More stories

  • in

    New Quarterbacks and Coaches Give Jets and Giants Some Hope

    The Jets and Giants have dismal recent histories pocked by playoff misses and last-place finishes. With new hires and draft picks, and healthy contributors, the only way to go in 2021 is up.The Jets and Giants have done more than their share of losing during the more than six decades that they’ve shared New York’s pro football stage. The Giants had a 17-year playoff drought that started in the Johnson administration. The Jets have never been back to the Super Bowl after their upset victory over the Baltimore Colts in the 1968 season.But in the last decade, they have collectively skidded to new lows. The Cleveland Browns made the postseason last year, making the Jets the owners of the N.F.L.’s longest playoff drought at 10 years. The Giants have made the playoffs only once since their title run in the 2011 season. Each team has won just 18 games in the last four years. In 2020, the Giants had the second-worst offense in the N.F.L., ranking only ahead of the Jets.With all that recent history, it takes precious little beyond a dip in temperatures and the announcement of a handful of new personnel to spark optimism that one of the city’s pro football franchises will be better than dismal.In the case of the Jets, a new head coach, Robert Saleh, and starting quarterback, Zach Wilson, drafted with the second overall pick in April, could be moorings to a foundering franchise. Giants Coach Joe Judge and his quarterback, Daniel Jones, enter their second year together, with any improvement bound to make an impact in the N.F.C. East, the division run by a seven-win team last season.“Quarterbacks and coaches are important to both teams,” said Steve Gera, who worked in the front office of the Browns and Chargers for 10 years and who now runs a sports performance company. “And both teams seem to have the quarterback they need, and I say that knowing that rookie quarterbacks can go in either direction.”The same could be said for veteran Jets quarterbacks. The team has cycled through quarterbacks for years, with Mark Sanchez, Geno Smith and Sam Darnold among the would-have-been saviors. But Mike Tannenbaum, the Jets’ general manager in 2010, when they last made the postseason, said Wilson is very comfortable with new receivers and a new playbook, ahead of the curve for a rookie.Tannenbaum also called Elijah Moore, a wide receiver from Ole Miss whom the Jets drafted in the second round, “intriguing” because he is fast, has good hands and can be a deep threat or catch passes over the middle of the field. Moore will join the newly acquired receivers Keelan Cole Sr. and Corey Davis, as well as Jamison Crowder, the team’s leading receiver in each of the past two seasons.Daniel Jones threw only one more touchdown pass than interception in 2020 but will have more options this season.Noah K. Murray/Associated PressSaleh, the charismatic former defensive coordinator of the San Francisco 49ers, should provide a jolt after two dim years under Adam Gase. But Tannenbaum warned that Saleh should be ready for his “welcome to New York moment,” that day when something goes disastrously wrong and the news media and fans start to criticize his leadership.“Hopefully for him, it’ll come later than sooner,” said Tannenbaum, who now works for ESPN. “I felt like I was on a honeymoon for 8 to 10 minutes. I was born and bred here, but it’s not for everybody.”On Sunday, Saleh and the Jets will start their attempt to not finish in last place, facing the Panthers in North Carolina. Despite the organizational changes, the biggest roadblock to changing their standing is sharing the A.F.C. East with the Buffalo Bills, Miami Dolphins and New England Patriots. That’s why Frank Tummino, a lifelong Jets fan, said he can get only so excited. Every September, he gets his hopes up, only to have them dashed by December (or earlier). In a sign of what amounts for optimism in Jets Nation, he expects his team to win six games.“We’re self-deprecating fans,” Tummino, 57, said. “I don’t expect a huge turnaround. I’m just looking for improvement.”The Giants have had a less linear approach to climbing out of their doldrums. After starting the 2020 season on a five-game losing streak, during which running back Saquon Barkley tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee, they won five of their next seven to somersault into contention. That was before bumbling away a playoff berth down the stretch. Jones, in particular, took a step backward in his second year as a pro without a true No. 1 receiver and while missing an elite rushing threat.In his pursuit of a contract extension this season, Jones will have more options. The Giants signed the former Lions receiver Kenny Golladay, who led the league in receiving touchdowns in 2019, and drafted wide receiver Kadarius Toney. The Giants also signed Kyle Rudolph to platoon with Evan Engram at tight end.With so many areas for improvement, the question remains what benchmarks the Giants will be using to gauge his progress.“I’ll be curious what the team’s definition of ‘blossom’ is going to be,” Gera said. Will the Giants need to return to the playoffs for faith in Jones to be justified?Beyond the Dallas Cowboys, who return their Pro Bowl quarterback Dak Prescott from a gruesome leg injury, the rest of the N.F.C. East teams have enough question marks to make Jones’s and the Giants’ seem quaint in comparison. More

  • in

    Can Anyone in the N.F.C. Stop Tom Brady and the Bucs From Repeating?

