Culture
Dusty Baker on the passing of Fernando Valenzuela: ‘He came like an angel to us’
Dusty Baker remembered the games. Not the ones that Fernando Valenzuela would bend to his will like his signature screwball, but the moments in between. The precocious left-hander’s skills went beyond the iconic windup he taught himself on mounds in a small Mexican town named Etchohuaquila. Valenzuela could hit so well that he remained parked on the bench at Dodger Stadium even on nights when he didn’t pitch. He could field his position so well that he’d win a Gold Glove.
But Baker marveled at another athletic feat: Valenzuela knocking a hacky sack into the air, his eyes floating to the sky just as they would when he delivered a pitch.
“That was the first time I had really seen anybody that good at it,” Baker recalled by phone on Tuesday night.
Baker was 31 when Valenzuela, still just 19 years old, made his Dodgers debut in 1980. As a running gag, the pitcher would tap Baker on the shoulder to get him to look the wrong way and then giggle with childlike vigor when it worked.
“Fernando was a kid,” Baker said. “He acted like a kid. He was fun. He acted like a kid everywhere but on the mound.”
Valenzuela died on Tuesday, the Dodgers announced. He was 63 years old. The man who sparked “FernandoMania” in 1981 is gone. By that summer, he’d captivated a city and a market that hasn’t been the same since.
Dusty Baker and Fernando Valenzuela were friends from the start and forged a long-lasting bond. (Jayne Kamin-Oncea / USA Today)
Valenzuela was not the first Mexican superstar and will not be the last, but there will only be one Fernando. It was over one summer, as a 20-year-old, that an entire city got to know the soft-spoken left-hander on a first-name basis that has echoed ever since.
“Everywhere we went — it wasn’t only the Dodgers — where we went, he packed the stadium,” Baker said. “And he packed the stadium, especially with the Latin American people from all over, all over the world. He made everybody, especially Latin Americans, made them proud.”
Valenzuela’s stardom fueled a cultural shift in Los Angeles by reinvigorating a Mexican American community damaged by the franchise’s move to the area and displacement of families at Chavez Ravine to build the now-storied ballpark.
Valenzuela debuted in 1980 to little fanfare, delivering 10 scoreless appearances. His first start of 1981 came on Opening Day, but only after Jerry Reuss injured his calf. Valenzuela had already thrown his bullpen session on the eve of Opening Day when Dodgers manager Tommy Lasorda informed him he would take the baseball.
The left-hander responded by throwing a five-hit shutout in a 2-0 victory over the Houston Astros.
“Fernando — he was The Man as a kid,” Baker said.
“Good thing we won that game,” Valenzuela recalled with a chuckle last year.
He won each of his first eight starts — all complete games.
Valenzuela was estranged from the club into retirement over lingering resentment from the Dodgers’ decision to release him in 1991, just before his $2.55-million contract would have become guaranteed. He returned to the organization as a Spanish-language broadcaster in 2003 and the Dodgers retired his No. 34 in August 2023 (the franchise waived its longstanding policy on not doing so for players not in the Hall of Fame).
But if Valenzuela’s relationship with the Dodgers was complicated, his relationship with the city and its people is not. His jersey remains among the most popular at a ballpark where crowds regularly chanted his name. The pitching mound at Dodger Stadium always felt like the tallest place in the world when the 5-foot-11 left-hander was standing on top.
He was just what Los Angeles, and the Dodgers, needed.
“He came like an angel to us at the time we needed him the most,” Baker said.
Baker was Valenzuela’s teammate from 1980 to 1983 and they developed a bond. He took care of him. Baker took Valenzuela out to dinners, as Felipe Alou and Hank Aaron did for him as a young Atlanta Brave. When Baker returned to Dodger Stadium this August as part of a bobblehead night and spoke with Valenzuela, who by then had shown signs of his illness and lost weight, Baker took time to be with his former teammate.
The left-hander who pitched like a man, Baker said, was always still a boy. He recalled a stretch during Valenzuela’s peak: Andre Dawson had slugged a solo home run off Valenzuela at Dodger Stadium in May 1981, a game-tying shot during a complete game victory as Pedro Guerrero hit a walk-off home run a half-inning later. When Valenzuela faced Dawson’s Montreal Expos that October in a winner-take-all Game 5 in the National League Championship Series, he kept Dawson 0-for-4 and struck him out — all the while outlining the very sequence to Baker that he had thrown Dawson earlier in the season.
