NFL
CAREER RECORD: New Orleans Saints running back Alvin Kamara sets a new record after 11th 100-yard rushing game of career
CAREER RECORD: New Orleans Saints running back Alvin Kamara sets a new record after 11th 100-yard rushing game of career in loss to Rams
This is always easier in victory than defeat, so it was much smoother sailing after the New Orleans Saints won two straight than it is after Sunday’s 21-14 loss to the Rams in the Caesars Superdome.
But there are some players who earned callouts:
OFFENSE: Running back Alvin Kamara inched closer to his first 1,000-yard rushing season Sunday with 112 yards on 23 carries. It was the 11th 100-yard rushing game of his career and it almost included a 12-yard touchdown catch; unfortunately, left tackle Taliese Fuaga was penalized for ineligible downfield. Kamara ran for 80 yards on 12 carries in the first half, so the Rams tightened up in the last two quarters but he’s now at 894 rushing yards this season and leads the team in rushing and receiving yards.
DEFENSE: You don’t hear defensive tackle Nathan Shepherd’s name much and frankly there’s not much good to say when the unit allowed Rams touchdowns on all three red zone trips. But Shepherd posted his first full sack of the season (he entered the game with a half-sack) and was credited with a tackle for loss and quarterback hit. The sack was a reward for Shepherd’s relentlessness on the play.
SPECIAL TEAMS: It’s much easier to zero in on the negative than the positive in a loss, so Blake Grupe’s missed 36-yard field goal attempt (wide left) stands out in a one-possession game. But Grupe made a couple of 54-yarders – he has made all five attempts from 50-plus yards this season – and he’s 20-for-22 this season. Don’t like a miss from 36 yards, but a couple of 54s is noteworthy.
NFL
” We don’t……….Cameron Jordan react to last-second Rams loss in six words
” We don’t……….Cameron Jordan react to last-second Rams loss in six words
There’s a lot you could say about the New Orleans Saints’ loss tot he Los Angeles Rams last week. It was another missed opportunity to right the ship and salvage a season some would say has already been lost. It was a waste of a great effort by Cameron Jordan and the defense, who pitched a rare shutout in the first half.
It was something of a disaster as star playmakers like Taysom Hill went down with season-ending injuries. And there were elements of encouragement when backup wide receivers like Marquez Valdes-Scantling, Kevin Austin Jr., and Dante Pettis came through in clutch moments.
But Jordan needed just one six-letter word to describe the mood in the locker room after players walked off the field, having taken a 21-14 loss after leading for most of three quarters.
“Pissed,” Jordan told reporters after the game. “We let one get away. We don’t have enough time to let one get away.”
He’s not wrong. The Saints are barely holding on as the NFC playoff picture gets painted without them. They’re 4-8 and even playing in a weak division won’t be enough to squeeze them in for January’s playoff tournament. They can’t afford to lose any more ground.
Jordan, specifically, is someone running out of time. The longest-tenured player in New Orleans is facing a decision on retirement this offseason with just one year left on his contract; his workload has been reduced at times as the team has tried to rotate younger players into the lineup to try and find a spark. These next five games might be his last five games in a Saints uniform.
So letting an opportunity to beat a team that’s given them so much trouble over the years is frustrating. For the stakes to be as high as they are? Doubly so. Things might have gone differently if the offense could have ended more drives with points early on, or if protection had held up half a second longer on their final play from scrimmage — allowing Derek Carr to find an open man in the end zone right as Juwan Johnson stepped into a hole in the Rams’ coverage.
But that’s a whole lot of words to achieve the same result Jordan did in just one. The Saints don’t have time to harbor regrets or vent frustrations. All they can do now is focus on their next game and go to work.
NFL
BREAKING: Raiders, WR DJ Turner Dealt Massive Blow following………
BREAKING: Raiders, WR DJ Turner Dealt Massive Blow following………
The Las Vegas Raiders lose another player to injury as wide receiver DJ Turner is the latest victim.
