Photo by Pedro Vilela/Getty Images Philadelphia Eagles news and links for 9/8/24. Let’s get to the Philadelphia Eagles links … Reed Blankenship breaks down his game-saving INT vs. Packers – NBCSPThe Eagles needed someone, anyone to make a play. And Reed Blankenship came through. In the third quarter on Friday night, when the Eagles were trailing the Packers by two, Blankenship picked off a Jordan Love pass up the seam. A few plays later, Saquon Barkley punched in another touchdown for the Eagles to take a lead they didn’t give back in a 31-29 win over the Packers in Brazil. It was a huge play by Blankenship. But he was quick to spread around the credit in the post-game locker room. “I wouldn’t say there was any pressure, but absolutely, the turnover battle was definitely uneven and we needed some sort of momentum play,” Blankenship said. “We were fortunate enough to make it. I just didn’t make it. Everybody else played a part in it too. We play as a team and we win as a team.” Eagles-Packers snap counts: Zack Baun filled up the stat sheet as the top linebacker – BGNReed Blankenship played the second-most snaps of any Eagles defender last year. He’s on track to lead the team this season if he can stay healthy, which remains to be seen. Blankenship sure isn’t headed to the bench in favor of Sydney Brown if he continues to make plays like he did with interception on Friday night. The #Eagles defensive PFF grades from their week 1 victory over the #Packers pic.twitter.com/bnQujpCxFi — Shane Haff (@ShaneHaffNFL) September 8, 2024 Eagles-Packers Takeaways! Saquon Barkley Goes Off As Birds Start Season With a Win – The Ringer’s Philly SpecialThe Eagles were victorious over the Green Bay Packers 34-29 Friday night in Brazil to kick off their season. Sheil is joined by Brandon Lee Gowton of Bleeding Green Nation to discuss the victory and biggest takeaways (4:41). How well did Jalen Hurts perform? Sheil and BLG discuss the negatives and positives from his performance (23:45). How did Vic Fangio’s defense hold up with so many moving parts this past offseason (43:58)? Plus, Sheil finally reveals which part of the brownie he takes from a freshly baked batch, and BLG’s dating update! Radio Part 1: Eagles-Packers Reaction From Eliot Shorr-Parks – Go Birds PodcastEliot Shorr-Parks joins James Seltzer and Brandon Lee Gowton to react to Friday night’s Eagles win over the Green Bay Packers in Brazil. Radio Part 2: Eagles-Packers Reaction From Joe DeCamara – Go Birds PodcastJoe DeCamara joins James Seltzer and Brandon Lee Gowton to react to Friday night’s Eagles win over the Green Bay Packers in Brazil. Six Takeaways From the Eagles’ Win Over the Packers in Brazil – The RingerJalen Hurts Is Still Learning the Offense. There was always going to be a bit of a learning curve with Jalen Hurts this season. His strained—putting it lightly—relationship with head coach Nick Sirianni made every headline this offseason. And playing without veteran center Kelce for the first time has given Hurts a massive amount of responsibility handling protection calls for the offense. Moore is Hurts’s fifth offensive play caller in five years, and he’s installed an almost entirely new offense. It’s going to take time for Hurts to adjust, but unfortunately it’s time he might not have. The Eagles have been in Super-Bowl-or-bust mode since their run in 2022, and the spotlight has been on Hurts to be the guy ever since his $255 million contract extension shortly after that season. It’s a massive amount of change for any quarterback in one offseason, and Eagles fans were hoping to see a new, more improved version of Hurts. What they saw Friday was inconsistent play that in too many ways reminded them of last season. The Hurts roller coaster might have ended on a high, but it was a terrifying ride. I can’t sum it up much better than my Ringer colleague Sheil Kapadia. Why this high-profile Eagles player’s performance in win vs. Packers is extremely concerning – NJ.comFirst impressions are always important, and Eagles defensive end Bryce Huff had a chance to make a memorable one in his first regular-season game for his new team in São Paulo, Brazil, when he lined up against the Green Bay Packers on Friday. Huff’s debut, however, did not go as planned in the Eagles’ 34-29 win in Week 1. Huff finished the game with one tackle, an assist that did not come until there was 7:21 remaining in the third quarter. 