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Morning briefing: 14-Nov-24 – Commanders have 3rd-ranked offensive line per PFF (Eagles rank #8)

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Pittsburgh Steelers v Washington Commanders
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Big Blue View

Schefter: ‘Anything’s possible’ with Brian Daboll, New York Giants

Daboll’s return not guaranteed despite John Mara’s recent plea for patience

NFL insider Adam Schefter isn’t sure that New York Giants head coach Brian Daboll will survive a second straight miserable season. Schefter said Monday on the Pat McAfee Show that “anything’s possible” with the Giants.

“I don’t know that anybody can say that anybody’s safe in New York. I don’t know that anybody can say that anybody’s safe when you’re on track to have the No. 1 overall pick in the draft,” Schefter said.

“We’ll give him [Giants co-owner John Mara] the benefit of the doubt, we’ll say he’s not making any changes, we don’t expect anything in season, but I think that they’re going to be looking at everything and I think anything’s possible there.”

Schefter, of course, was wrong that the Giants have the No. 1 pick in the 2025 NFL Draft. They have the No. 2 pick.

Here is what Mara said less than a month ago, when the Giants were 2-5:

“Obviously, we’re all very disappointed with where we are right now,” Mara said. “But I’m going to say one thing, we are not making any changes this season, and I do not anticipate making any changes in the offseason, either.”

If you know your recent Giants history, you know that Mara said something similar about Ben McAdoo during a poor 2017 season. Neither McAdoo nor GM Jerry Reese made it to the end of that season. You know that in 2021 Mara supported coach Joe Judge and said he was the right guy for the job right up until a couple of weeks before Mara fired him.

So, neither Daboll not Schoen should be comforted by the vote of confidence.

Blogging the Boys

Cowboys doghouse: Ezekiel Elliott’s return to Dallas has been a disaster

No matter how anyone felt, Elliott being back in Dallas made sense if they used him a certain way as in letting him be a short yardage and goal line type of guy to keep the chains moving and punch the ball in end zone. However, after two months of the season, Elliott isn’t even being used in those situations regularly, making his role a pretty useless one. On top of that, Elliott recently had a talk with the organization about his role or lack thereof, which led to him getting more carries than Rico Dowdle against the Detroit Lions although the latter was coming off of the best game of his career with 87 yards. After the bye week, Elliott would get the start against the San Francisco 49ers due to Dowdle being a late scratch because of being sick, but he only managed a pedestrian 34 yards on 10 carries. Then, things got even more messy around Elliott’s return.

Before the Cowboys took on the Atlanta Falcons, it was reported that Elliott and the team mutually agreed that he would miss the game due to disciplinary reasons. Come to find out, the situation had been boiling over as Elliott has exhibited habitual tardiness and has missed three team meetings with the one the Friday before the Falcons game pushing things over the edge. That was a complete shocker to everyone, considering that one of Elliott’s strengths has always been that he was a locker room guy, but this type of behavior is the complete opposite of that. Last week, the Cowboys took on the hated Philadelphia Eagles at home. Near the end of the second quarter, Dallas had a first-and-goal at the six-yard line in a 7-3 game. Elliott was given the opportunity to give the Cowboys the lead, but he fumbled the ball into the endzone for a touchback.

There’s quite a bit to unpack here, but none of it is positive. Not only is Elliott not performing well at what he was brought back to do, but he’s also not being a leader with how he’s handling preparation before game days. It’s just been a mess when it comes to Elliott and his reunion with the team. It’s clear that both sides need to part ways no matter how much Jerry Jones says he’s seen good things from Elliott. It’s a mystery as to what he’s talking about because Elliott is averaging a career-low 3.2 yards per rush.

Blogging the Boys

Eagles loss another glaring example of why Mike McCarthy has to go

From the field to the locker room, Mike McCarthy’s influence on the Cowboys isn’t working.

[T]here was never a point that you felt much hope of Dallas pulling off the upset.

This void of optimism is directly linked to McCarthy. There’s no sense that he has a handle on things anymore, either in the X’s and O’s of running an offense, head coaching basics like clock management and challenging plays, or managing the team’s chemistry and culture. Parsons’ well-covered postgame comments may not have been intended to blast the coach’s effort, but the words still came out the way they did. And the reason they resonated is because McCarthy does seem like a guy who’s phoning it in. Or worse, a guy who’s now so bad at his job that you can’t tell the difference.

We never saw the team look this bad, on the field or backstage, under Jason Garrett. We never saw Cooper Rush look this bad when Kellen Moore was offensive coordinator. People want to make such a big deal about McCarthy’s three-straight seasons with 12 wins, but let’s not pretend that Garrett wasn’t a 2015 Tony Romo injury away from a similar feat from 2014-2016. McCarthy’s highs haven’t been any higher than previous coaching regimes, and his lows are starting to look much lower.

