Chris Pedota, NorthJersey.com / USA TODAY NETWORK Let’s break down Neals performance in his first real action of 2024 The New York Giants started Evan Neal in Week 10 for the first time in 2024. Neal returned from offseason ankle surgery and rehabilitation toward the end of training camp. Turbulence plagued Neal’s first two years, as injuries and poor play seemingly marred his confidence. The Giants are more than two years removed from selecting Neal No. 7 overall in the 2022 NFL Draft, and they were hesitant to give Neal a shot at starting. Andrew Thomas suffered a season-ending foot injury in Week 6. Brian Daboll and the Giants gave Josh Ezeudu the initial opportunity and then signed Chris Hubbard off the 49ers’ practice squad to start two games. Neither Ezeudu nor Hubbard stabilized the line, so the Giants moved Jermaine Eluemunor to left tackle, which opened up the opportunity to start Neal on the right side. The Giants’ overall offensive line was solid against one of the worst defenses in the league. Neal appeared more confident and decisive. According to NFL Pro, Evan Neal allowed just one pressure on 41 pass block snaps (2.4%), setting a career-low in pressure rate allowed (min 10. pass blocks). Neal faced Jadeveon Clowney on 27 pass rush matchups, allowing his sole pressure on the day (3.7% pressure rate allowed). Neal shone as a run blocker. He executed play-side and back-side blocks well, created creases when base blocking, and reached well. Pro Football Focus had an elite 93.4 run-blocking grade. Neal’s pass-blocking was graded at 80.6 — these were career-high single-game grades for Neal. Offensive line coaches Carmen Bricillio and James Ferentz deserve credit for assisting Neal and ensuring he was positioned to succeed. Theo Johnson helped Neal out often, but not always. I was impressed with the communication between Greg Van Roten and John Michael Schmitz, who worked well to help Neal. Neal looked solid in his return; some issues persist, and I’m uncertain if they’re rectifiable. Still, the 24-year-old saw the football field in 2024 and played well. That’s a step in the right direction. The breakdown is below: please leave a comment and let us know what you think.
Evan Neal showed signs of improvement vs. Panthers — film study
Eagles-Cowboys Film Review: Jalen Hurts seemed to be hampered by the sun
Well, this Philadelphia Eagles vs. Dallas Cowboys game was a bit of a weird one to analyze. I wasn’t too impressed with the offensive game plan, and I’ll explain why below, but there is no doubt the offense improved as the game went on. Offense The Cowboys did a few things schematically that the Eagles last had to deal with a while ago. Cowboys’ defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer showed a lot of “Double Mug” looks with his linebackers standing in both A-gaps. Zimmer is known for this, and I expected the Eagles to be a little bit more prepared for it. The Eagles struggled with who to protect in pass protection, and it led to the running back dealing with a linebacker far too often, even when the Cowboys only sent 4. Surprisingly, the interior offensive line had their worst game in a while in pass protection, and Cam Jurgens, in particular, struggled. As well as this, I thought the Eagles’ offense was too focused on taking shots down the field and didn’t give Jalen Hurts a lot of easy answers. If you add all of these things up, including some poor individual pass protection reps such as the one below from Kenneth Gainwell, then you get some poor reps. The offense took 5 sacks in the first half, which is not good enough. Some were on Hurts, some were on the scheme, some were on the protection and some were possibly because of the sun! (I’m not joking). If you are wondering about the other sacks, here they are. We will look at a couple more later. The Eagles’ best drive of the first half resulted in an interception. It’s an interesting play to break down from a scheme perspective. If I had to distribute blame, this is more of a fantastic defensive play than a terrible mistake by Hurts. I think Hurts’ process is fine here, and this route from Dallas Goedert should be open against this coverage. I’m not even sure that Trevon Diggs is supposed to be covering Goedert here. If Hurts is going to make this throw, he needs to release the ball just half a second earlier and throw it even harder. In the red zone, the windows are very small. I expect Hurts to learn from this mistake and be a bit more cautious when trying this throw again. This is such a fascinating play to look at. If you are looking at the result, then this is a fantastic play. It’s a brilliant throw by Hurts and a fantastic catch by Jahan Dotson. It’s really good to see that Hurts is starting to trust Dotson more, too. This is a real trust throw. However, this play also highlights some of the Eagles’ issues in the first half. They were a bit too focused on the downfield shots. There was another throw where Hurts underthrew DeVonta Smith, which would have been a touchdown, but Hurts couldn’t step up in the pocket due to the quick interior