Tag: takeaways

Takeaways from every 2023 college football conference championship game: Alabama shakes up entire CFP field with SEC upset

The CFP picture seemed clear entering the weekend, but Alabama’s upset over Georgia threw everything into a loop.

Conference title weekend is in the books, and the four-team College Football Playoff field is set. However, the selection committee’s decision did not come without a great deal of controversy.

We entered the weekend with a seemingly clear playoff picture, but Alabama threw everything for a loop by upsetting No. 1 Georgia in the SEC championship, ending the Bulldogs’ record 29-game win streak and knocking them out of the CFP field in the process.

With Texas demolishing Oklahoma State in the Big 12, there was one final spot available. Rather than give it to Florida State, which began the weekend in the top four and beat Louisville 16-6 in the ACC championship to move to 13-0, the Crimson Tide jumped FSU based on the strength of the Georgia win.

That snub has been the talk of college football to start this week, but with everyone turning their attention forward to what should be an electric set of semifinals, let’s first look back to reflect on the chaos we witnessed this weekend.

Here are the takeaways from each conference championship game.

5 takeaways from Commanders’ loss to Dolphins

Some thoughts and takeaways from Washington’s loss to Miami, regarding Howell and more.

The Miami Dolphins gave the Washington Commanders their fourth consecutive loss Sunday in a 45-15 blowout that felt much worse. The loss was also Washington’s sixth in its last seven and nine of its last 11 games.

It was the Commanders’ first game without defensive coordinator Jack Del Rio, and nothing changed. It was Washington’s second straight game of allowing 45 points.

Meanwhile, Washington’s offense wasn’t much better. Quarterback Sam Howell had a career-low 127 passing yards, was sacked three times and had another interception returned for a touchdown — his third in the last three weeks.

What else went wrong?

Here are our five takeaways after yet another embarrassing Washington loss.

5 takeaways from Colts’ 31-28 win over Titans

Here are five takeaways from the Colts’ 31-28 win over the Titans in Week 13.

The Indianapolis Colts (7-5) have now won four games in a row after finding a way to squeeze a win over their divisional rivals despite the Tennessee Titans (4-8) kicking a field goal on the opening drive of overtime.

This was one of the wonkiest games I have ever seen. It included a sequence where Samson Ebukam forced a strip-sack that was recovered by Julian Blackmon who got the ball knocked out by Will Levis for Tennessee recovery.

The Titans would end up getting three points after that. There were two straight blocked punts (one was ruled as a fumble) by the Colts, which one was returned for a touchdown.

Shane Steichen would end up going for two after that score. Gardner Minshew had a badly placed ball that went off Zack Moss’ hands right to Amani Hooker who returned it to give Tennessee two points on the board.

On top of all of that, Ryan Stonehouse got hurt on the second blocked punt, and when the Titans tied up the game at 25 all, Nick Folk missed his PAT attempt with Ryan Tannehill in as the holder for Stonehouse.

This game got so weird that at one point it was reported that Matt Gay got stung by a bee.

This was a contest that easily could’ve been lost by the Colts but the special teams delivered as well as Michael Pittman Jr. and Alec Pierce.

Here are five takeaways from Indy’s big divisional road win:

Quick takeaways from the Lions anxiety-inducing win over the Saints

Quick takeaways from the Lions anxiety-inducing win over the Saints in Week 13, including a fantastic start, a bad game from Ben Johnson and much more

The Detroit Lions are 9-3 after getting back in the win column with a 33-28 win in New Orleans over the host Saints. The path to the win was equal parts exhilaration and intense anxiety.

The Lions surged out to a 21-0 lead midway through the first quarter. The early success proved too easy, unfortunately. New Orleans was the better team the rest of the way, but Detroit’s early margin proved just enough to hold on for the important road win.

Here’s what stood out from watching Sunday’s game in real-time.

Broncos lead the NFL with 22 takeaways through 12 weeks

The Broncos lead the NFL in takeaways (22) through 12 weeks of play. Ja’Quan McMillian (4) and Justin Simmons (4) lead the team.

The Denver Broncos’ defense has been forcing turnovers at an impressive pace during the team’s recent winning streak.

Over the last four weeks, the Broncos have totaled 15 takeaways, the most by any team during a four-game stretch since 1989. Denver also has a four-game streak of at least three takeaways, a team-high since 2000.

