Was Giants locker room demoralized when Eli Manning returned in 2019?

The New York Giants locker room was reportedly “demoralized” when learning that QB Eli Manning would return in 2019.

A commonly held belief in recent years is that New York Giants quarterback Eli Manning had essentially fallen off a cliff, seen his skills rapidly deteriorate and become a liability that co-owner John Mara was forcing on general manager Dave Gettleman and head coach Pat Shurmur.

Of course, both Gettleman and Shurmur had raved about Manning and were keen on sticking with him until they realized following Week 2 that they couldn’t really compete during a rebuild. As a result, they ushered in the Daniel Jones era.

But was there more to it than that? Did Manning’s teammates essentially fold when realizing the two-time Super Bowl MVP would again be under center in 2019? ESPN’s Jordan Ranaan certainly thinks so.

“There was just no reason to bring [Eli] back, especially once you drafted Daniel Jones. You’re much better off having Ryan Fitzpatrick — or whatever other quarterback — that you know you’re bringing in, you’re not paying a lot of money, you’re putting him as a starter if you wanna wait on Daniel Jones, which they did, and then whenever you want to make that move, it’s a move you can make easily and save money,” Ranaan said on the Breaking Big Blue podcast.

“It also dragged along a situation that was hanging over the team. The whole Eli situation was hanging over the team. He was in decline, the offense wasn’t playing well for the last two-three years and they keep bringing him back. It’s sort of demoralizing to the guys on the team. Trust me, they sit there and tell you, ‘We back Eli, we back Eli.’ I know behind the scenes there were a lot of guys who were like, ‘Man, I can’t believe we’re going back with Eli again.'”

If what Ranaan suggests is true, Manning’s teammates went to great lengths to cover up their alleged disdain over his return, voting him a team captain for the 13th consecutive season, which is extremely sketchy and somewhat disrespectful for a franchise great and future Hall of Famer.

Ironically, if the Giants players were concerned that Manning was holding them back, 2019 has served as a brutal dose of reality because the offense is actually performing at a lower clip than it had under Manning in 2018 while the same problems that have plagued the team for years continue to persist.

It becomes easy to find and continue to point at a scapegoat — even if they are doing it quietly behind the scenes instead of like men face-to-face — but if we’ve learned any one thing this season, it’s that Manning was absolutely not the root cause of Big Blue’s problems and made the team no worse (or better) than it is now.

Manning certainly deserves better than he’s gotten from both the team and media, and apparently he also deserves better than he’s gotten from his teammates who talk trash about him from the shadows.

The Giants organization has fallen hard and it’s fallen fast, and based on Ranaan’s reporting, the culture has completely deteriorated.

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Lions Wire Fantasy Football Weekly: Week 11 Preview

Lions Wire’s weekly examination of what happened in fantasy football last week and a look forward at what to watch in the upcoming week.

Fantasy football started off with a shocker on Sunday morning where headlines scrolled at the bottom of your television screen, “Matthew Stafford has been ruled Out“. He had played in 136 consecutive games, which was the longest active streak of any player at the quarterback position.

Stafford had been having an MVP type season and this came as a surprise as there were no indications throughout the week that he had any chance to miss this game. This had fantasy owners scrambling to fill their lineup prior to kickoff as Stafford has been one of the best values all year in 2019.

Before I jump into my Week 11 preview I wanted to highlight players like Amari Cooper, Lamar Jackson, and Patrick Mahomes who once again put on a show this past week. The NFL always has some great highlights each week, so I thought I’d literally highlight some of the top plays from Week 10 to recap in this week’s Fantasy Football Weekly.

Toe Drag Swag for Amari Cooper (WR Cowboys), every week it feels like he pulls one of these off.

Throw it high and let it fly in the Windy City to Kenny Golladay (WR Lions).

This Cardinals combo connected three times on the day. This was number two for Christan Kirk (WR Cardinals) and Kyler Murray (QB Cardinals).

Oh Henry, Derrick Henry (RB Titans) is rumbling and stumbling for another long touchdown run. You don’t normally see humans this big and this fast anywhere on the planet.

Patrick Mahomes (QB Chiefs) with the jump pass to Mecole Hardman (WR Chiefs) and he’s off to the races.

Lamar Jackson (QB Ravens) doing things that only Jackson can do.

This is so good you have to see it twice plus the call from Kevin Harlan, the play-by-play announcer, is classic too.