pressure. I do not mind taking shots against pressure at all. I think this play is perfectly fine. I believe the Eagles could have mixed in some more quick game, too. Everything was a bit too vertical, and it left Hurts without options too many times. This is a good example of what I spoke about above. You can argue that Hurts should go to Dallas Goedert here, but I can understand why he is wary of the Cowboys cornerback. Once he doesn’t go to Goedert, there’s just nothing else here. There’s no one in the middle of the field at all. There’s no quick checkdown. Here’s an example where I think the scheme didn’t help the quarterback. I’m just going to talk about the sun now. I genuinely think it made a difference. It’s boring to talk about because we will never know, but I think Hurts was very uncertain about where to go with the football in the second half, and he frequently stared right into the sun. It could have made a difference. What an awful stadium. This is the miss that makes me think the sun was bothering Hurts. Since when has Hurts played it safe on 3rd and very long? In this situation, there is absolutely no reason not to give DeVonta Smith or AJ Brown a chance to make a play. You are going to punt anyway. You might as well just let it fly! This is the worst play of the game. There’s nothing good here. It’s a good example of what I mentioned earlier when I said there are various reasons for the 5 sacks. I don’t like the play call. I’m not too fond of the protection against the stunt, which leaves Micah Parsons one-on-one. I don’t like the sun! Despite all of these reasons, Hurts still cannot fumble the ball. He needs to play with better fundamentals in the pocket because this play could have mattered a lot in bigger games. Right, I’ve got through the negatives now. I will give Kellen Moore and Jalen Hurts a lot of credit. Last year, when the offense was bad. It stayed bad. In this game, the Eagles started to adjust to what the Cowboys’ defense was doing and Jalen Hurts ended up playing a strong second half. This is probably my favorite throw of the game. The pass protection is a lot better. Compare Gainwell’s block here to his one on the first play above. Hurts pocket movement is fantastic. More importantly, unlike the earlier plays, Hurts has an option available to him over the middle of the field. Hurts throws a perfect ball, which enables AJ Brown to get good YAC, too. This is good stuff overall. This is another fantastic play. Everyone goes mental if Hurts takes the sack here with no timeouts left. But he doesn’t! Sometimes, you have to take risks to score points. He makes the Cowboys’ linebacker miss and delivers a strike
Giants are better at edge defender, but are they good enough?
Brian Burns | Photo by Steph Chambers/Getty Images New York Giants general manager Joe Schoen is a believer in the modern view of positional value across the NFL. His treatment of the edge defender position is a prime example. Schoen’s first draft selection as Giants’ GM was Kayvon Thibodeaux, taken No. 5 overall in the 2022 draft. His biggest swing to improve the team via trade was acquiring Brian Burns from the Carolina Panthers. The fact that Schoen refused to trade Azeez Ojulari, insisting on a price no one was willing to pay despite the possibility of losing Ojulari as a free agent this offseason, might be considered another example of how Schoen views the position. Has Schoen gotten the value he sought from the moves he has made? Current roster: Brian Burns, Azeez Ojulari, Tomon Fox, Patrick Johnson Injured reserve: Kayvon Thibodeaux Players drafted since 2022: Thibodeaux (Round 1, No. 5 overall, 2022) Biggest acquisition: Brian Burns (via trade) Biggest losses: Lorenzo Carter, Oshane Ximines Schoen gave up a second-round pick and a pair of fifth-round picks to get Burns, who made two Pro Bowls in his first five NFL seasons. Burns has been everything the Giants could have hoped for. A dynamic player. A guy who gives maximum effort at all times and plays through injuries. A locker room leader. Check out these numbers, courtesy of Doug Rush on Threads: 10 games played 46 total tackles 3 missed tackles 1 forced fumble 7 pass deflections 6 sacks (15th best in NFL) 39 total pressures (9th best) 27 hurries (8th best) 84.4 overall grade (13th best) 79.8 pass rush (18th best) 72.4 tackling 82.2 coverage 67.6 run defense Burns, at 26, is a core player the Giants can build with for several seasons to come. Photo by Cooper Neill/Getty ImagesKayvon Thibodeaux Figuring out what to make of Thibodeaux is more complicated. The 23-year-old is a good player. Is he good enough, or can he grow into becoming good enough, to give Schoen what he hoped for when he made Thibodeaux the No. 5 overall pick in 2022 and the first pick of his tenure as GM? Picking Thibodeaux at that point was a sign that Schoen expected Thibodeaux to be a game-changing player, maybe a franchise-changing one, and a cornerstone player for the Giants through at least a couple of contracts. Thibodeaux plays with force. No doubt the Giants have been missing his edge-setting physicality