“It’s huge,” Broncos coach Sean Payton said of the team’s takeaways earlier this week. “If you’re looking at the league in general, with anywhere from 11 to 14 possessions per game — you take it away, you get one, they get one less. You take two away, you get two more and they get two less — just do the math. It was at that 1-5 mark that we were not really good with that. Since that mark, we’ve been really good with that. We have to keep paying attention to it, but it’s significant.”

Denver has totaled 22 takeaways this season, more than any other team.

At some point, there will be some regression. The Broncos have recovered 10 fumbles in their last four games, a historically high total. As Andrew Mason of Denver Sports pointed out on Twitter/X, two of those fumbles were muffed snaps and one was a botched reverse — some luck was involved in those turnovers.

The Broncos can continue to be aggressive, though, punching the ball out when given opportunities while continuing to force interceptions as well. Denver might not be able to keep up its historic turnover pace, but the Broncos can continue this style of play that has led to takeaways.

Opportunistic Saints defense can take advantage of Jared Goff’s mistakes

An opportunistic Saints defense can take advantage of Jared Goff’s mistakes. The Lions quarterback has committed six turnovers in his last two games:

An opportunistic New Orleans Saints defense must take advantage of Jared Goff’s mistakes. The Detroit Lions quarterback has committed six turnovers in his last two games, losing three fumbles to the Green Bay Packers last week after throwing three interceptions to the Chicago Bears a week earlier. Goff is in a bit of a rut, and the Saints need to capitalize on it. He’s thrown eight interceptions and fumbled five times this season.

That’s easier said than done for most teams, but New Orleans is known for its ballhawks. The Saints defense has intercepted the second-most passes in the NFL this season (14 in 11 games) while doing an admirable job of recovering fumbled balls from the offense — nine different defenders have recovered a fumble this season, and cornerback Paulson Adebo has two of them.

Adebo also has four interceptions in just nine games, leading the team. Strong safety Tyrann Mathieu is second with three picks, and his tag-team partner Marcus Maye has two of his own (though the free safety may not play this week due to a shoulder injury). Five other Saints defenders have intercepted passes this season, too.

Taking the ball away becomes even more important when you consider all the struggles the Saints have experienced offensively. The more opportunities the defense can create for Derek Carr and company, the better. Shorter fields and swings of momentum are going to be critical against a talented and well-coached Lions team. If Goff does a better job protecting the football, Saints fans may be in for a long afternoon.

[lawrence-auto-related count=4]

Five takeaways from LSU women’s basketball’s win over Virginia Tech

Here are five takeaways from LSU’s top-10 win over Virginia Tech.

In front of a packed PMAC, LSU women’s basketball picked up a massive nonconference win on Thursday night.

Hosting No. 9 Virginia Tech, LSU got its first real test since losing the season opener to Colorado, and the Tigers passed it with flying colors.

It was a rematch of last year’s Final Four, with many of the same players on the court.

The story entering the night was [autotag]Angel Reese[/autotag] making her return after she had been out for undisclosed reasons.

LSU now gets some time off, not back in action until Dec. 10. But first, here are five takeaways from LSU’s big win.

6 takeaways from Broncos’ 29-12 win over Browns

Here are six takeaways from the Broncos’ win over the Browns in Week 12.

The Denver Broncos won their fifth-straight game on Sunday, this time a 29-12 win over the visiting Cleveland Browns in Week 12.

There’s a lot to digest from this game, so let’s begin with the key takeaways.

5 takeaways from Colts’ 27-20 win over the Bucs

Here are five takeaways from the Colts’ 27-20 win over the Buccaneers.

The Indianapolis Colts (6-5) are now on a three-game winning streak after beating the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (4-7) in a game that came down to the final minutes of the fourth quarter.

Indy never gave up the lead once they scored their first touchdown of the game. Despite having control of this contest, a second-quarter Gardner Minshew interception got the Bucs back in this game and they were within arm’s distance heading into the fourth quarter.

The crucial play of the game came on a fourth-and-inches call by Shane Steichen in the fourth quarter. With Zaire Franklin in at fullback, the Colts sold a run to Jonathan Taylor which allowed Mo-Alie Cox to slip open for a 30-yard completion.

Indianapolis would end up scoring a touchdown to make it a 27-17 game with 7:3- left in the game. Tampa did fight back and had a chance to tie it in the final two minutes but Samson Ebukam was able to get his hands on a strip-sack to help close out this win for the Colts.

Here are five takeaways from Indy’s victory: