Month: November 2017

Snead appears to have taken steps forward as far as his health during the past week.

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If that were really the case, then Georgia should have the top spot and it shouldn’t be that much of a debate. The Dawgs’ win at Notre Dame continues to look more impressive, while Bama’s win over Florida State in “the greatest opening weekend matchup ever!” isn’t really that anymore, is it? Meanwhile, in the beauty contest between one-loss teams, Oklahoma’s loss to Iowa State doesn’t look so bad anymore, does it? And despite the Big 12’s overall issues, the Sooners’ bulldozing of the Horseshoe remains one of the year’s most impressive victories.

The best one-on-one battle of the day was Julio Jones vs. Morris Claiborne, at least while it lasted. The Jets cornerback did an excellent job keeping the Falcons’ All-Pro playmaker in check before Claiborne was forced out of the game with a foot injury.

He practiced in full each day and is not listed on the pregame injury report. If he is limited again this week, it won’t be because of the health of his hamstring.

Alshon Jeffery, Philadelphia Eagles, groin, 1 p.m. ET: Despite his addition to the injury report this week with a groin injury, Jeffery was a full participant in practice throughout the week and there are no concerns about his availability for Sunday.

The project is expected to include a high-end hotel and first-class restaurants, office space and retail stores, apartments and condos. Khan wants all the buildings to have “a soul, have character to them,” he says. “You see that in Barcelona, or in Paris.” This is all expected to cost north of $500 million in private funding, and Khan is expected to foot a good chunk of that.

“Shad has said, this is the one great chance that Jacksonville has to change its face,” says Paul Harden, Khan’s Jacksonville-based lawyer, another partygoer. “[Shad] doesn’t do anything small, as you can see by his boat.
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All the Jimmy Garoppolo trade dominoes, and who’s affected

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Who says the NFL never has any trades? After the Houston Texans sent Duane Brown to the Seattle Seahawks to finally provide Seattle with the left tackle it had sought for years, the New England Patriots and San Francisco 49ers consummated a stunning trade on Monday.

It was a performance that warrants close attention, as he played a Seahawks wide receiver-leading 56 snaps, per Pro Football Focus’ Nathan Jahnke, and was targeted seven times. Doug Baldwin might remain the Seahawks’ clear No. 1 wide receiver, but Richardson is creeping up on him and could again benefit in Week 9, should Baldwin be shadowed by Josh Norman.

I have missed Josh Norman tremendously and, considering the lack of big matchups in a 13-game week, am very happy to have him back to face off against Dez Bryant. And not just because of the commercials where they draw stuff on their phones. I’ve been drawing on phones for years. Ruined a lot of phones that way.

We’ve all seen what Ryan Mallett can (err … can’t) do. If Flacco is out, this becomes a no-brainer of a decision, as the Titans will project to finish this week as a top-five option. –Daube

High school boys from Shakopee to Eden Prairie have for years slogged through 20-degree quarterfinal playoff games for the ultimate reward: playoff football where your hands don’t go numb in the first 20 minutes.

Marquise Goodwin, San Francisco 49ers, back, (Q), 1 p.m. ET: Goodwin has flashed his trademark speed at times for the 49ers this season, but he has also had to contend with intermittent injury concerns. He appeared on the Week 8 injury report because of his back, even taking a day off entirely later in the week (Thursday). Goodwin was back to limited practice Friday and appears likely to take the field Sunday, but fantasy owners considering starting him should be sure to check pregame inactives.

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Some teams don’t provide a hiding spot.

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Teodosic is a sieve; the Clippers stash him on the weakest opposing player. That strains Gallinari; he had to defend Devin Booker against Phoenix so that Teodosic could chill on Josh Jackson.

But it sure has taken the Panthers a while to get to this point—and that, like so many other things in Charlotte over the last seven years, has been centered on getting Newton right. The hope now is that they have the Cam 2.0 that they’ve been building toward.

In this week’s Game Plan, we’ll kick the tires on the idea that the Jaguars could trade for a veteran quarterback, we’ll look at the mayhem in the Meadowlands, we’ll check in on the Cowboys’ handling of the anthem guidelines that Jerry Jones has set, we’ll explain why the Browns benched DeShone Kizer, and we’ll look deeper at the Chargers’ problems in Los Angeles.

There might be some concern about his volume of receptions, however, as he has been held to fewer than four catches in four of his seven games. Carson Wentz continues to target Jeffery, however, and he might just do so even more when the Eagles face the 49ers this week.

We’re used to DMC racking up gobs of points and rebounds. We’re used to DMC chipping in some of the best out-of-position assist rates in fantasy. Last season, we even started getting used to Cousins launching 3s with Ryan Anderson-esque abandon — and hitting them with surprising effectiveness (36.1 3FG% in 2016-17).

For the third consecutive game, the Jets scored a touchdown on their opening drive. They’re also 0-3 in those games, so go figure. This time, an eight play, 75-yard drive ended with a 20-yard strike from Josh McCown to tight end Eric Tomlinson. Credit goes to Jets offensive coordinator Johnnie Morton, who is obviously doing a nice job scouting these opposing defenses and has had a nice season overall.
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Something changed over the past six months for the Patriots.

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We might not know what happened for a while, but if you believe any of the reports about the sorts of offers the Patriots were expecting to field for Garoppolo this offseason, they played their cards all wrong. NFL executives suggested the Patriots would get a first-round pick in a Garoppolo deal. The Pats were reportedly asking for two first-round picks, but were willing to settle for the first overall pick. The Pats reportedly turned down an overture from the Browns during the first round of the draft for Garoppolo.

If it wasn’t about the trade value, then the Patriots were holding onto Garoppolo as part of some scheme to be revealed after the season. They wanted Garoppolo because he was about to be the “next great quarterback” in New England.

He told reporters Friday he is “good to go” for Sunday’s game. Barring a setback pregame, expect Amendola to take the field at home against the Chargers.

McConkey, though, still viewed himself as expendable, a day-to-day player who could be cut at anytime. So when he saw a trip to Buffalo on the calendar at the beginning of the season, out came the pen, marking the day. He had attended the first-ever game at Rich Stadium in 1973; this would be his first time getting to play there. He didn’t know how many more chances he’d have.

Sadly, Snow noted, there is a connection to the wrestling world.

“I do see connective tissue to the wrestling world in the sense that pro wrestling runs large scale live events on a weekly basis,” said Snow. “WWE and every other company will make sure security is a major concern and consideration.”
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Did hit 30 homers, but this one was ever worse than Schwarber.

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Notre Dame at Stanford (Nov. 25): There are a lot of “ifs” attached to this one. But if they fall the way of the Irish, their regular-season finale will be ginormous. If Notre Dame continues with its practice up to this point of not merely beating teams, but decimating them, then even their lack of the mysterious 13th data point — a conference title — won’t matter if they’ve soundly whipped a pack of teams all competing for their conference titles, namely USC, NC State, Miami and the Cardinal. Remember, their only loss was by one point to a team likely playing in the SEC title game, the Dawgs.

One notable player who has fallen completely off the list is the top overall pick in the 2017 NBA draft, Markelle Fultz, who is dealing with a shoulder injury that may have contributed to a shockingly poor start to his NBA career. For now, the 76ers have shut him down for the next three weeks. At this point, he’s not worth the risk if it means taking up a roster spot to stash him in standard 10- and 12-team leagues.

Did hit 30 homers, but this was not my finest prediction. Preseason AL MVP pick: Rougned Odor, Texas. Batted .204. Had one of the worst on-base percentages (.252) of a non-pitcher in baseball.

