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The Herald Scotland
13 hours ago
- Sport
- The Herald Scotland
NFL training camps: As teams report, 50 things to know for 2025 season
But before we get there, we thought a bit of a football primer might be helpful just in case you've been focused on baseball, basketball, soccer, the beach and/or pina coladas. Here are 50 things to know 50 days ahead of the league's upcoming season: 1. The Los Angeles Chargers' veterans report to training camp today, making the Bolts the first team to have their full team in the building. The Detroit Lions will be completely in the fold by Saturday. The rest of the league's teams will fully post by next week. The Chargers and Lions have early report dates because they will meet in the Pro Football Hall of Fame Game in Canton, Ohio, on July 31. 2. Could Detroit and the Bolts be providing the earliest of Super Bowl 60 previews? Even though both clubs reached the playoffs last season, let's just say it's highly doubtful. The franchises have combined for zero Lombardi Trophies and one Super Bowl berth in their lengthy histories - the Lions just one of four teams never to play on Super Sunday, and the only one in the league that's gone zero-for-59 on that front since the beginning of the Super Bowl era in 1966. 3. Still ... the San Francisco 49ers advanced to Super Bowl 47 at the end of the 2012 campaign, which was their second under head coach Jim Harbaugh, who now enters Year 2 with the Chargers. Meanwhile, the Lions, who had never won the NFC North prior to 2023, are in the midst of their best stretch in the Super Bowl era - winning the division the past two seasons and racking up a club record 15 regular-season victories in 2024. However they must overcome the loss of coordinators Ben Johnson (Chicago Bears) and Aaron Glenn (New York Jets), who both took head coaching jobs in the offseason, plus the departure of several other assistants from HC Dan Campbell's staff. 4. The number of Hall of Fame inductees this year, Canton's smallest class since 2005. CB Eric Allen, DE Jared Allen, WR Sterling Sharpe and TE Antonio Gates, who played his entire 16-year career with the Chargers. Gates' 116 career touchdown catches are the most by any tight end in NFL history. 5. The number of teams that hit the road for training camp, which used to be the norm in the days when team bonding and conditioning were - often of necessity - more highly prioritized by coaches. The Cowboys, Buffalo Bills, Indianapolis Colts, Kansas City Chiefs and Pittsburgh Steelers are the only clubs that will actually do some version of football camping in 2025. 6. Can you name the only team to never reach a conference championship game? Probably no surprise, but the answer is the Houston Texans, the league's youngest franchise (2002 was their first year). Yet maybe you didn't appreciate that the Texans have reached the divisional round in three of the previous six seasons and each of the last two. If QB C.J. Stroud and Co. can manage an incremental improvement - and from the cozy confines of the AFC South, which they've won the past two years - maybe they'll finally find themselves on the Super Bowl's doorstep. 7. The number of international games the NFL will stage in 2025 - a record for one season - including Spain and Ireland for the first time.8. And the league will again waste no time stamping passports, the Chiefs and Chargers set to meet in Sao Paulo, Brazil, on September 5, 24 hours after the Eagles and Cowboys start the season. 9. The number of total losses (against one win) the Cincinnati Bengals have in their first two games since drafting QB Joe Burrow in 2020. Just another reason they might want to figure out a new contract for disgruntled DE Trey Hendrickson, the NFL's sack leader in 2024. 10. Did we forget about the Eagles? Oops. So they'll try to become the 10th team in the Super Bowl era to win consecutive Lombardi Trophies on the heels of decisively snapping the Chiefs' three-peat bid in Super Bowl 59. 11. Oddly enough, Philadelphia might have more trouble keeping its NFC East crown than the league throne. Since the Eagles ruled the division from 2001 to '04, no team has won it in consecutive years - the longest such stretch for any division (MLB, NBA and NHL included), according to ESPN. 12. The recently assigned jersey number of Cleveland Browns rookie Shedeur Sanders - the University of Colorado just retired his No. 2 - perhaps the most highly scrutinized fifth-round draft pick and/or fourth-string (or fifth, if you count injured Deshaun Watson) quarterback in NFL annals. 13. The Miami Dolphins haven't won a playoff game since the 2000 season, the league's longest active streak and one seemingly hurtling toward a full quarter-century. 14. The number of consecutive seasons that the New York Jets have failed to qualify for the playoffs, the longest active drought among NFL, MLB, NBA and NHL teams. 15. The number of teams that will feature some kind of new uniform during the 2025 season, whether it's a recently revealed throwback or alternate or ones (AFC East, NFC West) participating in Nike's upcoming "Rivalries" reveal. 16. In case you missed it, Bengals WR Ja'Marr Chase became the highest-paid non-quarterback in league history (in terms of average annual contractual value) when he signed a four-year, $161 extension in March. 17. Chase overtook Browns DE Myles Garrett, who became the first non-QB to average $40 million per season when Cleveland pulled some Obi-Wan Kenobi stuff on him. "You don't want to be traded. You'd rather take our money than pursue a championship." Really good stormtrooper that Myles. 18. But expect both Chase and Garrett to be surpassed again before the season starts. Steelers OLB T.J. Watt and Cowboys DE Micah Parsons seem to be in something of a stare-down with their teams - and maybe each other - as they await their next payday, which will almost certainly come in slightly ahead of Chase's $40.25 million per. 19. Lions DE Aidan Hutchinson might also enter into that discussion. Although unlike Parsons and Watt, Hutchinson has two years left on his pact ... and a slight burden of proof required as he continues what seems to be a remarkable comeback after breaking his tibia and fibula last October. 20. Speaking of $40 million, there's a player carrying that cap number in 2025 even though his team hopes he won't have to play a down. That would be Atlanta Falcons backup QB Kirk Cousins, who almost certainly won't be traded unless another club runs headlong into an abject disaster behind center ... and is willing to pay handsomely for Cousins, in terms of draft compensation, given Atlanta has already guaranteed him $100 million (including his $27.5 million base salary for the 2025 season) and would need a justifiable reason to divest itself from a guy who is almost undoubtedly the league's best Plan B QB. 21. Speaking of cap hits, Baltimore Ravens QB Lamar Jackson and Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes - they've combined four of the league's last seven MVP awards and you could argue that both should actually have three apiece - are each scheduled to have one north of $74 million in 2026. While other players have more urgent contract situations, you can bet Baltimore and Kansas City will address their stars' deals, quite likely sooner rather than later. And good chance both are eventually averaging more than $60 million annually, which is the fiscal plateau set by Dallas QB Dak Prescott last year. 22. Five rookie head coaches will be patrolling the sidelines in 2025: Glenn, Johnson, the Jaguars' Liam Coen, Cowboys' Brian Schottenheimer and Saints' Kellen Moore. 23. The number of NBA legend Michael Jordan, whose sneaker line has Prescott as perhaps its most high-profile NFL endorser. After missing more than half of last season with a serious hamstring injury, Prescott is ready to go for camp. The Cowboys have made the playoffs in five of the seven seasons in which he's started at least 12 times. 