Month: November 2016

“When you get a matchup like that, you’ve got to take that chance.”

Even if your pinkie is killing you.

Derek Carr called Joe Namath Youth Jersey his dislocated right pinkie finger “some of the most pain I’ve ever felt in my life” after returning to help lead another comeback victory.

Imagine the pain, then, felt by Carolina after Carr’s injured digit actually improved his deep passing game — helped, of course, by a black glove on his right hand that resembled something Luke Skywalker wore after getting his hand chopped off by Darth Vader.

Brooks has been one of the team’s more consistent offensive linemen this season. The former Houston Texan signed a five-year, $40 million contract to join the Eagles via free agency this offseason, and the move helped solidify a guard position that gave them considerable trouble in 2015.

With Brooks out, quarterback Carson Wentz operated behind a line missing two of its original Johnny Hekker Youth Jersey members, with a third, Barbre, playing out of his intended position. Wentz was sacked four times.

That defense stopped the bleeding after giving up 40-plus points in consecutive weeks.

About the only thing unsightly about the Packers offense was hidden by whatever Rodgers did behind the bench in the third quarter, when he disappeared into a tent that’s used for either a bathroom break or a medical exam. Rodgers limped his way through the rest of the game, favoring his left leg, but said after the game that he’ll be “good to go” moving forward.

“It’s been a rough four weeks,” Rodgers said. “We haven’t played a complete game yet maybe this season, so this was a great effort in all three phases for us.”

But we didn’t have that anymore. It was gone. Just like the energy in the building. That stuff quickly evaporated over the last month and a half of the season. Now we were just football zombies throughout the week. Clock in and clock out. Take some notes, and head home.

Running back Devontae Booker. Siemian has taken too much punishment, and what he’s done in the face of that has been undervalued. The best way for the Broncos to finally slow down those opposing pass-rushers, especially those who are consistently coming from off the ball to lay some of the biggest hits on Siemian, is to run the ball with some intent. Booker, a rookie, needs to play like a veteran. If Booker can power some semblance of a run game, Siemian will show what he can do with more room to work in the pocket, and an offense Stephen Paea Womens Jersey that has been stuck in neutral plenty will finally get moving.

When it comes to stretch drives, the Broncos know the way. They have won five consecutive division titles and made two Super Bowl trips in the past three seasons because they know how to handle business during the holiday season. They’re coming off a bye, so they are as healthy as they’ve been since September and will have all of their defensive regulars available for the first time since Week 2. And the Chiefs have injuries on defense, most notably to Dee Ford and Marcus Peters, so if the Broncos are dialed in, this should be their eighth win of the season.

The former first overall pick also deserves credit for adjusting to his new environs so quickly. Bradford was acquired just days before the season and stepped into the lineup for a critical NFC North matchup against the Packers in Week 2 to deliver what might have been his best game of the season. I know I certainly expected Bradford to struggle at first, given the complexity of NFL playbooks and the time it takes to develop a level of chemistry and familiarity with a new offense. It would have been fair to argue against the Bradford trade under the logic that it would take him a few weeks to settle in, which would have crushed the value of the trade as a way of keeping Minnesota’s playoff hopes alive for 2016. Bradford proved that argument wrong.

Are the Vikings better with Bradford than we could have expected?

They are about where we could have expected they would have ended up after 11 games, but Terrelle Pryor Womens Jersey the shape of that performance is wildly different from what we might have believed. The defense, which was good last year, has taken an enormous leap forward. The Vikings were fifth in points allowed last season but just 14th in defensive DVOA, owing to the way their offense ground out games and extended drives. Minnesota faced the fourth-fewest drives and defended the fifth-longest average fields in the league.

The Oakland Raiders addressed their defense on Wednesday by signing linebacker Curtis Lofton and defensive tackle Dan Williams, according to Michael C. Wright of ESPN.

Williams, 27, will receive about $6 million per year and $15 million guaranteed, according to Kent Somers of The Arizona Republic, and will fill the nose tackle void that the Raiders originally targeted free George Blanda Authentic Jersey agent defensive tackle Terrance Knighton to fill. The Raiders originally brought in Knighton, but the former Denver Broncos defensive tackle said the offer he received was “not close” to what he was looking for.

