Former Alabama LB Mack Wilson apologizes to star quarterback Patrick Mahomes after a hit that led to a concussion in the AFC divisional r…
Former Alabama linebacker Mack Wilson has been under fire on Twitter after a hit on Patrick Mahomes in the AFC Divisional game between the Cleveland Browns and the Kansas City Chiefs that took Mahomes out of the game for most of the second half.
The tackle put the Super Bowl winning quarterback into NFL’s concussion protocol, and eventually ruled him out in returning.
The game ended with a Chiefs win, which will send them to the AFC Championship against the Buffalo Bills.
Shortly after the game concluded players were asked about the hit, and Browns quarterback Baker Mayfield defended his second-year linebacker.
Stock report from Buffalo Bills’ AFC Divisional round win vs. the Baltimore Ravens.
The Buffalo Bills are going to play in the AFC Championship game for the first time since 1994… and it feels good.
The Bills faced a red-hot Baltimore Ravens team in a game that was a defensive chess match, as Buffalo tried to stifle the stampede of Baltimore. While the Ravens tried to shutdown the high-flying Bills. The chess match was ultimately won by Buffalo defensive coordinator Leslie Frazier, and he had the perfect game plan to stifle the NFL’s best rushing attack in the Ravens.
The game was tight throughout it and the 17-3 score line reflects that/
With that, here’s this week stock report from Bills Wire following the Bills’ win over the Ravens in the AFC Divisional round:
Stock up
Matt Milano #58 of the Bills. (Photo by Bryan M. Bennett/Getty Images)
Taron Johnson
Starting with the obvious, Taron Johnson won the game for the Bills. As the third quarter was winding down, the Ravens were knocking on the door of Buffalo’s end zone. But as Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson dropped back and unleashed a fastball towards his tight end Mark Andrews, Johnson jumped the pass. Johnson read Jackson the entire way, making the interception look quite easy, but once the ball was his hands he had to outrace the entire Ravens offense. He took the ball from end zone to end zone, an exceptional 101-yard pick six.
Outside of the pick-six, Taron put pressure on Jackson when he dropped back to pass, stepped up in trying to stop the run with six tackles, and broke up a pass. Johnson had a slow start to the season, but in the back half of the season he improved his game. Becoming a key contributor for a resurging Buffalo defense.
Matt Milano
Linebacker Matt Milano had an outstanding game against the Ravens, having an all around impact for the Bills defense. Throughout the game the outside linebacker was in the backfield making it difficult for Baltimore to run the ball. He also was one of the key factors in the poor passing performance from Lamar Jackson. Milano was rushing Jackson off the edge making him uncomfortable in the pocket.
Milano’s statline emphasized his utility, he had seven tackles and broke up two passes. With either the Browns or Kansas City coming up on the horizon he’ll need to have another great game.
Jerry Hughes
Against the Colts in the Wild Card weekend, the Bills couldn’t create any pressure or stop the run… that couldn’t be said against Baltimore. The Bills front-four contained Jackson, and met their running backs in the backfield often. Hughes had a sensational game coming off the edge, he made Jackson uncomfortable, and forced the Ravens tailbacks to the teeth of the Bills defense. It was a performance that seemed almost unimaginable after his poor showing against the Colts.
Hughes finished the game with two sacks, three tackles, and two quarterback hits. As the longest-tenured member of the Bills, seeing Hughes put up such a big game feels good.
Stefon Diggs
What more can be said about receiver Stefon Diggs? He’s been dominate all season, and against one of the best secondary’s in the league, Diggs again was dominant. He was the safety valve for his quarterback, making big catches on third down, first down, and the all important opening touchdown. Diggs finished the game with eight catches, 106 yards, and a touchdown.
It’s safe to say that Buffalo won the trade.
Honorable mentions:
The rest of the defense, positives can be said about the entire unit. It took the whole group to stop one of the hottest teams in the league. Frazier called the perfect game, he knew what the Ravens wanted to do all night and made great calls. Quarterback Josh Allen, the pressure of the moment never fazed him, but he made some questionable throws throughout the game.
Mike Westhoff criticized the Jets for the way they handled Mark Sanchez’s contract and Tim Tebow’s role on offense.
Former Jets special teams coach Mike Westhoff wasn’t a big of fan of Mark Sanchez and Tim Tebow during their time in New York.
Westhoff recently went on the NY Post’s “Gang’s All Here” podcast and was very critical of the way the Jets managed Sanchez’s contract and Tebow’s role within the offense. The Jets gave Sanchez a three-year extension worth $40.5 million in 2012, much to Westhoff’s dismay.
Sanchez’s numbers were underwhelming before he earned his contract extension. His completion percentage was 55.3 percent to go along with 55 touchdowns and 51 interceptions. The Jets, however, decided to pay the quarterback after two AFC championship losses — a decision that took assets away from Westhoff.
âBecause we started this big contract, all of a sudden Iâm going to lose guys and now Iâm really upset,â Westhoff said on the podcast. âMike Tannenbaum came by my office one day, I said, âMike, why would you give Mark Sanchez this big new contract?â He said, âWell thatâs what a championship-game quarterback is paid.â I said, âWell if he had anything to do with us getting there, I probably would agree with you. But for crying out loud, he had nothing to do with us getting there.â”
The Jets defense led the Jets to those two AFC Championships, not Sanchez, as Westhoff said. New York’s defense ranked No. 1 in 2009 and No. 3 in 2010.
As for Tebow, the Jets traded for him at about the same time they gave Sanchez the extension. Westhoff didn’t think the Jets used Tebow properly and that’s why his time as a Jet was so disappointing. Westhoff thought Tebow should have been used more in the Wildcat.
