Redskins crack Top 30 of USA TODAY’s Week 13 NFL Power Rankings

The Redskins moved down in the projected 2020 NFL Draft order, but they moved up in the weekly power rankings.

The Washington Redskins are gaining major respect across the NFL after their 19-16 win over the Detroit Lions last week.

Not really. But they did move up two spots to No. 29 in the latest edition of USA TODAY’s Power Rankings. With an impressive early kickoff return from undrafted rookie Steven Sims Jr., the Redskins were able to hold onto a lead throughout most of the game, and rookie quarterback Dwayne Haskins late-game drive to set up a go-ahead field goal with 20 seconds left.

After the performance, Washington skyrocketed past the Miami Dolphins and New York Jets, cracking the Top 30 for the first time in weeks.

This week, in what turned out to be Washington’s first home win since Week 7 of last season, quarterback Dwayne Haskins was so excited about the improbable 19-16 win over the Lions, he missed the final play of the game because he was too busy celebrating with fans and taking selfies to find his helmet and get back in the game. Not a great look for a guy who completed 13 of 29 passes for 156 yards, no touchdowns and one interception and was missing open receivers all over the place, but the Redskins’ overcooked reactions to any manner of success show just how far the team has fallen.

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Joe Schobert named AFC Defensive Player of the Week

Schobert has 15 tackles, 4 INTs, 8 PDs and a sack in the last two games

Congrats to Browns linebacker Joe Schobert! No. 53 in brown and orange has been named the AFC’s Defensive Player of the Week for Week 12.

Schobert captured the award after picking off two passes and breaking up four total in the Browns’ 41-24 win over the Miami Dolphins. It was the second week in a row the Browns’ top LB picked off two passes.

He’s been a monster over the last two games, recording 15 total tackles, 8 passes defended, 4 INTs, 4 TFLs and a sack in wins over Miami and Pittsburgh.

This is the first time Schobert has received the weekly honor. For the season, No. 53 has a team-leading 97 tackles, 4 INTs, 9 PDs, 2 forced fumbles and 2 sacks.

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Week 13 fantasy football studs, duds and sleepers: Time to worry about Dak Prescott again

Our starts and sits for this week.

Week 13 of the 2019 NFL season is here, and there are no more teams off with byes, which is exciting.

As always, we’re here to help with your weekly decisions with our fantasy lineup advice. Each week, we give you the studs (players with plus matchups due to the defense they’re facing or their team situation), duds (players with tougher matchups or who are in muddled roster situations at the moment) and sleepers (a player you might consider starting who could be in for a big week).

Here are the names we’ve got for Week 13, and as we always say, good luck!!

Studs

 Vincent Carchietta-USA TODAY Sports

QB Sam Darnold, New York Jets

Three straight games of 20-plus fantasy points and he’s in another incredibly good matchup against the hapless Bengals. Start him with serious confidence.

RB Le’Veon Bell, New York Jets

See above, and also note that he’s had four-plus targets in five of his last six contests.

WR Davante Adams, Green Bay Packers

Don’t overthink this. The Packers’ passing attack has been up and down, but the Giants are terrible in the secondary.

TE Gerald Everett, Los Angles Rams

Why is he a stud after all of three catches in the past two weeks? It’s simple: you start tight ends who face the Cardinals. That’s it.

Duds

(AP Photo/Michael Ainsworth)

QB Dak Prescott, Dallas Cowboys

Last week’s game was against the Patriots and in the rain, so maybe you give him a pass. Or maybe you worry about him facing a Bills team that’s third against the pass and third overall in total yards allowed per game. You can see which side I land on.

RB Chris Carson, Seattle Seahawks

The fumbles are alarming. So is the rise of Rashaad Penny, who got 14 carries last week. Plus, he faces the Vikings defense this week. Be careful.

WR Amari Cooper, Dallas Cowboys

Two targets last week for zero yards. That’s life against Stephon Gilmore. This week? He’s likely going to face a lot of Tre’davious White against Buffalo. Welp.

TE Mark Andrews, Baltimore Ravens

One of those situations where if you own him, you start him. But the Niners’ defense is stifling and that’s especially true against opposing tight ends.

Sleepers

Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports

QB Nick Foles, Jacksonville Jaguars

He hasn’t been as bad as you think. But I also think you have to consider starting any quarterback against the Bucs.

