Jets Wire breaks down Gang Green’s Week 13 matchup with the Bengals by taking a look at four pregame storylines to keep an eye on.
It’s hard to believe the Jets will have a chance at their fourth win in a row against the Bengals on Sunday considering where the team was less than a month ago.
With three consecutive wins in its back pocket, New York has climbed out of the conference basement to nearly return to respectability. A win over Cincinnati in Week 13 would give the Jets a 5-7 record — a far cry from the 1-7 mark the team possessed four weeks ago.
What should Jets fans be aware of before Gang Green takes the field this weekend? Let’s take a look at some pregame storylines to keep an eye on.
Can the Jets make it 4 in a row?
AP Photo/Adam Hunger
The Jets are finally playing the way everyone expected them to entering 2019.
Albeit against underwhelming competition, New York has put together three consecutive dominant performances. The Jets have outscored opponents 102-47 over that span and have left no doubt with each of their last three victories.
New York has a real chance to make it four in a row against a winless Bengals squad. It would be very Jets to lose this game, but odds are that isn’t going to happen.
Michael Chiesa talks about how Dustin Poirier’s recent success inspired him to move up a weight division.
Since moving up to welterweight, [autotag]Michael Chiesa[/autotag] has gone 2-0 and has never felt better.
And Chiesa (16-4 MMA, 9-4 UFC) says the motivation to make the move up was largely in part to the success former UFC interim lightweight champion Dustin Poirier has had since moving up from featherweight, where he has gone 9-2.
“For me, the biggest one was Dustin Poirier,” Chiesa told MMA Junkie. “When he was at ’45, I remember seeing him at the airport one time and was like, ‘Dude, this guy is, like, wide – he is barrel-chested. That’s a big ’55-pounder, and he’s cutting to ’45.’ So I would see him and be like, ‘I’m not alone. At least I’m not the only guy cutting a lot of weight.’ And I saw him go up in weight class and saw the success he was having.
“I mean, look at his win streak he had, going into that Khabib (Nurmagomedov) fight. I was like, ‘Maybe that’s what I need to do. Maybe I need to make a change in my weight class.’ Look at the success Dustin Poirier is having, look at what he’s doing. There’s no reason why I shouldn’t give myself the opportunity to do the same thing.”
[lawrence-related id=466754,466425,464841]
But it’s not like “The Ultimate Fighter” Season 15 winner didn’t have success at lightweight. Chiesa was able to take out some notable names, such as Al Iaquinta, Beneil Dariush and Jim Miller. But eventually, the cut for Chiesa, who walks around at nearly 200 pounds, started to take a toll on his body.
After suffering back-to-back losses to Kevin Lee and Anthony Pettis, Chiesa decided to make the move to 170 pounds, and said contrary to what many people may think, his grapple-heavy approach works better when he’s not cutting so much weight.
“With my style of fighting, I just don’t think weight cutting really makes a lot of sense,” Chiesa said. “I know a lot of people will say, ‘You’re a grappler and cutting the most amount of weight makes the most sense so you can be the biggest guy, and it’s like, no. I really disagree with that. I think if you’re going to be a grappler, you need to lift a lot of weights, you need to get really physically strong and fast, and you need to work on your strength and conditioning as a whole, and you can’t do that if you’re going to cut a bunch of weight.
“For my style, I need to not cut a ton of weight. I need to hit the weights more. It’s like the polar opposite. So seeing Dustin Poirier’s success was really kind of what influenced me to make that jump.”
Chiesa is heading into arguably one of the biggest fights of his career on Jan. 25, a matchup with former UFC lightweight champ Rafael dos Anjos at UFC on ESPN+ 25 in Raleigh, N.C.
Ever since he started competing at welterweight, he has found new life, and is rejuvenated to continue his goal of one day wrapping a UFC title around his waist.
“Ever since I’ve done that, I feel like I started my career over again,” Chiesa said. “I’m training all the time. I never want a break. When I fought at ’55, I’d get done with a fight and it’s like I don’t even want to touch the gym for a month. I’m burned out. The camps at welterweight are tougher, but my body can handle it because I can eat and I can nurture myself.”
Nick Saban has said he wasn’t a great fit in the NFL. The NFL seemed to agree years ago. Might it be time for a reunion?
