NFL 2020 Season

[babyblob]

So Drew Brees has fractured ribs on both sides and a collapsed lung, yeah thinking he's not playing this week

Is it just me or have there been a ton of injuries this season. It is like every Monday when I turn in sports center there is a guy saying.

"Look at the odd angle of this guy's leg after that tackle." Or " Watch the replay if this guy's bones being turned to dust after this hit."

It has been crazy.

[WestPhillyPunisher]

Hey, WBE, I think you might soon have to add Doug Pederson to your head coach hot seat list because he and the Eagles are in TROUBLE. After blowing an eminently winnable game against the Giants yesterday, the team faces a murderer’s row of games against Cleveland, Seattle, Green Bay, New Orleans and Arizona. It’s entirely possible, if not likely Philly could be 3-10-1 by the time they finish that brutal stretch, and it’s clear Pederson is feeling the heat because he was uncharacteristically surly during his day after appearance on the local sports talk radio station this morning. At least the team won’t have to worry about what few fans booing them at home games after increased restrictions announced this afternoon to curtail the virus included no fans allowed at any sporting events in the city which goes into effect on Friday.

[BeastieRunner]

Is it just me or have there been a ton of injuries this season. It is like every Monday when I turn in sports center there is a guy saying.

"Look at the odd angle of this guy's leg after that tackle." Or " Watch the replay if this guy's bones being turned to dust after this hit."

It has been crazy.

Add Foles to the list.

[worstblogever]

Hey, WBE, I think you might soon have to add Doug Pederson to your head coach hot seat list because he and the Eagles are in TROUBLE. After blowing an eminently winnable game against the Giants yesterday, the team faces a murderer’s row of games against Cleveland, Seattle, Green Bay, New Orleans and Arizona. It’s entirely possible, if not likely Philly could be 3-10-1 by the time they finish that brutal stretch, and it’s clear Pederson is feeling the heat because he was uncharacteristically surly during his day after appearance on the local sports talk radio station this morning. At least the team won’t have to worry about what few fans booing them at home games after increased restrictions announced this afternoon to curtail the virus included no fans allowed at any sporting events in the city which goes into effect on Friday.

NFC (L)East coaches are all in jeopardy, really. The argument I have for any of them would be, "You couldn't win THIS division? GET THE F*** OUTTA HERE!"

Pederson might turn up in there in coming weeks. He's currently leading the division, so I'm not rushing him onto the list. Who might end up on there before too long ahead of Pedersen?

Matt Nagy. Bears have dropped four straight after a 5-1 start.

ADD: Chicago goes into their BYE week, and when they come out of it, they get to face... the PACKERS. Likely with Mitch Trubisky back under center. WHOOF.

[worstblogever]

Week 10 "WHO'S COOKIN' ON THE HOTSEAT?/FIRE THIS COACH!" Watch

ALREADY FIRED BEFORE WEEK 8: Bill O'Brien (Texans) , Dan Quinn (Falcons)

10. Mike Zimmer, Vikings (LUKEWARM SEAT): The Vikings were supposedly "just a QB away" from winning a Super Bowl with the impeccable defense they had, and they spent BIG for Kirk Cousins. Then they traded away Stephon Diggs (BIG MISTAKE), and their defense officially "got a case of the olds" going into 2020. Minnesota is 4-5 and on a three game winning streak after getting the Lions and Bears in back-to-back weeks. And that will ALWAYS buy a coach time in Minnesota. He should send Dalvin Cook some flowers for going off for 4 TDs against the packers and then going out there and snagging 206 yards rushing yesterday. Glancing at the Vikings' second half schedule, they have a game against Detroit left, one against Chicago (who are still trending the wrong direction right now, and Matt Nagy could end up on this list if they don’t reverse what’s been happening in Chicago since the double-doink game), and Minnesota still gets to play Dallas and Jacksonville. This doesn't look like a squad that's going to manage a playoff run this season, but with a light schedule, they bear a chance of getting back to .500 if things go right.


