The Ringer - Everything You Need to Know About Week 10 of the 2020 NFL Season 2020-11-18T16:03:59-05:00http://www.theringer.com/rss/stream/213281412020-11-18T16:03:59-05:002020-11-18T16:03:59-05:00Hail Murray, What’s Wrong With the Bears, and the Patriots Make It Look Easy
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<p>Plus, Chris and Warren discuss the continued underachieving for the Chicago Bears</p> <div id="407er9"><iframe src="https://open.spotify.com/embed-podcast/episode/06co6ZI5Am72Cv4EOBeRyk" style="border: 0; width: 100%; height: 232px;" allowfullscreen="" allow="encrypted-media"></iframe></div>
<p id="h1Lgme"><br><a href="https://open.spotify.com/episode/06co6ZI5Am72Cv4EOBeRyk?si=psU4LXU8SIerjOGp0cdrAQ">Chris and Warren discuss Kyler Murray’s</a> huge Hail Mary to DeAndre Hopkins for the win against the Buffalo Bills, as well as the continued underachieving for the Chicago Bears (5:00). Later, they discuss Bill Belichick and the New England Patriots’ knack for coming prepared for bad weather games (18:00) and much more.</p>
<p id="y9G70d"><strong>Subscribe:</strong> <a href="https://open.spotify.com/show/3sYLdv261f5jLvEgDLU9PD?si=PwTF-GumR7qtUP5FZdCKOQ">Spotify</a> / <a href="https://go.redirectingat.com/?id=&xs=1&url=https%3A%2F%2Fitunes.apple.com%2Fus%2Fpodcast%2Fthe-ringer-nfl-show%2Fid1109282822%3Fmt%3D2&xcust=xid:fr1570809570442jba%7Cxid:fr1571141035709iah%7Cxid:fr1571400354183cfa%7Cxid:fr1571745693269afb%7Cxid:fr1572005002168iib%7Cxid:fr1572350612110bei">Apple Podcasts</a> / <a href="https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/the-ringer/ringer-nfl-show">Stitcher</a> / <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/ringernflshow">RSS</a></p>
https://www.theringer.com/2020/11/18/21573896/hail-murray-whats-wrong-with-the-bears-and-the-patriots-make-it-look-easyChris VernonWarren Sharp2020-11-16T15:19:46-05:002020-11-16T15:19:46-05:00How Could an Injury to Drew Brees Affect the Saints?
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<p>The future Hall of Fame QB has multiple cracked ribs and a collapsed lung. The severity of his ailment could have a huge impact on New Orleans’s ability to contend.</p> <aside id="H1tDSP"><div data-anthem-component="readmore" data-anthem-component-data='{"stories":[{"title":"Everything You Need to Know About Week 10 of the 2020 NFL Season ","url":"https://www.theringer.com/nfl/2020/11/13/21564100/everything-you-need-to-know-about-week-10-of-the-2020-nfl-season"}]}'></div></aside><p id="KdsRYW"><em>This post was updated Monday morning to reflect new information about Drew Brees’s injury.</em></p>
<p id="0YJo3S">Whatever high the Saints were riding a week after their picture-perfect prime-time win over the Buccaneers, they came down from it Sunday afternoon. The good news: New Orleans picked up its sixth consecutive win, beating the 49ers, 27-13. The bad news: Star quarterback Drew Brees suffered a rib injury in the second quarter that forced him to the bench after halftime. And even though the Saints’ platoon of Jameis Winston and Taysom Hill was enough to see Sunday’s result through, Brees’s departure was a stark reminder that New Orleans’s title hopes ride on the play and health of its QB.</p>
<div class="c-float-left"><aside id="sKhwwq"><div data-anthem-component="readmore" data-anthem-component-data='{"stories":[{"title":"DeAndre Hopkins’s Hail Mary TD Beat the Bills and Bolstered Arizona’s Playoff Prospects ","url":"https://www.theringer.com/nfl/2020/11/15/21566766/deandre-hopkins-kyler-murray-cardinals-hail-mary-bills"},{"title":"Everything You Need to Know at the NFL’s 2020 Midseason Point","url":"https://www.theringer.com/nfl/2020/11/12/21562008/everything-you-need-to-know-at-the-nfls-2020-midseason-point"}]}'></div></aside></div>
<p id="pLmrd7">With under nine minutes left in the first half, Brees was sacked by San Francisco’s Kentavius Street, who was called for roughing the passer. Brees—who completed three of seven passes for 19 yards at that point—<a href="https://twitter.com/DFSPoochie/status/1328100376327954446?s=20">came up slowly after the play</a>, reaching for his rib cage as he got up. He remained in the game, but he barely touched the ball the rest of the drive (Hill recorded two carries before Alvin Kamara scored a 2-yard touchdown run). Brees started the next drive, throwing six passes, including a 3-yard touchdown to Kamara with a minute left in the half, but that marked Brees’s last throw of the day. Winston opened the second half behind center with Hill spelling him occasionally, while Brees looked on from the sidelines.</p>
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<p lang="en" dir="ltr">Here's Brees on the sideline <a href="https://t.co/lnKphEtvSo">pic.twitter.com/lnKphEtvSo</a></p>— Nick Underhill (@nick_underhill) <a href="https://twitter.com/nick_underhill/status/1328112883297902594?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 15, 2020</a>
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<p id="MB4gtH">Saints coach Sean Payton told reporters after the game that Brees told him he didn’t feel “capable of playing” ahead of the second half. “He felt strong enough about letting me know,” Payton <a href="https://twitter.com/Saints/status/1328139009500057601?s=20">said</a>. “It’s probably gonna be the first time in 15 years that (an injury) was significant enough to where he felt like he couldn’t function in the second half.”</p>
<p id="ZkeP0G">Brees underwent <a href="https://twitter.com/Saints/status/1328138774174437376?s=20">an MRI and X-ray</a> on his ribs to determine the extent of his injury, and the results came back Monday morning. According <a href="https://twitter.com/WerderEdESPN/status/1328423168512548865">to ESPN’s Ed Werder</a>, Brees suffered multiple rib fractures—on both sides of his chest—in addition to a collapsed lung. The injuries were suffered over two weeks, and he came into the game with <a href="https://twitter.com/RapSheet/status/1328424409846214656?s=20">at least one cracked rib</a>. Per <a href="https://twitter.com/TomPelissero/status/1328349625804333057">NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero</a>, Brees is also dealing with a shoulder injury that has limited his practice time in recent weeks. It’s not clear how long Brees will need to recover, but <a href="https://twitter.com/TomPelissero/status/1328424098561667075">the Saints are preparing</a> for him to miss some time.</p>
<p id="iRnAlo">Hill—<a href="https://www.neworleanssaints.com/team/depth-chart">listed</a> as the Saints’ no. 2 QB, despite attempting 18 career passes—wasn’t asked to step outside of his typical role as a do-everything playmaker. He registered eight carries for 45 yards and did not attempt a pass. Neither he nor Winston appeared to raise or lower the Saints’ level of play on Sunday, though the offense had struggled to generate much prior to Brees’s departure. New Orleans entered the week with the NFL’s sixth-most efficient offense, <a href="https://www.footballoutsiders.com/stats/nfl/team-efficiency/2020">according to</a> Football Outsiders’s DVOA metrics. But two of its first three scoring drives (all led by Brees) began in 49ers’ territory, thanks to the Saints’ defense and special teams that carried the weight for an offense that averaged only 4.2 yards per play and went 2-for-12 on third down. New Orleans forced four turnovers (two interceptions and two fumbles) and registered two sacks. Receiver Deonte Harris’s 75-yard kickoff return early in the second quarter helped set up the Saints’ first scoring drive of the day.</p>
<p id="75qPzK">The Saints are one of the most complete teams in the NFL and have played like it all year. Entering the week, they <a href="https://www.footballoutsiders.com/stats/nfl/team-efficiency/2020">ranked</a> no. 1 in Football Outsiders’s overall team DVOA ratings, boasting the no. 7 defense and no. 5 special teams. With a healthy Brees, this team has the makings of a legitimate title contender, even in the middle of what’s been a season of tangible decline, best defined by the cratering of <a href="https://www.theringer.com/nfl/2020/9/24/21452616/drew-brees-arm-strength-new-orleans-saints">Brees’s deep passing numbers</a>. But more than halfway through the season, it’s unclear how competitive the Saints can be if they’re without Brees for a long stretch of time.</p>
<p id="t56QXa">A positive note for Saints fans, however, is how last season’s team didn’t really miss a beat on offense after Brees missed five games with a hand injury and Teddy Bridgewater replaced him. But Bridgewater is a good fit stylistically for the Saints’ offense. Throughout his career, he’s proved to be an efficient passer, both with New Orleans and this season as Carolina’s starter. Winston is far different. The former Buc is more erratic, and last season threw 30 interceptions (4.8 percent of his throws were intercepted), including an NFL-record seven pick-sixes. Winston’s aggressiveness has cost his teams in the past, but Payton praised Winston’s ability to quickly pick up New Orleans’s playbook and function within the system after Sunday’s win. Brees’s potential absence isn’t ideal, but there’s reason to believe that New Orleans could overcome it, just as it has before.</p>
<p class="c-end-para" id="CedJAq">Payton has constructed his offense to feature plenty of talented playmakers: Kamara, who scored each of New Orleans’s three touchdowns and tallied 83 receiving yards on Sunday, is one of the NFL’s most dynamic running backs, and Michael Thomas, who was held to two catches on seven targets, is one of the NFL’s top pass catchers when healthy. Leaning on one or the other, in tandem with a standout showing within the other facets of the team, was enough to overcome a banged-up Niners squad. But whether or not the Saints can compete against the NFL’s best without Brees in the lineup isn’t a guarantee. The Saints have pushed all their chips in—and a Brees injury is certainly a setback they don’t want.</p>
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https://www.theringer.com/nfl/2020/11/15/21566824/drew-brees-rib-injury-new-orleans-saintsKaelen Jones2020-11-16T14:03:01-05:002020-11-16T14:03:01-05:00Turns Out the DeAndre Hopkins Trade Was Even More Lopsided Than We Thought
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<p>When Houston traded its star wideout to Arizona in March, many in the football world were shocked. Yet eight months, one Hail Mary, and one massive firing later, the deal somehow looks even more stunning.</p> <aside id="BkxBgM"><div data-anthem-component="readmore" data-anthem-component-data='{"stories":[{"title":"Everything You Need to Know About Week 10 of the 2020 NFL Season ","url":"https://www.theringer.com/nfl/2020/11/13/21564100/everything-you-need-to-know-about-week-10-of-the-2020-nfl-season"}]}'></div></aside><p id="CQcr6m">On Sunday, the biggest trade of the 2020 offseason officially became the worst trade in years. DeAndre Hopkins made the football play of the season at the end of the Bills-Cardinals game, hauling down a Hail Mary pass while surrounded by three Buffalo defenders. Earlier in the day, his former team managed just seven points against the Cleveland Browns, and did so with an interim head coach at the helm because the guy who traded Hopkins away has already been fired.</p>
<p id="UDPG0z">Rarely do we see such immediate, definitive results from a huge offseason deal, but then again it is rare to see deals like the Hopkins trade at all. On March 16, as the United States was, uh, <em>busy</em>, the Houston Texans were self-inflicting their own disaster. Head coach-slash-GM Bill O’Brien traded Hopkins to Arizona for the 40th pick in the 2020 draft, a fourth-rounder in 2021, and running back David Johnson. The <a href="https://www.theringer.com/nfl/2020/3/16/21182588/houston-texans-deandre-hopkins-trade-bill-obrien-plan">entire</a> <a href="https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/28911663/deandre-hopkins-trade-grade-texans-flunked-cardinals-got-elite-receiver">football</a>-<a href="https://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2020/05/04/nfl-schedule-release-season-fmia-peter-king/?cid=nbcsports">media intelligentsia</a> quickly declared the trade a catastrophe for the Texans—after all, how do you ship the best receiver in the game away and not even get a first-round pick in return? Yet somehow, it has worked out even better for the Cardinals than most initially thought, and even worse for the Texans. </p>
<div class="c-float-left"><aside id="zL5ENq"><div data-anthem-component="readmore" data-anthem-component-data='{"stories":[{"title":"The Winners and Losers of NFL Week 10 ","url":"https://www.theringer.com/nfl/2020/11/16/21566938/nfl-week-10-winners-losers-deandre-hopkins-kyler-murray"},{"title":"DeAndre Hopkins’s Hail Mary TD Beat the Bills and Bolstered Arizona’s Playoff Prospects ","url":"https://www.theringer.com/nfl/2020/11/15/21566766/deandre-hopkins-kyler-murray-cardinals-hail-mary-bills"}]}'></div></aside></div>
<p id="vWJyEo">Let’s start with the prayer that was answered on Sunday. The Bills took a 30-26 lead late in the fourth quarter after streaky savior Josh Allen tossed a touchdown pass to Stefon Diggs. Ironically, Diggs was also dealt to Buffalo on March 16, hours after Hopkins was traded to Arizona. But this week, Diggs went first and Hopkins delivered the second act. Arizona got the ball back with under a minute remaining and drove to the Bills’ 43-yard line. Then, with just 11 seconds remaining, Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray took the shotgun snap, ran to his left, stutter-stepped a defender, squared his shoulders, and ripped a pass toward the end zone. As Murray <a href="https://twitter.com/K1/status/1328137157630836736?s=20">tweeted</a> after the game, “Shiiiiiiiiiiiiid..... [Hopkins] down there somewhere!”</p>
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<p id="d0bnhl">Hopkins <em>was</em> down there, but he was barely visible. The receiver’s arms rose above the Bills defenders while his legs snaked out to his sides like a Kraken rising from the sea—except this Kraken wears XXXXL-sized Jumpman branded gloves. </p>
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<cite>Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images</cite>
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<p id="bDgHsF">The players Hopkins subsumes in that photo include Buffalo safeties Jordan Poyer and Micah Hyde, widely regarded as the best safety duo in the NFL, plus cornerback Tre’Davious White, a reigning All-Pro. “They were in position,” Hopkins <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y3LAcmvEhWg">said</a> in his postgame press conference. “It was just a better catch by I.”</p>
<p id="mKKS1u">Hopkins was already one of the league’s best receivers when he was traded, but in the past 24 hours, he has become an icon (you can tell because he said “I” instead of “me.”). His 67 catches and 861 receiving yards this season are both second in the NFL to Diggs, <a href="https://youtu.be/yTThyQPoXxY?t=95">the Marcus Paige</a> of this game. But Hopkins coleads the league in first downs (42) and holds the outright lead among all wide receivers in broken tackles (nine), according to <a href="https://www.pro-football-reference.com/years/2020/receiving_advanced.htm">Pro-Football-Reference</a>. Most importantly, the Cardinals have been winning since he showed up. In Week 1, Arizona beat division-rival San Francisco 24-20, largely because Hopkins had 151 receiving yards on 14 catches—that broke Larry Fitzgerald’s franchise record for receptions in a game and set Hopkins’s career high. In Week 7, Hopkins had 100 yards and a touchdown in Arizona’s 37-34 overtime win over division-rival Seattle (the game when DK Metcalf <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ImdWvuzsCY">ran down that Cardinals defender</a>). On Sunday, Hopkins single-handedly (or more accurately, double-handedly) gave the Cardinals another win. When he went up for that catch, Arizona was in position to be third in the NFC West. When he came down, the Cardinals were first.</p>
<p id="ShkGio">This type of instantaneous impact from a trade is rare, especially from a receiver. Plenty of star wideouts have been dealt in the past few years, like Odell Beckham Jr. and Antonio Brown, but they have not had anywhere near the influence on their new teams that Hopkins does. The best recent example of a team getting season-altering production from a trade is the Cowboys, who landed Raiders receiver Amari Cooper at the deadline two years ago. That deal may have been even more impactful than the one for Hopkins; Dallas was 3-4 before Cooper arrived and 7-2 after, and Cooper’s emergence confirmed that Dak Prescott was the Cowboys’ franchise quarterback. Similarly, <a href="https://www.theringer.com/nfl/2018/11/19/18102867/chicago-bears-khalil-mack-changed-nfc-north-division">Khalil Mack created a seismic shift for Chicago</a> when he was dealt there two years ago. But the Bears paid two first-rounders to get Mack, and Dallas gave up a first-round pick to acquire Cooper. All the Cardinals gave up for Hopkins was a second-rounder and Johnson, who might have been released if he hadn’t been traded. </p>
<div id="gONOA2"><iframe src="https://open.spotify.com/embed-podcast/episode/0PqXDtm4E3kZhYR3gPWnp0" style="border: 0; width: 100%; height: 232px;" allowfullscreen="" allow="encrypted-media"></iframe></div>
<p id="z5FSxE"><br>To find a star player who has contributed so much so soon and was sent away for so little, we have to go back to New England’s trade for Randy Moss a decade ago, when Bill Belichick sent a fourth-rounder to Oakland for the disgruntled Raiders receiver. Moss immediately un-gruntled himself in New England and set the single-season record with 23 touchdown catches. But even the Moss trade is an imperfect comparison. Moss was 30 at the time and coming off the worst season of his career. He faced doubts about his attitude, and he was not beloved by the Raiders’ fan base. Hopkins, meanwhile, was one of Houston’s holy trinity of homegrown heroes along with Deshaun Watson and J.J. Watt. He was the team’s best receiver since Andre Johnson and on his way to becoming the best skill player in franchise history. At 28 years old, he is smack dab in the center of his prime. And Houston just gave him away. Superstars have been traded in their primes, or for almost nothing in return, or immediately been elite for their new team—much to the chagrin of the fan base that loved them. But rarely does a trade check all three of those boxes.</p>
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<p lang="en" dir="ltr">Still holds true to this day <a href="https://t.co/gr49mwxxrQ">pic.twitter.com/gr49mwxxrQ</a></p>— Nick (@SGAxNIKOLAIx661) <a href="https://twitter.com/SGAxNIKOLAIx661/status/1328138291284111360?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 16, 2020</a>
