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NFL Week 12 latest buzz, predictions, questions, fantasy tips
What are you hearing on the Giants’ next moves after benching Daniel Jones?
Graziano: For now, it’s Tommy DeVito at quarterback. The Giants’ coaching staff decided he’s more likely than Drew Lock to provide a spark for a lagging offense. He’s a little bit more mobile than Lock, and sources I’ve talked to point to the way the team responded when DeVito took over as the starter last season, when the Giants won three games in a row.
Now, it’s pretty important here to note that the opponents they faced during that three-game winning streak committed a combined 12 turnovers in those games, and DeVito probably didn’t have a lot to do with that. He was sacked a somewhat astounding 36 times in the six starts he made in 2023, and his QBR was 23.7. But the Giants don’t feel stupendous about any of their options at the moment, and coach Brian Daboll said the word “spark” multiple times in his Monday news conference when talking about what he thinks DeVito can bring.
Fowler: Owner John Mara went on record last month saying that Daboll and Schoen would be back in 2025, but it raises the question: Will he actually follow through? I’ve talked to people in and around that situation who believe Mara really does want to keep them both, with the notion that he has been cycling through coaches every 2-3 years and would very much like to stop. Thus far, he has bought into the Daboll/Schoen vision and trusted them to make the decision to bench Jones. The pairing has yet to pick its own quarterback of the future, too.
Others around the league are a tad more skeptical, with some people who follow these types of things closely forecasting it more like 50-50. If it’s Week 17, MetLife Stadium is half full and the Giants are stuck on two wins, Mara’s stance will be tested.
Turf Show Times
Rams-Eagles Q&A: How can LA challenge Vic Fangio’s ‘legit’ defense?
“I’m especially intrigued to see how the Eagles handle the Rams’ quick game,” says Bleeding Green Nation of Fangio’s defense
Brandon Lee Gowton from SB Nation’s Eagles blog Bleeding Green Nation joins us ahead of SNF to share his thoughts on Barkley, Fangio and more.
Q – Philadelphia began the 2023 campaign 10-1 before losing six of seven to bow out of the postseason in embarrassing fashion. The Eagles are off to another great start at 8-2, so what changes do you notice in this season’s team compared to last year’s and what must the team do to avoid another collapse?
A – The 2023 Eagles were always due for some natural regression since they overachieved to get to 10-1. They were 6-1 in one-score games, which tend to speak more to luck than skill. They only had a +62 point differential. For context, the 7-4 Baltimore Ravens currently have a +63 point differential. The 8-2 Eagles have a +80 point differential.
Of course, the collapse was about more than just natural regression since the team totally fell off a cliff for a number of different reasons. None small among them: inexplicably replacing (current Rams assistant!) Sean Desai with MATT PATRICIA at defensive coordinator. I tend to think Fangio knows a thing or two more about defense than that guy.
I also think the vibes are just way, way better this year. The 2023 Eagles were dealing with the crushing weight of expectations having lost the Super Bowl despite being one of the greatest teams in franchise history in 2022. Just winning wasn’t good enough; they were (justifiably) being judged on how they won … and it often wasn’t very pretty. They just weren’t doing what the best teams typically do in terms of blowing out inferior incompletion. A team source described the Eagles as “the most miserable 10-1 team ever.” Things just never felt quite right.
The 2024 Eagles, by contrast, entered the season with lower expectations than the 2023 group. They’re beating teams more convincingly and they look like they’re having much more fun while doing it.
Big Blue View
Drew Lock ‘definitely disappointed’ to be bypassed by New York Giants
The backup quarterback spoke to the media following being passed up as the next QB in line for the New York Giants.
While everyone wanted to hear what DeVito had to say about being named the starter, the media was just as interested in hearing what Lock had to say about being bypassed. Lock shared his thoughts on Wednesday afternoon:
Being bypassed to start
“Two sides of it always. One, my job is to be there for him now and help him as much as I can this week, help him on the sidelines on Sunday and be a good asset to this team in any way possible. That’s where my head’s at still. But at the same time, the other side of the coin is, if you get to be the backup all year and the time comes and you end up still being a backup, you’re upset. You want to be playing, everybody wants to play. There is two sides to that coin, but the one that I’m going to show here is what’s important.”
