Tag: Danny Amendola

WATCH: Danny Amendola throws TD pass to QB David Blough

Danny Amendola is now 3-for-3 with 2 TD passes in his NFL career.

The Detroit Lions are not playing for anything other than draft position. So, Matt Patricia dipped into the bag of tricks he learned in New England against the Green Bay Packers on Sunday.

The Lions used some trickeration as Danny Amendola turned from wideou to quarterback and David Blough went from quarterback to receiver on this touchdown pass in the first quarter.

Amendola is now 3-for-3- as a passer. He threw a TD pass with Miami in 2018.

Fantasy football: 5 sleepers to start, 5 starters to sit in Week 16

Five starters to sit and five sleepers to start in Week 16/ Championship weekend in Fantasy football.

It’s championship time in fantasy football.

A little scouting and you can avoid a crucial late-season loss or do just enough to cross the finish line with a win this week in the title game. We’ve got you covered with a quick scouting report to help you out.

Here are five sleepers to start and five starters you’ve got to sit in fantasy football Week 16:

Starts
Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Jameis Winston. (AP Photo/Jason Behnken)

QB Jameis Winston

Bucs quarterback Jameis Winston is fresh off two back-to-back awesome games, despite not having some of his best playmakers. Can he go for the hat trick? Yes, he realistically could. Winston and the Bucs face the mess that is the Texans’ secondary this weekend. They’re the No. 28 pass defense in the NFL,  allowing 266.1 yards per game. Houston has also allowed 30 scores through the air this year.

RB Tarik Cohen

The Bears are out of it but their opponent, the Chiefs, are not. Kansas City will want to put Chicago away in this one in their battle for AFC playoff seeding. The Chiefs’ dynamic offense should get ahead in this one, which will make Tarik Cohen a menace out of the backfield via his hands. He’s averaged 5.5 catches per game over the last six games.

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The Silver (and Blue) Lining: 3 positive takeaways from the Lions loss at Washington

This week’s Silver Lining identifies 3 positive takeaways from the Detroit Lions Week 12 loss, including Bo Scarbrough’s continued success, improved run defense, and the Lions trio of wide receivers reliability.

The Detroit Lions took their (3-6-1) record into Landover, Maryland to take on the Washington Redskins and their lowly (1-9) record, in what should have been a fairly routine Lions victory — someone must have forgotten to explain that to the team.

Perhaps I am the jinx for the Lions, as the third installment of the Silver (and Blue) Lining follows a third straight Lions loss. In a game that the Lions only helped their draft position — they’re currently slotted to pick 7th overall — there were some positive takeaways for the team.

Bo Scarbrough is the real deal

The Lions are still playing with a running back by committee, however, the snaps for Scarbrough are starting to lean in his favor as he saw 51% of the offense plays. In just his second career game, which was also his second career start, Scarbrough finished the game with 98 yards on the ground with 18 carries — averaging 5.4 yards per attempt.

With Ty Johnson and J.D. McKissic both healthy, we haven’t seen what Scarbrough can do in the passing game yet, and may not as McKissic has made us completely forget about Theo Riddick.

Scarbrough brings an angry, downfield running attack that the Lions, who have struggled to run the ball for the better part of 20 years, has been missing. Scarbrough won’t outrun or make a lot of defenders miss him, but he will run through them — as he’s proved in each of his two career games.

As the Lions have completely fallen out of the playoff picture, the newly anointed starting running back should continue to see more playing time and get more reps under his belt.

Defense against the run is coming together

Over the years, the Lions defense has been used to getting gashed by future Hall of Fame running back, Adrian Peterson. This season was a different story, as the Redskins running backs were held to just 86 yards collectively for the game. The Lions mustered three sacks, an interception, and a fumble recovery, not to mention they were missing Trey Flowers.

The Lions have yet to show a solid defensive effort on all levels, but with Damon Harrison and Mike Daniels holding the middle of the line in the last two games, they have shown that they can hold the rushing yards to a minimum.

Receiving trio causing problems for defenses

It is sort of a pick your poison when it comes to the Lions receiving corps — namely their top three options.

