Month: November 2016

Titans release CB Perrish Cox

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The Titans released veteran cornerback Perrish Cox on Monday.

Coach Mike Mularkey said Cox simply was not consistent Brooklyn Nets Youth Jersey enough and the Titans need better play at the position.

“If you don’t perform at the level that we ask, then we are going to find someone who does,” he said.

“… You’ve got to do it how we would like it, and sometimes that wasn’t always the case and sometimes that’s just lack of confidence in trusting the system. You’ve got to trust what we’re telling you, and that’s what we want.”

Cox started nine games this season and 22 in his two seasons with the team. He leads the Titans with three interceptions this season, but he has struggled in pass coverage. Former general manager Ruston Webster signed him as a free agent in 2015.

Aaron Rodgers used quick passes to pick apart the Eagles’ defense on Monday night.

“Twice in the same school year,” he said. “That was in fifth grade. It reconnected and then I Charlotte Bobcats Youth Jersey re-broke it. Did it again in eighth grade.”

The first time, it happened playing football. The second came on the basketball court. The third time was football again. It’s no wonder his mother, Pamela Brown, was so against her son playing football when it came time for high school. So he did not. Not as a freshman or a sophomore.

“She didn’t really want me to play football from the jump,” Adams said. “That started when I was 9, and I had to really have a lot of people talk her into letting me do it.”

Davante Adams has been targeted 76 times this season by Aaron Rodgers, the second most on the team.

In that regard, perhaps it’s not a surprise that it’s taken Adams until this year, his third NFL season, to morph into the receiver who more than a year ago was dubbed the Packers’ MVP of the offseason by coach Mike McCarthy. Heading into Monday night’s game against the Philadelphia Eagles, Adams already has established career highs for catches (53), yards (663) and touchdowns (six) with six games still to play. He is tied with Jordy Nelson for the team lead in the first two categories and has been one of the few bright spots in an otherwise disappointing 4-6 season.

Thanksgiving results boost Eagles’ playoff chances

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The Thanksgiving games broke exactly right for the Philadelphia Eagles.

Sitting at 5-5 and at the bottom of the NFC East, the Eagles recognize their margin for error is slim to none if they want to make it into the postseason.

“It’s cut and dry: we’ve got to win them all,” wide Justin Houston Authentic Womens Jersey receiver Jordan Matthews said. “We’ve got to win every single one, the next six. That’s something that we all know, and that’s something that we plan to do.”

The Philadelphia Eagles are 4-0 at home this season and play four of their final six at Lincoln Financial Field.

Should they fall short of that goal, they could use some help over the final six weeks. They got some on Thursday.

“It’s cool,” Dez Bryant said of the 10-game winning streak, downplaying the significance. “We’ve got to keep it moving. We can’t get comfortable. You get comfortable, you going to fall apart. You don’t want to be comfortable. It’s still a long season. We have to keep each other lifted. We have to make sure everybody’s mind is right, including mine.”

In a way, last year’s feeling at Thanksgiving and their 4-12 finish to the Justin March-Lillard Authentic Womens Jersey season is still part of the Cowboys’ psyche.

“There’s bigger stakes at hand. We’ve got to keep moving forward. The games get bigger and bigger as we continue to win. We’re just getting more and more excited, but there’s more and more confidence in ourselves in our ability to close games and win in any situation.”

The Chiefs have scored two or fewer offensive touchdowns in seven of their 10 games this season, against some of the NFL’s worst defensive teams. The Chiefs have played eight games against teams in the bottom 13 in the NFL in scoring defense. They haven’t played an opponent in the top 10 in scoring defense until the Broncos, who are ninth in scoring defense (18.9 points per game) and fourth in yards allowed (318). So there isn’t much reason to think the Chiefs can win once the score gets above a certain point. The Chiefs will need to keep the score down or get a lot of help from their special teams and defense in order for them to have a realistic chance.

Michael Sam headlines dozens of players invited to NFL Veteran Combine

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The NFL announced on Wednesday the participants in its inaugural Veteran Combine, which will be held at the Arizona Cardinals practice facility in Tempe, Ariz., on March 22. The players at this first-time combine range from free-agent veterans to college graduates with no NFL experience.

Johnson, 33, was released by Perry Riley Authentic Jersey the Houston Texans on Monday and visited the Colts the following day. According to Zierlein, Johnson got in touch with Gore, his former college teammate at the University of Miami, and the pair decided on the Colts together.

The arrival of Jordan certainly would have made Dallas more attractive for free agents, but the Mavericks got a really good one in Harrison Barnes, and that hasn’t been enough to keep the injury-ravaged team out of the basement. Perhaps this would still be a playoff team with a dominant presence in the middle, but that really doesn’t matter.