‘It was expressed to me that I was going to be the two’
“Again, that’s a question I might still have for myself. It was expressed to me that I was going to be the two. I don’t know, it’s an interesting situation. Not much I can really say about it besides, again, I’m going to be here for him. We’re still communicating, still very good friends, believe it or not. I’m going to be here for him. This team needs to get a win. If we start winning, everything gets a little better around here.”
How was the decision explained to Lock?
“Simply put, similar situation last year with him. Felt like the team rallied around him well and gave them a little spark. That’s what they know, that’s what they’ve seen. The time in the preseason. That’s what their decision was based on. That’s what they’re going with.”
Is there some confusion and/or disappointment for him?
“Probably both. Definitely disappointed. But again, I’ll just keep reiterating, my disappointment will not show one bit, around anyone in this facility or after that meeting upstairs. Obviously, I expressed this with them. But my job is to just tongue and cheek and keep rolling. I’ll handle this like a pro. I’ll be professional. That’s something I’d pride myself in. I’m not going to be a guy that tears apart the locker room. I’ve got to build it up. I know winning and playing good on Sunday in the quarterback position is good for this team and I’m going to try to help him do everything we can.”
Big Blue View
Eli Manning’s divisive Pro Football Hall of Fame candidacy takes another step forward
As a player, Manning never found controversy — his HOF candidacy, though, is certainly that
This is Manning’s first year of Hall of Fame eligibility. Six other first-time eligible players also reached the semifinal stage. They are linebacker Luke Kuechly, Eli Manning, defensive end Terrell Suggs, safety Earl Thomas, placekicker Adam Vinatieri and offensive lineman Marshal Yanda.
There is also this from the Hall of Football Substack:
Eli is an interesting case. He shows up with two Super Bowl MVPs but not a single All-Pro honor. Nada. Nichts. Pfft. But forget that he has the fewest honors of any candidate in this class. We expect discussion on his validity as a first-ballot inductee to dominate meetings. Seniors selector Gary Myers is expected to lead the charge, but it will be a hard sell.
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How Trent Williams is trying to remain NFL’s best OT at 36
In the days after Super Bowl LVIII, left tackle Trent Williams spent time in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, with a handful of fellow San Francisco 49ers.
After a day on the golf course with running back Christian McCaffrey, fullback Kyle Juszczyk and others, Williams and the Niners crew retired to the vacation home owned by Hall of Fame quarterback Peyton Manning.
The trip was meant to be an escape from the overtime loss to the Kansas City Chiefs. For Williams, it became more than that when one of Manning’s famous neighbors — LeBron James — showed up.
Williams had already decided he wasn’t ready to retire. But with another long season behind him and his 36th birthday approaching in July, he was thinking more about how to extend his career and stay at the peak of his profession.
What better person to quiz on the topic than James, the 39-year-old who was in the midst of his 21st NBA season and had four championships on his résumé.
As the night went on, they discussed how to get over losing a championship and what it takes to sustain greatness as you age.
Williams, long regarded as the best offensive tackle in the NFL, began making lifestyle changes in the last few years and has since heeded James’ advice on diet, training and recovery regimens. One of the league’s best tackles in history, Andrew Whitworth, made similar adjustments to prolong his career and won a Super Bowl at age 40 — something Williams can use as a blueprint.
“Whitworth is a guy that not only myself, I think a lot of tackles my age and younger … looked at it as that standard of longevity because he did it all the way to the end,” Williams said. “He rode out, like, literally a storybook finish.”
Williams has made similar changes the last few years. He gave up drinking soda a year and a half ago. He boxes for active recovery on Mondays and Tuesdays, something he did early in his career. He also took up golf in the summer of 2023 and plays regularly in the offseason.
Like James and other NBA stars, Williams has grown accustomed to the NFL’s version of load management. He gets regular “vet days” off on Wednesdays, participates in Thursday practice sessions, which are generally the most strenuous of the week, and then has flexibility on his participation level on Fridays.
More than that, Williams has started to, as he says, “take my diet more serious.”
