Washington Redskins Please Explain This

I know it's the Washington Redskins, a team that has made some interesting moves in the history of the franchise. This one may top them as as sort of a what the hell moment. Late Tuesday, the Redskins went out and signed linebacker Ruben Foster, who had just been let go by the San Francisco 49ers. Foster was arrested Saturday night for an incident at the 49ers' team hotel in Tampa, and he was released the next morning before their game against the Buccaneers. Reports emerged later Sunday that police had been called on Oct. 12 for another incident between Foster and the woman in Santa Clara, California. The 2017 first-round draft pick is charged with suspicion of misdemeanor domestic violence battery.

On the same day Foster was claimed by the Redskins, the NFL put him on the Commissioner Exempt list, and he can't practice or attend games while the league continues to review his situation. It was not immediately clear if or when Foster would report to the Redskins' facility, where he is allowed to be for meetings, individual workouts, therapy and rehabilitation and other non-football activities. 

"The Redskins fully understand the severity of the recent allegations made against Reuben," Washington senior vice president of player personnel Doug Williams said in a statement. "If true, you can be sure these allegations are nothing our organization would ever condone."

That's what's been said by people around him and the Redskins. What sticks out to me is the fact that the team would even do this. Out of every team in Football, the only one to make a call to the Florida area to find out what was going on with the case was the Eagles, who didn't like what they heard about the whole situation, which is why the Eagles didn't touch him. I know that the Redskins have made some questionable moves in the past but this one may top them all. It makes no sense whatsoever taking a chance on a guy like this who may never play another snap in the NFL again.

What makes this situation more questionable, is that a guy like Foster can get picked up by an NFL team with his track record and yet a guy like Colin Kaepernick, who's offense was minimal at best, won't get touched by any pro football clubs. It's just really mind numbing that a team would even remotely take a chance on a guy like this with his shady as hell past. It is never, ever, under any circumstances OK or acceptable to lay a hand on a female the way Foster did. It happened twice. And yet he is still on an NFL roster. Kapernick can't get a job but this guy can? Can somebody please explain to me in what universe this is a good idea?

Best & Worst Of NFL Week Twelve

Ah the leftovers of thanksgiving. Week Twelve in the NFL had plenty of stuff to give around the league and its fans this week. We've hit the final quarter of the season and playoff pictures are starting to take shape. Indy has been on a roll as of late, thanks to the play of Andrew Luck, while the Texans keep right on moving along. Pittsburgh seemed to struggle pretty badly this week, something they needed not to have happen. The Bengals had the same problem, after suffering through a bad loss to the Browns, who keep pace in that race in the AFC. Washington gets back into the race in the NFC, while Carolina started to slip a little. All that and more went down coming out of thanksgiving. Here's some of the best and worst of the week that was in the world of football.

Best:
Andrew Luck, Indianapolis Colts
In a win that the Colts needed, they got it over Miami, beating the Dolphins 27-24. A huge reason for that was the play of Andrew Luck, who's been rolling over the last month. The only downside is he was picked off twice, but overall he finished the day strong. Luck went 30 of 37 for 343 yards and three touchdowns.  Luck has helped lead the Colts to a five game winning streak, and Luck has thrown at least three touchdown passes in every game since week three. He's playing at a very high level right now and its been a big help for the Colts. Indy needed him to step up and be a leader and he's done that for the most part this year. He's not quite at an MVP level but he's in the discussion can the Colts get to the post season. Luck has shown so far this year that he can still play and isn't really feeling the effects of his past injury issues.

Worst:
Jalen Ramsey, Cornerback Jacksonville Jaguars
Heading into the start of the year, Ramsey made headlines by running through a list of Quarterbacks and who was trash and who wasn't. He called Buffalo Bills starter Josh Allen trash. Well, Allen got his revenge, as Buffalo beats Jacksonville 24-21. Allen burned Ramsey more often then not on Sunday. Sure, Ramsey did intercept Allen off in the second quarter, but it was negated by his illegal contact penalty. Then Allen would rip off a gorgeous 75-yard touchdown pass, one of his three scores on the day. Allen lead Buffalo to it's second win in a row and Jacksonville its seventh loss in a row. For Ramsey doing all the trash talking he did in the preseason and then having his team turn in the performances that it has, it means that the Jags are in fact the trash in the league. Ramsey was running his mouth and his team hasn't been delivering. It's funny that the guy doing all the talking ended up with the egg on his face this week.

Best:
Philip Rivers, Quarterback Los Angeles Chargers
Rivers is playing at a level he's not been accustomed to in the past. Los Angeles beat the tar out of Arizona, coming away with a 45-10 win and Rivers played a huge role in that game. Rivers completed his first 25 passes Sunday. he closed out the day going 28 of 29 for 259 yards and three touchdowns. Both of those achievements have never been done before. Nobody had ever completed more than 23 straight passes to start the game, and Rivers’s 96.6 completion percentage is the highest in league history. It is true that some players have managed a 100 percent completion rating, but never on more than 10 attempts. Rivers threw the most passes in a game with just one incompletion. He's playing at a very high level and if the Chargers can manage to make the playoffs, then Rivers could be in the discussion for MVP this year.

