Month: December 2019

New England fans have been incredibly spoiled by the successes of their team. Yes, the bar is set very, very high—but still, booing that team feels completely nonsensical.

It’s typically wise to avoid discussions of fan etiquette. These conversations arise from an irrational place and can quickly descend into something truly unrecognizable from typical human behavior.

However, it feels necessary to mention this, before ducking and covering for the inevitable backlash: Booing the Patriots at home, as Patriots fans, feels particularly ridiculous. I may even go so far as to say that there should be a two-year, self-imposed ban on booing the Patriots from the time of their last Super Bowl win. And that is extraordinarily generous, since enough people out there seem eager to get to it.

The team lost Sunday to the Chiefs, 23-16, which was their second straight loss and third over the course of five games. New England is now 10-3 and—gasp!—now only the second seed in the AFC (still with a first-round bye). At halftime, after a particularly punchless two quarters of football and after a particularly conservative end-of-half strategy, the players were reportedly sent off the field with a verbal middle finger from a fanbase that has enjoyed more spoils and riches than any other over the last three decades of professional football.

The fans’ counter-arguments are as follows:

• Well, the Patriots are playing bad.

• The team has a coach who constantly preaches living in the present—so why shouldn’t we?

• There’s now a standard that has been set, and this is our way of letting them know they are not playing to such a standard

• I buy a $200 ticket, which entitles me to drink as many Miller Lites as I want and, subsequently, act and eat like I am not allowed to at home.

• But people in Philadelphia do it all the time.

All of these are fair, except for the fact that this coach and quarterback have revolutionized football (and do you really want to be compared to Eagles fans?). Until a few weeks ago, we were talking about a defense that was so innovative and difficult to crack that they might end the season as the best in NFL history. Nearly every season, the Patriots struggle during a time when they cocoon themselves, lose a few games and emerge with a game plan that is designed to slice through the heart of every playoff opponent’s core strength en route to at least the conference title game.

Maybe wait until you’re positive that won’t happen before expressing your unhappiness? At least that long?

Life is about perspective. Remember, there are high school-aged fans who can’t even fathom a world in which the Patriots don’t enter the season as a Super Bowl favorite. Similarly, there are Lions fans in high school who are probably no longer Lions fans because of the franchise’s perpetual ability to do horrible, self-destructive things on a regular basis. Those fans are allowed to boo because there is something real and visceral there. With bad, historically unsuccessful franchises, there is something worth raging against.

In New England, booing the Patriots feels a little like short-changing your waiter at Per Se because the gougère felt a little doughier than last time. And even in that scenario, I’m more inclined to side with the unhappy diner because they’re paying outrageous prices. A Patriots fan can watch the best team in football history play the Miami Dolphins in three weeks, in a playoff tune-up game, for almost the same price as projected attendees of next week’s Jaguars-Raiders game. Those poor, misguided souls.

Back in 2014, I covered a Patriots playoff game and listened to a wobbly Charles Barkley in the locker room blast fans of the team for not properly savoring the sustained greatness they’d witnessed for so long.

As he eloquently put it: “When Bill Belichick leaves and Tom Brady leaves, y’all team is going to (expletive) suck. You take it for granted. You do take it for granted. You’re like, ‘We have to win the Super Bowl, or our season sucks.'”

And while Barkley is not the person that you’d like to trust on a lot of things, he might be right here. When Belichick and Brady are gone, there is no possible way it gets better from there. Ever. Speaking personally as someone who has never rooted for a team that won a World Series, National Championship, Stanley Cup or Larry O’Brien Championship Trophy in their sentient lifetime, I would advise you save the boos for the moments when the Patriots start resembling the rest of the intellectually backwards league they have dominated for so long. When, in 2031, head coach Pat Shurmur is surrender punting from deep in his own territory while trailing 31-3 in the second quarter.

Then, it will be warranted. Then, you can boo. 

Question or comment? Email us at [email protected].

Missouri reached an agreement Sunday with Eliah Drinkwitz to take over the Tigers’ once-proud football program.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Missouri reached an agreement Sunday with Eliah Drinkwitz to take over the Tigers’ once-proud football program, a person with knowledge of the hiring told The Associated Press, making Appalachian State’s successful coach the second-youngest in a Power Five conference.

The person spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because the contract was still being drawn up and the school had not made an announcement. Drinkwitz was also being pursued by SEC rival Arkansas for its head-coaching vacancy.

Tigers athletic director Jim Sterk said he wanted to move swiftly in hiring a replacement for Barry Odom, the former player and assistant coach who went 25-25 in four seasons leading the program. Odom was fired after the Tigers finished an underwhelming 6-6, which would have been good enough for a bowl berth had the school not been slapped with a postseason ban by the NCAA following an incident involving a rogue tutor.

Drinkwitz will inherit a program that also must deal with scholarship and recruiting restrictions as part of the fallout.

When asked what he was searching for in the next coach, Sterk replied: ”I think someone that brings a lot of energy and experience to the program, a leader, quality individual that has had success in leading a program or as a coordinator at a high level. Those are some of the some of the qualities.”

The 36-year-old coach is a considerable gamble for Missouri because of his scant head-coaching experience. Drinkwitz worked under Gene Chizik and Gus Malzahn at Auburn, Bryan Harsin at Arkansas State and Dave Doeren at North Carolina State, giving him plenty of experience from some of the best in the business. But his lone year in charge of a program – at any level, including high school – was this past season with the Mountaineers.

Still, the season was a spectacular success.

Appalachian State (12-1) rolled through its first seven games, beating North Carolina on the road, before stumbling against Georgia Southern. That wound up being the Mountaineers’ lone loss after they ripped off five straight wins, including one at South Carolina, and capped the run with a victory over Louisiana in the Sun Belt championship game.

It’s unclear whether Drinkwitz will coach the Mountaineers against UAB in the New Orleans Bowl on Dec. 21. He had signed a five-year deal with Appalachian State that paid him $750,000 this past season plus considerable performance incentives. The contract states that he will owe $425,000 for each year remaining if he leaves for another job, meaning a buyout of $1.7 million will be due to Appalachian State.

Odom signed an extension through 2024 last December that increased his base salary this past season to $3.05 million.

”We’re very excited about what we’re doing at App State,” Drinkwitz said after the Sun Belt title game, ”but at the same time every opportunity, you know, I owe it to the family – my family – for my family to see what’s something that we’re interested in. But I’m not in any hurry to leave. I feel strongly that we’re building something special here.”

Most of the questions Drinkwitz fielded Saturday had to do with Arkansas, and for good reason: He went to Arkansas Tech, started his coaching career at a pair of Arkansas high schools, and later coached two seasons at Arkansas State.

”I don’t have a lot of answers for you right now,” he said. ”I’m trying to process winning the first conference championship of my career, processing doing something that’s never been done before, and I understand that you all got jobs to do, and it’s going to be a crazy time, but the most important thing for me is just to enjoy the moment right now, and then we’ll figure it all out.”

Earlier Sunday, the Razorbacks hired Georgia assistant Sam Pittman to be its head coach.

Drinkwitz, widely considered a creative offensive mind, should stoke some passion from a Missouri fanbase that has grown tired of mediocrity to the point that attendance started to plummet this past season. And his hiring comes after reports that Sterk was interested in a series of candidates that included Army’s Jeff Monken, Louisiana Tech’s Skip Holtz and Arkansas State’s Blake Andreson – all with head coaching experience but none with what could be considered a high profile.

Odom was hired four seasons ago to replace beloved coach Gary Pinkel, who had not only built Missouri into a consistent winner but helped carry that success into the SEC. He appeared to be on the right track, too, taking the Tigers to a couple of bowl games. But things began to fall apart with a season-opening loss to Wyoming, and Sterk said upon Odom’s firing that the program had lost the ”momentum” that had been built with a recent stadium renovation project.

Now, the Tigers are led by the second-youngest Power Five coach behind only Oklahoma’s Lincoln Riley, and can turn their attention to rebuilding a program and fan base that has grown weary of scratching just to make bowl games.

They will be inducted into Cooperstown during ceremonies on July 26, along with any players chosen next month by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America.

