Nate Reuvers Named Big Ten Player of the Week

Nate Reuvers has been named the Big Ten Player of the Week for college basketball Reuvers has been Wisconsin’s most consistent scorer as he’s shooting 46.2 percent (12-for-26) from the field Reuvers is averaging 18 points, 10 rebounds, and 6.5 blocks

Nate Reuvers has been named the Big Ten Player of the Week for college basketball Reuvers has been Wisconsin’s most consistent scorer as he’s shooting 46.2 percent (12-for-26) from the field Reuvers is averaging 18 points, 10 rebounds, and 6.5 blocks

Nate Reuvers Named Big Ten Player of the Week

Nate Reuvers has been named the Big Ten Player of the Week for college basketball Reuvers has been Wisconsin’s most consistent scorer as he’s shooting 46.2 percent (12-for-26) from the field Reuvers is averaging 18 points, 10 rebounds, and 6.5 blocks

Nate Reuvers has been named the Big Ten Player of the Week for college basketball Reuvers has been Wisconsin’s most consistent scorer as he’s shooting 46.2 percent (12-for-26) from the field Reuvers is averaging 18 points, 10 rebounds, and 6.5 blocks

6 free-agent kickers Colts could consider signing

Some options for the Colts if they are looking for a kicker.

The Indianapolis Colts are heading into Week 11, and there are some questions as to whether veteran kicker Adam Vinatieri will be with the team by season’s end.

It’s clear the Colts are evaluating the position as it’s been reported they are working out a handful of kickers Monday—marking this the second time this season they have brought in a group of free-agent kickers.

While it isn’t clear if the Colts want to move on from Vinatieri, who has missed 11 kicks in nine games, there is still the chance they make a move if they feel it will help them stay in the playoff race.

Here are six free-agent kickers the Colts could consider signing:

AP Photo

Cole Hedlund

A familiar face with the Colts, Hedlund signed with Indy as an undrafted free agent following the 2019 NFL Draft out of North Texas. The rookie was impressive in his preseason with the Colts as he made six of eight field-goal attempts and was perfect on his three extra-point attempts.

Hedlund might not have the biggest boot in the world, but the Colts need accuracy more than they need distance, especially with how often they a privy in going for it on fourth down.

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Gallery: Russell Westbrook’s bold fashion choices over the years

In honor of Russell Westbrook’s 31st birthday, we’re celebrating the boldest fashion choices by the Houston Rockets star over his NBA years.

Born on November 12, 1988, superstar Houston Rockets guard Russell Westbrook turned 31 years old Tuesday.

The former NBA Most Valuable Player (MVP) and eight-time All-Star is best known, of course, for his production on the basketball court, where he’s now in his 12th professional season and is a certain Hall of Famer once his playing days are eventually done.

In that capacity, Westbrook had something of an early celebration in Monday night’s win by the Rockets in New Orleans. The 6-foot-3 guard tallied 26 points on 11-of-21 (52.4%) shooting, despite missing seven of eight shots from three-point range. He more than offset his long-range struggles by making 10-of-13 (76.9%) shots inside the arc, including his best performance this season from mid-range areas.

Westbrook also had five steals, four assists, and four rebounds in 35 minutes played during Monday’s game.

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The Rockets — who acquired Westbrook in a blockbuster trade this July — have an off day Tuesday, so the 31-year-old won’t celebrate the night of his actual birthday on the court.

But wherever he is, Westbrook will probably look the part of a global superstar. That’s in large part because of his renowned passion for fashion, both when traveling for NBA business and in leisure time.

In honor of his 31st birthday, here’s a look back at some of Westbrook’s boldest fashion choices over his years in the NBA.

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Texans coach Bill O’Brien excited to regain offensive line continuity

Houston Texans head coach Bill O’Brien is excited for the return of Laremy Tunsil, who will give the offensive line continuity moving forward.

The Houston Texans, after much trial and error, have their offensive line.

A five-man unit of (left to right) Laremy Tunsil, Max Scharping, Nick Martin, Zach Fulton and Tytus Howard has given Houston its best blocking unit in eons. The problem: The quintuplet has struggled to stay together.

With Tunsil, Howard and Fulton each missing at least one start in 2019, the entirety of the unit has just 176 snaps together. In those snaps — worth two games and a half — they have allowed two sacks to Deshaun Watson.

As benefactors of the Week 10 bye, Houston won’t just have 176 snaps logged onto their rebuilt offensive line. Tunsil, who missed Week 9 (shoulder), is expected to come back for Week 11’s tilt with the Baltimore Ravens. Howard (partially torn MCL) returned in Week 9.