Nick Saban started his coaching career in 1973 as a graduate assistant at Kent State, and he’s spent all but eight of the subsequent seasons as a college coach. His brief forays into the NFL were generally unremarkable — two seasons as the Houston Oilers’ secondary coach in 1988 and 1989, four years as Bill Belichick’s defensive coordinator in Cleveland from 1991 through 1994, and two seasons as the Dolphins’ head coach in 2005 and 2006. Leaving the Dolphins job for Alabama after only two seasons was a black mark, and it looked increasingly clear that, following unparalleled success with the Crimson Tide from 2007 to the present, the 68-year-old Saban would finish his career in the college ranks.
However, it is also known of Saban that he is rarely content to stick around in a situation where declining results are the norm, or greener pastures prevail — and he tends to be quick about it. He left Michigan State to coach the Dolphins in an abrupt retirement. He left the Dolphins to coach Alabama after repeatedly denying that he would do so. And perhaps the only reason he hasn’t abruptly resigned from the Alabama job is… well, why would he? Through Saturday, Saban had put up an unreal 156-23 regular-season mark, with an 11-5 postseason record, and five national titles, including College Football Playoff championships in 2015 and 2017.
2019 marks the first time since 2014 that Saban has lost more than one game, and Alabama’s 45-48 loss to Auburn on Saturday pushed Saban out of the College Football Playoff this season. After the game, Saban complained about multiple officiating issues, including a penalty Alabama incurred for too many men on the field with 1:06 left in the fourth quarter. This game Auburn the first down it needed to run out the clock and win the game.
“I really feel that it was a pretty unfair play at the end of the game,” Saban said after the fact. “They substituted the punter as a wide receiver, so we put the punt team in. And then when the quarterback was still in there we tried to put the defense back in. I thought they should have given us a little more time to substitute and get [receiver Jaylen] Waddle out as a returner. We get called for 12 guys on the field. So that was very disappointing.
“We’re responsible for that as coaches, but it was a very unusual circumstance to say the least. And I think that sometimes when you have those, it should be viewed that way.”
True or not, it was a bad look from a coach who seemed to be out-schemed. The question is, where does Saban go from here?
The arguments against Saban returning to the NFL come frequently from Saban himself.
“I learned from my experience coming here,” Saban said in 2018 of his return to the college ranks from the Dolphins job. “I learned something about myself. At the time it was a tough consequence to have to deal with. I couldn’t have been in a better situation with better people here in Miami. But I found out maybe I was a little more suited to be a college coach. That was a tough realization because of the obligations I had to the people I worked for, and the players.”
Alabama has re-worked Saban’s contract several times through the years to ensure that he remains the highest-paid college coach and public employee in America. As it stands now, he’s on a contract set to pay him $35.63 million in the 2018 through 2021 seasons.
The 2019 disappointment could easily be written off as a couple of defensive fallbacks (this game, and Alabama’s loss to LSU, to be sure), and the season-ending injury to quarterback Tua Tagovailoa, Saban could work his usual recruiting magic in the offseason and come back stronger than ever — that outcome would surprise nobody.
On the other hand, there is the specter of a job left undone. As much as Saban may truly believe he’s better off coaching at the college level, he’s also a highly competitive person, and it can’t sit well with him that he ended his two-year stint with the Dolphins 15-17, known primarily as the guy who acquired Daunte Culpepper instead of Drew Brees, and ran out of town like a scalded dog.
Saban may look with some envy on the career of Pete Carroll, who — after unsuccessful stints with the Jets and Patriots in the 1990s, spent nine highly successful seasons at USC, reinvented himself, and went back to the NFL for one more shot. Since then, Carroll has put up a 98-56-1 regular-season record, a 9-6 postseason record, won a Super Bowl (XLIII) and come within one horrifically bad play call of winning another (XLIX).
Like Saban, Carroll is 68 seemingly going on 48, so the age factor wouldn’t seem to be major, at least on the surface. And you know those NFL teams, especially high-profile teams, will reach out to see if there’s any interest. Saban has Belichick ties, his Alabama teams have sent 28 first-rounders to the NFL since 2010, and he could easily explain away his former negative personality traits at the NFL level with the understanding that he learned from his return to the college ranks. It certainly worked for Carroll, both in theory and in practice. Were Saban to make himself available, there would be no theoretical limit to the rewards shoved his way from the likes of Jerry Jones.
Not that the news would break in the next week or so, but with extra time on his hands this season, it’s interesting to ponder what and how Nick Saban might be thinking about the NFL as we turn to a new decade.