ESPN
NFL Week 12 latest buzz, predictions, questions, fantasy tips
The buffering problems that Netflix had with the Mike Tyson-Jake Paul fight Friday raised some eyebrows around the league, since the NFL is scheduled to broadcast two Christmas Day games on Netflix this year. Obviously it would cause a major uproar if the stream cut out or froze in the middle of a spectacular Lamar Jackson scramble or Patrick Mahomes deep throw to the end zone. The NFL did check in with Netflix following the Tyson-Paul fight to ask about the problems and assess the likelihood that they could repeat themselves on Christmas. Netflix said the fight reached 60 million homes, and apparently part of the explanation to the league was that the unprecedented scale for them of broadcasting a live sporting event contributed to some of the challenges they faced.
But the NFL came away from the conversations reassured that Netflix had figured out what went wrong and that it won’t be a problem for Chiefs-Steelers or Ravens-Texans on Dec. 25. It will be the first time NFL games have been streamed on Netflix, though the league has experience with live-streamed games on Amazon, Peacock and ESPN+.
The Chiefs-Bills game Sunday on CBS averaged 31.2 million viewers, according to NFL Media. NFL games are averaging 17.5 million viewers this season, the most since 2015 through 11 weeks of a season. https://t.co/Srwf4LNCSN
— MarkMaske (@MarkMaske) November 20, 2024
The NFL’s Brian Rolapp to Ben Fischer of @SBJ on the Christmas doubleheader on Netflix: “No, we’re not worried. We’ve worked a ton with Netflix getting ready for this. I think there’s a reason they did the fight when they did the fight. Look, what they do is hard.” https://t.co/PDNZRWsoYu
— MarkMaske (@MarkMaske) November 20, 2024
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Pro Football Focus
Analyzing the best NFL head coaching work in 2024
Below is a ranking of the head coaches who have best maximized their opportunities for success this season, especially relative to expectation — sorry, Andy Reid and Dan Campbell; your teams were expected to be elite. In a sense, you could think of this as a rough ranking of the NFL’s Coach of the Year candidates. Either way, these eight coaches deserve to be lauded for admirable work.
Dan Quinn, Washington Commanders
Simply put, Washington has been one of the best storylines in the NFL this season. Despite entering 2024 with a new head coach, a new quarterback and a team littered with questions on both sides of the ball, the Commanders sit at 7-4 with an 87% chance to make the playoffs. All that success has arrived despite being projected for only 6.5 wins.
In his first year as a head coach since 2018, Quinn has been a seamless fit in the DMV. He’s fueled the rise of rookie Jayden Daniels as one of the better quarterbacks in football, with the No. 2 overall pick already ranking third in PFF overall grade and standing first in line to win Offensive Rookie of the Year. The team’s offense has hummed all year under Kliff Kingsbury, placing second in EPA per play, even though the unit has only one well-established star (Terry McLaurin).
Washington’s defense has lagged a bit, slotting 26th in EPA per play. Even then, Quinn has squeezed everything he can out of a unit that isn’t the most impressive on paper. Dorance Armstrong has enjoyed a career season with a 78.9 PFF pass-rushing grade; Jeremy Chinn has bounced back well with a 68.9 PFF overall grade; and rookie Mike Sainristil has emerged with a 68.0 PFF overall grade.
Unless Washington were to somehow miss the postseason at this stage, Quinn feels like the coach who has most elevated his baseline team.
Kevin O’Connell, Minnesota Vikings
Entering 2024, the Vikings were viewed as a weak link in possibly the NFL’s most formidable division. But instead of acquiescing to expectations — projected for only 6.5 wins — Minnesota is on track to reach the postseason. That’s almost entirely due to O’Connell’s shrewd coaching.
The Vikings’ quarterback room was considered one of the least impressive entering the season, and that was only augmented when rookie first-rounder J.J. McCarthy was ruled out for the year in August. But Sam Darnold has enjoyed a career resurgence in Minnesota, posting career-high marks in both overall (78.9) and passing (76.8) grades to rank as an above-average quarterback in 2024. The Vikings have also overcome injuries to stars T.J. Hockenson and Christian Darrisaw.
