NFL Thread

[NUguy514]

5 minutes ago, Carey said:

Jim Harbaugh Is The Next Chargers Head Coach

Gross.

21 hours ago, mojoween said:

Madness.

 

That doesn't surprise me in the least.  Regardless of any Taylor Swift effect, football is, by far, the most popular sport in the country.  I live in LA, which is a baseball and basketball city, but people here really only care about the Dodgers (yay!) and the Lakers (boo!); if those two teams aren't playing, no one's watching.  Even with that, everyone here watches football, no matter what teams are playing.

[roamyn]

12 minutes ago, Carey said:

Jim Harbaugh Is The Next Chargers Head Coach

Coward.  He just doesn't want to face multiple NCAA sanctions for all his cheating.

[AimingforYoko]

50 minutes ago, roamyn said:

Coward.  He just doesn't want to face multiple NCAA sanctions for all his cheating.

Worked for Pete Carroll. It's a decent situation, they're not terrible. But I don't see how they get past the Chiefs as long as they have Mahomes.

[twoods]

It’s a step up from Staley. I think once healthy and tapping into Herbert’s potential, they could do well. They have a good RB, WRs and defense. 

[Mountainair]

20 hours ago, Kip Hackman said:

The Panthers fired the GM of a 2-15 team, and replaced him with the Assistant GM of the same 2-15 team.

As a Panthers fan who has been to several games, sports a vanity license plate, sticker on my car, yard flags, etc.. I’ve given up. We have slowly emerged as a hockey family now. My two boys play roller hockey and are obsessed.

The Hurricanes don’t let me down nearly as much as the Panthers. In fact the last game the Panthers lost I promptly went out and removed my vanity license plate and replaced it with a Hurricanes one.
 

Panthers stadium is a day trip for me but Hurricanes require an overnight stay. Haven’t bought a Panthers ticket in over two years. This will be our 2nd year seeing the Hurricanes. 

Tepper needs to go! 

[bluegirl147]

13 hours ago, NUguy514 said:

Gross.

 

I second that.  

13 hours ago, roamyn said:

Coward.  He just doesn't want to face multiple NCAA sanctions for all his cheating.

Winning causes people to forgive a lot of things but Harbaugh will forever be a cheater to me.  I've always had a soft spot for the Chargers going back to the Fouts/Jefferson/Joiner/Winslow days.  And I do like Herbert.  But now with Harbaugh as their coach ugh.

12 hours ago, AimingforYoko said:

Worked for Pete Carroll

I never forgot about Carroll.  And is the reason I could never never really root for the Seahawks.

41 minutes ago, Mountainair said:

Tepper needs to go! 

I didn't know how bad he was till recently.  I guess so much attention was paid to that other horrible owner Dan Snyder I somehow missed Tepper.

[Kip Hackman]

2 hours ago, Mountainair said:

Panthers stadium is a day trip for me but Hurricanes require an overnight stay. Haven’t bought a Panthers ticket in over two years. This will be our 2nd year seeing the Hurricanes. 

 

I get it.

I can't get behind the Canes thing, though. If we have to be miserable in Charlotte, I want them to be miserable in Raleigh.

[JTMacc99]

14 hours ago, AimingforYoko said:

Worked for Pete Carroll. It's a decent situation, they're not terrible. But I don't see how they get past the Chiefs as long as they have Mahomes.

A good head coach and a good quarterback can take teams into deep playoff runs once in a while, even if there is a juggernaut in the way every year.

Feels like the 2021 and 2022 Chargers were capable of far more than they accomplished.

[Carey]

49 minutes ago, JTMacc99 said:

15 hours ago, AimingforYoko said:

Worked for Pete Carroll. It's a decent situation, they're not terrible. But I don't see how they get past the Chiefs as long as they have Mahomes.

A good head coach and a good quarterback can take teams into deep playoff runs once in a while, even if there is a juggernaut in the way every year.

Feels like the 2021 and 2022 Chargers were capable of far more than they accomplished.

We'll see.  Especially if the juggernaut has the first successful title defense in nearly 2 decades.

FWIW, while Jim had success immediately in the NFC West, the reigning division champions lost more games than they won, including the postseason, where they still won a playoff game.  I expect Vegas and Denver to improve/get better.

