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These are only excerpts. To read the entire article click the link below.
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http://mmqb.si.com/mmqb/2015/09/13/nfl-week-1-marcus-mariota-tennessee-titans
‘This Was a Pretty Big Deal’
Week 1 is nearly in the books; the brightest star might have been Marcus Mariota, who announced his arrival in a huge way against fellow rookie Jameis Winston. (Titans coach Ken Whisenhunt pumps the hype brakes a bit.) Plus notes on Rex Ryan, Tony Romo and more from a wild first Sunday
by Peter King
Seattle has lost two games in a row—the Super Bowl and Sunday’s overtime loss at St. Louis. In February, with Seattle one yard from a game-winning touchdown, undrafted free-agent rookie Malcolm Butler intercepted Russell Wilson with 20 seconds left to win the game for New England. On Sunday, with Seattle up by seven with 59 seconds to play, undrafted second-year safety Dion Bailey slipped in coverage and let tight end Lance Kendricks get by him for a 37-yard touchdown to tie the game. The Rams won in overtime.
Plays of the game, two games in a row, made or not made by players who weren’t deemed good enough to be drafted, who came off the street to make teams and play huge roles in games at the highest level of the biggest sport in America. And it happens everywhere. Lance Dunbar, the former undrafted free agent in Dallas, with 40 yards worth of catches on that final crazy drive Sunday night. The games are so close, and they’re sometimes decided by the craziest of breaks, and human foibles, and mind-boggling decisions.
That’s a big reason, collectively, why America keeps coming back for more, no matter how fist-shaking angry it gets at the commissioner or the owners or players who mess up.
* * *
Dion Bailey could only watch as Rams tight end Lance Kendricks scored the game-tying TD. (L.G. Patterson/AP)
Without Chancellor, Seahawks Slip
The MMQB’s Robert Klemko was in St. Louis Sunday and filed this about the backup for holdout strong safety Kam Chancellor…
Seattle safety Dion Bailey looked up from his hands and knees to confirm what he already knew. After he’d tripped and stumbled to the turf, Rams tight end Lance Kendricks caught Nick Foles’ lob and took it to the house, a 37-yard touchdown that sent the season opener into an overtime the Seahawks would lose. Outside of injury, it was quite possibly a worst-case scenario for Bailey in his first game as a starter while Chancellor continues his holdout for a restructured contract.
Dejected, Bailey sat upright in his locker, located between Richard Sherman’s and Earl Thomas’s, in the visitor’s dressing room at the Edwards Jones Dome. He draped several towels over his head and closed his eyes. He felt as though he’d not only lost the game, but tarnished his family name. “I’ve got to go 100% on my opportunities,” Bailey said quietly while teammates dressed. “I missed a big one today. I’ve got to learn from it and represent my family name better next week. The play didn’t surprise me or anything. I promise you it will never happen again.”
Bailey knows as well as anybody that there may not be a next week for him, and his performance may even have hastened that prospect. The Rams demonstrated how much Seattle’s defense needs Chancellor if it is to achieve its 2014 form; Nick Foles went 18 for 27 for 297 yards and that late, game-tying touchdown in his first start for the Rams.
That wasn’t all Bailey’s fault, or even mostly Bailey’s fault. And that’s what teammates told him, one-by-one, in quiet visits to his locker after the game. The majority of the room had watched him earn a special teams role as an undrafted rookie in 2014 before shredding his ankle last August. The Seahawks waived him only to add him to the practice squad later in the 2014 season. They re-signed the 23-year-old the day after Super Bowl XLIX. Pete Carroll recruited Bailey to USC in 2010 before agreeing to coach the Seahawks that season. More than five years after he signed a letter of intent to play for Carroll, he finally got the opportunity to do so.
“The hard part is seeing all the trust the guys instilled in me,” Bailey said. “Guys let me know not to put the game on myself because a lot of people made mistakes. I will be better next week.”
