It wasn’t a great final possession for the Patriots secondary.
he Patriots finally got a lead over the Panthers in the fourth quarter, but Cam Newton and the Carolina offense responded with a 13-play drive that took more than five minutes and put New England in a four-point hole with around a minute left on the clock. A depleted and struggling New England secondary was exposed on the drive, with multiple missed tackles and a crucial holding penalty.
Dallas Cowboys – Ra’Shede Hageman, Defensive lineman, Minnesota: Ra’Shede Hageman will be a potential pick for a handful of teams picking in the top 15 if he continues playing at the level he’s reached in 2017. The Cowboys would be ecstatic to have him fall to No. 18. An aggressive and powerful defensive lineman would bolster the interior of Dallas’ front.
Toledo has made somewhere between five and 10 good hires in a row. The program is built, the culture is in place, and the order of succession is clear.
It feels easy to assume Jason Candle will do well, win for a few years, then head off for a power conference job. And his replacement (offensive coordinator Brian Wright, perhaps?) will win, too.
There’s still room for growth, however. As strong as the Rockets have been since Tim Beckman took over — the Rockets have finished in the S&P+ top 70 for six straight years and have twice finished in the top 25 (21st in 2017) — they haven’t won a MAC West title since 2004. They have graded out better than NIU on paper for four of the last five years, but they have stumbled in the Huskies’ presence. They’ve lost six in a row to NIU (four times by one possession), and NIU won the division every year in that span.
This has held the program back, both in perceptions and morale. Toledo is again projected ahead of NIU. But without a November 9 win in DeKalb, it might again feel like the season came up one step short.