LeBron James talks about what it meant to play in front of Kobe Bryant: ‘It’s a beautiful thing’

LeBron James talks about what it meant to play in front of Los Angeles Lakers legend Kobe Bryant on Sunday against Atlanta Hawks: ‘It’s a beautiful thing’

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Kobe Bryant was seated courtside during the Los Angeles Lakers 122-101 victory over the Atlanta Hawks on Sunday. During the first half, LeBron James dapped up the Lakers legend before hitting a 3-pointer, and Bryant continued to interact with players on the L.A. roster throughout the contest. After the game, LeBron discussed how special it was to have the chance to play in front of Bryant.

“It’s fantastic,” LeBron said when asked what it meant to have Kobe at the game. “Just having him in the building and knowing what he meant to this franchise and meant to L.A. for me and my teammates, what it means to be a part of this Laker Nation and Laker family–it’s a beautiful thing.

“And for me, I grew up watching and admiring him. I was one of the kids, obviously, who had a chance to come out straight out of high school. So, he did it, and I was just watching him. It’s just dope. It’s just so surreal for me, just a kid from Akron, to be able to have a guy like Kobe just take time out of his day. Even at this point in my career it’s still special.”

 

LeBron finished as a team-best +30 during 33 minutes of action against the Hawks. He totaled game-highs of 33 points and 12 assists to go along with seven rebounds while helping his Lakers improve to an NBA-leading 11-2 on the season. Los Angeles is now one game up on the Houston Rockets for the top record in the Western Conference and a half-game up on the Boston Celtics for the best mark in the league overall.

“When I signed here, I became part of the family and he welcomed me here with open arms,” LeBron added in regards to Kobe. “Just to have that support from one of the greatest Lakers to ever play is special for me.”

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An updated look at Dolphins’ 2020 1st-round picks after Week 11

Where do each of the Miami Dolphins’ 1st-round picks sit in the current NFL Draft order with 6 games left to play?

All right, everyone. It is time to step back off the ledge. The Miami Dolphins entered Week 11 riding a two-game winning streak, which had seen their odds to finish with the top pick go from about 2 in 3 to 1 in 5. So the pursuit of the top pick? Throw it on ice — because the Dolphins will have to lose out in order to get to that juncture and the Bengals will need to find another win hiding on their schedule aside of a hypothetical win over the Dolphins.

And after some positive run by the Pittsburgh Steelers and Houston Texans, Dolphins fans began to stress, seeing each of the team’s three first-round draft picks swell to the top of the charts. But all three teams lost this weekend. And some critical competition also won — which has aided the Dolphins’ first-round picks greatly. Let’s get a few more weeks like this one and go from there, shall we?

Here’s where Miami’s picks currently stand:

Miami’s Pick: 4th overall

Business as usual here. The Giants, Redskins and Bengals sit ahead of the Dolphins. Cincinnati is winless at 0-10, the Redskins are 1-9 and the Giants, like the Dolphins, are 2-8 — but the Giants have a softer strength of schedule.

If you like promising foreshadowing, here’s some for you: The Dolphins still have to play the Giants. The Redskins? They play the Giants the following weekend. And Washington also plays a Lions team that is without Matt Stafford and 1-6 in their last seven games. The Bengals still need to play the Jets and Dolphins.

There are 3-4 wins left to be divided among this top four in the order … some of them guaranteed to go to teams other than Miami.

Pittsburgh’s Pick: 15th overall

The Steelers fell to the Cleveland Browns on Thursday Night Football and lost center Maurkice Pouncey for the next three games. Mercifully for the Dolphins, the NFL decided not to suspend QB Mason Rudolph, too — who looked completely lost for the Steelers on Thursday night.

RB James Conner is banged up and so is WR JuJu Smith-Schuster. Can Minkah Fitzpatrick play wide receiver?

The Steelers sit at 5-5 and play the Bengals this weekend. We are all Bengals fans.

Houston’s Pick: 25th overall

The Texans got absolutely destroyed by the Baltimore Ravens this weekend — like almost as bad as the Dolphins’ loss to Baltimore levels of bad. And that’s great news, given what the postseason forecast holds for the Texans.

But that’s not even the best news. The Texans and Colts are tied atop the AFC South rankings at 6-4 (…why did Miami have to win that game in Week 10?!) and the Oakland Raiders also sit at 6-4 – and out of the playoffs as things currently stand.

Could the Texans miss the playoffs? They’re in for now on tiebreakers, but it is possible this pick could climb even higher.

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Sam Darnold is Jets Wire’s Player of the Game vs. Redskins

Sam Darnold led the way for the Jets as they got their third win of the season with a 34-17 win over the Washington Redskins.

