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      N.F.L. Rookie Quarterbacks Have Been Bad. Can That Change?

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      The Patriots’ Mac Jones, the Jaguars’ Trevor Lawrence and the Jets’ Zach Wilson have so far combined to go 1-8 this season.Good rookie quarterbacks are all alike. Terrible rookie quarterbacks are all terrible in their own way. And this year’s rookie quarterbacks? They look far more terrible than usual.Three N.F.L. rookies have started all three of their teams’ games at quarterback so far this season: Mac Jones of the New England Patriots, Trevor Lawrence of the Jacksonville Jaguars and Zach Wilson of the Jets. They have combined to throw 17 interceptions and just nine touchdowns while leading their teams to a collective 1-8 record. The only victory was when Jones’s Patriots defeated Wilson’s Jets.Justin Fields made his much-anticipated first start for the Chicago Bears on Sunday in Week 3, after Andy Dalton started the first two games. Fields completed 6 of 20 passes for 68 yards while enduring nine sacks for 67 lost yards, meaning the Bears netted precisely 1 yard of passing offense in a 26-6 loss to the Cleveland Browns.Add emergency appearances by the middle-round draft picks Davis Mills of the Houston Texans and Jacob Eason of the Indianapolis Colts, plus gadget-specialist cameos by Trey Lance of the San Francisco 49ers, and rookie quarterbacks so far this season have combined to throw 20 interceptions, absorb 42 sacks and complete just 57.7 percent of their passes.Rookie quarterbacks are typically mediocre to dreadful. Fans tend to remember exceptional cases, like Justin Herbert’s offensive-rookie-of-the-year-winning performance in 2020, while the struggles of top prospects like Dwayne Haskins, Josh Rosen, Josh Allen, Jared Goff and many others are either forgotten or politely retconned when they later achieve success.It is rare, however, for so many rookies to be so punishingly awful in so many early appearances. Sam Darnold had a tragicomic rookie season for the 2018 Jets (a bout of mononucleosis, “seeing ghosts” against the Patriots’ defense), but he threw two touchdowns and led the Jets to victory in his very first start. Joe Burrow, Carson Wentz, Jameis Winston, Marcus Mariota and many others also enjoyed early success before tailing off or getting injured, or both. A rookie season is usually a roller-coaster ride. So far in 2021, they have all been haunted houses.Reasons for the miserable starts vary from team to team. Wilson’s Jets are embarking on their second foundation-to-rafters rebuilding project of the last three years. Their roster looks like it was assembled using a newsstand draft guide with the first 50 pages torn out. Injuries have sidelined a handful of the team’s remaining recognizable veterans, including left tackle Mekhi Becton, who was Wilson’s top pass protector, and wide receiver Jamison Crowder, who was Wilson’s short-pass safety valve. Nearly every Jets rookie quarterback of the past half-century has been in for an ordeal, but Wilson faces an especially dire situation.Lawrence is coached by Urban Meyer, the latest in a long line of collegiate potentates (Steve Spurrier, Nick Saban, Bobby Petrino and Chip Kelly among them) who learned the hard way that they could not operate as deities in the N.F.L. Meyer’s tenure thus far has been marred by fines from the N.F.L. Players Association for violating practice protocols, a vainglorious comeback attempt by Tim Tebow and a public denial that he is interested in the University of Southern California coaching vacancy. (Like Julius Caesar, Meyer is obligated to reject the crown three times before seizing it.) The Jaguars perform each Sunday as if they are the third or fourth thing on their coach’s mind.Meyer also forced Lawrence to split first-string practice reps with a lame-duck incumbent, Gardner Minshew, for much of training camp, before Minshew was traded to the Eagles, perhaps still believing that he could redshirt his prized freshmen. Lawrence’s relative lack of practice time with the starters may be contributing to his woes.Jones was relegated to mostly second-string reps until Cam Newton missed a portion of training camp after a breach of Covid-19 protocols. Patriots Coach Bill Belichick unexpectedly released the creaky, eccentric and probably unvaccinated Newton in late August, allowing the team to focus its attention on a Hitchcockian attempt to transform Jones into Tom Brady. (Wear these rings for us, Mac. Now eat this avocado ice cream.) Playing behind a sturdy offensive line, supported by an outstanding defense and getting the Pygmalion treatment from Belichick, Jones has been the best of the rookie bunch so far.Fields, by contrast, looked utterly unprepared for his first start. Bears Coach Matt Nagy insisted Dalton was the team’s unchallenged starter from the moment the 11-year veteran arrived in March, denying Fields any chance to compete for the role in the preseason. Whether Fields is now unready because of a lack of starter’s reps or he didn’t earn starter’s reps because he wasn’t ready for them is the sort of chicken or egg question N.F.L. franchises typically answer by firing the coach.There’s a cottage industry of Dalton-like “mentors” who roam the league, serving as combination stunt doubles and therapy pets for coaches panic-stricken by the thought of starting a rookie. It is debatable whether these caretakers help rookies or hinder them: Whatever Fields learned from watching Dalton sure looked like the wrong lessons on Sunday. Jimmy Garoppolo is holding off Lance in San Francisco by executing the screen passes and misdirection plays coaches typically use to hide the deficiencies of their rookies. Still, one look at Fields, Jones, Lawrence or Wilson is all the justification the 49ers need for sticking with Garoppolo for now.There’s no reason to worry about the futures of these rookie quarterbacks just yet. Peyton Manning threw 11 interceptions in his first four N.F.L. starts. Troy Aikman led the Dallas Cowboys to an 0-11 record in his first season. John Elway was benched multiple times as a rookie. A lack of early success might actually help the 2021 rookies in the long run by tempering expectations and dimming the national spotlight.Fans need to be patient. So do coaches, especially the ones accustomed to working with Hall of Famers or trouncing Bowling Green State this time of year. At least some of this year’s rookies will come around soon enough, though Jets and Jaguars fans can assure you that there are no guarantees. More

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      What We Learned From Week 3 of the N.F.L. Season