while he has been out with a fractured wrist. He occasionally makes splash plays. He did have 11.5 sacks in 2023. Thibodeaux, though, was 75th among 100 qualifying pass rushers last season in pass rush win rate, per Pro Football Focus. Meaning, when he wasn’t getting sacks he wasn’t generating pressure often enough. Thibodeaux isn’t Aidan Hutchinson, drafted three picks ahead of him in 2022 by the Detroit Lions. He isn’t T.J. Watt, Myles Garrett, Maxx Crosby or Trey Hendrickson. He isn’t Burns or Dexter Lawrence, either. Could he become that? Maybe. Right now, though, it is hard to say that the Giants have gotten everything they hoped for from Thibodeaux. Verdict With Burns, Thibodeaux, and Ojulari the Giants are far better than the days when they were relying on Lorenzo Carter and Oshane Ximines, and hoping that one day Elerson Smith might be healthy enough to become a useful player. There are questions, though. Will Thibodeaux become the dominant, game-changing player the Giants need him to be? Will they be able to keep Ojulari, who figures to have a robust market in free agency this offseason? If they can’t, how do they replace the quality depth he provides?
NFL Week 10: Fantasy Football IDP report
Jon Macri analyzes utilization metrics to determine which NFL players are on track for more production in IDP fantasy football ahead of Week 11 of the 2024 NFL season.
Tuesday Trenches: The more things change, the more they stay the same
Albert Cesare/The Enquirer / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images The old idiom is no more true than it is in Cincinnati. I remember the Blockbuster Video next to the Hallmark store, which was in the same strip mall as Kmart in the town where I grew up. I remember when the Cincinnati Bengals, having already locked up a division title and a home playoff game after the 2009 season, allowed the New York Jets to beat them in Week 17. The Bengals sat all their starters, including quarterback Carson Palmer. By doing so, the Jets were able to squeeze into the playoffs as a wild-card team. They beat the Bengals 24-14 in Paul Brown Stadium the following week. I remember being able to ride my bike throughout my neighborhood in the summer. I could play with friends who didn’t live right next door, and my parents had no real way of knowing where I was or what I was doing. When the sun started to get low in the west, or when I started to get hungry or bored, I’d go home. If I allowed my kids to do the same now, I’d likely die of some sort of anxiety attack or go to jail. I remember the 2016 AFC wild-card game between the Steelers and the Bengals in Cincinnati. The Bengals looked like they were going to win their first playoff game in more than 20 years, but after a Jeremy Hill fumble and a handful of mental errors and meltdowns, the Steelers moved on to the next round instead. I remember when my parents bought a Gateway desktop for what felt like a million dollars. We had dial-up internet, and it only worked if nobody was on the phone. I remember, as a middle schooler at the time, thinking the internet was stupid and not worth using. I’ll stick with my encyclopedias, thank you very much. I remember when the Bengals hosted the Steelers in the final week of the 2006 season. A win would have put them in the playoffs, and a loss would knock them out. With a chance to win the game in the final seconds, Shayne Graham’s 39-yard field goal attempt sailed wide right. The Steelers won the game with a touchdown pass on the first play of overtime. I was home on leave and at the stadium for that one. I remember going to the mall, walking into FYE, and spending a ton of time looking through CDs to listen to while I was driving my old, beat-up Nissan Sentra with the aftermarket stereo. I remember when the Bengals looked like they were going to save their season and beat the Ravens on the road, evening up their record at .500, only to literally fumble the opportunity away. I cannot begin to describe how things have changed in my 41 years, both economically and socially, and in pretty much every way imaginable. My wife and I went to dinner the other night at the Cracker Barrel where I worked around 2000, and while Cracker Barrel will never change, the area around it is completely different. The businesses surrounding it that I spent time in are gone. The buildings I grew up around are either empty or dilapidated. Everything has changed. The Bengals made us think they’d changed. They gave us new uniforms. They gave us a Ring of Honor. They gave us more fan interaction. They gave us playoff wins and a Super Bowl run. In 2005, they gave us a playoff team. We thought they’d changed. In 2009, they gave us a playoff team. We thought they’d changed. In 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, and 2015, they gave us playoff teams. We thought they’d changed. What they did, though, was find new and creative ways to shoot themselves in the foot. They reduced Carson Palmer, who was Michelangelo’s David when it came to typical pocket passers, to a ghost of his former self. He didn’t get a real opportunity