Cowboys at Lions fantasy focus

Dak Prescott and the Dallas Cowboys travel to Detroit this week to take on the Lions. Prescott has been up and down this season. When he’s right, he puts up huge fantasy numbers. When he’s off, he can look pretty pedestrian at the quarterback position.

I see this being a big game for Ezekiel Elliott (RB Cowboys). He should get the ball early and often. He’s been very solid and consistent all year but is coming off a bad game on national television against the Minnesota Vikings. I project him at over 100 yards and at least one touchdown.

For the Lions, Stafford could miss another few games, which could mean the offense will have its struggles. Needless to say, they have no one established at running back that you can play in fantasy football and their weapons outside are a bit hampered by the quarterback switch as well. I’m expecting the defense to play better than most anticipate and for a couple of gadget plays to possibly come into play on offense or special teams.

Most everyone sees this as an easy road win for the Cowboys. I’d tend to agree with that due to the Lions injuries but something tells me this will be an odd game. Something very unexpected will occur. The Lions will rise up to play a much better game at home than expected. Fantasy owners and fans across the league might be surprised about how this one shakes out on Sunday.

Start/Sit

Start
Josh Allen (QB Bills)
Joe Mixon (RB Bengals)
Marquise Brown (WR Ravens)
Jared Cook (TE Saints)

Sit
Kirk Cousins (QB Vikings)
Sony Michel (RB Patriots)
Alshon Jeffery (WR Eagles)
Vance McDonald (TE Steelers)

Top-3 projected players by position

Quarterbacks
Lamar Jackson, Ravens
Patrick Mahomes, Chiefs
Deshaun Watson, Texans

Running Backs
Christian McCaffrey, Panthers
Dalvin Cook, Vikings
Ezekiel Elliott, Cowboys

Wide Receivers
Michael Thomas, Saints
Tyreek Hill, Chiefs
DeAndre Hopkins, Texans

Tight Ends
Travis Kelce, Chiefs
Hunter Henry, Chargers
Darren Waller, Raiders

Team Defenses
Vikings
49ers
Redskins

Waiver wire options

Nick Foles (QB Jaguars)
Sam Darnold (QB Jets)
Darius Guice (RB Redskins)
J.D. McKissic (RB Lions)
Josh Gordon (WR Seahawks)
Randall Cobb (WR Cowboys)
Dallas Goedert (TE Eagles)
Kyle Rudolph (TE Vikings)

Intriguing games and players in Week 11

Bye Weeks: Packers, Giants, Seahawks, and Titans

Pittsburgh Steelers at Cleveland Browns, Thursday 8:20 PM, EST

  • PIT: James Washington (WR), Jaylen Samuels (RB)
    CLE: Richard Higgins (WR), Baker Mayfield (QB)

Dallas Cowboys at Detroit Lions, Sunday 1:00 PM, EST

  • DAL: Ezekiel Elliott (RB),  Jason Witten (TE)
    DET: Danny Amendola (WR), T.J. Hockenson (TE)

Houston Texans at Baltimore Ravens, Sunday 1:00 PM, EST

  • HOU: Deshaun Watson (QB), Kenny Stills (WR)
    BAL: Mark Ingram (RB), Marquise Brown (WR)

New England Patriots at Philadelphia Eagles, Sunday 4:25 PM, EST

  • NE: Julian Edelman (WR), Muhammed Sanu (WR)
    PHI: Miles Sanders (RB), Zach Ertz (TE)

Kansas City Chiefs at Los Angeles Chargers, Monday 8:15 PM, EST

  • KC: Travis Kelce (TE), Damien Williams (QB)
    LAC: Hunter Henry (TE), Melvin Gordon (RB)

Now What

It’s that time of year where the weather will be a factor. Find a website where you can see all the weather across the league before setting your final lineup. I tend to prefer my kicker and wide receivers to have good weather and if possible in a dome. Avoid high winds when it comes to your quarterback. Wet weather often spells doom for your receivers. Snow can actually lead to some big plays for offensive players as they know where they are going and the defense doesn’t, so snowy conditions can actually benefit an offense at times depending on the severity.

Also, always look at matchups. The NFL is a matchup league and so is fantasy football. If you can play a running back that is going against one of the worst run defenses, do it. If you can play a tight end against a team that often struggles to contain that position, start that tight end. When you play good matchups it more often than not helps your fantasy team’s bottom line.

Watch: Jamie Collins casually does extremely impressive backflip in practice

Jamie Collins continues to showcase his incredible athleticism.

The New England Patriots added one of the most athletic linebackers in the league this offseason with Jamie Collins.

