New Orleans Saints DE Cameron Jordan sacked Atlanta Falcons QB Matt Ryan four times in his team’s win, rising in the team history books.
New Orleans Saints defensive end Cameron Jordan went into Thursday night’s game against the Atlanta Falcons ranked third-best in sacks in team history, with 81 takedowns to his credit. That trailed Saints legends Wayne Martin (82.5) and Rickey Jackson (115) for the most all-time in black and gold.
Jordan went on to sack Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan four times in a lopsided victory, with his teammates accounting for five sacks of their own. That put his season total at 13.5 on the year so far, and 85 sacks in his career, surpassing Martin and putting Jackson’s high-water mark closer within reach (someday).
Back in April, Jordan expressed eagerness to test Atlanta’s remodeled offensive line, stocked with first-round draft picks like Kaleb McGary and Chris Lindstrom. He backed up those big words on Thursday night by barreling through McGary in the game’s closing minutes, including a fourth-down sack to seal the win.
It also helped wipe out from Jordan’s untimely personal foul a week earlier against the Carolina Panthers, proving that he’s prepared to lead by example (and own up to his mistakes) as one of New Orleans’ defensive leaders. With playmakers like Jordan leading the charge, the Saints might be too tough to beat.
The Dallas Cowboys are planning on opening the vault for Amari Cooper; they may need to petition the league for more home games if they do.
It’s very rare that Fox analyst and Hall of Fame QB Terry Bradshaw makes a coherent point, much less an insightful one on the network’s pre-or-post-game broadcasts. Following the Dallas Cowboys 60-minutes-of-frustration effort in a 13-9 loss the New England, not only were viewers once again subjected to Rob Gronkowski’s Patriot-partisan, dude-bro routine, but Cowboys fans also had to get salt poured in the wound by Bradshaw.
For much of the game, the announcing team of Joe Buck and Troy Aikman (who did an absolutely masterful job of eviscerating the culprits of not just the referee blunders but the Dallas coaching snafus) lamented about how good of a job Stephon Gilmore was doing in shutting down (and out) Dallas No. 1 Amari Cooper.
Cooper was held to zero catches on two official targets after he wasn’t able to corral a late-game fourth down toss that would’ve been a great snag, but the ball came out for a split second when Cooper fell to the ground.
Gilmore had a reception though, an interception that turned into a field goal and a 10-0 for New England.
In the midst of fellow analyst Howie Long giving credit to Gilmore as the game’s best cornerback, Bradshaw interrupted.
“He disappears on the road all year long, Howie. He does! He does.”
Al Green’s internet was quickly consulted to prepare to shout down Bradshaw’s quip on Twitter. Except no retort could be summoned.
Bradshaw is right.
Amari Cooper does indeed disappear in road games.
Split-stats are an interesting way to view a player’s performance over extended periods of time. When looking at Cooper’s splits between home and road, it’s an astounding difference.
Cooper Home Games, 2019
5 games: 39 receptions on 49 targets, 673 yards for 17.3 ypr average, 5 TDs, 79.6 catch percentage.
Cooper Road Games, 2019
6 games: 17 receptions on 32 targets, 213 yards for 12.5 ypr average, 2 TDs, 53.1 catch percentage.
It’s not just this year, either. Although not nearly as drastic a difference, this is something that Cooper has dealt with over his five-year career.
Splits over Cooper’s Career
Split Type
Targets
Receptions
Yards
Yds / Rec
Catch %
Yds/ Tgt
Yds/ Gm
Home (35 games)
274
188
2812
14.96
68.6
10.26
80.3
Road (37 games)
272
146
1982
13.58
53.7
7.29
53.6
Percent Change
.7%
22.3%
29.5%
9.2%
13.9% diff
28.9%
33.3%
Split Type
Targets
Receptions
Yards
Yds / Rec
Catch %
Yds / Tgt
Yds / Gm
Win (38 games)
312
198
3029
15.3
63.5
9.71
79.7
Loss (34 games)
234
136
1765
12.98
58.1
7.54
51.9
Percent Change
25%
31.3%
41.7%
15.2%
5.4% diff
22.3%
34.9%
The most damning performance shift across most players will be seen in a win-loss split, and that mostly holds true for Cooper as well. Players perform better in wins, worse in losses; that should be standard for almost every NFL player.
The one key thing to look at here is his catch-percentage differences. Win or lose, Cooper’s catch percentage is generally in the same ball park. But home or road makes a ridiculous amount of difference in whether or not Cooper hauls in his targets.
Here’s a year-by-year look at Cooper’s home-and-away catch percentage splits.
2019: 79.6% home – 53.1% road 2018: 75.9% home – 63.3% road 2017: 62.5% home – 41.1% road 2016: 64.6% home – 61.2% road 2015: 61.3% home – 50.0% road
In every year but one, Cooper is catching at least 11% less of his targets on the road than at home and this year’s gap of 26.5% is the most egregious of them all.
