The Pittsburgh Steelers got back on track in Week 5 with a win over the Denver Broncos, but they may have paid a hefty price for it.
JuJu Smith-Schuster left Sunday’s game with a shoulder injury. The expectation is that he will be placed on injured reserve, and Gerry Dulac of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports that the Steelers fear Smith-Schuster may be out for the season.
Smith-Schuster hasn’t been very productive this season. He has just 15 catches for 129 yards and no touchdowns in four-plus games. Pittsburgh’s offense has struggled as a whole, so losing a top wide receiver could be very problematic for the team.
Smith-Schuster signed a one-year, $8 million deal to return to the Steelers this past offseason. He reportedly turned down better offers to remain in Pittsburgh despite seeing his role diminish a bit over the last few seasons.
The Buffalo Bills and Kansas City Chiefs had to wait out a weather delay during their game on Sunday night, and the halt in play gave NBC’s broadcast team an opportunity to dive into an important topic — peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.
The start of the second half of Buffalo’s eventual 38-20 win at Arrowhead Stadium was delayed due to lightning in the area. During the break, NBC sideline reporter Michele Tafoya said players were relaxing and eating PB&J sandwiches. Though, the players told her they were unhappy with the peanut butter-to-jelly ratio.
Al Michaels took the info and ran with it. He kept the conversation going by asking Mike Tirico what the proper peanut butter-to-jelly ratio is. Tirico said he has a peanut allergy so he wouldn’t know. Tony Dungy and Drew Brees then raised some more important questions about the type of jelly, type of bread, and how the sandwiches were being cut. You can hear the important debate below:
We’re used to seeing weather delays in baseball, but they’re a lot more rare in football. Apparently there was only so much for the NBC crew to talk about.
Of course, the real topics for debate weren’t created until the second half. Had these roughing the passer calls taken place in the first half, there would have been a lot more to talk about during the delay.
Fans, analysts and even NBC’s announcers could not believe the roughing the passer calls in Sunday night’s game between the Buffalo Bills and Kansas City Chiefs. In fact, the sheer amount of penalties called in the game upset many viewers.
Buffalo was leading 31-13 in the third quarter and KC went for a 4th-and-3 at their 32. The Chiefs were helped out by a roughing the passer call on Ed Oliver.
The possession ended with Patrick Mahomes’ second straight interception.
Then in the fourth quarter, the Bills were leading 31-20 and driving. They were called for a holding penalty on Mitch Morse on 3rd-and-9.
The following play was a 3rd-and-17 from the Buffalo 8. Frank Clark was called for roughing the passer, giving the Bills a first down.
NBC announcers Al Michaels and Cris Collinsworth were fed up with the flags from the officials.
The Bills were penalized 10 times for 103 yards. The Chiefs were penalized 7 times for 55 yards. Not many people want to see that many penalties called in a game.
The Kansas City Chiefs’ performance this season has left many fans recognizing that things feel differently from the last two years, when they made the Super Bowl both seasons, winning one of them. A quote from Andy Reid after Sunday night’s 38-20 home loss to the Buffalo Bills should give them even more concern.
The Chiefs fell behind 24-10 in the second quarter and were down 24-13 at halftime. There was a lengthy weather-related delay that lasted 62 minutes at halftime, and that didn’t hurt the Bills’ momentum.
Buffalo got a pick-six in the third quarter to go up 31-13. Then they intercepted Patrick Mahomes on the ensuing possession, giving them two interceptions of Mahomes in the same quarter.
Buffalo added a fourth quarter TD to seal the double-digit win, which had many people surprised considering KC beat the Bills 38-24 at home in the AFC Championship Game last season.
The outcome of Sunday night’s game also caught Reid off guard. He said he didn’t see the bad loss coming.
Reid added that his players were “embarrassed” by the game.
This was the worst home loss by the Chiefs since Reid took over the team in 2013. If they weren’t having a bad week of practice or showing signs of not being focused leading up to the game and just flat-out were beat this badly, that’s not a good thing.
