NFL - NEWS & NOTES

I haven't watched "TV News" in at least three years.

I just always find it wonderfully entertaining when the same crowd who bemoans the incompetence of government then shouts about vast conspiracy theories said government is expertly going to execute. This goes for any country's government. Just a really disconnected thought process.

 

Isn’t the QB franchise tag going to be over 40 million when they figure in Mahomes deal?

 

Darrell Bevell will not coach Lions Saturday



The Lions need an interim head coach to replace their interim head coach this weekend.

Ian Rapoport of NFL Media reports that Lions interim head coach Darrell Bevell will not coach the team against the Buccaneers on Saturday because he has been deemed a high-risk close contact of someone who has tested positive for COVID-19. The Lions had one coach and one player test positive this week.

Wide receivers coach Robert Prince will take on the head coaching duties. Quarterbacks coach Sean Ryan is set to call the offensive plays. On Wednesday, quarterback Matthew Stafford said he thought he could handle calling plays in a pinch, but that the offense will run more smoothly with someone filling the coordinator role usually filled by Bevell.

“The way we run this offense with mixed personnels and different people in different spots for certain reasons, yeah, I mean, I think we do,” Stafford said, via Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press. “If we needed to go out there and throw the ball all over the yard and we didn’t have anybody physically able to call plays, sure, we could get away with it and go for it. But I think we’d be at our best calling plays in this offense and mixing and matching personnels and getting matchups we like.”

Prince is the first interim interim head coach since Aaron Kromer with the Saints in 2012. Sean Payton was suspended for the year after Bountygate and Joe Vitt was named interim head coach, but was suspended for the first six games so Kromer took the reins until he was allowed to return.

NBC

 

Quite an entertaining thread. Finally out of my Covid fog to do some reading. Avoid it at all costs folks. It is no fukn joke.

Steelers have always and will continue to go as far as Ben can take them. And that doesn't appear to be very far. His arm is toast. Reminds me of the 2006 Ravens. Outstanding defense, QB with a noodle for an arm.

 

Glad you survived. I had no idea you had it, but its nice to see you back.

 

Thanks. I know it's been mild for some but it kicked my ass. On the bright side, I can't smell my farts.

 

Finally out of my Covid fog to do some reading. Avoid it at all costs folks. It is no fukn joke.

Sorry to hear that Beach.....you got a nice Christmas Present in that you fought it and came through it.

On the bright side, I can't smell my farts.

That`s probably a good thing.

 

49ers’ George Kittle will play Saturday vs. Cardinals



The 49ers are mathematically eliminated from playoff contention, but they’re still playing to win — and even playing one of their most important players who has struggled to stay healthy.

San Francisco tight end George Kittle will play on Saturday against the Cardinals, head coach Kyle Shanahan confirmed today.

Kittle was designated to return from injured reserve last week after missing the last six games with a foot injury, and Shanahan said he has looked great in practice and might be the healthiest player on the team.

Shanahan said Kittle may be on a pitch count to ease him back into the lineup, but he will be out there, and the Cardinals will have to account for one of the best tight ends in the NFL.

NBC
________
_______________

Good weapon to have in... bad news for the Cardinals.

 

Glad to hear you made it through the worst of it beach. Hope your continued recovery is swift!

 

Saints must win today for a chance at home-field advantage throughout the playoffs



Last season, the Saints’ Super Bowl hopes ended when they lost, as seven-point favorites, at home against the Vikings in the first round of the playoffs. This season, the Saints’ hopes for home-field advantage throughout the playoffs will end if they lose, as seven-point favorites, at home against the Vikings on Christmas Day.

The Vikings-Saints game is a big one for the Saints, as a win keeps them in contention for the No. 1 seed in the NFC, which gives them the only bye in the conference and home-field advantage through the NFC Championship Game. But a loss eliminates the Saints from contention for the No. 1 seed.

A loss also means the Saints could still end up finishing second in the NFC South and having to go on the road in the wild card round of the playoffs. The Saints have a one-game lead over the Buccaneers and own the tiebreaker advantage, but if the Saints lose today, that allows the Buccaneers to stay alive: If the Saints lose their last two and the Bucs win their last two, Tampa Bay takes the division.

So the Saints can’t afford to look past the Vikings. That’s a lesson they may have learned in the playoffs last season.

