theScore’s Gianluca Nesci was in Catalonia leading up to El Clasico, a trip that included visits to La Masia, Espanyol’s stadium, and Girona, before concluding with a seat at the Camp Nou for Barcelona’s memorable 5-1 win over Real Madrid. Below, you’ll find the complete collection of stories from the five-day adventure.
Without Messi and Ronaldo, El Clasico peeks into the future
LLUIS GENE / AFP / Getty
“Messi’s spot on the sidelines is just a sabbatical, for now, enforced by the broken right arm he suffered last week against Sevilla, but even he won’t be around forever. Jarring to think about, admittedly, but the impending tilt at the Camp Nou offers a peek into the future. With the Portuguese plying his trade at Juventus and the diminutive Argentine now having to look in the rearview mirror to conjure memories of his 30th birthday, the future’s coming faster than anybody cares to admit.”
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Party at Camp Nou: Seeing Barca demolish Real Madrid live
David Ramos / Getty Images Sport / Getty
“After Arturo Vidal put the final nail in the coffin, rising up, unchallenged, to head home Barcelona’s fifth and final goal against Real Madrid on Sunday, his teammates joined him to celebrate by the corner flag. As the huddle broke, Pique turned to the crowd and gave a familiar five-finger salute. It was 2010 all over again.”
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Inside Camp Nou: Sights and sounds from unforgettable El Clasico
David Ramos / Getty Images Sport / Getty
“What’s it like to take a stroll through every nook and cranny of Barcelona’s famed Camp Nou, and then sit alongside over 90,000 fans to watch arguably the biggest domestic match in world football? … Get up close and personal with the pillar of Catalan society by taking in our first-hand look at everything from the Camp Nou museum to the view from the stands during Barca’s beatdown of Real Madrid.”
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Still to come this week …
A day at Barcelona’s famed La Masia: Learning the ‘Three Ps’
Inside the Catalan restaurant that helped rescue a kidnapped Barca star
Espanyol’s plan to slay the Barcelona ‘monster’ begins, and ends, with their academy
From wedding bells to urns: The circle of life on display at Espanyol
Their main competition in the division, the Philadelphia Eagles, opted to bolster their offense at the deadline. The Washington Redskins went the other way and strengthened their defense, acquiring safety Ha Ha Clinton-Dix from the Green Bay Packers.
While many fans wanted the Redskins to add a receiver, their passing game is not one receiver away from being significantly better. The receivers aren’t a standout group, but there are too many other issues, including a quarterback who is either struggling or going through growing pains in his first year with Washington.
The passing game lacks rhythm and timing. Adding a receiver would still leave the Redskins in need of both those traits. If Alex Smith starts to feel more comfortable, then the passing game will improve. If he doesn’t, then it won’t.
However, Washington’s defense is darn good and got better with Clinton-Dix. He isn’t considered a fast safety, but he is capable of big plays, as evidenced by his three interceptions this season. He also can move around, playing deep or in the box.
It’s also an insurance move for the Redskins. On Monday, one team source suggested that Washington wouldn’t make any trades, though there were some injury concerns that could precipitate one.
It turns out Montae Nicholson is a little banged-up, and the Redskins don’t know if that will change anytime soon. If he must sit, the Redskins should be covered with Clinton-Dix and D.J. Swearinger. If Nicholson doesn’t have to leave the lineup, then they have three safeties who can play. It gives them more flexibility in what they can run defensively. Two weeks ago, for example, they used a third safety, Deshazor Everett, in some packages. Adding another safety in Dix allows them to do that even more if desired.
Ha Ha Clinton-Dix, shown defending the Redskins’ Vernon Davis on Sept. 23, had 14 interceptions in four-plus seasons with the Packers. Geoff Burke/USA TODAY Sports
The Redskins have had a lot of luck lately with Alabama players, notably defensive linemen Daron Payne and Jonathan Allen. Those two have helped transform a once weak link for the franchise. Clinton-Dix, a teammate of Allen’s at Alabama, doesn’t need to transform the Redskins’ defense. He just needs to be himself.