Different task in the AFC West where, the other 3 head coaches have a superbowl title, as well as the QBs on those teams.

Finally, gotta punt that fear of facing a relative since he's likely to contend going forward.

Nevertheless, I'd be surprised if Los Angeles isn't in the mix at the very least next season

[Carey]

Currently, I'm not sure whether to put the over/under for games coached by Carolina Head Coach Dave Canales at 13 or 21

[Mountainair]

18 minutes ago, Carey said:

Currently, I'm not sure whether to put the over/under for games coached by Carolina Head Coach Dave Canales at 13 or 21

All I know is it will be another season of cringeworthy games and I won’t have to waste my money on a ticket. 

[JTMacc99]

Oh wow. I REALLY like Dave Canales. 

If we dig back far enough in this topic, I am pretty sure I stated that I didn't think Tampa was going to be anywhere near as bad as people were predicting going into the season. And my reason was that I don't think Baker's that bad, and that Tampa made a great hire for their OC.

Canales has a resume that makes it pretty clear that he was a BIG part of what helped Wilson and then Smith turn into really good quarterbacks. He clearly did it again this year.

The dude serves up QB improving magic smoothies for breakfast.

Having said that, head coach is an entirely different job, so heaven knows if he can be both the QB coaching guru and run the rest of the team.

ETA:  Found it! I figure that if I say enough things, every once in a while I'll get one right.

On 8/11/2023 at 5:08 PM, JTMacc99 said:

I'm an outlier. I like Tampa to be not terrible this year. They still have a tough defense with a really good defensive coach. What I really like about them is the new offensive coordinator they took from Seattle. He's got a very interesting resume. There is a chance he's a difference making kind of coach. The kind of guy who can make a unit perform better than the sum of its parts.

 

[Carey]

I didn't forget. Never forgot your optimism.  I did, however, forget to post about being wrong about Tampa's season.

While I can't find it this second, I'm the one saying Tampa at 0-14-3 was the call.  Good for Baker, and for Todd since it looked like the latter was doomed for sure

Edited January 25 by Carey

[JTMacc99]

Poor Todd Bowles. He got himself exactly what he needed, which was a really good coach to run his offense for him, and he loses him after one year.  Hopefully, he finds another good one.

 

[Carey]

Looks Like Raheem Morris Returning To The HC Ranks (Atlanta Vacancy)

[Wildcard]

30 minutes ago, Carey said:

Looks Like Raheem Morris Returning To The HC Ranks (Atlanta Vacancy)

Bill Belichick to the Seahawks then?

[Fukui San]

I don’t think Belichick’s getting hired anywhere. As a Patriots fan, I can’t fault teams for bypassing him at this point in his career. He’s seemingly lost his ability or desire to foster new talent in his offensive coaching staff leading to the last two misbegotten years. And what GM would be eager to work for someone used to wielding final say on all matters of personnel? I might be wrong but I have a hard time seeing a home for him. 

As for the Falcons, Raheem Morris was bad his first go around, but that was like 10 years ago and he was very young. He very well may be ready now. 

[rcc]

30 minutes ago, Fukui San said:

I don’t think Belichick’s getting hired anywhere. As a Patriots fan, I can’t fault teams for bypassing him at this point in his career. He’s seemingly lost his ability or desire to foster new talent in his offensive coaching staff leading to the last two misbegotten years. And what GM would be eager to work for someone used to wielding final say on all matters of personnel? I might be wrong but I have a hard time seeing a home for him. 

As for the Falcons, Raheem Morris was bad his first go around, but that was like 10 years ago and he was very young. He very well may be ready now. 

Bill should have retired.

[twoods]

What’s he playing for now? Hes got more titles than anyone probably ever will in their lifetime, and he looks like he hates being there half the time (I know that’s his personality but still).

Saw an article that said Swifties (along with Bills fans) donated over 260k to support Tyler Bass’s charity (supports homeless cats) after they saw how he was getting death threats. Very classy!

Edited January 26 by twoods

[baldryanr]

4 minutes ago, twoods said:

What’s he playing for now? Hes got more titles than anyone probably ever will in their lifetime, and he looks like he hates being there half the time (I know that’s his personality but still).