14.2 million watched Friday night’s Packers-Eagles game from Brazil on Peacock – PFTPro football’s pivot to streaming continues. Friday night’s game between the Packers and Eagles played in Brazil and broadcast exclusively on Peacock averaged 14.2 million nationwide viewers. That number nearly doubled the audience that watched last December’s Peacock-exclusive regular-season game between the Bills and the Chargers. It shows where the viewing world is going. And it’s no surprise. Report: Packers QB Jordan Love to be out 3-6 weeks with knee injury – Acme Packing CompanyAccording to a report from NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero, Green Bay Packers quarterback Jordan Love is expected to miss the next three to six weeks, citing anonymous sources. Earlier, it was reported by Pelissero’s colleague, Ian Rapoport, that the Packers ruled out an ankle injury for Love but identified an MCL sprain for the starting quarterback. Pelissero did note, though, that there is “early optimism” that Love could beat the three- to six-week timetable, “pending a second opinion.” If you’re reading between the lines here, the question is: What is the grade for the MCL sprain? Based on MCL sprain timetables, a Grade 1 sprain could recover as quickly as less than a week. Meanwhile, a Grade 2 sprain typically takes around a month. A Grade 3 sprain can keep Love sidelined for two months. Report: There is ‘small chance’ Dak Prescott and Dallas Cowboys agree to extension on Sunday – Blogging The BoysThe Dallas
The Linc – Reed Blankenship is a playmaker
Saquon Barkley says Brian Daboll reached out before the Eagles-Packers game on Friday
The Eagles’ RB spoke to reporters after their win about being apart of this offense, what he wants to work on, and about the field conditions in Brazil. The Eagles wrapped up their international trip to South America, and following his hat trick on Friday night, Saquon Barkley spoke to reporters about the opportunity and how it felt to be on the field as an Eagle. Barkley said the opportunity to play in Brazil was amazing and he was thankful to the NFL. He lauded the energy, calling it amazing, and pointed out how special it was for him to be the first player ever to score a touchdown in South America. The running back reflected on how they approached the game, and knew that they were facing a tough Packers team. He admitted that they didn’t make it easy on themselves early in the game, but eventually found a rhythm. Barkley said the offensive line played great, and noted that the group was a big factor when making his decision about where to sign this offseason. Later, he gave the offensive line a lot of credit for making him look good, saying it all starts up front. 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.” He acknowledged that there are a lot of things to improve on, and he’s eager to review the film, because off the top of his head he knew there were some areas he’ll need to work on — including in the four-minute offense. Still, he’s excited about this offense and this team. The running back echoed statements he made in the offseason about how this offense is built so that any guy can have a big week — this week happened to be his, but he’s excited about an offense that he’s maybe not even Top 3 guys that defenses have to prepare for, alongside Jalen Hurts, A.J. Brown, DeVonta Smith, and Dallas Goedert. He later said that it was really special, among a group of such talented guys, that on a night that was Barkley-loaded, they weren’t looking for their own touches, but rather trying to get him a fourth touchdown. That’s what you need from a team to be successful, and when it’s Brown or Smith’s turn to take the load, it makes him want to block even better for them. “That’s my favorite thing about being part of this team is there’s no selfish personalities here. We all have one common goal and I’m excited to be part of that.” Barkley also talked about the field conditions, and admitted that it was different than what they are used to. He explained that he made a mistake, because during warm-ups he felt comfortable so he opted against using the studs, but that’s different than at full speed, which is when he had issues. After that first drive, he put the studs on, worked on getting his footing, and then it was, “pretty okay.” He had a lot of great things to say about the fans, while noting that there were a lot of Packers fans, so it didn’t quite feel like a home game, but they did hear some “Go Birds” chants. Barkley was happy they got the win, and now looks forward to playing in Philly in front of their fans, next Monday night.