There was risk in not making a move because of Nicholson’s health and the lack of overall depth in the secondary. There’s also some risk in the move. The Redskins surrendered a fourth-round pick, though they still have six picks next April and anticipate receiving an additional four compensatory picks.
If Clinton-Dix doesn’t get a big deal this offseason or gets hurt, then Washington essentially traded a fourth-round pick for a nine-game rental (unless they re-sign him, of course). If he signs a bigger deal elsewhere next offseason, the Redskins could add a compensatory pick in 2020. Apparently this was Green Bay’s big consideration, though it’s always odd when a contending team surrenders a good player. That should raise eyebrows, at least a little bit.
Still, for Washington, this was a good move. The Redskins have preached the importance of those compensatory picks, giving them flexibility to make a trade such as this one. It wasn’t the sexy move a lot of fans might have wanted, but it’s probably the one the Redskins needed.
ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. — A few hours before the Buffalo Bills kicked off their only prime-time game of the season Monday night against the New England Patriots, coach Sean McDermott was asked if running back LeSean McCoy was important to Buffalo’s chances to beat its long-dominant AFC East foe.
“Correct,” McDermott told WGR 550, chuckling at how obvious the answer seemed.
McDermott was prescient, but not in the way he would have preferred. McCoy, who McDermott said was in full health after being cleared Sunday from the concussion protocol, gained 12 yards on the Bills’ first play after taking a direct snap in a Wildcat formation. His next 11 runs went for a total of 1 yard in a 25-6 loss to the Patriots that dropped the Bills to 2-6.
For a six-time Pro Bowl running back who counts $9 million against the Bills’ salary cap this season, something seemed lacking against a Patriots defense that allowed the league’s eighth-highest yards per carry entering Week 8.
With the NFL’s trade deadline approaching at 4 p.m. Tuesday, it is fair to question whether McCoy’s star has faded and what value he could bring to the Bills over the remainder of his contract, which expires after the 2019 season.
Although McCoy led the Bills with six catches for 82 yards on Monday night, he entered the game ranked 34th in the NFL in yards per carry (3.87) this season and 37th since the start of the 2017 season (3.95). His most recent touchdown — rushing or receiving — came in Week 15 of last season.
A noticeably sullen McCoy sat with his head down at his locker for several minutes after Monday’s game before answering questions from reporters, at times seemingly holding back tears.
“The hard work I’ve put in my whole life, my career, for it to happen like this every game, it’s tough,” he said. “You see the defense out there, just grinding. It is frustrating.”
McCoy has 257 yards on 75 carries this season, a 3.4 yards-per-carry average that is by far the worst of his 10-year career.
“I ain’t expect to have no season like this,” he said. “I’m not really playing well at all. We’re not doing much on offense. … What do I got, 200 yards? In the [eighth game]? That’s never happened to me. Yeah, it’s different. It’s a different season. I’m 30 years old, playing since when I’ve been in high school. This stuff [has] never happened to me. It is tough.”
McCoy, 30, believes his skills have not declined.
“I still can play,” he said. “Defenses know I still can play. You see the way they approach me when I’m in the game.”
LeSean McCoy took some snaps in a Wildcat formation Monday night but was bottled up. Jeffrey T. Barnes/AP Photo
Entering Week 8, McCoy was averaging 2.7 yards per carry in the first halves of games. Some blame for that lack of production should fall on the offensive line, which lost stalwart center Eric Wood and guard Richie Incognito to retirement last offseason, but McCoy’s struggles to consistently gain positive yards and make game-breaking runs have become striking.
The Bills had an opportunity to escape Monday with a win over the Patriots (6-2) because of their defense’s ability to hold New England’s offense to field goals. However, the Bills’ inability to establish their ground attack compounded the more expected issues at quarterback that showed up again in the fourth quarter, when Derek Anderson threw a game-clinching interception that was returned for a touchdown by Devin McCourty.
Anderson left the game with trainers on the Bills’ final drive after taking a big hit on a sack. McDermott said Anderson’s injury was being evaluated after the game and did not provide further details.
Asked about how Tuesday’s trade deadline, McCoy responded, “Who knows,” but made it clear he does not want out of Buffalo.