Worst:
Graham Gano, Kicker Carolina Panthers
Carolina dropped a heartbreaker in against Seattle on Sunday, falling to the Seahawks 30-27. This was a game where Carolina made a few mistakes. Having the play backfire going for it on fourth and five early. Newton getting picked off in the endzone to stop the opening drive of the second half stung. Carolina was in it all the way despite this, right up till the end. Carolina had a chance to win it with less then two minutes left in the game. This set the table from Graham Gano, who's usually reliable. He wasn't at this moment, missing a kick that would have won it for the Panthers. Seattle then stormed down field and hit the winning field goal as time ran out. Gano's miss killed the Panthers and put a serious damper on their playoff hopes.

Best:
Amari Cooper, Wide Receiver Dallas Cowboys
Dallas needed to show a little bit of a pulse, giving their fans hope that they may actually be a playoff team. They got it on Thanksgiving day, beating Washington 31-23 and the offense was a big factor again. Amari Cooper made his first big impact game since coming over from the Raiders, finishing this game with eight catches, two of which went for touchdowns and 180 yards. That 180 was second most in the NFL this week, just behind the 189 of JuJu Smith-Schuster of Pittsburgh. Dallas has been looking for a prime time receiver since Dez's production started to slip and they may have found their guy in Cooper. Hell, Amari's production has been going down over the final two seasons while in Oakland. Now he may have found a system that works for him again in Dallas and it looked in in the win over Washington.

Worst:
New York Giants Play Calling
This was a game that Big Blue had to have, in order to keep their playoff hopes alive. They looked well on their way in the first half, going up 19-3 at one point. It was a first half that was dominated by rookie running back Sequan Barkley. He had a 51 yard touchdown run at one point. The way the Giants looked going into the half, the felling was they were going to run away with the game. That plan went right out the window the moment the Giants stopped the running game. Barkley had a total of 13 carries on the day, three in the second half. Pat Shurmur decided to stop using the run game and try and go to nothing but Eli. Well it didn't work. Philadelphia scored 22 of the final 25 points on the afternoon. I give up trying to figure out what the hell the Giants are trying to do sometimes, they can't even figure it out. If it ain't broke, don't fix it. Should have kept giving the ball to Barkley but they didn't and it cost them.

Best:
Sony Michel, Running Back New England Patriots
He had himself a day against the Jets. new England rolled in the second half, walking away with a 27-13 win over the Jets. Michel was a big reason for that, finishing with 21 carries for 133 yards and a touchdown. He carved up the Jets defense like Swiss cheese and helped the Pats pull away in the second half. New England needed a bounce back week. They were coming off a tough loss to the Titans and had two weeks to brood over it. Coming out of the bye, they got more then they really bargined for from the Jets at the start. But thanks to the pounding running of Michel, New England was able to pull away in the 2nd half and take the game. If New England hopes to go deep in the playoffs again this year, performances like this can be very helpful most of the rest of the way.

Worst:
Pittsburgh Turnover Machine
This one should have been easy to figure out. not only did the Steelers fall to Denver 24-17, but the second half of this game was a disaster for the Black and Gold. Four turnovers on the day, three of them coming and the second half, two of which lead to Bronco scores. The Steelers had taken a lead, thanks to Ben Roethlisberger connecting with JuJu Smith-Schuster on a 97-yard touchdown strike. The next drive, Ben tried to force feed Antonio Brown, overshooting his star by a considerable amount for his first of two interceptions. Two plays later, Denver tied the game up. Denver would take a lead after capitalizing on a James Conner fumble. Pittsburgh tried to tie the game up, with Ben trying to get the ball to Brown, who wasn't even close to being open in the endzone. That was game. With the way the Steelers played Sunday, it hurts their chances even more of not only getting a top seed in the AFC but even remotely having a deep playoff run.

Best & Worst Of NFL Week Eleven

Week Eleven is now in the books in the NFL. Lots to talk about this week too. Very exciting showdown between KC and LA on Monday night. Action on Sunday was just as intense, as there were four division games, nine games decided by one score, six second-half comebacks, plenty of touchdowns, and one devastating injury that could sink a team’s playoff hopes. Eleven different receivers this week had over 100 receiving yards in a game, Phillip Rivers went off in a losing effort and you almost have to feel for whats going on with the QB situation in Washington. We got teams falling out of contention, while others managed to hang around for a little while longer. With that in mind, here's some of the best and worst from week eleven.

Best:
Andrew Luck, Quarterback Indianapolis Colts
When the season got rolling, things looked really bleak for the Colts. Indy had started the year off by losing five of its first six games. Now Indy seems to have turned it around, winning four straight games to pull back to .500 on the year at 5-5. That streak moved to four in a row thanks to Sundays 38-10 win over the Titans, with Andrew Luck having himself a pretty good day. The Colts QB finished going 23 of 27 for 297 yards and three touchdowns. He wasn't sacked and din't turn the football over at all during this win which is showing that Luck is hitting his stride and finding himself again under center. He's now thrown for at least three touchdowns in a game for the seventh straight week with this performance on Sunday. Luck's got his game back, and hopefully it can keep the Colts rolling towards a playoff spot.

Worst:
Alex Smith, Quarterback Washington Redskins
You really have to feel bad for Alex Smith in Washington right about now. It was thirty three years to the day that Joe Theismann suffered a horrifying broken leg against the Giants that is still talked about to this very day. Now, another Washington QB goes down with a broken leg. What are the odds. This time it's Alex Smith going down with the injury. Smith broke his right tibia and fibula while being dragged to the ground on a sack. He was carted off, taken to the hospital in an ambulance and required immediate surgery. To nobody’s surprise, he will miss the rest of the season, head coach Jay Gruden announced after the game. To add more salt to the wound, the Redskins lost 23-21 to a rolling Texans team, to put them at 6-4 for the season. Colt McCoy looks like he might be the starter for a little while, but after that who knows. Four of the final six games for Washington is on the road, which won't make this any easier. It going to be tough for the Redskins, who are going to have to go it without Smith.