to win a playoff game until he was traded — a trade he forced. They overachieved with Andy Dalton for years, and while some of those playoff losses were legit, the Bengals truly had a real shot to do something special, like in 2015. They just couldn’t get out of their own way. Now they’re in the Joe Burrow era. He’s arguably the most talented quarterback of the three and has done more with less than the other two. And what are we seeing? We’re seeing his abilities squandered. He has literally done everything he can to help the Bengals win, only to see his work undone by poor defense, inept coaching, and an unwillingness to spend money the way it needs to be spent or make the hard decisions other teams seem to make so easily. Why didn’t they trade A.J. Green for an extra pick, opting to lose him for nothing after his contract was up with the Bengals? They keep telling us they believe in this team despite the way the season started, yet they only traded for a running back who was likely to be released soon. They let Jessie Bates and D.J. Reader leave and failed to effectively replace them. They allowed Carson Palmer’s offensive line to deteriorate around him. They let Andrew Whitworth leave and tried to replace him with Cedric Ogbuehi. They let several of Andy Dalton’s weapons leave. They let Willie Anderson retire as a Raven. See what I’m trying to say? Those are just the examples off the top of my head. What I’m saying is things have changed. They’ve changed everywhere. Except for the Bengals. Change is the lubrication that stops the engine from seizing up. It’s necessary for everything to change and grow so it doesn’t stagnate and become stale. The Bengals, while giving us the illusion that things have changed, seem to be the same as they’ve always been, making decisions the same way they always have. Imagine trying to
SHANE!: Why the Colts coach needs to swallow his pride and go back to Anthony Richardson
Photo by Justin Casterline/Getty Images There is still time to salvage this situation. All Shane Steichen needs to do is admit he was wrong. For fans of the Indianapolis Colts, the last two weeks have been hard to watch. It has been unbearable. It has made many become disinterested. It has been downright torturous. Losing is never preferred, but sports fans understand that sometimes it is part of the process. As teams rebuild or develop young talent, having a few rough seasons can be part of it. Fans get that. We understand and accept it. What fans can’t get behind is mediocrity and being directionless. When there is no clear plan going forward, fans tend to become disillusioned and check out. Shane Steichen is entering that dangerous territory, but there is still time to change course. The idea behind making Joe Flacco the starting quarterback was that he would give the team the best chance to win. Two things are becoming abundantly clear, however. First, based on Flacco’s play over the last two weeks, that simply is not the case. He is making too many careless mistakes. A veteran should at least be seen to protect the ball, make the smart play, and not make a game altering error. The following stats are not indicative of winning at all, however. It has been two games since Anthony Richardson was benched for Joe Flacco. Two #Colts losses. Coach Shane Steichen: “Until I say otherwise, Joe is the starter.” Flacco’s stats: Comp Pct: 67.7Pass TD-INT: 2-4Pass YPG: 225.5Pass Yds/Att: 7.3Passer Rating: 72.7Sacked: 7… — Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) November 10, 2024 The second thing that is coming to light, if it wasn’t clear before, is this is not a championship roster. Winning shouldn’t have been the sole focus this year. Getting Anthony Richardson and the young players reps and used to each other’s rhythm should have been mission number one. This team isn’t one player or quarterback away. Steichen appears to disagree because he is still rolling with Flacco going forward. I am not sure what he is watching out there, but Flacco isn’t the answer. I would rather things be rocky with Richardson than watch a non-future with Flacco. Steichen doesn’t seem to be backing down from his decision. If it was his decision alone to make, then that is extremely unfortunate. A good leader has to be able to admit when they were wrong. Using a season to develop a young gun is much more exciting, meaningful, and practical than running out an old veteran to limp along. It is still unclear at this point, but if there is more to the decision or it is being made by others in the building, that is another situation. It would be one that is even more concerning and damaging long term for this franchise. If Shane Steichen is truly calling the shots, he needs to swallow his pride and go back to Anthony Richardson. The season is slipping away because Joe Flacco can’t save this team. Let’s get Richardson some run time and see if he has matured to a point where he is ready to lead this franchise. If not, cut him loose. The only way to find out, however, is if he actually sees the field. So, come on, Shane. I’m begging you. Shane! Shane!