We’ve reached the “it can’t get any worse” point with Mike McCarthy’s run in Dallas. Getting outclassed by the next generation of coaches is one thing, but now he’s proven to be counter-productive to winning football games. Maybe that’s what you want if you’re focused on 2025 draft positioning, but it could cost you the morale and loyalty of your roster and fanbase along the way.

Pro Football Focus

2024 NFL offensive line rankings ahead of Week 11

3. Washington Commanders (Up 5)

Projected Week 11 starters:

Despite dealing with a fierce Steelers pass rush, the Commanders’ offensive line had a great pass-blocking game in Week 10. Across 37 pass plays, the unit surrendered just four pressures — albeit two of them turned into sacks — and earned a 91.9 PFF pass-blocking efficiency rating, which ranked second in the NFL this week.

Although right tackle Andrew Wylie was active against Pittsburgh, he did not play due to his shoulder injury. He was replaced by Trent Scott, whose 52.0 PFF overall grade was the lowest among Washington’s offensive linemen.

Best player: Sam Cosmi

Cosmi’s 78.8 PFF pass-blocking grade ranks sixth among all guards this season.

8. Philadelphia Eagles (Down 1)

Projected Week 11 starters:

The Eagles’ offensive line allowed 16 pressures — including four sacks — on just 30 pass plays against the Cowboys in Week 10. As a result, they earned a 66.7 PFF pass-blocking efficiency rating, which ranked last in the NFL this week.

Center Cam Jurgens was at the center of the issues, surrendering three pressures — including two sacks — and earning a poor 32.4 PFF pass-blocking grade.

Best player: Lane Johnson

Johnson allowed two pressures in Philadelphia’s win over the Cowboys. It was the first time this season that the Eagles’ right tackle accounted for more than one pressure.

22. Dallas Cowboys (Down 3)

Projected Week 11 starters:

The Cowboys were without rookie left tackle Tyler Guyton in Week 10 against Philadelphia. He was replaced by Asim Richards, whose 59.7 PFF overall grade was the lowest among the team’s offensive linemen.

Dallas’ offensive line accounted for 12 pressures — including four sacks — on just 32 pass plays against the Eagles. That led to a 75.0 PFF pass-blocking efficiency rating, which was the third-lowest mark in the NFL in Week 10.

Best player: Tyler Smith

While the rest of the offensive line struggled, Smith did not allow a single pressure and earned an 87.5 PFF pass-blocking grade, which ranked third among guards in Week 10.

25. New York Giants (Up 4)

Projected starters entering bye:

The Giants moved Jermaine Eluemunor to left tackle and had former first-round pick Evan Neal start at right tackle for the first time this season. Neal put forth an encouraging performance in the loss to the Panthers, garnering a 93.4 PFF run-blocking grade that ranked second among all offensive tackles in the NFL this week.

Since Week 2, guard Jon Runyan has allowed a knockdown — sack or quarterback hit — on just 0.5% of pass plays, which is tied for the 14th-best rate among 73 qualifying guards.

Best player: Greg Van Roten

Van Roten let up one pressure against Carolina, and his 84.4 PFF pass-blocking grade ranked ninth among guards for the week.

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Barstool Sports

Drake Maye is Better Than Caleb Williams and Other Observations Heading Into Week 11

Believe me, this isn’t intended as a dunk on Caleb Williams. If he was the clue on a Wheel of Fortune puzzle that read “B[ ]ST,” I’d still guess that was an “E” in there and not a “U.” All that talk in the offseason that he was walking into the best situation of any quarterback taken No. 1 overall ever saw didn’t fully account for Matt Eberflus:

In contrast, despite all the suppressing fire aimed at Jerod Mayo and Alex Van Pelt – much of it deserved – it’s hard to argue that right now, as we head into Week 11, they’ve handled Drake Maye’s development about as well as we could hope for. To make the comparison I mentioned in that headline, and sticking strictly with percentages and averages to keep it apples-to-apples:

Maye: 4.7 TD%, 3.3 INT%, 5.5 big time throw %, 41.5 successful throw %, 6.4 yards per pass attempt, 84.1 passer rating, 58.5 Pro Football Focus passing grade, 66.9 PFF overall grade

Williams: 3.1 TD%, 1.7 INT%, 2.5 big time throw %, 39.8 successful throw %, 6.1 yards per pass attempt, 81.0 passer rating, 57.7 Pro Football Focus passing grade, 60.3 PFF overall grade

With the not-unimportant exception of INT % (each have thrown five picks, but Williams has almost twice as many attempts) Maye has been better in every passing metric. And that doesn’t even take into account their running games, where the Pats rookie has been nothing short of dominant:

Maye: 25 attempts, 233 yards, 1 TD, 9.3 yards per attempt, best in the NFL

Williams: 40 attempts, 236 yards, 0 TDs, 5.6 YPA

All of which means, right now in the middle of November of their rookie seasons, it’s impossible to argue that Maye is not the better quarterback. And most likely the better leader at this point.

