The Daily Briefing Wednesday, October 12, 2022

AROUND THE NFL

@ScottKacsmar

#NFL Teams to score 30 points in a game, Weeks 1-5

2022: 25

2021: 44

2020: 64

2019: 39

2018: 44

2017: 34

2016: 40

2015: 36

2014: 43

2013: 44

2012: 42

2011: 41

2010: 31

2009: 33

2008: 38

2007: 34

2006: 27

2005: 29

2004: 25

DETROIT

This from Michael David Smith of ProFootballTalk.com:

@MichaelDavSmith

The Lions fired Jim Caldwell for going 36-28.

Since then they’re 18-50-2.

DALLAS

The Cowboys are 4-1.  This has to be a factor:

@NFLResearch

Cooper Rush is the only qualified QB without a giveaway this season.

And it looks like Rush will start one more week.  Myles Simmons of ProFootballTalk.com:

The Cowboys will have at least one more week of Cooper Rush as QB1.

Head coach Mike McCarthy told reporters at his Wednesday press conference, “We are preparing for Cooper to start against the Eagles.”

Rush has gone 4-0 since taking over for starter Dak Prescott, whose surgically repaired throwing hand is still recovering. McCarthy noted that Prescott is “still in the medical-rehab phase.”

But, as noted by team owner Jerry Jones on Tuesday, Prescott is slated to begin throwing again on Wednesday. McCarthy said the quarterback was not wearing a splint at the team’s morning walk-through and likely won’t wear one for practice.

“Dak Prescott will be in the rehab group to start off with, but then he’ll go through quarterback school, and he will do some light throwing at the end of practice,” McCarthy said. “Once he clears this phase and then when he’s fully activated, I think that’s when we have our conversations.”

Rush has completed 61 percent of his passes for 839 yards with four touchdowns and no interceptions since taking over for Prescott in Week One.

The Cowboys will travel to Philadelphia this weekend to play the Eagles on Sunday Night Football.

– –

After five weeks, the Cowboys have the clear leader for NFL Defensive Player of the Week.  Frank Schwab of YahooSports.com:

It’s rare to see a player have minus-odds for an award less than a third of the way through a season.

Dallas Cowboys linebacker Micah Parsons is a rare player, and he’s off to a phenomenal start this season.

Parsons is a -110 favorite to win NFL Defensive Player of the Year at BetMGM. Nick Bosa of the San Francisco 49ers is next, but way behind at +700. Nobody else has shorter than 14-to-1 odds. Parsons is running away with the award, according to the odds.

The odds say that even though we haven’t hit mid-October, it’s already Parsons’ award to lose. Anyone who has watched him play this season understands that.

Parsons had a tremendous rookie season and was clearly on the radar for DPOY as the season started. That helps when it comes to winning an award. So does playing on a high-profile team like the Cowboys.

Parsons’ play has done the rest. He leads the NFL with six sacks. He has been absolutely dominant so far this season for a fantastic Cowboys defense. While Parsons might be the clear DPOY frontrunner if he played for the Jacksonville Jaguars, Seattle Seahawks or anyone else, being on the Cowboys is a clear benefit. He gets a lot of attention.

It helps too that the Cowboys defense has carried the team to a 4-1 record. Everyone wrote off Dallas after they lost in Week 1 and Dak Prescott broke his thumb. They’ve been undefeated since then, because backup quarterback Cooper Rush has been solid and the defense has been perhaps the best in football.

There’s no question who leads the defense. Parsons is controlling games the way you rarely see from any non-quarterback. Opponents can’t block him. Even last Sunday against the Los Angeles Rams, when he was limping with a groin injury, he kept making plays including a huge third-down sack.

With every week that passes, the odds on Parsons winning Defensive Player of the Year keep moving his way.

Parsons opened the season at +900 odds to win DPOY. Hopefully you got him then, because it’s unlikely you’ll see anything close to those odds the rest of the season.

Last week Parsons had dropped to +175, which already was very short for an individual award so early in a season. Then he had a big game in a win over the Los Angeles Rams and he’s down to -110. It’s hard to build that big of a lead for an award in just five games.

At BetMGM, Parsons was the most-bet player for DPOY. Of all the bets made for the award, 23.1% of them were on Parsons, and 26.9% of all money bet on DPOY was on Parsons too. Sportsbooks can’t be too happy seeing Parsons dominate every week and pull away from the field.

Injuries have played a role in Parsons’ odds dropping. Players like T.J. Watt, last season’s DPOY winner, and Joey Bosa are practically out of the running due to long-term injuries. Myles Garrett missed a game as well. Other than Nick Bosa, there’s nobody else who is reasonably in the DPOY conversation, though that can change.

Unless another player gets on a roll soon, an injury might be all that stops Parsons from winning the league’s top defensive player award. All those Parsons bettors are feeling pretty good right now.

NEW YORK GIANTS

P JAMIE GILLAN, “The Scottish Hammer”, is stuck in the United Kingdom.  The Giants are not panicking.  Jordan Ranaan of ESPN.com:

New York Giants punter Jamie Gillan did not travel back with the team from London, sources told ESPN, remaining overseas as he deals with a passport issue.

The Giants defeated the Green Bay Packers 27-22 on Sunday at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. They were aware of the issue prior to the trip and expect him back this week before playing the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday.

New York did not work out any punters on Tuesday as a contingency.

Gillan, nicknamed the “Scottish Hammer,” is a native of Inverness, Scotland. He came to the United States as a teenager.

Gillan did not play football until midway through his senior season of high school in Maryland.

This is his fourth professional season. He is averaging 51.0 yards per punt in his first year with the Giants.

The NFL Network reported that Gillan came to the U.S. on a NATO visa with this father, and that was never changed to a work visa when he entered the NFL.

WASHINGTON

Coach Ron Rivera is trying to pull QB CARSON WENTZ from under the bus.  John Keim of ESPN.com:

Washington Commanders coach Ron Rivera apologized to quarterback Carson Wentz for comments Rivera said were misconstrued by some Monday, regarding why there’s a gulf between his rebuilding team and its NFC East rivals.

“Carson and I had a nice conversation, so I think we’re ready to roll,” Rivera said.

He also spoke to his team about the comments he made Monday. On that day, Rivera was asked why the Commanders were 1-4 in his third season compared with the other teams in the division, which are all at least 4-1. Rivera answered, “Quarterback.”