Collins has been widely known as one of the most athletic players in the league and his acrobatic moves have been seen throughout his career. He does things that a 6-foot-3, 250 pound linebacker shouldn’t be able to do.

He showcased his amazing acrobatic abilities at New England’s practice on Wednesday.

This isn’t as impressive as his eight consecutive back handsprings, but it’s a close second.

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All I know is fun. #GettinTooFatThough 😎

A post shared by Jamie Collins (@j_collins91) on

Collins’ freakish abilities have often translated to the field when it comes to coverage, and also jumping over offensive lineman.

Collins has been playing out of his mind in his second stint with the Patriots and he’s in conversations for Defensive Player of the Year. He’s an integral part of ‘The Boogeymen’ — showing that Bill Belichick made the right move in re-signing him.

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Week 12 CFP Bubble Watch: What rankings don’t make sense?

Let’s start to look at the resumes of the 15 teams still alive in the Playoff discussion. Who deserves to be ranked higher or lower?

Welcome to the Bubble Watch. If you’ve been reading through my Eliminator articles, you’d know that I still count 15 teams with a shot at reaching the College Football Playoff. (And if you haven’t been reading them, please feel free to go back to them.)

Now that teams have played enough games, we can get a real look at every team’s resume. So, for the 15 teams still alive, I am going to present all of the resumes to you. We’re going to look at every resume so that we can compare what positives and negatives each team has. It’s the easiest and best way to understand what each team is bringing to the table in the College Football Playoff discussion.

How this works

Let’s go over what I’m looking at and why.

Quality of wins

For the purposes of determining quality wins, things like Top 10 and Top 25 are arbitrary numbers that do more harm than good. There is no reason the gap between No. 25 and No. 26 is considered significantly larger than the gap between No. 24 and No. 25. Therefore, to counteract this, I am being very lenient as to who is considered Top 10 or Top 25. Any team in the Top 25 of one of the major polls (CFP, AP, or Amway Coaches), or in a significant number of the accepted computer rankings, will be considered in the Top 25 for resume purposes. This leads to the awkwardness of having more than 25 “Top 25″ teams, but it presents a more accurate picture of the overall resume. Moreover, it just makes sense. The committee is aware of who is a good team and what counts as a win of decent quality, even if that team didn’t quite make it into the rankings.

I also split up every game each team has played into different groups. The groupings are important. First of all, I focus on Top 10 and Top 25 wins. These are, obviously, the quality wins. Next, I’m looking for teams in the Top 40. These are solid wins and deserve respect. The next group is teams somewhere between 41st and 80th in FBS. These are mediocre teams–they are games that any Playoff contender should win, but could in theory lose on an off day. Everyone outside the Top 80 is a complete cupcake game, and should be valued as a negative. To determine where each team is and who is outside the Top 80, I use a collection of computer rankings that focus on different things (e.g. Sagarin and Anderson) to get broad perspectives on who is a cupcake and who isn’t.

The selection committee has consistently mentioned “wins over teams with winning records” as an important metric over the past few years, so I’m going to show that to you. It is a less detailed way to view a win than looking at where each win is ranked, but the committee seems to care about it so we have to. I will not count a win over an FCS team as a +.500 win, regardless of record. Again, even though the metric is a stupid one–there are cupcakes with +.500 records (for example, Buffalo or Western Kentucky)–the committee cares about it, so we have to as well.

Offensive and defensive performance

I include the rankings in yards per play of each team. On one hand, the resume focuses on which teams you have beaten, so I stick to only identifying the quality of wins and losses and show you each contender’s remaining games. On the other hand, the committee “watches teams play,” which is really not a quantifiable statistic, but something that we can at least try to get a bearing on. Still, it’s hard to find an offensive or defensive metric that accurately represents all teams and styles of play.
Some metrics will over-value “air raid” type offenses while some will prefer more consistent, but less explosive, gameplans. The rank in offensive and defensive yards per play gives a basic metric of how efficient and/or consistent a team is on both sides of the ball.

SOS range

The SOS range is taken from numerous computer rankings. Ranges can be quite large, especially as different rankings favor different things. They do, however, give a decent picture of the possibilities of how strong the schedule actually is. Keep in mind, it’s still a little early in the season, so the different SOS methodologies could bring up radically different results. Ranges could still be wide in some cases, but in general they should narrow over the next few weeks.

Next… Teams that control their own destinies

Pages: Page 1, Page 2, Page 3, Page 4

Dolphins pass on claiming CB Vernon Hargreaves

The Miami Dolphins would have had one of the first cracks at claiming recently cut CB Vernon Hargreaves, but elected not to pursue him.

