Category: NFL

Marshawn Lynch out with a groin injury

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By Jeremy Kahn

There is one thing that the Oakland Raiders did not want to hear while on their bye week, an injury to one of their top players.

Unfortunately, that was the news that they received, as running back Marshawn Lynch will be lost to the team for at least a month with a groin injury.

An MRI revealed that Lynch, who is in his second season suffered the injury in their 27-3 loss to the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday at Wembley Stadium in London.

Raiders head coach Jon Gruden stated that there is a possibility that Lynch could end up going on injured reserve at some point if the injury does not get better.

This season in six games, Lynch is 4.2 yards a carry on 90 carries, while rushing for 376 yards with three touchdowns. In those six games, Lynch gained 84 yards through the air with 15 catches.

Of the four games that Lynch could miss, the first three are all in the Bay Area, as the Raiders return to the field on October 28 at the Coliseum against the Indianapolis Colts, four days later on November 1, the Raiders make their first ever appearance at Levi’s Stadium against the San Francisco 49ers then return to the Coliseum on November 11, as they host the Los Angeles Chargers and then head on the road for two games, beginning on November 18, when they travel to play the Arizona Cardinals at State Farm Stadium.

Raiders’ Marshawn Lynch to miss action with a groin injury

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By Joe Hawkes-Beamon
SRS Contributor

OAKLAND — Raiders’ starting running back Marshawn Lynch will miss some playing time due to a groin injury, per ESPN citing a source with knowledge of Lynch’s injury.

Lynch is expected to miss a month with the injury, but the team has been discussing placing the running back on injured reserve, per the source.

News of Lynch’s injury and expected time missed was first reported by NFL Network.

Lynch has rushed for a team-high 376 yards on 90 carries (4.2 yards per carry) and three touchdowns this season. He also has amassed 15 receptions for 84 yards

The Raiders have veteran running back Doug Martin and holdover Jalen Richard who will be counted on to pickup the slack in the ground game for Oakland in Lynch’s absence.

Martin is second on the Raiders with 99 yards on 27 carries (3.7 yards per carry), and Richard has rushed for just 32 yards on 11 carries (2.9 yards per carry) through the team’s first six games this season.

Richard is better suited to help in the passing game, where he’s second behind tight end Jared Cook (32 catches) for the team lead with 31 catches for 253 yards this season.

The Raiders (1-5) are on a bye week before hosting the visiting Indianapolis Colts (1-5) in Week 8 at the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum on Oct. 28 at 1:05 p.m. PT.

San Francisco 49ers podcast with Joe Lami: Injuries and losses mount 49ers, who take on undefeated Rams on Sunday

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On the San Francisco 49ers podcast with Joe:

#1 The injuries continue to mount for the San Francisco 49ers. They’re getting ready to face an undefeated team, the LA Rams.

#2 49ers receiver Marquise Goodwin scored twice in the final seconds of the loss Monday night in Green Bay.

#3 The 49ers will put Goodwin to work against the Rams. They’ll need all the offensive support they could get.

#4  The 49ers’ Matt Breida scored a touchdown. He has a shoulder and ankle injury and could be back this Sunday.

#5 On the defense, Richard Sherman was out with a calf injury for two games. How has Sherman been progressing?

Joe joins the 49ers podcast each Friday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Oakland Raiders podcast with Joe Hawkes Beamon: Raiders will try to recover from loss in London, battle Indianapolis next

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On the Oakland Raiders podcast with Joe:

#1 Last Sunday in London, the Oakland Raiders suffered their worst loss in 2018 by a score of 27-3. It just didn’t seem the Raiders could do anything against Seattle.

#2 Raiders quarterback Derek Carr threw 23-31 for only 142 yards. Carr was running for his life all day, getting sacked six times.

#3 Injuries also have plagued Raider guard Kelechi Osemeli (knee) and two Raider rookies Kolton Miller and Brandon Parker started at tackle.

#4 The Raiders’ total offense was just 185 yards and 33 percent in third down. They went 4 for 12.

#5 So the Raiders have a bye this weekend, a badly-needed one they can use the rest after losing five out of their six games.

