NFL - NEWS & NOTES

in Prime Time but with the Vikings he was a choke artist oh well

 

NFL sets record for field goals in one week, with 73

It’s the year of the dragon, in lunar terms. In football terms, it’s the year of the kicker.

Per the NFL, a record was set in Week 2 for most field goals in a slate of games, with 73.

That beat Week 15 of the 2016 season, with 69. The record almost fell in Week 1 of the 2024 season, when 68 field goals were converted.

There were 67 in Week 1 of 2012, and 65 in Week 3 of 2023.

The inspiration came from the folks at Quirky Research, who noted the record had been broken. The NFL gave us the official numbers and seasons/weeks.

It’s no surprise. Offenses seem to be sluggish right now, and kickers are better than ever — making 50-plus yard field goals as routine as an extra point.

PFT

 

FWIW... The New Orleans Saints rise 16 spots on the NFL.com Power Rankings, to #8. Not sure what to make of that, but it made me chuckle. Maybe they underrated them and then went full blown crazy after the beat down of the Cowboys in Dallas... that was surprising to me and a very amusing/fun thing to behold.

 

And the Saints have scored 91 points through 2 and only given up 29... not too shabby.

 

The Saints go to Philly this week. I'm waiting for the results of that game before I jump back on the bandwagon.

 

Well, not quite. That game is in New Orleans. Im picking the Saints in that one in a shootout victory for New Orleans because they're at home. Both teams are hot offensively, but I just like the Saints with that home crowd... this should be a real good offensive show.

You should be on the bandwagon right now.

 

Aidan Hutchinson could set the NFL record for sacks in a five-game stretch

Lions defensive end Aidan Hutchinson has started this season on a tear, picking up right where he left off at the end of last season. And on Sunday, he could set a new NFL record for the most sacks over any five-game stretch since sacks became an official statistic in 1982.

Hutchinson has 5.5 sacks through two games this season, and he had 5.0 sacks in the last two games of the 2023 regular season. With 10.5 sacks in four games, he’s 2.5 sacks on Sunday against the Cardinals away from 13 sacks in five games, which would be a new NFL record.

The current record was set by Michael Strahan, who had 12.5 sacks in a five-game stretch from Weeks 3-7 of the 2001 season. That was the year that Strahan broke the NFL record with 22.5 sacks, with some help from Brett Favre in the season finale.

Three other players have had 12 sacks in a five-game stretch: Hall of Famers Richard Dent and Derrick Thomas, and Aldon Smith, who at one point looked like a future Hall of Famer before legal and personal problems derailed his career.

Hutchinson is looking like a future Hall of Famer, and from all indications he has no issues off the field. He’s playing at an all-time great level, and at the age of 24 he appears to have a very bright future.

PFT/Smith

 

J.K. Dobbins, Jordan Mason can join an elite club

It’s the season of the running back, so far. And two unlikely candidates stand on the brink of joining an elite club.

Per the NFL, Chargers running back J.K. Dobbins and 49ers running back Jordan Mason have rushed for at least 100 yards and a touchdown in each of the first two games of the regular season. They can become the seventh and eighth in league history to make it three-for-three.

The other members of the group are Jim Brown, with six in 1958, O.J. Simpson (five, in 1975), DeMarco Murray (four, in 2014), Emmitt Smith (four, in 1995), Dalvin Cook (three, in 2019), and Curtis Martin (three, in 2004).

Dobbins leads the league with 266 rushing yards. Mason, who is playing for Christian McCaffrey, lands in second place with 247.

The fact that Dobbins is playing at Pittsburgh would seem to hurt his cause. However, in three career games against the Steelers, Dobbins has more than 320 rushing yards. And, in his only visit to Pittsburgh, Dobbins had 120 yards on only 15 carries.

This year, Dobbins has 27 total carries in two games; Mason had 28 in one game. That gives Dobbins an obscenely high average of 9.9 yards per carry.

Dobbins has always been a great tailback. Injuries — a torn ACL and an Achilles tear — have kept him from becoming a superstar. Now, in his first year with the Chargers, he’s on the verge of getting there.

Not a bad return for a one-year, $1.61 million deal. Throw in Jordan Mason’s $985,000 salary, and the top two tailbacks through two weeks cost a grand total of $2.595 million.