Kenny Golladay, Marvin Jones, and Danny Amendola have all been the game leaders for receptions and receiving yards at different points this season. While the stat lines for this particular game may not be flashy, the trio of receivers hauled in 12 of Driskel’s 20 completions and had 128 of his 207 passing yards — with the offensive line unable to give Driskel a clean pocket for most of the game.

  • Kenny Golladay — four receptions for 61 yards
  • Marvin Jones — five receptions for 46 yards
  • Danny Amendola — three receptions for 21 yards

Lions week 12 snap counts: Oruwariye steps up in Melvin’s absence

The Detroit Lions had 11 rookies active on game day, and for the most part, they all played significant or scheme-specific roles on Sunday.

When examining the Detroit Lions (3-7-1) snap counts from Week 12, a few key things stood out. Of the 46 players active for the Lions in Washington, 11 of them were rookies, including Isaac Nauta, Austin Bryant, Beau Benzschawel, and Michael Jackson, all making their NFL debuts.

That and more takeaways from this week’s snap counts below:

Jeff Driskel continues snap streak

Jeff Driskel — 75, 100-percent

Despite Driskel’s playing style leading to him getting hit with frequency, he still manages to stay on the field for every snap.

Lions use 7 of 8 active offensive linemen

LT Taylor Decker — 75, 100-percent
LG Joe Dahl — 74, 99-percent
C Graham Glasgow — 75, 100-percent
RG Kenny Wiggins — 68, 91-percent
RT Tyrell Crosby — 75, 100-percent
OG Oday Aboushi — 8, 11-percent
OT Tyrell Crosby — 5, 7-percent
OL Beau Benzschawel — 0, 0-percent

The Lions have nine offensive linemen on their active roster. With Frank Ragnow out due to a concussion, that left them with eight healthy — all of which were active on Sunday. Typically the Lions only deploy seven offensive linemen on game days and that held true again yesterday, with Benzschawel still waiting to see his first NFL snaps.

Scarbrough leads the backfield again

Bo Scarbrough — 38, 51-percent
Ty Johnson — 27, 36-percent
J.D. McKissic — 11, 15-percent

Scarbrough was once again one of the bright spots in the Lions offense and the Lions leaned on him for the second week in a row. Behind him, Johnson and McKissic flipped roles from last week, with the game plan calling for more of a ground presence.

WR snaps have been consistent

Kenny Golladay — 68, 91-percent
Marvin Jones Jr. — 67, 89-percent
Danny Amendola — 46, 61-percent
Marvin Hall — 10, 13-percent

This snap count distribution has been fairly close to what the Lions have deployed since Driskel took over at quarterback. The only difference being Hall’s snap counts declined a bit after he left the game early with a lower leg injury.

Hockenson see lowest snap counts of the season

T.J. Hockenson — 33, 44-percent
Jesse James — 32, 43-percent
Logan Thomas — 28, 37-percent
Isaac Nauta — 10, 13-percent

Most young quarterbacks rely on tight ends as safety valves, but that has not been the case with Driskel. That may not be the primary reason the tight ends snaps counts dropped this week, — Hockenson was added to the injury report late Saturday — but it was likely a factor.

Nauta, who was just promoted to the active roster on Saturday, saw several snaps out of the backfield filling in for injured fullback Nick Bawden.

Interior DL snaps

A’Shawn Robinson — 43, 72-percent
Damon Harrison — 38, 63-percent
John Atkins — 25, 42-percent
Mike Daniels — 9, 15-percent

These snaps counts are very similar to what we saw from this group last week, which begs the question — why isn’t Daniels seeing the field more?

EDGE players see a big bump in snaps

Romeo Okwara — 56, 93-percent
Devon Kennard — 55, 92-percent
Austin Bryant — 16, 27-percent

Last season, Okwara routinely had multiple games where he received over 90-percent of snaps, but his numbers declined with the addition of Trey Flowers. With Flowers missing this week with a concussion, Okwara was back over 90-percent once again.

