The NFL hands out its awards on Saturday night in Houston. Safety Landon Collins has a legitimate shot to be named AP Defensive Player of the Year and quarterback Eli Manning is a finalist for the Walter Payton Man of the Year honor.
In this space, we’re going to discuss the merits of Collins, a second-year player who busted out with an All-Pro season. It was a surprising jump from up-and-down rookie to difference-making jack-of-all-trades safety. He was a star for the Giants this season.
“I know he’s playing at a high level for us,” coach Ben McAdoo said during the year, after Collins had five interceptions in a four-game stretch. “He’s still learning, he’s still growing, he’s still a young player. He’s preparing well, and he’s very productive.”
Landon Collins led the Giants in tackles (125) and was second on the team in interceptions (5) and third in sacks (4.0). Rob Carr/Getty Images
Why he deserves DPOY: His stat line speaks for itself – 125 tackles, four sacks, five interceptions, 13 passes defended, one touchdown. He led all safeties with 46 defensive stops, according to Pro Football Focus. That was eight more than any other safety. Nobody in the NFL produced such a diverse stat line. Collins was the only player with at least 100 tackles, three sacks and three interceptions. He helped transform a defense that was among the worst in the league last season to the one of the best in 2016. Collins played every snap and was a consistent performer from start to finish on a defense that allowed the second-fewest points. All in all, he was brilliant in 2016, and likely exceeded even the loftiest of expectations.
Why he doesn’t deserve DPOY: The argument against Collins isn’t really a knock. It’s more a bonus for his competition. Miller, Mack and Donald did their damage through constant double teams. Teams game-planned to stop them. That wasn’t necessarily the case for Collins, especially early in the year when nobody knew he was a top-level player. It likely wasn’t the case later in the year either with much of the attention on trying to contain Damon Harrison in the middle of the Giants’ defensive line.
Collins still played his role brilliantly. He was used mostly near the line of scrimmage as a run-stuffer, blitzer and in coverage mostly in the short and intermediate areas of the field. That was ideal for his skill set. But the Giants didn’t use him often to stop or shadow the league’s better tight ends or help prevent all the big plays they allowed downfield (only one team allowed more passes of 20 or more yards). That’s just not the strength of his game.
Prediction: Von Miller wins Defensive Player of the Year
Collins finishes second or third (possibly behind Mack as well). It’s part name cache and part Miller’s ability to dominate despite intense attention and double teams. Miller finished second in the league with 13.5 sacks, tied for sixth with 24 quarterback hits and had 78 total tackles, the most of any player with double-digit sacks. He was also the leader of a Broncos defense that held up its end of the bargain, finishing fourth in yards and points allowed. Miller is a worthy winner. Collins was a worthy candidate.
HOUSTON — The NFL places great value on the emerging sports market in China.
With the popularity of sports skyrocketing in the world’s most populous nation, the value of building a brand there is obvious, and the league is steadily chipping away at the task. About 1.5 million people watch NFL games each week on digital platforms in China, according to the league, and Super Bowl LI will be broadcast in Mandarin from a crew on site at NRG Stadium.
Blake Muir hasn’t yet reached his goal of playing in an official NFL game, but he’s basking in the glow of the Falcons’ success as a productive member of their practice squad.
The Falcons and Patriots will square off in Houston for Super Bowl LI. Here’s everything you need to know about the matchup and how we got here.
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Could the next logical step be staging a game in China? The NFL has enjoyed great success with its NFL International Series games in London, and the league was set to play a 2007 preseason game in Beijing before postponing and ultimately scrapping the idea. The idea gained momentum again last March when commissioner Roger Goodell publicly discussed the idea at an owners meeting.
The idea of an NFL game in China is unique and potentially lucrative, but there isn’t yet a definite timeline for bringing an NFL game to Chinese soil, according to Mark Waller, the league’s executive vice president for international matters. NFL officials are currently examining the feasibility of playing in China but aren’t going to rush the process at the expense of product quality, Waller said.
“China brings some very unique logistical, scheduling, time zone issues which we’ve still not been able to work through entirely,” said Waller, who visited China last year to scout potential game sites. “When would you play that game? What time of day in China? How do you schedule it from a competitive standpoint?”
Beijing is a 13-hour flight from Los Angeles, and the time change is 13 to 16 hours ahead of the U.S. mainland. Teams would be concerned whether travel fatigue would put them at a competitive disadvantage in subsequent games, and a regular-season game would require one team to give up one of its home games that season.
Mark Waller, the NFL’s executive VP for international matters, said there isn’t a timeline in place for staging a game in China. Kirby Lee/USA TODAY Sports
Current and former NFL players attending this week’s Super Bowl events shared a range of opinions when asked what it would be like to play a game in China.
“I would embrace something like that,” Umenyiora said. “A lot of players have never left America. They’ve never experienced anything other than that. So to be able to go to a place like China and play and be able to experience China, I think that would be great.”
Pittsburgh Steelers running back Le’Veon Bell said he is interested the idea of playing in China — as long as his team didn’t have to relinquish a date at Heinz Field.
“I think Chinese fans, or any fans, would expect to see the best, and the preseason is less about the competitiveness of the game than about individual athletes and whether they’re going to make rosters and things like that. It’s a different fan experience, and I’m not sure I’d want that to be the first experience a Chinese fan got at one of our games.”
Mark Waller, NFL executive VP for international matters
“That would be fun, as long as they didn’t take away one of our home games,” Bell said. “We would probably have to go over a week early, maybe leave after the game the week before.”
Hall of Fame running back Eric Dickerson said he is aware the growing appetite for American sports in China and believes the logistics of playing there, while difficult, are feasible if teams get a week off after the game.
“For a young player, I think you would be excited to go to a country you’ve never been before,” Dickerson said. “But when you’ve been in the league for a couple years, you don’t want to go on those long trips.”
True to Dickerson’s words, second-year running back Melvin Gordon of the Los Angeles Chargers said he was intrigued by the possibility of competing in China.
“I think that would be amazing to be able to do that and to be able to give those fans that experience,” Gordon said. “I would definitely be for that. We do it in London, so why not?”
Certainly, not every player would be in favor of traveling so far during the season, even if some might not admit it. Former Giants kicker Raul Allegre, who currently works as an analyst for ESPN’s Spanish-language NFL broadcasts, has spoken with players about the challenges of playing games outside the United States.
“Logistically, I know players would hate it,” Allegre said. “They may say it was a good experience, but deep down, they would hate it. Coaches definitely would not like it, and players even less.”
Playing an NFL game on the other side of the world isn’t without precedent, however. The Denver Broncos and San Diego Chargers played a 1999 preseason game in Australia, which necessitated an even longer trip than a game in China would require. The preseason could potentially offer greater scheduling flexibility in order to maximize recovery time. Teams could conceivably be given a week off before and after the game. However, Waller believes it’s important to deliver an authentic product to Chinese fans. That means giving them a regular-season game that counts in the standings — not an exhibition in which star players see limited playing time.
“I think Chinese fans, or any fans, would expect to see the best, and the preseason is less about the competitiveness of the game than about individual athletes and whether they’re going to make rosters and things like that,” Waller said. “It’s a different fan experience, and I’m not sure I’d want that to be the first experience a Chinese fan got at one of our games. You may get a turnout for it, but you may end up with some disappointed fans. It may end up actually being counterproductive.”
In previous decades, the NFL aggressively worked to expand its international reach with the American Bowl series, which featured preseason games in the United Kingdom, Germany, Japan, Spain, Ireland and Sweden. More recently, the league has planned its international schedule more carefully — focusing on London, Mexico City and Toronto — and makes it a priority to keep promoting the sport in those markets after the game is played.
“For us, one of the key learnings in the last 10 years is that you need to have a plan over time,” Waller said. “What we used to do, going back 15-20 years, was we would play games in markets without a real sense of what happens after you’ve played the game. Now, we’re very focused on if you’re going to play a game, you better make sure you’ve got a plan to make the most of it before, but more importantly, afterward.”
Only one team has beaten coach Bill Belichick and QB Tom Brady in a Super Bowl.
The New York Giants did it twice, in Super Bowls XLII and XLVI. They beat the New England Patriots in different seasons but with relatively similar game plans. It didn’t matter that the Giants had different defensive coordinators (first Steve Spagnuolo, then Perry Fewell) or were fielding many different players. They limited Brady and the Patriots’ offense, ran the ball effectively and pulled out a pair of dramatic, low-scoring affairs.
There is a blueprint to success.
The Patriots are 4-2 in the sport’s biggest game during the Belichick-Brady era, with a chance to improve on that Sunday in Super Bowl LI when they play the Atlanta Falcons. Belichick and Brady are considered by many to be the greatest in history at their respective professions. They form a dynamic duo whose only Super Bowl kryptonite might prove to be Tom Coughlin’s Giants.
Or at least their game plan against the Brady/Belichick Patriots.
The Falcons might want to take a few pages out of those past Giants game plans on Sunday.
Every team takes its own shape, and these Patriots with Belichick and Brady may have evolved since their Super Bowl defeats. But they’re still quite similar to the teams from the 2007 and 2011 seasons that fell short of hoisting the Lombardi trophy. They have Brady. They have Belichick. They do lots of the same things offensively (quick, short passes; allowing their playmakers to make plays) and defensively (good at stopping the run, taking away the opposition’s best player). The game plan to beat them in this spot hasn’t changed much.
Pressuring Tom Brady and making him uncomfortable in the pocket was an essential part of the Giants’ game plan to beat New England. Drew Hallowell/Getty Images
The Giants went into both Super Bowls against the Patriots planning to make life difficult for Brady. That was essential. And they were going to do it without applying extra resources.
“We wanted to hit Tom Brady as much as we can. But the plan was to always rush them with four [defenders] and play coverage,” said Chris Canty, the former defensive tackle and current host of ESPN Radio’s Hahn, Humpty & Canty show.
“But when we did decide to use pressure, blitzes, we wanted to make sure to use players you weren’t accustomed to seeing.”
They used this approach in both games, with the idea of coming off the edge and pushing Brady into the interior rush. The Giants had seven sacks combined in the two games, four of which came from Justin Tuck, a defensive end who often played on the interior.
“It was really the same thing both times,” said former defensive end and current BBC analyst Osi Umenyiora, who was on both Giants teams that beat the Patriots in the Super Bowl. “We felt we had the advantage up front. So the game plan defensively was to not blitz quite as much.”
The Giants viewed the Patriots with Belichick as the most prepared team in the league. It was imperative on the rare opportunities the Giants blitzed that they came from players and spots that Brady wasn’t expecting.
And even when the Giants didn’t get there to hit or sack Brady, they focused on affecting his inside throwing lanes.
Brady said passing against the Giants in Super Bowl XLVI was “like throwing in a forest.” Defensive end Jason Pierre-Paul batted down a pair of passes. Michael Strahan had a batted pass in the 2008 contest.
“That’s what we wanted to do. That’s what [Brady] does anyway,” Umenyiora said. “The edge rush doesn’t really bother him much. You need to have some really good interior rushers.”
For the Falcons, that means having the league leader in sacks, Vic Beasley, getting pressure off the edge and forcing Brady toward Atlanta’s best interior rusher, Grady Jarrett. Then they can rely on their offense to supplement their defense.
The Giants realized that keeping Brady off the field was the best way to slow down the future Hall of Fame quarterback. The fewer opportunities he had, the better off they were. It may sound like common knowledge, but it’s harder to execute.
Lost in the shuffle of Brady’s brilliance and the Patriots’ high-powered offensive glitter is that Belichick builds tough teams, especially his defensive fronts. Belichick is known for taking away the opposition’s top playmakers.
Wide receiver Plaxico Burress had two catches for 27 yards in Super Bowl XLII; wide receiver Victor Cruz had four catches for 25 yards in Super Bowl XLVI. Although both had key touchdown grabs, their production was limited.
“The only football we thought New England respected was physical football,” said former Giants offensive lineman Chris Snee, who started at right guard in both Super Bowl wins. “We had to be more physical. You go against the offense, but both defenses we played against were physical defenses. It kind of gets lost in the shuffle. I think that is kind of the case this year, too.”
Trying to match the Patriots score for score wasn’t a viable option for those Giants (especially in the 2007 season) and likely won’t be for the Falcons. New England scored the third-most points in the NFL this season and has the unflappable Brady.
The Falcons scored the most points this season, but trying to win that battle with these Patriots might not be prudent in the Super Bowl. The Giants’ Super Bowl wins over New England were by scores of 17-14 and 21-17. They beat the Patriots by outrushing them and winning in the trenches.
That was the plan.
“That was what we had to accomplish. We had to be able to run the ball somewhat, No. 1,” Snee said. “If Belichick went in saying he wanted to take something away, I don’t think he went in thinking, ‘We have to take away the run game.’
“He was confident in who he had. He had [defensive tackle Vince] Wilfork in the middle and inside ’backers who could stop the run. We knew coming in we would have to say, ‘We’re better up front than these guys, and we have to be able to run the ball.’ And by doing that, [Belichick] may have to change some things as the game goes along. Any time you get into that kind of game where they have to make adjustments, it’s to your benefit.”
Pressure him with a four-man rush when he’s on the field.
Run the football.
“[The game plan] has to be the same because Brady is the guy. He’s the one on the field pulling the trigger,” Umenyiora said. “Belichick can’t come out there and play. It’s going to be the exact same thing. You’re going to have to get outside pressure forcing them into your inside rushers. If they can do that, they can have success.”
Easier said than done in the Super Bowl against Belichick, Brady and the Patriots.
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Tears began to flow as Aimee Cantadore recalled the fear felt when nurses explained what she and her husband had to do at home for their newborn daughter to survive.
They continued when she remembered being told Macie Joy qualified for 280 hours of in-home nurse care through the The HEARTest Yard Foundation, established by Carolina Panthers tight end Greg Olsen through Levine Children’s Hospital in Charlotte.
“He’s really kept our daughter alive by having help here,” Cantadore said.
A year ago Cantadore hadn’t heard of Olsen, who was preparing for Super Bowl 50 when Macie was born with half a heart. She wasn’t aware of his foundation, what congenital heart defect was or that Olsen had been through the same thing with his son T.J.
She still hasn’t met the three-time Pro Bowl selection, one of three finalists for the Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year Award that will be announced Saturday night at NFL Honors in Houston.
But she knows without Olsen, the past year would have been unmanageable.
“It makes me cry just thinking about it,” Cantadore said. “Having a nurse there was lifesaving. There is no way I could have handled caring for her and also be able to care for my other two [children] and continue daily things such as groceries and laundry.
“It was just a huge blessing.”
Greg Olsen, wife Kara Olsen and Tate and twins Talbot and T.J. visited Disney World during the Pro Bowl. Kirby Lee/USA TODAY Sports
Olsen knows
In 2012, Olsen’s wife Kara gave birth to twins, son T.J. and daughter Talbot. T.J. was born with half a heart, a congenital heart defect known as hypoplastic left heart syndrome. They experienced the same fear Cantatore did as doctors and nurses explained how T.J. would need four surgeries — three open heart procedures and the installation of a pacemaker.
They felt their life was spinning out of control when told about the in-home care needed to keep T.J. alive after he spent about 40 days in intensive care.
Olsen’s biggest initial fear was he would mix the formula incorrectly and cause T.J. to die.
Within 24 hours of going home with T.J., the couple realized they needed in-home help. That was the genesis for The HEARTest Yard, a spinoff of Olsen’s foundation that was established in 2009 to raise money for breast cancer research.
“These were needs that not only were critical to his day-to-day, but critical to his development, preparing to go back into surgery.”
Fortunately for the Olsens, they could afford the care. Since 2013, their foundation has helped 47 families that could not.
Luann and Brian Register, whose son Brantley was born with HLHS in 2014, said they would have lost their home had it not been for Olsen’s program.
Aimee’s husband, Frank, knows for sure he couldn’t have afforded the additional $20,000 to $25,000 in-home nursing cost on top of the other hospital bills.
“The first time [Olsen] met with a lot of us in the hospital as a group, he wanted to give these kids and these families the world, anything that he possibly could. We were actually the ones that said, ‘Slow down. We can’t do all that.'”
Kari Crawford-Plant, a pediatric nurse practitioner at Levine Children’s Hospital
He didn’t stop short of saying it was lifesaving for his daughter.
“I think that’s why they probably started the foundation,” Frank said. “They found out how difficult it is. Having that for my wife and me, it was phenomenal.”
Tears to advocate
Kari Crawford-Plant, a pediatric nurse practitioner at Levine Children’s Hospital, first met the Olsens in 2012 right after T.J.’s diagnosis.
“It wasn’t the best meeting because they were both sobbing,” she said. “I just introduced myself, told them they would get through it and that we would [tour the facility] another day when they collected themselves.
“He shook my hand and shut the door, and the next time I saw them was when they had twins.”
Crawford-Plant has watched Olsen grow from a father in disarray to a nationwide advocate for families affected by congenital heart defect.
