"Oh that's nice."
Avonte Maddox's reaction was one of polite surprise when he was told he was the premier corner in the NFL by Stats Perform's matchup data.
No corner in the NFL can claim to be superior to Maddox in terms of open percentage allowed across both man and zone coverage in 2022.
Maddox allowed opposing receivers to get open on just 18.1 per cent of his matchups this season for the Philadelphia Eagles, excelling for a defense that boasts the premier defensive front in the NFL. With Philadelphia's starting nickel corner playing alongside the likes of Darius Slay and James Bradberry, they also have a strong claim for possessing one of the top secondaries in the league.
His reward for establishing himself as a top-tier slot corner at the highest level in 2022 could come on Sunday, when he will have an integral role to play as the Eagles battle the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl LVII.
So why has it all clicked this season for the fifth-year defender?
Maddox is quick to credit defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon.
"A good coach, he coaches us hard to be the best we can be," Maddox told Stats Perform.
"I've learned a lot of things about offenses and just put myself in the best position to win, just making sure I do everything right from a technique point, detail point, watching film to the point of making sure I be where I have to be at the right time on the field to be the best."
Maddox will be going against the best at State Farm Stadium, where he is sure to spend much of the game lined up across from All-Pro and future Hall of Fame tight end Travis Kelce.
In the 2022 season, Kelce ran 300 routes from the slot, compared to 173 as an outside receiver and 139 from the traditional tight end. Those numbers foreshadow a duel between Kelce and Maddox that will likely be a defining one in what promises to be a captivating contest of two number one seeds.
Kelce has developed a reputation for being "always open". While the numbers – his open percentage across man and zone is 46.73 per cent, well above the 28.16 per cent average for tight ends – suggest there are, in fact, plenty of times when he isn't, but his mind meld with Patrick Mahomes that is often most prevalent on broken plays and scramble drills makes Kelce a formidable challenge for any defender.
Explaining Kelce's remarkable prowess for finding free space, Chiefs coach Andy Reid told Thursday's press conference: "Travis has a good feel for the game, in particular for space, teams have doubled him and banged him around in man coverage, put defensive backs on him, corners and safeties, linebackers – they’ve tried a lot of different things throughout his career.
"Now he’s seen about everything you can put on him, sometimes they work, sometimes they don't.
"He has a great relationship with our QB, those two are on the same page, they see the defenses the same way, they're best friends off the field and on the field, that helps too. If you're a receiver you want to be friendly with the quarterback for sure.
"Travis studies, he comes off like a nice funny guy and happy-go-lucky, but he studies like crazy and he knows defenses and he can see and react to them quickly during the game."
Maddox sees the apparent telepathic understanding between Mahomes and Kelce as the biggest challenge to stopping the latter.
"Him and Mahomes work really well together. Whatever Mahomes is thinking in his mind, Travis hears it, whenever he starts scrambling he starts scrambling, and it's like they're right on the same page," Maddox said.
"It's definitely a good challenge, but you've just got to make sure you plaster, trusting our D-Line to get him [Mahomes] down, if he doesn't then make sure I don't have bad eyes to the point where I'm going to take my eyes off him [Kelce] when he's running to get open, so just have good eyes and be violent and attack.
"Your eyes won't lie to you, if you see him [Kelce] go left and right you're gonna go left and right. You just gotta keep your eyes on him."
Misdirected vision has hardly been a problem for Maddox as he has set the standard for inside and outside cornerbacks in 2022 and, for the Eagles to have a hope of disrupting one of the most prolific quarterback-pass-catcher connections in NFL history, that clarity must be maintained.
Giants releasing embattled quarterback Daniel Jones
The Daniel Jones era in New York has officially ended.
The Giants agreed to Jones’ request to be released Friday morning, ending a rocky partnership that lasted nearly six seasons.
Giants president John Mara said in a statement that Jones’ release “would be best for him and for the team.”
“Daniel has been a great representative of our organisation, first class in every way,” Mara said in the statement. “His handling of this situation yesterday exemplifies just that. We are all disappointed in how things have worked out.”
The Giants benched Jones in favour of Tommy DeVito during their bye week. On Thursday, Jones told reporters he takes “full responsibility” for not winning more as the captain of one of the NFL’s signature franchises.
After learning of his new role, however, Jones asked the team to be released.
Jones signed a four-year, $160million contract extension before the 2023 season. Jones will go through the waivers process, but teams are likely unwilling to pay the rest of that contract. If he clears waivers, he will become an unrestricted free agent.
The Giants will absorb a salary cap hit of around $20million by releasing Jones.
Jones was the sixth overall pick in the 2019 draft and has started 69 games over the last six seasons.
The former Duke quarterback had his best season in a contract year in 2022, throwing 15 touchdowns to just five interceptions and adding 708 yards and seven scores on the ground.
Jones has thrown eight touchdown passes and seven interceptions this season for the 2-8 Giants and ranks 32nd among qualified quarterbacks with a 79.4 passer rating.
Browns score late touchdown to end Steelers' streak in snowy contest
Nick Chubb ran for a 2-yard touchdown in heavy snow with 57 seconds left, and the Cleveland Browns stunned division rival Pittsburgh 24-19 on Thursday night, ending the Steelers' five-game winning streak.
Chubb's score came in his first game against the AFC North-leading Steelers (8-3) since the running back sustained a season-ending left knee injury on a carry last year at Pittsburgh.
