Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images A battle of birds on Monday Night Football. For the third year in a row, the Philadelphia Eagles will play a home game against a team quarterbacked by Kirk Cousins in Week 2. Kinda funny how that’s worked out. Whereas the Eagles faced the Minnesota Vikings the past two years, it’ll be the Atlanta Falcons coming to Lincoln Financial Field next Monday night. And they’ll be visiting as underdogs with the Eagles favored by 5.5 points, according to FanDuelFanDuel. The Falcons sure did not look very good in their Week 1 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers. Atlanta entered the matchup as 4.5-point home favorites and lost by a final score of 18 to 10. The Steelers — led by frequent loser Justin Fields — were able to beat the Falcons despite not even scoring a touchdown, instead relying on six field goals to get the job done. Cousins did not look deserving of that four-year, $180 million contract that the Falcons signed him to back in March. He went 16/26 for 155 yards (6.0 average), one touchdown, two interceptions (including a real WTF decision that essentially lost the game), and a 59.0 passer rating. There are questions if the 36-year-old veteran is fully recovered from the Achilles injury he suffered in late October last season. If history is any indication, Cousins doesn’t seem primed to bounce back in Philly. The Eagles have gotten the better of him in his last two visits to the Linc, generating four sacks and four takeaways. Plus, it’s not like Cousins has typically shined in the prime-time spotlight. The crowd should be pretty juiced up for this one since: 1) the Eagles are 1-0, 2) it’s the Eagles’ true home opener after playing in Brazil, 3) Jason Kelce will be in attendance as part of the ESPN team, and 4) the team is honoring recently retired Super Bowl MVP Nick Foles at halftime. I like the chances of the midnight green Birds coming out on top in this one. I can definitely see them winning by a touchdown, at least. What say you?
NFL Week 2 odds have the Eagles favored against the Falcons
Giants-Vikings ‘Kudos & Wet Willies’: Winners and losers from Sunday’s loss to Minnesota
Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images Let’s pass out this week’s post-game awards Yes, we have to do this. As we always do after New York Giants games, let’s review Sunday’s disappointing 28-6 season-opening loss to the Minnesota Vikings in our traditional ‘Kudos & Wet Willies’ style. Kudos to … Dexter Lawrence — Nothing that went wrong on Sunday can be blamed on the big man. He had a sack, a tackle for loss, a quarterback hit, a pass defensed, and pretty much just batted Minnesota center Garrett Bradbury around all day. Graham Gano — Made his two field-goal attempts for the Giants’ only points, including one from 50 yards out. Darius Muasau — The rookie sixth-round pick started in place of Micah McFadden and came away with an interception, a pass defensed, and six tackles (one for loss). Somebody, though, should tell the rookie that trying to get teammates to run the length of the field to go take one of those defensive “team photos” after an interception when you are down three scores late in the game is not a great look. Jamie Gillan — Gillan punted six times, had four punts downed inside the 20-yard line, gave up one — yes, one — return yard, and had a net punting average of 46.2 yards. Dru Phillips — The rookie cornerback forced a fumble on Minnesota’s opening possession that gave the Giants the ball at the Vikings’ 20-yard line. Sadly, they could only turn that into 3 points. Wet Willies to … Brian Daboll — This is two years in a row that the Giants have opened a season by getting embarrassed. The head coach has to take a hit for that. At least for the Giants’ sake — and maybe the nation’s — this one was not in a prime time slot. There are other reasons to be unhappy with Daboll on Sunday. Play-calling — I hate picking on play-calling. A good play call is one that works, and a bad play call is one that doesn’t. But, I have to. The Giants emphasized getting the ball downfield all spring and summer. Daboll gave his typical “We certainly called the plays” to go downfield answer after Sunday — when the ball did not go down the field. Was that answer a criticism of the quarterback? A complement of the Minnesota defense? Was it not entirely accurate? Maybe it was all of the above. I can recall only one time during the game where it looked like Daniel Jones intended to do down the field with the ball and decided better of it, or could not make the throw. Whatever the reason, there was one pass attempt out of 42 that traveled more than 20 yards past the line of scrimmage. That’s not going to get the job done. The back-to-back designed QB runs by Jones in the second quarter that gained 2 yards, turning second-and-5 at midfield into fourth down and a punt, were stupefying. First of