Mahomes offered a comforting message for Chiefs fans after they lost consecutive games this season. Now his Chiefs are 2-3 and the only team in the AFC West without a winning record. Reid’s quote is an indication that the fans should be concerned that this team might not have it this season.
Chiefs fans, you’ll love this Andy Reid cheeseburger shirt. Reid loves his cheeseburgers, and you can wear it. This makes a perfect gift for you or a friend. You can buy it here.
Josh Allen and his Buffalo Bills got a big win over the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday night, and the quarterback went viral for a very cool play he made.
Allen’s Bills had a 3rd-and-4 from inside their 40 with under 10 minutes left in the game. Allen took off running to his left and saw a defender in front of him. He reacted by hurdling L’Jarius Sneed and getting the first down in an impressive display.
That was awesome. Sneed went low, so Allen went high. He got the first down and his team secured the big 38-20 road win.
Allen passed for 315 yards and three touchdowns in the game. He also rushed for 59 yards and a TD while outplaying Patrick Mahomes.
Dusty Baker and the Houston Astros were upset over a call that went in the Chicago White Sox’s favor during Game 3 of their ALDS on Sunday night in Chicago.
The White Sox were leading 7-6 and had runners on the corners with nobody out and Yasmani Grandal up in the bottom of the fourth. Grandal hit a slow chopper to first, and Yuli Gurriel charged and fielded it. Gurriel threw home to try and stop Luis Robert from scoring. However, his throw hit Grandal, who was running on the grass inside the baseline.
Gurriel was charged with an error, while Robert scored and the White Sox’s runners advanced to second and third with nobody out. Their lead grew to 8-6.
Baker came out to protest the call and seemed to be told that the umpires did not think Grandal interfered intentionally. A baserunner is out if they are more than three feet away from the baseline to avoid a tag or to intentionally interfere with a throw (Rule 7.08)
The umpires could have determined that Grandal intentionally ran inside the baseline to interfere with the throw, which would have resulted in him being called out and the runners returning to their bases. So that was a big play.
The White Sox ended up scoring one more run that inning to go up 9-6.
Here is another look at Grandal running:
FOX commentator AJ Pierzynski seemed to think Grandal ran on the grass intentionally. The Astros did too.
Kevin Kiermaier was the batter at the center of a controversial play in Game 3 of the ALDS on Sunday night, a situation he described as a “heartbreaker.”
Kiermaier was batting with two outs, Yandy Diaz on first, and the game tied at four in the top of the 13th between his Tampa Bay Rays and the Boston Red Sox. Kiermaier launched a Nick Pivetta pitch off the wall in right field at Fenway Park. But the ball hit off the wall, caromed off Hunter Renfroe’s body, and bounced back over the wall.
The ruling was a ground-rule double. Additionally, MLB rules state that in a situation where the fair ball bounces off a player and goes out of play, any runner only gets to advance two bases from the time of the pitch. That’s why Diaz was put back on third base instead of being credited with the run he likely would have scored (full explanation here).
The Rays’ next batter was Mike Zunino, who struck out to end the inning and keep it tied at four. Christian Vazquez then won the game in the bottom of the inning on a 2-run walk-off home run (video here).
Kiermaier spoke with the media after the game and shared his thoughts on the heartbreaking outcome.
“I’m just in awe right now. That’s the ruling. The umpires explained it to me, so I can’t go against that. The rules are what they are. But, man, that’s a heartbreaker. I can’t believe that happened where we don’t get the chance to score right there,” Kiermaier lamented.
The Rays outfielder was disappointed that the rule hurt his team. He also was bummed that he narrowly missed a 2-run home run.
“For one, I crushed that ball. I was hoping to see it leave the yard. A lot of snap and crackle but no pop. For that to happen right there, it just doesn’t make sense to me. But the ruling is what it is.
