NFL 2013

[naum]

Also, just absolutely tickled pink that 1) the Ravens didn't make the playoffs and 2) there was a few hours there where it looked like FUCKING PITTSBURGH might make the playoffs. I mean, what does it say about this season that a team that start 0-6 still had a shot at a wild card right up until the last minute of the next to last game of the fucking season? It says we don't need any more fucking wild card teams.

And in fitting fashion for the season, the NFL confirmed that officials on the KC-SD game flubbed 2 calls that most definitely would have put Pittsburgh in the playoffs.  See Mike Pereira Twitter threads for more.

Still, Steelers at 8-8 don't deserve to go anyway but I am pleased that they finished the season strong instead of folding up like the Browns, Falcons, Lions, Bucs, etc.…

[Ingmar]

What with all the firings yesterday I wouldn't be surprised to see Lovie Smith back on the sideline next year.

Word is Tampa Bay is interested.

[Sjofn]

By rule I think he'd have to be on the ground for a tag to work. He's standing the whole time in that play. You would have to literally walk up to him and hold him, impeding forward progress is my understanding.

Okay, clearly using "tag" was a bit of an underestimation. The point is that the players did NOTHING when two players, including one of the more intelligent players in the game starts running..... you do SOMETHING. You act like you give a shit.

The bears played like shit on at least two huge plays. This one was just the worse of the two. Unprincipled players who gave up.

I'm gonna disagree with you here, because there was no one near him and/or looking at him once he started running, and the only way he was going to be "down" was if someone actually ran over to tackle him after he casually picked up the ball (and given everyone on BOTH teams kinda jogged to a stop before the ball carrier took off, there was basically no one who was going to be fast enough to get to him once he DID start running). The way defenders have been hammered to not do anything even remotely sketchy this season is not going to encourage that. If you watch the gif, there are a few Bears that flinch in an "oh shit, fuck!" way, but there was not going to be anyone able to get him. Once everyone (everyone, on both sides) derped about the ball being dead instead of live, the Packers basically had their touchdown, and it was actually a fairly understandable derp.

It's a funny, oh-man-duuuuuuuh play, but I can't really sneer at the Bears for not tackling a guy who was just as convinced they were that the play was over.

[sickrubik]

There are plenty of Bears that were playing back (CB/Safety) that could have reacted given where the ball is, and given the position to the sideline, there's plenty of room for them to have done stuff defensively that would not have gotten them in trouble. Given how many defensive players go for hits instead of tackles, I'm going with unprincipled. Especially paired with the Cobb TD later in the game. Poor play on the bears part on both of those. We see defensive players run with what they presume is a fumble or an int all the time even with the refs are blowing the whistle like crazy. This time the bears did not react well even when there was no whistle.

The play looked for everything like an incomplete pass. I even mentioned before (possibly in IRC) that I can't really fault for them initially thinking that was what happened, but the fact that most of the bears just stared as Rodgers and Boykins skipped hand in hand into the endzone just makes me facepalm.

I'm still not sure about Shanahan. Clearly there was not a lot going right there this year and being under the salary cap penalty didn't help. The sad part is that RGIII is going to have to start from scratch with a new offensive scheme next year and if he isn't healed, it's going to be rough on the kid. Being hair trigger on that sort of thing with a young talent who is still learning can backfire big time.

The problem with Shanny is that he wants too much control over the team. And he's not a good GM. That is inevitably what caused his downfall in Denver as well.

[Ingmar]

I assume you mean undisciplined rather than unprincipled...

[sickrubik]

I've made my decision.  (Yes.)

[Belasco]

Have we accounted for all our Bears fans today?

If Lovie Smith was still the Bears' coach, that LB takes it the other way for 6! 

I know it's only been one season, but I get this weird feeling Trestman's teams will simply have the inverse problem that Smith's teams had. Lovie got canned because he couldn't find an OC to run a halfway decent offense to go with his top ten turnover-generating defense.  Trestman, to his credit, already has the top 10 offense in place, but it seems like he'll have a problem getting an average NFL defense on the field.  So in five years (or the length of Cutler's new contract, whichever is shorter) after Trestman misses the playoffs in most of them, he'll get canned for a "defensive-minded coach that gets back to Bears football".  And the cycle of 7-9 to 9-7 seasons will continue.

[sickrubik]

Cutler signed through 2020.

Edit: Lovie Smith in at Tampa

[K9]

Lovie should do well in Tampa, he just needs to get a good OC in place and they look like a team that can contend straight away.

I'm ok with Cutler being re-signed. There are quarterbacks I'd rather have, but equally there are plenty of starting quarterbacks far worse than him. The guy is tough, and if he can give cover while we pick up someone good in the second round and polish them to greatness I'd be ok. The Bears need to focus on sorting out the D, the fact that they don't have to worry about a QB is a good thing for the offseason hurley-burley.

[sickrubik]

there is going to be some REALLY bad QB play next year. The FA market is paper thin.