He later said the other teams’ quarterbacks had been in place longer than Wentz had in Washington. The Commanders traded for Wentz this past offseason; Rivera said the quarterback is still getting comfortable in the offense and with teammates. Rivera said they now have a quarterback they can build around.

But his initial one-word answer drew national attention, with former Washington quarterback Alex Smith ripping his former coach.

Wentz said he was unaware of what had been said until he was told by a team spokesperson. He wasn’t bothered by what Rivera said.

“Coach addressed it, handled it, nothing for me that I’m overly concerned about,” Wentz said. “Coach is a very straightforward, upfront guy. He addressed it in the team meeting, which I thought was really cool, in what he meant by it all. I feel very confident in that.”

Rivera said he understood why his comments were perceived in a negative light, which is why he wanted to address the entire team.

“I told them I said some things that were misconstrued; I didn’t present them properly. That’s on me,” he said. “I took accountability, told the guys I should know better. S—, I had a bad day so I figured I was feeling better today, let’s move forward.”

Rivera said he worried about his words becoming a distraction during a short week; the Commanders (1-4) play at the Chicago Bears (2-4) on Thursday. But players said they understood what Rivera was saying.

“We all assumed that was taken the wrong way,” Washington backup quarterback Taylor Heinicke said. “He did a good job clearing that up this morning. Carson has broad shoulders; he understands the deal. … It meant a lot to the whole team. For anyone who didn’t know what [Rivera] meant, it was good to hear from him.”

Heinicke said Wentz stays off social media so he wasn’t even aware of the controversy Rivera’s answer had created. Heinicke also said having played in a tough media market such as Philadelphia steeled Wentz.

“Once you play in Philly, everything else is easy-peasy from there,” Heinicke said.

Washington tackle Charles Leno Jr. said Rivera’s words were well-received.

“He’s never the type to say anything underneath the table or back door,” Leno said. “He’s always a straightforward guy, so I appreciate him and appreciate his words.”

Wentz, meanwhile, is listed as having a shoulder injury on the injury report for Thursday night’s game.

CAROLINA

Plenty of smoke regarding a possible trade of RB CHRISTIAN McCAFFREY.  Cody Benjamin of CBSSports.com:

Now that the Panthers have pulled the plug on the Matt Rhule regime, teams are already “sniffing around” Carolina to gauge the availability of young playmakers, according to CBS Sports NFL insider Jonathan Jones. That includes, most notably, star running back Christian McCaffrey. While the Panthers can refuse such inquiries, the expectation around the NFL, per The Washington Post, is that they’ll be willing to listen, if not eat salary to facilitate certain trades.

McCaffrey, 26, has battled injuries in each of the past three seasons, playing just 10 combined games from 2020-2021. When healthy, however, the two-time All-Pro has been one of the NFL’s top dual-threat backs, twice topping 100 catches. He’s just two years removed from signing a four-year, $64 million extension with Carolina, and is due close to $20 million in each of the next two seasons, but any potential acquiring team would have the flexibility to release him with minimal penalty as early as 2023.

With that in mind, here are six logical landing spots for the former Pro Bowler, in the event the Panthers are willing to shop him:

6. Commanders

Trading anything of value for an injury-prone running back is not what Washington should be doing at 1-4, with Ron Rivera on the hot seat, but since when have they followed the rules when it comes to trading for big names? Rivera and offensive coordinator Scott Turner were both on staff with Carolina when McCaffrey entered and/or emerged in the NFL, and the Commanders haven’t been fully comfortable with Antonio Gibson as the top back this year. Carson Wentz is flailing behind a battered line, so in theory, CMC would at least give him a better safety valve.

5. Eagles

Word on the street is the Eagles would’ve happily taken McCaffrey had he lasted to their first-round pick in 2017. That year, general manager Howie Roseman bought into the team’s Super Bowl aspirations and dealt a pick for then-Dolphins RB Jay Ajayi at the deadline, proving he’s willing to rent a starter if the time is right. Adding CMC would put a dent in Miles Sanders’ workload as he approaches free agency, but it makes sense otherwise, considering how much the Eagles lean on the run. McCaffrey lined up next to Jalen Hurts would give Philadelphia one of the most unpredictable backfields in the league.

4. 49ers

All of a sudden, San Francisco looks like the class of the NFC West again. What better way to cement that status than by bolstering Kyle Shanahan’s favorite position group? Yes, he tends to get production out of whomever is carrying the ball behind their line, with Jeff Wilson Jr. and Tevin Coleman the latest one-two punch. But those vets have their own durability issues, and Elijah Mitchell is still sidelined. McCaffrey would surely make a new best friend for Jimmy Garoppolo, and it’s not like the West Coast is foreign to him; he spent his college days starring in California at Stanford.

3. Broncos

Nathaniel Hackett’s team-up with Russell Wilson has been erratic at best, and GM George Paton proved this offseason he’s willing to go big to fill holes sooner rather than later. With Javonte Williams out for the year and Melvin Gordon in the doghouse as a steady fumbler, Denver could use an adrenaline injection in the backfield, especially with Wilson struggling to elevate the squad. McCaffrey’s short-area receiving ability would also bode well for Russ establishing a rhythm. As a bonus, there’s a hometown connection, with McCaffrey growing up in Colorado as the son of former Broncos standout Ed McCaffrey.

2. Rams

It’s desperation season in L.A., where GM Les Snead’s win-now endeavors have failed to give Matthew Stafford enough protection up front. Neither Cam Akers nor Darrell Henderson Jr. is making much noise on the ground, and Stafford isn’t connecting with anyone but Cooper Kupp and Tyler Higbee through the air. Wouldn’t it be just like Snead to make the splashy quick fix? Just a year ago he dealt a pick for Sony Michel at the same spot. Now, the need is even more dire, and Sean McVay is creative enough to incorporate McCaffrey as the multipurpose weapon that he is. His assistant, Jake Peetz, just happened to be CMC’s position coach during the back’s career year with the Panthers.

