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news4usonline · 2 years

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Super Bowl LVII: The remake of Jalen Hurts

PHOENIX (News4usonline) - Throw out the numbers. Super Bowl LVII is going to be won by will. Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts has plenty of that stored up somewhere in his mental chambers. Hurts was a national champion at the University of Alabama. Before playing for the Crimson Tide, Hurts was dominant while playing ball at Channelview High School in Texas. In his third season with the Eagles, Hurts led his team to Super Bowl LVII. The Eagles carried a 14-1 record in the 15 games that Hurts played. Philadelphia lost the two games (14-3 overall record) that Hurts missed due to a shoulder injury. For a good portion of the season, Hurts was talked about as the league’s MVP.

PHILADELPHIA, PA - JANUARY 21: Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts (1) runs with the football during the NFC Divisional playoff game between the Philadelphia Eagles and the New York Giants on January 21, 2023, at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Rich Graessle/Icon Sportswire) That honor eventually went to Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes, Hurts’ adversary in the Super Bowl. Hurts wound up with just one vote for the regular season trophy. That has to sting. A lot. At least Hurts knows he’s keeping good company. Both Hurts ad Mahomes played their high school football in Texas. “I always joke around with people saying that you know, Texas is the quarterback powerhouse,” Hurts said. “You know, I think football in Texas is so special, something that I grew up on. The pride that we take in football out there is different.” All Hurts did this year was lead the Eagles to the best record in the NFC and the No. 1 seed in the playoffs. That’s not half of the story of what Hurts has done for the Philadelphia franchise. Drafted by the Eagles in the second round following a year at the University of Oklahoma, Hurts has improved as a quarterback and playmaker every year since he’s been in the league. More importantly, he’s beaten back all the naysayers and haters who thought Hurts was nothing more than a flash in the pan, another running college quarterback who wouldn’t be able to make the passing grade in the NFL. That’s a lot of hay that people have to eat. Then again, the scrutiny Black quarterbacks feel or have to deal with is much more intense than any of their contemporaries have to face. Can he read the playbook? Can he read defenses? Can he stay in the pocket long enough to make a throw instead of taking off and running? How good of a leader is he? Does he have the presence to own the locker room? Is he teachable? How accurate of a passer is he? These seem like typical questions one would ask of any quarterback trying to make a roster spot in the NFL. But for Hurts and other Black quarterbacks, those questions appear to have more weight to them. Going into the 2022 season, there was chatter about if Hurts was even the guy in Philadelphia. Now mind you, the Eagles went out and snatched up Hurts when Carson Wentz was still the team’s starting quarterback. The Eagles, after selecting Hurts with the No. 53 overall pick in the 2020 NFL Draft, eventually traded Wentz, making way for Hurts to take over the starting gig. All Hurts did was take the Eagles to the playoffs. But to some people, that wasn’t good enough as Hurts and the Eagles got the boot from the postseason by Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the first round. Two years into the job, it felt like Hurts was almost dealing with the same type of apprehension and unfounded criticism that he dealt with when he was the starting quarterback for Nick Saban and the Crimson Tide. That was a crazy time for Hurts, who lost his starting position to Tua Tagovailoa and wound up transferring to play for the Sooners at Oklahoma. Hurts had his doubters then as he does now. However, all that has done is spur Hurts into being better. You can hate on Hurts all you want to, but all he does is win. Isn’t that the name of the game? If that is the case, Hurts has a lot going for himself because that’s his makeup: winning. Philadelphia likes winners, especially coming from their quarterbacks. Former Eagles star Donovan McNabb took Philadelphia to five NFC title games and a Super Bowl. Michael Vick, the 2.0 version, re-invigorated the Eagles for a short time while he starred for the franchise. For 11 seasons, the incredible Randall Cunningham brought a whole dimension to the quarterback position for the Eagles when he manned the starting spot. Of course, there’s Ron “Jaws” Jaworski, who took the Eagles to their first Super Bowl appearance back in 1981. It would take journeyman quarterback Nick Foles, under the guidance of current Jacksonville Jaguars head coach Doug Pederson to bring Philadelphia its first Super Bowl win. The outcome of this historical gathering with the flavor of having two Black quarterbacks to start the game is a show of progress. Doug Williams was the first Black quarterback to win a Super Bowl when the Washington Redskins thrashed John Elway and the Denver Broncos. Hurts, like Mahomes, is on a course to continue to blaze that trail.

Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts fields questions from reporters during Super Bowl LVII media day at the Footprint Center in Phoenix, Arizona, on Feb. 6, 2023. Photo by Dennis J. Freeman/News4usonline “It’s crazy,” Hurts said. It’s crazy. I think of all the quarterbacks that have come through Phill, you know, Randall Cunningham, Rodney Peete, Donavan McNabb, Mike Vick. That there itself and this franchise and this history that we have, having African American quarterbacks at that position here in this organization, that speaks for itself. I told those guys long ago, I just want to carry that torch for them.” When it comes to which quarterback has had the most influence on him, Hurts gave a special shoutout to Vick during Super Bowl LVII’s media day. “Talked to Donovan sometimes and Mike Vick. Obviously, all the quarterbacks that have come through Philly,” Hurts said. “I’ve always tried to be a student of the game. I’ve always been a student of the game…I never really had guys that I kind of really locked in on, but everyone loved Mick Vick growing up. I have my No. 7 jersey, the black (Atlanta) Falcons one there…a couple of years later, I had the green one from Philly. I’ve always tried to be a student of the game. I respect anybody, any quarterback that goes about the process of getting better and the process of growing. I love that. It’s about the process, not always about the result.” Read the full article

#Eagles #JalenHurts #SuperBowlLVII

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pint4punt · 2 years

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How Fucked are the Denver Broncos???

Broncos Country, let’s ride…….right off a fucking cliff. Hoooooooooly shit not even Nostradamus could have predicted the Russell Wilson led Broncos would be this bad. 6 weeks in they’re sitting at 2-4 and bombing harder than Russia. In our previous article ‘Are the Broncos (still) the Worst Team in the AFC West’, we highlighted several concerns we had with this team going into the season (you can check that one out here https://at.tumblr.com/pint4punt/are-the-broncos-still-the-worst-team-in-the-afc/z4whji5kve92 )

Needless to say, we are not above taking a victory lap when we actually get something right. Frankly, when most of what you write looks stupid within a week or sometimes even hours, you take every sad win you can get…..kind of like the 2022 Denver Broncos. What we didn’t see coming was how remarkably…..ass…Russell Wilson would be without Pete Carroll holding his hand. Sure, the Raiders technically have a worse record than them (trust me they’re hot on our radar for this series too), but they already won their first divisional matchup with Denver and currently have a -5 point differential. So this one belongs to Russ and his hapless steeds as we attempt to figure out just how fucked are the Denver Broncos?!!!

What happened: Denver came into the season being talked about as a potential Super Bowl contender. They had a shiny new Super Bowl Champion Quarterback and a young Offensive-Minded Head Coach who oversaw back-to-back MVP Campaigns for Aaron Rodgers. Then they took the field. Ah NFL Scheduling, what a fickle bitch you are at times.

As fate would have it, Russ’s glorious debut would be met with a pouring Seattle rain of raucous boos and jeers in Lumen Field. Apparently the 12s turn on you pretty quickly! To make matters worse, Russ got outdueled by his replacement while Head Coach Nathaniel Hackett made headlines for his wild decision to kick a 64 yard field goal instead of trusting his $245 Million Quarterback to make a play. Since then, the Broncos have put up 20+ points one time and eeeeeeked out two ugly wins. Broncos Country, Let’s Ride!

Immediate Outlook: Did you see that game against the Colts? If you didn’t, treat that game like the tape from ‘The Ring’ and destroy any copy of it you come across, because there’s a not so small chance you’ll kill yourself within 7 days of watching it.

The Broncos are currently sitting in 3rd place in the AFC West with only a half game lead on the Raiders, who hold a tie-breaker over Denver, following Vegas’ Week 4 divisional win. While the Defense has been a brightspot for this team, the Offense is currently ranked 22nd in the league and Russ is rocking a 58.6 completion percentage with a 5:3 Touchdown to Interception ratio. Here’s just a handful of noteworthy QBs with a higher completion percentage than Russell Wilson currently: Carson Wentz, Jared Goff, Mitchell Fucking Trubisky, and Geno Smith (by a mile in fact). Broncos Country, let’s ride.

Quotes that Sum Up the Season:

‘Broncos Country, let’s ride.’-Russell Wilson every god damn chance he gets

"I have confidence in McManus. If we have to put him in that situation again, I think he'll be able to make it."-Nathaniel Hackett after Week 1

“Looking back at it, we definitely should have gone for it,”-also Nathaniel Hackett after Week 1

“That’s a good football team out there, but we’re just as good if not better, we feel like.”-Russell Wilson on the Chargers team that just beat them

“Yeah, Kinda, Sorta.” -Melvin Gordon on whether or not he received an explanation for his benching in Week 6

“It didn’t go our way, but everyone is fighting their butts off every day.”-JUST SAY ASS RUSS! SAY IT ONE TIME!!!

Upcoming Schedule: Right now it seems like a high school team could give the Broncos’ Offense serious trouble. That being said, their next few games could be a hell of a lot worse. They will have to wrangle with a suddenly red-hot Jets team with a Defense that just haunted Aaron Rodgers for 60 minutes in his own house last weekend. After that, their next 5 games include tilts with three sub .500 teams in the Jaguars, Raiders, & Panthers, and two teams that can’t play Defense in Baltimore (25th) and Tennessee (28th). That game against the Jaguars is in London by the way so you know, try to represent America well Russ, the future of the sport is on the line. If this team can’t at the very least come out of that stretch at .500 they can say goodbye to their

Playoff Hopes: As usual, Kansas City is running the division (shocker) and the Chargers are keeping pace(shocker!). To further compound Denver’s woes, they’re not only 0-2 in the Division, but also 0-4 in the AFC. Winning the AFC West is already looking like a tall order, but if this team can get its shit together, they do still have both matchups with the division leading Chiefs and one a piece with the Chargers and Raiders.

Still, barring a heroic turnaround that would make Kurt Warner look privileged, this team probably won’t be hosting a playoff game this year. With that in mind, they have got to start racking up conference wins or they’re going to be staring at some inception-level scenarios to sneak into the postseason.

Three of their opponents over the next 6 weeks would be in the playoffs if the season ended today, along with two teams that have already beaten them in the Chargers and Colts. Denver’s grace period to pull its head out of its ass is over and they need to win THIS Sunday to have a glimmer of hope to get in the tournament and try to make a run (I know I laughed too typing that). Broncos Country, Let’s Ride…..

Ability to Turn Things Around: While it’s easy (and fun!) to shit on a bad team, there is reason for hope for the Broncos, it’s just not on Russ’s side of the ball. Denver’s Defense is full of back breakers…..they break their own backs carrying Russ every week. This defense is currently ranked 3rd in the league behind only the Bills and the 49ers. They’re giving up only 16.5 points a game and less than 300 yards per game despite several lengthy stints on the field and Wilson’s performance issues.

This team was hit with adversity from the get go this year, losing Javonte Williams and Tim Patrick both within the first month of the season. Losing key contributors certainly hasn’t helped, but what their season comes down to is Russell Wilson and whether he still has it (or if it was Pete Carroll all along). If he isn’t completely washed up, he has got to start giving this defense more than 13 points to work with every week.

As it stands, Wilson is now dealing with a ‘fairly significant’ hamstring injury that has him day-to-day. Despite all the frustration, Russ isn’t losing his job. He costs $245 million. That being said, if Brett Rypien has to fill in for a week or two and this offense comes to life, Russ is going to have a better answer than ‘Let’s Ride’ at the podium. Broncos Country, Let’s Ride?

Long-Term Outlook: The Broncos guaranteed Russell Wilson $165 Million before he played a snap for them and gave up five picks and three players to get him. He’s under contract through 2028. This marriage has to work no matter how bad Wilson is this year. If he truly doesn’t have it anymore, the Broncos don’t have a prayer for the foreseeable future. Broncos Country, Let’s Ride???!!!!

Verdict:

If Wilson improves throughout the year: Fucked out of home field advantage, but there’s hope for brighter days ahead.

If this version of Russ is here to stay: Fucked harder than Pam Anderson in the 90s.

#denver broncos #russell wilson #nathaniel hackett #nfl #afc west

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socalpiner · 2 years

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Cam newton team

#Cam newton team upgrade#

#Cam newton team free#

It’s not a perfect mix, but it’s the best Cam may end up having. Overall, the offensive approach and old connections breed a great amount of familiarity. While he would be going back to the man who (sorta kinda) ran him into the ground through multiple injuries, Newton could have himself a handful of potent weapons to work with in receivers Terry McLaurin and Curtis Samuel, tight end Logan Thomas and running back Antonio Gibson. He’d also be the veteran presence Rivera has recently advocated for, as Washington seems unlikely to draft and start a rookie passer in 2022. Obviously, Cam can be Cam under head coach Ron Rivera-whom he started and ended his successful nine-year tenure in Carolina with. But is there a situation that would be more accommodating otherwise? Like the Colts, the Commanders have some work to do to become a serious threat. Although he still has some juice left in his arm, does Cam have the ability to consistently push the ball downfield at a high output? The only harsh perception that may be tested is Newton’s potential fit in Arians’ offense. But that, of course, would imply that Newton’s would be a distraction-which it never actually has been despite popular belief.

