NFL 2021 Regular Season!

[worstblogever]

I love 2 teams in The NFL. The Bengals and the Saints. I cant listen to local New Orleans Sports talk. Sadly I can and do listen to local Cincinnati sports radio.

Cincy over reacts to little wins. But man do they over react to big wins. The win over The Ravens was huge! I agree. The Bengals made them look stupid! And it was a long time coming. , But because of that win I guess the road to the Super Bowl now goes through Cincy. Everyone is talking like the North is already won by The Bengals. That they can just cake walk the rest of the season and it wont be a big deal. Beating The Ravens, and the Steelers on the road means there is no way they can come to our house and beat us.

There was many a year where NFL pundits thought Arizona beating the Seahawks in Seattle was a big statement, and then by the end of the year, the 12s would come down to Glendale to watch their team blow out the Cardinals in their own building.

As Han Solo once said, "don't get cocky, kid".

[BeastieRunner]

There was many a year where NFL pundits thought Arizona beating the Seahawks in Seattle was a big statement, and then by the end of the year, the 12s would come down to Glendale to watch their team blow out the Cardinals in their own building.

As Han Solo once said, "don't get cocky, kid".

AZ and SEA have long history of screwing with each other. They always beat the other when they're not supposed to.

[worstblogever]

AZ and SEA have long history of screwing with each other. They always beat the other when they're not supposed to.

[The Big G]

Bless Marshawn Lynch

[WestPhillyPunisher]

Saints 13, Seahawks 10. Hardly a barnburner that kept me on the edge of my seat last night.

[InfamousBG]

Hey guys im a few days behind on here cause of work the past few days...big Pats win last Sunday vs the awful Jets. I know the win may be looked at like it was not meaningful because the Jets just suck but Mac Jones looked great and so did the defense.

Onto the Chargers this coming Sunday. Would be great to see a win against them. Go Pats!!!

[Kirby101]

The Packers have their toughest game yet Thurs night against the undefeated Cardinals, and it looks like they are without Rodger's best weapon in Devante Adams, due to Covid protocols.
I think it will take a special performance by Rodgers or Aaron Jones to win. Of course their D will have to step up to stop Murray.

[Kirby101]

Hey guys im a few days behind on here cause of work the past few days...big Pats win last Sunday vs the awful Jets. I know the win may be looked at like it was not meaningful because the Jets just suck but Mac Jones looked great and so did the defense.

Onto the Chargers this coming Sunday. Would be great to see a win against them. Go Pats!!!

Never, and I mean NEVER judge a team by how they do against the Jets.

[babyblob]

Never, and I mean NEVER judge a team by how they do against the Jets.

I cant remember a team I have seen that is misrun and has the bad luck that the Jets have. Maybe mid and late 90's Bengals? I think the only reason they havnt had Broadway Joe suit up again is because he is busy with Medicare ads.

[BeastieRunner]

I cant remember a team I have seen that is misrun and has the bad luck that the Jets have. Maybe mid and late 90's Bengals? I think the only reason they havnt had Broadway Joe suit up again is because he is busy with Medicare ads.

I wouldn't even but those Bengals in the top 5 worst ...

70s Bucs, 2000s to now Browns, the Baltimore Colts, Lions come to mind.

But this 1996 to now run of the Jets is pretty epic compared to the rest.

[BeastieRunner]

I just saw on StatMuse that the Chiefs are 32nd or 31st in every defensive catagory.

Might have to revise my "WAAAAY TOO EARLY" predictions.

[worstblogever]

I wouldn't even but those Bengals in the top 5 worst ...

70s Bucs, 2000s to now Browns, the Baltimore Colts, Lions come to mind.

But this 1996 to now run of the Jets is pretty epic compared to the rest.

I'd submit the 1989-2006 Cardinals teams. Other than one playoff run at 9-7, those were bleak, bleak teams. They had "good" years outside of that where they were 8-8, or 7-9 twice, but otherwise had 3-5 wins year in and year out. The mismanagement of Bill Bidwill kept them awful on the field. They got no revenue from stadium advertising or parking while playing at Sun Devil Stadium and team employees had to tell him to GTFO out of negotiations with the county about building a new stadium out in Glendale. Effectively, "Mr. Bidwill, with all respect, everyone in the public hates you. Please send your send Michael out for us to campaign to win the vote for public money going towards stadium funding or we will lose that vote."

