Alex Karshner

I’m really just here for sports news.

[Jordan Schultz @Schultz_Report]

Everything I heard all offseason from Cincinnati was how the defense would be much be improved.

Here’s a scoop-and-score from LB Demetrius Knight Jr., a young player the #Bengals have very hopes for.

[Alex Karshner @AlexKarshner]

@___stets___ Looks wicked

[Alex Karshner @AlexKarshner]

@___stets___ Will need a review of this, sir.

[Warren Sharp @SharpFootball]

some thoughts on Lawrence to Cincy...

<buckle up>

Dexter Lawrence is a 28-year old stud

he spent most of his career playing vs elite interior OLs of the Eagles & Cowboys

he's been double-teamed at the highest rate in the NFL

he's now playing in the AFC North

Ravens lost their C
Steelers might start a 42-yr old QB
Browns have Deshaun or Shedeur

Lawrence should FEAST

the Giants were TERRIBLE when he wasn't on the field

last year, even in a "down" year for Lawrence:

Giants defense with...

Dexter Lawrence OFF the field:

#32 YPA (8.4)
#31 sack rate (4.1%)
#27 EPA/pass (+0.13)
#26 pass success (47%)
#23 pressure rate (32%)

Dexter Lawrence ON the field:

#7 pass success (40%)
#8 YPA (6.6)
#9 sack rate (7.7%)
#10 EPA/pass (+0.09)
#22 pressure rate (33%)

that was a "down" year for Dexter

the team was top-10 vs the pass when he was out there

bottom-10 when he wasn't

want a larger sample?

last 3 years:

Dexter Lawrence OFF the field:

#32 YPA (7.7)
#31 pressure rate (29%)
#31 pass success (48%)
#30 EPA/pass (+0.14)
#30 sack rate (5.5%)

Dexter Lawrence ON the field:

#8 pass success (42%)
#8 sack rate (7.4%)
#10 EPA/pass (+0.02)
#13 YPA (7.0)
#15 pressure rate (36%)

and again, the context is VITAL:

he was obviously the #1 best player on the Giants defense

every team knew it

they double teamed him at the #1 highest rate and he STILL made this big of a difference

and that was despite playing some of the NFL's top offensive lines in the NFC East as it relates tot he Eagles and Cowboys for YEARS

oh, and then there's this pretty ridiculous nugget:

[Germaine Pratt @GermainePratt7]

Now that’s a move love it

[Arnaud Bertrand @RnaudBertrand]

So, if I got that right, here's the narrative:

- A US F-15E fighter jet got shot down over Iran, despite Trump saying 2 days beforehand in his nationwide address that Iran has "no anti-aircraft equipment. Their radar is 100% annihilated." (https://t.co/3pnVUGxHyV)

- The plane's weapons systems officer - a "highly respected Colonel," according to Trump - ejected from the plane and got "seriously wounded" (still according to Trump: https://t.co/jUbGiGk9uM)

- He still managed to "hike up a 7,000-foot [2.1km] mountain ridgeline and hide in a crevice" in the Zagros Mountains, despite his wounds (https://t.co/ECTqgUFOZ3)

- U.S. MQ-9 Reaper drones started killing all "Iranian military-aged males believed to be a threat who got within three kilometers of [the American's location]" (https://t.co/86aZgrsXGT)

- To retrieve him the U.S. managed to seize an "abandoned airport," 200 miles deep inside Iran, near Isfahan (https://t.co/rOpRm3mqt9), which happens to be where Iran's largest atomic scientific center is located (https://t.co/jQfmg4zI8t)

- They landed two MC-130 military transport planes in that airport (https://t.co/k0mU0wqnvU) in an operation involving "hundreds of special forces troops and military personnel" (https://t.co/ECTqgUFOZ3)

- Both MC-130 planes got "stuck in the sand" and the U.S. destroyed them themselves "to prevent them from falling into Iranian hands" (https://t.co/k0mU0wqnvU)

- They deployed "three new aircraft to extract all the U.S. personnel" on the ground (https://t.co/k0mU0wqnvU)

- There are videos circulating online of "heavy clashes" with presumably Iranian missiles raining down in Kohgiluyeh County, in the Zagros Mountains during that night (https://t.co/VCeTzcC1vt)

- Iran sent pictures of the aftermath at the "abandoned airport" and it's a sight of utter destruction, with US plane and MH-6 helicopter parts scattered all over the ground, still smoking (https://t.co/mDpYT9qsKC). Iran claims they are the ones who in fact destroyed all the aircraft.

