NFL Wild Card PFF ReFocused: Minnesota Vikings 26, New Orleans Saints 20

https://www.pff.com/news/nfl-wild-card-pff-refocused-minnesota-vikings-26-new-orleans-saints-20

In what was supposed to be a shootout on paper, it was defense that triumphed for the Minnesota Vikings, pulling a huge upset by defeating the New Orleans Saints 26-20 in the Superdome. Despite losing all of their slot cornerbacks heading into this game, the Vikings limited the effectiveness of arguably the best slot weapon in the NFL (Michael Thomas), who saw only eight targets all game despite being covered largely by safeties and linebackers. Overall, Minnesota limited the entirety of the Saints offense outside of Taysom Hill, who was the only player to consistently make plays for New Orleans all game. Hill accounted for 125 of the Saints’ 324 yards and one of their two touchdowns on offense. By contrast, Drew Brees had his third consecutive iffy game, but the first one that actually looked as much from the raw numbers. Hill had the longest pass of the game, and Brees’ interception to Harris was a real turning point of the game.

Vikings receiver Adam Thielen has been a significant absence for most of the season, but he dug the team a huge hole early in the game only to redeem himself in overtime. Thielen fumbled the ball on the opening drive after the Vikings won the toss and unusually elected to take the ball. He also was flagged for a holding penalty that erased a first down run by Dalvin Cook and had a key drop in the first half, but it was his impressive catch over Patrick Robinson in overtime that brought Minnesota down to the goal line where they were able to convert.

The Vikings did an excellent job against the New Orleans offense for the most part, but consistent conservatism almost cost them. Just before the half, down by seven, they elected to kick a field goal when their second down run lost yardage only to be rewarded with an interception by All-Pro snub Anthony Harris snagging an interception as the Saints tried to take advantage. Late in the fourth quarter, they again went hyper-conservative and gave the Saints the window to tie it up and force overtime.

The Vikings now play the San Francisco 49ers, a team that can’t have been expecting to meet Minnesota in the playoffs. They have shown that they have the capability of creating a defensive gameplan to match any offense in the NFL, but they need to team it with an in-game process that underpins rather than undermines that gameplan with its decision making to progress deep into the playoffs. For the Saints, they again head into an offseason where the Brees succession plan will loom large and raise questions about whether they can have one last run at a Lombardi Trophy, just like last year, and the year before that.

Jason Peters said he spoke to Jadeveon Clowney after his hit on Carson Wentz. Told him it was a “dirty hit.” Said Clowney said my bad, but that’s about it. #Eagles

— Jeff McLane (@Jeff_McLane) January 6, 2020

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Kevin McFarlane@KMcFarlane10
He was being blitzed got outside the pocket then the guy from behind started tackling him and Clowney jumped on top of him head first. What are you looking at? When was he running past the line of scrimmage at any point?

Tony Dungy@TonyDungy
Doesn’t matter. He is out of the pocket and not in a throwing motion. He’s running toward the goal line so in the officials’ terminology he is now a “runner” until he starts to slide. Which he never did. So he only has the protection that any ball carrier would have.

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Zach Ertz played through two rib fractures, a rib cartilage fracture and a kidney injury, he revealed. pic.twitter.com/JY5ppv0JFC

— Tim McManus (@Tim_McManus) January 6, 2020

One of these quarterbacks is fragile. #LARams #Eagles pic.twitter.com/tdyPmy3sZo

— 𝕽𝖆𝖒𝖍𝖊𝖆𝖗𝖙 (@WillramWallace) January 5, 2020

Adam Caplan@caplannfl
Josh McCown remains in at QB.

McCown played with Emmitt Smith.

Emmitt Smith has been in the Hall of Fame for a decade.

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Let Josh Cook.pic.twitter.com/u8IRiBc0B9

— PFF (@PFF) January 5, 2020

Eagles trying to overcome:

No QB1
No WR1
No WR2
No WR3
No RB1
No RT1
No RG1
TE1 playing w lacerated kidney

And that's just on offense

— Warren Sharp (@SharpFootball) January 5, 2020

Adam Schefter@AdamSchefter
Saints are now the first team in NFL history to have six straight playoff eliminations by one score and the second team since the Packers from 2013-15 to be eliminated in three straight postseasons on the final play of the game.

Geoff Schwartz@geoffschwartz
Saints up 10-6. Then Brees foolishly throws that INT into double coverage. Since then it’s been all Vikings.

Steve Wyche@wyche89
Vikings needed that TD drive. Now a two-possession game at 20-10. It is so quiet in the Superdome right now I can actually have a conversation with the folks next to me.

