Bill Callahan says Redskins don’t have analytics department

Bill Callahan revealed an interesting detail about the Redskins.

Washington Redskins interim head coach Bill Callahan let something slip recently that seemed to go viral.

During a routine press conference, Callahan noted the team doesn’t have an analytics department. Given the growing importance of analytics around the league, that registered as a red flag.

Callahan merely made the comment in passing during the conference, per JP Finlay of NBC Sports Washington. But it took off, as things have a way of doing on social media — and as things have way of perhaps understand doing for a team that is strugglingly this badly right now.

One good example was here:

Finlay did follow up:

We’ve seen examples of other teams having guys on the field with analytical backgrounds to feed information to head coaches in real-time.

Washington, it seems, is behind in this area and an interim coach is the one up there letting the world know.

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Best sports finishes of 2019

Stephen F. Austin, heavyweight fights, the NFL, NBA and many of the best finishes in sports events in 2019.

Close calls, non-calls and spectacular endings. The sports year of 2019 had them all.

Kawhi sinks Sixers

John E. Sokolowski-USA TODAY Sports

Kawhi Leonard was sitting in the corner, out of bounds as his shot in the fourth quarter of the Raptors’ Eastern Conference semifinal series against the Sixers danced on the rim. After bouncing around three times, it fell and Toronto was on its way to the Eastern finals against Milwaukee.

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Watch: Vonn Bell recovers his fifth fumble of the season, ties NFL lead

New Orleans Saints safety Vonn Bell recovered a fumble out of Atlanta Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan, his fifth of the year, tying the lead.

The Atlanta Falcons may have just been snakebit on Thanksgiving night against the New Orelans Saints. Things just didn’t go there way in high-leverage situations, like on this third down midway through the fourth quarter.

Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan dropped back to pass, but none of his receivers were open thanks to tight coverage by the Saints defense. The pass rush bore down on him so he burst out of the pocket and jogged upfield for what should have been a first-down conversion.

Unfortunately for Ryan, he’s not as well-rounded an athlete as Saints defensive end Marcus Davenport, who chased after the fleeing quarterback before crashing down on him, jarring the football out of Ryan’s grasp. And who should be in the right spot to recover that fumble than Saints safety Vonn Bell?

Bell went into Thursday’s game tied with several other players for the second-most fumble recoveries in the NFL (4), trailing only Houston Texans quarterback Deshaun Watson (5). Now that Bell recovered this fumble from Ryan, he’s tied Watson for the NFL’s lead, and he’s the only defensive player to do so.

This comes two weeks after Bell recorded his first career interception off of Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Jameis Winston, a day in which four different Saints defenders picked him off. If the Saints defense can continue making game-changing turnovers like these and cut down on a handful of mental errors, they’ll be able to compete against any unit in the lead.

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Stunningly stupid act wrecks Ole Miss in Egg Bowl

Ole Miss WR Elijah Moore’s foolish celebration cost Ole Miss a chance to tie the Egg Bowl.

Ole Miss overcame a fourth-and-24 and numerous other hurdles to close within 21-20 in the waning seconds of the Egg Bowl Thursday. Elijah Moore caught the short TD pass to bring the Rebels within one of the arch-rival Bullodgs.

And then, Moore, a sophomore wide receiver, decided to play the fool in the end zone and wound up costing his team the game.

Moore started acting like a dog and lifted his leg, like he was urinating.

The official near the selfish celebration threw a flag and … that turned into a 15-yard unsportsmanlike conduct penalty on Moore. More importantly, it moved the PAT attempt back 15 yards.

Ole Miss kicker Luke Logan missed the PAT and Mississippi State had a 21-20 victory And no one would blame the Ole Miss team and their faithful if they were, um, peeved. Extra peeved, too, because the victory makes the Bulldogs bowl eligible while the Rebels sink to 4-8.

Falcons Highlights: WR Russell Gage catches first career TD

Check out this highlight from the Falcons’ Week 13 matchup with the New Orleans Saints.

The Falcons aren’t going to beat the Saints, but as usual, they put up some points in garbage time.

Second-year wideout Russell Gage caught his first career touchdown from Matt Ryan. Check it out below:

Atlanta currently trails New Orleans, 26-15, with two minutes left in the fourth quarter.

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Saints rookie C.J. Gardner-Johnson gets his first career interception

New Orleans Saints safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson, a rookie from the Florida Gators program, logged his first NFL interception off of Matt Ryan

Atlanta Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan was handing out turnovers like they were going out of style on Thanksgiving night, with New Orleans Saints rookie defensive back C.J. Gardner-Johnson the latest recipient. The fourth-round draft pick out of Florida snagged an interception off of Ryan during the second half, streaking across the field to set the Saints offense up in solid starting field position.