The Miami Dolphins have made a bit of a habit of claiming recently cut defensive backs off of the waiver wire — the team has seemingly placed claims on a corner every few weeks this season. So when the news broke that the Tampa Bay Buccaneers had cut former 1st-round pick Vernon Hargreaves, the logical assumption was that the Dolphins would kick the tires on the 1st-round bust and explore if perhaps they had the ability to connect with Hargreaves and help him unlock his potential.

Hargreaves was indeed claimed off the waiver wire yesterday — just not by the Dolphins. ESPN’s Adam Schefter has reported that the only NFL franchise to file a waiver claim on Hargreaves was the Houston Texans.

Houston’s situation is a much different one than Miami’s — they’re a team in the midst of pushing for a deep postseason run. But the Texans, as Miami knows all too well, has exhausted a lot of their assets in trading for veteran players (such as OT Laremy Tunsil) — so a low-risk waiver claim does make sense for Houston as well.

For Miami? The team must like the chemistry and blend of talent they’ve got in house. Cornerback Nik Needham played the best game of his young NFL career this past weekend against the Indianapolis Colts — perhaps his transition from a shaky, unconfident player into the player who was arguably Miami’s best defender against the Colts played a part in not wanting to disrupt the cornerback rotation. Miami’s entire objective is to identify players capable of growing with this team as they transition from a rebuilding roster into a contender in the AFC.

For whatever reason, whether it be Needham or otherwise, Hargreaves didn’t fit the vision despite his low risk.

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JaVale McGee collects more rebounds than Warriors’ starters in Lakers 120-94 win

Los Angeles Lakers center JaVale McGee collects more rebounds than Warriors starting five during Lakers 120-94 win.

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With Anthony Davis sidelined for Wednesday night’s matchup with the Golden State Warriors, JaVale McGee stepped up big for the Los Angeles Lakers. The Lakers center dominated the glass throughout the evening by collecting 17 rebounds against his former team. That total was four more rebounds than Golden State’s starting five, combined.

The Lakers finished with a 120-94 victory.

To go along with a season-high 17 boards, McGee also scored a season-high 18 points on 8-of-12 shots in support of 23 points and 12 assists from LeBron James. McGee grabbed 12 defensive rebounds, five of them on the offensive end, and also blocked three shots. Meanwhile, Dwight Howard came off the bench to deliver a 15-point, eight-rebound performance in relief of McGee, who has started every game at the center spot this season

Following the win, the former Warrior talked about the impact a traditional center like he and Dwight can still have on today’s game, telling reporters after the game:

I feel like because of Golden State, the whole league has gone away from the standard big man. So me and Dwight are definitely working hard to bring it back. Just letting people know that it’s necessary for a big man in the game. And where better to do it than where the best big men played.

If I’m having a bad game, then he’s picking me up. If he’s having a bad game, then I’m picking him up. If we’re both having a good game, we’re winning the game. … Like Golden State, who had the opportunity to make teams go small, I feel like we have the opportunity to make people go big.

 

If McGee continues to have dominant performances like he did on Wednesday, the Lakers will most certainly make teams consider going big to match up against them as the season moves on. This will especially be the case when Davis is healthy and back in the lineup, and if they’re also getting the type of production they did from Howard during the win over Golden State.

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Mass. high school football power eliminated in sectional semis after foe given ‘fifth down’

One of the most anticipated Massachusetts high school football games of the year unfolded Saturday between Everett and Central Catholic (Lawrence). It was already a tight game, and then the game officials got involved.

Two Massachusetts powers — Everett and Central Catholic — faced off in a Northern Sectional semifinal with predictably dramatic results; Central Catholic eventually emerged as 39-37 victors in overtime to reach the sectional finals. There’s just one issue: Everett claims the game only reached overtime because Central Catholic was given a ghost ‘fifth down’ on a critical third quarter drive.

As reported by the Boston Globe, the circumstances around the extra down are confusing, involving a spot foul penalty, a series of runs followed by an incompletion and a protest by the Central sideline. Here’s how it all apparently played out:

On what was listed as fourth and 8 — but was actually the fifth down — the Raiders executed a fake punt for 9 yards. On the following play, Central scored on a 26-yard pass for a 31-24 lead.