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<p id="zBzwCT">Making this situation even more ridiculous is the fact that this trade looks like a catastrophe for the Texans’ present and future regimes. Houston traded Hopkins as part of its plan to <em>Win Now With Bill O’Brien</em>, and that plan is not going well. O’Brien was fired after Week 4, and the team is still reeling from his tenure. Houston managed just one touchdown on Sunday—the same as Hopkins did for the Cardinals—and now the Texans are 2-7 on the season, tied for the third-worst record in football. The offense can’t consistently move the ball (they have the fourth-fewest first downs in the league this season) despite having Deshaun Watson at quarterback, and the receivers the Texans brought in to replace Hopkins—Randall Cobb and Brandin Cooks—have been mediocre at best. Houston’s passing game is bad, but its running game is emblematic of the team’s organizational failure. The Texans should have a strong rushing attack after trading Hopkins for Johnson and spending the equivalent of three first-rounders and three second-rounders on their offensive line. But Houston’s run game ranks dead last in the NFL, according to<a href="https://www.footballoutsiders.com/stats/nfl/team-offense/2020"> Football Outsiders DVOA</a>. Johnson went on injured reserve with a concussion last week. Meanwhile, the player the Texans drafted with that second-rounder—defensive tackle Ross Blacklock—had his most memorable moment of the season in Week 2 when he was ejected for throwing a punch in Houston’s game against the Ravens.</p>
<p id="5XmEJh">Somehow, Houston’s future is even bleaker than its present. The Texans would be on track to have a top-five draft pick next year, but they already traded away their first- and second-rounders in the 2021 draft. Not only have they given away all their good picks, but Houston is also running out of spending money. The team signed Watson to a big extension this summer and lost negotiations with left tackle Laremy Tunsil by <a href="https://www.theringer.com/nfl/2020/4/27/21238113/bill-obrien-laremy-tunsil-contract-deandre-hopkins">about as much as any team has lost any negotiation over the last 20 years</a>. Subsequently, the Texans are projected to be in the bottom quarter of teams in terms of cap space for next season. But teams who spend that much money are supposed to be good. The franchises with less projected 2021 cap space than Houston are a combined 36-17-1 this year, while Houston is 2-7. The Texans are light on talent, cash, and draft picks, and the front office is being run by <a href="https://sports.yahoo.com/its-hard-not-to-look-at-the-texans-jack-easterby-and-understand-why-the-nfl-keeps-expanding-the-rooney-rule-224257978.html">a former pastor with little football experience</a>. Unless they get a coach who can transform this team, Houston looks ready to turn Watson into the NFL’s Damian Lillard: a fun and beloved star who will waste his prime on a noncompetitive team.</p>
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<p class="c-end-para" id="pNVtMQ"><br>No wonder Hopkins wanted out. He knew asking for a raise<a href="https://www.si.com/nfl/2020/04/21/deandre-hopkins-on-cardinals-trade-houston-bill-obrien-design-career"> would force a trade</a>, and he eventually got dealt to Arizona, who signed him to a two-year deal for $55 million, making him the highest paid non-quarterback in the league. It’s safe to say this was a win for Hopkins, who got gold and is now getting glory; a win for the Cardinals, who are racking up wins on the field, too; and a mega-loss for the Texans, who mortgaged their future for a nonexistent present. Rarely do we see trades like the Hopkins deal, but even rarer can we so quickly judge how the move works out.</p>
<aside id="xvpHdR"><div data-anthem-component="newsletter" data-anthem-component-data='{"slug":"ringer_newsletter"}'></div></aside>
https://www.theringer.com/nfl/2020/11/16/21570012/deandre-hopkins-bills-cardinals-trade-texans-bill-obrienDanny Heifetz2020-11-16T08:21:53-05:002020-11-16T08:21:53-05:00Lamar, the “Raining” MVP
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<p>Plus: Diggs vs. Hopkins, rando RBs, and Week 10 winners, waivers, and burns</p> <div id="CbujCw"><iframe src="https://open.spotify.com/embed-podcast/show/0XLPhMzcKmxoNziHkVkYpR" style="border: 0; width: 100%; height: 232px;" allowfullscreen="" allow="encrypted-media"></iframe></div>
<p id="q12SK9"><a href="https://open.spotify.com/show/0XLPhMzcKmxoNziHkVkYpR?si=hPyf9ArRR6Wirei0nHgLKg">We lead the show with our continued disappointment</a> with Lamar Jackson before diving into our winners from the week, adding to <em>The Ringer</em> Fantasy Burn Book, and recommending our top waiver adds after Week 9.</p>
<p id="aA2V3A">Headlines:</p>
<p id="rK9lpO">Lamar Jackson (1:50)</p>
<p id="WIHm2h"></p>
<p id="kxymKq">Winners:</p>
<p id="pukLBW">DeAndre Hopkins and Stefon Diggs (13:22)</p>
<p id="2Mwlba">Random running backs (19:10)</p>
<p id="FgDDXK">The Buccaneers (25:40)</p>
<p id="M6Pi6E"></p>
<p id="MYRzF7">Fantasy Burn Book:</p>
<p id="UxlIHD">Jonathan Taylor, Colts (29:50)</p>
<p id="jtWtyl"></p>
<p id="PlkpGU">Waiver Adds (32:25)</p>
<p id="FEaTA7"></p>
<p id="Tf4cFp">Email us: Ringerfantasyfootball@gmail.com</p>
<p id="IAxQMH"><strong>Subscribe: </strong><a href="https://open.spotify.com/show/0XLPhMzcKmxoNziHkVkYpR">Spotify</a></p>
https://www.theringer.com/2020/11/16/21569385/lamar-the-raining-mvpDanny HeifetzDanny KellyCraig Horlbeck2020-11-16T02:34:33-05:002020-11-16T02:34:33-05:00Hail Murray, Harden to Brooklyn (?), Heart Attack QBs, and the Zombie Pats With Cousin Sal
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<p>Bill is joined by Cousin Sal to discuss the Cardinals’ Hail Mary win over the Bills, rumors of James Harden to the Nets, the Patriots’ win over the Ravens, and much more</p> <div id="svLOk4"><iframe src="https://open.spotify.com/embed-podcast/episode/0PqXDtm4E3kZhYR3gPWnp0" style="border: 0; width: 100%; height: 232px;" allowfullscreen="" allow="encrypted-media"></iframe></div>
<p id="YzYZsF"><br><a href="https://open.spotify.com/episode/0PqXDtm4E3kZhYR3gPWnp0?si=F_vO6-6VTO2M2qMB61FIaw"><em>The Ringer</em>’s Bill Simmons is joined by Cousin Sal </a>to briefly discuss rumors of James Harden to the Brooklyn Nets before talking about the Patriots’ win over the Ravens during a downpour in Foxborough. They also discuss the Browns win vs. the Texans and the return of Nick Chubb; the Cardinals’ Hail Mary win over the Bills and Kyler Murray’s case for MVP; as well as Dolphins-Chargers, Rams-Seahawks, and more (3:00). They end with Guess the Lines for NFL Week 11 (50:00) and Parent Corner (1:29:00).</p>
<p id="L88Wxh"><strong>Subscribe:</strong> <a href="https://open.spotify.com/show/07SjDmKb9iliEzpNcN2xGD?si=X1S_fYL7REi9NlCpheLw6g">Spotify</a> / <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-bill-simmons-podcast/id1043699613?mt=2">Apple Podcasts</a> / <a href="https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/the-ringer/the-bill-simmons-podcast">Stitcher</a> / <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/thebillsimmonspodcast">RSS</a></p>
https://www.theringer.com/the-bill-simmons-podcast/2020/11/16/21567041/hail-murray-harden-to-brooklyn-heart-attack-qbs-and-the-zombie-pats-with-cousin-salBill Simmons2020-11-16T02:18:38-05:002020-11-16T02:18:38-05:00The Winners and Losers of NFL Week 10
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<figcaption>Getty Images/AP Images/Ringer illustration</figcaption>
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<p>The magical power of the DeAndre Hopkins–Kyler Murray connection lifts Arizona, Bill Belichick is the rain god, and Jameis Winston proved he’s the true second-string QB in New Orleans</p> <aside id="dA9v7R"><div data-anthem-component="readmore" data-anthem-component-data='{"stories":[{"title":"Everything You Need to Know About Week 10 of the 2020 NFL Season ","url":"https://www.theringer.com/nfl/2020/11/13/21564100/everything-you-need-to-know-about-week-10-of-the-2020-nfl-season"}]}'></div></aside><p id="WykjNG"><em>Every week this NFL season, we will celebrate the electric plays, investigate the colossal blunders, and explain the inexplicable moments of the most recent slate. Welcome to Winners and Losers. Which one are you?</em></p>
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<h3 id="bI0I8L">Winner: Kyler and Nuk</h3>
<p id="eAXlow">There’s a reason we named the Hail Mary after a prayer. Even when the play works, it often feels like the players on the field were less responsible for the outcome than a benevolent deity. But when Kyler Murray threw a game-winning touchdown to DeAndre Hopkins on Sunday, it didn’t look like divine intervention. It looked like Kyler Murray throwing a pass that only Kyler Murray could throw, and DeAndre Hopkins making a catch only DeAndre Hopkins could catch. </p>
<div id="heNr3y">
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<p lang="en" dir="ltr">HOP CAUGHT IT!!!!!!!! <a href="https://t.co/lyAG9gWYPn">pic.twitter.com/lyAG9gWYPn</a></p>— Arizona Cardinals (@AZCardinals) <a href="https://twitter.com/AZCardinals/status/1328132594026696704?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 16, 2020</a>
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<p id="p2HKs6">The Bills defended this end-game heave about as well as a team could possibly defend an end-game heave. They brought pressure from Murray’s right side, forcing the right-handed quarterback to run to his left. They had their All-Pro cornerback, Tre’Davious White, guard Hopkins from the line of scrimmage to the end zone, while also playing several deep safeties that blanketed the end zone. Three defenders swarmed Hopkins as the ball flew to the end zone.</p>