“Fernando was smart. I mean, this cat, he was like a man, pitched like a man, but he was a young, young boy,” Baker said.
Valenzuela tossed eight shutouts in 25 starts, winning a no-brainer Rookie of the Year award to serve as a side dish to a Cy Young Award.
The Dodgers, always on the doorstep, would return to the World Series against the New York Yankees in 1981 and win. There hadn’t been a Fall Classic meeting of the two iconic franchises since — until now. Valenzuela passed away just three days before Game 1 begins at Dodger Stadium.
(Top photo from 1985: Rick Stewart / Getty Images)
LOS ANGELES — It’s too soon to panic, too soon to form any opinion, really. If the initial diagnosis the Los Angeles Dodgers offered on Shohei Ohtani proves correct, he could very well be in the lineup Monday night for Game 3 of the World Series at Yankee Stadium.
Still, the injury Ohtani suffered to his left shoulder Saturday night cast a pall over Dodger Stadium, quieting the raucous crowd and creating an uneasiness rarely experienced by a team leading the Series two games to none.
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said Ohtani has a subluxation, a condition that occurs when the ball at the top of the upper arm bone comes out of the socket only partially, as opposed to completely, which happens during a dislocation.
If that’s all this is, it might not be a big deal, particularly short-term. Roberts said Ohtani’s strength was great, his range of motion good. But he cautioned that the Dodgers will not know more until Ohtani undergoes an MRI. Savvy fans understand that no diagnosis matters until the doctors check the scans. And given the Dodgers’ history with injuries, no one should assume Ohtani will be leading off Monday night at Yankee Stadium just yet.
The absence of Ohtani for even one game would diminish a series built on stars, from the likely MVPs, Ohtani and Aaron Judge, to the superstar right fielders, Mookie Betts and Juan Soto, to another likely Hall of Famer, Freddie Freeman, and a potential one, Giancarlo Stanton. The Series also features the two highest-paid pitchers in total value, Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Gerrit Cole. Yamamoto, making his World Series debut Saturday night, allowed only one hit in 6 1/3 innings, a homer by Soto.
Ohtani, though, is at the center of it all. He suffered his injury Saturday night sliding into second base on an attempted steal in the seventh inning, with the Dodgers leading, 4-1. He was in obvious pain, rolling on the dirt, then slowly getting to his feet before an athletic trainer helped him walk off the field, supporting his left arm.
Ohtani is slow to get up after he attempted to steal 2nd. pic.twitter.com/T3Af5GRaiw
— FOX Sports: MLB (@MLBONFOX) October 27, 2024
For a recent comparison, consider the San Diego Padres’ Fernando Tatis Jr., who reportedly sustained at least four subluxations in 2021. Tatis initially did not undergo surgery, believing his shoulder to be stable. But he reversed course in September 2022 while serving an 80-game suspension for using a banned performance-enhancing substance. Doctors repaired the labrum in his left shoulder. Tatis recovered by the time he was reinstated in April 2023. And that season, he appeared in 141 games.
Might Ohtani eventually meet the same fate? Perhaps, if he endures repeated subluxations. Treatment for shoulder instability includes both non-operative and surgical options, according to Johns Hopkins Medicine. Ohtani, of course, is still recovering from major surgery on his right elbow, with the expectation he will pitch again in 2025. But even after stealing 59 bases this season as a full-time designated hitter, he almost certainly will limit his attempts once he returns to the mound, reducing the wear and tear on his body.
If Ohtani misses time during the Series, the Dodgers can adjust by moving Betts to the leadoff spot and making Freeman their DH. Max Muncy could move from third base to first and Kiké Hernández could play third. Roberts could round out his infield with some combination of Gavin Lux, Tommy Edman and Miguel Rojas, with Andy Pages playing center on days Edman replaces Rojas at short.
Not a bad collection of players, even though Freeman is playing on a severely sprained right ankle and Rojas will require sports hernia surgery during the offseason. Ohtani was only 1-for-8 in the first two games of the Series, his one hit a ringing double off Yankees reliever Tommy Kahnle in Game 1. But obviously, he’s an essential part of the Dodgers’ offense.
After striking out 10 times in 22 plate appearances in the Division Series, Ohtani broke out in the National League Championship Series, batting .364 with a 1.185 OPS. He has been an absolute terror in the postseason with runners in scoring position, going 15-for-22 in those situations.
With or without Ohtani, the Dodgers are in excellent position. The only way they will lose the Series is if they drop four of the next five games — not out of the question with the Series shifting to New York for Games 3, 4 and 5 (if necessary), but not all that likely, either. The Yankees have their own problems, most notably the performance of likely MVP Aaron Judge, who is batting .150 in the postseason with a .605 OPS and 19 strikeouts in 50 plate appearances.
The Dodgers being the Dodgers, they would use any absence by Ohtani as a rallying point. Betts was out nearly two months this season with a fractured left hand. Freeman was away for 10 days while his son Max, 3, dealt with Guillain-Barré syndrome, and later missed time with a broken finger and his ankle problem. And lest we forget, the Dodgers also placed 12 starting pitchers on the injured list.
No one should portray this team as an underdog, not when its estimated $325 million payroll was second only to the New York Mets. The Dodgers leveraged their financial might to build extraordinary depth. So even while somewhat depleted, their roster is strong enough for the club to be within two wins of its first World Series title since 2020, and its first in a full season since 1988.
The continuing presence of Ohtani would further enhance the Dodgers’ chances, and his return for Game 3 seemed quite possible, at least the way Roberts was talking. By now, we’ve all learned that underestimating Ohtani is foolish. Seriously, would anyone be surprised if he returned to hit the Series-clinching homer, and then defied the Dodgers’ insistence that he will not pitch again this season by earning the Series-clinching save?
All right, that’s a bit much to ask. Let’s just hope Ohtani plays again in the Series. Any time he misses will diminish baseball’s biggest spectacle in years. And as his past injuries have shown, every day he is out is a lesser day for the sport.
(Top photo of Shohei Ohtani exiting the field in Game 2: Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)
Culture
Freddie Freeman wallops his way into World Series history with walk-off slam that’ll float forever
LOS ANGELES — Carlton Fisk … Kirby Puckett … Derek Jeter … David Freese.
As he smoothed the dirt in the batter’s box in the 10th inning Friday night, Freddie Freeman never could have envisioned he’d be spending the rest of his life hanging out with those October legends.
But then walk-off magic happened.
Before the next wave of Freeman’s bat, no living human could lean back in an easy chair and describe to you what a walk-off, lead-flipping, extra-inning World Series grand slam looked like. But we can now. It looks exactly like this.
FREDDIE FREEMAN WALK-OFF GRAND SLAM. #WORLDSERIES pic.twitter.com/5MIY5CaX6a
— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) October 26, 2024
History is an amazing thing to make — and a breathtaking thing to witness. A stadium rattles until it awakens every Richter Scale in Southern California. A walk-off hero jumps on home plate and disappears into a sea of hugs and laughs and tears of joy.
A scoreboard tries to tell this tale — Dodgers 6, Yankees 3 — but there is so much emotion and so much history that can’t possibly be captured by the final score of Friday’s Game 1 of the 2024 World Series.
So that’s where this column comes in handy. There are certain nights in October that seem to exist so those of us at Weird and Wild World HQ can help you make sense of them. This was one of those nights.
“Freddie just hit a ball that’s going to be in the history reels forever,” Dodgers reliever Michael Kopech told us afterward. “So it’s a special moment — for him and for us.”
When a man hits a walk-off home run in extra innings — in the World Freaking Series — he can’t imagine in that moment that the baseball is never going to come down. But he could ask the guys in the first sentence of this column …
Carlton Fisk … Kirby Puckett … Derek Jeter … David Freese.
They’re in that hallowed Extra-inning World Series Walk-off Club. So Freddie can ask them the next time he sees him. Or even better …
He could walk across his clubhouse and ask Max Muncy.
Six years ago, it was Muncy who stepped to the plate at 12:30 in the morning — California time — and pounded an 18th-inning walk-off home run of his own, to finish off the longest World Series game ever played: Game 3 of the 2018 Series.
It turned out to be the only game the Dodgers won against the Red Sox in that World Series. But if you think that means that home run was forgotten, Muncy is here to set you straight.
“Yeah, Freddie is gonna hear about this one for a long time,” Muncy said Friday night. “Freddie has hit some big home runs, especially in the postseason. But he’s gonna hear about this one.”
So why is that? What is it about home runs like this that cause them to reverberate through history and stick in our memory banks? We can help explain that!
