Category: NFL

Wild Card Weekend Preview: Atlanta Falcons @ LA Rams

The Falcons managed to sneak their way into the playoffs with the 6 seed after beating the Panthers 22-10 behind Matt Bryant’s 5 FGs (thrilling game). They take a 10-6 regular season record and become the single NFC representative from last year’s playoffs — and bring it into the newly revitalized Los Angeles Rams. The Rams sat all of their starters last week and got blown out by the 49ers 34-13 but ended up with the 3 seed anyway with an 11-5 record and a NFC West championship.

The Rams boast an explosive young offense — but are they ready for primetime? The Falcons have had some struggles this season, largely in part to the loss of OC Kyle Shanahan. An offense, which rolls out Devonta Freeman, Tevin Coleman, and Julio Jones is no longer a scary matchup. The Falcons though, know how to play in January as they will look to get back to the Super Bowl after the most crushing loss ever against the Patriots last year.

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QB – Matt Ryan vs Jared Goff

Goff had an outstanding year as he massively improved on a mediocre rookie year — but I’m rolling with Matty Ice. Sure, Ryan doesn’t have the stats that Goff did but this isn’t his first rodeo. I’d feel much more comfortable with the battle tested QB who managed to finish 10-6 after the worst possible way to lose a Super Bowl and the loss of his offensive coordinator.

Image result for freeman gurleyRB – Devonta Freeman & Tevin Coleman vs Todd Gurley

Honestly, Freeman & Coleman may be the best combo in football — that being said Todd Gurley may be the best back in football. No player benefited more from the new regime in LA than Gurley, who finished with 1305 yds and 13 TD on the ground. Adding 788 yards through receptions as well? Yeah, I’m putting my faith in the former Georgia standout. Give me Gurley over almost any back.

Image result for julio jones robert woodsWR/TE- Julio Jones, Mohammed Sanu, & Austin Hooper vs Sammy Watkins, Robert Woods, & Cooper Kupp

Leaving out the Rams TE because I’ve never even heard of him to be honest. Any unit containing Julio Jones is probably going to win. Add Sanu to the mix? That’s a tough 1-2 punch to beat.

Image result for rams o lineO-Line- Atlanta vs Los Angeles

I’m not going to pretend I sat here and graded their lines. Give me the line that allowed Gurley to run wild behind it.

 

 

Image result for aaron donaldD-Line- Atlanta vs Los Angeles

Aaron Donald is everything JJ Watt wants to be. Give me the Rams here

 

 

Line Defense

As a matter of fact, give me the entire Rams defense over the Falcons. The Rams have gotten by on their offense but that defense is mean. Top 10 in turnovers created and #4 in sacks screams trouble for Matt Ryan and that offense.

Coaching – Dan Quinn vs Sean McVay

Dan Quinn is brought down here by Sarkisian’s complete inability to run an offense. McVay has given new life to a franchise. I’ll take the NFL’s youngest head coach the advantage here.

Score Prediction: 27- 20 Rams

I love the narrative of a Falcons team getting back to the Super Bowl here but I don’t think they have enough to keep up with the Rams. It’s hard not to like McVay to lead his team to at least one playoff victory here.

 

 

Belichick Reminding Patriots Not To Be Late In Snowstorm Is An Awesome Move

There’s a big snowstorm hitting New England currently and Belichick is still hosting a practice. It’s crunch-time for the Patriots and in reality the season doesn’t really matter until this point — so you can beat he’s not cancelling practice or having a film day even during the bye week.

“You certainly better leave yourself enough time to get here on time tomorrow. We all know there is weather. Coach has mentioned that several times to the team, so I wouldn’t want to be the guy who is late tomorrow,” special teams captain Matthew Slater said Wednesday.

Can you imagine the fear of being a Patriots player that’s on their way to practice and gets held up? I’d honestly rather start running in the snow to practice than have the fury of Bill Belichick during the playoffs on me. That player would have to be cut right? Maybe that’s why Tiquan Underwood got cut right before the Super Bowl one year — the ultimate punishment by Belichick. We’ve all seen what he’s done to players who are late even after they have a stunning game (see: Jonas Gray).

“He’s mentioned that he doesn’t care; ‘don’t call and say your car got stuck.’ I think everyone knows there are two hotels up here at Patriot Place, so stay there for the night. Find a way,” McCourty said.

Love it. I’d sleep in the locker room just to be safe. Everyone always think it’s tricks and trying to get a competitive advantage always which makes Belichick the greatest coach ever. It’s simple — he holds his players to a standard and they need to be accountable. This is the difference between Bill Belichick and a Rex Ryan who would take his team to Chuck E. Cheese the night before a game. The rings speak for themselves.

Browns Hire Alonzo Highsmith for VP of Football Operations.

Well, it looks we have our first John Dorsey hire of the off-season, in Alonzo Highsmith.  Highsmith announced that he would be joining John Dorsey’s staff, as Vice President of Football Operations.  He spent the last 19 years in Green Bay working to build a Super Bowl contender.

Good to See Mr. Dorsey getting his ducks in a row here before a long, and very lonely off-season for the Cleveland Browns.  By all accounts, Highsmith, like Dorsey seems more than qualified for the job.  He is a well respected Football lifer, who is known for his ability to identify, and develop talent.

Image result for John Dorsey Alonzo Highsmith

Let’s take a quick look at some of the highlights from Highsmith’s interview with ESPN regarding the move:

“We discussed so many ideas and all kinds of stuff,” Highsmith said in a phone interview from Cleveland. “I was exposed to so much stuff today. That’s why I thought it was as great opportunity. It feels good to go somewhere that you feel like you’re trusted…

This is an opportunity to build something from the ground up, having an input, working with John Dorsey, who I respect a great deal,” Highsmith said. “To watch his work ethic today — we watched film all day. He made me feel rejuvenated. It was a lot of fun today”

 

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Seriously, that quote made it move.  Alonzo has made a name for himself, especially in the draft.  It was documented in the ESPN piece that he convinced the Packers Brass to pick Donald Driver in the seventh round of the 1999 draft.  He was also instrumental in scouting, and bringing in un-drafted free agent Cornerback, Sam Shields.  Shields was a major contributor in the Packers Super Bowl win over the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2011.

Image result for Sam Shields Alonzo Highsmith

As second thing that stands out is taking a look at Wide Receivers drafted, and developed by the Packers.  Donald Driver, Greg Jennings, Jordy Nelson, Randall Cobb, Devante Adams, and James Jones just to name a few.  Just a bunch of guys that were starters, and contributes on very good teams.  A couple of number 1 receivers in that list as well.

Lets take a look at what they got running routes in Berea, Oh.  The Browns have Rashard “Hollywood” Higgins, Bryce Treggs, Jordan Leslie, Jordan Payton, Ricardo Louis, and Kasen Williams, and Bug Howard.  I’d like to think Highsmith will help turn this group of mush into something, or draft new guys.

Again I don’t have the slighest clue how this dude will fair in Cleveland.  I pray Dorsey know’s exactly what is needed, and is lining up his people in place to execute the plan.  Highsmith seems like a positive step forward.

The off-season is our season baby!

https://twitter.com/CoachT2658/status/948614465901289472

Oakland, How Could You Be So Stupid?

Insane.  On Sunday, cocky Adam Schefter strutted his stuff on Twitter, and SportsCenter reporting that Jon Gruden will be the next Head Coach of the Oakland Raiders.  I for one, cannot believe a team would make such an asinine decision to hire Gruden.  Not only are they going to hire him, they are offering him an Ownership Stake!  INSANITY!

What a complete, and utter gong-show.  Was Gruden once a very good NFL coach?  Absolutely, the man has won a Super Bowl.  It was clear by the end of his tenure in Tampa, that the game had passed him by.  Hi defense wasn’t what it once was, and he had an aging roster.  Since his win over Oakland in 2002, his teams toiled in mediocrity.  He was fired in 2009.  Since that time he’s done Hooter’s Commercials, and “Gruden’s QB Camp”.  They really want to hire this guy?  He is a goddamn media personality now.  He has been for quite some time, what makes the Raiders think he will do any better than Del Rio?

The Raiders pretty much pissed on Del Rio this past weekend.  He was fired after going 6-10, just one season after finishing 12-4.  Del Rio is a joke in his own right, but the man restored respectability to a once proud Franchise.  They canned him before they could even get on the flight home.  That’s the Oakland Raiders for ya!

Image result for jack del rio fired

Overall I’d be super pissed if my team went after Gruden.  Granted, he’s probably (definitely) better than Hue Jackson.  Gruden is a media circus.  The internet lost it’s bonkers when the news broke.  Now imagine mini-camp, OTA’s, and Training Camp?  Going to be a fucking zoo.

I’d also be worried about how long he was removed from NFL coaching.  He hasn’t coached a game in nearly 10 years.  Long ass time to be removed from the best league in the world.  Back in ’09 it seemed like Gruden’s methods and schemes had gone stale.  Wonder how they will look in 2018-19?

Now, I think he could be a good coach for a still very young Derek Carr.  I think Gruden’s ability to connect with Quarterback’s on a personal, and coaching level is very real.  Spider 2 y Banana man!

I would also like to think that he is inheriting a pretty good roster.  The Tampa 2 defense he inherited in Tampa Bay was one of the best of all time.  He doesn’t have anything similar in Oakland, but they have Kalil Mack, Derek Carr, Marshawn Lynch, Amari Cooper, Donald Penn, and many other good foundational players Jon can work with.   I still think this is an extremely asinine decision to mortgage so much on a man who’s been a TV personality for so long.  The Raiders had better hope this works out, or dark times will be ahead.

Image result for Gruden qb camp Carr

End of an Era-zona: Carson Palmer Retires From the NFL

We all knew this was coming after he’s been injury plagued the last couple of seasons but this is a bit of sad news. Poor Larry Fitz is going to be left with Blaine Gabbert and Drew Stanton missing him on wide open slants. This is the right move for Palmer though. David Johnson was returning next year and it would have been interesting to see what they could have done but the time was right.

The writing was there for Palmer, Peterson, and Fitz to have one more run at glory with a team that with the right coach can be a force to be reckoned with. Palmer did play poorly down the stretch and the broken arm at 38 years old proved to be the end-all for him. Of course, he’ll mostly be remembered for his time on the Bengals (where he was one of the top QBs in the league) and his fiasco with that organization. He’s not quite Hall of Fame material but Palmer’s career is nothing to be ashamed of.

I’m sure he’ll be fine in his retirement.

Jimmy Graham Likely to Leave Seattle in Free Agency

Jimmy Graham has finished his contract that was given to him for 4 years, $40 million by the Saints a year before being traded to the Seahawks.

It’s no secret that he has been criminally underused in his time as a Hawk and will almost definitely be finding himself a new home this offseason. Sure — he finished with 10 TDs, certainly not shabby but only with 520 yards. He was a game-changer on the Saints and used as a primary weapon (as he should be) rather than just a red-zone target on Seattle.

I’d love to see him go back to the Saints. I can’t imagine he’d garner too big of a contract as he looked pretty bad this year — dropping some easy passes. To see him re-connect with Brees on a revitalized Saints team would be exciting for all fans (except other NFC South teams of course). He wasted his prime and is now 31 years old but the talent is still definitely there. If he’s willing to take a pay cut…a Gronk-Graham double TE set in Brady’s final years? Sign me up.

Are They Serious? The Bengals Extend Marvin Lewis For 2 More Years

News broke late Tuesday evening that the Bengals have decided to extend their coach Marvin Lewis amidst end of season rumblings that he would step down as coach after a dismal 2017 season by the Bengals.

Live look at Bengals’ fans:

Congratulations for spoiling the Ravens’ season, Bengals fans! Your reward? Another two years of absolutely no success!

https://twitter.com/RoobNBCS/status/948325790294446081

It’s amazing how these types of organizations constantly drop the ball. Cleveland is doing everything in their power to make the worst possible decisions in the AFC North while the Bengals are doing their best to keep up. How you retain Marvin Lewis at this point makes zero sense. Sure — consistency is important in the NFL but you have made this man the second most tenured head coach (behind Belichick, mind you) and you have not gotten ONE single playoff win. 0-7 in the playoffs and they are stuck with Andy Dalton as their franchise QB.

Lewis has to be the nicest guy ever otherwise I have no idea how he got this extension because it is surely not due to coaching ability. Cincy had a trainwreck of a season and is wasting away AJ Green’s career at this point. I genuinely feel bad for the fans that thought it was a sure thing that he was leaving at the end of the season. Ohio has to be cursed for professional football.

0-16.

0-16.  Oh and fucking sixteen.  This past Sunday was the worst Sports related event in my lifetime.  What happened is exactly what I did NOT want to happen.  The Browns played the Steelers hard, as Brown, Bell, and Ben did not suit up.  The Browns were driving late in the 4th quarter to take the lead.  It was 28-24 Steelers with under 2 minutes left to play.  Kizer was leading a march into Steeler territory, where they found themselves a 4th and 2 from the Pittsburgh 27.  After a timeout the Browns shockingly drew up a play that left Corey Coleman WIDE OPEN for an easy first down, and probably a touchdown.  The ball went right through his hands ending the game.

Image result for Corey Coleman drop

Again, not much to analyze.  They lost.  Again.  You try to prepare for 0-16, but never really can.  The pain, anger, and sadness felt once the game was over just can’t compare to anything I’ve felt sports.  I hope to look at back at this season one day, and be able to smile.  I highly doubt it I’m afraid.  The Browns secured the #1 overall, pick and #4 overall pick with a Texans loss on Sunday.  Great!  There isn’t a QB worth my morning shit coming out of College.  Great, just fucking great.  They’re going to pick some bag of milk like Sam Darnold, Josh Rosen, or Josh Allen (? No idea if that’s even his name). Anyone watch Darnold on Saturday? WOOF.

Image result for Sam Darnold interception

I am not going predict who they take, or even give you some BS as to who they should take. Whoever they pick better be properly developed, and the team built around him.  Godspeed whatever poor bastard gets chosen.

Unfortunately, it looks like it will come down to Sam Darnold or Josh Rosen.  Leader in the clubhouse seems to be Sam Darnold, simply because there isn’t rumblings of him having a swollen camel toe like our man at UCLA, Josh Rosen (What a pussy).

Again, what a pussy.  Look dude, part of being drafted high is the fact that 90% of the teams suck.  It’s nothing new guy.  He apparently would prefer a more stable frachise in the New York Giants.  Yeah Josh, the Giants are a real model Franchise right now, huh?

Image result for boat boys giants

Despite Rosen apparently being a massive loser, he does have OK numbers:

Rosen stats.JPG

Solid enough numbers that’s for damn sure, but UCLA sucks in a garbage Conference.

Darnold has put up similar numbers:

Darnold stats.JPG

Not much there, but Darnold has 387 more passing yards than Rosen with 3 more interceptions.  Overall, the numbers are eerily similar.  There is one stat that stands out to me.  With the same exact numbers Rosen’s UCLA went 6-7 overall this season.  Darnold lead USC to 11-3. So, I guess it will come down to which player is less of a pussy?  Which ever one declares, and open about being ok with going to Cleveland will be picked.

So, everything really hinges on whether or not he will come out.  Who knows if he will.  I don’t follow College Football closely, especially Schools on the West Coast.  Hopefully does so we can take him #1 overall, and get this thing going.  If not, take some other QB (Baker Mayfield, Rosen, Allen).  Either way, no dicking around with the QB position this year.  Pick a guy, and direction for fucks sake.

Finally, to coaching.  Hue Jackson.  Wow.  I have never hated someone as much as Hue.  Hue came out, and blamed all of the players for this 0-16 campaign as par for the course.   He spews nothing but incoherent bullshit.  He even had the balls to pat himself on the back for the job he did:

Job well done Hue, you vile weed.  He couldn’t be more wrong.  Is the team bad?  Yes!  Absolutely they suck, but they are not 0-16 suck.  How many games over the past 2 years should have been won had the team had half a clue? upwards to 10.  I hope soon his players completely turn on him, and trash him in the media.  He deserves it for constantly blaming them.  The players aren’t the ones who completely ruined DeShone Kizer.  Kizer is fucking good.  He has all the tools, ability, and toughness to be a starting QB in the NFL.  Had he been coached properly, they probably win against Green Bay, Indianapolis, Pittsburgh TWICE, Jacksonville, and Detroit.   DeShone had a rough year, but he is not as bad his stats would indicate.  There were a lot of boneheaded decisions, but not all were on him.

Kizer stats

Hue refused to dial down the offense to acclimate a rookie QB.  Despite having arguably one of the worst Wide Receiving corps in league history, he’d still have Kizer chuck it up to JAG’s.  The Browns were in the top 10 in the league in passes attempted over 30 yards.  Inexcusable.  They refused to run the ball, or gave up half-way through games.

DeShone exhibited the ability to make plays with his legs this season, amassing 417 yards and 5 rushing touchdowns.  Solid.  Definitely a foundation to build on.  Poor kid was set up to fail. Say it with me again, “Fuck Hue Jackson”.  I hope they hold on to Kizer whether they go in for a Darnold/Rosen draft pick, or Cousins/Taylor free agent.

Image result for DeShone Kizer browns

It is going to one hell of an off-season for the Browns.  Over $100 million in cap space to waste, and two top 5 draft picks. We’ll see how it goes.  Hopefully they don’t, “drop the ball” 😉

Image result for Browns 0-16

Saquon Barkley Declares For The Draft

 

Penn State’s superstar running back Saquon Barkley is officially forgoing his senior year and has declared for the 2018 NFL Draft. He announced it through a post on his instagram

https://www.instagram.com/p/BdY1TB1BgK2/

 

The pre-season favorite for the Heisman trophy started off the season in fire and helped lead Penn State make it all the way up to #2 before they ended up hitting a slight slump. Though they hung around, they were never in the playoff hunt and teams started to zero in on Barkley. He did have one of the better bowl performances of the year in Penn State’s 35-28 Fiesta Bowl win over Washington in which he had 137 yards and 2 TDs including a real casual 91 yard TD — ending his season total at 1,271 yards and 18 TDs.

He ended his Penn State career with 3,843 rushing yards which was just 90 yards shy of the Penn State record. He won’t care though as this was absolutely the right decision.

Barkley is a game-changer and an electric player who can run and catch. He’s top 2 on both Mel Kiper and Todd McShay’s board and I have to imagine he doesn’t make it out of the top 5.

The Colts pick third and GM Jim Irsay said that they might look to take a running back early — which makes sense with Frank Gore being as old as dirt. I think they like Mack but it’s hard to pass up on Barkley. It’d be interesting to see him paired up with a healthy Luck and a competent coach (if they get one). The Giants, who haven’t had a solid running back in forever, would also be an intriguing landing spot at #2 if they don’t decide to take a QB. Lots of intrigue this draft but this kid is absolutely going to be a stud.

With All Due Respect to Joe Thomas, I don’t Want to Hear It.

Let me start this out by saying, I absolutely love Joe Thomas. When your team sucks so bad for 20 years running, you learn to watch-out for the positives. Joe is a positive week-in-week out. He dominates defensive ends, and outside backers with ease. Those two positions now have some of the most athletic players in the league too. Joe stones them all. He’s easily a top 5 left tackle of all time. Only two I can see ahead of him are Orlando Brown, and John Hannah. He’s right up there.

When I saw his quote today I almost threw up. I certainly appreciate some optimism on the brink of owensixteen, but “Set up for a long run”? Oh give me a break. It’s these quotes that annoy the absolute snot out of me. Let’s focus on winning a game first, and let’s acknowledge the fact that this is the worst team in NFL history. Being forthright about it might actually get you somewhere. Let’s say, “We fucking STINK, and are going to do X,Y,Z to fix it”. After that, shut your fucking mouths until training camp. I am sick of the sunshine and rainbows. It’s not what I see on the field each week that’s for damn sure.

Similarly, John Dorsey said in his introductory presser, “Let’s awake this sleeping giant”. Shut the fuck up dude. Stop trying to tell me a polished shit isn’t a turd.

Joe also made it known he wasn’t sure what his future would look like. He was undecided about coming back. I certainly don’t blame him. I’d be devastated if he left, but he deserves to play for a winner. I would be more devastated if he retired, so here’s to Joe coming back for a few more kicks at the can. What he said annoyed me, but I love the guy.

Whatever happens in the future, this is going to be a tough weekend for Browns fans out there. It feels like I’m waiting to be taken to the gallows. I hope the Steelers make it quick and painless. If it’s close it will only be worse. Just 48 more hours, and it’s over. Go turds!