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      Giants Cannot Protect Win Streak Against the Cardinals

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      AdvertisementContinue reading the main storySupported byContinue reading the main storyCardinals 26, Giants 7Giants Cannot Protect Win Streak Against the CardinalsThe Giants entered Sunday’s game riding high on a four-game win streak. They left it with a battered quarterback and diminished playoff chances.Giants quarterback Daniel Jones spent much of Sunday’s loss to the Cardinals in a prone position. He was sacked six times before being benched.Credit…Mike Stobe/Getty ImagesDec. 13, 2020, 6:33 p.m. ETFor more than a month, as they won four successive games, the Giants went from somnolent to startlingly successful, having a stretch that resurrected the team’s fan base and advanced the budding folk hero status of the rookie head coach Joe Judge. But on Sunday, with a meaningful chance at home to maintain the momentum necessary to finish a late-season run at a playoff berth, the Giants collapsed.Thoroughly outplayed in every facet of the game, the Giants were trounced by the visiting Arizona Cardinals, 26-7. The Giants (5-8), who never seriously threatened to upend the Cardinals, had five fumbles — three that they lost — and managed just 10 first downs and 159 total yards. Quarterback Daniel Jones, returning from a hamstring injury that had sidelined him for the last game of the win streak, was sacked six times, completed just 11 passes and left the game in the fourth quarter with a pronounced limp.Defensively, the game was just as lopsided. The Cardinals (7-6) converted 39 percent of their third downs and rushed for 159 yards. Led by the ever-inventive quarterback Kyler Murray, who thwarted the Giants’ pass rush with his agility and knack for extending plays, Arizona earned a valuable win to keep alive their meager postseason chances.Since the Giants were coming off an emotional upset victory at Seattle last week, it was easy to wonder if they were overconfident as they took the field against Arizona, which had lost its three previous games. That the Giants could feel comfortable looking past any N.F.L. team is somewhat comical — the franchise’s last playoff win was nine seasons ago — but there was no denying the substandard execution and attention to detail in Sunday’s debacle at MetLife Stadium.“I don’t think we had any kind of a hangover from last week,” Judge said afterward. “We simply didn’t coach well enough or play well enough. That’s the hard truth of it.”Nonetheless, the opportunity lost with three remaining games in a regular season that began with seven defeats in the first eight games was obvious to all.“It’s a tough moment; we didn’t perform the way we needed to,” said linebacker Blake Martinez, one of the team’s veteran leaders. “I don’t think it was overconfidence, we just didn’t play collectively well as a team.”And yet, when asked if the loss might serve as an alarm for the Giants, Martinez answered: “Any time you lose, it’s always a wake-up call. The really good teams focus on getting better the following week.”The Giants will host the Cleveland Browns (9-3) next week.The Cardinals’ 6-foot-5 tight end Dan Arnold leapt above the crowd to catch a Kyler Murray touchdown pass in the back of the end zone in the first half.Credit…Robert Deutsch/USA Today Sports, via ReutersFor the Cardinals, whose linebacker Haason Reddick set a franchise record with five sacks — mostly by zooming past the Giants rookie left tackle Andrew Thomas — the victory was a necessary boost. Noting that his team had “a sense of urgency,” Arizona Coach Kliff Kingsbury added: “We made a step in the right direction — we understand what’s in front of us and what we can be. This will build our confidence moving forward.”The Cardinals opened the scoring with a 34-yard Mike Nugent field goal in the first quarter shortly after the Giants’ highlight of the game — a goal-line stand by the defense that followed a Jones fumble on the team’s first possession. Jones’s turnover track record does not merit a defense but, in this case, the fumble occurred as he was being sacked by the former Giants linebacker Markus Golden, who dashed into the Giants backfield unblocked on a blitz. Jones never saw Golden coming.As the Giants’ feeble offense failed to advance into Arizona’s end of the field in the first half, the Cardinals seemed to always be in Giants territory. But the Giants’ defense was mostly stout and Arizona was only able to extend its lead to 6-0.When the Giants’ fatigued defense trotted off the field after forcing the second Nugent field goal midway through the second quarter, they were soon dragging themselves back into action when Giants kickoff returner Dion Lewis fumbled and gave the football back to the Cardinals at the Giants’ 21-yard line. Lewis’s turnover was forced by Arizona’s Kylie Fitts, who kicked at the football in Lewis’s arm as he ran past the Giants returner. While it is illegal for a player to kick another player, the game officials did not throw a flag for the violation and Fitts’s leg knocked the ball loose. In this case, the foul committed by Fitts was not reviewable by the referee.Four plays later, on a third-and-goal from the Giants’ 7-yard line, Murray was backpedalling from the Giants’ pass rush when he hoisted a high pass into the end zone. Initially, it appeared that Murray was throwing the football away, but the Cardinals’ 6-foot-5 tight end Dan Arnold leapt above the crowd of four defenders to catch the throw in the back of the end zone for a touchdown that put Arizona ahead, 13-0 at the half.If the Giants’ first half was bad, the second half was worse. After receiving the kickoff to begin the third quarter, Murray led Arizona on an 11-play, 77-yard drive that concluded with Kenyan Drake’s 1-yard touchdown plunge. The Giants answered with their only score of the game, a 1-yard touchdown run by Lewis. But Arizona dominated the fourth quarter in every way, especially with a four-man rush that repeatedly overpowered the Giants’ offensive linemen and knocked Jones to the ground so often he was pulled from the game for backup Colt McCoy, who was sacked twice.Jones at that point was also nursing an injury. After the game, Judge said he did not know what Jones’s injury was and he defended his second-year quarterback. Asked about Jones’s erratic play, Judge answered: “There are 11 guys on the field. It’s not one person’s fault.”AdvertisementContinue reading the main story More

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      NFL. Week 14 Predictions: Our Picks Against the Spread

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      AdvertisementContinue reading the main storySupported byContinue reading the main storyN.F.L. Week 14 Predictions: Our Picks Against the SpreadThe Patriots and the Rams will get things started on Thursday in a week in which plenty of teams are fighting for playoff spots.This is the type of swagger a defense develops when Xavien Howard, second from left, repeatedly makes teams pay for  mistakes. But the Miami Dolphins will have their hands full against the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday.Credit…Doug Murray/Associated PressDec. 10, 2020Updated 12:24 a.m. ETThe N.F.L. made its way through a few weeks of odd schedules caused by coronavirus delays, and appears set for its first “normal” week in a while. Or at least the league is starting out with that plan until any virus-related adjustments are needed.The week doesn’t have a signature game to look forward to, but matchups between the Chiefs and Dolphins and the Steelers and Bills are entertaining enough, and more than a few teams should be looking to step up as they fight for spots in the expanded playoff field.Here is a look at N.F.L. Week 14, with all picks made against the spread.Last week’s record: 8-7Overall record: 94-93-5A look ahead at Week 14:Sunday’s Best GamesThursday’s MatchupSunday’s Other GamesMonday’s MatchupHow Betting Lines WorkSunday’s Best GamesKansas City Chiefs at Miami Dolphins, 1 p.m., CBSLine: Chiefs -7 | Total: 49.5It is nice to be the Chiefs (11-1). Kansas City let Denver stay uncomfortably close for much of last week’s game and then simply pushed the “win now” button, got a touchdown pass from Patrick Mahomes to Travis Kelce, a 48-yard field goal from Harrison Butker and a win-sealing interception from Tyrann Mathieu. That it looked so easy made the rest of the game remarkably frustrating in retrospect.The Dolphins (8-4) are not on the Chiefs’ level, but they are also not a team to trifle with. Miami’s defense can make an opponent pay for its mistakes — cornerback Xavien Howard is leading the N.F.L. in interceptions (eight) and passes defended (16) — and the team’s offense is adept at chewing up clock and doing enough to score.The script for this game could mirror Kansas City’s previous game. Miami could easily stay in it for much of the game, but when the Chiefs need to score, Mahomes will make that happen. The Dolphins deserve plenty of respect, but being only 7-point underdogs to the Chiefs is its own version of respect. Pick: Chiefs -7Buffalo’s Josh Allen has stayed cool under pressure this season, and he has people respecting the Bills. Credit…Ralph Freso/Getty ImagesPittsburgh Steelers at Buffalo Bills, 8:20 p.m., NBCLine: Bills -2.5 | Total: 46.5Earlier this week, people were openly wondering if the Steelers (11-1) could go undefeated. One not entirely shocking loss to Washington later, and Pittsburgh is an underdog against the Bills (9-3). The reasons, for the loss and the betting line, are injuries on defense, which are weakening the team’s biggest strength, and a slumping offense.Buffalo is coming off a big win over San Francisco, looking like a good bet to win the A.F.C. East and making people talk about quarterback Josh Allen as an emerging superstar. Unless Pittsburgh turns it around on both sides of the ball, it may go from 11 consecutive wins to two straight losses. Pick: Bills -2.5Minnesota Vikings at Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 1 p.m., FoxLine: Buccaneers -6.5 | Total: 52The Buccaneers (7-5) have disappointed a bit this season. The team was expected to take a leap defensively and, with Tom Brady added to the offense, even out the kinks from the Jameis Winston era. The team has been inconsistent, rather than bad, but has lost back-to-back games by 27-24. Its surprising defensive woes may continue against the Vikings (6-6), who have plenty of their own flaws, but no problems scoring.While not a must-win game for Tampa Bay, it would take pressure off the Buccaneers in their hunt for an N.F.C. wild card to win this one at home. Pick: Vikings +6.5Indianapolis Colts at Las Vegas Raiders, 4:05 p.m., CBSLine: Colts -3 | Total: 51.5The Colts (8-4) got away with one last week, taking advantage of a fumbled snap to hold on for a close win over Houston. That was nothing compared with the Raiders (7-5), who had a win gifted to them by the Jets in the closing seconds of the game. But wins are wins, and with both of these teams fighting for playoff spots, they were lucky to get them.Running back Josh Jacobs is unlikely to return from injury for Las Vegas, and Indianapolis is simply farther along in its development. The Colts should be expected to win on the road. Pick: Colts -3Thursday’s MatchupIf teams give Robert Woods of the Rams an inch, he often takes a mile. Los Angeles would bolster its chances of winning the N.F.C. West with a win over New England.Credit…Mark Lomoglio/Associated PressNew England Patriots at Los Angeles Rams, 8:20 p.m., Fox, NFL Network and Prime VideoLine: Rams -5 | Total: 44.5With four wins in five games — and the lone loss a fairly close game against Houston — the Patriots (6-6) may not be pretty, but they are mostly getting the job done. The team’s defense has recovered from some issues to return to a reasonable facsimile of last year’s dominant crew, and its offense lacks consistency but can keep the team in games. A road game against the Rams (8-4), however, is a real test of just how good New England can be. Los Angeles has enough offense to score against any team and a defense that can force Cam Newton into mistakes.The Rams have a 98 percent chance at qualifying for the playoffs, and hope to take advantage of Seattle’s struggles to win the N.F.C. West. That should be enough to keep them just as motivated as New England, even as the Patriots are fighting for their playoff lives. Pick: Rams -5Sunday’s Other GamesThe Cardinals have struggled recently, but Kyler Murray has thrown for 22 touchdowns and rushed for 10. Credit…Norm Hall/Getty ImagesArizona Cardinals at Giants, 1 p.m., FoxLine: Cardinals -2.5 | Total: 45Fresh off a game in which they manhandled the favored Seahawks on both sides of the ball, the Giants (5-7) are underdogs at home to the Cardinals (6-6), a team that isn’t as good as the Seahawks. So it appears oddsmakers have not exactly bought in on the recent improvements for Big Blue. The skepticism is most likely a result of the uncertain status of quarterback Daniel Jones. Coach Joe Judge has said there is a chance Jones will play, but he also said that last week. Colt McCoy deserves some credit for keeping the win streak going, but the Giants’ chances in this game come down to Jones’s availability. If he plays — and is close to 100 percent — this pick would most likely be reversed. Pick: Cardinals -2.5Washington Football Team at San Francisco 49ers, 4:25 p.m., FoxLine: 49ers -3 | Total: 43.5Both of these teams are 5-7, but they are going in different directions. The Footballers have been steadily improving on both sides of the ball, and just pulled off a shocking upset of Pittsburgh. The 49ers have mostly survived in a season destroyed by injuries, but are coming off a huge letdown loss against Buffalo in which the backup quarterback Nick Mullens’s flaws were on full display. If this were truly a home game for San Francisco, it might have played to its favor, but with the 49ers relocated to Arizona, Washington has a good chance to keep winning. Pick: Footballers +3Green Bay Packers at Detroit Lions, 4:25 p.m., FoxLine: Packers -7.5 | Total: 55The Lions (5-7) showed serious offensive improvement in the first game under their interim coach, Darrell Bevell, with the caveat that their come-from-behind victory came against the reeling Bears. Detroit may find offensive success, but probably not enough to matter as its overmatched defense tries to slow down the electric Packers (9-3), who are led by Aaron Rodgers, Aaron Jones and Davante Adams. There is always the chance that a heavily favored team will take the opportunity to slow things down and accept a smaller win, but the Packers have not been taking any games off offensively, and Rodgers is having one of the best seasons of his career — which is extremely high praise for a two-time winner of the Most Valuable Player Award. Pick: Packers -7.5Trey Hendrickson of the Saints has 10.5 sacks this season. He could add to that total against Philadelphia’s patchwork offensive line.Credit…Mark Lomoglio/Associated PressNew Orleans Saints at Philadelphia Eagles, 4:25 p.m., FoxLine: Saints -7 | Total: 44People who have Alvin Kamara on their fantasy team are undoubtedly eager for Drew Brees to return from injury. Kamara has just three catches for 7 yards over his last three games, but the Saints (10-2) seem extremely content with Taysom Hill under center until Brees gets to 100 percent. That’s understandable because last week’s win over Atlanta clinched a playoff spot for New Orleans, and this week’s game against the Eagles (3-8-1) doesn’t seem like much of a challenge. The Saints have a 66 percent chance of securing the N.F.C.’s first-round bye, according to The Upshot, but if they want to hold on for that honor, they will probably need Brees back for a Week 15 game against Kansas City. Pick: Saints -7Tennessee Titans at Jacksonville Jaguars, 1 p.m., CBSLine: Titans -7.5 | Total: 53The Titans (8-4) are much better than the Jaguars (1-11). You don’t really need to narrow down what Tennessee is better at. Football — the Titans are better at football. That being said, Jacksonville can hold its head up high after giving Minnesota a fight last week, and will come into this game hoping to slow running back Derrick Henry. That might just lead to them getting beaten on a few deep passes, but recent history suggests the Jaguars have a decent chance of covering the spread even if they have almost no chance of winning. Pick: Jaguars +7.5Jets at Seattle Seahawks, 4:05 p.m., CBSLine: Seahawks -13.5 | Total: 47How many times has a prominent N.F.L. coach been fired over one play? That’s what happened last week when Gregg Williams, the defensive coordinator for the Jets (0-12), dialed up a cover-zero play in the game’s final seconds when his team just needed to keep Las Vegas out of the end zone from 46 yards out. The Jets sent seven pass rushers, inexplicably left a spy behind the line of scrimmage in case Derek Carr decided to scramble for a 46-yard touchdown — pause for emphasis — and had just three defensive backs in coverage. Henry Ruggs III had a touchdown before Carr even released the ball.A conspiracy theorist might suggest that Williams or Coach Adam Gase, or both, were trying to lock in the No. 1 pick in the draft, but that falls apart when you consider it was exactly the type of galaxy brain decision the overly aggressive Williams is known for. His firing the next day seemed to confirm it was simply a brutal call, and nothing more than that.So now the Jets have four games to eke out a win in hopes of avoiding 0-16. Their quest begins on the road in Seattle as two-touchdown underdogs against the Seahawks (8-4). Seattle is struggling too much to buy in on such a large point spread, but the Seahawks have plenty of playoff-related motivation to win, so there shouldn’t be any surprises. Pick: Jets +13.5Denver Broncos at Carolina Panthers, 1 p.m., CBSLine: Panthers -3.5 | Total: 46.5A lot of teams pack things in when their record goes sideways, but the Broncos (4-8) and the Panthers (4-8) have kept fighting all season, making their opponents work hard to beat them. Imagining Denver’s defense if linebacker Von Miller were healthy, or Carolina’s offense with fewer injuries, makes it easy to be enthusiastic about both teams heading into next season. For now, they are both a little too flawed to matter, but there is every reason to believe a game between them should be entertaining. Pick: Panthers -3.5Atlanta’s Julio Jones was not able to haul in this pass, but he is so talented you probably thought he did. Credit…Curtis Compton/Atlanta Journal-Constitution, via Associated PressAtlanta Falcons at Los Angeles Chargers, 4:25 p.m., FoxLine: Falcons -2.5 | Total: 49.5This game should have a playground feel to it, as both offenses are more than capable of airing the ball out, and neither defense puts up much resistance. Justin Herbert, a rookie, has the Chargers (3-9) ranked fourth in the N.F.L. in passing. The veteran Matt Ryan has the Falcons (4-8) ranked seventh in spite of some injuries to his receivers this season. It is a safe bet that a group of talented pass-catchers that includes Keenan Allen and Mike Williams (Los Angeles) and Julio Jones and Calvin Ridley (Atlanta) will produce more than a few highlight-reel-worthy plays. While Los Angeles could end up struggling for a second consecutive week should left tackle Sam Tevi be out, this could easily come down to which team has the ball last. Pick: Chargers +2.5Houston Texans at Chicago Bears, 1 p.m., CBSLine: Texans -2 | Total: 44.5It had seemed like wide receiver Will Fuller V’s suspension would devastate Houston’s offense, but the Texans (4-8) were a fumbled snap away from pulling off a huge upset of the Colts last week thanks in large part to the emergence of Keke Coutee, who put up a career-best 141 yards receiving after coming into the day with 38 yards for the season. Houston showed enough to be favored on the road against a team with a superior record, though that probably has more