“I’m worried about the Clippers, you know what I’m saying?” Jordan said. “I can’t worry about the Mavericks when it’s not my time.”

Prescott has now won 10 straight starts, the second-longest win streak by a rookie quarterback since the merger (longest, per the Elias Sports Bureau research, is 13 by Ben Roethlisberger in 2004).

Griffin is now hoping to come back from a shoulder injury Reggie Nelson Authentic Jersey at some point this season in his first year with the winless Cleveland Browns. Morris is a backup running back for Jones’ Cowboys.

The youth movement is working — for now. The trio of top draft picks Artie Burns, Davis and Javon Hargrave sharing the same starting lineup has helped the Steelers win two straight. Hargrave has sacks in back-to-back games.

In the earlier stop, late in the second quarter, safeties Mike Mitchell and Sean Davis traded turns thwarting the Colts. Davis tackled a diving Tolzien on third down by the goal line — he had the run-or-pass option in coverage — and Mitchell disrupted pass coverage over the middle on fourth down.

The Colts finally started showing signs of life offensively of late

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The unlucky Bills finally caught a break: After going 0-4 in games decided by a touchdown or less this season, they did enough on offense and took advantage of the injuries to Green and Bernard to beat the Bengals 16-12. (It didn’t help the Bills, to be fair, when they lost Shady McCoy to a thumb injury, although Mike Gillislee was effective in McCoy’s absence.) It wasn’t pretty, but the Bills did enough to win in Cincy.

Tyrod Taylor has had to be resourceful as a scrambler this year as injuries have taken away his top pass-catchers.

The Bills also will be favored this upcoming week, when they face the Jaguars at home in Buffalo, but it’s tough to see that turning into a winning streak, as they travel to Oakland in Week 13. The good news: Four Patrick DiMarco Womens Jersey of their final six games are at home, including tilts against the Jags and Browns, and the other road trip is to face the lowly Jets in Week 17. The problem is they don’t hold up well in tiebreakers. The Bills already have lost to wild-card contenders such as the Ravens and Dolphins, and they’re 2-4 in AFC contests so far this year. The Raiders, Steelers and Dolphins tilts will be critical as the Bills try to sneak in with a 9-7 or 10-6 record.

If you’re surprised to see Smith sitting atop this list, you probably aren’t alone. Smith threw an interception in the fourth quarter that cost the Kansas City Chiefs nearly 33 percentage points in win probability. Looking at every other play in the game, however, Smith was efficient in Kansas City’s loss.

The Colts finally started showing signs of life offensively of late. They’ve had at least 327 yards of total offense in five of their past six games. Now, offensive coordinator Rob Chudzinski will likely have to shrink what had become an expanded playbook Paul Worrilow Womens Jersey of late with Tolzien, who replaced veteran Matt Hasselbeck as Luck’s backup in the offseason.

It’ll be tougher now, but the Saints have a shot. Their schedule the rest of the way is not exactly scary: They host the Rams and Lions over the next two weeks, play a home-and-home with the Bucs, and travel to Arizona before a season-ending trip to Atlanta. The Falcons currently hold the tiebreaker over the Saints, but they’re only ahead by two games with six to play.

Lawrence needs to return to the form he had in 2015

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DeMarcus Lawrence — He led the Cowboys in sacks last year with eight, so he is not a traditional X factor. But he missed the first four games of the season because of a suspension and did not record a sack in his four games, though he finally got one Sunday. If the Cowboys’ defense is going to continue to exceed expectations, Lawrence needs to return to the form he had in 2015, when he had seven of his eight Igor Larionov Authentic Jersey sacks in a seven-week span. Affecting the quarterback is almost a euphemism for not being able to get any sacks. The Cowboys need Lawrence to go from affecting the quarterback to sacking the quarterback.

The Ravens have the best run defense in the NFL, giving up just 3.3 yards per carry. Of course, Cincinnati had a stout front and Elliott popped off a 60-yard touchdown run on his way to 134 yards. The Green Bay Packers were allowing 1.9 yards per carry before Elliott ripped them for 157 yards. The Cowboys eventually figure out the best way to attack a run defense. They will figure it out against the Ravens, and Elliott will close in on his sixth 100-yard game of the season.

QB Joe Flacco — The Ravens aren’t going to be able to run against the Cowboys. It’s the 28th-ranked run offense against the No. 3 run defense. That means the game rests on the strong right arm of Flacco, who is on pace for his first 4,000-yard season but is one of four starting quarterbacks who doesn’t have more touchdown passes than interceptions. Flacco is the Ravens’ best barometer for success. In his career, Baltimore is 49-11 (.816) when Igor Larionov Authentic Jersey Flacco has a passer rating over 90. The Ravens are 31-40 (.436) when Flacco’s rating is below 90.

