The two pass rushers each put together a dominant first half in Week 12, but got let down by the rest of their teams. Retired NFL defensive end Stephen White gives them both the Hoss of the Week award for their efforts.
I thought long and hard the last few days about who deserved the Hoss Of The Week. There were several defensive linemen and rush linebackers who had an outstanding game this past weekend. However, none of them seemed to make an impact from start to finish. And believe me, I do not want to discount a big play no matter when it happens during a game. However, I've tried to pick past winners who made plays in both halves to help their team win. I just didn't find a lot of guys like that in week 12.
However ...
Jaguars defensive end Chris Clemons and Cardinals defensive end Calais Campbell both had hellafied first halves on Sunday. That isn't to say they were total non-factors in the second half, but they both had three sacks a piece in the first half, and neither guy had nearly that kind of production during the last two quarters. They also had their big games in losing efforts.
So I figured what the hell, they can just share the title this week. This isn't a tie like we had a few weeks back, but both Clemons and Campbell share one title and that kind of represents them both having a Hoss worthy half of football on Sunday.
Chris Clemons
Clemons for his part kicked both offensive tackles' asses en route to getting Colts quarterback Andrew Luck on the ground three times. Well, I guess he wasn't technically on the ground all there times. On Clemons' first sack to end the first drive, he kept working a bull rush around Anthony Castonzo and stripped the ball away from Luck with a tomahawk chop. Jags linebacker Telvin Smith recovered the fumble giving the Jaguars good field position at the Colts' 46-yard line. They promptly squandered their good field position when Jags quarterback Blake Bortles threw an interception on the second play of the drive.
On the Colts' second drive, Clemons beat right tackle Joe Reitz clean with a wiper hand move to sack Luck on a third-and-7 from the Jaguars' 19-yard line. That play forced the Colts to go for a field goal. Clemons was on top of Luck so fast it's a wonder he didn't fumble again.
Clemons was on the sideline until third down on the Colts' third drive. With the Colts facing a third-and-8 at their own 31, the Jaguars ran a blitz that called for Clemons to line up opposite Reitz again and loop inside on the snap. Because of the blitzing linebackers the Colts offensive line just let Clemons through which spelled big trouble for Luck. As he tried to escape, Luck reversed out to his left and ran right into the arms of Jags backup defensive end Chris Smith and promptly fumbled the ball again. Jacksonville recovered. Clemons wasn't the one who forced the fumble, but he damn sure had a big hand in making it happen.
Clemons notched his third and final sack of the game with 1:44 remaining in the first quarter. The Colts had the ball at the Jaguars' 41 after Jacksonville running back Denard Robinson fumbled on the previous play. On the first play of the drive, the Colts tried to run a bootleg, but Clemons, who was lined up as the left defensive end, wasn't fooled at all. He jumped up to prevent Luck from making the short pass to the flat and then immediately tackled him when his feet were back on the ground. The Colts did convert on third down, but later in the drive their running back, Boom Heron, fumbled. The Jaguars recovered, so it still kept the Colts scoreless on that drive.
Clemons had two more plays that I thought were impressive in the first half. The first was a play that won't show up on any stat sheet, but is was impressive all the same. With 2:31 left in the half and the Colts starting the drive from their own 46-yard line, their offense lined up in shotgun, tipping off that it would be a pass. Clemons got off the ball and ran smack dab over Castonzo, putting him on his back. Luck ended up completing a short pass to Herron in the flat for a 14-yard gain, but it was still a physically dominant and impressive play by Clemons.
The second play happened after the Colts drove all the way down to the Jaguars' 2-yard line with just 24 seconds left in the half. With the score tied 3-3 it was imperative that Jacksonville not let them into the end zone. On second down, Clemons made a nice level rush and hit Luck just as he was releasing the ball on a throw to Reggie Wayne that ended up sailing over his head. The Jags held strong on third down as well and ended up forcing the Colts to settle for a field goal again.
Most guys would love to make that many plays in a full game, to pull it off in a half is absurd. I just wish he had done more in the second half. Clemons did cause fumble in the third quarter when he got great penetration on a play where Heron dropped the toss just as Clemons was about to hit him, but other than that there weren't many more flashes out of him that day. A game he and his team ended up losing 23-3 after only being down 6-3 at halftime.
Calais Campbell
I could say almost the exact same thing about Calais Campbell. He also had a monster first half that helped to keep the score between his Cardinals and the division foe Seahawks respectable at halftime, only to see his production slide in the second half while score started to balloon. At the end of the day, both guys did all they could to try to help their team win.
Campbell did most of his damage in the second quarter which is when he came home with all three of his sacks. Interestingly enough all three of his sacks came when the Seahawks were inside the Cardinals' 30-yard line and all three also helped forced the Seahawks to attempt a field goal. On two of those drives the Seahawks made it, but the third attempt was blocked. That was a huge difference at that point in the game that allowed the Cardinals to remain very much in striking distance down only 9-3 at halftime when it could've been much more out of hand.
Truth be told Campbell didn't necessarily show a lot of skill in getting the three sacks against the Seahawks. They were basically coverage sacks that he was able to accumulate by continuing to work moves even when he was double teamed. It was effective, but wouldn't win many beauty contests. At the same time, like I said in my Notebook last week, the Cardinals desperately needed to be able to contain Wilson and keep him from running around so much. Campbell's ability to fight through blocks helped him keep Wilson in check in the first half.
Unfortunately, just like with Clemons, Campbell's Cardinals couldn't get their shit together on offense, so his great production in the first half basically went all for naught. The other similarity, one I'm sure neither guy is proud of, was Campbell's relatively quiet second half also coincided with the Seahawks extending their lead to 19-3 by the time the final horn blew.
Both Chris Clemons and Calais Campbell both had big games that just so happened to not include big plays in the second half, which was a little concerning to me. But splitting the award between the two seems to both honor their production while also saying it wasn't quite enough to get the full award on their own. That's why those two defensive linemen have earned equal shares of my Hoss Of The Week award for Week 12. It only seems right.
from SBNation.com - All Posts http://ift.tt/1vbLQLu
0 commentaires:
Enregistrer un commentaire