#Cam newton team free#

Although their offensive line may eat two key losses in free agent center Ryan Jensen and retiring guard Ali Marpet-bringing back wideout Chris Godwin and tight end Rob Gronkowski (to keep alongside Mike Evans) seem like distinct possibilities at the moment.Īnd, surely, an organization that was willing to put up with Antonio Brown for as long as they did would be welcoming of any and all personalities. Save for “The G.O.A.T.,” the band should largely be back together. So if they can’t connect on a trade for a proven veteran such as Deshaun Watson or Russell Wilson, Newton can suddenly becoming an intriguing option. Their ground-heavy brand, led by running back Jonathan Taylor and a talented front line, would absolutely gel with the game’s greatest rushing quarterback.Įven with Tom Brady hanging up his cleats (for now), Bruce Arians and the Buccaneers aren’t ready to close their window of contention. Newton’s style also meshes well with what the Colts do on offense. And while Indy may not be the ideal market for Cam, it’s a place where he can easily take over given the seemingly inevitable exit of Carson Wentz. They’re not a Super Bowl contender right now, but finishing at respectable 9-8 with numerous injuries and quarterback woes is nothing to overlook. Indianapolis may present a relatively safe landing spot for Newton.

#Cam newton team upgrade#

Funnily enough, they are also one of the few organizations who couldn’t really find an upgrade at the position if they tried.īut if it’s about winning and going somewhere that’ll embrace Newton’s personality, that fun-loving mafia up north may help make for a destination that’s second to none. The Bills, conversely, are all set at quarterback with Josh Allen. It also doesn’t hurt that Newton is well-acquainted with head coach Sean McDermott, who was Carolina’s defensive coordinator from 2011 to 2016. Given that Buffalo is trending towards finally becoming a Super Bowl team-there are very few, if any, organizations that can offer Cam a chance to win like this AFC powerhouse. But that, of course, is a long shot of a possibility. Plus-with the very, very outside chance Murray is shipped out amidst the odd conflict he’s gone through this offseason-Cam might even find himself under center at some point. They’re an ascending playoff team, they may be out of their second-stringer in free agent Colt McCoy and they’re apparently yearning for some leadership on offense-something Newton could help bring out in Kyler Murray. 10, implied he’d be willing to take a backup gig if it meant winning.Īrizona could fit that bill. But Cam’s most recent comments, specifically from his exit interview two months later on Jan. 11, when the Panthers were desperate in giving him the reins to save their sinking ship of a season. While Newton did say he wanted a chance to become the starter, his outlook has since changed. So, if Newton isn’t brought back by the Panthers in free agency, where would his next best fit be? Using Newton’s very own system, we ranked the top six possible destinations for Cam in 2022. He wanted to go to a situation that allowed him to compete for the starting job. He wanted to go to a situation that allowed him to be himself. When Cam Newton weighed his decision to return to the Carolina Panthers this past season, he did so with distinct criteria:

#Cam newton team

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sports-balling-blog · 3 years

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NFL hot(ish) takes for 2020 (AFC edition)

FOOTBALL IS BACK…if you ignore high school football and college football and soccer football but we’re ignoring that! So here we go my 2020 power rankings

AFC West

4. Las Vegas Raiders- lead by everyone’s 17th favorite starting quarterback and the rest of the silver and black are in for a long year stuck in the AFC West and not making moves themselves. Just add this season to the broken dreams that pave the strip…at least y’all have hockey?

3. Denver Broncos- John Elway must have really been hoping he could make lightning strike twice and bring Aaron Rodgers to the mile high city only to be stuck with a combination of Drew Lock and Teddy Bridgewater to see through the season instead of you know drafting a quarterback. There is too much talent *cough cough Von Miller cough cough* for the Broncos to be a complete disaster but you guys are dangerously close to Kyle Orton/Tim Tebow territory.

2. The S̶a̶n̶ ̶D̶i̶e̶g̶o̶ Los Angeles Charges- much like everyone else I’m pretty high on the Los Angeles Chargers (of Anaheim) after seeing the team’s second half of 2020 and Justin Herbert. It’s finally looking like the rebuild will yield results but we have one last question for the team will they have more wins than fans in So-Fi this year?

1. Kansas City Chiefs- shock of all shocks the back to back AFC Champions with an MVP QB and hall of fame coach will repeat as division champions. While it should be a cake walk to their seventh straight playoff appearance (and sixth straight division title) it’ll be interesting to see if they did enough to keep pace with the other top teams in the AFC.

AFC South

4. Houston Texans- HAHAHAHAH do I really need to talk more. Everything this last off season seems to have been the incorrect move more Huston especially the whole deshaun Watson situation. At least on the bright side at least no one can claim you’re tanking.

3. Jacksonville Jaguars- the Trevor Lawrence era has officially began. Too bad it’s going to start like the Minshew/Nick Foles era ended, with lots of losses. That much is clear when they chose to pander to Florida Gators fans by hiring Urban Mayer signing Tim Tebow instead of actually improving. To the three Jags fans out there be glad the Texans are in your division.

2. Indianapolis Colts- ahhh the Colts and injuries quarterbacks can you name a better tradition? The Carson Wentz era In Indy will have to wait a good chunk of the season to get started in Ernest given the newly acquired QB will miss up to 12 weeks. There’s certainly enough talent there for the Colts to stay in wild card contention and not fall in with the other two teams listed above.

1. Tennessee Titans- I don’t think there’s anyone quite as happy to be in Nashville as Julio Jones is. After years of trying to get out of Atlanta this falcon is free and here to help a titans squad looking to capitalize on the teams back to back playoff appearances.

AFC North

4. Cincinnati Bengals- congrats bengals you’ve found your franchise savior! Now you just need to scrap him off the turf every other play. And to add insult to (hopefully not another) injury AJ Green left to the Arizona desert after a decade. There’s still a long rebuild ahead bengals.

3. Pittsburgh Steelers- WHAT? How can the team that went 11-0 to start rank third? The Steelers are a long way from being one of the NFL’s top teams and the end of last season especially the game against Buffalo showed it. This year there’s no easy schedule for the black and gold to pray on. While everyone else in their division got better at least to a small extent Pittsburgh just got older and slower.

2. Baltimore Ravens- It will be an interesting season for Lamar and the Ravens and we’ll get a good taste almost immediately as they take on Kansas City in week two. The defense is there for sure a deep playoff run the only question is can the receivers include new addition Sammy Watkins can stay healthy and productive enough for the offense to match that pace.

1. Cleveland Browns- hard to believe the browns went 1-31 not very long ago. Cleveland looks like a completely different team these days boasting what looks to be one of if not the best defenses in the league especially after adding Clowney. Making the playoffs will be the least of the browns problems the only question is how far will they go. The way this team is built I’m guessing far.

AFC East

4. New York Jets- Zach Wilson is here after some rather uneventful years with Sam Darnold at the helm, but more importantly Adam Gase is gone! You’re Free! While the Jets won’t have much to show for it this year I think mean green’s perpetual rebuild sneakily took a turn for the better. We might have to stop calling them the butt fumble in a few years.

3. New England Patriots-yeah I know it feels weird for me to put them here too, but let’s face facts the Patriots are no longer a Super Bowl caliber team. The 7-9 record last season speaks for that. Its rather unlikely that lightning will strike twice in the form of Mac Jones right away. Give it a year or two and we’ll see where you are.

2. Miami Dolphins- another AFC East team looking at a bright future without Adam Gase! Brian Flores has done a great job righting the ship of state and now the dolphins look primed to build on last season and make a playoff appearance! Unfortunately the AFC is too too heavy for you to really do much there but good job none the less!

1. Buffalo Bills- another long suffering team now enjoying great success this time with Josh Allen. The Wyoming Alum looks to lead what will be one of the NFL’s best offenses past the AFC title game and into a Super Bowl this time. Their first since 1993

Playoff time!

1. Kansas City Chiefs- I don’t think they’re leagues better than the other playoff teams but when you’re looking for your fourth straight AFC Title game appearance I’ll give you a bit of a pass.

2. Buffalo Bills- not much to say here the Bills are a talented squad who are going to be successful.

3. Tennessee Titans- the regular season may be kind of a mixed bag for the Titans when it comes to record (obviously not too bad) but I think the playoffs is where this team will come to shine.

4. Cleveland browns- four feels too low for this team but when you look at who’s above them it’s kinda hard to disagree with it.

5. San Angels Chargers- look at you Chargers fan! You’re in the playoffs maybe you can make some magic happen.

6. Miami Dolphins- after coming so close last year you can loose in the first round just like in 2016.

7. Indianapolis Colts- just like last year you get to play Buffalo first and just like last year you won’t get a second game.

All in all the AFC is really a three team race. While I think I best team in general is the Chiefs I’m going to go out on a limb and say that Tennessee represents the AFC.

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imahopelessromanticonacid · 5 years

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Carson Wentz Revenge Season

Well...

I was thinking on writing a fic about ‘The Carson Wentz Revenge Season’ before the beginning of the NFL season. I started it pretty well writing the first chapter in two days. And well, i got stuck there and it’s all I got by now and I feel i must post this in case any of the things I ‘predicted’ there happens.

I started to write it cause I was on a month off college and I was pretty bored with everything. But suddenly when i was about to finish the first chapter my life took a bit of a turn and things went ‘pretty wild’ with a lot happening since then.

I thought a lot on coming back to write this and finish it before the season, but I didn’t feel into it. So there it goes, the first chapter of what supposed to be a five chapter history.

--------------------------------this above was just a intro----------------------------------------

Chapter One: Puttin’ Some Grease On Those Gears

Yes, we’re going to see some highlight worthy plays from Carson at the preseason, probably some bad plays too.(As i’m writing this through the preseason it became clear that Wentz will not play on any preseason game.)

So, it’s Week 1 and Wentz wants to put on the show just like he did against the same Washington team in 2017 at the opening week. Things at the Linc started a lot tougher than in 2017, Washington started bringing all the pressure towards Wentz and the Eagles weren’t figuring on how to connect on offense and by halftime Washington were up by 13-3 with the Eagles best drive at the end of the half ending on a Montez Sweat strip sack.

On the third quarter things started to get better for the birds. Firstly the defense forced a three an out and then Wentz marches down the field to found Goedert at the back of the end zone for a touchdown. And as the third quarter was about to end, Avonte Maddox picks Case Keenun and almost takes it to the house.

At the fourth quarter Wentz was still finding ways to convert first downs as the running game was having a real tough time against Washington’s D. With 6 minutes left the Eagles were up by 20-16, Wentz fakes a handoff to Jordan Howard and then sends a bomb to Agholor that has beaten his man for 57 yards and a TD.

End of game and the Eagles are getting ready for prime time against Atlanta on the road.

And a curious thing when talking about Falcons vs Eagles on recent history, it’s that somehow they have managed to face each other every season since Doug’s/Carson Era started. The Eagles are 3-0 in those games but Carson only played the first one and that game it’s kind of unnoticed for many people but it was a victory for rookie quarterback with awful offensive weapons playing against Atlanta that went to the Super Bowl that season with a almost unstoppable team.

Week 2 and it’s Sunday Night Football, and it’s time for that game plan against Julio Jones, we allow him to have 10 catches for 127 yards and maybe a TD but we manage to lock him up at crucial times. The game was tough for both defenses with offenses passing through them for most of the game, the crucial play of the game came with less than 5 minutes left to go, Eagles were up by 31-27 with Atlanta nearing the end zone when at a 2&10 Timmy Jernigan tackled Freeman behind the line of scrimmage and brought Atlanta to a long third and fourth down unsuccessful attempts of passes.

End of game and the Birds are 2-0 and heading home to host the Lions.

Detroit, at home by 1pm for the Week 3 game. Carson will be arriving at the Linc smelling that tailgate from the fans and he’ll go into the game hungry! Doug kind of knows how Matt Patricia runs a defense, I think we can all agree to that, right?

Carson goes on fire, 2 TD passes and the team it’s winning by 21-7 at halftime. Doug manages to keep the game out of reach for the Lions at the second half, Eagles win by 34-17 with a performance that earned Wentz the NFC Offensive Player of The Week Award.

Week 4 it´s a short week with a trip to Lambeau, far from the easiest challenge at the league. First half and Eagles offense didn’t get into any rhythm while the defense show some struggles and Aaron Rodgers didn’t show any mercy, 20-9 for Green Bay at half time. Even with the birds waking up at second half, Rodgers managed to put 2 TD drives to keep the game for the cheeseheads, Eagles first defeat of the season.

This was supposed to be the first chapter, i hope someone reads and enjoy it.

#Philadelphia Eagles #Philly Philly #carson wentz #carson wentz revenge #revenge season #NFL season #football is back #football season #comeback player of the year #NFL CPOY #eagles vs redskins #eagles vs falcons #eagles vs lions #eagles vs packers #fanfic #incomplete #avonte maddox #nelson agholor #matt patricia

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kansas-moth · 5 years

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Way Too Early NFL Predictions: 2019 Edition

We’ve still got a few months until the season officially kicks off with Chicago taking on Green Bay for the league’s 100th season, but it’s still fun to speculate what team will please and what team will disappoint. So, why don’t we take a look and see our division winners and wild cards? Of course, this is likely gonna be wrong in a couple months.

