Tag: december

Two unbelievable Commanders’ streaks ended Sunday

These are depressing numbers that the Commanders ended on Sunday.

The Washington Commanders improved to 8-5 on the season after Sunday’s 42-19 win over the Tennessee Titans. Washington’s eight wins through 13 weeks is the most since the 1996 season.

However, Sunday’s win also ended two other streaks for the Commanders.

According to the Commanders’ PR team, Sunday’s win over Tennessee was Washington’s first December victory since defeating the Las Vegas Raiders in December 2021. If that stat isn’t depressing enough, Sunday’s victory was the team’s first December win at home since 2017.

Jonathan Allen and Tress Way are the only players on Washington’s current roster who were with the franchise in 2017. Allen was a rookie in 2017.

The current team has been busy ending streaks this season. Under new head coach Dan Quinn and GM Adam Peters, the Commanders have changed almost everything. The early returns are good, as Washington sits in a prime position to earn one of the NFC’s three Wild Card berths.

Jay Gruden was in his fourth season as head coach in 2017, while Ron Rivera was in his second season in 2021. There have been a lot of football games played at Northwest Stadium since the home team last won a December game there.

Good teams usually play their best football in November and December. It’s not surprising that Commanders haven’t been good for years. They’re never competitive in December, and there for a few years, always seemingly welcoming a new regime destined to repeat the same futility.

Times have changed.

Chiefs RB Jerick McKinnon named AFC Offensive Player of the Month for December/January

#Chiefs RB Jerick McKinnon earned his first career AFC Offensive Player of the Month honors in December.

Its back-to-back months with AFC Offensive Player of the Month wins for the Kansas City Chiefs. In November, Patrick Mahomes earned his fifth career honor. This time around, it’s RB Jerick McKinnon taking home the award for December/January, marking his first monthly award in his NFL career.

McKinnon led the entire NFL in the final six weeks of the regular season with nine total touchdowns, including eight receiving and one rushing touchdown. The 30-year-old running back also had over 400 total yards during that span. He recorded a receiving touchdown in each of those last six games, which made him the first running back since 1970 with a touchdown reception in at least five consecutive games.

The nine touchdown receptions by McKinnon in 2022 are tied with Rams RB Marshall Faulk (2001), Vikings RB Chuck Foreman (1975) and Leroy Hoard (1991) for the most by a running back in a single season in the Super Bowl era.

McKinnon is now the sixth Chiefs running back to earn NFL monthly honors during their career, joining Priest Holmes (two-time winner), Kareem Hunt (September 2017), Larry Johnson (two-time winner), Christian Okoye (October 1991) and Barry Word (December 1991). He’s also the first player from his alma mater, Georgia Southern, to ever win an Offensive Player of the Month award, AFC or NFC.

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Packers issue reminder to nominate family, fellow fans for Green Bay’s FAN Hall of Fame

The deadline to nominate someone you know for the #Packers’ FAN Hall of Fame is on Friday, December 16th

The Green Bay Packers are actively seeking nominations for induction to their FAN Hall of Fame ahead of the December 16th deadline. According to a release from the team, Packers president and chief executive officer Mark Murphy nominated his mother, 95-year-old Nancy “Nanu” Murphy for the honor in order to drum up more enthusiasm from Green Bay fans.

The former Murphy published an essay on the team’s official website supporting his mother’s nomination in which he espoused all of the reasons she would be a worthy candidate. All nominations are to include an essay with a maximum length of 500 words that states the merits of each fan’s nominee, according to the release.

While Ms. Murphy is ineligible for the honor because of her relation to a member of the Packers’ staff, plenty of Green Bay residents who are not directly related to team members are sure to be ideal candidates for induction.

The nomination process is set to be conducted entirely online, though fans without internet access are able to mail their nominations into the Packers’ Milwaukee office.

The team will select 10 of the most outstanding nominations as finalists after the December 16th deadline, and fans will be able to vote for the winner on the Packers’ official website, with the winner being chosen by both the fan vote and an appointed selection committee.