Sam Darnold led the way for the Jets in their third win of the season Sunday,  a 34-17 road victory over the Washington Redskins.

Darnold had his best game of the season, setting a career-high in touchdown passes with four. For his performance, Darnold is Jets Wire’s Player of the Game for Week 11 of the regular season.

Going along with Darnold’s four touchdown passes, he was 19-30 for 293 yards. Other than one forced interception, Darnold played solid football. He was making magic out of the pocket with off-schedule plays and looked comfortable when in standing tall.

Darnold also did a good job of spreading the love with the football. Seven different Jets receivers had at least one reception in the game. That shows that Darnold is going through his reads and not staring down one receiver.

Darnold has enjoyed great chemistry with tight end Ryan Griffin. Darnold made him look like the second coming of Rob Gronkowski, as he had five catches for 109 yards and a touchdown. Overall, Jets tight ends had six catches for 129 yards and two touchdowns.

The only concern with Darnold is that he’s still trying to make plays when nothing is there, resulting in turnovers. Darnold’s interception came on a double screen in which neither option was open and he tried to force the ball in. He has to do a better job of getting rid of the football and not putting it up for grabs.

But other than that, the last two games have been strong for Darnold and he seems to be getting back on track. All the Jets can hope for is that he continues to develop in Adam Gase’s system and cuts down on the turnovers.

UFC heading back to New Zealand in late February

The UFC will return to New Zealand in the new year for the first time since mid-2017.

The UFC will return to New Zealand in the new year for the first time since mid-2017.

A “Fight Night” event is planned for late February in Auckland, the country’s most populous city, UFC officials recently told the New Zealand Herald following an initial report from Neil Rooke.

UFC Auckland is expected to take place Feb. 22 (Sunday, Feb. 23 locally) at Spark Arena in Auckland. The card is likely to stream on ESPN+. No bouts have been announced for the event.

The event will be the third time the UFC has set up shop in New Zealand. UFC Fight Night 43 took place in the same venue (when it was called Vector Arena) in June 2014. And in June 2017, UFC Fight Night 110, headlined by a heavyweight fight between Mark Hunt and Derrick Lewis, went down in the building.

Building an event with fighters from the region is seldom an issue for the UFC. The promotion has several standout fighters on its roster who are from New Zealand or nearby Australia.

Most notable right now is middleweight champion Israel Adesanya, who trains in New Zealand with Dan Hooker and Kai Kara-France. Former middleweight champ Robert Whittaker, who lost his title to Adesanya, is from Australia.

David Johnson’s role, playing time disappears for Cardinals in Week 11

After supposedly his best week of practice, he gets only nine snaps against the 49ers and zero touches on offense.

Actions speak louder than words and while everything everyone is saying about Arizona Cardinals running back David Johnson is positive and optimistic, actions show the team and head coach Kliff Kingsbury is not pleased with him.

Against the San Francisco 49ers, Johnson did not start and did not get a rushing attempt or a target in the passing game. He played only nine snaps the entire game and did not appear to play in the second half.

This came after he was benched in Week 10 after his fumble against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Leading up to the game, Kingsbury and general manager Steve Keim both said Johnson had a great week of practice. Kingsbury even said it was the best week of practice he had all season. He said the playing time at running back would be done by committee and that both Johnson and Kenyan Drake would have packages.

Drake was productive, getting 67 yards on 16 carries. He also had six catches for 13 yards.

What did Kingsbury have to say after the game about the playing time?

“We wanted to get K.D. in a rhythm,” he told reporters after the game. “I thought he played really well the first game when he was here when he was in a rhythm getting the majority fo the snaps so we rolled with him in the second half.”

According to Kingsbury, it isn’t even about Johnson.

“It’s not as much what he’s not showed us,” he said. “KD, like I said, played really well against them the first game if you remember, so we wanted to get him going again in this game versus them.”

Drake did have 162 total yards against the 49ers in Week 9. Johnson was injured.

Johnson did not speak to reporters after the game. He apparently cleared out his locker before reporters got there.

And at 12:31 a.m. Monday morning, Johnson had a one-word tweet.

We don’t know the context of it, but things aren’t going well for Johnson, long considered the team’s best offensive player.

He supposedly had his best week of practice and was rewarded with nine snaps and no touches when he was completely healthy.

This doesn’t feel like a story that is going to end well.

Listen to the latest from Cards Wire’s Jess Root on his podcast, Rise Up, See Red. Subscribe on Apple podcasts or Stitcher Radio.

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The Ravens are the best team in the NFL without question

I’m going out on a bit of a limb here but it’s a pretty thick one after watching the Baltimore Ravens for 10 games.

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After beating up on the Houston Texans 41-7 in Week 11, the Ravens have firmly announced they are the best team in the NFL right now and it’s not even close.