Test your Eagles knowledge on Sept. 8 with BGN’s new daily trivia game
Think you can figure out which Eagles player we’re talking about? You’ll get five clues to figure him out in our new guessing game! Welcome back for another day of BGN’s in-5 daily trivia game. Just a reminder that this remains a beta that we’re testing out this week. Today’s game is down below and you can play previous day’s games as well: September 7th gameSeptember 6th gameSeptember 5th gameSeptember 4th gameSeptember 3rd game The goal of the game is to guess the correct Eagles player with the help of up to five clues. We’ll mix in BOTH ACTIVE AND RETIRED PLAYERS this week. It won’t be easy to figure it out in one or two guesses, but some of you might be able to nail it. The game appears in slot #3 of the BGN layout each day this week, with a new article each day for the game. Additionally, there is a more general version of this at SBNation.com, which features a variety of random players that do not necessarily have Eagles history. After you correctly guess the player, you can click “Share Results” to share how you did down in the comments and on social media. We won’t go into other details about the game as we’d like your feedback on it. How it plays, what you think of it, the difficulty level, and anything else you can think of that will help us improve this game. You can provide feedback in the comments of this article, or you can fill out this Google Form. What we need from you Play the game (reminder that the answer could be EITHER and active or retired player) Share your result in the comments and on social media Provide feedback (Google Form or in comments below) Bleeding Green Nation in-5
AFC North: All 4 teams dealing with injury issues to starters
Lon Horwedel-Imagn Images Ja’Marr Chase, Russell Wilson the biggest names but everyone has injury issues in the best division The AFC North is already 0-1 in the 2024 NFL season thanks to the Baltimore Ravens losing to the Kansas City Chiefs to open the year. The Ravens were “toe” close to knocking off the defending Super Bowl champions but fell short. The other three teams in the division will start their seasons today but, along with Baltimore coming out of Thursday Night Football, injuries continue to be a story. The AFC North was historically great last year and is projected to be again this year but injuries can stop everything. Cleveland Browns fans know the issues at left tackle with Jedrick Wills out for Week 1 and Jack Conklin, set to start in place of Wills, questionable for the game. The Browns aren’t the only ones facing big injury concerns going into their first game, however. The Cincinnati Bengals could be without star WR Ja’Marr Chase. Chase has been seeking a contract but, without one, could miss the game due to illness and trying to get back into shape after missing training camp. The Bengals will be without WR Tee Higgins, most likely, due to a hamstring issue making things very difficult for QB Joe Burrow. The Pittsburgh Steelers are expected to start Justin Fields at quarterback unless Russell Wilson surprises them before the game today: The #Steelers are expected to examine QB Russell Wilson this morning to check out his calf, but as it stands now, it’s more likely Justin Fields starts vs the #Falcons than Wilson, per me and @MikeGarafolo. The team is cautious with calf injuries. Wilson is questionable. pic.twitter.com/IrLE33syF6 — Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) September 8, 2024 Neither Wilson nor Fields looked good in the preseason. Coming out of Thursday Night Football, the Ravens may have lost a key, versatile defender in Kyle Van Noy: Ravens OLB Kyle Van Noy suffered a fractured orbital bone in Thursday’s loss to the Chiefs, according to a source with direct knowledge of the injury. He will undergo further testing to determine how much time he will miss. — Steve Wyche (@wyche89) September 6, 2024 Injuries are a part of football but going into Week 1 with one team without their starting QB, another without their starting left tackle, another maybe missing their top two receivers and another missing a key component of their defense is not a great stat for the AFC North.
Bengals vs. Patriots pregame open thread
Photo by Ian Johnson/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images Time to shine. It’s finally gameday for the Cincinnati Bengals as they kick off their 2024 season vs. the New England Patriots, so come join the fun in our pregame thread! Who Dey!!
Colts have a perfect opportunity to start fast
Photo by Ian Johnson/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images The beginning portion of the schedule lines up nicely for the Colts. The Indianapolis Colts dig themselves into a hole every single year. Not only have they lost their week one game for the past decade, they tend to lose many others to start out the season. Some years they can put it together in the second half and make a run at the postseason. The issue is, there is no longer any margin for error. One loss is devastating and boots the team out of contention for any postseason accolades. This year could be different. This could be the year the Colts finally start out hot. Week one is the toughest. The Colts have come out flat the last ten years and facing the reigning AFC South champs won’t be easy. The Texans are good and have an up and coming star in C.J. Stroud. The Colts have two advantages in this one: the return of Anthony Richardson and playing at home. Not only are they home in week one but they play three out of their first four in the friendly confines of Lucas Oil. It will be as crucial as ever to win early as four out of the next five find the team on the road. If they can beat the week one losing streak against the Texans, things should be easier. They won’t face Jordan Love in Green Bay after he suffered a knee injury against the Eagles. Luckily for the Packers, Love will only miss 3-6 weeks. Luckily for the Colts, they get to face a backup in their first road game of the year. The Bears come to town in week three and will bring a large fanbase with them. Due to proximity, the fact that the teams play in Indiana once every eight years, and their new rookie in Caleb Williams, expect more than their fair share of fans. The Bears have gotten better, but they are no one’s Super Bowl pick. Seeing Williams early in the season before he has a chance to get comfortable could be fortunate. I am not sure what to make of the Steelers. Russell Wilson is banged up, but for now, he appears to be the starter. If the Steelers get last year’s version, good luck. The Colts handled the Steelers last year, which was a welcomed sight considering the issues they have had in the past with that team. I think a mini streak could develop, and the Colts can make it two in a row. It all starts tomorrow. Losing week one won’t be the end of the world, but the Colts finally have a chance to do something they don’t normally do; work from a place of strength instead of spending the season chasing teams down and hoping they lose. They need to set the tone early and use home field as a huge advantage. If they could find a way to win at least three out of the first four, they will be sitting pretty as we move into the season. Let’s hope they can take care of business.
