Sports blog information from USA TODAY.
Larry Fitzgerald, Nick Chubb and Philip Rivers are some of the players approaching milestones.
As the season heads into its final three weeks, a number of players are approaching statistical milestones, some in their career, others for the 2019 campaign.
The Chargers’ QB, who was actually drafted by the New York Giants in 2004, is nearing the 4,000-yard mark. Philip Rivers has already reached the plateau 10 times since coming to the NFL from North Carolina State, including six straight seasons. He needs 252 yards Sunday against Minnesota to do it again.
Larry Fitzgerald, Chandler Jones and others can hit significant achievements.
There are some individual milestones some Arizona Cardinals players can reach on Sunday against the Pittsburgh Steelers. Check out what they could achieve this afternoon.
With one sack against the Steelers, Jones would become only the second player in franchise history to have two seasons of at least 14 sacks. Curtis Greer, who had 16 in 1983 and 14 in 1984, is the only player so far to do it.
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The Cardinals are coming off an utterly embarrassing loss against the Los Angeles Rams on Sunday. They’ll look to rebound against the “Duck” Hodges-lead Steelers that have playoff aspirations.
2018 was a year in which the Arizona Cardinals were on the wrong end of many blowouts. They were destroyed by the Denver Broncos on national television, and had similar results against the Los Angeles Chargers, Atlanta Falcons, and Washington Redskins.
This year, the team had been competitive in every game. Sure, there were a few that got away from them late in the contest (Carolina, New Orleans), but their competitiveness this year was one of the positives to build on.
Then came last Sunday’s game against the Los Angeles Rams. It appeared like the Cardinals were the same 2018 team that broke records for being awful. They were embarrassed in every phase.
This week, they’ll need to at least be very competitive throughout the game, or the hot seat under some coaches and executives might grow a lot warmer.
Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin has done a masterful job in keeping his football team alive and in the playoff race. They started the season 0-3 and lost quarterback Ben Roethlisberger for the season. Most teams would have folded and collapsed, but Tomlin has kept his team afloat through tons of adversity.
This season is the fallout of the Antonio Brown debacle in the offseason. Tomlin is on his third-string quarterback and just recently had his team go through the ugly brawl with the Cleveland Browns on national television. After all of this, the Steelers are 7-5 with eyes on the postseason.
Considering the history between the Cardinals and Steelers, I’m sure the team would like nothing more than to put a huge dent into the Black and Yellow’s playoff hopes.
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Check out what Kyler Murray and others can accomplish against the Rams.
The Arizona Cardinals take on the Los Angeles Rams Sunday afternoon and during the game there are some individual achievements that some players can reach.
Check out what these players can reach.
Fitzgerald could have his 50th career 100-yard regular season game with at least 100 receiving yards. If he has at least 36 receiving yards against the Rams, he will pass Andre Johnson for the second-most receiving yards in NFL history at any one stadium. Jerry Rice has the record with 9,403 yards and Candlestick Park. Andre Johnson had 7,776 at NRG Stadium.
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McVay gushed about the Cardinals legend when he spoke with reporters on Thursday.
Arizona Cardinals receiver Larry Fitzgerald is arguably the most respected player in the entire National Football League. He has fans all over. One big fan of his is Los Angeles Rams head coach Sean McVay.
McVay gushed about Fitzgerald when he spoke with reporters on Thursday as his team prepares to take on the Cardinals this weekend in Arizona.
“You talk about the epitome of a pro – class, represents everything that’s right about the NFL,” he said. “Then the production, the talent, what he’s done over the course of his career is why he’s a first-ballot Hall of Famer,
without a doubt.”
McVay just loves everything about Fitzgerald on and off the field.
“I think the things that he does off the field – the way that he just consistently handles himself,” he said. “Then you watch the way that he competes with the ball, without the ball – the way that he’s still able to be productive. You can’t say enough good things about Larry. I have so much respect for him. I’ve loved watching him compete over the years. I’m a fan of Larry Fitzgerald. It’s impressive what he’s done.”
Through 11 games this season, Fitzgerald has 55 receptions for 593 yards and three touchdowns.
He has been especially productive in his career against the Rams. His 185 receptions against the Rams are the most he has against any team in the NFL.
The Cardinals and Rams lay this Sunday at 2 p.m. Arizona time at State Farm Stadium.
Listen to the latest from Cards Wire’s Jess Root on his podcast, Rise Up, See Red. Subscribe on Apple podcasts or Stitcher Radio.
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Ex-Air Raid college coach Kliff Kingsbury came into the NFL with one plan. Then, it all changed — and the Cardinals are far better for it.