In a game against an opponent leading their division and sitting in the third seed in the AFC playoff picture coming off a bye week, Baltimore didn’t flinch. They pressured Deshaun Watson — an MVP-contending quarterback — all game long, forcing him into big mistakes. They locked down the then-No. 8-ranked scoring offense to just seven points, which came in garbage time. They ran over and around the Texans’ third-ranked rush defense to the tune of 263 yards and a touchdown — more than the entire Texans offense put up. Quarterback Lamar Jackson continued to make his case for the NFL’s MVP award with a 70.8% completion rate, 222 yards, four touchdown passes and no interceptions, proving he’s just as deadly through the air as with his legs.

For Houston, this was a complete embarrassment and proved they’re nowhere near Baltimore’s level. But the Texans aren’t alone there this season.

The Ravens have dismantled three of the best teams in the NFL over their last four games. They’ve made the Seattle Seahawks, New England Patriots and now Houston look unprepared, incapable and downright silly, beating them by a combined 108-43. Now keep in mind that those three teams were considered real Super Bowl contenders before getting on a field with Baltimore. And yet the Ravens beat all three teams in the exact same fashion, looking better each week along the way.

The offense is physical yet capable of explosive plays. They’ve punched defenses in the mouth on the ground, even when everyone knows the run is coming. They’ve created mismatches through the air and raced by defenders for huge plays. They’ve used misdirection as an art form.

Jackson has been a huge part of that, earning serious talk as the NFL’s MVP this season. He’s gone 185-of-279 (66.3%) for 2,258 passing yards and nearly a 4-1 touchdown-to-interception ratio. He’s added another 788 yards and six touchdowns on the ground. He’s likely on his way to his third consecutive AFC Offensive Player of the Week award.

But the defense has been the icing on the cake. The midseason additions of impact players like cornerback Marcus Peters and linebacker Josh Bynes have turned this defense around completely. After it started the season looking unorganized, confused and just plain bad, there’s a case to be made that it’s now the best defense in the league.

The Ravens are generating a potent pass rush in spite of not having a star pass rusher or enough depth at outside linebacker. They’ve been locking down some of the better receivers in the NFL, with Watson, Russell Wilson and Tom Brady throwing for an average of just 206 yards. At the very least, the Baltimore defense should be considered the most dangerous in the league; it’s notched nine takeaways over the last four games, including five returned for touchdowns. Regardless of what their opponents do well offensively, Baltimore has shut that exact thing down.

What’s the final and perhaps the best argument is that with how young and new the roster still is, this is a team that should actually continue to improve in the final six weeks. As guys like Peters and Bynes get more acclimated to the playbook and their defensive teammates, they should steadily improve their play. Jackson continues to improve each week, both in his awareness and as a passer. The coaching somehow gets better each week as well, with silly mistakes quickly getting eliminated.

With yet another playoff contender checked off their schedule, the Ravens have looked unstoppable over the last four games and seem to be picking up speed with each win.

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Giants remain one step ahead of Redskins in NFC East

The New York Giants remain one step ahead of the Washington Redskins for a basement spot in the NFC East.

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The New York Giants managed to avoid losing on Sunday for the first time since defeating the Washington Redskins on September 29. Of course, the Giants were enjoying a bye week, so that’s not exactly saying much.

Big Blue is back at it on Monday, returning to East Rutherford ahead of a Week 12 game against the Chicago Bears before back-to-back games against the Green Bay Packers and Philadelphia Eagles.

With the other three NFC East teams playing on Sunday afternoon, here’s a look at how the division sits after 11 weeks:

Dallas Cowboys (6-4)

It took everything Dallas had, including a huge game from quarterback Dak Prescott, but they were just able to edge out the Lions in Detroit, giving them six wins on the season and complete control of the NFC East. However, those good feelings could fade in short order as the Cowboys now have back-to-back games against the New England Patriots and Buffalo Bills on tap.

Philadelphia Eagles (5-5)

The Eagles gave it a valiant effort and clearly caught Tom Brady & Co. off guard on Sunday, but New England ultimately prevailed, sending Philadelphia back to .500 on the year. Things get no easier for Philly in Week 12 with the Seattle Seahawks up next. However, it’s much more smooth sailing after that with the Dolphins, Giants (twice) and Redskins making up four of the Eagles’ final five games.

New York Giants (2-8)

The Giants have essentially been left to contend with the Redskins as the worst team in the NFC East and entering Week 12, they have a one-game lead. Of course, the thought of Big Blue’s offensive line going up against Khalil Mack and the Bears defense is a scary one. On the plus side, it looks like the secondary will get a slight break against Chase Daniel, which likely means just a modest 250-yard, 2-touchdown performance for Chicago’s signal caller.