Bryant began the game only seeing the field on third downs but saw his snaps increase in obvious passing situations.

Linebackers dip in snaps

Jarrad Davis — 51, 85-percent
Christian Jones — 30, 50-percent
Jahlani Tavai — 29, 48-percent
Miles Killebrew — 16, 27-percent

All three primarily off-the-ball linebackers saw a slight dip in snaps. This is only the fourth game this season where Davis saw less than 90-percent of snaps, Tavai saw his snaps drop after a month in the 60th percentile, while Jones saw his lowest snap counts of the season.

Like Bryant in the last section, Killebrew saw the field on third downs and obvious passing situations as the game wore on.

Oruwariye steps up in Melvin’s absence

Darius Slay — 60, 100-percent
Justin Coleman — 60, 100-percent
Amani Oruwariye — 45, 75-percent

Last week, Oruwariye took over for Mike Ford in the fourth cornerback spot, and this week with Rashaan Melvin unable to play due to injury, Oruwariye was once again promoted into a more prominent role.

Oruwariye flashed the skill level he showed off in training camp and secured his first career interception:

Safety use was clear and defined

Tavon Wilson — 60, 100-percent
Will Harris — 60, 100-percent
C.J. Moore — 7, 12-percent

With no Tracy Walker, the Lions leaned heavily on Wilson and Harris, only turning to Moore when they went into three safety sets.

Special teams

Miles Killebrew — 26
Dee Virgin — 26
Mike Ford — 23
Steve Longa — 21
Jalen Reeves-Maybin — 21
Isaac Nauta — 21
C.J. Moore — 20
Ty Johnson — 17
Logan Thomas — 15
Jesse James — 11
Amani Oruwariye — 11
Will Harris — 10
Christian Jones — 9
J.D. McKissic — 6
Jarrad Davis — 5
Tavon  Wilson — 4
Justin Coleman — 4
Marvin Hall — 3
Danny Amendola — 3
Michael Jackson — 2

With no Jamal Agnew available, the Lions turned to Ty Johnson on kick returns and Marvin Hall on punt returns, but when Hall went down, the team needed veteran Danny Amendola to field the final three punts.

Michael Jackson saw his first-ever NFL snaps yesterday, getting two looks on special teams.

Lions Week 12 injury report: Matthew Stafford plus 6 others unable to practice on Wednesday

The Detroit Lions Week 12 injury report is headlined by Matthew Stafford but another six players were also unable to practice on Wednesday including Frank Ragnow, Trey Flowers, Da’Shawn Hand, Tracy Walker, Jamal Agnew, and Nick Bawden.

The Detroit Lions (3-6-1) are heading to Washington (1-9) for a Week 12 matchup of two underperforming and banged-up teams.

The Lions have been bitten by the injury bug once again, which is beginning to happen with an unforgiving regularity. In addition to the four players who were unable to play due to injury, another five were forced from last weekend’s game, including Frank Ragnow and Trey Flowers who suffered concussions, as well as Tracy Walker, Jamal Agnew, and Nick Bawden who all suffered lower-body injuries.

Unable to practice on Wednesday

QB Matthew Stafford (back, hip)
C Frank Ragnow (concussion)
EDGE Trey Flowers (concussion)
DL Da’Shawn Hand (ankle)
S Tracy Walker (knee)
RET. Jamal Agnew (ankle)
P Sam Martin (abdomen)
FB Nick Bawden (knee) — placed on injured reserve

Ahead of last week’s game, it was reported that Stafford’s injury could last up to six weeks, but he may be able to return sooner. “Sooner” doesn’t appear to be this week as Stafford is still only observing practices.

Ragnow and Flowers are currently in concussion protocol, so it’s not overly surprising that they were unable to practice today. Brain injuries are unique but we will likely learn more about their health after their practice report status on Thursday.

Hand still not being able to practice is concerning.

Walker surprising returned to the field last Sunday but only lasted 23 snaps before being injured again and leaving the field. Agnew was also forced from last week’s game with injuries and we likely won’t know much more about their availability until tomorrow.