1. Bills

Buffalo is the perceived top suitor for just about any big-name veteran on the market, seeing as Josh Allen has them rolling toward a hopeful Super Bowl bid. Besides the fact they’ve sniffed around dual-threat upgrades in the backfield, spending a second-round pick on James Cook this year, they’ve got all kinds of staff ties to McCaffrey: coordinator Ken Dorsey, QBs coach Joe Brady and offensive assistant Mike Shula were all in prominent roles with the Panthers during CMC’s Carolina career. He’d fit in right away as another outlet for Allen, relegating Devin Singletary and Zack Moss to complementary jobs.

TAMPA BAY

QB TOM BRADY owns, or is a part owner we should say, of a professional sports team – city of play unknown.  D’Arcy Maine of ESPN.com:

Seven-time Super Bowl champion Tom Brady and four-time major tennis champion Kim Clijsters were announced Wednesday as part of an ownership group for a Major League Pickleball expansion team.

Brady and Clijsters are part of a group led by Knighthead Capital Management.

“Of course, I’m excited at the investment opportunity,” Clijsters said in a statement. “But what excites me the most about becoming an MLP owner is that I get to help shape the future of pickleball, a sport I have come to love, with great people — who also happen to be some of my best friends. I’m thrilled to help showcase professional pickleball and make an impact on the sport through my experience gained in the top levels of professional tennis.”

Brady and Clijsters are the latest big names to invest in MLP. LeBron James was announced last month as an owner of another expansion team, along with Maverick Carter, Draymond Green and Kevin Love, and Drew Brees and James Blake also are investors.

The league, which was founded in 2021, will expand from its current 12 teams to 16 in 2023, as well as double its annual events to six. MLP said prize money is expected to surpass $2 million next season.

The 2022 MLP season concludes this weekend in Columbus, Ohio.

We typed in MLP to learn more about Major League Pickleball – and were referred to the My Little Pony universe.

Actually it seems that MLP doesn’t have classic city teams and markets.  Its model would seem to be LIV Golf with “teams” inside tournaments that range around the world.  More here from this spring:

Each MLP 2022 signature event will take place over three days with all 12 MLP teams competing to win The Pritchard Cup, first awarded to Team BLQK at MLP’s inaugural event at Dreamland in November 2021.

Last Saturday’s draft at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center at Flushing Meadows, NY populated the 12 teams with 48 of the world’s best professional players on four-person teams. This unique draft format enabled Team Owners to pick gender equitable teams of two men and two women players. There are three pools of four teams. After pool play, the top six teams will move on to a single elimination bracket. The quarterfinals and the semifinals will be livestreamed on MLP digital channels, including Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.

2022 MLP TEAMS:

ATX Pickeballers

BLQK (Defending Champions)

Chimeras

CLEAN

Florida Smash

Hard Eights

Jackrabbits

Lions

Mad Drops Pickleball Club

Ranchers

The 5s

The Bus

LOS ANGELES RAMS

Rams G DAVID EDWARDS has gone from the concussion protocol to IR.  Sarah Barshop of ESPN.com:

The Los Angeles Rams have placed left guard David Edwards on injured reserve, the team announced Tuesday.

Edwards left the Rams’ 22-10 loss to the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday and was evaluated for a concussion. He was placed in the concussion protocol for the second time in two weeks.

Prior to the Rams’ Week 4 game on Monday night, Edwards told the team he “was a little bit foggy.” He returned to play in Week 5 but left the game in the fourth quarter after a collision in the backfield.

Edwards was replaced in the game by Bobby Evans, who started at the position in Week 4. The Rams have started nine different offensive linemen this season.

The Rams also signed center Matt Skura to the active roster and waived running back Jake Funk.

SEATTLE

The Seahawks have developed a surprisingly good offense in the wake of QB RUSSELL WILSON’s departure.  But, as Brady Henderson of ESPN.com reports, the defense is not pulling its share of the load.

The Seattle Seahawks are in an all-too familiar situation five weeks into the season, back in the throes of another miserable start on defense. It continued Sunday against the New Orleans Saints, when the usual culprits — missed tackles that led to explosive plays, penalties and an inability to get off the field on third down — led to a 39-32 loss, despite more brilliance from Geno Smith and the offense.

Safety Ryan Neal, who had just made his first start of the season after taking over for Josh Jones as the replacement for the injured Jamal Adams, refused to excuse it as the product of new players and a new scheme, noting how they’re more than a quarter into the season. He called it “unacceptable” that New Orleans ran the ball at will to the tune of 235 rushing yards.

Then he evoked the Legion of Boom.

“From my end, it’s disappointing because I feel like I’m letting down a group of dudes that really set the standard,” said Neal, whose time in Seattle overlapped with Legion of Boom stars Bobby Wagner and K.J. Wright. “Even being here with guys before like K.J. or Bobby and stuff like that, there’s a standard that you’ve got to live up to and that’s just something that we have to do. For me, this is just a call to the defense — what are we going to do now? Like, what are you going to do? Because it’s on us. In my mind, it’s on us, period.”

The Seahawks’ not-too-distant glory days on defense seem like an eternity ago now that they’re a mess out of the gates for the third straight season. This might be the worst of their slow starts when you consider that they’re allowing more points per game (30.8, 31st in the NFL), more yards per play (6.55, 32nd in NFL), more yards per rush (5.04, 32nd in NFL) and more yards per pass (8.91, 32nd in NFL) than they did through the first five games of 2020 and 2021.

The 84 combined points they allowed to New Orleans and the Detroit Lions are the franchise’s most in a two-game stretch since 1983, according to ESPN Stats & Information. And both offenses were missing some of their best players. Detroit didn’t have its top running back (D’Andre Swift) or its top receiver (Amon-Ra St. Brown). New Orleans was without Jameis Winston and two of his top receivers in Michael Thomas and Jarvis Landry. Another, Chris Olave, missed most of the second half after entering concussion protocol.

While Winston’s backup Andy Dalton didn’t hurt the Seahawks, wildcat quarterback Taysom Hill certainly did. He rushed for 112 yards and three touchdowns on 12 carries while throwing for another score. Running back Alvin Kamara (194 scrimmage yards on 29 touches) also gashed Seattle.

Neal said the Seahawks “absolutely” expected Hill to be as big a part of the Saints’ game-plan as he was.

“When you’ve got Mike Thomas out, Jarvis Landry out and a couple others, we already knew what the game plan was going to be around,” Neal said. “It was going to be around [Kamara], [tight end Juwan Johnson], [Hill]. And that’s just what they came and did, ran it down our throat. That’s something that’s unacceptable.”