    Tampa Bay returns much of its Super Bowl-winning roster, but Aaron Rodgers and Davante Adams have Jordan-and-Pippen-style title dreams for Green Bay.Amid the chaos and reshuffling of an N.F.L. season played during a pandemic, the 2020 season concluded with an all-too-familiar scene: Tom Brady hoisting the Lombardi Trophy.Even at the ripe age of 44, Brady could continue his title-winning ways at the helm of a Tampa Bay team that returns much of its roster. But the Buccaneers’ path to repeat as champion should be tougher, beginning with their Week 1 opponent. The Dallas Cowboys return Dak Prescott, who led all quarterbacks in passing yards through the first five games of last season before suffering a gruesome right ankle injury.Aaron Rodgers, the reigning league most valuable player, and the Packers renewed their vows after having narrowly missed taking down Brady and company in last season’s N.F.C. championship game, thanks to a, umm, notable play call. And the Los Angeles Rams traded with Detroit for the veteran quarterback Matthew Stafford in the off-season, adding fresh blood to the gauntlet that is the N.F.C. West.Will all the retooling around the conference stop another rerun?N.F.C. EastDallas Cowboys (6-10)Key additions: S Keanu Neal, DE Tarell Basham and DE Brent UrbanKey departures: DB Chidobe Awuzie, QB Andy DaltonAfter a disappointing 2020 season, the Cowboys completed their biggest off-season task by signing quarterback Dak Prescott to a four-year, $160 million contract extension. Though it’s risky to guarantee such hefty money, at $126 million, to a quarterback coming off a season-ending broken ankle, Prescott’s absence showed how mightily the Cowboys’ offense depends on him. Running back Ezekiel Elliott is back to his college weight, and Prescott will throw to one of the N.F.L.’s best receiver trifectas in Amari Cooper, Michael Gallup and CeeDee Lamb. But that won’t mean much if Dallas’s aging offensive line can’t buy Prescott time to find them. Dak Prescott, left, and Ezekiel Elliott have to like the Cowboys’ shot at winning the wide open N.F.C. East. Tom Pennington/Getty ImagesNew York Giants (6-10)Key additions: WR Kenny Golladay, WR Kadarius Toney, TE Kyle Rudolph, CB Adoree’ JacksonKey departures: DL Dalvin Tomlinson, RB Wayne Gallman, OT Cameron FlemingQuarterback Daniel Jones slid backward in his second year in the league, but, no pressure, team owner John Mara thinks his quarterback can win a Super Bowl. To back up that assertion, the Giants brought in a true No. 1 receiver in Golladay and took Toney with the 20th pick of this year’s draft, a move that stood out for its sagacity. Those additions, with the return of Pro Bowl running back Saquon Barkley, and the signing of the veteran tight end Kyle Rudolph should all aid Jones’s campaign — if not for a Super Bowl, at least for a contract extension — though they won’t help much if the offensive line continues to struggle. Leonard Williams, who the team signed a three-year, $63 million contract after he posted a career-high 11.5 sacks in 2020, should help generate a pass rush.Philadelphia Eagles (4-11-1)Key additions: WR DeVonta Smith, S Anthony HarrisKey departures: QB Carson Wentz, WR DeSean JacksonThe Eagles are reworking their roster on the run after overhauling the core personnel that had led the team to three straight playoff berths and a Super Bowl victory. Coach Nick Sirianni replaces Doug Pederson, and the team named the second-year quarterback Jalen Hurts, who was 1-3 in four starts last season, their starter. They added the former Jaguars quarterback Gardner Minshew in late August but the essential question for this young team is whether Sirianni — who spent the last three seasons as the Colts’ offensive coordinator — can develop Hurts.Washington Football Team (7-9)Key additions: QB Ryan Fitzpatrick, WR Curtis Samuel, CB William Jackson III, LB Jamin DavisKey departures: OT Morgan Moses, DE Ryan Kerrigan, QB Alex Smith, TE Jordan ReedCoach Ron Rivera has continued his revamp in Washington by adding the speedster Samuel on a three-year, $34.5 million deal (Rivera coached Samuel with the Carolina Panthers) and bolstering the defensive backfield, while parting ways with stalwarts on the offensive and defensive line. In signing Ryan Fitzpatrick, 38, to replace Alex Smith, Rivera also signaled that Washington is closer to finding a new team name than a franchise quarterback.Washington won the N.F.C. East with a losing record last season (and then gave the eventual Super Bowl champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers a scare in the playoffs) but a second consecutive division title should be tough with an improved Dallas in the running.