âTony [Sparano] didnât want to do it as an offensive coordinator,â Westhoff said. âNext thing you know, Tim had kind of bulked himself up. He got heavier. He canât throw anyway, we all know that, so quit trying to make him a throwing quarterback, itâs not going to happen. It just didnât happen. But he could run the football. As a Wildcat guy, I thought thereâd be a place for him. It didnât materialize.
All in all, Westhoff believed that Tebow did everything that was asked of him and the Jets simply failed him.
âIf we had him in that role that he was really prepared for â I think that was really a misnomer on our part. We never even did give him a chance at all. ⌠He kept his end of the bargain. I donât think the New York Jets kept their end.â
Former Alabama running back derrick henry continues to be a succesful running back in the NFL, earning national recognition by being AFC…
Former Alabama runnuning back Derrick Henry has been named the AFC Offensive Player of the Month for October.
Henry is seemingly at the top of his game, and the top of all running backs in the NFL. The big-bodied, downhill runner can’t be stopped and is the driving force behind the Tennessee Titans 2020 playoff push.
The former Heisman winner was the leader on offense and brought the team all the way to the 2019 AFC Championship, where they lost to the eventual Super Bowl champions, the Kansas City Chiefs.
Early October, Henry wasted no time getting his name into headlines against the Buffalo Bills. The stiff arm against Josh Norman sent the nation into shock and many questioned how a person of Henry’s stature and strength is allowed to even play running back.
In the month of October, he ran for 344 yards and five touchdowns.
Throughout all of the 2020 season, Henry leads to the league in rushing yards (663), No. 1 in average rushing yards per game (110.5) and is tied for the leaue most in rushing touchdowns (7).
Henry will continue his strong game for the Titans with the hopes of getting them one step further than they did last year and get his team to the final game of the season.
The Jets now have a fourth opportunity to make the postseason after the league added a third wild-card team to each conference playoff.
The path to the postseason will be easier than ever for the Jets after league owners officially voted on and approved expanding the playoff field from 12 to 14 teams for the 2020 postseason.
Now, the Jets have four opportunities to make the playoffs â three wild-card spots and the AFC East champion â with the addition of a seventh team to each conference tournament. Only the No. 1 seed in the conference will earn a first-round bye, as the No. 2 seed will face the third wild-card team or the No. 7 seed.Â
This rule change provides a pivotal moment in the Jetsâ quest for their first playoff appearance since 2010. Tom Brady wonât play in the AFC this season whichleaves the division and most of the conference up for grabs for the first time in 20 years. With four chances to make the playoffs, Adam Gase and the Jets canât squander this moment. Sam Darnold also enters his third season in the league, a year in which he should take a big step forward in his development in his second season with Gase at the helm of the offense.
If you’re curious how this change would have affected the Jetsâ playoff chances in 2019 â it wouldnât have. The Jets, who were actually in contention for much of the season despite their horrible start to the year, wouldnât have made the playoffs despite their 7-9 finish. They finished 11th in the AFC after tiebreakers. The Steelers, who finished 8-8, would have grabbed the No. 7 seed and faced the Chiefs in the Wild Card round if this playoff format existed last season.
This is how last seasonâs playoffs wouldâve looked under the new, 14-team format, which was approved today by owners. #NFLpic.twitter.com/GDzWgSc3iz
The record required to make the playoffs now is lowered a bit with the extra wild card team. Typically a 10-6 record is the bare minimum to make the playoffs, as only two 9-7 teams made it in 2019, and only one â the Titans â were a wild card team. But now, a 9-7 record might be good enough to make the playoffs if a team doesnât win the division.Â
If you looked at every season since 2003 with this new format, eight 10-6 teams â including the 2015 Ryan Fitzpatrick-led Jets â 16 teams who finished 9-7 and nine 8-8 teams that missed the playoffs would have made it as the No. 7 seed. This helps the Jets, who were only a few wins away from 9-7 in 2019 and could be better in 2020 if their free agent signings and draft picks pan out.
The Jets wonât know their season schedule until May 9, but they already know the opponents theyâll play given how they finished the 2019 season. Despite a down year, the 2020 schedule looks a little daunting considering the away teams include the Super Bowl champion Chiefs as well as the revamped Colts and Chargers, as well as the Seahawks on the road. The Dolphins and Bills also upgraded in free agency, Bill Belichick still coaches the Patriots and the Jets will also play the Super Bowl runner-up 49ers at MetLife at some point in 2020.
If the Jets want to shed the stigma of their past quickly, they wonât get a better opportunity than 2020 with the expanded playoff format and the lack of Brady in the AFC. Â
The Chiefs season was winding and challenging, but these wins were the most important for their Super Bowl run.
There is one game left in the 2019 NFL season — and the 2020 NFL playoffs — so now is the time to look back on the year and ask in a David Byrne voice, “well, how did we get here?” The Chiefs definitely didn’t end up in their first Super Bowl in 50 years by letting the days go by.
The first 30 selections of the 2020 NFL draft have been established following the NFC and AFC conference championship games.
The San Francisco 49ers took care of business Sunday afternoon against the Green Bay Packers to win the NFC championship. They will square off against the Kansas City Chiefs – who handled the Tennessee Titans in the AFC – in this year’s Super Bowl in Miami.
Following the NFC and AFC Championship Games, the first 30 selections of the 2020 NFL draft have been set. The final order will be determined following the Super Bowl.
Here’s a look at the first 30 picks of the first round in April’s draft, per Tankathon.