The Ravens’ defense shows why it’s the top-ranked D in the NFL, making quarterback Dak Prescott and running back Ezekiel Elliott look like rookies for one of the few times this season. This is the first top-five defense that Prescott will face. Defensive coordinator Dean Pees has a way of frustrating young passers by using different coverages and blitzes. Baltimore has won five straight over rookie quarterbacks, and this Jannik Hansen Authentic Jersey defense is tied for second in the league with 11 interceptions. The Ravens also represent a big challenge for Elliott. Baltimore leads the NFL in fewest rushing yards allowed per game (71.3) and per carry (3.3). The Cowboys’ offensive line, which Jannik Hansen Authentic Jersey is considered the best in the league, has to figure a way to move powerful defensive tackles Brandon Williams and Michael Pierce.

MLB roundup: Hellickson was right to accept qualifying offer

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Evaluators and agents are fascinated by Jeremy Hellickson’s decision to accept the $17.2 million qualifying offer from the Phillies, and they look at it like a science puzzle. In arguably the worst free-agent market for starting pitchers in recent memory, they wonder is it possible he could’ve gotten a three- or four-year deal for $12 to $13 million annually?

I think the answer is no, after hearing from a number of different people on the team side, because there continues to be general wariness over Hellickson despite his solid 2016 numbers (3.71 ERA, 1.15 WHIP).

The next-level metrics aren’t as flattering, and Hellickson pitched in the NL East, which had four of the five lowest-scoring teams in the majors last season (including Hellickson’s own team). In 2016, Hellickson made 16 starts against teams under .500 and posted a 2.36 ERA, with a 0.98 WHIP. Against teams .500 or better: a 5.22 ERA in 16 starts, with a 1.35 WHIP.

Out of everyone who threw enough innings to qualify for the ERA title, no one finished with a lower average than Kyle Hendricks. And, heck, he led MLB by 31 points, which is the same as the difference between Chris Sale and Jerad Eickhoff. Hendricks might get rewarded with the National League Cy Young, but even if he doesn’t, he has proven himself, a feather in the cap for everyone who has ever said it’s better to be a pitcher than a thrower. If you Chris Owens Authentic Womens Jersey go back to the Chicago Cubs getting Hendricks from the Texas Rangers in a trade for Ryan Dempster all the way back in 2012, it wasn’t just one lopsided trade that helped the Cubs to build a championship rotation.

However, Hendricks’ 2.13 ERA is worthy of closer examination. Whenever you see any extreme data point, you should ask yourself, how likely is this to repeat? There’s no question that Hendricks has become a quality starter. There’s no question he’s one of the most valuable Cubs, and indeed, one of the more valuable starting pitchers. Yet Hendricks’ season was at least partially the result of some extraordinary circumstances. In part, it was about Hendricks. In part, it was about everyone else around him. But it’s almost impossible to imagine the same season happening again.

OK, so maybe baseball’s awards season doesn’t have all the glitz, glamour and gift bags of the Oscars. But it does have star power. Here’s Cornelius Lucas Authentic Womens Jersey who will win — and who should win — this week.

To start with some little stuff: Hendricks isn’t a contact pitcher, but he’s also not a high-strikeout guy. He struck out batters at a rate a couple points higher than average. He also walked batters at a rate a couple points lower than average. Put the rates together and you get K-BB percentage (or K-BB%). Hendricks finished last year at 17 percent, while the average was 13 percent. That makes Hendricks compare well to frequent comp Greg Maddux, but when Maddux ran a K-BB% of 15 percent between 1992-2001, the average was 7 percent. Baseball has changed — strikeouts are everywhere. Hendricks has a long, long way to go if he wants to be a real Maddux 2.0.

Hendricks is good in part because he does get his strikeouts. He’s boosted, as well, by the fact that he limits his free passes. But just in terms of K-BB percentage, Hendricks was the same as Julio Teheran and John Lackey. Hendricks thrived because of his timing, and because so many batted balls were turned into outs.

He came back and blocked the field goal right after that

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He came back and blocked the field goal right after that, but still.

The whole time I watched him damn near walk on that play, I wondered to myself how hard is he going to work at being better with his hands? How much is he going to be willing to sacrifice to reach his potential?

Like I said, it didn’t happen often, but I still didn’t like seeing it at all.