It was the first career interception for Gardner-Johnson, who has steadily seen his snap counts rise after injuries struck the top of the Saints depth chart earlier this year. The rookie has shown a knack for defending passes out of the slot while laying out punishing hits in run defense. He’s dropped two would-be interceptions in previous games, so it’s great to see him expand this part of his skills set. See it for yourself:

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Ole Miss star scores last-second TD, pretends to pee on the field, gets extremely costly penalty

Ole Miss lost the Egg Bowl in the wildest fashion after Elijah Moore pretended to pee on the field after scoring a last-second TD.

The Egg Bowl between rivals Ole Miss and Mississippi State featured a wild ending, and Bulldogs fans may never let Rebels fans forget how they lost in 2019.

With less than 10 seconds left in a seven-point ballgame, with Mississippi State leading 21-14, Ole Miss quarterback threw a two-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Elijah Moore. Moore’s questionable celebration choice, however, would end up dooming the Rebels.

After getting in the endzone to make the score 21-20, Moore dropped to all fours, lifted his back leg, and pretended to urinate on Mississippi State’s field.

Moore earned a 15-yard unsportsmanlike penalty for his celebration, which backed up the point-after attempt and made the kick much more difficult. Kicker Luke Logan missed wide right, handing Mississippi State the win in an unbelievable finish.

Naturally, everyone on Twitter made the same joke.

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Injury report: two Titans miss Thursday practice

Here’s a look at the complete injury report for both teams.

The Tennessee Titans have won two games in a row, and will look to extend that winning streak to three games as they take on the division rival Indianapolis Colts this week.

But the team was without a few of its usual players on Thursday.

Tight end Delanie Walker (ankle) is on injured reserve, while linebacker Reggie Gilbert (knee) and cornerback LeShaun Sims (ankle) both missed practice.

Running back Derrick Henry (hamstring) was listed as a limited participant.

Safety Dane Cruikshank (ankle), cornerback Adoree Jackson (calf), defensive lineman DaQuan Jones (ribs), defensive back Joshua Kalu (ankle), wide receiver Tajae Sharpe (hamstring) and offensive lineman Kevin Pamphile (knee) were all listed as limited participants.

Here’s a look at the complete injury report for both teams.

The Titans and Colts are set to face off at noon CT on Sunday in Lucas Oil Stadium.

Watch: Rookie Saints nose tackle Shy Tuttle intercepts, stiff-arms Matt Ryan

Rookie New Orleans Saints defensive lineman Shy Tuttle intercepted Atlanta Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan and stiff-armed him on the return.

The Atlanta Falcons offense was driving hard down the field against the New Orleans Saints defense, until it wasn’t. Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan threw a low pass that deflected off of backup Saints nose tackle Shy Tuttle’s chest; Tuttle surprised by showing great awareness to intercept the ball.

What happened next was even more surprising. Tuttle didn’t go down. Instead, the rookie out of Tennessee returned the interception into the open field, with only Ryan to stop him. And when Ryan tried to tackle the big man, Tuttle threw out a stiff arm and shoved Ryan into oblivion. A few Falcons linemen chased him out of bounds after that, though Ryan was busy trying to lift himself back up from the turf.

Unfortunately, it didn’t count for much after a penalty on Saints defensive end Cameron Jordan. Jordan was flagged for a block in the back penalty on Ryan, having attempted to shield Tuttle during the return. It was an unnecessary penalty but not unforgivable — how was Jordan going to know that Tuttle would destroy Ryan with that jab? We won’t hold it against him when he was just trying to help his team.

The Saints defense has given up some big gains to the Falcons on critical downs, but this is the kind of complimentary football New Orleans has won with all year. Creating turnovers on defense gives the offense opportunities to go get points, and Drew Brees and company will take as many of these extra chances as their teammates can give them.

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Redskins giving Fabian Moreau his shot at outside corner

Josh Norman getting benched has opened things up for others.

Lost in the big headlines that are Josh Norman losing a starting job with the Washington Redskins is the fact others get a chance to step up in the process.

One of the most notable is Fabian Moreau, who has recently shifted out of the slot and had the attention of his coaches.

“That’s why we put [Moreau] out there and [had] Jimmy Moreland going inside and playing the slot,” Bill Callahan said, according to the Washington Post’s Les Carpenter. “[Moreland] playing the slot gives us a little bit of a different player playing inside. We just utilize their skill set a little differently.”

This would be exactly what we mean when noting the Redskins are in evaluation mode now. Norman is clearly on his way out the door and the team has to start figuring out what the big needs are this offseason.

If Moreau turns out to be the answer on the outside, that sure beats needing to address a premium position like corner in free agency or the draft.

It’s a wonder the Redskins haven’t tried this sooner, though insisting on sticking by Norman’s big contract despite middling play at times might be part of it.

Either way, Dwayne Haskins isn’t the only notable youngster getting a big chance right now.

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