AFC East: New England (11-5)

The retirement of Rob Gronkowski certainly hurt the team’s offense a bit, but the Patriots are still the Patriots and for as long as the Belichick-Brady tandem remains in New England, they’re going to continue winning. It helps that the New York Jets are really the only threat to New England’s dominance. Buffalo and Miami are still the walking mediocrity that they have been for most of this decade.

Rest of Division:

New York Jets: 9-7

Miami Dolphins: 6-10

Buffalo Bills: 6-10

AFC North: Cleveland (12-4)

It’s amazing that just a few seasons ago, the Browns had joined the 2008 Detroit Lions as the only team in NFL history to go 0-16 and now, they look like Super Bowl contenders. Baker Mayfield is the savior this franchise has been searching for since Modell screwed the city over. Adding OBJ, Kareem Hunt, and Jarvis Landry only helped to make this offense even more terrifying, the defense is looking smooth as well. Pittsburgh is fading away fast, Baltimore is all defense, and as usual, Cincinnati is just bungling around. Cleveland will cruise their way to winning their first division title since 1989, back when they were in the AFC Central.

Rest of Division:

Baltimore Ravens: 10-6

Pittsburgh Steelers: 9-7

Cincinnati Bengals: 4-12

AFC West: Kansas City (12-4)

Perhaps this is just bias on my part, since Kansas City is my team, but despite the improvements of Denver and the Chargers, I'm not seeing them dethroning the Chiefs anytime soon. Considering what the reigning NFL MVP did to opposing defenses last season, I fail to see a reason why he won't do that this season. The uncertainty of Tyreek Hill playing has put a damper on the team's ambitions, but Travis Kelce is still an elite tight end, Damien Williams is a strong playmaker, Sammy Watkins is back and ready to play at elite levels, and rookie Mecole Hardman is bound to make an impact. Additions in Frank Clark and Tyrann Mathieu will make great strides on a struggling defense, though the loss of Justin Houston, Dee Ford, and Eric Berry certainly hurt. The team's offense will do more than enough to keep them on the top of the division.

Rest of Division:

Los Angeles Chargers: 11-5

Denver Broncos: 8-8

Oakland Raiders: 6-10

AFC South: Indianapolis (13-3)

In what could possibly be the toughest division in all of football, it's difficult choosing a favorite for the division crown. Marcus Mariota will do great things in Tennessee, Nick Foles and an amazing defense will help Jacksonville stay relevant, and you really can't count out J.J Watt and the Texans quite yet, though it's hard to vote against Andrew Luck, especially seeing how well he played last season. A strong offense will help Indianapolis cut through opposing defenses, though I'm imagining it'll be a very close race between the four teams. I'm excited to see what these teams will do in the season and I think it's safe to say all four teams are Super Bowl contenders at this point.

Rest of Division:

Jacksonville Jaguars: 11-5

Tennessee Titans: 10-6

Houston Texans: 10-6

AFC Wild Cards:

Los Angeles Chargers:

I don't like putting a division rival here, but the Chargers are too good to ignore. Philip Rivers is a fantastic QB and the Chargers defense will put many opposing QBs through hell, but I don't believe they've got enough in them to dethrone Kansas City quite yet. Though, their defense and strong offense will be enough to get them the fifth seed.

Jacksonville Jaguars:

The Jaguars have an elite defense and a good QB in Nick Foles, an elite running game and a strong passing game. With all of these qualities would make them a Super Bowl contender for sure, I'm just not too sure how Foles will fare with them. He's definitely an improvement over Bortles, but only time to tell how much damage he'll be able to do with them. Andrew Luck is arguably the best QB in the division and I don't believe the Jaguars defense will be able to stop him, but who knows?

NFC East: Dallas (12-4)

The Cowboys are a great team led by a great QB, defense, and elite playmakers in Amari Cooper and Ezekiel Elliott. The only real threat to the team are the Eagles, and that's only if Carson Wentz stays healthy. The Giants will continue to be a sentient derp for as long as Eli Manning is at the helm and the Redskins are probably the most dysfunctional team in all of NFL at the moment. Dallas should have a fairly easy ride to the division crown, though the rest of the NFC is slowly getting stronger, keeping them from having a better record.

Rest of Division:

Philadelphia Eagles: 11-5

New York Giants: 6-10

Washington Redskins: 3-13

NFC North: Chicago (12-4)

Though it's difficult to choose against Aaron Rodgers and the Packers, the Bears defense will be more than enough to make opposing QBs shudder in fear, even the more elite QBs like Patrick Mahomes, Aaron Rodgers, or Philip Rivers will have their days turned into living nightmares thanks to elite pass rushers like Khalil Mack. It feels strange saying this, but Chicago will be the kings of the NFC North for years to come thanks to their young QB in Mitch Trubisky and an elite defense, this team will eventually morph into the 1985 Bears that bullied opposing offenses as they cruised to their first Super Bowl victory.

Rest of Division:

Green Bay Packers: 11-5

Minnesota Vikings: 9-7

Detroit Lions: 6-10

NFC West: Los Angeles Rams (14-2)

The defending NFC champions aren't going anywhere anytime soon. Jared Goff is young and has plenty more years as an elite playmaker, as long as Todd Gurley remains healthy, their ground game will be hard to stop and will be fairly unpredictable, their defense is still one of the best in the game, though their division certainly improved. Seattle is still a difficult team to face thanks to Russell Wilson and San Francisco will be a team to watch for as long as Jimmy G. remains healthy. George Kittle will become the NFL's next Rob Gronkowski and will be a key playmaker for the 49ers, and though the Cardinals will likely miss the playoffs, they've improved slightly thanks to their first overall pick and Larry Fitzgerald is still a dangerous player to play against. Regardless, I fail to see any reason why the Rams won't take the division, and perhaps the conference, home again.

Rest of Division:

Seattle Seahawks: 11-5

San Francisco 49ers: 10-6

Arizona Cardinals: 5-11

NFC South: New Orleans (13-3)

Drew Brees is still an elite QB and the Saints still have one of the best offenses in the league, and for as long as the Super Bowl XLIV MVP is at the helm, they'll continue to bully opposing defenses. Their division rivals have done little to improve. If Cam Newton doesn't stay healthy, the Panthers will struggle mightily. Atlanta seems to be back to doing what they do best and as long as they stay mostly healthy, Matt Ryan and Julio Jones will cause a few issues for the Saints, but their defense will let them down, and the Buccaneers are still the Buccaneers. The Saints will be the class of the NFC South until Brees retires and that likely won't happen for a long time.

Rest of Division:

Atlanta Falcons: 11-5

Carolina Panthers: 7-9

Tampa Bay Buccaneers: 5-11

NFC Wild Cards

Atlanta Falcons:

Though the Falcons were severely held back by numerous injuries on both sides of the ball, they're back and ready to kick some tail. Matt Ryan is still an elite QB and Julio Jones is still the best receiver in the league, well, maybe alongside Antonio Brown and Odell Beckham Jr. Though their defense will likely hold them back from being able to topple New Orleans, they have the blessing of playing in a fairly weak division. Their offense should be enough to win them the fifth seed before they ultimately choke in January.

Green Bay Packers:

Like I said earlier, it's difficult to choose against Aaron Rodgers and the Packers, but it's unclear how first time head coach Matt LaFleur will do. With Rodgers at the helm, the offense should do some damage, but it's unclear how he'll work with his new head coach. It'll be a hard fight against Philadelphia and Seattle to win the final seed, but in the end, Aaron Rodgers and company will be enough to fight off their opponents for the final seed.

And with all this in mind, this wraps up my way too early NFL predictions. So, do you agree with my predictions or do you have other ideas? Who do you think will surprise and who do you think will disappoint? Let me know your thoughts down below. Thanks for reading the ramblings of a random moth.

#nfl #kansas city chiefs #new england patriots #cleveland browns #indianapolis colts #dallas cowboys #chicago bears #los angeles rams #new orleans saints

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thesportssoundoff · 6 years

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What Went Wrong: A Belated NFL Black Monday Piece

Joey

Jan 11th

Black Monday in the NFL came and went and despite my best inclinations to write a somethin', I had a nothin' to offer. In many ways, most of the firings were easy enough to figure out. Guys who probably deserved to get canned did get canned. Teams that felt the pressure to save their fanbases made the moves to do so. All in all, it was kind of an expected grouping of firings when you add in the in season removals of Green Bay coach Mike McCarthy and Cleveland coach Hue Jackson. So since it's been a while, I wanted to approach this from a different perspective. Here I want to talk about the eight coaching jobs, what went wrong (on a grander level) and what their replacements need to do to avoid suffering a similar fate. Hold onto ya butts, folks:

Cleveland Hue Jackson

What Went Wrong: Everything

Seriously. Cleveland hired Hue Jackson under the philosophy of taking a long and painful route to relevancy, amassing draft picks, essentially tanking without admitting and hoping that Hue Jackson could in theory keep the organization stable enough until the time came. Depending on who you ask, Cody Kessler was either Hue's idea or some massive analytics based gamble that backfired on Sashi Brown and company, made worse by Cleveland trading BACK in the draft and away from the likes of Carson Wentz. At the end of the day, the plan had some merit to it (as seen by the successes of Sam Heinke and the 76ers eventually) but like most plans that require patience, that patience eventually runs out pretty quickly. It doesn't help that giving Hue Jackson, a guy who was fired from the Raiders after an 8-8 season where undisciplined penalty laden football marred progress, a young team and expecting him to get them up to speed to become eventual contenders was probably a bad idea overall. The arrival of former Kansas City Chiefs GM John Dorsey meant that the patience was out and Hue needed to produce something, especially when hiring a proven OC in Todd Haley and #1 overall pick Baker Mayfield. This job was going to be lost eventually but when Baker looked flat and the team continued to play this broken level of uninspired play, the plug was pulled. Everything that could've gone wrong in Cleveland did go wrong under the watchful eye of Hue Jackson and while I don't fault a guy for taking a gig, immediately jumping over to Marvin Lewis and the Bengals as an assistant probably did little to squash the belief that Jackson was a weasel of sorts who had no problem looking out for #1 at the expense of everyone else. It would take a novel to state everything what went wrong from 2016 to 2018 but just know that at the end of the day, nobody stood up for Hue Jackson when he was ousted and the team took off when he was shown the door.

Enter: Freddie Kitchens

Kitchens' ascent from lowly RBs coach to offensive coordinator to head coach from Jan of 2018 to Jan of 2019 is shit straight out of Narcos. In many ways, I wonder if the thought process went a bit like this: Cleveland had a bunch of candidates in mind with the thought process being that they could find the best offensive mind for their bright generational QB. At the same time, teams began calling for Kitchens to potentially interview for either their head coaching gig or their offensive coordinator position. Cleveland wants to keep Kitchens, other teams want Kitchens and Cleveland probably wants a head coach who will keep Kitchens but can't find him. Cleveland looked around, realized the guy they wanted was probably in house already and they didn't want to lose him SO Kitchens gets to be the head coach. Kitchens is actually surprisingly well traveled; a coach under the likes of Bill Parcells, Ken Whisenhunt and Bruce Arians. Kitchens and Mayfield created some beautiful magic together and so I imagine continuity (as well as a supremely improved offense) pushed Kitchens over the other candidates. There are three factors at play here; 1) Cleveland has expectations now. The 5-3 end of the year plus the young star QB who should only improve makes a lot of people believe you can win. Kitchens will probably not be afforded two abysmal years to figure it out the way that Hue Jackson was. 2) Kitchens has just 8 games worth of play calling experience to his name which means he's got a lot to learn in a short period of time. 3) Kitchens just canned Gregg Williams which means he'll need a new defensive guru of sorts to handle that side of the field.

Green Bay Packers Mike McCarthy

What Went Wrong: #12

Mike McCarthy deserves a lot of credit for what he did in Green Bay from milking the final years of elite play out of Brett Favre and then grooming Aaron Rodgers into one of the best QBs to ever play the game. I think people forget the job McCarthy and company did when the Packers lost seemingly half of their team to injuries and still won the Super Bowl in 2011 or how he got into the playoffs relying on Matt Flynn in 2013 when Rodgers got hurt. All things go sour eventually though and the whispers that Rodgers was carrying McCarthy year in and year out got a bit too loud. Those whispers combined with the body language yelling whenever Rodgers and McCarthy seemed to have something go wrong became a bit too much and so McCarthy's reign in Green Bay ended unceremoniously after a loss to lowly Arizona. McCarthy might just be a case of "How can I miss you if you won't go away?" and about how everybody in sports eventually gets tired of one another. Aaron Rodgers is a veteran QB who probably did plenty of checks and audibles at the LOS which in turn pissed McCarthy off and conversely I'm sure McCarthy's outdated gameplans and suspect development of talent over the past 2-3 years drove Rodgers crazy. McCarthy's outdated gameplans cost him in the end, especially when it became readily apparent that Rodgers' decline (be it due to age or injuries) made him incapable of overcoming those woes.