Washington Redskins (1-9)

As bad as things are in New York, they might actually be worse in Washington. With a 34-17 loss to the New York Jets on Sunday, the Skins fell to 1-9 on the season with that one win coming against the Miami Dolphins, who went for a two-point conversion with no time remaining on the clock instead of kicking a PAT and sending the game into overtime. Washington’s latest loss was highlighted by rookie QB Dwayne Haskins pleading with his offensive line to protect him.

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Watch highlights from Rams’ Week 11 win over Bears

The Rams held the Bears in check on Sunday night, winning 17-7.

The Rams were completely shut down by the Bears last season in their 15-6 loss in Chicago, but they turned the tables on Matt Nagy’s squad Sunday. They held the Bears in check at the Coliseum en route to a 17-7 win, limiting Chicago to just 267 yards on 74 offensive plays.

It wasn’t the prettiest win, but it was one the Rams desperately needed. They’re now 6-4 and still in contention in the NFC, though their work is hardly done yet. Next up, they’ll face the Ravens at home on Monday Night Football.

But before we get to Week 12, take a look at the highlights from Sunday’s game, which included a 50-yard reception by Cooper Kupp, an interception by Troy Hill and a huge hit by Jalen Ramsey.

OL issues painfully apparent for Dolphins in Week 11 loss to Bills

The Dolphins’ offensive line was crippling in the second matchup this season against the Bills. Should Miami’s draft plans covet OL more?

The Miami Dolphins found themselves in real trouble yesterday after coming out sluggish on offense against the Buffalo Bills. While the halftime score of 23-14 seemed somewhat competitive, keep in mind seven of those points came thanks to a 101-yard kickoff return by Jakeem Grant just before the half. To provide context on Miami’s offensive struggles, the Bills defensive line accounted for six sacks on the afternoon while holding the Dolphins run game to a paltry 23 yards on 13 attempts.

Combine these figures with the apparent “eye test” of Miami’s offensive effort against the Bills and it becomes clear once again that the offensive line is a problem in Miami. A big one.

There are so many holes in the Dolphins’ tanking conspiracy that keep it from holding water — Miami has still won two of their last three games and continues to play aggressive. But with that success comes a higher draft order position — and Alabama Crimson Tide quarterback Tua Tagovailoa suffering a severe injury this past weekend, perhaps Miami should consider a 2020 NFL Draft strategy that focuses on the trenches.

For those of us who have been saying that the Dolphins should be “Bailing for Burrow”, that in itself looks more difficult by the week. While the LSU Tigers starting man under center is still healthy and heavy favorite to win the Heisman, with Tagovailoa’s injury it is safe to assume that Joe Burrow will be QB1 for many teams — including the 0-10 Cincinnati Bengals.

Yes, Miami can still trade all the picks they’ve stockpiled to draft at whatever spot they want and still have an excess of picks left over — but is it smarter to draft the offensive lineman they want first and get the quarterback later?

Since Laremy Tunsil was shipped to the Houston Texans in the preseason, woes in the protection scheme have been rampant.  If Miami doesn’t address these shortcomings, they find themselves putting their future franchise field general in a situation similar to the one Tagovailoa currently finds himself.

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Keys to a Chiefs victory over Chargers in Week 11

How do the Kansas City Chiefs come away with a win against the Los Angeles in Week 11?

Monday night will be the biggest divisional game for the Chiefs in a long time.

This season has been bumpier than expected for Kansas City, but there is still plenty to be optimistic about. The Chiefs will play in Mexico City with all five starting offensive linemen for the first time since Week 2, and quarterback Patrick Mahomes is healthy again. The Chiefs defense, though still with issues, is an improved unit from 2018.

The 4-6 Los Angeles Chargers are fighting for their playoff lives. They have talent across the board, but injuries have ravaged their season like so many times before. Quarterback Philip Rivers also appears to be on his last legs and it is becoming more difficult for him to shoulder the load.

Here are the keys to a Chiefs victory before they head into their bye week:

Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

Improve red zone efficiency

The Chiefs’ offense is still an elite unit (No. 3 in the NFL), but the one area it is struggling in is scoring touchdowns in the red zone. Last season, the Chiefs scored red zone TDs 73 percent of the time, second-best in the NFL. This season they rank 26th, scoring TDs on just 47 percent of their trips to the red zone.

The Chiefs are settling for too many field goals, which is keeping their opponents in the game. With six games still to go, kicker Harrison Butker has already matched his number of field goal attempts from last season.

With Mahomes at QB and one of the best skill position groups in the NFL, there’s no reason for K.C. to be struggling to score TDs. The offensive line returning to full health might help.

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