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      Justin Herbert and the Chargers want a Chiefs rivalry, Josh Allen is still Josh Allen and the Steelers aren’t winning their bet on Ben Roethlisberger.The No. 1 takeaway from Week 3 in the N.F.L.? These new-look Los Angeles Chargers possess precisely what it takes to beat the Kansas City Chiefs: guts. An endless supply of guts.Chargers Coach Brandon Staley understands that you kick at your own peril against these Chiefs. Working the clock, too, is an ancient concept that leads to your demise. All conventional football wisdom flies out the window when it comes to Patrick Mahomes, Andy Reid and this juggernaut Chiefs offense. But it finally appears that a coach, a quarterback and a team in the A.F.C. West understand all that.Staley called pass plays often, early and late, and his quarterback, Justin Herbert, delivered 281 passing yards on 26-of-38 passing with four touchdowns and no interceptions. These Chargers proved they aren’t those Chargers of old with a signature win, stunning the Chiefs, 30-24, in Kansas City, Mo.“Any time you’re playing an offense that’s this historic,” Staley said at his postgame news conference, “when you’re playing against three players that are historic players in the game, you have to be aggressive. Not reckless. But you have to be aggressive.”Even with the Chargers taking a 14-point lead in the first half, it seemed there was more than enough time for Mahomes to conjure his magic. And that’s what happened in the third quarter as Mahomes threw two consecutive touchdown passes to give the Chiefs a 17-14 lead. The drama ramped up when the Chiefs scored on an 8-yard shovel pass to Mecole Hardman to take a 24-21 lead with 6 minutes 48 seconds to go.And the Chargers punched back. First, Herbert directed a 10-play, 69-yard drive to tie it at 24. That’s when, just one week after his costly turnover in a loss to the Baltimore Ravens, Mahomes had another backbreaking error. His third-and-8 overthrow of tight end Travis Kelce was intercepted by Alohi Gilman at the Chargers’ 41-yard line with a little less than two minutes left.The 23-year-old Herbert went back to work. On third-and-2 on that first set of downs, he fired a 15-yarder to Keenan Allen in stride.On fourth-and-4, with 48 seconds left, Staley bypassed a 47-yard field-goal attempt to win it. And when his rookie left tackle, Rashawn Slater, was flagged for a false start? Staley kept the offense on the field for fourth-and-9. Again, guts. Herbert uncorked another fastball to receiver Jalen Guyton and Chiefs cornerback DeAndre Baker was flagged for interference. Coach and quarterback were not done yet, either. With the clock ticking to 41 seconds — and the ball at Kansas City’s 20-yard line — most teams would settle for the field goal.That’s the safe call. That is, almost always, the right call.Not against the Chiefs.Herbert lobbed a perfect 16-yard pass to Mike Williams, who got out of bounds, then lofted a 4-yard score to Williams on first-and-10 with 32 seconds remaining. Even CBS analyst Tony Romo scolded the Chargers for leaving Mahomes too much time.The Chargers were proven correct, of course.The former league M.V.P. scrambled for 21 yards and his final Hail Mary fell short.So much could have gone wrong for the Chargers in going for that touchdown — but Staley was right to make the Chiefs go the length of the field. His decision to go for it on fourth-and-4 and then again on fourth-and-9 marks a new fearlessness in the face of the Chiefs’ magic. This came the week after Ravens Coach John Harbaugh played for the win against Kansas City in Week 2 and both coaches surely remember what went down in the A.F.C. playoffs a year ago.In the divisional round, down, 22-17, to the Chiefs, Browns Coach Kevin Stefanski opted to punt on fourth-and-9 from his own 32-yard line with 4:19 remaining. The Browns never touched the ball again.In the A.F.C. title game, Bills Coach Sean McDermott opted to kick a field goal from Kansas City’s 2-yard line at the end of the first half to cut Buffalo’s deficit to 21-12. And in the second half of that game, McDermott opted for another field goal on fourth down from the Chiefs’ 8-yard line. The Bills were blown out, 38-24.Both are perfectly fine coaches building long-term winners.Both made grave mistakes.There was zero need for Staley to play it safe. He has a quarterback capable of swapping haymakers with Mahomes.This rivalry is going to be a lot of fun.Josh Allen enjoyed a win over Washington. The Bills quarterback ran in a score and threw four touchdown passes, including one to tight end Dawson Knox, right, in the second quarter.Joshua Bessex/Getty ImagesJosh Allen is A-OK.Buffalonians are overcome with the same “We can’t have nice things” fear every year. Eventually, we reason, everything is bound to go wrong. So even after Josh Allen finished second in the M.V.P. Award voting last season and even after the Bills won their first division title since 1995, a feeling of dread lingers in Western New York.In a Week 1 loss to Pittsburgh, Allen looked like that raw rookie out of Wyoming.In a Week 2 rout of Miami, he didn’t look much better.Week 3? Allen eviscerated the Washington Football Team in a 43-21 win. With three touchdown passes to build a 21-0 lead early in the second quarter, Allen looked like the pinpointing thrower the Bills thought worthy of a six-year, $258 million contract this off-season.He rolled right and slung a 28-yard pass to wide receiver Emmanuel Sanders in the end zone to cap Buffalo’s first drive.Allen didn’t panic on the Bills’ third drive, when Washington defensive tackle Daron Payne brought pressure in the red zone. On third-and-4 from Washington’s 7-yard line, Allen shimmied to his right and hit running back Zack Moss in stride with a touchdown pass.When Jordan Poyer intercepted Taylor Heinicke on the ensuing Washington possession, giving the Bills a short field, Allen found tight end Dawson Knox’s back shoulder for a 14-yard score. The ball placement was perfect.Washington cut the Bills’ lead to 21-14 with quick scores in the second quarter, but Buffalo smothered the threat with offense, scoring on five of its final seven possessions. Allen was accurate as ever, throwing for 358 yards, four touchdowns and no picks with a 129.8 passer rating.Everything came so easy for the Bills’ passing game in 2020. Not