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Blogging the Boys
Cowboys officially eliminated the Giants from playoff contention on Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving Day was a fun one for the Dallas Cowboys as they picked up their second win in five overall days and in the process got rid of a lot of bad statistics that were hovering around them. Thursday marked the first win at home of the season, and also had a running back run for a touchdown at AT&T Stadium for the first time this season. From a rushing perspective, Rico Dowdle, the touchdown scorer, even had over 100 yards rushing, the first time since Week 3 of last season that a Cowboys rusher accomplished that.
Getting rid of all that funk is a euphoric feeling which is why this weekend sets so nicely up to be a Cowboys fan. Times are a bit more tough on the other side of the game though, as the New York Giants have lost seven straight games. The G-Men have lost eight consecutive games against the Cowboys specifically, though.
To make matters worse, by defeating them on Thanksgiving the Cowboys officially made the Giants the first team to be eliminated from playoff contention this season.
Blogging the Boys
10 thoughts on the Cowboys 27-20 Thanksgiving win over the Giants
10. STILL IN THE HUNT
Don’t look now folks, but the Cowboys have themselves a winning streak. They currently sit with a 5-7 record, which, if we’re being honest, still looks pretty bad. But, with seven teams in the conference making the playoffs each year, they are not completely out of striking distance. The Washington Commanders (7-5) currently hold the seventh and final spot, but they have lost three straight games and are heading in the wrong direction. Arizona (6-5), Los Angeles (5-6), San Francisco (5-6), and Tampa Bay (5-6) are all also in the mix. It’s still premature to be thinking about the P-word, but if the Cowboys win a couple more games, it might be time to have a more serious conversation.
Big Blue View
‘Things I think’: Brian Daboll might be safe, for now, but tide keeps rising around New York Giants coach
The Giants are now 2-10. They have lost seven straight games. They have lost three straight games to teams with losing records of their own. They have sent their quarterback packing and it’s pretty apparent they don’t have a better one on the current roster. They have lost their best offensive and defensive lineman to injury from units that were adequate, at best, with them healthy.
John Mara wants to have patience. He knows that to achieve real success, to make the Giants into a legitimate NFL team instead of the sad sacks they currently are, there has to be stability. Since the Giants ushered Tom Coughlin out the door after the 2015 season, Mara and Steve Tisch have not been able to find a regime that could provide it.
They have tried installing up-and-coming head coaches. They have tried a retread. They have tried turning to an old friend to fix their broken organization. When that didn’t work, they — finally — went outside the organization in an effort to find the answer.
Right now, it is clear that isn’t working.
The Giants shockingly started the Daboll-Joe Schoen era 7-2. They stumbled the rest of the way, but managed to win a playoff game. Mara proclaimed “we’re back” after that playoff victory. Daboll won Coach of the Year. The Giants acted like they were back. Daniel Jones got paid. Schoen traded draft capital for an injury-plagued, past-his-prime tight end.
Since then, nothing has gone right.
The Giants are 10-26-1. The product is getting worse rather than better.
They did not embarrass themselves on Thursday in front of a national audience the way they had on Sunday in front of their home fans. They at least played with some resolve. They lost to a Dallas team, though, without Dak Prescott, Zack Martin, DeMarcus Lawrence and Trevon Diggs. A Dallas team that saw star wide receiver CeeDee Lamb drop three passes and take much of the second half off as he deals with injuries of his own. A Dallas team that had been 0-5 at home.
Bleeding Green Nation
Eagles-Ravens Final Injury Report: DeVonta Smith questionable, Darius Slay OUT
Week 13 game status updates.
Slay suffered a concussion during the Eagles’ Week 12 win and did not practice this week. For the second time this season, Isaiah Rodgers will start in his place. Rodgers has played relatively well in Slay’s absence; quarterbacks have just a 79.8 passer rating when throwing his way. Slay might be able to return to the field in Week 14.
The Eagles ruled three players QUESTIONABLE: DeVonta Smith, Johnny Wilson, and Sydney Brown.
Bleeding Green Nation
The Eagles’ fullback suffered a season-ending injury
Bad news.
Philadelphia Eagles fullback/linebacker Ben VanSumeren suffered a season-ending knee injury during the team’s Friday practice, according to a report from the Inquirer’s Jeff McLane.
This sucks.
BVS, who originally signed with the Eagles as an undrafted rookie free agent last year, had carved out a role as a lead blocker on offense in addition to providing depth at linebacker and contributing on special teams. All told, he played 22 offensive snaps, 213 special teams snaps, and zero defensive snaps this season.
It remains to be seen if the Eagles have another player in mind for their fullback role or if they just scrap it moving forward. The guess here is the latter.
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ESPN
What’s next after Bears fire head coach Matt Eberflus
Thursday marked the Bears’ sixth straight loss and brought Eberflus’ record to 14-32, including 5-19 in one-score games. That is the worst record of any coach with at least 20 one-score games in NFL history.