Enter: Matt LaFleur

Matt LaFleur's hiring is simple enough I suppose. Aaron Rodgers is in the twilight of an amazing career and "offensive guru" is a hot to trot catch all term. LaFleur cut his teeth under Kyle Shanahan and then moved onto Sean McVay before leaving for the Titans to call his own offense. It was an up and down run for him as the playcaller, probably hurt in no small part by the injuries to Marcus Mariota. LaFleur is a gamble on upside with a somewhat impatient QB who is battling the aging curve. It's a risky move but if LaFleur can get the best out of Rodgers before Father Time takes over? It just might be worth.

Denver Broncos Vance Joseph

What Went Wrong: 50% John Elway 50% In Game Management

Vance Joseph being tabbed to replace the retiring Gary Kubiak always felt like a somewhat shaky hire. Vance Joseph in my estimation was a totally qualified hire but perhaps not quite the hire needed for this specific team. John Elway's teams were mostly veteran squads headed up by veteran head coaches like John Fox and Gary Kubiak. Vance Joseph was a rookie head coach who had proven himself to be an adept and solid defensive coordinator riiiight when hiring THOSE kind of guys was going out of fashion. Elway hired a young coach and then gave him an aging offensive core, opening the pocket books to bring in veteran free agent talent that hasn't quite worked out. Of course we'd be here all day talking about the QB situation from sticking with Trevor Semian a bit too long to the Paxton Lynch draft spot (want to have a fun alternate history for a minute? Picture a world where the Cowboys actually successfully outbid Denver to get Paxton Lynch and Denver has to take another QB later on) to the Case Keenum gamble. Denver in a way tried to replicate the Cowboys formula; run the ball a lot, have a ball control QB and rely on a tremendous defense. It just didn't work as the offense struggled under Joseph (in large part due to the RBs not being Zeke, the QB not being Dak, the OL not being peak Dallas and Demariyus Thomas falling off) and his inability to figure out what he wanted out of Case Keenum throughout the season has left him out of a job and Denver in need of a new QB. Joseph was dealt a bad hand from Elway but in game management was such a glaring problem for Denver, often made worse by their team absolutely not showing up in prime time games. Vance Joseph was the wrong guy for this job and then proceeded to remind people of that every single time he made a bad decision late in games.

Enter: Vic Fangio

First the obvious; Vic Fangio has paid his dues, done his part and at 60 years old, it's very much now or never for an NFL lifer. I have zero qualms with Denver hiring him. I just hope he's being hired because he's the guy they want and not because they had this compulsion to keep Gary Kubiak in some sort of capacity. If Vic Fangio edged out Mike Munchak because one was fine with Kubiak and the other wasn't then it's a bad call. If that's the case then just hire Kubiak to be your head coach again because this sort of helicopter head coaching is sort of unnecessary. Fangio and Kubiak make for a very old duo but also a very credible couple of coaches at the top of the helm. If they manage to get Ed Donatell to become the defensive coordinator then you're now talking about three qualified long term NFL lifers running a young roster. It's a gutsy move by Elway at a time where young hip offensive minded coaches are all the rage. Hopefully it works out better than Vance Joseph did.

New York Jets Todd Bowles

What Went Wrong: Bad drafting + bad optics

I think Todd Bowles is somewhat of an overmaligned figure in Jets land. After the Rex Ryan Era, the more low key Bowles was probably more of an overreaction to not having to deal with Ryan's madness anymore. Todd had tremendous success in his first season and rallied the Jets to a 10-6 record before the wheels fell apart. In a large part, the talent fell apart around Bowles and the QB situation never truly situated itself with veterans not being good enough and the Jets spending actual draft capital on guys like Christian Hackenberg and Bryce Petty. Bad draft picks led to bad talent on the field which in turn led to the optics. The Jets in 2016 and 2017 seemed to end every year with people wondering about why the Jets looked so disinterested and broken under Bowles, complete with plenty of shots of Woody Johnson's stadium looking emptier and emptier as the year went on. Bowles entered 2018 as basically a dead man walking with a rookie QB and a brand new fill in offensive coordinator. Bowles did about as well as he could but by week 10 or so, the writing was on the wall. Bowles' laid back persona compiled with the Jets' lethargic October and November painted the picture of a team that had given up and given in.

Enter: Adam Gase

The Jets candidates for the most part all have a similar theme. They're offensive minded QB whisperers; guys like Jim Caldwell, Mike McCarthy, Kliff Kingsbury, Adam Gase and Todd Monken. Some are old, some are young, some are retreads and some are college guys (Matt Rhule and the aforementioned Kingsbury). Kris Richard, Dallas DB coach and playcaller, is the only defensive guy to this point who seems to have a shot. The Jets want somebody who a) fits the New York atmosphere that for some reason seems to be harder to figure out than any other spotlight seemingly and b) a coach who can connect with young talented arm Sam Darnold. They'll see if Adam Gase is that dude.

Arizona Cardinals Steve Wilks

What Went Wrong: The defensive guy didn't have a good defense

Black Monday brought a lot of very open discussion about the fact that the famed cut down day for coaches featured five African American coaches getting canned. Of the crew, I feel like Wilks is the one where there is a justifiable grudge to be had. Steve Wilks inherited a middle of the road team that embraced a full rebuild when they moved up to grab Sam Darnold and let some of their star defensive players walk. In response, Wilks was given an undermanned team with a broken Sam Bradford and a green Josh Rosen behind him with some sketchy coordinators to keep everything afloat. It didn't work out, the Cardinals were jabroni'd for pretty much the first eight weeks of the season and OC Mike McCoy got canned halfway through the year even if Byron Leftwich wasn't much better. Cardinals star RB David Johnson struggled after a big deal, defensive players were unhappy with just about everything, Josh Rosen looked horrendous for 85% of the snaps he was on the field for and the Cardinals OL was rough in all facets of the game. I believe Wilks deserved another year (only because of what was given to him at the onset) but if you get the 1st overall pick, you clearly did nothing right during the season. I bet if Wilks' defense wasn't the worst in the league and he fielded a competitive defense while going through rookie QB growing pains then I'd feel pretty confident about his chances to stick around. As it is, he's gone and per the GM, it boiled down to a disagreement on what Wilks considered to be the plan of attack for 2019. Still how do you allow the GM who put this situation together AND chose the head coach to pick the next guy? That's some utter tripe.

Enter: Kliff Kingsbury

We can begin with the obvious reasons for why this move doesn't make any sense. For starters, Kingsbury was just an average head coach at Texas Tech. You can give me plenty of excuses for that record of 35-40 ranging from "It's hard to recruit in Texas when you're not the top school" or "The defenses were bad!" but the record speaks for itself and isn't his job to a) figure out recruiting and b) find a way to fix your defense? I mean Mike Leach and Tommy Tuberville both won more games than Kingsbury at Texas Tech. The question is whether Kingsbury can find a way to get Josh Rosen back to UCLA levels and still somehow win at the NFL level despite his lack of success at the collegiate level. The Cardinals weren't the only team willing to take the plunge obviously but they'll be the ones who get laughed at if this doesn't work.

(Also real quick let's take a second to acknowledge either the absurdity of this situation or the honesty of at least one NFL team to embrace the change here. After years of hearing how QBs and OL and WRs were being hampered by collegiate schemes, we now have pro teams hiring college coaches to run their gimmicked offenses at the NFL level because they can't develop QBs or OL anymore at the pro level. Either the NFL has learned its lesson or it's just about given up. Either one is an acceptable choice.)

Cincinnati Bengals Marvin Lewis

What Went Wrong: Everything over time

Kudos to the Bengals organization for their loyalty to Marvin Lewis, likely in no small part due to Marvin rebuilding that franchise and then keeping them stable from the Palmer to the Dalton eras. I have zero doubt that Lewis is a good coach but like Mike McCarthy, eventually you run out of rope and time. It didn't help that Lewis was incapable of stopping the gradual decline from consistent playoff team (lack of success aside) to mediocre team, in no small part due to his inability to replenish the well along the coaching staff. Marvin Lewis was just too old, too stubborn and too incapable to overcome the changing NFL scene.

Enter: ?

The current word is the Bengals are looking at Rams QB coach/passing game coordinator Zac Taylor. Taylor was a disaster as the Dolphins interim OC under Dan Campbell but resurrected his stock as a key hand in the development of Jared Goff as well as his tutoring under Tommy Tuberville in Cincy. Taylor is at least an intriguing hire as a 35 year old passing game guru and, of course, the Bengals could be back on the market for a QB eventually as Andy Dalton enters his age 31 season.

Tampa Bay Dirk Koetter

What Went Wrong: The QB

Lovie Smith and Dirk Koetter ultimately shared the same fate after all. Despite paying Smith a lot of money and giving him the keys to the kingdom, Smith was gone after two seasons and Dirk Koetter was retained by Tampa Bay due to the feeling that 1) they were going to lose him elsewhere and 2) he could get the most out of #1 overall pick Jameis Winston. He couldn't. Winston off the field was a mess and on the field he didn't fare much better either. When you're the QB guru and the star QB has to be benched, you're probably going to get fired. It doesn't help that Koetter and chosen defensive coordinator Mike Smith struggled to field a competent defense for three years.

Enter: Bruce Arians

This...is interesting. Arians is a pretty damn proven and downright solid head coach who has technically won in two different locations (Indianapolis as an interim coach and in Arizona). Arians' health and his declining results in Arizona led to a year in the booth for Bruce but now it seems like he thinks he's ready to handle it again. Arians teams have only finished under .500 once at the pro level and while his success is somewhat overstated recently, there's no doubt that Arians will bring stability and fire to an organization that has felt marred with drama under Koetter.

Miami Dolphins Adam Gase

What Went Wrong: Greg Schiano-itis

It would be far too easy and perhaps even a touch unfair to simply say that Gase's problem is his player-coach marriage to Ryan Tannehill. A coach getting hooked on a QB and believing he can unlock him leads to a lot of firings and Gase may be no different. Gase's bigger problem, at least from my standpoint, is a problem most coaches have in various forms or fashions. I'll use Greg Schiano as an example because he's the one that's more readily apparent to me. Schiano took a bad going nowhere spot in Tampa Bay (Raheem Morris had 3-13 and 4-12 sandwiched around 10-6) and with a young roster, Schiano improved them to 7-9. That improvement combined with what most people consider to be a natural tendency to be a bit of a dick, lead to Schiano getting more egotistical and more aggressive as a coach. The second year everything cratered and Schiano was fired. Adam Gase took over a Miami Dolphins club that had gone through a pretty rough run over Tony Sparano and then interim coach Dan Campbell. Gase started off poorly and then earned some plaudits for cutting offensive linemen mid week after Ryan Tannehill had been pretty much caved in by pass rushers. A winning streak followed and Gase made the playoffs in his rookie year----but that apparently led to Gase becoming more and more of an authoritarian. Players seemed to hate him (There wasn't much love for Adam Gase after his firing with key offensive players past and present openly gloating about his removal) and the owner got tired of Gase seemingly toward the end of the season. That to me strikes me as a coach who got a little too successful early on and struggled when the NFL eventually humbled him as is often the case if you don't have Tom Brady.

Enter: ?

The Dolphins head coaching interview list reads like a true mish mash. Offensive coordinator Dowell Loggains, special teams coach Darren Rizzi, Pats defensive ace Brian Flores and Cowboys play caller/secondary coach Kris Richard seem to be the candidates in the running and so you've got two holdovers, one guy hoping to become a winning member of the Bill B coaching tree and Kris Richard who helped take the Cowboys defense to new heights in 2018. All seem logical----but none seem like any sort of a pattern or a theme is emerging. Maybe that's the best way to go instead of trying to force a fit because you NEED a QB guru.

#football #NFL #just talkin #sports

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nflfanpointii · 6 years

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Saints will try to end Eagles quarterback Nick Foles' postseason hot streak

The legend of Nick Foles gained another chapter Sunday as the backup quarterback led a game-winning drive to help the Philadelphia Eagles upset the Chicago Bears in the wild-card round of the NFC playoffs.

Foles has helped the Eagles win four consecutive playoff games, including the three last year en route to the Super Bowl title. He’s 5-1 in December starts the past two seasons, too, including a three-game wining streak that lifted the Eagles into the postseason this year.

The New Orleans Saints will try to end the magical postseason run Foles and the Eagles are on when Philadelphia visits the Mercedes-Benz Superdome this Sunday, and even though Foles is a backup, the Saints are preparing to face the reigning Super Bowl MVP.

“When he plays, he wins games, so we definitely are not taking him lightly at all,” Saints linebacker A.J. Klein said Monday on a teleconference.

The Saints beat the Eagles, 48-7, in November, but with Foles replacing the injured Carson Wentz, Philadelphia is the hottest team in the NFL as it tries to defend its Super Bowl crown.

In the final three games of the regular season, with Wentz out with a back injury, Foles completed 77 percent of his passes, threw for 962 yards, six touchdowns and three interceptions and had a passer rating of 108.4. The Eagles needed to win all three games to keep their slim playoff hopes alive, and they did.

Foles was not as efficient in the playoff game against the Bears, going 25 of 40 (62.5 percent) for 266 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions with a 77.7 passer rating. However, he led the game-winning touchdown drive in the final 5 minutes, capping it with a 2-yard touchdown pass to Golden Tate on fourth-and-goal with 56 seconds remaining.

