Tag: Jaylon Smith

18 former Notre Dame players to make the 2022-23 NFL Playoffs

Who are you rooting for this NFL postseason?

The 2022 NFL regular season came to a close over the weekend as the 18-week campaign finished with the Detroit Lions knocking Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers from what would have been the final playoff spot in the NFC.  Instead, the Seahawks sneak in as the seven seed as the playoffs are set to get underway this Saturday.

Of the 14 teams to make the postseason, 10 of them feature at least one former Notre Dame player on the roster with 18 former Domers in all reaching the postseason.  Now, not all 18 of those are on active rosters but they are all current parts of rosters on NFL playoff teams.

So if your favorite NFL squad isn’t playing, who should you root for this NFL postseason?  Perhaps one of your favorite former Notre Dame standouts who is participating.

Giants fall to Vikings: Winners, losers and those in between

The New York Giants fell to the Vikings, 27-24, in Week 16 and here’s a look at our winners and losers (and those in between) from the game.

The New York Giants came into their Week 16 game against the Minnesota Vikings seeking a win and a possible playoff berth.

A high-scoring game was expected with the over/under hovering around 48 at kickoff. That number was eclipsed but not until the final seconds when Minnesota kicker Greg Joseph nailed a 61-yard field goal — a franchise record.

The final: Vikings 27, Giants 24. The playoffs will have to wait for Big Blue.

Here are some winners, losers, and in-betweens from the loss.

Stock up, down after Giants’ 20-12 win over Commanders

Whose stock is up and whose is down following the New York Giants’ win over the Washington Commanders in Week 15?

The New York Giants withstood a furious late rally by the Washington Commanders on Sunday, ultimately heading home with an impressive 20-12 victory.

The win improves the Giants’ record to 8-5-1 on the season, guarantees they finish at .500 or better, and positions them well for a playoff berth.

Whose stock is up and whose is down after the Week 15 win? Let’s take a look.

Giants defeat Commanders: Winners, losers and those in between

The New York Giants beat the Commanders, 20-12, in Week 15 and here’s a look at our winners and losers (and those in between) from the game.

On one of the wildest NFL Sundays in recent memory, the New York Giants and Washington Commanders capped things off with a thrilling, down-to-the-wire, playoff-style game.

The Giants won, 20-12. It was their first victory since defeating Houston in Week 10.

Here are some winners, losers, and in-betweens from Week 15.

Notre Dame commitment named nation’s top high school linebacker

Notre Dame is getting one of the best.

We’ve known for a while that Notre Dame is getting a good one in 2023 recruiting commitment [autotag]Drayk Bowen[/autotag].  Bowen has been fun to follow since committing to Notre Dame over a year ago and playing his high school football not even an hour west of South Bend.

Often times we highlighted Bowen’s incredible performances in the backfield at Andrean (Merrillville, Ind.) High School, but he’ll be joining Notre Dame to play linebacker.  Just how good is he at that?

Bowen was named the high school recipient of the 2022 Butkus Award on Tuesday.  The award goes to the nation’s top linebacker at the high school, college, and professional levels annually.

The Butkus selection committee said of the future Domer:

“Drayk Bowen is an explosive, drive-thru striker with knockback lower-body power and outstanding block destruction. He displayed exceptional instincts hitting holes as a linebacker and running back and erases angles in the open field. He’s an exceptional leader and excels equally as well in the classroom and community. In a class filled with many exceptional linebackers, he stood out as the best of the best.”

Prince Kollie also won the high school award in 2020 before signing his national letter of intent with Notre Dame.  [autotag]Manti Te’o[/autotag] (2012), [autotag]Jaylon Smith[/autotag] (2015), and [autotag]Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah[/autotag] (2020) all won the collegiate award while wearing blue and gold.

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Giants fall to Cowboys: Winners, losers and those in between

The New York Giants fell to the Cowboys, 28-20, in Week 12 and here’s a look at our winners and losers (and those in between) from the game.

The New York Giants fell to 7-4 on the season with a 28-20 loss to the Dallas Cowboys on Thanksgiving. It wasn’t as ugly as some anticipated, but it wasn’t necessarily pretty, either.

The Giants blew an early second half lead and couldn’t seem to get anything going again until it was too late. In a game of inches, they came up a few short entirely too many times.

The opportunities were there but Brian Daboll’s group just couldn’t capitalize.

Here’s some winners, losers and in-betweens from Thursday’s loss.

Notre Dame football earns national award after beating Clemson

Congratulations @NDfootball

When a football team enters a year they probably have a few goals.  Beating a rival, winning a certain amount of games, and going to a bowl game is probably among those.  Depending on the program there may be more.

Although I would be shocked if it was true I’d like to imagine a world where a college football coach stands before his team at the start of the year and tells them of their goal to one day be named the Cheez-It Bowl national team of the week.

