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Bleeding Green Nation
Referee says C.J. Gardner-Johnson was ejected for “basically taunting”
The Eagles safety was flagged twice for unsportsmanlike conduct against the Commanders and was forced to leave the game in the second half.
The Eagles had a rough go personnel-wise on Sunday against the Commanders, first losing Jalen Hurts and Will Shipley to concussions, and then losing safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson, who was ejected shortly after halftime. CJGJ received two flags for unsportsmanlike conduct, with the second resulting in him being escorted to the locker room.
After the game, referee Shawn Smith was asked about the ejection, saying:
“He’s basically taunting the opponent on the second foul. He already had a first one earlier in the game that we had announced as his first towards disqualification. So, this became his second. He was taunting the players so that’s a disqualification by rule.”
Smith didn’t offer any additional details about what CJGJ said, or why it elevated to the level of taunting or an ejection.
Respectfully got kicked out for nothing, I play with passion and fire!! Guys was chirping all day what u expect !!
— C.J. Gardner-Johnson (@CGJXXIII) December 22, 2024
Bleeding Green Nation
Eagles vs. Commanders: The good, the bad, and the ugly
Highlights and lowlights from Philadelphia’s Week 16 loss.
With 4:30 left in the first quarter, the Eagles getting flagged for too many men on the field on defense after the Commanders’ Frankie Luvu interception. The first-and-10 play at the Eagles’ 25 turned into a first-and-five. How does that happen this late into the season?
With 9:29 left in the first quarter, Hurts getting dinged on a second-and-20 at the Washington 34 on the Eagles’ second drive of the game. Hurts scrambled free out of the pocket for 13 yards when Washington linebackers Frankie Luvu and Bobby Wagner converged on him at once. Luvu buried his right shoulder into Hurts, who was helped up by Jordan Mailata and you could clearly see in Hurts’ eyes that he did not know where he was. The officials alertly saw it and escorted him off the field. Hurts was wobbled by the hit.
Hurts’ intentional grounding call on first-and-10 at the Washington 24 on the Eagles’ second drive after the Nolan Smith fumble recovery. Hurts should have been smarter with the ball.
A rare drop by DeVonta Smith on a third-and-five at the Washington 22 with 2:07 to play. Who knows if Smith would have scored, but a reception there would have taken more valuable time off the clock and pressed Washington to use more timeouts, instead of the Elliott field goal and giving the Commanders back the ball with 1:58 left.
Daniels’ 29-yard scramble to the Eagles’ 12 on a fourth-and-11, his second fourth-down conversion, on the last play of the third quarter. Three plays later, Zaccheaus scored his first Commanders’ touchdown on a four-yard toss. It pulled Washington, which had turned the ball over five times and had trailed 14-0 and 21-7, to within one score, 27-21, with 13:33 left.
Slay, who had played so well in the first quarter, getting beat long by Dyami Brown for a 51-yard reception on a first-and-10 at the Commanders’ four with 10:23 left in the half. It changed the dynamic of the game and led to the Commanders getting within 21-14 at halftime.
Bleeding Green Nation
Eagles annoyingly lose to Commanders with Jalen Hurts getting knocked out of the game, 36 to 33
Kudos to Jayden Daniels and the Washington offense for putting up a big performance against the NFL’s top-ranked defense. The Commanders really battled despite turning the ball over FIVE times. They were aided, of course, by the Eagles making too many mistakes and playing sloppy football.
In the end, this is a costly loss. With a win, the Eagles would’ve officially clinched the NFC East and been no worse than the No. 2 seed in the NFC playoff picture while staying alive for a first-round bye. Now, the Eagles will have to wait until Week 17 for their opportunity to clinch the division.
Big Blue View
New York Giants hold No. 1 pick in 2025 NFL Draft
The Giants have sole possesion of No.1 overall
The New York Giants currently hold the first overall pick in the 2025 NFL draft.
The Giants suffered a 34-7 blowout loss to the Atlanta Falcons in Week 16, falling to 2-13 on the season. That was enough to ensure that the Giants would hold on to the second overall pick regardless of what else happened in Week 16.
The Giants’ exact position was pending the afternoon game between the Las Vegas Raiders and Jacksonville Jaguars.
The Giants caught a break as the Raiders beat the Jaguars, 19-14. The Raiders had previously held the top pick thanks to the strength of schedule tiebreaker. That boosted them to 3-12 on the season, leaving the Giants as the sole remaining two-win team.
Big Blue View
‘Kudos & Wet Willies’: New York Giants winners and losers after blowout loss to Falcons
The Giants continue to find ways to embarrass themselves
Drew Lock — The only way I can describe what we saw from Lock on Sunday is that what we saw after his early touchdown pass to Tyrone Tracy Jr. was Mike Glennon/Jake Fromm level quarterback play.
A pair of pick sixes. A sack/fumble. He finished an almost-respectable 22 of 39 for 210 yards, but eight straight garbage time completions on the Giants’ final possession made his numbers look far better than they actually were.
Lock is clearly not a good NFL quarterback.
Greg Van Roten and Evan Neal — The right side of the line was victimized a number of times on Sunday. Van Roten has been really good for the Giants this season. Not Sunday, when he gave up a sack and three total pressures. Neal had been playing pretty well until Sunday, but he and Van Roten looked comically inept on the third quarter pick six by Atlanta’s Matthew Judon. Neal gave up two pressures and committed three penalties.
Brian Daboll — The Giants’ coach just got his name attached to a single-season franchise record 10th straight loss. He managed it in embarrassing fashion, watching a mediocre team with a rookie quarterback making his first NFL start score 34 consecutive points. The Giants were inept on offense and helpless on defense. Daboll is now 17-31-1 (.357 winning percentage) in nearly three seasons as head coach.
Blogging the Boys
Dallas Cowboys beat Tampa Bay Buccaneers recap: Cowboys show plenty of fight in domination of Tampa
The Dallas Cowboys were formally, officially and mathematically eliminated from the playoffs on Sunday afternoon. They made that bed themselves, but technically speaking it was Dan Quinn’s team who cast the final blow to lock things into place.
You would think that this would have sent the Cowboys into a somber mood that we would see from here on out through the season’s merciful ending. It isn’t uncommon for NFL teams to wave the white flag, pack up shop and live to fight another season.
But that would not be the case for the 2024 Dallas Cowboys. They stood tall, firm and threw everything they had (seemingly) at a Tampa Bay Buccaneers team who is square in the middle of their own playoff race.
The Cowboys fought, scratched, clawed and did whatever they had to do to prove to us that they are not ready for us to write the long-term story on who they are. Perhaps that will wind up being something rather legitimate.
On Sunday night this team was elite and put forth an incredible effort.