Tag: Blog

Welp, we’re calling it early: Gordon Hayward has the worst turkey of 2020

Get it out of here.

Our own Andy Nesbitt established this week what you probably already realized was true: Turkey is lame (there’s a reason you’re not roasting turkey with any regularity, right?) and you can do much better for your Thanksgiving feast.

However, maybe you’re a traditionalist. And if so, you might as well perfect your recipe and method. We tend to use Sam Sifton’s plan, though with some adjustments (lemons and oranges inside this year; let’s get nuts.)

Gordon Hayward, who recently signed a $120 million four-year deal with the Charlotte Hornets, has, instead, created one of the least-appetizing … anythings … of all time.

It’s risky, being early in the day, especially when you consider the people still roasting on the West Coast, but this has to be it, right? This is the worst turkey of the year.

There’s no sense in trying to diagnose what could have gone wrong here. All of it did. From start to finish. I feel bad that I showed you this. I hope I didn’t ruin your day.

And I hope Gordon was able to use some of that newly earned cash to order a better bird. Or pulled pork. Just something edible.

2020 NBA Free Agency tracker: Catch up on all the deals

Matthew Stafford nearly made a stunning catch to complete a trick play

Bring it in next time, Matthew. We believe in you.

I’m sorry, Matthew Stafford, but you have to make this play.

The ball is dropped right into your hands. You have just enough time to get low and avoid being completely de-brained by a defender. The timing is perfect.

Look at this pass. Look at that loft! The spiral! It’s harder to not catch this ball than it is to catch it. This is the friendliest football. This is me tossing to my youngest nephew.

I’m in awe of this pass, truly. In part because you can see Jamal Agnew go from, “Nope, I can’t complete this trick play” to “Actually, I am exactly the man to do this … and you are, too, Matt.” The triumph of the human spirit, the exaltation of hope and determination, right there on display for all to see as we cozy up to a plate of bland turkey and ponder why we’re thankful in our most difficult year.

And then this:

I award you zero points for your exuberant “fumble recovery;” if this month has taught America nothing else it is that there is no dignity in pretending that you did not lose when you did.

This was a catchable ball, Matthew. I get it. You’re a quarterback, and a very good one, and this play was probably designed to spring you completely free, not into double coverage, and the right thing to do would have been to bail and live for the next play.

But that’s not what happened, and your moment came. And then the football descended gracefully into your arms — until you let it skitter away. And that left Matt Prater to come onto the field a few plays later to kick a 29-yard field goal to make it 24-17, Texans, in the third quarter.

What could have been.

(Lions coach Matt Patricia did challenge the call, because let’s be honest it was pretty close, but it was not overturned.)

Here’s what Kelly Stafford doesn’t understand about coronavirus relief

Dustin Johnson breaks into tears after winning the Masters: ‘It’s hard to talk’

What a powerful moment.

Dustin Johnson won the Masters Sunday, shooting a 68 to finish the tournament at -20, a new record. It marked his first Masters win and second major championship (he won the U.S. Open in 2016.)

Johnson shared an embrace with his partner, Paulina Gretzky, after securing the win. He received his green jacket from last year’s champion, Tiger Woods. And then the 36-year-old, who grew up in Columbia, South Carolina, about an hour from Augusta, was asked what finally winning the historic tournament, played in the fall for the first time due to the Covid-19 pandemic, meant to him.

He did his best to find the words but ultimately faltered, admitting “It’s hard to talk,” as his eyes welled with tears. For a golfer who has often been seen as aloof, it was a powerfully heartfelt moment.

Johnson has struggled to close out big events, most recently falling into second place on the final day of the PGA Championship in August.

He’s also missed significant time dealing with personal issues, as he left tour in mid-2014 and missed seven moths. Golf.com reported at the time that he had failed a third test for drugs (two for cocaine and one for marijuana.)

Johnson’s win also came with his brother, Austin, on the bag.

Here’s the moment Johnson received his jacket from Woods.

Man. Even all these months after it was supposed to be played, the Masters gave us so much magic. Again.

Andy Reid and Patrick Mahomes flaunted their brilliance on this bizarre TD play

We’re pretty sure we’ve never seen anything like this before.

We’re accustomed to Patrick Mahomes completing passes and scoring touchdowns in entirely irregular and, at times, unprecedented ways. But we haven’t seen anything quite like this touchdown from the Kansas City Chiefs’ game against the Carolina Panthers on Sunday in Week 9.

And it seems credit is due to Chiefs coach Andy Reid.

