New York Post, Sunday, October 25, 2020nypost.comCHIEFS AT
BRONCOS
4:25 p.m.
Fox
18, snow49ERS AT
PATRIOTS
4:25 p.m.
CBS
50,mostly
cloudyJAGUARS AT
CHARGERS
4:25 p.m.
Fox
IndoorsSEAHAWKS
AT CARDINALS
8:20 p.m.
NBC
IndoorsBEARS AT
RAMS
Monday, 8:15 p.m.
ESPN
IndoorsDecisions
fun despite
0-for-2s
T
WONFLhead coachesspiced
up our lives last Sunday.
Thank you, Ron Rivera and
RomeoCrennel,for makingWeek 6
a little more inter estingthan it
alrea dy was by taking risks witha
coupleof critical andcontroversial
two-pointconver siontries.
Unfortunately for both Rivera
and theWa shingtonFootballTe am
and Crennel(at leastduring his
interimstatus) and theTexans,
theirriskswere not rewarded.But
both providedcompelling theater.The most daring— and mosteas-
ily second-gues sed — was Rivera’s
choice to go for two points and the
win over the Giants.With 43sec-
ondsremaining in thefourth quar-
ter, Washington had just scored a
TD to cut the Giants’lead to 20-19.
Rivera chose notto attempt theex tra
point,wh ich wo uld have sentthe
game to overtime had it beengood.
But wh en the pass by Wa shington
quarterback Kyle Allenfell incom-
plet e and left his team a loser, Rivera’s
risk took onwidesprea d criticism.
“The only way to learnhow to
win isto play to win,” Rivera told
reporter s. “Thementality has to be
we have to do certain things to win
footballgames,and iftakinga little
gamble ispart of it, thenthat’ s what
I’m doing.The players wanted to go
for it, but it was my decision.”
Goodfor Rivera.
The secondcontroversial two-
point try camewhen the Texans
took a 36-29 lead over the Titans
with 1:50remaining. Instea d of
attempting theex tra pointto take
an eight-pointlead andforc e the
Ti tans to have to scor e a TD and
thengo for two to tie , Cr ennel
wanted to make it a nine-point lead
and put the game awayrightthere.
Texans quarterbackDeshaun
Watson threw an incomplete pass
on thetwo-point try, and theTitans
drovefor the tying score in the
closingseconds,forc ing overtime
with anex tra pointratherthan
beingforc ed to go for two points.
Te nnessee thenwo n it with a TD
on theopeningdrive of overtime.
“I felt like tha t would kindof put
it out of re ach fo r them,and ifwe
would have gotten it, we would
have beenin muchbetter shape,’’
Crenneltold reporter s.
Goodfor Crennel— ex ce pt for
the final result.
[email protected]CANNIZZARO’S
CORNER
By Mark
Cannizzaropl
te
up
byStevStevSteveeSerby
after-catch ability, but was surprisedthe
Eagles selected him. “BecauseJu stinwas
still on the board,” Riddicksaid.
JEFFERSON (36-537-3):“He looks like a
three-, four-year veteran alrea dy,” Riddicksaid.
AIYUK (14- 165-1, 4-69-2 rushing):“A
catch-and-runguy, a jet sweep guy who is
grea t with theball in his hands,” Riddicksaid.
“He is a big play waitingto happen.He’s fun
to watch.” Comparableto 49ers teammate
Dee bo Sa muel.“P ro ba bly mor e fluid as an
outsideroute runner,” Riddicksaid.
TEE HIGGINS (22-339-2):Joe Burrow’s
6-foot-4target. “He needsto probably be a
littlebet ter at the 50-50ba lls down thefield,”
Riddicksaid. “With as long andtall as he is, he
should begoing upover top of people more
often.” Brandtconcurred: “I didn’t think he
was a specialguy. I thought hewas kindof a
guy that they threw the ball to him and he just
jumpedup and caught it upover otherguys.”
MICHAEL PITTMAN JR. (9-73):The
Colts ex pect him back nextweek following calf
surgery. “Real good high-point skills down the
field, strong run after the catch, better playing
speedthan clockspeed.You never saw him get
caught frombehind,” Riddicksaid.LAVISKA SHENAULT Jr. (26-280-1,
10-54 rushing):“They’re using him in the
wildcat, using him like a runningback, using
him in the slot, using him outside,” Riddick
said. “He’s had circus-type catches wher e he
showed you real soft hands,real strongat
the catch point. ...He looks like a tailback.
He is a Swiss Army knife that’ s gonna bea
problem as long as he stays healthy. “ A 6-1,
227-poundweaponfor Jaguars offensive
coordinator Jay Gruden.
KJ HAMLER (6-78):The lightning-quick
Bronco is ex pected back from his hamstring
woes Sunday against theChiefs. “He can be
a matchup probleminside, no question,”
Riddicksaid.
CHASE CLAYPOOL (17-335-4, 6-21 -2
rushing):At 6-4, 228, hereminds Riddick
physically of Calvin “Megat ron” Johnson.
“His size and hisspeedand catc h radius is
just somethingthat Pittsburgh isgoing to be
ableto take advantag e of for years and years
and years to come,” Riddicksaid.
VAN JEFFERSON(6-84):Th e Rams
draf ted him two picksbefore he might have
gotten the chance to play for his father, Jets
widereceiver s coach ShawnJeffer son. “Verygood passcatcher, doubles as a return spe-
cialist,good route runner, sure hands, not
the fastest guy in theworld,” Pro Football
Network’ s Tony Paulinesaid.
DENZEL MIMS (0-0):Will be making
his Jets debut Sunday against the Bills.Not
as polished. “Baylor’s offense isn’treal com-
plicated as far as what they asked him to do,
the learningcurve wouldbe a little steeper
fo r him, but he made somespectacular
catches along thesideline, highriser, go up
and get the ball,” Riddicksaid.
Andthere are more on theway: The
2021 widereceiver s class — Ja’Marr Chase,
Devonta Smith,Jaylen Waddle, Rondale
Mo or e, Rashod Bate man— is fi lledwith
bl ue-chippr ospects.LSU’s Chase is the
creamof the crop.
“If you have the same numberof under-
classmen enter the draft as isex pected,”
Paulinesaid, “it’s gonna bereally strong.It’s
gonna have better talentat the top, led by
Ja’Marr Chaseof LSU, and it’s gonna be pret-
ty darndeep. It may be just a notchbelow
last year’s draf t class on paper, assuming the
top underclassmen enter .”
Brandt: “If lastyear was a 10, this isa 9 ¹/₂.”2020 wideoutclass will
have teams playing
hunger games for next
FIRE year’s receiver crop
BYE WEEKS
Colts, Dolphins,Ravens, VikingsCeeDee
LambLaviska
ShenaultJr.