It will be a three-year deal for Lofton, according to Josina Anderson of ESPN.

Johnson signed a three-year, $21 million deal, per Ian Rapoport.

The Lions needed to go 99 yards for a win, and with Stafford running the show, they likely believed. After all, this is all too typical territory for Detroit these days. This game-winning scenario wasn’t quite the last-minute heart-stopper others have been, but the degree of difficulty was equally high.

The Vikings’ offense essentially amounts to interim coordinator Pat Shurmur’s various attempts to solve a math problem: How he can call plays that sustain drives, or even procure big chunks of yardage, behind a line that can’t be counted on to protect long enough for many downfield routes to develop. Bradford completed only two passes of longer than 10 yards on Thursday.

After Kirk Cousins connected with DeSean Jackson for a 67-yard touchdown to cut the gap to five points once again, Prescott completed two of his next three passes. He also converted a third-and-7 with his legs and had 15 yards tacked on when Donte Whitner hit him while sliding.

His best play was the most important. With a three-wide-receiver set and the Redskins Howie Long Authentic Jersey bringing pressure, Prescott slid to his right and found Bryant for 26 yards while blanketed by Kendall Fuller. On the next play, Elliott bulled his way into the end zone from a yard out.

The Broncos have three division games over their final six games of the regular season, including two against the Chiefs — Sunday’s to go with Christmas night in Kansas City.

The Broncos tried to lean on their run game more Courtney Upshaw Womens Jersey once Osweiler went into the lineup, as four of their six games with at least 30 rushing attempts came after the change at quarterback was made. This season the Broncos are as committed — Kubiak has used the word “driven” — to solving the riddle of their run game issues because they’d like the same kind of profile down the stretch.

Alex Smith’s struggles have showed up most prominently in two critical areas: on third down and in the red zone. Jamie Squire/Getty Images
To say the Chiefs are in a slump offensively is to ignore what happened early in the season. The Chiefs have been out of sorts offensively most of the season. They had a breakout in the second half of the season-opening win over the San Diego Chargers, in a mid-October game against the Oakland Raiders and also late last month in Indianapolis, where much of the good quarterbacking the Chiefs received that day came from backup Nick Foles.

Otherwise, the Chiefs have been struggling on offense. That includes a Nov. 6 game against the Jacksonville Jaguars in which Foles played in place of Smith, who was suspected of having a concussion. The Chiefs scored just one touchdown that day.

Smith’s struggles have showed up most noticeably when they hurt the most: on third down and inside Dashon Goldson Womens Jersey the opponent’s 20-yard line. Smith is the NFL’s 26th-rated passer on third down. The Chiefs are 31st at scoring touchdowns from the red zone. They’ve had three games where they’ve kicked four field goals, including the one against the Jaguars in which Foles played.

“I think those things only become more magnified, I guess,’’ Smith said. “I think they become more important as the games get bigger and bigger. No question. Yeah, they’re huge. That’s something that we do put a lot of focus on (and) we work hard at.’’

That work isn’t paying off for the Chiefs and Smith. That’s why, even if Reid feels the numbers don’t tell the complete story for Smith, what the Chiefs are getting from their quarterback isn’t enough.

The Chargers have until January to decide if they will take the L.A. option, but could ask for an extension if the Raiders receive approval from NFL owners to relocate to Las Vegas in January and are out of the running to move to Los Angeles.

The league is expected to discuss the Raiders’ potential move to Las Vegas during a committee meeting in New York next week.

Both the Raiders and the Chargers Pavel Zacha Authentic Jersey stadium situation will be up for discussion at a December NFL owners meeting in Dallas.

Some have suggested the Chargers could remain at Qualcomm Stadium and retrofit the existing facility.

Since 2007, the Chargers have had a three-month window to renew the team’s year-to-year lease with the City of San Diego for Qualcomm Stadium that permits the team to terminate the lease — but would pay a penalty — at any time between Feb. 1 and May 1.

The Chargers have a year-to-year lease at Qualcomm through the 2020 season. Breaking the Qualcomm lease ahead of the 2020 expiration would cost the team about $13 million in 2017.