On a first-and-goal at the 1-yard line in the second quarter, Mahomes lined up at quarterback before motioning to his right. Then Mahomes motioned back into his original spot by moving to his left. When the ball snapped, he took two more steps to his left, before stopping and spinning the other direction. In the rollout to the right, he found receiver Demarcus Robinson for a touchdown.

Holy cow. *Takes a deep breath.* A lot going on, right? Let’s watch and then we’ll answer your inevitable reaction…

What. Just. Happened?

The play has two levels of misdirection. Ready for some brain boggling?

At first, it seems the Chiefs want the Panthers to think that they’re going to see a direct snap to running back Clyde Edwards-Helaire. Mahomes wandered to his right (in motion) as if he’s making a pre-snap change. So it’s possible the running back could get the snap. This is roughly how the famous “Philly Philly” or “The Philly Special” play starts — with the QB looking hapless in motion. Carolina was probably already on its toes for trickery or a running play.

Then Kansas City layered in more deception.

Mahomes motioned back to the left. And when the ball got snapped — and the snap, in itself, is challenging when executed to a moving player — most of the Chiefs offense started moving to its left, too. Edwards-Helaire headed to the left flat. The offensive line protected left. And receiver Tyreek Hill began dragging across the formation to the left. But then Mahomes set his feet and reversed. You can see tight end Travis Kelce waited in the flat to provide protection on the quarterback’s rollout. Hill suddenly reversed course on his route while Robinson dragged across the back of the end zone on an ever-so-slightly delayed route. That slight delay was enough for Robinson to toast cornerback Rasul Douglas, who got caught looking in the backfield. Mahomes had the requisite protection to find his wide open receiver in the back of the end zone.

It’s an insanely-creative mad-scientist play that only Reid could cook up and few quarterbacks could execute. It seems needlessly extra, convoluted and flamboyant. In a way, it is. But that’s exactly what makes it delightful.

Did Antonio Brown dupe the Buccaneers? His troubling history can’t be ignored

Don’t let Antonio Brown pretend like he’s a comeback story.

There’s no reason to trust Antonio Brown. None.

As “Good Morning Football” host Kyle Brandt pointed out on Thursday, Brown is the master of managing a press conference. The newly-minted Tampa Bay Buccaneers receiver knows how to say the right things in an attempt to get in the good graces of whoever is listening. But Brown is saying the same things — and I mean the exact same things, like expressing his respect for “offensive guru” Bruce Arians like he did with coach Jon Gruden — that he said when he was given a second chance with the Raiders (and, later, a third chance with the Patriots.)

It’s dumbfounding that Tampa’s decision makers — and anyone else — is expecting a different result.

When Brown joined the Raiders, he was fresh off causing turmoil in the Pittsburgh Steelers locker room. “I bring accountability. I bring actions. It’s not what I say, what I do,” Brown told the media when he arrived in Oakland. But of course, he proceeded to wreak havoc within the Raiders organization, too.

When that brief experimental failed, he landed in New England. At the time, it seemed like the perfect place for the mercurial talent to fall in line for the first time in years — until the allegations of sexual assault and rape emerged. And it went beyond those allegations. He faced additional accusations of sexual harassment before sending intimidating text messages to his accuser.

It’s one thing to push aside Brown’s tantrums and antics. It’s another to push aside allegations of sexual assault and sexual harassment. Knowing Brown’s history of saying all the right things and doing all the wrong ones — and allegedly heinous ones — you’d think the Bucs would be wise enough to avoid him, even if he remains one of the most talented players in the league. But that’s what the NFL does for its most talented employees. Morality doesn’t matter so much when a player elevates the football team.

Perhaps Tampa Bay feels it did its due diligence and has decided Brown has done enough to warrant another shot. That’s certainly going to be the company line. But if it’s based on the sort of sincere-sounding-but-empty promises Brown has made in the past, it’s worth nothing at all.

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Tedy Bruschi backtracks after criticizing Patriots: ‘This team isn’t very good anymore’

“Words get twisted.”

Tedy Bruschi is backpedalling after delivering an epic take on his former team, the New England Patriots.

During an appearance on WEEI sports radio on Wednesday, Bruschi caused a stir when asked whether free agent receiver Antonio Brown, who is serving a suspension after facing allegations of sexual assault and rape in a civil lawsuit, might land back with the Patriots, who cut Brown after reports of those allegations emerged. Bruschi’s answer went above and beyond an already hot topic, Brown.