Best:
Dallas Cowboys Offense
Facts are, the Cowboys looked like they were in trouble with the way the year started. Going 3-5 to kick the season off had the Boys looking like a fish out of water. But then they seemed to wake up of sorts. They've won their last two games, including a very solid 22-19 win over Atlanta on Sunday. Zek had a big week last week, and he went off even more this week. Try to the tune of 201 total yards, 122 of which were gained on the ground. Dak also had a solid showing with 208 through the air and they made the Falcons D look average at best. Dallas is starting to get back on the right track at the right time. Sure, even with Amari Cooper, the passing game seems to be average at best at the moment, they're still finding ways to win football games. With what happened in Washington, this could be an opening for the Cowboys, since they play each other on Thanksgiving.

Worst:
Tampa Bay Buccaneers Quarterbacks
OK I'll give a little credit where it's due, the Bucs found a way to hang around for a little while against the Giants. It ended in favor of the G-Men 38-35, but the problem in Tampa is there is no consistent play from the men under center at all this season. They've had to keep bouncing back and forth between Winston and Fitzpatrick, I think its hard for anybody to really keep it straight as to who the true leader is at QB on this team. Fitzpatrick went 13 of 21 for 1767 no scores and three picks. This coming after throwing for over 400 yards last week. Then Winston takes over, gets picked off once but does throw for two TD's and tosses 167 yards through the air. Tampa managed to outgain the Giants by a wide margin but because of the inconsistent play of their QB's, they came up just short on getting a victory. This has got to be frustrating for Bucs fans and for the organization as well.

Best:
Chicago Bears Defense
If somebody had said to me at the start of the that the Bears would be leading this division the weekend before Thanksgiving, I would have thought you were nuts. Chicago's D has been great this year, some of which should be credited to General Manager Ryan Pace going out and getting Khalil Mack. Kirk Cousins had a brutal night that saw him throw two interceptions, one of which was returned for a touchdown. Minnesota’s run game managed a paltry 22 yards on 14 carries as Chicago’s defensive line was relentless against both the run and the pass. This defense has allowed the Bears to extend their lead in the NFC North, despite a second-year quarterback in Mitch Trubisky who is still quite raw. They made the Vikings look average and they're carrying the team to the top spot in the division. Chicago is turning into a dangerous contender

Worst:
Jaguars Playoff Hopes
Things were looking good for the Jags early on in their rematch with the Steelers on Sunday. It looked like a carryover from what happened in the playoffs last year.Jacksonville was dominating that game, they held the Steelers in check in the first half. Jalen Ramsey picked off Big Ben twice, and the Jacksonville defense had three interceptions overall. Despite the best showing Jacksonville has put up in weeks, it wasn't enough. Pittsburgh fought all the way back, and walked away with a 20-16 win over the Jags, sending them back to Jacksonville with their tails between their legs. the fact that Jacksonville got beat drops them to 3-7 and are now saddled with a six game losing streak. That puts them at 14th out of the 16 teams playing in the AFC. It makes it an even bigger uphill climb for the Jags to get back to the post season.

Best:
Saquan Barkley, Running Back New York Giants
I think there's no real denying that the Giants MVP this season has been Barkley. Yes the Giants came away with the 38-35 win over the Bucs, but Barkley had the Giants going in the right direction.; Tampa out gained and out threw the G-Men but Barkley controlled the clock for Big Blue with his league best 142 yards rushing this week. It seems like every time you need a big play for the Giants, Barkley has been the one providing that spark when it's needed. He's been good and reliable when the Giants have needed him. Big Blue has managed to win two straight games

Worst:
Doug Peterson, Head Coach Philadelphia Eagles
Talk about embarrassing. Doug Peterson's bunch was nowhere near ready to go on Sunday, getting blasted  by the Saints to the tune of a 48-7 loss. This 41 point margin of defeat was the worst loss of Pederson’s head coaching career and the biggest margin of defeat by a defending Super Bowl champion. To be fair, there are injuries on the Eagles. The Secondary has taken a bit of a hit in the depth department, as has the offensive line. Peterson should take some of the fall here for not being able to figure out how to fix those holes along his line and secondary to put a competative team out on the field each and every week. Philly has lost two in a row and is 2-3 in its last five and the remaining schedule is unforgiving. Missing out on the playoffs is a very real possibility.

Bonus Best:
Monday Night Football
What. A. Game. There was a sense of electricity in the air in LA on Monday night. Kansas City and Los Angeles lived up to all the hype as the Rams walked away with a 54-51 win by the Rams. It was the highest scoring game in the history and the 3rd highest scoring game in history. The Chiefs became the first team ever to score 50 or more points in a game and lose. Every other team to drop 50 or more points on an opponent had gone 2016-0 prior to this contest. Jared Goff threw for 413 yards and four touchdowns, but got sacked five times. Patrick Mahomes had another night, throwing for 473 yards and six touchdowns. But he was sacked three times and the killer was throwing three picks, which Goff didn't do. It was a hell of a football game that blew away expectations and could be a preview of the big game in February!