ESPN

Inside Aaron Rodgers’ complicated relationship with the Jets

AS SUNDAY NIGHT became Monday morning in Pittsburgh on Oct. 20, the only sounds emanating from the New York Jets’ locker room were whispered conversations and tossed equipment. Aaron Rodgers, his face wrinkled and his beard a nearly even mix of gray and brown, sat in front of his locker and stared into the distance. His hand bleeding, his hamstring barking, his knee aching, his team losing, his body nearing its 41st birthday, he seemed to be contemplating the wisdom of this last roll of the dice.

This — the postgame locker room — is the real NFL. It smells like blood and sweat and soil and bears no resemblance to the glitzy pregame introductions. Here, large men sit at their lockers, their backs to the room, shoes off, helmets tossed to the side, clenching and unclenching their fists to make sure they still work. There are yards and yards of athletic tape on the floor, stained red from blood and green from grass and brown from dirt. The same guys who ran through the tunnel in clean jerseys a few hours ago now stare into their lockers wondering how long it’s going to take to stand up. Winning and losing look the same and smell the same and hurt the same. They just sound different.

Amid the booming silence of this Jets locker room, it’s easy to explain the presence of every man other than Rodgers. They need to start something or maybe complete it. They’re chasing the money and fame he has had for nearly two decades, or maybe they’ve already caught it and now they’re trying to figure out what to do with it. They all live for the rush.

But in here, Rodgers looks out of place. He wears a big square bandage on the back of his left hand, and his eyes lack their usual self-satisfied knowingness. The pain in his knee has been there for a few weeks and the one in his hamstring for a few hours. Since trading for him before last season, the Jets have attempted to create a team in his image. They had already brought in his best friend Nathaniel Hackett to coordinate the same offense Rodgers ran in Green Bay. They have presented him with a bouquet of former Packers receivers, starting last year with Allen Lazard and Randall Cobb (now an analyst on the SEC Network), and culminating this season with the mid-October trade with the Raiders for Davante Adams, Rodgers’ friend and most prolific coconspirator.

Rodgers is having one of his worst seasons as judged by a variety of statistical metrics. His QBR of 52.0 is 24th in the NFL and his yards per attempt (6.4) are the lowest of any season since he became a starter in 2008. He has thrown double-digit interceptions in just three of his 16 seasons as a starter, and never more than 13, but this season he has thrown seven in the first 10 games. When so much of a team’s fate — the offense, the personnel, the game plan — is contingent upon the quarterback, it is only natural that he becomes the sun around which everything else orbits.

Pro Football Focus

2024 NFL quarterback rankings ahead of Week 11

In this quarterback rankings breakdown, we’ve evaluated the top performers based on PFF passing grades. Using insights from Premium Stats, we’ll also present a variety of key grades beyond passing grade, including grades under pressure, from a clean pocket, against the blitz and more.


A look at big-time throws and turnover-worthy plays

Before we get to the updated weekly rankings, let’s look at the big-time throw and turnover-worthy play rates for the season so far. For a more detailed explanation of how PFF grades big-time throws and turnover-worthy plays, click here.

The chart below can be divided into four quadrants:

• The top left: Quarterbacks with a high turnover-worthy play rate and low big-time throw rate — those struggling to protect the ball while doing little to mitigate the risks.

• The top right: Quarterbacks with high big-time throw and turnover-worthy play rates, those who “live by the sword and die by the sword.”

• The bottom left: The “Alex Smith zone,” populated by safe quarterbacks with low rates in both categories.

• The bottom right: Quarterbacks with a high big-time throw rate and low turnover-worthy play rate, exactly where every passer wants to be.


Front Office Sports

NFL TV Ratings Up Big on Major Networks, but There’s a Caveat

NFL TV ratings are trending up this season—by way of the league’s traditional measures, at least. However, the impact of the NFL’s continued media evolution is still taking its toll when it comes to viewers.

Game broadcasts are averaging 17.3 million viewers, NFL Media’s X account posted, which is the highest figure through Week 10 since 2015—but with a big asterisk. That number doesn’t include viewership from international games on NFL Network or exclusive streaming broadcasts on Peacock and ESPN+, which is a total of six games.

While it is unclear exactly how much those excluded games are impacting the NFL’s overall TV ratings, here is what we do know:

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