The Detroit Lions appear to have their next head coach.
The Lions are expected to hire Dan Campbell as their head coach. The news emerged on Sunday after the New Orleans Saints were eliminated from the playoffs.
Campbell is an assistant head coach and tight ends coach for the Saints. He has been with New Orleans since 2016.
Prior to New Orleans, Campbell was with Miami from 2010-2015. He served as their interim head coach in 2015 after Joe Philbin was fired and went 5-7 in 12 games.
The Lions went 5-11 this season and had three straight losing seasons under Matt Patricia, who was fired midseason. One thing we can say about Campbell is you’ll never be able to question his toughness. Just read this legendary story about it.
It’s not often Tom Brady gets left hanging on a high five, but that’s the result when you try to celebrate with a referee.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback scored on a sneak to put his team up by two scores in the fourth quarter of Sunday’s NFC Divisional game against the New Orleans Saints. After handing out high fives to his teammates, Brady turned his attention to one of the officials with a smile on his face.
Yeah, Tom isn’t getting anything here. The official was wearing a mask, so we don’t even know if he was smiling back, either.
In the past, some referees have been pretty friendly with Brady, but nobody wants to end up in the middle of some conspiracy theory. It’s still a funny moment, though.
Many see Victor Oladipo as a mere rental piece for the Houston Rockets, but Oladipo himself may be indicating otherwise.
Over the weekend, the former All-Star guard received a question about if he was open to remaining with the Rockets beyond this season.
“If it fits, things work out, if I’m happy,” Oladipo replied, per Michael Scotto of HoopsHype. “Essentially, it’s like a business plan. You’ve gotta go through every aspect of the business plan before you kind of figure out if you want to invest in it.”
The 28-year-old Oladipo, who is averaging 20.0 points per game so far this season, will be an unrestricted free agent come this summer. He arrived in Houston as part of the multi-team blockbuster trade for James Harden.
Previous reports suggested that Oladipo did not want to stay in Houston. He could just be keeping his options open at this point. But an ultimate departure from the Rockets may not be a foregone conclusion yet.
Photo: Michael Tipton/Flickr via CC-BY-SA 2.0
Sean Payton is regarded as one of the most innovative offensive minds in the NFL, but he’s not above borrowing good ideas he sees elsewhere.
The Saints were nearly burned last Sunday by the Chicago Bears by a trick play that involved Cordarrelle Patterson pitching the ball back to Mitchell Trubisky, who went for the home run ball to receiver Javon Wims. The play worked perfectly, except Wims dropped the pass, saving the Saints from giving up a touchdown.
Payton clearly admired the Bears’ effort. In fact, he liked the play design so much that he put it in his own playbook and used it against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Sunday’s NFC Divisional game. It worked to perfection. Emmanuel Sanders pitched to Jameis Winston, who hooked up with Tre’Quan Smith for a 56-yard touchdown catch that, unlike Wims, was held on to.
This video shows both plays next to each other — the one ran against the Saints last week, and the one the Saints ran themselves Sunday.
It’s safe to say nobody on Tampa Bay’s defense could have seen that coming. When defensive coordinators talk about how much they hate facing Payton, this is probably what they mean.
The long-standing hostility between Mike Evans and Marshon Lattimore flared up again during Sunday’s NFC Divisional game.
Evans and Lattimore have clashed often during divisional battles between the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and New Orleans Saints. The pair did it again at the two-minute warning of the first half of Sunday’s game, as Lattimore seemingly goaded Evans into a verbal sparring match that saw the two go helmet-to-helmet.
Evans is the Buccaneers’ top wide receiver, and Lattimore typically shadows him when the two teams meet. That’s made for an interesting and physical individual rivalry that has gone on for years and gotten a bit chippy at times.
Lattimore has typically gotten the better of Evans, which he has not hesitated to point out. That mostly held true in the first half of Sunday’s game, with Evans being held to one catch for three yards — but that catch was a touchdown.
Mack Wilson defended himself after Sunday’s playoff game over his hit on Patrick Mahomes.
Wilson is the Cleveland Browns player who tackled Mahomes and knocked the Kansas City Chiefs quarterback out of the AFC Divisional Round playoff game. Mahomes came up woozy as seen here and was declared out for the game because of concussion protocol.
Wilson saw the accusations that he made a dirty play against Mahomes and defended himself on Twitter. He told people to keep threats to themselves.
Wilson also showed some sportsmanship by wishing Mahomes well and a quick recovery.
Mahomes wrote back with a friendly tweet showing he didn’t hold anything against Wilson.
Perhaps no player was more upset with the Mahomes play than Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce.
Even though Kansas City had a big scare, Chad Henne helped them pull out a 22-17 win. Based on what Andy Reid is saying, it seems like Mahomes will be OK for the AFC Championship Game against Buffalo.
Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce revealed that he was quite miffed with the Cleveland Browns over the hit that knocked Patrick Mahomes out of Sunday’s game.
Mahomes took a hit to the back of the head that put him in the concussion protocol in Sunday’s AFC Divisional game. After the game, Kelce said he had words with some of the Browns due to their reaction to the hit.
Kelce downplays it, but it’s easy to understand his initial reaction to what the Browns allegedly said given how shaken up Mahomes was. The hit wasn’t particularly dirty, and it may have been that the Browns didn’t even realize how much Mahomes was struggling initially, but everything was heightened in the heat of the moment.
Ironically, it’s the Browns, not the Chiefs, who have reason to feel robbed over an illegal hit that went unpunished.
Bill Belichick has a policy for his players against making a specific type of move near the goal line.
During Sunday’s AFC Divisional Round playoff game between the Cleveland Browns and Kansas City Chiefs, Browns receiver Rashard Higgins lost a ball stretching for a touchdown near the goal line. Instead of Cleveland getting the ball near the goal line, Higgins’ lost ball counted as a fumble and touchback.
The play reminded Devin McCourty of Belichick’s policy. McCourt shared on Twitter that Belichick tells his players not to reach the ball out for the goal line.
Belichick believes the risk of a lost fumble near the goal line is not worth the reward. The exception is on fourth down, when Belichick deems it worthwhile.
Higgins did not follow that advice on Sunday.
There has been talk for a few years about Drew Brees retiring, and that talk heated up entering this season. And now it is official from a report: Brees is retiring after this season.
FOX NFL reporter Jay Glazer reported on Sunday that Sunday’s NFC Divisional Round playoff game will be Brees’ last game at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans. Brees’ Saints are taking on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the game.
This report was expected, as it’s been all but a formality that Brees would retire after the season. There has been talk about what the Saints are doing to prepare for a future without Brees. They have Taysom Hill and Jameis Winston, and apparently Sean Payton likes what he sees from Winston.
Brees just turned 42, has won a Super Bowl, will make the Hall of Fame, and he suffered a nasty injury this season. That probably was a reminder to him that he doesn’t need to do this much longer.
The early word on Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes appears to be encouraging after the quarterback was placed in concussion protocol during Sunday’s win over the Cleveland Browns.
Coach Andy Reid said after the game that Mahomes had passed all the testing done on him so far and was doing well.
This does not necessarily mean Mahomes will be good to go for certain in next week’s AFC Championship, but it’s positive news. It will likely take a few days to get further clarity on Mahomes’ health situation, as concussion symptoms can be unpredictable and slow to recede.
Both the initial hit on Mahomes and immediate aftermath were very concerning to see. That said, the quarterback’s postgame social media activity was another encouraging sign and indication that he’s doing well right now.
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.
Photo: U.S. Air National Guard photo by Master Sgt. Michael Crane