to do with Chicago’s six-game losing streak than it does with the Texans’ offense.Of the 242 teams to start a season 5-1 from 1920 to 2019, only four ended up with a losing record: the 1926 Chicago Cardinals (5-6-1), the 1986 Atlanta Falcons (7-8-1), the 1995 St. Louis Rams (7-9) and the 2008 Buffalo Bills (7-9). The Bears (5-7) are well on their way to setting a new mark for futility in that group of fast-starting teams. Pick: Texans -2Dallas Cowboys at Cincinnati Bengals, 1 p.m., FoxLine: Cowboys -3.5 | Total: 43.5Cincinnati has held its opponent to 20 or fewer points in each of the last three games, which is a fairly shocking turnaround for a defense that struggled greatly earlier in the season. Whether that is improvement or indifference from opponents who know they will beat the Bengals (2-9-1), regardless, is hard to say, but with quarterback Joe Burrow out for the season and Cincinnati one of four teams that is already eliminated from playoff contention, there is no real incentive to win. The Cowboys (3-9), meanwhile, have only a 2 percent chance of making the playoffs, according to The Upshot, but have enough offense to give that recently improved Bengals defense a workout. Pick: Cowboys -3.5Monday’s MatchupWith Nick Chubb and Kareem Hunt, the Cleveland Browns are one of the few teams that can keep up in a run-heavy matchup against Baltimore.Credit…Ron Schwane/Associated PressBaltimore Ravens at Cleveland Browns, 8:15 p.m., ESPNLine: Ravens -1 | Total: 44.5It should be a chilly night in Cleveland, and if a recent stretch of home games for the Browns (9-3) was any indication, the weather will lead to a far more conservative approach than the one the team employed to run up 38 first-half points against Tennessee last week. Since Lamar Jackson of the Ravens (7-5) has thrown for fewer than 200 yards in seven of his last nine games, this one should be decided on the ground. In a surprise compared with recent seasons, that would, at least on paper, favor Cleveland on both sides of the ball. But there is a nagging feeling that Baltimore is a quality team that has underperformed while the Browns have simply benefited from a light schedule. This game could help sort out if that is true. Pick: Ravens -1How Betting Lines WorkA quick primer for those who are not familiar with betting lines: Favorites are listed next to a negative number that represents how many points they must win by to cover the spread. Bills -2.5, for example, means that Buffalo must beat Pittsburgh by at least 3 points for its backers to win their bet. Gamblers can also bet on the total score, or whether the teams’ combined score in the game is over or under a preselected number of points.All times are Eastern.AdvertisementContinue reading the main story More

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      Ray Perkins, Coach at Alabama and in the N.F.L., Dies at 79

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      AdvertisementContinue reading the main storySupported byContinue reading the main storyRay Perkins, Coach at Alabama and in the N.F.L., Dies at 79With the Crimson Tide, he had a tough act to follow, Bear Bryant, but he enjoyed some success. He didn’t fare so well with the Giants and the Buccaneers.Ray Perkins coaching Alabama in the 1980s. He took over after Bear Bryant,  his mentor, retired, and he remained in Tuscaloosa for four years before returning to the N.F.L.Credit…Al Messerschmidt/Associated PressDec. 9, 2020, 6:39 p.m. ETRay Perkins, who spent nearly four decades as a college and N.F.L. coach and was best known for succeeding Paul “Bear” Bryant at the University of Alabama, his alma mater, died on Wednesday at his home in Tuscaloosa, Ala. He was 79.His death was confirmed by his daughter Rachael Perkins, who did not specify the cause but said he had struggled with heart problems in recent years.A hard-driving coach in the mold of Bryant, his mentor, Perkins did not enjoy as much success as a coach as he did as a player, when he won championships with the Crimson Tide and later with Baltimore Colts. Though he spent many years on winning teams as a positions coach and offensive coordinator, he had a losing record in his eight years as an N.F.L. head coach, with his teams qualifying for the postseason just once.Perkins with the Giants quarterback Phil Simms in 1981. During his tenure as head coach in New York, he hired the future head coaches Bill Belichick, Romeo Crennel and Bill Parcells, who succeeded him.Credit…Ray Stubblebine/Associated PressHis first stint as a head coach, with the New York Giants, was not an overwhelming success. He was 23-34 in four seasons, including a 9-7 record in 1981, when the team made the playoffs. But Perkins developed several players who formed the core of the Giants’ 1986 Super Bowl-winning team, including quarterback Phil Simms and linebackers Harry Carson and Lawrence Taylor. He also hired the future head coaches Bill Belichick, Romeo Crennel and Bill Parcells, who succeeded him in 1983.Perkins returned to Alabama that year