Dec 29, 2019; Foxborough, Massachusetts, USA; New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick on the sidelines during the second half of their loss to the Miami Dolphins at Gillette Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Winslow Townson-USA TODAY Sports
The New England Patriots keep making terrible mental mistakes, and they made another one Sunday against the Washington Commanders.
The Patriots were about to get the ball back on a punt while trailing by 3, having forced the Commanders into a 4th and 2 situation with 2:29 to go. New England got good field position on the return, taking the ball to their own 43, but there was a big problem.
Patriots special team player Mack Wilson lined up offside on the punt, giving the Commanders a free first down and a chance to run more clock.
The Patriots did end up getting a stop on the next set of downs, but the penalty cost them several seconds and their final timeout. It also cost them significant field position, as New England had to start the next drive from their own nine-yard line. Mac Jones wound up throwing an interception, sealing a 20-17 win for the Commanders.
One could argue that the Commanders deserved a break after falling victim to a questionable penalty call earlier in the game. Regardless, this is another example of the poor discipline that the Patriots have demonstrated for much of the season. It is often said that this is rare for Bill Belichick teams, but it has become distressingly common this year.
The Houston Texans had to turn to an emergency kicker in their game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday, and that kicker delivered in a huge way.
Veteran running back Dare Ogunbowale had to handle kicking duties for the Texans after kicker Ka’imi Fairbairn suffered a quad injury in the first half. Houston went for two on all of their touchdowns after Fairbairn exited, but there was a situation midway through the fourth quarter where they had to attempt a short field goal.
Facing 4th-and-goal from the 11 with the game tied 30-30, the Texans called on Ogunbowale to attempt a 29-yard field goal. The veteran back split the uprights to give Houston a 33-30 lead.
The kick made Ogunbowale the first non-kicker to convert a field goal in an NFL game since former wide receiver Wes Welker accomplished the feat with the Miami Dolphins in 2004.
Ogunbowale also held his own with kickoffs.
Ogunbowale’s improbable heroics helped the Texans come away with a thrilling win. Baker Mayfield threw a go-ahead touchdown to Cade Otton with just 46 seconds remaining, but rookie CJ Stroud responded with a game-winning touchdown drive on the ensuing possession.
The LA Clippers are ready to become the system.
Shams Charania of The Athletic reported on Sunday that new Clippers guard James Harden will be making his debut for the team during Monday’s game against the New York Knicks. Charania adds that the Clippers are expected to start Harden along with Russell Westbrook, Paul George, Kawhi Leonard, and Ivica Zubac moving forward.
That was the expected plan all along for the Clippers, but it will create a unique set of challenges with four players who are used to dominating the ball in the same starting five. But Leonard and George are mid-post (and sometimes three-point) scorers who have long been vocal about their desire for a true point guard who can get them the ball in their preferred spots on the floor. Westbrook has played that role decently enough during his time thus far with the Clippers, and even he has surprisingly tweaked his game some to do more cutting, screening, and work off the ball while the other stars handle possessions. Obviously, the wild card here is the newcomer Harden, who is one of the most prolific isolation players ever. But Harden did lead the league in assists last year and already seems to be transitioning away from volume scoring as he ages.
The Clippers still have some moving parts at play. Terance Mann, who was expected to open the season as a starter, will be back from injury at some point, and Harden himself has created some skepticism with his comments about his fit in LA. But for now, the plan is for the Clippers to have all four of their stars in the starting lineup with the likes of Bones Hyland, Norman Powell, and Mason Plumlee helping create offense for the second unit.
Apr 23, 2022; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Southern California Trojans coach Lincoln Riley during the spring game at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
The USC Trojans are making a major change after their loss to Washington on Saturday, and it is one that will be welcomed by many fans.
The Trojans fired defensive coordinator Alex Grinch on Sunday, according to multiple reports. The move comes after Grinch’s defense allowed 52 points and 572 yards in a loss to the Huskies.