With punter Matt Wile on the practice squad, it looks like the Lions will be giving Martin some rest days to get fully healthy. Martin has yet to miss any game action this season.

We found out after practice that not only was Bawden not at practice but he was being placed on injured reserve — his season is cut short once again.

Limited practice

RT Rick Wagner (concussion)
C.J. Moore (hamstring)

Wagner is still moving through the NFL’s concussion protocol and a return to practice today is a big step in the right direction. He still needs to have a full practice and then be cleared by an independent doctor but he is getting closer to returning to game action.

Moore didn’t leave last week’s game with an injury, so this injury must have popped up after the game sometime. Limited at this point is good news but we will know more as the week progresses.

No longer listed on the injury report

DE Romeo Okwara (groin)
WR Danny Amendola (hand)
DT Damon Harrison (groin)
DT Mike Daniels (foot)
DT A’Shawn Robinson (ankle, thumb)
NT John Atkins (wrist)
CB Darius Slay (neck)
S Will Harris (quad)

Most of the players listed here being removed from the injury report isn’t overly surprising, with one glaring exception — Romeo Okwara.

Okwara was limited for most of last week but was unable to play in the game over the weekend, so not being listed here suggests either a miraculous recovery or that the team was exercising a lot of caution last Sunday.

Lions Week 11 injury designations: Matthew Stafford, Da’Shawn Hand, Rick Wagner ruled OUT

The Detroit Lions have declared their injury designations for Week 11, ruling out Matthew Stafford, Da’Shawn Hand, and Rick Wagner.

The Detroit Lions (3-5-1) have declared their inactives list ahead of a Week 11 matchup with the Dallas Cowboys (5-4) at Ford Field. Coach Matt Patricia indicated Matthew Stafford would not play this weekend and that has now been confirmed.

Stafford wasn’t the only Lions’ player ruled out for this game and several more players were listed as questionable to play. So let’s take a closer look at each player’s situation and set their expectations for Sunday.

Ruled OUT

QB Matthew Stafford (back, hip)
RT Rick Wagner (concussion)
DL Da’Shawn Hand (ankle)

Stafford being ruled out isn’t overly surprising as he has been unable to practice this week, but Patricia indicated that he is progressing through the medical plan and working hard to get healthy. Jeff Driskel will start under center this week — and maybe the foreseeable future.

Wagner has also been unable to practice all week, unable to pass through the league’s concussion protocol. Tyrell Crosby will start at right tackle while Wagner deals with his concussion.

Hand has is now on week two of not practicing and he will miss his second game in a row since returning from his training camp elbow injury.

Questionable

RB Ty Johnson (concussion)
DT Damon Harrison (groin)
DE Romeo Okwara (groin)
S Tracy Walker (knee)
P Sam Martin (abdomen)

Johnson was a full participant on Friday meaning he only needs to pass an independent medical exam to fulfill the league’s requirements for returning to the field after a concussion. He has a real chance to play on Sunday.

Harrison is listed as questionable, per usual, but this has not limited him in previous weeks — expectations are that he starts against the Cowboys.

Okwara has now put together back-to-back limited practices suggesting he will be a game-time decision on Sunday.

Walker returned to the practice field for the first time in three weeks, which is a very positive sign, but it doesn’t necessarily mean he will play this weekend. He could also be a game-time decision.

Martin was limited all week, but with no other punter on the roster, it’s very likely he plays — like last week.

Not listed with an injury designation

WR Danny Amendola (hand)
LB/S Miles Killebrew (concussion)
NT John Atkins (wrist)
DT Mike Daniels (foot)
DT A’Shawn Robinson (ankle, thumb)
CB Darius Slay (neck)
S Will Harris (quad)

By not being listed on the injury report, it appears Killebrew has passed the NFL’s concussion protocol. He’s good to play on Sunday.

Slay, Harris, and Atkins were a bit banged up this week but all appear to have mended minor injuries. While Amendola, Robinson, and Daniels have been dealing with injuries for a few weeks now, but being listed with no designation is a great sign for their longterm status.

All players listed in this section had a full practice on Friday.