since Jim Kelly in the early 1990s could locals expect something good to happen late in the fourth quarter instead of something bad.Short-circuiting for two weeks ushered back that feeling of impending doom. Sunday’s win brought on the realization that, as good as Stefon Diggs is, this Bills team is at its best when Allen is dealing to receivers — like Emmanuel Sanders, who hauled in two touchdown catches — all over the field.The Vikings aren’t dead yet.When everything’s perfect around quarterback Kirk Cousins, he’ll carve up a defense.Things aren’t perfect in Minnesota but Cousins looks more nimble than ever in the pocket, and more accurate than ever throwing to what is easily the most talent the most talent he’s been surrounded with on offense.As a result, these Minnesota Vikings (1-2) showed signs of life in a 30-17 win over the Seahawks (1-2).Through three games, Cousins has passed for 918 yards with eight touchdowns, zero interceptions and has been sacked only five times.Seattle had no answer for Minnesota’s offense — even with Dalvin Cook sidelined — and, this time, Russell Wilson couldn’t rally.Pressure didn’t seem to bother Cousins one bit. On arguably his best throw of the night — a third-and-5 conversion with eight minutes left — he faded backward just enough to avoid a blitzing, untouched linebacker and delivered a 15-yard pass to K.J. Osborn on a crossing route.It was the sort of throw we’ve rarely seen Cousins make in his career, but if he can beat the blitz like this? This Vikings offense will keep rolling.Ben Roethlisberger attempted 58 passes in Sunday’s loss to the Bengals despite playing with a pectoral injury.Gene J. Puskar/Associated PressThe Steelers may have made a bad bet.This was the massive risk the Pittsburgh Steelers took heading into 2021. They had no interest in a total rebuild and so they welcomed 39-year-old Ben Roethlisberger back — on a pay cut — to a division where Lamar Jackson (24), Baker Mayfield (26) and Joe Burrow (24) are the other starters.With a lot of defense, and just enough of a ground game, Pittsburgh bet that a team that started 11-0 in 2020 could again rev into form as a Super Bowl contender. That may still turn out to be the case. Pittsburgh opened this 2021 season with a stunning win in Buffalo. But on Sunday, we learned this will be a very difficult bet to ride through another full season.The Cincinnati Bengals, the A.F.C. North’s forever doormat, waltzed into Heinz Field and dominated, winning at Pittsburgh, 24-10.Burrow, a second-year quarterback who is coming off a heinous knee injury last season, finished with a 122.9 passer rating on 14-for-18 passing for 172 yards. The Steelers’ talented secondary struggled keeping up with Burrow and his former Louisiana State teammate Ja’Marr Chase, who caught two of his three touchdown passes.Roethlisberger threw the ball a ridiculous 58 times, which is about 38 more times than Coach Mike Tomlin would probably like. Najee Harris, the running back drafted in the first round to change the ethos of this offense, has not been able to dominate fronts the way he did at Alabama and that remade Steelers line may have something to do with it.Pittsburgh got down early, was not able to play a clock-controlling run game and likely cannot help but wonder if Roethlisberger will be able to keep up in this division.A Bit About Sunday’s Other GamesRavens 19, Lions 17: Kickers matter. Justin Tucker’s game-winning, 66-yard field goal showed him as maybe the most clutch kicker of his generation. But let’s not forget what set up the longest kick in N.F.L. history: Lamar Jackson’s 36-yard strike to Sammy Watkins on fourth-and-19 from his own 16-yard line.Cardinals 31, Jaguars 19: It was not pretty. A 68-yard field-goal attempt by the Cardinals backfired, badly, in the form of a 109-yard touchdown return. But Arizona sure lacked ugly wins last season. Now that the Cardinals are 3-0 for the first time since 2015, they should make no apologies.Saints 28, Patriots 13: If Mac Jones needs to throw 51 times per game as he did Sunday, the Patriots aren’t going to win much. The play script got away from New England at home and, of course, Jameis Winston supplied the sort of touchdown pass only he can.Falcons 17, Giants 14: The good news: Saquon Barkley scored his first touchdown since 2019. The bad: everything else. Barkley managed 3.2 yards per carry against the hapless Falcons, Daniel Jones was average and the Giants are 0-3.Titans 25, Colts 16: Colts quarterback Carson Wentz gave it a go on two sprained ankles and played like a quarterback on two sprained ankles. He didn’t run the ball once, threw it away several times and the Titans rolled despite their three turnovers. Tennessee’s offense proved it is talented enough to win even when Derrick Henry and Julio Jones don’t score.Browns 26, Bears 6: Chicago fans wanted to see Justin Fields. They got Justin Fields. The former Ohio State star has a long road ahead — especially with this roster. Fields had only six completions the entire game, while getting sacked nine times — 4.5 times by Myles Garrett — and hit 15 times in all.Broncos 26, Jets 0: Until they play the Chargers or the Chiefs, it’s hard to get an accurate read on how good this Broncos team is, but there’s no denying the defense absolutely gives Denver a shot against Patrick Mahomes and Justin Herbert.Rams 34, Buccaneers 24: We knew this Sean McVay-Matthew Stafford combo had potential but not many predicted they’d be ready to down the Bucs defense this early in the season. Stafford completed 27 of 38 passes for 343 yards with four touchdowns, no picks and was only sacked once.Raiders 31, Dolphins 28 (overtime): The Dolphins made it interesting but give Coach Jon Gruden and quarterback Derek Carr credit for finding a way to win another close game. Arguably no quarterback is playing better than Carr right now and the Raiders are 3-0.Packers 30, 49ers 28: The slightest mistake will cost a team against a determined Aaron Rodgers and, chances are, Jimmy Garoppolo will be thinking about snapping the ball with 12 seconds still on the play clock with less than a minute left in the fourth quarter all week. Sure, the 49ers scored that play but Rodgers had more than enough time — even with no timeouts left — to get the Packers into field goal range. Two passes to Davante Adams, a 25-yarder and a 17-yarder, was all it took. More