The decision to fire Grinch is one that many Trojan fans will see as long overdue. The USC defense has struggled all season, and gave up at least 30 points in each of the last six games and 40 or more in five of them. The Trojans lost three of those games, ending their playoff hopes despite consistently solid offensive play and the efforts of reigning Heisman Trophy winner Caleb Williams at quarterback.
USC’s defense struggled in 2022 as well, prompting calls for Grinch to go at the end of last season. Coach Lincoln Riley decided against that, and that loyalty has not paid off.
The Trojans have a road game against Oregon next week, then close the year at home against UCLA. If their makeshift defense cannot hold firm in those games, they may be facing a hugely underwhelming 7-5 season.
It seems as though there is at least one horrible roughing the passer call in the NFL every week, and the Washington Commanders were the latest victims in their game against the New England Patriots on Sunday.
The Patriots were leading 14-10 in the third quarter and had 3rd-and-10 at around midfield. Commanders defensive end KJ Henry sacked Mac Jones for a big loss, and Jones fumbled on the play. Washington recovered, but the turnover was negated after Henry was called for roughing the passer.
The official who threw the flag must have felt that Henry “stuffed” Jones into the ground, which is when a defender lands on top of the quarterback with most or all of his weight. The NFL has made that a point of emphasis, but the Henry play looked like nothing more than a standard tackle.
FOX rules analyst Dean Blandino said he did not agree with the call.
“This is just a tackle. This is just momentum. There’s nothing punishing. There’s no second act,” Blandino said during the broadcast. “I don’t like it as a foul, but this is what the league is directing officials to call.”
Even if the Jones fumble was overturned, the Patriots would have had to punt. Instead, they got into field goal range and were essentially handed 3 free points.
The Patriots were on the other end of a similar call two weeks ago (video here), but they caught a huge break against Washington. The NFL badly needs to find a way to better define the “stuffing” rule.
New Orleans Saints pass-rusher Cam Jordan reignited his long-standing rivalry with Matt Ryan on Sunday — sort of.
Ryan was working as a commentator for CBS’ coverage of the Saints’ game against the Chicago Bears. That meant he spent some time on the field prior to the start of the game, and Jordan noticed him and couldn’t resist a sack for old time’s sake.
Ryan couldn’t help but laugh as CBS aired the video.
“I thought I was done with that. I thought that part of my life was over,” Ryan joked.
For those unfamiliar, Jordan and Ryan were longtime NFC South rivals, and Jordan usually got the better of their matchups. Ryan was sacked 23 times in his career by Jordan, and it became so frequent that Jordan acted like a jilted lover when Ryan left the Atlanta Falcons to go play in the AFC in the final year of the quarterback’s career.
This will not go into the official stat book as a sack for Jordan, but he will probably try to claim it anyway. After all, he is very serious about bolstering the number wherever and whenever possible.
Aug 4, 2022; Canton, Ohio, USA; Las Vegas Raiders coach Josh McDaniels reacts during the Pro Football Hall of Fame game against the Jacksonville Jaguars at Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
Josh McDaniels reportedly lost the locker room before he was fired by the Las Vegas Raiders, and one of the ways he may have done that was by scolding the coach who has since replaced him.
McDaniels held a clear-the-air meeting with players and coaches last Thursday. Ian Rapoport of NFL Media said Sunday that the meeting served as an opportunity for players and assistants to rip into McDaniels, and the coach seemed to check out after that.
Jay Glazer of FOX Sports provided some more details about what happened during that meeting. According to Glazer, McDaniels asked linebackers coach Antonio Pierce to address the team. Pierce, a former New York Giants linebacker, spoke about how the Giants overcame massive odds to ruin the New England Patriots’ perfect season in 2007.
“Antonio Pierce got up there and said look guys, we have to have our own culture. It’s gotta be about culture here,” Glazer said. “He brought up the old Giants team that beat the Patriots, Josh McDaniels’ team in the Super Bowl in the 2007 season. He said no matter who we played, we thought we could beat them. We had a game plan that we could beat them. We have to believe it here with the Raiders [that] we can beat anybody.