Raiders Community Question: Worst moment as fan
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PFF: Lowest-graded Bills players on defense vs. the Colts
PFF: Lowest-graded Bills players on defense vs. the Colts PFF: Lowest-graded Bills players on defense vs. the Colts Kam Towle The Buffalo Bills beat the Indianapolis Colts, 30-20, in Week 10 at Lucas Oil Stadium. Statistics might help determine who played well or not, and so may the eye test. But, let’s take it a step further with some help from the analytics folks at Pro Football Focus. Using PFF grades from Week 10, here are the five lowest-graded players from the Bills (8-2) defense against the Colts (4-6). 5. Taylor Rapp Getty Images PFF grade: 56.3. 4. Damar Hamlin Getty Images PFF grade: 53.8. 3. Rasul Douglas Getty Images PFF grade: 48.1. 2. Casey Toohill Imagn Images PFF grade: 47.6. 1. Austin Johnson Getty Images PFF grade: 47.2. Read all the best Bills coverage at the Democrat and Chronicle and Bills Wire.
Vikes Views: Nincompoop of the Week Vikes at Jags
The Minnesota Vikings took down the Jacksonville Jaguars 12-7. The fans of football have all asked for an apology from the NFL for having to watch that game. Sam Darnold – Why is Darnold a Nincompoop? He’s so damn slow at going through his progressions. You can see him take a second every time to think about it before he moves to the next. It’s too slow. Even more maddening is when he stares so long at the receiver before he throws the defender easily steps in front. Usually with 3 interceptions you feel like the defense got lucky with some tips or weird things. Nope, just pure bad play. The fans are getting frustrated with Darnold because this team is very, very good and he is becoming the weak link. The problem is, if the QB is your weak link, you better be historically good in every other aspect of the game. This team is good, but they can’t overcome this type of play against anyone good. Here’s the second Darnold interception. You’d love to see him pick up Jones flashing open as the checkdown. Instead, he tries to go to Jefferson but the two aren’t on the same page. pic.twitter.com/7MuSgLBRDv — Will Ragatz (@WillRagatz) November 11, 2024 Jalen Nailor – Why is Nailor a Nincompoop? He’s so ineffective. This team needs a better WR3. He seems to not be ready when his number is called. Being a WR3 can be tough when your QB takes about 15 minutes to read through the progressions, but it’s his job to be there. NFL Replay Officials – Why are the Refs Nincompoops? Every week there is a call that seems to make no sense. Most of the Vikings issues this year have been ridiculous non-calls on penalties. This one is a ridiculous call being upheld. I can understand why they can’t see the ball hit the ground live in person. However, there were clear replays of an interception where the defender clearly didn’t catch it. The ball hits the ground and rolls around in his nether regions. No one in the NFL knows what a catch is anymore. Everyone in the booth, former officials in the booth and everyone watching TV knew that wasn’t a catch, but apparently the true “experts” did. How on earth did this call stand as a Jaguars interception? pic.twitter.com/I8vPPYLMMF — Will Ragatz (@WillRagatz) November 10, 2024 Jacksonville Jaguars – Why are the Jaguars Nincompoops? We’ll let the free market tell us. The average “get in” ticket price on the secondary market it $48, 2nd lowest in the NFL behind the Saints. They have the 3rd highest priced concession stands in the league. It’s like they don’t want you to come to games. They give up one of those games every year to London. No one in London is a Jags fan either. They have pockets of success, but can’t put a consistently contending team out there. Waves of great players that they immediately let go. They’re one of the worst franchises in the NFL.