MLB Hands Out Hardware

Ah it's that time of the year once again. The time of the year to honor the best individual efforts in a team sport. Major League Baseball handed out their big regular season awards for the 2018 Baseball season. We already discussed the gold glove winners for 2018. This is where we look at the Silver Slugger winners, plus the Top Rookie, Top Managers, Best Pitchers and League MVP's. Did they get them get them right? Were there guys who got snubbed? Lets get into that depbate/discussion right now.

Silver Sluggers:
American League
Catcher: Salvador Perez, Royals
1st Base: Jose Abreu, White Sox
2nd Base: Jose Altuve, Astros
3rd Base: Jose Ramirez, Indians
Shortstop: Francisco Lindor, Indians
Outfielder: Mookie Betts, Red Sox
Outfielder: Mike Trout, Angels
Outfielder: J.D. Martinez, Red Sox
Designated Hitter: J.D. Martinez, Red Sox

National League:
Catcher: J.T. Realmuto, Marlins
1st Base: Paul Goldschmidt, Dimaondbacks
2nd Base: Javier Baez, Cubs
3rd Base: Nolan Arenado, Rockies
Shortstop: Trevor Story, Rockies
Outfielder: Christian Yelich, Brewers
Outfielder: David Peralta, Diamondbacks
Outfielder: Nick Markakis, Braves 
Pitcher: German Marquez, Rockies

Manager Of The Year
AL: Bob Melvin Oakland Athletics
NL: Brian Snitker, Atlanta Braves

Looking at the American League, the fact that Melvin guided the A's to one of the better turn around stories in baseball says a lot. Oakland had the lowest payroll in all of the Majors, winning 97 games and claiming the 2nd Wild Card Spot. What's even more amazing about what Oakland did is the fact that the A's were two games under .500 and 11 games out of a Wild Card spot by the middle of June. They then managed to catch fire, going 63-29 from that point on in order to earn a place in the Wild Card Game. Oakland would fall to the Yankees, but the loss could hardly take away from an otherwise outstanding season. Bob Melvin joins Tony La Russa (1988, 1992) as the only A's managers bestowed with Manager of the Year honors. For Melvin, this marks the 3rd time he's won the award, the other two coming in 2007 with Arizona and 2012 with the A's. Melvin joins Dusty Baker, Bobby Cox, Tony La Russa, Jim Leyland, Joe Maddon, Lou Piniella and Buck Showalter bas the only managers to win the award three times.

What Brian Snitker did with the Braves was amazing beyond description. He lead the Braves to a 90 win season and a surprising division title. This has to feel like vindication almost for Snitker, who's been around the game, as either a player coach or manager, since 1977.  He took over the job a short time into the 2016 season and as helped lead Atlanta to the top of the National League East mountain. He had plenty of hard working young talent in his lineup like Ronald Acuna and Ender Incartie and vets like Freddy Freeman and Nick Markakis leading the charge.  He joins Bobby Cox, who won it three times, as the only Braves skipper to win it in the NL.

Rookie Of The Year:
AL: Shohei Ohtani, Los Angeles Angels Of Anaheim
NL: Ronald Acuna, Atlanta Braves

Ohtani winning the Rookie of the Year in the American League, while very well deserving, does come at a bit of a controversy. The fact that he beat out Miguel Andujar of the Yankees, and by as wide a margin as he did comes as a bit of a surprise. Ohtani became the first player since Babe Ruth to have ten pitching appearances and hit 20 homers in the same season. He got 25 of the 30 first place votes, with the other five going to Miguel Andujar of the Yankees. Ohtani became the third Angel to win the award, joining Mike Trout (2012) and Tim Salmon (1993), and the fourth Japanese-born winner, after Hideo Nomo (1995), Kazuhiro Sasaki (2000) and Ichiro Suzuki (2001). Andujar had the higher batting average, more homers and drove in more runs. He actually lead all AL Rookies in all three catagories. Ohtani also played in only 104 games. I'm not taking away anything that Ohtani did on the year, I'm just saying that the two Yankees rookies had better years than Ohtani did.

With the National League, Acuna beat out Juan Soto of the Nats. Soto had a better year in the RBI department, but the overall game for Acuna was better of the two for those choices. He got 27 of the 30 votes for the winner of the Rookie Of The Year in the NL. Acuna is the first Braves player to win a major postseason award since Craig Kimbrel was named the NL's Rookie of the Year in 2011. The other players in franchise history to be named Rookie of the Year were Rafael Furcal (2000), David Justice (1990), Bob Horner (1978), Earl Williams (1971), Sam Jethroe (1950) and Alvin Dark (1948). To be fair, Soto had as great a year as anybody among the rookies in the National League, but because Acuna got hot in the second half of the year, he walked away with the award. Acuna had to deal with batteling injuries but altered his swing and became the leadoff hitter and then took off.

Cy Young Award
AL: Blake Snell, Tampa Bay Rays
NL: Jacob deGrom, New York Mets

Jacob deGrom was playing baseball at a whole different level this year. Jacob got 29 of the 30 first place votes in the NL, the only other vote going to Max Scherzer of the Nationals. deGrom became the 4th Mets pitcher to win the Cy Young, joining Tom Seaver (1969, 19734, 1975), Doc Gooden (1985) and R.A Dickey (2012). Sure that Scherzer had more wins, innings and striekouts, but deGrom had a 1.70 ERA, the sixth-best in baseball since MLB lowered the pitcher's mound to its current height in 1969. Although deGrom's 10-9 record was pedestrian, he led the NL in ERA, all major versions of WAR and several other key run-prevention categories. Jake had a year that was at another level, pitching lights out almost every night. It was a shame that he didn't have higher win totals, that was because the Mets couldn't score a lot of runs for him. He was pitching at a level that was beyond description and is very deserving of winning this award.

