@SenorBeef said it best when he posted “We might have the game of the year in week 1”. The Bills/Ravens SNF game was extremely wild and featured a most improbable comeback. It’s going to be hard to top that game for pure entertainment. Elsewhere, the Eagles opened their championship defense with a narrow victory over the Cowboys; the Chargers got a huge divisional win in Brazil over the Chiefs, the Packers totally dominated the Lions, and the Vikes came back to beat the Bears last night. If I counted right, there were 12 (out of 16) one-score games. The NFL does not disappoint.
This week, the Chiefs are in danger of starting 0-2 as they host the Eagles, the Pack host the Commanders on Thursday, and the Giants go to Dallas in an NFC East battle. There are two MNF games this week, for reasons known only to the NFL schedule makers.
Here are the lines, taken from ESPNBet on Tuesday the 9th at 9:00 am Central Time. KC is currently a home underdog, which is a rare occurrence in the Mahomes era.
Probably not. They have serious injuries but probably not serious enough for the Saints to be that much of a worry. Even a depleted 49ers isn’t a bad team.
49ers waived “kicker” Jake Moody. Dude wasn’t even good enough to be called inconsistent, he was unreliable at any distance (doinked a 27 yarder off the upright vs Seattle).
In less positive news, they put George Kittle on IR because his hamstring injury is expected to be 4-6 weeks. Oh, and they might even be forced to trot out Mac Jones in New Orleans because Brock Purdy got his toe stepped on.
He was pretty good as a rookie two years ago, after being drafted in the third round (84% on field goals, 60-of-61 on XPs). He missed three games with a sprained ankle last year, and when he came back, he was suddenly inaccurate, an issue which extended into this year.
Speaking as a kicking-game nerd: there are 32 NFL teams, but in any given season, there are only around 25 to 28 kickers who are kicking at NFL caliber, which these days is generally defined as: being 80+% on field goals, 90+% on field goals under 50 yards, and close to perfect on XPs. A team which discovers that their kicker suddenly can’t meet those criteria may wind up with a revolving door at the position until they find somebody.
Yeah, when you’re making decisions around the fact that you can’t really trust your kicker to make what should be nearly automatic kicks for most NFL kickers, that person has to go. They made the right move.
Yup. They’re apparently looking at journeyman Greg Joseph, who they had in training camp to compete with Moody.
Another possibility, raised in this CBS Sports article, is to limp along with someone until Justin Tucker finishes his 10-game suspension in November; it’s pretty much what the Packers last year, when they brought in Brandon McManus (who had been accused of sexual assault) mid-season, after a year-plus of poor kicking from Anders Carlson and Brayden Narveson.
People may absolutely loathe someone like Justin Tucker, but if he’s still good, he’ll play somewhere. That’s just how the NFL is. It’s not like he’s going to be the face of the franchise.
They’ll need a placeholder until then of course. (Placekicker? Wait, they’re all placekickers.)
I can’t imagine they’d go with Tucker. I don’t think the 49ers are any more noble than any other franchise, but they still have to answer to their fan base, and Bay Area fans would go apeshit if Tucker was brought on.
Also, while probably still kicking at an NFL level, his last season was his career worst as a kicker at 73.3% on field goals, missing 2 of those from within 50 and missing 2 PATs, though did largely return to form in the back half of the season (cynics may say Baltimore didn’t fight for him too hard due to his performance, given how much they defended other scumbags in the past).
Morals aside, there’s a legitimate question of whether it was an anomaly or if he’s in decline and by how much. No doubt some desperate team will try out the most accurate kicker in NFL history, but he’s no sure thing, either.
If I was to guess, the 49ers are going to find someone who is fine, they’ll stick with him, and that’ll be the end of it. I doubt they need to plan on grabbing Tucker months from now. They’ll figure it out before that.
I am definitely not a San Francisco fan (I’m a Seattle fan so I’m obligated to hate them) but they are not a dysfunctional organization. They have their crap together. They have terrible luck with injuries and some of their biggest stars are getting older, but they’re a solid franchise.