Raiders Week 1: Pass rush feasting can drain the Chargers
With defensive end Maxx Crosby (98) screaming off the edge and defensive tackle Christian Wilkins (94) surging from the middle, the Las Vegas Raiders defense should be able to stop the run and rush the passer in Sunday’s season opener against the Los Angeles Chargers. | Photo by Chris Unger/Getty Images Maxx Crosby, Christian Wilkins, Malcolm Koonce need to be relentless against the run and getting to Los Angeles QB Justin Herbert in season opener Hard-nosed, smart, with equal parts mental and physical toughness. That’s the type of football team Antonio Pierce and Jim Harbaugh are hoping to lead during their respective 2024 campaigns. And it’s a perfect Week 1 matchup that sees Pierce’s Las Vegas Raiders head to Inglewood to go toe-to-toe with the Los Angeles Chargers in SoFi Stadium. Two AFC West foes with new head coaches (newish for Pierce) that want to instill the old-school swagger of a beat ‘em up tough football. A big ingredient into the recipe for cooking up a violent football team that inflicts pain is by running the football. And, on the flipside, stopping the run. That’s long been a Harbaugh calling card (both Jim and brother and Baltimore Ravens head coach John) and it’s something Pierce wants in the Raiders’ DNA. Thus, stopping the run is integral for Las Vegas’ defense. What does Malcolm Koonce expect from Jim Harbaugh, the Chargers offense? “Running, he did a lot of that in college.” pic.twitter.com/JYP2bBaRFi — Levi Edwards (@theleviedwards) September 4, 2024 Harbaugh speaks glowingly about running the football and Raiders defensive coordinator Patrick Graham noted a run-first approach the Chargers are slated to have under their new head coach is a smart decision. “Because if you can’t stop the run on defense, I mean, it’s going to be a long day,” Las Vegas’ defensive play caller said. “I mean, the coordinator could call anything, and that’s the worst fear as a defensive play caller. But I think it’s smart. And in order to be tough, you got to be able to run the ball and you got to be able to stop the ball. So, I know toughness is a big part of what they’re preaching and that makes sense to me, and he’s been successful doing it.” The entire Raiders defense will need to be on point this Sunday in the regular season opener against the Bolts, but in particular, the defensive line needs win the line of scrimmage. And it’s not out of the question for the Silver & Black to do so. The team boasts elite edge rusher Maxx Crosby and defensive tackle Christian Wilkins who are effective run stoppers as well as quarterback hunters. Las Vegas will be without the much-improved Malcolm Koonce from the other edge as second-year defender Tyree Wilson is slated to take his place. But the Raiders do have savvy veteran nose tackle John Jenkins who, when he’s not stopping tailbacks, he’s attracting double teams taking a blocker that could’ve been locked up with someone else out of the equation. Yes, linebackers Robert Spillane and Divine Deablo, slot cornerback Nate Hobbs, and safety Marcus Epps will play a big role, too. but that aforementioned group of defensive linemen must be at the forefront of stonewalling the run in order to get to do what Crosby and Wilkins do best: Rush the passer. You can’t pin your ears back and get after Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert if he’s handing the ball off and L.A. is moving the chains. Crosby, Wilkins, and Koonce must do their part in stopping the run and getting the opportunities to rush on passing downs. “We have to understand that, and the first game is always weird,” Wilkins noted. “You don’t know what teams are and who they really are, so you kind of have an idea maybe, but you just have to be willing to adjust as the game goes on.” Antonio Pierce on what Christian Wilkins brings to Raiders: “It’s Maxx Crosby inside”https://t.co/WU8CNyeFzC pic.twitter.com/fxOGv4FTAw — Around The NFL (@AroundTheNFL) September 5, 2024 In-game adjustments will be one of the myriad of things under the microscope for the Raiders. One of those is not only keeping Chargers running backs J.K. Dobbins and Gus Edwards at bay, but also keeping a keen eye on Herbert on not only scrambles, but designed runs. Harbaugh rejoined forces with Greg Roman and the head coach/offensive coordinator combo have experience dialing up plays for mobile quarterbacks. “I mean, just refer back