The all-time wins record and proving he can win without Brady. 

[mojoween]

Hahahaha this is so grody.

 

[roamyn]

I like Dave Canales and I think he'd be good for Bryce, but I don't know if he's ready to be a head coach.

Raheem Morris is a good pick for ATL.  They just need a QB.

The Titans OTOH...what were they thinking?  That hire's a mistake IMO.

Looks like Bellicheck will be left out.  He's over 70 and the game has long passed him by.  He should retire.

I bet the Commanders are waiting for Ben Johnson to become available for face-to-face.  And who knows what Seattle's doing?

[Perfect Xero]

I'm pretty happy with Morris, he was interim coach for the Falcons after they fired Quinn, the record didn't set the world on fire that year, but the team showed a lot more fight under Morris after starting 0-5 under Quinn.

[bluegirl147]

14 hours ago, baldryanr said:

The all-time wins record and proving he can win without Brady. 

Good luck with that.

8 hours ago, roamyn said:

Looks like Bellicheck will be left out.  He's over 70 and the game has long passed him by.  He should retire.

I don't think he wants to retire after a losing season.  But he might not have a choice.  There is no way he takes a coordinator job and head coaching vacancies are filling up fast. I can't see Seattle going with him.  And Washington? I doubt it but you never know.  

 

[Carey]

I'd guess that while he might want to coach again for the all-time record, that might be done away with.  The chances of it that is.

Personally, given how several other greats in the world of sports failed in a bid to secure a record: I'm fine with Tiger not getting to 19.  There's another one as well, but the world isn't ending if Jack's record is no more, so in all fairness, I'd be very content if Belichick didn't surpass Shula either.  Still not thrilled about how that guy surpassed Noll and Lombardi.

My current issue and possibly the ones from the owners are quite simple.  Brady was the biggest, definitive reason why Belichick has those wins.  I don't think other teams are going to lose years/seasons trying to get a guy in just to pick up over a dozen years.  As mentioned, having total control and failing at it doesn't help.

So yeah, it's not happening this season.  Vrabel is still out there, but I don't think he's hurting to where he needs to coach this upcoming year.  There will be openings in 2025.  So he might end up in a place better than Seattle or Washington, unless that's the spot for 2024.

It's not just Ben Johnson.  I imagine someone might want those Ravens coordinators.  We'll see

[Black Knight]

NBC reported that there are multiple teams thinking about Belichick, and that at least one of them currently has a HC.

My prediction is that the team that hires Belichick will be one that already has a franchise QB in place, needs the defense brought up to a superior level, and is in win-now mode. The Falcons didn't make sense since they don't have a franchise QB and are at least a couple of years away from real postseason success, and it sounds like they realized that.

It would not surprise me if one of the teams thinking about Belichick is Buffalo. The sentiment among many Bills fans is that McDermott has hit his ceiling, and there may well be similar feeling in the organization too. And there is concern that Buffalo's window won't be open much longer. Since the Bills are a AFC East team, Belichick would be in a division that he knows like the back of his hand, and in a league he knows like the back of his hand. And he is used to winter conditions. With all those powerful AFC QBs out there, when you have a top-rated QB of your own, then maybe what you want to give your own top-rated QB an edge in these AFC shootouts is a top-tier defense. Buffalo makes a lot of sense as a landing spot.

[Court]

It's worth noting that Morris is the first African American head coach of the Falcons.

I don't think any owners are willing to give Belicheck complete autonomy over personnel. 

[roamyn]

2 hours ago, bluegirl147 said:

I don't think he wants to retire after a losing season.  But he might not have a choice. 

Look at the most recent hires, Strichen, Ryans, Morris, McDaniel, Canales, Pierce, Mayo, even Callahan. They're all young exciting coaches.  Only Khakhi Pants is over 50, and his 'success' (even w/cheating) with young college players means he can relate better than a 71 yr old grump who is taciturn at best and sullen alot.

This cycle and last has shown the NFL that owners might be done with recycling the same old coaches.

I still think Vrabel would be a great hire, bit he might wait a year like Sean Payton did.

1 hour ago, Black Knight said:

Since the Bills are a AFC East team, Belichick would be in a division that he knows like the back of his hand,

Do you really think he'd go to a long time division rival against Kraft?  I don't see it.

