NFL - NEWS & NOTES

Falcons snapped out of their recent horrible play calling, at least for today. The opening drive against Chicago had Mariota completing passes to four different receivers (Drake London, Kyle Pitts, Olamide Zaccheaus, KhaDarel Hodge) and runs by three different players (Patterson, Allgeier, Mariota). The passes were typically in the 5 to 15-yard range through the air. They were also spread all over the field from left to right and often involved play-action and rollouts.

The other scoring drive started with a short pass to the #4 tight end that ended up going for 17 yards followed by a sweep run by the WR for 13 yards, and ended with a 10-yard touchdown run by Mariota. In other words, they involved pretty much everybody in both the run and pass games and mixed up the calls, formations and personnel packages.


Shocker... that works better than insisting on running up the middle against an 8-man box and then trying to throw a bomb.

 

Cowboys roll up 458 yards, record seven sacks in dismantling Vikings 40-3

 

Raiders beat Broncos on Davante Adams overtime TD



22-16

 

Samaje Perine’s three touchdown catches help Bengals beat Steelers



37-30

 

The Vikings lost to a pissed off Cowboys football team and got SHIT!beat out of them big time it was ugly Vikings 3 Cowboys 40 they got pimped slapped

 

I wish you guys didn’t get your asses kicked like that, they switched to the Steelers game and forced me to go through the torment of watching them score 30 points and lose.

 

Cowboys were great... credit due. They exposed the Vikings O-Line, forcing Cousins too often to hurry and frankly, he's lucky they didnt kill him. Micah Parsons really played impressively along with the entire defense. Offensively, the Cowboys couldnt miss either. They ran a great mix of plays, nothing predictable and they executed perfectly... this was a total domination on display by the Cowboys... it was humbling, to say the least.

Still, at 8-2, the Vikings have a very large lead in the North and if I were to find something good about that game, maybe the ass-kicking they took, will cause some staff and players to reconsider what they were trying to do and exposed some glaring holes that need addressed before the Playoffs come a knocking. 7 games to go is a long haul so they had better right the ship in one way or another. The secondary got burned a bunch, especially Booth Jr... thats a glaring deficiency to say the least, run stop non-existent most of the game also. Bottom line, there is a lot of work to be done and besides, all these last minute victories and 1 score wins came back to haunt them.

I could go on and say the Cowboys recently have shown they like playing in Minnesota, for some reason, but Im not going to make excuses. Vikings were never in it at all yesterday... total shit-show performance and at home to boot.

Some say its time to forget and move on, it was just one game, but Id like to say, if they do that its going to be disastrous. They better not ever forget what happened, learn and adapt accordingly. So, lets see what they are going to do starting with Kevin O'Connell on down. If they dont make changes, I think its obviously going to repeat itself. Minnesota plays a lot in the next few weeks at home, cant blame the schedule at all either. Everyone deals with key injuries too.

 

Sunday Night Football: Travis Kelce’s third touchdown leads Chiefs to late comeback win



30-27

 

and by the way...

Travis Kelce's pushing Rob Gronkowski aside in the record books and he did so in emphatic fashion.

Kelce's game-winning touchdown catch lifted the Kansas City Chiefs to a 30-27 win and put him past the 100-yard mark for the 33rd time in his career on Sunday against the Los Angeles Chargers, breaking a tie with Gronkowski for the most such games by a tight end in NFL history.

Kelce's 17-yard touchdown -- his third TD of the night -- came in the fourth quarter and moved him past the century mark in the game -- and for the fourth time this season. Dramatic and history-making, Kelce's final catch put him at six receptions for 115 yards and the three scores.

Kelce, a seven-time Pro Bowler and three-time All-Pro, tied Gronkowski at 32 100-yard games in a Week 9 overtime win against the Tennessee Titans.

Gronkowski, who retired this offseason, tallied his 32nd 100-yard showing in his 143rd game, which just happened to be his last (barring a comeback). Gronk hauled in seven catches for 137 yards in Week 18 of last season against the Carolina Panthers. The 33-year-old Kelce's effort against the Jaguars was his 136th career game and in game No. 137, Kelce has the record to himself.

NFL.com

 

Melvin Gordon's run in Denver is over.

NFL Network Insider Ian Rapoport reported Monday that the Broncos waived the veteran running back, per sources informed of the situation.

The team later confirmed the move.

Cutting Gordon comes after another mistake-filled game in which the running back again fumbled near the goal line, costing the Broncos a chance at a touchdown late in the first half of Sunday's loss to Las Vegas. It was Gordon's fifth fumble of the season, two of which were lost.

"I was real sick about it," Gordon said of his fumble following Sunday's overtime loss to the Raiders. "I shot myself in the foot, and I'm a little salty. I was feeling it today."

Gordon's end in Denver might have come much earlier this season. He appeared to be benched in Week 4's defeat in Vegas following a fumble. But Javonte Williams' season-ending knee injury in the same game gave Gordon a bit longer leash.

The running back finally ran out of rope with continued mental errors. He's dropped passes, missed blocks, and hasn't been very good on the ground, averaging 3.13 yards per carry the past eight games.


Gordon has been outplayed by 32-year-old Latavius Murray, who figures to take the lead role into Week 12.

Still, given his experience, Gordon could be claimed by a club in need of a veteran who, in the past, has shown running and pass-catching ability.

