Tag: FTW

Mike Pereira explained an absolutely baffling NFL replay loophole during Vikings-Bears

The NFL keeps finding ways to make its game even stupider.

Just in case you thought the NFL couldn’t be more byzantine or silly about its rules, what former referee Mike Pereira revealed during the Chicago Bears’ battle with the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday will floor you.

After Vikings receiver Jordan Addison caught a 68-yard pass at the start of the third quarter, Chicago head coach Matt Eberflus challenged the play because it sure seemed like Addison stepped out of bounds before getting a ton of yards after the catch.

That kind of sequence should probably be easy to overturn once you get the play on camera with a good angle, right?

Wrong.

According to Pereira, the NFL officiating crew working the game couldn’t overturn the play on a coach’s challenge — even with a boundary camera angle showing Addison clearly stepping out of bounds — because not every stadium in the NFL has that camera angle, and it wouldn’t be fair to others. It would’ve apparently only been valid on a scoring play.

WHAT? Make that make sense.

Do you mean to tell me the NFL won’t let refs overturn plays because its 20-billion-dollar industry hasn’t supplied a specific camera angle to every team in the league? That is the most NFL line of thinking I’ve ever heard.

What a preposterous and backward sports league all around that always makes things much more complicated than they have to be.

The Vikings blocked a Bears field goal from basically the same place they lost to the Packers

Matt Eberflus’ Bears coaching staff is beyond inept.

Every time you look over at the pitiful Chicago Bears, they seem to be making an avoidable mistake sowed by Matt Eberflus’ incompetent leadership. Sunday’s battle with the Minnesota Vikings was no different.

With a Bears’ offensive possession stalling just before the red zone, Eberflus elected to have Chicago kicker Cairo Santo attempt a 48-yard field goal. You may remember that the Green Bay Packers blocked a Santos 46-yard kick for the game to stun the Bears in Week 11. Naturally, you would have expected the Bears to change something about their blocking scheme to prepare for opposing teams who see this on film. (Or Eberflus doesn’t punt on fourth-and-4 from midfield. Either or.)

Nope. Special teams coordinator Richard Hightower didn’t change a thing, and the Vikings basically blocked the kick in the exact same way from almost the same place on the field:

Oh, by the way, the Bears have now had three field goals blocked in the same season, their most in a single year since 2012:

The Bears feel like a team with talent and a modicum of promise, with a coaching staff seemingly hell-bent on doing nothing to prepare them properly. Somehow, it’s late November, and Eberflus still has his job.

Jonathan Owens celebrated a Bears fumble by miming Simone Biles’ landing pose

Jonathan Owens wholeheartedly loves Simone Biles.

With Jonathan Owens playing for the Chicago Bears this season, that means Simone Biles — his all-time Olympian wife — is usually in attendance to support her husband. And it’s pretty clear that any time Owens makes a significant play, he’s going to pay proper tribute to her.

On Sunday, with the NFC North rival Minnesota Vikings threatening to punch the ball into the end zone on a promising opening drive, Owens forced a fumble on Vikings running back Aaron Jones.

To celebrate the turnover, Owens gathered his Bears teammates in the end zone and mimed Biles’ signature landing pose.

Fantastic stuff.

Owens is a classic wife guy through and through. You gotta love it.

Nikola Jokic was so comfortable during another Nuggets win over the Lakers that he tried an 80-foot one-hand shot

Nikola Jokic has an absolutely incredible imagination.

Nikola Jokic’s Denver Nuggets have been dominant over the Los Angeles Lakers in recent years.

With Denver’s 127-102 road win over L.A. on Saturday night, the Nuggets have now won 13 of 14 games over their Southern California rivals and have ended their season in two straight playoffs. The Nuggets’ dominance over the Lakers has been so profound lately that it’s probably time to unveil a proper nickname like “NikoLA” or “Jok Angeles.”

This success is mainly thanks to Jokic’s sheer brilliance, of course, which is why you’re here in the first place.

READ MORE: Nikola Jokic is somehow better than ever 

In the midst of another sublime 34-point, 13-rebound, eight-assist performance, the reigning NBA MVP kinda just started screwing around as the Nuggets toyed with the Lakers in a 70-39 second half for Denver.