“He’s one of those players that’s playing with great rhythm, and there’s a calmness when you watch him play that we all see,” Saints coach Sean Payton said.

The Saints faced Foles in his first career playoff start when they beat the Eagles in Philadelphia in the wild-card round in 2013. Foles had a fine statistical game that day, going 23 of 33 (69.7 percent) for 195 yards and two touchdowns, but he’s a much more mature player now than he was five years ago.

What made Foles’ performance against the Bears so impressive is that Chicago had the NFL’s No. 1 scoring defense and No. 3 total defense, but Foles and the Eagles made the late plays to have a chance to win the game.

Both Payton and Klein praised Foles’ ability to make plays with pass rushers in his face, and Payton said it’s evident that Foles is playing with a lot of confidence. Payton said the Eagles offense is tough to defend because they have an array of weapons with multiple receivers, tight ends and running backs capable of creating big plays. With Wentz hurt again, as he was last year, it’s on Foles to spread the ball to those weapons, and the Saints will have to figure out how to end his hot streak.

“He’s far from just a plug-in player,” Klein said.

#saints #new orleans saints #nfl #eagles #nick foles #nola.com

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carsonwentzblog-blog · 6 years

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Blog Entry 4

Considering I took a look at the perceptions of Carson Wentz and race, gender, class, and sexuality, I wanted to look at his perception in the media as a whole; who he is and what people think of him as a person and as a player. As I recently explained in my last blog, Carson Wentz was the second pick in the 2016 draft and has been a member of the NFL for the past three seasons. The reason Carson Wentz was so popular out of the draft was his stats as a college quarterback and how they compared to stats of other quarterbacks. The reason he was so comparable was because his alma mater played in the Division 1 AA league, which is unlikely for a quarterback picked so highly in the draft. Carson Wentz became a league sensation in his rookie season because he was officially the highest FCS player picked in the draft ever. Carson started his rookie year for the Philadelphia Eagles and made a statement early on. Wentz began to break rookie records for a quarterback early on as he set the rookie quarterback records for pass attempts and pass completions. “Wentz threw for a league-record 379 completions by a rookie, breaking the record of 354 held by former teammate Sam Bradford, who was with the St. Louis Rams at the time. His 379 completions also set a single season franchise record, breaking the record of 346 also held by Bradford from the previous season. Wentz also set a single season franchise record with 607 pass attempts, the second highest attempts by a rookie in league history (Andrew Luck had 627 in the 2012 season).”

Carson Wentz’s image soon began to sky rocket after his successful rookie season, and people started to look forward to the upcoming Philadelphia Eagles season. Over the course of a couple months the Eagles quarterback became a sensation in the eyes of Philly fans and soon began protecting him as his view in society changed forever. Wentzylvania is a play on words inspired by "Pennsylvania" and Carson "Wentz" of the Philadelphia Eagles. The phrase originated as a nickname for the fanbase of the team and of the Quarterback after his first season in 2016. As majority of people know, the Philly sport fanbase is top tier in craziness, loyalty, and love for the team and players; so creating a tag name for the Eagles quarterback and the state in which he plays in means he is here to stay. The following season after his rookie year was miraculous. As the Eagles looked to gain some playoff hopes, the second year quarterback began the start of something amazing. Carson Wentz led the league in touchdown passes headed into week 12 with 33 as he continued his MVP type season. Wentz led the rush for MVP during the regular season while he recorded an 11-2 record which led the NFL. After week 14, the Eagles community received some heartbreaking news as the newest star of the city tears his ACL.

Carson Wentz never left the eyes of Eagles fans as many continued to hope for a historic Super Bowl run with backup quarterback Nick Foles. Wentz’s perception as a player in the NFL became severely positive as he continued his journey to help lead his team even though he was only on the sidelines. It was really difficult for him, but the second year quarterback became a league favorite as his work ethic was provided for everyone to see. From Hot97, a Philadelphia radio station, “As the Philadelphia Eagles starting quarterback, Wentz has made a name for himself both on and off the field as a leader. He was showing up to the team facility early on a daily basis and staying as late as anyone in preparation for each week. If you think that any of that's changed since his season-ending knee injury in Week 14, think again.” With this, Carson’s perception in society became even more positive. Even though Wentz had a historic year as the Eagles quarterback, the job was no complete and the Eagles as a team had a tremendous shot at becoming a Super Bowl caliber team. With backup quarterback Nick Foles now becoming the starter, Wentz did what he needed to as far as getting Foles prepared the way Wentz was all season.

The Philadelphia Eagles ended up winning the 52nd Super Bowl as they defeated Tom Brady and the New England Patriots with a backup quarterback. This is where the perception of Carson Wentz changed forever, as Philadelphia Eagles fans knew they found their guy till retirement. His work ethic and love for his team, teammates, and fans is what gives the Philadelphia Eagles community hope for the future. Wentz is truly loved. Not only is he noticed in society as an NFL quarterback for a Super Bowl winning team but he gives back so much to the community of Philadelphia and his own foundation known as the AO1 foundation. I’ve explained the AO1 foundation in a previous blog but something that changed the perception of Wentz was a Sports Center insider where Wentz decided to make a little boy’s dream come true. Lukas Kusters visited the Eagles facility to spend the day with his favorite quarterback, Carson Wentz. Lukas struggled with stomach cancer and his dying wish was to meet Carson Wentz, but Carson made it something more special. He invited Lukas to a practice and gave him tickets and sideline passes to the next home game along with making a promise to Lukas. Carson Wentz promised him that he will wear the “Dutch Destroyer / Live Like Lukas” wrist band forever, including games and practices. I personally have a Live Like Lukas bracelet and respect Carson Wentz for making Lukas’ dream come true. Here is where the Eagles fan base began to draw love for their quarterback as he was officially shown to the public eye as an amazing guy with an amazing talent.

http://www.espn.com/blog/philadelphia-eagles/post/_/id/22568/carson-wentz-the-dutch-destroyer-and-a-dream-come-true

http://hot975fm.com/carson-wentz-is-still-putting-in-all-the-work-he-can-for-eagles/

https://www.nbcsports.com/philadelphia/eagles/carson-wentz-verge-breaking-nfls-oldest-team-td-record

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decadebeauty4-blog · 6 years

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Carson Wentz Named Eagles Starting QB over Nick Foles for 2019 Season

Mitchell Leff/Getty Images

If there was any doubt about who the Philadelphia Eagles would choose as their starting quarterback for the 2019 season, head coach Doug Pederson put it to rest Tuesday, per Jeff McLane of Philly.com:

Howie Roseman, the team's executive vice president of football operations, added that the Eagles have "confidence in [Wentz's] ability to be our quarterback and to be hopefully a 19-game starter," according to Mike Garafolo of NFL.com.

Nick Foles' presence has complicated Philadelphia's quarterback situation. Foles famously led the Eagles to their first Super Bowl title last season in relief of Wentz, who tore his ACL. And when Wentz went down again this year with a stress fracture in his back, Foles led the Eagles to three straight wins to close the campaign before guiding the team to a wild-card win over the Chicago Bears.

The magic ran out against New Orleans last weekend, but there have been calls around Philadelphia for Foles to be the franchise quarterback.

Foles offers certain qualities—notably that he performs well under pressure and gets rid of the ball extremely quickly, neutralizing elite pass-rushers. That allows Philadelphia to get in an offensive rhythm and build longer drives, keeping the defense fresh.

Foles will likely be elsewhere in 2019—either via free agency or a trade. There will be interest in him as a starter, but his Philadelphia career will always be the stuff of legend.

Still, it's easy to forget that Wentz was the front-runner for MVP in 2017 before his injury (3,296 yards, 33 touchdowns and seven interceptions), and he returned from a torn ACL in 2018. The offense didn't run as smoothly, but expecting the third-year quarterback to perform at an elite level after such a serious injury was perhaps unrealistic.

The 26-year-old Wentz is nearly four years younger than Foles (who will turn 30 on Jan. 20), is far more athletic and can extend plays. He also makes some ridiculous throws.

Wentz has room to grow, too. Learning to get rid of the ball more quickly and avoid taking big hits should be atop his list. And Pederson acknowledged that Wentz can glean lessons from the way Foles played:

For Wentz, getting to play in the postseason is his ultimate goal.

"Yeah, super frustrating," he said of missing the playoffs, per Dave Zangaro of NBC Sports Philadelphia. "You want to play postseason football. I still have zero games of postseason football under my belt. I realize I have a lot to prove in that regard. I'm confident that I will get the chance to do that."

And Wentz acknowledged that living up to the legend of Saint Nick brings its own pressures:

"You look at that and you could say it could put more pressure. I mean, you can say coming into the season there was more pressure. But I do everything I can to block that stuff out. I think right now, going forward, my focus is getting my body right. And to play this game freely the way I did last year before the injury and cut it loose. Get rid of all that pressure and anxiety and whatever it may be, just play the game freely. And that’s where I’m going to get to."

The Eagles are banking on it.

Source: https://bleacherreport.com/articles/2815805-carson-wentz-named-eagles-starting-qb-over-nick-foles-for-2019-season

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pint4punt · 2 years

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The Battle for New York:

Will the Jets or Giants be the better team from the Bronx in 2022?

We live in strange times. Everything is on backorder. Gas prices have gone up 10,000% overnight. Monkeypox is a thing. And most shockingly of all, both New York Football Teams (seemingly) nailed their offseasons.

Outside of Buffalo which has produced the odds-on Super Bowl favorite for 2022, New York football has been…..less than stellar. Both NY teams combined win totals from last season were still below .500, with the Giants and Jets each finishing with a 4-13 record. Oh and the worst record in the NFL over the last five seasons belongs to…..both of them, it’s a f@*%ing tie for mediocrity.

But productive offseasons can change even the shittiest of teams’ outlooks. For teams as low as the Jets and Giants to come away with the players they did in the 2022 Draft, they probably needed changes of shorts for their entire front offices. Which begs the question: Which team will rise from the sewers of Midtown to the top of the Empire State Building as the ambassador for New York Football? Let’s start with a look at:

The Draft Picks

Giants:

The draft debut for first year Head Coach Brian Daboll and first year GM Joe Schoen had to instill a confidence in Big Blue not felt by New Yorkers since the days of Eli Manning. The Giants picked up not one, but two players who were once projected to go number 1 overall this year in Edge Rusher Kayvon Thibodeaux and Offensive Tackle Evan Neal. The former is unfortunately dealing with an MCL sprain after an unnecessarily controversial cutblock, while the latter should make an immediate impact on a line that has underperformed for years, eliminating another excuse for Danny Dimes’ inconsistency.

Jets:

If anyone came away feeling better then the Giants after the draft it had to be the Jets. The Jets might have walked out of the draft with four of the best players at their respective positions. Ahmad ‘Sauce’ Gardner, arguably the best Corner prospect, should immediately reenergize a Jets’ secondary that also added DJ Reed this offseason, while Germaine Johnson, a steal at 26, is an obvious fit for a middle of the pack pass rush and a defense that ranked 32nd in both yards and points allowed last year, much to the shagrin of Defensive-Minded HC Robert Saleh.

Ultra productive Wide Receiver Garrett Wilson adds some serious firepower to a receiving corps already showing signs of improvement at the end of last season (and some easy money with the inevitable Wilson to Wilson merchandise). The icing on the cake was also coming away with athletic specimen Breece Hall to add to an already budding rushing attack from Offensive Coordinator Mike Lafleur. Overall the Jets took a balanced approach, adding stellar players on both sides of the ball, but like their MetLife counterpart, they are clearly trying to answer questions about

The Quarterbacks

Zach Wilson:

The Jets’ latest savior of the franchise hasn’t exactly made believers of the masses to date. His rookie year consisted of a 55.6 completion percentage, 28.2 QBR, more INTs than TDs, and desperate attempts at resurrecting plays from the dead in a fashion that would make both Lazarus and Carson Wentz very proud.

Wilson seemingly became a man this off-season, thanks in no small part to his mom’s best friend, bulking up in an attempt to curtail the injury risk that caused him to miss 4 games last year. A whopping two series into the first preseason game of 2022, that plan gave way like Wilson’s knee, resulting in him currently recovering from surgery on a torn meniscus. Despite the untimely setback, the 2nd year QB will come back to an offense bolstered by an exciting injection of rookie talent, free agent additions C.J. Uzomah and Tyler Conklin, and the return of promising contributors in Elijah Moore and Michael Carter. If he can make up for missed time, there’s plenty of reason for optimism for Wilson to take the training wheels off in year 2.

Daniel Jones:

If you think New Yorkers are running out of patience for Zach Wilson, just ask them what their thoughts of Danny Dimes are. He has the athleticism of a gazelle and the pocket awareness and decision making of (any woman who’s ever dated Pete Davidson?). It’s like watching Forest Gump run 90 yards with Lloyd Christmas’ haircut. The Giants declined Jones’ 5th year option despite a unanimous praise and confidence expressed by the coaching staff, front office, and ownership alike.