— Ken BelsonN.F.C. NorthChicago Bears (8-8)Key additions: QB Justin Fields, QB Andy Dalton, RB Damien Williams, TE Jesse JamesKey departures: WR Cordarrelle Patterson, CB Kyle Fuller, QB Mitchell Trubisky, DT Roy Robertson-Harris, OT Charles LenoBears fans grew so loud in their anticipation of rookie Justin Fields, right, taking the starting quarterback spot that Fields asked fans not to boo its current occupant, Andy Dalton.Nam Y. Huh/Associated PressC’mon, Chicago. Let Fields throw a regular-season pass before you name a museum after him, OK? Bears fans are acclimating themselves to an alien phenomenon, hope at quarterback, after the team traded up to draft Fields, the former Ohio State star, with the No. 11 pick. Every decision now revolves around his development, but the people making those decisions are largely the same ones who dealt away draft picks, compromising the Bears’ depth at places like, for instance, offensive line.They should have a solid defense and an elite receiver in Allen Robinson, who will be catching passes from Dalton to begin the season — but, probably, for not much longer than that.Detroit Lions (5-11)Key additions: QB Jared Goff, RB Jamaal Williams, WR Tyrell Williams, DE Charles Harris, DT Michael Brockers, OT Penei SewellKey departures: QB Matthew Stafford, WR Kenny Golladay, WR Marvin Jones, DT Danny SheltonFirst-year coach Dan Campbell has said he begins each day by ordering at Starbucks two venti coffees, each with two espresso shots. All that caffeine might not be good for his heart, but then again, neither is watching the Lions. Brad Holmes, the first-year general manager, traded Stafford, the franchise’s career passing leader, to the Rams for Goff, and gutted the roster.But the Lions are building from the offensive and defensive lines out — a sound strategy — and though that might not help them much in 2021, it could a few years from now, when they have a new quarterback.Green Bay Packers (13-3)Key additions: WR Randall Cobb, WR Amari Rodgers, OT Dennis Kelly, LB De’Vondre CampbellKey departures: RB Jamaal Williams, C Corey Linsley, LB Christian KirkseyThe next 18 weeks (and beyond) are going to be captivating theater in Wisconsin, where Aaron Rodgers may or may not be playing his final games with teammates he loves, but for a front office he doesn’t. There’s no reason to doubt this could be, as Rodgers and Davante Adams suggested in dual Instagram posts before training camp started, a fruitful “Last Dance”-y kind of season for the Packers, who have more talent than any team in the conference that doesn’t have “Bay” in its name. Where Rodgers plays next season will be fascinating, clearly. But not as much as how he and his team handle this one.Minnesota Vikings (7-9)Key additions: DT Sheldon Richardson, DT Dalvin Tomlinson, CB Bashaud Breeland, S Xavier WoodsKey departures: RB Mike Boone, TE Kyle Rudolph, OT Riley Reiff, LB Eric WilsonEntering quarterback Kirk Cousins’s fourth season in Minnesota, the Vikings have yet to win the N.F.C. North. Unless the Packers’ team buses get detoured to Idaho every game day, that streak isn’t likely to end. Still, the Vikings have a raft of elite players — running back Dalvin Cook, receiver Justin Jefferson and defensive end Danielle Hunter — and their off-season additions improved a defense that Coach Mike Zimmer last season called the “worst one I’ve ever had.”At the least, Minnesota figures to be average. At best, it could win double-digit games, good enough to snag a wild-card berth.— Ben ShpigelN.F.C. SouthAtlanta Falcons (4-12)Key additions: WR Cordarrelle Patterson, TE Kyle Pitts, RB Mike Davis, S Duron HarmonKey departures: C Alex Mack, WR Julio Jones, S Ricardo Allen, S Keanu Neal, DE Charles Harris, CB Darqueze Dennard.No team imploded as spectacularly — or as often — as the Falcons, who lost nine (!) games that they led last season. In theory, that won’t happen again. Any expectations beyond that? ¯_(ツ)_/¯The Falcons, under new leadership at coach (Arthur Smith) and general manager (Terry Fontenot), are in transition. After trading Jones and bypassing a potential Matt Ryan successor in order to draft Pitts at No. 4 overall, Atlanta seems to be walking up a down escalator. The onus will be on the defensive coordinator, Dean Pees, who was lured out of retirement, to generate loads of pressure — and on Ryan to generate loads of points. With Ryan working in a play-action heavy offense that resembles the one from his 2016 M.V.P. season, it might be possible. In theory.Carolina Panthers (5-11)Key additions: QB Sam Darnold, LB Haason Reddick, OT Cameron Erving, CB Jaycee HornKey departures: WR Curtis Samuel, RB Mike Davis, QB Teddy Bridgewater, LG Chris ReedThe Panthers acquired Darnold from the Jets this spring in the hopes that extricating him from the Jets’ juju — and surrounding him with, you know, better players — might unlock his promise. Bold strategy. In season 2 under Coach Matt Rhule, Carolina’s prospect of contending is rooted in too many hypotheticals (if Darnold can rebound, if running back Christian McCaffrey can stay healthy, if its young defense can coalesce) to take seriously.New Orleans Saints (12-4)Jameis Winston will step into the quarterback spot owned for 15 seasons by Drew Brees when the New Orleans Saints open the season with a “home” game against the Packers in Jacksonville.Derick Hingle/Associated