NFL 2021 Regular Season!

[worstblogever]

I heard about Madden a few minutes ago. This really upsets me. The games he called even if the games sucked he found a way to some how make people care. There is no person on tv now that holds a candle to this guy. At least he was able to see the documentary about him finished and aired before his passing.

Madden was the best making things interesting during blowouts. My favorite Madden moment was seeing a Thanksgiving game where the Cowboys were absolutely destroying their opponents (can't remember who), and Madden decides to use the tele-strator to draw circles around water buckets on the sideline, and proceeds to label them, by size, "you need a big ol' daddy water bucket, and then over here, to make sure there's not just one line of guys waiting, you have a mommy water bucket, and then, over here, there's a guy who's so special he just brings his own baby water bucket."

Plus, on more than one occasion, I remember him advising GMs to make sure that somewhere on their roster, they "need at least guy named Tank, Spike, or Bubba". It was important to team chemistry to have that guy, you see. And most of the teams he coached had that kind of guy in Oakland.


My whole thing is this... John Madden coached over 100 games, and of any coach to achieve that, he still, to this day, has the highest winning percentage. He helped build the mythos of the Raiders and arguably did as much for it as anyone outside of Al Davis. Then he goes into commentating and spends 30 years from '79 to '09 covering a game a week, and during that stretch, FOURTEEN Super Bowls. If you watched football at all during that stretch, Madden was a part of your football core memories. And if he wasn't, and you were a kid... the Madden video game. And, of course, he's the reason comedian/impressionist Frank Caliendo got launched into a full career.

John Madden is a part of the football zeitgeist and made the game reach more people than possibly any player, coach, commissioner, or commentator in its history.

[BeastieRunner]

I enjoyed his coaching, interviews, and thoughts on the game.

RIP Madden. One of the greats.

[Albert1981]

Very sorry to hear about this. RIP Coach Madden.

[signalman112]

Rest In Peace John Madden.

JohnMadden1969.jpg

[Surf]

RIP John Madden. I'm at that age where I remember being little and seeing the incessant Miller Lite commercials, then when Sega Genesis got going, getting those Madden games annually from about 93 - 97 or so, then picking them back up when the Xbox 360 came out and going around with a whole nother group of players.

I'm old enough to having seen that the good coaches- in both the NBA and NFL aren't like the current ones. Sure Bellichick is the new Lombardi but after that the drop off is SO steep until you get to Andy Reid or Pete Carroll, then the drop off is even steeper. It's always been tough to win but to sustain is more of a struggle. A side effect of free agency I'd gather but still. Taking nothing away from the branding side but the coaching part of his legacy really speaks higher than than the pitchman part to me personally. So sad.

[worstblogever]

WEEK 16 "WHO'S COOKIN' ON THE HOTSEAT?/FIRE THIS COACH!" DISCUSSION
ALREADY RESIGNED/FIRED BEFORE WEEK 6: Jon Gruden (Raiders) , Urban Meyer (Jaguars) , RESIGNED/FIRED! THEY’RE FIRED!

GUYS WHO WERE ON THE HOT SEAT THIS SEASON, BUT FOR THE MOMENT LOOK SAFE: Zac Taylor (Bengals) , Mike McCarthy (Cowboys), Brian Flores (Dolphins)

10B. Darrell Bevel, Jaguars (LUKEWARM SEAT) : Bevel took over for Urban Meyer, who was a train wreck that Shad Khan reluctantly let go after a myriad of controversies, and he is regrettably most famous for being the offensive coordinator in Seattle who forgot to call a running play from the 1 yard line for Marshawn Lynch in the Super Bowl against the Patriots. This sounds exactly like the kind of person Shad Khan will remove the “interim” title from and keep around for three or four years, no matter how many losses he racks up as head coach… but current headlines indicate Khan is interviewing former Eagles coach Doug Pederson, and Tampa Bay DC Todd Bowles, to name a few, so maybe not.


10A. Rich Bisaccia, Raiders We’re going to say that it seems clear that this interim guy who took over for Jon Gruden is done at the end of the year. It’s not just that team owner Mark Davis has been spotted hosting Clemson coach Dabo Swinney in his private box at Raiders games.
https://www.si.com/nfl/raiders/the-b...hunter-renfrow

Two weeks ago, he didn’t stop his players, playing on the road in Kansas City, from going to the logo at Arrowhead to pump themselves up by disrespecting the Chiefs that way before kickoff. Stupid move, all around, and a wiser coach would have put the kibosh on it. Kansas City got all fired up, and beat the snot out of Las Vegas, winning 48-9. They did manage a win this past week against Denver, but getting a 17-13 victory when you’re faced with the unstoppable force known as Drew Lock (snicker) isn’t a good sign that this team is going to get in the playoffs.

