Tag: NFL

The Buffalo Bills Send 1,440 Wings To The Bengals

Oh Buffalo, never change. The Bills, obviously thankful for the Bengals knocking the Ravens out, clinched their first playoff bid since the 1999 season. The Bengals won in dramatic fashion, with Andy Dalton finding Tyler Boyd on a 48 yard TD on 4th and 12 to end the Ravens’ season. What did Buffalo do to repay them?

Classic. Who doesn’t love wings? Actually if anybody didn’t, it’d be Cincinnati residents and their weird ass Skyline Chili. Granted — who even knows who is at the Bengals’ facility by now as they have long been eliminated from the playoffs. Good on Buffalo repaying their debt for their (short) playoff trip.

 

AFC Wildcard Preview: Tennessee Titans vs. Kansas City Chiefs.

Image result for Chiefs vs. Titans

Saturday afternoon will feature the first of two AFC Wild Card Playoff Matchups.  The 5 seed, Tennessee Titans will travel to Kansas City, to take on the 4 seed, Chiefs. The Chiefs haven’t won a home playoff game in their last 5 attempts.  Tennessee has not qualified for postseason play since 2008.  Looks to me like this one has all the makings of a shitty Wild Card match-up.

Image result for ravens titans divisional playoffs

Tennesse Titans: 

The Titans are back in post season play for the first time since 2008.  That was a 13-10 loss at the expense of the Baltimore Ravens.  This season has been a bit of a roller coaster for them.  At times, Marcus Mariota looks flawless, and the Titans look like a real contender.  Other times, they look mediocre at best.  They finished the year with a 9-7 record.  The problem with the Titans is I don’t feel like they had any real signature wins this season.  Their best wins on paper were at home against Seattle in week 3, and at Houston in week 4.  Nothing to write home about.  The Titans Defense will have it’s handsfull with the Chiefs Offense.  They rank 17th in the NFL in points allowed (356), and 13th in yards allowed.  They have played a weak schedule as well.

Marcus Mariota was poised to take the proverbial “Next Step” in 2017, but has fallen short.

Mariota stats.JPG

WOOF.  Brutal season from the ex Oregon Duck.  Obviously, it’s the turnovers that present the largest concern.  Generally in the postseason, whoever wins the turnover battle, wins the game.  Mariota is going to have to make plays with his legs, along with his arm.  He is known for his ability to extend plays with his feet.  He did rush for 312 yards, and 5 rushing touchdowns on the year.  Personally, he sucks.  Look for him to look like shit.

Kansas City Chiefs:

Much like their opponent, the Chiefs have had an up-and-down 2017.  They started out looking the immediate Super Bowl Contenders beating the New England Patriots 42-27 on opening night.  Four more wins came at the expense of the Eagles, Chargers, Redskins, and Texans.  They were off to a 5-0 start, and we go a boat load of the “Kansas City Chiefs are Super Bowl Contenders” talk.

They would go on to lose 6 of their next 7 games.  The losses came at the hands of the Steelers, Raiders, Cowboys, Giants, Jets, and Bills.  They certainly showed their true colors.  They did finish the season with four wins in a row over the Raiders, Chargers, Broncos, and Dolphins.  All crap bag teams.

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Chiefs Quarterback, Alex Smith seems to be on borrowed time with Patrick Mahomes breathing down his neck.

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Still a solid year for Smith.  He doesn’t turn the ball over whatsoever.  This trait is vital, in the playoffs.  Ultimately, Smith’s ball protection will likely be the key too the game.  If Tennessee can force some turnovers, then they may be able to sneak out a win.

Smith will be looking to chuck the rock to Tyreek Hill, his speedy deep threat. Hill has 1,183 yards, 7 touchdowns in 2017.

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Kansas City has the league’s leading rusher at their disposal, in Kareem Hunt.  Hunt finished 2017 with 1,327 rushing yards, and 8 touchdowns.  Look for Hunt to make an impact running the ball, catching it in the passing game, and make an impact on special teams.

The Chiefs defense ranks 15th in the league in points allowed, and 28th in yards allowed.  Not quite the stout Kansas City Chiefs defense of years past.  However, they do have insane playmakers in Justin Houston, Marcus Peters, and Tamba Hali.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DLYbTIGIMA0

Final Verdict: 

Chiefs 21 – Titans 10

The Chiefs are just far too well rounded for the Titans, who just barely got in.  I don’t love the Chiefs going much further, but they’ll throw their fanbase a bone, and win a meaningless Wild Card game in 2018.