all, the guy was playing his first regular season game after tearing an ACL. Secondly, you have receivers and running back for a reason. Oh, and second-and-5 at midfield seems like a nice time to dial up a shot play rather than a QB run up the middle. The pick 6 thrown by Jones was awful, but the diamond setup with three receivers directly in front of Wan’Dale Robinson screamed from the rooftop that the Giants were throwing a wide receiver screen to Robinson. It’s no wonder Andrew Van Ginkel picked it off like he knew what was coming. It was blatantly obvious. Look at the play: Andrew Van Ginkel picked off Daniel Jones in 1.16 seconds, the fastest interception since Week 13, 2023 when Van Ginkel intercepted Sam Howell in 1.26 seconds. Van Ginkel is now responsible for the two fastest interceptions over the last two seasons.#MINvsNYG | @Vikings pic.twitter.com/vSQyjapeJq — Next Gen Stats (@NextGenStats) September 8, 2024 Daboll’s debut as the team’s play caller was not a good one. Daniel Jones — As usual with Jones, there were plenty of extenuating circumstances. Nearly a half-dozen drops. Poor offensive line play. Some head-scratching play-calling, as we have mentioned. Let’s not, though, take Jones off the hook for anything. I will — almost — forgive his two interceptions. One came on a fourth down where the ball had to be thrown somewhere. The other was the pick 6 where the formation gave the play away. Still, Jones was not good. He was hesitant. He escaped the pocket a couple of times, but either ran himself into sacks or out of potential plays. He looked unsure. He missed some open targets, saying after the game he has to do a better job staying on balance. My translation of that — he was looking at the rush and bailing. Stand in and throw the ball — that’s the job. There is one other thing that gets a ‘Wet Willie.’ Fans who behave like this. I understand being frustrated, but this kind of behavior is uncalled for: Fans stay after the game to personally boo and heckle New York Giants QB Daniel Jones. Is this too far? #Giants100 pic.twitter.com/g6i9osKUwa — New York Revival (@NewYorkRevival) September 9, 2024 Kayvon Thibodeaux and Brian Burns — The ballyhooed edge defenders combined to do nothing on Sunday. At least nothing positive. Burns had four tackles, but no quarterback hits or sacks. Nothing close to an impact play. Thibodeaux? Zero tackles. That’s right. Zero. One QB hit. Oh, and his big play? A third-and-16 face mask penalty that extended a Minnesota drive and led to a touchdown. Thibodeaux says he wants to be a legendary player. Games like Sunday won’t help him get there. Offensive line — Andrew Thomas called the line’s effort “not great” when I spoke to him after the game Sunday night. Then, he quickly amended that to “piss poor.” That pretty neatly, and perhaps too visually, sums it up. Jones was sacked five times
The Linc – Giants start their season with a “disaster”
Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images Philadelphia Eagles news and links for 9/8/24. Let’s get to the Philadelphia Eagles links … ‘Things I think’: Worst possible way for Giants to start the season – Big Blue ViewA year after the Giants got off to an ugly 2-8 start and had a terrible season interrupted only briefly by the unlikely, short-lived heroics of then-rookie undrafted free agent quarterback Tommy DeVito, the last thing the Giants could afford was an ugly beginning to the 2024 season. They prepared differently all spring and summer, turning up the competition and the intensity as they seemed to understand the urgency of getting off to a better start. Yet, at least on Sunday, it didn’t matter. An ugly beginning is what the Giants got. This was a disaster no matter how you slice it. It was an awful performance from a team that has had far too many of those through multiple coaching staffs and front offices over the last 10 years or so. None of the things the Giants banked on helping them this season came to fruition, and some of the things we thought would be concerns turned out to be exactly that. Daniel Jones threw truly awful pick-6 for Giants to start NFL season – SB NationThe New York Giants were expected to be one of the NFL’s worst teams entering the season, and their Week 1 performance hasn’t done anything to change that perspective. New York got smoked out of the gates against a Minnesota Vikings team already starting its backup QB, and as expected the big issue for the Giants has been their quarterback play. Daniel Jones feels like he’s on his last chance as an NFL QB, and he’s already off to a bad start. In the third quarter of Week 1, Jones dropped back to pass and threw an absolutely terrible pick right into the hands of Vikings defender Andrew Van Ginkel. The veteran linebacker waltzed into the end zone for the pick-six. What was Jones looking at? His days as a starting QB already feel numbered. Watch Jones’ awful pick here. Saquon