“It would have put us in a much bigger situation, put the pressure on them there in the 13th inning. For the ball to bounce off the wall, and then hit a player and go over again, I just can’t believe that is a ground-rule double. I mean, Yandy would have scored standing up. It’s a heartbreaker, plain and simple.”
Kiermaier’s Rays now trail the Red Sox 2-1 in the series. Game 4 of the series in Boston is on Monday.
Houston Astros manager Dusty Baker made a bold move in Game 3 of the ALDS, and it did not work out at all for him.
The Astros carried a 5-1 lead into the bottom of the third of Sunday’s game against the Chicago White Sox. Starter Luis Garcia ran into trouble, however, giving up a two-run home run to Yasmani Grandal to make it 5-3. Garcia was one strike away from getting out of the inning, but gave up back-to-back two-out singles to Yoan Moncada and Gavin Sheets to bring Leury Garcia up as the go-ahead run.
When the Astros pitcher fell behind in the count 2-0, Baker made the unconventional decision to change pitchers in the middle of the at-bat. He came out and summoned reliever Yimi Garcia to try to end the inning instead.
That did not work at all. Yimi Garcia threw a ball, moving the count to 3-0, then got a called strike. Leury Garcia then smashed the 3-1 pitch to dead center for a go-ahead three-run homer.
There’s a reason managers don’t like to change pitchers in the middle of a plate appearance. Pitchers can be very rhythm-oriented, and it’s tough to get into a rhythm when inheriting someone else’s count. That becomes even more true when a pitcher enters behind in the count, giving them even less margin for error. In general, managers will usually try to start their relievers with a clean count, even if they can’t offer a clean inning.
Ironically, Baker has garnered a reputation for leaving his starters in too long during key playoff games. Even last year he opted to stick with his starter in a big spot, and was actually rewarded for it. Perhaps he would have been better off doing the same in this instance.
The Boston Red Sox are on the verge of reaching the ALCS after a dramatic walk-off win in Game 3 of the ALDS.
Sunday night’s game at Fenway Park was a tense affair, with the Rays rallying late to send Game 3 to extra innings tied at 4. Both teams had chances to score in extras, but it was an unlikely hero in Red Sox catcher Christian Vazquez who delivered a two-run walk-off home run in the 13th.
Vazquez was the hero despite the fact that he didn’t even start the game. The backup catcher pinch-hit for starter Kevin Plawecki in the 6th inning, and actually wound up getting four plate appearances.
The walk-off is a huge deal for the Red Sox, who now lead the ALDS 2-1. It will not be the biggest talking point, however, thanks to a hugely controversial call in the top of the 13th that cost the Rays dearly.
The Tampa Bay Rays were robbed of a run thanks to a fluke on a ground-rule double at Fenway Park on Sunday night.
Kevin Kiermaier was batting in the top of the 13th inning of Game 3 of the ALDS between his Rays and the Boston Red Sox with the game tied at four. Yandy Diaz was the runner on first and there were two outs.
Kiermaier hit a ball off the wall in right field. The ball bounced off the wall and then caromed off Hunter Renfroe’s body and bounced back over the wall.
The ruling was a ground-rule double, which is the correct call. But the question became whether Diaz should have been placed back on third base or been credited with a run.
Had the ball not bounced over the field, Diaz, who was stealing on the pitch, almost certainly would have scored. However, the rule states that if a fair ball hits off a fielder and goes out of play, the runners should advance two bases.
Had the umpires been allowed to use their judgment, they might have given Diaz and the Rays the run. But sticking to the rule, they had to put Diaz back at third.
And guess what? Nick Pivetta struck out Mike Zunino to end the inning. Then Christian Vazquez hit a walk-off 2-run home run in the bottom of the inning to win the game and give Boston a 2-1 series lead (video here).
What an awful break for the Rays. Not only were they robbed of the run, but they would have had a chance to add to their lead too with Kiermaier in scoring position and momentum on their side.
