NFL Sunday awards: Will Ferrell, Saquon Barkley, Aaron Rodgers and a New York soccer nightmare

A darkish day for New York soccer, extra Patrick Mahomes magic, one other Los Angeles Rams Draft hit and the dismal Dolphins. It is Week Seven awards time within the NFL!

Story of the day

Two issues might be true. The New York Giants are a considerably worse soccer group with out Saquon Barkley, however the New York Giants had been additionally not improper to maneuver on from Saquon Barkley.

Positive, they hamstrung themselves with a failing quarterback contract that contributed to Barkley’s departure and the lifeless cash they are going to be compelled to abdomen within the coming months, however gaping holes throughout the roster all the time dominated out paying the cash their, albeit offensive heartbeat, working again warranted and needed.

Barkley left New York this offseason as he signed with the Giants’ NFC East division rival Philadelphia Eagles on a three-year $37.75m deal. On Sunday he ran riot upon his return to MetLife Stadium with 17 carries for 176 yards and a landing in a 28-3 victory over his former group.

He had arrived to the sight of followers burning his jersey exterior the stadium, earlier than being uncovered to boos from folks seemingly unaware it wasn’t precisely his determination to go away. Maybe he might have settled for much less cash, however why try this simply to be battered and bruised behind a poor offensive line whereas representing 99 per cent of the offense in a group not less than a decade away from ever being near rivalry once more? You would not.

John Mara and Steve Tisch won’t have been numb to the prospect of Barkley lighting up the Giants; his skills aren’t any secret by now. However it could turn out to be possession’s worst untimely Halloween nightmare when Daniel Jones was benched for Drew Lock earlier within the fourth quarter.

“I’m going to have a tough time sleeping if Saquon goes to Philadelphia, I’ll tell you that,” Mara famously stated throughout HBO’s Hark Knocks.

Jones accomplished simply 14 of 21 passes for 99 yards whereas being sacked seven instances behind an offensive line that not too long ago misplaced star left deal with Andrew Thomas for the season. A Dexter Lawrence-inspired protection can in the meantime solely accomplish that a lot to compensate for its non-existent assault, which doesn’t scare a single soul proper now.

Damage might need delayed the method final season, nevertheless it feels as if Brian Daboll is edging in the direction of a choice over Daniel Jones. Even when he would not admit it.

The opposite New York nightmare of the day…

I watched The Different Guys starring Will Ferrell and Mark Wahlberg as New York detectives for possibly the five hundredth time on Friday evening, the unsung star of which is Michael Keaton and his TLC references, by the way in which. There’s a scene early within the movie when Wahlberg’s character Terry Hoitz, disapproving of Ferrell’s desk jockey Allen Gamble, launches a rant evaluating the 2 of them to a lion and a tuna, insisting he would hunt his accomplice down within the ocean and eat him.

It prompts Hollywood’s (unofficial) biggest comeback as Ferrell torches the logistics of a lion swimming. I am going someplace with this, promise…

Gamble turns the tables, threatening to assemble a “series of breathing apparatus” earlier than main a faculty of tuna as they as an alternative search out the lion, to the sight of a bemused, speechless Hoitz as he processes how on earth that simply backfired on him.

“Did that go the way you thought it was gonna go? Nope,” he says.

If Aaron Rodgers is Hoitz, Russell Wilson is a superbly forged Gamble. The Pittsburgh Steelers torpedoed the lion on Sunday evening as they stormed to a 37-15 win over the Jets simply days after New York reunited Rodgers with former Inexperienced Bay Packers greatest good friend Davante Adams in a commerce from the Las Vegas Raiders.

It turned the newest Hail Mary with which to bolster the Jets’ trigger as playoff aggressors as they search to finish the league’s longest playoff drought and thrust their approach into rivalry behind four-time MVP Rodgers. That it could be Wilson to wreck the social gathering was even sweeter such had been the head-scratching over Mike Tomlin’s determination to begin him over Justin Fields after lacking the opening six video games of the marketing campaign. Wilson, too, is the ever-smiling and existence-celebrating character befitting of Gamble’s buoyant outlook.

Pittsburgh’s quarterback accomplished 16 of 29 passes for 264 yards and two touchdowns whereas dashing for a rating because the Steelers logged a season-high in factors, whereas elsewhere the recently-fired Robert Saleh was resting straightforward after being relieved of his duties inside chaos. Oh, and in case it wanted reminding, his protection was nonetheless among the best within the NFL.

Between them, Rodgers, Adams, Garrett Wilson and Breece Corridor is as aesthetically scary as any offensive quartet within the NFL, and whereas the previous Packers duo might but hyperlink up for some particular moments it by no means felt like sufficient to maneuver the needle. Defeat to the Steelers leaves them 2-5; this is not going the way in which they thought it could go.

The ‘when is spherical two?’ of the day

The Detroit Lions and Minnesota Vikings lived as much as the billing emphatically in what might but function a preview of this yr’s NFC Championship Sport. Jake Bates break up the posts with a 44-yard discipline aim with 15 seconds remaining to information the Lions to a 31-29 victory, with either side now sitting 5-1 and because of meet once more in Week 18.

Jared Goff was near-spotless once more as he went 22 of 25 for 280 yards and two touchdowns within the face of Brian Flores’ unrelenting maximum-pressure four-sack protection, Brian Department strengthened his Defensive Participant of the 12 months case with one other beautiful interception and Jahmyr Gibbs justified his ‘Sonic’ nickname with 15 carries for 116 yards and two touchdowns.

It marked the tip of Minnesota’s unbeaten begin to the season whereas underlining Detroit’s credentials as professional Tremendous Bowl contenders. Not sufficient might be stated of the Ben Johnson-Goff tandem, the resurgence of the previous Los Angeles Rams quarterback seeing his offensive coordinator hurtle in the direction of a head teaching job.