Waiving Gordon this week becomes more interesting, with newly acquired RB Chase Edmonds exiting Sunday's game early with an injury. NFL Network Insider Tom Pelissero reported that Edmonds is expected to miss multiple weeks with a high ankle sprain.

Mike Boone is eligible to come off injured reserve in Week 13. The Broncos have Marlon Mack on the roster and Devine Ozigbo on the practice squad.

NFL.com

 

Defensive end Chase Young‘s long absence from the Commanders’ active roster is set to come to an end.

Commanders head coach Ron Rivera told reporters on Monday that the team will activate Young from the physically unable to perform list. Young has been practicing for the last few weeks and the window to activate him was closing this week.


Rivera did not say that Young will definitely play against the Falcons in Week 12. He has not appeared in a game since tearing his ACL last November 14.

Young is returning at a moment when the Commanders defense is playing very well. They forced four turnovers in their Week 10 win over the Eagles and held the Texans to 148 total yards in a 23-10 win over the Texans on Sunday.

PFT

 

It's a Pyrrhic victory for the Falcons.


Plus side... they have now topped the oddsmakers' over/under for wins on the season. Congrats to anyone who actually put money on the over.

Minus... defensive lineman Ta'Quon Graham left the game (on a cart), and later Kyle Pitts walked back to the tunnel and was out for the rest of the game. Earlier today head coach Arthur Smith said they'd both be out for the short term but the team was waiting for medical updates on both of them. Those updates are now in, and both players are headed to IR. I'm guessing both are done for the year. Ian Rapoport is reporting that Pitts will need surgery, and any time a defensive tackle has a knee injury bad enough to cart him off the field, well, he's not likely to be back for the six games remaining in the regular season.

Pitts is obviously one of the best players on the entire roster, but Graham is arguably the more important loss. The d-line had lost Eddie Goldman to retirement and Vince Taylor to injury at the start of training camp, then lost former second rounder Marlon Davidson and top prospect Bryce Rodgers to injury in the preseason games. With Graham on the shelf, they're down to Grady Jarrett and a bunch of guys signed off the street.

Along those lines, they're filling the roster spot by bringing back DT Jaleel Johnson, picked up off of waivers from the Texans. Atlanta had him on the practice squad. Houston signed him last month to fill a midseason need. They waived him in another roster shuffle, perhaps intending to move him to their practice squad, but Atlanta put in the claim to get him back.

 

Vikings fans - Jaleel Johnson was one of your team's draft picks (4th round in 2017). He played out his entire rookie contract in Minnesota, even starting every game his fourth year. But his stats were down and Minnesota didn't resign him for 2021.

From what I can find (not much), it looks to me like he had more of a run-stopping role in 2020 where he was more of a gap-attack rotational 3-tech in 2019. But while Pro Football Reference specifies he played "right defensive tackle" in 2020, they don't indicate if he had a single gap or two gap responsibility, played at a 1-tech or 3-tech spot, etc.

I know Vikings fans weren't shedding many tears at his departure, but does anyone know details about his 2019 vs 2020 roles and what might have gone wrong to cause them to part ways for 2021?

 

He just didnt pan out statistically... he digressed instead of showing improvement. For example - 2019 he recorded 15 solo tackles with just 3.5 sacks...... In 2020 he recorded 44 solo's in 16 games and just 1.5 sacks... To be fair he did play behind Michael Pierce until covid broke out, but when given the starting gig, he just seemed to be a bust.

 

Monday Night Football: 49ers blow out Cardinals 38-10 as Jimmy Garoppolo throws four TDs



The NFL has touted all the close games it has had this season. Monday night was not one of them.

The 49ers dominated the Cardinals, winning 38-10 and leaving the scarlet red and metallic gold-clad fans in Mexico City happy. The 49ers moved to 6-4 and into first place in the NFC West with a tiebreaker advantage over Seattle, and the Cardinals fell to 4-7.


San Francisco outscored Arizona 21-0 in the second half, and by the middle of the fourth quarter, Trace McSorley and Brock Purdy were playing quarterback with the game out of hand. It was an embarrassing finish for the Cardinals as some of their defensive players made a business decision not to try to tackle George Kittle on the 49ers’ final touchdown.

The 49ers gained 387 yards.

Jimmy Garoppolo completed 20 of 29 passes for 228 yards and four touchdowns.

Kittle and Brandon Aiyuk both scored two touchdowns, and Deebo Samuel had the other. Kittle caught four passes for 84 yards and Aiyuk two for 20. Samuel had three carries for 37 yards and a touchdown and seven catches for 57 yards. Christian McCaffrey contributed seven carries for 39 yards and seven receptions for 67 yards.

Colt McCoy, who entered with a knee injury, took a beating in the second half. Nick Bosa inadvertently stepped on McCoy’s hand, and McCoy took a hard sack from Kevin Givens and a late hit from behind from Bosa, who was penalized for roughing the passer.

McCoy, who was playing in place of injured starter Kyler Murray, went 24-of-34 for 218 yards and an interception. The 49ers also intercepted McSorley as they had three sacks, eight quarterback hits and two takeaways.

Greg Dortch had nine catches for 103 yards after replacing Rondale Moore, who played only two plays before leaving with a groin injury.

PFT

 

WEEK 11, is in the Books...

 

Playoff Outlook...

 

Thanksgiving special