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      If You Like Special Teams, This Was Your Day

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      If You Like Special Teams, This Was Your DayBen ShpigelReporting on the N.F.L. ��Tony Ding/Associated PressFor special-teams dorks, this N.F.L. Sunday was ecstasy, wrapped in nirvana, inside a bucket of puppies.Watch a 109-yard play, the longest field goal and a last-second game-winner → More

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      Matthew Stafford Wanted Big Games. Against Tom Brady's Bucs, He Got One.

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      After 12 seasons in Detroit with no postseason wins, the quarterback longed to play in big games. On Sunday he delivered, beating Tom Brady and the Buccaneers in Los Angeles.INGLEWOOD, Calif. — Matthew Stafford said he wanted these moments.After 12 seasons at quarterback in Detroit, where his biggest platform was the annual Thanksgiving afternoon game and his performances played second fiddle to TV viewers’ turkey dinners, Stafford, 33, asked to be traded. He wanted to play against quality competition in games that mattered.Against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Stafford got that opportunity. Billed as a prospective preview of the N.F.C. championship game and contested in front of celebrities like Mike Tyson and Jason Sudeikis, Stafford faced the ferocious pass rush that fueled the Bucs’ Super Bowl win last season and Tom Brady, arguably the greatest quarterback of all time.Stafford outshone them all. The Rams beat the Buccaneers, 34-24, thanks to his strong arm and smart decisions, along with a stout performance by Los Angeles’s defense. Granted, Stafford’s showing — 343 passing yards, four touchdowns and zero turnovers — came against a secondary handicapped by injuries.But in front of more than 73,000 fans, Stafford showed he could make the throws necessary to make playing a Super Bowl at home in SoFi Stadium this season a reality. Afterward, he downplayed the significance of the win.“Every time we go out there it is a big one,” Stafford said in a postgame news conference. “It was a big challenge for us but it was nice for us to go out there and play our game.”His flatline response was a stark contrast to the ballast from both teams leading into a game players called a barometer to determine their standing in the league. Both were undefeated, viewed as among the best in the conference and the N.F.L. When they met last November, Brady and the former Rams quarterback Jared Goff attempted a combined 99 passes and racked up 592 yards in the air as the Rams barely won a shootout, 27-24.Their 2020 seasons diverged. Tampa Bay won eight of its last nine games en route to the Super Bowl. The Rams, bitten by irresponsible play from Goff, wasted the effort of the league’s top-ranked defense toward the end of the season and exited in the divisional round of the playoffs.But the Rams did not have Stafford last season, and his play offered glimpses of what Coach Sean McVay’s offense could achieve with a quarterback capable of placing the ball anywhere on the field.Stafford completed a 75-yard touchdown pass to DeSean Jackson, the veteran receiver, in the third quarter, and connected on two touchdown passes to receiver Cooper Kupp and one to tight end Tyler Higbee. After the scoring throw to Jackson, whom Stafford had missed connecting with twice earlier in the game, McVay became so excited that he sprinted down the sideline to greet Jackson in a stadium tunnel.But perhaps Stafford’s most important throw did not directly account for any points.Midway into the third quarter, Brady orchestrated a 75-yard touchdown drive to cut Los Angeles’s lead to 21-14. Facing third-and-10 from the Rams’ 25-yard line, Stafford fired a pass to receiver Robert Woods for 20 yards, converting on a crucial play instead of giving the ball back to Brady with an opportunity to tie the score.Three plays later, Stafford connected with Jackson for a 40-yard catch and run to set up Kupp’s second touchdown, a 10-yard catch.The Rams often failed in long-yardage situations last season in part because they lacked an explosive deep threat at receiver and because Goff struggled when defenses did not need to respect the run or play-action. Now, with Stafford at the helm, McVay can unleash a variety of play calls he could not in 2020.“As an offense, you always don’t want to be stagnate,” Kupp said of the unit’s design with Stafford. “Our job as an offense is to not be stuck doing the same thing over and over again but be able to have answers off it and make things look the same but be different.”Still, the Buccaneers played competitively, considering how short-handed they were. Receiver Antonio Brown was not available after testing positive for the coronavirus this week. Pass rusher Jason Pierre-Paul also did not play because of hand and shoulder injuries.The secondary lost cornerback Jamel Dean in the first quarter to a knee injury, a blow to a position group that had already been depleted with starter Sean Murphy-Bunting on injured reserve. McVay and Stafford exploited those absences early as receivers slipped past coverages and behind defenders with ease.Brady, a California native who had never played an N.F.L. game in Los Angeles, finished with 432 yards and one touchdown pass. He also rushed for a score. The Rams’ defense hit Brady five times and sacked him three times, including a tackle by Aaron Donald that forced a fumble that the Buccaneers recovered. Though at times it gave up chunk plays, Los Angeles’s defense generally rallied to ball carriers for tackles and ultimately limited Tampa Bay to only 35 rushing yards. Brady led the team with 14.“They played the kind of game they wanted to play,” Brady said. “If we’re going to be a team like that, we have to play well in all phases.”Stafford and the Rams enter a critical stretch of the schedule, facing two N.F.C. West rivals, the Arizona Cardinals and Seattle Seahawks, in Weeks 4 and 5. Those matchups will matter for playoff seeding in the new 17-game regular season. After that, Stafford will be the one ensuring that he and the Rams have even bigger games in which to play. More

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      Are the Giants and Jets Watchable Yet?

