The Dugout – Sharp Shooters, Blunt Kickers & Booze Drinkers
Kick The Bloody Thing Over!
The old phrase: “You had one job!” never feels more accurate than when an NFL kicker misses a field goal. Or a point after for that matter.
It’s been well publicised that point afters weren’t gonna be a given any longer with the NFL moving the kick back to the 33 yard line. That’s been dead right to date after the first four weeks of the NFL. There have already been 17 missed PATs this season – there were two at this stage in 2014. Granted, those 17 misses have been out of 300 attempts, so it’s still an expected target. Yet suddenly the thought of missing a point after is a real possibility.
But this is what the NFL wanted, to make it so the PATs aren’t easy sitters. Or, as Bengals kicker Mike Nugent put it: "There's only one reason they moved it back - they want us to miss more." And they are, in record numbers. Though to be fair they also want more teams to consider 2-point conversions, except that aside from the Steelers, that isn’t really happening.
To be honest, this is a good thing for kickers in a way. It makes their position less interchangeable and increases the worth of the best guys in the role. Justin Tucker and Dan Bailey aren’t struggling. Tucker hit a 53 yard field goal to win the game against the Steelers this week and hasn’t missed a PAT all season.
But then you look at the other side of that game. Twice in the fourth quarter Steelers kicker Josh Scobee had chances to nail what probably would have ended up as winning FGs. Once from 41 yards, once from 49 yards. Both were no good. As the game went to extra time, the Steelers twice went for it on 4th and 2 (having also buffed on 3rd on 2 both times) and failed. In Ravens territory, within range of deep field goals. Snoop Dogg laid into Scobee Doo on Instagram.
Within a couple days, Scobee had been cut.
Cody Parker of the Eagles missed a field goal and an extra point in a 23-20 loss to Washington. New Orleans kicker Zach Hocker also missed a game-winner against the Dallas Cowboys, rocking it off the upright to send the game into overtime. Lucky for him, his quarterback is Drew Brees, and they won two plays after the kickoff.
A few high profile instances like these make it sound like kickers are bottling it all over town, but in reality the League FG% is pretty much on par with where it always is. Like Hocker, for example. He missed that almost-crucial one but he also buried a couple tough ones and hit a stunner of a punt filling in for their regular boot.
"These guys are just ... I don't want to say weak-minded but they are, almost. They don't have the mental toughness to deal with it. They knew the rule change in advance. Deal with it. You miss one or two a year, that's where you should be. You make all of your extra points, you had a good season." – Former Buccs kicker Lawrence Tynes.
The Hayne Refrain IV
Week four was probably Jarryd Hayne’s quietest week yet. The San Francisco 49ers played the Green Bay Packers, possibly the best team in the NFL through the first three weeks, and it went about as expected.
They trailed from the Packers’ opening drive and never really looked like scoring on them in a comfortable 17-3 loss. Albeit the defensive effort was really good. Jarryd Hayne didn’t see the ball at all on offence, though he seems to have won the job as the team’s number one punt returner.
Of the six punts he was back to field, two were booted out of bounds where he couldn’t run them back. So was a third, but it was called back for a flag and re-kicked. Hayne took the second attempt back for six yards. He had another six yarder in the second half, as well as a fair catch, but it was his muffed effort in the second quarter that got the attention in these parts of the world.
Dealing with a short punt, Hayne initially planned to leave it and hope for a favourable bounce, but changed his mind thinking it might make contact with a teammate, making it a live ball. So he dashed up and called the fair catch, only for a teammate to be nudged into him causing him to lose the ball. Luckily cornerback Dontae Johnson was able to recover it.
"It was a late read. I was going to 'poison it' and let it go, but I thought one of our guys, it might have hit him. So I just kind of went for it and threw my body in there. I was obviously hoping to catch it, but I think one of their gunners made a good play and nudged one of our boys into me and obviously knocking me off balance. I shouldn’t have done it " – JH
There was also a bit of confusion when he didn’t draw a flag on his fair catch when a Packers gunner, as they call the lead kick chasers, made contact with him.