The Seahawks have sorely missed Adams’ impact as a pass-rusher and run defender since he went down in the opener with a knee injury that required surgery. Neal looks like an upgrade over Jones at safety, but the Seahawks will need much more than that.

“We just have to make our moves and get our best guys in the right spots doing the right things as soon as possible,” Carroll said. “We’re working at it. I don’t know why it’s like that. I have no idea why we would start slow. We’re dealing with it again, and we know that we are going to come out of it.”

There are no obvious signs that they will, though. And there’s been an absence of bright spots other than cornerback Tariq Woolen and outside linebacker Uchenna Nwosu. Woolen, a rookie fifth-round pick, looks like a star in the making with an interception in three straight games to go along with a blocked field goal that Seattle returned for a touchdown in Week 2. Nwosu looks like a nice free-agent addition with a standout performance in Seattle’s season-opening win and a No. 11 ranking in ESPN’s pass rush win rate.

But both have also contributed to one of the Seahawks’ primary issues. Seattle leads the NFL with 18 accepted defensive penalties. Woolen has a team-high four while Nwosu has three, including a neutral zone infraction on third-and-5 that gave the Saints a fresh set of downs on a second-quarter drive that ended in a touchdown.

– – –

Michael-Shawn Dugar in The Athletic sees a golden light growing for QB GENO SMITH:

The long-term trajectory of Geno Smith’s career has taken a drastic turn in a short time.

Just eight weeks ago, Smith, playing for his fourth franchise, was entrenched in a neck-and-neck quarterback battle with Drew Lock, whose former team had recently given up on him. Lock tested positive for COVID-19 at the tail end of the competition, setting up Smith to essentially win the job by default, despite posting pedestrian preseason numbers that didn’t include any passing touchdowns.

Just three and a half weeks ago, Smith led nine scoreless drives in a blowout loss on the road to the 49ers. That outing marked six straight quarters of scoreless football for Seattle’s offense, which some believed would be better with Lock at the helm. Smith wasn’t Seattle’s primary problem, but at the same time, he didn’t appear to be one of the team’s solutions, either.

Entering Week 6, not only does Smith look like he may be Seattle’s long-term answer at quarterback, but it’s fair to wonder whether the Seahawks will have to back up the Brink’s truck to keep him around.

Smith, who turned 32 on Monday and has already won NFC Offensive Player of the Week, is legitimately playing like one of the best quarterbacks in football.

He’s fourth in EPA per dropback (0.19), sixth in touchdown percentage (5.7), third in yards per attempt (8.31), ninth in air yards per attempt (8.48) and leads the league in completion percentage (75.2 percent), according to TruMedia. Smith also has the lowest percentage of off-target throws (6.4 percent). When he drops back to pass, he’s been able to get the ball downfield, avoid negative plays, move the chains and score points as well as anyone in the game.

“Geno has really taken advantage of understanding the system and working well with every aspect of it, from the checks, from the control of the line of scrimmage, to what he is doing in the throwing game and of course, he is contributing in the run game as well,” coach Pete Carroll said Monday.

Smith re-signed with Seattle one week before the 2022 NFL Draft. He’s on a one-year, $3.5 million contract, according to Over the Cap, a deal that perhaps reflects how little negotiating power Smith had at the time. By April, nearly every quarterback situation had been settled, save for the Carolina Panthers and (at least until the draft) Pittsburgh Steelers. Entering this season, Philadelphia’s Jalen Hurts and Houston’s Davis Mills, two Day 2 draft picks in 2020 and 2021, respectively, were the only starters making less than Smith. Pittsburgh’s Mitchell Trubisky ($7.1 million) and Atlanta’s Marcus Mariota ($9.3 million) were the only veteran starters besides Smith on seven-figure annual salaries (this is not including San Francisco’s Jimmy Garoppolo, who reworked his deal to be Trey Lance’s backup but is now starting due to injury).

Smith is outperforming those other veteran quarterbacks on prove-it deals — and many who are on far more lucrative contracts.

The only veterans better by EPA per dropback are Kansas City’s Patrick Mahomes and Buffalo’s Josh Allen, two players earning more than $40 million per year. Hurts and Miami’s Tua Tagovailoa (still on a rookie deal) are the only passers averaging more yards per attempt. Smith has a better touchdown percentage than the following high-priced passers: Aaron Rodgers ($50 million per year), Ryan Tannehill ($29.5 million), Derek Carr ($40.5 million), Kirk Cousins ($35 million), Tom Brady ($27.9 million), Matthew Stafford ($40 million) and, perhaps most notably, Russell Wilson ($49 million).

It’s extremely rare for a player on such a team-friendly veteran contract to play this well. Smith’s production, if sustained, will most certainly result in a pay raise.

Lock is the only other quarterback on Seattle’s active roster, and his contract expires after this season. Veteran quarterback Sean Mannion is on Seattle’s practice squad. The Seahawks don’t have a locked-in solution at the position for 2023 and beyond.

During his weekly KIRO-AM radio show, Carroll was asked whether Smith could be the team’s long-term answer at quarterback.

“He’s doing everything we could ask of him right now,” Carroll said. “It’s good, too, that he’s got Drew nipping at his heels every day in practice. Every day in practice, Drew does stuff. He’s got good stuff going right there in support of what Geno does. It just keeps everybody on their toes. It’s the whole thing about competition; it’s good and we like (that) it continues to be this way.”

Carroll said Smith understands the significance of his current situation and doesn’t anticipate the quarterback becoming complacent because of his recent success.

“He realizes the moment, and he’s really going for it,” Carroll said. “He’s really trying to keep things at bay. Whether it’s the media or whatever, he’s trying to do a great job with all of that. He’s going to have a chance to have a really great year — and future. I don’t see any reason he would let anything get in his way. Physically, he’s in really great shape right now.”

Carroll didn’t fully commit to Smith as the future at the position for a few reasons. For one, he’s not obligated to make such a definitive statement in early October. Also, a man whose mantra is “always compete” realizes that crowning Smith the 2023 starter at this point could take Seattle out of any potential free agent or trade discussions down the road, which is important because Carroll and general manager John Schneider enjoy the ability to be in on every deal around the league. Lastly, Carroll knows there’s plenty more football to be played, even though he doesn’t foresee a dip in Smith’s production anytime soon.