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      We enlisted two experts — one locally focused, one nationally — to offer readers their opinions.This season, we’ve enlisted two experts — one familiar with the ins and outs of New York’s football teams, the other a nationally focused football analyst — to answer an essential question as a service to readers: Are these teams good yet?Devin Gordon, who has written about sports for ESPN and GQ and is the author of “So Many Ways to Lose: The Amazin’ True Story of the New York Mets, the Best Worst Team in Sports,” observed both the Giants and the Jets from a locally focused perspective.Diante Lee, an N.F.L. analyst at Pro Football Focus, offered a national view.GiantsThe Giants (0-3) lost, 17-14, at home to the Atlanta Falcons (1-2) on Sunday.Insider’s perspectiveIn last week’s edition, I introduced the concept of “funnible” — the evolutionary state in which a young team is extremely fun to watch but also still, at root, terrible at football — and offered the 2021 Giants as a textbook example. Sunday’s loss to the Atlanta Falcons, a team the Giants should have run circles around — and frequently did at times — was a master class in funnible football.Like last week, the Giants once again lost on a field goal as time expired, but let’s focus on a specific play: midway through the third quarter, with the Giants behind, 7-6, but driving into Falcons’ territory and facing a crucial third-and-4. Daniel Jones called an audible, and those of us watching at home could hear the chaos at the line of scrimmage. “WHAT IS THE PLAY?” a Giants player shouted. “WHAT IS THE PLAY?”Whatever the play was, it didn’t work. The Giants got flagged for holding and there ended the drive. The game did not turn on this play, just to be clear, but if you’re a Giants fan, your confidence probably did.For one drive in the fourth quarter, though, the Giants showed why they’re worth watching every week: jump-ball specialist Kenny Golladay drew a pass interference call in the end zone, Saquon Barkley vaulted three stories over the pile for his first touchdown since 2019, and Jones ran in a keeper for the 2-point conversion. They held a 14-7 lead early in the fourth quarter, and cornerback Adoree’ Jackson dropped a potential game-sealing interception of a Matt Ryan pass in the end zone. Sure, the Falcons’ game-tying touchdown came a few plays later but … consider me tantalized.Verdict: They’re bad but compelling. — Devin GordonOutsider’s viewEvery player on the Giants’ roster better bring their jogging shoes for practice this week — there will be laps upon laps to run after Sunday’s bad loss to the Falcons. A walk-off field goal from Atlanta kicker Younghoe Koo sent the Giants to 0-3 and a guaranteed them spot at the bottom of the N.F.C. East standings.With ten days to prepare against a defense that’s allowed 80 combined points in its first two contests, it should have been a feel-good win at home as the Giants retired Eli Manning’s jersey. Leave it to the Giants’ offensive line to finish the game by producing the least effective rushing attack the Falcons have faced all season (3.7 yards per carry).While Jones was sacked only once, the pass protection unit continues to lose its one-on-one matchups. The passing game was able to manage in Week 2 against Washington, but downfield opportunities were much harder to come by against a Falcons defense that plays much less man-to-man coverage.The Giants’ defense looks like it’s regressing from the 2020 season to now, but that wasn’t the team’s major issue on Sunday until the final drive of the game. With a tackle for loss and a sack, Leonard Williams still looks to be one of the five best interior defensive linemen in the league, and the coverage was better this week (given, this was against Ryan, whose arm is closer to an N.F.L. backup’s at this stage in his career) — but if the Giants can’t move the ball on offense, defensive improvements won’t matter.I shudder to think of what this offense might look like against a much better defense on the road, with the New Orleans Saints up next. This season is shaping up to be a few steps backward after 2020’s baby step forward.Verdict: Not watchable, and trending in the wrong direction. — Diante LeeThe Jets allowed more sacks of rookie quarterback Zach Wilson (five) than they scored points in Sunday’s 26-0 loss to the Broncos.David Zalubowski/Associated PressJetsThe Jets lost, 26-0, to the Broncos (3-0) in Denver on Sunday, falling to a 0-3.Insider’s perspectiveWhen it comes to eluding capture on a football field, it’s hard to overstate the importance of groin muscles. So it was already alarming enough when the Jets announced last week that Zach Wilson, their rookie quarterback, would be managing a minor groin injury for the rest of the season. But there was also the urgency of now: The Jets were about to depart for Denver, where the thin air makes offensive linemen gasp for oxygen and Broncos linebacker Von Miller makes offensive coordinators gasp in horror.So how’d it go? Well, the Jets allowed more sacks (five) than they scored points (zero). Speaking of zero, that’s how many first-half touchdowns they have scored through three games this season. The Broncos shut them out Sunday, and that doesn’t begin to capture how far the Jets were from scoring. Over 11 drives, they managed just 162 yards of total offense. Several low points come to mind, but let’s go with the taunting call against their special teams unit, which came when they were down 17-0. After a Broncos fair catch. That’s next-level dopey.Not all 0-3s are created equal. The Giants are winless, but not hopeless. They have “Danny Dimes” and Barkley and chances are they will beat some decent teams this season. The Jets still haven’t played a meaningful second-half snap. Wilson has been running for his life on a gimpy groin. If you grab a pair of binoculars and search the horizon for a silver lining, perhaps it is that the kid remains unafraid to fling it. His right arm will be the Jets’ only draw this season. But how much longer will it be attached to his shoulder?Verdict: Too early to just end the season, but not by much. — Devin GordonOutsider’s viewLet’s start with the (only) good news: Most defenses in the N.F.L. aren’t as good as the ones the Jets have faced the last two weekends.The Jets were blanked, 26-0, by the Denver Broncos, and for the second consecutive week, seemed out of contention the moment they faced a two-score deficit. Whether it was by design of the game plan or his own volition, Zach Wilson tried to do whatever he could to avoid the four-sack nightmare he experienced against New England. Wilson looked to throw the ball underneath — out of harm’s way — even to the detriment of the offense. Going into the fourth quarter, he had fewer than 100 yards passing and only three completions deeper than 10 yards.In the fourth quarter, Wilson figured fortune would favor the bold, and he was punished for his ambition. The first of his two interceptions on Sunday was as poor a throw as those he threw in the second half against New England, trying to fit the ball into double coverage. The second was an inaccurate deep throw on the run in garbage time.In a league like the N.B.A., rebuilding teams with potential franchise prospects can be a fun kind of bad. It’s not so enjoyable in the N.F.L. and Wilson isn’t singularly great enough to make anyone trust this process.Verdict: Find a nice brunch instead. — Diante Lee More

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      Rudy Riska, the Heisman Trophy’s Guiding Light, Dies at 85