"Yeah, that was surprising. As far as I know, the kicking team cannot touch the returner once he fair catches it... I saw the coaches on the sideline raise the question, but they did not make the call." - JH
To date, Hayne has made 6 returns for 56 yards at an average of 9.3 per attempt. That average is good for 16th in the NFL and he’s 21st in return yardage. Also, if you watch this to the end, he isn’t dealing with sloppy Aussie journos who only watch for him, which is cool:
Plus there's this beauty of Jarryd Hayne mic’d up during the Packers game. The sloppy US accent he uses when hyped and some of the words he manages to say unironically... looks like he's fitting in fine.
Also regardless of how the team goes and how Hayne himself goes on the field, things like this keep happening:
And check out this analysis of his 37 yarder in week three if you care for such things. Very knowledgeable, very interesting from 49ers.com.
Ballin’ In New Orleans
The longer Corey Webster hangs about with the New Orleans Pelicans, the better his chances become. Last week we looked at those chances and who he’s up against. This week we have some on court action to shout about, as Webby made his NBA pre-season debut against the Indiana Pacers.
It was a slight deviation from what we’d expected. Webster logged most of his 8 minutes at point guard, a position that he’s played now and then for the Breakers but last season and for the Tall Blacks he’s a shooting guard above all else. And that’s the role he’s expected to be challenging for on this roster.
Maybe it was because of the logjam between other SG candidates or maybe they wanted to test out the versatility of Webster. Just as Jarryd Hayne’s versatility helped him onto the 49ers, the same is possible for Webster. It helps that his coach, Alvin Gentry, knows a thing or two about point guards too, having coached the likes of Chris Paul, Steve Nash and Steph Curry. Though the most realistic reason is down to necessity. Tyreke Evans sat this game out as an injury precaution, while Jrue Holiday was limited to 10 mins and will be on a minutes restriction for the start of the season too. Corey Webster was about the only dude left after Norris Cole.
That role wasn’t a huge shock to people who saw him in the Pellies’ open scrimmage last week. Webster played almost entirely at PG there, scoring 6 points and picking up 4 or 5 assists, depending on what you read (it was a training game, so no official stats). He seemed to impress with his ball-handling and ability to pass.
Webster didn’t do a whole lot in his first game, but he didn’t look lost. Of the guys competing for roster spots, it was Jeff Adrien (a forward who could be said to be battling more with Kendrick Perkins) who impressed the most, while Sean Kilpatrick had a poor one. Playing the point, Webster didn’t get the chance to pop threes like other candidates. Instead he played provider, one alley-oop to Anthony Davis was a play he won’t soon forget.
The big news from Pelican-ville is that centre Alexis Ajinca did a hammie and will miss 4-6 weeks.
Tell you what else, his shooting on the court is what got him here but it turns out that talent stretches out further than most three pointers:
As well as that, this is a pretty good interview where Webster talks about the journey in his own words.
Los Playoffs
Welcome to the MLB Playoffs, where things get real. Already the wildcard games have begun, with the Houston Astros taking on the New York Yankees on Wednesday while the Chicago Cubs play the Pittsburgh Pirates today (Thursday) – that one’ll be a thriller between two sides that haven’t had a whole lot of postseason success in, oh, let’s say decades.
But it was the Astros and the Yankees that began the show. The Yankees hosted due to a better record. Both of these teams had limped into the playoffs, giving up solid division leads to end up in this position and it was the Astros that rose to the occasion – despite this being their first playoff appearance since 2005.
Uber-ace Dallas Keuchel started for Houston and he started on just three days’ rest, a career first for him. But you wouldn’t have known it as he gave his team 6 strong innings of no-run, three-hit baseball. Colby Rasmus homered in the top of the second to give them the lead. Carlos Gomez doubled that lead in the fifth.
In the sixth innings it felt like the Yankees were on the verge of rallying. Up stepped Alex Rodriguez, so much maligned but pretty resurgent in 2015, with a runner on base. The crowd on their feet, an air of suspense pulsating between them. A-Rod swung hard at the first pitch… and flied out soft to centre.
