NFL - NEWS & NOTES

You may be right. One thing certain is this virus is worsening and teams are getting to the point where they cant field a team (Broncos) and at the current rate, I donrt see how this can continue, so I think your right in slicing off, possibly, the last part of the season. I hope not, but it may come down to the NFL not having a choice, because if the trend continues the Virus will dictate, not the NFL.

 

Broncos practice squad receiver Kendall Hinton to start at quarterback



All of the Broncos’ quarterbacks are out of today’s game because one tested positive for COVID-19 and the others had close contact with them, and so Denver is taking drastic measures.

Kendall Hinton, a wide receiver on the practice squad, will be the Broncos’ starting quarterback today against the Saints.

Hinton was a high school quarterback who started two games at quarterback for Wake Forest as a true freshman in 2015. After that he spent three seasons as a backup quarterback before moving to receiver in 2019.

For his entire college football career, Hinton had 1,504 passing yards, a 53 percent completion rate, eight touchdowns and seven interceptions. The 6-foot, 195-pound Hinton has never played in an NFL game at either quarterback or wide receiver. His first game today will be in most unusual circumstances.

NBC
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Wow!

 

49ers working on relocating games, practice after new COVID-19 order bans all recreational activities

A regional declaration stemming from the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has forced the San Francisco 49ers to make adjustments.

On Saturday, Santa Clara County, the home of Levi's Stadium, announced new orders aimed to curb the spread of the virus. Among those orders is a three-week ban on "all recreational activities that involve physical contact or close proximity to persons outside one's household."

The 49ers issued a statement in response to the news.

"We are aware of the Santa Clara County Public Health Department's emergency directive," the team said. "We are working with the NFL and our partners on operational plans and will share details as they are confirmed."

Following a Week 12 trip to L.A. to take on the Rams, the 49ers' next two games will be played at home against the Buffalo Bills and Washington Football Team.

In addition to having to find a new stadium to host games, the Niners will also need to relocate for practice. The team's training facility is located in Santa Clara, as well.

NFL.com

 

Wow, that's a big fine! With the way Covid is spreading through teams right now, what part of celebrating mask-less seemed like a good idea to the Saints?

 

This is an outrage! Do these people have any idea what kind of havoc they are wreaking on my Pick'Em Contest? Do they have any idea how much work I put into this every week only to be constantly buffeted about by these constant changes?

It is an outrage!

 

Arizona most likely destination for 49ers home games

When the regular-season schedule emerged in May, the evidence was hiding in plain sight. If the 49ers couldn’t play games in their own stadium due to the pandemic, Arizona made the most sense, given that the 49ers and Cardinals never play at home on the same day.

With the 49ers now unable to play at home, Arizona has emerged as the top choice for relocated 49ers games.

Via Ian Rapoport of NFL Media, State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona has become “the most likely option” for the 49ers. Another option would be a stadium in Texas.

An NFL stadium becomes critical to this equation because of the technology linking each stadium to the league office, allowing for real-time replay reviews. The quality of the playing surface also is an issue; at a time when not every NFL field is always up to snuff, plenty of non-NFL fields would be even worse.

The 49ers likely will set up a bubble wherever they go, especially since they won’t be able to practice in Santa Clara County between games. At this point, they should just head to a hotel close to wherever they will be practicing and playing, and they should stay there for the rest of the season.

The NFL Players Association likely will have a say in this, if players are informed that their job becomes, as a practical matter, a 24/7 proposition through the end of the season. Given that the alternative for players becomes not playing home games at all (and players not getting paid for them), the union likely will agree. If, however, these dramatically changed circumstances result in players being away from home for at least the next five weeks, players should get a chance to opt out for the balance of the season, giving up the balance of their salary but facing no penalties or punishment for walking away.

NBC

 

Don't worry. If history is any indication, they'll find a GM and a coach that suck just as bad. Have faith.

 

Wait 'till they tack on week 18. Then we can watch Baby's head explode.

 

You don't it hasn't already? LOL

 

Why couldn't they have gone across the bay to Oakland. I know that place was a dump, but they could have put down a field relatively quickly.

 

Ravens TNF game has been moved to a week from Monday... 430pm et.

 

Giants lose Daniel Jones, but beat Bengals 19-17



The Giants have won three straight games and currently find themselves in first place in the NFC East, but any good feelings on Sunday will be muted.

