MONDAY MORNING QUARTERBACK

Nick Foles will start Week 16; Carson Wentz “week to week”...

The Eagles got a much-needed win in Los Angeles in Sunday night and they’ll stick with Nick Foles at quarterback as they try for another one against the Texans in Week 16.

Head coach Doug Pederson made that announcement at his press conference on Monday morning and it wasn’t a particularly surprising one based on Pederson’s last update on Carson Wentz‘s health. Pederson said last week that it could be three months until Wentz was recovered from the fracture in his back that knocked him out of the lineup.

Pederson provided a rosier outlook about Wentz’s health on Monday, however. He called Wentz “week to week” after getting more positive information about his condition. As a result, Wentz won’t go on injured reserve and Pederson said he remains the starter when healthy.

Whether that point will come before the 2019 season could be tied to how much longer the Eagles play this season. Winning against Houston and Washington alone isn’t enough for them to make the playoffs, so their season might not go on long enough for Pederson to make a call between two quarterbacks healthy enough to play. (PFT)

 

Panthers parking Cam Newton...

Apparently after Ron Rivera met with team doctors and athletic training staff and Cam Newton himself, he changed his mind.

According to Ian Rapoport of the NFL Network, the Panthers plan is to sit their ailing quarterback, who is not practicing today.

Newton’s shoulder has been an issue most of the season, and his ability to throw deep effectively never really came all the way back after his March 2017 shoulder surgery.

That means Taylor Heinicke will start this week against the Falcons, since he’s the only other quarterback on their 53-man roster. They have Kyle Allen on their practice squad, but they haven’t made a roster move yet. (PFT)

 

Nathan Peterman signing with the Raiders practice squad...

 

I didn’t think Gruden could improve the Raiders this much in his first season. Carr should be tradable now that he has Peterson to fall back on.

 

Ravens rushing for a ridiculous 230 yards a game with Lamar Jackson starting...

In the 1978 NFL season, the New England Patriots rushed for an NFL-record 3,165 yards. That has been referred to as the record that will never be broken, because the NFL has evolved into a passing league, and teams simply don’t run like that anymore.

Until the Lamar Jackson-led Baltimore Ravens.

Since Jackson became the Ravens’ starting quarterback, the Ravens are rushing like no other team in NFL history. Jackson has been the Ravens’ starter for five games, and the Ravens have totaled 1,152 rushing yards, a ridiculous average of 230.4 yards a game. If a team did that for a full 16-game season, it would total 3,686 rushing yards and obliterate the 1978 Patriots’ “unbreakable” record by more than 500 yards.

In the nine games with Joe Flacco as the starting quarterback, the Ravens totaled just 834 rushing yards. That’s an average of 93.7 yards a game, well below the league average.

In the five games Jackson has started, he’s fifth in the NFL in rushing, with 427 yards. Just ahead of him, fourth in the NFL in rushing over the last five games, is Ravens running back Gus Edwards, with 486 yards. Edwards was a little-known undrafted rookie until Jackson took over as the starting quarterback, but the two of them have worked together wonderfully, with defenses never sure whether Jackson is going to keep the ball himself or give it to Edwards.

The average NFL team rushes for 114.7 yards a game this season. In the five games Jackson has started, the Ravens have rushed for 267, 242, 207, 194 and 242 yards. The Ravens’ worst rushing performance with Jackson as the starter was 80 yards better than the NFL average game. Meanwhile, when Flacco was the starter, the Ravens’ best rushing performance was 123 yards.

This might not be sustainable: Jackson has 86 rushing attempts in his five games as a starter, and there are valid reasons to doubt that an NFL offense can revolve around its quarterback running the ball that often. But through five games, what Jackson and the Ravens’ offense are doing is remarkable. (PFT)
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Jackson aint no WR, lol. He's a good QB and will be a star before too long.

 

Well...he's a good RUNNER, that's for sure. My opinion, jury is still WAY out as to whether he's a good QB.

 

Lamar Jackson gains his most passing yards, fewest rushing yards...

No one doubts that Lamar Jackson is a gifted runner, but if he’s going to be the Ravens’ long-term franchise quarterback, he needs to be able to beat opponents with both his arm and his legs. Which makes Saturday night’s win over the Chargers his most promising game yet.