Hear the Raiders podcast with Joe Hawkes Beamon everyone Friday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Fantasy Football Week 7 Thursday Night Written Rx Prescription

Published on by Charlie O. MalloneeLeave a comment

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By Doctor Vasu Vaddiparty

Week 7 of the NFL features two teams who don’t have or haven’t established an identity of what kind of team each will be. The Denver Broncos will travel to the desert to take on the Arizona Cardinals. Denver has gotten off to a 2-4 start with wins over the Raiders and the Seahawks. A tough loss last week against the Rams showed that they can play. They have a tough defense but has not played well as well as a pretty good running game. Von Miller leads the defense but has given up 154 points over the first 6 games. Some of their losses have been blowouts to the Jets where they gave up 34 points and 27 to the Ravens and Seahawks. Then they have had good games defensively holding the potent Rams to 23 and losing a tough Monday night battle with the division-leading Chiefs. They will face a rookie QB with two starts and is 1-1. Denver needs to rely on the running game and shutting down the run so they are forced to put the rookie in tough situations to convert first downs and TD’s.

The Cardinals have a 1-5 record in which their only win was against division rival San Francisco. One reason they won is because the 49ers turned the ball over five times and only won by 8 points. They are 0-5 in the other games that have produced little to nothing offensively even with one of the best RB and a WR who is found the fountain of youth. The Cardinals have scored 76 points in six games and that will not get it done. Defensively after a few mix-ups has responded well since 81 points in the last 4 games compared to 58 in the first two games. They have had tough losses as well including a GW-FG loss to Seattle and another 2-point loss to the Bears. Last weekend they were in the game until they ran out of gas in the 4th quarter against a stacked Minnesota team.

Which offenses will show up will be the question tonight but both defenses have out-performed their respective offenses.

The Thursday preview of Fantasy Football ramifications will be broken down below between the Broncos and Cardinals from Glendale to get you a good jump on your week.

Broncos

QB

Case Keenum was one of the FA names that came up for QB when the Vikings decided not to re-sign him in spite leading them to the NFC Championship Game losing to the eventual champion Eagles. Keenum has thrown for 1687 yards but leads the NFL in INT’s with 8. If he is forced to throw the ball in long situations it bodes very badly for the Broncos’ fortunes. Arizona’s defense is 14th in the league in passing yards but 31st in rushing yards allowed. Keenum needs to manage the game and establish the run and establish play-action when needed. How does this affect Fantasy Football looking for a good QB play? Keenum is a QB 2 or 3 this week. Denver will rely on its running game to be successful.

RB

Phillip Lindsay and Royce Freeman have combined for 618 yards and 3 TD’s with Lindsay leading the way with 346 yards. He is a good candidate for a starting RB vs. a 31st ranked run team of the Cardinals. The Broncos will be establishing the run and my bet is Lindsay will be the one to get the majority of carries. If you are looking for a guy with TD capability then Freeman would be your best bet.

WR / TE

The Broncos are led by Emmanuel Sanders and Demaryius Thomas at WR. Both are No. 2 candidates for WR and are probably not good plays this week with the Broncos looking to establish the run. If there are no other candidates to play on your team then Sanders would be the best available pick as he has 40 catches and two TD’s. Jeff Heuermann is a serviceable TE but probably a No. 3 choice at TE.

Cardinals

QB

Josh Rosen was the 1st round pick for Arizona last spring and has started the last two games taking over for the ineffective and often-injured Sam Bradford. Rosen has mixed results going 1-1 with a win against the 49ers and a loss against the Vikings. Rosen has two TD’s and two INT’s. He has thrown for 626 yards in the two games. Rosen will look to throw the ball against the 14th ranked pass defense. With weapons offensively and hopefully the O-Line will protect Rosen to allow him to exploit the defense. Throwing the ball should be mixed in with the run as Denver has struggled against the run. Rosen has to be accurate and use the running game to his advantage. He is a good No. 2 option or realistically QB 1.5.

RB

David Johnson is a RB1 and an obvious choice to start. Denver’s defense against the run is ranked 32nd otherwise known as last in NFL. Johnson has come off injury in 2017 but had over 2000 yards from scrimmage in 2016. He is healthy and running the ball very well. His speed and power is a big asset to Josh Rosen learning the ropes at QB for a team that is 1-5. David Johnson is a must play for Fantasy this week. Arizona’s offense is 32nd in Rush yards but David Johnson is a fantasy starter.