[K9]

Bears have also re-signed Matt Slauson and Tim Jennings to four-year contracts; I'm pleased with both of those moves too. Glad the front office isn't dicking around and is keeping talent in-house.

Now we just need to see about getting some safeties who aren't terrible, and pick up someone for the DL.

[HaemishM]

Cleveland Browns interviewing Josh McDaniels.

Factory of sadness, indeed. Why? Why does this asshole continue to get shots at a head coaching position? They might as well hire Mike Martz as their OC and make sure that whoever they draft to be their next QB of the future gets well and truly fucking killed before week 4. Josh McDaniels is a fucking cancer on the NFL. He's also the anal ferret that was responsible for making Tim Goddamn Tebow a first round draft pick. I am so sorry, Cleveland fans. SO. SO. SORRY.

Re-signing Cutler was the right thing to do. He put up HUGE numbers in Trestman's offense, he now has an offensive line that can protect him - he just needs to survive one season without fracturing like glass. It's not like there was ANYTHING that might be available in the offseason that was even remotely like a talented, proven QB - just lots of retreads like Schaub and unknown quantities like Cousins. For only $50 million in guaranteed money - I'd have done that. Now they need to figure out what the fuck happened to their defense because HOLY SHIT, that defense was bad.

Lovie Smith in Tampa is going to be a significant upgrade. The defense will flourish, Glennon looks a good enough QB if they can just find an offensive system that works and some durable weapons. Kubiak is free. 

[sickrubik]

Guess Johnny Football is headed to Cleveland if McDaniels lands the job. 

[HaemishM]

Blown ACL in week 3. 

[Paelos]

The New England Belichick tree is poison. The fact people haven't realized this still is amazing to me. Shall we play fun examples?

Romeo Crennel - Where's he working now? Arbys?
Jim Schwartz - lulz Detroit
Nick Saban - great college, terrible in the NFL
Al Groh - so bad that even a god-awful program like Georgia Tech fired him.
Josh McDaniels - let's see, he drafted Tebow #1 who is now an ESPN analyst, he was fired from the Broncos, he was fired from the Rams as an OC, and now he's back riding Big Belli's coattails. He's a fool.
Eric Mangini - already did the Browns failure, and now he's some nebulous analyst position for offense on the 49ers. Not that the offense has improved at all this year, in fact I think it's regressed.

Oh and now the NFL is dumb enough to hire ANOTHER poisoned tree guy in Bill O'Brien? Ok Houston, just spend a draft pick on one of these QB's like Bridgewater who I think will take at least 2 years to adapt to the speed of the NFL, in addition to putting on more size so he doesn't get murdered by guys like Robert Mathis. Then, expect a college coach from a school that went 15-9 in one of the biggest joke conferences in CFB to waltz into a division that's been owned by Indy for the last 10 years, with one of the best coaches in the NFL and best young QBs?

It's insane. The Houston GM should have been fired right along with the coach. This is absolutely his fault. He's been around since 2006, and he's done absolutely fuck-all to make that franchise a contender for an AFC title. What's their claim to fame? Beating Cincy twice in a wild card game in his tenure? Really? It's madness that some of these GM's continue to coast especially when they've already had ample time to get the QB situation right.

[sickrubik]

One of the happiest days as a Broncos fan:

[K9]

Who is that?

[Ingmar]

I think it's McDaniels leaving the building with the box of crap from his office.

[Trippy]

Oh and now the NFL is dumb enough to hire ANOTHER poisoned tree guy in Bill O'Brien? Ok Houston, just spend a draft pick on one of these QB's like Bridgewater who I think will take at least 2 years to adapt to the speed of the NFL, in addition to putting on more size so he doesn't get murdered by guys like Robert Mathis. Then, expect a college coach from a school that went 15-9 in one of the biggest joke conferences in CFB to waltz into a division that's been owned by Indy for the last 10 years, with one of the best coaches in the NFL and best young QBs?

Bill O'Brien did a good job at Penn State given the circumstances.

[Paelos]

He did a good enough job to get a better contract or college job. I don't think he did a good enough job to deserve a head coaching position at the NFL level. Almost nobody deserves that shot, and I still believe the only recent coach to make the jump directly and win a Super Bowl is Switzer.

[Trippy]

He was the Patriots OC, as you listed above, and plenty of NFL coordinators have made the move to head coach and then making it to a Super Bowl. In other words if he was still the Patriots OC and was hired would that be any different?

The closest to Barry Switzer is Jim Harbaugh who made it to a Super Bowl, but even he had some NFL coaching experience (as QB coach of the Raiders) before eventually getting an NFL head coaching position. Switzer never had any NFL coaching experience before being hired, though you could argue he was simply riding the coattails of the team Jimmy Johnson coached and built.

Edit: The closest to Barry Switzer in recent years that is

[sickrubik]

I think it's McDaniels leaving the building with the box of crap from his office.

Indeed.