“If I’m Antonio Brown, I’m not touching the Patriots with a 10-foot pole. And I say that because this team isn’t very good anymore,” Bruschi, a former linebacker who spent his whole career with New England, said on WEEI on Wednesday. “You’ve got a quarterback that I have to be open for him to get me. Do I go to Cam? Or maybe, let’s see, Russell Wilson, who can put the ball in a place where I barely have to move my hands?”

(For the record, Wilson does lead the league in Completion Percentage Above Expectation, per Next Gen Stats. Newton’s CPAE, meanwhile, is -1 … which ranks him slightly higher than Bruschi’s old QB, Tom Brady at -1.5.)

Almost immediately, Bruschi’s backtracking commenced. He took to Twitter on Thursday to clarify: he wasn’t speaking for himself when he said that. He was merely imagining what Brown might be thinking.

It’s a convenient out: these aren’t his words even though he said them. But, stick with me here, if Bruchi thinks Brown thinks the Patriots are bad, that’s probably because Bruchi also thinks New England isn’t good anymore. Right? I’m not trying to read Bruschi’s thoughts, but it’s easy to imagine the linebacker felt uncomfortable after getting blowback on social media after WEEI shared a tweet, which has since been deleted, with audio from Bruschi’s comments. And it’s possible Bruschi backed away from his brash remark, with hopes that he could pull off a nothing-to-see here routine.

Bruschi’s initial comments seemed reminiscent of what fellow ESPN analyst Trent Dilfer infamously said about the Patriots after a blowout loss to the Kansas City Chiefs in Week 4 of 2014. Dilfer said: “They’re not good anymore.” On that same night, Belichick said “on to Cincinnati” about 100 times. And then New England not only crushed the Bengals in Week 5, but also won a Super Bowl a few months later.

Evaluating the 2020 Patriots is complicated. They have had excusable losses to the Seattle Seahawks and the Kansas City Chiefs, two of the NFL’s best. The Patriots also have two wins over the Las Vegas Raiders and the Miami Dolphins, both middling teams. But when New England lost to the lowly Denver Broncos, 18-12, in Week 6, the Patriots seemed to be in a bad place. Their 2-3 record is Bill Belichick’s worst since 2002.

Still, the loss to the Broncos is tough to evaluate, because New England practiced just twice, one being a walkthrough, over the previous two weeks due to a COVID-19 outbreak. Quarterback Cam Newton, who contracted the novel coronavirus, was only able to participate in the walkthrough. So he was ill-prepared against a good Broncos defense, which stymied Newton and New England’s passing offense.

The Patriots weren’t good in Week 6. But it’s not fair to say they’re not good anymore. It’s likely Belichick will do what he always does: rally his team over the next few weeks. New England won’t be 12-4, but they’re probably going to make the playoffs, just like they always do.

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NFL fans ripped A.J. Green’s befuddling reaction to a Joe Burrow misfire

Did A.J. Green give up on the play?

Joe Burrow didn’t give A.J. Green much of a shot to make a play on a third-and-10 pass in the first quarter of the Cincinnati Bengals’ game against the Baltimore Ravens in Week 5. But Green also gave practically zero effort to make a play on the pass, an awful misfire, due in part to pressure from the Ravens’ defensive line. Ravens cornerback Marcus Peters easily intercepted the ball.

Green could have tried to make a catch — he could have tried to break up the pass. Instead, Green watched listlessly while Peters made a play. And then Green didn’t even make a tackle attempt. It was not a good look for the receiver, who has appeared to be dissatisfied with his situation in Cincinnati for quite some time.

When NFL fans and media members saw Green’s inability to contribute on the play, they ripped the receiver for his apparent lack of effort.

Maybe it’s finally time for the Bengals to trade Green, especially with Tee Higgins and Tyler Boyd emerging.

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Kareem Abdul-Jabbar pens eloquent essay defending George Floyd protesters

A powerful, must-read essay.

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, a retired Lakers star and a political activist, published an essay in the L.A. Times on Sunday, and it was an excellent conversation-starter amid the George Floyd protests.

Abdul-Jabbar urged people not to rush to judgement of protestors. He pointed out that perhaps there are more important — or more complicated — issues at hand than social distancing. He also urged people not to judge those committing vandalism. He understood the reaction that those destroying buildings and businesses are “putting the cause backward.” But he knows it’s not that simple. Here’s a powerful passage from his essay:

“You’re not wrong — but you’re not right, either. The black community is used to the institutional racism inherent in education, the justice system and jobs. And even though we do all the conventional things to raise public and political awareness — write articulate and insightful pieces in the Atlantic, explain the continued devastation on CNN, support candidates who promise change — the needle hardly budges.

