Tag: NFL

San Francisco 49ers podcast with Joe Lami: Will the pressure be on Garoppolo to repeat last season’s performance on opening day Sunday?

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Photo credit: @SFGiants

On the 49ers podcast with Joe:

#1 How much anticipation rides on this Sunday’s game on quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo and his getting the 49ers off to a great start on opening day?

#2 Garoppolo won five straight games the last five games of the 2017 season. Knowing what you know going into this season what you saw of him in camp, how ready is Jimmy G to pick up where he left off?

#3 The 49ers suffered a huge setback with the injury of running back Jerrick McKinnon with a torn ACL in on contact practice. How will this injury impact the team?

#4 Other running backs Matt Bredia and Alfred Morris are expected to help carry the ball for SF with McKinnon’s absence.

#5 The Nike decision to run former 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick as the face of their ad campaign has been embraced favorably by most of the players. Do you see the NFL taking the next step and allowing Kaepernick back into the league after making the statement regarding acceptance?

Joe Lami does the 49ers podcasts each Friday at http://www.sportsrasdioservice.com

Raiders to host Rams in regular season opener on Monday Night Football

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Photo credit: @Raiders

By Joe Hawkes-Beamon
SRS Contributor

OAKLAND — Yes, the NFL regular season is finally here. No more of watching unwatchable preseason football and hoping that both teams put on solid efforts.

The Oakland Raiders will begin their 2018 regular season on Monday night when they will welcome the Los Angeles Rams to the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum. The game between the two clubs will be the second game of ESPN’s Monday Night Football doubleheader, which kicks off at 7:20 p.m. PT.

The New York Jets travel to the Motor City to take on the Detroit Lions in Game 1. Kickoff for that game is at 4:10 p.m. PT.

The Raiders met the Rams in Week 2 of the preseason in Los Angeles. The Rams won a snore of a game, 19-15, with both teams opting to hold out their starters.

This time around, things will be different as this is the regular season and the games count more than they do in the preseason.

The big story surrounding the Raiders has been the trade of defensive end/outside linebacker Khalil Mack to the Chicago Bears on Sept. 2. Oakland was unable to come to terms on a new longterm contract for the star defender.

The Raiders were hoping that Mack would return to the team and play under the franchise tag of $13.8 million but when it appeared that Mack wasn’t going to show up for any of Oakland’s training camp, head coach Jon Gruden and general manager Reggie McKenzie shipped the 27-year-old former NFL Defensive Player of the Year to the Bears for a boatload of draft picks: first- and sixth-round picks in 2019, and first- and third-round picks in 2020.

Along with Mack, the Bears received second- and fifth-round picks in 2020 as part of the deal.

Oakland will miss Mack no doubt. Mack amassed 40.5 sacks over the past four seasons for the Raiders and the name of the game on defense is to hit the quarterback and Oakland just let their best pass rusher walk out the door.

Last season, the Raiders finished 24th in defense last year despite Mack’s 10.5 sacks. This season, the Raiders will need to improve that ranking if they are to return to the playoffs after a dismal 6-10 season last year following a 12-4 campaign in 2016. That means rookies on the defensive line such as P.J. Hall, Maurice Hurst and Arden Key will be tasked to pick up the slack for Mack.

Quarterback Derek Carr is looking for a bounce back season of his own in 2018.

Last season, Carr’s numbers dipped a bit: throwing for 3,496 yards, with 22 touchdowns and 13 interceptions with a 86.4 passer rating after throwing for 3,937 yards with 28 touchdowns and just six interceptions to go along with a career-high 96.7 passer rating in 2016.

With Gruden back in town (after taking over for the fired Jack Del Rio), Carr’s play is expected to take off. Gruden is credited as being an offensive genius when designing plays and Carr’s performance will be critical for the Raiders’ offense that finished  23rd in production in 2017.

The Rams defense finished in 12th in scoring defense (20.6 points per game) and are loaded.

Defensive tackle Aaron Donald, the reigning NFL Defensive Player of the Year, leads the Rams into Oakland looking to build off of the team’s first postseason birth since 2004. Los Angeles won the NFC West title after finishing 11-5 last season and are one of the favorites to represent the NFC in the Super Bowl in Atlanta on Feb. 3, 2019.

