Offensive linemen have essentially the most thankless job within the NFL. Get on this guy's way and when you do a very good job we'll never discuss it. If you screw up, at best we are going to publicly shame you. Or we blame you for a loss or injury.

The big Stollen need a hug and are subsequently looking forward to the Christmas season. Their wealthy quarterbacks – and sometimes running backs – reward offensive linemen for his or her blood, sweat and tears with generous gifts at Christmas. While they aren't at all times made available to the general public or annoying media types, we were capable of put together our list of the ten best gifts this yr, plus a number of honorable mentions. (The end of the list is best left to your imagination, and we couldn't confirm our theory that Houston Texans quarterback CJ Stroud gave his offensive linemen some rocks to kick.)

Did the quarterbacks and teams receive an instantaneous reward from the offensive linemen for his or her generosity? Let's take a take a look at the highest gifts and the way these teams fared in Week 17.

1.Cincinnati Bengals

Week 17 Result: Defeat the Denver Broncos 30-24

Joe Burrow asked his linemen what they wanted, and when some said weapons, he thought in regards to the coolest weapon – and samurai swords were the plain answer.

“Samurai swords are pretty damn cool in my opinion,” he told reporters.

He bought authentic Japanese katana swords, each with a singular backstory to a city or battle, placed them in a room and had the swords chosen.

“Joe does a great job of buying gifts that are extremely meaningful,” left tackle Orlando Brown Jr. said. told reporters. “The fact that he bought me a sword is the oldest form of respect.”

“My favorite gift I’ve ever received because it’s so different,” guard Alex Cappa added.

Burrow was sacked seven times within the Bengals' time beyond regulation win over the Broncos on Saturday, so perhaps there can be less fake swordplay this week, folks.

2. Green Bay Packers

Result Week 17: Lost to Minnesota Vikings 27-25

Running back Josh Jacobs packed custom diamond pendants for his 12 offensive linemen. They were commissioned by ZoFrost and Co., a Houston-based jewelry manufacturer.

Jacobs is having an incredible season but was held to 69 yards and a touchdown on 17 carries within the loss to the Vikings. The Packers scored the ultimate 15 points of the sport to return close, so possibly it just took some time for the linemen to stop squinting on the shenanigans.

3. Philadelphia Eagles

Week 17 Result: Defeat the Dallas Cowboys 41-17

Running back Saquon Barkley, who’s vying for the NFL rushing record, was smart and went with quarterback Jalen Hurts on gifts for the linemen. They bought each a personalised golf cart marked with the player's last name and number. And in fact the Hurts and Barkley logos on the back. After all, what's the purpose of a present when you're not consistently reminded of who made it for you?

— Quay L.Jones #FlyEaglesFly (13-3) (@QuayLJones3) December 24, 2024

4. San Francisco 49ers

Week 17 result: Lost to Detroit Lions 40-34

Brock Purdy was smart too. He hasn't gotten his big payday yet, so he turned to corporate sponsorships. Thanks to his friends at Toyota, Purdy gave 10 linemen either a Toyota Sequoia or a Toyota Tundra. Although these are the costliest gifts on the list, we will't rate them too high since Purdy was more of a middleman.

Santa Purdy

Brock surprises his O-Line with some latest wheels pic.twitter.com/4iYIWs9k3t

— San Francisco 49ers (@49ers) December 20, 2024

5. New York Jets

Week 17 result: Lost to Buffalo Bills 40-14

You can't dress up a pig, but that doesn't mean pigs don't like to wash up from time to time. Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers, who was having a miserable season, tried to modernize the Jets facility. He had a tailor come and measure the linemen for a custom Tom Ford suit to wear with their latest Tom Ford sunglasses and Tom Ford cologne. They also received one Louis Vuitton pass holder.

And when all that was an excessive amount of for them, Rodgers threw in a stereo speaker and a bottle of Devils River Bourbon.

As for the sport, Rodgers sat on the bench within the fourth quarter when the Jets trailed 40-0. There isn’t any truth to the rumor that considered one of the linemen at this point shouted, “Who the hell is Tom Ford?!?”

