B2
SPORTS
East Oregonian
NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE
Saturday, August 31, 2019
MARQUEE
MATCHUPS
2019
20 PREVIEW
INTERFERING WITH
Some games worth tuning into during
the 2019 season (all times PDT)
REPLAY
WEEK 1
PACKERS AT BEARS
Thursday, Sept. 5 5:20 p.m. Opening
game of NFL’s 100th season features
longest rivals
WEEK 2
SAINTS AT RAMS
Sunday, Sept. 15, 1:25 p.m.
Will pass interference flags fly
when they should?
BY BARRY WILNER
AP PRO FOOTBALL WRITER
A
fter the egregious missed call in
the NFC championship game that
almost certainly sent the wrong
team (the Rams) to the Super Bowl
instead of the right team (the Saints), the
NFL knew it had a major problem that
struck to the core of pro football.
Poor officiating, right in front of
millions watching on TV, might have
decided a champion.
So, team owners voted to add reviews
of pass interference calls and non-calls in
the replay system. Coaches can challenge
— they get to throw the red flag twice
during a game, three times if their first
two challenges are successful — outside
of the final two minutes of each half or
the entire overtime. During those times,
officials can call for a replay review.
The change is on an experimental
basis for this season.
“I’m not surprised, we always knew
that might occur,” says CBS officiating an-
alyst Gene Steratore, who was a longtime
NFL and college basketball referee before
retiring in 2018. “There’s been talk of it
over the last four to five years that they
would expand replay to where they would
look at this. With the NFC championship
game, it moved it a little forward.
“But,” Steratore warns, “there is a
subjective nature in all of this. How much
must the level of contact be for it to be a
foul?”
Steratore believes officials will contin-
ue to call penalties as they always have,
noting how correct they usually are. It’s
not as if they simply move on robotically
from any mistakes they make, either.
“I always had an empty feeling per-
sonally if I made a mistake,” he says. “But
I didn’t not go in with a fear of that. We
would continue to do the job the way we
were trained to do it as best as we always
can do it.
“You never want to see an outcome
pretty much decided that way, by an
athlete’s or an official’s mistake.”
Precisely what Commissioner Roger
Goodell, the NFL’s competition commit-
tee and its owners were thinking.
“It’s great when we can arrive at what
we think is a good change,” Saints coach
Sean Payton says. “We wouldn’t have any
of these on the docket had it not been for
one play. I don’t think any of these would
be on a replay discussion.”
YEAR OF THE BROWNS?
Two years removed from an infamous
0-16 season, the Cleveland Browns are
expected to challenge defending AFC
North champion Baltimore Ravens for
the division crown.
WEEK 2
BROWNS AT JETS
Monday, Sept. 16, 5:15 p.m.
Two teams with high expectations
for second-year QBs
WEEK 7
RAVENS AT SEAHAWKS
Sunday, Oct. 20, 1:25 p.m.
Both teams rebuilding
once-proud defenses
Yes, that’
that’s not a typo.
It’ hard to believe considering the
It’s
Browns won only one game over two
2017.
seasons in 2016 and 2017
The Browns reversed course late last
season when then-rookie quarterback
Baker Mayfield helped Cleveland win five
of its last seven games to finish the season
at 7-8-1. Mayfield, who began his pro
career sitting behind Tyrod Taylor, broke
Peyton Manning’s NFL rookie record
with 27 touchdown passes. With Odell
Beckham Jr. — obtained in an offsea-
son trade with the Giants — and Jarvis
Landry as targets, Mayfield could go well
beyond that TD total in 2019.
There is immediate pressure on new
coach Freddie Kitchens, who began last
season as running backs coach before an
impressive run as interim offensive coor-
dinator landed him the top gig. Kitchens
has never been a head coach before at any
level.
The hype around Cleveland helped
them land their first Sunday Night Foot-
ball game since 2008 — against the Rams
on Sept. 22 — and two Monday Night
football games and a Thursday Night
Football game. That’s the most nationally
televised night games that the Browns
have played in 11 years.
BRADY IS BACK; GRONK IS GONE
Tom Brady is 42 and back for his
20th season, all with the New England
Patriots, as the most decorated quarter-
back in NFL history continues to put any
retirement plans on hold.
He’s coming off his sixth Super Bowl
victory and still going strong as he recent-
ly signed a two-year contract extension
worth $70 million.