24. The number of different joint practice sessions that will occur this summer, valuable periods for players - particular veterans who prefer to avoid exhibition contests but want to work against opponents in controlled environments - at a time when the preseason schedule has dwindled to three games for most teams. 25. Of the league's 32 teams, 29 will participate in at least one joint practice - the Bengals, Chiefs and New Orleans Saints the only holdouts. 26. The Dolphins will conduct joint practices with three other clubs (Bears, Jags, Lions), most in the league this summer. 27. Let's talk rookies. None is generating a greater sense of anticipation than WR/CB Travis Hunter, the reigning Heisman Trophy winner whom the Jaguars traded up to get at the No. 2 spot. He averaged nearly 112 snaps per game while playing offense and defense during his two seasons at Colorado and once had 149 against Stanford in a single game. No NFL player has played as many as 120 snaps in a game since at least 2012, but Jacksonville is currently open to allowing Hunter to play both ways ... if not recording triple-digit snaps with any kind of regularity, if at all. 28. Las Vegas Raiders rookie RB Ashton Jeanty also enters the league with outsized expectations after rushing for 2,601 yards last season with Boise State - 28 shy of breaking Barry Sanders' single-season NCAA record. And it's not unprecedented for a first-year NFL player to top the rushing charts, Ezekiel Elliott (2016) and Kareem Hunt (2017) the most recent to turn that trick. 29. The Washington Commanders are something of a chic Super Bowl pick after reaching the NFC title game in 2024 behind Offensive Rookie of the Year Jayden Daniels. But no quarterback has followed up an OROY showing with a Super Bowl berth the following season since Ben Roethlisberger in 2005. 30. Two rookie teammates to monitor this summer are Atlanta's Jalon Walker and James Pearce Jr. Both were taken in the first round of the draft and each will be asked to rush enemy quarterbacks. Maybe one can produce the Falcons' first double-digit sack season since 2016. 31. New Steelers QB Aaron Rodgers needs six TD passes to pass former teammate Brett Favre (508) for the fourth most in NFL history. If Rodgers can somehow fire off 37, he'd wrest third place from Peyton Manning (539). 32. And if Rodgers can defeat his original team, the Green Bay Packers, on the "Sunday Night Football" stage October 26 at Acrisure Stadium, he'll join Favre, Manning, Tom Brady and Drew Brees as the only quarterbacks in league history to beat all 32 NFL teams. 33. Got the first pick of your upcoming fantasy draft and wondering whom you should take? Past performance does not guarantee future returns, but here's a vote for Chase. He won the receiving triple crown last year (127 catches, 1,708 yards, 17 TDs) and had a comfortable cushion in each category. And don't forget the Bengals stink in September and can't play defense, especially if Hendrickson holds out - so they should be chucking the rock early and often. 34. And if you're considering Philly's Saquon Barkley, who's coming off arguably the best season ever by a running back ... then maybe think twice. (Statistical) history rarely repeats itself, and no player has led the league in yards from scrimmage in consecutive years since Tiki Barker in 2004 and '05. No one has paced the NFL in touches in back-to-back seasons since LaDainian Tomlinson in 2001 and '02. And given Barkley's injury history? Just sayin', buyer beware. 35. But if you're hellbent on taking a running back, Atlanta' Bijan Robinson might be the guy. He's coming off a promising sophomore campaign, when he totaled 1,887 yards and 15 touchdowns. 36. You might have guessed RB James Cook led the Bills with 1,267 yards from scrimmage in 2024. You might not know that WR Khalil Shakir was second with 825. The perennial AFC East champs might be wise to figure out a new deal for Cook lest he decide to withhold his services at some point. 37. Dying to see Cook play in front of Bills Mafia at Highmark Stadium? Then you better make it happen this year given the team is scheduled to move into its new venue for the 2026 season. 38. Only two teams finished the 2024 regular season without any players tallying 1,000 yards from scrimmage. Not surprisingly, one was the New England Patriots. Perhaps surprisingly, the other was the Chiefs. Second-year Pats QB Drake Maye isn't the only one who could use a little more support. 39. The last time the Tampa Bay Buccaneers failed to win the NFC South was 2020, when Brady led them to victory in Super Bowl 55 as a wild-card entry. 40. But since the start of the 2022 season, the Bucs average margin over the division's second-place finisher is one game. That's why the recent knee operation on All-Pro LT Tristan Wirfs, arguably Tampa's best player, is such a big deal and major concern. QB Baker Mayfield will face four players in the first seven weeks who collected double-digit sacks in 2024 - and that list doesn't include Hutchinson, 49ers DE Nick Bosa or anyone from the Eagles. 41. And what an additional bummer for Wirfs, who would have been a favorite to win the league's inaugural Protector of the Year award in 2025, which will honor the NFL's best offensive lineman. 42. After allowing the second-most passing yards in the league in 2024 - and most among playoff clubs - the Ravens signed Pro Bowl CB Jaire Alexander and selected highly regarded S Malaki Starks in the first round of the draft. Teaming them with Pro Bowl DBs Kyle Hamilton and Marlon Humphrey should make this a far more formidable secondary - and maybe the one that gets last season's AFC North champs back to the Super Bowl for the first time in 13 years. 43. Only one team has two players who rushed for at least 1,000 yards in 2024 on its roster. That would be the Carolina Panthers, who signed Rico Dowdle from Dallas in free agency and will pair him with incumbent RB1 Chuba Hubbard. 44. It's worth wondering if new New York Giants QB1 Russell Wilson starts more games in 2025 for the G-Men ... or another team. With a $2 million base salary for the season, Wilson will be quite easy to trade - especially if a partner emerges when and if the Giants decide it's time to hand the keys to rookie Jaxson Dart, which feels fairly inevitable. 45. Which division will be the most competitive? Maybe none feels more wide open than the NFC West, and Vegas seems to support that. Per BetMGM, the Seattle Seahawks are a +500 bet to win it, currently the site's shortest odds of any projected last-place club. 46. Looking for a breakout defensive star in 2025? Keep an eye on Packers LB Edgerrin Cooper, who only started four times as a rookie in 2024, but was one of the better players at his position by season's end. 47. Looking for a breakout offensive star in 2025? We have yet to see Minnesota Vikings QB J.J. McCarthy take a regular-season snap after a preseason knee injury scuttled his rookie campaign in 2024. But given the meteoric rise Sam Darnold just enjoyed in Minnesota under HC Kevin O'Connell and the supporting cast the Vikes have put around McCarthy, he's got everything he needs to thrive two years after leading the University of Michigan to a national title. 48. Most compelling quarterback competition? If you'd rather look away from what's happening in Indianapolis between Anthony Richardson and Daniel Jones, then turn your eyes to New Orleans, where Spencer Rattler and rookie Tyler Shough are likely to vie for the Saints job under the watchful eyes of Moore, a former QB himself. With Derek Carr gone, expectations in the Big Easy are as low as anywhere - exactly the kind of environment that can sprout a surprise. 49. If an AFC team wins the upcoming Super Bowl, each conference will have 28 Lombardi Trophies to its credit since the 1970 AFL-NFL merger. 50. So - again - just 50 days until the first ball that counts is kicked off at Lincoln Financial Field ... and 207 until Super Bowl 60 commences in Santa Clara, California. Let's enjoy the ride! All NFL news on and off the field. Sign up for USA TODAY's 4th and Monday newsletter.
USA Today
a day ago
- Sport
- USA Today
NFL preview: 50 things to know 50 days before 2025 season kicks off
Lest you're under the impression that we're in the throes of summer … well, you're not wrong. It's hot, hopefully relaxing and most veteran players haven't even reported to NFL training camps yet. And yet pro football is going to be here – in a meaningful way – before you know it. Only 50 days henceforth, the reigning Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles will host the Dallas Cowboys (on September 4) to kick off the 2025 regular season. But before we get there, we thought a bit of a football primer might be helpful just in case you've been focused on baseball, basketball, soccer, the beach and/or piña coladas. Here are 50 things to know 50 days ahead of the league's upcoming season: 1. The Los Angeles Chargers' veterans report to training camp today, making the Bolts the first team to have their full team in the building. The Detroit Lions will be completely in the fold by Saturday. The rest of the league's teams will fully post by next week. The Chargers and Lions have early report dates because they will meet in the Pro Football Hall of Fame Game in Canton, Ohio, on July 31. 2. Could Detroit and the Bolts be providing the earliest of Super Bowl 60 previews? Even though both clubs reached the playoffs last season, let's just say it's highly doubtful. The franchises have combined for zero Lombardi Trophies and one Super Bowl berth in their lengthy histories – the Lions just one of four teams never to play on Super Sunday, and the only one in the league that's gone zero-for-59 on that front since the beginning of the Super Bowl era in 1966. 3. Still … the San Francisco 49ers advanced to Super Bowl 47 at the end of the 2012 campaign, which was their second under head coach Jim Harbaugh, who now enters Year 2 with the Chargers. Meanwhile, the Lions, who had never won the NFC North prior to 2023, are in the midst of their best stretch in the Super Bowl era – winning the division the past two seasons and racking up a club record 15 regular-season victories in 2024. However they must overcome the loss of coordinators Ben Johnson (Chicago Bears) and Aaron Glenn (New York Jets), who both took head coaching jobs in the offseason, plus the departure of several other assistants from HC Dan Campbell's staff. 4. The number of Hall of Fame inductees this year, Canton's smallest class since 2005. CB Eric Allen, DE Jared Allen, WR Sterling Sharpe and TE Antonio Gates, who played his entire 16-year career with the Chargers. Gates' 116 career touchdown catches are the most by any tight end in NFL history. 5. The number of teams that hit the road for training camp, which used to be the norm in the days when team bonding and conditioning were – often of necessity – more highly prioritized by coaches. The Cowboys, Buffalo Bills, Indianapolis Colts, Kansas City Chiefs and Pittsburgh Steelers are the only clubs that will actually do some version of football camping in 2025. 6. Can you name the only team to never reach a conference championship game? Probably no surprise, but the answer is the Houston Texans, the league's youngest franchise (2002 was their first year). Yet maybe you didn't appreciate that the Texans have reached the divisional round in three of the previous six seasons and each of the last two. If QB C.J. Stroud and Co. can manage an incremental improvement – and from the cozy confines of the AFC South, which they've won the past two years – maybe they'll finally find themselves on the Super Bowl's doorstep. 7. The number of international games the NFL will stage in 2025 – a record for one season – including Spain and Ireland for the first time.8. And the league will again waste no time stamping passports, the Chiefs and Chargers set to meet in São Paulo, Brazil, on September 5, 24 hours after the Eagles and Cowboys start the season. 9. The number of total losses (against one win) the Cincinnati Bengals have in their first two games since drafting QB Joe Burrow in 2020. Just another reason they might want to figure out a new contract for disgruntled DE Trey Hendrickson, the NFL's sack leader in 2024. 10. Did we forget about the Eagles? Oops. So they'll try to become the 10th team in the Super Bowl era to win consecutive Lombardi Trophies on the heels of decisively snapping the Chiefs' three-peat bid in Super Bowl 59. 11. Oddly enough, Philadelphia might have more trouble keeping its NFC East crown than the league throne. Since the Eagles ruled the division from 2001 to '04, no team has won it in consecutive years – the longest such stretch for any division (MLB, NBA and NHL included), according to ESPN. 12. The recently assigned jersey number of Cleveland Browns rookie Shedeur Sanders – the University of Colorado just retired his No. 2 – perhaps the most highly scrutinized fifth-round draft pick and/or fourth-string (or fifth, if you count injured Deshaun Watson) quarterback in NFL annals. 13. The Miami Dolphins haven't won a playoff game since the 2000 season, the league's longest active streak and one seemingly hurtling toward a full quarter-century. 14. The number of consecutive seasons that the New York Jets have failed to qualify for the playoffs, the longest active drought among NFL, MLB, NBA and NHL teams. 15. The number of teams that will feature some kind of new uniform during the 2025 season, whether it's a recently revealed throwback or alternate or ones (AFC East, NFC West) participating in Nike's upcoming 'Rivalries' reveal. 16. In case you missed it, Bengals WR Ja'Marr Chase became the highest-paid non-quarterback in league history (in terms of average annual contractual value) when he signed a four-year, $161 extension in March. 17. Chase overtook Browns DE Myles Garrett, who became the first non-QB to average $40 million per season when Cleveland pulled some Obi-Wan Kenobi stuff on him. 'You don't want to be traded. You'd rather take our money than pursue a championship.' Really good stormtrooper that Myles. 18. But expect both Chase and Garrett to be surpassed again before the season starts. Steelers OLB T.J. Watt and Cowboys DE Micah Parsons seem to be in something of a stare-down with their teams – and maybe each other – as they await their next payday, which will almost certainly come in slightly ahead of Chase's $40.25 million per. 19. Lions DE Aidan Hutchinson might also enter into that discussion. Although unlike Parsons and Watt, Hutchinson has two years left on his pact … and a slight burden of proof required as he continues what seems to be a remarkable comeback after breaking his tibia and fibula last October. 20. Speaking of $40 million, there's a player carrying that cap number in 2025 even though his team hopes he won't have to play a down. That would be Atlanta Falcons backup QB Kirk Cousins, who almost certainly won't be traded unless another club runs headlong into an abject disaster behind center … and is willing to pay handsomely for Cousins, in terms of draft compensation, given Atlanta has already guaranteed him $100 million (including his $27.5 million base salary for the 2025 season) and would need a justifiable reason to divest itself from a guy who is almost undoubtedly the league's best Plan B QB. 21. Speaking of cap hits, Baltimore Ravens QB Lamar Jackson and Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes – they've combined four of the league's last seven MVP awards and you could argue that both should actually have three apiece – are each scheduled to have one north of $74 million in 2026. While other players have more urgent contract situations, you can bet Baltimore and Kansas City will address their stars' deals, quite likely sooner rather than later. And good chance both are eventually averaging more than $60 million annually, which is the fiscal plateau set by Dallas QB Dak Prescott last year. 22. Five rookie head coaches will be patrolling the sidelines in 2025: Glenn, Johnson, the Jaguars' Liam Coen, Cowboys' Brian Schottenheimer and Saints' Kellen Moore. 23. The number of NBA legend Michael Jordan, whose sneaker line has Prescott as perhaps its most high-profile NFL endorser. After missing more than half of last season with a serious hamstring injury, Prescott is ready to go for camp. The Cowboys have made the playoffs in five of the seven seasons in which he's started at least 12 times. 24. The number of different joint practice sessions that will occur this summer, valuable periods for players – particular veterans who prefer to avoid exhibition contests but want to work against opponents in controlled environments – at a time when the preseason schedule has dwindled to three games for most teams. 25. Of the league's 32 teams, 29 will participate in at least one joint practice – the Bengals, Chiefs and New Orleans Saints the only holdouts. 26. The Dolphins will conduct joint practices with three other clubs (Bears, Jags, Lions), most in the league this summer. 27. Let's talk rookies. None is generating a greater sense of anticipation than WR/CB Travis Hunter, the reigning Heisman Trophy winner whom the Jaguars traded up to get at the No. 2 spot. He averaged nearly 112 snaps per game while playing offense and defense during his two seasons at Colorado and once had 149 against Stanford in a single game. No NFL player has played as many as 120 snaps in a game since at least 2012, but Jacksonville is currently open to allowing Hunter to play both ways … if not recording triple-digit snaps with any kind of regularity, if at all. 28. Las Vegas Raiders rookie RB Ashton Jeanty also enters the league with outsized expectations after rushing for 2,601 yards last season with Boise State – 28 shy of breaking Barry Sanders' single-season NCAA record. And it's not unprecedented for a first-year NFL player to top the rushing charts, Ezekiel Elliott (2016) and Kareem Hunt (2017) the most recent to turn that trick. 29. The Washington Commanders are something of a chic Super Bowl pick after reaching the NFC title game in 2024 behind Offensive Rookie of the Year Jayden Daniels. But no quarterback has followed up an OROY showing with a Super Bowl berth the following season since Ben Roethlisberger in 2005. 30. Two rookie teammates to monitor this summer are Atlanta's Jalon Walker and James Pearce Jr. Both were taken in the first round of the draft and each will be asked to rush enemy quarterbacks. Maybe one can produce the Falcons' first double-digit sack season since 2016. 31. New Steelers QB Aaron Rodgers needs six TD passes to pass former teammate Brett Favre (508) for the fourth most in NFL history. If Rodgers can somehow fire off 37, he'd wrest third place from Peyton Manning (539). 32. And if Rodgers can defeat his original team, the Green Bay Packers, on the 'Sunday Night Football' stage October 26 at Acrisure Stadium, he'll join Favre, Manning, Tom Brady and Drew Brees as the only quarterbacks in league history to beat all 32 NFL teams. 33. Got the first pick of your upcoming fantasy draft and wondering whom you should take? Past performance does not guarantee future returns, but here's a vote for Chase. He won the receiving triple crown last year (127 catches, 1,708 yards, 17 TDs) and had a comfortable cushion in each category. And don't forget the Bengals stink in September and can't play defense, especially if Hendrickson holds out – so they should be chucking the rock early and often. 34. And if you're considering Philly's Saquon Barkley, who's coming off arguably the best season ever by a running back … then maybe think twice. (Statistical) history rarely repeats itself, and no player has led the league in yards from scrimmage in consecutive years since Tiki Barker in 2004 and '05. No one has paced the NFL in touches in back-to-back seasons since LaDainian Tomlinson in 2001 and '02. And given Barkley's injury history? Just sayin', buyer beware. 35. But if you're hellbent on taking a running back, Atlanta' Bijan Robinson might be the guy. He's coming off a promising sophomore campaign, when he totaled 1,887 yards and 15 touchdowns. 36. You might have guessed RB James Cook led the Bills with 1,267 yards from scrimmage in 2024. You might not know that WR Khalil Shakir was second with 825. The perennial AFC East champs might be wise to figure out a new deal for Cook lest he decide to withhold his services at some point. 37. Dying to see Cook play in front of Bills Mafia at Highmark Stadium? Then you better make it happen this year given the team is scheduled to move into its new venue for the 2026 season. 38. Only two teams finished the 2024 regular season without any players tallying 1,000 yards from scrimmage. Not surprisingly, one was the New England Patriots. Perhaps surprisingly, the other was the Chiefs. Second-year Pats QB Drake Maye isn't the only one who could use a little more support. 39. The last time the Tampa Bay Buccaneers failed to win the NFC South was 2020, when Brady led them to victory in Super Bowl 55 as a wild-card entry. 40. But since the start of the 2022 season, the Bucs average margin over the division's second-place finisher is one game. That's why the recent knee operation on All-Pro LT Tristan Wirfs, arguably Tampa's best player, is such a big deal and major concern. QB Baker Mayfield will face four players in the first seven weeks who collected double-digit sacks in 2024 – and that list doesn't include Hutchinson, 49ers DE Nick Bosa or anyone from the Eagles. 41. And what an additional bummer for Wirfs, who would have been a favorite to win the league's inaugural Protector of the Year award in 2025, which will honor the NFL's best offensive lineman. 42. After allowing the second-most passing yards in the league in 2024 – and most among playoff clubs – the Ravens signed Pro Bowl CB Jaire Alexander and selected highly regarded S Malaki Starks in the first round of the draft. Teaming them with Pro Bowl DBs Kyle Hamilton and Marlon Humphrey should make this a far more formidable secondary – and maybe the one that gets last season's AFC North champs back to the Super Bowl for the first time in 13 years. 43. Only one team has two players who rushed for at least 1,000 yards in 2024 on its roster. That would be the Carolina Panthers, who signed Rico Dowdle from Dallas in free agency and will pair him with incumbent RB1 Chuba Hubbard. 44. It's worth wondering if new New York Giants QB1 Russell Wilson starts more games in 2025 for the G-Men … or another team. With a $2 million base salary for the season, Wilson will be quite easy to trade – especially if a partner emerges when and if the Giants decide it's time to hand the keys to rookie Jaxson Dart, which feels fairly inevitable. 45. Which division will be the most competitive? Maybe none feels more wide open than the NFC West, and Vegas seems to support that. Per BetMGM, the Seattle Seahawks are a +500 bet to win it, currently the site's shortest odds of any projected last-place club. 46. Looking for a breakout defensive star in 2025? Keep an eye on Packers LB Edgerrin Cooper, who only started four times as a rookie in 2024, but was one of the better players at his position by season's end. 47. Looking for a breakout offensive star in 2025? We have yet to see Minnesota Vikings QB J.J. McCarthy take a regular-season snap after a preseason knee injury scuttled his rookie campaign in 2024. But given the meteoric rise Sam Darnold just enjoyed in Minnesota under HC Kevin O'Connell and the supporting cast the Vikes have put around McCarthy, he's got everything he needs to thrive two years after leading the University of Michigan to a national title. 48. Most compelling quarterback competition? If you'd rather look away from what's happening in Indianapolis between Anthony Richardson and Daniel Jones, then turn your eyes to New Orleans, where Spencer Rattler and rookie Tyler Shough are likely to vie for the Saints job under the watchful eyes of Moore, a former QB himself. With Derek Carr gone, expectations in the Big Easy are as low as anywhere – exactly the kind of environment that can sprout a surprise. 49. If an AFC team wins the upcoming Super Bowl, each conference will have 28 Lombardi Trophies to its credit since the 1970 AFL-NFL merger. 50. So – again – just 50 days until the first ball that counts is kicked off at Lincoln Financial Field … and 207 until Super Bowl 60 commences in Santa Clara, California. Let's enjoy the ride! All NFL news on and off the field. Sign up for USA TODAY's 4th and Monday newsletter.
Daily Maverick
2 days ago
- Politics
- Daily Maverick
Letter to Mahlamba Ndlopfu: This is ‘a matter of grave national security concern'
Ah, Chief Dwasaho! I am utterly gobsmacked. The torrent of breaking news keeps splattering our politicians in shades of scandal, casting them as nothing more than imigodoyi — 'useless dogs' — to borrow the loaded phrase our elder statesman, former president Thabo Mbeki, unleashed at the height of the State Capture saga and the grand theatre of Zumanomics. Rich Mashimbye, a postdoctoral research fellow at the Institute for Pan-African Thought and Conversation at the University of Johannesburg, decoded Mbeki's biting words in 2023. In essence, Dr Mashimbye argues that imigodoyi denotes ANC cadres as 'people who are essentially criminals and always act in ways intended to advance an agenda rather than for the greater good of society'. Let's rewind the tape to Super Sunday. Enter stage left: KwaZulu-Natal's South African Police Service (SAPS) provincial commissioner, Lieutenant-General Nhlanhla Lucky Mkhwanazi, the man with a gift for deadpan one-liners like 'unfortunately, there's an engagement inside, and a suspect was fatally wounded'. This time, the general wasn't just dropping routine pressers; he was lobbing long-range missiles straight at the political establishment, shaking pillars and ruffling feathers in places where the blue lights shine brightest, yet brown envelopes are hidden in plain sight. As the man of the moment, Mkhwanazi knew that optics are key — and boy, did he command the stage to send a straightforward message to those still clinging to the illusion of being untouchable: your time is up. But Comrade Leadership, let's not kid ourselves; he wasn't just about the optics. Sure, the sight of those men (Special Task Force) kitted out in military fatigues (and not the cheap PEP ones) with balaclavas pulled tight and R5 rifles strapped across their chests would have sent shivers down the spine of even the most tender-loving politician. Clueless analyst Of course, it jolted even a clueless analyst or an apolitical onlooker like me into action as social media platforms went abuzz. I missed the live presser but had to remedy that situation quickly with a double-shot black Americano, two boiled eggs, and two slices of brown toast while glued to the recording on YouTube. The content screamed, in no uncertain terms, 'a matter of grave national security concern'. And let's talk about Mkhwanazi himself. The man's got the gift of the gab, his delivery slow, measured, but slicing through the nonsense like a panga through sugarcane. Honestly, who else rocks up to a press conference armed with an entire PowerPoint presentation? This guy did. Mkhwanazi laid down the law of evidence: 'Electronic communication of this arrested person, Vusimusi 'Cat' Matlala.' And he didn't stop there. 'This analysis reveals communication between the arrested Vusimusi Cat Matlala, Mr Brown Mogotsi, an associate of the minister of police, and the Minister of Police, Senzo Mchunu.' Then he delivered the final blow: 'My findings show certain politicians, law enforcement, SAPS, metro police, correctional services, prosecutors and the judiciary are controlled by drug cartels and businesspeople.' For the politically uninitiated, 'Cat' Matlala is the tender don of the Tembisa Hospital, where billions were looted, and the whistleblower Babita Deokaran was assassinated. Triggermen entered into a plea and sentencing agreement with the National Prosecuting Authority, a sure sign of the code of silence associated with the Underworld. Until recently, 'Cat' Matlala had infected the SAPS by offering health services — the audacity. According to a News24 Special Report, 'after securing a R360-million SAPS health services tender, despite zero qualifications, amid allegations of fraud, fronting and collusion, Matlala's tentacles extended to Police Minister Senzo Mchunu and former minister Bheki Cele'. Let me spell it out, Comrade Leadership: Babita Deokaran wasn't some anonymous paper-pusher. She was the Acting Chief Financial Officer in the Gauteng Department of Health, and the woman brave enough to pull the curtain back on nearly R1-billion in dodgy contracts funnelled through Tembisa Hospital — payments for everything from overpriced gloves to suspicious medical supplies. A hail of bullets And what was her reward? A hail of bullets outside her home in Winchester Hills, her blood seeping into the asphalt of our so-called democracy. The six hitmen who confessed are behind bars, but the big fish, the architects of this mafia-style hit, remain untouched, raising one screaming question: Who is protecting the real masterminds? I guess we all know who the masterminds are by now. The dominoes are falling, one by one, like rotten fruit off an overripe tree. But I digress. Not content with bullet points, Mkhwanazi rolled out a forensic timeline of events, peppered with WhatsApp receipts for extra spice. And here's the kicker: he didn't need to beg anyone to connect the dots. The dots lined themselves up and practically drew the picture for us. The performance of the political establishment since the missiles of Mkhwanazi's exposé flew from Durban to Brazil. Its shrapnel scattering all the way to Rio outside the BRICS+ conference has been nothing short of comical. Ministers, big shots, and the usual spin doctors have been tying themselves in knots trying to outrun the truth like an unmarked black SUV stuffed with menacing-looking Blue Light Bullies. Meanwhile, a flurry of gibberish words masquerading as media statements keeps flying thick and fast, even though you, my leader, called for 'restraint'. Yet restraint seems as scarce as an honest tenderpreneur these days. 'I don't know him — actually, I do — but he isn't my associate, just a comrade,' one Underworld operative mumbled to a gaggle of journalists, their eyes bloodshot and notepads sagging under the weight of scandal. Really now, what on Earth, for Peter's sake, is the difference, comrade — associate — friend, or partner in crime? Because to those of us out here, it's all starting to look like the same rotten stew. Another, cool as ice, admitted to crashing in the Cat's penthouse, yet swore mindlessly there was no 'business relationship'. So, tell us: What exactly is the relationship, then, between the accused and the former politician — platonic, sexual or something even more sinister? 'It wasn't me' All we've heard from the police top brass is: 'It wasn't me, wasn't me, of course it wasn't me.' It sounds like a national chorus of off-key Shaggy impersonators; they keep denying, deflecting, and ducking while the truth skulks in the shadows, smoking a Cuban cigar. I've said it a million times: your word, my leader, must mean something. Otherwise, 'we are on our own'. And believe me, Comrade Leadership, if the past few days have taught us anything, it is that it doesn't. The latest episode is a sequel to the spectacular fall from grace suffered by the late, corrupt police chief Jackie Selebi who belted out the immortal words that sealed his fate: 'He is my friend, finish and klaar.' He was talking about a civilian, mind you — a man already unmasked as none other than a drug lord. That's the calibre of explanations we're being served today: half-lies, twisted truths, and frantic denials all wrapped in the comedic circus of the politically damned. Meanwhile, the actors scramble for plausible deniability, leaving the rest of us to piece together the obvious: the rot runs deep, and the Cat's claws have scratched far more than just the surface. The pageantry of imigodoyi who infiltrated the ANC back in the days of exile and the underground and somehow slithered to the top post apartheid, is now playing out in full view for all of us to see. All along, we've been passengers, led like lambs to the slaughterhouse, believing we were on a luxury bus to freedom. But what freedom, really? Last week, I posed what I thought was an ominous question: 'How does one simply go to bed and wake up no longer part of the ANC, in any shape or form?' That was an awkward and misinformed question. The real question is: How do people, in good conscience, keep voting for Christmas (ANC) the way turkeys have been doing for over a century? Mkhwanazi has raised his hand; as far as I'm concerned, he is now the country's most critical national key point. Please do the right thing, my leader: instead of your judicial commission of inquiry, give us a panel of retired sleuths and senior counsels to investigate and prosecute, pronto. Meanwhile, Lieutenant-General Shadrack Sibiya and the minister of police should be suspended with full pay and retain their security detail.
The Advertiser
09-07-2025
- Sport
- The Advertiser
A dramatic change at the top sets the tone for the most super of Sundays
If ever the NRL needed the team that seems to fascinate the masses - Wests Tigers - to stand up and be counted it's when they play the Warriors in Auckland on Sunday. A Tigers win would be a sensational start to a three-game schedule on the final day of round 19 because it would very much signal game back on in the battle to make the all-important top four going into the finals. And the two teams currently best placed to break into the top four in the run down to the finals - which are also the two teams any other top-four team would most hate to see there - are due in action later the same day. Sixth-placed Penrith are away to Parramatta in Sunday's second game and the round will then wrap up with fifth-placed Brisbane away to the Gold Coast. Please forgive me for using the pay-TV catchcry, but it really does shape as a Super Sunday. Either the Warriors are going to strike a blow in their desperate bid to hang on to a top-four spot, with the Broncos and Panthers and maybe even one or two others to keep coming, or they're going to become even more vulnerable than they already are. The top four was looking like a lock after round 16, when a six-point gap had opened up between the third and fourth-placed Melbourne and the Warriors, both on 24 points at the time, and the rest of the field. But the competition dramatically changed shape only one round later. It wouldn't have been so bad for the Warriors had their round-17 loss to Brisbane been the worst thing that happened to them that day, but it wasn't. Their star halfback, Luke Metcalf, went down with a season-ending knee injury, which followed on from their NSW State of Origin prop Mitch Barnett having experienced the same fate four rounds earlier. The Warriors had the bye in round 18, which at least for the time being protected what the Broncos had reduced to a four-point advantage over fifth, and now they return to action. But, let's face it, the Warriors are cooked as far as being a genuine chance of winning the premiership is concerned. Even if they still make it to the top four from here, which would be a fine effort, they're not going to have what it takes to go all the way from there. They would be doing very well just to win a game in the finals. The bookmakers have already written them off and they're not taking any real risks when they quote them at $34. None of the top-three teams ahead of this weekend's round - Canberra, on 30 points, and Melbourne and Canterbury, both on 28 - are going to be anywhere else but in the top four going into the finals. It's just a matter of where exactly they're going to be placed and finishing in the top two is very important because of the home-ground advantage it brings those teams in the first week of the finals. But the real interest from now is how the rest of the top eight is going to pan out, with every team down to 12th, definitely, and maybe even right down to 15th still a chance of making the finals from here. I mean, you'd need a vivid imagination to picture any team among Newcastle, Wests Tigers and Parramatta, all on 16 points and four points outside of the top eight, being there come finals time, but it's possible. Tenth-placed Cronulla and the seventh-placed Dolphins, both on 20 points, play each other at Sharks Stadium on Friday night, so one of them has to advance to 22 barring a draw. So, too, will eighth-placed Manly, which has the bye. And if the worst-case scenario develops for the Warriors and they lose to the Tigers and the Broncos and Panthers both win, that would leave the Warriors on 26 and the Broncos and Panthers coming to get them on 24 and 23, respectively. Have you got it in you, Wests Tigers, to help blow this thing wide open? Penrith were in last place on nine points after round 12 and we had to at least consider the possibility that coming off four straight premierships they might actually miss the finals. But much of the competition table has remained compressed all season and even though they were running 17th the Panthers were still only three points outside of the top eight. They haven't lost a game since and in doing so have added another layer of interest to the competition. MORE NRL NEWS After being routinely at or near the top of the table all along during that quartet of premiership-winning years could they come from where they were after round 12 to win it again? And, having made it back into the top eight, could they win it from the bottom half of the finals draw? Well, now we can't rule out the possibility of them making the top four again, which would be a phenomenal effort. IT's going to be fascinating to see how it all pans out at Canterbury over the rest of the season. Their starting halfback Toby Sexton and hooker Reed Mahoney are both leaving the club at the end of the season and their star mid-season recruit Lachlan Galvin is on the bench. The player tipped to be their starting hooker next year, Bailey Hayward, is at lock. That's how the team has been named for the game against North Queensland at Queensland Country Bank Stadium on Saturday night anyway. How it looks by the time the finals come around, we'll have to wait and see. If ever the NRL needed the team that seems to fascinate the masses - Wests Tigers - to stand up and be counted it's when they play the Warriors in Auckland on Sunday. A Tigers win would be a sensational start to a three-game schedule on the final day of round 19 because it would very much signal game back on in the battle to make the all-important top four going into the finals. And the two teams currently best placed to break into the top four in the run down to the finals - which are also the two teams any other top-four team would most hate to see there - are due in action later the same day. Sixth-placed Penrith are away to Parramatta in Sunday's second game and the round will then wrap up with fifth-placed Brisbane away to the Gold Coast. Please forgive me for using the pay-TV catchcry, but it really does shape as a Super Sunday. Either the Warriors are going to strike a blow in their desperate bid to hang on to a top-four spot, with the Broncos and Panthers and maybe even one or two others to keep coming, or they're going to become even more vulnerable than they already are. The top four was looking like a lock after round 16, when a six-point gap had opened up between the third and fourth-placed Melbourne and the Warriors, both on 24 points at the time, and the rest of the field. But the competition dramatically changed shape only one round later. It wouldn't have been so bad for the Warriors had their round-17 loss to Brisbane been the worst thing that happened to them that day, but it wasn't. Their star halfback, Luke Metcalf, went down with a season-ending knee injury, which followed on from their NSW State of Origin prop Mitch Barnett having experienced the same fate four rounds earlier. The Warriors had the bye in round 18, which at least for the time being protected what the Broncos had reduced to a four-point advantage over fifth, and now they return to action. But, let's face it, the Warriors are cooked as far as being a genuine chance of winning the premiership is concerned. Even if they still make it to the top four from here, which would be a fine effort, they're not going to have what it takes to go all the way from there. They would be doing very well just to win a game in the finals. The bookmakers have already written them off and they're not taking any real risks when they quote them at $34. None of the top-three teams ahead of this weekend's round - Canberra, on 30 points, and Melbourne and Canterbury, both on 28 - are going to be anywhere else but in the top four going into the finals. It's just a matter of where exactly they're going to be placed and finishing in the top two is very important because of the home-ground advantage it brings those teams in the first week of the finals. But the real interest from now is how the rest of the top eight is going to pan out, with every team down to 12th, definitely, and maybe even right down to 15th still a chance of making the finals from here. I mean, you'd need a vivid imagination to picture any team among Newcastle, Wests Tigers and Parramatta, all on 16 points and four points outside of the top eight, being there come finals time, but it's possible. Tenth-placed Cronulla and the seventh-placed Dolphins, both on 20 points, play each other at Sharks Stadium on Friday night, so one of them has to advance to 22 barring a draw. So, too, will eighth-placed Manly, which has the bye. And if the worst-case scenario develops for the Warriors and they lose to the Tigers and the Broncos and Panthers both win, that would leave the Warriors on 26 and the Broncos and Panthers coming to get them on 24 and 23, respectively. Have you got it in you, Wests Tigers, to help blow this thing wide open? Penrith were in last place on nine points after round 12 and we had to at least consider the possibility that coming off four straight premierships they might actually miss the finals. But much of the