In fact, Carroll was asked whether the way Smith is currently performing is sustainable.

“There’s no doubt, yeah,” Carroll said.

There’s likely to be at least some regression in Smith’s numbers as Seattle faces more competent defenses later in the season. In Weeks 1 and 2, Smith faced two of the best defenses in football. He was good, but not great, in those games and Seattle put up all of 17 points on offense. His recent spike in production coincides with playing two of the league’s worst defenses, Atlanta and Detroit.

But Smith’s latest performance came against a formidable opponent came in Week 5 against the Saints, who rank 10th in EPA per play. And that game featured three of the best plays Smith has made as a Seahawk.

The two touchdown passes to Tyler Lockett, with Smith standing tall and climbing the pocket before delivering darts into a pair of incredibly tight windows, will probably end up being his best passes of the season.

An underrated yet still very impressive throw came in the second quarter when Smith rolled left, contorted his body under pressure and hit tight end Noah Fant in stride for 32 yards down the sideline, putting just enough air on the toss to get it over the cornerback’s arms. That type of accuracy will torch the toughest of opponents.

Smith will face better defenses in the future, though the rest of Seattle’s schedule isn’t exactly a murderers’ row. Only the 49ers and Bucs have top-10 defenses by EPA per play. The Panthers (12th), Jets (14th), Rams (15th) and Giants (16th) are either average or slightly above. The Cardinals, Chiefs, Raiders and Chargers are essentially in the same tier as the Falcons. There’s reason to believe that Smith can continue to perform at a relatively high level so long as his pass protection holds up and his receivers hold on to the ball (Seattle has just three drops in five games).

There are other elements of Smith’s game that should stay consistent even in the face of more capable competition. Right now, he is demonstrating an excellent understanding of how defenses are looking to stop Seattle’s offense, and his command at the line of scrimmage has put the team in position to throw counterpunches. A few of those have been haymakers.

The third-and-16 run that Rashaad Penny turned into a 36-yard touchdown against a Cover 0 blitz against Detroit in Week 4? Smith checked into that play. Ken Walker III’s 69-yard touchdown run against the Saints? Smith checked into that one, too.

“He’s got this offense under control right now,” Carroll said of Smith’s work at the line of scrimmage. “It’s really fun, and there’s a lot of dimensions to it and a lot of guys involved, too. We’re not going to be easy to stop. We’ve got a chance to keep moving.”

The Seahawks are projected to have $54.7 million in 2023 salary-cap space, fifth-most in the league, according to Over the Cap. Seattle seldom uses the franchise tag, but if it chooses to take that route to retain Smith, the non-exclusive tag is projected to cost north of $31 million in 2023; the exclusive tag, which would prevent Smith from negotiating with other teams, could be more than $45 million. The former is more feasible for Seattle financially, but it would cap the team’s flexibility when looking to upgrade the rest of the roster via free agency or trade. A multi-year contract for Smith would be beneficial for both parties. However, the franchise tag typically serves as the baseline annual salary in contract discussions.

Smith’s current run of proficiency after going eight seasons between Week 1 starts is unprecedented, which makes it hard to envision how his 2023 contract negotiations will go. Does he jump straight from making backup money to a top-10 salary, a la Tannehill in 2020 after he won NFL Comeback Player of the Year with an outstanding 2019 campaign? Tannehill went from accounting for 1 percent of the Titans’ payroll to 10 percent the very next season. Could Seattle view Smith as worthy of a similar pay bump?

It’s still early, but those are conversations the Seahawks must at least be considering. Seattle holds two first- and second-round picks in a 2023 draft with promising quarterback prospects, so that route remains an option as well. But if Smith keeps playing like this, Seattle doesn’t have much incentive to hand the keys to a rookie and deal with those growing pains. Not while Smith is demonstrating so much veteran savvy.

A couple months ago, it wasn’t even clear whether Smith would be the team’s Week 1 starter for 2022. His one-year prove-it deal felt more than fair for what he provided. Five weeks into the season, the Seahawks have to consider a world where Smith is the Week 1 starter for the 2023 season, with a much more expensive salary.

LAS VEGAS

This on the best of the 1-4 teams:

@ESPNStatsInfo

The Raiders are the fifth team in NFL history to lose twice after holding at least a 17-point lead within the first five games of the season. They join this year’s Ravens; the 2020 Chargers; the 2011 Vikings; and the 1993 Jets.

– – – –

The long arm of Missouri law has reached out to charge Raiders WR DAVANTE ADAMS.  Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk.com:

Under the law, it was an assault. And it’s being handled that way.

Via Josh Dubow of the Associated Press, Kansas City police have charged Raiders receiver Davante Adams with misdemeanor assault for shoving an ESPN freelancer to the ground after Monday night’s loss to the Chiefs.

Plenty of assaults aren’t prosecuted. In this case, the victim filed a report — and he allegedly was injured.

Although multiple football players technically have committed assault in recent years with post-whistle conduct that goes well beyond the limits of acceptable football activities, none have been charged with a crime. In each case, it happened on the field, against another player. Even if similar conduct would have resulted in an immediate arrest if it happened beyond the gridiron, football players have been exempt.

Here, Adams assaulted a non-player after the game ended. It’s harder to suspend the reality that the laws apply everywhere, even on a football field.

Three years ago, Schefty was clowned relentlessly for describing the Myles Garrett helmet attack on Mason Rudolph as “assault.” But it was. And it is.

It was assault on Monday night. It was assault when Garrett did it. It was assault when Aaron Donald did it in August. It was assault when Albert Haynesworth stomped on the forehead of Andre Gurode.

Adams doesn’t have much of a defense here, if any. He should plead no contest, accept the punishment, and move on.

Florio with some background on the victim:

The man was a freelance employee working for ESPN’s Monday Night Football. Networks routinely hire local residents to assist with the game-day operation, to supplement the direct employees who go from stadium to stadium and city to city, week after week.

This gives ESPN a clear interest in ensuring that its employees, whether permanent or temporary, will be protected against such interactions while doing their jobs. Although the networks sometimes tread lightly when it comes to potential confrontations with the league, the protection of the network’s employees should be a priority.

If ESPN is upset about the situation, ESPN isn’t voicing its concerns publicly. Even if the network opts to steer clear of pointing a finger at Adams, the Raiders, or the league, ESPN should consider issuing a statement of support for its employee, even if it’s something along the lines of “our representative did nothing wrong.”