The Las Vegas Raiders placed wide receiver DJ Turner on the injured list due to a knee injury. The Raiders dropped another key player to injury in less than two weeks when Gardner Minshew went down for the season with a collarbone injury.
The injury occurred in the third quarter of the Raiders-Chiefs game. After returning the football for 28 yards, Turner went down and went down hard. He needed help getting off of the field and did not return.
While there has been no clear message on the severity of the injury, Turner being placed on the IR rules him out until Week 18, right as the Raiders started to get a lot more production out of Turner.
Turner, so far on the season, had 158 yards in 16 receptions and 33 rushing yards in five carries. The talented, quick feet of Turner will be missed on the field. In return for the injury, the Raiders signed running back Sincere McCormick to the squad.
McCormick played for the Raiders during the Chiefs game, where he recorded 12 carries that went for 64 yards. A quick-footed McCormick will likely slide into Turner’s role during the course of the time he spends on the IR.
While the season seemed to fall apart early, the Raider’s main core going into the season has seemed to fall by the wayside. The Las Vegas Raiders, down another piece of the puzzle to injury, will need to turn their attention to their Week 14 opponents, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
NFL
“He isn’t nearly the same player he’s been in the past. New Orleans Saints to bench 8-time Pro Bowl team leader
“He isn’t nearly the same player he’s been in the past. New Orleans Saints to bench 8-time Pro Bowl team leader as playoff hopes slip away
The New Orleans Saints have had a roller coaster season to put it lightly.
After starting the 2024 campaign with two dominating performances where the offense put up over 44 points in back-to-back blowout wins and their defense held their opponents to less than 20 points, the Saints lost six of their next seven contests which resulted in massive decisions for the organization.
Head coach Dennis Allen was ultimately fired and replaced with special teams coordinator Darren Rizzi as the interim head coach.
The coaching change appeared to provide an instant spark, as the Saints immediately won their next two games with Rizzi leading the squad, but Sunday’s matchup with the Rams was the team’s last true chance to get back into the divisional race, and New Orleans couldn’t get it done.
Sitting at (4-8), New Orleans is 13th right now in the playoff seeding and their only realistic path to the postseason is through the division. Even with the Falcons and Bucs tied atop of the NFC South with just (6-6) records, the Saints have less than a one percent chance of making the postseason at this point. This Week 14 features the struggling Raiders going to Tampa to take on the Bucs, while the Falcons travel up to Minnesota to take on the Vikings. All three games with NFC South implications will be going on at the same time, but it would take a miracle for New Orleans to play in January o close out the 2024 season.
The Saints obviously have several major decisions to make this offseason about the future of the franchise. First and foremost, who will they hire as the next head coach? Rizzi has been mentioned as a potential candidate to take the full-time position and seems to have support from the locker room, but the roster could look very different in 2025 and there will be several qualified candidates in play.
The new coach will have to help make a decision on QB Derek Carr, who has played like a middle-of-the pack NFL starter since coming to New Orleans, looking great some weeks, and awful others.
But NFL writer Alex Ballentine of Bleacher Report believes the New Orleans Saints need to make a drastic decision right now to help their future, and it involves benching one of the biggest faces of the team for more than a decade and a key veteran defensive star that has cemented himself as a leader on the squad.
Ballentine suggests the Saints should bench 8-time Pro Bowl DE Cameron Jordan, who has been with the organization his entire NFL career since getting drafted in 2011.
“Jordan has had an excellent career with the Saints, but the 35-year-old isn’t nearly the same player he’s been in the past. The organization is likely headed toward a rebuild this offseason and won’t be in the playoffs this winter, so giving more reps to younger players like Payton Turner and Isaiah Foskey should be the focus moving forward.”
Ballentine makes a solid point, but a player like Jordan may command a different level of respect. While it’s probable he won’t be on the team in 2025, it will be interesting to see if the Saints actually bench him to give younger players a chance to get experience as they look toward the future.
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