9. Matt Patricia, Lions (LUKEWARM SEAT) Detroit is now 4-5 after having the good fortunes to face the now 2-7 WFT. We will note, however… Detroit led in that contest 24-3, and Washington came all the way back on the arm and jigsaw puzzle lower body of Alex Smith to tie it at 27-27 in the fourth quarter. Were it not for getting bailed out by a 59 yard Matt Prater field goal at the gun, we would have the latest example of Matt Patricia, defensive genius somehow choking away a double digit lead.

While their current slate of upcoming games looks friendly, Detroit cannot win on Matt Stafford's arm alone (he threw a pick-six yesterday, because Indy knew he was throwing the ball). And that becomes even harder when you consider he left Sunday’s contest with a head injury that’s likely to place him in concussion protocol and could jeopardize him starting next week when the WFT come to town. Speaking of home games, the Lions are also winless at home, because of course they're just going to perform worse in front of their own fans. We should note also that two of their three wins are against the Jets and Jaguars, so this team is actually far worse than that in reality. Oh, and don't forget, Matt Patricia probably shouldn't have been hired because of 1996 sexual assault indictment he had, if this organization was actually smart enough to do a simple background check before hiring him.

8. Joe Judge, Giants (LUKEWARM SEAT) The Giants are 3-7 after facing their division rivals, the Eagles, who did them the courtesy of self-immolating yesterday. This wasn’t as much about New York getting their act together as that Philly had 11 penalties, lost the turnover battle by -3, and also managed to fail to convert a single first down in a game that has pundits wondering “What the hell is wrong with Carson Wentz?” (Answer: His line is all beat up.)

Anyway, back to the Giants… Daniel Jones is still trying to shake the "draft bust" label, and having a game where he just “didn’t f*** it up” and got a win that might help people forget the embarrassing clip of him tripping and falling flat on his face on the 11 yard line against the Eagles in Week 8 (NAH, that’s FOREVER HIS NFL MEMORY). As for to the rest of this squad... they're without Saquon Barkley for the rest of the year. The only upside is... they're still nowhere near eliminated in hunt in their division, because it's utter shite. Now they're only a half game behind the Eagles in second place, but have a murderer’s row of opponents left on their schedule that aren’t division matchups. Based on that, expect them to struggle to pass the Eagles for the division lead.
Joe Judge is probably not a name you've heard, in general, as New York's coach. You will be for the rest of the year. He was formerly New England's assistant special teams coach. How he got elevated to his first HC gig... lord only knows. How the Giants have not paid attention to how everything on the Belichek coaching tree has died on the vine through the past 20 years... yeah... don't know. What we do know is, Joe Judge made his players run sprints when he wasn't happy with them prior to this season, and the only thing that will save his ass to get a second season will be if he blames Daniel Jones, GM Dave Gettleman, or injuries for his woes. But it's gonna be a long year for the G-Men.

7. Ron Rivera, WFT: Last week, the WFT lost coming out of their BYE week to the Giants and after playing the Lions yesterday, dropped to 2-7, Kyle Allen was looking like he might emerge as the starter out of their fustercluck situation at QB and then broke his ankle, forcing them to put in Frankenleg, Alex Smith, instead. And it’s hard to overlook that yesterday, Smith nearly led Washington from a 24-3 deficit halfway through the third quarter, and threw for 390 yards… but still, this team could not get a late stop from their defense to avoid a game winning FG from Matt Prater sending them to their second straight loss.

Again, why Rivera is even on this list... I want to be clear, here... I don't think Ron Rivera is a bad coach. I think this roster is hot garbage outside of an impressive defensive front, but Rivera didn't build it. Their QB and skill positions are woeful, and I wouldn't put it on him. It's bad practice for a franchise to fire coaches after only one year. Also, if this wasn't obvious... it would be really f***ed up if the team fired a guy who's trying to coach THROUGH CANCER TREATMENTS. So, based on everything I know about team owner Daniel Snyder being a colossal ***hole... he could absolutely still fire Ron Rivera and then try to spin it in the media that he was doing him a favor because of said cancer at the end of the year. I hope that isn't what happens, but if this team doesn't squeak out some more wins, it could happen. Luckily for Rivera, he's in the NFC (L)East. He can probably get some wins in divisional matchups but this squad will be lucky to get to six total by year's end. And that might be good enough for second place.