For its part, the NFL has bigger concerns. Having players knocking bystanders to the ground creates a real liability issue. And it’s more than the actions of Adams. What did Arrowhead Stadium security personnel do or fail to do regarding the challenge of controlling the inherent chaos of the post-game scene at a stadium? What can be done in the future to prevent similar situations?

PITTSBURGH

The collective Steelers fan base has decided that OC Matt Canada must be jettisoned.  Coach Mike Tomlin does not agree.  Josh Alper of ProFootballTalk.com:

The Steelers are coming off their worst loss in more than 30 years and head coach Mike Tomlin said on Sunday that he’s open to changes that produce better results.

For many people, that puts attention on offensive coordinator Matt Canada as his unit has been underwhelming since he took over before the 2021 season. During a Tuesday press conference, Tomlin was asked if he’s confident that Canada is the right man for the job.

Tomlin said he is confident in that before adding that the results matter more than that confidence. He also said that he isn’t going to make a chance simply because people outside the organization want to see one made.

“I’m confident, but confidence means very little,” Tomlin said. “It’s what is on tape. We understand that. We understand the nature of your questioning. That’s just where we’re I’m at with it right now. I’m not changing for the sake of changing, I’m changing if I feel it produces a better desired outcome in any area. We’re looking at those things, we’re open to those things but not in an effort to quell the masses.”

Some would argue that any change at the coordinator spot would be likely to produce a better outcome, but it doesn’t appear such a change will be coming in Pittsburgh.

MIAMI

Chris Kouffman writes and Tweets for a Dolphins-centric blog, so this might just be sour grapes – but does he have a point here in this thread?

Chris Kouffman

@ckparrot

This new system where home team fans who happen to have a trainers certificate can single-handedly, unimpeachably, take the most important players out of the game based on inherently subjective TV footage is one of the most comically wrongheaded moves I’ve ever seen the NFL make.

Somehow it’s been Miami’s ill luck to end up with circumstances that exposed the unintended flaws in both the old and the new concussion protocols. But the latter situation is much more egregious than the former. The potential for corruption would be difficult to overstate.

Players take hard hits during NFL games. It’s part of the game. If you don’t like it, dissolve the game. Otherwise players are going to take hard hits, get up, shake it off. This new system sits players for being unable to pretend that a hard hit felt like a summer breeze.

The fact there are dozens of hits every single game a spotter could flag for the player not immediately rising rosy like a fresh dawn means the calls are going to be VERY subjective. Similar to baseball strike zones, basketball fouls in the paint, or defensive pass interference.

Sports typically put inherently difficult, high impact judgements in the hands of the most qualified people (e.g. professional referees, umpires). But the NFL has take these difficult, high impact judgments OUT of the hands of the most qualified doctors. How does this make sense?

And it may be even worse. Take the case of the Dolphins-Jets game, where footage of Teddy Bridgewater getting up after the safety shows absolutely zero stumble, but a single local New York/New Jersey spotter claimed he saw it, and the player was taken out of the game.

This was so egregious and impactful it calls for investigation. But NFL is compelled to tread carefully. Investigating/firing spotters for erring on the side of player safety? Setting examples that if the NFL disagrees with their highly subjective call, they’re fired? Tsk tsk.

NFL is going to have to send tons of guidance to these spotters on what constitutes and does not constitute “ataxia”. And yet that doesn’t make the subjective call any easier. Which brings us back to the point: put the hard calls in the hands of the most qualified. Novel idea!

Every team should have perked up their ears at what happened in that Dolphins game, imagining if it happened to them. All QBs take hard hits. Having a single local spotter take the guy out with ZERO stumble should scare the fuck out of every team. They should apply pressure.

Not that we’re saying these guys should be doxed – but we all know Carl Cheffers and Jerome Boger made calls this week that were, shall we say, unexpected.  And they defended them publicly.

No one knows anything about the history of the person who sent Teddy Bridgewater packing or his/hers/their reason for doing so.

Coach Mike McDaniel was publicly placid about the NFL’s denial of Bridgewater’s availability for the period from Sunday at 1:10 pm until at least Thursday, despite zero medical symptoms.  Hal Habib of the Palm Beach Post:

Mike McDaniel says it’s far too early for him to begin sorting out who his starting quarterback will be Sunday against the Minnesota Vikings.

But it’s not too early for him to know he wants to steer clear of the controversy surrounding how Teddy Bridgewater was knocked out of Sunday’s game against the New York Jets after one play.

Bridgewater was ruled out because the NFL’s spotter watching overhead said he saw him stumble after being hit by blitzing cornerback Sauce Gardner. Bridgewater hit the side of his head on the turf, which drew the spotter’s attention.

Even though Bridgewater passed all concussion tests after the play, he was ineligible to return because of the spotter’s ruling under the NFL’s new concussion protocol. The Jets went on to defeat the Dolphins 40-17.

But Monday afternoon, Miami stations WSVN-Channel 7 and NBC-6 posted video on social media that showed Bridgewater following the play in question — views that CBS’ cameras failed to capture during the live telecast. Bridgewater could be seen flashing two thumbs-up signs and jogging off the field — but no stumble is evident on the local stations’ tape.

“But I’m also not really in the business of grading and coaching spotters,” McDaniel said Monday. “The rules are in place for player safety, and, you know, I’m all about that. Honestly, whether he stumbled or not, the rules are the rules.”

McDaniel added that it would be “irresponsible” of him to send the NFL video as if he were trying to make a case that Bridgewater had been fine all along.

McDaniel said Bridgewater continued to show no symptoms Monday but remains in concussion protocol. At best, if Bridgewater suffers no setback, the soonest he could practice in a non-contact fashion would be Thursday.

“I’m not going to try to guess if that’s going to come true or not,” said McDaniel, who would then be forced to decide whether to start a QB who had such limited practice experience the previous week.

McDaniel continued to say it’s too early to discuss a timeline for the return of No. 1 quarterback Tua Tagovailoa, whose initial injuries suffered in the Buffalo game on Sept. 25 triggered a national discussion on head injuries in football that continues today. McDaniel said the Dolphins are evaluating Tagovailoa in a “12- and 24-hour” process.

