The Bears and the Redskins are in good hands with their backup quarterbacks and more notes



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Maybe I'm crazy, but I do not think teams on the road playing Thanksgiving afternoons will have to panic about their shifts. At least not for this week.

We already know that the Skins will no longer have Alex Smith for the rest of the season, but I like the idea that they are facing some suddenly viable Cowboys (and maybe too confident) in Dallas with Colt McCoy in the center. And if the Bears decide to sit Mitchell Trubisky rather than risk aggravating the hand injury he suffered late Sunday night during the big win over Minnesota, it is said that they will be in good hands with Chase Daniel who will start the short week. I actually think the offensive would go very well in Detroit if needed.

Both backups are more familiar in their respective systems than the starters. Both have a lot of support and confidence from the coaches. Both are able to win a football game in the NFL. Both are quite intoxicating and stable enough to do the job, and they know enough about the divisional enemy to get the job done. Some scouts who I spoke to during the summer and who were watching the Bears were convinced that at this point, Daniel was superior to Trubisky for his ability to unlock the offensive, while that Washington coach Jay Gruden had been quietly defending McCoy within the organization for years.

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It's never ideal to end up in a situation like this at the end of the season – especially with the Washington offensive line already wiped out by injury, with the receiver group and after losing the feature film projected. Derrius Guice at the start of his first training camp. But it is also not a death sentence in the season and, at least for a few weeks, the transition to the next generation can lead other players to play and dig a little more and rally behind him. This can bring an extra spark and a different energy to a football team, and I would be interested to see how these clubs respond.

Smith is a beloved leader, he is very smart and he refuses to turn the ball over … but the Skins offensive could it be a bit more unpredictable and maybe a little brighter with McCoy running on his boots and his idlers? Of course, keeping McCoy healthy for an extended period is a chore given its size, but in a smaller sample, it can be effective and if the skins can stay balanced and make sure that Adrian Peterson playing as he had done in the first half of the game. season, I would not neglect their chances of keeping the lead of the NFC East.

If Trubisky stays seated, it will only be for a game, as it would allow for extended rest and recuperation, instead of having to play only hours after they fought the Vikings on Sunday night. It's an even more limited period during which Daniel has to shine, and I think he's more than capable. With this division lead, a # 2 confidence QB in the lap, and a potential home playoff game for January, this could be the most cautious call. I would not hesitate to do it.

Watch the Redskins face the Cowboys on Thursday at 4:30 pm AND on Fox (broadcast on fuboTV, try for freeand watch the Bears face the Lions on Sunday at 12:30. AND on CBS (stream on CBS All Access or fuboTV, Try it for free).

Cousins ​​under surveillance

It is the time of Kirk Cousins.

Perhaps no NFL player will be scrutinized in Week 12 after a pedestrian-only breakout against the Bears in prime time. The cousins ​​will never hear the end about the failure to win on the big stage and in the playoffs until he does, and after getting a record deal of three-year $ 84 million fully guaranteed in the off season, for the Vikings to look at the prospect of possibly missing out on the playoffs a year after almost hosting the Super Bowl in their national stadium must be a shocking proposition for them owners and leaders of the team.

Let us not forget that the Vikings also made considerable efforts to expand virtually all other vital workings of the lineup, thus accelerating what many hoped was a memorable season. But alas, at 5-4-1, and only 4-3-1 in the NFC, and with a modest differential of over 12, this has really been a mediocre team. This is not all about the Cousins ​​because the defense has sometimes suffered a lot and the racing game was not what many were hoping for, but we are deluding ourselves well if we do not think the Vikings 2018- 2020 will be a referendum on their quarterback and the decision to sign it.

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Understand me well – Cousins ​​was fine. He played well, basically. He's just not been able to transcend, and the Vikings have been a much less complete and balanced team this season. For 11 weeks, Cousins ​​was ranked 12th as a passer (99.3), 12th in TD (19), 20th in yards per attempt (7.21) and third in percentage of completion (70.7) , with seven choices launched. Case Keenum (who did not start week 1 behind Sam Bradford) released the following statistics: 11th in the QB standings (93.7), 11th in the DT (12), 15h in yards per attempt (7.31) and 7th in percentage of achievement (65.7), with five choices launched.

Little difference in this production, apart from the peak of affected. And when you compare the $ 28M / year to the $ 2M made by Keenum a year ago, well, that's why the pressure and anxiety accentuate in the Minnesota. The last time the Vikings tied the Packers, a defeat at home on Sunday night could be overwhelming. With the Patriots and the Seahawks on the road after that, all eyes will be on the quarterback.

Watch the Vikings face the Packers Sunday at 8:20 pm on NBC (broadcast on fuboTV, try for free).

More notes

  • For what it's worth, the Patriots (5-0), Chiefs (5-0), Rams (6-0) and Panthers (5-0) are the only undefeated home teams. The Browns (0-4), Packers (0-5) and 49ers (0-5) are the only teams that have not yet won on the road. Forgive me if I think that Green Bay has much more in common with these reenactment teams than any other club that will represent the NFC in the playoffs. There will be other important changes coming … While we are there, the 49ers, Giants, Raiders, Jets and Jaguars are the only NFL teams to have yet to win a match in their division . It is preferable that significant gains be made in San Francisco in 2019, presumably, or something may have to be given to it as well. Few plans will enter next season under more pressure to radically change the course of their franchises. If the season ends today, the 49ers would have the first choice in the overall standings. Frame. This will be a turning point for General Manager John Lynch, who left the broadcast booth for this position without any prior experience as a receptionist.
  • The Eagles score almost fewer touchdowns per game this season compared to last season. They have amassed only 205 offensive points scored in 10 games, 21st in the NFL, after finishing third with 414 points in 2017. You can not talk to anyone who has faced them recently and who does not talk about the departure of Frank Reich . potential reason for some of the slippage. … Speaking of Reich and the Colts, they ranked, a year ago, in last place in the STATS, Protection Index, INC (27.7), which uses a number of factors to evaluate Offensive online game. This season, they are sixth with 67.1. … Yet another reason why I chose the Saints as pre-season Super Bowl winners: the way they club teams in attack. The Saints lead the NFL with 94 points scored in five minutes and possession of the ball (33:15). They are 11 for 12 on the fourth-down conversions (best NFL 92 percent), often in short-distance situations. And they averaged a 16.33 point margin over nine wins, making it by far the biggest league gap of any winning team.
  • The Bucs managed to give the ball seven times more than any other NFL team. Hard to accomplish in just 11 weeks. … Precisely, one out of three Cardinal Arizona drives ends in a three-and-one, obviously worse in the NFL. That too is hard to do and there are persistent rumors about big changes that will happen this winter. … What to keep in mind with the Chiefs in January is by far the most penalized team in the NFL. They entered Monday's game with 10 more penalties than any other team, before the multitude of flags thrown in their loss to the Rams. Against the best of the best playoffs, that could be the difference. … Ravens use more tight end sets than any other NFL team (150 games up to now) and with them they become very heavy in RPO with Lamar Jackson at QB who will only grow. They have to make something better, Hayden Hurst. The tight end was a non-factor factor until now, even though he led all Baltimore players into Sunday clichés (35 out of a total of 79 shots). If it can emerge as a downstream threat on the home straight, it would be a boon to Jackson's and Ravens' playoff odds … I will not make my column any better bets until Friday, but let's me save here, including Skins. +7.5 as one of my best bets for week 11. … Sall the matches of the week 12 on CBS (via CBS All Access) as well as the entire week 12 slate (on fuboTV, Try it for free).

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