Tag: T.J Watt

Micah Parsons defends Myles Garrett winning AP Defensive Player of the Year

Micah Parsons wasn’t unhappy about Myles Garrett winning NFL Defensive Player of the Year… but Parsons may have undersold himself in the process.

Any time there are awards, there are people who will be Loud Mad about the winners of those awards. And on Thursday, when some of the Associated Press NFL awards came out in advance of the NFL Honors show, that certainly happened.

One instance happened when Cleveland Browns edge-rusher Myles Garrett took home the AP Defensive Player of the Year award, which had one fan comparing stats between Garrett, Pittsburgh Steelers edge-rusher T.J. Watt, and Dallas Cowboys edge-rusher Micah Parsons. This individual had a real problem with the Garrett selection… but Garrett himself didn’t take issue at all.

Here’s what’s interesting, though — per Pro Football Focus’ advanced metrics, Garrett was double-teamed on 90 of his pass-rush snaps, and he totaled four sacks and 15 total pressures when he was doubled.

Parsons, on the other hand, faced double-teams on 117 of his pass-rushing snaps, and he compiled three sacks and 27 total pressures when he was doubled.

So, it was quite generous of Parsons to stand up for Garrett (spoiler: I’m an AP voter, and I voted for Parsons), and as far as making an impact with double-teams, Parsons was still The Man in 2023.

Even presented with the numbers, Parsons was firm in his opinion, which you certainly have to respect.

4-Down Territory: Joe Flacco, Brock Purdy, concussions, and who was Patrick Mahomes yelling at?

In this week’s “4-Down Territory,” the guys discuss Joe Flacco, Jake Browning, Patrick Mahomes, and the NFL’s issues with head injuries.

With 14 weeks of actual football in the books for the 2023 NFL season, it’s time once again for Doug Farrar of Touchdown Wire, and Kyle Madson of Niners Wire, to come to the table with their own unique brand of analysis in “4-Down Territory.”

This week, the guys have some serious questions to answer:

  1. Why have Joe Flacco and Jake Browning, Ohio’s backup quarterbacks, been so successful?
  2. What will it take for people to wake up and understand that Brock Purdy is more than a system quarterback?
  3. Who was Patrick Mahomes really yelling at?
  4. What the NFL’s Worst of the Week for Week 14?

You can watch this week’s “4-Down Territory” right here:

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You can also listen and subscribe to the “4-Down Territory” podcast on Spotify…

…and on Apple Podcasts.

The NFL’s Worst of the Week: Jamal Adams, Kadarius Toney, and the NFL doesn’t care about concussions

This week’s Worst of the Week in the NFL features Kadarius Toney, Jamal Adams, and a league that still doesn’t care about head trauma.

Football is a wonderful, thrilling, inspiring game that can lift us to new heights in our lives.

But football is also a weird, inexplicable, at times downright stupid game that may force you to perform Keith Moon-level furniture destruction in your own living room.

So, as much as we at Touchdown Wire endeavor to write about what makes the game great, there are also times when it’s important to point out the dumb plays, boneheaded decisions, and officiating errors that make football all too human.

Folks, it’s time for the Worst of the Week for Week 14 of the 2023 NFL season. And we’re not covering officiating errors as we generally do, because we have a more important issue to discuss — the NFL still doesn’t care one bit about head trauma.

The ugliest winning seasons in NFL history

The 2023 Steelers have an ugly winning season, but it’s not the worst winning season in pro football history. Not even close.

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Folks, the Pittsburgh Steelers just keep winning ugly. In their 23-19 Sunday win over the Green Bay Packers, Mike Tomlin’s team continued its streak of being outgained by every single one of its opponents. This time, the Packers gained 399 net yards to Pittsburgh’s 324. The Steelers are now the only professional football team since at least 1933 to be outgained in every game and still have a winning record.

Impressive? In a perverse way, yes.

Despite this lack of offensive firepower, and a point differential of -26, the Steelers stand at 6-3 on the season, which got us thinking — what are the worst winning seasons in NFL history? Those seasons in which you think to yourself, “There’s no WAY these guys can be winning,” but they are anyway?

As it turns out, the Steelers are nowhere near the worst winning teams in these categories. But it is notable that in all three seasons of Matt Canada’s tenure as the Steelers’ offensive coordinator, the Steelers are either on this list, or in the discussion.