“He’s not ready to do some football stuff yet,” McDaniel said.

– – –

On Wednesday comes word, that with Bridgewater banned from practicing and TUA still ailing, QB SKYLAR THOMPSON becomes the third rookie to start this year.  Neither he nor New England’s BAILEY ZAPPE were much discussed as experts picked over the best QBs in an indifferent class.  ESPN.com:

Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa will take a small step Wednesday toward returning to football but has been ruled out for a second straight week because of a concussion.

The Dolphins plan to start rookie Skylar Thompson at quarterback on Sunday against the Minnesota Vikings, coach Mike McDaniel said.

“I can say with certainty that he’s not going to be playing this Sunday,” McDaniel said of Tagovailoa, who has been in concussion protocol since Sept. 29.

McDaniel confirmed that Tagovailoa will return to practice in a limited capacity Wednesday for the first time since entering the concussion protocol in Week 4.

“We just miss his personality. He’s a guy that we rely on,” McDaniel said, adding that Tagovailoa will take things slowly, working out and throwing individually.

Dolphins quarterback Teddy Bridgewater, who also is in the concussion protocol after being removed from last Sunday’s 40-17 loss to the New York Jets on Miami’s first offensive play, also will be limited in practice as he progresses through the protocol.

McDaniel said that even if Bridgewater is active, the Dolphins plan to start the rookie Thompson, who relieved Bridgewater last Sunday.

NEW ENGLAND

Oliver Thomas of Forbes.com on the emergence of RB RHAMONDRE STEVENSON:

A hamstring injury sent Damien Harris to the New England Patriots’ sideline after six snaps last Sunday at Gillette Stadium. The starting running back in a contract year would soon be downgraded to out against the Detroit Lions.

But in the absence of the Alabama product, who is now “likely to miss multiple games,” according to NFL Media’s Tom Pelissero, a back by way of the Cerritos Falcons and Oklahoma Sooners handled the rest.

Rhamondre Stevenson was the only other member of the depth chart in uniform for New England. In what became a 29-0 shutout win, the 2021 fourth-round draft choice did not need company. He rushed for a career-high 161 yards on 25 carries and caught both of his targets for an additional 14 yards.

“You have to give him a ton of credit,” Patriots head coach Bill Belichick said Sunday during his postgame press conference. “With Damien out, we only carried two backs for the game, and he put it all on his shoulders and finished with a couple of first downs there at the end of the game in the four-minute offense. Yeah, he is always good. He does a great job with the ball in his hands.”

Stevenson broke free up the middle for a gain of 49 yards in the first quarter. He later bounced behind pulling blocks for a gain of 26 yards in the fourth quarter. And it wasn’t just the elusiveness seen through a sea of white, silver and blue uniforms at the line of scrimmage. At 6-foot, 230 pounds, it was also the power seen downfield.

By game’s end, Pro Football Focus had charted Stevenson for 111 yards after contact and nine missed tackles forced. NFL Next Gen Stats had charted him for facing at least eight defenders in the box on 36% of his ground opportunities.

“He is a strong runner, but he can make people miss,” added Belichick. “He is a really good football player, really a good football player. So glad we have him. Had a couple of blitz-pickup plays right up the middle where he stepped up there.”

“Just going in from Monday, we just knew we had to run the ball well and just be physical,” Stevenson told reporters afterward. “And when Damien went down, I just told him I have his back. He kind of knew I did and things like that. So just putting it all together. Just playing a full four-quarter game. Just trying to be physical.”

Stevenson, who accounted for 729 yards and five touchdowns from scrimmage as a rookie, made strides in the passing game entering his sophomore campaign. Those strides have been needed in a Patriots backfield no longer featuring retired captain James White. Even more so with veteran hybrid Ty Montgomery on injured reserve since early September.

Rookie Pierre Strong Jr. stands as the third running back on New England’s 53-man roster. But pick No. 127 overall out of South Dakota State was a healthy inactive last Sunday. Kevin Harris, taken two rounds later out of South Carolina, resides on the practice squad alongside former undrafted arrival J.J. Taylor and versatile wide receiver Lynn Bowden Jr.

Standard elevations could follow. Ahead on the schedule is a Cleveland Browns defense that ranks 32nd around the league in rush DVOA, and that conceded a pair of touchdowns to go with seven yards per carry last week versus the Los Angeles Chargers.

It will be up to Stevenson to continue the trend behind his gap and zone blocks. Next Sunday’s 1 p.m. ET kickoff at FirstEnergy Stadium is shaping up to be the 24-year-old’s third career start.

“He is a good all-around back,” Belichick said. “Love him. Love him.”

From both a Fantasy and football standpoint, Matthew Berry sees it as Stevenson’s time in New England:

Stevenson’s talent profile matches the kind words of his coach (minimum 30 rush attempts or 50 routes):

PFF rush grade: 89.0 (3rd)

PFF receiving grade: 71.9 (4th)

Missed tackles forced per attempt: 25% (9th)

Average yards after contact: 3.24 (2nd)

10-plus yard carries: 16% (6th)

While Stevenson got some fortuitous bounces to arrive at this every-down opportunity, he has also performed at a high level. He was already out-snapping Harris in a lead role.

Now he gets a favorable schedule over the next several weeks, starting against a Browns defense that he shredded last season without Damien Harris in the lineup.

Wheels up, y’all. We have a top-six RB on our hands until Harris returns — and maybe, just maybe, he keeps it all to himself for the rest of the season.

THIS AND THAT

ROUGH WEEK FOR ROUGHING THE PASSER

Jeff Eisenberg of YahooSports.com gets some thoughts from some former refs on what we just witnessed in the area of roughing the passer:

Excuse NFL pass rushers if they’re suddenly unsure how to tackle the quarterback.

Last week, referees seemed to call roughing the passer anytime a defender delivered a hit without laying down a bed of pillows first.

The spate of disputed flags started Sunday afternoon with this Oscar-worthy flop by Cleveland’s Jacoby Brissett against the Los Angeles Chargers. Minutes later, Atlanta’s last-gasp comeback hopes dimmed when an apparent third-down sack of Tom Brady resulted in a drive-extending personal foul.

Then on Monday night, another controversial roughing the passer call negated an apparent strip sack of Las Vegas quarterback Derek Carr. Kansas City’s Chris Jones drew the penalty for landing on Carr with most of his body weight even though Jones forced a fumble and recovered it on his way to the ground.