6.Detroit Lions

Week 17 Result: Beat the San Francisco 49ers 40-34

After all, offensive linemen are a straightforward bunch. Jewelry? Truck? No. Lions quarterback Jared Goff knew his audience.

“It's difficult when people are handing out Toyota trucks to keep up,” he says told reporters“But I got them a nice Yeti package with a lot of Wagyu steaks and beef. I hope you like it.'”

That's what they did. The only downside is that the gift is gone inside 4 days.

7. Pittsburgh Steelers

Week 17 result: Lost to Kansas City Chiefs 29-10

This ought to be higher on the list. We are simply anti-gift cards. Even in the event that they cost $10,000 for an Airbnb that will be used worldwide. The Steelers' Russell Wilson also gave 14 offensive linemen a black and yellow Louis Vuitton duffel bag, custom black and yellow Good Man Brand shoes and a bottle of Ten To One rum from his wife, Ciara.

The Steelers have lost three games in a row, so holiday-themed gifts were clearly a nasty idea.

Out of: @DangeRussWilson
To: The offensive line pic.twitter.com/eFXiVZfy4f

— Pittsburgh Steelers (@steelers) December 24, 2024

8. Kansas City Chiefs

Week 17 Result: Defeat the Pittsburgh Steelers 29-10

This must also be higher on the list. But we're bored with the Chiefs winning all the pieces. And Taylor Swift. Patrick Mahomes of the Chiefs gave his bodyguards a red Yeti cooler with a Rolex watch, Oakley sunglasses, Lucchese boots and Normatec Recovery boots inside. This after gifting them a golf cart last yr and a personalised golf bag with clubs the yr before.

QB1 spread some Christmas cheer by giving gifts to the O-line pic.twitter.com/xASg3iplnX

— Kansas City Chiefs (@Chiefs) December 18, 2024

9. Washington Commanders

Week 17 Result: Defeat the Atlanta Falcons 30-24

Jayden Daniels is unpredictable on the sector as he can throw the ball over the heads of defenders or run past them. But on the subject of buying gifts, the Commanders QB kept it easy. He packed electric scooters for his offensive linemen “so they don’t have to walk around as much.” he told reporters.

10. Los Angeles Chargers

Week 17 Result: Defeat the New England Patriots 40-7

Justin Herbert gave his linemen two gift cards, one from Delta Airlines (together with luggage) and one for Wagyu beef from Snake River Farms – to distract them from their vacation plans.

The Patriots didn't show up on Sunday, so it didn't matter for this study what Herbert got his boys.

Justin Herbert gave the offensive lineman luggage and gift cards.

Here's Rashawn Slater with a thanks video: pic.twitter.com/JUXuEyVafL

— Kris Rhim (@krisrhim1) December 24, 2024

---

Honorable mention

Buffalo Bills

Week 17 Result: Defeat the New York Jets 40-14

In the past, Bills QB Josh Allen gave his linemen custom scooters, golf clubs and lessons. But his Bills' linemen have reversed the trend – because at any time when they make mistakes, Allen simply runs past a defensive lineman or tackles a defensive back.

Last yr they gave him an ATV. This season, they decided to let him know what they considered the upcoming MVP voting. The linemen gave him a custom diamond necklace produced from Allen's No. 17 jersey with “MVP” on the nameplate. The linemen's names are listed on the back. Tackle Dion Dawkins posted the gift on Instagram with the caption, “Merry Christmas to our MVP.”

New York Giants

Defeat the Indianapolis Colts 45-33

Daniel Jones resides the nice life as a practice player for the Vikings. But he didn't forget his former teammates — or held any grudges for all of the beatings they caused earlier that season — and sent gifts to his old Giants linemen. He gave her a present a limited bottle of Clase Azul Tequila. The price of the bottles can range from $120 to $19,000.

Here's hoping the linemen didn't google their respective bottles.

Overall record: 8-4

Moral of the story: Big boys like presents.

The Athletic;

Quarterback Fernando Mendoza said there will likely be “no sulking” on the two,200-mile flight home from Tallahassee to the Bay Area following Cal's 14-9 loss to Florida State on Saturday night.