“When he finishes up that speech, everybody thinks they’re great except for Josh McDaniels. Josh McDaniels goes over to [Pierce] and says, ‘Don’t ever talk about the Patriots like that.’ And then you really see how divided that building got. That got up to Mark Davis and I think Mark Davis looked at it and goes, ‘OK, I’m gonna choose the guy who believes that we can win every single week.'”
Pierce has since been named interim head coach of the Raiders.
McDaniels made a name for himself as an assistant with the Patriots. He has now had failed head coaching stints in Las Vegas and Denver. You can’t fault him for being proud of what he accomplished in New England, but his reputation took a massive hit with the Raiders.
Dec 11, 2022; Inglewood, California, USA; Miami Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel reacts during the game against the Los Angeles Chargers at SoFi Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
The Miami Dolphins have looked like a legitimate Super Bowl contender at times over the past two seasons, but most of that success has come against below-average competition. One crazy stat sums up the struggles the Dolphins have had when facing good teams.
The last time the Dolphins beat an opponent with a record better than .500 was Week 3 of last season, when they got the best of the Buffalo Bills. Heading into Sunday’s game against the Kansas City Chiefs in Germany, it had been 405 days since Miami last beat a team with a winning record.
Kansas City beat Miami 21-14, so we can now make that 406 days. The Dolphins have lost seven consecutive games against teams with winning records.
This season, the Dolphins are 6-0 against opponents with records of .500 or worse. They are 0-3 against teams with winning records. They have averaged around 39 points per game in the wins and just 17 in the losses.
Those are all bad signs for Mike McDaniel’s team. Good teams — especially championship contenders — find ways to beat quality opponents. The Dolphins have not been able to do that for the better part of two seasons.
Tyreek Hill committed a costly mistake on Sunday that put the Dolphins in a huge hole (video here). That was far from the only issue, however. Miami has had many of them when facing good teams and did against Kansas City as well.
Shedeur Sanders was unhappy with a question a reporter asked him following Colorado’s loss to Oregon State on Saturday.
Following his team’s 26-19 home loss, Colorado head coach Deion Sanders confirmed that he implemented some significant changes for the Buffaloes’ coaching staff leasing up to the Oregon State game. Analyst Pat Shurmur was named co-offensive coordinator and took over primary playcalling duties from Sean Lewis, who was demoted to co-offensive coordinator. Sanders said the offense just “needed a change.”
The adjustments did not seem to help on Saturday. Colorado had 3 points and 78 total yards through three quarters before scoring two touchdowns late in the game.
Shedeur Sanders was asked in his postgame press conference if he has a preference for which coach calls plays going forward. The quarterback felt the reporter who posed the question was fishing for a negative headline
“You’re just asking me just a setup question at that point,” Sanders said. “You just want a headline question. I’m not even gonna answer that, honestly. I can’t even answer that.”
Shedeur is not wrong. Though the reporter was doing his job, he was definitely looking for a juicy quote and/or headline. There was little chance Sanders was going to come out publicly and say whether he wants Lewis or Shurmur to call plays.
Colorado had a dream start to the Coach Prime era with an upset win over TCU, a blowout over Nebraska, and an overtime victory against Colorado State. Not much has gone right since, with the Buffaloes having lost three in a row and five of their last six.
Deion has been very vocal about the problems Colorado has had, but the struggles continue. Shedeur can expect plenty more difficult questions if the Buffaloes do not find a way to turn things around.
Alabama defeated LSU in convincing fashion on Saturday, and Nick Saban did not exactly show sympathy toward one of his former players after the game.
Saban shared a friendly moment on the field with LSU wide receiver Aaron Anderson following the Crimson Tide’s 42-28 win over the Tigers. Anderson, a former 5-star recruit, transferred to LSU from Alabama prior to the season. Saban delivered a jab to the freshman.
Anderson did not record a catch in Saturday’s game. He has just 12 receptions for 59 yards on the season. Anderson missed some time during the offseason after undergoing knee surgery, so that may be a factor in his lack of production thus far.
Saban has been critical of the NCAA’s new transfer portal and NIL rules, so it is not a shock that he wanted to remind a player who left his program that the grass is not always greener.