Extra special
Freddie Freeman watches his slam sail into the seats. (Jayne Kamin-Oncea / Imagn Images)
This was the 693rd game in World Series history. So think about how wild (and weird) it is that no hitter, in any of those other 692 games, had written a script to match Freddie Freeman’s script.
How many walk-off slams had ever been hit, in any other World Series game? Yep, that would be none.
In fact, only one walk-off slam had ever ended a game in any other postseason round. That was hit by Nelson Cruz, in Game 2 of the 2011 ALDS. So what were the odds that Cruz would be in the park for this one, as a member of the Spanish-language Univision broadcast team? Baseball!
But moving right along, here comes a distinction even wilder than that. Wouldn’t you think that sometime, in the 119 previous World Series, somebody would have dug into a batter’s box somewhere, with his team trailing, and hit an extra-inning home run that turned a loss into a win?
You would think that, all right. But you would think wrong — because the complete list of men to do that consists of …
Freddie Freeman!
Or wouldn’t you think that somebody would have hit a home run that at least tied a World Series game in extra innings? Nope. No one has ever hit one of those, either.
So what we saw Freeman do Friday, in the 10th inning at Dodger Stadium, was produce an all-time October moment. And who can ever get enough of them!
“When you get told you do something like that, in this game that’s been around a very long time — I love the history of this game,” Freeman said. “To be a part of it, it’s special.”
GO DEEPER
Rosenthal: For Freddie Freeman, his family and Dodgers fans, a grand moment on the biggest stage
She is … gone
As the 10th inning began Friday night, one of my fellow baseball scribes turned to me and asked: What are the chances that Kirk Gibson limps out of the dugout to hit in this inning?
We laughed at the thought. But in retrospect …
In the history of the World Series, just two men have ever stood in a batter’s box with their team one out from defeat … and then hit a walk-off home run that changed everything:
Kirk Gibson, Game 1, 1988
Freddie Freeman, Game 1, 2024
(Hat tip: Paul Casella, MLB.com)
Geez. Holy Chavez Ravine. Gibson, of course, flipped that 1988 script in the ninth inning, not the 10th. Nevertheless, is that goosebumpy enough for you — even if Freeman hadn’t been limping around all week, much like Gibson did back in the day?
But when a few of us tried to recast The Kirk Gibson Story afterward, with Freeman as the new lead in this production, Freeman’s teammates were not all in on that. Especially not after Freeman had tripled in his first at-bat of the Series. After all, Gibson could barely make it to third base after his home run back in ’88. So are we sure this was the same thing?
C’mon, Muncy said, “Freddie’s been hobbling too fast. He’s moving good. He had a triple tonight. So I don’t know if you can compare that. From everything I heard, Gibson had half a leg.”
Feels like a good time to show Kirk Gibson’s walk-off home run in Game 1 of the 1988 World Series pic.twitter.com/PC2PuhRwAf
— FOX Sports: MLB (@MLBONFOX) October 26, 2024
In a year that has been so improbable …
Freeman’s euphoric teammates wait to greet him at the plate after he ended Game 1. (Jayne Kamin-Oncea / Imagn Images)
When Freeman wriggled into the box with two outs in the 10th, the Dodgers’ chances of winning this game were only 26.7 percent, according to Baseball Reference. That changed swiftly, obviously. One moonshot into the right-field pavilion later, those chances were more like 100 percent.
So if you’re adding along at home, you know what that means: Freeman’s homer had just jumped their Win Probability by a staggering 73.3 percent, with one swing of the bat. Does that seem good? We’ll do you a favor, by stepping outside those decimal points to tell you just how good.
This was officially one of the biggest, most game-changing swings in the history of the World Series!
So there. Does that help make sense of it? And how cool is it that we can measure that with Baseball Reference’s handy dandy Pivotal Play Finder, which can rank every World Series hit by its Win Probability Added. So we did that.
Most pivotal extra-inning homers
| HITTER | GAME/YEAR | WIN PROBABILITY ADDED |
|---|---|---|
|
Freddie Freeman |
Game 1, 2024 |
73.3% |
|
Derek Jeter |
Game 4, 2001 |
46.1% |
Most pivotal extra-inning hits
| HITTER | GAME/YEAR | WIN PROBABILITY ADDED |
|---|---|---|
|
Freddie Freeman |
Game 1, 2024 |
73.3% |
|
Tris Speaker* |
Game 8, 1912 |
50.5% |
(*game-tying single in 10th)
Most pivotal bases-loaded hits
| HITTER | GAME/YEAR | WIN PROBABILITY ADDED |
|---|---|---|
|
Freddie Freeman |
Game 1, 2024 |
73.3% |
|
Terry Pendleton* |
Game 2, 1985 |
68.9% |
(*lead-flipping double with two outs in ninth)
And finally, here it comes, the leaderboard you’ve been waiting for but might not have known you were. It’s the …
Most pivotal World Series walk-off hits ever
| HITTER | GAME/YEAR | WIN PROBABILITY ADDED |
|---|---|---|
|
Kirk Gibson |
Game 1, 1988 |
87% |
|
Freddie Freeman |
Game 1, 2024 |
73.3% |
|
Joe Carter |
Game 6, 1993 |
65.6% |
(Source: Baseball Reference)
GO DEEPER
How Freddie Freeman delivered an iconic swing on a bad ankle: ‘You dream about those moments’
Their intentions were good
After the intentional walk, Freeman dropped the mic. (Jayne Kamin-Oncea / Imagn Images)
But wait. There’s more. This grand slam would not have been possible if the Yankees hadn’t filled up the bases by intentionally walking Mookie Betts to pitch to Freeman. So how rare is a postseason grand slam following an intentional walk?
Whoa, we hadn’t had one of those since … 12 days ago, when these same Dodgers intentionally walked Francisco Lindor to fill the bases for Mark Vientos … in this same stadium. The baseball gods work in mysterious ways, don’t they?
But if we just confine this discussion to intentional walks that set up a slam in the World Series, we have only four of those in history:
| YEAR | GAME | INT BB | HIT SLAM | INNING |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
1951 |
WS Game 5 |
Johnny Mize |
Gil McDougald |
3rd |
|
1956 |
WS Game 7 |
Yogi Berra |
Bill Skowron |
7th |
|
1992 |
WS Gm 6 |
David Justice |
Lonnie Smith |
5th |
|
2024 |
WS Gm 1 |
Mookie Betts |
Freddie Freeman |
10th |
(Source: STATS Perform)
But you’ll notice this was the first extra-inning intentional walk to set up a grand slam in World Series history — and only the second in postseason history. The other was issued by … Dave Roberts, who intentionally walked a guy named Juan Soto to get to Howie Kendrick in the 10th inning of Game 5 of the 2019 NLDS. That didn’t go quite as well for the Dodgers manager as this!
No wonder Roberts would later describe this game as maybe “the greatest baseball moment I’ve ever witnessed.”
But he was not alone. We’ve measured the cool factor of this home run with lots of numbers. Yet maybe the truest measure was the euphoria this epic blast infused in Freeman’s teammates. An hour later, that feeling hadn’t subsided — not even a little.
“I can’t imagine how Freddie is feeling right now,” said Michael Kopech, “because I feel like I’m floating.”
There’s another baseball game to play Saturday. So the Dodgers will show up and play all nine innings of it (assuming that’s enough). But we should let them in on a secret. If they go on to win this thing, when they all close their eyes — in five years, 10 years, 20 years — and think back on this World Series, they’ll still be floating …
Just like Freeman’s walk-off slam for the ages.
Party of Three
Freeman celebrates after tripling in the first inning. (Jason Parkhurst / Imagn Images)
OK, hang with us for just another minute. There are three more things you need to know about this game!
EMPTY NESTOR — Somebody has to give up these momentous home runs. In this case, that somebody was Nestor Cortes. So what’s his claim to fame? As Eric Orns, one of our favorite readers/baseball stat gurus, reports, Cortes became the first pitcher in postseason history — at least in the pitch-count era (1988-present) — to give up two runs on two pitches.
First pitch — spectacular catch by Alex Verdugo on Shohei Ohtani’s foul looper down the left-field line.
Next pitch (after an intentional walk that now requires zero pitches) — walk-off slam.
Hey, at least the Dodgers didn’t run up his pitch count.
GO DEEPER
Nestor Cortes wanted the ball. And all that came with it
GRAND SLAM FEVER — Does it feel like there’s a grand slam every week in this postseason? It should — because this was the fifth of the postseason. And we’re not through playing yet. So as Orns reminds us, it would take only one more slam to break the record for most in a single postseason.
The two years with five of them: 2021 and 1998. Stay tuned!