“Woulda, woulda, coulda … I feel terrible,” he said after the Bears (3-1) suffered their first lack of the season of their first-ever Atlantic Coast Conference game. “I could have done a lot more to help us win this game, the offense could have done a lot more. It hurts and it sucks, but we have to make sure we turn the tide.”

The Seminoles (1-3) avoided their fourth straight loss after ending 13-1 last 12 months and entered this season ranked No. 10 within the AP Top 25 rankings.

Cal has loads to do within the upcoming off week before facing No. 7 Miami on Oct. 5.

The offense was penalized for five false starts before the snap. Kicker Ryan Coe made three field goals, including a 51-yarder that gave the Bears a 9-7 lead late within the third quarter, but he also missed from 36 and 38 yards within the second half.

The defense held the opponent to not more than 14 points for the fourth time in a row, but allowed big plays at crucial moments. And the offense couldn’t rating a touchdown despite the return of the healthy Jaydn Ott (16 carries, 73 yards).

“When you play against a team like Florida State with so much talent, you don't make mistakes like that and you still win,” said Cal coach Justin Wilcox. “We had a lot of chances. We didn't take advantage of them.”

Here are the takeaways from Cal’s first lack of the season:

Mendoza's big numbers

Returning to his home state, Mendoza played in front of family and friends, completing 22 of 36 passes for a career-high 303 yards. His 26-yard run on third down kept a late-game offense alive that gave the Bears a probability.

But in the ultimate minute, on third-and-16, he threw an incomplete pass to Trond Grizzell from the 23-yard line and was then sacked for the seventh time, ending the Bears' possibilities.

“We have to throw the ball. We can't eat the sack,” Wilcox said.

“I would rather have the worst stats in the world and win this game,” Mendoza said. “When we got into the red zone, we shot ourselves in the foot. A big minus for me.”

Problems before the snap

The Bears proceed to have trouble snapping the ball with out a penalty flag being waved.

“We have to start the game offensively without getting penalized. That's bad football,” Wilcox said.

When asked to what extent crowd noise contributed to the issue, Wilcox said the Bears had practiced with pre-rehearsed crowd noise.

“The neighbors hate it,” he said. “And obviously the message isn't getting through. We're not communicating it well enough and executing it well enough. That's unacceptable. That's going to be addressed until we get it right.”

Field Goal Adventure

Coe, who got here to Cal this season after successful stints at North Carolina, Cincinnati and Delaware, has missed six of his 11 field goal attempts.

Wilcox suggested that others may very well be given the prospect to compete for the kicker's job in the course of the off week.

“We'll discuss every position,” Wilcox said. “He's got a lot of talent and was really impressive in practice. He hit the 51-yarder like it was nothing and then missed from 36 and 38 yards.”

The Vatican's shock moment

Junior offensive guard Sioape Vatikani, who missed the primary three games with a foot injury, returned to the lineup but went down late within the third quarter after colliding with an FSU defender and remained on the bottom for about 10 minutes.

He was strapped to a board that immobilized his head, loaded onto a cart and driven out of the stadium. Before he left, Vatikani raised his arm and gave the fans a thumbs up.

Wilcox said Vatikani was being evaluated at an area hospital and was capable of move his extremities. “That's good news,” he said, “but that's all I know.”

Next

The Bears promise there will likely be no hangover after the loss.

“We should have won this game,” said linebacker Cade Uluave, who had 11 tackles. “But it's over. Now we're looking forward.”

Mendoza said the loss could make the Bears a greater team as they prepare for Miami.

“We may have thrown a punch,” he said. “We're going to come back and uppercut them.”

Originally published: September 21, 2024 at 19:54

Patriots

The Patriots' offensive line problems were evident after their 20-23 time beyond regulation loss to the Seahawks on Sunday.

After helping New England establish a ground-and-pound game within the team's surprise win over the Bengals in Week 1, the Patriots' offensive line faltered in several elements against Seattle, particularly in pass defense.

With QB Jacoby Brissett having little time to operate within the pocket and scan the sector, the veteran was often forced to rush to avoid bone-crushing hits. Hunter Henry was the one reliable pass receiver once the plays stopped working.