In 2018, the Arizona Cardinals put up one of the most pathetic sustained offensive performances in NFL history. They finished last in the league in offensive DVOA (Defense-adjusted Value Over Average), Football Outsiders’ opponent-adjusted efficiency metric. They finished last in the NFL in the first half of games, in the second half of games. They had the worst offensive DVOA in the NFL both on the road and at home. No team was worse when behind in a game, and on those blissful and exceedingly rare occasions when they had a lead, they were last in offensive DVOA then, as well. They finished last when their quarterback was operating out of the shotgun formation, and next-to-last when their quarterback was working under center.
Their quarterback, rookie first-round pick Josh Rosen, put up the single worst season in the history of FO’s other primary efficiency metric, DYAR (Defense-adjusted Yards Above Replacement). While DVOA is a play-to-play measurement of efficiency (or not), DYAR is cumulative. Football Outsiders has published data for every snap in every season going back to 1986, and no quarterback has ever had a worse DYAR through a season than Rosen’s 1,145. This essentially means that, adjusted for situation and opponent, Rosen was a liability through the season to the tune of 1.145 yards under the league average. Not 1.145 yards behind Patrick Mahomes, but 1,145 yards under the league average.
So, it was not a surprise when head coach Steve Wilks was fired after the season. Offensive coordiantor Mike McCoy had already been fired halfway through the season, and interim offensive coordinator Byron Leftwich went to Tampa to work once again with Bruce Arians, his coaching mentor. In their place came Kliff Kingsbury, the Air-Raid wunderkind who had a hand in the collegiate development of everybody from Mahomes to Baker Mayfield to Johnny Manziel (ahem, the college version) to Case Keenum, and on and on.
There was some suspicion that Kingsbury could take his concepts to the NFL and win, though. Kingsbury’s version of the Air Raid was typical in that it was a high-passing, high-volume offense. With a ton of “10” personnel (one running back, no tight ends, four receivers), and over six seasons with Kingsbury as their head coach from 2013 through 2018, the Texas Tech Red Raiders threw over 3,600 passes. Only Mike Leach’s Washington State Cougars threw more often. Kingsbury presided over offenses that ran over 6,000 total plays — only Baylor and Clemson ran more.
Coaches who come from college insistent on running their old stuff and refusing to adapt to the NFL’s realities have always been in for a rude awakening. And through the first four weeks of the 2019 season, Kingsbury, and his able lieutenant Kyler Murray, the Texas A&M and Oklahoma alum selected first overall in the 2019 draft, seemed to be on that same pace. Per Sharp Football Stats, the Cardinals ran “10” personnel on 59% of their plays. This was by far the highest rate in the league over that time; the Seahawks ranked second with 11% of their plays out of “10” personnel, and eight teams didn’t run a single play out of that personnel.
Murray wasn’t really helped by the packages, either — Arizona threw the ball on 76% of their plays, and Murray completed 69 of 108 passes for a 6.4 yards per attempt average, one touchdown, two interceptions, 13 sacks, and a quarterback rating of 77.4.
This was not sustainable. Not with a receiver group Murray was still getting familiar with, a sub-par offensive line, and a running game that had yet to become what it would become. Plays like this may work in those 54-45 Big 12 After Dark pointfests, but the NFL has generally had better answers.
“I think the biggest takeaway is there’s no kind of throwaway plays in the NFL,” Kingsbury said back in early October. “In college, you may have 85, 90 snaps. There’s a handful that are kind of throwaways and you look back at them and [say], ‘Hey, that’s all right that there were five plays that maybe we didn’t have the best call on and it didn’t work out.’
However, an interesting thing happened on the way to Kingsbury’s NFL irrelevance. Actually, several things. FO’s Aaron Schatz recently pointed out that since Week 4, the Cardinals rank third in Offensive DVOA, behind only Dallas and Baltimore.
Blink once, blink twice? Yes, I know. That is not a typo.
Since Week 4, the Arizona Cardinals rank No. 3 in the NFL in offensive DVOA. Arizona! They were so horrendous a year ago! Since Week 4, behind only Dallas and Baltimore.
— Aaron Schatz 🏈 (@FO_ASchatz) November 25, 2019
What changed? Personnel diversity, that’s what.
He put Bosa on the ground on a chip block and then was classy about it.
Arizona Cardinals wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald is a legend. He is one of the greatest receivers of all time. He is also a very good blocker now. San Francisco 49ers rookie defensive end Nick Bosa learned the hard way. Bosa is having a solid rookie campaign and is one of the most talented young pass rushers in the league.
Bosa was introduced to a Fitzgerald block in Week 11. Fitzgerald knocked him to the ground on a chip block before running his route.
Bosa spoke about it recently. ESPN’s Nick Wagoner shared the quote on Twitter.
Bosa on Fitzgerald today: "He’s always saying something. It’s not like mean or vicious in any way. It’s kind of friendly but it’s to get in your head. After that (block), he ran up to me and said ‘Sorry, man, I’ve got to slow you down somehow.’ I was like ‘Well, sh*t, you did.’" https://t.co/uIumcQIkwo
— Nick Wagoner (@nwagoner) November 22, 2019
“He’s always saying something,” Bosa said. “It’s not like mean or vicious in any way. It’s kind of friendly but it’s to get in your head. After that (block), he ran up to me and said, ‘Sorry, man, I’ve got to slow you down somehow.’ I was like ‘Well, (expletive), you did.'”
Fitz puts a guy on the ground and then is classy. No wonder he is one of the most respected players in the entire league and this entire generation of players.
Listen to the latest from Cards Wire’s Jess Root on his podcast, Rise Up, See Red. Subscribe on Apple podcasts or Stitcher Radio.
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The 49ers didn’t hold the ball long in the first quarter and couldn’t get much going on offense.
The 49ers didn’t hold the ball long in the first quarter and couldn’t get much going on offense. Arizona ran 14 more plays and gained 97 more yards over the first 15 minutes and hold a 9-0 lead going into the second.
Here’s what stood out in the first quarter:
The 49ers fell victim to the rare overturned pass interference call when Richard Sherman was called for the penalty after a review that set Arizona up with the ball at the 3-yard-line. Two plays later Kyler Murray found Charles Clay in the end zone, but Christian Kirk was called for offensive pass interference to nullify the score. The Cardinals couldn’t regain momentum after the Kirk penalty and had to settle for a field goal. The 49ers caught a break with the offensive pass interference and was able to hold strong within the red zone.
The 49ers offense probably wanted to respond better to the Cardinals 10-play drive but only could muster five yards. The third-down play could have shown some issues with the receivers as Jimmy Garoppolo had plenty of time in the pocket which gave the receivers plenty of time to get open, but they couldn’t do so. With as much pressure as the receivers got following their performance against Seattle, the opening drive, especially the third down play, seems a bit alarming for the group.
Sherman followed his pass interference that set up Arizona inside the 5 with another pass interference that set up Arizona inside the 5. Sherman once again made contact with Kirk on a shot to the end zone, but made contact at the 5-yard-line as the ball was in the air and was called for his second pass interference. This time the call hurt the 49ers as two plays later Murray found Larry Fitzgerald to give Arizona a two score lead.
It’s a familiar matchup for the 49ers as they take on the Arizona Cardinals just 17 days after their win in Arizona.
It’s a familiar matchup for the 49ers as they take on the Arizona Cardinals just 17 days after their win in Arizona. The 49ers escaped Arizona on Halloween with a 28-25 victory that saw Jimmy Garoppolo carry the offense with four touchdown passes, and a defense that barely held on long enough to get the job done. The two division rivals will close out their season series Sunday at Levi’s Stadium.
Here are the three matchups that could decide whether the 49ers sweep or Arizona can earn a split:
With George Kittle out and Emmanuel Sanders questionable for Sunday, Samuel could be the best receiver on the field for the 49ers. With that comes a matchup against one of the better cornerbacks in league. Samuel had the best game of his career against Seattle with eight receptions for 112 despite having a couple of drops that could have added to his numbers. If Sanders can’t go, expect Jimmy Garoppolo to target Samuel a bit but with that comes throwing at Peterson, a three-time All-Pro corner.
The New Orleans Saints nominated LT Terron Armstead, a 2018 Pro Bowler and second-team All-Pro, for the 2019 Art Rooney Sportsmanship Award.
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The New Orleans Saints nominated left tackle Terron Armstead for this year’s Art Rooney Sportsmanship Award, an award that gives recognition to NFL players who best demonstrate sportsmanship during games. All 32 teams initially select one of their own players for the award, which is then winnowed down to eight finalists. Players vote for the winner while submitting their Pro Bowl ballots later in the regular season. Here’s the list of previous winners, including Armstead’s teammate, Drew Brees:
It’s clear that this is a very exclusive group to be a part of, and even being nominated in the first place says a lot about the respect Armstead’s teammates share for him. Check out the full list of nominees, by team:
The finalists for the sixth annual Art Rooney Sportsmanship Award have been announced. Each NFL team nominated 1 of its players for the award, which recognizes players around the league who exemplify outstanding sportsmanship on the field. The Texans nominee is QB Deshaun Watson pic.twitter.com/g2DhStwDyu
— James Palmer (@JamesPalmerTV) November 14, 2019
The award-winner will receive a $25,000 donation to a charity of their choice as well as a commemorative trophy. Despite playing at a high level throughout his Saints career, Armstead has often been overlooked for Pro Bowl and All-Pro recognition. He first made the cut for those clubs in 2018 as a second-team All-Pro, but he had to back out of his Pro Bowl commitments while recovering from an injury suffered during the season. Here’s hoping Armstead gets the recognition he’s due from his peers for the Art Rooney Sportsmanship Award.
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