When the winner of the honor is announced in February, they will receive four club-level seats to a 2023 home game at Lambeau Field, a $500 gift certificate to the Packers’ pro shop, and a road trip for two to one of the team’s away games next season.

If someone in your life is worthy of being immortalized in the Packers FAN Hall of Fame, consider nominating them before Friday’s deadline to give them a chance to win this exciting sweepstake.

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Josh Giddey wins NBA’s December Rookie of the Month Award

Josh Giddey makes it 2-for-2 in terms of winning Rookie of the Month.

The NBA announced Oklahoma City Thunder guard Josh Giddey has won the Western Conference Rookie of the Month award for December. This is Giddey’s second straight Rookie of the Month award; he earned the October/November honor to start the season.

Giddey finished the December averaging 11.8 points, 7.1 rebounds and 6.7 assists in 10 games. Giddey becomes the second player in Thunder history to win the award multiple times (Russell Westbrook).

This award comes on the heels of Giddey becoming the youngest player in NBA history to record a triple-double.

Giddey was taken sixth in the 2021 NBA draft. In 31 games this season, Giddey is averaging 11 points, 7.3 rebounds and 6.4 assists.

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Ron Rivera’s tendency to win in December bodes well for Washington’s playoff chances

Washington needs to finish the 2020 season on a high note in order to make the playoffs, and Rivera’s tendency to dominate in December bodes well.

We have now embarked into the final month of this incredibly arduous year, but if a few things break the right way, it could easily become the best month of 2020.

For fans of the Washington Football Team, one of the things that can make this a joyous holiday season will be Ron Rivera and his team finishing the season strong and finding a way into the 2020 postseason by winning the NFC East. That won’t be an easy task — they are currently tied for the top spot with the New York Giants, and there’s a good chance that they’ll need to win three of their next five games in order to make the cut. However, there is one thing that bodes incredibly well for Washington.

Rivera loves the month of December.

According to Pete Hailey, with NBC Sports Washington, Rivera went 24-13 in December during his time with the Carolina Panthers. His win percentage in the month is far higher than his regular-season win percentage, and he has shown a propensity to finish strong and end the season in a groove. Rivera credits this trait to growth with the team, and the ability to have everything fall into place when it matters the most.

“Growth,” Rivera said. “I think because our players get more and more experience and learn more and more. Each season is different. Each season has its own personality.”

We’ve seen that growth over the past few weeks in Washington as well. They are currently holding onto their first win-streak of the 2020 season, and they’re 3-2 over their past five games with a sense of confidence on defense, and an air of cohesiveness on offense. They scored a team-high 41 points on Thanksgiving Day against the Cowboys, and the defense has allowed less than 10 points in the second half of three of their last four games.

It’s clear that things are trending up in Washington, and if we are to go based on history alone, it appears that they will continue that way in the final month of the year. Whether it ends in a postseason birth or not is yet to be seen, but Washington fans have a reason to hold onto a little bit of excitement.

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Drew Brees named NFC Offensive Player of the Month for December

Despite playing two games outdoors in December, New Orleans Saints QB Drew Brees earned recognition as NFC Offensive Player of the Month.

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New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees was named the NFC Offensive Player of the Month for December, the fifth time he’s earned this recognition in his long NFL career. He’s just the seventh quarterback in NFL history to reach that milestone, having most recently earned Player of the Month honors last November.

In four games during December, Brees went 104-of-138 (75.4%) for 1,188 passing yards, scoring fifteen touchdowns against zero interceptions. That’s an average of 297 passing yards per game and a passer rating of 132.2 in this span. Yeah, not bad, considering he played the NFL’s best pass defense (the San Francisco 49ers) and left the warmth of the Superdome for two fearsome road games in December. The way some analysts talk about him would suggest he can’t do that, but he just did. Makes you think.

Two of Brees’ teammates with the Saints won this recognition earlier this season. The only Saints player remaining from the 2009 Super Bowl-winning team besides Brees, punter Thomas Morstead, was named the NFC Special Teams Player of the Month for September. Brees’ favorite target, wide receiver Michael Thomas, preceded him as NFC Offensive Player of the Month for November.

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