TRIPLE THREAT — Finally, have we mentioned that Freeman had a triple in his first at-bat of this game and a walk-off extra-inning homer in his last at-bat? We had a hunch he was the first player in history to do that in a World Series. Boy, were we wrong. But it was worth checking … because what a list of guys who have hit a triple and an extra-inning walk-off in the same World Series game.
|
Freddie Freeman |
Game 1, 2024 |
|
David Freese |
Game 6, 2011 |
|
Derek Jeter |
Game 4, 2001 |
|
Kirby Puckett |
Game 6, 1991 |
(Source: Baseball Reference / Stathead)
Just looking at that list, it reminded us that we remember those games as The David Freese Game … The Derek Jeter “Mr. November” Game … and The Kirby Puckett “We’ll See You Tomorrow Night” Game. So little does Freeman know it, but what we saw Friday will go down in the annals as (what else) The Freddie Freeman Game. Which tells you all you need to know about a classic October evening of …
Baseball!
GO DEEPER
Freeman’s grand statement lifts Dodgers over Yankees in Game 1: Takeaways
GO DEEPER
Yankees’ Boone explains ill-fated decision to use Cortes against Dodger lefties
GO DEEPER
Juan Soto owns defensive shortcomings in Game 1, as sloppy play stifles Yankees
(Top photo: Keith Birmingham / MediaNews Group / Pasadena Star-News via Getty Images)
A sudden shift could take place for more than a few NFL teams in Week 8.
The Atlanta Falcons and Tampa Bay Buccaneers meet in the second of two NFC South showdowns. The Philadelphia Eagles–Cincinnati Bengals loser might feel like any good fortune they’ve built up over the last few weeks will vanish. The AFC South could get tighter when the Houston Texans host the Indianapolis Colts. Two struggling NFC powers in the Dallas Cowboys and San Francisco 49ers meet on Sunday night.
What Week 8 storylines interest our trio of NFL writers in Mike Sando, Zak Keefer and Jeff Howe? Read more for a Sunday primer.
The Vikings (now 5-2) fell to the Rams on Thursday night. The Bears (at Commanders), Lions (vs. Titans) and Packers (at Jaguars) are all in action Sunday. Who is your pick to win the NFC North right now? Do you envision all four teams making the playoffs?
Sando: Detroit is a clear favorite with a victory at Minnesota already, the best roster and the most “time on task” with this group of coaches/players. I do not think all four teams from the division will reach the playoffs, but it could trend that way in the short term based on the Bears’ next three games against Washington (without Jayden Daniels), Arizona and New England. NFC North teams will beat up on each other down the stretch.
Keefer: Give me the Lions in the NFC North. The job Dan Campbell continues to do ranks right up there with the best in the league — so far, there has been no hangover from last season’s crushing conference title game loss. Detroit’s winning exactly how he envisioned: with two of the best fronts in the league. And Jared Goff is playing like an MVP. This team is going to be a tough, tough out in the NFC playoffs.
Howe: Even without Aidan Hutchinson, the Lions are still playing like the best team in the NFC. They’re a force on both sides of the ball, especially if Goff remains in the MVP conversation. As for the playoffs, all four teams are good enough to make it, and I would say it’s more than likely all four would finish the season in the NFC’s top seven of our power rankings. But they’re going to beat up on each other while an East or South team could use a more advantageous slate to sneak into the final wild-card spot.
The NFC North has a case for the league’s toughest division in 2024. The Minnesota Vikings fell to 5-2 on Thursday, while Jared Goff (16) and the Detroit Lions will host the Tennessee Titans on Sunday. (Jeffrey Becker / Imagn Images)
A rib injury could rob us of Caleb Williams vs. Jayden Daniels, but Bears-Commanders is a big game nonetheless. What have you liked most about Williams and Daniels? What would you like to see that each rookie QB hasn’t shown or proved yet?
Sando: I like the way both quarterbacks have started from Week 1 without the game seeming too fast for them and without the job (franchise quarterback) seeming too big for them. They both seem equipped to handle the job on and off the field, based on what we’ve seen. Daniels needs to prove he can stay on the field a full season. That is also part of the job of a franchise quarterback. His durability was a concern entering the season. He’s already managing an injury that is threatening to sideline him. For Williams, I’d like to see him fare well against good teams. He hasn’t had many chances to do that yet. The Houston game was a struggle.