The good news for Jones, is there may not be a better coach than Daboll to salvage his young career and get the most out of Gettleman’s parting gift. Giants fans are undoubtedly hoping for the Josh Allen treatment, but even if Daboll can just clean up the mistakes and improve his vision on the field, Big Blue will be in dramatically better shape. The early returns are promising, with Jones looking decisive while going 14 of 16 in his latest preseason outing against the Bengals last Sunday. Even the interception he threw really wasn’t on him as it bounced off the hands of the intended receiver. Preseason or not, Giants fans had to feel better about the latest display from Danny Dimes. While the players are essential, and the QBs can put teams over the top, the X Factor for these teams might be:

The Coaches

Robert Saleh

Robert Saleh is entering year 2 as a Head Coach and despite having a great offseason and a tall task in rebuilding the Jets, he has to be feeling a fair amount of pressure coming into this year. His Quarterback’s career may still be in its infancy, but the guy cannot stay healthy and makes dumbass decision after dumbass decision with the ball in his hands. This staff can still help him turn it around, but New York media is notoriously loud and Wilson has not looked like a number 2 overall pick to date.

Further ratcheting up the pressure on the Defensive-minded Coach is….the lack of Defense. As mentioned earlier, the Jets rank in the cellar of the league across several defensive categories. Again, taking the Jets job was committing to a rebuild and this team was not going to become a contender overnight. That being said, the Jets seemingly now have the personnel to run Saleh’s system and while rookie growing pains are to be expected, this team has to show signs of life by the end of this year for Saleh and Co to extend their East Coast tenure.

There are accomplishments Saleh can hang his hat on. Saleh got this gig because he has shown he can field elite defensive units in the past. It’s one thing to field a historic defense with stars like Nick Bosa, Deforest Buckner, and Richard Sherman playing at a Pro Bowl Level. It’s something else entirely to produce a Top 10 Defense across several key categories without any of those guys and a litany of injuries. Saleh did just that in 2020, solidifying his viability as a prominent Head Coaching Candidate. With a little more time and the right players, it’s not crazy to think he can repeat that ‘All Gas No Brakes’ formula to the roaring chants of J E T S JETS JETS JETS!

Brian Daboll

As impressive as Saleh’s resume was coming into his role with the Jets, Daboll’s might be even better. While you no doubt associate Daboll with now year in year out MVP Candidate Josh Allen, you may be less aware of what Daboll was working with when he inherited the young signal caller. In his draft profile, Allen was compared to Quarterbacks such as Tyrod Taylor, Josh McCown, and Brian Hoyer to name a few due largely to his then career completion percentage of 56.1. He was also cited as inconsistent, inaccurate, and lacking pocket presence despite incredible physical gifts.

Needless to say, nobody in their right mind would compare Allen to any of those Quarterbacks at this point in his career and he would without question go first overall in a 2018 redraft. Last year under Daboll, Allen set a franchise record producing 409 completions, 36 touchdown passes, and 4,407 yards while the Bills finished 3rd in the league in points per game (28.4) and 5th in yards per game (381.9).

In a duel of philosophies, each New York team leaned towards a different side of the ball with their Head Coaching hire. While the modern rule book clearly favors the offense and prioritizes teams putting points on the board, the old school mantra maintains that defense wins championships. It’ll be fun to see which of these coaches goes farther in their career, but as for this season a lot of it comes down to:

The Schedule

New York Jets:

Losing their starting quarterback for the remainder of the preseason is far from the only turbulence the Jets can expect this year (yes pun intended). The Jets were already facing an uphill battle to start the year with their strength of schedule ranking as the 6th most difficult this season.

These poor bastards literally open the season facing the entire AFC North, followed by the now loaded Dolphins, then get back to back weeks facing Aaron Rodgers and Russell Wilson, the first of their annual beat downs from Belichick, then the Super Bowl favorite Bills, followed by another matchup with their old pal Bill in New England. Christ would have more confidence facing Clostebol loaded Romans than the Jets could possibly have against this onslaught.

New York Giants:

While the Giants have been the laughing stock of the division that is the laughing stock of the NFL writ large for years, they did finally catch a break on the calendar. The Giants come into 2022 with the clear cut easiest schedule of any team in the league. That being said, other teams aren’t exactly crapping their pants seeing big blue on the schedule either.

Still, it has to feel good knowing you have a puncher’s chance against the Panthers (who have to already be looking for a new Head Coach), the Bare Cupboard Bears, the Geno Smith led Seahawks, the Houston NDAs, and oh by the way the NFC East. The Giants committed to a rebuild this year by gutting every dumbass Gettleman expenditure and still have a chance to compete in half the games on their schedule.

The Verdict

Predicting which of these teams will have the better year is almost as tough of an exercise as producing a quality NFL team in New Jersey. The Giants have the path of least resistance, a bright offensive mind, and zero expectations. The Jets on the other hand, have an absolutely brutal schedule, but a wealth of young talent coupled with continuity in year 2 of Saleh’s regime.

Our keyboard warriors think it’ll be another year of mediocrity for both New York teams, but with the caveat of both showing marked improvement and leaving their respective fanbases with plenty to look forward to in the coming years. With that said, we’re going to lean green in a tight race this season with the record predictions as follows:

Jets: 7-10

Giants: 6-11

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junker-town · 3 years

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Ultimate Super Bowl scouting report: What to expect from the Rams on Sunday

SB Nation’s communities covering teams that the Rams played this season have all the details you need on the Super Bowl contender.

The Los Angeles Rams are headed to Super Bowl LVI — and hoping to become just the second team in history to win a Super Bowl in their own stadium after the Tampa Bay Buccaneers achieved that feat last year.

To get there, the Rams had to rack up plenty of wins during the regular season and knock out postseason opponents in every phase of the playoffs, including the reigning champion Bucs. The Rams will now take on the Cincinnati Bengals on Feb. 13, with LA heading into the game as 4-point favorites according to DraftKings Sportsbook.

To help you get ready for the big game on Sunday — and to learn all you need to know about the Rams — we turned to the experts at our team communities to find out what they learned when the teams they cover played LA this season.

Week 1: Rams 34, Bears 14

The Chicago Bears opened up the 2021 season in Los Angeles against the Rams on primetime, and the game went about how most analysts predicted it would. The Rams won 34-14 and it wasn’t even that close. Matthew Stafford’s fit into Sean McVay’s offense was evident right away and I knew after Week 1 that the Rams were going to be a problem and a legitimate Super Bowl contender. The Bears had no answer for LA’s offense and Cooper Kupp had his way all night as he put up seven catches, 108 yards, and a touchdown. Their running game that night featured Darell Henderson, but McVay can scheme up success for any of his tailbacks. Week 1 was also long before Odell Beckham Jr. landed on the team, so I can’t even imagine how out of hand that game could have gotten!

The Bears held Aaron Donald to just three tackles and he was sackless until the final minutes of the game, but his presence helped Justin Hollins pick up two sacks. The LA defense also picked off Bears’ quarterback Andy Dalton, but they also allowed the first rushing touchdown of Justin Fields’ career.

In a weird scheduling quirk, the Bears faced the Rams in Week 1. Then in Week 2 they squared off against the Cincinnati Bengals, and even though those two games were so early in the NFL season, you had a sense of the potential both those teams had. However, I think the Rams are the more complete team, and I see them winning a close one. - Lester A. Wiltfong Jr., Windy City Gridiron

Week 2: Rams 27, Colts 24

When the Los Angeles Rams added Matthew Stafford to the roster in free agency, Indianapolis Colts fans took notice. If anything, fans in Indy had been hopeful that Stafford might be targeted by Chris Ballard as successor to Philip Rivers. Even if Ballard inquired, Indianapolis simply didn’t have the resources to offer what the Rams did. As a result, Colts fans were bracing for a difficult game when the Rams came to town in Week 2 — and most expected an early loss to a Rams team that boasts a ton of defensive talent, and one of the best receiving groups in the NFL.

To Colts fans’ surprise, Indianapolis gave the Rams all they wanted with Carson Wentz under center after an abbreviated offseason. The game came down to a big play … and Cooper Kupp. The Colts’ secondary had no answer for Kupp and Wentz threw a pick on a shovel pass at the Rams’ 3-yard-line, taking away a would-be score.

No matter. This Rams team is legit. Stafford is one of the better quarterbacks in the NFL, even though he struggled to show that in Detroit with the Lions. Defensive names like Aaron Donald and Jalen Ramsey stand out as trouble for any opponent. The Rams’ receiving weapons now include Van Jefferson and Odell Beckham Jr., to go along with possibly the deepest backfield in the NFL. If Sean McVay had a stud at tight end, he could be unstoppable.

Sometimes he is anyway. - Brett Mock, Stampede Blue

Week 3: Rams 34, Buccaneers 24

The LA Rams are just the second team in NFL history to play a Super Bowl in their home stadium. Like the Buccaneers last year, they’re hoping to win in their home stadium. After watching this team go up against the Bucs twice this year, there’s no question that can happen.

The addition of Matthew Stafford is the catalyst. He was the kind of quarterback Sean McVay needed to take his offense to the next level with his deep shot accuracy, propensity to get the ball into the hands of his playmakers when facing a blitz, and ability to move around in the pocket or make plays with his legs. This has also been a season in which Cooper Kupp has emerged as one of the best receivers in the league and a player that understands what he’s up against in any given situation. In short, there’s no play in which Kupp doesn’t have the upper hand.

Defensively, the Rams are a force unlike many others in the league. Aaron Donald is looking for a championship to go along with a sure fire gold jacket, while Von Miller is looking to add to his jewelry collection. With the intelligence and ball hawking abilities of Jalen Ramsey, the Rams have things covered from front to back to the sides.

But they aren’t invincible.

The key to beating the Rams is to generate pressure on Stafford with the front four. Similar to what the Bucs were able to do with Patrick Mahomes in Super Bowl LV, dropping eight guys back can put the Bengals in an advantageous position to force Stafford into mistakes — something he still has a tendency to do at times. With Trey Hendrickson and Sam Hubbard, the Bengals have the talent to do exactly that and not leave their questionable secondary on an island against Kupp or Odell Beckham Jr. - James Yarcho, Bucs Nation

Week 4: Cardinals 37, Rams 20

For the Los Angeles Rams, Super Bowl LVI is the culmination of really putting all their cards on the table. They saw the flaws in their team and added Matthew Stafford, they saw key pieces go down and added Sony Michel and Odell Beckham Jr.

The Rams have been built to win a Super Bowl in the next two seasons. They now have that opportunity and the dynamic offense and aggressive defense to see it come to fruition. With Stafford, Cooper Kupp, Beckham and the return of Cam Akers, the Rams offense is one of the most difficult to defend in the league. They have the ability to win with big plays or methodical, time-consuming drives. You have to be able to capitalize on the mistakes they do make, because they make so few and if you give them extra chances, they won’t miss them.

The Rams’ biggest strength continues to be their defense, though. Jalen Ramsey will have the chance to cover Ja’Marr Chase and help stop the Joe Burrow passing attack. When you combine that coverage with Aaron Donald, Von Miller and the Rams’ pass rush, this Rams team is tough to beat.

What the Rams have done is create a team with few flaws. They have a very good offense, a great defense and a special teams unit that usually wins the kicking battle. Marry that to their young and innovative coaching staff and you have the best team in the league. They’ll be tough for the Bengals to beat. - Seth Cox, Revenge of the Birds

Week 5: Rams 26, Seahawks 17

The Seattle Seahawks were swept by the Los Angeles Rams, first by a score of 26-17 in October and then 20-10 on a Tuesday night in December after LA’s COVID-19 outbreak postponed the game. Both matchups were close late in the fourth quarter but in the first one Russell Wilson suffered a finger injury in the second half. Geno Smith tried to lead the comeback, but was picked off with two minutes left. Wilson could’ve led a comeback down in Inglewood if not for a horrendous non-call on a 4th down pass interference.

Matthew Stafford threw for 361 yards in Seattle, with much of the damage coming in the second half. In the rematch, he threw for 244 yards — with 136 of them going to Cooper Kupp — who also bagged two touchdowns. Odell Beckham Jr. was held to just one catch for seven yards. Seattle’s pass rush didn’t generate much heat against Stafford in the first matchup, but he was sacked four times in the rematch.

The defense played well for the most part over the two meetings; it was the offense, which has historically struggled against the Rams defense, that did them in. Seattle’s rushing attack has been one of their best weapons against the Rams’ defense on better days, but it was barely existent in these games. While the offensive line was surprisingly not terrible in pass blocking, they ultimately allowed Aaron Donald to get his usual sacks.

This sounds cliche, but if you’re gonna beat the Rams you have to win in the trenches. The 49ers and Titans showed the blueprint in the regular season. Cincinnati has the front four (really just Trey Hendrickson) to trouble the Rams’ OL, but can the Bengals’ much-criticized offensive line effectively neutralize Donald, Von Miller, and Leonard Floyd? That’s Mission Impossible. - Mookie Alexander, Field Gulls

Week 6: Rams 38, Giants 11

Honestly, the biggest thing New York Giants’ fans learned from the 38-11 beatdown the Giants suffered at the hands of the LA Rams in Week 6 on Oct. 17 was just how far the Giants had to go in order to be a good team.

This loss came one week after the Giants were routed by division rivals, the Dallas Cowboys, with a final score of 44-20. So, the message was pretty clear at that point that the Giants were not good enough to compete with the better teams in the league.