“I think it’s great for the fans and it’s great for those guys, Reg and I guess [Adam Vinatieri] played on that team and [Robert Mathis],” Luck said. “Cool, but from our perspective it’s a Titans game and we would like to be that team 10 years from now, 15 [years], whatever it is.”

To Joe’s credit, he never blamed me for what happened. We’ve never had Ryane Clowe Authentic Jersey a problem. I’ve never had a problem with Joe. And every time we see each other, we talk. We talked before then, we still talk, and there is no animosity there. I know his son very well. Hey, I did [Theismann] a favor. He had Lloyd’s of London [insurance]. He made about $3 million.

The Chargers could go back and take a closer look at Faulconer’s $1.1 billion proposal to replace Qualcomm Stadium at the Mission Valley, which included $350 million in public money. That proposal hinged on a public vote to unlock the public contribution of the project.

The team had heartburn over the likelihood of a public vote passing and the environmental review of the project, although the mayor’s office had done polling that showed a public vote for stadium funding passing in a general election by a simple majority vote.

This year’s MVP voters did care enough to get it right, or, at least, the definition they chose for “most valuable player” corresponded to my definition. Those voters, though, total 30. There are more than 700 active BBWAA members. In a sample of less than 5 percent of members, by an extremely thin margin, voters chose Mike Trout. It’s hardly a radical realignment of values. Scramble the members up, have them vote again, and it’s quite possible Trout would have finished second or third, again.

This is OK! Trout’s legacy is bolstered by the hardware, but it is not so fragile as to depend on these votes. Honus Wagner’s career almost entirely predated the MVP award, and he never won one. Babe Ruth played in an era when players were allowed to win it only once, and so he won it only once. Willie Mays led National League hitters in WAR 10 times but won only two awards. Are any of these careers underrecognized by history? Do you know anybody who doesn’t know what Babe Ruth represented? Can you find anybody who lived through Willie Mays’ career who would tell you that he was underappreciated even then?

Trout might deserve 15 of these in his career. He might win two, and he might win a dozen. When he wins one, we toast to the greatest player alive. When he loses one, we still toast to the greatest player alive.

“Then secondly, the thing that really surprised me, as a young player his baseball IQ is tremendous. It’s like having court awareness as a point guard. He could play anywhere on the field that he wants to because he has a great understanding of every situation.”

It was no wonder, then, that Betts was a worthy finalist for the American League MVP award, announced Thursday night. Los Angeles Angels Mackensie Alexander Authentic Womens Jersey center fielder Mike Trout, a generational superstar, was once again the game’s best player in 2016 as well as the ultimate winner, but the Red Sox right fielder was inarguably the best player on an AL team that went to the playoffs.

Over his five-year career, he has led the AL in Wins Marcus Sherels Authentic Womens Jersey Above Replacement five times. You go to a different site than I do for your Wins Above Replacement? No problem: He leads the AL in all five years regardless of whether you’re looking at Baseball-Reference, FanGraphs or Baseball Prospectus. His cumulative WAR, on Baseball-Reference, is nearly two full Mike Trout seasons better than the next best major leaguer in that time period, Robinson Cano. His cumulative WAR in those five years is greater than Manny Machado and Anthony Rizzo combined.

The Marlins aren’t even entertaining the possibility of trying to “replace” Fernandez, because his impact was so profound. If spring training began today, Miami’s rotation would consist of Wei-Yin Chen, Adam Conley, Tom Koehler, Justin Nicolino Nick O’Leary Authentic Jersey and Jose Urena. Even if the Marlins wanted to sign a big name — which is typically a foreign proposition for them — the free-agent market is bereft of front-of-the-rotation arms. The other alternative is a trade, and they lack the talent in their farm system to make a run at Chris Sale, Sonny Gray, Chris Archer or other commonly mentioned alternatives.

“What the Marlins are doing, and specifically Mike Hill, is a little different than what we were dealing with,” Mozeliak said. “He was dealing with the rumors: ‘Do we trade Jose Fernandez or try to sign him long term?’ Jose had already established himself Nickell Robey-Coleman Authentic Jersey as one of the elite players at the major league level.