to take over for Bryant. In his four years in Tuscaloosa, his teams won two-thirds of their regular-season games and three bowl games.But compared with Bryant, who turned the Crimson Tide into a national powerhouse during his quarter-century there, Perkins had only middling success at Alabama. His teams were never in contention for a national title, finishing in the top 10 only once. In his second season, Alabama finished 5-6; it was the team’s first losing season since 1957, the year before Bryant took over the program.Perkins left Alabama after four years and returned to the N.F.L. in 1987, this time to coach the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. With the additional title of vice president of player personnel, he had an even harder time winning games, going 19-41 as head coach in four seasons in Tampa.Perkins spent one losing season coaching at Arkansas State and seven years as an offensive coordinator and position coach with the New England Patriots, Oakland Raiders and Cleveland Browns. After more than a decade away from the sidelines, he resumed coaching in 2012 at a junior college and then at Oak Grove High School in Hattiesburg, Miss., near where he had grown up. He fully retired from football in 2017.Through his long career, Perkins earned a reputation as a workaholic, studying film of practices and games often at the expense of his family.“I don’t remember taking a vacation,” he told The New York Times in 1979, when he took over the Giants. Then he remembered one: “There was a week once in Toledo Bend — that’s in a corner of Louisiana and Texas.”Walter Ray Perkins was born on Nov. 6, 1941, in tiny Mount Olive, Miss. — “the middle of nowhere,” he once said — the second of three children born to Woodrow and Emogene (Lingle) Perkins. His father was a carpenter, and his mother was a homemaker. When Ray was 3 the family moved to to Petal, Miss., a suburb of Hattiesburg.He played running back on the football team at Petal High School and won a scholarship to Alabama. Bryant moved him to wide receiver after a serious head injury during his freshman season required surgery, with doctors drilling three holes in his skull to relieve the pressure. Perkins become a cornerstone of Alabama’s offense between 1964 and 1966, the heyday of the tough-nosed Bryant’s tenure there.Perkins with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Steve DeBerg in 1987. Perkins coached the Buccaneers for four season while also serving as vice president of player personnel. Credit…Kathy Willens/Associated PressPerkins was a teammate of the future Hall of Fame quarterbacks Joe Namath and Ken Stabler, and was chosen as an All-American in 1966. Alabama won the Southeastern Conference title in all three of Perkins’s seasons and was national champion in 1964 and 1965.While his college statistics — 63 catches for 908 yards and 9 touchdowns — were modest compared with those of players in today’s pass-first offenses, Perkins, in the reflective glow of having played at Alabama, was picked in the seventh round of the N.F.L. draft by the Baltimore Colts, who were in the midst of their own heyday, led by the star quarterback Johnny Unitas and Coach Don Shula (who died in May).Unitas was wary of young receivers, but he took an immediate shine to Perkins, who had good speed and an intuitive grasp of the game.“I could tell right away when he came to the team that he looked like he had been playing for four or five years in the N.F.L.,” said Upton Bell, the Colts’ director of player personnel in those years. “Forget Shula, you had to please Unitas, and he stepped right in.”Perkins played five seasons at wide receiver and appeared in eight playoff games, including Super Bowl V, when the Colts beat the Dallas Cowboys, 16-13, for their lone title in Baltimore.After several knee surgeries, Perkins finished his N.F.L. career in 1971 with 93 catches for 1,538 yards and 11 touchdowns.Perkins’s first marriage ended in divorce. In addition to his daughter Rachael, from his second marriage, he is survived by his second wife, Lisa Perkins; two sons from his first marriage, Martin Anthony Perkins, known as Tony, and Michael Ray Perkins, who works for the Jacksonville Jaguars of the N.F.L.; another daughter from his second marriage, Shelby Perkins; a sister, Susan Thornton; and two grandchildren. Another sister, Shirley Sellers, died in 2007.AdvertisementContinue reading the main story More

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      Ravens' Dez Bryant Tests Positive but Stays Active Thansk to Twitter