I leave you with a photo from the Chiefs last home playoff win:

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Lamar Jackson Has Declared For The Draft

Looks like we’re going to have quite the QB loaded draft this year. Lamar Jackson, the 2016 Heisman winner, has officially declared for the NFL Draft

At first, I didn’t think Lamar Jackson would get a shot at playing QB but thinking about it — the talent is there. This man literally carried Louisville his entire college career. He’s got a really strong deep ball and can make plays with his legs as well. I honestly think with some good coaching, this kid can be the best QB of this class.

Not too shabby for an irrelevant ACC team. I’m actually very interested to see where he lands — I know of a team who just had a big ESPN report published about them that doesn’t have a future QB.

The ESPN Report of Brady, Belichick, and Kraft is a JOKE

For those living under a rock today, Seth Wickersham released his magnum opus on ESPN this morning. A whole big piece on how there is trouble in paradise because all the Patriots do is win and keep everything shut air tight.  I know this may seem shocking as ESPN was the outlet that pushed the ‘Deflategate’ agenda way past where it should have been.

But according to interviews with more than a dozen New England staffers, executives, players and league sources with knowledge of the team’s inner workings, the three most powerful people in the franchise — Belichick, Brady and owner Robert Kraft — have had serious disagreements.

I went into this with an open mind because that actually sounds plausible. All three of the powers in New England are human, whether they have reached an extraordinary amount of success or not. It only makes sense from time to time that there may be a rift or someone thinks they deserve more credit — it happens. I read this article and considered believing it for a few minutes. It was well-written, made some logical points, and described scenarios that very well can happen.

Then I remembered who this is from, and the timing of it. ESPN published this right before the playoffs. Sketchy right? What time did they post this? 1 AM — despite reports yesterday that they were publishing this at 8 AM. What else came out in the middle of the night when nobody else was watching? Deflategate. The fact that there were reports of this coming up and the internet was buzzing about it was exactly what ESPN wanted with this article.

I believed it for a long time while reading the piece — but this is wrong and there’s really no hot takes to take from it.

Image result for alex guerreroHonestly, I do believe that there is some rift between Belichick and Brady. Brady loves his weird guru Chinese medicine scientist pliability coach — fine. Brady’s a weird dude anyway. Guerrero is exactly the type of guy that Belichick hates. Some guy who thinks oils and scents will heal a player or some shit like that. Brady and Belichick aren’t best friends, they have a coach-player relationship. There is a massive amount of respect between the two of them as there should be.

Image result for jimmy g belichickThe part about Garoppolo? It was clear that the organization wanted to keep him — why wouldn’t you? The problem was that he was a free agent. According to the article, they offered him 4 years with 16/17 mil per year. A great contract for a backup and clearly shows the Pats had him in their plans. The problem was the when. Jimmy G is young and wanted to start — can’t hate on that. They were unable to come to an agreement. The Pats had to move him and Belichick gave a friendly discount to San Franscisco. Not much to see here. You can’t move on from Brady right now because he wants to keep playing and is doing so at a MVP caliber level.

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Brady, though, seemed liberated. Kraft hugged Brady when he saw him that week, in full view of teammates. A few days later during practice, some players and staffers noticed that Brady seemed especially excited, hollering and cajoling.

There most likely to some truth to this part because Brady was probably relieved that he doesn’t have competition for him to finish up his career in New England. It’s natural to be a bit happy — he’s allowed to be happy for Jimmy to get his shot across the country too. At the end of the day, Jimmy G was competition for Brady’s spot next year and it’s human to have some relief that he wouldn’t have to be competing for his spot next year.

We even heard from Don Yee, Tom Brady’s agent —

“I don’t really know what to say — it’s tough to have a response since it didn’t appear to me to have one on-the-record quote,” Yee said. “All I can suggest is don’t believe everything you read.”

He’s right. Not a single quote from someone inside the organization. This entire sting piece comes off hearsay from Seth Wickersham. Not Adam Schefter, not Mike Reiss, hell not even Felger. This is a joke and just shows the level ESPN, the “worldwide leader” is willing to go.

