Tag: FTW

Matt Eberflus had an uninspired message to Bears players after a disappointing half vs. the Cardinals

Matt Eberflus is a phony, overmatched loser.

The Chicago Bears had an opportunity to show they weren’t going to let their disastrous Hail Mary loss define their season. Instead, after an embarrassing first half against the Arizona Cardinals, it sure seems like they’ve given up on doofus head coach Matt Eberflus altogether.

And after hearing Eberflus’ vapid message to his players after they gave up another backbreaking end-of-half touchdown to make the deficit 21-9, it’s not hard to see why.

In an interview with CBS’s Evan Washburn, Eberflus said he told his players, “This is the score, but we have each other.”

I swear, I’m not making that up. It’s on video and everything! The Bears really do have a glorified substitute gym teacher coaching a professional football team:

After a week of Bears players openly calling out Eberflus’ lack of accountability for their loss to the Washington Commanders, it’s really easy to see that they don’t believe in him at all if these are his halftime “motivational speeches.”

Think about it.

If I’m rolling my eyes seeing that video of Eberflus (remember that I’m just a football writer on the internet), what are talented, multimillionaire professionals like Caleb Williams and Jaylon Johnson doing?

In case you didn’t think this before, the Bears’ once-promising 2024 season is quickly spiraling down the drain.

Saquon Barkley completed a remarkable reverse hurdle on an absolutely magical Eagles run

Saquon Barkley is a magician.

We already knew Saquon Barkley was a special running back. For many parts of this Philadelphia Eagles season, the superstar has been their only reliable offense, and he’s still victimized defenses anyway.

But even by his high standards, what Barkley pulled off against the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sunday boggles the mind.

With the Eagles driving in the early second quarter, Jalen Hurts dumped off a short pass to Barkley, who remarkably broke two tackles en route to a first down. Somehow, that wasn’t even the most absurd part of this run. It was Barkley finding himself facing the Jacksonville defense backward and pulling off a reverse hurdle when he simply felt a Jaguars defender commit to a tackle attempt.

I’ve never seen an NFL player pull something like this off:

I mean, my goodness. We should count ourselves lucky that we get to watch Barkley play this brutal, complicated game.

Bryce Young throwing an interception on a perfect pass is a tragic symbol of his Panthers career

Bryce Young genuinely has the worst luck.

Over the past few weeks, after a tough start to the season, Bryce Young has had a chance to re-solidify himself as the Carolina Panthers starting quarterback of the future. His teammates, unfortunately, do not seem all that interested in helping the quarterback when he puts them in a position to succeed.

With the Panthers battling the rival New Orleans Saints in a tight division game, Young uncorked an absolutely beautiful pass to rookie playmaker Xavier Legette downfield. It should’ve been a big-time completion for the Panthers created by the person who may well still save their franchise.

Instead, Saints cornerback Shemar Jean-Charles made a terrific play to rip the ball out of Legette’s arms. This, naturally, somehow counts as an interception for Young.

What a cruel twist and a perfect symbol for how the Panthers have failed Young in his early career so far:

At the very least, Young helped Carolina capture a surprising 23-22 win over the Saints. You just wish he wouldn’t have the worst luck on actual remarkable plays he makes.

Daniel Jones cemented his Giants career with the funniest Daniel Jones TD stat ever

Daniel Jones is the funniest Giants QB of all time.

Daniel Jones is likely playing out the string in what surely feels like another lost season for the New York Giants. The former first-round quarterback has seldom shown that he’s the answer, and he’s probably the main reason (by far) the 2024 Giants, once again, have no hope.

But by golly, Jones will definitely go out swinging as one of the NFL’s accidental funniest quarterbacks.

On Sunday, as the rival Washington Commanders laid down a first-half butt-whooping, Jones managed to get his team on the board with a touchdown pass to tight end Chris Manhertz. The amusing part of this touchdown was that Jones otherwise immensely struggled against the Washington defense. So much so that he happened to have zero net passing yards through 30 minutes of play.

This made Jones the first NFL quarterback in over 30 years to finish a half with a touchdown and no passing yards. Oh, my goodness. That is hilarious:

If I were to pick any current NFL quarterback out of a lineup to accomplish this “impressive” stat, it would be Jones. Hands down. Kudos to the Giants’ signal-caller for providing some unique entertainment as his New York career likely winds down.

Michael Thomas blamed Derek Carr for getting Chris Olave injured with a reckless pass

Michael Thomas thinks Derek Carr literally hung Chris Olave out to dry.

After missing roughly a month of action, the New Orleans Saints were excited to see Derek Carr back as their starting quarterback against the Carolina Panthers on Sunday.

However, more Saints misfortune struck when Carr hung up an inaccurate pass over the middle of the field to star receiver Chris Olave. The playmaker couldn’t catch the difficult ball and wound up taking a big shot from Carolina safety Xavier Woods, who knocked him out of the game.

Based on Saints receiver Michael Thomas’ reaction, Carr essentially hung Olave out to dry by hanging a high pass over the middle of the field — often referred to as a “hospital ball” by football fans because of the vulnerable and dangerous position it puts playmakers in.

Olave would be carted off the field and is already apparently recovering at a nearby hospital in Charlotte, according to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport:

Thomas called Carr out on his Twitter account after the Olave play and proceeded to go on an NSFW rant that I won’t link here for obvious reasons, but you can check it out for yourself. Here’s the initial segment with a blotted-out curse and inappropriate emoji:

Woof. That’s a fiery critique of a quarterback that has mostly been underwhelming in New Orleans. For what it’s worth, many receivers likely feel the same way about “hospital balls,” but it’s just a little uncouth to call your quarterback out for them in public. And this also seems to be about Carr’s play in general.

With Thomas on no NFL team at the moment, you’re seeing some honesty shine through there.