Bisaccia just is not the sort of “name coach” that the Raiders would hire full time. He just isn’t. He’s the guy that took over until Mark Davis could open his wallet to get the team’s “real coach”.



9. Vic Fangio, Broncos : 7-8… you would think a team around .500 wouldn’t have a coach on the chopping block, but you have to consider… This team started 3-0 and some chuckleheads thought they might win the division… But wiser people noted that trio of victories were against the Jets, Giants, and Jaguars, who were a combined 0-9 at that point? Denver came back to Earth fast, losing 8 of their past 12. They know this is a lost season and if you needed any more proof, it was when they traded Von Miller to the Rams for a 2nd and 3rd round draft pick in 2022. This is after spending weeks trading away every late-round draft pick they had to get any competency at the LB position they could.

Denver’s game to game offensive capabilities seem tied to whether or not Teddy Bridgewater is available to play, which, when we’re talking about a guy with a series of concussions through his career and a leg that decided to explode and make itself into a jigsaw puzzle of bone and sinew in one practice, does not inspire confidence in the team’s playoff hopes.

A reminder, Fangio declared that Covid-19 is showing "who the whiners are" around the NFL, last season. Perhaps we should also mention that last year, the game that the Broncos played without an actual QB was because under Fangio’s leadership, the whole QB room broke Covid-19 protocols so they could sit right on top of each other in the film room, rather than socially distance in corners. If you can’t get guys to adhere to that simple thing… it might be because you yourself are fighting the regulations there to keep you alive. On the field, though... “Mr. Covid Tough Guy” Fangio led Denver to a 5-11 in 2020, and to paraphrase a wiser person on CBR than I… “Denver somehow found the only person who can make dumber decisions than Vance Joseph.” Prediction: The Broncos next head coach will not have a name that starts with “V”.





8. Robert Saleh, Jets: Look, we’re gonna say it… we thought this was a solid hire. It probably still is… but the Jets statistical numbers are butt ugly at this point of the year. They got shut out against the Denver Broncos in Week 5, struggling to get even 162 total yards of offense. After that loss, they got an early BYE week so they had extra time to prepare to travel to New England, and they probably needed a whole MONTH if they were gonna have a chance based on how it went. The Jets lost 54-13 in a lopsided loss that is one of the worst in recent history for the Jets… and that’s saying something.

Even though Saleh is a defensive guru, the Jets now at the bottom of the NFL in points per game allowed at 30.5 PPG, 31st in YPG allowed, and second to last in point differential at -171. They have rotated through an injured Zach Wilson, one-game-fluke-hero Mike White, Josh Johnson for most of a Thursday game, and Joe Flacco only to settle back on Wilson.

A first year head coach usually doesn’t end up on the chopping block… But it can happen. Steve Wilks went 3-13 in one year in Arizona and the locker room knew his OC was a joke, and they just gave up on him. It's starting to look like Saleh's getting a year two, but this staff might want to get around to teaching Zack Wilson ANYTHING about how to play QB.


7. David Culley, Texans: Houston is sitting at 4-11, with the first win coming from when they beat lowly Jacksonville in Week 1 before they rattled off eight straight losses and then upset the Titans (Tennessee had 5 turnovers to hand it to them). Those first seven L’s were, frankly, a series of games where opposing coaches have utterly dismantled a team led by rookie 3rd string QB Davis Mills. They’ve already been shut out twice this season. They just got their second wind because, again, the football gods were kind, took mercy on them, and fed Jacksonville to them.

They shipped Mark Ingram off before the trade deadline, falling back on David Johnson (who hasn’t had a good season since… what 2016?) as their main offensive weapon. Brandin Cooks is pulling his hair out that he couldn’t managed to get himself traded to an actual football team before the trade deadline. It doesn’t look like anyone is going to manage to take serial sexual predator DeShaun Watson out of Houston in a trade, either, a move that’s hovered over this team’s fate for almost ten months now. But hey, they upset the Chargers this past week, winning the turnover battle by +3 and having Rex Burkhead of all people rush for 149 yards on the ground.