PressKey additions: TE Nick Vannett, DE Tanoh Kpassagnon, DE Payton TurnerKey departures: QB Drew Brees, DE Trey Hendrickson, DT Malcom Brown, CB Janoris Jenkins, CB Patrick RobinsonSweet mercy, the Saints lost a lot of talent in addition to Brees. The team’s viability hinges on whether Coach Sean Payton can coax efficient quarterback play — and respectable ball security — from Jameis Winston over a full season. Either way, Winston is their best internal option, and he should benefit from playing behind a talented offensive line. Payton relishes the chance to put Winston and Taysom Hill on the field together. Good thing, too.The defense powered the Saints last year, and with their overall playmaking cast diminished — the star receiver Michael Thomas is out indefinitely as he recovers from ankle surgery — that unit might need to offset their offensive volatility.Tampa Bay Buccaneers (11-5)Key additions: RB Giovani Bernard, DE Joe Tryon, OT Robert HainseyKey departures: C A.Q. Shipley, LB Deone BucannonMoving some beads around the ol’ abacus, Tampa Bay’s front office performed a modern miracle in this salary-cap era: The Buccaneers managed to retain all 22 starters from the team that dusted Kansas City in the Super Bowl. Their roster, the best in the N.F.L., is loaded with absurd amounts of star power — from receiver Chris Godwin to linebackers Shaquil Barrett and Lavonte David — but also depth at every position except, perhaps, quarterback.That isn’t necessarily a problem, since Tom Brady is fated to start there until the sun collapses. Brady quarterbacked the last team to repeat as champions — the 2004 New England Patriots — and anything less than another title for Tampa Bay, which would be his eighth, would be a disappointment.— Ben ShpigelN.F.C. WestArizona Cardinals (8-8)Key additions: DE J.J. Watt, WR A.J. Green, RB James Conner, LB Zaven CollinsKey departures: CB Patrick Peterson, RB Kenyan DrakeIn two seasons, Coach Kliff Kingsbury has yet to lead the Arizona Cardinals to the playoffs. Should his team fail to reach the postseason in 2021, Kingsbury may be seeking employment elsewhere. The Cardinals return a talented roster led by quarterback Kyler Murray and receiver DeAndre Hopkins. They added veteran contributors on both sides of the ball by signing Watt and Green. Despite strong opposition in the division, any finish less than playing a game on Wild-Card weekend will be a disappointment.For the second season in a row, the Texans’ loss has been the Cardinals’ gain as J.J. Watt joined his former teammate DeAndre Hopkins in Arizona.Rick Scuteri/Associated PressLos Angeles Rams (10-6)Key additions: QB Matthew Stafford, WR DeSean Jackson, RB Sony Michel, WR Tutu AtwellKey Departures: S John Johnson III, CB Troy Hill, TE Gerald Everett, QB Jared GoffStafford’s arrival in Los Angeles dramatically elevates the Rams’ expectations as the team welcomes fans to its $5.5 billion stadium, which will host this season’s Super Bowl. The team returns a stout defense led by Aaron Donald and Jalen Ramsey, but any hope of a championship run depends on Stafford, whose 45,109 career yards rank fifth among active passers, but who, at 33, has not won a playoff game in three tries.Coach Sean McVay will look to unleash the offense behind Stafford and with Sony Michel, whom the team traded for to shore up a running back rotation that lost starter Cam Akers to a torn Achilles’ tendon before training camp.San Francisco 49ers (6-10)Key additions: QB Trey Lance, C Alex Mack, LB Samson EbukamKey departures: WR Kendrick Bourne, RB Tevin Coleman, DE Kerry Hyder Jr., CB Ahkello WitherspoonThe 49ers traded three first-round picks to the Miami Dolphins to draft Lance third overall this spring. He’ll eventually replace Jimmy Garoppolo, but how soon that transition occurs depends on Garoppolo’s health and Lance’s learning curve. Since Garoppolo has played a 16-game season only once with San Francisco, and Lance showed steady improvement in the preseason, figure on his time coming sooner than later.The team returns key starters to a defense that was decimated by injuries and boasts a potent rushing attack based on motion before the snap and passes behind the line of scrimmage.Seattle Seahawks (12-4)Key additions: TE Gerald Everett, OG Gabe Jackson, DT Robert NkemdicheKey departures: CB Shaquill Griffin, RB Carlos Hyde, DT Jarran ReedRussell Wilson, tired of continually being sacked by Aaron Donald and other pass rushers in the N.F.C. West, caused a stir this off-season by asking for more of a say in roster decisions. Despite the fracas, and that the team did not dramatically improve its offensive line, Wilson is back and trying to make it work in Seattle, where his chemistry with DK Metcalf resulted in 1,303 yards receiving, good for sixth among wideouts last season.In August, Seattle made Jamal Adams the highest-paid safety in the league with a four-year extension reportedly worth $70 million, in an effort to improve the defense, which allowed the 11th-most yards in the league.— Emmanuel Morgan More