4-Down Territory, in which Doug and Kyle are REALLY tired of bad officiating

More bad NFL officiating, trades we’d like to see happen, defensive player MVPs, and the Worst of the Week — it’s time for 4-Down Territory!

With seven weeks of actual football in the books for the 2023 NFL season, it’s time for Doug Farrar of Touchdown Wire, and Kyle Madson of Niners Wire, to come to the table with their own unique brand of analysis in “4-Down Territory.”

This week, the guys discuss these four downs:

  1. Does the NFL even care how bad officiating is right now?
  2. Which NFL trade should happen before the October 31 deadline?
  3. Could a defensive player win NFL MVP this season?
  4. And of course, our Worst of the Week!

You can watch this week’s “4-Down Territory” right here:

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You can also listen and subscribe to the “4-Down Territory” podcast on Spotify…

…and on Apple Podcasts.

NFL Award Predictions: Defensive Player of the Year

Touchdown Wire’s Natalie Miller continues her 2023 NFL predictions with five Defensive Player of the Year candidates.

With the season closing in on us at a rapid pace things in the NFL are becoming more and more clear as far as final rosters and depth charts. With those things out of the way it comes time for projections! In this series we will be going through each individual award and pick five players that we think have a great shot at bringing home the medal. Today we will be looking at the NFL’s Defensive Player of the Year award. He are our five picks.

Five bold predictions for the 2023 NFL season

Touchdown Wire’s Jarrett Bailey makes five bold predictions for the 2023 NFL season.

It’s easy to just go along with the status quo. But, as is proven year after year, the NFL sees your status quo and chokeslams it through a table.

Yes, it’s a rarity where all of the chalk predictions and odds-on favorited outcomes are what end up taking place. The consensus on the AFC West last season was that every team would be competitive, and some even predicted all four teams in the division to make the playoffs. Instead, Nathaniel Hackett didn’t even last a full season in Denver, and the Raiders were their usual tire fire selves.

With that said, predictions were made to be bold, so let’s put on our big boy pants and get risky with five bold predictions for the NFL season.

The NFL’s 11 best edge defenders

From Josh Allen to Myles Garrett, here’s Doug Farrar’s list of the top 11 edge-rushers in the NFL today.

Edge defenders aren’t just edge-rushers. That’s a big part of what they do, of course, but there’s a lot more to being a transcendent player off the edge than just pinning one’s ears back and attacking offensive tackles. You have to have a comprehensive array of pass-rush moves, you must combine power and speed together in a package that’s difficult to block, and you must be able to define your rush path early in the rep.

In last week’s episode of “The Xs and Os with Greg Cosell,” we set out to build the perfect defensive line, and Greg talked about the attributes required for the best edge guys in the league at any given time.

The Xs and Os with Greg Cosell: Building the perfect defensive line

“One thing I’ve learned, not only from watching tape but also from talking to coaches, is that to be a good edge-rusher, you have to be able to control the high side,” Greg said. “If you cannot win off the edge, it’s very hard to be a quality pass-rusher. Because winning off the edge and being able to threaten and challenge off the edge, forces offensive tackles more often than not to break down their technique. They do not want to get beaten off the edge, and if you get them to break down their technique, then you can work with your moves and your counters. Then you can work back inside.

“And you see this with a lot of guys — they’ll take two or three steps to the edge, and they get the offensive tackle to do what we call an ‘over-set. They’re so conscious of not being beaten off the edge, because that’s a quick path to the quarterback, that they turn their bodies to the sideline, and that opens them up to the inside quick counter.”

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More than that, the 11 players in this year’s list of the best edge defenders had to meet these criteria:

  • How often can you get to the quarterback without help — from teammates on the line, blitzes and overload fronts, and from stunts and games? High-quality solo pressures and sacks mean a ton; if you’re more a product of scheme and design and those around you, that’s fine, but not quite what we’re looking for here.
  • Gap versatility will serve you well on this list. If you can rush the passer from multiple gaps, you’re more indispensable to your defense.
  • Defending the run is important, but this is mostly about how you get to the quarterback over and over.
  • Sacks aren’t necessarily weighted more than quarterback hits or hurries; it’s all about how you got into the backfield.

Without further ado, let’s get into this year’s list of the NFL’s 11 best edge defenders. Also, you can read our other 2023 positional lists as we move ever closer to the top 101 players in the NFL today in late July.