to the third down and nine last year, I mean, he took off. So, he looks pretty mobile to me,” Graham said of Herbert’s mobility. “So again, you all ask me this all the time. I factor in everything; I don’t have anything else to do. I mean, he can move, he can move, so we have to prepare for everything. I don’t know what they’re going to do. That’s the beauty of Week 1; a little angst, anxiety, nervousness, whatever you want to call it. But that’s the beauty of Week 1. “Everybody’s going through it right now; the game tonight, they’re going through it. They don’t know what they’re going to do, but we get to play football.” If the Raiders want to make a dual homecoming — Pierce coming back to the city of L.A. as a head coach and general manager Tom Telesco who served that same role for the Chargers last year — successful, the defense must not only contend with a Harbaugh-Roman run game, but stopping it to force Herbert to drop back and in the sights of the Raiders fearsome pass rushers. Telesco noted this rendition of the Raiders was different from last year’s. And Pierce gave his own insight on how the Silver & Black differs from the 2023 version. “The roster, the mentality, how we’re starting, the expectations. We expect to win,” Pierce said. Time to prove it.
Dalton Kincaid named ‘X-Factor’ for Bills offense in 2024
Dalton Kincaid named ‘X-Factor’ for #Bills offense in 2024: Dalton Kincaid named ‘X-Factor’ for Bills offense in 2024 David De Cristofaro The 2024 NFL season is officially underway, and it will be an important one for the Buffalo Bills. It will take a full, team effort in all three phases to continue to compete without any dropoff, despite many roster changes at key positions with new and younger talent on board. Even still, an impact player can have a special impact on their respective unit, and ESPN has named who those players may be for each team with their NFL X factors for 2024 season: Key players for all 32 teams list. The outlet picked receiving tight end Dalton Kincaid for Buffalo. Here’s what ESPN’s Ben Solak had to say about Kincaid as an X Factor: Buffalo Bills: TE Dalton Kincaid Two-hundred and forty-one targets: That’s how many vacated opportunities are left behind as both Stefon Diggs and Gabe Davis left Buffalo this offseason. The Bills have opted for a committee approach at wide receiver, which I like, but to whom does Josh Allen turn on third-and-6 among his many options? For whom does offensive coordinator Joe Brady design the “gotta have it” play? That player might be Kincaid, whom the Bills drafted with the intention of becoming an offense that can run through an elite pass-catching tight end. He was an efficient, high-volume target last season — his 73 catches were third highest for a rookie tight end since 1970 — but that cushy underneath gig worked only when Diggs and Davis were pushing the defense downfield. If the Buffalo offense is to work with this new look, Kincaid must be used downfield more frequently — or develop a George Kittle-like profile after the catch. The former is far more likely, and the good news is this: Kincaid catches everything. 77.7 reception rate is amazing, even for the easy targets he was offered. As his trust with Allen grows, expect him to start leading the Bills in targets in more games than he doesn’t, and watch for Brady to scheme around Kincaid’s versatility in alignment and routes to open up other players as well. He’s the skeleton key of this passing attack. Kincaid, the Bills’ first-round pick in 2023, shined in his first year with Buffalo, setting records as a rookie and making a consistent impact for the offense. The Bills will certainly hope he can build on such a strong rookie campaign and help take on some of that vacated workload left behind by the departures of Diggs and Davis. They will need him to continue to play the versatile and go-to target role he took on more and more last season, including the Diggs plays and looks he gradually took on as the 2023 campaign progressed. At age 24, Kincaid has already seen a successful sample size share on offense in Buffalo in only his first season with the Bills. With his elite hands and positional versatility, he figures to see more opportunities to improve on that impressive rookie campaign with the Diggs/Davis workload needing to be distributed among reliable targets. Read all the best Bills coverage at the Democrat and Chronicle and Bills Wire.