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      For over 40 years he oversaw the awarding of the prestigious trophy to the nation’s top college football player and helped winners on their “magic carpet ride” in New York.Rudy Riska, who first glimpsed the Heisman Trophy on its pedestal at the Downtown Athletic Club in Lower Manhattan when he was a boy, and who years later became the invaluable guide, counselor and mentor for the young men who won it, died on Sept. 12 in a Brooklyn hospital. He was 85.His daughter Elizabeth Briody said the causes were dementia and pneumonia.For more than 40 years, the self-effacing Mr. Riska ran the organization at the club that awarded the Heisman to the year’s outstanding football player. He oversaw the itinerary of the winners and encouraged them to think seriously about what they would say in their acceptance speeches. He bought tickets to Broadway shows for their families, made reservations at top restaurants and organized the annual Heisman dinner in Manhattan, which drew as many as 2,000 guests.Mr. Riska developed that job as the athletic director of the Downtown Athletic Club, the trophy’s longtime home. He had noticed that no one was supervising the winner’s activities when he was in Manhattan for the award ceremony.“They were just college kids plucked from their campuses and suddenly flown to New York,” he told The New York Times in 2010. “They were often unsophisticated kids. Most had never played on national television. Many had never been on an airplane until they flew to New York. Their heads were spinning.”In 1961, Mr. Riska accompanied the Syracuse halfback Ernie Davis to meet President John F. Kennedy at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel, while toting the 45-pound bronze trophy. Four years later, Mr. Riska threw passes at Battery Park to Mike Garrett, the University of Southern California halfback, who wanted to work out.“I realize how much power he had,” said Desmond Howard of the University of Michigan, seen here with Mr. Riska when he won the Heisman in 1991, “but he never put it on display.” Barton Silverman/The New York Times“I got there and Rudy put his arm around me and the rest was like a magic carpet ride,” Eddie George, the Ohio State running back who won the Heisman in 1995, told The Times. “And that was what Rudy wanted. He wanted every winner to remember his weekend forever.”Mr. Riska worked entirely behind the scenes — fans watching the televised annual ceremony would not likely have known his name or face — but the winners understood his importance.“I realize how much power he had, but he never put it on display,” Desmond Howard, the 1991 Heisman winner, said by phone. “When everyone defers to you, you must have power, but he carried himself as someone who served you and took care of all your needs.”Rudolph James Riska was born on Aug. 22, 1936, in Manhattan to Rudolph and Elizabeth (Marecek) Riska. His mother cleaned offices. His family lived for a while near the Downtown Athletic Club, in the financial district, and when he was 11 his father took him to see the Heisman.“I stared at the names engraved on the trophy,” he told The Times. “How lucky can a guy be to end up in a job where those names come to life and they become your friends?”His athletic focus as a youngster was baseball, not football. He threw a no-hitter for Metropolitan High School, which attracted the interest of the Yankees, who signed him to a contract. He played on low-level minor league teams in the Yankee system from 1955 to 1958 and the Baltimore Orioles’ system in 1959. At the Aberdeen, S.D., affiliate of the Orioles, his manager was Earl Weaver, the Orioles’ future Hall of Famer. He compiled a 36-33 record, but chronic bursitis ended his career.“What I think I have been able to do,” Mr. Riska once said, “is guide and protect the Heisman from people who might try to make money the wrong way on it. I like to view myself as the conscience of the Heisman.”Barton Silverman/The New York TimesHe went to work as a salesman for the sporting goods company Rawlings, but after two years he accepted a job with the Downtown Athletic Club. He was soon named to the post of athletic director, the position that John Heisman, the trophy’s namesake, held there until his death in 1936.As athletic director, Mr. Riska developed fitness and sports programs for club members and created events that honored renowned athletes. But it was as the executive director of the Heisman Trophy Trust and the Heisman Foundation that he was largely known.“What I think I have been able to do,” he told The Bay Ridge Paper in 2003, “is guide and protect the Heisman from people who might try to make money the wrong way on it. I like to view myself as the conscience of the Heisman.”He retired in 2004, three years after the 9/11 attacks and their aftermath led the club to close permanently. The trophy, which is awarded by a vote of members of the sports media and past winners, was moved to various locations and is now held at the Heisman Trust’s office in Manhattan.In addition to his daughter Elizabeth, Mr. Riska is survived by his wife, Josephine (Karpoich) Riska, known as Lorraine; another daughter, Barbara Piersiak; and four grandchildren.For a time, 15 or 20 of the past Heisman winners who traveled to New York City for the annual anointing of the newest winner took time off during the weekend to commemorate their achievements at a Blarney Stone bar near the club.“People might have been looking for them, but I’d let them go off by themselves for a couple of hours,” Mr. Riska told The Times. “They would let their hair down with their wives, rubbing shoulders with these blue-collar construction workers. It was a collection of some of the best college football players ever. But they just wanted to hang out with a regular crowd.” More

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      The Mannings Give TV Sports Yet Another Alternate Viewing Option

