NFL notebook: Vinatieri still kickin’ it with 5 field goals in Colts’ win
At age 43, Adam Vinatieri hasn’t lost a thing.
The NFL’s oldest player is still kickin’ it with guys almost half his age. If anything, the best clutch kicker in NFL history seems to be improving with age.
On Sunday, Vinatieri made all five field goal attempts, including two from more than 50 yards, to help the Indianapolis Colts get past the Chicago Bears 29-23.
“He is just money,” coach Chuck Pagano said. “Twenty-one years (in the league), 43 years old, all that stuff, and producing and doing the things that he’s doing, it’s just incredible.”
Aside from the graying temples and the calming voice in the locker room, there’s no hint Vinatieri’s end is nearing.
Instead, he continues to play the game like a young kid.
The four-time Super Bowl champion has made a career-high five field goals in six regular-season games. It’s the first time he achieved the feat since 2013 – and it comes more than two decades after his first milestone day, Sept. 22, 1996 against Jacksonville.
If that’s not enough to marvel at, there is this: Vinatieri has made 38 straight field goals dating to last season, a career high, and he needs five more to break Mike Vanderjagt’s record, set from 2002-04. Vanderjagt was Vinatieri’s predecessor in Indy (2-3).
Still not enough?
Vinatieri extended his streak of field goals made from 50 or more yards to nine, thanks to a 54-yarder in the first quarter Sunday and a 53-yarder into the open window end of Lucas Oil Stadium – the end Vinatieri told the Fox broadcast team would probably cost kickers about 5 yards on their range.
Naturally, Vinatieri still made it because he’s at his best when the Colts need him most .
“I’m just happy I made all the kicks today, went out there and helped put points on the board,” he said in his typically low-key tone. “It was a good day.”
Injuries keep mounting for Cleveland Browns at quarterback
Playing quarterback for the Cleveland Browns is proving a challenging, and short-term, job this season.
Cody Kessler, starting because of injuries to Robert Griffin III and Josh McCown, left the 33-13 loss to New England after hurting his ribs and chest in the first quarter.
Kessler was hurt when hit on a backward pass that went out of the end zone, giving the Patriots a safety.
That brought in veteran backup Charlie Whitehurst playing for his fifth NFL team, and he hobbled to the sideline in the final minutes after hyperextending his right knee. That left Terrelle Pryor at quarterback until Whitehurst returned for the final seconds. But Whitehurst was in pain waiting for X-rays leaving his status for next week’s game at Tennessee unknown.
“I think I’ll be fine,” Whitehurst said. “I don’t know. We’ll see. I guess there will be some tests, but I think I’ll be fine. I’ll be ready.”
Lynch looks like Broncos QB of future not present
If the Broncos guessed right, Paxton Lynch will be a very good quarterback someday.
Sunday he looked like a rookie, though, and Denver walked away with its first loss of the season along with the sobering realization that the quarterback they need now is Trevor Siemian.
Siemian sat out of Denver’s 23-16 loss to Atlanta with a sore left shoulder he received after being hurled to the ground last week against Tampa Bay. Against Atlanta, Lynch made his first NFL start and went 23 for 35 for 223 yards, but also took six sacks. He looked every bit like an indecisive rookie and not much like he did in his relief appearance last week against the Bucs.
“Obviously, you have some butterflies,” Lynch said. “It’s my first NFL start, it’s not a preseason game and your team’s 4-0.”
Given all that, not even a week to prepare for a team that turned out to be much better than the Bucs was enough. Lynch looked like the rookie who couldn’t come close to winning the job in the offseason, after John Elway traded up five places to pick him in the 26th spot.
“He had a really good week of practice,” coach Gary Kubiak said. “We felt really good about him going into the game.”
Lynch doesn’t know when his next start will come. One thing seemed clear after this one: Denver’s quarterback of the future is just that. When healthy again, Siemian will be the starter.
“I’m upset, obviously, because we lost, but I’m happy I got the first one under my belt,” Lynch said. “If we get put in this situation again, I’ll play better than I did the first time.”
Fans restless as Tannehill, Dolphins lose 30-17 to Titans
When unhappy Dolphins fans chanted “We want Moore,” it was clear they didn’t want more Ryan Tannehill.
Matt Moore is the Dolphins’ second-string quarterback, and even though he last started a game in 2011, he’s the team’s most popular passer at the moment. Tannehill and the Miami offense endured another dreadful outing in a 30-17 loss to Tennessee.
The Dolphins (1-4) totaled eight first downs, and six of their 41 plays ended with a sack. Fans began to boo in the second quarter, and when they started chanting for Moore in the fourth quarter, Tannehill heard them.
“Do I like it? No,” Tannehill said. “But it doesn’t affect how I play or how I think about myself.”
First-year coach Adam Gase quickly attempted to end any debate about Tannehill’s status.
“He’s not coming out,” Gase said. “You can ask me 100 times. He’s going to be in there the rest of the season.”
Tannehill finished 12 for 18 for 191 yards but was intercepted twice , and if not for three big plays, Miami would have been shut out. Rookie Jakeem Grant scored on a 74-yard punt return, Damien Williams had a 58-yard catch-and-run to set up a touchdown, and DeVante Parker made a 50-yard reception that led to a field goal.
But leading receiver Jarvis Landry had only three catches for 28 yards. Starting receiver Kenny Still was shut out. The sputtering ground game netted 51 yards on 17 attempts, or 3.0 per carry. And five of the Dolphins’ 10 possessions were three and out.
“It was a tough day all around offensively,” Tannehill said. “We have to do better. Every man has to be better, starting with me.”
Gase came to Miami with a reputation as a play-calling wiz , but his team is averaging less than 18 points a game. He agrees the issue is a collective one.
“We’re inept right now,” he said. “We can’t get out of our own way.”
Tannehill, who is in his fifth season, fell to 30-39 as a starter. He has been sacked 201 times, the most of any quarterback over the past five years, and protection was again a problem in the latest loss.
First turnovers of season lead to first loss for Eagles
Carson Wentz was having another splendid game when the Eagles finally turned the ball over a couple times.
Those giveaways led directly to their first loss of the season.
Ryan Mathews fumbled on a third-down run near midfield, setting up Detroit’s winning field goal in its 24-23 victory over the Eagles. Wentz had one last chance to rally his team after the Lions went ahead, but he immediately attempted a deep pass that was intercepted by Darius Slay with 1:17 remaining.
Wentz went 25 of 33 for 238 yards and two touchdowns and helped the Eagles come back from a 21-7 second-quarter deficit. Slay said he was skeptical coming into the game about the hype surrounding the rookie, but he called him “the real deal” afterward.
“He shouldn’t have thrown that last pass, though,” Slay said. “I knew I had that ball covered, and so when I saw the ball in the air, I was like, `Time for your first pick, young man.“’
Wentz hadn’t been intercepted at all this season. In fact, the Eagles hadn’t turned the ball over a single time until the final minutes against the Lions.
With Philadelphia clinging to a 23-21 lead and facing third-and-2 from its own 45-yard line, the Eagles gave the ball to Mathews, hoping he could pick up the first down and put the game out of reach. He was stopped well behind the line of scrimmage by Slay, and the ball came loose. Detroit’s Tyrunn Walker recovered near the sideline, and the Lions (2-3) took over with 2:34 remaining.
“We knew they were going to run the ball there, so I was extra aggressive,” Slay said. “I knew he had been holding the ball away from his body, so I thought there might be a chance, but I didn’t even know what had happened. I was celebrating getting the stop and forcing a fourth down, and then I heard the guys yelling that we had the ball.”
Matt Prater’s 29-yard field goal with 1:28 to play put Detroit ahead, but the Eagles still had plenty of time and only needed a field goal of their own. After a touchback on the kickoff, Wentz threw deep for Nelson Agholor on the very first play, and Slay was able to run under the ball and intercept it.
“It was kind of an alert I had breaking the huddle,” Wentz said. “You always want to get the drive started on the right foot, especially in those situations, but the coverage kind of dictated that. We didn’t make the play, they made a great play.”