So… we’ve covered that the Texans are BAD right now. We’re going to say that their misfortunes are not a product necessarily of bad coaching, but a TON of bad front office decisions, because obviously, that’s the case. It sucks that a guy who’s considered such a nice dude like David Culley, who’s waited his whole life for a head coaching gig, could get the blame if he couldn’t turn the chickens*** roster he was given into chicken salad. But that can be the cruel nature of NFL coaching gigs…

6. Pete Carroll, Seahawks Yes, Carroll gave this city a Super Bowl. That was… some time ago. His franchise QB wants out of town, and on a Thursday night game against the Rams, the ligament in his middle finger decided to try to leave the team a bit before Russ was even ready for it to. So far this year, this team is 5-10 and that’s not necessarily because Russell Wilson missed 3 games. Chris Carson’s done for the year, as well. We want to point out that it’s not just that the O-Line never got rebuilt… and that even with Russell Wilson’s medical miracle month to come back from a severed tendon in the middle finger of his throwing hand…

The Legion of Boom is GONE. This defense is no longer scary, it’s Bobby Wagner and a bunch of scarecrows in the secondary (Jamaal Adams is great against the run, but gets torched in coverage a LOT… and now he’s done for the year). Through their first thirteen games, they are giving up 394 YPG, 32nd in the NFL and are the worst team against defending the pass. They gave up 331 yards passing to friggin’ DAVIS MILLS yesterday. Offensively, they’re 28th in YPG, Just… Jesus. Their kicker’s also been dead last in the NFL all year, so at this point, they’re failing at all three phases of the game.

Our reason why we think Carroll won’t be fired no batter how bad this year gets, and getting upset by the Bears is pretty bad (they’re more likely to force his hand and make him retire)… Even though he’s a kooky 9/11 truther who keeps violating NFL policies for practices and getting the organization fined (he kind of has a track record of cheating, but he’s not Belichek so it’s not thought about)…. Our reason he won’t be fired is Pete Carroll is under contract now until 2025.If they’re lucky, they can convince Carroll to retire, because we don’t think he has a rebuild in him.

[worstblogever]

5. Matt Ruhle, Panthers: The Panthers started 3-0, but now are 5-10… They opened up looking like they proved Sam Darnold was a successful reclamation project, but once injury removed Christian McCaffrey from the Carolina offense, Darnold looked like he was back to being a draft bust again… and then HE got hurt. The team got a boost in the arm from the play of XFL V. 2.0 star P.J. Walker, and then s*** the bed by inviting Cam Newton back in town to get two TDs from the 1 yard line in Arizona, steal all the glory in that win on the road, and have immediately realized why no other teams signed Cam Newton off the street.

Fun statistic… Cam Newton has now lost his last 12 straight as a starter for the Panthers dating back to 2018. This team has lost 10 of its past 12 games since their hot start, Matt Ruhle has not developed anyone into being a credible starter for this team going forward, and McCaffrey might be the most injury prone non-QB in the league that they still foolishly built their offense around. McCaffrey is also now gone for the final 4 games of the season, so get ready to watch the embarrassing swan song for Cam Newton with the franchise who drafted him.

Ruhle just jettisoned offensive coordinator Joe Brady during the BYE week, and it has not helped the team’s woes when it comes to scoring points, as evidenced by them giving up 7 sacks in the 32-6 beatdown they just got at the hands of the Buccaneers that had fans chanting “FIRE MATT RUHLE!” and Cam Newton struggling to defend his new coach (who benched him out of desperation to put Sam Darnold back in). Ruhle’s not going to one of the elite college programs that had openings, because they already filled them. If Ruhle is given a pink slip, he might have to take a year off.



4. Dan Campbell, Lions : We always say that first year coaches are not usually on the hot seat, but Dan Campbell is a former Tight Ends coach who yells about getting up again and again to bite your opponents’ kneecaps, which starts out like some inspiring Captain America speech but ends up sounding like a meek little chihuahua. He’s close to motivating… but not close enough.

Sure, they got wins against Minnesota and Arizona, but let’s be real… this team is 2-10-1 still sucks (they did give the Falcons a scare this week), and now cost themselves possession of having the #1 pick in the NFL draft. They’re now slotted at #2 behind Jacksonville, who seem intent on tanking to avoid flipping spots. The one bright spot seems to be young receiver Amon Ra-St.Brown.

To paraphrase a cleverer poster than me, “The Lions continue their 60 year process of rebuilding…”

3. Joe Judge, Giants : We don’t believe Joe Judge should have ever been a head coach. His prior experience before getting the gig in the Meadowlands with the G-Men was serving as special teams coordinator/wide receivers coach in New England (a team not regarded well for its WR corps during his tenure). His QB, when healthy, is living blooper reel Daniel Jones (who had two embarrassing INTs in yet another primetime game this team doesn’t deserve the spotlight for). His team’s preseason was marred by a massive brawl with THEMSELVES where the pileup of players throwing haymakers tumbled onto their starting QB who ended up at the bottom of the mound of humanity, enraging Judge so he made his players run gassers like they were back in high school JV, and resulting in one veteran filing to retire immediately, rather than play for him any more. Two other veteran players announced their retirement before the preseason was over.

This guy’s team loathes him, and the New York media are salivating at all the ink they can lay out simply by getting his players to throw him under the bus. His only hope for any job security was that he’s coaching in the worst division in the NFL right now, that the Cowboys are winning by default… and yet… there’s a report that ownership has already decided that 2022 will feature another season of the Joe Judge/Daniel Jones partnership, because they must think their fans are masochists who can be placated with one free medium size soda per PCL account.
https://nypost.com/2021/12/17/giants...reciation-day/

The Giants are now 4-11 and will be forced to start human giraffe Mike Glennon the rest of the season after placing Daniel jones on IR, and lost WR Sterling Shepard as well. They might be able to snag a win at Soldier Field, or maybe upset division rival Washington in their final two games… but unless someone is just flat out more inept on offense than they are, I wouldn’t expect more than one win before year’s end. We don’t care what the Maras say about Joe Judge’s future, he deserves to be fired for the embarrassing brand of football he’s putting out there.



2. Mike Zimmer, Vikings: The team whose playoff hopes just never seem to die… it’s the Vikes. They keep hovering around .500, but they have the Rams and Packers the next two weeks, and it’s going to take a continuing Covid-19 outbreak to shake up rosters and give them a chance in those two games, before they get the Bears in a finale…

The Vikings were supposedly "just a QB away" from winning a Super Bowl a few years ago 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 LAST season. This season, they’re just a year older than that. Minnesota’s biggest off-season free agent signing was CB Patrick Peterson, who age has not just proven to be “no longer an elite corner”, he’s arguably “not even a starting corner” in the league, admitting on his podcast he struggles at covering any receiver who’s simply PUT IN MOTION. That’s the top free agent addition to an aged defense, which also just cut #2 corner Bashaud Breeland, after he fought with coaches and had both HC Mike Zimmer and GM Rick Spielman jump all over him about it in the middle of a practice. DE Everson Griffin has major psychological problems and might never play another down in the league. NO PROBLEMS IN THIS LOCKER ROOM TWO DAYS BEFORE MONDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL.

What was once an elite defensive unit now is simply medicore, and Kirk Cousins has been widely inconsistent game to game (certainly not deserving of what he gets paid). The schedule down the stretch that has the Bears and Packers. This is looking like a 8-9 team in a few weeks. More importantly…

YOU LOST TO THE LIONS.

There is no easier reason for the Wilfs to drop the axe than that.


1. Matt Nagy, Bears: Matt Nagy was considered one of the hottest young coaches in the league before the Double-Doink happened like 3 years ago, but it made something snap in the guy. He spent that entire off-season talking about it, and making his players relive that trauma, and they responded by getting worse afterwards. The Bears have been shy a QB this whole time, finally giving up on Mitch Trubisky to draft Justin Fields… but Nagy kept insisting he would go with Andy Dalton. If you’re going with the Red Rifle at this stage of his career, you’re pretty f***ed. Their defense? They still have DPOTY candidate Khalil Mack. It’s statistically still a Top 10 defense the NFL. Truly, this is a team that can live up to the Bears’ legacy in the Windy City…

Matt Nagy caved to the pressure of fans and put Justin Fields in at the start of October, and got two wins in his first two games… however, in Week 6, they got handled by Green Bay, and Aaron Rodgers barked at fans, “I STILL OWN YOU!” And nobody is questioned the validity of that statement, because it’s true. Justin Fields is getting sacked at a rate not seen for any rookie QB since David Carr was getting his brains bashed in for the expansion Texans (or whoever they line up back there, this squad is 31st in the league in sacks allowed). They’re now 5-10, and are 32nd in the NFL in passing, with just 185 yards a game (they used their first five draft picks all on offensive players, and they seem to be slow learners). Justin Fields’ rookie season currently stacks up as statistically comparable to such luminaries as Blaine Gabbert, Josh Rosen, and Jimmy Clausen.

Chicago fans at least might stop turning up to yell “FIRE NAGY” at pro-wrestling events and at high school games where Nagy’s son is playing because we don’t believe the sins of the father should be held against a son when he gets fired… it seems a certainty.

[Kirby101]

Speaking of coaches no longer on the hot seat. The Dolphins are 8 and 7 and need to win out to stay in the playoffs, but have to beat the Titans and Pats to do it. A tough order. Looking back on the season, they were without Tua for a good chunk of their losing streak, And (I find this interesting) they lost 3 of those games on a game ending field goal. Talk about what might have been. Win 2 out of three of those and they are on top of the AFC East. For a team that other teams considered a win when they played, they have turned it around.
No matter who comes out of it this year, next year, the AFC East looks to be very, very competitive. The off season and draft might be the difference.

[GindyPosts]

Reggie Wayne is once again a finalist for the Hall of Fame. Here's hoping he finally breaks through.

[LoganAlpha30X33]

Well with the Vikings isn't Cousins' contract up after this year...

[Gray Lensman]

WEEK 16 "WHO'S COOKIN' ON THE HOTSEAT?/FIRE THIS COACH!" DISCUSSION
ALREADY RESIGNED/FIRED BEFORE WEEK 6: Jon Gruden (Raiders) , Urban Meyer (Jaguars) , RESIGNED/FIRED! THEY’RE FIRED!

GUYS WHO WERE ON THE HOT SEAT THIS SEASON, BUT FOR THE MOMENT LOOK SAFE: Zac Taylor (Bengals) , Mike McCarthy (Cowboys), Brian Flores (Dolphins)

10B. Darrell Bevel, Jaguars (LUKEWARM SEAT) : Bevel took over for Urban Meyer, who was a train wreck that Shad Khan reluctantly let go after a myriad of controversies, and he is regrettably most famous for being the offensive coordinator in Seattle who forgot to call a running play from the 1 yard line for Marshawn Lynch in the Super Bowl against the Patriots. This sounds exactly like the kind of person Shad Khan will remove the “interim” title from and keep around for three or four years, no matter how many losses he racks up as head coach… but current headlines indicate Khan is interviewing former Eagles coach Doug Pederson, and Tampa Bay DC Todd Bowles, to name a few, so maybe not.

That's a take I always take issue with as Monday Morning Quarterbacking/Coaching. At the time of the play, the Patriots had just subbed in a formation with 6 linemen, 2 linebackers, and only 3 DBs. The DB the Seahawks targeted was a backup who was subbed in for an underperforming starter, and he had just given up a big pass play that put them near the goal line in the first place. Plus, there had not been one single interception in a 1 yard from the goal scenario over that entire season - including the playoffs.

[WestPhillyPunisher]

On the coaching front, I've heard that Doug Pederson might be the frontrunner for the Jacksonville job while Jim Caldwell is another potential candidate. I've also heard that the Giants are bringing back both Joe Judge and GM Dave Gettleman, something that makes no sense to me.

[worstblogever]

On the coaching front, I've heard that Doug Pederson might be the frontrunner for the Jacksonville job while Jim Caldwell is another potential candidate. I've also heard that the Giants are bringing back both Joe Judge and GM Dave Gettleman, something that makes no sense to me.

Rumor is the Giants will also continue the Daniel Jones experiment for another year... it's like they've made their new team motto "Commitment to Incompetence"

[MRP]

Looks like Kirk Cousins is out for Sunday with a positive COVID test.

And Ben Rothlisburger has hinted the Monday night game will be his last at Heinz Field.

-M

[WestPhillyPunisher]

Looks like Kirk Cousins is out for Sunday with a positive COVID test.

And Ben Rothlisburger has hinted the Monday night game will be his last at Heinz Field.

-M

Watching NFL NOW on NFL Network, and they lead off with the story about Cousins, another unvaccinated idiot who hurt his team by ending up on the COVID list.