The sequence of plays went like this:

■ 1-10 at Everett 37: 6-yard run

■  2-4 at 31: 9-yard run negated by offensive holding penalty (minus-10 yards from spot of foul, which occurred at the 30)

■  2-13 at 40: Incomplete pass

■  3-13 at 40: 2-yard run

■  3-11 at 38: 3-yard pass

■  4-8 at 35: 9-yard fake-punt pass play

■  1-10 at 26: 26-yard touchdown pass

The fifth down and subsequent touchdown proved to be a crushing blow to Everett’s season, and continues to haunt Everett coach Theluxon Pierre.

“I’m sick to my stomach,” Pierre told the Globe. “How do you make that mistake? You have five refs out there.

“This is ridiculous. You don’t do that to kids.”

The referees shouldn’t do that to kids, and its doubtless that they never intended to. Yet that’s still what happened, and the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association (MIAA) now contends there is no recourse to change the events that have already passed.

Perhaps more concerning is that no changes — such as the potential implementation of video instant replay review in the playoffs — will be made to the Massachusetts football officiating process unless a formal challenge is filed and a debate determines that change is needed. That still feels some ways away in the aftermath of Saturday’s catastrophic officiating error.

“(Instant replay is) certainly something to think about,” Brian Doherty, president of the Association of New England Football Officials, told the Globe.

“You have that in college, where an official in the booth can fix a catastrophic mistake. But we don’t have that ability [in high school] right now. It’s disheartening . . . but nobody feels worse than the officials that were in that game.”

Jets sign OL Ben Braden to practice squad

The Jets have signed offensive lineman Ben Braden to the practice squad.

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After elevating Kyron Brown from the practice squad, the Jets had a spot to fill.

The team announced on Wednesday that they signed offensive lineman Ben Braden to the practice squad.

Braden was signed by the Jets as an undrafted free agent out of Michigan in 2017. He didn’t make the initial 53-man roster in 2017, but was signed to the practice squad. The Jets then signed him to a future/reserve contract in January 2018.

In 2018, Braden made the 53-man roster, but was waived shortly after that and then re-signed to the practice squad. He was promoted to the active roster at the end of November. In 2019, Braden was back on the practice squad before being waived in September. Braden was signed to the Packers practice squad a couple days later and was waived last week.

Report: New collective bargaining agreement may have 17 game schedule

The NFL/NFLPA continue negotiations for a new collective bargaining agreement and the final product may feature 17 regular season games.

Are you ready for some (more) Dolphins football? The NFL has been working diligently with the NFL Player’s Association (NFLPA) to avoid any potential work stoppage at the end of the league’s current collective bargaining agreement, which is scheduled for the end of the 2020 NFL season. There’s been much negotiations during the course of the 2019 calendar year, including progress that’s been made over the course of recent months and could result in a new agreement by early 2020 — according to a report from Mark Maske of the Washington Post.

What would a new collective bargaining agreement (CBA) look like? First and foremost, more Miami Dolphins football. The proposed stipulations reportedly include a reduced preseason schedule, a 17-game regular season schedule and potentially even additional playoff spots for one additional team per conference to get a crack at a Lombardi Trophy each season.

The league and its players will continue to work to find the balance between maximizing potential revenue and player safety, which has been a constant concern of the player’s association throughout these negotiations: more games means more injuries and that is ultimately bad for business.

The intriguing piece of this for Miami is potential of an expanded playoff field — it could benefit the Dolphins and their history in a handful of ways. By the time the new CBA is ready, the Dolphins should be looking to get into contention in the AFC. A 7th playoff spot would benefit the Dolphins immensely as they look to transition into contenders. And an added regular season game adds more difficulty to the prospect of anyone running the table as an undefeated team — which would leave the Dolphins alone in the Super Bowl era as undefeated champions.

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The stats proved Russell Westbrook’s criticism of Patrick Beverley wrong

Oops.

The Houston Rockets made a statement on Wednesday night by taking down the Los Angeles Clippers (who might be getting Paul George back soon) 102-93.

After the contest, Russell Westbrook took a shot at Patrick Beverley, who he has some history with over the years.

“Pat Bev trick y’all, man, like he playing defense,” Westbrook told reporters after the contest, “He don’t guard nobody, man. He just running around, doing nothing.”

He pointed out that his Rockets teammate James Harden scored 47 points, which is all fine and convenient when you look at the box score.

But how many times was Beverley the one defending Harden?

There’s an answer for that and it proves Westbrook wrong:

What did Beverley say when he was informed about Westbrook’s comments? From ESPN:

“Don’t start that, don’t start that,” Beverley told ESPN as he exited the Clippers’ locker room. “I don’t care about that.”

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