By Brandon Simmons
Daniel Jones Released
In the wake of Daniel Jones getting benched, the signal caller will now have to find a new sideline to roam. Last week, the former first round pick of the New York Giants was granted a request for release after losing his starting job. Jones was benched during the Giants bye week, following the team’s overtime loss to the Carolina Panthers. The move drew plenty of eyes as Jones moved so far down the depth chart that he was on the scout team in one practice as a safety. Soon after that, Jones requested a release from the team and was put on waivers.
The Giants releasing Daniel Jones to a tenure that resulted in an unfulfilled promise. Jones was supposed to be the heir apparent to Eli Manning. Instead, the Giants got a quarterback that cost them wins, a fanbase and one of the greatest running backs of this era. Jones had a rocky start, going though different head coaches and offensive coordinators. It wasn’t until Brian Daboll came along that Jones started to really see some success with career highs in passing yards, quarterback rating, and at the time, completion percentage. It also helped it was his first full season as a starter, in addition to him playing his first postseason and getting his first career playoff win. This led him to signing a 4 year $140 million extension, but things went downhill after that. Jones struggled the following season and had it cut short due to injury.
Daniel Jones cleared waivers and is eager to move on to the next chapter of his career and so should the Giants. At this time, his main demand is that the next team he joins be a playoff contender, a list that includes the San Francisco 49ers, Minnesota Vikings, Baltimore Ravens, Miami Dolphins and Detroit Lions. The Niners could really use some help at the QB position while Brock Purdy is hurt; the Ravens would be ideal for Jones to learn how to tap into his dual threat abilities; the Dolphins and Vikings would serve as a place where Jones could rebuild his confidence. In his 6th season, Jones’ career is far from over, and he might not have reached into his full potential yet. Hell, even his teammates have been vocal about him being released, claiming it’s unfair that he Is taking the blame. However, Jones has just not proven to be a good fit for this team after all these years and now both parties can find themselves in the best fit for them.
NFL on Christmas
The NFL will be holding 2 games this year on Christmas and looking to make it the norm going forward. The first matchup will be the Kansas City Chiefs hosting the Los Angeles Chargers, while the 2nd game is the Houston Texans hosting the Baltimore Ravens, a game that will feature a Beyonce performance at halftime. It’s not unlike the league to have a game on Christmas Day but it’s usually on a day where games are normally played such as Sunday or Monday. This year the games will be played on Netflix.
Christmas NFL games can be a real thing with a few things that stand in their way. NFL on Christmas would be a welcome from the norm of watching the NBA all day and the opportunity to start a new tradition. People are largely excited about football from the top of September and generally through November, depending on their team. Why not keep it going and enhance it? Also, in the event the better NBA matchup isn’t on yet, the viewer can be occupied with football. Speaking of the NBA and unfavorable games, a lot of their stars such as Lebron James, Steph Curry and Kevin Durant are in the twilight of their careers and could be headed out soon. So it would be wise for the league to jump on the opportunity to be visible when they have the chance. Now, there are obstacles that do exist for this to happen. Just like the NBA could be facing a star problem, that could potentially happen to the NFL due to the nature of football. Any season runs the risk of seeing a star get hurt for long amounts of time, which will throw a backup in that spot and make a game become severely one-sided. Just look at how people have reacted to the Week 13 game between the Dallas Cowboys and New York Giants, which will showcase Cowboys QB Cooper Rush and Giants QB Tommy Davito. That’s just the Thanksgiving game, but imagine of this was scheduled on Christmas, which is usually the time a lot of teams’ fates are already sealed. Let’s also not gloss over this game is being shown on Netflix, who had an issue with their stream during the Jake Paul vs. Mike Tyson fight. That simply can not fly when you have a major product like the NFL and an even greater product like Beyonce
This year’s NFL Christmas game is nothing more than an experiment. They’re playing the game on an off-NFL day and can have the opportunity to keep this going, if done right and avoiding a few holiday hiccups.
Benching works?
Carolina Panthers and Indianapolis Colts were having issues with their young quarterbacks, so they benched them, and maybe it helped. The Panthers sat down Bryce Young earlier this season and the Colts did the same with Anthony Richardson a few weeks ago, both because of their play. However, both QB’s have come back a little bit better. Richardson’s first game back, he threw 20 of 30 for 272 yards and ran for the game winning touchdown. For Young’s return, he has went 2-2 in those 4 games throwing for 5 touchdowns, 3 picks and completing 60% of his passes.
The recent moves done by both teams seemed to have been a positive impact on both players, especially Young. He has been able to lead his his teams to close wins and almost beat the Kansas City Chiefs this past Sunday, a game un which he threw for 263 yards and a touchdown. His performance drew praise from his teammate, Panthers wide receiver Xavier Legette, who was excited about his postgame speech. It seems that Young having to sit down and reflect on things really unlocked a leadership trait within him. He has the talent but this setback quire possibly lit a fire under him to transfer to the field. In due time, it will probably come for Richardson as well, whonis just as talented and need a little guidance still.
Benching a young quarterback doesn’t have to indicate failure all the time; sometimes it’s just part of the development. Earlier this season there was a debate on whether rookie QB’s were getting properly developed by getting thrown in the starting lineup too soon. The greatest example of a rookie QB having a “redshirt” year is Patrick Mahomes. The Kansas City Chiefs QB was drafted in the first round but did not get the starting job until his 2nd season. Since then, he’s won multiple Super Bowls and never missed a conference championship. Benching a young QB isn’t the end of the world, but starting them before they’re ready isn’t going to be the beginning of a fairy tale career either, no matter how talented they are when drafted.
Shoutouts/Shutouts
Shout out to Philadelphia Eagles Saquon Barkley for achieving the single game rushing record for Philly. Sunday, the Eagles running back ran for 255 yards and 2 touchdowns. It was the single most rushing yards in Eagles history and 9th most ever in a game.
Shut out to the Los Angeles teams losing on back to back primetime games. The Rams lost to the Eagles in Sunday Night Football while the Chargers lost to the Baltimore Ravens on Monday Night Football, both at SoFi stadium. Even worse, it was the weekend that Kendrick Lamar dropped his new album and stirred up some more controversy, but that’s another story.
Week 13 brings us the holiday games but you can kind of by pass those for some more filling matchups. The Buffalo Bills will host the San Francisco 49ers Sunday night. Niners may or may not have QB Brock Purdy in this game so it could either get out of hand or they might put up a fight. The game of the week will be that afternoon when the Baltimore Ravens host the Philadelphia Eagles. Both times are coming off strong primetime performances and are expecting their star QB’s to terrify the opposibg defenses. But until then…I’ll holla.
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