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Big Blue View
Brian Daboll leaves door open for switch at left tackle
Josh Ezeudu had rocky start Sunday vs. Eagles, though he did settle down
New York Giants head coach Brian Daboll on Monday left the door open for the team to make a change at left tackle, where Josh Ezeudu gave up two sacks on sunday in his first game filling in for the injured Andrew Thomas.
“We’ll have that discussion here. We’ve watched the tape. We’re not there yet,” Daboll said. “I thought that early on there was a couple plays in there. One off of a jam and another one that could have been better. I think he settled in. It was his first time playing. So, there’s some things he did better as the game went on and made some improvements. And we’ll see where we’re at here.”
Ezeudu, who struggled in five starts at left tackle last season when Thomas was injured, got the nod again this season when Thomas was lost for the remainder of the year with a Lisfranc injury.
The Giants have two viable choices should they choose to replace Ezeudu at left tackle, and one of them is not playing Evan Neal at that spot.
One is inserting 12-year veteran Chris Hubbard, signed last week off the San Francisco 49ers practice squad.
The other is moving Eluemunor to left tackle and inserting Neal at right tackle. They don’t seem to be in a rush to get Neal into game action. Even in Sunday’s blowout loss to the Eagles, Neal did not get any garbage-time snaps.
Big Blue View
Giants-Steelers odds: 5.5-point underdog Giants face daunting task on Monday Night Football
The New York Giants head to Pittsburgh as 5.5-point underdogs for their Monday night showdown against the Steelers.
The New York Giants (2-5) enter their Monday night matchup against the Pittsburgh Steelers (5-2) as 5.5-point underdogs, according to FanDuel Sportsbook. This marks the 23rd straight game in which the Giants are listed as underdogs, extending their unfortunate franchise record.
The Giants are coming off a crushing 28-3 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles, where they were outmatched by their former star running back, Saquon Barkley. That defeat leaves New York languishing at the bottom of the NFC East standings, and with a 2-5 record against the spread, they’ve struggled to find their footing this season.
On the other hand, the Steelers are riding high after a dominant 37-15 win over the New York Jets on Sunday Night Football. Behind veteran quarterback Russell Wilson, Pittsburgh has surged to first place in the AFC North. The Steelers have been reliable against the spread, going 5-2, and they’ve excelled in limiting points, with five of their games hitting the under.
Primetime has been especially harsh for the Giants, as they’re 0-2 this season and just 1-14 in such games with Daniel Jones under center since 2019. The Steelers, playing their third primetime game in four weeks, have fared better with a 1-1 record under the lights this season.
Bleeding Green Nation
Another change to the Eagles’ schedule
More flexing.
For the second week in a row, the NFL has flexed a Philadelphia Eagles game to an earlier time slot.
Previously it was the Eagles’ Week 8 road game against the Cincinnati Bengals getting moved up from 4:25 PM Eastern to a 1:00 PM start time.
Now it’s the Eagles’ Week 9 home game against the Jacksonville Jaguars being bumped up from an 8:20 PM start on Sunday Night Football to the late game window at 4:05 PM. The matchup will now be televised on CBS instead of NBC as originally intended.
Whereas the Eagles were bumped out in favor of the Caleb Williams vs. Jayden Daniels in Week 8, they’re being replaced with … Anthony Richardson vs. Sam Darnold … in Week 9 when the Minnesota Vikings host the Indianapolis Colts. OK, then.
Bleeding Green Nation
NFL Week 8 odds: Eagles open as road underdogs to the Bengals
Philadelphia is facing a sneaky tough test in Cincinnati.
Despite winning their last two games and entering their next matchup with a better record than their opponent, the 4-2 Philadelphia Eagles are not favored in Week 8. The Birds opened as 1.5-point road underdogs to the 3-4 Cincinnati Bengals, according to FanDuel.
But it’s not hard to argue Cincy is better than their losing record indicates. They actually have a positive point differential at +12, which ranks 16th best in the NFL (and just right ahead of the 5-2 Houston Texans). The Bengals entered Week 7 ranked 13th overall in DVOA, seven spots ahead of the Eagles at 20th.
As you can see, the Bengals [are] 3-1 in their last four games with the sole slip up being a down-to-the-wire overtime loss to a very good Ravens team.
Oddly enough, home field advantage hasn’t worked in the Bengals’ favor this season with the team going 0-3 at Paycor Stadium thus far. Can the Eagles drop them to 0-4 as Cincy plays in their all-white uniforms?
Blogging the Boys
Jerry Jones seems to be finally getting pushback for the way he’s run the franchise
All Jones has done is sell hope, and the fans want a refund.
[S]ometime in the last 15 years, Jones, the general manager, got complacent. Worse, he was able to sell to a large faction of the fans that his complacency was justified and the best direction for the team. The Cowboys have an aversion to free agency and refuse to sign external help at the top of the market price. Everyone can point to the last time the Cowboys spent a hefty penny on a free agent, and that was when they signed Brandon Carr to a five-year, $50-million-dollar contract. Since that transaction, the Cowboys have taken a back seat in free agency, opting to supplement their roster with lesser talent at a much cheaper cost and relying on the draft to get the most out of their roster.
The Cowboys were a rudderless ship in the immediate future after Troy Aikman retired. There was no quarterback, no leadership, and, more importantly, no hope. Fast forward to when the Cowboys had Tony Romo as their starter: With this new approach of thrifty spending and a viable quarterback, Jones and the Cowboys could position themselves as a viable challenger to make the playoffs and avoid the term cap hell.
This has been proven to be more of a myth than ever in the modern NFL and has been disproven in many instances.
Jones…created an illusion that free agency spending meant taking risks and spending more money on external resources at the expense of being terrible in the following years. Nonetheless, when you examine how much the Cowboys have spent in free agency, you can’t believe the Jones are trying to field a serious football operation. Here’s what our own One Cool Customer discovered when assessing the Cowboys’ spending habits.
Over the last three years, the Cowboys rank 30th in cash spending. $84 million behind ultra-stingy Dan Snyder, $93 million behind the league average, $121 million behind the Eagles, and a mind-blowing $223 million behind Cleveland.
The Cowboys, like it or not, have spent less cash on their team over the last decade than almost any other NFL team. They ranked 25th in cash spend from 2013-2016, 32nd from 2016-2019, and 30th from 2021-2023. That’s as clear a pattern as you’re going to get.
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Articles
Washington Post (paywall)
Deshaun Watson suffered season-ending Achilles’ injury, MRI confirms
The Browns quarterback was injured in the first half of Sunday’s loss to the Bengals.
Cleveland Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson suffered a season-ending ruptured Achilles’ tendon in his right leg during Sunday’s loss at home to the Cincinnati Bengals, the Browns announced. The injury was confirmed in an MRI exam taken Monday.
Watson will undergo surgery and will be sidelined for the remainder of the 2024 season, the Browns said, adding that he is expected to make a full recovery.
The injury marks the end to Watson’s third season with the Browns. He will have two seasons remaining on his five-year contract with the team worth a guaranteed $230 million.
Pro Football Talk
Report: Jameson Williams faces two-game suspension for violation of PED policy
Eric Woodyard of ESPN reports that receiver Jameson Williams is facing a two-game suspension for violating the NFL’s PED policy.
It’s unclear whether the suspension is final. When it is, the NFL announces it.
Williams was suspended six games last year under the NFL’s gambling policy.
NFL.com
Buccaneers WR Chris Godwin feared to have suffered dislocated ankle in loss to Ravens
Buccaneers head coach Todd Bowles said postgame that the “early indication” is wide receiver Chris Godwin suffered an ankle dislocation in the team’s 41-31 loss to the Baltimore Ravens on Monday night.
“He’s got an ankle, early indication is that it’s dislocated,” Bowles told reporters. “It doesn’t look good.”
With just about a minute left in the loss, Godwin hauled in a 21-yard reception and was tackled by Ravens linebacker Roquan Smith. Godwin stayed on the ground for a few minutes after the tackle and was eventually carted off with an air cast on his leg.
NFL.com
49ers WR Brandon Aiyuk out for rest of 2024 season after suffering torn ACL, MCL vs. Chiefs
Brandon Aiyuk’s season is over.
An MRI confirmed the San Francisco 49ers wide receiver suffered a torn ACL and MCL in Sunday’s 28-18 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs, NFL Network Insider Ian Rapoport reported on Monday. Niners head coach Kyle Shanahan later confirmed the the extent of Aiyuk’s injury to reporters.
Aiyuk went down with the injury in the final minute of the first half when he collided with Chiefs defensive backs Chamarri Conner and Trent McDuffie after catching a 15-yard pass from Brock Purdy.
NFL.com
Buccaneers WR Mike Evans becomes 11th player in NFL history with 100 TD catches; exits game with injury
Evans hauled in his 100th career touchdown reception during the opening drive of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ 41-31 defeat to the Baltimore Ravens.
On a 25-yard scoring grab from Baker Mayfield in the first quarter, Evans became just the 11th player in NFL history with 100 TD catches. He is now tied for ninth all time in career TD catches with Hall of Famers Tim Brown and Steve Largent.
Evans nearly hauled in TD catch No. 101 later in the second quarter, but the wideout came away from the incompletion injured. After exiting to the locker room, Evans was ruled out of the game with a hamstring injury.
The Athletic (paywall)
Taylor: Chiefs need to trade for a wide receiver now to help Patrick Mahomes
Patrick Mahomes is the NFL’s most talented quarterback — and he needs help. Desperately. Emphatically. Immediately.
As the Kansas City Chiefs seek to become the first team to win three straight Super Bowls, the only option is to make a trade.
Mahomes, though, doesn’t have his top three wide receivers — veteran newcomer Marquise Brown (left shoulder), rising star Rashee Rice (right knee) and JuJu Smith-Schuster (right hamstring), who rejoined the team in late August. In the middle of the first quarter Sunday, Smith-Schuster aggravated a hamstring injury and missed the rest of the game.
Also, look at how weird Mahomes’ passing statistics are through six games — just six touchdowns, a league-leading eight interceptions and an 82.5 passer rating, the lowest of his career as a starter.
If the Chiefs don’t make a trade this week, Mahomes will enter the huddle with a group of receivers — Worthy, Justin Watson, Mecole Hardman and Skyy Moore — who have combined to generate 27 receptions for 343 yards and two touchdowns.
Mahomes needs help.