[Carey]

30 minutes ago, roamyn said:

Do you really think he'd go to a long time division rival against Kraft?  I don't see it.

Plus, Buffalo moving on from Sean to hire Belichick would be going backwards.  McDermott isn't great on his side of the ball.  However, what needs to be great but isn't is the O-Line and the run game.  It's been better but it was an issue that hindered the Bills toward the title whereas in Kansas City it took Reid & company a minute & a half to get it right.

The reasons about going against New England is why I was surprised Bill coaching Dallas & Philadelphia was considered.  And why I don't see him in Washington

[bluegirl147]

1 hour ago, roamyn said:

This cycle and last has shown the NFL that owners might be done with recycling the same old coaches.

I agree with this.  It's nice to see younger guys like Campbell, Stefanski and Ryan do well.  As much as I like Tomlin I can see his faults and if we ever replace him it will most likely be with someone under the age of 45.

2 hours ago, Black Knight said:

The sentiment among many Bills fans is that McDermott has hit his ceiling, and there may well be similar feeling in the organization too.

Different expectations for different teams.  For the Bills they expect to at least end up in the AFC championship game.  For the Steelers they expect to have a non winning season.  If they did fire McDermott he would be snapped up quickly. And maybe have a rebirth.  Look at Andy Reid.

[roamyn]

40 minutes ago, bluegirl147 said:

Look at Andy Reid.

But with Andy Reid it took a Patrick Mahomes.  And Andy admits it’s because of Mahomes that he changed his style of game.  Is McDermott going to get another Josh Allen? Or Bellicheck another Brady?  Doubtful.  And would either of them be open to changing their philosophy?  

[Fukui San]

From my point of view, Belichick's problem isn't relating to the 20 something athlete. I think he still does. The Patriots played hard for him throughout the miserable season. Contrary to popular view, players usually don't come away from the Patriots hating Bill Belichick for the most part. (There are always exceptions of course, which usually stem from guys who wanted more money from Belichick the GM.) Players weren't shy about letting people know that they hated playing under Josh McDaniel and Matt Patricia, but they usually pay respect to Belichick. 

Instead, Belichick's problem as I see it, is relating to 30-40 something year old coaches. His stalwart assistants like Dante Scarnecchia, Ivan Fears, and Ernie Adams retired and he couldn't bring himself to trust and delegate to younger coaches. He would rather recycle Joe Judge and Matt Patricia to run an offense than to have to adjust his thinking to a new offensive voices outside of his sphere of influence. If you were an owner considering and excited about hiring Belichick, does your enthusiasm remain if Bill tells you his plan is to have Josh McDaniel as the OC? Bill retires in three or four years and then what? 

[bluegirl147]

51 minutes ago, roamyn said:

But with Andy Reid it took a Patrick Mahomes.  And Andy admits it’s because of Mahomes that he changed his style of game.  Is McDermott going to get another Josh Allen? Or Bellicheck another Brady?  Doubtful.  And would either of them be open to changing their philosophy?  

I'm not someone who thinks Caleb Williams is going to be a superstar but the question remains, which team gets him? And will that coach be able to build a SB caliber team around him?  I believe there are QBs that will make a team better and there are QBs that play well because of of the team around him.  There is no way Belichick wins that many SBs without Brady.  And I don't believe Brady would have won that many SBs if he had been on a different team.  Although he did win one with Tampa Bay.  Brady and Belichick just worked together.  Maybe a new coach is what Josh Allen needs.  And maybe if McDermott goes to another team he will do better.  I asked a coworker once if he thought the Steelers would ever take a QB that plays like Lamar Jackson and he said probably not. Jackson's style of play doesn't work with the Steelers preferred offense.  So changing philosophy doesn't come easy.

[Carey]

BTW, while Andy Reid may not have won a Super Bowl as a head coach without Mahomes, he was almost always in contention.  The Eagles were very, very good in the 2000s, and that was with McNabb as the QB.  While Sean got to the playoffs with Taylor as the QB, he's no Andy Reid

[JTMacc99]

I've been seeing a couple of things with Kylie Kelce (Jason's wife) appearing on Good Morning America and giving the run down of their trip to the Buffalo/Kansas City game.