Then the next innings Jose Altuve drove in an RBI single and the Astros were too good from there. 3-0 was the score and Houston now head to a Best-of-Five Division Series against last year’s AL champs the Kansas City Royals.
At the same time, the Texas Rangers and the Toronto Blue Jays (initial AL favourites*) do battle as well. Over in the NL, the winner of the Cubs and Pirates plays the St Louis Cardinals as the Los Angeles Dodgers and New York Mets compete themselves.
*(the Blue Jays’ run differential is 99 runs better than the next best team – that difference in itself would be fifth in the MLB!)
It’s the playoffs, folks. Let’s celebrate!
NFL Week 4 Power Rankings:
- Green Bay Packers (Last week = 1)
- New England Patriots (2)
- Cincinnati Bengals (4)
- Atlanta Falcons (6)
- Arizona Cardinals (3)
- Denver Broncos (7)
- Carolina Panthers (8)
- New York Jets (NA)
- Buffalo Bills (5)
- Pittsburgh Steelers (10)
Perks of the Life
More Cowbell
Foresight
Quote of the Week:
Stephen A. Smith said some stuff ‘bout Kevin Durant. KD called him a liar. SAS responded (with free sound effects):
Good Week:
Houston Astros – The youngest team in baseball spent years bottoming out and collecting potential talent. Now guys like Dallas Keuchel, Carlos Correa, Jose Altuve and co. are out there dominating. First playoff appearance in a decade, it’s gonna last a lil longer.
Josh Norman (Carolina Panthers) – If you were to hand out a defensive MVP through 4 weeks, this lad is in the conversation. He’s already got two pick-sixes, the latest against the Tampa Bay Buccs. He also intercepted Luke McCown late in week 3 to ice that game. As a cornerback, he’s the sixth-most targeted guy in the league yet no opponent has had a 50 yard game on him. Monstrous.
Todd Gurley (St Louis Rams) – The highest picked running back in this year’s draft. 10th overall. He’s been eased into the NFL, sitting out the first two weeks and had 6 carries for 9 yards in week three. But the signs were there and after only 4 carries for 2 yards in the first half against Arizona (previously unbeaten) he then reeled off 146 second half yards. That includes runs of 23, 12, 52, 20 and 30 yards against one of the better defences in the league. He ended this game with two first downs after the two-minute warning, including that 30 yard gain on 3rd and 12 with 77 secs left.
Bad Week:
Joe Philbin (Unemployed) – With the bye coming up after a trip to London where the Miami Dolphins lost hard to the New York Jets, they decided it was time for Coach Philbin and themselves to see other people. At 1-3 and looking all sorts of confused, nobody was shocked. Philbin leaves the Fins with a record of 24-28 as Head Coach. Dan Campbell replaces him in the interim.
New York Yankees – It’s so ruthless that a single-game playoff can decide an entire season, but that’s how it goes and the Yanks had their chances. Instead they’re done for the year and they set a new franchise record of 5 consecutive playoff losses.
Matt Harvey (New York Mets) – The Mets ace has been eased through the end of the season on an innings limit but he vowed to pitch in the playoffs and whaddaya know, the Mets made the playoffs. But missing a mandatory training session is not a great start to his postseason run. Initially he told the team he was stuck in traffic, now manager Terry Collins says that wasn’t true, he just “fucked up”. Very concise.
Player of the Week:
Drew Brees (New Orleans Saints) – It must be nice for a team as full of holes as the New Orleans Saints to know they have a future Hall of Famer taking snaps. There really is no substitute for a legendary QB. Brees returned after a week off probably still not 100% against Dallas but you wouldn’t know it to watch him play. 33-41, 359 YDS, 2 TD, he was brilliant. That includes an 80 yard TD for the win in overtime, his 400th career touchdown pass. He also surpassed 5000 completions – only Brett Favre and Peyton Manning have achieved that before.