Jackson had 204 passing yards and 39 rushing yards on Saturday night, which is both his most passing yards and the fewest rushing yards of any of the six games he’s started.

Although Jackson still has work to do as a passer, he completed 12 of 22 passes, with a touchdown and no interceptions. That’s a 101.3 passer rating, which is also the best of any game he’s started. He is definitely making progress.

With the Ravens now 5-1 with Jackson and appearing likely to make the playoffs, they have to be very pleased with their decision to draft him in the first round, and play him ahead of Joe Flacco. Jackson is still not as good a passer as Flacco, but he brings more to the offense — and he may progress past Flacco as a passer sooner than many expected. (PFT)

 

Well, I said 'good', maybe not great yet, but that remains to be seen. He's 6-1 as a starter... I think that's 'good', lol.

 

Baker Mayfield can make history on Sunday...

Apart from the opportunity that the Browns will have to knock the team that used to be the Browns out of the playoffs, Cleveland quarterback Baker Mayfield is close to matching, and breaking, an NFL record.

With three touchdown passes against the Bengals in Cleveland’s sold-out regular-season home finale, Mayfield pulled his total for the season to 24. With two more on Sunday in Baltimore, Mayfield will match the single-season rookie record of 26, held both by Peyton Manning and Russell Wilson. A third touchdown pass will give Mayfield the record to himself.

Sunday’s win saw Mayfield complete 27 of 37 throws for 284 yards, no picks, and a passer rating of 121.9.

He’s gotten to 24 despite not playing until a Week Three injury to Tyrod Taylor opened the door for the first overall pick in the draft. The fact that Mayfield wasn’t the Week One starter could be one of the reasons for Mayfield’s decision to stare down former Browns coach Hue Jackson and then to say, essentially, “Flick? Flick who?” when asked about it after the game, suppressing all the while a grin that usually accompanies the figurative consumption of a substance that would normally inspire a much different facial expression, if consumed literally.

But Mayfield probably doesn’t care about the record. He cares about the team, and the fact that it has a chance to finish his rookie year by winning six of seven games, doubling the win total that Jackson cobbled together in 40.

Mayfield has that rare combination of extreme ability and off-the-charts confidence, along with charisma, moxie, attitude, and a dash or two of that wrong-side-of-the-bed dangerous that makes him compelling and intriguing and entertaining and one of the main reasons why we’ll see plenty of Browns games in prime time next year, and every year Mayfield plays in Cleveland. (PFT)

 

.........and I'll be rooting for him.

 

Nick Foles named NFC offensive player of the week...

Quarterback Nick Foles might have played his final home game as a member of the Eagles last weekend and he made it a memorable one.

Foles went 35-of-49 for 471 yards and four touchdowns in last Sunday’s 32-30 win over the Texans. He didn’t throw a touchdown to account for the game-winning score, but Foles did pilot the Eagles offense on the game-winning drive after Houston rallied from being down 13 points in the fourth quarter of the game.

The win kept the Eagles’ playoff hopes alive heading into the final weekend of the season and Foles’ performance was recognized by the league on Wednesday. He’s been named the NFC offensive player of the week.

Foles said after the game that he was “emotional” about the prospect of moving on from Philly after the season. It remains to be seen if he does, but last year’s playoff run and his play since stepping in for an injured Carson Wentz this year means that he’ll have a prominent place in team history however things play out. (PFT)

 

Tom Brady reiterates that he’ll play in 2019...

Father Time continues to gain on Tom Brady, but Tom Brady continues to be undeterred.

Brady recently told Jim Gray of Westwood One that Brady plans to play in 2019.

“I absolutely believe I will,” Brady said, via Mike Reiss of ESPN.com. “I know I’ve talked about it for a long time: I have goals to not only play next year, but beyond that. I’m going to try to do it as best I possibly can. I’m going to give it everything I have, like I always have. . . . It will certainly be a challenge. I don’t take any of these things for granted, but I hope I can keep playing, and I hope I can keep playing at a championship level.”

Some would say he’s currently not playing at a championship level. Some believe he’s secretly injured. Which is a better explanation than the alternative possibility, that he’s healthy but just not good anymore.