In the American League, on a team that mostly used openers instead of starters in Tampa, Blake Snell had a year that really stood head and shoulders above the rest. Snell joins David Price (2012) as the only Rays pitchers to win the AL Cy Young award. When the year started, Snell seemed like the 2nd man up in that Tampa Rotation, behind Chris Archer. But when Tampa switched over to using openers, Snell became the only real starter in that lineup and was the unquestioned ace of this team. He paced the American League in wins with 21, a 1.89 ERA and hits allowed per nine innings at 5.6. All this while striking out 221 across 180 2/3 innings. Snell's 1.89 ERA marked the fifth lowest single-season mark for a left-hander since the mound was lowered in 1969, and it is third lowest by an AL starter since the designated hitter was implemented in 1973. It was the lowest mark by a qualified AL starter since Pedro Martinez pitched to a 1.74 ERA in 2000. He was good, really good this year.

Most Valuable Player
AL: Mookie Bets, Boston Red Sox
NL: Christian Yelich, Milwaukee Brewers

Betts put up a great year for the Red Sox. Wasn't quite the same power numbers as teammate J.D. Marteniz, but he was playing at a different level from most of the league never the less. Mookie got 28 fo the 30 first place votes, the other votes going to Mike Trout of the Angles, and JD Martinez of the Red Sox<. Betts is the first Red Sox player to win the MVP since Dustin Pedroia in 2008. The other players to win the MVP for Boston? Tris Speaker (1912), Jimmie Foxx (1938), Ted Williams (1946, 1949), Jackie Jensen (1958), Carl Yastrzemski (1967), Fred Lynn (1975), Jim Rice (1978), Roger Clemens (1986) and Mo Vaughn (1995). Betts was a force in every way possible, winning the batting title with a .346 average while adding 42 doubles, five triples, 32 homers, 129 runs, 80 RBIs and 30 stolen bases. The 26-year-old led MLB with a 1.078 OPS and earned his third consecutive Rawlings Gold Glove Award for his defensive excellence. He hit over .300 in ever month during the season except for the month of June. Sure Martinez had the better power numbers and drove in more runs, but Mookie was the best overall player in the AL during the regular season. There was nobody else playing like him this year.

With the second half of the year the Yelich had for the Brewers, it was almost no surprise that he walked away with the MVP award in the NL. Yelich got 29 of the 30 votes for first place in the MVP race, the only other one to get a 1st place vote was Jacob deGrom (the only MVP vote he got). Yelich becomes the 5th Brewer to win MVP, joining Ryan Braun (2008), Rod Carew (1977), Robin Yount (1982 and 1989) and Rollie Fingers (1982). Yelich became the first Brewers player to win a batting title and finished two home runs and one RBI shy of what would have been the NL's first Triple Crown since St. Louis' Joe Medwick in 1937. Yelich batted .326 with 36 home runs and 110 RBIs, leading the NL in average, slugging percentage, OPS, weighted runs created plus, weighted on-base average and adjusted OPS while leading NL hitters in every version of wins above replacement. He had a second half of the year that wasn't on par with anybody else. He was dominating the games at times for the Crew and carried them during the second half of the year,

Best & Worst Of NFL Week Ten

Week Ten has come and gone in the NFL in what turned out to be a very bizarre week in the league. New Orleans did New Orleans things in a dominating win over over the Bengals. Now we get to the Bizzaro portion of the week. The worst offense in the NFL going into the week outscores itself from the last three weeks combined. New England got a little overconfident and was taken out by the Titans. Ryan Fitzpatrick had an awesome day, but the Bucs offense managed to score only three points. Rams keep on doing Rams things, while the Giants actually remembered how to win a football game. Hell even Dallas managed to keep pace by beating the Eagles. All that and more happened in week ten. Here's some of the best and worst from the week that was in the NFL.

Best:
Nick Chubb, Running Back Cleveland Browns
It seemed like the only thing that the Browns did wrong on Sunday in their 28-16 win over Atlanta was a poor attempt at a trick play that lead to an easy pick. Otherwise, it seemed like a walk in the park for the Browns. Both of Cleveland's top rookies were on fire. Baker Mayfield was good, but Nick Chubb was even better. Chubb lead all runners this week with 176 yards on the ground on 20 carries. He scored one touchdown, which was a fantastic 92 yard scoring scamper, the longest play from scrimmage in the entire league this year. The 2nd round pick by the Browns has shown flashes of brillance this year and with him and Baker Mayfield leading this charge, Cleveland has a bright future ahead of it.

Worst:
Jacksonville Jaguars
This was a team who, earlier this calender year, was playing in the AFC Championship game against New England. Now they sit at 3-6 and are in real danger of missing the playoffs. This is coming after a tough 29-026 loss to another struggling team in the Colts. Yes, star back Leonard Fournette came back on the field and played after missing time with a nagging hamstring injury, but the Jags started slowly and lost their fifth-straight. They just couldn't get themselves going in the right direction at all and were outplayed late by the Colts, a team that hasn't been as on their game this year either. Jacksonville had better start to get their things figured out and fast. With how well Houston has played over the last month and a half, Jacksonville is digging itself into a bigger hole.