“We did enough as players to win this game,” Bears wide receiver Keenan Allen said Thursday.
What was Eberflus’ fatal flaw?
It was a combination of things. Developing Williams into a franchise quarterback was the priority, so hiring and firing Shane Waldron as offensive coordinator in-season didn’t help. And the fact the previous O-coordinator, Luke Getsy, was fired by the Bears in January and by the Las Vegas Raiders on Nov. 4 did not speak well of Eberflus’ ability to pick coaches. In fact, he fired eight of them during his two-plus seasons.
Also, the Bears were terrible in close games, and several coaching decisions stood out.
How likely is it the next coach will be offensive-minded to help Williams’ development?
It’s likely.
If Williams continues to show progress under interim offensive coordinator Thomas Brown, it’s hard to envision Brown not being interviewed to become Chicago’s next head coach. Continuity is important when developing a young quarterback.
If Williams is comfortable with Brown and believes he’s the best choice, it will be interesting to see the impact of that endorsement.
What’s the status of GM Ryan Poles?
In January, Poles said it was his call to retain Eberflus, citing stability as a main reason, but he said he gathered input from Warren and McCaskey to make the decision.
The unknown factor going into this hiring process is Poles. Warren didn’t hire Poles. Poles had the final say on hiring Eberflus in 2022 and was involved in the hiring of the two failed offensive coordinators — Luke Getsy and Shane Waldron. The Bears’ search committee hired Poles in 2022 and did the first-round interviews of all the head-coaching candidates, but Poles handled the second-round interviews for head coach by himself.
If Poles is retained, his opinion will factor into the head-coach decision, and the Bears might present him as the main decision-maker. But there’s a perception around the league that Warren is the one making the calls.
NFL.com
Raiders QB Aidan O’Connell: Botched snap in loss to Chiefs ‘completely my fault’
“It’s completely my fault,” O’Connell said. “I was looking out to the right to make sure the guys were set and I started clapping. In my head I was thinking, signal the ball to get the ball, but when I start clapping it tells Jackson to basically snap the ball. Jackson did exactly what he should have done and I clapped too early.
“… Super tough, but there’s really no one to blame but myself. So, that’s probably the hardest part to swallow.”
The Raiders might not have even had a chance if it wasn’t for O’Connell, who completed 5 of 7 passes for 55 yards during a seamless two-minute drill which began from their own 8-yard line. And while the would-be field goal attempt from the Chiefs’ 32-yard line was no sure thing — especially considering kicker Daniel Carlson missed three FGs on the day — O’Connell’s gaffe was the enduring blemish.
Front Office Sports
Why Bluesky Is Not a Serious Threat to Sports Twitter
Bluesky has captured a lot of attention as a potential X/Twitter killer. But for the sports world, there hasn’t been a groundswell of defections.
“X remains a popular social media platform where millions of NFL fans congregate to share their thoughts on the latest developments related to their favorite sport,” an NFL spokesperson tells FOS. “As we noted last week with the launch of a new feature on X called the NFL Portal, we’re constantly looking to increase the number of ways fans can easily engage with the NFL across all forms of media.”
As far as Bluesky, the spokesperson said the NFL is “aware of Bluesky but currently does not have an official presence on the platform.”
FOS also sent inquiries to the NBA, NHL, WNBA, MLS, and MLB. MLB and MLS declined to comment when asked about their approach to X and Bluesky. Inquiries made with the NBA, WNBA, NWSL, and NHL were not returned. None of those leagues have an active presence on Bluesky as of Wednesday.
License and Verification
For Bluesky to be a true rival to X, the first step would be a verification system for leagues, teams, networks, athletes, and journalists. FOS asked Bluesky if that was in the works and a spokesperson responded saying “you can verify your account” through a wonky process that only changes part of the @ handle and has no other ways for users to know whether the account is owned by the organization or person it purports to be.
Under Musk, X imploded the verification system where the blue-and-white check marks were given to those notable individuals and institutions (for free) who verified their identities. When Musk began letting users pay for a check mark last year, the spread of misinformation on the site ramped up as blue checks appeared on accounts pretending to be, for example, ESPN NFL insider Adam Schefter.
[S]o far, no major U.S. league has made a noticeable push to post on Bluesky or cut back on their X posting habits.
“Being on the platform does not mean you’re condoning its owner or the offensive content and misinformation on it,” says Chris Botta, a former New York Islanders executive who has worked the last decade consulting with pro sports organizations. “Leagues and teams have the opportunity to control their own message. As long as they work hard at doing that and uphold their own belief systems and standards, I don’t see why they’d have to give up the large audience they’ve built over a long time.”
Discussion topics
Bears’ handling of Matt Eberflus firing shows why bad teams stay bad.
www.nbcsports.com/nfl/profootb…— ProFootballTalk (@profootballtalk.bsky.social) 2024-11-29T21:36:10.339Z