“WCW is also at the height of their business, just two months shy of the Sting-Hogan Starrcade, and the NWO is at a fever pitch. Vince McMahon is paddling as hard as he can to keep up, and creatively, it paid off in spades. I can’t wait to talk about this show, which is crucial and critical to the survival of the company.”

Even better, he’s shown a willingness to dump the ball off. His flip to Fozzy Whitaker on a double-screen against New England, with the defense flowing to McCaffrey and vacating the left side of the field, is a great example of it. He threw the ball probably seven yards in the air; it wound up as a 28-yard touchdown.
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Something to Wrestle returns to its live circuit this weekend.

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Barnes wears cleats and gloves, and he’s somewhat serious about winning. “Not to toot our own horn, but we are the two-time defending champs,” he says. “We have plays that we send out each week, just to go through the route tree and numbers.”

While the Drunken Bears are mostly dressed in their team color, orange, the Stiff Arms don’t seem to have any kind of uniform. “When we show up, we don’t necessarily look like a team,” Curry says. “We don’t even wear our shirts, sometimes we’re not matching. That’s kind of worked in our favor. We’d rather people think we aren’t going to be that good, and then we surprise them.”

To beat Philadelphia’s outstanding front seven, Schneider knows he might have to go get a tackle by Tuesday’s deadline. Joe Staley’s overpriced in San Francisco (and suffered a reported suborbital fracture under his right eye on Sunday), and Cordy Glenn not likely to be freed up in Buffalo. It might be Brown or Colt Anthony Castonzo … and Brown’s better. We shall see.

Don’t sweat the low tackle rate or the modest snap rate Peppers claims this season, as he’s purely a pass-rush specialist at this phase of his career. While his exposure rates suggest he’s a boom-or-bust fantasy option, it’s worth noting Peppers has tallied at least a half sack in all but two games this season and is 18th among defensive ends in fantasy points per game as a result.

“Interestingly, Owen Hart was referring to himself as ‘The Real Hitman’, perhaps trying to transition into that role if Bret was truly leaving the company,” said Thompson.

Although Thompson will not be present in Detroit this Sunday, the show will be hosted by Bruce Prichard and Jim Cornette.

“I go, Holy crap I have to block him, that’s the guy I got to block,” Dowling says. “I take a step and I have him lined up. I take another step, eh, I don’t have him lined up so much. I take another step, I’m chasing him.”
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Greg Hardy was accused, and initially convicted, of domestic violence against a former girlfriend.

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The point is, it’s a buyer’s market on defensive tackles these days. The Jaguars didn’t have a lot of options for a mid-season upgrade. They wanted help against the run (I wouldn’t say “needed,” especially because they could find more snaps for Paul Posluszny at Myles Jack’s expense if they wanted to upgrade their run D), and they think Dareus gives them that help.

Go Fas Racing looking at options for 2017: “Let’s face it, anybody in the bottom three is exploring all their options right now,” car owner Archie St. Hilaire said. St. Hilaire’s Go Fas Racing team ranks last in the standings among charter teams. He seeks a partnership. He is willing to lease his charter and partner with another chartered team if that will help his team grow.

Philadelphia is on track for home-field advantage throughout the playoffs, but first things first: The Eagles still have to play the Cowboys twice in trying to secure the NFC East title.

Matt Forte, knee, New York Jets, 1 p.m. ET: Forte will remain a fixture on the Jets’ injury report throughout the season as they look to give the veteran rest during the week, even when healthy.

On the field after the game, Taylor sought out Schulte; he called him a “cheap bastard” but also, reportedly, shook his hand and told him that he respected him. Some tellings—including in a 1992 Sports Illustrated story by Peter King—make Schulte out to be nervous and deferential when confronted by LT after the game. Terry Schulte-Scott, the guard’s sister, would like to correct that narrative.

The complaint alleged that Hardy hit her, dragged her, and threw her on a futon covered with firearms. Hardy’s conviction was overturned on appeal, in part because his accuser did not cooperate with prosecutors.
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