“Not to sound callous or coldhearted, but I remember shortly after Oscar’s passing I was reflecting and I said to a few people, ‘We’re not going to miss him next year from a baseball standpoint. It’s going to be two or three or four years down the road, when we don’t have the No. 3 hitter we thought we’d have.'”

Left without their ace, the Marlins try to take solace in positive signs. Stanton, Miami’s quiet superstar, assumed more of a vocal leadership role in the days after Fernandez’s death, and the players and staff grew closer amid painful circumstances. But Fernandez’s absence won’t truly hit home until the first day of spring training in Jupiter, Florida, when the clubhouse will be a much quieter place.

“You felt Jose every fifth day on the mound, and the energy he brought,” Hill said. “But this was also a young man who loved life and lived it to the fullest. He had a pure energy and passion for the game that was infectious. I don’t think you can separate the two.”

As the Marlins go down an uncharted path this offseason, the memories of Fernandez will simultaneously haunt and sustain them. They’re still trying to process the unimaginable, while doing their best to make it through another day.

With few alternatives, the Marlins have discussed fortifying their staff at the back end to help compensate for the loss of Fernandez’s 182 innings. Relievers A.J. Ramos, David Phelps, Kyle Barraclough and Brian Ellington combined for 332 strikeouts in 256? innings this season. If the Marlins can add a power arm or two this winter, they’ll have a bullpen that will take some heat off the rotation and allow Mattingly to pick his spots.

Columbia University on Monday said it had stopped its wrestling team from competing while it investigates apparent lewd text messages sent by several of its team members.

“The Department of Athletics has decided that Columbia wrestlers will not compete until we have a full understanding of the facts on which to base the official response to this disturbing matter,” Columbia said in a statement.

“He was staring me down. That Jimmy Smith Youth Jersey was cold-blooded,” said Nowitzki, who was watching the game from the bench due to an Achilles injury.

Porzingis mentions Nowitzki as a player who inspired him when he was younger in Latvia.

So he’d appreciate the praise Nowitzki heaped on him Monday night.

“He’s not only a 7-footer but he is like 7-4 out there with an 8-5 wingspan,” Nowitzki said. “He’s got an incredible touch. He can move. He can dribble. He can put it on the floor more now. He is going to be a great player in this Joe Flacco Youth Jersey league for a long, long time.”

Nowitzki said that after watching Porzingis score 24 points and grab 11 rebounds in the Knicks’ win. He may see more of Porzingis this summer.

Knicks coach Jeff Hornacek tried to arrange a workout with Nowitzki and Porzingis before the season, but it didn’t come together due to scheduling conflicts. The players hope to work out together in the coming offseason.

Best of all, Atlanta’s farm system is deep and on the rise. But the waves of young pitchers need time to develop, and the acquisitions of Dickey and Colon give the Braves latitude to exercise patience from the big league roster down the line.

Colon always looks as if he’s Scott Crichton Authentic Jersey one pulled muscle away from retirement, but the man known as “Big Sexy” went 15-8 with a 3.43 ERA for the New York Mets in 2016 and is working on a streak of four straight seasons with at least 190 innings. According to FanGraphs, he threw his 87.9 mph fastball 89.5 percent of the time in ’16. If all he does is teach Julio Teheran, Mike Foltynewicz, Matt Wisler and Atlanta’s young pitchers the value of a well-placed heater, he’ll earn a substantial chunk of his money.

After six straight losing seasons – 2016’s 75-87 record was the team’s best since 2010 – the Rockies seem intent on making a playoff push in 2017, believing some of the pitching strides made from the likes of Jon Gray, Tyler Chatwood, Chad Bettis, Tyler Anderson and Jeff Hoffman bode well for the team’s best rotation in a decade. Combined with an offense that led the league in runs, there’s the odor of a potential playoff team here.

Pitching depth is always an issue for the Rockies, however, and the bullpen was awful, so there’s also the feeling the roster still needs significant upgrades. After all, they did win just 75 games.