6. Anthony Lynn, Chargers: Anthony Lynn's looking like he has something with rookie QB Justin Herbert who went off for 326 yards and 2 TDs against the raiders, but it was too no avail as his team dropped to 2-7. This is the third loss in a row for LA, starting with the game where they blew a 24 point lead and gave up 28 points to a Broncos offense in a quarter and a half, 21 points in the fourth quarter. Last week, they held the Raiders to 160 yards passing… but gave up 160 on the ground. This week, they got the Dolphins and Tu’a, who is currently undefeated as a starting QB. Your depressing Chargers stat from this game? Zero sacks. They didn’t get to the elusive Tu’a, and only managed 187 yards passing against the Dolphins’ defense.

Lynn's in his fourth season as Chargers head coach, he just got his contract extended through 2021 in February... but after going 5-11 last year, if he doesn't improve on that, he might not get that fifth.

[worstblogever]

5. Vic Fangio, Broncos : A reminder, Fangio declared that Covid-19 is showing "who the whiners are" around the NFL, which is one of the dumbest "fake tough guy" quotes I think I've seen in some time about a disease that's killed 240,000 people. This is in addition to his terrible opinions on police killings of African Americans in the off-season that were completely unnecessary for him to even opine about in the first place. If it were only "on the field" failings, I think Fangio would be in trouble, but that AND his mouth are making him a likely candidate for getting the boot at year's end.

On the field, though... Denver just moved to 3-7 after getting their asses handed to them all damned day by the Las Vegas Raiders in a 37-12 beatdown that was never that close. Denver saw Drew Lock throw 4 picks, and added a fifth turnover via a fumble. The Broncos are playing more like a proverbial horse that needs to be taken behind the barn and shot under Fangio. We already look forward to John Elway sauntering into a post-season press conference on Black Monday to effectively do that to Old Vic.

4. Zac Taylor, Bengals : To put it simply… The Bengals had to play the undefeated Steelers after Big Ben was resting up after a Covid-19 scare all week. They never stood a chance, getting a can of whoop-ass opened on them to the tune of a 36-10 defeat. Cincinnatti went 0-13 on third down (OY.) Losing two fumbles to Pittsburgh didn’t help, either. Again, getting taken to the woodshed by a division rival is not a way to keep one’s job.

The story here of why Taylor might not get fired is "Mike Brown is a f***ing cheapskate." Remember all the years where people thought FOR SURE Marvin Lewis would get fired because he couldn't win a playoff game? And Cincinnatti kept him around? Well, the talk always was because Mike Brown couldn't find a cheaper, better option than that, and the skinflint would never spend money on a good coach. So I look at Zac Taylor, and think they're gonna give him at least until the end of the year and maybe longer because as bad as the Bengals look outside of Joe Burrow and as disgruntled as this locker room is... Zac Taylor still only makes between $400,000 and $600,000 a season. He is valued at roughly 1/20 of Bill Belichek, and maybe like 1/16 of an Andy Reid. He's a bargain bin option, and the Bengals will say no matter how bad they look on the field at 2-6-1), they're in a transition season with a rookie QB to blame it on (even though Burrow has the goods). A smart organization would go with consistency to help with Burrow's development... and Taylor worked under Rams coach Sean McVay, therefore he's THE FUTURE OF THE NFL COACHING RANKS (LOL, sure). While they Bengals had a fire sale before the trade deadline, Taylor’s job looks to be safe until the end of the year, at least.

3. Mike McCarthy, Cowboys Again, first year coaches don't usually get fired. The Cowboys were, I s*** you not, the NFC Super Bowl pick by Dan Patrick, and they're 2-7 now. They look far worse than that record the past three weeks. The offensive line that made them so threatening only a few seasons ago is already dilapidated due to injuries, and right now, it's second stringers across the board. That decline in talent across the O-Line wasn't glaring when Dallas had Dak Prescott keeping them in games with gaudy numbers through their first five (RIP Dak's ankle, I think it died of the 'Rona or something), but now they’re running Garrett Gilbert out there as a starter. If you said, “WHO?” that’s fair, because Gilbert is effectively their 4th string QB. What was always obvious was the defense was atrocious. Dallas' defense is on pace for a historically bad year, and after starting to trade starters and bench veterans… it’s looking even worse. They may have stifled the Steelers’ running game yesterday, but gave up over 300 yards to Big Ben and failed to force a single turnover. Somehow, though… Dallas actually went up 13-0 on the undefeated Steelers and only relinquished that lead with about two minutes left in the contest. That’s the only positive in a loss.