Giants QB Daniel Jones and Vikings QB Sam Darnold are under pressure
Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images Figuratively and literally Sunday’s season-opening game between the New York Giants and Minnesota Vikings has a variety of interesting subplots. None, though, is as fascinating as the matchup of two quarterbacks highly drafted by New York teams who will be fighting for their NFL lives as starters this season. Both Daniel Jones and Sam Darnold began as the second quarterback off the board in their draft years. Both have been under the microscope as starters on mostly unsuccessful teams right from the start of their careers (though not until Game 3 for Jones). Both have had more failure than success up to this point. The biggest difference between the two is that Jones has to this point lasted with the team that drafted him, curtailed only by a series of injuries. Darnold has been healthier but lost his starting job and has been itinerant, traveling to four different teams in his career and becoming a career backup until an injury this summer thrust him into a starting role again. To say that the pressure is on both quarterbacks to perform this season is an understatement. This Sunday, though, the pressure will be on literally as well. Vikings defensive coordinator Brian Flores blitzes more than anyone in the NFL and has good edge defenders in Andrew Van Ginkel, Jonathan Greenard, and rookie Dallas Turner to put the heat on even when they play defense straight up. New Giants defensive coordinator Shane Bowen doesn’t blitz much but his defense is predicated on pressure from his front four winning their battles with offensive linemen or finding openings with stunts. It’s not unreasonable to guess that whichever team’s pass rush gets to or at least near the quarterback the most will emerge victorious. Here’s how the two QBs fared last season in a clean pocket vs. under pressure, courtesy of Pro Football Focus: Data from Pro Football Focus The sample size for Jones is limited because of his two injuries (the first one at least the direct result of being hit by pass rusher Andrew Van Ginkel, with whom he will renew acquaintances on Sunday). Clearly, though, pressure was a big part of Jones’ poor play in 2023. That makes sense because there is pressure, and then there is relentless pressure, and the Giants’ all-time worst (in Pro Football Focus history) 2023 offensive line led to Jones being pressured on 45.5% of his dropbacks. As bad as fans think Jones was last season, he was actually an above average passer when kept clean. Darnold was also pressured on 45.5% of dropbacks last season, but his sample size is even smaller because he was a backup who only started one meaningless Week 18 game and only saw significant action in one other game last season. For what it’s worth, Darnold was above average in a clean pocket as well but was only slightly below average under pressure. Both Jones and Darnold threw their only TD passes when getting good protection. We can get a little better idea if we look at both quarterbacks’ entire careers: Data from Pro Football Focus For both quarterbacks, on average their PFF passing grade has been about 40% worse when pressured than when operating in a clean pocket. Jones has been an above average passer every year of his career when kept clean, and has had two outstanding seasons throwing with good pass protection. Perhaps not coincidentally, the first of those was almost a playoff season (albeit in the year of the “NFC Least”) and the second was actually a playoff season. We can gain more perspective by asking how other quarterbacks fare under pressure vs. with a clean pocket. Below is a list in rough ranked order of the quarterbacks generally considered the best in the NFL at the moment. (The exact order is just off the top of my head.) Data from Pro Football Focus Every quarterback who dropped back at least 100 times in 2023 performed worse under pressure than in a clean pocket. The best, perhaps not surprisingly, was Joe Burrow (only 17.3% lower passing grade when under pressure than when not). Burrow has the reputation of standing in and not flinching under pressure. Of course, he has also had two season-ending injuries. Other than Burrow, the least affected by pressure last season were Dak Prescott, Justin Herbert, Lamar Jackson, Patrick Mahomes, and Jalen Hurts. As the career stats of Jones and Darnold show, however, the effect of pressure is not a stable statistic from year to year. That may reflect changes in the health and composition of teams’ offensive lines, but that’s just a speculation. On average, though, the best quarterbacks in the NFL do about 30% worse under pressure than when kept clean, vs. the ~40% decline seen in the career stats of Jones and Darnold. That said, even Josh Allen and surprising rookie C.J. Stroud fared 40%+ lower under pressure than when in a clean pocket. The