Quarterback Daniel Jones left the game with a right hamstring injury early in the third quarter of Sunday’s 19-17 win over the Bengals. He returned for two plays, but hobbled off the field after an incompletion that showed he wasn’t throwing the ball with his usual zip.


Colt McCoy didn’t do much with the offense the rest of the way, but the defense forced a pair of turnovers and kept the Brandon Allen-led offense from taking advantage of Jones’ absence. They only allowed the Bengals to pick up 155 yards on the afternoon and the only Bengals touchdown in the first 57 minutes of action came on a 103-yard kickoff return by Brandon Wilson in the first quarter.

The Bengals finally got an offensive touchdown after a pass interference call set them up on the 1-yard-line late in the fourth quarter. Allen hit Tee Higgins for the score with 2:33 to play and cut the Giants’ lead to two points. The Bengals kicked deep and were in position to get the ball back with a quick stop. It looked like they failed to get it, but a holding penalty on right tackle Cam Fleming wiped out a Wayne Gallman first down.

The Giants punted and Allen got a chance to try for a comeback win. The effort started with good field position thanks to an Alex Erickson punt return, but Allen was sacked by Jabaal Sheard and lost a fumble that ended the game.

Allen was 17-of-29 for 136 yards and an interception in his first start as the team’s choice to replace Joe Burrow. Those numbers weren’t overly impressive and Allen padded his stats a bit after the Giants went up two scores in the fourth quarter, but it was better than Ryan Finley managed in relief of Burrow in Week 11, so it looks like it may be a painful closing stretch for the Bengals if things don’t take a dramatic turn for the better.

The win moves the Giants up to 4-7 and they’re ahead of Washington in the division because they beat the Football Team twice already this season. They will head to Seattle next weekend to try for a fourth straight win and their chances will look a lot better if Jones is able to get back into the lineup.

NBC

 

The last game Ryan Fitzpatrick started for the Dolphins before they turned to Tua Tagovailoa was a win over the Jets and he returned to the lineup with the same result on Sunday.

Fitzpatrick threw two touchdowns and the Jets didn’t score any in a 20-3 Dolphins win. The Jets were shut out in their previous loss to Miami, so they end the season series without putting a touchdown on the board.

The Dolphins are now 7-4 and the win strengthens their playoff positioning heading into the final five weeks of the season.

The loss drops the Jets to 0-11 on the year and pushes them closer to securing the first overall pick of the draft. They will attempt to avoid their 12th loss of the year against the Raiders next weekend.

Sam Darnold returned to the Jets lineup after missing two games with a shoulder injury and went 16-of-27 for 197 yards and two interceptions. It was a disappointing outing given the presence of the team’s top three wideouts. Those wideouts — Denzel Mims, Jamison Crowder, and Breshad Perriman — had 11 catches for 177 yards.

Fitzpatrick was 24-of-39 for 257 yards and DeVante Parker had eight catches for 117 yards to pace the Dolphins passing attack. The state of Tagovailoa’s left thumb will have much to do with whether Fitzpatrick is back in the saddle next weekend against the Bengals and there won’t be any rush to move back to the rookie thanks to how Fitzpatrick has played this season.

NBC

 

Nick Folk’s last-play field goal lifts Patriots to 20-17 upset of Cardinals



Just when you think the Patriots are dead, they win a game everyone expected them to lose.

Nick Folk kicked a 50-yard field on the last play of the game to give the Patriots a 20-17 upset of the Cardinals.

The Cardinals fell to 6-5, while the Patriots improved to 5-6 and kept whatever playoff hopes they have alive for another week.

It was a strange turn of events for the Cardinals, who controlled the first half but led only 10-7 at halftime. Lawrence Guy, Akeem Spence and Ja'whaun Bentley stopped Kenyan Drake on fourth-and-goal from the 1 on the final play of the half. After a replay review, the call on the field was upheld.

That swung the momentum back in favor of the Patriots, who took their first lead of the game with 3:30 remaining in the third quarter on a 1-yard touchdown run by James White.

The Cardinals tied it and then had a chance to go ahead late in the fourth quarter.

Dre Kirkpatrick‘s intercepted Cam Newton with 4:27 remaining to set up the Cardinals to win the game. Kirkpatrick returned the pass intended for Damiere Byrd to the New England 47.