WR/TE

Larry Fitzgerald has regained his form from years gone by. He has 22 catches for 215 yards but has yet to find the end zone. Fitz has a complimentary piece this year in rookie Christian Kirk. Kirk has had a successful rookie year with 25 catches and long TD catch against the 49ers. Both are good picks but probably No. 2 WR’s. Arizona’s offense is 31st in passing. TE is not an option for Fantasy as Jermaine Gresham and Ricky Seals-Jones  are pass catching and blocking TE’s who don’t contribute to the passing game as Rosen has really developed a rapport with Kirk more so than Fitzgerald. Seals-Jones is not a good matchup facing the Broncos.

Special Teams/Defense

Defenses have kind of switched from the beginning of the year to where they both have switched good to bad and bad to good. Arizona has improved the defense the last few weeks but still has a 1-5 record while Denver started 2-0 and now is 2-4 3 games behind KC. Neither defense is worth picking up in fantasy week. But neither offense has performed up to standard either. Stay away from defenses on Thursday night football.

Overall Matchup

Denver comes into the game as small -1 favorite with the total being at 42.5. The totals have been especially high for the league this season but this might be accurate being in that both teams offenses have not performed as expected. Denver has lost four in a row while Arizona is 1-1 since starting 0-4. Both teams passing games are adequate at best but both teams can run the ball. Denver’s defense has played terribly in losses to KC and the Jets but played better at home against the Rams. Still it’s not very good. The Cardinals look to have some synchronicity over the last two weeks since Rosen has taken over at QB. He has help with future HOF’er  Larry Fitzgerald, Christian Kirk at receivers plus the all-purpose, when healthy 1500 yds+ David Johnson in the backfield.

Not exactly the matchup that Fox or the NFL Network wanted, but every team has to play on a Thursday.

Arizona 17

Denver 16

Don’t forget to listen to the Fantasy Football Doctors podcast with Dr. Charlie O. Mallonee and myself Dr. Vasu Vaddiparty on SportsServiceRadio.com for the rest of the NFL as it relates to Fantasy Football.

Any correspondence you may have can be sent to my Twitter account @VPartySports or directly to Sports Radio Service.

Oakland Raiders podcast with Tony Renteria: Trip to London didn’t do wonders for Raiders; Raiders gear up for next shot at Colts

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On the Oakland Raiders podcast with Tony:

#1 The Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson threw three touchdowns and it looked like another shot at victory was out of reach for the Oakland Raiders.

#2 The Hawks’ defense held the Raiders defense to 185 yards in total defense.

#3 The Seahawks had more fans travel across the pond to see this game against the Raiders than Raiders fans.

#4 The Raiders have a bye week this Sunday in a much-needed week off.

#5 It doesn’t get easier as the Raiders face the Indianapolis Colts at the Oakland Coliseum Sunday, October 28th.

Raiders podcasts with Tony are heard each Thursday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

49ers prep for Rams as injuries grow

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By Jeremy Harness

SANTA CLARA–While the injury report keeps growing for the ailing San Francisco 49ers, there is a slither of hope on the horizon versus the undefeated Los Angeles Rams at Levi’s Stadium on Sunday afternoon.

Receiver Marquise Goodwin is one guy who can take the top off of any defense, and he certainly did that Monday night in Green Bay, going for two scores in a final-seconds loss to the Packers.

The 49ers will need everything that he’s got if they are to have a chance against the Rams, who are coming off a narrow win in Seattle to stretch their record to 6-0.

It is possible that the 49ers could get fellow receiver Dante Pettis back this week, as he did practice in a limited fashion on Wednesday while recovering from the knee injury he suffered against the Chargers.

Another guy the team will desperately need is someone like Matt Breida, who scored a touchdown against the Packers despite suffering from shoulder and ankle injuries, the latter he suffered the week before against Arizona and made him questionable against Green Bay.

Breida appears that he will be able to play Sunday as well, as he was limited in practice on Wednesday.

On the defensive side of the ball, however, the 49ers are hurting, particularly in the secondary. Richard Sherman has made his way back on the field after a calf injury kept him out of a couple of games earlier in the year, but some of his teammates in the defensive backfield do not look like they will play.

Cornerback Ahkello Witherspoon, who has been a prime target of opposing quarterbacks all season, suffered a concussion Monday night and did not practice on Wednesday. Meanwhile, Jimmie Ward and K’Waun Williams are dealing with hamstring and shoulder ailments, respectively, and those injuries kept them out of practice entirely.