On the other hand you have a few plays like this one where he runs all the way over from the backside of a play to finish off the running back near the far sideline.

And this one where he takes off running down the field after a completed pass and makes the tackle nine yards later.

I’m not going to go overboard with this, but one thing I will Carlos Boozer Authentic Jersey say is most guys who are inconsistent with their play are usually inconsistent with their effort as well. Improve the latter and the former usually always improves too.

Another knock I have on Nkemdiche is that he sometimes plays a little stiff in the hips. This shows up when he is trying to make a tackle from the backside of a play before the running back can make it through the line of scrimmage. It isn’t a lack of speed or quickness that prevents Nkemdiche from intercepting the ball carrier. The fact that he doesn’t turn and run down Dennis Rodman Authentic Jersey the line immediately, drifting just a hair too far upfield instead, dooms his prospects for being in position to make the tackle.

Interestingly enough, when Nkemdiche has to fight through contact, as he does here with the center back block and the tackle hinging on a counter play, he does a great job of keeping his feet and getting down the line of scrimmage to make the play.

It was when the opposing team chose to leave him unblocked that he seemed to have more trouble getting where he needed to go, but not all the time.

Here’s the deal, Nkemdiche is just a football player. I know that’s a little cliche, but it’s the truth. He came in starting as a freshman defensive end and wound up inside by the end of his first year. In a lot of ways he’s still finding himself as a defensive tackle (among other things). All the tools for him to be a top notch three-technique are evident when you watch him play, and 6’3, 290 pound guys who run a sub 4.9 forty do not grow on trees. Even being a little stiff at times and even with a few forgettable plays as far as effort is concerned, this kid just looks like he was meant to play this game when he’s on the field.

And on another note he did some pretty good things on offense as well.

The off-field stuff may affect how high he is drafted, but if he gets drafted to be a three-technique and if he can stay out of trouble, Robert Nkemdiche could be a guy with eight or more sacks every year. It’s going to come down to how he fits in the scheme and the work he puts in to get better.

Going by the tape, he is the only true three-technique I’ve seen so far. Now it comes down to who is going to weigh the rewards versus the risks. No matter where he ends up getting drafted, he may well still end up being the pick of the litter of all the three-techniques in this draft.

Since I don’t have access to all-22 for college football games, I use the next best thing, Draft Breakdown. They have the TV copy from a bunch of top prospects already cut up and ready to go. Their site is also compatible with the new NoHuddle app which turns your cell phone into a “cowboy clicker,” which is pretty damn neat. For the purposes of this breakdown I watched former Ole Miss defensive tackle Robert Nkemdiche play against UT Martin, Fresno State, Alabama, Florida and Auburn. Those represented the first, second, third, fifth and ninth games on schedule last season, respectively.

A break from the grind: How NFL players spend their bye week

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The first thing most players look for when the NFL schedule comes out is the bye week. The opponents? The prime-time games? That stuff can wait. Man, tell us when we get a break. One thing to realize: NFL players are not robots and the grind of the season is real, so guys cherish their time away.

The NFL MVP was introduced to them when a representative of Brackish, a Charleston, South Carolina-based company that makes bow ties out of a variety of feathers, randomly sent him one before the season.

“The next thing we knew, he was wearing the tie after the Broncos game [Week 1],’’ said Jeff Plotner, the CEO of Brackish. “My phone was hopping on the table going up and down with text messages and phone calls I was getting when he was doing his postgame interview.’’

That led to a phone call from Newton’s representatives asking for more ties to showcase with the quarterback’s postgame attire.

“We make it a point to be able to start conversations with our product, and he’s somebody that is unique and can really step outside the box with his fashion sense,’’ Plotner said.

Newton’s ties started a conversation in the Carolina locker room on Thursday among several teammates who weren’t aware they were made of feathers.

“Really?’’ Whittaker said. “Nothing wrong with it. Whoever makes the hats and bow ties does a good job.’’

Said safety Kurt Coleman, “I don’t know how you make a tie out of a feather. Are they duck feathers?’’

Not yet.

Jump on a plane and get out of town — even if only for a day or two. A weekend trip to Manhattan is nice. So are college football tailgates. And you should always try to get back home to see Mom. Grab one of those home-cooked meals and drink a beer with the old man, too.

That’s really all it takes for NFL players to feel normal again.

Richard Sherman should avoid Dan Carpenter’s wife

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Seahawks star Richard Sherman probably wasn’t trying to injure Dan Carpenter when he screamed off the edge and barreled into the Bills kicker on Monday night.

