Newspaper Page Text
4B Sunday, November 4, 2018
The Times, Gainesville, Georgia | gainesvilletimes.com
SPORTS
NFL
ADRIAN KRAUS I Associated Press
New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady looks to pass against the Buffalo Bills during
the first half of a game in Orchard Park, N.Y. on Oct. 29.
Brady, Rodgers to
meet in primetime
BY DENNIS WASZAK JR.
Associated Press
Aaron Rodgers vs. Tom
Brady. Green Bay vs. New
England. Talk about one
spicy prime-time matchup.
Sure, the Packers are
hovering around the .500
mark and the Patriots don’t
appear as invincible as they
sometimes — well, often
— are. But the matchup
between these two quarter
backs features lots of wins,
even more touchdown tosses
— and plenty of
mutual admiration.
“I love watching
him play,” Brady
said of Rodgers. “To
see him up close is
great. I watch him
play whenever he’s
out there. I study
a lot of the Pack
ers’ offense, I study
Aaron as a player
and he just does an incred
ible job.”
The two will meet for just
the second time when the
Packers (3-3-1) and Patri
ots (6-2) square off Sunday
night.
Rodgers and the Packers
won the only other show
down, 26-21 at Green Bay in
2014.
“ I loved going to Lambeau
Field and playing him four
years ago,” Brady said. “It’ll
be great to play him at home
this time. I’m really looking
forward to it.”
The weekend began
Thursday night with the San
Francisco 49ers’ 34-3 victory
over the Oakland Raiders in
a lopsided Battle of the Bay.
Nick Mullens threw for 262
yards and three touchdowns
for the most productive NFL
debut since the merger for
the 49ers (2-7). The Raiders
are 1-7.
Off are: Indianapolis (3-5),
Arizona (2-6), New York
Giants (1-7), Jacksonville
(3-5), Philadelphia
(4-4), Cincinnati
(5-3).
Football fans will
have to wait until
Sunday night for
the Packers and
Patriots to kick off,
but they could be
treated to plenty of
passing.
Rodgers (24 of
38 for 368 yards, two touch
downs) and Brady (22 of 35
for 245 yards, two TDs) com
bined for 613 yards passing
the last time they faced each
other. Rodgers (103.6) and
Brady (97.6) also rank first
and third, respectively, in
NFL history in career passer
rating.
LOS ANGELES RAMS
(8-0) at NEW ORLEANS
(6-1):
The Rams put their unde
feated mark — the only
team in the NFL yet to lose
— on the line in a game that
features the squads with the
NFC’s best records.
Los Angeles boasts the No.
2 overall offense with the
top-ranked running game
in the league, led by the
versatile and electric Todd
Gurley. But the Saints have
the No. 1 run defense in the
NFL, so something’s got to
give, right?
One thing the Rams have
working in their favor: quar
terback Jared Goff has won
his past seven starts on the
road with 13 touchdowns
and five interceptions in that
span.
Meanwhile, Drew Brees
has been sensational at
home lately, with 1,045
yards passing with eight TDs
and no INTs in his last three
games at the Superdome.
PITTSBURGH (4-2-1) at
BALTIMORE (4-4)
Joe Flacco and the
Ravens won the first meet
ing this season, 26-14 on
Sept. 30, and Baltimore
will try to complete its first
series sweep since 2015.
That game, by the way,
was the last Ben Roethlis-
berger and the surging Steel-
ers have lost.
Big Ben & Co. are looking
for their fourth straight vic
tory, and that’s despite all
the drama — will he show
up or not?
Rodgers
FALCONS
■ Continued from 1B
with 15 touchdowns and two interceptions
and leads the NFL with 333.6 yards a game
with the benefit of a receiving corps of Julio
Jones, Mohamed Sanu and rookie Calvin
Ridley.
“He’s obviously done a tremendous job of
reading defenses and putting a lot of differ
ent guys in advantageous situations,” tight
end Austin Hooper said. “That’s just a credit
to the work Matt’s put in all year. If he keeps
it going, good things will come.”
That’s also the Redskins’ message to
Smith, who also has thrown only
two picks and been solid at manag
ing the ball even if the yards haven’t
piled up. Smith doesn’t believe he
has been too cautious, but acknowl
edges the passing game has to be far
more effective in certain areas.
“The ones that stand out though
are the situational stuff, the third
downs that you don’t convert
because they would have given you
a whole other rack of opportuni
ties,” Smith said. “The red zone, obviously
because it’s so vital. I think the situational
stuff always tends to jump out when
you don’t execute, because of its
magnitude.”
Washington is 22nd in the league
on third down and 25th in the red
zone. Those particular failings
speak to Smith still needing to get
in sync with tight end Jordan Reed,
Crowder, Richardson and Josh
Doctson in his first year with the
Redskins.
With so many missed opportuni
ties at practice because of injuries, Smith
said one of the biggest hurdles is he and
receivers reading the same coverage from a
defense and being on the same page.
“There is really a premium on both the
receiver and quarterbacks seeing the same
thing and reacting to it the same way, and
I think that’s the hard part,” Smith said.
“There are times when it is cut and dried,
when it’s pure zone and we’re spacing the
field and timing routes and there are times
when it’s purely man and you just beat him.
But a lot of times, it’s a blend of the two and I
think you’ve got to see the same thing, react
to it the same way. ”
Some things to watch when the Falcons
visit the Redskins:
PETERSON TIME
Blips in the passing game have made it
all the more valuable that Peterson is still
running strong at 33. Peterson has rushed
for 587 yards and four touchdowns through
seven games and is the most important piece
of Washington’s offense.
“He’s playing so well right now, when we
call a running play, he better be out there,”
coach Jay Gruden said. “I expect him to
be a major part of our offense moving for
ward. He has to be right now, the way we are
throwing the ball.”
JULIO HISTORY
Jones needs 134 yards receiving
in his 102nd career game to become
the fastest to 10,000. He’s averaging
116 yards a game as part of a deep
group of Falcons receivers the Red
skins are concerned about.
“They get open, they separate,
they go up and get the ball,” Wash
ington linebacker Zach Brown said.
“It’s just hard to have corners to
deal with that.”
CLINTON-DIX DEBUT
While the Falcons stood pat
at Tuesday’s trade deadline, the
Redskins acquired safety Ha Ha
Clinton-Dix from Green Bay for a
fourth-round pick. The combination
of Clinton-Dix and D.J. Swearinger,
who had two interceptions last week
against the Giants, gives Washington
arguably the best duo of safeties in
the league.
“I came here to play,” Clinton-Dix
said. “I came here to work. Even if
that’s on special teams, I’m just helping con
tribute to this team any way I can, because
No. 20 is going to be suited up this weekend,
and you can bet that. ”
ROAD WOES
Part of Atlanta’s rough road so far this sea
son has been an 0-2 record on the road with a
close loss at Philadelphia and a blowout one
at Pittsburgh. The same offense that has put
up over 32 points a game at home has man
aged just over two touchdowns on the road.
“The biggest issue is cadence, or the lack
thereof, in the ability to hear,” Hooper said.
“It’s just in understanding the subtle, nonver
bal signals that allow you to play fast.”
Jones
Smith
NASCAR
LARRY PAPKE I Associated Press
NASCAR Monster Energy Cup series driver Martin Truex Jr. drives in a practice at Texas
Motor Speedway, Saturday in Fort Worth, Texas.
Truex focusing on tide
shot after Logano bump
BY STEPHEN HAWKINS
Associated Press
FORT WORTH, Texas
— Martin Truex Jr. has
promised that Joey Logano
won’t win the NASCAR Cup
title.
That is a score that can’t
be settled at Texas.
For now, defending Cup
champion Truex is trying
to stay focused on winning
at Texas, or next week in
Phoenix, or at least getting
enough points to make sure
that he is one of the four
drivers racing for the title
in two weeks.
“That’s the
plan anyways,”
Truex said. “I do
pretty good about
keeping my head
straight.”
Logano is the
only driver locked
into the final four
spots, clinch
ing that after his
bump-and-run on
the final lap to beat Truex
last week at Martinsville.
In the immediate after-
math of that race, Truex
proclaimed, “He may have
won the battle, but he ain’t
winning the damn war.” A
text to Logano followed that
night.
Truex qualified 13th for
Sunday’s race, with Chase
Elliott the only of the eight
championship contenders
behind him in 16th.
“We have two important
races here where I am in a
position to run for a cham
pionship,” Truex said. “I
am not going to let what
happened last week take
my focus off of that.”
The four Stewart-Haas
drivers were the top four
qualifiers among the eight
contenders, with Clint Bow-
yer on the front row after
qualifying second, with
teammates Kevin Harvick
and Aric Almirola in the
second row and Kurt Busch
starting seventh.
Logano qualified
eighth, and Kyle
Busch 10th.
When asked at
Texas if every
thing was cool with
Truex, or if his
head would be on
a swivel looking
around, Logano
said only time
would tell.
“I think he was a little
frustrated and that is part
of it. I also think it is short
track racing,” Logano said.
“All of that was on the line
at that point and I think we
both understand that there
was so much on the line
and that is what happens
sometimes.”
The playoff chase has
gone from the half-mile
paperclip-shaped track at
Martinsville to the high
speed 11/2-mile Texas lay
out where polesitter Ryan
Blaney qualified at more
than 200 mph, along with
Bowyer.
After Logano knocked
him out of his first victory
at a short track, Truex will
try to get his first win at
Texas, where he has 14 top-
10 finishes and has led 595
laps — but never the last
one.
“We just haven’t been
very lucky here. We’ve per
formed well and haven’t
had much luck,” Truex
said. “Hopefully this week
end it turns around.”
He had six consecutive
top 10s at Texas, including
a runner-up finish last fall,
until last April. The first
85-lap stage earlier this
year ended under caution
after a front right tire blew
on Truex’s No. 78 Toyota,
which shot up the track
and slammed hard into the
outer wall. Truex, second at
the time, finished last in the
37-car field.
Truex is tied with Har
vick for third in the playoff
standings, 25 points above
the cutline with three spots
still up for grabs.
Logano
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