Discussing matters pertinent to both of the Wolverines’ rivalries and why the Alabama – LSU game’s result should matter.
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It’s predictable: Alabama loses to LSU, and already, the media shills want to see the rematch in the College Football Playoff. Why that’s ridiculous, tying it back to what they said about Michigan in a similar scenario some time ago.
Then, why Michigan fans should want Chase Young to return for Ohio State, and why we see just about zero reasons why the Spartans have a chance against the Wolverines on Saturday.
ONE Championship 102 is in the books, and you can check out the highlights right here on MMA Junkie.
ONE Championship 102 is in the books, and you can check out the highlights right here on MMA Junkie.
ONE Championship 101 took place Friday at Mall of Asia Arena in Manila, Philippines, and streamed on B/R Live.
In the main event, Joshua Pacio defended his strawweight title with a second-round arm-triangle choke against Rene Catalan. But ahead of that, there were some brilliant stoppages – including Geje Eustaquio’s one-kick shot to the liver to stop Toni Tauro
You thought some of the tanking teams would deliberately try to lose (and some did!). But three of the franchises on our initial edition of the Tanking Rankings (Tank for Tua! Be Bad for Burrow!) won on Sunday.
That makes the path to the top two picks a little clearer for this week.
With that in mind, let’s rank each team based on its record, remaining schedule and just how bad their rest-of-season prospects are (e.g. did the team bench its starting QB for a rookie?). We’ll start from the top … er, bottom:
8. Arizona Cardinals (3-6-1)
Remaining schedule: @ SF, vs. LAR, vs. PIT, vs. CLE, @ SEA, @ LAR
They’ve proven they can beat mediocre teams, so there might be a win or two more left on the schedule.
7. Atlanta Falcons (2-7)
Remaining schedule: @ CAR, vs. TB, vs. NO, vs. CAR, @ SF, vs. Jax, @ TB
Whoa. They beat the Saints. In the Superdome. Whaaa? Is this the sign that they’ll bounce back a little the rest of the way? I’ll buy it.
6. Detroit Lions (3-5-1)
Remaining schedule: vs. DAL, @ WSH, vs. CHI, @ MIN, vs. TB, @ DEN, vs. GB
This all depends on Matthew Stafford’s back injury. If the Lions decide to shut him down (and I think they should, especially given how their playoff hopes are slim to none) and start Jeff Driskel, Detroit might lose the rest of the way.
(AP Photo/Noah K. Murray)
5. New York Jets (2-7)
Remaining schedule: @ WSH, vs. OAK, @ CIN, vs. MIA, @ BAL, vs. PIT, @ BUF
Would it be shocking if they beat the Redskins, Bengals and Dolphins and ended up at 5-11? Nope.
4. New York Giants (2-8)
Remaining schedule: @ CHI, vs. GB, @ PHI, vs. MIA, @ WSH, vs. PHI
Of the games left, I see two they could win.
3. Miami Dolphins (2-7)
Remaining schedule: vs. BUF, @ CLE, vs. PHI, @ NYJ, @ NYG, vs. CIN, @ NE
After beating the Colts on Sunday, I suddenly see a few winnable games on this schedule (the two New York games, at home against the Bengals). Maybe they’ve taken themselves out of the running for the top two?
2. Washington Redskins (1-8)
Remaining schedule: vs. NYJ, vs. DET, @ CAR, @ GB, vs. PHI, vs. NYG, @ DAL
The bye week proved to be a win — they moved up two spots by doing nothing.
1. Cincinnati Bengals (0-9)
Remaining schedule: @ OAK, vs. PIT, vs. NYJ, @ CLE, vs. NE, @ MIA, vs. CLE
The last winless team in the NFL proved it’s heading toward clinching No. 1 overall with Ryan Finley at the helm.
Former Lions WR Charles Rogers has passed away at just 38 years of age according to social media posts from former teammates
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Former Detroit Lions wide receiver and first-round pick Charles Rogers has died at age 38, according to social media posts from former teammates and confirmed by the Detroit Free Press’ Chris Solari. The Saginaw native and onetime Michigan State star was found dead in Florida on Monday morning.
Rogers’ time with the Lions is no small part of the story of the spectacularly lost decade of the 2000s. The No. 2 overall pick of the 2003 NFL Draft — taken one spot ahead of Andre Johnson — Rogers last just three seasons.
It could have been much more. Rogers caught two touchdown passes in his first career game and was at 22 receptions for 243 yards and three TDs in his first five before a broken collarbone shattered his season. He broke his collarbone again in 2004. Rogers became known as a fragile player and a colossal bust.
Substance abuse issues, including painkillers, derailed his career and his life. After football, he moved to Florida and worked with a childhood friend in an auto shop.
Following a humiliating loss to the New York Jets on Sunday, the New York Giants are bracing for change entering the bye week.
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The New York Giants knew that a Week 10 game against the New York Jets was considered a must-win by many, so after coming up short in a 34-27 loss, they recognize that change could be on the horizon.
“I just worry about what I can control. We all know this league is a business and winning is everything in this league. When you don’t win, everything starts to look different. I’m worried about going out there each and every week and putting the best football I can on tape, do whatever I can to help my team win,” safety Jabrill Peppers told reporters.
Although he’s remained relatively confident in his job status leading up to Sunday, head coach Pat Shurmur sounded completely defeated after the Jets loss and appeared to accept the reality that his employment was no longer a sure thing.
“My concern is putting a team on the field that’s going to win a football game — that’s my concern. It’s always a one-week concern getting ready to play the next opponent and put a winning performance on the field. That’s my concern,” Shurmur said after the game.
Shurmur acknowledged that there would likely be some bye week evaluations with team ownership, but made it clear the media would hear absolutely none of those details.
“Well, obviously, anything that I speak about behind the scenes would be behind the scenes stuff. I wouldn’t share any of that with you, especially at this point,” Shurmur said.
Like Shurmur, superstar running back Saquon Barkley also looked and sounded defeated following the loss, uncharacteristically providing misdirected answers or quick one-liners.
“Only the thing I can focus on is coming in and being the player for my team. Just focused on this bye week, it’s a week where it gives everyone a chance to get healthier, not only myself but the whole team. We get to reflect on our season so far and try to be a better team than we were in the first half,” Barkley said.
It’s clear the Giants expect some change, but how might that manifest itself? Co-owners John Mara and Steve Tisch are unlikely to fire Shurmur, and Shurmur has already stated that Mike Shula and James Bettcher are safe, so what now?
We’ll all find out together over the next 7-10 days.
New Orleans Saints HC Sean Payton didn’t blame officiating in his team’s 26-9 loss to the Atlanta Falcons, pointing to their own mistakes.
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Few viewers expected the New Orleans Saints to get trounced by the Atlanta Falcons — coming out of the bye week, inside the Mercedes-Benz Superdome, in a year where the Saints have been nearly undefeated and the Falcons have gone nearly winless. But that’s not what happened, when Atlanta’s defense swarmed Drew Brees and the Saints offense, leaving town with a 26-9 win on their shoulders.
Some fans would point to the game’s officiating as a culprit in the upset. Whenever the Saints defense seemed to win on a crucial down, it seemed like someone was flagged for an illegal use of hands penalty; giving up five yards and an automatic first down. Saints defenders were penalized for that on four different occasions on Sunday, twice on third downs which would have forced an Atlanta punt. In total, New Orleans drew a dozen penalty flags and ceded 90 yards. The Falcons were flagged seven times, giving up 48 yards. That’s about as lopsided as it gets in the NFL.
But Saints coach Sean Payton doesn’t buy that as an easy explanation for his team’s loss. He rebuffed that notion during his postgame press conference, saying, “No, I thought the officiating was pretty good in this game. That had nothing to do with this game.”
Rather, Payton wants his team to look at their own mistakes and miscues. Excessive penalties are often a sign of poor execution and botched on-field decisions, and he looked back on the game as a big learning opportunity for just about everyone.
“Yes, absolutely, there’s a lot of corrections (to be made),” Payton continued, hammering his point home. “A lot of corrections. Look, it’s a good group here and they understand that tomorrow will be tough to watch it. It’ll go down. But shame on us if we can’t get those corrections made. That won’t be a problem. It’s much easier to come in and watch tape after you win, but that’s one of the things about this game that creates a little bit of toughness and grit.”
This Saints team has enjoyed plenty of success in recent years, having been built around a largely-intact core of players going back to the 2017 season opener; they’ve won 33 of their last 45 games together, and know what must be done to rebound from a poor outing like this one.
Still, knowing what to do and putting it into practice are two different things. And the Saints have a critical four-game stretch ahead of them, featuring three more NFC South divisional games (peaking with a prime-time rematch in Atlanta on Thanksgiving) and then a home game in the Superdome against the San Francisco 49ers. If Payton and the Saints can right the ship and handle their business, they could be in position to lock up the division title and maybe a top-two playoff seed by the end of it. But that’s easier said than done in a league where any team can win on any given Sunday.
The Bears lost starting LB Danny Trevathan to a gruesome elbow injury, but reserve LB Nick Kwiatkoski stepped up in his absence.
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When Bears linebacker Danny Trevathan suffered a gruesome elbow injury, backup Nick Kwiatkoski rose to the occasion in his place in Chicago’s 20-13 victory over the Lions.
Trevathan left the game in the first quarter after his arm bent the wrong way as he attempted to sack Lions quarterback Jeff Driskel. Trevathan immediately left the field, knowing that something was wrong.
While Bears coach Matt Nagy didn’t offer an update on Trevathan’s injury, it appeared to be similar to defensive tackle Akiem Hick’s elbow dislocation, perhaps worse.
Kwiatkoski relieved Trevathan with one of the best games of his career. He finished second in tackles with 9, recorded a sack and had the Bears’ lone takeaway — an interception of Driskel early in the third quarter, which led to a Bears scoring drive.
Kwiakoski once again proved to not only be an adamant fill-in but a productive one, just like he did earlier this season in place of linebacker Roquan Smith, who was a healthy scratch against the Minnesota Vikings.
‘‘It’s just preparation,’’ he said, via the Sun-Times. ‘‘As a linebacker, you plan on playing. Things happen throughout the course of a season, and you have to be ready for it.’’
Trevathan looks to be out awhile with his elbow injury, and Kwiatkoski suddenly has a big opportunity in front of him.
‘‘It’s not the way I want it to happen,” Kwiatkoski said. “Danny’s a close friend of mine.’’
But Kwiatkoski will get his chance this week as the Bears travel to Los Angeles to play the Rams on Sunday Night Football.
New York Giants coaches and players apologized to the fan base on Sunday, but asked that they continue to trust the process.
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New York Giants veteran wide receiver Golden Tate had a message for Big Blue fans following a 34-27 loss to the New York Jets on Sunday at MetLife Stadium and it’s not the sort of message they are interested in hearing right now.
“You know, well first I’m going to apologize to the Giants pride because I know how important this game is. I know we were expecting to come out and get a big time win against the other New York team, but we didn’t,” Tate told reporters. “The only thing I can ask at this point is just be patient and try to trust the process. Just know the people inside the building, we’re working, we still believe we can, we’ve just got to go out there and do it.”
This is like a broken record for Giants fans, who have been blindly “trusting the process” since 2012. And all they’ve gotten for their faith is one of the worst stretches in the history of Giants football.
“I think they should be as disappointed with the fact that we lost as I am. That’s what I would say,” head coach Pat Shurmur said when asked what he’d say to the fans.
An admittedly “embarrassed” Jabrill Peppers, who very clearly wasn’t interested in discussing the latest loss but fielded questions like a champ anyway, was equally as blunt when asked about his message to fans.
“We are fed up too. At the end of the day, everybody can feel how they feel, we are going to go back to the drawing board, put together a good two weeks of work and come out of this bye week ready to go,” Peppers said.
So there you have it, Giants fans. The team is sorry and asking you to trust the process.
If you lost in your NFL survivor pool (in case you don’t know what that is: you enter a pool of contestants who pick one outright winner per week and can’t use that team again the rest of the season; the overall winner “survives” when everyone else is eliminated) this weekend, you already know about what an awful Sunday it was for entrants.
Perhaps if you picked the Baltimore Ravens to run all over the Cincinnati Bengals, you survived.
But let’s review: the Kansas City Chiefs had Patrick Mahomes return and lost to the Tennessee Titans. The New Orleans Saints put up a whole nine points against the woeful Atlanta Falcons defense. The Miami Dolphins won their second straight game (!) in a victory over the Indianapolis Colts, who were without their starting QB. You could even throw in the Pittsburgh Steelers defeating the Los Angeles Rams.
That was bad news for anyone who picked those favorites:
Just over 11,000 started in the 2019 NFL Mega Survivor Pool.
While an unprecedented ~2000 made it to Week 10… ~95% of those who remained went down this week (with two games to go).
Stafford still showed leadership and competitiveness despite not being able to play
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Jeff Driskel made his debut as the Detroit Lions starting quarterback in Week 10. He wasn’t terrible, guiding the team to a field goal on the opening drive and leading the Lions in rushing while completing 26-of-38 pass attempts.
Driskel was in the lineup only because Matthew Stafford was forced to end his 136 consecutive game streak with broken bones in his back. But Stafford was still actively involved on the Detroit sideline, advising Driskel after every possession.
The young backup clearly appreciated the help from Stafford. Driskel was asked if he leaned on Stafford on the sidelines.
“I think his presence is huge,” Driskel said after the game. “He’s the unquestioned leader of this team and one of the toughest dudes I’ve ever been around, most competitive people I’ve ever been around. So yeah, having his presence there was huge, not just for me but for the whole team. So yeah, it was awesome to have him there and he had my back just like I have his back when he’s out there.”
Driskel realized how tough it must be for Stafford to not be out there leading the team on the field. He talked about how great of a leader that makes No. 9.
“Yeah, I’m sure it was tough, everybody wants to be out there competing on the field and he’s done it for a long time at a high level, don’t know the exact number of starts that he’s had in a row, but it’s definitely up there. I think it’s since 2011 he hasn’t missed a start. It’s just a testament to him as a person, as a teammate and a competitor.”
Stafford’s status is undetermined for Week 11 and beyond. Driskel showed enough in his relief role to at least give the Lions a fighting chance…with Stafford in his ear helping out.