And if you wondered if this is normal for the Cowboys’ passing offense, it most certainly is not.
Randall Cobb’s 2019 Splits (w/ Dak Prescott)
Split Type
Targets
Receptions
Yards
Yds / Rec
Catch %
Yds/ Tgt
Yds/ Gm
Home (5 gm)
26
17
280
16.5
65.4
10.77
56.0
Road (5 gm)
34
22
301
13.7
64.7
8.85
60.2
Michael Gallup’s Career Splits (All w/ Prescott)
Split Type
Targets
Receptions
Yards
Yds / Rec
Catch %
Yds/ Tgt
Yds/ Gm
Home (12 gm)
76
42
681
16.2
55.3
8.96
56.8
Road (13 gm)
67
37
559
15.1
55.2
8.34
43.0
The other receiving threats for Dallas have remarkably similar catch percentages whether at AT&T Stadium or on the road. Gallup is almost an even split. Cobb is actually targeted more on the road while in Dallas, perhaps because of Cooper’s deficiencies.
Well what about the quarterbacks who are throwing the ball to Cooper? If their completion percentages take a major dip on the road, than that would be at least circumstantial evidence that Cooper’s numbers aren’t on him.
Nope.
Dak Prescott has a 67.5 completion percentage at home and it only drops to 65.0% on the road. His passer rating is 99.7 at home, 94.3 on the road.
Derek Carr, Cooper’s QB in Oakland for 3.5 years, has a slightly wider gulf, but still nothing as alarming as Cooper’s numbers. Carr is 65.3 to 62.0 in completion percentage, 93.6 to 86.5 in passer rating.
This is a Cooper issue.
Two questions arise from this study.
One, how can Dallas advance in the playoffs if they don’t have home-field advantage and their best target is disappearing in road games? Because the sample size was so small it wasn’t a thing, but this played out in last year’s playoffs. Cooper went from 15.1 yards a catch and a catch percentage of 78 at home against the Seahawks to 10.8 yards a catch and a catch percentage of 66.7 on the road against the Rams.
Two, how do you right-size a contract for a wideout who is probably the league’s best in the eight games in front of the home crowd but is being erased in the eight travel games?
Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson can be the first QB in NFL history to lead his team to winning seasons in his first eight years.
Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson is easily the most accomplished quarterback in franchise history and has achieved numerous milestones in his eight-year career. Coming into Week 12 of the 2019 season, he is approaching another major achievement.
If the Seahawks dispatch the Eagles, Wilson will become the first quarterback in NFL history to compile a winning record in his first eight years.
“I didn’t know that was coming,” Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll told 97.3 KIRO FM on the Pete Carroll Show. “That’s a great marker. He’s had a career already of first where he’s just done things so well coming out of the chutes and all that to put up numbers and consistency and all that kind of stuff.”
Carroll went on to state Wilson has had to deal with adversity and the doubts from his detractors, and he used them to improve as a player.
“Don’t you think that happened because people doubted Russ’ ability?” Carroll said. “And they didn’t think he could make it so they all made that statement that he’ll be a flash in the pan or whatever, so they looked for ways to justify the fact that they were wrong and he just outlasted them and proved that he was way more than that, and he proved all the doubters that he is the real deal.”
Wilson is having arguably the best season of his career and can lead the Seahawks to a winning record for an eighth consecutive year if they emerge victorious in Philadelphia.
The Lions had expressed interest in running back Rashaad Penny before the trade deadline but the Seattle Seahawks opted not to deal him.
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The Seattle Seahawks have not utilized running back Rashaad Penny much since the trade deadline when he was speculated to be a potential trade candidate. In the two games the Seahawks played since the deadline passed, Penny rushed a combined six times for 14 yards and a lost fumble.
The Lions had expressed interest in Penny before the trade deadline, according to a report from Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press. The Lions were 3-3-1 at the time and were looking to bolster their stable of running backs, but apparently did not think Penny was worth anything more than a third-round pick.
If this report is true, it prompts an abundance of questions and speculation.
Another RB the Lions were checking in on at the trade deadline: Rashaad Penny. Sounds like Lions were willing to part with a third-round pick for him but Seattle wanted more. They'll roll with Ty Johnson, J.D. McKissic and Paul Perkins at RB today.
What more would Detroit have had to offer for the Seahawks to trade Penny? Is Seattle still confident that Penny can develop into something great at his position and just has a longer learning curve? How is Penny specifically going to be used in the future with Chris Carson soaking up all the carries despite a few mistakes over the course of the season? Did his 55 rushing yards on eight carries against Atlanta make the Seahawks’ decision for them?
Penny has shown flashes of success over his young career thus far, especially with the ball in open space. However, he has some noticeable issues, particularly regarding running between the tackles. He still has potential, as he is only in his second season in the NFL. However, Seattle may soon find out if it regrets not dealing Penny sooner, or if he breaks out and becomes a consistently favorable complement to Carson.