I think my favorite quote was, "He really wanted to go through a table. Like on the checklist of things to do at the Bills game, at the top was Go through a table."

Heh.

[Bastet]

22 hours ago, twoods said:

Tyler Bass’s charity (supports homeless cats)

Well, look who just joined my list of favorite players.

[baldryanr]

4 hours ago, bluegirl147 said:

As much as I like Tomlin I can see his faults and if we ever replace him it will most likely be with someone under the age of 45.

Of course, when you like your coaches to stick around for decades then it helps to pick a young guy.  The Steelers only having 3 head coaches over the past 50 years is remarkable.

[kathyk2]

I'm rooting against the Chiefs so the media will stop comparing Mahomes to Tom Brady. That was a topic of discussion on Unsportsmanlike this morning. He has to pass Terry Bradshaw and Joe Montana before catching Brady.

[Carey]

I do have a valid reason not to root against Kansas City.  That being said, while he has had the best stretch in one's first six seasons, only 2 titles have been produced from it.  Patrick still has a ways to go, and it's not going to be easy to even pass Terry & Joe let alone catch Brady.  TBH, I'm still putting him behind Manning

[Irlandesa]

11 hours ago, roamyn said:

This cycle and last has shown the NFL that owners might be done with recycling the same old coaches.

I still think Vrabel would be a great hire, bit he might wait a year like Sean Payton did.

I just think owners don't want to hire directly from failure and being fired is a failure regardless of what came before it.  Give it a year or two and suddenly those established coaches look better.

Owners/GMs also tend to like trends.  Young is trendy. 

Edited January 27 by Irlandesa

[Carey]

Looks like Deebo will be a game-time decision for San Francisco.  That probably makes the difference between a win & a loss.  Meanwhile, I can see anything taking place in the AFC title game (Ravens winning close or far or KC doing the same).  Though I see Baltimore winning closer than in most of their games before seeing Kansas City win big (out of the 4 outcomes).

Interesting enough: this is the 3rd consecutive AFC Title game where the AFC West champions are matched up against the AFC North Champions.  If Baltimore wins, will it be yet another OT loss or Mahomes second loss in regulation?  Who knows.  If Kansas City wins, it'll be the fourth chance since 2005 where a team has a chance to successfully defend their title.  Finally Mahomes would have a win against a second entire division in the playoffs (AFC South is the first)

[morriss]

Which coach is going to do a "Davey Roberts" this weekend?   For anyone not familiar with Davey Roberts,  he is known for making illogical decisions that ultimately cost his team to lose.  He just out thinks himself..   My guess is Lions coach Dan Campbell.  

[Carey]

If it's Campbell, that wouldn't count as such.  The Lions are not expected to win the game

[mojoween]

Aww ESPN why you gotta do the Lions like that?

On the crawl - playoff wins in the Super Bowl era San Francisco 37, Detroit 3.

[Salacious Kitty]

Well, at least weather won't be a factor. Forecast is sunny and 70. 

[Carey]

That's good news for San Francisco, especially for Purdy.  It's also okay for Detroit since they'd be hindered a bit as well.  Samuel is a go for the NFC Title Game.

Meanwhile the weather is slated to suck in Baltimore.  So that could prevent a runaway for either team

[Magog]

22 hours ago, Carey said:

If it's Campbell, that wouldn't count as such.  The Lions are not expected to win the game

 

18 hours ago, mojoween said:

Aww ESPN why you gotta do the Lions like that?

On the crawl - playoff wins in the Super Bowl era San Francisco 37, Detroit 3.

We pretty much know who ESPN is rooting for in both games today.

As for today's games, 15 yrs ago I rooted for the Lions to get that 0-16 record & them getting it made me very very happy. Now, I'm going to root for the Lions to finally get in to the Super Bowl today. 

Since, I'm not here for even more Patrick Mahomes GOAT talk & even more Taylor Swift nonsense for the next 2 weeks (I get enough of that & then some on the Morning Radio Shows (especially Z-100 NY & on FOX 5 NY), I really need Lamar Jackson & those Baltimore Ravens to really take care of business today.