  • in

    Some Dramatic Quarterback Successions Start at the N.F.L. Draft

    If the draft last week revealed anything, it was that there’s no tactful way to replace a healthy starting quarterback.Replacing a franchise quarterback is not as simple as drafting his successor. It’s more like selecting the heir to the throne of some ancient empire: full of drama, intrigue, careful diplomacy and the constant threat of open rebellion.The teams that chose possible successors to established quarterbacks in the 2021 N.F.L. draft must all proceed with some degree of caution, knowing that one false move might plunge their kingdoms into a dark age.The Tampa Bay Buccaneers drafted a potential heir to 43-year-old Tom Brady in Kyle Trask of the University of Florida with the final pick of the second round. Brady does not like to be surrounded by reminders of his mortality, but Trask’s credentials are unassuming enough that the Buccaneers can pass him off as a lowly intern for the next few months, sparing him from banishment to the labyrinth beneath the TB12 compound.The New England Patriots wisely waited until Brady was gone for a year before drafting his likely successor: the 15th overall pick, Mac Jones, who led Alabama to the national championship last season. Cam Newton has helmed the Patriots in the interim like a distant noble cousin (the 11th Earl of Ascots) retrieved from the hinterlands to keep the throne warm.The Minnesota Vikings drafted Kellen Mond of Texas A&M as a possible replacement for Kirk Cousins with the second pick of the third round. Cousins hasn’t faced a challenger for his starting job for many years. Instead of trying to replace Cousins, employers typically cope with his brand of ordinary but overpriced play by paying him more and lowering their expectations.General Manager Rick Spielman played down Mond’s role as a challenger to Cousins after the selection. Quarterback succession ceremonies often begin with this type of ritualized, ego-soothing denial of the obvious.The Houston Texans used a third-round pick (their highest selection in the draft) on Stanford’s Davis Mills, a possible replacement for Deshaun Watson, who faces 22 civil suits alleging lewd and coercive sexual behavior, two of which also accuse him of sexual assault. He has denied the claims. Before those suits were filed, Watson was seeking a trade from the mismanaged, scuffling Texans, who signed Tyrod Taylor in case Watson held out.Under those tumultuous circumstances, Mills faces more of a potential starting crisis than a starting opportunity.Terrible teams usually don’t have to worry about delicate transfers of power. The top two picks in the draft, Trevor Lawrence of Clemson and Zach Wilson of Brigham Young are now the unquestioned starting quarterbacks of the Jacksonville Jaguars and the Jets. Trey Lance (North Dakota State) must only supplant Jimmy Garoppolo, who likely updated his LinkedIn profile in March when the San Francisco 49ers traded two future first-round picks for the third overall pick. The Chicago Bears selected Justin Fields of Ohio State with the 11th pick, leaving the journeymen Andy Dalton and Nick Foles to arm wrestle for the role of overpaid mentor.For a successful franchise, however, a bungled succession plan can result in disaster. The Green Bay Packers prematurely drafted Utah State’s Jordan Love as an eventual heir to Aaron Rodgers last year, when Rodgers expected that they would add a much-needed wide receiver. The rift between Rodgers, who is likely to be a future Hall of Famer, and the organization now appears irreconcilable. The Packers appear unwilling to trade Rodgers, though they did draft Clemson receiver Amari Rodgers in the third round, which seems like a belated apology: “See, we got you what you wanted, and we even had it engraved!”Aaron Rodgers’s situation illustrates why so many teams procrastinate instead of seeking an heir apparent for a distinguished veteran. The New Orleans Saints are in deep denial about Drew Brees’s recent retirement; the team’s fourth-round pick, Ian Book of Notre Dame, is less of a successor than a nonthreatening option who’ll make the dueling underqualified claimants Taysom Hill and Jameis Winston look good by comparison.Instead of a challenger to Matt Ryan, 35, the Atlanta Falcons drafted Florida tight end Kyle Pitts in their latest effort to resuscitate a Super Bowl opportunity that died on Feb. 5, 2017. The Pittsburgh Steelers are waiting for Ben Roethlisberger to crash before having the talk about surrendering his driver’s license.Even the most successful succession plans are rarely smooth: Joe Montana and Steve Young clashed for six years in San Francisco, and Rodgers learned the art of epic melodrama at the feet of Brett Favre. Most quarterback successions are more like Cousins-to-Mond than Montana-to-Young: not worth the hassle until necessary.The Giants were lucky when the Eli Manning-to-Daniel Jones transition was relatively smooth — at least in public — in 2019. With the rites of succession behind them, the Giants concentrated on adding potential impact players like wide receiver Kadarius Toney, defensive end Azeez Ojulari and cornerback Aaron Robinson instead in this year’s draft.And if those newcomers cannot help the Giants return to the playoffs, the team will start searching for Jones’s replacement next year. More

  • in

    Will N.F.L. Teams Learn the Right Lessons From Josh Allen’s Success?