With just 0.3 seconds left on the third-quarter clock, Jokic directed promising Nuggets forward Peyton Watson to inbound a generous lob in his direction. Jokic proceeded to one-tap the ball nearly the full length of the court like he was playing water polo, not basketball. And folks, it was actually a lot closer than you’d ever expect it to be. In fact, because of Jokic’s quick one-tap approach, it would’ve beat the buzzer, too!

The big man’s imagination knows no bounds:

This is how seriously Jokic takes the Lakers now: he starts doing personal side quests in the middle of blowout wins.

Nonetheless, let’s think about this. How many NBA players would even think of trying something as incredulous as this? Jokic’s outside-the-box thinking and creativity as a professional athlete are things we should really appreciate more.

It’s also worth mentioning that Jokic did make a more reasonable (but still ridiculous) water polo-type shot earlier in the game with three Lakers surrounding him in the paint:

Man, Jokic is impossible.

What a joy to watch the Nuggets’ superstar center play this game.

The Nuggets redid Russell Westbrook’s Wilt Chamberlain 200 triple-double tribute with a photo just as illegible

Kudos to Russell Westbrook for being a good sport about this.

On Tuesday night, Russell Westbrook became the first player in NBA history to record 200 triple-doubles in a Denver Nuggets’ win over the Memphis Grizzlies. For one of the more unique talents and personalities in basketball history, it’s an achievement of longevity and success worth celebrating and then some.

So much so that it should get the iconic Wilt Chamberlain tribute, complete with a blank white piece of paper and a thick black marker.

The Nuggets appear to agree, but it really doesn’t seem like they know how to properly execute it.

They gave Westbrook the initial honor of doing the Wilt copycat photo with a “200” written on a piece of paper. The problem is that the 200 appears to be written with the thinnest possible writing utensil — not a thick black marker — so it’s hard to see when you squint.

For a cool milestone moment in an NBA legend’s career, it’s a little disappointing:

The awkward part about this whole thing is that Westbrook appeared to disapprove of the thin writing, too. In a post on his Instagram, Westbrook edits out the Nuggets’ 200 by unsubtly putting a 200 in big and bold font.

You know, so his achievement is more visible when he shares it and keeps it for himself. Honestly, I get it!

https://www.instagram.com/p/DClIOnBRhyH/?hl=en

Two days later, the Nuggets tried to rectify their mistake. This time, to hopefully make it more visible, they gave Westbrook a giant piece of poster paper with 200 written on it. Surely, now you’d be able to see it perfectly, right?

Wrong, because they used a thin writing utensil AGAIN:

Well, at least Westbrook appears to appreciate the gesture and attempt to correct the first Chamberlain tribute. It looks like he was a good sport about it.

Still, man … how do you get that wrong twice? Just fill in the numbers, folks! Why is that so hard?? It boggles the mind.

Lamar Jackson wasn’t implying frustration with ex-OC Greg Roman with his awkwardly long pause

Lamar Jackson wasn’t holding anything mean back. He was just considering his thoughts.

Once again, I know this sentiment goes against the grain of a collective internet community hungrily eyeing even any potential drama like Homer Simpson watching a rotating tube of meat at his local corner store, but let’s not turn Lamar Jackson into something he’s not. Please?

On Thursday, with Jackson’s Baltimore Ravens set to square off the Los Angeles Chargers in the latest “Harbaugh Bowl,” the reigning MVP was asked about his time with former offensive coordinator Greg Roman. These days, Roman is on the Chargers’ staff in the same role to help Justin Herbert become a more efficient quarterback.

Given some of the Ravens’ struggles toward the end of Roman’s tenure — Baltimore was eliminated in the wild-card round in 2022, while Jackson floundered (by his high standards) — a common misconception might be that Jackson harbors some kind of resentment toward Roman.

When Jackson took a long pause before answering the Roman question, the assumption was, of course, that he didn’t have anything nice to say at all.

You know what they say when you assume. You make an … oh, you know.

Why would Jackson be bitter with Roman? This duo won a lot of ballgames together over four seasons. Jackson was one of the only unanimous MVPs in NFL history in Roman’s scheme and under his guidance. Unless there’s something I’m missing, I actually think it’s quite fair for a thoughtful human being — like Jackson appears to be — to take their time to respond to a question in a proper manner.

Plus, when has Jackson ever been one to air out his dirty laundry like this? Provide wholesale examples. Don’t worry, I’ll wait.