Especially if he promises that he’s going to stay put.
Touchdown Wire editor Doug Farrar has also covered football for Yahoo! Sports, Sports Illustrated, Bleacher Report, the Washington Post, and Football Outsiders. His first book, “The Genius of Desperation,” a schematic history of professional football, was published by Triumph Books in 2018 and won the Professional Football Researchers Association’s Nelson Ross Award for “Outstanding recent achievement in pro football research and historiography.”
Two teams desperate for a win square off. Here are three players on offense to watch as the Jaguars square off with Tampa Bay.
This week the Jacksonville Jaguars will take the field against one of their two Floridian rivals in the Tampa Bay Bucs. Both teams will enter the game with their own respective issues and identical records of 4-7. With that being the case, the question on everyone’s mind is which struggling team will come out on top and could it inspire some confidence into these troubled franchises?
Here are three players on offense to watch as the Jaguars square off with Tampa Bay:
OT Cam Robinson
The offensive line of Jacksonville may in fact determine the fate of the game. The Bucs bring NFL sack leader Shaq Barrett and monster run-stuffer Vita Vea to face off against the ailing Jaguar front line.
Look for Cam Robinson to set the tone early. Robinson has the talent to be one of the best young tackles in the NFL, but has struggled at times this season. Him and our next entry on the list will be counted on heavily to keep Nick Foles safe and to open up lanes for running back Leonard Fournette.
The offense’s success starts and stops with the offensive line. The Jaguars are counting on Robinson to develop into their franchise tackle. A big game Sunday against one of the NFL’s best pass rushers could go a long way towards proving he is the blind side tackle of the future.
OT Jawaan Taylor
Taylor’s situation is very similar to that of Robinson. The team will be counting heavily on these two to protect Foles from the Bucs’ defensive front seven. The argument could be made that Taylor has been the Jaguars’ best offensive lineman this season, despite his struggles with holding penalties. The start to his NFL career is certainly promising and fans hope to see Taylor have success against Barrett.
ROOKIE WATCH Jawaan Taylor has been an ever-present (765 snaps) at RT for #Jaguars in 2019
Among 9 qualifying rookies* Taylor ranks: 2nd in Overall Grade 62.3 2nd in Pass Blocking Grade 67.2 4th in Run Blocking Grade 56.4
According to Pro Football Focus, Jawaan Taylor is currently graded out as the second best rookie offensive tackle with a grade of 62.3. That’s certainly not bad for a player who just celebrated his 22nd birthday this past week. His pass-blocking grade of 67.2 also ranks second among all rookies.
Look for Taylor to have a big day against one of the NFL’s best. Thus far into his career, the Jaguars look to have found their future right tackle. Now it all just needs to come together.
QB Nick Foles
I’m not sure there is anyone in the NFL who needs a big game more than quarterback Nick Foles. With the memories of Minshew Mania still fresh in the minds of Jags fans, Foles’ struggles have been even more frustrating for those who have invested their time into the team.
To put it lightly, Foles’ starts since returning from collarbone surgery have been lackluster. Fans are already calling for the benching of the Jaguars 88-million dollar quarterback. If Foles is to quiet the masses, he will need to get the stagnant Jaguars’ offense rolling in a big way. Another blowout is not acceptable.
Foles has all the pieces to be successful (aside from tight end). Receiver DJ Chark Jr. has had a fantastic season and Fournette is playing some of his best ball. With such weapons, there is little excuse for the offense to get off to a slow start.
With two struggling teams with drastically different identities, which Florida team ends up on top? We’ll know that later Sunday afternoon.
The Los Angeles Rams will take on the Arizona Cardinals this Sunday as the Cards look to start the end of the season strong. Can Kyler Murray lead the team to their first victory since October?
Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports
The Arizona Cardinals aren’t in playoff contention anymore, although they are not technically eliminated from the playoff race. Despite this, the overall mood of the locker room feels optimistic. The surrounding view of the team is far different than it was at this time last year. While a victory Sunday can’t propel them into the postseason, they can play spoiler to a dreaded division rival.
Recent history hasn’t been kind to fans in the desert when facing the Rams. Los Angeles has dominated the Arizona Cardinals the past two years, outscoring them 130-25. That number includes two shutouts. For four games, Arizona had zero answers for the Sean McVay-Wade Phillips coaching combination.