RB Benny Snell, Pittsburgh Steelers

Will he be the bellcow if James Conner is out again? After all, he’ll come into the game against the Browns (who aren’t great against the run) as the hot hand. Jaylen Samuels might steal some carries and passing downs, so that’s why Snell is a sleeper.

WR Devante Parker, Miami Dolphins

He’s a target machine with double-digit looks in his past three games. In those contests, he’s also notched five-plus catches and over 69 yards. Don’t worry about the lack of touchdowns, although he might get one against the Eagles.

TE Greg Olsen, Carolina Panthers

The Redskins allow 8.1 fantasy points per game to tight ends and Olsen has provided stability at a position with no stability — over 40 yards in each of his last four games.

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The worst stat for Wisconsin vs. New Mexico was not 2-26 on 3s

Reaction to the Wisconsin Badgers’ 59-50 loss to the New Mexico Lobos.

When a team makes only 2 of 26 3-pointers, as the Wisconsin Badgers did against the New Mexico Lobos on Tuesday in a discouraging loss, it is easy to look at that fact and declare it to be the worst statistic in the box score. I will be clear here and tell you that if you think the 3-point shooting line is the worst stat from the New Mexico game, you’re being reasonable. You’re being perfectly logical and sensible.

I won’t try to be the “I AM VERY INTELLIGENT!” meme from the cartoon in “The Nib” by Matt Bors, and tell you that you’re overthinking it.

You’re not overthinking it. You are exercising good judgment. In many ways, the short article I wrote about the Richmond loss applied to the New Mexico loss as well. It is striking to notice the similarities in the box score between the two games.

The Richmond and New Mexico games both featured the following:

  • At least 20 missed 3s by Wisconsin
  • No more than 16 free throw attempts by the Badgers
  • No Wisconsin player had more than four free throw attempts
  • At least 14 turnovers

The 3-point shooting is problematic, to be sure. Again, you are not overthinking it if you cite that as a big concern. Nevertheless, it’s not the shooting in isolation which stands out the most. The biggest problem with this team in Brooklyn and overall (it was true in the loss to Saint Mary’s as well) is that when shots don’t fall, the Badgers don’t compensate in the other aspects of offensive play. The defense is fine. It’s at the offensive end where the lack of high-level recruiting by Greg Gard shows up. It is also the end of the floor where the inability of someone to rise above the chaos and the limitations of this roster is most apparent.

Someone has to be able to get to the foul line 10 times a game when the threes aren’t dropping. I said that after the Richmond game. Beyond that, however, if the Badgers are going to miss at least 20 threes (20 versus Richmond, 24 versus New Mexico), they should at least be able to limit turnovers to only five or six, and compensate by not giving away extra possessions. You don’t need high-end talent to do that. You need unselfish team basketball, which is supposed to be UW’s identity, and which definitely rose to the surface in the brilliant takedown of Marquette.

Let’s say something more about that notion of unselfish team play, while we’re on the subject, because it leads me to what I view as the most alarming statistic from the New Mexico game. Yes, 2 of 26 on 3-pointers is a legitimate No. 1 candidate as “most alarming,” but for me, I choose another stat: Wisconsin had only six assists in that game.

Six. Assists.

Maybe, in the Frank Kaminsky-Sam Dekker era, one could accept that one or both players would get into a zone a few times a season and go wild in one-on-one situations. Maybe, under a special set of circumstances, Wisconsin’s best basketball players this decade (and century) would create shots through individual skill and not require passes to put them in position to score in big numbers. Fine… but with THIS roster, this 2019-2020 group of Badgers, Wisconsin cannot have six assists per game. That is TOTALLY unacceptable and an unsustainable way of playing.

Sure, the missed threes limited the assist count. No one needs to explain that part of the equation. However, if the Badgers are going to commit 14 turnovers, they ought to finish a game with 20 assists. If the Badgers are going to fail to move the ball well enough to create more free throw opportunities, the system is still failing beyond the missed 3-pointers.

Six assists shows that the blended team game so apparent against Marquette in the Kohl Center has not been carried on the road and taken to places such as Sioux Falls or Brooklyn. Wisconsin players need to help each other out. They need to assist each other a little more. It’s the holidays, after all.

USA Today Power Rankings: Jets move up 8 spots after huge win over Raiders

The Jets are now No. 19 in the latest USA Today Power Rankings after their big win over the Raiders.

After the Jets’ best win of the season against the Raiders, USA Today took notice and moved the Jets way up in its latest power rankings.