And despite an initial reaction from Carpenter that indicated a serious injury — get that man an Oscar! — Carpenter came out of the surprise encounter unharmed. But for someone watching at home, especially someone who happens to be the spouse of said aggrieved professional place kicker, Sherman’s wild charge could be taken as an act of malice.

Kaela Carpenter has a solution that should strike fear in the heart of any man.

We’ve just passed the midway point of this NFL season, and, as usual, there’s been plenty to talk about already. We’ve watched Colin Kaepernick impact the league before he ever took a snap. We’ve witnessed the rise of Dak Prescott in Dallas, along with all the expected questions about why he lasted until late in the fourth round of this year’s draft. We’ve also watched the New England Patriots prove their resilience yet again (during the four-game suspension of Tom Brady), experienced the surprising collapse of the defending NFC champion Carolina Panthers (and the weekly assault on reigning MVP Cam Newton) and heard more than enough complaints about officiating to cover an entire year.

The question now is simple: What can we look forward to next?

This play, during which Giants defensive tackle Johnathan Hankins beats Eagles left guard Stefen Wisniewski badly, was no exception.

Hankins gets past Wisniewski so quickly and easily that he’s convinced the play was supposed to be a screen pass, and Hankins reacts accordingly. Hankins is so confused by the fact that it’s not a screen that he sort of collides with a teammate.

The Giants defense got after rookie quarterback Carson Wentz all day, sacking him twice and intercepting two passes. The Giants beat the Eagles 28-23, giving Philadelphia a two-game losing streak and bumping them to last place in the NFC East.

As a guest columnist for The MMQB, Sherman advocated for simplifying the rulebook, adding an eighth official on the field during games, reconfiguring the positioning of referees on the field of play, and improving communication between players and officials.

He reiterated those perspectives following the Seahawks’ loss to the Saints, saying that the complicated rulebook makes it more challenging for officials to make correct calls on the field.

Johnson was redshirted his first season in Cedar Falls

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Johnson was redshirted his first season in Cedar Falls, and for the first two weeks of fall camp, Johnson played receiver. But, one way or the other, Farley wanted Johnson on the field. He saw speed, athleticism and size, and thought Johnson would make an ideal free safety. There was one problem: Johnson knew how to play only Cover 1 and Cover 2. He lasted about 10 days in the secondary.

Injuries on offense prompted the UNI coaches to approach Johnson with another option: He could remain a safety or return to the offensive side of the ball at running back.

“Obviously I chose running back,” Johnson said with a chuckle. “That’s where I fell in love with the sport, was playing running back and having the ball in my hands, scoring and stuff. That’s what was exciting to me.”

Even though he left Northern Iowa as the Panthers’ all-time leading rusher with 4,687 yards — one of 15 school records he set — he was fourth on the school’s all-time receiving list with 141 catches.

The Broncos have spent much of the past five seasons running things in the AFC West. But as of Sunday night, after getting shoved around in a 30-20 loss at the Oakland Coliseum, the Broncos aren’t in first place, and things they’ve said could be repaired were at heart of the failure.

“Across the board, we weren’t good enough,” said coach Gary Kubiak. “Offensively we got off to a horrible start.”

The Broncos opened the game in an unsightly stupor, as if they had turned the clock back to 2010 or early 2011. Quarterback Trevor Siemian missed on his first six throws. The team opened with four consecutive three-and-outs for the first time since 2011, when Tim Tebow was at quarterback. They rallied at times, but they still have issues, and unless they find a way to repair those issues, there will be more nights like Sunday.

“We’ve got to play a hell of a lot better than we did,” Kubiak said.

The Broncos learned that there is a drop-off from cornerback Aqib Talib to whomever else plays. Bradley Roby is a future starter, but Talib was playing at an All-Pro level when he suffered a back injury that has kept him out of two games. Raiders quarterback Derek Carr went after Roby plenty, especially in the first half.

The Broncos learned that their run game isn’t an adjustment or two from being what they want it to be. The Raiders were 28th in run defense coming into the game, and the Broncos couldn’t carve out any room before they were forced into pass-first mode.

The Broncos learned that their plan on the offensive line still isn’t bearing fruit. A team with a first-year starter at quarterback, a rookie running back and a rookie fullback needs the guys up front to make things happen. Beyond the screen pass that turned into a 69-yard catch-and-run touchdown for Kapri Bibbs in the fourth quarter, there weren’t many moments Sunday when the Broncos’ offense looked in control at the line of scrimmage.

They learned that their run defense continues to be out of sorts and that being No. 1 against the pass and among the league’s sack leaders will matter less and less if teams pound away the way the Raiders did. Oakland had 124 yards rushing at halftime and 173 yards by the end of the third quarter and finished with 213 yards on the ground.