For the Rams, the significant player on the injury report is Cooper Kupp, who did not practice Wednesday with a knee injury and is not expected to play Sunday. Meanwhile, defensive lineman Michael Brockers did not practice Wednesday with a knee injury, and he is questionable against the 49ers.

Raiders limp into bye week at 1-5 after Week 6 loss in London to Seattle

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By Joe Hawkes-Beamon
SRS Contributor

OAKLAND — Last week, the Raiders suffered their worst loss in 2018 losing to the Seattle Seahawks 27-3 in London, England in front of 84,922 fans (mainly Seahawks fans) at Wembley Stadium on Sunday afternoon that saw their record fall to 1-5 on the season.

Starting quarterback Derek Carr, who completed 23-of-31 passes for just 142 yards, but was harassed by Seattle all day as the Seahawks sacked Carr six times. Mind you, Oakland’s offensive line was decimated by injuries with guard Kelechi Osemeli (knee) missing the game and two rookies in Kolton Miller and Brandon Parker starting at both tackle positions.

Against Seattle, Oakland’s offense totaled just 185 yards and completed just 33 percent of their third down opportunities (4-of-12). Seattle jumped out to a 27-0 lead in the fourth quarter before undrafted rookie kicker Matt McCrane booted a 43-yard field goal to put Oakland on the board.

Carr lost both forced fumbles by Seattle’s defense, but didn’t throw an interception for the first time this season. Heading into Week 6, Carr threw an NFL-high eight interceptions on the year.

At the bye week, Carr has thrown for 1,783 yards and seven touchdowns while completing 71.7 percent of his passes, which ranks third among all starting quarterbacks.

He did apparently injure his left arm (non-throwing) in the latter stages of the fourth quarter, which will be monitored throughout the bye week.

Running back Marshawn Lynch has rushed for 376 yards on 90 carries with three scores, which leads the Silver and Black.

Tight end Jared Cook who has been Carr’s most trusted receiver this season, leads Oakland in catches (32) and receiving yards (400) to go along with two touchdowns scored. Wide receiver Jordy Nelson leads the team with three touchdown receptions.

Through the team’s first six games of the season, Oakland’s offense ranks 28th in points per game (18.3), 15th in yards per game (373.5), passing yards (281.0) and 24th in rushing yards per games (92.4). Oakland has scored over 20 points in just two games this season (lost 28-20 in Miami in Week 3 and won 45-42 in overtime against Cleveland at home in Week 4).

Seattle’s offense racked up 369 yards of total offense against the Raiders on Sunday. Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson threw for 222 yards on 17-of-23 passes with three touchdowns and one interception. Wilson led Seattle to two touchdowns on their first three drives of the game, and made it look easy in the process. Oakland’s defense looked confused by Wilson’s playmaking ability, which allowed Seattle to convert 9-of-13 third down attempts (69 percent).

Wide receiver Doug Baldwin led Seattle with six catches and 91 yards, while Wilson threw touchdown passes to Jaron Brown, David Moore and Tyler Lockett.

For the season, Oakland’s defense ranks 28th in points surrendered (29.3), yards (398.5), passing yards (266.7) and 28th in rushing yards (131.8).

Linebacker Tahir Whitehead leads Oakland with 43 total tackles (30 solo and 13 assisted), while fellow linebacker Bruce Irvin has three of the team’s seven sacks.

Oakland has four interceptions as a team, with four players each recording one.

Following the team’s bye week, Oakland will host Andrew Luck and the Indianapolis Colts at the Oakland-Alameda Coliseum in Week 8. Game time has been set for 1:05 pm PT on CBS.

Headline Sports podcast with London Marq: Kings open season hosting Jazz tonight; 49ers’ loss simply was a heartbreaker; Expect Astros-Sox to go the distance

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On the Headline Sports podcast with London:

#1 London will be covering the Sacramento Kings opener at Golden 1 Center as the Kings host the Utah Jazz. London talks about all the excitement surrounding opening night.

#2 The San Francisco 49ers lost a crucial close game to the Green Bay Packers 33-30 in a game that went right down to the wire. Is this game viewed as an improvement game for San Francisco?