New York moved up eight spots from No. 27 to No. 19 after defeating the Raiders, 34-3. It was by far the biggest jump of the week for any NFL team. Before the Raiders game, the Jets beat the Giants and Redskins, which were okay wins against bad teams, but the Raiders win is a lot more respectable. USA Today even put the Jets ahead of the Raiders despite Oakland’s 6-5 record.

The Jets will have another opportunity to move up next week when they take on the 0-11 Bengals. Cincinnati is by far the worst team in the league, but the Bengals have been competitive in some games this season. The Jets cannot afford to overlook this team like they have in years past with other bad teams.

As for the rest of the AFC East, the Patriots stayed put at No. 2, while the Bills moved up three spots to No. 12. The Dolphins also didn’t move up or down as they sit at No. 29.

The Ravens are No. 1 followed by the Patriots, 49ers, Saints and Seahawks.

How Penn State’s, Oregon’s losses impact the College Football Playoff picture

The CFP race has been simplified.

Welcome to Before The Snap, For The Win’s college football show where we’ll break down the sport’s trending storylines, examine each week’s biggest matchups and track the College Football Playoff and Heisman Trophy races.

Two more College Football Playoff lost in Week 13, and the playoff race continues to be simplified.

Penn State lost to now-No. 1 Ohio State, while Oregon fell to Arizona State. It was the second loss of the season for both the Nittany Lions and the Ducks, which effectively ends their playoff runs. No two-loss team has ever been invited to the playoff, and for that to happen this year, the team would have to be a conference champion, and we’d need some late chaos around the other conferences. Additionally, Oregon could still win the Pac-12, but Penn State has no chance to be a conference champ.

So what’s the larger impact of Penn State’s and Oregon’s losses?

Penn State coach James Franklin  (Joe Maiorana-USA TODAY Sports)

Behind Ohio State, LSU and Clemson — assuming the top-3 teams win out — it means that remaining fourth playoff spot will some down to Alabama, Oklahoma or Baylor and Utah.

Also, the Big Ten’s chance to go from having no teams in the last two years to two teams in is over. For a while, it seemed like the Nittany Lions could join Ohio State in the playoff if the right scenario played out, but Penn State needed to beat the Buckeyes for that to happen.

For Oregon, the loss hurts the Pac-12 in the eyes of everyone else, as it tries to push for a serious playoff contender.

But the good news is it still has Utah, which is 10-1, No. 6 in the latest playoff rankings and has a shot to win the conference title game. It still will have to beat Oregon, which isn’t looking quite as good as it was a couple weeks ago, but it might be hard to deny a one-loss Pac-12 team a shot at the playoff.

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Even amidst one-sided stretch, The Game remains as important as ever

Michigan hasn’t won the Big Ten in 15 years. They’ve beaten Ohio State once in that stretch. The two facts coinciding are not a coincidence.

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It’s often said that college football is built on rivalry games. Other sports have them – Yankees-Red Sox, Lakers-Celtics, Packers-Bears, Duke-North Carolina – but college football rivalries burn with a special intensity.

And if the sport itself is built on these rivalries, it isn’t too much of a stretch to suggest that programs are built on them as well.

Michigan-Ohio State is, in the minds of many, the greatest rivalry in college football. Some would go as far as to say it’s the greatest rivalry in all of sports, period.

As special as this game is to the fans on both sides, there’s nothing that compares to being an actual participant, whether as a coach or a player.

“I’m very aware of the rivalry, having played in it, having coached in it,” Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh said. “I grew up here and my dad was a coach. As I liken the Michigan State game to a state championship, this is even bigger. This is two-states’ championship, Michigan and Ohio. We’re excited about it. We’re excited for the challenge.”

Harbaugh watched his father coach in the game. He watched his mentor, Bo Schembechler, compete against Woody Hayes in the game.

“Pretty much had a pretty good understanding of this rivalry at a very young age,” Harbaugh said, noting also that he had great respect for the coaches and players on both sides.

Players born in these two states grow up with an appreciation for ‘The Game.’ Others born outside the rivalry, like Michigan’s Nick Eubanks – a native of Florida – quickly learn what it’s about once they step on campus.

“Michigan and Ohio State probably wasn’t relevant in my time, but as I grew up, started watching more football, it became known that this was a big rivalry,” Eubanks said. “I looked at this game more, the more I started getting interested in it. When I committed here, I had a chance my freshman year to see the big rivalry, it became very important to me and the team, too.”