Keefer: I spent time with Daniels last week in Washington and — as the story lays out — his preparation is what’s setting him apart. His teammates marvel at how early he shows up to the building every day. And Washington’s offense has been built around what he does well without forcing him to throw it 40 times a game. In Chicago, Williams has been noticeably better of late, but the challenge now is proving it against stiffer competition. Beating up on Carolina and Jacksonville doesn’t mean a whole lot these days. Backing it up after the bye week against Washington — which has led the NFC East since Week 3 — says even more.
Howe: Daniels has done everything right, but I admire the way the Commanders have continuously put him in a position to succeed. The coaching has been terrific, and the run game has helped. Daniels has then done his part to lift his teammates. I’m not sure how much Daniels can improve upon this next point, but the pre-draft concern was his ability to hold up to the physicality, and he’s already dealing with a rib injury. Williams took a little longer to get comfortable due to some line issues and injuries at the skill spots, but he never seemed to lose his way or his confidence. He just kept believing in his ability, and it’s very obvious the game has slowed down for him over the past few weeks. He’s tracking to play with a lot more confidence down the stretch, and I think the potential exists for Williams to help the Bears make a run.
Going by eyes and the odds, the Browns’ woes are about to get worse against the Ravens on Sunday. Step in the GM’s chair in Cleveland. What would you do with Deshaun Watson and his contract?
Sando: I’d release Watson after June 1 in the absence of a deal to launder Watson’s contract through another team. The release would be straightforward — cut him and watch his existing scheduled 2025 cap charge rise from nearly $73 million to nearly $119 million. The contract laundering would provide a longer-shot chance at mitigating some of the cap and cash consequences. Under that scenario, the Browns would trade Watson and draft capital to a team that would accept the draft capital, take on some of the cap/cash burden and release Watson, who would waive his no-trade clause as part of his own exit strategy.
Keefer: I’d beg my bosses — namely owner Jimmy Haslam — to release Watson after June 1 and eat the dead money. It’s a substantial hit (nearly $119 million to the 2025 cap) but I think it’d be the best outcome for both parties in the long run. Cleveland will pay dearly for its mistake, namely that $230 million, fully guaranteed contract it handed him in 2022, but also has the chance to move on without Watson’s situation lingering for years, eating up headlines and holding this team back. There’s no salvaging this. Even if he returns in 2025, Watson will be a $46 million quarterback coming off a major injury who hasn’t looked right in four years. It’s time for logic to prevail, not stubbornness.
GO DEEPER
Deshaun Watson and a Browns escape plan (once they finally admit it’s over): Sando’s Pick Six
Howe: The damage is done. Remember when the prevailing belief was the Packers would struggle in 2023 due to more than $50 million in dead money post-Aaron Rodgers? (I know, that example doesn’t hold up because they played their way into the playoffs, but I’m using it to provide perspective.) Well, the Browns already have $23 million in dead cap in 2025, and a post-June 1 cut would add another $119 million to that. That would create catastrophic ripple effects with the rest of the roster — much worse than the way the Broncos were forced to make cuts after releasing Russell Wilson. The Browns need to stop restructuring Watson’s deal to kick the cap hits down the road. Even if he played at a Mahomes-ian level with a $72.9 million cap hit, the Browns would need to be otherworldly with the players on their rookie contracts to be a playoff threat. Unless they’ve got a plan to spread Watson’s cap hits through void years for decades a la Bobby Bonilla, it’s time to face reality and recognize the contract has sabotaged their roster building for the foreseeable future.
The Mike Evans and Chris Godwin injuries will be a challenge for the Bucs to overcome. The Falcons seem capable of beating anyone and losing to anyone. What is your assessment of the top of the NFC South as these two teams prepare to meet Sunday?
Sando: The Buccaneers were going to win this division and still might. The receiver injuries open the door for the Falcons to overtake them as Kirk Cousins’ surgically repaired Achilles tendon potentially rounds into stronger form late in the season.
Keefer: That’s a pretty good synopsis and one of the reasons I don’t feel like anyone can trust the Falcons right now. The Bucs were my preseason pick to win the NFC South again — they’ve quietly claimed four straight division crowns — but with the recent losses of Evans and Godwin, Atlanta has its opening. A loss Sunday to the Falcons could spell a long couple of weeks for the Bucs. Before the bye, they’ll face each of last year’s Super Bowl teams — Kansas City and San Francisco — in consecutive weeks. Those are not teams you want to play short-handed, even though the 49ers are hurting, as well.