That trio of calls incited widespread outrage in NFL circles. Anyone from players, to coaches, to analysts argued that the league had gone too far in its efforts to protect its most extravagantly paid and marketable position group.

“What has happened to football?” ex-Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Boomer Esiason fumed. “QBs might as well wear flags.”

“This is not football anymore,” Hall of Fame coach Tony Dungy wrote. “I know we have to protect the QB but Chris Jones was recovering a fumble.”

“Change the rules or just make the league 7 on 7!!” Dallas Cowboys edge rusher and league co-leader in sacks Micah Parsons tweeted. He added later, “They want us to play like we playing in the pro bowl!!”

Does the NFL have a roughing the passer problem? Should the league’s competition committee raise the threshold for throwing a flag after the season? Or make the penalty reviewable? Officiating sources who spoke with Yahoo Sports emphatically say no. Two longtime former NFL referees described the league’s recent flurry of dubious roughing the passer penalties as a “coincidence” and cautioned against overreacting.

The numbers corroborate the referees’ argument. While the perception after last weekend may be that the frequency of roughing the passer calls is skyrocketing, the reality is that referees have assessed the penalty less this season than in previous years.

Through five weeks of the 2022 season, roughing the passer has been called 26 times, per nflpenalties.com. That’s down from 51 last season, from 38 the season before that, from 54 the season before that and from 49 the season before that.

“I hope the NFL maintains the status quo,” said Mike Carey, an NFL referee from 1995-2014. “I think the roughing the passer rule is very well written. It gives enough latitude to the referee that you’re not held to calling it when in your mind it’s not a foul, nor are you held to not calling it when in your mind it is.”

The origin story of the roughing the passer penalty dates back to the days of Sammy Baugh ushering in the age of the forward pass. Since throwing the ball left Baugh vulnerable to injury, the NFL in 1938 implemented a rule penalizing the defense 15 yards for deliberately hitting the quarterback after the pass left his hands.

Over the ensuing decades, as the sport of football has become increasingly quarterback-driven, the roughing the passer penalty has evolved. The NFL has sought to protect quarterbacks from defenders pile-driving them into the ground, landing on them with all their body weight or forcibly hitting them below the knees or in the head.

It was the supposed violence of Grady Jarrett’s hit on Brady that elicited a roughing-the-passer penalty and robbed Atlanta of the chance to mount a game-winning drive. Referee Jerome Boger told a pool reporter after Sunday’s game that he threw the flag because Jarrett “unnecessarily” slammed Brady to the ground.

On his weekly radio show on Tuesday, Jarrett said he was still in “disbelief” over being flagged for such an innocuous hit and that he is “left clueless what I’m expected to do in that situation.” The referees who spoke with Yahoo Sports sided with Jarrett, arguing that the Atlanta defensive tackle did not use unnecessary force when he threw Brady to the ground.

“On film, it doesn’t look like enough,” Carey said. “Sometimes we’re invested in our calls and it takes awhile for reality to settle in, but that’s one where I’m sure when Jerome saw it on replay, he wished he didn’t call it.”

The Jarrett call comes just two weeks after Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa suffered a concussion when a Cincinnati Bengals defensive tackle drove his head into the turf. Tampa Bay coach Todd Bowles suggested that the fallout from Tagovailoa’s concussion may have influenced Sunday’s call, but subsequent reports said the NFL had not issued any directive to further protect quarterbacks following the Tagovailoa incident.

While the call against Jarrett appears to be unwarranted, referees say the one that cost Kansas City a strip sack the next night is a little murkier. Carey says it was a “clear call” because Jones “let his full body weight land on the quarterback.” Another retired NFL referee described the call as defensible but questioned whether from his vantage point behind the play referee Carl Cheffers could see Jones recover the ball with one hand and brace his fall with the other.

“That was a tough call with the play going away from [Cheffers],” said the longtime referee who spoke to Yahoo Sports on the condition of anonymity. “[Jones] did put one arm out, but if Carr comes out of it with a dislocated shoulder, then everyone says, ‘Why didn’t they call roughing the passer?’ ”

The call against Jones occurred with Kansas City trailing Las Vegas 17-7 late in the first half. It remained a sore spot for the Chiefs even after they rallied for a 30-29 victory.

“I’m 325 pounds,” Jones told reporters in the postgame locker room. “I’m running full speed trying to get the quarterback. I hit the ball. I braced my hands. What [do] you want me to do?”

Jarrett and Jones both proposed the same solution in the wake of the calls that went against them. The two sack specialists want roughing-the-passer penalties to be reviewable the same way that completions or fumbles or goal-line plays are.

“We’ve got to be able to view it in the booth now,” Jones said. “I think that’s the next step.”

It’s tough to imagine the NFL adopting that suggestion considering what happened the last time the league made a highly subjective call reviewable. The NFL’s experimental pass interference review system was such a disaster in 2019 that the league scrapped it after just one season.

Chief among the issues was the impossibly high standard that the NFL’s New York command center used to overturn the call on the field. Of the 81 pass interference challenges during the 2019 season, only 13 were successful.

The anonymous longtime referee described the pass interference review system as a “debacle.” He said a roughing the passer review system would be “more of the same.”

“I’m not in favor of going to replay to look at these,” he said. “I tell folks, ‘What do you want? Do you want every infinitesimal thing reviewed?’ That was never the intent of replay. The intent of replay was to fix the obvious errors.”

Carey also sees little value replacing a judgment call made on the field with another made in the booth. He points out from firsthand evidence that a video replay can occasionally be deceiving.

On January 3, 1993, Carey was the sideline judge during a historic NFL playoff game, one in which the Buffalo Bills stormed back from a 35-3 deficit to stun the Houston Oilers. Carey made a pivotal call that preserved Buffalo’s second touchdown of the day. TV replays from above the field appeared to show receiver Don Beebe partially stepping out of bounds before catching a 38-yard touchdown pass, but Carey insists that from his vantage point at field level he could see Beebe’s heel hovering above the sideline.

A judgment call like roughing the passer presents many more challenges if made reviewable.

“I’d be shocked if they go down that road again,” Carey said. “Just like pass interference, it’s such a dynamic play that on the difficult ones it’s very rare to have a unanimous decision.”