<p id="GK0ZPJ">It didn’t matter. Murray was fast enough to outrun the Bills’ defenders, buying himself enough time to completely flip his body around, plant his feet, and make a throw that flew 50-plus yards downfield in the air while his momentum was carrying him out of bounds and backward. Hopkins was capable of out-jumping the three Bills defenders enveloping him while holding onto the ball as they wrestled him for it on the way to the ground. Hopkins, famously, has some of the largest, strongest hands of any receiver, and wears XXXL <a href="https://www.espn.com/blog/arizona-cardinals/post/_/id/33457/arizona-cardinals-receiver-deandre-hopkins-xxxl-hands-are-incredible">gloves modified to fit his hands</a>. </p>
<div class="c-float-left"><aside id="bXM4xV"><div data-anthem-component="readmore" data-anthem-component-data='{"stories":[{"title":"DeAndre Hopkins’s Hail Mary TD Beat the Bills and Bolstered Arizona’s Playoff Prospects","url":"https://www.theringer.com/nfl/2020/11/15/21566766/deandre-hopkins-kyler-murray-cardinals-hail-mary-bills"},{"title":"Turns Out the DeAndre Hopkins Trade Was Even More Lopsided Than We Thought","url":"https://www.theringer.com/nfl/2020/11/16/21570012/deandre-hopkins-bills-cardinals-trade-texans-bill-obrien"}]}'></div></aside></div>
<p id="L084Zt">Two years ago, Kyler Murray was <a href="https://www.theringer.com/2018/9/20/17883044/kyler-murray-oklahoma-sooners-oakland-athletics-heisman-trophy">a fun college quarterback who I feared would stick with his pro baseball future,</a> Kliff Kingsbury was <a href="https://www.theringer.com/2018/11/28/18116472/kliff-kingsbury-offensive-coordinator-interest-job-openings">a college football coach I assumed would get hired as an offensive coordinator somewhere</a>, and DeAndre Hopkins was stuck laboring for a team Bill O’Brien couldn’t figure out how to run. How the hell did they wind up together? You couldn’t even get them onto the same team in <em>Madden</em>, unless you had some weird version of the game that allowed you to import MLB draft picks and Big 12 head coaches. It seemed impossible that their futures would converge—or that they’d be able to find a destination that made the most of their talents.</p>
<p id="nKQMLn">Kingsbury’s former college team, Texas Tech, which fired him in November 2018, is 4-12 in Big 12 play since letting him go; Murray, drafted by the Oakland Athletics in the 2018 MLB draft, might not have made the majors yet if he’d chosen to focus on baseball; and the Texans are 2-7 while David Johnson, whom Houston acquired in exchange for Hopkins, is not leading the NFL in anything per game. But now the Cardinals are very real. They’re 6-3; they’re first in the NFC West and lead the NFL in yards per game. Murray, who had two rushing touchdowns on Sunday, is on track to become the first player in NFL history with 4,000 passing yards and 1,000 rushing yards. Hopkins is behind only Davante Adams in receiving yards per game. The Cardinals’ trio is living its best possible future.</p>
<p id="x2BXsr">Hail Marys often <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6QhsxkTEVUg">need to be</a> <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tucKrtWsY4M">deflected to work</a>; they’re sometimes<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bfgptokGlgk"> thrown from forgettable quarterbacks to forgettable receivers</a>. It rarely feels like the success of a Hail Mary is directly linked to the talents of the players involved. None of those were the case with the Cardinals’ score. It was one superstar throwing directly to another superstar, both showcasing their very specific talents to pull off the play. It felt like something very much within their control, rather than an act of divine intervention—but the fact that Murray is throwing to Hopkins very much feels like an answered prayer. </p>
<h3 id="ouR66w">Loser: Taysom Hill’s Spot on the QB Depth Chart</h3>
<p id="U01hFz">The Saints are one of a few NFL teams that use three slots of their 46-player game day roster on quarterbacks. One is for Drew Brees, the team’s franchise player and the all-time NFL leader in passing touchdowns. (<a href="https://www.theringer.com/nfl/2020/11/6/21549672/tom-brady-drew-brees-career-passing-touchdown-record#:~:text=Favre%20had%20only%20seven%20years,edge%20over%20Brees%20(560).">For those keeping track</a>, he’s currently one ahead of Tom Brady.) Last year, the Saints<a href="https://saintswire.usatoday.com/2019/07/22/2019-saints-training-camp-depth-chart-90-man-roster/"> listed Teddy Bridgewater as their backup quarterback</a> while listing utility man Taysom Hill as the third-stringer. But in the offseason, the Saints <a href="https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/saints-make-taysom-hill-one-of-highest-paid-backup-qbs-in-nfl-signing-him-to-two-year-extension/#:~:text=New%20Orleans%20signed%20Hill%20to,backup%20quarterback%20in%20the%20league.">signed Hill to a surprisingly big contract, </a>and head coach Sean Payton<a href="https://bleacherreport.com/articles/2884279-sean-payton-talks-taysom-hill-says-saints-see-him-as-future-starting-qb"> talked him up as the potential future franchise quarterback</a>. This season, Hill has been <a href="https://saintswire.usatoday.com/lists/nfl-week-7-saints-depth-chart-roster-update/">listed as second string on the depth chart, while longtime Buccaneers starter Jameis Winston, acquired in the offseason via free agency, has been listed as third string</a>. </p>
<p id="DEMcLu">But in Sunday’s win over the 49ers, the Saints revealed the truth about their quarterback situation. Drew Brees came out of the game after halftime<a href="https://www.nfl.com/news/drew-brees-exits-game-vs-49ers-with-apparent-injury-jameis-winston-in-at-qb"> with a rib injury</a>. He clearly wanted to come back into the game; he appeared to argue with Payton on the sideline, and left his helmet on just in case, but he didn’t reenter the game. Who came in for him? Winston, who went 6-of-10 passing for 63 yards. After becoming the first quarterback in NFL history to throw for 30 touchdowns and 30 interceptions last year, Winston surprisingly avoided throwing a touchdown or an interception Sunday. He kept things nice and easy as the Saints held on to their halftime lead and won 27-17. Despite the depth chart, I think Winston knew he was the Saints’ actual backup—you think a <em>third-stringer</em> would warm up like this?</p>
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<p lang="en" dir="ltr">Jameis' warm-up routine is something else <br><br>(via <a href="https://twitter.com/nick_underhill?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@nick_underhill</a>)<a href="https://t.co/fJYtRwNTyc">pic.twitter.com/fJYtRwNTyc</a></p>— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) <a href="https://twitter.com/BleacherReport/status/1328070179062833152?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 15, 2020</a>
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<p id="RAkWKd">Hill’s role in the Saints offense did increase and change after Brees’s injury. He took more snaps from under center and fewer at wide receiver, and finished the game with a career-high eight carries, which went for 45 yards. But he never threw the ball, and his only passing dropback resulted in a sack for a loss of 5 yards. </p>
<p id="skCB1t">Hill is an exceptionally talented football player. He’s fast and strong, evasive as a ball carrier and superb as a route runner. But Sunday proved <a href="https://www.theringer.com/nfl/2020/5/18/21260581/taysom-hill-type-new-orleans-saints-backup-qb-debate">what’s been clear for some time</a>: He’s not <em>actually</em> New Orleans’s backup quarterback. And considering he’s 30 years old and Winston is only 26, he’s probably not going to grow into a suitable backup either. He’s a good enough passer that he can be used on gadget plays, but as high as the Saints are on him, they aren’t confident enough to let him throw the ball on conventional dropbacks—even when their starting quarterback is sidelined with an injury.</p>
<aside id="Y1TSGV"><div data-anthem-component="readmore" data-anthem-component-data='{"stories":[{"title":"How Could an Injury to Drew Brees Affect the Saints? ","url":"https://www.theringer.com/nfl/2020/11/15/21566824/drew-brees-rib-injury-new-orleans-saints"}]}'></div></aside><h3 id="ACKHCs">Winner: Rain God Bill Belichick</h3>
<p id="njcYRU">Most of Sunday night’s showcase game between the Ravens and Patriots was played in a downpour. Ravens center Matt Skura, who had been credited with two fumbles in four years as Baltimore’s center, was credited with three fumbles as he repeatedly failed to snap water-soaked balls accurately:</p>
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<p lang="en" dir="ltr">How it's going right now for the Ravens. <a href="https://t.co/RsFYhBOaWU">pic.twitter.com/RsFYhBOaWU</a></p>— The Comeback (@thecomeback) <a href="https://twitter.com/thecomeback/status/1328173167223787522?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 16, 2020</a>
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<p id="zwpgbZ">The rain looked bad for the first 58 minutes of the game, but it looked absolutely <em>awful</em> for the final two, as Lamar Jackson tried to engineer a game-winning drive with the Ravens trailing 23-17. </p>
<div id="tGGkyL">
