Tuesday’s “First Call” has an interesting admission from Steelers wide receiver Diontae Johnson.
We also get a peek at what a 17-game NFL schedule may look like. People may be overrating J.J. Watt’s impact on the Cardinals. Gamblers have faith in Ke’Bryan Hayes but are losing trust in the Penguins.
Plus, Tyler Glasnow looks like … Tyler Glasnow … in spring training.
Diontae discusses drops
Steelers wide receiver Diontae Johnson admits that last year’s problem with drops hurt his focus. NBC Sports tagged him with 10, the most in the NFL.
“I let it get in my head,” Johnson told Steelers.com. “I see people on social media bash my name. It’s not like you don’t see it. It’s there. It’s hard to put it to the side, but when you see it, it’s going to be in the back of your mind. That is how it got a hold of me. I tried not to think about it. But it’s in the back of my mind during practice. In the games I am like, ‘Bro, catch the ball.’”
Johnson went on to say that the benching he received after two drops in the first half against the Buffalo Bills in Week 14 was the slap in the face he needed. And he insisted — beyond the drops — he made strides in lots of other ways.
He caught 29 more passes and had 243 more yards, two more touchdowns and 14 more first down receptions than his rookie season of 2019.
But the drops largely overshadowed those accomplishments. Teresa Varley’s article, which features quotes that go a lot deeper than that, is definitely worth a read.
Ready or not …
Here comes the 17-game NFL schedule. That seems to be what NFL writer Peter King believes according to this Monday’s “Football Morning in America” post.
King says, “TV partners and NFL schedulers are working under the assumption that the 17-game schedule (the way was paved for it last March when players approved a new CBA) will debut in 2021.”
Of note …
• King expects the league calendar to get pushed back one week. That includes the Super Bowl, with a likely Feb. 13 date in Los Angeles. He feels we won’t see an extra bye week, so we’ll have 17 games in 18 weekends.
• He’s 50-50 on the idea that one of the wild-card weekend games will get moved to Monday night now that the playoffs will be starting after the college championship game.
That means whoever wins the wild-card MNF game will be griping up a storm about having to play the divisional round on a short week. They’ll be protected from playing Saturday. But may have to spin around and play Sunday.
Of course, after playing 17 games in 18 weeks, maybe an extra day before the wild-card game will come in handy.
• Since Christmas Day is a Saturday, King says the NFL is considering playing two games that day.
• King is also “hearing that it’s most likely to be AFC (teams) hosting all 16 newly invented games in 2021. Then NFC teams host in 2022.”
He gets into much greater detail as to why and how all these machinations will take place. So click the link to check it out. Some good Steelers content there, too.
Gotta have Hayes
It’s not often that the oddsmakers have the Pirates favored for anything.
Well, unless we are talking about the most losses in baseball. They could be favored there.
However, at least one outlet, BetOnline.Ag, has third baseman Ke’Bryan Hayes as the 4/1 gambling favorite to win National League Rookie of the Year.
As a 23-year-old, Hayes impressed enough people nationally last year in his half-season during the coronavirus-shortened 2020 campaign that bettors seem to think he is going to sustain that level of play all year. Hayes showed his predicted flashy glove at the hot corner. But he also hit better than expected.
In 24 games, Hayes hit .376 with five home runs and an OPS of 1.124. Now he just has to adjust to a full Major League season and pitchers that may have seen him on multiple occasions. Not to mention, eventually, it appears, playing in road games with opposing fans in the stands.
Other contenders include Miami Marlins pitcher Sixto Sanchez (5/1), Atlanta Braves pitcher Ian Anderson (9/1), Braves center fielder Cristian Pache (10/1) and St. Louis Cardinals outfielder Dylan Carlson (10/1).
Let’s make it a parlay
Before you put your wallet away, BetOnline.Ag is dabbling in the NFL offseason and the NHL, too.
And it appears bettors are jumping ship on the inconsistent Penguins. The local hockey team saw its odds increase from 20/1 to 25/1 to win the Stanley Cup. They went from 6/1 to 15/2 to win the Eastern Division.
That’s in the span of a month from Feb. 1 to Mar. 1.
On an individual level, Sidney Crosby’s chances of winning the Art Ross have fattened from 20/1 to 66/1, since he entered play Monday night with just 18 points. That was good for just 41st in the NHL. His Hart Trophy odds didn’t take quite as much of a hit, going from 25/1 to 35/1. Evgeni Malkin’s Art Ross Trophy odds went from 50/1 to off the board entirely.
Somewhat surprisingly, Kris Letang’s 20/1 Norris Trophy chances only moved to 25/1.
Now, this is where it gets nutty. The Arizona Cardinals Super Bowl odds shifted from +5000 to +3300 in the wake of the team’s acquisition of J.J. Watt. To win the conference, they narrowed from +2200 to +1500, and to win the NFC West, they closed from +700 to +500.
All that for a 31-year-old defensive lineman who is coming off a season with just five sacks? That seems silly to me.
But if that is how the money is coming in, what bookie is gonna stop it?
Glasnow’s game
Former Pirates starter Tyler Glasnow’s arm appears to be in mid-season form. According to Adam Berry of MLB.com, the Tampa Bay Rays right-hander hit 100 miles per hour in a perfect spring training first inning versus the Minnesota Twins Monday.
Tyler Glasnow hit 100 mph four times on the stadium gun in a 1-2-3 first, including his last pitch of the inning here... pic.twitter.com/qCSbguQLDH
— Adam Berry (@adamdberry) March 1, 2021
However, Glasnow gave up a homer, two runs on two hits, and three walks in 1 2/3 innings. In other words, a midseason Pirates-era kind of Glasnow game overall.
Tim Benz is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Tim at tbenz@triblive.com or via Twitter. All tweets could be reposted. All emails are subject to publication unless specified otherwise.
Categories: Penguins/NHL | Sports | Steelers/NFL | Breakfast With Benz
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