Although Henry gained 109 yards in pass receptions, New England's wideouts only managed to catch three passes for 19 yards within the loss. The Patriots' offense became increasingly one-dimensional as the sport went on.

Brissett was in a position to avoid a lot of the pressure in the primary half, but Seattle landed some tough hits when New England's offensive line began to falter. Brissett was sacked 3 times and hit eight more times on Sunday.

Speech on WEEI’s “The Greg Hill Show” on MondayJerod Mayo was candid when asked about New England's O-line play to date this season.

“I thought the pass defense was average at best,” Mayo said. “They brought players from different sides of the field. Even when they rushed four, they were able to get back to Jacoby.”

“It doesn't have to be a sack to affect the passing game. The bodies around the quarterback affect the passing game. We need to protect Jacoby better, on the offensive line, with the running backs and the tight ends.”

New England's passing game was severely limited by its pass defense issues, with the Patriots only in a position to record one pass attempt of 20 yards in Sunday's loss.

A rookie like Drake Maye could offer greater upside when it comes to arm strength. But putting such a talented QB behind that O-line would likely spell disaster.

As Phil Perry of NBC Sports Boston noted, the Patriots have allowed the NFL's second-highest pressure rate on offense at 44.3 percent through two games.

Through two games per @NextGenStatsJacoby Brissett has the second-highest pressure rate within the NFL (44.3 percent), followed only by Tennessee's Will Levis (53.4).

Brissett also ranks twelfth in EPA per dropback (-0.05) amongst quarterbacks who’ve played two games.

— Phil Perry (@PhilAPerry) 16 September 2024

Things could also worsen before they improve for New England's offensive line, especially because the team makes a fast turnaround ahead of Thursday's primetime game against the Jets at MetLife Stadium.

New England released a prospective injury report on Monday, with three offensive linemen placed on the non-participating list: center David Andrews (hip), guard Sidy Sow (ankle) and tackle Vederian Lowe (knee).

Two other starters were reported to have limitations: tackle/guard Mike Onwenu (wrist) and offensive guard Layden Robinson (shoulder).

April 2024 proved to be a busy month in Japanese-American diplomacy.

The month saw a state visit by Prime Minister Fumio Kishida to the USA That included a gathering on the White House with President Joe Biden on April 10. The next day, each men were joined by Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. for the meeting First-ever trilateral summit between the US, Japan and the Philippines.

Then on April 23, Taro Aso, former prime minister and leading figure in Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party, said: met with Donald Trump in New York.

As US-East Asian foreign relations expertI imagine the flurry of diplomatic activity points to 2 things: Japan's strong desire to extend engagement with Washington as a part of an Indo-Pacific strategy, and the very real concern in Tokyo that the U.S. will not be as engaged – regardless who will lead the country after this 12 months's election.

Allies and co-stewards

The Japanese government under Kishida – who was Elected Prime Minister in 2021 – has made it clear that they’re committed to an alliance with the USA

Kishida hopes to say Japan's role as greater than just that of the United States strongest ally in East Asia, but additionally as co-administrator of the “Liberal international order” – these are the worldwide rules and agreements established by leading economies after World War II.

Kishida's intentions became clear within the Japanese 12 months 2022 National Security Strategy, which detailed Japan's short- and medium-term strategic goals. While it included a commitment to unprecedented defense spending and the event of recent defense capabilities, it did so within the context of emphasizing the country's relationship with the U.S. as “the cornerstone of Japan's national security policy.”

Japan's strategy also calls for bilateral relations with the United States to transcend traditional security concerns and extend to providing economic security through efforts to strengthen the resilience of worldwide supply chains and strengthen economic engagement between allies.

Invest in alliances

Japan's desire to strengthen its partnership with the United States was largely reciprocated by Washington.

Closer ties are in keeping with those of the Biden administration plan to speculate in alliances as a core element of its foreign policy. The Biden White House was particularly in focus stronger security cooperation across the Indo-Pacific region.