Brady, who turns 42 in August, insists he’s fine.

“I’m feeling really good,” Brady said. “It’s been 15 weeks of football and there’s always bumps and bruises you deal with. But I’m feeling great for this time of year. I’ll take it every year to be feeling as good as I am at this time of the season.”

Brady has one year left on his contract with the Patriots. After trading Jimmy Garoppolo in 2017, the Patriots didn’t draft a developmental quarterback in 2018. With more and more great young quarterbacks popping up throughout the NFL, the Patriots need to get theirs — or risk finding themselves in a revolving door of journeymen and assorted slappies until they do. (PFT)

 

He's Back!!!



Blake Bortles to start for Jaguars in Week 17...

With one game left in a losing season, the Jaguars are turning back to Blake Bortles at quarterback.

Bortles relieved Cody Kessler in last Sunday’s victory over the Dolphins and head coach Doug Marrone announced on Wednesday that he will get the start against the Texans in Week 17.

It will be Bortles’ first start since he went 12-of-23 for 127 yards, a touchdown and two interceptions in a Week 12 loss to the Bills. He was 5-of-6 for 39 yards and ran for 25 yards after coming off the bench against the Dolphins last week.

Marrone mentioned Bortles’ mobility was part of the decision, but making the move to play him last week and coming out of the game with a win was a pretty strong sign that he’d be the starter.

The bigger question in Jacksonville concerns who will start in Week One next season. Bortles is under contract for two more years, but the prospect of sticking with him is an unappealing one given the way he played this season. There would be $16 million in dead money on an already tight cap and Bortles has $6.5 million in guaranteed money coming his way, but those considerations seem unlikely to stop the Jags from finding someone else to lead the offense. (PFT)

 

Said it last year will say it again this is the guy they should be locking up and they should move wentz. Dangle wentz to the raiders heck you might get him crazyenough to get his first round pick and more.

 

Im curious to hear from, LAOJoe and Catfish and Tim on this. Its all Foles does is win, but things seem different with Wentz... im not sure why.

 

Well hell, anyone actually, I was just curious what fans of the team had to say.

 

I’m not a fan of the team, but I said before the season they should trade Wentz. Foles had a big hand in the SB victory and was named MVP.

 

The team was on fire with Wentz last year. He was probably going to win MVP and won the "Air" award for the season. This year he probably had some injury issues plus the team didn't figure out the offense until around when Wentz got hurt. The run game is a major reason. It's improved from before. Also the defense has stepped up enough now with some experience to relieve some pressure. The one thing I like from Foles that I wish Wentz did more of was target Alshon more. Foles made Alshon make the plays, Wentz doesn't give him the chance if he's covered and looks to Ertz.

 

Teddy Bridgewater will play Sunday...

Teddy Bridgewater has played only 19 snaps this season. He will up the count Sunday.

The only question is: How much?

Drew Brees revealed Wednesday that Bridgewater will see playing time against the Panthers.

“No doubt,” Brees said of Bridgewater playing, via Josh Katzenstein of the Times-Picayune.

The Saints secured home-field advantage with last week’s victory over the Steelers. With nothing on the line for New Orleans on Sunday, Brees likely won’t play much, if at all.

“Whatever I’m asked to do, I’m ready to do,” Brees said.

Brees has passed for 3,992 yards, and if he doesn’t throw for 8 yards against the Panthers, he will finish with fewer than 4,000 passing yards in a season for the first time since 2005. He doesn’t care.

“No, it deosn’t,” Brees said when asked if the 4,000-yard mark held significance. “Not at all. It doesn’t define me at all.” (PFT)

 

When Wentz was completely healthy last year, he was 11-2 as a starter with a 33-7 TD:INT ratio, had the best TD%, the best QBR rating, and was almost certain to be the league MVP. Folks are more than entitled to their opinion, but I don't get even a little bit why it's so easy to simply sweep that under the rug. Has he battled injuries? Yeah, and knee and back injuries are a concern. But he's still only 26 years old, and he was the #2 pick in the draft (should have been #1) for a reason.

On a side note, heard the call of the week/month/year this morning on Philly's sports talk station WIP. Caller wanted to trade Wentz AND Foles because the entire team needed to be rebuilt.