[Nevermore]

Seems kind of odd that the Bucs would hire a head coach before a GM.  Usually GMs want to hire their own coaches.  In any case Smith should be a hell of a lot better than that idiot Schiano, though I have my doubts that Jeff Tedford will be an effective OC since he has zero NFL experience.

[Ingmar]

I know a lot of old guys who sit near me at Cal games who would agree. 

[Paelos]

He was the Patriots OC, as you listed above, and plenty of NFL coordinators have made the move to head coach and then making it to a Super Bowl. In other words if he was still the Patriots OC and was hired would that be any different?

The closest to Barry Switzer is Jim Harbaugh who made it to a Super Bowl, but even he had some NFL coaching experience (as QB coach of the Raiders) before eventually getting an NFL head coaching position. Switzer never had any NFL coaching experience before being hired, though you could argue he was simply riding the coattails of the team Jimmy Johnson coached and built.

No, it wouldn't matter if he was the Patriots OC the whole time to me, as that whole tree is garbage. Belichick runs that team. It's been proven time and again that his assistants are basically inept outside the confines of that job in the NFL. This is more of an indictment of that tree than the college coach thing.

However, I don't believe in college head coaches making the jump to NFL head coach either if your goal is winning a championship for that team. John, the NFL coach for 15 years, took down his brother, the guy with 15 years of college coaching experience. McCarthy has 20 years of NFL coaching. Coughlin actually jumped from Boston College to Jacksonville, but he didn't win there, he won 13 years later in New York. Belichick has coached exclusively in the league for almost 40 years. Sean Peyton's been in the NFL since 1997. Tomlin has been in the NFL since 2001. Dungy coached exclusively in the NFL since 1981. Cowher exclusively since 1985. Gruden since 1992.

Basically once you go to the NFL, you need to stay there. Coughlin being the recent outlier, but not with the team that hired him back into the NFL.

[Shannow]

He was the Patriots OC, as you listed above, and plenty of NFL coordinators have made the move to head coach and then making it to a Super Bowl. In other words if he was still the Patriots OC and was hired would that be any different?

The closest to Barry Switzer is Jim Harbaugh who made it to a Super Bowl, but even he had some NFL coaching experience (as QB coach of the Raiders) before eventually getting an NFL head coaching position. Switzer never had any NFL coaching experience before being hired, though you could argue he was simply riding the coattails of the team Jimmy Johnson coached and built.

No, it wouldn't matter if he was the Patriots OC the whole time to me, as that whole tree is garbage. Belichick runs that team. It's been proven time and again that his assistants are basically inept outside the confines of that job in the NFL. This is more of an indictment of that tree than the college coach thing.

They were discussing this on sports radio in Boston today. The thought is that all these coaches try to be Belichick and not their own guy. Secondly none of them have Tom Brady playing QB...

Bill O'brien did a pretty darn good at Penn State considering the circumstances, and I like him telling the 'Paterno faction' to go fuck themselves in a recent interview he did. Anyone left who defends Paterno needs to have their face punched.

[Paelos]

I agree, don't mistake my assessment of O'Brien as him doing a bad job with the hand he's dealt. I just think people are wildly overvaluing how that's going to translate to the NFL Head Coaching position with a GM that's not very good, and a team that's never had any real success in the last decade.

He'd be just fine in another college job, but 18 year old kids and 24 year old millionaires are totally different when it comes to coaching.

[Bungee]

Net Yards per Passing Attempt Regular Season 2013

I don't know how Seattle won't walk over everybody on their way to NY.

[K9]

That's an interesting chunk of statistics right there.

[Paelos]

Net Yards per Passing Attempt Regular Season 2013

I don't know how Seattle won't walk over everybody on their way to NY.

If you're a defensive coach, you want to take away the run and the short to medium passing game. That means being hyper aggressive is the way to beat Seattle. You have to take the crowd out of it and roll the dice on your blitz packages. The Seattle offensive line isn't good enough to keep Wilson tidy if he has to hold the ball long. If you press up on coverage, get aggressive, and do it without offering easy blitz slants or dump offs, you can win that game.

Yes, you might get beat over the top once, but Wilson's passer rating over 30 yards isn't good. You have to live with that, because if you don't you'll bleed to death by 1000 cuts.

[Sjofn]

lol eagles

FOOTBALL SEASON A SUCCESS

Actually, speaking of lols, wtf happened in the Chiefs/Colts game? I didn't get to listen to the second half.

[Trippy]

Luck stopped throwing INTs.

[Chimpy]

Luck stopped throwing INTs.

He was still throwing them during the comeback.

Biggest thing was the Chefs losing starters (and their backups) to injuries every third play in the second half.

[Sjofn]

Sounds like Blood Bowl!

[HaemishM]

I was watching the Chiefs game and when they got up by 28 points, I just started fast forwarding the DVR. What... the... fuck? I started watching again when it got to be 41-38 and suddenly Indy wins and I tivoed through one of the greatest collapses/comebacks in history?

Also, can everyone stop fucking talking about the goddamn Eagles this year? Yes, they are a good offense but they ain't contenders yet.