GO DEEPER
Bucs’ Chris Godwin to have surgery; Mike Evans to miss several weeks
Howe: Excluding a couple of troubling stretches when Baker Mayfield has gotten turnover-prone, the QB has played well enough to be a fringe MVP candidate. I think he can still keep the Bucs in contention unless the Falcons flip a switch. Tampa offensive coordinator Liam Coen has also taken the offense to a much higher level, and his concepts will free up the lesser-known guys filling in for Evans and Godwin. I’m still far more concerned with the defense that’s given up the fifth-most points in the league. That’s no way to build a winning streak with troubles on offense. The Falcons had been pretty good until the blowout loss to the Seahawks. I don’t think we’re going to see the best version of Kirk Cousins this season because of the Achilles recovery, but they’re good enough to win the division while keeping games close.
The Cowboys and 49ers cross paths once again in one of the league’s great rivalries. But both teams are struggling. What needs to happen for the 49ers to win? What needs to happen for a Dallas win on Sunday night?
Sando: The 49ers win by running the ball all over Dallas’ weak run defense to control the game flow, delivering an easy night for quarterback Brock Purdy. The Cowboys win with a strong game from Dak Prescott and a game-changing play on special teams, where Dallas has been stronger than San Francisco this season.
Keefer: Personally, I feel like this game is way more about the Cowboys than the 49ers. San Francisco’s not right — too many injuries — but I don’t see Seattle running away with the division. The 49ers just need to stay in the hunt until Christian McCaffrey returns. A December run isn’t out of the question, not for a veteran group like this. But as for Sunday, it feels like the Cowboys’ season is teetering on the brink of collapse. Dallas can’t win at home, can’t beat anyone decent and can’t stop getting in its own way. This matchup won’t help. The 49ers have won three straight over the Cowboys, including two in the playoffs. And remember last year’s meeting: a 42-10 drubbing by San Francisco that foreshadowed the Cowboys’ playoff embarrassment three months later.
Howe: The 49ers’ injuries are the main story, but the subplot — and maybe a peek into a more detrimental issue — has been giving away games. They had no business losing to the Rams and Cardinals with the way those games were played. Then they made too many mistakes to take advantage of the Chiefs. Those are concerning trends for a team with conference championship expectations. I think the 49ers will beat the Cowboys, but they’ve yet to show they can close out a game this season. Meanwhile, the Cowboys haven’t consistently run the ball or stopped the run. Until those elements improve, they won’t be a threat in the NFC.
(Top photo of Caleb Williams: Michael Reaves / Getty Images)
Pedestrian and motorcyclist killed in Ventura County highway crash
Are the Detroit Lions the best team in the NFL? | Inside Coverage
Buttigieg's message on restricting civilian drones near Hurricane Helene damage prompts outcry, clarification
Photos: San Francisco 49ers narrowly defeat rival Dallas Cowboys
4 takeaways from Cowboys’ heartbreaking loss to the 49ers
Colorado Rockies game no. 116 thread: Zac Gallen vs José Ureña
See it: Tesla crashes into Columbus convention center at 70 mph
Fox News Politics: Georgia the whole day through
Death of missing Oregon girl found in stream ruled homicide
At least 2 dead as tornadoes hit Alabama, damage homes across Southeast
Former Dem House candidate released ad explaining decision to switch to GOP
Western observers confirm intimidation during Georgian elections
Tropical storm conditions right as hurricane season enters final month – UPI.com
Dems need to ramp up early voting efforts to match GOP momentum in North Carolina: analyst
US election: 9 days left – What polls say, what Harris and Trump are up to
-
Movie Reviews4 days agoAlien Country (2024) – Movie Review
-
/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25431700/STK201_SAM_ALTMAN_CVIRGINIA_A.jpg "OpenAI plans to release its next big AI model by December")
Technology3 days agoOpenAI plans to release its next big AI model by December
-
Health3 days agoNew cervical cancer treatment approach could reduce risk of death by 40%, trial results show
-
Culture3 days agoTop 45 MLB free agents for 2024-25 with contract predictions, team fits: Will Soto get $600M+?
-
Sports2 days agoFreddie Freeman's walk-off grand slam gives Dodgers Game 1 World Series win vs. Yankees
-
Politics1 week agoCrunch time: Harris to team up with Barack and Michelle Obama next week in key battlegrounds
-
News21 hours agoSikh separatist, targeted once for assassination, says India still trying to kill him
-
News1 week agoVideo: Trump Jabs Harris for Not Attending Al Smith Charity Dinner