To that end, Biden and Kishida unveiled a joint U.S.-Japan command center and a brand new Japan-U.S.-Australia air missile defense network during their April meeting. Likewise those trilateral meeting with the Philippines The US Coast Guard's improved training for its Asian partners in addition to joint patrols within the South China Sea were presented there.

While the implicit, if not explicit, goal of such collaborative efforts is usually that perceived threat from China The strategy has far-reaching geopolitical implications for regional stability.

By forging alliances between like-minded countries, the United States and Japan are promoting a worldwide system based on the prevailing liberal international order but emphasizing the various visions of democracies and non-democracies. In other words, they seek to create security through distinction – or an “us versus them” strategy – reasonably than through universalism.

The USA is pursuing this goal actively advocated for higher relations between Japan and South Korea — two Democratic U.S. allies deeply divided over reconcile after Japan's colonization of the Korean peninsula within the early twentieth century.

What a Trump victory could mean for Tokyo

But while the U.S. and Japan are in lockstep on many issues affecting the Indo-Pacific region, recent diplomatic spats in Washington — in addition to preparations for the visits — also raise areas of difference that concern Japan.

While Kishida has emphasized the U.S.-Japan economic relationship as a win-win scenario, the Biden administration has focused more on security measures.

In fact, Washington will not be entirely on the identical page as its Asian partners on trade and economic issues.

Biden did it, for instance speak out against the planned purchase of US Steel by the Japanese company Nippon Steel. Biden's reticence resonates a prevailing belief in economic nationalism in Washington, steeped in domestic politics.

But Tokyo's concerns transcend the present U.S. government's reluctance toward Japanese investment.

A possible second Trump presidency could, it’s feared in Tokyoupend the Biden administration's work to revitalize the alliance system within the Indo-Pacific.

It could also cause the US to fall further into economic nationalism. Under Trump, the USA saw Tariffs as a very important foreign policy instrument, while alliances are portrayed as transactional. For example, Trump demanded that Japan quadruple the annual payments that US troops needs to be stationed there.

Even under the Trump administration and to the chagrin of Japan within the USA left the Trans-Pacific Partnership multilateral trade agreementwhich continued without the US in the shape of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for the Trans-Pacific Partnership.

Japan on PR offensive

Japan is starting to hedge against a Biden defeat in November, laying the groundwork for what many in Tokyo hope will likely be a positive relationship with Trump should he grow to be president again.

Former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who was assassinated in 2022, formed such a relationship with Trump. And it was notable that it was Abe's former deputy prime minister, Aso, who did this met with Trump in New York to now re-establish a private connection – although Kishida's government described Aso's visit as that of a single lawmaker acting in his own capability.

Still, Kishida knows that it will not be only a Trump presidency that would threaten Japan's interests and goals for the Pacific region. American political elites generally are Tendency more towards isolationism. Meanwhile, the American public increasingly divided and unsure in regards to the advantages of trade and the role the United States should play globally.

During his US visit, Kishida desired to speak not only with the Biden administration, but additionally with Congress – each Democrats and Republicans – in addition to the US economy and the American public.

It was not only a leadership summit but additionally a PR tour.

During his speech to Congress – only the second by a Japanese Prime Minister – Kishida emphasized the necessity for the US to be a trusted ally and to say, “The world needs the United States” and “the people of Japan are at your side to ensure the survival of freedom.”

And during a subsequent visit to North Carolina, where he toured a Toyota electric vehicle battery factory and a HondaJet subsidiary, he reaffirmed the ties between the 2 countries – while emphasizing the positive economic contribution Japan is making to the United States.

Looking for a stable relationship

Japan is embracing its identity as an actively contributing member of the liberal international order. With the U.S. withdrawal from the Trans-Pacific Partnership and uncertainty over Washington's global role in the course of the Trump administration, Japan emerged as a number one proponent of preserving and maintaining that order.

But Japan also hopes that the USA will proceed to play a central role.

The high-profile meetings between Japan's political elite and each Biden and Trump show that Tokyo is trying to the US as a reliable partner – within the interests of each regional security and economic prosperity. But that is something that’s making US domestic politics increasingly difficult.