Best:
Ben Roethlisberger , Quarterback Pittsburgh Steelers
It might start getting to that point in the season when the Steelers are hitting their stride. Big Ben was on his game on this day, going 22 of 25 for 328 yards and five touchdowns. He was nearly perfect in the pass game and didn't turn the ball over once. You knew it was going to be a good day for Ben when, on the first play of the game, 75-yard precision strike to JuJu Smith-Schuster. Ben spread the ball around to his receivers and backs and kept Carolian off balance all night Thursday night. Big Ben was a big reason that Pittsburgh ripped off a rapid-fire 24-0 run to kickstart the game, ultimately staking a 52-21 dominating victory.

Worst:
Todd Bowles, Head Coach New York Jets
I think it's finally time to blow it up with this Jets coaching staff. Its bad enough you get beat 41-10 in the NFL. It makes things worse when you get beat by one of the worst teams in the game in the Buffalo Bills. Buffalo hadn't come close to hitting that in the three weeks combined prior to this contest. This was a Buffalo team quarterbacked by Matt Barkley of all people, who hadn’t played in a game since 2016. This was at home. An offensive lineman, Dion Dawkins, caught a touchdown. Bowles is a defensive specialist and this loss was inexcusable. The Jets fell to 3-7 and Bowles plummeted to 23-35 in three-plus seasons with the team. The Jets even said how unprepared they were going into this game and that falls on the coaching staff. Bowles signed his death sentence as coach of this team with this performance. He'll be gone by the end of the year.

Best:
Aaron Jones, Running Back, Green Bay Packers
Packers fans have been wanting to see Aaron Jones featured more in the Green bay offense for some time now. Sunday, Packers fans got their wish. Green Bay pulled out a 31-12 win over the Dolphins and Jones was a big reason for that. On Green Bay's first offensive possession, Jones accounted for 54 of the 70 yards gained. Again, that was just the first drive of the day. By the time all was said and done for the day, Jones racked up 172 total yards and scored two touchdowns on 18 touches. He’s clearly the best back on the roster, and he deserves to be heavily featured for the rest of the year. Packers fans have finally gotten their wish with this guy getting the touches.

Worst:
New England Patriots
New England got embarrassed by the Titans on Sunday, falling 34-10 to Tennessee. This was one of the worst offensive performances from the Pats all season long, and it was due in large part to interior pass pressure. Coach Mike Vrabel and defensive coordinator Dean Pees, both former players in New England, dialed up constant pressure in Brady’s face. Tennessee was able to sack Brady four times and hitting him six more. New England was shell shocked most of the day and weren't able to adjust as things moved along during the afternoon. New England is entering their bye week, which will be a good thing for them because it will be a good way to collect themselves and get ready to take on the Jets thanksgiving weekend. Now that both KC and Pittsburgh seemed to have found their stride, New England is going to have a hard time getting home field in the playoffs.

Best:
Eric Ebron, Tight End Indianapolis Colts
The Colts needed a big day on Sunday, they needed somebody to step their game up. They got that in the form of Tight End Eric Ebron. Indy scored four touchdowns on the day Sunday, in their 29-26 win over the Jags, and he factored into three of those scores. He finished with three catches for 69 yards and those scores. Ebron opened the game with a 53-yard score, roasting Jacksonville’s once-vaunted defense. But he wasn’t even remotely close to being done, adding in a two-yard score on a sweep and hauled in a 12-yard pass for his third score of the game. And he did all that in the game’s first 19 minutes. It sucks that the Colts couldn't build off that, as they were held off the scoreboard in the 2nd half, which makes Ebron's performance look even bigger in this game.

Worst:
Atlanta Falcons
This had to be a game that the Falcons had to win. They came in on a three game winning streak and the offense had been killing it as of late. The only downside is that the injury bug had started to hit this team pretty good on the defensive side of the ball and it was starting to show. That defense got lit up by the Cleveland Browns and their two talented young rookies, as noted above. It's bad enough that this defense gave up 427 yards of total offense. It was made worse by the fact that it was the Browns of all teams and the fact that Baker Mayfield was nearly perfect on the afternoon. Without a defense, these Falcons aren’t going to make noise in the postseason. And with a record of 4-5, a playoff berth might not even be there anyway.

Best:
Drew Brees, Quarterback New Orleans Saints
One week after handing the Rams their first loss of the season, new Orleans looked to keep on rolling along. There was some thought that this might be a bit of a letdown game, because of how big the win last week was. Well there wasn't much of a letdown, as the Saints hung 51 points on the Bengals. Drew Brees kept things rolling along and added another notch to his Hall of fame resume. Brees went 22 of 25 for 265 yards and three touchdowns and scored once more on the ground. With the three passing scores, the future Hall of Famer passed legend Brett Favre on the all-time touchdown passes list to move into second place behind only Peyton Manning. Now that he has 509 career touchdowns in his back pocket, Manning’s mark of 539 doesn’t seem out of reach. Congrats to Brees for adding another mark to his legacy

Worst:
Ryan Fitzpatrick Quarterback Tampa Bay Buccaneers
As bad as this guy was on Sunday, it should in no way, shape or form be a reason to go back to Jameis Winston, who's been worst than Fitzy. Sticking with Fitzpatrick the rest of the season would be the smartest move the Bucs make all year at the QB position. Now, with that being said, Fitzpatrick looked horrible on Sunday as the Bucs fell 16-3 to the Redskins. Fitzpatrick threw for over 400 yards, in fact it was 406 in total. But it was on 29 completions on 41 attempts. He couldn't throw a touchdown and was picked off twice. Tampa turned the ball over four times and Fitz was responsable for three of them. Plus they couldn't get it done when it mattered most in the Red Zone. Tampa is shooting itself in the foot with these kind of mistakes.

Best & Worst Of NFL Week Nine

Nine weeks are down in the NFL Season and a lot went down this past weekend. There was a lot to talk about this weekend too. Sure there were some bad games, like the one in Miami, but that was more than made up for by the performances in both New Orleans and New England. Julio Jones still does know how to get back into the end zone, the Rams are in fact human after all, San Francisco may have something under center and the Chargers are getting their footing underneath them. Lets get right into it. Here's the best and worst from week nine in the National Football League.

Best:
New Orleans Saints Offense
The New Orleans Saints have done it. They are the first team to knock off the Los Angeles Rams this season. It what was, beyond a shadow of a doubt game of the week and possibly an NFC Championship game preview, the Saints pulled out a 45-35 win. The Saints offense was effective on another level this week, going five for five on trips to the red zone. Their three biggest weapons acted like it in this win. Brees threw for 350 yards and four touchdowns. Alvin Kamara had three touchdowns on his own, rushed for 82 yards and had another 34 receiving yards. Then there was Michael Thomas who had 10 catches for 211 yards on the day. This game could go a long way to possibly setting up home field advantage for the playoffs and if the Saints play at the Superdome all the way through the post season, they're really going to be hard to beat.

Worst:
New York Jets Offense
This game was embarrassing to watch. Miami beat the Jets 13-6, with both teams playing horrible football. The only touchdown in this game came from a pick six thrown by Sam Darnold, who had his worst start as a pro against Miami. Darnold has seemed to really regress the last three weeks, throwing just two touchdowns and SEVEN picks. He's thrown 14 picks on the year now, which is the most in the NFL. Center Spencer Long was bad at snapping the ball to Darnold and shouldn't have been in the game for as long has he was. I know he had a broken middle finger, which could be a reason why the snaps were bad. But if he was hurt like that then why was he even playing? No run game, no pass game, the offense for the Jets was just a dumpster fire on Sunday.

Best:
Nick Mullens, Quarterback San Francisco 49ers
Talk about a good way to welcome yourself into the league. San Francisco put a pounding on Oakland on Thursday night, to the tune of a 34-3 victory. Nick Mullens was given the chance to start for the 49ers and he took full advantage of it. He finished the night going 16 of 22 for 262 yards and three touchdown passes. Nobody had ever heard of the guy before the start of action Thursday night and then he goes out there and launches three TD passes against Oakland. Now I know the Raiders are a bad team this year but still that's pretty impressive. Three TD passes and a win in your first NFL start. Not bad at all. Looks like Mullens maybe the starter the rest of the way for the Niners.

Worst:
Russel Wilson, Quarterback Seattle Seahawks
In what was a very close game on Sunday between the Seahawks and Chargers, it came down to one mistake could cost you the game. That's what happened for Seattle. it was the only turnover in the Chargers 25-17 win over the Seahawks and it was Seattle QB Russel Wilson who made the mistake. Seattle had the ball trailing 19-10 midway through the fourth quarter. After a couple of successful runs to set up first down at their own 36-yard line, Wilson committed a rookie mistake, staring down his first read and throwing to a predetermined spot. Desmond King read Wilson like an open book, pounced in front of the pass and took it to the house for six points. Seattle did turn things around and score on their next drive to get right back into the game, but had a couple of dropped passes late that sealed the win for the Chargers. Wilson's misread of the defense on that one bad pass cost Seattle a chance at a victory.

Best:
Norv Turner, Offensive Coordinator Carolina Panthers
Turner came in this past offseason to take over and Carolina seems to have turned it around. They pulled off a dominating 43-28 win over the Bucs. Turner has done wonders for Carolina, having found ways to get the ball into the hands of the Panthers playmakers. Christian McCaffrey had himself a day as he racked up 157 yards and two touchdowns. Greg Olsen is involved heavily again as well, having six catches for 76 yards and a touchdown. Cam Newton threw for 247 yards and two touchdowns. Granted, this was the Bucs. But the past two weekends we’ve seen Carolina drop a combined 78 points on Baltimore and Tampa Bay. That’s going to win some games. Carolina looks like they're on the right track on offense the way Norv's got them going at the moment.

Worst:
Dirk Kotter, Head Coach Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Talk about a team going into a tailspin. The Bucs now sit at 3-5 following a 43-28 loss to to the Panthers. He benched his franchise QB after last week's disaster, got rid of his offensive coordinator, that hasn't worked. He even tried to go for a fake punt on the Tampa 26 yard line during the game, which ended in disaster. Nothing seems to be going right for the Bucs at the moment. Turnovers are still a big issue for Tampa Bay, as the Bucs committed two more on Sunday and didn’t force any by Carolina. Tampa has the worst turnover margin in the league at a horrible minus-15. Koetter looks more and more like a head coach whose job is in danger. The way things are going, he won't be around at the end of the year in Tampa, as the Bucs need to get it together to save their coaches job.

Best:
James Conner, Running Back Pittsburgh Steelers
There had been some thoughts as to whether or not the Steelers could make it without Le'Von Bell in their lineup. Well James Conner is proving more and more that he's more than capable of picking up the slack. Pittsburgh walked away with a 23-16 win over the Ravens and Conner was one of the main reasons for that. Conner picked up 107 yards on 24 carries, and wasn't done there, hauling in seven passes for 56 yards. The running back also hauled in a touchdown reception, earning a place in franchise history as the fastest Steelers player to reach 10 career touchdowns. Conner is showing the rest of the league what he already knows, that he's a great back and is worth getting all the touches he's been getting. He's good. Really good.

