Tag: forced fumble

WATCH: Chiefs scoop and score on Raiders first play from scrimmage

The #Chiefs started out their Week 14 game forcing a fumble and scoring on the #Raiders’ first play from scrimmage. | from @TheJohnDillon

The Kansas City Chiefs got off to a quick start in Week 14, scoring on the first play from scrimmage on the Raiders’ opening possession. A handoff to the left side of the Las Vegas line resulted in a Josh Jacobs fumble which was recovered by first-year Chief Mike Hughes and returned for a touchdown. Another first-year Chief, Jarran Reed, forced the ball free, marking one of the only highlights of what has otherwise been an underwhelming season for the free-agent acquisition.

After a pre-game meeting on Kansas City’s logo by the Raiders, this game started on a chippy note as Las Vegas tries to salvage their season with a win on the road at Arrowhead. Early indications are that they’ll face an uphill battle, as the Chiefs look to be clicking on defense, and already have a seven-point lead before their offense has played a snap.

Check out the game-changing play here, and notice how veteran safety Tyrann Mathieu knew it was going for six as soon as the ball came out:

This play changed the complexion of the matchup early, and Kansas City will just need to hang on and nurse their early lead to secure a victory. Defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo is sure to be pleased with his unit’s performance on their first two drives, which resulted in the scoop-and-score on the first and a punt on the second.

Spagnuolo won’t have the luxury of taking his foot off the gas in this one, though, and will need to stay aggressive to contain the Raiders’ offense in all four quarters. While the hot start will certainly give him breathing room, Chiefs fans are craving a shutout after feeling disrespected following the Raiders’ pre-game stunt on the logo.

A win this week would keep Kansas City in the mix atop the AFC, and could potentially extend their lead in the division.

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Why Seahawks had no shot in Buffalo with 4 turnovers in the game

Coach Pete Carroll explains why the Seattle Seahawks had no shot in Buffalo against the Bills with four turnovers in the game Week 9.

The Seattle Seahawks suffered a brutal loss to the Bills in Buffalo Week 9, with many calling the defensive efforts into serious question. But coach Pete Carroll and his staff have always preached how important the turnover differential is and that could not have been any more apparent than on Sunday.

“We’re so connected to the turnover thing and all of the play before and all of the things we can talk about, but when you turn it over four times – teams that turn the ball over four times are 2-129 in the last 10 years or something like that – you just don’t have a shot,” Carroll said Monday morning on 710 ESPN Seattle. “It’s just so far out of where we’re expecting to be in leading the NFL in turnover ratio after this game, which was the goal going in.”

Quarterback Russell Wilson, who clearly didn’t have his best game either, was responsible for all four turnovers – two interceptions and two forced fumbles for loss. In his defense, however, he was knocked down a staggering 16 times in Buffalo.

“The two on the sacks, those are protection issues,” Carroll explained. “Those are us being in catch-up mode, that’s us having to throw the football, and we’ve got to protect better than that. We can’t let him get banged like that and he got a couple balls knocked out. I think you can talk through the two picks, but the forced fumbles, we’ve got to do a way better job as a gro[lawrence-newsletter]up and he’s got to get the ball out, too when he’s feeling the heat.”

Carroll did say that Wilson should be just fine this week despite the physical roughing he survived on the field. The QB and the rest of the Seahawks are set to return to practice on Wednesday morning.

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WATCH: Rookie Trevon Diggs saves the day with incredible forced fumble

The Dallas Cowboys secondary got burned again in Week 3. After a bomb touchdown to Tyler Lockett earlier in the first quarter, Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson decided to get second-year pro DK Metcalf in on the action. A move sent corner …

The Dallas Cowboys secondary got burned again in Week 3. After a bomb touchdown to Tyler Lockett earlier in the first quarter, Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson decided to get second-year pro DK Metcalf in on the action.

A move sent corner Trevon Diggs’ hand to the ground and opened up plenty of room, when Wilson heaved it up to the formidable receiver. Only he began celebrating the touchdown too early and Diggs recovered to close in inside the 10-yard line. A punch Charles “Peanut” Tilman would be proud of knocked the ball out and threw the end zone for a touchback.

The game continues locked up at 9 each.

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With XFL now cancelled, what’s next for former Longhorns?

Now that the XFL has followed suit and cancelled their season, what could be the next stop for three former Texas Longhorns?

The XFL was part of every major sports league that cancelled their season due to the outbreak. The XFL released a statement on the cancellation.

It was a great gesture by the league to pay their players the base salary plus benefits despite the league cancelling the remainder of their first season. With their season now in the books, what is in the future for the three former Texas Longhorns who were still on active rosters?

Cedric Reed and Patrick Vahe of the Los Angeles Wildcats and Kent Perkins of the St Louis Battlehawks will now have an opportunity to get another shot at the NFL if a team should look their way for training camp rosters in the 2020-21 NFL seasons.

Vahe was signed as an undrafted free agent by the Baltimore Ravens following the 2019 NFL Draft. He spent the entire offseason and training camp with the team prior to the beginning of the season. He was a roster cut casualty before being picked up the following October for the XFL Draft. He should garner some interest this offseason.

Perkins was a part of the NFL with the Cincinnati Bengals as part of their practice squad, moving up to the active roster late in the 2017 and 2018 seasons. He, much like Vahe, was an undrafted free agent after not being selected in the draft. He was released after announcing retirement from the NFL. He resurfaced in the XFL, so could he apply for re-instatement into the NFL? That will be one situation to monitor.