Jermaine Burton showed up to Bengals game in pajamas after getting benched for missing practice

What an immature response from Jermaine Burton.

With star receiver Tee Higgins out with a quad injury, the Cincinnati Bengals were prepared to center rookie third-round receiver Jermaine Burton in their game plan for the Las Vegas Raiders on Sunday. Instead, he may have severed all of their trust in a tight spot.

According to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, the Bengals made Burton a late healthy scratch on Sunday after he missed the important final Saturday walk-through. Needless to say, you can’t miss practice without a reasonable excuse when your team is already counting on you to show up and perform.

In response, Burton didn’t show much maturity. He still showed up to the Bengals’ stadium while wearing pajamas and seemingly pretending as if nothing happened:

The Bengals are 3-5 and essentially have no margin for error if they still want to make the playoffs. The last thing they could afford was a young player who did not take any accountability for his job and his mistakes. As a result, Burton may have cost himself much more than a simple one-game healthy scratch.

Tyrique Stevenson pulled himself out of Bears practice after getting demoted for Hail Mary fail

The Tyrique Stevenson situation shows the Bears are on the brink of a crisis.

The aftermath of the Chicago Bears’ Hail Mary loss to the Washington Commanders has somehow managed to endure an entire week in the news cycle. That’s bad news for head coach Matt Eberflus, whose coaching mismanagement and lack of clear accountability have created what feels like an extremely volatile locker-room culture in Chicago right now.

The Bears’ current relationship with Tyrique Stevenson — the easy scapegoat for loss to the Commanders — is the only example needed.

On Sunday, Fox’s Jay Glazer reported that Stevenson pulled himself out of Bears practice early this week after learning he would be demoted for Chicago’s game against the Arizona Cardinals. While Stevenson certainly isn’t the only one to blame, that’s a terrible and immature look for a young player already being hung out to dry for letting his teammates down.

It’s just not how you respond in a situation like this:

Woof. How Stevenson is even allowed in the Bears’ locker room today is beyond me. I don’t think it’s a stretch to say that Chicago might be fighting for its season against the Cardinals. And a loss might truly torpedo whatever goodwill and unity there still was.

UPDATE: Per ESPN’s Courtney Cronin, Stevenson’s demotion was apparently much more tame than originally reported on a national scale. This now probably reflects much worse on the Bears’ leadership for letting it come out that initial first way.

Ryan Fitzpatrick ruthlessly called out the age gap in Bill Belichick’s relationship on Twitter

Ryan Fitzpatrick said what everyone’s been thinking about Bill Belichick’s relationship.

Bill Belichick might be the greatest football coach of all time.

However, none of his professional accomplishments should make us gloss over his relationship with 24-year-old Jordon Hudson. That’s right, folks. In case you were unaware, Belichick, who is more than old enough to be collecting social security at the age of 72, has been dating the 24-year-old woman. As in, someone still old enough to be on their parents’ insurance plan.

For you math majors at home, that is a 48-year age gap.

This led longtime NFL quarterback and current Thursday Night Football analyst Ryan Fitzpatrick to say what many, many people have been thinking on Twitter when he saw Hudson’s Belichick costume for Halloween:

Oh … my goodness. Good for someone as well-known in NFL circles as Fitzpatrick to call Belichick out for the age gap here. Maybe we’ll see even more now that the floodgates are open.

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Bo Nix hilariously said he ‘grew up’ watching Lamar Jackson as if he isn’t just 3 years older than him

Uh, Bo Nix does know how old Lamar Jackson is … right?

This Sunday, we’ve got a surprisingly fun matchup on tap between the Baltimore Ravens and Denver Broncos. At the center of it will be Baltimore’s MVP candidate, Lamar Jackson, and Denver’s bright rookie quarterback, Bo Nix. It’s an easy enough matchup to sell to fans between the “old guard” and the up-and-comer.

But it appears that Nix might be taking that old-guard sentiment a little too seriously.

On Wednesday, Nix offered up some routine, cookie-cutter comments about being excited to play against Jackson. OK, sure. Everyone says that about a superstar opponent. However, Nix then said it was “crazy” that he gets to play against someone he watched “growing up.”

Newsflash to Nix: Jackson, who is 27, is only three years older than him. Nix was literally a senior in high school during Jackson’s rookie year in the NFL.

It’s a little wild to say you watched someone who is definitively your peer and in your age group as a formative memory.

Maybe it’s the fact that Nix stayed forever in college (five seasons) that skews his Jackson knowledge. That or Jackson has been so successful in the NFL (two MVP awards) that it makes it seem like he’s been a professional football player a lot longer than he really is.

Even so, it’s just funny to hear a dude in his mid-20s (Nix) say he grew up watching someone in their late 20s (Jackson). They’re in the same stratosphere, folks!

Victor Wembanyama takes the Chet Holmgren rivalry so seriously he won’t even acknowledge his name

Victor Wembanyama doesn’t care for Chet Holmgren. At all.

In case you have any doubt about the competitiveness between Victor Wembanyama and Chet Holmgren, the young San Antonio Spurs big man seemingly takes few things more seriously than his battles with his peer from Oklahoma City. This dynamic comes into focus again as the Spurs visit the Thunder on Wednesday.

READ MORE: The history of the Wembanyama-Holmgren rivalry is worth revisiting. 

On Wednesday afternoon, ESPN NBA writer Michael C. Wright revealed that Wembanyama actively avoids using Holmgren’s name. He used an example of where Wembanyama was asked a direct question about playing against Holmgren.

In response, Wembanayama just talked about the general matchup with the Thunder without even acknowledging Holmgren. Oh, OK:

Here’s to another heated battle between two of the best young big men in the NBA. May they add another awesome chapter to their already great rivalry.