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<p lang="en" dir="ltr">seriously, how is this real <a href="https://t.co/8vTBneFGxK">pic.twitter.com/8vTBneFGxK</a></p>— CBS Sports (@CBSSports) <a href="https://twitter.com/CBSSports/status/1328189780643999750?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 16, 2020</a>
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<p lang="en" dir="ltr">Monsoon football. <a href="https://t.co/YS4M2Nm5Jp">pic.twitter.com/YS4M2Nm5Jp</a></p>— Bryan Fischer (@BryanDFischer) <a href="https://twitter.com/BryanDFischer/status/1328189664063197185?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 16, 2020</a>
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<p id="W6J113">It is a testament to the skill of NFL players that the Ravens were able to do anything in this weather. My dog won’t even poop in a drizzle—I have no idea how I would snap, throw, or catch a football during a monsoon. But the Ravens didn’t do <em>much</em> in that weather. Their last-ditch drive gained 4 yards and ended with running back J.K. Dobbins dropping a lightly tossed ball with no defenders in sight. </p>
<p id="nZwkle">As it turns out, the final minute of the game was played exactly as a massive weather front moved over the stadium:</p>
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<p lang="en" dir="ltr">No matter who has the ball, it’s going to be an awful last minute or two of this game, much worse than it has been. <a href="https://twitter.com/scottzolak?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@scottzolak</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/BobSocci?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@BobSocci</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/Patriots?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@patriots</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/SNFonNBC?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#SNFonNBC</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/SNF?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#SNF</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/mawx?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#mawx</a> <a href="https://t.co/gAuuwGNibz">pic.twitter.com/gAuuwGNibz</a></p>— Thomas Crowshaw (@providence_chef) <a href="https://twitter.com/providence_chef/status/1328187822247964672?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 16, 2020</a>
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<p id="qmMHuE">And it more or less cleared up as soon as the game ended:</p>
<div id="PRnw4r">
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<p lang="en" dir="ltr">and just like that the weather cleared up <a href="https://t.co/DwTyz9r9B3">pic.twitter.com/DwTyz9r9B3</a></p>— Doug Kyed (@DougKyed) <a href="https://twitter.com/DougKyed/status/1328191811840598016?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 16, 2020</a>
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<p id="CRvw1c">I don’t think I’ve ever seen such a tactically devastating weather pattern outside of the lightning strike power-up from <em>Mario Kart</em>. It’s as if Bill Belichick harnessed <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r8_XFtTJfUQ">the system they used in <em>The Truman Show</em> to make sure it rained on Truman</a>, and used it to unleash a downpour on the Ravens. </p>
<p id="PmTNL8">The scientific explanation for Deflategate ended up being that <a href="https://www.si.com/nfl/2016/10/04/tom-brady-deflategate-ideal-gas-law">the cold weather in New England simply caused balls to deflate</a> such that they happened to be easier to throw and catch. (For a few years there, Patriots fans <em>loved</em> talking about the ideal gas law.) I suspect that incident caused Belichick to begin thinking about other ways he could work the elements. Mastering football got boring; now he’s going to try to power subpar teams to wins by bending weather in his team’s favor. Maybe he spends his time saying ancient prayers to end droughts; maybe he’s figured out how to raise humidity in the exact vicinity of Gillette Stadium. Or maybe he has become Belichickus, god of special teams and rain. Only by sending him sweet offerings of draft picks will he spare your team the misery of monsoon football. </p>
<aside id="rjc8cb"><div data-anthem-component="readmore" data-anthem-component-data='{"stories":[{"title":"The 2020 Ravens Bear Little Resemblance to 2019’s Offensive Juggernaut ","url":"https://www.theringer.com/nfl/2020/11/16/21567021/baltimore-ravens-warning-signal"}]}'></div></aside><h3 id="kSQt8m">Loser: Intentional Non-Covers</h3>
<p id="DMjQFb">Nick Chubb picked the perfect day to return from his MCL injury, by which I mean he picked one of the ugliest days imaginable. It was extremely windy and rainy Sunday in Cleveland, and a lightning strike delayed the game by a half hour. I don’t know why they always make hell fiery and hot in movies—for me, hell would look a lot like footage from inside the Browns’ stadium on Sunday. (<a href="https://www.theringer.com/nfl/2020/11/2/21545365/nfl-week-8-winners-losers-dolphins-rivalry-week-drew-lock-fight">After the GRAUPEL attack of Week 8, </a>I’m starting to get the sense Cleveland weather might suck.)</p>
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<p lang="en" dir="ltr">It ain’t even that bad <a href="https://t.co/5bbDkKnJ9Q">pic.twitter.com/5bbDkKnJ9Q</a></p>— twitch.tv/GodNino_ (@GodNino) <a href="https://twitter.com/GodNino/status/1328039826646511617?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 15, 2020</a>
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<p id="1q5IJl">Would you trust Baker Mayfield to throw the ball in a monsoon? (Would you trust Baker Mayfield to throw the ball in regular weather?) Of course not. So the Browns ran the ball: Chubb had 126 yards; his backup, Kareem Hunt, had 104. They’re the only teammates to run for 100 yards in the same game this season and the first Browns teammates to run for 100 yards in the same game<a href="https://twitter.com/jake_trotter/status/1328092593595551749?s=12"> since 1966.</a> With both teams’ passing attacks neutralized by the lovely Northeast Ohio weather, the teams combined for two touchdowns—but it should’ve been three. With the Browns leading 10-7 in the final minute, Chubb broke loose and was headed for the end zone, but <a href="https://www.theringer.com/nfl/2020/10/26/21533937/nfl-week-7-winners-losers-todd-gurley-falcons-titans-dk-metcalf-jets">unlike another University of Georgia running back alumnus</a>, avoided scoring to maximize his team’s chances of victory. </p>
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<p lang="en" dir="ltr">Nick Chubb just broke all of his fantasy managers’ hearts <br> <a href="https://t.co/NejJrZClY3">pic.twitter.com/NejJrZClY3</a></p>— PFF (@PFF) <a href="https://twitter.com/PFF/status/1328083896089649158?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 15, 2020</a>
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<p id="e5e7bj">If Chubb had scored, the Browns would’ve taken a 17-7 lead—but they would have given the Texans the ball back and the opportunity to score a touchdown, recover an onside kick, and potentially win the game. Because he went out of bounds, they went into victory formation and won the game without another competitive play. But it hurt people who bet on the Browns: Cleveland was favored by 4.5 and won 10-7.</p>
<p id="TMvY72">But <em>it wasn’t the only intentional non-cover of the day!</em> After Hopkins’s miracle reception, the Cardinals led the Bills, 32-30. With just two seconds left in the game, the Bills had two ways of avoiding a loss: They could somehow score in two seconds, or they could block an extra point and return it for a defensive conversion, worth two points. It’s unlikely, but possible—there were 1,332 touchdowns scored last year, and after two of those, the defense managed to return the try for two points. So the Cardinals decided to kneel instead of kicking the extra point. The Cardinals had been favored by either 3 or 2.5 depending on when and where you placed your bet, so the kneel ended up costing Cardinals bettors their cover.</p>
<p id="NZKXOO">If you bet on the Browns or the Cardinals, you probably feel taken advantage of. The team you bet on was good enough to win your wager. Why couldn’t they just score when they had the option to? But, of course, the teams that chose not to score were playing it smart by eliminating the small risk of disaster. We’re the ones who played it dumb, by taking money that could have been used to purchase actual goods or services and risking it on a sport whose rules are so complicated that it’s sometimes better to avoid trying. </p>
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<h3 id="MCccnD">
<br>Winner: The Dream of a Four-Win NFC East Champion</h3>
<p id="0QIvnm">In October, I wrote about the abject horror of the NFC East,<a href="https://www.theringer.com/nfl/2020/10/23/21530324/nfc-east-cowboys-eagles-giants-washington-football-team"> explaining why it’s the worst division in NFL history.</a> (“Abject” is one of my favorite types of horror!) I explained that while the most likely record for an NFC East champion will be 6-10 (or, in the case of the Eagles, 6-9-1), there was a small possibility of the Eagles winning the division at 4-11-1. Two things need to happen to pull it off: First, the NFC East’s teams have to lose every single game they play against teams from other divisions; second, the team with the better record has to lose every intradivisional game. </p>