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Kirk Cousins heating up, Vikings go up 20-10 in third quarter https://t.co/WPEjrsFpbS

— ProFootballTalk (@ProFootballTalk) January 5, 2020

Trump’s advisers have maintained that they were operating on credible intelligence showing that Soleimani was involved in imminent plans to attack U.S. interests in a handful of countries. They have not detailed that intelligence, and Democratic lawmakers, among others, have raised questions about its veracity.

Even if it were true, why would killing Soleimani prevent or mitigate these alleged attacks?

…

Trump’s Biggest Fox News Boosters Suddenly Stop Railing Against ‘Deep State’ Intelligence

https://www.yahoo.com/news/trump-biggest-fox-news-boosters-234154938.html

Suddenly, it appears the U.S. intelligence community is back in good standing over at Fox News.

Since Trump’s election, an inescapably common refrain of the president and his biggest boosters in conservative media has been to rail against the “deep state.” The Russian election interference probe, they’ve repeatedly said, was nothing more than a coup or disinformation campaign perpetrated by the anti-Trump intelligence community.

Over the past 24 hours, however, incessant Fox griping over “deep state” suddenly went quiet, replaced by sober pleas that—when it comes to the info allegedly justifying Trump’s ordered airstrike killing Iran’s top general Qassem Soleimani—the U.S. intelligence community’s findings should be heeded and taken seriously as unimpeachably correct information.

Immediately after the Pentagon confirmed U.S. responsibility for the strike, claiming it “was aimed at deterring future Iranian attack plans,” Fox News host Sean Hannity—perhaps the most well-known “deep state” critic in media—heaped praise upon the intelligence community.

“The ability of the military, our intelligence community, the State Department, and the president making the call, very quickly, you know, understood that the Iranian forces on the ground bore a direct threat to the American people,” said Hannity, calling into his own show on Thursday night. “Once the intelligence was confirmed, once the understanding that they were there to sow the discord and discontent, the president acted as quickly as possible, taking out this top general.”

“But I will say the big headline is, this is a huge victory for American intelligence, a huge victory for our military, a huge victory for the State Department, and a huge victory and total leadership by the president,” the primetime host, who has spent more than two years and countless on-air segments railing against shadowy “deep state” intelligence, concluded.

By Friday morning, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo went even further than the Pentagon, saying that it was necessary to take out Soleimani as it disrupted an “imminent attack,” adding that “the risk doing nothing was enormous” and the “intelligence community made that assessment and President Trump acted decisively last night.”

Following Pompeo’s assertions, Fox & Friends co-host Brian Kilmeade—who last month chastised a Daily Beast writer for not asking Lisa Page about a deep-state conspiracy theory—openly defended and applauded the intelligence community.

After Fox News star Geraldo Rivera sarcastically noted the “U.S. intelligence has been excellent since 2003 when we invaded Iraq, disrupted the entire region, for no real reason,” he told Kilmeade not to “start cheering this on” while claiming his colleague “never met a war you didn’t like.”

“I will cheer it on. I am elated,” Kilmeade exclaimed, adding that it’s “not true” that he loves war.

During a later appearance on Fox News’ The Daily Briefing, host Dana Perino—a former Bush White House press secretary—repeatedly claimed an attack was “imminent,” asking Kilmeade what the consequences would have been if Trump didn’t act.

“What everyone is missing, it’s not our choice,” the Fox & Friends host replied. “These things are happening. It’s how we react to what is happening.”

Kilmeade—no longer skeptical of intelligence officials—also insisted that the president didn’t need to brief Congress before killing the Iranian leader because he needed to act quickly due to the information obtained.

“But if you want him to get congressional approval over a strike that is time sensitive when an attack is imminent and he landed at the airport? Are you kidding me?” Kilmeade huffed.

During Friday’s broadcast of Fox Business Network’s Varney and Co., anchor Stuart Varney also seemed a bit amnesiac over his previous missives against the intelligence community. Despite claiming in the past that the “deep state” was trying to undermine Trump’s presidency, the pro-Trump host credulously touted Pompeo’s “imminent attack” claim throughout his show.

“That’s what Mike Pompeo, Secretary of State, told Fox News earlier this morning, that there was an imminent attack and the president ordered the killing to stop that imminent attack,” Varney proclaimed at one point. “Good cause to do it.”

In a later segment, Fox & Friends Weekend host and unofficial Trump adviser Pete Hegseth—who once noted that the “American people didn’t vote for the Deep State”—also found newfound praise for the intel community, adding that Trump likely waited until the “intelligence lined up.”