But one of his favorite weapons is off
the Pats’ roster. Rob Gronkowski retired,
leaving the Patriots without a clear-cut
starting tight-end — one of their biggest
question marks entering the season.
New England signed Ben Watson
out of retirement in the offseason, but
he’s suspended the first four games for
violating the NFL’s policy on performance
enhancers. They also picked up
p Eric Sau-
bert from
rom Atlanta, and also Matt LaCosse,
ro
Stephen Anderson and Lance Kendricks,
Kendricks
among others.
“To replace great players, it’s not like
you just pick another one off the tight end
tree,” Brady said. “You can’t just go out
back. You’ve got to find guys that come in
and want to put the work in and want to
try and contribute.”
WITTEN BACK ON MNF
Jason Witten spent one year in the
“Monday Night Football” broadcast
booth, providing his color commentary
on games even involving his former Dal-
las Cowboys teammates.
Well, the 37-year-old Witten will be
back on TV on a Monday night this sea-
son but this time on the field.
The longtime Cowboys tight end
changed his mind about retirement
during the off-season and returned to
Dallas for his 16th season. His team is
set to play a Monday night game against
divisional rival New York Giants on Nov.
4 and the 11-time Pro Bowler is expected
to be playing in it.
Despite his year away, Witten is sliding
right back into a leadership role with the
Cowboys as he prepares to set the fran-
chise record for seasons.
NO LUCK FOR COLTS
In the shocker of the off-season, Colts
quarterback Andrew Luck announced his
retirement from the NFL at the end of his
team’s third preseason game. He retires at
the age of 29, after seven seasons in the
league, all with Indianapolis. Luck cited
his recurring injuries as the main reason
to end his career, but the timing upset
fans and caught everyone off guard.
Jacoby Brissett, who has some starting
experience and served as understudy to
both Luck and Brady, has been named the
team’s new quarterback. Out of NC State,
Brissett was drafted by New England in
the third round in 2016.
WEEK 8
BROWNS AT PATRIOTS
Sunday, Oct. 27, 1:25 pm.
If Browns are for real, they can show
it versus champs
WEEK 9
BEARS AT EAGLES
Sunday, Nov. 3, 10 a.m.
Eagles knocked Bears from playoffs
at Chicago last January
WEEK 11
PATRIOTS AT EAGLES
Sunday, Nov. 17, 1:25 p.m.
Wonder if Eagles will have another
Philly Special for Patriots
WEEK 11
CHIEFS VS. CHARGERS
at Mexico City
Monday, Nov. 18, 5:15 p.m.
Last year’s game was moved
from Azteca because of poor
field conditions
WEEK 13
SAINTS AT FALCONS
Thursday, Nov. 28, 5:20 p.m.
Tasty Thanksgiving night battle
between archrivals
WEEK 14
CHIEFS AT PATRIOTS
Sunday, Dec. 8, 1:25 p.m.
Rematch of AFC title game
that went to OT
WEEK 15
RAMS AT COWBOYS
Sunday, Dec. 15, 1:25 p.m.
Todd Gurley and Ezekiel Elliott
to key strong running games
CONTENT BY THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
SIX FACES IN NEW PLACES
ODELL BECKHAM JR.
Cleveland
EARL THOMAS
Baltimore
Traded to the Browns in
a blockbuster deal in the
offseason after five years
with the Giants. Always
the center of attention,
the three-time Pro Bowler
is being counted on to
help the Browns, who
are dealing with high
expectations for
this season and
will look to end
the league’s
longest
current playoff
drought.
Former member of
the “Legion of Boom” is a
three-time All-Pro safety
and won a Super Bowl in
nine seasons in Seattle.
He will provide leadership
to a usually stout, though
revamped Ravens
defense, which was No. 1
in the league last season
but lost several key
players in free agency.
ANTONIO BROWN
Oakland
One of the league’s top receivers
who forced a trade to Oakland for
draft picks after nine productive
years with the Steelers. Brown is a
four-time All-Pro who had six straight
100-catch seasons for the Steelers.
Despite his talent, he has a reputation
for being a prima donna and publicly
criticized coach Mike Tomlin and QB
Ben Roethlisberger in Pittsburgh and
recently filed and lost a grievance
with the NFL over his use of an old
helmet that is no longer certified as
safe to use. And now
he’s going from a
team that was a
perennial playoff
contender to a
rebuilding one in
Oakland before it
heads to Las
Vegas.
