Arrowheadlines: Wasted timeouts might have cost the Giants victory

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‘Things I think’ after the Giants lose another game they could have won | Big Blue View (New York Giants SB Nation site)

Timeouts

What it it with Joe Judge and timeouts? I can’t go through each game right now and study his usage of timeouts, but it seems like game after game the Giants use unnecessary timeouts. OK, that’s a nice way of saying it. They waste timeouts. Then, at critical moments at the end of halves and games they don’t have timeouts that could be really useful.

You could argue that the Giants wasted five of their six timeouts on Monday.

They had none left at the end of the first half when they got the ball back with 1:36 left. That seriously handicapped their ability to try and get points.

Judge used a third-quarter timeout on defense, and a fourth-quarter timeout with 3:27 to go — again on defense — that allowed the Chiefs to manipulate the clock to their advantage the rest of the way.

Timeouts are like gold at the end of games. I don’t get why Judge so often treats them like dime-store candy.

10 Quick Facts About the Chiefs’ Week 8 Victory Over New York | Upon Further Review | The Mothership

8. Creed Humphrey continued his brilliant rookie season.

Speaking of the offensive line, Humphrey deserves special mention for his performance on Monday. The rookie center was the top-graded offensive linemen in the league in Week 8 and currently ranks as the top center in the NFL according to PFF’s metrics.

Halfway through his first season as a professional, PFF ranks Humphrey as the No. 4 overall offensive lineman in the league behind only 49ers’ tackle Trent Williams, Cowboys’ guard Zack Martin and Cowboys’ tackle Tyron Smith. He’s been tremendous.

2021 NFL trade deadline grades: Chiefs get ‘B’ for Melvin Ingram addition, Broncos win Von Miller trade | CBS Sports

Melvin Ingram to the Chiefs

Full trade: Chiefs acquire DE Melvin Ingram from Steelers in exchange for 2022 sixth-rounder

Steelers: B

Chiefs: B

The Steelers signed Ingram in July with the intention of rotating him opposite T.J. Watt, but the former Chargers Pro Bowler quickly fell on the depth chart. It would’ve been nice for Pittsburgh to keep him around as emergency depth with the defense guiding their quiet win streak, but he never had a long-term place here. Getting anything for a 32-year-old on a one-year deal is solid.

The Chiefs, meanwhile, need all the help they can get on defense. Ingram doesn’t have the steady explosion he once did; he’s very clearly a half-season rental. But a late-rounder is a small price to pay to potentially shift Chris Jones back inside and give one of the NFL’s worst units more push up front.

One thing we learned about each NFL team in Week 8 of 2021 season: Packers for real, Chiefs still in trouble | CBS Sports

Kansas City Chiefs

Their offense still isn’t right. A 20-17 down-to-the-wire win against ... the Giants? Patrick Mahomes seems like he’s trying so hard to make the routine plays now, and it’s still an off-script mess. K.C. isn’t bad, but it’s working way too hard to get out of a funk right now.

2022 NFL Draft order: Eagles, Giants, Jets holding multiple picks inside top 11 | NFL.com

18 - Kansas City Chiefs

4-4 · .508

Biggest needs: OT, CB, S

Week 9 opponent: vs. Packers

CG: Rashad Fenton has impressed in Kansas City at one cornerback spot. But there are questions elsewhere at a position where depth is critical, including pending free agency for Mike Hughes and an injury-plagued 2021 for Charvarius Ward.

Chiefs honor Terez Paylor

Around the NFL

Rams waive veteran WR DeSean Jackson after no trade comes to fruition | NFL.com

Jackson, 34, had 221 yards receiving on just eight catches for the Rams, and had seen limited playing time of late. The Rams receiving rotation has favored Cooper Kupp, Robert Woods and Van Jefferson.

Rams general manager Les Snead told reporters Tuesday that Jackson was waived after 1 p.m. local time, so he will appear on Wednesday’s waivers as opposed to Tuesday’s.

“It was an experiment that we attempted, didn’t work out as well as we wanted it to, as DeSean wanted it to or as Sean wanted it to,” Snead said, per The Athletic.

A speedy vertical threat, Jackson can still stretch the field if a team chooses to pick him up — he hauled in a 75-yard TD grab against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Week 3, as well as a 68-yard catch against the Seattle Seahawks in Week 5. A number of teams could be looking for receiving help, including the Atlanta Falcons, who’ve indefinitely lost a Jackson-like threat in Calvin Ridley as he has taken a leave from the game for personal well-being.

Source: Green Bay Packers cut Jaylon Smith weeks after signing LB | ESPN

The former Dallas Cowboys second-round pick was a healthy scratch for last Thursday’s game against the Arizona Cardinals, an indication that his time with the team might be short-lived.

The inside linebacker played a total of 27 snaps for the Packers — 17 against the Chicago Bears in Week 6 and 10 against the Washington Football Team in Week 7 — and was credited with one tackle in those two games.

Las Vegas Raiders release WR Henry Ruggs III, who faces two felony charges in fatal crash | ESPN

Ruggs faces felony charges of driving under the influence of alcohol resulting in death and reckless driving, court records show. He was released from a hospital and taken to jail earlier Tuesday ahead of an initial court appearance scheduled on Wednesday.

The Chevrolet Corvette that Ruggs, 22, was driving slammed at high speed into the rear of a Toyota Rav4 on a busy thoroughfare in a residential area several miles west of the Las Vegas Strip at about 3:39 a.m. local time Tuesday.

Ruggs and his passenger, Kiara Je’nai Kilgo-Washington, with whom he has a young daughter, were hospitalized with “serious” injuries that police said did not appear life-threatening. The Toyota burst into flames and the driver and her dog died, police said.

Ruggs “showed signs of impairment,’’ police said in a statement that did not identify the woman who died.

In case you missed it on Arrowhead Pride

5 things we learned as the Chiefs beat the Giants

3. Derrick Gore wasn’t a preseason illusion

During late drives in the preseason, the undrafted running back from the University of Louisiana-Monroe got lots of attention from Chiefs fans who noted his speed, patience and vision.

There was just one problem: his snaps tended to be late in those preseason games, when he was playing against back-of-the-roster players. It’s always hard to really tell what you are seeing in that kind of situation. Is the player performing well because he’s that good, or because the opposition is that bad?

To be sure, Gore wasn’t playing against the NFL’s best running defense when the Chiefs started giving him running snaps on Monday night. (Gore had played in two games since being activated from the practice squad after starting running back Clyde Edwards-Helaire went on injured reserve — but had never taken a handoff). He made the most of his opportunity, which began during a second-quarter drive in which his number was called on five consecutive plays. Both the first and last of those handoffs went for nine yards — but the last one was a terrific touchdown run.

Speed? Patience? Vision? Yes. Gore continued to show what impressed us in the preseason. Let’s hope the Chiefs can find a way to keep him — and continue to use him.

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