Tag: Lisa Johnson

AFC South takes an unexpected turn

Lisa Johnson
AFC South AFC East Reporter

By Lisa Johnson // @lj1303 

Heading into week 10, with the Texans and Jaguars on byes, the Tennessee Titans and Indianapolis Colts looked to try and gain ground on division-leading Houston Texans.

The Titans opened up week 10 against the Kanas City Chiefs, which saw the return of Chiefs MVP quarterback Patrick Mahomes.

And he looked every part of that during the opening drive, going 6 of 8 and hitting tight end Travis Kelce for a 3-yard touchdown pass. While the Chiefs offense and Maholmes got off to a great start, the Chiefs defense struggled with the Titans ground and pound run game.

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Franchise QBs on their way out? The quarterback carousel begins early.

Lisa Johnson
AFC South AFC East Reporter

By Lisa Johnson // @LJ1303 

We are at the mid-season mark and already we have teams talking about moving on from their supposed franchise quarterbacks.

Let’s take a look at who may be leaving their quarterbacks behind.

Carolina Panthers placed Cam Newton on season-ending injured reserve this week, leaving many to question if we will ever see Newton in a Panthers uniform again., especially since they have quarterback Kyle Allen, an undrafted free agent who has played well for Carolina in relief of Newton. He has completed 60.7 % of his passes for 1,291 yards with nine touchdowns and four interceptions in six games.

The Panthers have gone 5-1 in the games in which Allen has started.

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The AFC South: an interview with Antwan Staley

Lisa Johnson
AFC South & East Reporter

By Lisa Johnson // @LJ1303 

This week, I got a chance to talk with Antwan Staley (@antwanstaley) about the AFC South.

It seems the NFL has been plagued with more quarterback issues than usual, and this division definitely has it’s share of those. From Andrew Luck leaving the Colts to the Jaguars going all-in on Nick Foles only to lose him to injury to Marcus Mariota getting benched for Ryan Tannehill, what more could go wrong?

So I figured, who better to ask about what’s going on in the AFC South then my friend Antwan?

Staley is a football writer, an @EastCarolina alumni, a self-proclaimed “Hip Hop historian” and Chicken Wing Connoisseur. He has extensive experience covering Florida sports teams. He has written for Bleacher Report, the Miami Herald and the Palm Beach Post and is a reporter for Pro Player Insiders. 

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Patriots send message to AFC East

Lisa Johnson
AFC South & East Reporter

By Lisa Johnson // @LJ1303

The Patriot’s reign over the AFC East appears to be in good standing.

The Patriots took their perfect 6-0 record into New York Monday night and completely dominated their AFC East rival New York Jets.

The Jets, coming off their huge win against the Dallas Cowboys last week at Met Life, failed to gain any ground in the standings.  They are now sitting with a 1-5 record with little to no chance of seeing postseason play, let alone give the Patriots any sort of competition for an AFC East title.

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Dolphins hang tough against Bills in Fitzpatrick’s return

Lisa Johnson
AFC South & East Reporter

By Lisa Johnson // @LJ1303 

One week after bringing the Dolphins so close to their first victory of the season, quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick took the field for his return trip back to Buffalo. Fitzpatrick, who is very familiar with the setting as he played for Buffalo during the 2009-2012 season, understands how hard it can be on opposing teams to play here.

He was asked after the game on how it was playing here.

Coming back here, what’s this cauldron like? It there a level of comfort to come back here because you started out here, or discomfort because of the noise? “It was a strange feeling every time I’m here and it’s a strange feeling walking into the stadium – there’s so many good memories. This place is so special to me as a player and as an opponent I guess, but it brings up great memories and a lot of memories that carry a lot of weight and emotion to them.”

Dolphins came in looking to build off some of their success during last week’s near-win and, hopefully, with Fitzpatrick bringing some of his “FitzMagic” back into this offense.

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Miami Dolphins partner with University of Miami to tackle youth concussions

Lisa Johnson
AFC South & East Reporter

By Lisa Johnson // @LJ1303

With so much emphasis on the NFL and their concussion protocol, one newly developed program now will focus on High School Football and student athletics.

During recent studies, it is now known that the rate of concussions in high school football is 2.01 for every 1,000 games.

Concussions can be particularly hazardous to high school and youth football players because the frontal lobe of the brain is still developing.

Leading this new program is Gillian A. Hotz, Ph.D. who is a research professor at the University Of Miami Miller School Of Medicine and a nationally recognized behavioral neuroscientist and expert in pediatric and adult neurotrauma, concussion management, and neurorehabilitation.

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A huge win, a couple of losses headline Week 6 for the AFC South

Lisa Johnson
AFC South & East Reporter

By Lisa Johnson // @LJ1303

A huge win and a couple of lopsided losses highlight week 6 for the AFC South.

The Indianapolis Colts had a Week 6 bye, but the other three teams fought hard, with varying results.

Houston Texas
Deshaun Watson certainly didn’t need to explain to reporters about coverages following Houston’s Sunday come back win against the Kanas City Chiefs. Watson threw for 280 yards with one touchdown pass and scrambled for two more.

Running back Carlos Hyde padded his stats as well. Running for 116 yards with a touchdown of his own. Hyde was traded by the Chiefs to the Texans before the start of the regular season and you could tell this was a bit of a revenge game for him.

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Dolphins drop a close one to Redskins.

Lisa Johnson
AFC South & East Reporter

By Lisa Johnson //@LJ1303

All tanking talk aside, the Dolphins actually put themselves into a position to win their week 6 game. With under a minute to go in the fourth quarter, Dolphins quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick entered the game with the Dolphins down by 7. He did so after starting QB Josh Rosen was benched in the 3rd quarter.

Fitzpatrick drove the Dolphins down the field to a potentially tying touchdown. With only seconds left. Fitzpatrick found wide receiver DeVante Parker in the back of the end zone. With no hesitating what so ever. The Dolphins offense stayed out on the field, setting up for a potential winning 2 point conversion.

By the reaction of the crowd at Hard Rock Stadium, all seemed on board with the call. As Fitzpatrick took the snap and tried to hit running back Kenyan Drake on a quick slant. Drake bobbled and dropped the ball, failing to get the 2 points and the win.

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The Miami Dolphins: A Tale of Two Halves

Lisa Johnson
AFC South & East Reporter

By Lisa Johnson // @LJ1303

“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of light, it was the season of darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair.” – Charles Dickens

All too familiar for Miami Dolphins fans. Instead of quoting A Tale of Two Cities, however, we have the tale of two halves. It’s a question that many Dolphins fans are asking.

What exactly happens to this team at halftime?

Through the first two-quarters of play, the Dolphins have been managing to score a few points. They’ve been putting some drives together, letting quarterback Josh Rosen find his rhythm. They even manage to keep the game close until halftime. At times they stayed somewhat competitive and looking like they might come out of the locker room and continue to build off that success.

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The Patriots and Bills go head to head to be on top of the AFC East

Lisa Johnson
AFC South & East Reporter

By Lisa Johnson // @LJ1303

When looking at this week’s New England Patriots game against the Buffalo Bills, not only is this an early pivotal AFC east match-up, this game already has the word epic swirling all around it. And it’s not just because both teams are 3-0. Oh no. It’s also because this has garnered what could be the strangest headline in NFL history.

Before Sunday’s matchup, Bills fans will again be warned, via social media, that there would be repercussions if any… umm… “toys” are tossed on the field. And I don’t mean kids toys. Anyone caught throwing said toys will face a lifetime ban.

One thing I know about being a life long Dolphins fans, Bills fans are easily the top-five wildest fan bases in the NFL. So this is nothing but a challenge for them.

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