROM WEEK 4

Tyler Eifert celebrated a TD with a Stone Cold beer chug, kinda

Adam Vinatieri is the GOAT

Jeff Fisher isn’t any better in the broadcast booth

Mitchell Trubisky just waxed the Bucs in the first half for the best day ever for a Bears QB

The Titans beat the Eagles in OT because Mike Vrabel isn’t about these ties

The Colts got too aggressive, and lost their OT game against the Texans

Read my pal Charles McDonald (the FourVerts guy on Twitter) on Our Falcons

Adam Stites explained why his Jags dunked on the Jets with a late TD and 2-point conversion

Marshawn Lynch got mad, then got into Beast Mode

The Browns are better, but they’re still the Browns

[junker-town]

Are 61-yard field goals going to be the new norm of the NFL?

Gramatica Errors Week 3: A good day to kick hard

Welcome to Gramatica Errors, SB Nation’s best weekly NFL kicking and punting column. As always, we will do our best to avoid any and all foot puns. Now let’s kick things off...

¡SI SEÑOR, JAKE ELLIOTT!

It is a rare occasion that fans want to see a kicker or punter. In most cases in football, bringing on someone to kick a ball is an admission of defeat. A missed opportunity. A resignation. The word “punt” itself has come to signify giving up on something.

Even when tradition dictates that a kick is the right call, people hate it. “And here comes the field goal unit” on fourth-and-short will bring down a chorus of boos — it is almost un-American, the act. We as a nation are trained to go for it. Analytics tell us that we should go for it. Kicking, in almost every instance, is failure.

Until the moment that it isn’t.

On Sunday, Jake Elliott, a rookie kicker for the Philadelphia Eagles, hit a 61-yard field goal as time expired to beat the New York Giants.

Like many things in life, this kick is better experienced in Spanish:

The Spanish radio call from @R_RicardoFAN >>>>>#FlyEaglesFly http://pic.twitter.com/0TIuXLUrse

— Philadelphia Eagles (@Eagles) September 25, 2017

It’s incredible to think that Elliott, a product of Memphis, may have had the highlight of a career in just his second game. Making a kick of that length, in that situation, at sea level, at home ... just not that many opportunities like that will ever arise.

It also begs the question: Is this the new norm? Are kickers getting so good that we’re regularly going to see 61-yarders?

I reached out to my old pal Chuck Zodda, special teams and kicking analyst for Inside the Pylon, about this and what he thought about the kick.

“Since 2010, there have been 43 attempts from 60+ yards and just 10 makes,” he wrote in a DM. “When NFL kickers only make 25% from a certain distance, it's impressive. Kid has a big leg.”

And what of the future? Are we heading to a day when we see a 70-yard kick in a game?

“Never,” he wrote. (Boooo!) “Risk of a return TD on a short kick is too high because you have so many big OL out there in FG protection. Maybe in Denver with a huge leg at the end of the first half, but otherwise, coaches too afraid, and rightly so, to try it.”

Perchance to dream. For now, Jake Elliott, just know that we here in the Hoof Horde are in awe. And we’re delighted that your parents were there to witness that kick.

Probably the best reaction from @LFFStadium: Jake Elliott's parents. #FlyEaglesFly http://pic.twitter.com/5sy9IKjk0L

— Philadelphia Eagles (@Eagles) September 24, 2017

Punter trash talk

It’s one thing for a punter to boot a 61-yard bomb in a college game. It’s another thing for him to then get double-teamed in coverage and absolutely wreck the opposing player when he gets annoyed.

And it’s another thing entirely to then post video of all this happening to social media and laugh about it.

Take it away, Florida punter Johnny Townsend.

When Kentucky double teams the punter all game...61 yard bomb topped off with a pancake http://pic.twitter.com/bG6bwdEbdP

— Johnny Townsend (@johnnytownsend1) September 25, 2017

You see that, everyone? Punters are cool! Talking trash, laying the smack down! Sure it was against Kentucky, but we’ll take that every week! No one messes with big man Johnny Townsend!

(Dear future opponents: Do not kill my son Johnny Townsend. He just got excited. He’s merely a punter. Please, for the love of god, be gentle with him.)

How dare the Rams deny me Hekker with their competence

It feels like a million years ago, but Thursday Night Football was ... exciting this week? A 41-39 thriller saw the Rams triumph over the 49ers in a game that fans were thrilled by.

That being said: What the hell, Rams? You have the best punter in the game with Johnny Hekker and you’re going to deny him to us by going and figuring out how to move the ball on offense? What is this shit? I don’t watch Rams games to see Jared Goff get Robert Woods the ball in space or place perfect over-the-shoulder bombs to Sammy Watkins. I watch for the sweet, sweet punts of the Hekk man. And I’m being denied.

Photo by Adam Glanzman/Getty Images

The Rams have the highest-scoring offense in the NFL after three weeks. The Rams! Have some decency. Jesus. This is piggish, Sean McVay. It’s selfish. You better remember who you are and start running those HB dives for 2 yards by Todd Gurley. There was a dignity in that. That’s Rams football right there! Gurley for 2, Gurley for 2, incomplete pass, Hekker.

And look at you now. High-octane offense. Scoring. GTFOH.