Both Vahe and Perkins could provide interior depth for the upcoming seasons provided they are brought onto training camp rosters. Both should still be eligible to be on practice squads for the upcoming season.

The third member of the former Longhorns who could make the jump back to the NFL is Cedric Reed. He was an undrafted free agent from the 2015 NFL Draft class. Reed signed with the Buffalo Bills and spent the 2015 season as a member of their practice squad.

He was released the following July and picked up by the Miami Dolphins. He would be released prior to the 2016 season as part of roster cuts. Reed didn’t play football again until he was picked up in the XFL Draft. As a member of the Wildcats, Reed accumulated 13 tackles, three sacks, three tackles for loss and five quarterback hits in five games.

The hope for Reed, Vahe and Perkins is that they put enough quality tape together for NFL teams to become interested. The possibility for the former Longhorns is there, just a matter of monitoring the situation at this point.

 

WATCH: Former Longhorn Cedric Reed forces fumble

Former Longhorn Cedric Reed helped the LA Wildcats secure a victory thanks to his first forced fumble. You can watch the play here:

Leading by six late in the fourth quarter, the Los Angeles Wildcats needed a defensive stop to secure a victory on Sunday. Not only did they get a stop, but the Wildcats were able to add onto their lead, thanks to Cedric Reed.

The former Longhorn ran right by the right tackle, making his way for Tampa Bay Vipers’ quarterback Taylor Cornelius. Once hit, Cornelius lost the ball, leaving it for Boogie Roberts to scoop it up for a touchdown.

You can watch the play here:

Los Angeles went on to win the game 41-34, with the difference coming from Reed’s force fumble. It was the second win of the season for the Wildcats, moving to 2-3 on the season.

Reed has been a key contributor all season, having the second-most sacks in the league this season. Added on to his three sacks are 13 total tackles, five quarterback hits, and this forced fumble.

You can watch Reed and the Los Angeles Wildcats again this weekend, as they will face the Seattle Dragons on Sunday, March 15 at 6 p.m. CST on ESPN2.

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WATCH: Texas forces another turnover

The Texas defense has forced another turnover with Marqez Bimage involved. The second fumble recovery means multiple turnovers for Tech.

The Texas defense has forced another turnover with Marqez Bimage involved again. Bimage forced a the ball out of SaRodorick Thompson’s hands and T’Vondre Sweat pounced on it.

Bimage adds the forced fumble onto his earlier fumble recovery. With the second fumble of the day for Texas Tech, the Longhorns have forced multiple turnovers in a game for the first time since facing TCU.

You can watch the turnover here:

Texas is currently in the fourth quarter against Texas Tech. Here is how you can watch, listen, and stream the rest of the game.

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Quandre Diggs named to PFF Week 12 Team of the Week

Quandre Diggs is making a difference in the Seattle Seahawks secondary in his short time, and was named to PFF’s Week 12 Team of the Week.

Trade and wait isn’t the greatest strategy, but for Quandre Diggs and the Seattle Seahawks, there wasn’t much of a choice. Diggs is finally on the field after missing two weeks of action, and he’s proving he is worthy of the fifth round pick Seattle dealt for him, after making the Pro Football Focus Week 12 Team of the Week.

This honor comes after Diggs forced a fumble in the Seahawks win over the Eagles on Sunday. He was given a coverage grade of 89.1 by PFF in his performance and 88.4 grade for his overall performance – which was tops on the team.

Diggs’ presence in the Seahawks secondary is apparent already. Not bad for a player that had some questions about the severity of the hamstring injury that held him out of competition since the trade.

Since his return, Diggs has been involved with two turnovers, an interception and Sunday’s forced fumble.

There is a chance for Diggs to get three takeaways in as many games in Seattle’s Week 13 contest against a tough Vikings team, led by Kirk Cousins.

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Shaquem Griffin’s size no longer holding him back

Seattle Seahawks edge rusher Shaquem Griffin is coming into his own in his new role with the team, which should increase going forward.

The Seattle Seahawks defense has been absolutely dominant in their last two games. The addition of Quandre Diggs in the secondary has been a big reason why, but he’s not the only newcomer to make an impact these past few weeks.

Shaquem Griffin, who had been limited to special teams duties for basically the first one and a half years of his career, has emerged as an edge rushing option for this Seattle defense – and already he’s proven he deserves to keep that role going forward.

Griffin played 14 defensive snaps in Week 10 against San Francisco, and saw 25 snaps on Sunday against the Eagles. He had a huge impact on Sunday, recording one combined tackle, two quarterback hits and helping force a fumble.

Griffin has begun to push veteran Ziggy Ansah for playing time on the edge, which may have contributed to Ansah’s strong performance on Sunday as well.

“Competition is a beautiful thing,” coach Pete Carroll commented on Monday. “They’ve got a little competition there. Griff’s making a move on them. He looks like he’s got some stuff that we can incorporate and keep developing that he can be a factor as well.”

Griffin was an elite pass rusher in college at Central Florida, but concerns about his lack of size prevented Carroll and company from unleashing him in that role with Seattle.

“It was kind of hard to imagine that it would work,” Carroll continued. “We used him as a blitzer. We needed him outside to blitz more and to do that. He did show some stuff and that’s where we saw the spark. We’ve been messing with him for a few weeks now. It just seems like it’s coming around a little closer now. The action is just happening now. I’m excited about it.”

Expect to see Griffin’s role continue to grow as a situational pass rusher, especially if he continues to make impact plays for this team in the final few weeks of the season.

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