NFL - NEWS & NOTES

Wow... Mahomes just hit Hill and the game is tied at 40.

3:03 to play...

 

Gustkowski nails the FG as time expires, 43-40 Patriots win over the Chiefs.

Interesting game...

 

That game didn’t disappoint. Who needs defense.

 

That game was on all the drugs.

 

To bad they are both afc that game would have made a good super bowl

 

Chiefs’ defense on pace to allow most yards in NFL history...

If a football team is made up of offense, defense and special teams, the Chiefs are two-thirds of the way to being a great team. Unfortunately, that remaining one-third may hold them back from where they want to go.

The 5-1 Chiefs, who suffered their first loss on Sunday night when they fell 43-40 to the Patriots, are outstanding on both offense and special teams. But as the Patriots proved, the Chiefs’ defense is a mess.

In fact, the Chiefs are allowing yardage at a record pace. Kansas City is giving up an average of 468.2 yards per game this season. That’s not just the worst in the NFL this year, it’s on pace to be the worst in NFL history: If Kansas City continues this pace for 16 games, it will give up 7,491 yards this season. The most yards allowed in NFL history was 7,042, set by the Saints in 2012.

The Chiefs have managed to win plenty this season despite that defense, but it’s hard to picture a Super Bowl winner having a defense that porous. Kansas City needs to get that fixed, or else they become likely to lose another game by a score like 43-40 in the playoffs. (NBC's PFT)

 

Sadly, though right on que, Hue Jackson's team took to the field on Sunday....

 

We already saw that last year. Defense on both teams took a nap until the strip sack near the end of the game.

 

I would prefer last nights game to be considered the Super Bowl.

 

Hopefully, then, Dallas will beat them this week and they can be 3-3 on the year.

 

I fully expect them to alternate wins and losses the rest of the year.

 

Aaron Rodgers leads game-winning drive as Mason Crosby’s 27-yard FG gives Packers 33-30 win over 49ers...

Aaron Rodgers engineered yet another magical comeback for the Green Bay Packers Monday night against the San Francisco 49ers.

Rodgers led the Packers 81 yards over the final minute and change of regulation to setup a 27-yard game-winning field goal from Mason Crosby to stun a 49ers team that held a 30-23 lead with three minutes left to play.

Crosby bounced back after his wretched week in Detroit where he missed five kicks a week ago to go 4-for-4 against the 49ers, including the game-winner that allowed Green Bay to escape with a 33-30 victory.

It appeared as though the 49ers had done enough to hold on as DeForest Buckner sacked Rodgers on a third-and-15 at the Green Bay 19-yard line. However, the sack was negated and a fresh set of downs given to the Packers after an illegal contact penalty against Richard Sherman made it first-and-10 instead of fourth-and-19.

Rodgers knocked down the open door, scrambling for for 21 yards out near midfield and spiked the ball to stop the clock with 20 seconds remaining. He rattled off quick completions to Adams for 8, Equanimious St. Brown for 19 and Adams again for 19 to move to the 49ers 9-yard line to set up the shot attempt for Crosby to pull out the victory.

C.J. Beathard tossed a pair of touchdowns to Marquise Goodwin, and Raheem Mostert and Matt Breida combined for 148 rushing yards as the 49ers had the Packers on the ropes.

Beathard led the 49ers out of a 17-7 hole in Lambeau Field, going on a 23-6 scoring run until the Packers late rally dealt a crushing blow.

Trailing 30-23, Rodgers would zip a 38-yard completion to Adams to move to the 49ers 20-yard line as they moved into scoring position. Rodgers and Adams would then finish off the drive with a 16-yard touchdown in the back corner of the end zone to tie the game with just under two minutes to play.

Beathard and the 49ers took one took many bites at the Goodwin apple as a deep shot to the 49ers speedster was picked off by Kevin King with 1:07 left to play to set up the Packers death blow at the wire.

Both teams scored on their opening possessions of the game. Breida’s 3-yard touchdown run capped a seven-play, 75-yard opening salvo for the 49ers only to be quickly matched with a four-play, 77-yard Packers drive that ended with a 2-yard Ty Montgomery touchdown run on a throw behind the line of scrimmage.