“But COVID-19 has been slamming the consequences of all that home as we die at a significantly higher rate than whites, are the first to lose our jobs, and watch helplessly as Republicans try to keep us from voting. Just as the slimy underbelly of institutional racism is being exposed, it feels like hunting season is open on blacks. If there was any doubt, President Trump’s recent tweets confirm the national zeitgeist as he calls protesters ‘thugs’ and looters fair game to be shot.

“Yes, protests often are used as an excuse for some to take advantage, just as when fans celebrating a hometown sports team championship burn cars and destroy storefronts. I don’t want to see stores looted or even buildings burn. But African Americans have been living in a burning building for many years, choking on the smoke as the flames burn closer and closer. Racism in America is like dust in the air. It seems invisible — even if you’re choking on it — until you let the sun in.”

It’s a poetic and important argument that should help people ask more questions about the protests — before providing their own answers.

There’s no easy solution to end racism and stop the injustices happening to black people in America. And so Abdul-Jabbar put together this beautiful essay, which you should read in full, while others continue to protest to express their anger and sadness at the loss of George Floyd.

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Ex-NBA star Stephen Jackson mourns the death of his ‘twin’ George Floyd

Stephen Jackson knew Floyd growing up in Houston.

George Floyd’s death while in police custody on Monday has stirred up a massive public outcry against police brutality both in Minneapolis where it happened and across the country.

The four officers who arrested Floyd have yet to be publicly identified but have since been fired by the Minneapolis police department.

One of the people who was deeply affected by Floyd’s death was former NBA star Stephen Jackson, who grew up in Texas — Floyd was a Houston native.

In an Instagram post on Tuesday, a visibly upset Jackson explained that he was close friends with Floyd and even called him his “twin” (WARNING: There’s some NSFW language ahead).

This is what I gotta wake up to. Floyd was my brother, man. We called each other “Twin,” bruh. Everybody know me and Floyd called each other “Twin.” My brother was only out there in Minnesota, he was changing his life, he went to Minnesota, he was driving trucks. I just sent him two, three boxes of clothes. My boy was doing what he was supposed to do, man, and y’all go kill my brother, man. I’m on my way to Minnesota, man. Whatever I can do, can’t let this ride, dog. Y’all not going to be mad until it hits you front door. Bull (expletive).”

Jackson followed up by posting photos of Floyd on his Instagram account:

https://www.instagram.com/p/CArFPQBFiSw/

Well wishes to Floyd’s family and friends, including Jackson, as they all try to get through this tough time.

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Kevin Durant calls writer ‘sensitive’ for criticizing his decision to go to the Warriors

Oh, look, another Kevin Durant Twitter beef.

Kevin Durant’s decision to sign with the Golden State Warriors four years ago has been parsed and dissected in every way it could possibly be since the very moment he made the decision to go.

People are preemptively doing the same thing with Giannis Antetokounmpo and his upcoming decision on whether he wants to stay in Milwaukee with the Bucks or not.

One of those people is the Action Network’s Matt Moore. Moore tweeted about how he’d be “disappointed” if Antetokounmpo potentially decided he didn’t want to play for the Bucks anymore in the same way he was disappointed when Durant left the Thunder.

And, of course, THAT prompted Durant to defend his decision. And he did so, simply by calling Moore a “sensitive a**.”

Of course, after that, Durant’s mentions were going crazy after that. People were defending Moore’s stance and calling Durant, himself, sensitive for responding.

Durant didn’t care, though. He’s clearly just fed up with the conversation.

Honestly, this is all getting pretty tired. The discussions about Durant’s free agency FROM 2016, the Twitter back-and-forths. All of it. It’s a flat circle.

Media member tweets about Durant’s free agency, Durant responds, people critique Durant for responding, Durant responds to those critics. Rinse, wash, repeat. It’s not even the first time he’s gotten into it with Moore. This is becoming routine at this point.

It’s all so silly now. How people felt about Durant’s decision to leave the Thunder four years ago is worth discussing within the context of league history. But that’s not how it’s discussed — it’s always about how it made people feel. That discussion doesn’t feel like it’s worth having anymore. Especially now because, well, he plays for the Brooklyn Nets.

The more we do this, the more we’re just going to keep going in this circle. Right now feels like as good a time as any to just move on.

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