    AdvertisementContinue reading the main storySupported byContinue reading the main storyWill N.F.L. Teams Learn the Right Lessons From Josh Allen’s Success?The Buffalo Bills quarterback made an astonishing developmental jump in his third season that could provide a valuable map — or an untenable comparison — for teams trying to replicate it.Credit…Libby March for The New York TimesJan. 14, 2021, 3:00 a.m. ETThe not-so-sudden success of Josh Allen and the Buffalo Bills will spawn many imitators around the N.F.L. But like plagiarists copy-and-pasting their term papers from Wikipedia, the league’s copycats are likely to get the facts right but miss the main idea.Allen’s ascendence is one of the biggest story lines of the 2020 season. He was practically a caricature of a gifted but bumbling rookie as the Buffalo Bills’ first-round draft pick in 2018 (seventh over all). He improved modestly last season, though he still looked too often like a team mascot on inline skates firing a T-shirt cannon.But he blossomed this season, throwing for 4,544 yards and 37 touchdowns, running for eight touchdowns, earning a Pro Bowl berth and leading the Bills to a 13-3 regular-season record and last week’s playoff victory over the Indianapolis Colts, the franchise’s first playoff win since the 1995 season.Gradual, broad-based development like Allen’s is surprisingly rare: Most young quarterbacks either exhibit immediate potential (like Patrick Mahomes of the Kansas City Chiefs or Lamar Jackson of the Baltimore Ravens, whom the Bills face on Saturday night in a divisional round playoff game) or stagger through long seasons of few ups and many downs (like any Jets quarterback of the last 44 years). So N.F.L. coaches and general managers are sure to try to swipe whatever alchemist’s stone transformed Allen from a turnover dispensary into a Most Valuable Player Award candidate.Unfortunately, the league is likely to learn all the wrong lessons from Allen’s success, starting when teams search for the “next Josh Allen” in future drafts.Many N.F.L. decision makers covet height and arm strength to a fault when evaluating young passers. Some would draft a quarterback whose passes land in the coaches’ parking lot as long as he is over 6-foot-5 and cracks a few windshields. A few would draft a baseball pitching machine on stilts if it somehow looked them in the eye and offered a firm handshake.Allen’s college statistics were miserable, and his game film looked like the blooper reel at the end of a Jackie Chan movie. But he is 6-foot-5 and indeed rifle-armed, even by N.F.L. standards.Allen’s success will not only give scouts and coaches further leeway to indulge their arm fetish, but the many negatives on his college scouting report will create an unfalsifiable argument in favor of every prospect who throws crisp 40-yard spirals to receivers 30 yards away. Sure, Lanky McRocketarm threw three interceptions and bounced a screen pass off a defender’s face mask against Directional State on Saturday. But that means he could be the next Josh Allen!The Bills’ offensive coordinator, Brian Daboll, left, has become a hot head coach candidate as teams seek someone capable of slow-cooking their incoming or in-house quarterback prospects. Credit…Adrian Kraus/Associated PressFlailing prospects already in the league may immediately benefit from Allen’s prolonged larval stage. Don’t give up on the Giants’ 6-foot-5 quarterback, Daniel Jones, just yet, for example: He merely needs to drastically reduce his turnovers, produce more big plays, become more consistent, avoid nagging injuries and learn not to tumble over his own feet 10 yards short of the goal line to enjoy a breakthrough just like Allen!A better-late-than-never Allen-like leap by Jones would also vindicate General Manager Dave Gettleman’s decision to draft him. The most popular N.F.L. trends are the ones that provide cover for mistakes, because the league’s most powerful motivator is not the desire to win, but the desire to remain employed.Coaches will also benefit if Allen inspires a renaissance of delayed gratification. Any team-building model with two consequence-free years baked into it will be eagerly adopted by the league’s dedicated self-preservation specialists. It will be a refreshing change of pace from justifying losing seasons as a result of a much-needed “culture change.”Some teams will try to copy the Bills’ formula more directly. The team’s offensive coordinator, Brian Daboll, has become a hot job candidate as teams seek a head coach capable of slow-cooking their incoming or in-house quarterback prospects. By developing Allen over three seasons, Daboll appears to have cut the line in front of the Chiefs’ offensive coordinator, Eric Bieniemy, who helped Mahomes become league M.V.P. in the quarterback’s second season.Meanwhile, Anthony Lynn was fired as the Los Angeles Chargers’ head coach despite coaxing a 31-touchdown rookie season out of Justin Herbert. The N.F.L. never lets consistent logic (or anything else) get in the way of its hiring preferences.Ultimately, Allen’s emergence is likely to encourage coaches and executives to do all the things they already like to do, only more unapologetically. Among others, they like to overvalue their favorite flavor of prospect; disguise risk-averse procrastination as prudent empire-building; promote from within the buddy system; and congratulate themselves when a plan that failed a dozen times finally succeeds once.Some nuance is inevitably lost whenever N.F.L. teams attempt to copy one another’s success. Allen was truly a unique prospect, and the Bills invested heavily in his supporting cast (especially trading picks in the 2020 and 2021 drafts to land Allen a No. 1 receiver in Stefon Diggs). Signs of Allen’s growth were unmistakable in the second half of last season.The Bills’ 2020 success is a testament to the talent and hard work of Allen, his teammates and coaches, but also to a great deal of patience, a little innovation and inspiration and a dollop of good luck. It’s not the result of a secret recipe, but of a long process that most N.F.L. decision makers pay homage to but few are capable of executing.In fact, Allen’s success is a result of so many factors that it essentially can’t be repeated. But that won’t stop the rest of the N.F.L. from trying.AdvertisementContinue reading the main story More