<p id="zHs7YB">The first part has been easy. When I wrote the post, the NFC East was 2-15-1 against teams from other divisions; now it is 2-18-1, including Washington’s 30-27 loss to the Lions on Sunday. The Football Team erased a 21-point deficit … but still lost on a 59-yard Matt Prater field goal.</p>
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<p lang="en" dir="ltr">PRATER FOR THE WIN FROM 59 YARDS! <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/OnePride?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#OnePride</a> <a href="https://t.co/xOkcVd32V7">pic.twitter.com/xOkcVd32V7</a></p>— NFL (@NFL) <a href="https://twitter.com/NFL/status/1328084473221562368?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 15, 2020</a>
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<p id="ZR4uUC">The second one has been going pretty well too—and it got even better on Sunday. The 2-7 Giants hosted the 3-4-1 Eagles and emerged with a 27-17 victory. Daniel Jones even managed to run for a touchdown without falling over:</p>
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<p lang="en" dir="ltr">Daniel Jones runs for a 34-yard TD <br><br>(via <a href="https://twitter.com/NFL?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@NFL</a>)<a href="https://t.co/VEj2k821Js">pic.twitter.com/VEj2k821Js</a></p>— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) <a href="https://twitter.com/BleacherReport/status/1328038079152541696?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 15, 2020</a>
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<p id="8qjHiL">Everything’s setting up well: The 3-5-1 Eagles are still leading the division, and the 3-7 Giants are now in second place, just a game back. The dream scenario of a 4-11-1 division champion is still alive (and, honestly, not that implausible). The Eagles need to finish the season at 1-6—and considering they’re playing terribly and five of their final seven games are against teams currently above .500, that’s entirely possible. The rest of the NFC East also needs to continue sucking—but I don’t think that’s going to be particularly tough. </p>
<p id="ZoY9QV">It’s not that uncommon for a division to have three bad teams and one competent team that feasts off them en route to a playoff berth. What makes the NFC East special is that there’s no one team capable of doing that. It’s bad from head to toes, which is why its head is lower than Kyler Murray’s shoulders. </p>
<h3 id="qQITN7">Winner: Jalen Ramsey</h3>
<p id="NrCAts">I have spent large swaths of the NFL season watching DK Metcalf and wondering whether anybody can stop him. He is 6-foot-4, runs a 4.33 40-yard dash, and is capable of bench-pressing more than any NFL wide receiver has ever been able to bench-press. Some thought that he would just be a combine superstar and an NFL bust, but he’s become a superstar in 2020, his second season in the league. Entering Sunday, Metcalf was second in the NFL in receiving touchdowns and receiving yards per game, while the Seahawks averaged a league-high 34.3 points per game.</p>
<p id="aRkGiu">But Sunday, Metcalf went up against Jalen Ramsey, whom the Rams made the highest-paid defensive back in NFL history this offseason. Ramsey used to be famous for trash-talking any quarterback he was playing against (<a href="https://www.sbnation.com/2018/7/6/17515462/jalen-ramsey-trash-talk-timeline">and some he wasn’t playing against</a>), but he’s become much calmer—he spent last week <a href="https://www.si.com/nfl/rams/news/la-rams-cb-jalen-ramsey-praise-dk-metcalf">praising Metcalf </a>and assuring reporters <a href="https://theramswire.usatoday.com/2020/11/13/rams-jalen-ramsey-dk-metcalf-shadow-plan/">he wasn’t thinking so much about their one-on-one matchup.</a> </p>
<p id="5ubgZq">When it came time for the game, Ramsey locked down Metcalf. Ramsey finished the game with no interceptions and no passes defended—but that’s because for large swaths of the game, Russell Wilson didn’t even feel comfortable throwing the ball toward Metcalf with Ramsey on him. Metcalf wasn’t targeted in the first half of the game and finished with just two catches for 28 yards. (Ramsey <a href="https://twitter.com/JourdanRodrigue/status/1328136826196946945">says the two catches were made in zone coverage rather than man-to-man</a>.) Wilson played his worst game of the season, finishing with 248 yards, no touchdowns, and two interceptions. He hadn’t had a game without a touchdown since last December; he hadn’t had a game with no touchdowns and multiple picks since 2016. It feels like Ramsey’s trash-talking days are over—but he’s certainly earning the right to keep it up if he wants. </p>
<h3 id="cCNooW">Winner: Newbie Punt Returner Keelan Cole</h3>
<p id="pELz6a">Normally, heavy winds lead to lower scores, but it contributed to something else in Sunday’s matchup between the Packers and the Jaguars. In the second quarter, Green Bay punter JK Scott lined up and gave a bigger boot than he could’ve possibly imagined, with the wind carrying the ball 59 yards. It flew faster than Green Bay’s punt coverage team could possibly go, allowing Jaguars returner Keelan Cole to reach full speed without encountering any resistance. The phrase “outkicking the coverage” has broken contain and become a part of common American parlance—but you don’t actually see it happen on the field very often:</p>
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<p lang="en" dir="ltr">Keelan Cole's putting the moves on JK Scott <br><br> (via <a href="https://twitter.com/NFL?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@NFL</a>) <a href="https://t.co/vwWn5pa6UF">pic.twitter.com/vwWn5pa6UF</a></p>— #RingerNFL (@ringernfl) <a href="https://twitter.com/ringernfl/status/1328051245806915584?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 15, 2020</a>
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<p id="5gT2ih">I imagine Scott was pleasantly surprised by his big kick, and then became filled with fear as Cole sped his way. I’m not sure it’s fair to label what Scott did when Cole ran his way as a tackle attempt—I think it’s best described as a flinch. Not exactly what you want from your last man back.</p>
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<p lang="en" dir="ltr">JK Scott might have to retire after this. <a href="https://t.co/I7nJWD8oWg">pic.twitter.com/I7nJWD8oWg</a></p>— Bryan Fischer (@BryanDFischer) <a href="https://twitter.com/BryanDFischer/status/1328050679164796928?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 15, 2020</a>
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<p id="a9I7VE">It was just the second punt-return touchdown of the NFL season—and so far as I can tell, the very first of Cole’s life. The Jaguars’ usual return man is Dede Westbrook, who tore his ACL returning a kickoff two games ago. Cole was not even listed as the backup punt returner—that was rookie cornerback Chris Claybrooks. There was no reason to believe Cole could or would be great at punt returns, considering he had no history of busting loose as a return man. He <a href="https://www.courier-journal.com/story/sports/preps/kentucky/2018/01/18/keelan-cole-kentucky-wesleyan-jacksonville-jaguars-wide-receiver/1036182001/">barely played at all in high school</a>, only becoming a star after going to Division 2 Kentucky Wesleyan and adding significant muscle. Cole <a href="https://kwcpanthers.com/sports/football/roster/keelan-cole/3413">occasionally took punt returns in college</a>, but none went for touchdowns. </p>
<p id="mz797m">So when Cole tracked backward to settle under Scott’s punt, it was just the second punt return of his pro career. (The first, last week, went for 4 yards.) And a few seconds later, he had just a poor punter between him and the end zone. Players can return punts for their entire careers and never have a highlight like Cole’s vicious juke of Scott; Cole did it on a whim as he tried out something he wasn’t used to doing on a football field. </p>
<h3 id="8xsjlg">Winner: Multiple Witching Hours</h3>
<p id="jfNoRm">Sunday was a strange day, if you’re someone so accustomed to the traditional sports calendar that even slight deviations make you feel like the planet is in retrograde. <a href="https://www.theringer.com/2020/11/15/21566448/dustin-johnson-the-masters-final-round">The Masters golf tournament had its final round Sunday</a>, even though the COVID-19 pandemic has actually gotten significantly worse since April, when it was originally scheduled. CBS, which broadcasts the Masters and roughly half of all NFL games on Sunday, aired the former until its conclusion rather than any NFL games during the 1 p.m. ET window. Normally, there are about seven to 10 NFL games in the early window and two to five in the late window. Sunday, there were five in the early window and six in the late window. It was the most games played in the 4 p.m. slot <a href="https://twitter.com/AdamSchefter/status/1327930205420331014">in nine years.</a> (There was also, oddly, a Cal-UCLA game played Sunday afternoon, because the teams they were scheduled to play on Saturday could not field a team because of positive COVID-19 tests.) </p>
<p id="ayP8xh">The result? We got to watch a lot of fun sports! Instead of one stacked early NFL window and a sleepy late one, we were treated to seven straight hours of consistently exciting football. Three of the five games in the early window were decided by one possession; three of the six games in the late window were decided by one possession. NFL RedZone’s Scott Hanson made a big deal out of the fact that he got to narrate <em>two</em> “witching hours,” his term for the flurry of activity when every game is ending at the same time. (I hope Hanson gets “the witching hour” trademarked before the NFL does.) </p>