NBC

 

Good thing you weren’t posting on here much during the time or we would all be close contacts.

Thankfully you are feeling better. Stay safe beach.

 

Alvin Kamara scores six times, Saints win NFC South



It looked like Alvin Kamara would be stopped short of a six-touchdown game by Saints head coach Sean Payton, but it turned out that no one could stop Kamara on Christmas.

Kamara tied an NFL record with six touchdowns in the Saints’ 52-33 win over the Vikings. It looked like Kamara would miss his chance at scoring a sixth time when Payton opted to give the ball to Taysom Hill from the 1-yard-line late in the fourth quarter, but he got one last chance.

Drew Brees hit tight end Adam Trautman for a 41-yard gain to the Vikings’ 3-yard-line and Kamara got the call on the next play. He scored and tied Ernie Nevers, Dub Jones, and Gale Sayers as the only players with six touchdowns in a game in NFL history. Nevers is the only other player to run for six scores in a game and Sayers did in the last time in 1965.

Kamara ran 22 times for 155 yards. That marks a career high and he did it all while wearing one red shoe and one green shoe to celebrate a Christmas that Kamara won’t soon forget.

The win makes the Saints the champions of the NFC South. It’s the fourth straight year they’ve won the division.

Those exploits represented the tip of the spear on offense for New Orleans. They ran for 264 yards and threw for 319 yards while scoring on seven of their first nine possessions. The only exceptions were a pair of interceptions by Drew Brees. Brees generally looked better than he did in his return to action last week, but there were some shaky moments in addition to the interceptions. Tight end Jared Cook bailed him out of one of them and turned it into a 44-yard gain, which tells you what kind of day it was for the Saints on offense.

Defense wasn’t quite as good as the Vikings were able to rack up 364 yards and take advantage of Saints penalties that allowed Minnesota to keep things closer than they actually felt for much of the afternoon. The Vikings were eliminated from playoff contention with the loss and will close out the season against the Lions.

The Saints are now 11-4 and they remain alive in the hunt for the first seed in the NFC. They’ll need the Packers to lose twice while they beat the Panthers in Week 17.

NBC

 

These Detroit Lions are a bad football team... TB is exploiting that.

 

This has been a most unenjoyable start to the NFL triple header. No longer worth watching. It’s been deduced to a preseason atmosphere.

 

Buccaneers clinch wild card berth with dominant win over Lions



In two weeks Tom Brady will play in his 42nd career postseason game, and his first with the Buccaneers.

The Bucs clinched a wild card berth with a 47-7 win over the Lions today in Detroit, and that means Brady is going back to the playoffs, where he so often went with the Patriots.

It’s the Buccaneers’ first playoff appearance since 2007. They signed Brady with the hope that he’d get them back to the postseason, and he’s done it.

Today’s game was a joke, with the Bucs jumping out to a 13-0 lead just minutes into the first quarter and making it 34-0 before halftime. Brady didn’t even play in the second half. The Lions, who have been plagued with injuries and had a COVID-19 outbreak on their coaching staff, look like they’ve given up on the season.

The Buccaneers look like they could be a dangerous team in the playoffs, even though they’ll have to go on the road. Brady has been criticized at times this season for struggling to connect on deep balls, but he was on fire throwing downfield today. He completed 22 of 27 passes for 348 yards, with four touchdowns and no interceptions, before taking a seat at halftime.

With little to play for in Week 17, Brady may play even less than a half next week. But the Bucs look like they’ll be ready to play when it counts. And Brady knows what it takes in the playoffs.

NBC

 

49ers complicate Cardinals’ playoff hopes, defeat Arizona 20-12



The 49ers entered Saturday’s game eliminated from postseason contention. They’ve spent weeks away from home after Santa Clara county banned contact sports. And their opponent was fighting for a playoff spot, beginning the day as the NFC’s seventh seed.

But San Francisco looked like the better team throughout, controlling much of the game en route to a 20-12 victory that complicates Arizona’s postseason hopes.

The Cardinals had two chances to tie the game in the fourth quarter, but weren’t able to capitalize on either. Though running back Kenyan Drake scored a one-yard touchdown to cut San Francisco’s lead to 14-12 with 12:08 left, Arizona’s two-point conversion failed. Quarterback Kyler Murray’s pass was too low for wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins in the end zone.