- Meanwhile a second U.S. plane, an A-10 Warthog, also crashed on Friday near the Strait of Hormuz according to two U.S. officials speaking to the NYT (https://t.co/lFs4zERw2t). In that instance too the lone pilot was apparently "safely rescued."

- In all this, after the multiple planes and helicopters destroyed or shot down, the documented heavy clashes, the "hundreds of special forces troops and military personnel" operating deep inside Iran, not a single US soldier was reported killed "or even wounded" (according to Trump: https://t.co/rCgrl6vMpT).

- And the 'highly respected Colonel' this was all for? No name. No photo. No interview. Nobody has spoken to him nor knows who he is.

So to sum up: anti-aircraft equipment that supposedly didn't exist shot down an F-15 (and, apparently, an A-10 Warthog the same day). A seriously wounded man climbed a 2.1km mountain. The US seized an airfield 200 miles inside a country it's at war with, next to one of its most strategic nuclear sites, and deployed hundreds of troops all apparently unimpeded. Lost two planes to "sand" and destroyed their own helicopters. Videos show heavy clashes, missiles raining down - but not a single person got "even wounded". And the man at the center of it all? Nobody knows who he is, completely anonymous, zero pictures, but Trump says he is "SAFE and SOUND." And so is the rescued A-10 Warthog pilot, who also remains anonymous.

Trump concludes this all proves the US has "achieved overwhelming Air Dominance and Superiority over the Iranian skies" (https://t.co/rCgrl6vMpT), despite the whole episode only happening because Iran shot his planes out of the sky.

Basically, the only thing that's "overwhelming" here is the audacity of the storytelling...

[Ian Rapoport @RapSheet]

Former #Browns starting CB Martin Emerson Jr, who missed last season after tearing his Achilles, is on a visit with the #Texans, source said.

Emerson was heading into a contract year after starting 27 games for Cleveland before his injury. Now a potential addition in Houston.

[Alex Karshner @AlexKarshner]

Yeah he goin to hell for this

[Adam Schefter @AdamSchefter]

Ravens and Trey Hendrickson reached agreement on a four-year, $112 million contract.

Hendrickson stays in the AFC North, and now will be facing Joe Burrow and the Bengals twice a season.

[Football @BostonConnr]

Maxx Crosby with the Ravens:

[Lindsay Patterson @LndsPatterson]

Bengal

[Alex Karshner @AlexKarshner]

@ByJayMorrison @FOX19Jeremy Yes.

[NFL @NFL]

One-handed. Backflip into the end zone. Ja'Marr's pick-six had it all 😅

Pro Bowl Games on ESPN
Stream on @NFLPlus and ESPN App

[Alex Karshner @AlexKarshner]

@Bengals @thebengalorian

[Barstool Cincinnati @UCBarstool]

Elly De La Cruz turned down a contract extension that would have made him the highest paid Cincinnati Red of all time.

Wow.

[Alex Karshner @AlexKarshner]

@gwilly1158

[Cincinnati Bengals @Bengals]

RT to win a signed Ted Karras jersey ‼️

#WPMOYChallenge + Ted Karras

Presented by @Nationwide

[Ian Rapoport @RapSheet]

The two-game suspension for #Steelers WR DK Metcalf has been upheld by an appeals officer jointly appointed by the NFL and NFLPA.

Metcalf is out for the rest of the regular season and sees $45M in future guarantees voided, including $25M that was fully guaranteed for 2026.

[Alex Karshner @AlexKarshner]

@NFL

[LanceMcAlister @LanceMcAlister]

Well, that was fun.

[LanceMcAlister @LanceMcAlister]

I’ve always loved Geno Stone