* * *
DEFENSIVE PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
Aaron Donald, defensive tackle, St. Louis. If you didn’t consider Donald to have already broken out after a great rookie year in 2014, welcome to his breakout season. He was tremendous Sunday, chasing Russell Wilson all over the Edward Jones Dome, sacking Wilson twice, totaling nine tackles, pressuring Wilson twice more and recording three tackles for loss … including the tackle that clinched the game, corralling Marshawn Lynch with Michael Brockers for a loss of one on fourth-and-one in St. Louis territory in overtime. Donald is listed as a defensive tackle, but he could play defensive end in a 3-4 or 4-3 if you ask me.
SPECIAL TEAMS PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
Tavon Austin (Jamie Squire/Getty Images)
Tavon Austin, wide receiver/returner/running back, St. Louis. This was the kind of game the Rams expected when they drafted Austin eigth overall in 2013. His 16-yard touchdown run as a lone back in the second quarter flummoxed the Seahawks, and his 75-yard punt return in the third quarter gave the Rams the biggest lead (11 points) that either team had all day. Could this be the year Austin breaks out, at long last?
GOAT OF THE WEEK
Steven Hauschka, kicker, Seattle. The play at the start of overtime in St. Louis looked absurd: Hauschka seeming to onside-kick, and the Rams recovering at midfield. What in the world was that? Turns out it was supposed to be a pooch kick, booted sky-high to land at the 25 or 30, so either the Seahawks would have a fighting chance to win a jump ball for it (or capture a bouncer), or the ball would be recovered and not returned. Hauschka simply blew it, and that created a stupidly short drive (six plays, 30 yards) to the Rams field goal that turned out to be the game-winner.
* * *
What I liked
Great play design by St. Louis offensive coordinator Frank Cignetti, putting Tavon Austin as a lone back behind the quarterback and simply handing it to him.
Second-chance safety Mark Barron’s blitz and sack of Russell Wilson on a first-half third down, leading to a Seattle punt.
*********************************************************
http://mmqb.si.com/mmqb/2015/09/13/nfl-week-1-marcus-mariota-tennessee-titans
‘This Was a Pretty Big Deal’
Week 1 is nearly in the books; the brightest star might have been Marcus Mariota, who announced his arrival in a huge way against fellow rookie Jameis Winston. (Titans coach Ken Whisenhunt pumps the hype brakes a bit.) Plus notes on Rex Ryan, Tony Romo and more from a wild first Sunday
by Peter King
Seattle has lost two games in a row—the Super Bowl and Sunday’s overtime loss at St. Louis. In February, with Seattle one yard from a game-winning touchdown, undrafted free-agent rookie Malcolm Butler intercepted Russell Wilson with 20 seconds left to win the game for New England. On Sunday, with Seattle up by seven with 59 seconds to play, undrafted second-year safety Dion Bailey slipped in coverage and let tight end Lance Kendricks get by him for a 37-yard touchdown to tie the game. The Rams won in overtime.
Plays of the game, two games in a row, made or not made by players who weren’t deemed good enough to be drafted, who came off the street to make teams and play huge roles in games at the highest level of the biggest sport in America. And it happens everywhere. Lance Dunbar, the former undrafted free agent in Dallas, with 40 yards worth of catches on that final crazy drive Sunday night. The games are so close, and they’re sometimes decided by the craziest of breaks, and human foibles, and mind-boggling decisions.
That’s a big reason, collectively, why America keeps coming back for more, no matter how fist-shaking angry it gets at the commissioner or the owners or players who mess up.
