We’ve written a couple of times about the Steelers’ penchant for going for two instead of kicking PATs this year, and Thursday night’s game against the Ravens presented a few new wrinkles for the “kick it or go for it” decision matrix. There was a lot going on in this game, but the most interesting was four 4th down decisions Steelers coach Mike Tomlin had to make. We pick up the action with 2:29 remaining in the fourth quarter, and the Steelers up 20-17. Facing 4th-and-5 from the Ravens 31-yard line, Tomlin opted to trot out maligned kicker Josh Scobee, who had made 46- and 35-yarders earlier in the game. While a field goal wouldn’t put the game out of reach, it would force the Ravens to score a touchdown, rather than be able to tie with a field goal. Scobee missed. On t…
Jesse Lingard has revealed he considered taking a break from football last year because of mental health issues affecting him and his family but believes talking openly about his feelings since has helped to rejuvenate his career.
Lingard has scored nine times since moving to West Ham on loan from Manchester United in January to earn an England recall, having not played a minute in the Premier League for his parent club this season, and is expected to be part of Gareth Southgate’s squad for this summer’s European Championship.
Foden leads Man City to win at Aston Villa despite red card for StonesRead more
The 28-year-old has admitted his mother’s struggles with depression affected his mental health while he was…
Did a pair of painfully pale performances against Iran signal the beginning of the end for Gareth Bale and Aaron Ramsey? It was the elephant in the room after Wales’s defeat on Friday but Rob Page quickly swallowed the question and, such was the manager’s disappointment after a jarring loss that left his team staring at elimination, insisted now was not the time. Page did, however, concede Wales were punished because too many key players allowed the occasion to pass them by.
Bale, Wales’s all-time men’s leading goalscorer and now their most-capped male player, is almost unanimously cherished as the team’s greatest export. For a few years, regardless of the minutes he has totted up at club level, he has been able to pull on a Wales …
The Hungary manager, Marco Rossi, accused the referee Danny Makkelie of a “double standard” after a controversial Jamal Musiala goal was allowed to stand in their 2-0 defeat by Germany.
Rossi and his players were furious that Ilkay Gündogan was not pulled up, either by Makkelie or VAR, in the buildup for what they felt was a shove on the centre-back Willi Orban. In truth contact had been light and, on balance, the decision seemed correct. But it set Hungary on the way to a defeat that leaves their participation beyond the group stage at Euro 2024 in grave doubt and Rossi pondered whether bigger-name sides might have been treated differently.
Musiala and Gündogan shine as Germany ease to win against HungaryRead more
ESPN issued an on-air apology to SEC commissioner Greg Sankey for comments that political analyst James Carville made during his appearance on College Gameday about the conference being inherently biased towards No. 1 Alabama. Carville was invited to the program because of his well-known fandom of LSU—who play the Crimson Tide tonight—and the first question he was asked was about linebacker Devin White’s suspension for the first half of the game. He said he’s not surprised about it because the SEC has “taken out” the best defensive players of other teams Alabama has faced like Tennessee, Missouri and Texas A&M. White was ejected from an Oct. 20 game against Mississippi State. Because the ejection occurred in the second half, the NCAA targeting rules state that he has to …
The Seattle Mariners rocked Justin Verlander for a home run, a triple, a double, and a single, all in the first inning of their game against the Astros on Thursday night. The reverse cycle put the Mariners up 3-0 at the end of the first inning, which accounted for exactly half of Verlander’s game. He was ejected in between the second and third inning for arguing with the ump, who had called him for a balk, and was replaced by Brad Peacock. Mariners leadoff batter Mitch Haniger smacked a dinger to start things off, Denard Span immediately followed that with a triple, Jean Segura doubled, and then Nelson Cruz hit a single to complete the cycle. It was a good night for cycle news: Red Sox slugger Mookie Betts hit a ninth-inning home run to complete the first cycle of the 2018 MLB se…
Some people are fans of the Atlanta Falcons. But many, many more people are NOT fans of the Atlanta Falcons. This 2018 Deadspin NFL team preview is for those in the latter group. Read all the previews so far here. Your team: Atlanta Falcons. Your 2017 record: 10-6. Did I say 10-6? Interesting, because that was also the lead the Falcons held over Philly before blowing it in the divisional round. FUNNY HOW THAT WORKS. You people let Nick Foles happen. You could have snuffed out this insanity before it even started and you fucking failed. NEVER TRUST A FALCON TO DO A MAN’S JOB. Their last play against the Eagles was foiled because the Eagles defense knew the call in advance and yelled it out at the damn line of scrimmage: “It was right hash. That’s a lot of teams’ tendencies f…
2015 was a year of muchos golazos here, with outstanding goals being scored at the Women’s World Cup, Champions League, Euro 2016 qualifiers, domestic play, and more. These are some of our favorites: To contact the author of this post, write to [email protected] ( PGP key) or find him on Twitter @bubbaprog. …
The Ravens have occasionally thrown two-quarterback looks at opponents this season, with both Lamar Jackson and Joe Flacco on the field at the same time. When Flacco has to split out wide, he does so with all the enthusiasm of a child forced to dress up for church. This is only a little better than Mark Sanchez’s incredible false start, but yeah, Joe’s not contributing at all to the play. That’s fine, since he can’t pick up an injury by just standing, but Flacco’s wife Dana thinks he should at least look like a pass-catching threat. From Jamison Hensley of ESPN: “My wife gave me crap the one day, told me I need to look more interested out there,” Flacco said Wednesday. “But I’m just trying to stay out of it. I’m not comfortable out there. I don’t need to get too …
The year is coming to a close, and as such it's time for the Deadspin Hall of Fame. We'll be presenting our roster of nominees starting tomorrow, with the candidates deserving of induction to be unveiled next week. In years past, the Hall of Fame announcement has coincided with our end-of-the-year SHOTY competition. Going forward, we've decided to dispense with the SHOTY. Just because. We requested your suggestions for possible Hall of Fame worthies back in September. While our tireless Hall of Fame committee has compiled a list of the five we think we're going to put forth for your consideration, we'd like to give you one last opportunity to offer up someone else we might have missed. Just leave your choices in the comments, and be sure to check back tomorrow…