NFL'S PREMIER RUNNING BACKS TAKE A POUNDING
Panthers star McCaffrey leads parade of top ball carriers sidelined by injuries
It's been a tough year on marquee running backs. Just ask Christian McCaffrey.
The Carolina Panthers' multi-purpose superstar finally returned last Sunday from the ankle injury he suffered in
Week 2 against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Now he's all but certain to miss this Sunday's game against the Bucs with what Panthers coach Matt Rhule called an AC joint issue.
“It looks like Christian probably won't play,” Rhule said of the former Stanford Cardinals star who had 69 yards rushing, 82 yards receiving and two touchdowns before injuring his shoulder on the Panthers' last drive in a 33-31 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs. “I wouldn't say that's
100 per cent, but it looks like he won't play.”
Rhule doesn't expect McCaffrey's injury to be season-ending.
“We'll see how he is for next week,” he said.
Replacing McCaffrey once again will be Mike Davis, who has been serviceable with 353 yards rushing and two touchdowns, but of course, he's no McCaffrey.
Who is?
The eighth pick of the 2017 draft, McCaffrey didn't miss a game in his first three seasons.
Last year, he became just the third player in NFL history to have 1,000 yards rushing and receiving in the same season.
In 2020 he was the first pick in just about everybody's fantasy pool. And then horseshoes started falling on him from the sky.
Again, it's not just McCaffrey, who was the NFL's third leading rusher in 2019.
■ No. 2, Cleveland's Nick Chubb, has missed the last five games with a knee injury.
■ Hampered by a hamstring injury, No. 4, Dallas's Ezekiel Elliott, hasn't enjoyed a 100-yard day in nine games.
■ No. 5, Seattle's Chris Carson, has missed the last 2 1/2 games with a hamstring.
■ No. 7, Tampa's Leonard Fournette, has missed one game with an ankle injury that could be the reason he's been barely (or not at all) used in four other games.
■ No. 9, Cincinnati's Joe Mixon, has missed the last two games with a foot injury.
■ No. 11, Indy's Marlon Mack, suffered a season-ending Achilles tear in Week 1.
■ No. 12, Green Bay's Aaron Jones, missed two games with a calf injury.
■ No. 13, Seattle's Carlos Hyde, has missed two games with a hamstring injury.
■ No. 14, Baltimore's Mark Ingram, has missed two games with an ankle injury.
■ No. 15, Denver's Phillip Lindsay, missed three games with turf toe.
■ No. 16, New York Giants' Saquon Barkley, suffered a season-ending ACL tear in Week 2. Barkley would have been much higher than No. 16 last season, but he missed three games and was slowed in others by a high ankle sprain.
Even this season's leading rusher, Minnesota's Dalvin Cook, missed one game with a groin injury. But the Vikings star has also bounced back in a big way.
Cook has produced rushing totals of 181, 130 and, in the last two weeks, 163 and 206 yards.
It's one reason he has risen in the MVP discussion this season.
That, and the fact he's a marquee running back who has somehow managed to stay relatively healthy.
BUFFALO FOREVER: After losing his grandmother last Saturday, Buffalo QB Josh Allen has been blown away by the support Bills fans have shown for him. They've donated more than US$315,000 to Oishei Children's Hospital in memory of Patricia Allen.
“My family is forever engraved here, myself included,” said
Allen, a California native, per ESPN. “I don't ever want to leave. I want to play here for as long as I can and give back to this community and Bills Mafia.”
How's that for a feel-good story?
OFF THE TEE: Or in this case, maybe it should be OFF THE TEE VEE. As it was pointed out on Monday's Good Morning Football, the three leaders in average yards per carry are Cook at 6.0, Philadelphia's Miles Sanders (who is expected to return this week after missing the last three games with a knee injury) at 6.1, and Arizona quarterback Kyler Murray at 7.1.
The GMF crew considers Sunday's Buffalo-Arizona meeting the game of the week, with the first place Bills (7-2) coming off a huge win over Seattle and the Cardinals (5-3) needing to bounce back from a big loss to the Dolphins. Buffalo will have to figure out a way to stop Murray, who is coming off the first 100yard rushing game of his career.
GMF's Kyle Brandt points out that “no one on the Bills even played against Kyler in college.” But also that Mario Addison, while with the Panthers last season, sacked Murray three times in Week 3.
ANOTHER SHINER FOR HOUS
TON: Since blowing a 24-0 lead to the Chiefs in last season's
AFC divisional playoff game, things have continued to slide downhill for the Houston Texas, who traded one of the best receivers in the league, fired their coach and GM, and sport a 2-6 record.
The Texans, who could use some good PR as much as anybody, further tarnished their image on Wednesday when they fired widely respected VP of communications Amy Palcic, the first and only woman to have full PR responsibilities for an NFL team. Palcic, winner of the 2017 Rozelle Award for best PR staff, was told she was no longer a “cultural fit,” ESPN's Adam Schefter reported.
Texans DE JJ Watt tweeted that Palcic was a “massive help” in his hurricane relief efforts, adding whichever team picks her up “will be getting the absolute best in the business.” It's not a good look on the Texans, and it's likely not the last you have heard of this story.
I don't ever want to leave. I want to play here for as long as I can and give back to this community and Bills Mafia.