Going forward, this team has dropped all its money into skill position players and no one is left who can block for Zeke, or buy enough time to throw to Amari Cooper. They are tied with the WFT for last place, but somehow only a game and a half games behind the Eagles, who lead the division at 3-5-1. For the last three years he was in Green Bay, Mike McCarthy was considered to have been more of a hindrance to Aaron Rodgers from the point they won a Super Bowl going forward, and he doesn't seem like his return to coaching after a year away is going to prove Rodgers was the problem. At least Mike McCarthy can go with our “YOU CAN’T LOSE WHEN YOU’RE ON YOUR BYE WEEK” bright side slogan.

2. Doug Marrone, Jaguars: I honestly thought he got fired at the end of the 2019 season... but NOPE, he's still down in the swamps of Jacksonville. We're now going to three years removed from the Jaguars being up on the Patriots with 10 minutes to go in the AFC Championship Game, and the number of players from that 53-man squad still in Jacksonville is 7. They have had two Top 5 picks from recent drafts in Jalen Ramsey and Leonard Fournette flat-out escape this franchise. They've had two double-digit loss seasons coming into this one, and now having dropped to 1-8 after a loss to the Packers (that’s eight losses in a row, for those keeping track)... but the Jags look like they'll have a third straight double-digit loss season (they’re not going 6-1 down the stretch). Gardner Minshew and his "cop in a porno flick" mustache was benched, and now he's got a thumb that left the team in the capable hands of rookie Jake Luton. Shad Khan is one of the more patient owners in the league (hell, he let Gus Bradley stick around to build the worst losing percentage in coaching history), and the team stuck by Marrone through the BYE week. While firing Marrone at any point to let OC Jay Gruden take over as the interim coach would make sense... it looks like Marrone will stick around through season's end in their quest to try and overtake the Jets to get Trevor Lawrence. They'll likely have to settle for Justin Fields from Ohio State, though. And we all know how well Buckeyes signal callers do in the pros...

1. Adam Gase, Jets: YOU CAN’T LOSE WHEN YOU’RE ON YOUR BYE WEEK.



Two weeks ago, the Jets played Kansas City, and at one point in the build-up to that game, New York was a 21.5 point underdog against Kansas City, per the sports books. THE CHIEFS COVERED THE SPREAD. They were lucky enough to play a discombobulated 2-5 Patriots team in one of the s***tiest Monday Night Football matchups in years. AND YET, THERE THEY WENT AGAIN, blowing a 10 point fourth quarter lead, and watching Cam Newton lead New England to 13 unanswered points in the six final minutes of the game.

Sam Darnold only hasn’t been seeing more ghosts than Pac-Man because he’s hurt and forced to watch Joe Friggin’ Flacco lead this team to failure while he wonders where he might get traded to when the team inevitably drafts Trevor Lawrence. The Jets are now 0-9, and are losing by an average of about 16 points a game. The Jets have lost by 20 or more points eight times since the start of 2019. In one out of three games the J-E-T-S are blown out by three TDs with Ol' Bug Eyes as head coach over his 25 game tenure. He's also got his own defensive coordinator, Gregg Williams, taking potshots at him in front of the New York media, who are eating that s*** up with a spoon. Adam Gase should be fired after this game, when the Jets enter their BYE week, but he won’t, because as long as he’s bumblef***ing around the sidelines, this team won’t blow their chances of that #1 pick in the draft, and that Adam Gase picked his own GM, who ridiculously lied to the New York media that Gase was the best man for this job. At this point, even Joe Namath is coming out and predicting the Jets will have the #1 pick in the draft, and that Trevor Lawrence should threaten to go back to school for another year at Clemson if the Jets pick him or force a trade away from this disaster of a franchise.