[Carey]

I sorta have no dog in either game.  Even though I'm supposed to be rooting against Baltimore (not rooting for them either), I'm not losing sleep over a Ravens win.  Several people on the staff are pretty cool, and are very good.  A win probably gets John and Lamar HOF votes when they're both eligible (Justin already has those I think).

As mentioned by Cowherd, if you're rooting against Detroit, one doesn't have a soul.  Yeah, I'll agree there.  You don't like human beings if you think Detroit succeeding sucks.  The only exception are folks from Wisconsin, Illinois, and Minnesota.  Even then...

1 hour ago, Magog said:

We pretty much know who ESPN is rooting for in both games today.

As for today's games, 15 yrs ago I rooted for the Lions to get that 0-16 record & them getting it made me very very happy. Now, I'm going to root for the Lions to finally get in to the Super Bowl today. 

Since, I'm not here for even more Patrick Mahomes GOAT talk & even more Taylor Swift nonsense for the next 2 weeks (I get enough of that & then some on the Morning Radio Shows (especially Z-100 NY & on FOX 5 NY), I really need Lamar Jackson & those Baltimore Ravens to really take care of business today.

Whatever happens, happens.  To be fair: I'd bet that Taylor Swift is a great human being.  Nothing about her from what I've seen proves the opposite.  Then there's John Harbaugh.  I'd bet that Harbaugh is a family man.  Great husband, son, brother, father, everything.

Having said that, I think I would not be opposed to a story of the week involving Harbaugh and Swift.  If Baltimore wins, TMZ discloses pictures from the summer that show John & Taylor together.  It was the Era Tour, I believe. 

It's not a great look.  For instance, speculation that John is having an affair with TS is bad, and then the bigger story would be Kansas City being mad at Taylor for using Travis for KC info, that Harbaugh would acquire.  So it'll appear that Swift was a spy or a double agent, good enough to get enough info to beat the Chiefs.

I'm not actually rooting for that disconnect, but I might laugh at it.  That would be great NFL filler during a dead week before Super Bowl week.  It would get talked about all week, and then by the weekend, it'll get squashed, it'll be make believe, and onto Super Bowl 58

[Magog]

11 minutes ago, Carey said:

I'm not actually rooting for that disconnect, but I might laugh at it.  That would be great NFL filler during a dead week before Super Bowl week.  It would get talked about all week, and then by the weekend, it'll get squashed, it'll be make believe, and onto Super Bowl 58

I'm not here for NFL filler because I find most of that stuff not newsworthy & definitely migraine-inducing. I would much rather spend that NFL dead week shaming, mocking, & laughing some more at Jerry Jones & the Cowboys for being another year without a Super Bowl appearance. I can never ever get sick & tired of that and I find it way more amusing & entertaining than another dose of Mahomes vs Brady GOAT crap, Kelce Brothers overstaying their welcome, Taylor Swift getting some credit for the Chiefs getting to the Super Bowl again (😒), or Kyle Shanahan's possible redemption (AS IF 😒).

[Carey]

That's fair enough.  I guess I've gone through a world of bad, awful, and unnecessary content, to where the reaction to it is the thing.

To be fair, while I could've done without the Deer Antler Spray stuff as well as Deflategate, I can see why the league thinks it's necessary to pimp that crap.  Nobody cares about the Pro Bowl; there's no buildup there.  BTW, I still think that when the 18 game thing becomes that, if the NFL season is pushed back again (the end of it), you'll see the NBA All Star weekend (& NHL) in between the Conference Title Game & Super Bowl.  I prefer it after football is done, but that would make total sense.

To be honest, I'll already in no NFL mode.  As mentioned, if I hear any out of left field stories, I might catch up on it & be entertained at a later date before next week.  I'm probably going to use these next couple of weeks doing something else.  Long-ass season does that to me.

Furthermore, San Francisco winning would the be absolute worst.  And yes, that was my pick to win the Super Bowl before Week one.  We just had Niners/Chiefs, and to a lesser extent, Niners/Ravens.  The latter was over a decade ago, and I think only 2 people were present during that game in 2013 that are still around now.  I don't know what'll be different than what I saw last month.

So if & when I forgo watching the games, I'll be fine.  I can catch up later & I can avoid the commercials.  As mentioned, no hate toward any teams including Kansas City, but this season's end is just blah to me