SAN DIEGO – Marvin Miller, the union leader who revolutionized baseball by empowering players to negotiate multimillion-dollar contracts and to play for teams of their own choosing, was elected to baseball’s Hall of Fame on Sunday along with former St. Louis Cardinals catcher Ted Simmons.

After falling short in his first seven times on veterans committee ballots, Miller received the required 75 percent support from this year’s 16-man modern committee.

Miller, who died at age 95 in 2012, led the Major League Baseball Players Association from 1966-82, a time when players gained the right to free agency after six seasons of big league service, to salary arbitration and to grievance arbitration. He led the union through five work stoppages and was an adviser during three more after he retired.

Simmons, an eight-time All-Star during a 21-year big league career, was a switch-hitter who batted .285 with 248 homers and 1,389 RBIs for St. Louis (1968-80), Milwaukee (1981-85) and Atlanta (1986-88).

They will be inducted into Cooperstown during ceremonies on July 26 along with any players chosen next month by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America from a ballot headed by former New York Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter.

It was arguably the best game of the 2019 season so far, yet many will walk away only thinking about the officiating blunders.

Try as some of us might to make this about referees, either by actually making it about the referees or positing yourself in a public way so as to make it seem like you’re not making it about the referees even though by doing so you’re definitely making it about the referees, Sunday’s beautiful game between the Saints and 49ers was not about the referees.

We are in the midst of an officiating crisis brought on by a ridiculously conceived rule change that, like everything else in politics or business, was promised to solve everyone’s problems. In reality, that change has created dozens of new problems to solve. 

Every Sunday officials have to decide what is egregious enough to warrant an overturn. That often leaves one crew ignoring broad-daylight muggings in one game and another crew calling ridiculous touch fouls like the one called in East Rutherford today that caused Dolphins head coach Brian Flores to go searching frantically for anyone or thing wearing stripes on the field post-game for a private conversation.

The 49ers’ 48-46 win over the Saints should be appreciated for what it was: The game of 2019 so far. The game that collectively captivates us for four quarters in that special space where we temporarily forget about defense but that is not so egregious that we complain about the disappearance of defense altogether. The game that features two offenses loaded with stars trading blows, helping us imagine the outer reaches of offense in a given season.

Four total punts. Six Drew Brees touchdowns and four from Jimmy Garoppolo. Defense-breaking reverses to future star Deebo Samuel. A George Kittle catch reminiscent of a great Marshawn Lynch Beast Mode run. Some of the most aesthetically pleasing pitching and catching between quarterback and wide receiver (Brees and Michael Thomas) that we’ve seen all year.

And yet it’s hard to escape the inevitable default setting that this was somehow the fault—or worse—drummed-up conspiracy of a few poor schlubs who dread what is becoming the least attractive assignment in football officiating. Referees aren’t out to get anyone—they’re under-experienced and overtaxed. They’re dealing with a game that has never been faster or more schematically devious and trying to keep up, while they’re bosses only seem to approve the use of technology to make their job more difficult.

The gripe du jour stemmed from a late fake punt pass in which the Saints’ wide receiver/gunner was being smothered by a 49ers defender downfield. There is no pass interference on punt plays and no flexibility in the NFL’s biblical rulebook for it to be interpreted as such. Thus, the familiar cycle of events.

Angry coach. Tired officials. Positing. Politicking. Wash, rinse and repeat.

Nothing is ever going to change the result of the 2018 NFC Championship game. In fact, I’ve had a referee tell me that reviewable pass interference as currently constructed may not have even reversed the missed pass interference on Nickell Robey-Coleman that caused all of this griping in the first place. As strange as it sounds, we may be living in the golden age of human error impacting officiating, all because we demanded technology to solve a problem in a totally ridiculous way.

All the while we’re missing good games. For Saints fans, missing the twilight of a brilliant quarterback surrounded with explosive weapons. Moments like these don’t come along very often and for some really bad franchises, haven’t come around since the formation of the modern NFL. It would be a shame to miss it. 

Question or comment? Email us at [email protected].

The Patriots had their 21-game home winning streak (including playoffs) snapped on Sunday with a loss to the Chiefs. The loss included two questionable calls from the officiating crew that went against New England.