49ers fullback Kyle Juszczyk caught his second touchdown pass of the game with 8:35 on the clock, but kicker Robbie Gould pushed the extra point wide right to keep the score within one possession at 20-12.

Murray kept his ensuing drive alive with a 30-yard run on fourth-and-1 from the San Francisco 43. But two plays later, 49ers cornerback Ahkello Witherspoon picked off Murray’s pass to the end zone intended for Christian Kirk.

San Francisco should have been able to put the game away with a 37-yard field goal, but Gould missed his third kick of the day — this one wide left. He previously was wide right on a 41-yard field goal in the third quarter.

But it was no matter. Murray took a big hit on his final fourth-down incompletion to Hopkins, sealing the game’s result.

San Francisco rushed for a season high 227 yards and Jeff Wilson was the star. He rushed 22 times for 183 yards, averaging 8.3 yards per carry.

Starting his first game of the season, quarterback C.J. Beathard was 13-of-22 passing fro 182 yards with three touchdowns and no interceptions, though he did lose a fumble. Tight end George Kittle played for the first time since Week 8 and led the team with 92 yards receiving on four catches.

Murray finished 31-of-50 for 247 yards with an interception. He added eight carries for 75 yards.

Hopkins set a new single-season franchise record with 111 receptions, making eight catches for 48 yards.

With the loss, the Cardinals are now 8-7 and will need help to make the postseason. If the Bears win their next two games over the Jaguars and Packers, they will earn the NFC’s No. 7 seed.

An Arizona win also would have clinched a postseason berth for the Rams, but they can make that happen themselves with a win over the Seahawks on Sunday. Arizona plays Los Angeles in Week 17.

The 49ers are now 6-9 and might need a new defensive coordinator for 2021 after another big showing from Robert Saleh. Especially with San Francisco out of playoff contention, he’s likely to receive strong consideration for at least one head coaching job in January.

NBC

 

Fitzmagic strikes again, leading Dolphins to improbable 26-25 win



Fitzmagic may have saved the Dolphins’ playoff hopes . . . while dashing those of the Raiders and the Ravens.

Ryan Fitzpatrick replaced Tua Tagovailoa in the fourth quarter. In three drives, the veteran quarterback directed the Dolphins to as points as Tagovailoa did in eight — not counting a kneel down — as the Dolphins came from behind for an improbable win.

Miami beat the Raiders 26-25 on a 44-yard Jason Sanders field goal with one second remaining.

The Dolphins remained in the driver’s seat for the final wild-card berth in the AFC, moving to 10-5. The Raiders fell to 7-8 and are eliminated from postseason contention.

The teams combined for 22 points in the fourth quarter in a wild affair that saw three lead chances in the final 2:55.

The Raiders thought they had it won when they burned down the clock to 23 seconds before calling a timeout to kick a 22-yard Daniel Carlson field goal with 19 seconds left. Carlson missed an extra point in the fourth quarter that proved the difference.

The Raiders didn’t try to score the touchdown, instead running down the time and settling for the go-ahead field goal. It came back to bite them.

On the first snap following the touchback on the kickoff, Fitzpatrick threw a deep pass to Mack Hollins, who dropped a potential touchdown pass earlier in the fourth quarter. It was a 34-yard completion with another 15 yards tacked on with Arden Key grabbing and yanking Fitzpatrick’s facemask as the quarterback threw the ball.

It set up the winning field goal.

Fitzpatrick directed the Dolphins to a game-tying field goal with 4:01 left on his first drive, but Nelson Agholor caught an 85-yard touchdown pass from Derek Carr only 24 seconds later. Carlson then missed the extra point.

Myles Gaskin got the lead back for the Dolphins with a 59-yard touchdown with 2:55 remaining after Sanders made the PAT.

Agholor followed by drawing a 49-yard pass interference penalty on Byron Jones. The penalty set up the Raiders for what Carr thought was going to be his 24th game-winning drive in the fourth quarter or overtime.

But Fitzmagic struck again.

He went 9-of-13 for 182 yards and a touchdown. Tagovailoa went 17-of-22 for 94 yards and a touchdown.

Carr was 21-of-34 for 336 yards and a touchdown. Agholor caught five passes for 155 yards and a touchdown, and tight end Darren Waller added five catches for 112 yards.

NBC