Barkley points scored this season: 18 New York Giants points scored this season: 6 — Brandon Lee Gowton (@BrandonGowton) September 8, 2024 Cowboys make quarterback with one of the weakest playoff resumes ever the highest paid player in NFL history – BGNAs we know, though, the Cowboys haven’t been great about extending their players early to get (relative) bargains like the Eagles have often done. On one hand, Prescott’s extension is bad news for the Eagles. It would’ve been preferable for him to get to the free agent market in March. At that point, he would’ve had unprecedented leverage. Either the Cowboys would’ve had to pay him even more … or he would’ve left Dallas, leaving the Cowboys with no clear alternative plan at quarterback. On the other hand, the Cowboys deciding to hitch their wagon to a quarterback who has one of the weakest playoff resumes EVER is certainly a choice! More on the Opening Win – Iggles BlitzJalen Hurts only threw one INT all summer. We heard day after day about how great he looked. On the initial 3rd down of the season, Hurts made a horrible decision and a horrible throw for an INT. Early in the 4th quarter Hurts almost threw a bad pick on 2nd down and then did throw a bad pick on 3rd down. In the red zone. With the Eagles winning. Football 101. Protect the ball when you’re in scoring territory. Especially when you have the lead. Ugh. This felt a lot like last year. Maybe Hurts has some PTSD from the collapse. Maybe he just got greedy. But it sure bears watching. If this was just an opening game couple of hiccups, fine. We can live with that. His decision-making was erratic for much of the game. That cannot continue or the Eagles are going to have issues. The Packers have a mediocre defense. Hurts has to play a lot smarter against good defenses. ‘I put us in a bad spot:’ Jalen Hurts still trying to solve interception problem – NBCSPHe knows. But they keep happening. “Definitely could have avoided some of those things,” Hurts said. “I put us in a bad spot as a team,” he said. It was a strange game all around because the Eagles struggled in a lot of areas but nonetheless got out of Brazil with a huge win over a very good team to open the season. Nobody struggled more than Hurts, whose two interceptions in the Eagles’ 34-29 win in São Paulo weren’t tipped balls or incredible defensive plays. They were just avoidable mistakes that were the result of poor decision making. Falcons’ Week 1 game plan raises fresh questions about Kirk Cousins’ health – The FalcoholicThe Falcons’ game plan should now make everyone nervous, because so many snaps out of pistol and shotgun for a quarterback who doesn’t necessarily thrive in those looks would objectively be weird…if Cousins was fully healthy. If you don’t want Cousins to have to repeatedly turn his back to the defense in play action and have to take traditional multi-step drops, however, that game plan suddenly makes a ton of sense. The fact that it didn’t work very well has a lot to do with the strength of the Steelers defense and the lack of comfort from Cousins. The most benign explanation for that is probably that Cousins has not played in a long time, has evident rust to knock off (cue preseason snaps furor here), and Zac Robinson and company knew it would take him some time to get more comfortable. In that light, a game plan that didn’t ask him to move around too much when T.J. Watt and company are lined up across from you makes a certain amount of sense, even if the results were poor. The more ominous explanation, of course, is that Cousins isn’t really healthy. Those whispers
Giants news, 9/9: Giants lose to Vikings, Daniel Jones, Brian Daboll, more headlines
Stephen Lew-USA TODAY Sports New York Giants news for Monday Good morning, New York Giants fans! From Big Blue View Giants-Vikings final score: Giants pummeled by Minnesota, 28-6 ‘Things I think’: Worst possible way for Giants to start the season 4 things we learned from the Giants’ 28-6 loss to the Vikings Dexter Lawrence on fans booing at the home opener: ‘I don’t respect it’ Giants-Vikings inactives: Boogie Basham, Tre Hawkins among inactives Giants injury news: Punt returner Gunner Olszewski, Carter Coughlin out, Nick McCloud questionable Giants-Vikings Week 1: Live updates Other Giant observations Giants report card: Brian Daboll’s first game as play-caller was a complete disaster | New York Post What do they often say? It’s not the plays, it’s the players. Well, Brian Daboll better hope that is true because his debut as the play-caller on offense was an abject disaster. There were no answers to be found. The first game for defensive coordinator Shane Bowen was nothing special — allowing a 99-yard drive was brutal and his vow to stop the run was not realized. There was no crispness to much that went on out there. Brian Daboll: I have to do a better job all the way around | Pro Football Talk “There’s a lot of things to clean up. I’ve got to do a better job all the way around and that’s what I’ll do,” Daboll said in his postgame press conference. The Giants ran 17 more plays than the Vikings, but were outgained by more than 70 yards and Jones was 22-of-42 while being sacked five times. Not a lot to say afterwards from the Giants brass Asked John Mara if he had any comment. He didn’t break stride or alter his gaze at all #Giants — Pat Leonard (@PLeonardNYDN) September 8, 2024 Key takeaways from Vikings’ rout of Giants: Sam Darnold shines, N.Y. offense sputters and more | The Athletic Jones only completed a smidge over 50 percent of his passes, while New York running back Devin Singletary ran for 37 yards on 10 carries. Minnesota’s coverage and pass rush groups were stout. They hit Jones 10 times. They sacked him four times. They also had five pass deflections. Vikings 28, NY Giants 6: Daniel Jones, Giants fall to Sam Darnold, Vikings | The Record Jones never looked in sync against the Vikings and defensive coordinator Brian Flores. His throws skipped at the feet of receivers in key spots. He double-clutched far too many times. It’s everything critics say defines Jones’ play, and why the Giants are not going to rebound this season with him at the helm of the offense. Giants Head Coach Brian Daboll Still Backing QB Daniel Jones | SI.com Despite the quarterback’s latest clunker, head coach Brian Daboll didn’t sound like someone ready to make a change at quarterback. “We’re going to watch everything,” he said in response to the question, adding, “That’s not in my mind.” No more excuses — Daniel Jones must play better, or Giants should explore other QB options | SNY.tv But this game was most an indictment on Jones. He missed open receivers, which thwarted drives. He held the ball too long, which led to sacks (five). Daboll calling plays was supposed to mean a more aggressive attack. Instead, Jones attempted just one pass beyond 20 yards. There were chances to stretch the field, Jones seemed to second-guess what he was seeing. One more performance like this and it’s time for a change. First impressions are usually the right impressions. There’s enough evidence now to illustrate Jones is the player Schoen thought he was when he declined his fifth-year option, and not the one he handed that $160-million extension. NFL Week 1 Stock Up/Stock Down: Josh Allen, Justin Fields, Sam Darnold Start Hot While Bengals, Giants, Panthers Flail | ProFootballNetwork.com Stock Down | New York Giants. Daniel Jones might have to worry about his contract structure eventually getting him benched. But if he keeps playing like he did in New York’s Week 1 loss to the Vikings, Jones might get pulled before any financial questions come into play. Malek Nabers with Ray Flaherty’s family Malik Nabers and the family of Ray Flaherty pic.twitter.com/g8lGEzVnrb — New York Giants (@Giants) September 7, 2024 Instant Analysis: Giants fall to Vikings, 28-6 | Giants.com Starting nickel cornerback Dru Phillips wasn’t the only rookie to have his hand in a takeaway. Linebacker Darius Muasau, a sixth-rounder from UCLA who started on Sunday, intercepted a pass that was tipped high in the air by a charging Lawrence near the end of the third quarter. Giants don’t like the MetLife boos? Brace yourself, fellas. It’s only going to get worse | Politi | nj.com The booing started just six minutes into the season opener, and if that seemed premature, just know that the paying customers at MetLife Stadium can smell a gridiron disaster before it even begins to unfold. They have developed something akin to a sixth sense for bad football. They see dead teams. Saquon Barkley says Brian Daboll reached out before the Eagles-Packers game on Friday | Bleeding Green Nation He didn’t want to talk too much about the past, explaining that he still has a lot of good relationships with players and coaches from the Giants, admitting that Brian Daboll even reached out earlier on Friday to wish his luck in his Eagles debut. “I’m thankful for the last six years that I had in New York. I wouldn’t be the man I am today without it, and I still got great relationships with all those guys. I even talked to [Brian] Daboll today, he wished me luck. So, still having a great relationship with those guys, but I’m just happy to be here, happy to be with this organization, and I just look forward to the future.” This week’s opponent Commanders place Marcus Mariota on IR, sign Sam Hartman to 53-man roster | Pro Football Network Washington’s veteran backup will be sidelined for at least the
Winners & Losers: Tre White gives Jameson Williams his NFL breakout game
Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images Rams fall (again) to their former QB Jared Goff and the Lions Matthew Stafford and the Los Angeles Rams again find themselves leaving Ford Field on the losing side of a battle against Jared Goff and the Detroit Lions. While the Rams battled injuries to Puka Nacua, the secondary, and the offensive line, LA fought to keep the score close before the dam broke in overtime. The Rams fell to the Lions 20-26. The Lions received the ball after regulation and ran the ball down the Rams’ throat. Detroit attempted only a single pass as they marched down the field 60 yards and punched the ball into the end zone behind David Montgomery. While there were reasons to be encouraged with LA’s performance in light of the immense adversity they faced, the season will start with a painful loss. Who stood out on an individual level? Let’s take a look at who played well and who contributed to the losing effort. Winners Cooper Kupp, WR Welcome to the NFL, Terrion Arnold. The first round rookie was given a tough assignment in Kupp, and the result was two pass interference penalties in the end zone that set up Rams touchdowns. Kupp finished with 21 targets (!), 14 receptions, 110 receiving yards, and a touchdown. He also added two rushing attempts for another 10 yards. It was clear after Puka Nacua left the game that Kupp was the focal point of the offense, and this performance was reminiscent of his 2021 triple crown campaign. TOE TAP COOP : @SNFonNBC | #RamsHouse pic.twitter.com/9OUuoaOkE8 — Los Angeles Rams (@RamsNFL) September 9, 2024 John Johnson, DB There might not have been a more significant momentum shifting play for the Rams in this game than John Johnson colliding with Amon-Ra St. Brown and intercepting Goff with nine minutes to go in the fourth quarter while Los Angeles was trailing 13-17. Johnson took over a starting role in the second half of last season in place of Russ Yeast, and it seems he’ll have a significant role in 2024. WHAT A PLAY! : @SNFonNBC | #RamsHouse pic.twitter.com/mwb7mRq36y — Los Angeles Rams (@RamsNFL) September 9, 2024 Tyler Johnson, WR One of the key plays on offense was Tyler Johnson’s 63-yard catch and run. Johnson was filling in for Nacua mostly, and he finished this game with seven targets, five catches, and 79 yards. Johnson stopped on a dime after a short throw from Stafford, and his long run helped ignite what had been a sleepy Rams offense up to that point. GO AHEAD @T_muhneyy10! : @SNFonNBC | #RamsHouse pic.twitter.com/BkVLwnjIwz — Los Angeles Rams (@RamsNFL) September 9, 2024 Josh Karty, K Now that the Lions are seemingly perennial contenders, there may be no tougher place to play than Ford Field. The rowdy environment didn’t seem to phase rookie kicker Josh Karty, who nailed both of his field goal opportunities. His longest came from 41 yards out and he also converted two extra point attempts. Losers Tre White, CB With Darious Williams on injured reserve for the first four games and Cobie Durant hobbled with a hamstring injury, the Rams should be glad to have a veteran like Tre White to hold things together at corner. Still, White looked like a player coming off of Achilles and ACL injuries over the last few seasons. Jameson Williams had his career breakout on primetime with five receptions for 121 yards and a touchdown. He also added a rush for 13 yards. A lot of those yards came at White’s expense, including Williams’ 52-yard touchdown. White still might be chasing Williams and you could barely see the corner on the screen when the broadcast cut to the receiver. Jameson Williams beat White so bad that White tried to tackle him, barely got any part of him, and just had to watch the TD unfold pic.twitter.com/RtUJXNLIlf — Sam Monson (@SamMonsonNFL) September 9, 2024 AJ Arcuri, LT You can’t blame a single player for the struggles of the offensive line. Alaric Jackson (suspension) and Rob Havenstein (ankle) weren’t going to play from the jump—Joe Noteboom and Warren McClendon filled in for those players, respectively. Noteboom was the first lineman to fall in game with an ankle injury, and AJ Arcuri came in as his replacement. Arcuri was someone who didn’t even make the roster in the team’s final cutdown and was elevated from the practice squad for this game. That’s not a good sign for the offense, and out of fairness that’s a tough assignment for Arcuri. LG Steve Avila also left the game with a knee injury. Jonah Jackson slid over from center and rookie Beaux Limmer came in at center. There were seemingly a fair amount of miscommunications and missed assignments early on, but the group settled in some late into the contest. Brutal couple of holds called on Arcuri, including one that nullified a Jordan Whittington touchdown. — Jourdan Rodrigue (@JourdanRodrigue) September 9, 2024 Blake Corum, RB Corum certainly didn’t touch the football, and I don’t think he played a single offensive snap. Ronnie Rivers took two handoffs for 16 yards and seemed to be the first up to spell Kyren Williams. The rookie is talented enough and should be on the field. Does the team have concerns about his ability to hold up in pass protection? Could we see Corum with a larger workload in the near future?
Dolphins win ugly over Jaguars- The Splash Zone 9/9/24
Sam Navarro-Imagn Images Welcome to the Splash Zone, the quickest way to get your day started off right. We bring you a rundown of Miami Dolphins news from the last 24 hours. It was ugly, but a win is a win. The Miami Dolphins were sloppy yesterday on both offense and defense but managed to pull off the comeback over the Jacksonville Jaguars. The Dolphins could not get a run game going as the Jaguars defensive line was dominating the line of scrimmage all game long. The passing game was hot and cold, but you can always count on Tua Tagovailoa finding Tyreek Hill for a huge play. The only reason the Dolphins were able to come back and win was because of a crucial forced fumble by Jevon Holland as the Jaguars were close to scoring. The Dolphins will have a short week to prepare for a visit from the Buffalo Bills for a Thursday night showdown. You can check out that story here, and the rest of the day’s round-up below. Jacksonville Jaguars vs. Miami Dolphins Instant Observations: Jason Sanders Kicks Dolphins to 1-0The Miami Dolphins opened the season with a 20-17 victory over the Jacksonville Jaguars thanks to a 52-yard field by Jason Sanders at the gun. Jaguars at Dolphins Instant takeaways from Miami Dolphins’ last-play win over Jacksonville Jaguars – Yahoo SportsThe Miami Dolphins open the 2024 season by beating Jacksonville on Jason Sanders’ 52-yard FG as time expired. Miami Dolphins defender likely saved his team from defeat with a huge play that sparked late rallyThe veteran safety helped the Dolphins turn things around against the Jaguars Miami Dolphins-Jacksonville Jaguars: The Five Biggest PlaysBreaking down the five plays that most decided the outcome in the Miami Dolphins 20-17 victory against the Jacksonville Jaguars at Hard Rock Stadium. Kelly: Dolphins defense delivers game changing plays against Jacksonville when defense was needed – Yahoo SportsSpecial teams sealed the win over Jacksonville, but it was Miami’s defense that set the table. Fourth-down gambles highlight 3 burning questions from Miami Dolphins’ win over Jaguars – Yahoo SportsWhat was up with those fourth-down gambles in the Miami Dolphins’ 20-17 win over the Jacksonville Jaguars? ‘That Game, We Don’t Win the Last 2 Years’ — Putting Miami Dolphins’ Thrilling Comeback in PerspectiveDo the Miami Dolphins have a championship DNA? Wins like the one they had Sunday against the Jacksonville Jaguars will change the narrative. Dolphins Quarterbacks What Tua Tagovailoa Said at Halftime To Spur Miami Dolphins’ Second-Half ComebackMiami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa laid into his teammates after a sloppy first half against the Jacksonville Jaguars. The pep talk worked. Dolphins Wide Receivers What Happened Between Tyreek Hill and Miami-Dade Police? Here’s Everything We KnowMiami Dolphins players Tyreek Hill and Calais Campbell try to make sense of why both ended up in handcuffs in the shadow of Hard Rock Stadium Sunday. Phinsider News You May Have Missed Dolphins open season against the Jaguars – Miami Dolphins News 9/8/24 – The PhinsiderWelcome to the Splash Zone, the quickest way to get your day started off right. We bring you a rundown of Miami Dolphins news from the last 24 hours. Schefter: Dolphins WR Tyreek Hill detained on driving violation entering stadium — will play against Jaguars – The PhinsiderMiami Dolphins wide receiver Tyreek Hill was detained by police outside of Hard Rock Stadium before Sunday’s game. Jaguars vs. Dolphins odds in Week 1: Predicting the winner for Miami, all Sunday games – The PhinsiderPicking the Jaguars at Dolphins winner based on the latest FanDuel odds as well as straight-up winners picks for all Sunday Week 1 games. How to watch Jaguars vs Dolphins: NFL Week 1 TV coverage, online stream, odds, injuries, more – The PhinsiderThe 2024 NFL regular season kicks off for the Miami Dolphins on Sunday as they host the Jacksonville Jaguars. How can you watch the game? NFL Week 1 betting: Miami Dolphins prop bets vs. Jacksonville Jaguars – The PhinsiderTaking a look at the Week 1 prop bets for the Miami Dolphins versus the Jacksonville Jaguars. Jaguars vs. Dolphins inactive players in Week 1: Jalen Ramsey ready to play – The PhinsiderThe Miami Dolphins and Jacksonville Jaguars released their inactive players lists for today’s Week 1 showdown. NFL scores Week 1: Jaguars vs Dolphins final and immediate reactions – The PhinsiderThe Miami Dolphins and Jacksonville Jaguars kicked off their 2024 NFL season with a Week 1 showdown in South Florida. Jaguars vs. Dolphins reactions: Stock up, stock down from Miami’s win in Week 1 – The PhinsiderThe Miami Dolphins beat the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sunday afternoon. Who saw their stock rise or fall during the game? SNF: Los Angeles Rams @ Detroit Lions Open Live Thread & Game Info – The PhinsiderJoin us live to follow this evening’s Sunday Night Football game between the Los Angeles Rams and the Detroit Lions.