31 teams in the NFL would kill to be in the Patriots’ situation. If this is the biggest issue going on, I think that’s fine. Through this whole season of “controversy,” the Patriots managed to casually go 13-3 and wrap up the 1 seed in the AFC on the back of a huge win in Pittsburgh. Nothing will come out of this and I’m sure the next media day — not Brady, Belichick, or Kraft will say a damn thing about the report. Why? Because that’s what the Patriots do. They’ll continue to win and keep everything in-house as it should be. Is there a problem between the three of them? I’m sure they don’t agree at times but they all have one mutual goal and that’s success for the New England Patriots franchise. This article only showed that ESPN has never quit their mission to undermine the Patriots. It hasn’t worked in the past and it won’t work in the future. Brady and Belichick will both be back next year.

Cleveland Browns’ Quarterback Sam Darnold/Josh Rosen Declares for NFL Draft.

Kudos to Sashi Brown. Really, what an absolute masterpiece of a tank job. Last night, USC’s Sam Darnold, and UCLA’s Josh Rosen both declared for the NFL draft. Cleveland’s offseason will come down to which one they’ll choose. Personally, I’m not too thrilled with either one. I really feel like Rosen, and Darnold will go 1 and 2, a la Mariota and Winston, or Goff and Wentz. In that regard, we’re stuck with one of them, so let’s pick one and roll with it. Build the fucking team around him.

Right now if you put a switchblade to my balls, and asked me who the better Quarterback was, I’d say Rosen. He’s got a more rounded game than Darnold. He’s obviously very smart, makes the right reads, and doesn’t force it too much. I see Rosen having a Alex Smith type career. Not great, but not bad in any way.

Now, for Darnold. Based on chatter surrounding these two, Darnold seems like he’ll be the pick. He’s not the better of the two quarterbacks right now, but he has the tools to have a higher ceiling than Rosen. Sam is big, 6’4 225 lbs, a frame which will come in handy in the AFC North. His highlight clips indicate that he has more willingness to take risks with the Football. I’m more than ok with it, so long as he can be coached properly on when to take them.

https://youtu.be/q7TRrfWO3uU

I like the fact that Darnold is willing to make some risks to make plays. Based off the highlight clip he can do it with his legs as well. He’s certainly not Michael Vick, but he can improvise with his legs when needed.

As mentioned in previous posts it’s going to come down to which one isn’t a Nancy boy. Who’s willing to accept the challenge of joining the Cleveland Browns. So far, Darnold is the leader in that regard:

So I sit here on January 4th and am telling you that Sam Darnold will likely be picked 1st overall in April. I’m not exactly thrilled, but I still have some hope. Unfortunately, the only quarterback that’s really intrigues me is Baker Mayfield.

He presents the most upside out of any quarterback out there. He’s got the swagger, drive, and ability to lead a team on Sunday’s. There are obviously off the field concerns, but I generally feel like he wants it more on the field than the QB he’s most compared to, Johnny Manziel.

The Rose Bowl was telling in a negative way for Mayfield. He had his Sooners up 31-17 at the half. They ended up losing the game 54-48. I thought it would be a game where Mayfield would go out, and take a win from Georgia. It never happened. Suspect play-calling was an issue, but Mayfield seemed to wilt. It was a concerning game for him.

Still a long way to go, but again it just seems inevitable Darnold will be the guy. The Browns have some options, as they pick 4th overall as well.

Oh I can certainly fuck with that.

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.

Josh Rosen & Sam Darnold Both Declare for the NFL Draft

The California QBs that were touted as top picks before the season have both officially made their statements and declared for the draft within 1 hour of each other. Rosen, the UCLA product, made his statement on twitter first — followed up by USC’s QB Darnold doing the same but on Instagram.

There obviously was talk of both of them not wanting to go to the Browns because of the state of the franchise and I’m not going to get in depth in their abilities because Danny did so here. However, these two were selected as pre-season favorites to go early in the draft for a reason. Both slumped a little during their seasons and the records aren’t exactly eye-opening, but they both managed to have solid seasons.

If I had to choose one? And I’m sure Cleveland or the Giants will select a QB, if not both — I’m going Rosen. USC QBs never really pan out well  in the NFL(see: Leinart, Barkley, Sanchez, Kessler). I’d be shocked if the Browns went Darnold here as I feel even Josh Allen is a better prospect than him.

Either way, it is now official and the Browns are on the clock — let’s see if Rosen can be the game-changer to turn a franchise around.

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