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      #masthead-section-label, #masthead-bar-one { display: none }The Coronavirus OutbreakliveLatest UpdatesMaps and CasesBritain’s Vaccine RolloutVaccine TrackerFAQAdvertisementContinue reading the main storySupported byContinue reading the main storyDez Bryant’s Wild Ride: A Positive Test, a Glass of Wine, a Ravens WinAfter testing positive for the coronavirus, receiver Dez Bryant missed Baltimore’s game against the Dallas Cowboys. But fans were still able to follow his emotional evening in real time.Dez Bryant didn’t play a down on Tuesday, but he still had his say.Credit…Nick Wass/Associated PressDec. 9, 2020Updated 9:14 a.m. ETIt was quite an evening for Dez Bryant.Bryant, the Baltimore Ravens wide receiver, began to warm up as usual before Tuesday night’s rescheduled game against his former team, the visiting Dallas Cowboys. Bryant had been looking forward to the matchup more than usual: After spending eight years in Dallas, he had missed the past two seasons with a torn Achilles’ tendon before returning to the N.F.L. this year with Baltimore.His first meeting with his old team, then, was much anticipated. But it was not to be.Bryant learned he had tested positive for coronavirus after he renewed some old friendships on the field before the game.Credit…Nick Wass/Associated PressBryant was abruptly pulled from the field before the end of warm-ups. The N.F.L. said that his two pregame coronavirus tests had produced inconclusive results but that the results had not come back until shortly before game time. A quick follow-up test was positive, and Bryant left the stadium.The rest of Bryant’s evening is curiously well documented thanks to his Twitter feed.His first tweet didn’t beat around the bush: “Tell me why they pull me from warming up so I can go get tested” — here he added a profanity — “I tested positive for Covid.”He followed up by letting his followers know that he was puzzled by the positive test because he had not changed his routine. The next tweet may have alarmed Ravens fans: a frustrated Bryant declared that his season was over.Less than 30 minutes later, he was openly wondering if anyone should be playing. Puzzled by the rules that had sent him away but not other players, he tagged the N.F.L. in a tweet and asked why. (Answer: The game went on. There were no other positive tests among players on either team.)With current and former players now sending him messages of support through their own Twitter accounts, there was only one solution, Bryant figured:He then mused about sharing information about his outside business endeavors and then did a quick catch-up for latecomers: “I got covid everyone.”As halftime of the Ravens-Cowboys game approached, he also assured readers that he was “not drunk yet” and had finished only one glass of wine. He also clarified that he was not planning to walk away from the season.His choice of libation led him to call for followers to share pictures of the wine they were drinking. Bryant retweeted about a dozen of the photos.By the time the game ended, with the Ravens 34-17 winners over the Cowboys, his melancholy had turned to exuberance.Soon afterward, his Ravens teammates were back in the locker room, and back to their phones. Running back Mark Ingram quickly sought out Bryant, tweeting: “We got your back brother. You gon beat this like every other obstacle.”And quarterback Lamar Jackson sent a message directly to Bryant in his postgame news conference.“We just had to win the game for him because we knew how much it meant to him,” Jackson said, adding, “I’m feeling for him because I know how much he wanted to be here.”Bryant tweeted that out, too.AdvertisementContinue reading the main story More

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      This Eagles’ No-Win Quarterback Predicament Isn’t Like the Last One

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      AdvertisementContinue reading the main storySupported byContinue reading the main storytrend watchThis Eagles’ No-Win Quarterback Predicament Isn’t Like the Last OneJalen Hurts, a rookie, was named the Week 14 starter over Carson Wentz, a franchise quarterback, but Philadelphia is in no way suited for a rebuild.Jalen Hurts, right, initially made cameos on gadget plays for the Eagles. But as Carson Wentz flailed, and Hurts moved the offense against the Packers on Sunday, the starting spot came into question.Credit…Mitchell Leff/Getty ImagesDec. 9, 2020, 3:00 a.m. ETThe Philadelphia Eagles were too cursed for too long to finally win a Super Bowl without a “Twilight Zone”-worthy twist. Fate granted the Eagles a championship but denied them the franchise quarterback they thought they were getting with it.Carson Wentz’s career has been clouded by skepticism since the moment Nick Foles hoisted the Lombardi Trophy at the end of the 2017 season. Three seasons later, Wentz’s benching in favor of Jalen Hurts, a rookie, casts doubts on his future and threatens to plunge the Eagles into a long, bitter rebuilding cycle.Wentz is suffering through a catastrophic 2020 season. He leads the N.F.L. with 15 interceptions and has endured 50 sacks, 10 more than any other quarterback. While a revolving door cast of receivers and offensive linemen deserves a share of the blame, those players have nothing to do with the fact that Wentz’s throwing mechanics, accuracy, timing and decision-making have gone haywire. He is hesitant to throw to wide-open receivers, blunders into sacks while