Rams fate decided by a coin toss
Photo by Nic Antaya/Getty Images Did the Rams deserve a chance to match the Lions overtime touchdown? The Los Angeles Rams didn’t roll over and die as they lost key player after key player due to injury, standing toe-to-toe with the Detroit Lions on their home turf and forcing overtime on Sunday Night Football. Unfortunately, getting to overtime was not good enough. The Rams would have also needed to win the coin toss to give themselves a decent chance to actually beat the Lions, as both defenses looked so exhausted by the end that really that decided the game as much as David Montgomery scoring the winning touchdown. Matthew Stafford called heads, it was tails, and that basically ended L.A.’s hopes right there. Can’t believe Matthew Stafford just picked heads. Not something you would expect out of a veteran. — Harrison Francesa (@H_Francesa) September 9, 2024 The NFL adopted overtime rules for regular season games in 1974. The league stopped letting teams win with a first possession field goal in 2012. Overtime was reduced from 15 minutes to 10 minutes in 2017. And now it’s a question of how long it will take for the NFL to change the rules again. Should the NFL change the rule so that teams that start on defense get a chance to match any type of offensive score, including a touchdown? The Rams were down 17-3 until an 11-play, 70 yard drive that took 7 minutes helped L.A. score their first touchdown of the game late in the third quarter. Then the Rams went 76 yards and kicked a field goal. Then the Rams went 80 yards and took the lead on a touchdown. By that time, the Rams offense was practically unstoppable. Unfortunately, so was the Lions offense. Detroit went 55 yards in under two minutes to get into range for a game-tying field goal that Sean McVay decided not to slow down with some timeouts, allowing the game to go into overtime. The Lions won the toss and went 70 yards by almost exclusively using David Montgomery on the ground. L.A. had no answers for anyone and because of these OT rules, Matthew Stafford was never given a chance to rectify calling heads. The Rams gave everything they had in order to almost overcome major bad luck, including losing multiple offensive linemen and Puka Nacua to injuries mid-game. The only thing they forgot to do was the wrap the bow on tails.
Week 1 Colts vs. Texans Highlights: the Indy defense did not make it in this article.
Marc Lebryk-Imagn Images The best plays from week 1 It’s been eleven years since the Indianapolis Colts have won a week one game. That’s disappointing. It’s discouraging. It just really stinks. This game was full of ups and downs. The offense struggled in some ways, though the way they struggled was highly predictable. The defensive struggles, however, were completely unexpected. Most Colts fans were probably expecting CJ Stroud to find his very talented trio of receivers over and over again for more than 300 yards and a massive day against a highly questionable Colts defensive backfield. No one, not even Texans fans, would have predicted that the Houston Texans would rush for more than 200 yards while Stroud threw for fewer than 250. Stroud didn’t need to throw to win this game and the entire hope the Colts had to win it rested on forcing Stroud into long third down situations so that their pass rushers would have a chance to disrupt the Texans offense and get them off the field. That’s not exactly what happened. Were there plays that were highlight worthy from the Indianapolis Colts defense today? Yeah, probably so. But I’m protesting that side of the ball in this article until they hold a starting running back under 5 yards per carry this season. Hopefully I can include them next week but with a Green Bay Packers and Josh Jacobs matchup next week, I’m not holding my breath. Let’s get into what went right. First Quarter Anthony Richardson is a lot of fun Hey Indy… y’all ready for the Anthony Richardson experience?#Colts#ForTheShoe#Texans#HTownMade#HOUvsIND pic.twitter.com/WW7x87it9I — Chris Shepherd (@NFLscheme) September 8, 2024 Richardson threw this ball off of his back foot, it traveled more than 60 yards in the air and it gave Alec Pierce an opportunity to make the catch and score six points. There aren’t many people on the planet who can make this throw. It didn’t always look great for Richardson today, there were mistakes, but none of those mistakes were the kind that should cast any doubt on Richardson’s future as he continues to develop as a 22 year old starting quarterback. Second Quarter Shane Steichen once asked if you would take the 3-shot away from Steph Curry Nice run from Richardson#Colts#ForTheShoe#Texans#HTownMade#HOUvsIND pic.twitter.com/vup3w4Jmwv — Chris Shepherd (@NFLscheme) September 8, 2024 The Colts called multiple runs for Richardson, who finished with 6 carries for 46 yards. The best part of his runs today? Not once on any of his runs was there any sign that the hits phased him in the slightest. He didn’t get up slow, he didn’t wince, he didn’t limp back to the huddle. Nothing. He took the hits the way you would expect a 250+ pound ball carrier to. You can argue about “running” quarterbacks all you like, the Colts aren’t going to stop calling runs for their starting signal caller. Non-called runs worked well too for AR Big AR scramble!