“I think any time you can have continuity up front, I mean, obviously that’s a good thing,” said coach Bill O’Brien on Monday. You don’t want to have guys moving in and out based on injuries. You really don’t want that, but sometimes, obviously, that happens and you have to deal with it like any other teams does.”

Houston recently employed the help of Roderick Johnson and Chris Clark to negate the injuries to Tunsil and Howard. That will no longer be the case for the Texans. O’Brien is giddy to get the offensive line he and former General Manager Brian Gaine slaved over to create.

“Any time you can have (Laremy) Tunsil and (Tytus) Howard at tackle, and (Max) Scharping and (Zach) Fulton at guard, Nick Martin at center, that’s a pretty good group and that’s good continuity,” O’Brien continued. “So, hopefully we can have that this week.”

Despite the never-ending rotation of players, the Texans offensive line has produced in 2019. Houston is eighth in the NFL in ESPN‘s Pass Block Win Rate (61%), 11th in adjusted line yards (4.37) and ninth in run-stuffed rate, per Football Outsiders.

The Texans’ offensive line should be together for their fourth start as a cohesive unit on Sunday. From there, the only place to go for Tunsil, Scharping, Martin, Fulton and Howard is up.

Lakers look to bounce back as they visit impressive Suns squad

Following Tuesday’s loss to the Toronto Raptors, the Los Angeles Lakers look for a quality road win on Tuesday against the Phoenix Suns.

The Los Angeles Lakers were finally reminded what it feels like to lose on Sunday night and the right shoulder of Anthony Davis started to bother him a little bit more, but life in the Western Conference often means getting to leave a loss behind to face a challenge of even greater difficulty. Tuesday night, the Lakers will get that chance as they visit a surprisingly strong Phoenix Suns squad.

After nine games, the Suns have a 6-3 record and are in 6th place in the Western Conference. And they’ve done with two-way excellence that hasn’t been found from most teams in the league through the first three weeks of the season. According to Cleaning The Glass, which eliminates garbage time, the Suns have the 8th ranked defense and the 4th ranked offense in the league so far.

The biggest change of all started with the hiring of head coach Monty Williams, but the Suns front office is also reaping the benefits of offseason moves like their trade for center Aron Baynes and signing free agent point guard Ricky Rubio. Kelly Oubre Jr., who they traded for last season from the Wizards, is having an excellent start to his season as well. The added help has led to Devin Booker’s best all-around start as a pro, as he looks primed for his first All-Star berth.

Off the bench, Frank Kaminsky, Tyler Johnson and Mikal Bridges all create plenty of problems for their opponents. To avoid a result like Sunday, the Lakers bench must play better than they did against Toronto against a strong Suns second unit.

Tuesday night won’t be easy for the Lakers and Anthony Davis may still be dealing with some pain in his shoulder. But sometimes that dose of reality is what you need to see a contender show you who they are.

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Top 5 offensive lines of Week 10: NFC North, upsets, honoring Swagger, and typical Ravens

As we slowly adjust back into reality, let’s take a look at the top 5 from Week 10.

In what could be described as a perfect spinoff to Netflix’s Stranger Things, Week 10 in the NFL was so upside down that the most-normal thing from all of the action was a dual something-or-other that might have forever changed the way uncles dance at weddings.

First, there was Dak:

And then, there was Jimmy:

Beyond that? Cleveland honored their mascot, Swagger, and his retirement from leading the Browns onto the field with an upset win over Buffalo. Aaron Rodgers caught a penalty flag—poetically, mind you—and the internet immediately shouted that such art needed to be accompanied by Alanis Morissette’s “Ironic.”

Three Heisman Trophy winners lined up in the backfield—at the same time!—during the Ravens-Bengals game. And Matthew McConaughey took the cyber streets after the incredible Monday night battle between the Seahawks and 49ers and basically wrote the dialogue for the next Lincoln commercial.

Not to be ignored or outdone—with some of the stranger credit going to Tennessee Titans’ Taylor Lewan—there were also some stellar efforts from a few the offensive lines.

As we slowly adjust back into reality, let’s take a look at the top 5 from Week 10.

5. Baltimore Ravens

Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

The only thing keeping the Ravens’ O-line from being ranked higher than fifth this week is the tilted-smirk realization that they played against the Cincinnati Bengals.

But when your quarterback ends the day with a perfect QB rating, and the running game totals over 130 yards and two touchdowns, it’s impossible not to give a thumbs up, either.

The Ravens’ O-line continues to be a collective force. They led the way for Jackson’s big game on the ground and they kept him protected during the pass. One penalty and one sack, with only minimal pressure from the Bengals’ rush later, and the Ravens’ front had done another standout job—regardless if some saw this game as more of an AFC North intramural session.