<p class="c-end-para" id="a4RI3b"><a href="https://www.theringer.com/nfl/2020/10/19/21522623/winners-losers-nfl-week-6-derrick-henry-jets-aaron-rodgers-redzone">Earlier this year, I wrote about a strange day</a> where the NFL stacked nine games in the early window and just two in the late window. I understand <em>why</em> the NFL chose to do that—its broadcast partners would rather the largest possible number of fans focus on the biggest matchups of the week, and after all, TV networks are the ones who primarily finance the NFL. But for the many fans who pay for NFL Sunday Ticket so we can watch every game at once—and I think there are a lot of us!—Sunday was a much better set-up. (I’m sure it wasn’t so great for anybody who wanted to watch the Masters and the Packers at the same time, but, hey, you’re not reading “Winners and Losers of the Masters,” so that’s not really my problem.) </p>
https://www.theringer.com/nfl/2020/11/16/21566938/nfl-week-10-winners-losers-deandre-hopkins-kyler-murrayRodger Sherman2020-11-16T01:02:59-05:002020-11-16T01:02:59-05:00The 2020 Ravens Bear Little Resemblance to 2019’s Offensive Juggernaut
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<p>A feeble offensive performance sunk Baltimore on a rain-soaked night in Foxborough. It’s not time to panic yet, but the loss pulled the Ravens closer to an increasingly crowded pack of AFC playoff hopefuls. </p> <aside id="BlJCTT"><div data-anthem-component="readmore" data-anthem-component-data='{"stories":[{"title":"Everything You Need to Know About Week 10 of the 2020 NFL Season ","url":"https://www.theringer.com/nfl/2020/11/13/21564100/everything-you-need-to-know-about-week-10-of-the-2020-nfl-season"}]}'></div></aside><p id="2YRYjJ">At this time a year ago, the Ravens were five games into what would become a 12-game winning streak. In November 2019, Baltimore played four games and put up 37 points, 49 points, 41 points, and 45 points. This was the high point of Lamar Jackson’s MVP campaign, and the point when Baltimore effectively claimed the crown as the NFL’s best and most entertaining team. </p>
<p id="tj5n7Q">This season, November is going quite differently for the Ravens. It began with a 28-24 loss to the Steelers on November 1, which put Baltimore firmly behind Pittsburgh in the race for the AFC North. On Sunday night, the rough stretch continued with a 23-17 loss to the Patriots, and the offense’s performance in that game leads to all kinds of questions.</p>
<p id="k6ligM">The Ravens never scored fewer than 20 points in the regular season in 2019. They did just that against a New England squad that came into the game with a 3-5 record and the league’s 31st-ranked defense by DVOA. It’s the type of performance that should raise alarm bells for the Ravens—especially since this team has looked nothing like the 2019 team that tore through the NFL and propelled Jackson to the league’s MVP trophy.</p>
<p id="Yx6buV">Jackson went 24-of-34 for 249 yards, two touchdowns, and one interception against the Patriots, adding 55 yards rushing. But the Ravens found the end zone just twice, and beyond the stat sheet, everything looked sluggish and grueling for this offense. Just look at this play, one of the biggest highlights of the game for Jackson. It’s a clutch third-down conversion late in the fourth quarter, but it’s also a complete mess for the offense. Everything just looks so difficult for the Ravens now.</p>
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<p lang="en" dir="ltr">Lamar just faked the whole defense <br><br>(via <a href="https://twitter.com/NFL?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@NFL</a>)<a href="https://t.co/OOuFi0PgO4">pic.twitter.com/OOuFi0PgO4</a></p>— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) <a href="https://twitter.com/BleacherReport/status/1328186537805189121?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 16, 2020</a>
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<p id="boR2vS">To be fair to the Ravens, this game was played in monsoon conditions (and the rain certainly excuses the bad snaps that plagued them throughout the game). The wind whipping through Foxborough was easily heard on NBC’s <em>Sunday Night Football </em>broadcast, the rain rarely let up, and an intense fog rolled in near the close of the game that made the final few plays nearly unwatchable. But Baltimore’s stagnation is a season-long trend that can’t be explained away by one night of inclement weather. In 2019, the Ravens had the no. 1 offense in both passing DVOA and rushing DVOA. Prior to Week 10 this season, they were no. 23 in passing and no. 5 in rushing—and 23rd overall. In 2019, they ranked second in yards gained; this season, they’re 23rd. Last season, they averaged 33.2 points per game; this season, they’ve eclipsed that number just once.</p>
<div class="c-float-left"><aside id="BkCtfu"><div data-anthem-component="readmore" data-anthem-component-data='{"stories":[{"title":"DeAndre Hopkins’s Hail Mary TD Beat the Bills and Bolstered Arizona’s Playoff Prospects ","url":"https://www.theringer.com/nfl/2020/11/15/21566766/deandre-hopkins-kyler-murray-cardinals-hail-mary-bills"},{"title":"Which Single-Season NFL Records Are Poised to Fall in 2020?","url":"https://www.theringer.com/nfl/2020/11/12/21561725/single-season-records-midseason-russell-wilson-patrick-mahomes"},{"title":"How Could an Injury to Drew Brees Affect the Saints?","url":"https://www.theringer.com/nfl/2020/11/15/21566824/drew-brees-rib-injury-new-orleans-saints"}]}'></div></aside></div>
<p id="0xdXc0">Jackson’s regression has been sharp. Entering Sunday, his passing yards per game dropped from 208.5 in 2019 to 189.1. His rushing yards had declined from 80.4 yards per game to 58.6. And all of his efficiency numbers are down—Jackson is on pace to throw many fewer touchdowns, more interceptions, and take more sacks. He ranked 19th among quarterbacks in Pro Football Focus’s offensive grades after notching the no. 3 mark a year ago. He’s made some bizarre mistakes this season too, including throwing a pick at the end of the half in this game that robbed the Ravens of a chance to put points on the board.</p>
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<p lang="en" dir="ltr">Lamar gets picked off to end the half <br><br>(via <a href="https://twitter.com/NFL?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@NFL</a>)<a href="https://t.co/yENubfByYV">pic.twitter.com/yENubfByYV</a></p>— B/R Gridiron (@brgridiron) <a href="https://twitter.com/brgridiron/status/1328167232346546176?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 16, 2020</a>
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<p id="rv7TNR">We all knew <a href="https://www.theringer.com/nfl/2020/9/10/21430211/lamar-jackson-read-option-offense-nfl-solve">regression was coming for the Ravens this season</a>—but no one thought it would be <em>this</em> severe. The worst part, though, is that there is not one obvious problem for the team to fix. Typically, when an elite offense craters from one year to the next, it’s because of injuries, roster turnover, a coach leaving, a dramatic decline in offensive line play, or some other obvious culprit. But this Ravens team has no such excuse—this offense is just bland and ineffective. Worst of all, it’s predictable. This week, Jackson said that defenses are “calling out our plays.” </p>
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<p lang="en" dir="ltr">We had to make sure we heard <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/RavensFlock?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#RavensFlock</a> QB <a href="https://twitter.com/Lj_era8?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@lj_era8</a> correctly when he told us why his offense is having a tougher time this year compared to 2019:<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NFL?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NFL</a> <a href="https://t.co/s9G7JgtmEA">pic.twitter.com/s9G7JgtmEA</a></p>— Rich Eisen Show (@RichEisenShow) <a href="https://twitter.com/RichEisenShow/status/1326592135072796674?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 11, 2020</a>
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<p id="uWnfDO">Baltimore retained offensive coordinator Greg Roman this offseason, despite Roman being a hot name in head-coaching rumors after his work with the offense last season, especially with Jackson. Roman has an immaculate record coordinating run-heavy offenses with mobile QBs, having previously coached Colin Kaepernick in San Francisco and Tyrod Taylor in Buffalo. But if current trends hold, this will be one of the most lackluster units he’s coached. </p>
<p class="c-end-para" id="D1sm62">The Ravens fall to 6-3 with the loss. They are still in the hunt for a playoff spot, especially with the NFL having expanded the field to seven teams from each conference before the season (and with the possibility it will expand to eight teams if regular-season games are canceled because of COVID-19). But it’s looking unlikely that they can steal the divisional crown away from the 9-0 Steelers, and virtually impossible that they’ll find a way to get the only bye up for grabs in the conference. That means that even if the Ravens can right the ship on offense, they’ve put themselves in a hole. Not only is this team no longer one of the NFL’s top contenders, it’s staring down an away game on wild-card weekend, and an increasingly narrow path to the Super Bowl. Crucially, there is still <em>a</em> path, and the Ravens have many of the pieces that made their 2019 run so special. But Week 10 showed that Baltimore isn’t just off to a slow start—this sluggish offense appears here to stay, and as long as it does, the Ravens won’t go far.</p>
