NFL-appointed arbitrator Harold Henderson upheld the league’s entire 6 game suspension of Elliott on Tuesday evening after denying his appeal, but in a strange twist of events, league officials confirmed that Elliott will be allowed to play Week 1 versus the Giants.
After Henderson’s ruling, an NFL spokesman told ESPN’s Dan Graziano that Elliott’s eligibility for Week 1 “was a question asked by the judge in court before a ruling came down. In deference, and as to not rush the judge, league attorneys agreed to permit him to play.”
Although Elliott currently remains suspended for Weeks 2 through 7, the star running back still has hope via the U.S. District Court in Sherman, Texas, where the NFL Players Association filed a lawsuit on his behalf, requesting the court vacate the suspension on grounds that the NFL’s process was unfair. At a temporary hearing today, the NFLPA requested Judge Amos Mazzant to allow a temporary restraining order (TRO) of the league’s ruling that would prevent enforcement of the suspension until the conclusion of the lawsuit.
Judge Mazzant said he will make his decision on Elliott’s temporary restraining order by Friday at 6 p.m. ET.
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RANGERS: ALDS Game 1 Recap
In our preview of the Game 1 matchup, we highlighted Hamels’ weak finish to the 2016 regular season and his lack of command that plagued his last several starts. It’s safe to say that he wasn’t able to correct the issue prior to his start Thursday afternoon, and the Rangers were pummeled in a 10-1 rout.
It was a tough game to watch, as Hamels struggled hitting his targets repeatedly. He walked 3 in only 3.1 innings of work, allowing 6 hits and 7 runs, a combination that equates to a 16.20 ERA. Things could have faired a little better for Hamels if Adrian Beltre could’ve snagged a third inning rocket by Josh Donaldson that glanced off the tip of his glove, or if Ian Desmond could’ve caught up to the deep fly ball by Tulowitzki that dropped in with the bases loaded. But regardless if they had, Hamels simply wasn’t himself on Thursday afternoon and hasn’t looked like himself for over a month. Jeff Banister may ultimately regret not starting Yu Darvish in game 1 so he would have the possibility of starting Game 5 (if even necessary). Maybe Hamels will have a shot at redeeming himself if the series extends to 5 games, albeit on a very short leash if he does.
On the other side of the plate, things weren’t any better. Also in our game 1 preview, we discussed how the Blue Jays’ Marco Estrada was a momentum pitcher, and how he could get hot or cold depending on how the Rangers swung the bats early on. As it turns out, our scouting was accurate. The Rangers couldn’t get anything going, and finished with only 4 hits. Estrada fed off that momentum and had a shutout going into the 9th inning before Andrus tripled to Center Field and ultimately scored. Estrada looked very impressive, finishing with a 1.08 ERA and only 4 hits allowed.
The Rangers will look to redeem themselves when Yu Darvish takes the mound at 12:00pm on Friday. Darvish will be ready for the spotlight – Hopefully the bats will be ready too, or this could be a very forgettable series for Ranger fans.
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ROMO TO COWBOYS: “Give me a chance…”
Thursday afternoon, SI.com broke the news that Tony Romo had reportedly requested a chance to win his job back from the rookie sensation, Dak Prescott. Unfortunately for him, the Cowboys rejected his proposal, and the veteran instead conceded the team to Prescott in an emotional press conference on Tuesday.
The Cowboys have clearly chosen to ride the hot hand of Dak Prescott for the rest of the year, but no rookie quarterback has ever won the super bowl as a starter. Did the Cowboys make a mistake by not allowing Romo, a 14 year veteran, to at least try to win his job back? We will find out soon enough. Please comment and give us your thoughts.
For more details on Romo’s rejection, check out the Sports Illustrated article here.
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GAME RECAP: Cowboys 24, 49ers 17
Down 14 – 0 in the second quarter, I took it upon myself to do something to help the boys in blue turn it around: I promptly switched chairs. From there, the Cowboys finished the game 27-3. Coincidence? Ok, sure… It probably was. Whatever the reason, the Cowboys were a different team after the horrible start.
Dak finished the game completing 72% of his 32 attempts for a QB Rating of 114.7, 2 TDs and extended his Rookie record to 134 attempts without an interception. The other half of the rookie backfield, Ezekiel Elliott finished the day with 138 yards on 23 attempts for a whopping 6 yards per carry and 1 touchdown, becoming the NFL’s leading rusher. The offensive line didn’t miss a beat, even though they were missing Pro Bowler Tyron Smith and La’El Collins. If anything, they looked a lot more aggressive on run blocking. In my week 3 preview, I mentioned the line might be improved with Ron Leary back at his Left Tackle spot (albeit with Collins replacing Right Tackle Doug Free), however, we did not see a turnaround like this.Defensively, Morris Claiborne has continued to dominate the secondary. With Orlando Scandrick sidelined for a second straight week, Mo has risen to the occasion making several key stops including the game winning tackle on fourth down late in the 4th quarter. The defensive line had 1 sack and not many more hurries, but did their job after they figured out how to stop Chip Kelly’s option offense with help from Sean Lee (which couldn’t have come sooner as watching a high school offense make an NFL defense look silly got annoying in a hurry). Overall, this was a solid 2. 5 quarters of defense.
Keys to the Game Scorecard:
- Pressure Gabbert.
Only 1 sack, but the defensive line put the pressure on when it counted, pushing Gabbert to the sideline and closing off half the field on 4th and 6 with 1:49 left to play. - Get the ball deep. The Cowboys had several lengthy plays throughout the game, however, none were long completions. Brice Butler cut across the middle so often, the 49ers’ secondary began sitting on the routes. With his speed, I expected to see at least a couple attempts of 20-30 yards.
- Don’t be cute. This was an old fashioned ground and pound. Zeke averaged 6 YPC and the ‘Boys finished with 194 total rushing yards.
Prediction Scorecard:
Cowboys: 24
49ers: 10
I came close again in my week 4 preview. The Cowboys finished the game 24-3, but the damage was done on the 49ers’ first two drives. Cowboys cover the spread: Final Score 24-17
- Pressure Gabbert.