Worst:
Adrian Peterson Running Back Washington Redskins
When the Redskins are going, Adrian Peterson is usually the reason for it. Just look at the last three games for the Skins. All wins for Washington and Peterson piled up 360 yards and two touchdowns. They went up against Atlanta, a team that's one of the worst rushing defenses in all of the league. This week, in their 38-14 win over the Redskins, they held the Washington run game in check. Peterson was a ghost on Sunday, gaining a total of 33 yards on 12 touches and was a non-factor. It's tough to watch at times a guy who was considered one of the premier backs in all of football. If Washington wants to have any hope of staying on top in the division, AP needs to get his game back together again.

Gold Gloves Awarded

Its that time of the year for Baseball. Award season is here and it starts with handing out a lot of gold. The Gold Glove awards were handed out on Tuesday. By definition, the award given annually to the Major League Baseball players judged to have exhibited superior individual fielding performances at each fielding position in both leagues, as voted by the managers and coaches in each league. Some names that will pop up sound familiar to fans, while others are on this list for the first time. Here's who walked away with the hardware.

American League:
Catcher: Salvador Perez, Royals (5th)
1st Base: Matt Olson, Athletics (1st)
2nd Base: Ian Kinsler, Angels/Red Sox (2nd)
Shortstop: Andrelton Simmons, Angels (4th)
3rd Base: Matt Chapman, Athletics (1st)
Left Field: Alex Gordon, Royals (6th)
Center Field: Jackie Bradley Jr. (1st)
Right Field: Mookie Betts, Red Sox (3rd)
Pitcher: Dallas Keuchel, Astros (4th)

Like we said, a few new faces showing up on this list. Matt Olsen and Matt Chapman coming out from Oakland at the Hot Corners snag the first of their careers. Olsen had 14 defensive runs saved and had himself a very solid year in his first full season in the Majors. He was so good he beat out Mitch Morleand and Justin Smoak for the award. And when you beat out Alex Bregman and Jose Ramirez for the gold glove at third base, you'd better have had a good year. Matt Chapman did that, with not only 29 defensive runs saved but he made highlight reel plays on almost every single night. Other then that, none of the winners in the gold glove department come as a surprise in the AL.

National League:
Catcher: Yadier Molina, Cardinals (9th)
1st Base: Anthony Rizzo, Cubs (2nd) and Freddie Freeman, Braves (1st)
2nd Base: DJ LeMahieu, Rockies (3rd)
Shortstop: Nick Ahmed, Diamondbacks (1st)
3rd Base: Nolan Arenado, Rockies (6th)
Left Field: Corey Dickerson, Pirates (1st)
Center Field: Ender Inciarte, Braves (3rd)
Right Field: Nick Markakis, Braves (3rd)
Pitcher: Zack Greinke, Diamondbacks (5th)

A little surprised to see a tie in the National League for the gold glove. First base saw a tie between Rizzo and Freeman, the fourth time ever we've had a tie for a gold glove. Both guys were stellar at first base with bats in their hands and played a solid all around game on defense, which is why they snatched the hardware. Nick Ahmed and Corey Dickerson were the only first time winners in the NL. Ahmed tied Simmonds with 21 defensive runs saved at shortstop, the most in the majors for that position. With Dickerson in left field for the Pirates, he was able to get to baseballs that a lot of other players weren't really able to get to. he was playing the position at a level that was slightly above the rest, which is why he grabbed the award in Left.

So what do you think, did they get it right?

Meet The Mets New GM

Things might start to be on the up and up for the New York Mets. At least that's what it looks like on paper right now. In a press conference on Tuesday, the Mets introduced Brodie van Wagenen as the 13th in the history of the club. Van Wagenen comes from the world of baseball agent to the world of baseball general manager. It's a demanding and high pressure job in one of the most demanding sports markets in all the world.

Brodie does have a ;little bit of baseball experience. He played baseball at Stanford in 1993 and 1994 and graduated with a bachelor's degree in communication in 1996. His biggest claim to fame in the business as a baseball agent was getting the sparkling $75 million contract for Yoenis Cespedes that the Mets signed him to.== Oh yeah, he also made Robinson Cano the second ever $200 million man when Cano signed with the Mariners a few years back. He has a working knowledge of baseball, and the market with which the players run on. But this is where it gets interesting.

I'm sure that Brodie can get the job done, but it does feel odd seeing him hired to run this baseball team. He's coming from the world of sports agent, his former company being responsible for representing Jacob deGrom, Noah Syndeergard and Yoenis Cespeds, among others. This leads to a point of contention for Van Wagenen in his new role. You see, as an agent, Brodie’s chief concern was maximizing his client’s worth and making them as much money as they can get on the market. Now, as a GM, he must find a way to make the player happy and also do what’s financially best for the organization.

It puts him in a unique position. I'm hoping his knowledge and experience as an agent can give him a different insight into running a team as a GM. He knows what the players are looking for when they go into negotiations and free agency and what not. I think that might give him a step up as to what to do when it comes to the table. At the same time it can be a down side because he's never had the experience of running a baseball team from a management position. I'm sure that having Omar Minaya as one of his senior advisors will be a big help.

Van Wagenen has shown he's been able to get the big players the big bucks. If the Mets ever open up the wallets and get the cash to actually spend on players and build a solid team, he could be a good guy to lead the charge in the front office. Will this actually work? Stay Tuned!