The sequel to the Harbaugh Bowl, which is on the Monday night of Thanksgiving week between two of the NFL’s best coaches, is cool and fun enough. In the case of Jackson and Roman, we don’t need to foresee and manufacture more drama than there already is.

Daniel Jones shared a classy written goodbye to the Giants as they unsubtly end his tenure

Daniel Jones showed more respect to the Giants than they deserved.

Say what you want about Daniel Jones as a professional quarterback. He’s still a human being with feelings, and he deserves a lot better from the New York Giants as they unsubtly end his tenure as their starter and turn to Tommy DeVito (again).

Amid likely the most challenging point of his NFL career, kudos to Jones for being a bigger person.

On Thursday, during a regularly scheduled press conference, Jones read out his official goodbye to the Giants organization, thanking leaders in the organization for giving him an opportunity to play for New York in the first place. In other words, he gave the Giants more respect in an adverse situation for himself than they probably deserved.

Man, I just feel bad for the guy because you know he’s taking this whole situation to heart:

As of now, Jones remains on the Giants roster. Beyond the fact that he will likely not start another game for them, it’s still unclear how they plan to proceed with him over the next few weeks. When you see tidbits like this press conference, it would’ve been nice if they could’ve shown a little more public decency in the meantime.

1 stat proves Eli Manning is basically guaranteed to enter Hall of Fame (eventually)

Like it or not, Eli Manning is a lock for the Hall of Fame now.

If you stripped away Eli Manning’s two (kinda miraculous) Super Bowl wins and the fact that he played with the New York Giants, you would not think his NFL career was anything close to Hall of Fame worthy. But any contrary thinking to Manning’s uninspiring resume (he didn’t even have a 2-1 touchdown-to-interception ratio! he averaged more than one turnover per game! he barely completed 60 percent of his passes in the easiest passing era ever!) is now probably moot.

On Wednesday, Manning was named one of 25 modern-era semifinalists for the Pro Football Hall of Fame. In fact, he was only one of six first-year eligible players named a semifinalist. That’s a key distinction, dearest readers.

Because according to pro football historian Jack Silverstein (@readjack.bsky.social on BlueSky), Manning is now basically a lock to one day enter the Hall of Fame based on his being a first-ballot semifinalist. Be it this year or somewhere down the line, Manning will soon get a bronze bust of his head.

Dread it. Run from it. Destiny still arrives for a middling quarterback who would have the same reputation as Joe Flacco if he didn’t play in the cultural capital of the United States:

Man, that’s honestly kind of wild to me. We need better standards for the Pro Football of Fame if Eli Manning really might be a first or second-ballot entry. That man was not that good. Far from it. Sigh.

Though, I suppose if someone lie Terry Bradshaw, of all people, is a Hall of Famer, then I guess Manning deserves it, too.

Dearest readers, we jumped this shark long ago.

Paul George’s complaints about the Lakers doubling him showcases the heart of the 76ers’ problems

Paul George’s loser mentality about getting doubled sums up the 76ers’ issues.

The Philadelphia 76ers entered this season as one of the presumed NBA title contender heavyweights. Instead, at the time of this writing, they are just 2-11, with Tyrese Maxey openly calling out Joel Embiid’s lacking leadership in a recent team meeting. Woof.

But in case you thought Embiid was the 76ers’ only issue, it sure seems like they might have a Paul George problem, too.

In a snippet from a recent episode of George’s podcast, Podcast P with Paul George, George openly complains about JJ Reddick telling the Los Angeles Lakers to double-team him during a 116-108 win over the 76ers on Friday, November 8.

Why was George frustrated by the double-team strategy?

Because, and I’m not making this up, George said he was still on a minutes restriction from an early-season injury. He didn’t appreciate the extra-hard competition because he was concerned about getting back into a good rhythm and flow rather than seeing his life on the court get more strenuous against a team trying to, you know, win.

C’mon, man. That’s a loser mentality if I’ve ever heard it:

Honestly, what did George expect? Both Embiid and starting point guard Tyrese Maxey didn’t play in that game against the Lakers. So of course George — a nine-time All-Star — will get double-teamed to ideally get the ball out of his hands. Los Angeles owes absolutely nothing to George’s or the 76ers’ vision for his injury recovery.

The Lakers are trying to win a game. Period.

And George complaining about it after the fact is very telling about his mindset. Based on the laughing emoji in his podcast’s promotional tweet for the snippet, you can assume he thinks that saying this in public is funny and “viral,” too. (Hey, it worked to get this article out there, didn’t it? Just probably not what George intended).

