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NFL Week 6: Washington star left twitching after scary tackle

LIFE for the San Francisco 49ers has been rough this season and they’ve written their names into the history books for all the wrong reasons.

5 min read
October 16, 2017 - 2:58PM
Al Michaels in NBC Sunday Night Football.
Al Michaels in NBC Sunday Night Football.

THE NFL’s power rankings were once again shaken up on a dramatic day of football across the league. Here are all the big talking points from week six action in the NFL.

STAR LEFT WRITHING AFTER SCARY TACKLE

Montae Nicholson was not in a good way
Montae Nicholson was not in a good way

MONTAE Nicholson was filmed twitching on the deck of Fedex Field after receiving a sickening hit to his head during Washington’s thrilling win over San Francisco on Monday (AEDT).

The Redskins’ safety was left stunned by a shoulder charge from 49ers star Pierre Garcon when both players collided helmets as they attempted to get their shoulders low to the ground.

Nicholson braced for the impact, but his head was still sent snapping backwards as the force of Garcon’s hit knocked his helmet clean off.

The 21-year-old’s body was then spotted shaking as teammates and coaching staff ran in to check on him.

49ers coach Jay Gruden was one of the first to reach his injured player in a scary moment before Nicholson showed any signs that we was not seriously injured by the hit.

The game was briefly stopped as Redskins officials crowded their player, but Nicholson was eventually able to walk off the field with minimal assistance from staff.

After undergoing a concussion test on the sidelines, Nicholson was incredibly able to re-enter the game just 30 minutes later.

His return helped the Redskins pull off a thrilling 26-24 win over the 49ers to improve to 3-2 this season.

COMMENTATORS WAY-TO-SOON WEINSTEIN JOKE

Al Michaels in NBC Sunday Night Football
Al Michaels in NBC Sunday Night Football

AL Michaels is one of the most loved commentators in American sport — but he got this one very wrong.

The famed sports commentator, who has appeared in Hollywood films, including comedy classic Baseketball, made a throwaway joke about the New York Giants’ turbulent preparations for their game against Denver on Monday, and it fell flat. Really flat.

Michaels said the Giants’ preparation for their win over the Broncos was “a worse week than Harvey Weinstein”.

Michael’s light-hearted comment about the disgraced Hollywood figure was heavily criticised on social media.

After there were calls for Michaels to resign, the veteran commentator issued an apology during NBC’s Sunday Night Football broadcast.

“Sorry, I made a reference earlier before, trying to be a little flip about somebody (who is) obviously very much in the news all over the country, and it was not meant in that matter,” Michaels said.

“So, my apologies, and we’ll just leave it at that.”

49ERS NIGHTMARE RECORD

So close.
So close.

LIFE has actually gotten worse for the 49ers since Australian Jarryd Hayne left.

San Francisco on Monday became the first team in NFL history to fall by three points or fewer in five consecutive games.

With third-round pick C.J. Beathard throwing his first pass as a pro against the club for which his grandfather was a Super Bowl-winning general manager decades ago, the 49ers made things interesting Sunday before losing 26-24 against the Washington Redskins.

San Francisco is now 0-6 under rookie head coach Kyle Shanahan.

The 49ers have lost their past five games by a total of 13 points, another unprecedented mark. Now Beathard gets a chance to see what he can do as the starter.

“Close losses don’t make us feel better,” said wide receiver Pierre Garcon, who went from Washington to San Francisco as a free agent this offseason.

Then he added with a smirk: “Moving in the right direction, I guess. Instead of three points, it was two points.”

It was Garcon who was whistled for an offensive pass interference penalty in the last half-minute as Beathard tried to direct the visitors to the go-ahead points. Two plays after making a terrific sideline catch to get the ball to Washington’s 40, Garcon drew that key flag, one he argued about animatedly on the field.

That made it second-and-20 at midfield, and the Niners wouldn’t gain another yard.

“I thought 100 per cent it was defensive pass interference,” said Beathard, who was 19 of 36 for 245 yards, one touchdown and a final-throw interception. “From my point of view, it looked like it wasn’t even a question.”

Garcon’s body language indicated he felt the same way, but in the locker room, all he would say was: “I cannot talk about the referees.”

BRADY’S NEW RECORD

The GOAT.
The GOAT.

TOM BRADY set yet another NFL record on Monday when he led the Patriots to a 24-17 win over the New York Jets.

The victory was win No. 187 in the regular season of the NRL for Brady — seeing him jump over Brett Favre and Peyton Manning who ere previously tied at the TOP with 186 career wins in the regular season.

The win was the 212th victory of Brady’s career.

The record really didn’t seem to mean anything to Brady after the game.

He was actually less than impressed with his team’s performance.

“I wish we would have done better, but we won,” he said.

“With a game like this, 24-17, some good plays we made, a lot we left out there. We could have won 50-0 and it would be the same thing. It’s just about getting a win and finding a way to win each week.”

AARON RODGERS’ CRUEL INJURY FATE

Aaron Rodgers did not recover from this.
Aaron Rodgers did not recover from this.

IN a major setback for a Super Bowl championship contender, Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers suffered a broken right collarbone Sunday and could miss the remainder of the NFL season.

The 33-year-old signal caller, whose 13 touchdown passes this season shared the league lead, suffered the injury in the opening quarter of the Packers’ 23-10 loss at Minnesota, leaving both teams 4-2.

“Losing Aaron Rodgers speaks for itself,” Packers coach Mike McCarthy said. “In my opinion, he’s the best player in football.” Rodgers was hurt after taking a hard hit from Vikings linebacker Anthony Barr and falling on his throwing shoulder. X-rays showed the extent of the damage.

“QB Aaron Rodgers suffered a broken collarbone. There’s a chance he could miss the rest of the season,” stated the Packers’ Twitter announcement of the news.

Rodgers missed seven games in 2013 after suffering a broken left collarbone. Running to his right on a second down play from Green Bay’s 39-yard line less than nine minutes into the contest, Rogers was struck by Barr after tossing an incomplete pass, landing on his throwing arm.

Trainers treated him as he remained on the turf but he rose and walked off, exchanging words with several Minnesota defenders as he departed.

Rodgers, who completed 2-of-4 throws for 18 yards before the injury, had completed two-thirds of his passes this season for 1,367 yards entering the contest.

Rodgers was the Super Bowl 45 Most Valuable Player in 2011 as he led the Packers to a 31-25 victory over Pittsburgh for the NFL title, their first in 14 seasons.

Last week, he rallied the Packers to a dramatic victory against Dallas. This week, Rodgers departed with the game scoreless and his replacement, Brett Hundley, was not able to duplicate the comeback magic.

Hundley, who had thrown only 10 NFL passes before Sunday, completed 18-of-33 passes for 157 yards and one touchdown but threw three interceptions that led to 10 Vikings points and was sacked four times for 20 lost yards.

“It’s a tricky situation, especially when the starting quarterback goes down and you’re just in there, but I’ve been preparing for this moment for a long time now,” Hundley said.

“Obviously we didn’t get the job done today, but we’ll be back and we’ll be better.”

— AFP

Originally published as NFL Week 6: Washington star left twitching after scary tackle

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Original URL: https://www.thechronicle.com.au/sport/american-sports/nfl/nfl-week-6-washington-star-left-twitching-after-scary-tackle/news-story/23dcc2e746bacbeedf5c33f0056663e7