#3 It’s a series that has gone back and forth that saw the Red Sox win game one and the Astros in game two and now the Sox in game three. There’s no doubt the two best teams in the American League battling in the ALCS.

#4 With the Golden State Warriors losing four of their five preseason games, any indication that this Warriors team is getting older slowing down and show signs of fatigue or they just didn’t show all their cards in the preseason? Looks like they answered that question with a big win over the OKC Thunder on Tuesday night.

#5 The Oakland Raiders’ loss to the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday in London was one of the low points of this season. With the team at 1-5, is this team getting away from head coach Jon Gruden?

London has Headline Sports each Wednesday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Shanahan, 49ers Collapse Gives Rodgers, Packers Epic Comeback Win 33-30 on MNF

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By: Joe Lami

Absolutely gut-wrenching, the only words to explain the San Francisco 49ers’ toughest loss of the season, as a late heroic comeback from Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers beats the 49ers 33-30 at Lambeau Field on Monday Night Football.

“We had every opportunity to win and finish the game and didn’t get it done,” said 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan.

He’s exactly right. The 49ers did have every chance to get it done in front of a nationwide audience. He called an electric first half of football, where the 49ers went into the break leading 24-20, despite coughing the ball up twice. 290 yards of offense, led by great outside running from both Raheem Mostert and Matt Breida.

The run set up the pass. C.J. Beathard had a near-perfect passer rating in the first half, including two deep strikes to Marquise Goodwin that went for scores of 67 yards and 30 yards, respectively. Goodwin’s 114 receiving yards in the first half were the most from a 49ers’ receiver in over five years.

Everything was set-up from discipline. The 49ers committed only one penalty in the first half for five yards. Things were looking good for the red and gold and appearing like they were about to steal one at Lambeau, and then the second half happened.

The 49ers were just unable to put this game away, despite a great second half from the defense. The front seven came alive for the first time all season, finishing with three sacks, seven QB hits, and seven tackles for loss.

The defense just didn’t get the help from the offense in the second half, as they were only able to muster up six points and were unable to move the ball in the fourth to put the game away when they still had a 30-23 lead.

The fourth could’ve gone as bad as possible for San Francisco. Terrible play calling and horrendous game management saw 27 yards of total offense in the fourth capped by three consecutive three-and-outs to close the game.

The 49ers could’ve gotten past the 27 yards of offense in the fourth, but decided to throw the ball instead of run the clock out and gave way too much time to one of the best passers in the history of the NFL.

Down by seven with 3:00 left, Rodgers went on a quick 1:05 five-play drive that found Devante Adams in the end-zone to tie things at 30, still giving San Francisco a shot.

Even better, a great return by Richie James capped by a personal foul penalty put the ball at San Francisco’s 47-yard line. San Francisco pushed the ball to the Green Bay 46-yard line and on 3rd and three, Shanahan called for a deep ball instead of a short pass to attempt to pick up the first down with three timeouts in his back pocket.

The deep ball was picked off, and once again, San Francisco put the ball into the hands of Rodgers at his own 10 with no timeouts.

The defense stood tall initially and even got a sack on third down from DeForest Buckner, but was taken away by their second penalty of the game, as Richard Sherman was whistled for illegal contact.

That was one mistake too many, as Rodgers torched the San Francisco defense, especially picking on Greg Mabin, who entered the game for an injured Jimmie Ward.

The 49ers’ defense was unable to protect the sidelines, allowing Green Bay to march down the field setting up a 27-yard Mason Crosby walk-off field goal.

The players sure don’t deserve this loss in their best performance of the season. Breida finished with 61 yards on 14 carries. Mostert had a tremendous bounce-back performance picking up 87 yards on 12 explosive carries. Goodwin caught four of five targets for 126 yards and two scores, while George Kittle caught four passes for 60 yards. Beathard finished the game 16-of-23 for 245, two scores, and a pick.

This one solely rests on the shoulders of Shanahan, who relived his epic Super Bowl collapse and once again showed his inability to protect a lead and close out a game.

The season can now go in two directions. The 49ers can build off an incredible game that saw one of the best quarterbacks of our generation comeback for an epic win or they can collapse in the abyss.

The 49ers’ road doesn’t get any easier, as they’ll host the undefeated Rams on Sunday at 1:25 pm PT on CBS.