#Colts#ForTheShoe#Texans#HTownMade#HOUvsIND pic.twitter.com/ZnlzWkF6K2 — Chris Shepherd (@NFLscheme) September 8, 2024 If your defense calls man to man and you vacate the middle of the field, Anthony Richardson will do this all day long. Picking up third and five is easy when the defense gifts you 15 untouched yards in the middle of the field. Third Quarter The defense did not make this article. But special teams absolutely did. We’ve got an Olubi punt block!#Colts#ForTheShoe#Texans#HTownMade#HOUvsIND pic.twitter.com/yy1Jp6fegt — Chris Shepherd (@NFLscheme) September 8, 2024 Segun Olubi came up huge in the third quarter, swinging momentum for the Colts and setting them up in scoring position. Jonathan Taylor sighting Touchdown Jonathan Taylor!#Colts#ForTheShoe#Texans#HTownMade#HOUvsIND pic.twitter.com/gtYOrBv1o3 — Chris Shepherd (@NFLscheme) September 8, 2024 Taylor didn’t have a great day on the ground but I’m not worried about that yet. On this one he took the hand off and went more or less untouched for six points. The Colts went for two and didn’t get it so they pulled within two points with the game at 15-13, Texans. Fourth Quarter AR5 is pure excitement. It’s explosive TD’s or nothin in Indy today! What a throw!#Colts#ForTheShoe#Texans#HTownMade#HOUvsIND pic.twitter.com/8uFnN6fArf — Chris Shepherd (@NFLscheme) September 8, 2024 I don’t know what Ashton Dulin’s touchdown odds were today but I have to imagine someone out there put a dollar on it and now they’re going to have to worry about the tax implications of their new-found wealth. Good for Dulin, in his first game back from the torn ACL that cost him his 2023 season he goes 1 for 56 and a touchdown. Pretty good day for the special teamer. If you thought AR to AP was done, you would be wrong. AR to AP!#Colts#ForTheShoe#Texans#HTownMade#HOUvsIND pic.twitter.com/KMQn4ds60N — Chris Shepherd (@NFLscheme) September 8, 2024 This throw wasn’t as impressive as the first. Pierce had to come back to it, but he still threw the ball a mile. The most impressive part of this play was Alec Pierce high-pointing the ball and making a great play. My biggest criticism of Pierce was that he only seemed to create separation deep down field. As it turns out when your quarterback can throw the ball deep, that’s a very valuable skillset. I submit to you that there is only one quarterback in the league that scores on this run Touchdown Superman!#Colts#ForTheShoe#Texans#HTownMade#HOUvsIND pic.twitter.com/2qbHGOjyTj — Chris Shepherd (@NFLscheme) September 8, 2024 This play is silly. I was sure he was going to get tackled at the line and the game was over. Instead he put the team and several defenders on his back to convert on fourth and goal. Final Thoughts on Week One It stinks that the Colts lost, again, in week one. The defense caused this loss and I don’t really want to spend too much time lamenting their problems, if you’re reading this article and you watched the game you probably already understand the inability to stop the run was the biggest issue. What I do want to talk about is Anthony Richardson. A lot of (dumb) people online are going to criticize Richardson’s completion percentage and
Raiders open as 8.5-point underdogs in Week 2 vs. the Baltimore Ravens
Photo by Michael Owens/Getty Images Raiders open as heavy underdogs vs the Baltimore Ravens The Las Vegas Raiders had their first season loss on Sunday against the Los Angeles Chargers. The 22-10 defeat came with struggles from the offense and the defense cracked after holding strong for three quarters. It was their fourth loss in a row in Los Angeles and now they have to prepare for the Baltimore Ravens. The Ravens lost to the Kansas City Chiefs and will be at home. Antonio Pierce and the Raiders will be having a long road trip that has been dreadful for West Coast teams historically. FanDuel Sportsbook posted odds for all the Week 2 action, with the Raiders opening as 8.5-point underdogs on the road against the Ravens next Sunday with an O/U of 42.5. With every team playing in Week 2. According to FanDuel, the biggest favorites for the upcoming games are the Baltimore Ravens, who are 8.5-point favorites over the Raiders. Check out the opening odds below: Raiders vs. Ravens Moneyline: Raiders +350, Ravens -460 Opening point spread: -8.5 Opening point total: 42.5
The Bills were actually insanely close to another ‘Hail Murray’ vs. the Cardinals
The Bills were actually insanely close to another ‘Hail Murray’ vs. the Cardinals Nick Wojton The Buffalo Bills won, no redos, Arizona Cardinals. If that was an option, the Cards would have certainly taken this mulligan. Four years ago, Buffalo lost to Arizona on the final play to the same foe. It was dubbed the “Hail Murray” after Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray, who completed an improbable pass on the final play. He nearly did it again, but he looked the wrong way. Murray got the ball back trailing 34-28 with 1:56 to play and three timeouts. Arizona got into Buffalo’s half of the field. It felt like another miracle could be brewing and this image shows how close it was: That is Cardinals’ rookie Marvin Harrison Jr. He was not targeted on the final drive and Harrison should have been on this play. Unfortunately for Arizona, Murray opted for a short pass to receiver Greg Dortch after taking a couple of seconds running around the pocket. Fortunately for Buffalo, Murray did that instead of throwing it to Harrison because four plays later, the game was over and the Bills won 34-28. That would have been some “Hail Murray 2.0” outcome, but it was not.