https://www.theringer.com/nfl/2020/11/16/21567021/baltimore-ravens-warning-signalRiley McAtee2020-11-15T21:09:54-05:002020-11-15T21:09:54-05:00DeAndre Hopkins’s Hail Mary TD Beat the Bills and Bolstered Arizona’s Playoff Prospects
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<p>A moment of magic between Hopkins and QB Kyler Murray gave the Cardinals an improbable win with implications for the playoff races in two divisions and, possibly, the MVP race </p> <aside id="sJEd4O"><div data-anthem-component="readmore" data-anthem-component-data='{"stories":[{"title":"Everything You Need to Know About Week 10 of the 2020 NFL Season ","url":"https://www.theringer.com/nfl/2020/11/13/21564100/everything-you-need-to-know-about-week-10-of-the-2020-nfl-season"}]}'></div></aside><p id="VO3aJM">If all the Cardinals got from their offseason trade for DeAndre Hopkins was this one catch, it would be well worth it:</p>
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<p lang="en" dir="ltr">KYLER MURRAY TO D-HOP HAIL MARY!!!!! <br><br> (via <a href="https://twitter.com/NFL?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@NFL</a>) <a href="https://t.co/i5EJzGea7Y">pic.twitter.com/i5EJzGea7Y</a></p>— #RingerNFL (@ringernfl) <a href="https://twitter.com/ringernfl/status/1328133029919907841?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 16, 2020</a>
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<p id="ihBwNu">A year ago, my former <em>Ringer</em> colleague Robert Mays <a href="https://www.theringer.com/nfl/2019/7/3/20679161/best-wide-receiver-brown-beckham-thomas-julio-hopkins">tried to determine who the best receiver in the NFL was</a>. There’s a lot to consider with that question, including route-running, speed, reliability, athleticism, physicality, moxie, and just plain old trust. It was a razor-close decision, but Mays chose Hopkins, in part because “when a ball is thrown in the NFL, there’s no one in the league I trust more to come down with it than DeAndre Hopkins.” Arizona saw exactly that on this play. Hopkins isn’t the tallest, fastest, or most physical receiver in football, but sandwiched between three Bills defenders, he snagged the ball—and victory—out of the air. The Cardinals beat Buffalo, 32-30. That play, along with a Seahawks’ loss earlier in the day, put the 6-3 Cardinals on top of the NFC West.</p>
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<p lang="en" dir="ltr">WHAT JUST HAPPENED?!<br><br>Kyler Murray connects with DeAndre Hopkins on a WILD 43-yard Hail Mary TD as their managers and opponents lose their minds! <br><br>(via <a href="https://twitter.com/NFL?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@NFL</a>)<a href="https://t.co/VAAhuaXYam">pic.twitter.com/VAAhuaXYam</a></p>— Rotoworld Football (@Rotoworld_FB) <a href="https://twitter.com/Rotoworld_FB/status/1328134605468274689?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 16, 2020</a>
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<p id="10BBdz">Of course, the other half of this play is Kyler Murray, and his ability to scramble and create big plays out of thin air. Murray avoided a tackle before launching his rainbow downfield. In some ways, it is the perfect embodiment of Murray’s style: He gets himself in trouble by bailing on a clean pocket too early, but his slipperiness and agility allow him to deftly set up the big gain that wouldn’t have been possible otherwise. </p>
<div class="c-float-left"><aside id="IG9msW"><div data-anthem-component="readmore" data-anthem-component-data='{"stories":[{"title":"Everything You Need to Know at the NFL’s 2020 Midseason Point","url":"https://www.theringer.com/nfl/2020/11/12/21562008/everything-you-need-to-know-at-the-nfls-2020-midseason-point"},{"title":"Turns Out the DeAndre Hopkins Trade Was Even More Lopsided Than We Thought","url":"https://www.theringer.com/nfl/2020/11/16/21570012/deandre-hopkins-bills-cardinals-trade-texans-bill-obrien"},{"title":"The Winners and Losers of NFL Week 10 ","url":"https://www.theringer.com/nfl/2020/11/16/21566938/nfl-week-10-winners-losers-deandre-hopkins-kyler-murray"}]}'></div></aside></div>
<p id="7D7HIA">That’s been the pattern for Murray all season. The Cardinals passer has been only slightly above average through the air. He came into Week 10 ranked just 13th in adjusted net yards per attempt and 16th in Pro Football Focus’s passing grades. But he’s been the best scrambler in the league. Prior to the Bills game, he had 543 rushing yards, more than any quarterback and behind just seven running backs. He also had eight touchdowns on the ground, tied for third league-wide. Against the Bills, he added another 61 rushing yards and two rushing scores, despite a ho-hum performance through the air. Murray’s final passing line was 22-of-32 for 245 yards, a touchdown, and a pick that wasn’t his fault.</p>
<p id="6NLQti">The lead changed four times in this back-and-forth affair. Murray’s 15-yard touchdown run in the closing seconds of the third quarter was the jolt of energy the Cardinals needed, putting the team on top for the first time since early in the first quarter:</p>
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<p lang="en" dir="ltr">Kyler Murray is just ridiculous <br><br>(via <a href="https://twitter.com/NFL?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@NFL</a>) <a href="https://t.co/roQlIgOoxY">pic.twitter.com/roQlIgOoxY</a></p>— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) <a href="https://twitter.com/SportsCenter/status/1328119176276422656?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 15, 2020</a>
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<p id="mQOBQ7">This was Murray’s fifth-straight game with a rushing score, the longest streak for any quarterback in the Super Bowl era. For a team with Hopkins, Larry Fitzgerald, Christian Kirk, and a coach who wants to run an Air Raid–styled scheme, the passing numbers for Murray and the Cardinals’ offense have never hit the highs many anticipated. But Murray has been so effective with his legs that that hasn’t mattered. That he can both run for yards and buy himself enough time before launching the football downfield makes the Cardinals one of the most exciting teams in football—and one that must be incredibly frustrating for opposing defenses to scheme against. If Murray and Hopkins can turn their Hail Mary connection into a consistent partnership rather than the hit-or-miss affair it’s been, this offense could take a real leap, and the Cardinals could become true contenders. </p>
<p id="hzFrKr">On the other side of the field, the Bills have their own up-and-down quarterback who nearly pulled off a miraculous comeback in this game. Just a few plays before Murray’s Hail Mary, Josh Allen delivered a perfect, 21-yard strike to Stefon Diggs to take the lead with under a minute remaining:</p>
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<p lang="en" dir="ltr">What a perfect throw by Josh Allen to Stefon Diggs for the go-ahead TD. <a href="https://t.co/ERmEAetgUr">pic.twitter.com/ERmEAetgUr</a></p>— NFL Update (@MySportsUpdate) <a href="https://twitter.com/MySportsUpdate/status/1328130988090732546?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 16, 2020</a>
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<p id="TSa2lS">This play, Allen’s second passing touchdown of the game, made up for some earlier mistakes by the third-year quarterback. Allen finished with two interceptions, both of which were ugly, late throws that were entirely his fault. Luckily for the Bills, Allen can also do damage with his legs. A year after Allen led the league in rushing touchdowns among QBs, the team drew up this play for him in the first quarter:</p>
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<p lang="en" dir="ltr">JOSH ALLEN JUST CAUGHT A TD! <a href="https://twitter.com/BuffaloBills?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@buffalobills</a><br><br> : <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/BUFvsAZ?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#BUFvsAZ</a> on CBS<br> : NFL app // Yahoo Sports app: <a href="https://t.co/p1akRoFoep">https://t.co/p1akRoFoep</a> <a href="https://t.co/fedm7FG4Qp">pic.twitter.com/fedm7FG4Qp</a></p>— NFL (@NFL) <a href="https://twitter.com/NFL/status/1328086202063327232?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 15, 2020</a>
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<p class="c-end-para" id="2ZiGHw">Despite the loss, the Bills, at 7-3, have a hold on first place in the AFC East and could also make noise this postseason. But like the Cardinals, they need moments of brilliance from their quarterback to outshine the mistakes. Allen’s go-ahead drive in the fourth quarter was preceded by five consecutive failed drives, two of which ended in picks and three of which ended in punts. On Sunday, the win belonged to Murray, Hopkins, and the Cardinals. But both teams have plenty of good and bad to think about. </p>
https://www.theringer.com/nfl/2020/11/15/21566766/deandre-hopkins-kyler-murray-cardinals-hail-mary-billsRiley McAtee