LE’VEON BELL
N.Y. Jets
NDAMUKONG SUH
Tampa Bay
NICK FOLES
Jacksonville
Signed a four-year,
$52.5 million deal with
the Jets on March after
sitting out last season in
a contract dispute with
Pittsburgh. The two-time
All-Pro is perhaps the
most dynamic running
back in the league and is
expected to be a key part
of new coach Adam Gase’s
offense.
The No. 2 overall pick in
the 2010 draft has joined
Tampa Bay, his fourth
team after stops in Detroit,
Miami and the L.A. Rams.
The three-time All-Pro
defensive tackle signed
a one-year deal with the
Bucs as a replacement
for Gerald McCoy in new
defensive
coordinator
Todd
Bowles’
3-4
scheme.
One of only two
quarterbacks to beat
Tom Brady in the Super
Bowl. He received a
four-year, $88 million
contract that included
$50.125 million
guaranteed to try and
get the Jaguars to the
big game for the first
time. He also took the
Eagles to the playoffs
last season while
subbing for an injured
Carson Wentz.
NFL 2019: Carr, Winston, Mariota among QBs in prove-it years
By JOSH DUBOW
AP Pro Football Writer
ALAMEDA, Calif. —
While outsiders keep spec-
ulating when the Oakland
Raiders will cut ties with
Derek Carr and search for a
new franchise quarterback,
Carr tunes out all the outside
noise.
He ignored all the pre-
draft talk whether the Raiders
would select his replacement
and has paid so little attention
to the talk about his long-term
security that he has already
bought a house in Las Vegas
— where his new neighbor
when the Raiders arrive in Sin
City next year will be coach
Jon Gruden.
“We are next-door neigh-
bors,” Carr said. “We will be,
yes, but that’s for the future.
That’ll be fun. Hopefully a lot
AP Photo/Matt Rourke, File
In this Aug. 8, 2019, fi le photo, Tennessee Titans quarterback
Marcus Mariota (8) looks to pass during a preseason NFL foot-
ball game against the Philadelphia Eagles in Philadelphia.
of knocks on the door. Maybe
we can car pool. That would
be good for us.”
Carr might be the only per-
son so confi dent in his job sta-
tus with the Raiders. After a
promising start to his career
that featured a 12-win sea-
son and MVP talk in 2016
when Oakland ended 13-year
playoff drought, Carr’s per-
formance has lagged the past
two years, thanks in part to
switching play callers and
diminished talent around him.
If he can’t succeed this
season after the Raiders
added the NFL’s most prolifi c
receiver in Antonio Brown,
a dangerous deep threat in
Tyrell Williams, fi rst-round
running back Josh Jacobs
and elite pass-blocking tackle
Trent Brown, Carr might need
to look for a real-estate agent.
And for a new job as the Raid-
ers can get out of his fi ve-year,
$125 million contract three
years early with almost no
penalty.
“Let’s just get through this
year fi rst and then we’ll play
that game again,” he said. “I’ll
probably have some more fun
with it, but I’m not going any-
where. This is my team and it
will be for the next however
long I want to play.”
Carr is one of several QBs
in a prove-it season, along
with 2015 top two picks Jam-
eis Winston and Marcus Mar-
iota, who are playing out their
fi fth-year options in Tampa
Bay and Tennessee without
long-term deals; Cincinna-
ti’s Andy Dalton; and Jimmy
Garoppolo in San Francisco.
Most of those teams can
get out of commitments to
players they once had hoped
would be franchise quar-
terbacks without major sal-
ary cap implications. Win-
ston and Mariota are set to
be unrestricted free agents
if they don’t get new deals
or franchise tags. Dalton will
enter the fi nal year of a $96
million, six-year contract in
2020 with no dead money on
his deal. The 49ers can get
out of Garoppolo’s with a cap
charge of just $4.5 million.
The questions about Win-
ston, Mariota and Dalton have
taken longer to form. Win-
ston and Mariota came into
the league as the top two picks
in 2015 but haven’t lived up to
that billing.
Mariota has had a dif-
fi cult time, missing at least
one game a season and going
through three head coaches
and fi ve play callers in his
brief career. He is coming off
a season when he threw for a
career-worst 11 touchdowns
with eight interceptions.
But with Derrick Henry at
running back and an emerg-
ing star in Corey Davis at
receiver, Mariota has the best
offensive talent around him
that he’s had in his career. It’s
an opportunity to show he’s
worthy of a mega-contract.