The Giants were without Saquon Barkley and Kenny Golladay, and lost Kadarius Toney after the first series, but they were clearly overmatched. Matthew Stafford threw four touchdown passes that day and made it clear these were not the Jared Goff Rams any longer. At least Odell Beckham Jr. hadn’t shown up on the scene for LA yet. – Ed Valentine, Big Blue View

Week 7: Rams 28, Lions 19

The week after the Detroit Lions were punched in the mouth by the Cincinnati Bengals for their sixth loss in as many weeks, they had to head out west for a matchup with the Los Angeles Rams, and many were wondering how Dan Campbell’s group would respond after such a decisive loss.

I wonder how much it costs to haul a kitchen sink on a cross-country flight …

The Lions threw everything they could at the Rams. Detroit, leading 7-0 after the game’s opening drive, surprised Los Angeles with an onside kick to immediately regain possession. And when the Lions faced a fourth-and-7 near midfield on that ensuing possession, punter Jack Fox threw for a first down on a fake punt. The Lions would see their 10-point lead turn into a one-point deficit, trailing the Rams 17-16 at halftime, but Campbell and Co. had more up their sleeves. On the Lions’ first possession in the second half, facing another fourth-and-8, Fox threw for another first down, this time from Detroit’s side of the field.

Detroit would fight until the end, managing to stay in the game until the final minutes of the fourth quarter before Jared Goff threw two costly interceptions, but they went down throwing everything they could at Los Angeles–and Sean McVay and the Rams were caught off guard all game long.

We’ve seen teams get tricky on the game’s biggest stage before, maybe the most memorable one being Sean Payton’s New Orleans Saints coming out of halftime, down 10-6, with an onside kick to take back possession in Super Bowl XLIV. If the Bengals find the right time to roll the dice with some trickeration of their own, they could catch the Rams napping as the Lions did back in Week 7. - Ryan Mathews, Pride of Detroit

Week 8: Rams 38, Texans 22

Unless you’re a fan of the Rams or Texans, there’s little chance you watched these two teams play each other at NRG Stadium on Halloween. You may, however, be familiar with what happened if you were fortunate enough to have Matthew Stafford, Cooper Kupp, or Darrell Henderson on your fantasy squad, as all three of those gentlemen had monster games in Houston. The Rams were up 38-0 on the admittedly vastly inferior Texans at the end of three quarters; while the final score reflected only a 16-point loss, I can assure you the game was in no way that close at any point. It was, quite simply, a clinic.

So what did we learn from that one-sided affair? That the Rams are a complete team, capable of putting up a flurry of points while simultaneously pitching a shutout. They had some missteps during the 2021 season to be sure, but there were very few rosters that could boast as much high end talent as the Rams do. If Stafford is not turning the ball over (and he didn’t against the Texans), Sean McVay’s squad is very, very tough to beat.

The Bengals operate on a much higher plane than the woeful Texans do, and it seems unlikely Joe Burrow will find himself down 38 points like Davis Mills did. But the Rams are an explosive team, better equipped to pile on the points than perhaps any other team in the NFL. The scores can come in waves, and that’s tough to come back from, especially when facing a defense that features Aaron Donald and Jalen Ramsey.

The Bengals have to force turnovers and get after Stafford. Get him off his game, and perhaps he’ll do what he can to keep Cincinnati close. - Tim McHale, Battle Red Blog

Week 9: Titans 28, Rams 16

The Tennessee Titans traveled to Los Angeles to play the Rams on Sunday Night Football the week after they lost Derrick Henry to a broken foot. Everyone in the world was saying the Titans season was over. There were some that even suggested the Titans should rest their starters for the Rams game because the Titans had no chance at winning. It seemed like in that game the Rams might have felt the same way.

The Titans won the Week 9 game on the strength of their defense. They sacked Matthew Stafford five times in that game. That was the key to keeping that vaunted Rams’ offense off schedule. That is the best way to go about beating the Rams – make Matthew Stafford uncomfortable.

They were also able to limit the big plays to Cooper Kupp. In that game, Kupp did catch 11 passes but he only had 95 yards. It was obvious their plan was to keep him from beating them over the top. It certainly is easier to do that when the defensive front is getting after Stafford. The Titans’ offense was not able to do much against the Rams’ defense. While the Titans scored 28 points, most of that was set up by the defense getting a turnover or stopping the Rams on fourth down. The Tennessee offense only had one long drive that resulted in points.

If the Rams are going to win this game, they are going to have to give Stafford time to push the ball down the field. - Jimmy Morris, Music City Miracles

Week 10: Niners 31, Rams 10

No one has seen more of the Rams this season than the San Francisco 49ers, who swept two regular season games against LA before falling in the NFC Championship. The Rams’ offense under Sean McVay has always been elite when his quarterbacks get a clean pocket, but has folded when opposing defenses generate pressure with their front-four. The Niners defensive line has always been a huge strength, and it has led Rams quarterbacks to be particularly turnover prone against them.

McVay took a page out of Shanahan’s playbook in the NFC Championship game. The Rams ran the ball down the Niners’ throats and controlled time of possession. The 49ers were unable to shutdown LA’s rushing offense and their pass rushers were gassed in the fourth quarter, when Stafford led a Rams comeback.

Defensively, the Rams have always had good defenses built around a few great players. Shanahan is a master at isolating a defense’s weakest link, and has generally succeeded doing that against Los Angeles. Strangely, the Niners failed to take what the defense gave them in the NFC Championship, and their offense paid the price. The Rams were 14-3 this year against everyone except the 49ers, who had the unique combination of talent and coaching aptitude to capitalize on Los Angeles’ few weaknesses. The Bengals lack the depth (and probably coaching acumen) of San Francisco, but they also have Joe Burrow at quarterback instead of Jimmy Garoppolo. I expect the Rams to try and control time of possession early like they did in the NFC Championship game. If they do, it should be a lot easier to keep Stafford in a clean pocket. If that’s the case, it will take an exceptional performance from Burrow to prevent McVay and the Rams from hoisting the Lombardi Trophy. - Marc Delucchi, Niners Nation

Week 11: Bye

Week 12: Packers 36, Rams 28

Two weeks before the Los Angeles Rams and Green Bay Packers played at Lambeau Field, Rams receiver Robert Woods tore his ACL in practice, ending his season. On the same day, the team had made the decision to sign Odell Beckham Jr., who was also considering signing with the Packers at the time. In the Rams’ first game with OBJ, Los Angeles lost 31-10 to the San Francisco 49ers with quarterback Matthew Stafford, then in the MVP conversation, throwing 41 passes for 243 yards, two interceptions and a QBR of 37.2 as nearly half of the offense’s passing production ran through would-be First-Team All-Pro Cooper Kupp.

The biggest question that the Rams had to answer at that point in the season was what the offense would look like when teams began to focus on Kupp, in terms of coverage attention. Against the Packers, they were able to answer those questions, despite losing by eight points.

The speedy Van Jefferson was able to haul in a 79-yard bomb over primary slotback Chandon Sullivan while Beckham made his first significant contribution with the Rams, a 81-yard receiving mark that ended up being the high of his regular season.

In total, the Rams were able to post 302 passing yards against the Packers and were able to register more than 200 yards by non-Kupp players, a stark contrast to what they looked like post-Woods against the 49ers the week before. From that point on, the Rams won five of their six remaining regular season games, never scoring fewer than 20 points, as the Stafford-led offense continued to roll without Woods.

The moral of the story? If you focus too much on Kupp, the Rams had other high-flying targets who could gash you for big plays. - Justis Mosqueda, Acme Packing Company

Week 13: Rams 37, Jaguars 7

It’s hard to glean too much about the Rams from watching them play the Jacksonville Jaguars, as the Jaguars were down 10 points in the first quarter after only two offensive plays from Jacksonville. The Rams marched right down the field for a field goal, the Jaguars turned it over and the Rams scored and that was pretty much the ball game.

Joking aside however, the Rams seem to be one of the most complete teams in the NFL and that was on full display against the lowly Jaguars. The Rams were clearly the much better team across the board on paper, and like most well coached teams, they did exactly what they should have done on the field, which was to completely dominate the other side.

The Rams’ defense suffocated the Jaguars’ offense and the addition of Matthew Stafford to the Rams offense really opened it up, adding much needed deep passing to a Rams offense that suddenly now became multi-dimensional. - Alfie Crow, Big Cat Country

Week 14: Rams 30, Cardinals 23

Week 15: Rams 20, Seahawks 10

Week 16: Rams 30, Vikings 23

The biggest thing that the Minnesota Vikings and their fans learned when they lost to the Los Angeles Rams in Week 16 is that the Rams will give you opportunities, but you absolutely need to cash in on them. The Vikings managed to force Matthew Stafford into three interceptions in that contest at U.S. Bank Stadium, with two of those interceptions setting them up inside the Rams’ red zone. Unfortunately, they only converted those three interceptions into 10 points, which was pretty huge considering that the Vikings only lost by seven points. The Vikings had seen Stafford numerous times during his time with the Detroit Lions and knew that he was susceptible to turning the football over, and even though Stafford has been playing well this postseason, he’s still going to have a couple of throws a game that a defense can take advantage of and turn into interceptions. When you get those turnovers, you absolutely must take advantage and turn them into points, because the Rams are too good on both sides of the football to squander those sorts of opportunities.

Also, don’t overlook the Rams’ special teams, because they were the difference in their victory over Minnesota. Johnny Hekker and Matt Gay have both been very good, and Brandon Powell returned a punt for a touchdown in that contest. When two teams that are close to equal are matched up, special teams can make a tremendous difference, and the Rams almost certainly have to be among the league’s best in that department. - Christopher Gates, Daily Norseman

Week 17: Rams 20, Ravens 19

When Baltimore hosted LA in Week 17, I saw from the Rams a team that despite their flaws, can persevere on the shoulders of their stars.

While other teams came into Baltimore and boasted strong resumes, I don’t think many were as concerned about the Rams. They were struggling a bit and Matthew Stafford had shown some signs of being rattled. Also, traveling from Los Angeles to Baltimore can be a challenging road trip. Stafford threw a pick six early (and would later be strip-sacked) and it felt like the beaten-down Ravens had a chance. That’s when the stars shined.

Rams safety Jordan Fuller intercepted a pass with 1:42 remaining in the half after the Ravens were up 10-0. Stafford responded, hitting wide receiver Cooper Kupp for an 18-yard touchdown. Aaron Donald shut down a fourth quarter redzone attempt with a third down sack. Stafford would connect with Kupp again to get the Rams into the redzone before Sony Michel would walk in the touchdown. Stafford also found wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. for a seven-yard score. And then, when the Ravens had the chance to drive down and make it a ball game, veteran pass rusher Von Miller closed the door with an eight-yard sack with 19 seconds left and no timeouts.

The Ravens were playing with backup quarterback Tyler Huntley, and like I said, the Rams appeared flawed, but their stars shined brightest when they needed to and that’s what they’ve been good for all season. The Rams have mortgaged their future for this opportunity. Trading away first-round selections and kicking the cap can down the road. In sacrificing for that, they’ve built a squad of stars who can vault them into a Super Bowl championship. – Kyle Barber, Baltimore Beatdown

Week 18: Niners 27, Rams 24

Wildcard Round: Rams 34, Cardinals 11

Divisional Round: Rams 30, Buccaneers 27

NFC Championship: Rams 20, Niners 17

Visit Turf Show Times for everything you need to know about Super Bowl LVI.

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eaglesnow · 6 years

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Should Eagles Fans Be Worried?

Hell no. Most years, the football Gods bestow super powers upon one bad to mediocre to just “okay” NFL teams for the first 4-5 weeks and then suddenly strip them of those powers. Let’s go back, and take a look. In 2011, the Buffalo Bills entered the season with low expectations as usual, but the team jumped out to a 5-2 start. They lost the next seven games and ended 6-10. Note: Ryan Fitzpatrick was the starter for this team. He threw 14 touchdowns to just seven interceptions in the first 7 games and followed up with 10 measly touchdowns and 16 interceptions in the next nine games. His 23 picks that year were a league high. Ouch. Shifting gears towards a team known as a better AFC competitor, the 2012 Pittsburgh Steelers went 6-3 before losing five of the next seven. They closed their season 8-8. I hate to bring this up, but the 2014 Eagles went 6-2 with Nick Foles under center before he sustained a season-ending collarbone injury in Houston. Mark Sanchez took over, helped earn three wins over the next four weeks, but ultimately hindered the team offensively. The Eagles only won 1 more game, ended 10-6, and missed playoffs. The 2016 Eagles are somewhat of an interesting case. With rookie quarterback Carson Wentz, they began 3-1, but ended 7-9. Many like to blame this on Lane Johnson’s suspension, as the birds couldn’t establish any kind of run game for the next 10 weeks, but the team as a whole just seemed flat. Finally, last year, we saw the Kansas City Chiefs jump out to a 5-0 start. They boasted the league’s best passer through five weeks in Alex Smith with many commentators already priming him for league MVP. They won one game out of the next seven. Now, the Chiefs did win their last four which allowed them to play the Tennessee Titans in the Wild Card round of playoffs, but they blew a big lead in that game and somehow lost 22-21. It is also worth noting the first win for the Chiefs in their 5-0 start came against the defending 2016 Super Bowl champion Patriots. Are we seeing this example repeat with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2018? So far, the Bucs have beaten two 2017 playoff teams, one being the eventual Super Bowl champions. Ryan Fitzpatrick has set the league on fire with his eight passing touchdowns and one rushing. Surely a team that went 2-14 last season isn’t going to flip the switch and go 16-0. This is an Eagles blog, but I’m gonna say the Bucs will win two more to start 4-0, lose their next three (4-3), and ultimately end 9-7. They are not a good team despite beating up on two great teams. What’s the biggest fluke indicator? Maybe the fact that Fitzpatrick is the first quarterback in NFL history to throw for 400+ yards and four touchdowns in the first two starts of the season. Come on, people, it’s still Ryan Fitzpatrick. I’m not worried about the Eagles, and you shouldn’t be either—especially with Carson Wentz making his return this Sunday versus the Colts. Expect the Linc to be rockin’ when 11 makes his much anticipated entrance in a helmet and pads. t.w. 9/18/18

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your-dietician · 3 years

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2021 NFL Divisional Power Rankings: NFC West takes top spot, Cowboys in the basement with rest of NFC East

New Post has been published on https://tattlepress.com/nfl/2021-nfl-divisional-power-rankings-nfc-west-takes-top-spot-cowboys-in-the-basement-with-rest-of-nfc-east/

2021 NFL Divisional Power Rankings: NFC West takes top spot, Cowboys in the basement with rest of NFC East

Now that the month of July is here, that means the dead part of the NFL offseason is officially upon us and although things can get kind of boring during that period, we’ve decided to spice things up and we’re doing that today with some divisional power rankings.