The Browns (3-8) had blown a 12-point lead in the fourth quarter and were down 19-18 before getting the ball back with 3:22 remaining after Pittsburgh punter Corliss Waitman shanked a 16-yarder.
With snow piling up and covering the yard lines on the field, Cleveland's Jameis Winston completed a third-down pass to Jerry Jeudy to the Pittsburgh 9. Two plays later, Chubb barrelled into the end zone.
The Steelers had one last chance, but quarterback Russell Wilson's Hail Mary on the final play was knocked down by Browns safety Grant Delpit in the end zone, touching off a wild celebration at Huntington Bank Field.
The Numbers Game: Man City need a win as Tottenham come to town
Manchester City are in uncharted territory ahead of Tottenham visiting the Etihad Stadium on Saturday.
Pep Guardiola's all-conquering side, who have won four successive Premier League titles, have lost their last four matches in all competitions.
It is the first time in Guardiola's managerial career that he has lost four straight games in all competitions, while it is the first time City have lost that many in a row since 2006, when they lost six on the bounce under Stuart Pearce.
A 2-1 EFL Cup defeat to Tottenham at the end of October started City's poor form, and defeats to Bournemouth, Sporting CP and Brighton followed.
With Liverpool continuing their fine form under Arne Slot, City head into the weekend five points behind the Reds.
Though with Liverpool not in action until Sunday, City can put the pressure back on by seeing off a Spurs team that lost 2-1 to Ipswich Town at home before the international break.
Here, we preview the clash using the best Opta data.
What's expected?
City have won just three of their last 10 Premier League games against Tottenham (D2 L5) and are looking to win consecutive league meetings with them for the first time since April 2019.
Yet despite that indifferent form against Spurs, City are still made the big favourites by Opta's supercomputer, which ranks their chances of victory at 59.5%.
Spurs' win probability comes in at 20.2%, while the draw is at 20.3%.
City's form has seen them drop off when it comes to the Opta supercomputer's forecast for the season, with Liverpool now the favourites to win the title (60.2%).
This match should promise goals, though.
Tottenham have scored at least twice in each of their last three Premier League away games against City, winning 3-2 in 2021-22, losing 4-2 in 2022-23 and drawing 3-3 last season. No team has ever scored multiple goals in four consecutive Premier League visits to the Etihad.
Under Guardiola (since 2016-17), City have lost more Premier League games (six) and conceded more Premier League goals (22) against Tottenham than they have against any other opponent.
Saturday's clash also sees two of the league's top three scoring teams this season go head-to-head. Spurs (23) have netted the most goals in the top tier, with City (22) joint-second alongside Brentford.
City have registered the highest xG (22.3), with Ange Postecoglou's team recording the second highest (21.7). These teams have had 401 shots between them across 22 matches this season, so expect entertainment.
Classic City, or is there something wrong?
There has been a tendency for City to take a while to get going in recent years, but they have never looked so short of form as they do now at this stage of a season.
Guardiola is on the longest losing run of his entire managerial career. Though they are the only team to have scored in every Premier League game so far this season, City have lost their last two (1-2 vs Bournemouth and Brighton). They last lost three in a row in the competition in February/March 2016, a run which included a home defeat to Tottenham.
City have already dropped seven points from winning positions this term, while they only dropped 10 from such positions across the entirety of last season.
They have gained a league-leading 13 points from losing positions, though that shows they are falling behind much more often than Guardiola would like.
The loss of Rodri to a season-ending knee injury has not helped, and City may have to dip into the market in January in search of a replacement.
Since the start of last season, City have played 13 league games without Rodri, and they have lost five of them. Their win rate without the Spaniard in the side in that time is 53.8%, while with him in the team it rises to 77.8%.
With Liverpool facing Southampton, City know they need to get back on track quickly, or they might simply have too big of a gap to bridge.
Road rage
Spurs have won just two of their last 11 Premier League away games (D2 L7), winning just once in five on the road this term. Since the start of this spell in March, no side have lost more Premier League away games than Tottenham (seven).
Postecoglou will not be changing his approach for this game, though. Spurs look to get forward at any opportunity, and the statistics back this up.
As a team, Tottenham have made more off-the-ball runs into the box than any other side in the Premier League this season (612), with Dominic Solanke having the most among players (138).
Spurs have also had the most shots inside the box of any Premier League side this term (134).
Tottenham have played more passes/crosses into the opposition box than any other side in the Premier League this season (429). There are 10 players in the division to have made 70+, with Spurs having three of those (Pedro Porro 96, James Maddison 77, Dejan Kulusevski 72).
Postecoglou promised Spurs fans a trophy this season, and their defeat of City in the EFL Cup was a big scalp, but in the league they have lost three of their last six games and are in 10th, though they are only three points off the top six.
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Manchester City - Erling Haaland
Haaland netted a hat-trick for Norway this week, taking his tally for the season to 22 for club and country.
He returned to scoring form in the Premier League against Brighton, though City could not hold on for the win. While he may not have always shown his best level, Haaland is still betting at a remarkable rate of 1.1 goals per 90 minutes in the top flight this season.
Tottenham - Dejan Kulusevski
No player has created more chances either overall (30) or from open play (25) in the Premier League this season than Kulusevski.
His pace and skill on the counter could be a real asset against City's high line.
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