A year ago, as Greg Olsen was preparing for the Super Bowl, Macie Joy Cantatore was born with half a heart. Courtesy of Canatore family
“The one thing I have learned about Greg is he’s a big visionary,” said Crawford-Plant, who has become the go-to person at Levine for HEARTest Yard families. “The first time he met with a lot of us in the hospital as a group, he wanted to give these kids and these families the world, anything that he possibly could.
“We were actually the ones that said, ‘Slow down. We can’t do all that.’ “
Slowing down isn’t Olsen’s style. On the field this season, he became the first tight end in NFL history to have 1,000 yards receiving for three consecutive years.
Off the field, between his HEARTest Yard campaign and Receptions for Research campaign — founded for breast cancer research because Olsen’s mother was diagnosed with that while he was in high school — the foundation has raised well over a $1.25 million.
Olsen’s foundation received a $25,000 donation from Nationwide recently when he won a social media competition among the 32 Walter Payton Award nominees.
Among those who pushed him over the top on Twitter were actors Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and William Shatner, as well as NASCAR star Dale Earnhardt Jr.
“He has a lot of popular celebrity connections that always help,” Crawford-Plant said. “
[Actor] Vince Vaughn came to a hospital fundraiser. All of those things help this on a national level, not just a local level, which is important for kids with congenital heart disease.”
Game-changer
Olsen recently ran into a child at Levine whom he didn’t know had the same heart defect as T.J.
“They were just playing in the hallway,” Crawford-Plant said. “He turned and asked his grandmother, ‘What does he have?’ She told him. I could see that look on his face when he realized it was the same thing.
“It’s a game changer, and we witnessed that firsthand. It’s one of those things that is hard to imagine until you find yourself in that situation.”
Greg Olsen
“T.J. was standing there beside the child and they hugged and compared scars. I’m sure they have a lifetime bond there. It was sweet to watch.”
T.J. is 4 1/2 years old now and doing well, but even with an in-home nurse there were tough days. There were times when Olsen would leave in the middle of practice and rush home or to the hospital because of an emergency situation.
Those are things he’s able to share with other families.
“The biggest message we try telling them is the day to day, you’re going to have some bad days and you’re going to have some good days, and neither one of them is a sign of how it’s going to be forever,” Olsen said.
“Just take it as it comes, don’t get too far ahead of yourself and try to map out the next week, month, year, because it’s hard enough in the beginning to map out what the next 12 hours are going to be like.”
That’s why Olsen is so passionate about the HEARTest Yard. He only has to walk down the hall to T.J.’s room to understand what others are experiencing.
“It’s a game-changer, and we witnessed that firsthand,” he said. “It’s one of those things that is hard to imagine until you find yourself in that situation.”
Starstruck to dad
Frank Cantadore was coaching a high school basketball game at Concord First Assembly Church last year when he received one of those calls Olsen got at practice.
Macie Joy Cantatore recently celebrated her first birthday. Courtesy of Canatore family
“I knew right away it was Macie,” he said. “Her blood saturation level, it’s supposed to be in the 80s and it was at zero. It’s a very scary time going through this, knowing your kid’s chest is wide open and you’re just helpless.”
Having a nurse there to help, Cantadore said, indeed was a lifesaver. Having an advocate like Olsen has been comforting.
“I don’t know Greg, but I’ve seen pictures of his kid running around and happy, so that was really good to hear when they told us Macie had the same thing,” he said.
Many families are starstruck when they first meet the 6-foot-5, 255-pound Olsen.
“He’s a tall man,” Crawford-Plant said. “I think they all take a step back. They get over that pretty quickly, because then they realize he’s just a dad.
“Kara and him were just two parents that were fighting the same battle to make sure not only that their child survived but thrived through their childhood.”
Saves lives
Macie Joy celebrated her first birthday two Saturdays ago.
That’s why Aimee teared up when she began recalling all that Olsen’s foundation has done.
Crawford-Plant understands.
“What he’s doing does save lives,” she said.
Olsen doesn’t do this to win awards. He does it because it’s personal, from what he experienced with T.J. as an adult to his mother as a teenager.
He does it because he doesn’t want others to feel the fear he and Kara once did, because he wants to see other children born with a heart defect have a healthy and happy life.
“Our rule was we tried to have more good days than bad, and life was going to be normalized even if it was going to be a little at a time,” Olsen said. “That’s why we feel so passionate about playing that forward and trying to have the families that come behind us have a better experience than we did.”