Lions-Texans key stats: Eye-popping numbers from Detroit’s defense
Photo by Brooke Sutton/Getty Images Despite a turnover-riddled performance from the offense, the Lions defense—along with the leg of Jake Bates—earned them their eighth win this year. That and more in this week’s look at advanced key statistics from Lions-Texans. What hasn’t already been said about this game? Five interceptions from Jared Goff, three in the first half? No problem, the defense will pitch a shutout in the second half. No Taylor Decker manning the left tackle spot? Next eligible man up. Trailing by 16 at halftime, winless when down by 10+ points at halftime in the Dan Campbell era? Jake Bates will bring it home from distance. As we’ll do every week throughout the season for this Detroit Lions team, we have some data we can comb through courtesy of PFF that better helps us understand the football the Lions have played thus far—and what to look forward to in the coming weeks. Let’s take a closer look at the Lions by the numbers after a wild win in Houston. PFF’s premium statistics are an invaluable data point for football fans to better understand the game. Consider subscribing to PFF to have full access to a plethora of stats and grades to keep you informed about the NFL—and college football, too. Also, NFL Pro is supplying some innovative and illustrative advanced statistics of their own that are worth checking out for the price of admission. 21 run defense stops After a month’s stretch of football—setting the Cowboys game to the side—where the Lions’ defense struggled to stop the run, Detroit’s rush defense had one of their most dominant performances of the Dan Campbell era against the Houston Texans. On Sunday night, the Texans had 28 rushing attempts that net them just 56 yards (2.0 yards per carry). Of those 28 rushing attempts, Detroit’s defense recorded 21 run defense stops per PFF. To understand that in another way, 75 percent of Houston’s rushing attempts were deemed an outright failure by PFF’s standards (their 25% success rate was third-lowest of the week, per NFL Pro). That’s not all so surprising given the raw stats in the box score, but it’s even more impressive when you consider that 25 of those rushing attempts came from Joe Mixon. In his six games prior to this game against Detroit, Mixon ranked t-13th among running backs in yards per carry (4.8), but aside from his 8-yard rushing touchdown early in the first quarter, Mixon averaged just 1.6 yards per carry across his other 24 carries. 15.0% run defense stop rate, -0.3 average depth of tackle You thought we were done talking about the run defense? After that kind of performance? Watching this game live, it was the most obvious explanation for how the Lions defense was keeping them in this football game in the first half—and also how they were keeping the Texans off the scoreboard in the second half. It was reminiscent of Week 11’s contest against the New York Giants in 2022. To jog your memory, the Lions bottled up New York’s ground game, limiting them to 89 yards on 26 carries, but 50 of those rushing yards came on seven rushes from Daniel Jones. The Lions held Saquon Barkley to 22 yards across 15 carries, and Detroit’s run defense officially turned a corner that day—largely in part to the effort of the man in the middle of all that run stuffing: Alim McNeill. Fast forward nearly two years and McNeill is continuing to be a difference maker for this defense. Against the Texans, McNeill recorded a 15.0% run defense stop rate ranked sixth among 52 qualifying interior defenders in Week 10, and he posted a ridiculous -0.3 yards average depth of tackle which ranked t-third among that same group of players. McNeill was in the backfield all night long against Houston in both phases and was integral in the Lions pulling off their walk-off victory. 43% forced incompletion rate Brian Branch is an All Pro. He’s the best safety in football. 44 picks came and went in the 2023 NFL Draft and the Green Bay Packers decided to just up and give the Lions the best safety in league. Instead of spending $68 million on a safety, they should really try out this whole drafting one in the second round thing, it’s great. Back from his erroneous ejection a week ago, Branch was out there making plays—plural—in Houston. Didn’t want to beat a dead horse here, but Branch was game changer in run defense too, posting the top run defense grade for Detroit (88.3), the most run stops (4), and an equally ridiculous 0.8 yards average depth of tackle. But enough about the run defense! Against the Texans, Branch was a ball hawk in coverage, posting a 43% forced incompletion rate, a figure which put him No. 1 among safeties who were targeted at least twice in coverage in Week 10—and Branch was targeted seven (7) times, another figure that put him first among players at his position. Of those seven targets attributed to him by PFF, he forced three incompletions with some sticky coverage, and allowed four receptions for just 21 yards, the longest of which was a 10-yard completion to Xavier Hutchinson. 9.7% blitz rate, 13.8% turnover worthy play rate Let’s dig into the concern some have surrounding Goff’s five interceptions because it’s important to understand the context. When defenses can generate pressure by sending just four defenders, that’s a death sentence for any quarterback in this league. Against Goff, if you pack in and congest the passing lanes over the middle of the field and get pressure without blitzing, it’s a wrap—but that is the tallest task for any defense to accomplish and sustain for 60 minutes. Houston only blitzed on 9.7% of Goff’s dropbacks which sits in stark contrast to the blitz rate Goff had faced through the first eight games of the season (40.5%, the second-highest mark among quarterbacks). Houston was able to disrupt Goff with