amazing Mahomes threw 22 of his 27 TD passes from a clean pocket and had 8 of his 14 INTs when under pressure. Stroud threw 20 of his 23 TDs from a clean pocket. Tua Tagovailoa, 27 of his 29 TDs from a clean pocket. Dak Prescott, 27 of his 36 TDs. Jared Goff, 24 of his 30 TDs. All of these QBs saw pressure 35% or less of the time. Say what you want about PFF grades, but the hard evidence is that most quarterbacks put points on the board a lot more when they have time to throw. It may be even more than that, though. The expectation of pressure by QBs whose offensive lines pass protect poorly may affect their decision making even when they get a clean pocket, though that is not an easy hypothesis to test. The bottom line for Sunday: Watch which QB is running for his life more often, and there’s a decent chance you’ll know which team is not going to win
Vikings at Giants: How to Watch, TV Schedule, Radio Broadcast, Odds and More
Photo by Nic Antaya/Getty Images Following along with today’s action Welcome to game day, ladies and gentlemen! Yes, we have officially made it to the start of the 2024 NFL season, and our Minnesota Vikings will be kicking things off with a trip to MetLife Stadium to take on the New York Giants in Week 1 action. We want everyone to be able to follow along with everything that’s happening this afternoon, so we want to put all of that information in one place for you. Here’s everything you need to be able to keep up with the Vikings. Television Info Today’s game will be kicking off at what nine out of ten dentists agree is the best time for NFL football, that being noon Central time on Sunday. The broadcast of this game will be handled by the folks from FOX, with Kenny Albert and cheatin’ Jonathan Vilma providing the play-by-play. Here is this week’s map from the good folks at 506 Sports. If you’re in the blue area, your local FOX affiliate will be showing the Vikings/Giants game. If your local affiliate isn’t airing the game, you can look for it on YouTube NFL Sunday Ticket. For our men and women in uniform serving overseas, the American Forces Network will. . .not be showing this game live. They will, however, be showing a replay on Monday at 1300Z. That means a kickoff time of 1500L for viewers in Central Europe, 1600L for those on Arabian time, and 2200L for fans in Japan and Korea. Radio Info If you have a Vikings Radio Network affiliate in your area, most of them will probably be carrying the game. We’ve provided you with the full list of affiliates for this season, so use our page to find the affiliate nearest to you. For those of you who are going to use satellite radio to listen to this one, you can find the feed from the Vikings Radio Network on SiriusXM Channel 387. You can listen to the Giants’ feed on Channel 232 if you feel compelled to do so for whatever reason. If you’re using the SiriusXM app, the Vikings’ permanent home there is on Channel 820. Referee Info According to the crew at Football Zebras, the officiating crew for today’s contest will be led by Alex Kemp. The last time the Vikings saw Kemp was back in November of 2023, as his crew handled the Vikings’ ugly 12-10 loss to the Chicago Bears at U.S. Bank Stadium. Weather Info No dome on MetLife Stadium, which means the game will be played in the elements. Fortunately, according to our friends at WeatherNation, it should be a pretty darn fine day for football. Temperatures at kickoff will be hovering right around 70 degrees under sunny skies and winds coming out of the northwest at around 10 miles/hour. Betting Info According to the folks from FanDuel, the Vikings continue to be a 1.5-point favorite heading into this one. The over/under for today’s game is set at 41.5 points. Streaming Info If your local affiliate is not carrying the game, remember that the Sunday Ticket package now rests with YouTube TV. If you’re in the local area and have cut the cord, you should be able to find it on a service such as Fubo TV or Sling TV. I’ll say the same thing about illegal streams that I always say: don’t. Or damn sure don’t go advertising them here. You’ll be banned and that will be the end of it. Post-Game Info Due to other commitments, there will not be a live post-game show from Vikings Report this week. We will be back with a post-game show after next week’s game. That should be everything you need in order to follow along with all of the action of today’s regular season opener between your Minnesota Vikings and the New York Giants. As always, we’ll have Open Threads for each quarter, with the first one dropping approximately half an hour before kickoff.
/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/74207578/2227524956.0.jpg?w=1920&resize=1920,1267&ssl=1 "Training Camp Thoughts")
/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/74207660/2190302928.0.jpg?w=1920&resize=1920,1267&ssl=1 "The Linc – Eagles believe Tyler Steen is ready to start at right guard")