Mike Tomlin, Pittsburgh Steelers
Widely regarded as one of the NFL’s best head coaches, Tomlin has the unenviable task of resetting his own standards of excellence to win Coach of the Year. But that’s precisely what the Steelers’ head man has done in 2024, propelling Pittsburgh from what seemed to be an initially fringe playoff team to a potential contender.
Tomlin’s most crucial decision was benching Justin Fields for Russell Wilson in Week 7. While the move was initially met with skepticism, few are second-guessing it now. Since then, Pittsburgh ranks 10th in overall EPA per play and Wilson has exploited defenses better than Fields. Altogether, Pittsburgh’s offense has been much better than anticipated in Arthur Smith’s first year — courtesy of a breakout rookie season from Zach Frazier and a career-best year from Najee Harris.
Sean McDermott, Buffalo Bills
The Bills began 2024 without Stefon Diggs, Matt Milano and two of their top four players in defensive snaps. The results? A 9-2 record and a 99% chance of winning the AFC East yet again.
Although Josh Allen’s PFF overall grade has declined by almost seven points in 2024, Buffalo’s offense has remained a steady force under Joe Brady, ranking fourth in EPA per play. Khalil Shakir (80.5 PFF receiving grade) has helped mitigate the loss of Diggs and somewhat underwhelming play from both Dalton Kincaid and Dawson Knox. Rookie Keon Coleman, too, has provided bright spots while battling injuries in his first year by posting a 70.0 receiving mark.
Meanwhile, the Bills rank ninth in defensive EPA per play despite declining play from Rasul Douglas, A.J. Epenesa and others this season. Von Miller (76.3 PFF overall grade) has come back to life in his third season in Buffalo; Greg Rousseau (87.8 PFF pass-rush grade) has served as the steadying force in a pass-rush room where only two, not six, players have posted 20-plus pressures; and Taylor Rapp (90.0 PFF tackling grade, 81.8 PFF run-defense grade) has filled holes at safety.
Jim Harbaugh, Los Angeles Chargers
The long-maligned Chargers may have received their savior. Despite major uncertainty looming at wide receiver and on a defense that ranked 27th in EPA per play last season, Jim Harbaugh has completely revitalized this team in his first year.
Los Angeles’ defense has done a complete 180 under Jesse Minter, going from one of the worst units in football to the third-best defense in EPA per play. Elijah Molden, Poona Ford, Kristian Fulton and others have emerged, and veteran Khalil Mack (91.6 PFF overall grade) is still providing elite play. Maybe most impressive is that the Chargers’ defensive additions were not heralded by many, and that the existing talent on the roster has played at a higher level.
Jonathan Gannon, Arizona Cardinals
Arizona was projected to make a slight jump in Gannon’s second year, especially after getting back Kyler Murray for a full season. But to be 6-4, on a four-game win streak and atop the NFC West isn’t something anyone saw coming.
The Cardinals’ offense has been potent all season, slotting seventh in EPA per play. Murray has rediscovered his early-career magic, posting an 82.4 PFF overall grade — his highest since 2021. Trey McBride (81.7 PFF overall grade) has rounded into one of the premier tight ends in football after a solid second season. Paris Johnson Jr. (79.6 PFF overall grade) has developed into one of the better tackles in the league despite struggling in his first year.
Sean Payton, Denver Broncos
After a thoroughly lackluster first season in Denver, Sean Payton has quietly molded the Broncos into a solid team — and one of the best weekly watches on film.
Most of that progress stems from a defense playing at an extremely high level despite not boasting much household talent. Denver ranks second in EPA per play and has racked up the most total pressures in the league. Zach Allen (52 pressures) has wrecked games all year, but Brandon Jones, Jonathon Cooper, Justin Strnad and others have all grown immensely. Altogether, six Broncos have played 100-plus snaps and garnered 69.0-plus PFF overall grades.
Raheem Morris, Atlanta Falcons
The Falcons were prognosticated to be competitive in the NFC after an offseason of overhaul. Those dreams don’t always come true, but Atlanta’s has generally played out according to plan, sitting at 6-5 with a 72% chance to win the NFC South.
Zac Robinson’s offense has helped Bijan Robinson (91.6 PFF overall grade) show why he is one of the better all-around offensive players in football, while Darnell Mooney (74.3 PFF overall grade) has played like his impressive 2021 self.