Marshal Yanda, Bradley Bozeman, Matt Skura, Orlando Brown, Ronnie Stanley, with a dash of Patrick Mekari and James Hurst: You don’t make the schedule, you just block—and, man-O-man, do you guys block!

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Raiders move up to No. 12 in Touchdown Wire power rankings

Raiders move up to No. 12 in Touchdown Wire Power Rankings

The Oakland Raiders got a big win in Week 10, defeating the Los Angeles Chargers in the final night game at the Oakland Alameda County Coliseum. That win moved the Raiders to 5-4, and they are now just one game back in the division.

With that win, the Raiders are starting to get more national attention, as well. In Doug Farrar’s latest power rankings at Touchdown Wire, the Raiders have moved all the way up to No. 12, just ahead of the Dallas Cowboys.

Considering the expectations heading into the season, the Raiders and their fans have to be thrilled with how the season is going. Here is what Farrar had to say about the Raiders this season:

Against the Chargers last Thursday, it was time for Oakland’s rookie pass-rushers to show up. This they did, as Clelin Ferrell and Maxx Crosby combined for three sacks and 10 total pressures. Rookie running back Josh Jacobs also scored the game-deciding touchdown in a 26-24 win that put the Raiders over .500 — that was the Raiders’ league-leading 13th touchdown by a rookie in 2019. Oakland’s personnel staff, led by general manager Mike Mayock, has put together the NFL’s most impressive rookie class this season. There’s simply no way Jon Gruden’s team would be in playoff contention had Mayock and his people not done such an incredible job up and down their draft board.

With an incredibly easy schedule coming up over the next few weeks, the Raiders could significantly move up lists like this and inside the top 10. The Raiders have a real chance to make some noise this season and into the playoffs.

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Two Rams make PFF’s Team of the Week despite ugly loss to Steelers

Aaron Donald and Cory Littleton stood out as two of the best players in Week 10.

As poorly as the Los Angeles Rams played against the Steelers, there were a few standouts on the defensive side of the ball. Aaron Donald played particularly well, as did Cory Littleton, Clay Matthews and Taylor Rapp.

Donald had five tackles, a half-sack, three QB hits, two tackles for loss and a safety forced, helping limit the Steelers offense to just 273 yards. Littleton led all players with 14 tackles, also forcing and recovering a fumble, and making one tackle for loss.

He and Donald made Pro Football Focus’ Team of the Week for Week 10, despite the Rams losing in ugly fashion.

Donald earned an overall grade of 92.0, which was the best of any interior defender in Week 10, also generating five pressures and three defensive stops. Littleton was even better in PFF’s eyes, receiving a grade of 92.3, second-best among all inside linebackers.

Littleton continues to fly under the radar as one of the NFL’s best coverage linebackers. He recorded five defensive stops, a forced fumble and allowed just three receptions for 16 yards.

Donald and Littleton have been studs for the Rams all season and are a big reason the defense has played as well as it has. The offense simply hasn’t done its part in many of the Rams’ other losses, which is a big reason they’re just 5-4 after nine games.

Los Angeles needs better play from Jared Goff and the offensive line if a playoff push is going to be made.

Marcos Maidana to face ex-kickboxer Jorge Acero Cali in April?

Marcos Maidana is reportedly coming out of retirement to face former kickboxer Jorge Acero Cali in a five-rounder at 187 pounds.

Evidently, not even Marcos Maidana, the recipient of two Floyd Mayweather windfalls, can ward off the boxing bug.

The hard-hitting Argentine, who hasn’t fought since his second bout against Mayweather in 2014, is planning a comeback fight against 47-year-old kickboxer Jorge Acero Cali in early April, according to reports. The fight will be set for five three-minute rounds at a catch weight of 85 kilograms (roughly 187 pounds), or more than 40 pounds over his last fighting weight. An announcement is planned for this Friday.

Maidana’s manager, Ernesto Ricci told the Argentine media outlet Telam, according to BoxingScene.com, that the fight is the former welterweight titleholder’s way of saying goodbye to his fans.

“Maidana returns to boxing because he accepted the challenge of ‘Acero’ Cali,” Ricci said. “They have been trading messages and videos since January of this year, before Marcos left for the United States to prepare for the return that did not happen. This is serious. … (The fight) “is a way to say goodbye to the fans of Argentina, something he could not do. With Marcos, nothing is ever final. Perhaps when dusting off the gloves he gets bitten by the bug and goes for a world-class opponent. Offers (for high profile fights) are not lacking.”

It was reported in February that he would end his retirement to sign a contract with Al Haymon’s Premier Boxing Champions in a bid to face the top welterweights. But Maidana backtracked a few months later as be started training in Las Vegas, citing his “lost hunger” for the sport.

Maidana last fought on Sept. 13, 2014, when he lost a unanimous decision to Mayweather in their rematch.