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      ESPN has the quarterbacks Peyton and Eli Manning. CBS has the slime and SpongeBob allure of Nickelodeon. A boxing upstart even got Trump. For viewers, it’s ever more options beyond just watching the game.Midway through the telecast of this N.F.L. season’s first Monday night game, Eli Manning asked his brother Peyton what he would do when a coach called a play he did not like.“I’m going to call my own play,” Peyton Manning said while mimicking a quarterback looking over to the sideline as if his helmet radio wasn’t working. “I’m going to call my own play. ‘I can’t hear you. I can’t hear you.’ That’s what you do.”He added that he would have to give the assistant equipment manager, who was sure to be yelled at by the coach for the malfunctioning headset, a nice holiday present.It was a prime example of an N.F.L. moment suited to the brothers who are former star quarterbacks: a funny, well-told, behind-the-scenes anecdote that revealed how football actually works. The generally well-received telecast was full of such nuggets, prompting optimism about ESPN’s evolving experiment.The Mannings were not on ESPN’s main presentation of “Monday Night Football.” Their showcase was the debut of an alternate telecast option that will run nine more times this season on ESPN2 or ESPN+, the streaming service. The Mannings will work two more telecasts in September, including the game Monday night between the Detroit Lions and the Green Bay Packers, with the rest of the schedule to be determined.ESPN and other networks spent years trying to hire Peyton Manning as a color commentator, and he finally agreed to work in a system that demands a lot less work and travel than the main broadcast. He appears live from a friend’s warehouse in Denver, while Eli appears from his home in New Jersey.Alternate telecasts are not new for ESPN, but the network has been increasing them recently. “We have done them across more sports and leagues than we have done them in the past, and we have done them with different approaches,” said Freddy Rolón, an ESPN vice president.And it is not just ESPN presenting sports in multiple ways. This month, Triller provided an alternate commentary stream featuring Donald J. Trump for a pay-per-view boxing card. CBS and Nickelodeon announced they would once again produce a slime-filled, kid-friendly telecast of an N.F.L. playoff game. NBC, Fox, Amazon and others have their own versions of alternate telecasts.Such telecasts go back to at least 2004, when ESPN showed a behind-the-scenes feed of a college football game, or perhaps to 1980, when NBC tried an announcerless broadcast with just the natural sights and sounds of the game. But the modern alternate broadcast dates to 2014, when ESPN first tried out its “megacast” presentation of the college football national championship game, with feeds featuring play breakdowns, celebrity guests, home team radio audio and other commentators.It is no coincidence that ESPN has been the biggest proponent of alternate feeds. Unlike many of its competitors, it controls numerous sports channels on which alternate feeds can be run. But with the rise of powerful internet and streaming services, alternate feeds do not need to be placed on television channels.“There isn’t a finite number of streams,” said Sam Flood, the head of sports production at NBC.Peyton and Eli Manning will be on ESPN2 for alternate telecasts of 10 Monday night N.F.L. games this season.Davide BarcoUntil recently, alternate feeds were mostly targeted at hard-core fans. Alternate telecasts with coaches breaking down plays or using advanced statistics are less likely to attract a casual fan. Instead, they draw established fans who want to learn more or stay engaged in a game that is boring or a blowout.The Nickelodeon game, however, attempts to get children and families who otherwise would not watch football to do so, and Triller’s stream with Trump was not for the boxing fan, but for perhaps the boxing-curious fan who would be drawn in, for one reason or another, by the former president.“We are aiming at people who never really watch boxing, some who don’t know what Triller is,” said Thorsten Meier, the chief operating officer of Triller Fight Club.The dirty little secret of alternate feeds, however, is that nobody watches them. Not nobody, exactly, but nobody in television terms.About 14.5 million people watched the standard telecast of the Baltimore Ravens and Las Vegas Raiders game in Week 1 of the N.F.L. season, while just 800,000 people watched the presentation by the Manning brothers. Just 5 percent of the audience chose the alternate telecast. In some ways, though, that is a great success — whatever is on ESPN2 during “Monday Night Football” usually draws only hundreds of thousands of viewers, anyway.But no matter how loudly fans might complain about announcers or wish telecasts did more of this or less of that, the fact remains that when presented with alternatives, viewers usually stick with what they know. Meier of Triller did not have final numbers, but he said the Trump alternate commentary was the least popular one of the night, behind the traditional English-language and Spanish-language commentaries.Networks also have to be careful about cannibalization. Most media companies that own sports rights these days belong to huge conglomerates with numerous concerns — ESPN is owned by Disney, which also owns ABC and cable channels like FX. The company could show versions of football across ABC, ESPN and ESPN2, or show a sitcom on ABC, football on ESPN and a different sport on ESPN2. Homing in on fans of a specific sport or trying to attract casual fans can come at the cost of other corporate priorities.Where alternate telecasts really shine, then, is as a laboratory. They are often where new things in televised sports are tested before they are ready for prime time, such as which advanced statistics to show fans, and how to do so. When sports television is inevitably saturated by odds and betting data in the coming years, you can be sure it got its start on betting- and fantasy-focused alternate streams.For the last few years, NBC Sports has shown the final championship NASCAR race on NBC, as well as a feed focused just on the four drivers in championship contention on its cable channel, NBC Sports Network. That experience has led the network to incorporate an occasional focus on just one driver for a few laps during its regular showings of the NASCAR Cup Series.“We really lean into a specific driver for a little bit longer, and it creates a stronger bond between the driver and audience,” Flood said.If the future of sports watching is fans choosing exactly the kind of announcer or experience they want, why not take the idea further? Amazon, which shows N.F.L. games on Thursdays and owns the rights for a number of different sports in Europe, already provides several different commentary streams for those games.But Amazon also owns Twitch, the streaming platform most heavily associated with video games — where at any given moment you can find thousands of people, some of them professionals with a huge audience and some of them amateurs with no audience, commenting while playing video games or doing other things. Amazon has shown some games on Twitch with handpicked and hired hosts, but it is not a free-for-all open to thousands of different commentators.For one, there is a rights issue. The N.F.L. sells Amazon the right to do very specific things, which does not include allowing anybody who wants to comment on games on Twitch, and therefore allow anybody to watch on Twitch and bypass traditional ways of viewing.But even if they could do so, Marie Donoghue, the head of global sports at Amazon, is not sure they would want to. “We don’t know if infinite choice is what fans want,” she said. “We do think fans want great optionality, but we have to learn, because if you give fans infinite choice it may become overwhelming, and they get lost in the experience.”Infinite may not be on the horizon then, but more certainly is.Next year, when Amazon actually produces the N.F.L. games they show, there will almost certainly be more options. Meier said Triller was getting ready to “rock the world with a completely new concept” in boxing, while Rolón said ESPN would expand its alternate telecasts as technology allowed it to do so. More

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      Josh Allen Joined the NFL's Elite. Next Up? Staying There.