This 2019 Cardinals team looks to be a lot different than the ones the Rams have played recently. Their record shows that of a ball club featuring a rookie head coach and quarterback, but the box scores show a team that has gone toe-to-toe with some of the league’s best.
This year’s Rams have had a fall from grace after nearly defeating the New England Patriots in the Super Bowl. They’re 6-5 and have sputtered out of control following a strong start to the season. Jared Goff has only eleven touchdown passes compared to twelve interceptions. They’ll be coming into Glendale on a short week following a 6-45 massacre at the hands of the Baltimore Ravens.
The Cardinals very nearly beat that same Ravens team in week two of the season, falling 17-23 after a beautiful pass from Lamar Jackson to Hollywood Brown on 3rd down and 13. That game looks more and more impressive for the Cards as the season moves along, as the Ravens are looking like the AFC favorite for the Super Bowl.
The Cardinals are refreshed after their bye week. In fact, it’s possible all 53 players on the active roster will be healthy this Sunday. Can they start the end of the season strong, or will they come out rusty and unprepared?
Special teams and field position could play a huge role in the Jets’ Week 13 game against the Bengals.
The Jets and Bengals are heading in opposite directions. With every win, the Jets move closer to a record that takes them out of running for the best draft prospects but closer to competency in the AFC. The Bengals, though, look destined for the top pick in April and an unknown future in 2020.
The Week 13 matchup, then, is a crossroads for the two teams. The Jets can prove their win streak isn’t a fluke – despite it coming against the 0-11 Bengals – while the Bengals can prove how dedicated they are – or not, if they win – to tanking. Whichever outcome occurs won’t affect the AFC playoff picture in any real way, but it could play a huge role in the futures of the Jets and Bengals.
Here are four things to know for the Week 13 matchup.
(Emilee Chinn-Getty Images)
Battle of special teams
Special teams and field position can be critical components to a football game and Week 13 pits two teams with great units against each other. The Bengals rank first in Football Outsiders’ special teams DVOA, while the Jets rank third.
Once again, Brant Boyer turned the Jets into one of the better special teams units in the league, and the Jets rank first in kick coverage DVOA. But the Bengals, meanwhile, are first in kick return DVOA and average 28.9 yards per kickoff return – second in the league. On punts, the Jets average the second-most yards per return (10.1) while the Bengals allow the fifth-fewest yards per return (5.3). Special teams may seem boring, but it could very easily swing this game one direction or another.
The Philadelphia Eagles (5-6) are heading to Miami after a loss to Seattle and will visit the Dolphins (2-9) on Sunday at 1 p.m. Sunday.
The Dolphins have won two of their last four games, but are still firmly in tank mode as they search out a top-five pick.
With the Eagles desperately needing a win to pull even with Dallas, here are four things to watch when Philadelphia has the ball.
***
Carson Wentz vs. Dolphins banged-up defense
Carson Wentz is never lacking for confidence, but with the Miami Dolphins next up on the schedule, Sunday is a good time to get the wheels rolling towards a playoff run. Miami’s defense ranks last in the NFL in passing DVOA by Football Outsiders, and Miami is allowing 8.8 yards per attempt, which is third-worst in the NFL.
Philadelphia 76ers coach Brett Brown wants Tobias Harris to continue to develop as a scorer.
When the Philadelphia 76ers re-signed Tobias Harris to a $180 million max contract over the summer, they expected him to become a big scoring option for them from the perimeter. In order to do that, he has to be able to have that mentality of putting the ball in the basket every time he touches the ball.
In Saturday’s 119-116 win over the Indiana Pacers, Harris scored 22 points and he made some big plays in the second half to help secure the win. He took 16 shots, above his season average of 14.4 shot attempts per game entering the contest. This comes after he scored 13 points in the second half of their win over the New York Knicks on Friday and it’s a good sign for him as he continues to grow into that type of player for Philadelphia.
Coach Brett Brown said post-game:
I have preached it to everyone and to him as well: I want him to find the rim. A scorer is a scorer, it’s not JJ Redick always, but driving [to the basket] is what we want. Whether it’s a rise up, pull up long 2, a catch-shot three, something off a catch go-go catch to the rim, we need him to score and I want him to think like a scorer. I think that he is, but I also think that he has been improving tremendously defensively.
Harris’ defense has much improved compared to previous seasons as he continues to get low on the defensive end and move his feet. Ben Simmons was the one who made the big plays on defense late in the game, but Harris deserves a lot of credit for forcing his man towards Simmons and allow him to make those plays.