Los Angeles added defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh to play next to Donald in the offseason, along with cornerbacks Aqib Talib and Marcus Peters via trades to shore up their secondary.

The Rams have one of the best offenses in the league, led by third-year quarterback Jared Goff and running back Todd Gurley.

After a subpar rookie season in 2016 in which he threw for just 1,089 yards with five touchdowns and seven interceptions under former head coach Jeff Fisher, Goff exploded in 2017 under first-year head coach Sean McVay throwing for career-highs in yards (3,804), touchdowns (28) and passer rating (100.5).

Goff threw just seven interceptions during the 2017 campaign.

Gurley had a bounce back season too under McVay after a disappointing 2016 season where Gurley rushed for a career-low 885 yards and six touchdowns. The fourth-year running back rushed for career-highs in yards (1,305) and touchdowns (13). Gurley finished second in the NFL in total rushing, falling just 22 yards short of league-leader in rookie Kareem Hunt of the Kansas City Chiefs.

The Raiders could have their hands full with a Rams offense that finished first in scoring last season, averaging 29.9 points per game.

After Monday night’s game, both teams will begin their divisional schedule Sunday, September 16, with the Raiders traveling to Denver to take on the Broncos, while the Rams will host the Arizona Cardinals at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Games will be scheduled for 1:25 pm and 1:05 pm, respectively.

Oakland Raiders podcast with Tony Renteria: Gruden satisfied with backup quarterback Manuel; How Mack deal impacts Raiders for MNF

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Photo credit: @zennie62

On the Raiders podcast with Tony R:

#1 One thing the Raiders got out of camp if anything is their backup quarterback EJ Manuel, who had himself a game last Thursday in the final exhibition game, going 18-22 for 255 yards in Seattle.

#2 Manuel likes his favorite receiver for that game Ken Hatcher, who caught two touchdowns. Hatcher got good footing and moved everywhere last Thursday.

#3 Talk about quaterbacks coach Brian Callahan. He took over for head coach Jon Gruden and was able to balance the run and pass ratio. How big of a help was he for Manuel?

#4 With linebacker Khalil Mack gone, will the Raiders’ linebackers Emmanuel LaMur, Kyle Wiber, Tahir Whitehead, and Nicholas Morrow, be able to fill some big shoes?

#5 The Raiders open up the season on Monday Night Football against the Los Angeles Rams. How much discussion on network TV and even at the Oakland Coliseum will there be about how big a mistake it was for the Raiders not signing and keeping Mack?

Tony does the Raiders podcast each Thursday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Headline Sports podcast with London Marq: Raiders open up regular season on MNF; The shock waves of the Khalil Mack trade; plus more

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Photo credit: @steverosenbloom

On the Headline Sports podcast with London:

#1 The Oakland Raiders open up their regular season this Monday night September 10th at the Oakland Coliseum. There are lots of expectations for the Raiders on the primetime show.

#2 The talk throughout the NFL is the Khalil Mack trade to the Chicago Bears and getting a record $114 million deal. London discusses how this will work out for the Bears.

#3 Trump says that Nike is sending a “terrible message” with the Colin Kaepernick ad. Trump still doesn’t see unequal treatment and police brutality going on in the African American and Latino/Hispanic communities.

#4 The San Jose Earthquakes, who took a tough 2-1 loss last Saturday in Vancouver, have another two months worth of soccer left with only three wins for the season. Can they make the best of it or will they just go through the motions and suffer through it?

#5 After former Sacramento Kings player DeMarcus Cousins left Sacramento, who will carry the Kings this season? Willie Cauley-Stein, Skal Labissiere, Bogdan Bogdanovic, D’Aaron Fox, Buddy Hield, or another player to be named later?

London Marq does the Headline Sports each Wednesday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

San Francisco 49ers preview: New look 49ers get ready to roll

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mercurynews.com file photo: San Francisco 49ers quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo talks with the media on June 13th at Levis Stadium. Garoppolo will start opening day this Sunday against the Minnesota Vikings.

By Jeremy Harness

SANTA CLARA, Calif. — As the 49ers prepare to kick off the 2018 regular season, the expectations and the anticipation are completely different from a year before.

Of course, winning the last five games of the previous season, with a new, young quarterback at the helm, has a tendency to raise the excitement a little bit.

That’s what the 49ers are experiencing, as they travel to Minnesota to take on the Vikings to start the regular season. Of course, most people know about the acquisition of Jimmy Garoppolo, and the new signal-caller responding by winning the first five games he started for his new team.

But they have also added a few new pieces on defense over the past couple of years, which will add to an improved unit.

There have been a few bumps in the road, however. The 49ers suffered a major setback last week, when running back Jerick McKinnon suffered a torn ACL in practice during a non-contact drill, meaning that the back, whom the team signed this offseason to a four-year contract, will miss the entire 2018 season.

That opens up the opportunities for the other running backs exponentially. Matt Breida and Alfred Morris, whom the 49ers signed in training camp when McKinnon and Breida suffered injuries early on in the preseason, are expected to split the carries early on, but it is unclear who will be the team’s starting tailback.

Second-year linebacker Reuben Foster, who spent some time out of the lineup with a nagging shoulder injury last year, is suspended for the first two games of this season stemming from his domestic-abuse case this spring.

That means guys like Brock Coyle will get more of a chance to see what he can do, particularly when the games count.

San Francisco 49ers podcast with David Zizmor: Shanahan’s plan in preparation for opener in Minnesota

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Photo credit: @SteinyAndGuru

On the 49ers podcast with David:

San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan and the 49ers head into Minnesota this Sunday for the 49ers’ opener. David discusses the team’s preparation and the advantage of playing in Minnesota in September rather than the frigid months of December

Going into the opener David takes a look at 49ers quarterback Jimmy Garopplolo’s preparation and will he come out of the shoot against the Vikings defense this Sunday?

Catch David each Tuesday for the 49ers podcasts at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Oakland Raiders report: Raiders trade Mack to Bears

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photo from bearswire.com: Former Oakland Raider Khalil Mack (52) has been dealt to the Chicago Bears as of Saturday morning. Mack came to the Raiders out of the NFL draft in 2014.

By Jeremy Kahn

If you thought that LeBron James going to the Los Angeles Lakers, DeMarcus Cousins going to the Golden State Warriors, or Kwahi Leonard going to the Toronto Raptors was big for the NBA, what would the impact of Khalil Mack going to the Chicago Bears do for the NFL.

According to multiple reports, the Oakland Raiders will trade the 2016 NFL Defensive Player of the Year to the Bears.

Mack missed all of training camp, he also did not appear at the Raiders voluntary off season program and missed the mandatory three-day minicamp in June. Also, since he was hired as the Raiders head coach on January 8, Jon Gruden and Mack have yet to speak to one another.

During the summer of 2017, the Raiders exercised the fifth-year option on Mack’s contract that is $13.846 million. If Mack was to play for the Raiders in 2018, the Raiders could put the franchise tag on the linebacker out of the University of Buffalo, barring an impasse.

In 2015, Mack became the first player in NFL history to be named All-Pro as an Outside Linebacker and a Defensive End. Mack was named the 2016 NFL Defensive Player of the Year and last year, Mack finished with 10.5 sacks, his fewest since his rookie year.

Oh yeah, and the Bears come to the Bay Area to face the San Francisco 49ers at Levi’s Stadium on December 23.

San Francisco 49ers podcast with Joe Lami: Mullens and Heneghan show they can play some backup quarterbacks in final preseason game

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On the SF 49ers podcast with Joe:

The 49ers, who were in their final preseason game, didn’t grow their injury list and the quarterbacks showed improvement. Quarterbacks Nick Mullens and Jack Heneghan threw for offensive drives in the 49ers win over the LA Chargers 23-21. Heneghan threw for a score a little more than two minutes left in the game.

Towards the end of the game, the 49ers’ defensive line allowed a kick return that put the ball in the 49ers zone, which happened after the go-ahead score. The 49ers opened the season in Minnesota on Sunday, Sept. 9. Joe sets up opening day and how confident head coach Kyle Shanahan is going into this one.

Joe Lami does the 49ers podcasts each Friday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Raiders Answer Backup QB Question After 30-19 Win Over Seahawks

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Photo credit: @NBCSRaiders

By Tony Renteria

The Oakland Raiders have spent much of the preseason looking for the backup to All-Pro quarterback Derek Carr and have found that answer in a great game by EJ Manuel.   Manuel, who spent time in Buffalo before coming to the Silver and Black last season, has looked spotty at best during the first three preseason games, but came out tonight looking like a quality starter as he went an outstanding 18-for-22 with 255 yards and three touchdowns as the Raiders won 30-19 against the Seahawks at CenturyLink Field on Thursday night.