If you’ve ever wondered which division is the best one in the NFL, you won’t have to wonder much longer because we’re going to answer that question for you. Some divisions — like the NFC East — are easy to rank because, well, let’s be honest, it was the worst division last year and it doesn’t look like things are going to be much better this year.

On the other hand, there are some divisions that are nearly impossible to rank, cough, NFC North. No one knows if Aaron Rodgers is going to be playing for the Packers this year, which is one reason why it’s tough to rank that division.

So how did everything shake out?

Let’s get to the rankings.

8. NFC East

I’m not sure what rock bottom is in the NFL, but the NFC East was definitely trying to find out last season. This division was so bad in 2020 that even NFC East fans were willing to admit that their favorite division was horrible.

If you need a quick refresher on how bad the NFC East was last year, just consider this: Washington won the division with a losing record (7-9). Overall, the NFC East finished with a 10-29-1 non-divisional record last season, which was tied with the 2014 NFC South for the worst non-divisional record since the NFL realigned the divisions in 2002. Also, the NFC East combined to go 23-40-1 overall, which was the second-worst overall record ever for a division (The 2008 NFC West went 22-42).

Unfortunately for the NFC East, it doesn’t look like things are going to get much better in 2021. The Eagles are still a mess and they have a first-year coach in place who’s going to have to clean things up. The Giants should be better, but that’s going to come down to whether Daniel Jones can take the next step. The Cowboys will be getting Dak Prescott back, but who knows if that will actually help. In the four games where Dak was healthy last year, the Cowboys went 1-3. As for Washington, the Football Team still has a strong defense and they upgraded at quarterback, so they could be better, but not enough to move the NFC East out of the basement.

Eventually, this division will get better, but this probably won’t be the year where that happens.

NFC East out-of-division record in 2020: 10-29-1 (1-3 vs. NFC North, 2-2 vs. NFC South, 4-12 vs. NFC West, 4-11-1 vs. AFC North) 2021 out-of-division schedule: Four games vs. NFC South and AFC West (One game vs. AFC East)

7. AFC South

This might be the most top heavy division in the NFL this year. On one hand, you have the Colts and Titans, who should both be playoff contenders. On the other hand, you have the Jaguars and Texans, who might end up finishing the season with the two worst records in football.

Right now, Houston is a total disaster. The team has a quarterback who doesn’t want to play for them, but they can’t trade him due to his legal issues. With Deshaun Watson’s status up in the air, the Texans will likely be turning things over to Tyrod Taylor at quarterback. In Jacksonville, the Jags should be better — because it’s not possible to get much worse after a 1-15 season — but with a rookie quarterback and first-year coach in Urban Meyer, this doesn’t feel like a team that really has a chance to finish the season above .500.

Although the Titans and Colts are both expected to be good this year, this division could end up as the worst one in football if either of those teams falter, which isn’t completely out of the question. The Colts have no idea what they’ll be getting in Carson Wentz and the Titans defense will need to be better than it was last year.

AFC South out-of-division record in 2020: 15-25 (8-8 vs. NFC North, 2-14 vs. AFC North, 3-1 vs. AFC East, 2-2 vs. AFC West) 2021 out-of-division schedule: Four games vs. NFC West and AFC East (one game vs. NFC South)

6. NFC North

The NFC North was the hardest division to rank this year and that’s because no one has any idea if Aaron Rodgers is going to be in it. If Rodgers is playing for the Packers, you could probably make the case that this division should be ranked fifth or maybe even fourth, but with Rodgers status up in the air, we’re dropping them all the way to sixth.

Outside of the Packers, no other team in this division finished above .500 last year. The Bears were on the cusp of being good, but their quarterback situation always seems to hold them back and this year might not be any different. Coach Matt Nagy has been insisting that Andy Dalton will be the team’s Week 1 starter, which actually might be for the best, because the Bears are playing the Rams. If the Bears start Justin Fields in the opener, he might take so many hits from Aaron Donald that it will scar him for life.

In Minnesota, the Vikings should be better after beefing up their defense. The defensive line alone will have four players this year who didn’t play a single snap for the team last year in Danielle Hunter (injured), Sheldon Richardson (2021 free agent signing), Dalvin Tomlinson (2021 free agent signing) and Michael Pierce (Opted out in 2020 due to COVID). As for the Lions, they’re still the Lions and they’re a big reason why this division is ranked so low.

NFC North out-of-division record in 2020: 21-19 (8-8 vs. NFC South, 8-8 vs AFC South, 3-1 vs. NFC East, 2-2 vs. NFC West) 2021 out-of-division schedule: Four games vs. NFC West and AFC North (one game vs. AFC West)

5. NFC South

If these rankings were based solely on how good the best team in your division is, then the NFC South would probably be ranked first this year and that’s because they have the defending Super Bowl champions. However, that’s not how things work around here. For our divisional rankings, we take into account all four teams, which definitely doesn’t work out in the NFC South’s favor.

Although the Buccaneers feel like a lock to make the playoffs, the same can’t be said about any other team in the division. The Saints actually won the NFC South last year, but it’s hard to see them repeating as champs and that’s mainly due to the fact that their starting quarterback is either going to be Jameis Winston or Taysom Hill.

The Panthers (5-11 last year) and Falcons (4-12 in 2020) should both be better, but even if both teams improve by three wins, they’ll still be under .500. This feels like a division where every team except for the Buccaneers is probably going to finish with somewhere between six and nine wins.

NFC South out-of-division record in 2020: 20-20 (8-8 vs. NFC North, 8-8 vs. AFC West, 2-2 vs. NFC East, 2-2 vs. NFC West) 2021 out-of-division schedule: Four games vs. NFC East and AFC East (one game vs. AFC South)

4. AFC East

For most of the past 20 years, the AFC East was basically just the Patriots beating up on three bad teams, but that all changed in 2020. With Tom Brady no longer in New England, the Patriots domination finally ended and because of that, the AFC East is now a much more well-rounded division.

The Bills used to be the laughing stock of the division, but now, they’re laughing at everyone else after a 2020 season where Josh Allen led them to the AFC title game. Since hiring Sean McDermott in 2017, the Bills have been steadily improving every year and heading into Year 5 of his regime, they now feel like an actual Super Bowl contender, which is something that no one has been able to say about the Bills in more than 25 years.

Although the Patriots got knocked off the top of the divisional perch last season, they’re not going away. During the offseason, Bill Belichick basically went out and signed anyone he could get his hands on in hopes of wrestling the division title back from Buffalo.

As for the Dolphins, thanks to their 10-6 finish last season, this feels like a division that has at least three playoff contenders. Some day the Jets will turn things around, but until that day comes, it will be hard to rank this division any higher (The Jets haven’t made the playoffs since 2010, which is the longest active streak in the NFL without a postseason appearance).

AFC East out-of-division record in 2020: 20-20 (8-8 vs. NFC West, 7-9 vs. AFC West, 4-0 vs. AFC North, 1-3 vs. AFC South)

2021 out-of-division schedule: Four games vs. NFC South and AFC South (one game vs. NFC East)

3. AFC West

It’s not easy to rank the AFC West and that’s mostly because it’s almost impossible to gauge how good this division is outside of Kansas City. Look, we know the Chiefs are unstoppable and they proved that last year during the regular season. Not only did they go 14-1 in games where their starters played, but they went UNDEFEATED (10-0) against non-divisional opponents (To put that in perspective, only three other teams have pulled that off over the past 10 years: 2012 Falcons, 2015 Panthers and 2016 Cowboys).

The problem with the rest of the division is that none of them finished above .500 last year, which makes the AFC West the only AFC division that had three teams finish at .500 or below. On paper, all three teams should be better this year, but that doesn’t necessarily mean anything. I mean, on paper, I think I look like Brad Pitt, but no one actually thinks that in real life.

The Broncos have a strong defense and some talented skill players, but they don’t have a quarterback. The Chargers have talent everywhere, but we have no idea if their first-year coach can actually coach. As for the Raiders, their defense was bad last year and they didn’t do much to improve it.

That being said, it does feel like feel like all three teams could compete for a wild-card this year. I mean, if this woman can make the Raiders logo out of rice, then surely the Raiders can compete for a playoff berth.

AFC West out-of-division record in 2020: 22-18 (8-8 vs. NFC South, 9-7 vs. AFC East, 3-1 vs. AFC North, 2-2 vs. AFC South)

2021 out-of-division schedule: Four games vs. NFC East and AFC North (one game vs. NFC North)

2. AFC North

Of all the divisions in the NFL, only one of them sent three teams to the playoffs last year and that was the AFC North, which has consistently been one of the best divisions in football. As a matter of fact, over the past 10 years, there have only been five instances where a division sent three teams to the playoffs and the AFC North has accounted for three of those (2011, 2014, 2020)

Last season was a banner year for the division and there’s a chance that things are only going to get better for everyone in 2021, well, except for maybe the Steelers. On the Browns’ end, Cleveland has finally found a competent coach in Kevin Stefanski, which means the Browns could take a big step forward. The Browns already took a huge step forward with Stefanski — they won their first playoff game since 1994 — but now that they’ve tasted victory, expectations are even higher in Cleveland.

As for the Ravens, they’ve been nearly unstoppable on offense with Lamar Jackson and that will likely continue this season. The Steelers are the team with the biggest question marks in the division and those questions mainly revolve around whether Ben Roethlisberger can make it through an entire season unscathed. If he can, there’s no reason the Steelers can’t return to the playoffs.

The worst team in the AFC North is the Bengals, but they might not be the worst team much longer. With Joe Burrow returning from his ACL injury and a revamped defense, it won’t be surprising if the Bengals win several more games than they did last year.

With the NFL playoffs now open to 14 teams, it will now be possible for a division to send ALL FOUR of its teams to the playoffs, and if the Bengals can improve, the AFC North might be able to make history in 2021.

AFC North out-of-division record in 2020: 26-13-1 (11-4-1 vs. NFC East, 14-2 vs. AFC South, 1-3 vs. AFC West, 0-4 vs. AFC East) 2021 out-of-division schedule: Four games vs. AFC West and NFC North (one game vs. NFC West)

1. NFC West

The NFC was arguably the best division in football last year and the reason they’re still at the top this year is because you can make the argument that every team in the division has gotten EVEN BETTER heading into 2021.

The worst team in the division last season was the 49ers and when a team two years removed from a Super Bowl berth is your worst team, that is a pretty strong argument that you have one of the best divisions in football. The 49ers got rocked by injuries last year, but with everyone healthy in 2021, this is a team that should be a Super Bowl contender.

The only other team that didn’t finish above .500 in the NFC West last season was the Cardinals, but that could change in 2021 after their explosive offseason. Arizona went out and signed everyone, including J.J. Watt, A.J. Green and Malcolm Butler. They also added some protection for Kyler Murray in the form of center Rodney Hudson.

Of course, the biggest move in the division came from the Rams, who traded for Matthew Stafford, who should be a huge upgrade over Jared Goff. In four seasons with Goff, Sean McVay averaged 10.75 wins per season, so don’t be surprised if he tops that number with Stafford.

As for Seattle, as long as Russell Wilson’s relationship with the team doesn’t implode, the Seahawks should be a playoff contender like they have been in every single season since 2012 when he took over the starting job. .

If there’s one division in the NFL where it feels like any of the four teams could end up in a conference championship game, it definitely feels like this one.

NFC West out-of-division record in 2020: 24-16 (12-4 vs. NFC East, 8-8 vs. AFC East, 2-2 vs. NFC South, 2-2 vs. NFC North) 2021 out-of-division schedule: Four games vs. NFC North and AFC South (one game vs. AFC North)

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