Having grown up in Alabama, wide receiver Nico Collins is certainly aware of the ‘Iron Bowl’ between Alabama and Auburn – the rivalry that is often debated against ‘The Game’ as the top feud in the sport.

Collins may have grown up with the Iron Bowl, but his attention is fully on The Game this week.

“This game means a lot to me,” Collins said. “This game means a lot obviously to both teams, coaches. This game is really personal for everybody. I’ll go out Saturday, just have fun and enjoy the moment.”

Senior defensive tackle Carlo Kemp noted that even with a game-by-game approach, rivalry games stick in players’ minds throughout a season.

“This game means a lot to all of us just because there’s two games that you think about the entire year when you come to Michigan,” Kemp said. “Two of the most historic rivalries in all of football, in college sports. Nothing’s gonna change in our approach. Our whole approach this year has been day-by-day, brick-by-brick, game-by-game and on defense, play-by-play. That’s what it’s gonna take for us to be successful on Saturday.”

Linebacker Khaleke Hudson, a defensive captain alongside Kemp, agrees with his co-captain’s sentiments.

“It means a lot to me,” Hudson said. “Coming here, that’s one of your main goals, to come out and beat Ohio, beat Michigan State, beat Penn State, beat Wisconsin, beat the best teams in the Big Ten. This game means a lot to me.”

The past decade and a half of the rivalry has been unkind to the Wolverines. Michigan is 1-14 in that stretch, and it should come as no surprise that the Wolverines have failed to win a Big Ten championship over the same period.

Programs are built by beating their rivals. Ohio State has thrived in Big Ten play these past 15 seasons, winning or sharing the conference title nine times. Michigan’s program crumbled in the period, leading to an unprecedented conference title drought.

There are a lot of reasons why this game means so much to both programs, but the evidence above points to perhaps the biggest reason this rivalry is so important.

The Wolverines desperately need a win in The Game. Harbaugh desperately needs to end his winless streak as Michigan’s head coach in The Game. His program is depending on it.

“My feelings? I’m excited for the game. Excited. Up for and ready for the challenge,” Harbaugh said. “I love the competition. This is the biggest game of the year.”

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Colts sign CB Jackson Porter to the practice squad

Colts add a CB to the practice squad.

The Indianapolis Colts signed cornerback Jackson Porter to the practice squad, the team announced Wednesday.

Porter originally signed with the Baltimore Ravens as an undrafted free agent following the 2018 NFL Draft. He spent some of 2019 training with the Green Bay Packers before being waived.

Porter attended Massachussettes where he appeared in 41 games recording 13 passes defended and two interceptions.

Here’s how the practice squad now looks:

  • TE Ian Bunting
  • OL Jake Eldrenkamp
  • DE Gerri Green
  • RB Darius Jackson
  • OL Cedric Lane
  • LB Skai Moore
  • CB Picasso Nelson Jr.
  • DT Kyle Peko
  • WR Chad Williams
  • CB Jackson Porter

5 storylines to follow during Bills at Cowboys

The Bills visit the Dallas Cowboys on Thursday for a Thanksgiving Day meeting. It’s the first time in about 25 seasons that the Bills have had the national spotlight on them while turkey was being served. 

Short week, big week.

The Bills visit the Dallas Cowboys on Thursday for a Thanksgiving Day meeting. It’s the first time in about 25 seasons that the Bills have had the national spotlight on them while turkey is being served.

The winner will add to their win total against a winning team for the first time after the one, too. Something neither has done to this point in 2019, despite their winning ways.

With that, here are five storylines to follow during Thursday’s Bills meeting with the Cowboys:

Buffalo Bills defensive tackle Jordan Phillips. (AP Photo/Jeffrey T. Barnes)

How do Bills play under circumstances?

The Bills have a big test against the Cowboys. They’re a good team, yes. But it’s the festivities outside the game that are much, much different for Buffalo. The Bills haven’t played on Thanksgiving in a long, long time, as mentioned. That’s different for them. In this scenario, the Cowboys play each and every season on the holiday. They don’t answer questions in the locker room about playing during during it this week. Their locker room is used to it.

In addition, just… in general, the Bills don’t often play outside of 1 p.m. In fact, they haven’t done so since last season. The Cowboys on the other hand? This is America’s team, folks. They’ve played on Sunday Night Football three times, Monday Night Football once and had 4 p.m. kickoffs four times. In fact, playing at 1 p.m. is actually weird for them, they’ve only done that three times.

Thanksgiving Day is much bigger for the Bills. Sean McDermott has to get his team ready for it.

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