Brown added on Harris:
Tobias is very prideful. You can’t just dust off scores [against you], there has to be some level of pain. He wants to get better. He’s a prideful person and I forget sometimes, really, how young he is. He’s got character and he’s an athlete and that can point to defense. I think that he has the characteristics that can make him an elite defensive player.
As always, this will take some time. Harris is not going to wake up one day and be this consistent 20 points per game type of scorer and become an All-Star. He needs to continue and grow as a player, much like his team. He just needs to continue this path he’s on and continue to add to his game. [lawrence-related id=20365,20357,20347]
Former Jets wide receiver Terrelle Pryor has been charged with simple assault for his role in an incident that left him hospitalized.
Saturday was a chaotic one for former Jets wide receiver Terrelle Pryor.
After sustaining stab wounds to his chest and shoulder, Pryor was charged with simple assault for his role in an incident that occurred in his apartment at 4:30 a.m. on Saturday morning. According to the Allegheny County prosecutors office and police, 24-year-old Shalaya Briston was charged with attempted homicide and aggravated assault for stabbing Pryor twice. Police said that Pryor and Briston were “mutual combatants” in the incident.
According to court documents obtained by TMZ, Pryor and Briston went out to dinner for drinks before the couple started arguing. Pryor went home, while Briston and her friends remained out. When Briston and her friends returned to Pryor’s apartment, he was there waiting for them.
Pryor allegedly knocked one of Briston’s friends to the ground before he started fighting with her. The argument spilled into Pryor’s kitchen, where he was allegedly stabbed by Briston. Briston and her friends then drove Pryor to the hospital for treatment. According to WPXI’s Amy Hudak, police recovered a semi-automatic pistol in the passenger seat of Pryor’s car. Police also reportedly recovered a Glock pistol with a flashlight from the vehicle.
Pryor underwent surgery to repair his wounds and is expected to make a full recovery.
Pryor, 30, spent part of 2018 with the Jets before being released due to injury. In six games with New York, Pryor caught 14 passes for 235 yards and two touchdowns. He has also spent time with the Buffalo Bills, Washington Redskins, Cleveland Browns and Oakland Raiders. Pryor’s best season came with the Browns in 2016 when he caught 77 passes for 1,007 yards and four touchdowns.
Pryor most recently signed with the Jacksonville Jaguars before being released in September following a hamstring injury.
The New York Giants can expected a very heavy Green Bay Packers crowd at MetLife Stadium on Sunday.
The Green Bay Packer fans will be invading MetLife Stadium this Sunday in great numbers, giving the place a Lambeau-like feel. How many Packer fans will be in attendance is unknown but expect the place to have more visiting fans than usual.
Percentage of #Packers fans in attendance for Sunday's game vs #Giants
There’s several reasons why there could be as many Packer fans as there are New York Giant fans in the building. First, the Giant fans are fed up with losing and many of them have put their tickets up for sale on the secondary market.
And who will be buying them? Packers fans from all over the country coming to New York for the holiday season. The Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree gets lit up on Wednesday and what better a week to come to the New York area?
Packer fans traditionally travel well. This year they took over the L.A. Chargers’ facility, which was ripe for the taking. The MetLife takeover won’t be as dominant but it will be noticeable.
That will lead to Giants CEO John Mara to blow his top. There is nothing he hates more than meaningless December football in his stadium and this will be the third consecutive December where his Giants can do nothing but play spoiler.
The Giants, at 2-9, are likely to get drubbed by the 8-3 Packers in this game. That means the Giant fans will vacate the building in the fourth quarter leaving the Green Bay faithful to further make themselves at home.
If this is not an embarrassing signal to management that they need to upgrade their front office into a 21st centaur operation, nothing will.
The fans have little faith in general manager Dave Gettleman at the moment, especially after the nonsensical trade with the Jets for defensive lineman Leonard Williams. The fans are also fed up with the coaching staff, which has been getting schooled on a weekly basis this year.
This won’t be the most embarrassing pill to swallow, however. The hated Philadelphia Eagles are scheduled to come to MetLife in Week 17 and expect them to be playing for either the division title or a playoff berth. They’ll be bringing plenty of their fans with them, too, you can count on that.
This season has been an ugly one and it’s about to get uglier, if that’s even possible.