“This is my team,” he said. “They’ve done a lot to me. Loyalty to me. I’m happy here. But it doesn’t matter whether I was here or anywhere else, playing a season like this, you would be mad. I don’t think it’s a matter of where I’m at. It’s just what’s been taking place and how things are going offensively.”
Covered Vikings for Minneapolis Star Tribune, 1999-2008
MINNEAPOLIS — Oh man. Do we really have to wait six days for Sunday? Can’t we just access a time machine and fast forward to Nov. 4 in New Orleans? Because on that day, the Superdome will host what sure looks like one of the most important games of the 2018 season.
It’s not always smart to separate contenders and pretenders midway through an NFL season. But as Week 8 fades from view, it’s difficult to avoid putting the Los Angeles Rams (8-0) and New Orleans Saints (6-1) atop the NFC playoff race. And, hey, what do you know? The Rams and Saints will meet at the Superdome in Week 9.
A full analysis of the NFC would acknowledge that the Carolina Panthers are 5-2 and still have both games remaining against the Saints. Quietly, the Washington Redskins (5-2) hold the muddy NFC East lead. But the Rams’ unbeaten mark and the Saints’ six-game winning streak, including two consecutive victories on the road, demonstrate clear separation from the rest of the field.
We all know what powers the Rams, namely a talent-rich roster combined with an innovative offensive scheme. What’s impressive about the Saints, however, is that no obvious pattern has emerged from their winning ways. This team is as capable of winning games with an explosive passing game as it is with one that barely reaches triple-digit yardage.
“We feel like we’re battle-tested and have won in a lot of different ways already in the first part of this season,” Saints quarterback Drew Brees said after his team dismantled the Minnesota Vikings, 30-20, at U.S. Bank Stadium in a game that wasn’t even as close as the score appeared.
If you’ve only been monitoring the Saints from afar, you might be shocked to learn that they won handily despite the least explosive passing game of Brees’ 13 seasons with the Saints. He threw for only 120 yards, fewer than any game in his career in which his team scored 30 points, according to ESPN Stats & Information. Overall, the total was Brees’ lowest for any full game he has played since signing with the Saints in 2006.
Brees has thrown for 396 and 363 yards in wins this season, but we learned Sunday night that he doesn’t need to for the Saints to thrive. They plowed through the Vikings with a decidedly ball-control offense that had Brees throwing 82 percent of his passes within five yards of the line of scrimmage — his highest such percentage in any game with the Saints. His average pass traveled just 2.8 yards past the line of scrimmage.
Brees said he considered the passing game “a complement” to the overall offense, an accurate, jarring and exceedingly positive development for the Saints as a Super Bowl contender.
“[It was] positive plays that put us in manageable situations so we could sustain drives to stay on the field and keep their explosive offense off the field,” Brees said. “… It wasn’t a conservative approach. It is just a smart approach.”
Alvin Kamara and the Saints beat the Vikings and are set up for a big Week 9 meeting with the Rams next week. Hannah Foslien/Getty Images
“I feel like they gave us their best shot the first couple drives,” Williams said. “We stayed good. We stayed tight.”
The Vikings never recovered from that gut punch, running out the clock on the rest of the half — despite having two timeouts — and playing the second half seemingly in slow motion. The Saints went on a 20-0 run over the next 27:04.
“We were in a slugfest until the third quarter and then we felt them break,” Saints defensive end Cameron Jordan said. “At some point, they didn’t want it anymore.”
And now they’ll return home to host the Rams, whose scheme has looked invincible at times but showed some vulnerability as they held off the Green Bay Packers, 29-27, on Sunday. Quarterback Jared Goff missed on nine of 12 pass attempts when pressured, averaging just 4.0 yards per attempt. The Saints sacked Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins, hitting him a total of nine times according to the official game book, and forced two turnovers.
If the Saints can produce that kind of havoc on the road, imagine what they could bring against the Rams at home.
It’s rare to see a midseason matchup between the two best teams in a conference. We got the AFC version in Week 6, when the New England Patriots handed the Kansas City Chiefs their first loss of the season in an exciting, action-packed 43-40 battle. And now we have a chance to see the NFC’s top teams duel on Sunday at the Superdome. Buckle up. Only six more days to go.
Here’s what went down at the 2018 deadline:
