National Football League

Subterms

    More stories

    • 175 Shares169 Views

      in Football

      Talking About Race Made Falcons Teammates Matt Ryan and Ricardo Allen Partners in Activism

      by

      #masthead-section-label, #masthead-bar-one { display: none }Race and PolicingFacts on Walter Wallace Jr. CaseFacts on Breonna Taylor CaseFacts on Daniel Prude CaseFacts on George Floyd CaseAdvertisementContinue reading the main storySupported byContinue reading the main storyTalking About Race Made Two N.F.L. Teammates Partners in ActivismThe friendship between Ricardo Allen, an undersized cornerback, and Matt Ryan, the heralded quarterback, has shaped the Falcons’ activism against racial injustice.“He’s a confidante for me,” Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan said of Ricardo Allen, left, the team’s safety and founder of its social justice committee.Credit…Todd Rosenberg/Associated PressBy More

    • 125 Shares109 Views

      in Football

      Ravens and Steelers Face Off in Rare Wednesday NFL Game

      by

      #masthead-section-label, #masthead-bar-one { display: none }The Coronavirus OutbreakliveLatest UpdatesMaps and CasesWho Gets the Vaccine First?Vaccine TrackerFAQAdvertisementContinue reading the main storySupported byContinue reading the main storyKeeping ScoreAre You Ready for Some (Wednesday) Football?After multiple delays, the Ravens and the Steelers appear set for the N.F.L.’s second Wednesday game since 1949. It is an unusual day for football, but games on that day have been fairly notable.Chase Claypool and the undefeated PIttsburgh Steelers face the Baltimore Ravens on Wednesday afternoon. The rare scheduling came as a result of a coronavirus outbreak among the Ravens players and staff that had postponed the game three times since last Thursday.Credit…Nick Wass/Associated PressBy More

    • 125 Shares119 Views

      in Football

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

      by

      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

    • 138 Shares139 Views

      in Football

      As Virus Upends N.F.L. Schedule, Games Shift to Odd Landing Spots

      by

      After a weekend of question marks and patchwork solutions, the N.F.L. was forced to juggle its schedule yet again on Monday as it tries to finish the full regular season on time amid the coronavirus pandemic.The league moved the Pittsburgh Steelers’ game against the Baltimore Ravens to Wednesday at 3:40 p.m. Eastern, rescheduling the A.F.C. North matchup for third time in six days. Like the previous moves, the postponement was meant to give the Ravens, who have had more than 20 players, including the N.F.L.’s reigning most valuable player, quarterback Lamar Jackson, test positive for the coronavirus, more time to get them cleared to return.By the game’s start on Wednesday afternoon, 12 Ravens players will still be ineligible to play, butthe team should be able to hold two practices before meeting the Steelers, for the first time in over a week.To accommodate the schedule change, the N.F.L. moved the Ravens’ following matchup against the Dallas Cowboys to Tuesday, Dec. 8, from Thursday. The Steelers’ Week 13 game against the Washington Football Team was rescheduled to Monday, Dec. 7, from Sunday.Wednesday games are exceedingly rare. The last one played was in 2012, when the Giants and Dallas Cowboys moved their game to a Wednesday night to avoid overlapping with President Barack Obama’s speech at the Democratic National Convention. That had been the first regular season game on a Wednesday since the Los Angeles Rams’ victory against the Detroit Lions in 1948. The afternoon start time for Ravens-Steelers will result in the added oddity of a midafternoon, midweek nationally televised football broadcast.The Baltimore-Pittsburgh postponement was the second scheduling convulsion announced Monday, after the San Francisco 49ers said in a statement that the team will play its next two home games in State Farm Stadium, home to the Arizona Cardinals. The relocation came after health officials in Santa Clara County, Calif., where the team’s stadium is, banned contact sports at all levels through late December in a bid to slow the surge in coronavirus infections there.The team will play its games in Week 13 and 14 in the Cardinals’ Glendale, Ariz. facility, which was able to accommodate the move because the teams’ schedules do not conflict. The 49ers will play against the Buffalo Bills on Dec. 7 and will face the Washington Football Team on Dec. 13, but the club still had not determined where they will practice and live during that time.“Very appreciative of Arizona welcoming us during these unprecedented times,” 49ers team owner Jed York wrote on Twitter, thanking the Cardinals team owner Michael Bidwill.While local and state guidelines for controlling the spread of the virus have prevented spectators from attending some N.F.L. games in other markets this season, this is the first time local health protocols have prevented a team from playing games or practicing in its home market. This summer, health officials in Santa Clara were among the first to ban fans at N.F.L. games and passed an ordinance requiring players and coaches to wear masks at all times, months before the league took the same step last week.On Saturday, Santa Clara County took new measures intended to reduce the rate of infections, including mandatory 14-day quarantining of people who travel there from more than 150 miles away, as cases in the area rose to a new high last week and its positive cases per 100,000 people to climbed to 26.8. The number of infections per 100,000 residents in Maricopa County, Ariz., site of the Cardinals’ stadium, is 48.6, nearly twice as high as in Santa Clara County. More

    • 75 Shares159 Views

      in Football

      NFL Week 12: What We Learned

      by

      AdvertisementContinue reading the main storySupported byContinue reading the main storyWhat We Learned From Week 12 of the N.F.L. SeasonThe Titans demolished the Colts, the Chiefs won again and the Broncos, with no quarterback, were crushed in a week defined as much by the coronavirus as the action on the field.Tennessee’s Derrick Henry absolutely dominated in a crucial win over Indianapolis that gave the Titans sole possession of first place in the A.F.C. South.Credit…Darron Cummings/Associated PressBy More

    • 150 Shares199 Views

      in Football

      A New Outbreak Leaves a Broncos Rookie in an Awkward Position: Quarterback

      by

      #masthead-section-label, #masthead-bar-one { display: none }The Coronavirus OutbreakliveLatest UpdatesMaps and CasesWho Gets the Vaccine First?Vaccine TrackerFAQAdvertisementContinue reading the main storySupported byContinue reading the main storySaints 31, Broncos 3A New Outbreak Leaves a Broncos Rookie in an Awkward Position: QuarterbackReceiver Kendall Hinton was a last resort fill-in when four Denver Broncos quarterbacks were ruled ineligible to play in Sunday’s game because they’d been exposed to the coronavirus.Kendall Hinton was pressed into quarterback duties when four Denver Broncos passers were ruled ineligible because of exposure to coronavirus. He connected on one of nine passes in Sunday’s loss to the New Orleans Saints.Credit…Matthew Stockman/Getty ImagesBy More

    • 125 Shares199 Views

      in Football

      Virus Disruptions Hit 49ers and Broncos, as N.F.L. Crisis Grows

      by

      After bobbing and weaving around the coronavirus pandemic for much of the fall, the N.F.L. nears the end of the third quarter of its regular season facing crises on teams from coast to coast.On Saturday, health officials in Santa Clara County threw the San Francisco 49ers’ season into turmoil when they temporarily banned all contact sports at the high school, college and professional levels and required anyone traveling into the region from more than 150 miles away to quarantine starting at 12:01 a.m. Monday. The order would be in effect until at least Dec. 21 and would apply to the Stanford and San Jose State college football teams, and to the San Jose Sharks of the N.H.L., among others.In Baltimore, six more members of the Ravens have tested positive for the virus as the outbreak in the team’s locker room expanded to 18 players, including the team’s star quarterback, Lamar Jackson.And in Denver, the Broncos appear to have run out of quarterbacks since Blake Bortles, Drew Lock and Brett Rypien were forced to quarantine after coming in contact with a fourth quarterback, Jeff Driskel, who tested positive for the virus on Thursday, according to a person familiar with the situation who spoke on condition of anonymity because the team had not announced the details. All four players are ineligible to play Sunday when the Broncos face the New Orleans Saints, and at this point Denver’s options for filling the position are extremely limited, because the league’s virus-related rules preclude bringing in a player who has not quarantined ahead of joining a team.For much of the season, the N.F.L. had only one full-fledged outbreak, when two dozen players and other personnel tested positive on the Tennessee Titans. The league got through that crisis by postponing a handful of games and moving a few others around. But teams have mostly exhausted their bye weeks, complicating efforts to juggle game dates this late in the season.The outbreak on the Ravens prompted the league to move their game against the Pittsburgh Steelers from Thursday to Sunday and then to Tuesday next week. The game is still scheduled for Tuesday despite the increase in positive cases.If any games, including the Ravens-Steelers matchup, are unable to fit into the league’s existing calendar, the N.F.L. may have to add an 18th week to the regular season and delay the start of the playoffs.The league’s doctors said they expect the number of positive cases to rise in line with surging infections across the country. On Friday, the N.F.L. told every team to cancel in-person practices on Monday and Tuesday because some players and personnel had celebrated the Thanksgiving holiday with family and friends.The 49ers face more pressing problems. The decision by local health officials could force the team to move at least two home games next month, and to leave their training site in Santa Clara.“We are at risk of exceeding our hospital capacity very soon if current trends continue,” said Dr. Sara Cody, the health officer for Santa Clara County, who added that the number of patients hospitalized with Covid-19 in the county had doubled in the past few weeks.The 49ers, who are to play the Rams in Los Angeles on Sunday, should be able to return to Santa Clara County before the quarantine goes into effect. But it is not clear where and when they will go next.“We are aware of the Santa Clara County Public Health Department’s emergency directive,” Bob Lange, the 49ers team spokesman, said in a statement. “We are working with the N.F.L. and our partners on operational plans and will share details as they are confirmed.” More