  • in

    Giants Bumble Their Way Into a Win to Retain Playoff Hopes

    AdvertisementContinue reading the main storySupported byContinue reading the main storygiants 23, cowboys 19Giants Bumble Their Way Into a Win to Retain Playoff HopesThe Giants’ topsy-turvy season had a fittingly odd ending. Now the team awaits the outcome of the Sunday night game between Philadelphia and Washington to learn its playoff fate.Giants running back Wayne Gallman’s late fumble against the Cowboys Sunday threw the game into momentary disarray. The officials ultimately ruled that Gallman picked up a key first down that would allow the Giants to run out the remaining clock in the victory.Credit…Robert Deutsch/USA Today Sports, via ReutersJan. 3, 2021Updated 9:30 p.m. ETPerhaps it is no surprise that a Giants regular season that began with five successive defeats, one victory in the first eight games and a startling late-season charge into playoff contention would not conclude with a routine, humdrum game. No, this topsy-turvy Giants season deserved to end with gripping drama, slapstick failure and ultimately gratifying perseverance.Sunday’s game against the Dallas Cowboys, with a potential postseason berth on the line, did not disappoint. In frantic fashion, the Giants spent nearly the entire second half desperately trying to cling to a tenuous 11-point first-half lead they had built.The tension built until the final 58 seconds of regulation, with the reeling Giants still ahead by 4 points, when the game officials huddled, and then turned to a video replay, to decide what had transpired at the bottom of a pileup caused by a shocking, bumbling fumble by running back Wayne Gallman at the Giants’ 39-yard line.Several players from both teams pounced on Gallman as he appeared to awkwardly sit directly on the loose football that had inexplicably slipped from his hands at the end of a crucial run. And when officials combed through the mass of contorted bodies atop him, there was only more confusion about the outcome as two officials initially pointed in separate directions — one awarded possession to Dallas, the other to the Giants. Moments later, the officials conferred and ruled that the Giants not only had retained the football, but that Gallman had picked up a key first down that would allow them to run out the remaining clock.Still, a last, agonizing replay review ensued, after which the call on the field was not reversed. The Giants (6-10) had earned a 23-19 victory that ended the team’s seven-game losing streak to Dallas (6-10) and temporarily kept their playoff hopes alive. If the Philadelphia Eagles defeat the Washington Football Team on Sunday night, the Giants, as champions of the N.F.C. East, would host a wild-card game next weekend against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (11-5).The fumble, and who recovered it, was not the only controversial late-game sequence in Sunday’s game. With about seven minutes left in the fourth quarter, Giants wide receiver Dante Pettis caught a 10-yard pass, which proved pivotal when Giants place-kicker Graham Gano booted a 50-yard field goal on the next play that extended the Giants’ lead to 23-19. But video replays of the Pettis reception appeared to show that the football contacted the turf in a way that would have ruled the pass incomplete. Even though an incompletion would have moved the Giants out of field goal position, Dallas Coach Mike McCarthy did not challenge the play.The Pettis catch, and the Gano field goal it set up, became meaningful on the subsequent possession when Dallas drove inside the Giants’ 10-yard line with less than two minutes remaining. While the Cowboys were pushed back when quarterback Andy Dalton was sacked by Giants lineman Leonard Williams, if not for Gano’s field goal, they could have played conservatively for a field-goal attempt that would have given them the lead. Instead, needing a touchdown, Dalton scrambled on a third-and-17, and again under pressure from Williams, flung a desperate pass into the end zone that was intercepted by the Giants rookie safety Xavier McKinney.McCarthy said he did not challenge the Pettis reception because it was “too close” and a “bang-bang type of situation.” He added: “The three timeouts were obviously of high value there.”Roughly 15 minutes after Sunday’s game, Giants Coach Joe Judge said he would not be idle as he waited for the result of the game between the Eagles and Washington. Judge planned to go to his office and begin preparing for Tampa Bay.His assessment of the Giants’ season considered other factors.“Our season showed we had a lot of growth,” said Judge, the Giants’ rookie head coach. “I found out more about our team when we were 0-5 and 1-7. We showed a lot of character in those moments.”Judge added: “I told the guys how proud I was of them today. We had a good year — we improved every game.”Judge also said he was not surprised by the tense final moments of Sunday’s game.“I knew it would go down to the wire, as all of our division games have,” Judge said.The game did not begin as if it would be hotly contested to the end. Early on, the Giants dominated, defensively and most surprisingly on offense.Despite scoring only 26 points in their previous three games, the Giants scored a touchdown on their opening drive when wide receiver Sterling Shepard dashed 23 yards around the right end on a reverse, although Gano missed the extra point attempt after the score. The Cowboys cut the Giants’ lead in half with a 38-yard Greg Zuerlein field goal, but Shepard was the star of another Giants touchdown drive, catching a 10-yard touchdown pass from Giants quarterback Daniel Jones late in the second quarter.Dallas stayed in the game with two more Zuerlein field goals in the first half, but the Giants continued to attack, building a 20-6 lead on a 33-yard touchdown pass from Jones, who completed 17 of 25 passes for 229 yards, to Pettis.Trailing by 11 points at halftime, the Cowboys climbed back into the game when Giants tight end Evan Engram, who was recently selected for the Pro Bowl, failed to catch an accurate Jones pass over the middle early in the third quarter. Engram’s misplay was more than a drop since he deflected the football backward where it was intercepted by Dallas safety Donovan Wilson. Ten plays after the interception, Dallas running back Ezekiel Elliott bulled into the end zone with a 1-yard touchdown that trimmed the Giants’ lead to 20-16.AdvertisementContinue reading the main story More