PFT/Florio

 

Kaylee Hartung looks good.

 

Steelers' Cam Heyward looking forward to 'old-school football' vs. Chargers' run game

The Pittsburgh Steelers defense is preparing for an old-school matchup against the Los Angeles Chargers' run-heavy offense.

Sunday's battle in the Steel City is a proverbial "unstoppable force versus immovable object" game.

"It's fun. It's old-school football," Steelers defensive lineman Cam Heyward said, via the team's official website. "If you're worried about having your dime package ready this week, you picked the wrong week.

"We're going to have some big bodies on the on the field. It should be fun to get after it."

The Chargers have averaged 197.5 rush yards per game in 2024 (second in the NFL -- behind only Green Bay, who played without starting quarterback Jordan Love in Week 2) and 5.6 yards per carry (fourth).

Meanwhile, the Steelers have allowed 76.5 rush YPG (tied for fourth-fewest in the NFL). Pittsburgh's 8.0 points per game given up is the second-fewest, behind only the Chargers. The Steelers and Chargers are the only teams to not allow a rush TD in 2024.

"You relish the opportunity to see who has the better defense on Sunday. They're probably doing the same thing," Heyward said. "We're looking for a good showing."

NFL.com

 

Just watched an episode of the A-Team with Rick James and Isaac Hayes.



I win the day.

 

I wouldn’t be surprised if that video wasn’t allowed to be played on TV when it came out in the early 80’s

 

Steelers rookie right tackle Troy Fautanu will not play on Sunday against the Chargers.

Fautanu, the Steelers’ first-round pick this year, started at right tackle last week but suffered a knee injury on the practice field on Friday. The Steelers initially announced that he would be questionable, but today the team announced that Fautanu will miss the game.

How much time beyond Sunday Fautanu misses remains to be seen, but Adam Schefter of ESPN reported that Fautanu is expected to be sidelined indefinitely.

That’s a big loss for the Steelers, as Fautanu has been out-playing the Steelers’ other right tackle, Broderick Jones. Now the Steelers will have no choice but to put Jones back in against a Chargers defense that has played well the first two weeks of the season. Steelers quarterback Justin Fields, who has been one of the NFL’s worst quarterbacks at avoiding sacks throughout his career, may be on the run a lot on Sunday.

PFT

 

“His intent was not as a use of a weapon,” Morris said. “He probably was shooting T-shirts into the stands, to be honest with you, because he’s just that kind of a guy.”

PFT

 

Jaguars tight end Evan Engram will miss his second straight game on Monday night.

 

49ers tight end George Kittle will not play on Sunday in Los Angeles.

The 49ers announced that Kittle has been ruled out for their game against the Rams. He had previously been listed as doubtful with a hamstring injury.

 

Prosecutor: Man who killed two outside Lions game shot in self-defense, won’t be charged

The man who fired one shot that killed two people outside Ford Field after Sunday’s Buccaneers-Lions game will not be charged with a crime.

Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy says the shooter, whose name has not been released, was acting in self-defense when he shot 25-year-old Jalen Welch. The bullet traveled through Welch’s head and hit 40-year-old Rayshawn Palmer, and both Welch and Palmer were killed by the same bullet. Although prosecutors say Palmer was approaching the scene to try to be a peacemaker, the shooter was legally justified in shooting Welch in self-defense, so he will not be charged in Palmer’s death.

“Perhaps the most heartbreaking of all is the fact that a completely and totally innocent bystander, Mr. Palmer was shot and killed with the same bullet that passed through the head of Mr. Welch,” Worthy said. “It could have been any one of us. We looked at all the applicable law and there is no crime that can be charged and proven beyond a reasonable doubt.”

Organizers of the tailgating event in the area where the shooting took place say they have canceled their tailgate for the next Lions game and are working with authorities on how to make future events “weapon-free zones.”

“It is absolutely tragic that during all the fun and merrymaking at a Lions tailgate that two lives were lost,” Worthy said.

PFT/Smith
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First I heard of this story till tonight. Totally insane and unbelievable.

 

HOUSTON -- The Texans will be without their leading rusher in Week 3 as running back Joe Mixon will not travel to face the Minnesota Vikings.

Mixon suffered an ankle injury on what appeared to be an illegal hip-drop tackle during the Texans 19-13 Week 2 win over the Chicago Bears.