Here’s an early look at a few players worth grabbing off the waiver wire heading into Week 15.

Be on the lookout for a full waiver-wire column from the SI Fantasy team each week. Every Sunday night, however, I will take an early look at a few options that could help you in the upcoming week or on a rest-of-season basis.

[Note: All players referenced in this post are available in more than half of Yahoo! leagues as their ownership levels are all below 50 percent. All references are based on half-PPR scoring.]

Here are a few waiver-wire options to consider heading into Week 13 (Yahoo! ownership in parenthesis):

Patrick Laird, RB, Miami Dolphins (20% owned)

Given the turnover and injuries to its backfield, Miami has turned to Laird as the team’s lead back. While the Dolphins have one of the league’s worst offensive lines and rosters overall, Laird’s workload (19 touches) on Sunday, his involvement in the passing game and the upcoming schedule all lead to optimism going forward.

Laird carried the ball 15 times for 48 yards (only 3.2 YPC) and added four receptions for 38 yards. The undrafted rookie now has at least four catches, five targets and 38-plus receiving yards in back-to-back games and in three of his past four.

With the Giants (2-10) and Bengals (1-12) on the schedule, negative game script shouldn’t adversely impact Laird, even though his role as a receiver helps his cause.

Ryan Tannehill, QB, Tennessee Titans (47% owned)

Tannehill threw for a season-high 391 yards and three touchdowns against the Raiders on Sunday. Despite the team’s run-first approach, Tannehill now has thrown multiple passing touchdowns in four consecutive games and five of his past seven.

Volume remains a potential concern, as Tannehill has thrown 19, 18, 22 and 27 pass attempts in his last four contests, respectively. That said, he is a viable streaming option once again as he gets a favorable matchup in Week 15 (and again in Week 17) against the Texans, who have allowed the sixth-most fantasy points to opposing quarterbacks entering this week’s games.

A.J. Brown, WR, Tennessee Titans (24% owned)

As noted above, the concern with Brown, Tannehill or anyone tied to Tennessee’s passing attack is volume. Even so, the rookie from Ole Miss had five catches for 153 yards and two scores in Sunday’s win over Oakland. Over the past three weeks, Brown has two games with 135-plus yards and a score (or two). Like Tannehill, Brown gets a favorable matchup against a Texans secondary that has surrendered the 12th-most fantasy points to opposing wide receivers this season.

Zach Pascal, WR, Indianapolis Colts (35% owned)

Targeted nine times on Sunday, Pascal hauled in five receptions for 74 yards and a touchdown and added a two-point conversion. Targeted 10 times the week before, Pascal finished Week 13 with seven catches for 109 yards.

With T.Y. Hilton out, Pascal is the Colts’ receiver to own, but he also has a relatively low floor despite productive outings in back-to-back weeks. In his 10 most recent outings, he has 70-plus yards in five games and 17 or fewer yards in four games. That said, the Colts could be forced to throw often to keep up with the Saints next week.

Adrian Peterson, RB, Washington Redskins (39% owned)

If it weren’t for bad luck, it seems that Guice would have none. Per NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero, it is the “preliminary belief” that Guice suffered an MCL sprain in Sunday’s loss to Green Bay.

With Guice exiting in the first half, Adrian Peterson finished the day with 20 carries for 76 yards and a touchdown. Peterson had 13 carries for 99 yards and a touchdown in Week 13 against the Panthers.

At this point, it would make sense for Washington to shut Guice down the rest of the way. While Peterson has an unfavorable matchup next week against the Eagles, things will get much better for Fantasy Championship Week against the Giants for those looking ahead.

Kevin Hanson joins SI for the 2019 season. His fantasy rankings have placed him in the Top 20 in each of the past two seasons among all the industry experts tracked by FantasyPros.com, and he has been in the Top 25 in six of the past eight years.

null

Browns quarterback Baker Mayfield said Sunday that Odell Beckham Jr.’s injury “wasn’t handled right” by the team’s training staff, suggesting Cleveland would have been better off had the receiver undergone surgery during the preseason.