The Mahomes second of the day

Patrick Mahomes and Peyton Manning are actually the one quarterbacks within the final 30 years to have extra interceptions than touchdowns throughout a 6-0 begin to the season, Manning having tossed seven scores and 10 picks to start a 2015 marketing campaign that may finish in victory at Tremendous Bowl 50. Gulp.

The Kansas Metropolis Chiefs have rebranded right into a hard-nosed, fury-inciting profitable machine defiant of personnel shortages whereas constructed round trench management and Steve Spagnuolo’s yo-yo-ing coverages that proceed to stymie the league’s most potent assaults.

The numbers will inform you Mahomes is having his worst begin to a season; the turnovers are a significant situation and he’s lacking throws he would often in any other case nail, among the many newest being his overthrown downfield heave to Xavier Worthy throughout Sunday’s win over the San Francisco 49ers. However he additionally continues to conjure moments of absurdity, his newest being a 33-yard sideline scramble by means of pump-fakes, neat feat and, granted, questionable tackling to maneuver the chains on the finish of the third quarter. He additionally trucked security Malik Mustapha on the goalline for a landing within the final reminder of why this protection won’t ever have any qualms over their prolonged workload over the past couple of years.

Creed Humphrey has turn out to be one of many NFL’s greatest lane-ploughers on the coronary heart of Kansas Metropolis’s inside run recreation, linebacker Leo Chenal one in every of Spagnuolo’s chief multi-faceted defensive chess items and George Karlaftis one of many league’s most underrated edge disruptors. The Chiefs are an ideal 6-0; for all of the scrutiny, you won’t have thought so.

The ‘Rams just like the NFL Draft once more’ of the day

Bear in mind when the Los Angeles Rams boycotted the NFL Draft? Effectively, they did not, however there was that ‘F*** them draft picks’ t-shirts Les Snead wore and the small matter of a Tremendous Bowl-winning group constructed with marquee free company splashes.

The tide has turned considerably in Hollywood since their Lombardi raise, with Snead and Sean McVay reconstructing their youthful roster with savvy draft picks to pad out the present veteran core.

They hit on guard Steve Avila, linebacker Byron Younger, defensive finish Kobie Turner and large receiver Puka Nacua in 2023, and now seem to have discovered one other potential cornerstone in linebacker Jared Verse.

Verse produced a career-high 9 pressures in Sunday’s 20-15 win over the Las Vegas Raiders, tied most by a rookie in a recreation up to now this season. The primary-round decide had entered Week Seven with a rookie-high 29 pressures on the yr, with fellow Rams rookie Braden Fiske his closest competitors.

The ‘did not count on to see you right here’ of the day

These travelling again from Wembley Stadium final evening might need turned on their televisions upon returning house to the sight of Marcus Mariota working round. The previous No 2 general decide noticed uncommon discipline motion as he changed the injured Jayden Daniels earlier than finishing 18 of 23 passes for 205 yards and a landing to guide the Washington Commanders to a 40-7 victory over the Carolina Panthers.

It was the primary time Mariota had thrown a number of landing passes in a recreation since 2022, providing the Commanders some reassurance ought to Daniels’ shoulder damage maintain him on the sideline for a number of weeks.

In the meantime, Kareem Hunt rushed for 78 yards and two touchdowns to proceed his unlikely revival with the Chiefs after re-signing to fill in for the injured Isiah Pacheco. It’s testomony to Andy Reid’s scheme as a lot as something that Kansas Metropolis’s floor assault has survived.

If rivals of the Tremendous Bowl champions couldn’t despise their greatness any extra, they picked up Hunt off the road and he’s working with as a lot juice at 29 years outdated as any again within the league.

Monday morning espresso considered the day

For all we all know it may be and the explosives it may be able to, the Miami Dolphins offense makes me unhappy. Mike McDaniel’s assault are actually ranked twenty second in whole yards, thirty second in scoring, twenty sixth in passing and thirty second in EPA/play following Sunday’s 16-10 defeat to the Indianapolis Colts, persevering with their outright collapse since shedding quarterback Tua Tagovailoa, who has no motive to hurry again from his concussion given the state of this group and with the season quickly fading.

Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle have turn out to be full non-factors whereas the Dolphins proceed to be punished for failing to discover a resolution at backup quarterback in the way in which others across the league have. That Mariota entered the fold and provided a clear two-touchdown recreation for the Commanders was the newest indictment of Miami’s poor planning.

Midnight considered the day

There’s something joyous about elite tight finish play within the trendy period; outsized large receivers dwarfing defensive backs as they go airborne, defying their cumbersome frames as they explode out of route breaks and swatting tackles for yards after the catch. They is perhaps the definition of peak male efficiency.

There are few gamers I get pleasure from watching within the open discipline proper now greater than Tucker Kraft and Brock Bowers of the Packers and Raiders, respectively.

Bowers, the thirteenth general decide on the Draft, had 10 catches for 93 yards within the Raiders’ 20-15 loss to the Rams on Sunday and now leads all tight ends with 47 catches for 477 yards up to now this season. His 47 receptions are greater than some other tight finish in his first seven video games in NFL historical past, whereas he additionally has an NFL rookie tight finish report three video games of not less than 9 catches. Kraft in the meantime continued his ascent as a starring part to Matt LaFleur’s offense with three catches for 33 yards and a spectacular diving landing catch behind the tip zone in Inexperienced Bay’s win over the Houston Texans.

Week Seven continues with a Monday Night time Soccer double-header because the Baltimore Ravens face the Tampa Bay Buccaneers whereas the Los Angeles Chargers go to the Arizona Cardinals, each dwell on Sky Sports activities NFL within the early hours of Tuesday; Additionally stream with NOW.