The Jets have seven games left to escape 0-16. If any of the coaches in those games manage to fall to this team, we have to instantly place them somewhere on the HOT SEAT list. We don’t care if Pete Carroll just signed a long-term extension in Seattle, if the Seahawks lose to the Jets, it wouldn’t be wrong of the team to fire him. The Las Vegas Raiders still have like 6 or 7 years left on Jon Gruden’s insane contract? DOESN’T MATTER. If Bill Belichek loses the Week 17 rematch of last week’s game against the Jets? Robert Kraft would be within his rights to kick the guy who won him six rings to the curb. It’s nothing personal… but DO NOT be the coach that flubs and gives this squad its win for 2020. Send them to the land of the winless with the Lions and Browns like they deserve.

[worstblogever]

Looking at the NFC (L)East schedule for next weekend...

Philly has Cleveland. I don't know how I feel about this game being a loss for the Eagles, considering the Browns only managed 10 points against the Texans, in spite of getting 200 yards on the ground.
Dallas plays AT Minnesota. This will likely put the Vikings back at .500 and then on a four game win streak, and right back in the hunt for a potential wild card.
Washington hosts the Bengals, and could nab a victory. Other than Joe Burrow and Tee Higgins, there's not a lot coming out of Cincinnatti worth getting excited about. Either team could win this game, really.
Giants are on their BYE.

Even if all teams there win (and I highly doubt Dallas will), Philly would lead the division at 4-5-1. If the Eagles lose, and regardless of what the Cowboys and WFT do... they will lead the division at 3-6-1. The best the rest will be at is 3-7.

[MRP]

Is it just me or have there been a ton of injuries this season. It is like every Monday when I turn in sports center there is a guy saying.

"Look at the odd angle of this guy's leg after that tackle." Or " Watch the replay if this guy's bones being turned to dust after this hit."

It has been crazy.

I think part of it was a lack of a true offseason program, training camp and pre-season, so guys aren't in the shape they should be to handle the grind of an NFL season. Part of it is how much COVID has disrupted routines, particularly training routines and game prep routines. Athletes are often creatures of habit, disrupt the routine and it has consequences and affects their preparedness and physical readiness to handle the rigors of a long football season. If an O-line men is even a half-step slow, he's not going to be able to protect the QB properly, whether he lost that half-step because he was out of shape from disruptions to wok-out schedules, or lack of prep time and walk throughs to know what to do instinctively on a given play called doesn't matter, the result is the same. A lot of players and a lot of teams are out of synch, and the result is a lot more guys getting hurt over the course of the season that you wouldn't see in a normal season without the kind of disruptions this one has had. Shuffling players in and out due to players on the Virus list doesn't help either.

We saw it a number of years back in MLB when a lockout shortened spring training and it seemed like every other day someone was pulling a hamstring running the bases or pulling a groin muscle on a bad swing, or blowing out an elbow on a throw or pitch because they weren't in synch early in the season and it had serious physical consequences to the health and well-being of the athletes. Without proper maintenance and prep, athletes' bodies are more likely to break down and everything about this season has thrown obstacles in the way of proper maintenance and prep for players.

-M

[Scott Taylor]

No fans allowed at Philly games anymore - who will throw snowballs at Santa??

[SUPERECWFAN1]

Brees injury is scary on how he took a normal QB hit and suffered cracked ribs and a collapsed lung. Also its said this is how tough Brees was , he gets up and walks off the field...

[SUPERECWFAN1]

One coaching candidate that likely will come up is ....Jim Harbaugh at Michigan. But as good a coach as Harbaugh is , the warning signs from his last run in San Francisco and the college ranks now are red flags that teams will have to examine.


- With the 49ers when he 1st arrived in early 2010's Harbaugh's aggressive type coaching with players whipped a 49ers team into shape. As the saying goes the team had a talented base of players but needed a take no shit guy to push them. But as time went on Harbaugh's act grew tiring to players who felt he didn't realize , he was coaching adult men and not college kids now. They started to bristle under what he'd do behind the scenes and as much success as the team had , the fall began under him due to this.


- After Harbaugh's exit he signed with Michigan. The belief was Jim Harbaugh could get the once proud program back to National Championship level. That his message maybe tiring to adult players in Pros. But what he did at Stanford and early with 49ers showed he can be a hell of a coach.