  • in

    Ravens Snatch Back Giants’ Playoff Hopes

    AdvertisementContinue reading the main storySupported byContinue reading the main storyRavens 27, Giants 13Ravens Snatch Back Giants’ Playoff HopesBaltimore made its case for the wild-card spot as the Giants fell back to earth — and toward the bottom of the N.F.C. East — in a rout.Giants receiver Sterling Shepard was tackled by his jersey Sunday as the Ravens frustrated the team’s offense. Credit…Patrick Smith/Getty ImagesDec. 27, 2020Updated 7:43 p.m. ETIn early November, the Giants began a startling run at a playoff berth with four consecutive victories. In that moment, perhaps it seemed as if the long-suffering Giants had been underestimated under Joe Judge, the team’s rookie head coach.At roughly the same time, the Baltimore Ravens, a Super Bowl favorite when last season’s playoffs began, were surprisingly adrift with four losses in five games. Had the Ravens and their sparkling quarterback Lamar Jackson, the N.F.L.’s reigning most valuable player, been overvalued?By the end of the Ravens’ systematic 27-13 thrashing of the Giants on Sunday in Baltimore — a game that was not nearly as close as the score would suggest — it was obvious the Ravens and Jackson had simply been forced to endure a mini-slump inexorably linked to last month’s coronavirus outbreak on the team.As for the Giants, it is now fair to wonder whether the win streak of several weeks ago was true progress for a beleaguered franchise or a hollow mirage that leaves many questions about the roster still unresolved.The fourth successive victory for the Ravens (10-5) greatly enhances their chances at claiming a wild-card playoff spot since they now only need to win their final regular season game against Cincinnati (4-10-1) to qualify for the postseason. The Giants (5-10), losers of three straight games, have one remaining path to the playoffs: They must defeat Dallas at home in their regular season finale next week and the Washington Football Team would have to lose at Philadelphia on the same day.“I’m really proud of our guys for handling the situation we’ve been in for the last several weeks,” Baltimore Coach John Harbaugh said. “They’ve managed to stay focused and that says everything about their character.”Added Ravens tight end Mark Andrews when asked to address the team’s losing stretch and a period when at least one Baltimore player tested positive for the virus for 10 successive days: “It was about staying patient. I knew our time was coming and it is coming.”It is much harder to see improvement for the Giants — in the near term, at least. The team will have at least 10 losses for the fourth season in a row, which is a first for the franchise. The Giants will also have double-digit losses in six of seven years. In their last three games, the Giants have been outscored, 73-26.Judge, however, remained unbowed when assessing the season as a whole.“I feel like we’re on the right track,” he said Sunday, referring to the development of less tangible attributes like the team’s heightened work ethic and sustained resilience.“We’ve got the right start, we just need to do more on the field to get the tangible results,” Judge said.The tone for the game, generally utter dominance by Baltimore, was set early when the Ravens took the opening kickoff and used eight minutes and 12 seconds to meticulously march 82 yards downfield on their way to taking a 7-0 lead. The 13-play drive put on display everything the varied Baltimore offense planned to unleash against a Giants defense that had been much improved in the second half of the season.Jackson, who completed 17 of 26 passes for 183 yards with two touchdown passes, threw for 31 yards on his team’s first possession, including a 6-yard touchdown toss to Marquise Brown. Jackson, who would rush for 80 yards on 13 carries, also repeatedly sliced through the heart and strength of the Giants’ defense, which has been the team’s interior linemen.Running back Gus Edwards led the Ravens Sunday with 85 yards rushing on 15 attempts and had two receptions for 37 yards. Edwards, who has rushed for 277 yards in his last four games after gaining 386 yards in Baltimore’s opening 10 games, was especially effective in third-down situations.“He’s doing it all right now,” Jackson said of Edwards. “He’s running tough and getting yards after the catch. But I see it all the time in practice, that’s Gus just being him.”As Baltimore built a 20-3 halftime lead with a 2-yard touchdown run by J.K. Dobbins and two Justin Tucker field goals, the Giants were nearly setting team records for offensive futility. They had just three offensive plays in the first quarter, which is the fewest for the team in 30 years. They had possession of the football for only seven minutes and 22 seconds of the first half when they gained just 16 yards on the ground — compared to the 155 first-half rushing yards for Baltimore.Giants quarterback Daniel Jones, who missed a game because of a hamstring injury earlier this month and appeared rusty in a lopsided defeat to Arizona last week, seemed to be moving more comfortably Sunda. But the results were no better.Jones, who has 406 yards rushing this season, ran just once Sunday for 3 yards. Most problematic for Jones was the Ravens’ pass rush, which overwhelmed the young, inexperienced Giants offensive line for six sacks, all of them in the second half when the Giants showed some life offensively but never truly challenged Baltimore’s lead.Jones completed 24 of 41 passes for 252 yards. Midway through the fourth quarter, he threw a 3-yard touchdown pass to Sterling Shepard. It was just Jones’s ninth touchdown pass in 13 games this year. The Giants, who came into Sunday’s game with an offense that was ranked second-to-last in the N.F.L., have now scored 26 points in their last three games.AdvertisementContinue reading the main story More

  • in

    Giants Cannot Protect Win Streak Against the Cardinals

    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

  • in

    Can the Giants’ Tenuous Grasp of the N.F.C. East Hold?

    AdvertisementContinue reading the main storySupported byContinue reading the main storyCan the Giants’ Tenuous Grasp of the N.F.C. East Hold?The Giants are riding a three-game win streak and seem banded behind first-year Coach Joe Judge. In a shaky division, that just might be enough to put them in the playoffs.Giants offensive lineman Nick Gates leapt into Coach Joe Judge’s arms to celebrate a win over Washington earlier this month that changed the team’s trajectory.Credit…Patrick Mcdermott/Getty ImagesBy More