The NFL’s top 11 linebackers
The NFL’s top 11 slot defenders
The NFL’s top 11 cornerbacks
The NFL’s top 11 safeties

(All advanced metrics courtesy of Pro Football Focus and Sports Info Solutions unless otherwise indicated). 

Bengals’ 2022 season begins very badly on offense

Steelers safety Minkah Fitzpatrick took Joe Burrow’s first pass of the 2022 NFL season right back to the house. That was after a Cam Heyward sack.

Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow’s 2021 season ended with a fourth-down pressure by Aaron Donald in Super Bowl LVI. Burrow’s 2022 season didn’t start any more auspiciously.

With 12:43 left in the first quarter of the Bengals’ home opener against the Pittsburgh Steelers, Burrow tried to hit receiver Tyler Boyd on second-and-15 from his own 17-yard line. It was second-and-15 because Cameron Heyward, the Steelers’ version of Donald, took Burrow down on first down.

So, on second down, Burrow tried to get this going, with less than optimal results.

Clearly, Burrow didn’t see Steelers super-safety Minkah Fitzpatrick ready to close on the ball, and that’s just bad internal scouting. Fitzpatrick has had those kinds of plays on lock for years now.

On Cincinnati’s third drive, edge-rusher Alex Highsmith forced Burrow to heave the ball up in the air, and Heyward came down with the pick.

And… on Cincinnati’s FOURTH drive, Burrow tried this pass, which was intercepted at the line of scrimmage by T.J. Watt, the reigning Defensive Player of the Year.

The Bengals might need a mercy role at this rate, and the Steelers’ defense is entirely on point.

Should the NFL ban the block that injured Kayvon Thibodeaux and T.J. Watt?

Should the sift block that injured T.J. Watt and Kayvon Thibodeaux be legal? Maybe it’s time for the NFL to change the rules.

With 11:45 left in the second quarter of the Detroit Lions’ Sunday afternoon preseason finale against the Pittsburgh Steelers, Detroit quarterback David Blough handed off to running back Jamar Jefferson on what turned out to be a relatively inconsequential one-yard gain.

At least, it was inconsequential for the Lions. For the Steelers, not so much. As you can see, Lions tight end T.J. Hockenson crossed the formation from left to right and laid a low block on Steelers edge-rusher T.J. Watt.

Here’s another, better view.

Hockenson appeared to be aiming for Watt’s knees on the block, which you would think is an illegal play. But it isn’t. Hockenson wasn’t flagged for the play, which is correct under the league’s current rule book. Watt was helped from the field with what was called a left knee injury, though reports indicate that the injury isn’t too serious.

The debate over such blocks ran hot last Sunday, when Cleveland Browns tight end (and son of Randy Moss) Thaddeus Moss crossed the formation to make a very similar block against New York Giants pass-rusher Kayvon Thibodeaux. Moss was not flagged for the block either, because the block isn’t illegal.

Thibodeaux wasn’t as fortunate — he suffered a sprained MCL, and may or may not be ready for the Giants’ regular-season opener against the Tennessee Titans on Sunday, September 11.

The larger question, of course, is: Why is a block in which an offense player can target a vulnerable part of a defensive player’s body legal in the first place? In May, 2021, the NFL expanded the low block rules, but the book still doesn’t cover what are known as “sift blocks.”

After the Moss/Thibodeaux play, several former NFL offensive linemen, and current offensive line experts, explained why the play isn’t as “dirty” as it may look.

“They dragged the tight end across the formation, and everybody runs this play,” former offensive lineman Brian Baldinger said on the NFL Network. “They seal the backside with the tight end, and almost every tight end goes low. They can’t stay up and take on these defensive ends. They go to cut-block, which is legal, okay? It’s really up to Kayvon here to just drop his shoulder on it, and it went below his shoulder. It’s kind up to Kayvon to protect himself a little better, because that’s how these tight ends are going to block him in this league.”

So, we know that the play isn’t dirty or illegal by the letter of the NFL’s current rulebook. But should it be illegal? Given the league’s supposed emphasis on player safety (which can be viewed historically with as much cynicism as you’d like), is it really wise to leave a block that forces the defender to adjust to that degree out of the book as a banned strategy?

One thing we know for sure — the more marquee players that get hurt by this block, the more the generally reactive NFL rulemakers will step in and do something about it.