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      ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. — Josh Allen recorded the greatest season by a quarterback in Buffalo Bills history. He powered the team to its first A.F.C. championship game in nearly three decades, and after losing to Kansas City, he left Arrowhead Stadium that January night knowing the Bills would be back.Allen allowed himself a few weeks to decompress from the longest, best and most disappointing year of his young career, and when he was done, a week or two into February, he visited a sock company. There, on the basketball court at Stance headquarters in Southern California, Allen set about refining what his personal quarterback coach, Jordan Palmer, characterized as a “very, very specific” mechanical inefficiency.Allen, 25, loves nerding out on his mechanics, or, really, anything that he thinks can accelerate his development. Of all the traits that enticed the Bills to trade up to draft him out of the University of Wyoming in 2018, beyond physical gifts and a capacity for distilling reams of information into essential shards, paramount was how Allen married a desire to improve with an aptitude for doing so.He spent his childhood on a ranch in California’s flat and fertile Central Valley, and as with the crops his family raises, he didn’t need to see immediate returns. If he worked hard, and with purpose, he knew the results would come.“Some guys have those incredible years, and then that’s who they are,” one such guy, the Hall of Fame quarterback Kurt Warner — who won the league’s Most Valuable Player Award in his first season as a starter — said in a telephone interview. Now an analyst for NFL Network, Warner added: “And other guys just do it that once, and they never quite capture it again. I hope this is who Josh is the rest of his career, but I did not see this coming. I did not know he was capable of it.”Allen’s incredible year — 4,544 passing yards, 46 total touchdowns, second place in the M.V.P. balloting — thrust him into the N.F.L.’s upper echelon. It also, in August, enriched him with a six-year contract extension that tethers him to Buffalo through 2028, an investment in his future with implicit expectations.Allen built himself into a top quarterback for a team constructed to contend for the Super Bowl title that his distinguished forebears of the 1990s could not win. Two games into this season, the central question for the Bills (1-1) is no longer whether they can make the playoffs, but whether they can remain among the N.F.L.’s elite. The answer depends on Allen.Buffalo fans traveled to Miami to see Allen and the Bills thrash the Dolphins, 35-0, in Week 2.Doug Murray/Associated Press“I think there’s two kinds of players in this league: guys that get figured out and guys that figure it out,” Allen said in an interview after a recent practice. “And I was always going to be the guy who figured it out.”Allen’s evolution to this lofty moment toppled a principle of football doctrine: that quarterbacks can’t enhance their accuracy. After selecting Allen in 2018, Bills General Manager Brandon Beane was told that he had just taken a tight end. He knew otherwise.At his job interview the year before, after Buffalo’s 16th consecutive season without making the playoffs, Beane noted that the New England Patriots dynasty had been sustained in part by their three fellow A.F.C. East teams, which regularly changed coaches and front offices.Unseating the Patriots, he said, demanded time and patience, and as he scouted quarterback prospects before the draft he resolved to invest both in Allen.On the farmstead where Allen grew up in Firebaugh, Calif., a small community about 40 miles northwest of Fresno, his family has long nurtured cantaloupe, cotton and wheat — and, more recently, pistachios. Much like Allen himself, their trees need years of cultivation before producing a yield. Allen’s progression from imprecise college quarterback to N.F.L. star took an honest assessment of the transformation he required.“When you lie to yourself, the only person you hurt is yourself,” Allen said. “Being completely honest and understanding that there’s things I need to work on, I’m not afraid to reach out and ask somebody for help.”Rarely does a quarterback improve by vast margins, as Allen did, in his third season.The best predictor of a third-year eruption, according to a May 2020 study by Pro Football Focus, is a proclivity for completing passes. At Wyoming, Allen had connected on a meager 56.2 percentage of his throws, and in his first two seasons in Buffalo, he rated last in the league.To better evaluate Allen, Beane needed to protect him, so in 2019 he signed offensive linemen Mitch Morse and Jon Feliciano in free agency. He bolstered the receiving corps, too, adding Cole Beasley in 2019 and, in a trade with Minnesota in 2020, Stefon Diggs, who led the N.F.L. last season in yards and receptions.“We just feel like, as he’s learned to not try and do too much, if I give him weapons, he won’t feel like he’s got to try and put the team on his back,” Beane said of Allen. “He’ll let these guys make plays.”After reworking his delivery before the 2020 season, Allen found the newly acquired receiver Stefon Diggs often. Diggs led the league in receiving yards and receptions last season.Libby March for The New York TimesAllen could do that because he had reworked his delivery, with the guidance of Palmer and Bills coaches, concentrating each off-season on a single objective: widening his stance, for example, or commanding his off-speed passes. Concentrating on the fundamental components of his motion enabled him to throw more accurately, to any spot on the field, than he ever had. So did offensive coordinator Brian Daboll’s preference for calling pass plays on first down, when opposing personnel generally must guard against the run.Never before, according to the Elias Sports Bureau, had any quarterback across a three-season span raised his completion rate as much as Allen did: His jump to 69.2 percent from 52.8 exceeded the previous biggest increase — Jim Zorn’s 15 percentage points with the Seattle Seahawks from 1977 to ’79.After that overhaul, the 38-24 loss to the Chiefs in the A.F.C. championship game demonstrated the Bills’ proximity to being the best team in the league. Over the off-season, they added Emmanuel Sanders, long coveted by Beane, and re-signed two starting offensive linemen. Allen, for his part, recognized that he was no longer in reconstruction mode. His challenge now is to refine what he has done and to nudge the Bills a little deeper this season.Allen, though, is not a nudger. Among the traits that distinguish great quarterbacks from the merely good is situational awareness, and Palmer has discussed with him at length the importance of controlling emotions at climactic junctures, of making prudent choices when the impulse to go all YOLO tugs hard. And after “making the most consecutive good decisions I’ve ever made” last season, Allen said, it’s imperative that he doesn’t get bored with what he called “the easy stuff” — throwing two- or three-yard passes, or flinging the ball out of bounds instead of forcing a bad throw.For the last year and a half, Allen has also worked with a biomechanics expert, Chris Hess, who at various stages of the off-season has gauged Allen’s functional movement and, using 3-D motion capture analysis, digitally mapped his throwing motion. At first, Hess didn’t think Allen was engaged. For every assessment Hess relayed, Allen offered a monosyllabic response. Two weeks later, Hess re-evaluated him, and he was stunned to discover that Allen had retained everything.“I wasn’t moving fast enough for him,” Hess said. “He processes so quick, but he can filter it, too, and be like, ‘That’s important to me.’”Allen wanted to address what his left foot did when he hitched, or bounced forward in the pocket at the end of his drop back, on certain routes — overs from the left and digs from the right. The flaw inhibited his ability to maintain control through the release of the ball. Before he could try new footwork on the field, he needed to retrain his patterns, and the smooth surface of the court at Stance helped Allen do so without sliding.“Whether I’m throwing 30 times a game or three times a game, if I throw three times, I better have made three right decisions on where the ball should be,” Allen said.Sam Navarro/USA Today Sports, via ReutersIn Hess’s experience, quarterbacks typically don’t improve their mechanical efficiency during the season, either because they revert to old motor patterns or they compensate for various ailments that arise. But Allen did in 2020, helping him start from a more advanced place this off-season, when he focused on building lower-body strength and mobility.In a boardroom in New Jersey this month, Hess cued up on a smart television side-by-side images of Allen from the past two Julys, and the difference was stark: Allen became balanced, stable, no longer listing forward as he threw.Standing in a tunnel beneath Highmark Stadium just before the season began, Allen mentioned how attuned he felt — to expectations, his body, his responsibilities.“It’s not about me,” Allen said. “Whether I’m throwing 30 times a game or three times a game, if I throw three times, I better have made three right decisions on where the ball should be.”Allen, though, hasn’t made entirely right decisions so far. After losing to Pittsburgh in Week 1, he suggested he was struggling with his footwork, and despite rebounding to thrash Miami in Week 2, Allen still committed what Pro Football Focus calls turnover-worthy plays — involving poor ball security or passes that have a strong chance of being intercepted — on a career-high 10.8 percent of his snaps.Every snap he takes still seems to generate a greater range of outcomes than a Choose Your Own Adventure novel, and maybe that will never completely change. But week after week, the best quarterbacks are not those who dominate the highlights. They’re the ones who think fast, make smart throws and don’t commit turnovers. Allen can do that — has done that — and if he can do it consistently, then the longest, best, most gratifying season in Bills history might lie just ahead. More