Buddy, admitting you were bothered by an opposing team taking you seriously because you didn’t want to compete that hard is a problem in any context. Especially when your team is nine games under .500 in mid-November. Now was not the time for that kind of humor. No one was going to laugh.

Because the 76ers reside in the miserable Eastern Conference, all their dreams of a good season with their new big three remain intact.

But when I see their MVP-caliber center getting called out by teammates only a few weeks into the year, followed by another supposed team “leader” complaining about competition, I feel pretty comfortable asserting they won’t turn anything around.

The Jets are firing everyone who trusted Aaron Rodgers

Aaron Rodgers is quickly running out of allies on the Jets.

Once upon a time, the New York Jets brain trust put all of its eggs in the Aaron Rodgers basket. General manager Joe Douglas, who had 20 total wins in four years before acquiring the egotistical four-time MVP, thought Rodgers was his ticket to sustained success. Head coach Robert Saleh, a man who had witnessed the comical foibles of Zach Wilson firsthand, agreed. Despite all the glaring warning signs from a passive-aggressive end to his tenure with the Green Bay Packers, Rodgers was Douglas and Saleh’s golden goose at all costs of their professional reputations and self-respect.

Now, both Douglas and Saleh are unemployed because they gave Rodgers undue faith he didn’t deserve. On Tuesday, ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported that the Jets had fired Douglas just about a month after they jettisoned Saleh for the same “Rodgers let us down … badly” reasons.

If you weren’t born yesterday, you saw this news coming awhile ago:

On some level, I do understand the inclination to label Douglas another Rodgers scapegoat while the woeful Jets flounder. Rodgers is one of the most prominent figures in football history. He has built up such a tremendous cache of goodwill over nearly two decades as a professional quarterback (on the field) that it would probably take a lot for an owner like Woody Johnson to ever (completely) punt on the (imaginary) possibilities he presents.

But I don’t think Douglas is a Rodgers scapegoat that lets the future Hall of Famer get off scot-free for incinerating any hope this Jets regime once had. That sentiment applied much more to Saleh, who was a vessel for Rodgers’ discontent because he had a precedent of showing that he thought he knew better than his coaches over the years. Saleh was someone who never vibed with Rodgers, so the Jets were happy to throw him under the bus without a second thought when their season still, technically, wasn’t over.

At 3-8, Douglas going down with the ship now feels very different. This is the Jets cutting everyone who bought Rodgers’ brazen snake oil loose without a second thought. It’s ownership making a tacit acknowledgment that acquiring a (then) semi-washed diva like Rodgers for multiple high-end draft picks was a mistake which wasted everyone’s time with the organization.

How do I know this for certain?

Well, dearest readers, that’s because Rodgers — a year after tearing his Achilles, mind you — is having the worst statistical season of his career.

Rodgers hasn’t thrown for 300 yards in a game all season. (The last time he threw for 300 yards in a game was in December 2021.) He’s also averaging his lowest yards per attempt and has his lowest passer rating since his two initial non-starter seasons in Green Bay in … 2005 and 2006. This is beyond a quarterback struggling. This is a player who is a hollow husk of the all-world talent he once was, now at the helm of the NFL’s 17th-ranked offense on an expected points added (EPA) per play basis. Any time you might think the Jets have a modicum of hope, at this point, Rodgers throws it away himself.

And I think it’d be silly to assert that Johnson and Jets ownership doesn’t recognize this grim reality. Rodgers will be 42 come December of next year. He has just one year left on his current contract. The Jets, as it stands, have the No. 7 overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft. Given the way Gang Green is in a complete nosedive now, don’t be surprised if that draft selection ends up being a top-five pick with the next Jets regime sticking its neck out for a new young quarterback to develop while Rodgers plays his usual brand of high-profile obscurity. That is, if they even keep him around for another season.

Nonetheless, until Rodgers’ fate is decided, the Jets will offload every way-too-willing sycophant who dared trust him in the first place. Without question. The likely next suspect on the list? Offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett, who has sworn by Rodgers’ antics for the last half-decade like a lowly barnacle attaches itself to the hull of a well-worn ship.

In the coming weeks, if I were Hackett, I would make sure to have my bags packed. Just in case. The Jets’ purge of everything and everyone even somewhat connected to Rodgers has likely only just begun.