Infos und News... » The press release masquerading as a letter to the NFL

’s in-house discipline czar was intended to sway public opinion regarding Chiefs receiver Tyreek Hill. But while the effort to turn the tables of child-abuse allegations from Hill to Crystal Espinal may have given red meat to red-clad fans looking for a reason to defend Hill Jordan Lucas Jersey , the letter was, all things considered, ill-advised.The goal was simple and obvious. Hill’s lawyer wanted to push back against Hill’s swift conviction in the court of public opinion that came after the release last week of disturbing audio recorded by Espinal, the mother of Hill’s three-year-old child. A press release would have made the effort too transparent; couching the quickly-leaked-to-ESPN statement in the form of formal correspondence to the NFL made it seem more organic and natural.Regardless of whether the it was issued as a press release or as a letter to the league, here’s the problem for Hill: At some point, he’ll be grilled by NFL executives about the situation, and it will be critical that he be credible. To be credible, he’ll need to be accurate. And the letter will make it more difficult for Hill to tell his story in a way that doesn’t create the kind of inconsistencies, accidental or otherwise, that could prompt the league to conclude that he’s not being truthful.Case in point: If someone from the league decides to aggressively question Hill on the claim in the letter that the breaking of his son’s arm was deemed to be an accident, even though the prosecutor has said publicly that a crime was committed against Hill’s son Damien Williams Jersey , Hill could quickly get so twisted in knots that he’ll be too rattled to thereafter remember the broader facts in a way that will result in the overall story being told in a believable way. Throw in the fact that the league already will be skeptical of Hill given his admitted misconduct against Espinal from 2014 (he assaulted her while she was pregnant), and Hill’s challenge of passing the NFL’s unofficial lie detector test will become even more daunting.Also, by accusing Espinal of child abuse, the letter could make Espinal determined not only to defend herself but also to implicate Hill. Which could prompt her to choose to fully and completely cooperate with the league office. If she’s credible and Hill isn’t, that’s very bad news for Hill. (And since the past misconduct against Espinal becomes an aggravating factor in any potential punishment, Espinal easily will become more sympathetic in the eyes of league officials who hear the story of Hill choking and beating her.)Ultimately, nothing in the letter changes the fact that Hill’s suddenly menacing message — “you need to be terrified of me too, bitch” — shows that Mr. Hyde still lurks under whatever Dr. Jekyll façade Hill’s lawyer tries to concoct. Given Hill’s history, hearing those chilling words made me think that Hill continues to be the same guy he was when he did what he did to Espinal more than four years ago, making him (in my opinion) unfit for the privilege that is a career in the NFL.Remember, every second (or third) chance given to an NFL player takes away the first chance of some other player who did nothing wrong. Although some will believe Hill’s talent justifies affording him consideration that never would be granted to a lesser player Tyrann Mathieu Jersey , his admitted misdeeds from the past necessarily gave him a very small margin for error. His admitted words to Espinal put him on the wrong side of that line.And nothing his lawyer could ever say will change that. This is part two of a three-part weekly film analysis on the performance of Patrick Mahomes. Part one here.This wasn’t the flashiest week we’ve seen from Patrick Mahomes to date. In fact, it might be the least exciting of all the games we’ve seen from him. Regardless of that, this was a fantastic performance for a multitude of new and consistently prevalent reasons. To add to that, there isn’t obvious regression in any area. It’s all moving forward.Something smartThis is a savvy play for such a young quarterback.There’s less than a minute remaining in the first half and the Chiefs are looking to add to their 14-point lead. The Chiefs run a Four Verticals concept against 2-man coverage, a split-safety look with man coverage underneath.Against 2-man coverage, the quarterback isn’t accounted for. With defenders blanketing all routes in man coverage, defenders don’t have eyes on the quarterback. It’s a run alert for quarterbacks. On this play, Mahomes identifies the coverage and knows he can beat it with his legs. As the routes get down the field, Mahomes elects to break for yards. Mahomes is able to outrun the pass rushing Sam Hubbard out of the pocket. Linebacker Vontaze Burfict, in man coverage on running back Damien Williams, falls off to pursue Mahomes as he races by.Mahomes is able to gain 20 yards on the run Steven Nelson Jersey , but does something additionally smart to end the play. Knowing the time situation, he runs out of bounds after a big gain to stop the clock. The Chiefs eventually end this drive with a field goal. It was a smart play to run based on coverage and even smarter to quit while he was ahead to conserve time.Something specialThere weren’t too many big plays downfield, but being able to finish this one isn’t normal.Receiving the ball to start the second half, the Chiefs elect to take a shot on the first play. They have a variation of the Mills concept (curl with a post over the top of it) with Kelce running the curl, hoping to pull the safety down to hit the post. With inside leverage on the cornerback running with Watkins, Mahomes elects to take the shot. As he sets up to throw, defensive end Carlos Dunlap reaches and forces Mahomes to hitch up further into the pocket. Dunlap actually gets a hand on Mahomes and forces another slight step up. Some of the momentum Mahomes was trying to generate was lost in the evasion of Dunlap. The throw won’t have as much behind it as Mahomes intended. He wanted to allow Watkins the chance to run underneath it. Lesser arm talent would not be able to get the ball 52 yards in the air the way Mahomes was able to on this play. Watkins does a great job adjusting his route to get to the ball and finishes the play for a gain of 50 yards. Everything wasn’t perfect and Mahomes wasn’t able to get all he wanted behind the ball, but it didn’t matter. The arm talent still shines when things don’t go as planned. It’s hard to beat this kid.