Gentlemen:  I love and every one of you.  In 2022 we’re going to embark an an epic journey and are going to accomplish many things.  We’re going beat those jerks we don’t like down the street.  We’re going to go to a bowl game in Miami.  And we’re going to be named the Cheez-It Bowl national team of the week!”

I don’t imagine [autotag]Marcus Freeman[/autotag] gave a speech like that before the season started but either way, Notre Dame was named the Cheez-It Bowl National Team of the Week for their efforts in manhandling Clemson.

Check out the best photos from Notre Dame’s drubbing of Clemson

Instant takeaways from Notre Dame’s massive win over Clemson

Congratulations to them and I can’t state how much I love that the photo chosen includes legendary Irish linebacker [autotag]Jaylon Smith[/autotag] and his finest fur.  Hopefully, the team gets crates full of the Cheddarjack Cheez-It’s as a reward.

Contact/Follow us @IrishWireND on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Notre Dame news, notes, and opinions.

Follow Nick Shepkowski on Twitter @NickShepkowski

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Giants defeat Jaguars: Winners, losers and those in between

The New York Giants defeated the Jacksonville Jaguars, 23-17, in Week 7 and here’s a look at our winners and losers from the game.

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The New York Giants improved to 6-1 on the season after a nail-biting 23-17 last-second victory over the Jacksonville Jaguars on the road in Week 7.

Here are the winners, losers and in-betweens from the game.

Darius Slayton, Oshane Ximines were highest-graded Giants in Week 5

Darius Slayton and Oshane Ximines earned the New York Giants’ highest PFF grades in a Week 5 upset of the Green Bay Packers.

The New York Giants rallied on Sunday in London, coming back from two touchdowns down to defeat the Green Bay Packers, 27-22.

With injuries piling up, the team was forced to rely on some unlikely heroes. One of those was wide receiver Darius Slayton, who caught six passes for 79 yards and earned a 89.6 grade from Pro Football Focus, the team’s highest mark of the week.

Just behind Slayton on the offensive side of the ball were left tackle Andrew Thomas (75.3), guard Mark Glowinski (74.5) and running back Saquon Barkley (72.1).

Other notable offensive grades belong to quarterback Daniel Jones (69.8), tight end Daniel Bellinger (67.5) and right tackle Evan Neal (56.4).

The lowest-graded Giants on offense were tight end Tanner Hudson (52.0) and center Jon Feliciano (39.4).

Defensively, edge rusher Oshane Ximines, who recorded the game-sealing sack, led the charge with a grade of 80.6. He was followed by edge rusher Kayvon Thibodeaux (75.0), linebacker Jaylon Smith (73.3) and nose tackle Dexter Lawrence (70.6).

Other notable defensive grades include safety Julian Love (70.5), cornerback Nick McCloud (61.5) and safety Xavier McKinney (44.7).

The lowest-graded Giants defenders were linebacker Jihad Ward (43.3) and safety Dane Belton (34.1).

The highest-graded special teams player was Cam Brown (91.0).

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Giants’ Tae Crowder focused on being ‘best version’ of himself

New York Giants LB Tae Crowder had a career game in Week 4 but humbly notes that he’s just trying to be the “best version” of himself.

The New York Giants are relying more and more on inside linebacker Tae Crowder, the former ‘Mr. Irrelevant’ who has become a key contributor and starter on defense.

On Sunday against the Chicago Bears, Crowder played 100 percent of the Giants’ defensive snaps for the third time in four games this season. He is durable as well as productive.

“I’m a guy who just wants to win. If I’m drained or not, if I’m out there I’m trying to win. Whether I’m tired or not, I’m going to keep going. I’m just trying to do whatever the team needs me to do and yeah, I’m just trying to be the best version of myself,” Crowder told reporters.

Crowder had a season-high 11 tackles (seven solo) that included a sack with another QB hit and a forced fumble.

“I think he played a good game,” said head coach Brian Daboll. “Made a lot of tackles, was instinctive. Like all of us, still things to clean up. But I thought he played well.”

Crowder was satisfied with his performance as well.

“I feel like I played a solid game. Each week, I just want to go out and be better than the next week,” he said.

Crowder was flanked mainly by rookie Micah McFadden and Jaylon Smith, who the Giants’ recently re-signed. He was asked if he felt the addition of Smith was a direct commentary on his play.

“No. I was just excited to add another piece to our defense. I’m glad he went out and had a solid game. Whenever you can get more help, you got to look at it in a positive way,” Crowder said. “He’s very detailed. He came in with great energy. Being at home, you can see that he obviously wanted to get back into football. Just the energy he brings, coming back and wanting to be great and wanting to do things right. It showed at the game.”

Crowder and Smith made their presence known, as did interior lineman Dexter Lawrence, who got to Bears quarterback Justin Fields three times, sacking him twice.

“Beast,” said Crowder of Lawrence. “He’s a beast. He had a great game. I’m excited for Dex. We all talked about it this offseason, what he was very capable of and that showed yesterday.”

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