* * *
Dion Bailey could only watch as Rams tight end Lance Kendricks scored the game-tying TD. (L.G. Patterson/AP)
Without Chancellor, Seahawks Slip
The MMQB’s Robert Klemko was in St. Louis Sunday and filed this about the backup for holdout strong safety Kam Chancellor…
Seattle safety Dion Bailey looked up from his hands and knees to confirm what he already knew. After he’d tripped and stumbled to the turf, Rams tight end Lance Kendricks caught Nick Foles’ lob and took it to the house, a 37-yard touchdown that sent the season opener into an overtime the Seahawks would lose. Outside of injury, it was quite possibly a worst-case scenario for Bailey in his first game as a starter while Chancellor continues his holdout for a restructured contract.
Dejected, Bailey sat upright in his locker, located between Richard Sherman’s and Earl Thomas’s, in the visitor’s dressing room at the Edwards Jones Dome. He draped several towels over his head and closed his eyes. He felt as though he’d not only lost the game, but tarnished his family name. “I’ve got to go 100% on my opportunities,” Bailey said quietly while teammates dressed. “I missed a big one today. I’ve got to learn from it and represent my family name better next week. The play didn’t surprise me or anything. I promise you it will never happen again.”
Bailey knows as well as anybody that there may not be a next week for him, and his performance may even have hastened that prospect. The Rams demonstrated how much Seattle’s defense needs Chancellor if it is to achieve its 2014 form; Nick Foles went 18 for 27 for 297 yards and that late, game-tying touchdown in his first start for the Rams.
That wasn’t all Bailey’s fault, or even mostly Bailey’s fault. And that’s what teammates told him, one-by-one, in quiet visits to his locker after the game. The majority of the room had watched him earn a special teams role as an undrafted rookie in 2014 before shredding his ankle last August. The Seahawks waived him only to add him to the practice squad later in the 2014 season. They re-signed the 23-year-old the day after Super Bowl XLIX. Pete Carroll recruited Bailey to USC in 2010 before agreeing to coach the Seahawks that season. More than five years after he signed a letter of intent to play for Carroll, he finally got the opportunity to do so.
“The hard part is seeing all the trust the guys instilled in me,” Bailey said. “Guys let me know not to put the game on myself because a lot of people made mistakes. I will be better next week.”
* * *
DEFENSIVE PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
Aaron Donald, defensive tackle, St. Louis. If you didn’t consider Donald to have already broken out after a great rookie year in 2014, welcome to his breakout season. He was tremendous Sunday, chasing Russell Wilson all over the Edward Jones Dome, sacking Wilson twice, totaling nine tackles, pressuring Wilson twice more and recording three tackles for loss … including the tackle that clinched the game, corralling Marshawn Lynch with Michael Brockers for a loss of one on fourth-and-one in St. Louis territory in overtime. Donald is listed as a defensive tackle, but he could play defensive end in a 3-4 or 4-3 if you ask me.
SPECIAL TEAMS PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
Tavon Austin (Jamie Squire/Getty Images)
Tavon Austin, wide receiver/returner/running back, St. Louis. This was the kind of game the Rams expected when they drafted Austin eigth overall in 2013. His 16-yard touchdown run as a lone back in the second quarter flummoxed the Seahawks, and his 75-yard punt return in the third quarter gave the Rams the biggest lead (11 points) that either team had all day. Could this be the year Austin breaks out, at long last?
GOAT OF THE WEEK
Steven Hauschka, kicker, Seattle. The play at the start of overtime in St. Louis looked absurd: Hauschka seeming to onside-kick, and the Rams recovering at midfield. What in the world was that? Turns out it was supposed to be a pooch kick, booted sky-high to land at the 25 or 30, so either the Seahawks would have a fighting chance to win a jump ball for it (or capture a bouncer), or the ball would be recovered and not returned. Hauschka simply blew it, and that created a stupidly short drive (six plays, 30 yards) to the Rams field goal that turned out to be the game-winner.
* * *
What I liked
Great play design by St. Louis offensive coordinator Frank Cignetti, putting Tavon Austin as a lone back behind the quarterback and simply handing it to him.
Second-chance safety Mark Barron’s blitz and sack of Russell Wilson on a first-half third down, leading to a Seattle punt.