Manuel found a security blanket in Keon Hatcher, who caught two of those touchdowns from Manuel, three overall and seemed to be everywhere on the field as he was the punt returner and on special team coverage. Hatcher did make a case for making the final 53-man roster, but might end up on the scout team.

Quarterback coach Brian Callahan took over the play calling duties tonight from head coach John Gruden and seemed to do a good job balancing the run/pass ratio. The Raiders, who did not dress 21 of the 22 starters, did a very good job with players who will be cut on by September 1.

The Raiders used this last game to ensure that Manuel had it in him to be the backup and with the team more than likely only keeping two quarterbacks this last meaningless preseason game carried some meaning for the Raiders’ coaching staff.

NFL preseason leading Rusher Chris Warren III had 41 yards on 12 rushing attempts, but looked much better in pass protection and route running and looks like he will be one of the five running backs to make the roster.

Manual, Hatcher and Waarren III all made a differance tonight, lets see if tonight turns in a roster spot for these three young men.

The Raiders host the Rams to open the season on Monday Night Football on Monday, September 10 at 7:20 pm PDT.

49ers rally late, but fall to the Chargers 23-21

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Photo credit: @49ers

By Jeremy Harness

SANTA CLARA – The best thing you can take out of the final preseason game of the year for the 49ers is this: the injury list did not grow, and for the most part, the quarterbacks showed flashes of brilliance.

Signal-callers Nick Mullens and Jack Heneghan got plenty of burn in Thursday night’s 23-21 loss to the Los Angeles Chargers at Levi’s Stadium, and each of them certainly gave solid accounts of themselves in the process.

Each guy led the 49ers on long, time-consuming touchdown drives and gave their team a chance to win, particularly when Heneghan drove the team down for a score that gave the 49rs the lead with a little more than two minutes left in the game.

In the end, however, the 49ers’ run defense let them down, as did a big kick return that put the ball in 49ers territory immediately following the go-ahead score.

The 49ers did feature a handful of starters, including Solomon Thomas, who made a pair of big tackles for losses on the first drive of the game before taking a spot on the sideline for the rest of the night. Linebacker Reuben Foster, meanwhile, blew up a screen pass for a huge loss on the Chargers’ second possession. Three plays later, the 49ers forced a punt.

Foster played considerably longer than Thomas, as he is facing a two-game suspension that starts next Sunday. On the offensive side, lineman Joshua Garnett played into the second quarter, but no other starters took the field on Thursday.

C.J Beathard started the game and played one series but accomplished next to nothing in the process. In fact, he did not attempt a single pass. Mullens, on the other hand, was able to build on his game-winning performance in the first preseason game against Dallas with another very good effort on Thursday.

Mullens did have to suffer through some pains early on, getting rocked by a pair of blindside hits in his first two possessions, and the second one – by defensive end Chris Landrum – forced him to cough up the ball, and Los Angeles took over deep in 49ers territory.

However, the 49ers defense stood up to the challenge wonderfully, and the Chargers were forced to kick another field goal to give them a 6-0 lead.

He settled down very nicely immediately following the turnover. He made a handful of nice throws and extended plays when the protection broke down during a 75-yard drive that he punctuated with a six-yard touchdown plunge to give the 49ers a 7-6 lead.

The Chargers, however, took advantage of the 49ers’ soft run defense and ended the first half by punching it in for a score, after going 73 yards on 10 plays to go in front, 13-7. Los Angeles added another touchdown early in the second half, shortly after Jeremy McNichols fumbled and gave the Chargers the ball on the 49ers’ 10.

The 49ers marched it deep into the red zone late in the third quarter but were stopped on fourth-and-one at the 2-yard line.

Heneghan responded in the fourth by leading the 49ers down the field, and when McNichols plunged into the end zone with a little more than two minutes left, the 49ers had a 21-20 lead.

That lead, the 49ers’ only one of the game, did not last. After the Chargers returned the ensuing kickoff into 49ers territory, they converted a pair of first downs before Roberto Aguayo kicked a 26-yard field goal as time expired.

The 49ers head to U.S. Bank Stadium to take on the Vikings on Sunday, September 9 at 10 am PDT.