stumbling around the pocket and appears almost morally opposed to checking down for a safe 4-yard toss when he can force a 40-yard interception instead.Worst of all, his 2020 performance looks less like an extended slump than the final stage of a three-year decline.Wentz, the second overall selection in the 2016 draft, appeared destined for superstardom when he threw 33 touchdown passes and led the Eagles to an 11-2 record in 2017 before tearing his anterior cruciate ligament in December. Foles, a journeyman backup, relieved Wentz and led the Eagles through the playoffs and past the New England Patriots for the franchise’s first Super Bowl victory. Foles, not Wentz, outdueled Tom Brady, caught the “Philly Special” and was honored with a statue outside Lincoln Financial Field.Anyone who studied ancient history knows that a general as triumphant as Foles either becomes emperor or is exiled to a barren Mediterranean island, and quarterback disputes are typically resolved similarly. Yet the Eagles retained both quarterbacks for the 2018 season. Wentz proved to be turnover- and mistake-prone when he returned to the lineup, and fracturing a vertebra in December of that year led to another late-season hot streak by Foles that propelled the Eagles into the playoffs.The time had come for an exile, and for a confidence-boosting coronation. Foles signed with the Jacksonville Jaguars in the 2019 off-season. Wentz signed a four-year, $128 million extension, then battled through another mixed bag of a season. He threw for 4,039 yards and 27 touchdowns to lead the injury-ravaged Eagles to a playoff berth in 2019, but appeared to be malfunctioning for long stretches. His season ended with yet another injury in a playoff loss. Foles’s ineffectiveness in Jacksonville in 2019 silenced any second-guessers, but Wentz’s time without a challenger would be brief.The career of Carson Wentz, right, has been clouded by skepticism since the moment Nick Foles, left, hoisted the Lombardi Trophy after Super Bowl LII.Credit…Frank Franklin Ii/Associated PressThe Eagles ostensibly selected Hurts in the second round of this year’s draft to provide an insurance policy against further Wentz injuries and to add an occasional wildcat wrinkle to their offense. It was like a couple thinking an amicable third partner would somehow spice up their romance, and had about as high a likelihood for success. Hurts’s cameos on gadget plays took on increasing significance as Wentz flailed, but Coach Doug Pederson seemed reluctant to risk upstaging Wentz by giving Hurts more to do.Hurts finally replaced Wentz with the Eagles trailing, 20-3, in the third quarter against the Green Bay Packers on Sunday, and did a better job of moving the offense, though that may have been the case only because the Packers were unprepared for the switch. Pederson named Hurts the starter against the New Orleans Saints for Week 14; the battle for the future of the franchise has officially been joined.Moving on from Wentz, if the Eagles choose to do so, will not be as simple as reprinting the depth charts. Wentz’s contract guarantees him huge sums in staggered stages, insulating him from any hasty organizational decisions. Wentz will cost the Eagles almost $35 million in cap space to keep in 2021, but over $59 million to cut. So even if Hurts assumes the job and plays like Patrick Mahomes for the next month, Wentz will almost certainly remain on the 2021 roster.Furthermore, the Eagles project to be $66 million over next year’s salary cap because of the backloaded contracts of many veteran Super Bowl holdovers. Any attempt at a cap purge could leave the Eagles with Hurts leading a lineup of minimum wage earners while Wentz eats a prohibitive chunk of the payroll to clap politely from the bench. The Eagles are in no financial position to begin rebuilding around a rookie quarterback, which circles back to the question of why they drafted one.The Eagles’ no-win quarterback predicament reflects poorly upon Pederson, who supervised Wentz’s backslide into ineptitude, and upon General Manager Howie Roseman, who negotiated Wentz’s contract, drafted Hurts and strained the limits of team economics to keep much of the Super Bowl nucleus intact. Roseman has added almost no top-tier offensive talent in the last three seasons, and Pederson’s game plans have stagnated, making Wentz as much a symptom of the Eagles’ deeper problems as the cause.However the Wentz-Hurts dilemma plays out, it will look nothing like what the Eagles were hoping for when Wentz’s ascendance led, indirectly, to a Super Bowl victory. Instead of enjoying the prosperity and stability that come with a young franchise quarterback, they’re trapped in a “Groundhog Day” cycle of desperate reruns, where the same creaky cast enters September with championship aspirations but reaches December wondering whether a backup will be able to bail out an increasingly battered, bewildered starter.AdvertisementContinue reading the main story More

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