A 29-yard Mason Crosby field goal and 9-yard touchdown pass to Adams gave the Packers a 17-7 lead late in the first quarter.

Beathard would go over the top of the Packers defense for a 67-yard touchdown to Goodwin to close the gap to 17-14 before the end of the first quarter.

After another Crosby field goal, Beathard and Goodwin would connect again on a 30-yard touchdown strike as the 49ers grabbed a 21-20 lead.

Field goals of 46, 44 and 43 yards for Robbie Gould and a 51-yard field goal by Crosby brought the game to 30-23 before the final frenzy.

Rodgers finished with 425 passing yards on the night and three receivers – Adams (132), Jimmy Graham (104) and Marquez Valdez-Scantling (103) – went over 100 yards receiving for the Packers.

Beathard finished with 245 yards, two touchdowns and an interception for San Francisco. (NBC's PFT)

 

NFL continues to generate record points, touchdowns...

Six weeks are in the books, and the 2018 NFL season continues to be unlike any other. In a good way.

The 4,489 points scored through Week Six are the most in NFL history. The 504 touchdowns scored through Week Six are the most in NFL history. And the 328 touchdown passes thrown are the most in league history.

The bump in offense has resulted from a bump in passing, and in effectiveness of passing.

Games have an average of 72.4 pass attempts per game, up from the 67.4 average from 2002 through 2017. Completions are up to 47.0 in 2018, nearly six more than the average of 41.1 from 2002 through 2017. And the average passer rating through six weeks sits at 93.3. From 2002 through 2017, the average passer rating was 84.2.

Along with passer rating and touchdown passes, total completions (4,367), passing yards (47,673), and completion percentage (64.9) represent all-time records through six weeks.

And 400-yard passing games are happening more frequently than ever. Through six weeks, the NFL has seen 15 of them. (The prior record of 13 was set in 2013.)

Two of those belong to Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers, who became the first player in league history to throw for 400-plus yards and no interceptions in consecutive weeks. (NBC's PFT)

 

Yeah, that's not the objective take I want from journalists; not even from sports journalists (note the grammatical error, as well, indicating that it is, indeed, a sports journalist).

I don't find a league where teams score more often than not, and we see more flags than we do actual defense, to be attractive. I've watched less and less over the years, because the league has appealed to me less and less. Sure, the Bears have sucked, but it used to be that I at least enjoyed watching good NFL football. I just haven't gotten much of that, in the past several years.

 

I understand where your coming from. For some reason there seems to be a large contingent who think more scoring equals better sports. Their doing the same thing in the NHL... they are changing and lobbying for more goals, because it equals 'better' sports. Im with you, I disagree. Maybe over time defense is getting swept away and that's a shame.

 

The rules are starting to really cripple defenses. Right now I would say that the best defense is a pass rush. DBs just can’t compete with the rules anymore.

 

Yup, exactly - it's happening elsewhere, too. The effort to make goalie pads smaller reduces protections for goalies, and increases scoring chances for offenses. What's the impetus, you might ask? Fantasy sports and casual fan marketing. Fantasy sports and casual fans fuel the efforts of every major sport, nowadays, and it's all about what generates the most hype, not the best game.

The NBA has been a 2-3 team league for at least the last decade (the teams have changed, but the scenario hasn't), but the amount of worthless, incessant hype that's generated in the offseason is ridiculous. Why? Because media and casual fans eat it up. Fantasy football? Good luck encouraging people to keep playing and watching when their players aren't scoring particularly well, and they have to do more homework for waiver players, etc.

It's awful, and it's been a steady decline for years, now. I'm just trying to find a balance between catching the rare good games, that remind me why I love the sport, and not wasting my time on all the normal garbage in between.

 

dline, I probably lean in your direction, as well. I grew up watching match-ups like Sam Huff vs Jim Brown, Dick Butkus vs Jim Taylor (for a couple of years) and defenses that had their own names . . . Steel Curtain, Purple People Eaters, Fearsome Foursome, etc. There was almost a controlled mayhem every week because you never knew who would win that match-up.

Today's NFL seems to cherish the "cha-ching" of a cash register. Pyrotechnics, cannon fire and "look at me" celebration dances have, sadly, taken the place of the way the game was meant to be played . . . Mano y Mano.