“Are we going to look to improve things in 2017 and add major-league players to our process for 2017? The answer is yes,” Rockies GM Jeff Bridich told MLB.com on Wednesday. “I’m hopeful that doesn’t have to come at the expense of players like Carlos Gonzalez or Charlie Blackmon.”

Blackmon hit .324/.381/.552 with 29 home runs, worth 4.4 WAR. He’s under team control for two more seasons, although at 30, he’s not that much younger than Gonzalez. With the emergence of David Dahl, who impressed with a .315/.359/.500 line in 63 games as a rookie, the Rockies may think they have the outfield depth to deal from here.

My take is that dealing Gonzalez or Blackmon would be a mistake. Trading either one opens up a hole in the outfield with no obvious in-house candidate. Gerardo Parra isn’t a viable option after a disastrous 2016 in which he was one of the worst hitters in the majors with a .271 OBP. That’s in Coors Field, mind you. Raimel Tapia reached the majors as well for a few games, and while he has been a top-100 prospect he could use more time in Triple-A (he spent most of 2016 at Double-A) to refine his game. He has had good contact skills in the minors, but he doesn’t walk, hasn’t hit Sharrif Floyd Authentic Jersey for much over-the-fence power, has had poor stolen-base percentages and is still inconsistent on defense. He’s intriguing but also could settle in as a good fourth outfielder.

Even with no receiving stats, he’s a strong RB3, even if Belichick gets wonky with his backfield rotation. Verdict: Blount Bishop Sankey vs Alfred Blue The big gap the ADP for these two backs should start to correct itself a bit, especially with news coming out that Arian only miss the first four or five games of the. Once ‘s back, it’s hard to imagine Blue will get much play. While a starting running back for the first few weeks is great, it’s tough to spend a 7 th round pick on someone who isn’t projected to have impact during the fantasy playoffs. As for Sankey? I think the hate has gone a little too far. Yes, the 3 YPC his rookie year is hardly impressive, but running backs tend to benefit from the presence of mobile quarterbacks, and Blue averaged 3 YPC his rookie. Both offenses should be pretty bad, and at least Sankey has a shot at being the lead back for the Titans the whole. Sankey has been pretty good preseason far as well and is clearly operating as the team’s starting running back. For where he’s being drafted, he’s a great value right now. Verdict: Sankey McFadden vs Bush Look, I Jeremy Lane Authentic Jersey get it. You think someone fresh off the couch could be RB2 running behind the Cowboys line, which is probably the best football. And you might not be wrong. But, McFadden? The who is always hurt? The who has averaged less than 3 YPC over his last three seasons? That? It’s a leap of, for sure, and you’d have to imagine that everyone wants Joseph Randle to win that starting job. If he goes down, McFadden would undoubtedly have value, but how long would he hold up for? There’s just much risk here. At least Bush has been productive the same time frame. He rushed for 1 yards and 4 YPC with 54 catches 2013, and although he isn’t a picture of health himself, he’s Jermaine Kearse Authentic Jersey a little easier to trust than McFadden. The logic behind taking Bush is that the 49ers will be down and passing quite a bit. Bush should get a lot of snaps those situations, and even lineup the slot on occasion. The leap of is a much smaller one with Bush. Verdict: Bush vs Ellington The Cardinals haven’t shown a ton of Ellington’s ability to be a lead back this offseason. First, Arizona used a third-round pick the draft on, who could poach goalline touches or third down work at some point. The Cardinals also signed former fantasy, who probably wouldn’t be brought into the locker room unless the Cardinals had plans of playing him. Ellington should bounce back from his dreadful 3 YPC last, and he’s still a receiving threat out of the backfield. I’m just concerned this is turning into a committee situation, as Ellington’s stature and performance between the tackles last year have him ceding goalline or short-yardage opportunities. Those aren’t concerns with. It appears he’s line to be a workhorse for the Jets, and his big frame should allow him a lot more scoring opportunities the red zone. The word is he’ll get more involved the passing game as well, which is obviously a concern when evaluating him against a proven receiver like Ellington. feels like a safer pick given the lack of talent on the roster behind him, and his history of being a productive runner bodes well for his fantasy outlook. Ellington has the higher upside, but there are less variables at play with.