A Fox News guest, however, seemed to reveal one of the biggest self-contradictions.

Former Trump adviser Christian Whiton lamented Friday on Fox News’ Outnumbered Overtime that it is “really sad” that Democrats “aren’t willing to give our president and our military the benefit of the doubt in a crisis.”

A few weeks ago, though, Whiton gave no such benefit of the doubt to a member of both the military and intelligence community. During an interview with Fox Business host Lou Dobbs, Whiton called former National Security Council member and impeachment witness Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman a “deep state crybaby” who “poured himself into an Army outfit to go and frankly speak contemptuous things against the commander-in-chief.”

Credit the @Titans for going up to Foxboro and winning. And the run game was huge no doubt-but the QB @ryantannehill1 made a big throw in a massive moment 👇🏼👇🏼. @PaulKuharskyNFL @ClayTravis @jwyattsports @TDavenport_NFL @ESPNNFL pic.twitter.com/gQ6Nh1s0h3

— Dan Orlovsky (@danorlovsky7) January 5, 2020

NFL Wild Card PFF ReFocused: Tennessee Titans 20, New England Patriots 13

https://www.pff.com/news/nfl-wild-card-pff-refocused-tennessee-titans-20-new-england-patriots-13

In what may have been quarterback Tom Brady’s last hurrah with the New England Patriots, it was the Tennessee Titans playing old school football and an inept New England passing game that has the Titans moving on to play in the Divisional Round of the 2019 NFL playoffs. The Titans played the ball control game with running back Derrick Henry and his 182 yards (138 after contact) on 34 carries, but this came down to the Patriots’ inability to move the ball through the air against the Tennessee defense. The Titans made a crucial goal-line stop in the second quarter, highlighted by linebacker Rashaan Evans making two defensive stops, and that was the last of the New England scoring for the night. New England finished with a paltry -0.6 EPA/play on nine third-and-short plays.

Patriots receivers caught just seven of 19 targets, including two dropped passes, in a microcosm of their offensive woes this season. While Henry certainly had a standout game, the Titans’ offense only put up 14 points in New England, and that should have been enough for the Patriots to survive the Wild Card Round. Instead, Brady and the passing attack were unable to string drives together despite his facing pressure on just 13.5% of dropbacks, a season-low.

For Tennesee, quarterback Ryan Tannehill didn’t live up to his No. 1 PFF grade status coming into the game, as he had two turnover-worthy plays (errant interception and dropped fumble that took the Titans out of field goal range), but he came through with two key third-down conversions on a zone-read keeper and a deep out. Tannehill finished just 2-for-6 on throws of 10-plus yards, and rookie phenom A.J. Brown caught just one pass for four yards on his only target.

Tennessee relied on Henry early and often. The 6-foot-3, 238-pounder gashed the Patriots’ front-seven in the first half behind strong run blocking from the offensive line, as it was an all-around effort to produce the Titans’ 201 yards on 40 carries. The Titans’ defensive backfield got standout performances from cornerbacks Tramaine Brock (2-for-9 when targeted, two pass breakups) and the returning Adoree Jackson (1-for-4, one pass breakup). For New England, the defense gave Henry much more attention in the second half and it kept the Patriots in the game, but they were unable to make the big stops down the stretch and the entire front-seven sans Dont’a Hightower got dominated in the trenches.

The Titans look ahead to a trip to Baltimore against the No. 1 seeded Baltimore Ravens, where they’ll need more than just a rushing attack to earn the upset against the best team in the AFC. In New England, it’s the start of an offseason with the biggest question marks since head coach Bill Belichick’s arrival in 2000, as Brady, offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels and others may be out the door in the coming months.

Tony Dungy@TonyDungy
Tennessee goal line stand to hold New England to a FG at the end of the first half was the biggest sequence of the game. Hard to believe the Patriots would not score a point in the second half.

trey wingo@wingoz
Potentially Tom Brady’s last pass as Patriot.. is a pick six to end their season.

Bill Barnwell@billbarnwell
I think it’s time to say it: the Patriots need to put Drew Bledsoe back in at quarterback

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TITANS PICK SIX!

(via @NFL)pic.twitter.com/x3Y6pybSj6

— NFL on ESPN (@ESPNNFL) January 5, 2020

All Derrick Henry.

75 yards for @KingHenry_2 on that 75-yard TD drive! #Titans

📺: #TENvsNE on CBS
📱: NFL app // Yahoo Sports app
Watch free on mobile: https://t.co/EF5fHZbZSf pic.twitter.com/rYbNn1Fl8c

— NFL (@NFL) January 5, 2020