The Patriots, though, stopped the Cardinals on third-and-two from the New England 28 as Bentley and Adam Butler allowed Drake only 1 yard.

Zane Gonzalez‘s 45-yard field goal was wide right with 1:47 left, denying the Cardinals the go-ahead points.

The Patriots took over at its own 35 with 1:47 left. On third-and-13, Newton ran for 14 yards and Isiah Simmons was flagged for a 15-yard unnecessary roughness penalty on a hit on Newton at the end of the play.

Newton threw a 5-yard pass to Byrd and White ran for 2 before Newton spiked the ball with with three seconds remaining to set up Folk’s heroics.

Newton finished 9-of-18 for 84 yards and two interceptions. He ran for 46 yards on nine carries.

Murray was 23-of-34 for 170 yards and an interception and ran for 31 yards on five carries. Drake had 22 carries for 78 yards and two touchdowns.

NBC

 

Browns stop Jaguars’ two-point conversion to hold on for 27-25 win



The Browns stopped the Jaguars on a two-point conversion with 2:14 remaining, pulling out a 27-25 victory.

The Browns moved to 8-3, while the Jaguars fell to 1-10.

Mike Glennon and the Jaguars made it more competitive than expected.

The Browns sacked Glennon on fourth-and-10 from the Cleveland 24 with 3:37 remaining. But Olivier Vernon was called for lowering his helmet to initiate contact, and the 12-yard penalty set up James Robinson‘s 4-yard touchdown run with 2:14 remaining.

Glennon’s pass on the two-point conversion never had a chance.

With three timeouts and the two-minute warning, the Jaguars chose to kick it deep. But they couldn’t stop Nick Chubb and Baker Mayfield and never saw the ball again.

Chubb had 19 carries for 144 yards and a touchdown and caught three passes for 32 yards.

Mayfield completed 19 of 29 passes for 258 yards and two touchdowns. Landry caught eight passes for 143 yards and a touchdown.

Glennon went 20-of-35 for 235 yards and two touchdowns, while Robinson ran for 128 yards and a touchdown on 22 carries.

NBC

 

Vikings come back to beat Panthers



The Vikings aren’t ready to give up on a playoff run just yet.

A 28-27 comeback win over the Panthers improved the Vikings to 5-6 and kept their wild card hopes alive in the NFC.

Vikings return man Chad Beebe muffed a punt with 2:10 remaining, appearing to have ended the Vikings’ last, best chance at a comeback, but when the Panthers were held to a field goal after Beebe’s miscue, Beebe redeemed himself by catching a touchdown pass with 46 seconds left.

Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins had a big game, completing 34 of 45 passes for 307 yards with three touchdowns and no interceptions. He didn’t get much help from the running game, as Dalvin Cook managed only 61 rushing yards and also lost a fumble.

Panthers quarterback Teddy Bridgewater had 19 completions in 36 attempts for 267 yards, with a touchdown and an interception, in his return to Minnesota, where he was once viewed as the quarterback of the future. Bridgewater showed a lot of heart at the end in getting the Panthers into range for a game-winning field goal, but the 54-yard attempt missed.

The loss dropped the Panthers to 4-8. They’re out of contention in the NFC playoff race, but the Vikings are still hanging on.

NBC

 

Titans dominate Colts to take control of AFC South



The Titans are the class of the AFC South.

Tennessee eliminated any doubt about who the favorite in the division is today, dominating the Colts 45-26 to take over first place. The Titans improve to 8-3 while the Colts drop to 7-4.

Titans running back Derrick Henry had a very big game, carrying 27 times for 178 yards and three touchdowns. Henry is now leading the league in rushing by more than 100 yards over second place Dalvin Cook.

Titans receiver A.J. Brown had an outstanding catch and run for a touchdown and later picked up an onside kick and ran it to the end zone, making him the first NFL player in three years to have both a receiving touchdown and a kickoff return touchdown in the same game.

Philip Rivers threw for 295 yards and two touchdowns for the Colts, but Indianapolis couldn’t get its ground game going, and its run defense couldn’t contain Henry.

With five games to go, it won’t be easy for the Colts to catch the Titans. It appears that we’ll be seeing an AFC playoff game in Tennessee.

NBC