- But behind the scenes Harbaugh's actions wore down the players and coaching staff. As ESPN brought up the coaching staff under Jim Harbaugh has changed each year with offense and defense coaches. As one guy joked its like almost every season there is a whole new staff at Michigan. Because he wears those out under him as a coach.


- There has also according to ESPN a high number of kids who have transferred out as well as declaring early to escape Jim Harbaugh as coach. That the players get frustrated by Harbaugh or how he'll recruit others over them starting wise etc.


- Michigan has failed recruitment wise. The team no longer has recruited well due to him.


Harbaugh will likely be out of Michigan by the end of the season. Its a risk for a NFL team to go after Harbaugh. He can be the ultimate turn around guy , but within time his act as shown tires out his coaching staff and players.

[Scott Taylor]

Harbaugh is too old school for newer mindsets, perhaps. If you look back at the Championship Teams over the past ten years, the coaching is more from the mentoring standpoint than the punitive, negative reinforcement school of thought. Its all very Nick Saban, you know?

And I think the NFL has followed suit in quite a few ways. Not sure how else you explain Adam Gase.

[worstblogever]

One coaching candidate that likely will come up is ....Jim Harbaugh at Michigan. But as good a coach as Harbaugh is , the warning signs from his last run in San Francisco and the college ranks now are red flags that teams will have to examine.


- With the 49ers when he 1st arrived in early 2010's Harbaugh's aggressive type coaching with players whipped a 49ers team into shape. As the saying goes the team had a talented base of players but needed a take no shit guy to push them. But as time went on Harbaugh's act grew tiring to players who felt he didn't realize , he was coaching adult men and not college kids now. They started to bristle under what he'd do behind the scenes and as much success as the team had , the fall began under him due to this.


- After Harbaugh's exit he signed with Michigan. The belief was Jim Harbaugh could get the once proud program back to National Championship level. That his message maybe tiring to adult players in Pros. But what he did at Stanford and early with 49ers showed he can be a hell of a coach.


- But behind the scenes Harbaugh's actions wore down the players and coaching staff. As ESPN brought up the coaching staff under Jim Harbaugh has changed each year with offense and defense coaches. As one guy joked its like almost every season there is a whole new staff at Michigan. Because he wears those out under him as a coach.


- There has also according to ESPN a high number of kids who have transferred out as well as declaring early to escape Jim Harbaugh as coach. That the players get frustrated by Harbaugh or how he'll recruit others over them starting wise etc.


- Michigan has failed recruitment wise. The team no longer has recruited well due to him.


Harbaugh will likely be out of Michigan by the end of the season. Its a risk for a NFL team to go after Harbaugh. He can be the ultimate turn around guy , but within time his act as shown tires out his coaching staff and players.

He won't take an NFL job unless it's in California. Unless the Chargers gig opens up, I think he takes a year off or a coordinator gig.

[SUPERECWFAN1]

Harbaugh is too old school for newer mindsets, perhaps. If you look back at the Championship Teams over the past ten years, the coaching is more from the mentoring standpoint than the punitive, negative reinforcement school of thought. Its all very Nick Saban, you know?

And I think the NFL has followed suit in quite a few ways. Not sure how else you explain Adam Gase.

Harbaugh's coaching style is likely influenced by the man who coached him for a number of years. And this guy was known for being a tough fucker on players and coaches. (a fact only 1 coach its said had as much power in Chicago awhile....Buddy Ryan)

He won't take an NFL job unless it's in California. Unless the Chargers gig opens up, I think he takes a year off or a coordinator gig.

He once interviewed for the Miami job back before he took the 49ers one. Harbaugh won't take a terrible NFL job like the NY Jets but if a team has a talented base of players he likely will go speak to owner.

[WestPhillyPunisher]

Well, Chicago could be a possibility as a landing spot for Harbaugh. His NFL career began there, and it’s said he was on good terms with the McCloskeys. With the Bears imploding, Matt Nagy could be axed if the team misses the playoffs after a 5-1 start, so, why not bring in Harbaugh if the job opens?