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A16 SPORTS
Tuesday 24 November 2020
On Football: About those rising NFL teams, never mind.

By BARRY WILNER to join in the postseason
AP Pro Football Writer chase even before Sunday.
Mediocrity is mediocrity. Atlanta had won three of
You can't hide it, especially four under interim coach
in the NFC East, where be- Raheem Morris after an 0-5
ing mediocre is a compli- start. So it lost to a quarter-
ment. back making his first NFL
This, however, isn't about start, Taysom Hill, and the
those weaklings. It's about Saints, in a relative blowout.
teams many thought might The Lions were even worse,
be making moves toward getting blanked for the first
relevance in the standings: time in 11 years at Carolina,
New England, Minnesota, which broke a five-game
San Francisco, Chicago. slide using a QB also in his
Maybe even Detroit and first NFL start, P.J. Walker.
Atlanta. Hill mainly has been a spe-
Never mind. cial-teamer and Walker's
Thanksgiving week is here, last start was in the XFL.
which means the stretch "We have really good guys
run to the playoffs is at here," embattled Lions
hand. Even with the extra coach Matt Patricia said
wild card in each confer- when asked if he feels as
ence, it's a pipe dream to Dallas Cowboys running back Tony Pollard (20) rushes the ball past the tackle by Minnesota though he's losing the lock-
rely on those half-dozen Vikings linebacker Eric Wilson (50) in the fourth quarter of an NFL football game in Minneapolis, er room. "We have guys
teams. Sunday, Nov. 22, 2020. who are fighting every day
Neither the 49ers (4-6), the Associated Press and working really hard.
most injury-ravaged team That's the one thing – I just
in the NFL, nor the Bears most disappointing of these the second-worst team in games. A home victory love this locker room. These
(5-5), the most offensively underperformers, though the league, Jacksonville. over the struggling Cow- guys are strong; they want
inept, played this week. losing the main reason it "It's disappointing, but we'll boys could have estab- to win. They're trying to
Barring almost inhumanly won six Super Bowls, Tom turn the page here and lished Minnesota's place in compete. They're trying to
quick health improvement Brady, is significant enough move on," New England the playoff chase. Instead, do everything right."
for San Francisco, it won't to cause a major step coach Bill Belichick said. inconsistency on both sides Maybe they are just too
come close to defending backward. "(I) still have a lot of con- of the ball led to an ugly mediocre to achieve that.
its NFC title, particularly in Those who believed the fidence and belief in the loss. Also stumbling in Week 11
the NFC West, where ev- Patriots were progressing team. If we just do things "There are positives to point was Miami, which had won
eryone else decidedly isn't after a down-to-the-wire a little bit better, then the to," quarterback Kirk Cous- five straight but lost at Den-
mediocre. win over the winless Jets results will be different and ins said, "but ultimately ver. The Dolphins' defense is
As for Chicago, it's not and a home victory in nas- better. But, I don't know, we when you don't win, you for real, and they are well
unreasonable to see the ty weather against a now- just couldn't do it today." leave the stadium feeling coached. But they lack
Bears go from 5-1 to the slumping Baltimore can't Nor on many other days in sick to your stomach." maturity.
bottom of the NFC North, be buoyed by Sunday's de- a 4-6 campaign. Indeed, nausea often ac- That said, they seem much
which other than Green feat at Houston. Yes, a Tex- Then there are the Vikings, companies mediocrity. more solid than the collec-
Bay decidedly is mediocre. ans club whose only two who started 1-5 before they Then there are the Falcons tion of current pretenders
New England might be the previous victories were over won three straight division and Lions, really outsiders mentioned above.q

Chicago hires Coyne Schofield as player development coach

making her the first woman ing coach and promoted tired Canadian star Hayley
to hold that position in the Meghan Hunter to director Wickenheiser is assistant
organization's 94-year his- of hockey administration director of player devel-
tory. and amateur scout. opment for the Toronto
Coyne Schofield, 28, will "Adding talented people Maple Leafs, while the
work with the coach- with diverse and multifac- expansion Seattle Kraken
ing staff of Chicago's top eted backgrounds like hired Hall of Famer Cammi
minor league affiliate in Kendall, Erik and Juan en- Granato as a pro scout
Rockford, Illinois, and serve hances our operations as and Alexandra Mandrycky
as youth hockey growth we assess the changing as director of hockey strat-
specialist. The former U.S landscape of hockey at egy and research. Condra
women's national team all levels and continue to will join Coyne Schofield
forward previously held build and maintain a sys- working with the Rockford
broadcasting jobs with tem of elite hockey," gen- IceHogs after playing eight
NBC Sports and the San eral manager Stan Bow- seasons in the NHL. Gon-
Jose Sharks. man said in a statement. zalez was most recently a
In this Jan. 25, 2019, file photo, United States' Kendall Coyne
Schofield skates during the Skills Competition, part of the NHL Chicago also added for- "Each of these individuals strength and conditioning
All-Star weekend, in San Jose, Calif. mer NHL forward Erik Con- brings unique experience adviser for USA Hockey's
Associated Press dra as player develop- to their position." National Team Develop-
ment coach, hired Juan Coyne Schofield joins a ment Program. Hunter had
By STEPHEN WHYNO on Monday hired Kendall Gonzalez from USA Hock- slowly growing list of wom- been senior executive as-
AP Hockey Writer Coyne Schofield as a play- ey to be a minor league en working in hockey oper- sistant to Bowman before
The Chicago Blackhawks er development coach, strength and condition- ations for an NHL team. Re- her promotion.q