competition table has remained compressed all season and even though they were running 17th the Panthers were still only three points outside of the top eight. They haven't lost a game since and in doing so have added another layer of interest to the competition. MORE NRL NEWS After being routinely at or near the top of the table all along during that quartet of premiership-winning years could they come from where they were after round 12 to win it again? And, having made it back into the top eight, could they win it from the bottom half of the finals draw? Well, now we can't rule out the possibility of them making the top four again, which would be a phenomenal effort. IT's going to be fascinating to see how it all pans out at Canterbury over the rest of the season. Their starting halfback Toby Sexton and hooker Reed Mahoney are both leaving the club at the end of the season and their star mid-season recruit Lachlan Galvin is on the bench. The player tipped to be their starting hooker next year, Bailey Hayward, is at lock. That's how the team has been named for the game against North Queensland at Queensland Country Bank Stadium on Saturday night anyway. How it looks by the time the finals come around, we'll have to wait and see. If ever the NRL needed the team that seems to fascinate the masses - Wests Tigers - to stand up and be counted it's when they play the Warriors in Auckland on Sunday. A Tigers win would be a sensational start to a three-game schedule on the final day of round 19 because it would very much signal game back on in the battle to make the all-important top four going into the finals. And the two teams currently best placed to break into the top four in the run down to the finals - which are also the two teams any other top-four team would most hate to see there - are due in action later the same day. Sixth-placed Penrith are away to Parramatta in Sunday's second game and the round will then wrap up with fifth-placed Brisbane away to the Gold Coast. Please forgive me for using the pay-TV catchcry, but it really does shape as a Super Sunday. Either the Warriors are going to strike a blow in their desperate bid to hang on to a top-four spot, with the Broncos and Panthers and maybe even one or two others to keep coming, or they're going to become even more vulnerable than they already are. The top four was looking like a lock after round 16, when a six-point gap had opened up between the third and fourth-placed Melbourne and the Warriors, both on 24 points at the time, and the rest of the field. But the competition dramatically changed shape only one round later. It wouldn't have been so bad for the Warriors had their round-17 loss to Brisbane been the worst thing that happened to them that day, but it wasn't. Their star halfback, Luke Metcalf, went down with a season-ending knee injury, which followed on from their NSW State of Origin prop Mitch Barnett having experienced the same fate four rounds earlier. The Warriors had the bye in round 18, which at least for the time being protected what the Broncos had reduced to a four-point advantage over fifth, and now they return to action. But, let's face it, the Warriors are cooked as far as being a genuine chance of winning the premiership is concerned. Even if they still make it to the top four from here, which would be a fine effort, they're not going to have what it takes to go all the way from there. They would be doing very well just to win a game in the finals. The bookmakers have already written them off and they're not taking any real risks when they quote them at $34. None of the top-three teams ahead of this weekend's round - Canberra, on 30 points, and Melbourne and Canterbury, both on 28 - are going to be anywhere else but in the top four going into the finals. It's just a matter of where exactly they're going to be placed and finishing in the top two is very important because of the home-ground advantage it brings those teams in the first week of the finals. But the real interest from now is how the rest of the top eight is going to pan out, with every team down to 12th, definitely, and maybe even right down to 15th still a chance of making the finals from here. I mean, you'd need a vivid imagination to picture any team among Newcastle, Wests Tigers and Parramatta, all on 16 points and four points outside of the top eight, being there come finals time, but it's possible. Tenth-placed Cronulla and the seventh-placed Dolphins, both on 20 points, play each other at Sharks Stadium on Friday night, so one of them has to advance to 22 barring a draw. So, too, will eighth-placed Manly, which has the bye. And if the worst-case scenario develops for the Warriors and they lose to the Tigers and the Broncos and Panthers both win, that would leave the Warriors on 26 and the Broncos and Panthers coming to get them on 24 and 23, respectively. Have you got it in you, Wests Tigers, to help blow this thing wide open? Penrith were in last place on nine points after round 12 and we had to at least consider the possibility that coming off four straight premierships they might actually miss the finals. But much of the competition table has remained compressed all season and even though they were running 17th the Panthers were still only three points outside of the top eight. They haven't lost a game since and in doing so have added another layer of interest to the competition. MORE NRL NEWS After being routinely at or near the top of the table all along during that quartet of premiership-winning years could they come from where they were after round 12 to win it again? And, having made it back into the top eight, could they win it from the bottom half of the finals draw? Well, now we can't rule out the possibility of them making the top four again, which would be a phenomenal effort. IT's going to be fascinating to see how it all pans out at Canterbury over the rest of the season. Their starting halfback Toby Sexton and hooker Reed Mahoney are both leaving the club at the end of the season and their star mid-season recruit Lachlan Galvin is on the bench. The player tipped to be their starting hooker next year, Bailey Hayward, is at lock. That's how the team has been named for the game against North Queensland at Queensland Country Bank Stadium on Saturday night anyway. How it looks by the time the finals come around, we'll have to wait and see.
Irish Daily Mirror
27-06-2025
- Sport
- Irish Daily Mirror
Roy Keane expected to keep eye on 'bullsh*****' Keith Andrews
Roy Keane's old remarks where he called Keith Andrews a 'b*lls******' have resurfaced following the ex-Ireland international's appointment as Brentford boss and could be in line to be on punditry duty for his first game in charge. Andrews, who previously acted as set-piece coach for the Bees, has put pen to paper on a three-year deal with the Premier League club as he makes his first venture into management. However, don't expect Roy Keane to go easy on Andrews whenever Brentford are on Sky Sports, as he previously labeled the new Bees boss a 'b*lls******'. When the Irish Independent interviewed Keane in 2020, he spoke about his time with Ireland and singled out Andrews for criticism. "I miss the Irish job, honestly. I really enjoyed that. People like Seamus Coleman, Seamus McDonagh, Steve Guppy. Ah listen, I loved it. If I can make one point about the new Irish staff. I've heard a lot of bulls***ters over the last 10 years, and Keith Andrews is up there with the best of them." Keane is usually the main pundit whenever Manchester United are on Sky Sports' Super Sunday, and Brentford v Nottingham Forest acting as a curtain raiser for The Red Devils' opening weekend clash against Arsenal, the Cork man could be in the studio to give his take on all things Andrews and Brentford. Keane served as assistant manager to Martin O'Neill with Ireland between 2013 and 2018, and his old boss also had his say on Andrews getting the job. "He has been their set-piece coach. The irony is when I was manager of the Republic of Ireland he was a particularly vitriolic critic of mine at the time. He was really dead against me trying to use setpieces to try to win games," O'Neill told TalkSport. "The irony is he becomes the set-piece coach. Really I say good luck to him. Brentford have decided, if it is the case, that he should get it. "I hope he does get it because then he will realise what management is all about. It's not as easy to be sitting in a pundit's chair sitting to criticise someone who in all honesty had a much better career than he had. "He was dealing at the bottom end of it when I was winning the European Cup. That doesn't mean you shouldn't be criticising. Everyone to their own. But it'll be a different ball game now. "In terms of some of the decisions he has made, I think he has done very well as the set-piece coach. A lot of credit has gone to him for the fast starts Brentford have made in games. "He is stepping into an unknown. It's all very well when you can be the friend of the players. You can have the set-pieces, you can be the coach sitting there in the room. It's a different ball game when you're making the big decisions."