There were years wasted by throwing money at Rex Ryan who nepotism hired his sons on his staff and threw money at all his washed up players he liked from his time in Philly to just fulfill old grudges against NFC East rivals. The team alienated free agents by showing them they were so cheap THEY had the cost of their contract being mailed to them to be signed deducted out of their signing bonuses. Every first round draft pick would hold out over being nickel-and-dimed by the front office and come in late, not be ready to play well for Week 1. It was embarrassing...

I might not think a lot of Michael Bidwill as a person, but he's LIGHT YEARS more competent than his father. Low bar to clear, admittedly.

[worstblogever]

WEEK 8 "WHO'S COOKIN' ON THE HOTSEAT?/FIRE THIS COACH!" DISCUSSION
ALREADY RESIGNED/FIRED BEFORE WEEK 6: Jon Gruden (Raiders) , RESIGNED/FIRED! THEY’RE FIRED!

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


YOU BETTER WATCH YOUR *** AND GET SOME WINS LIST: David Culley, Texans; Nick Sirianni, Eagles; Kyle Shanahan, 49ers:

10. Pete Carroll, Seahawks Yes, Carroll gave this city a Super Bowl. That was… some time ago. His franchise QB wants out of town, and as of Thursday night, 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 2-5 and we knew it would be bleak as they run Geno Smith out there instead of Russell Wilson, and 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…

The Legion of Boom is GONE. This defense is no longer scary, it’s Bobby Wagner and a bunch of scarecrows in the secondary. Through their first six games, is giving up 433 YPG, last in the NFL. which doesn’t skew to them being bad in either phase defensively. They’re 31st overall, and 30th against the pass. Just… Jesus. They’re kicker’s also only 70% accurate, so without an MVP under center now, for the next few weeks they’re likely to be bad in all three phases of the game.

Our reason why we think Carroll won’t be fired no batter how bad this year gets… 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. That’s a lot of money to eat, no matter how awful this squad is going to get, and we think their best case scenario is once Wilson gets back will be to overachieve down the stretch and maybe end up third in the division... but we are thinking they’re going to finish last. And if they’re lucky, they can convince Carroll to retire, because we don’t think he has a rebuild in him.


9. Mike Zimmer, Vikings (LUKEWARM SEAT): 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. What was once an elite unit now is simply medicore, and Kirk Cousins has been widely inconsistent game to game (certainly not deserving of what he gets paid).

Now, we know, Minnesota just got back to .500, but remember, Zimmer’s been here for awhile and is most famous for playoff let downs. If he fails to even return to the playoffs, that might be cause for him to get a pink slip, especially because his comments to the media when the team loses throws his players under the bus. More importantly, “just got back to .500” doesn’t mean the ship will stay in steady waters… the Vikings next four opponents are… Dallas, Baltimore, the LA Chargers, and then the Packers. THAT… is not a friendly stretch. Zimmer began this season on the hot seat, and until he has a playoff spot locked up, he should remain on it. Maybe even if he gets into the postseason and exits early, the Wilfs might decided to move on. For this week, anyway, the Vikings were on a BYE, and come out of it set to face the red-hot Dak Prescott and the Dallas Cowboys. If you have Amari Cooper and/or CeeDee Lamb on your fantasy squads, we’d like to congratulate you up front… they’re gonna have quite a day against this secondary.

8. Matt Ruhle, Panthers: The Panthers started 3-0, but now are 3-4… they opened up looking like they proved Sam Darnold was a successful reclamation project, but once injury removed Christian McCaffrey from the Carolina offense, it seems that Darnold is back to being a draft bust again… he was benched Sunday after having a stat line with no turnovers… but 16-25 for only 111 yards is pathetic. It’s not like their opponents were world-beaters, either…

They lost 25-3 to the NEW YORK GIANTS. And not just the Giants as this season started… but a Giants team without Saquon Barkley, Kenny Golladay, or Kodarius Toney. The Panthers couldn’t manage more than 3 points against a defense that has Jabril Peppers and not much else. Matt Ruhle needs to right this ship and fast, and has the potential to do so next week with the Falcons coming to town… if he can’t score against the Atlanta defense… he’s got no excuse.

7. Joe Judge, Giants (LUKEWARM SEAT): 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 is living blooper reel Daniel Jones. 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.

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, where practically any of the four teams in it could accidentally stumble into a division title to get destroyed in the first round of the playoffs. At least, that was the case before Dak Prescott screwed his foot back on and went out slinging the ball around.

In Week One, this squad got the good fortune to play against the Denver Broncos, who are thought of as, at best, a mid-tier team at the moment. They got destroyed. The Giants lost to the WFT in Week 2, and on the sideline, their top free agent acquisition, WR Kenny Golladay, was thought to be screaming at his quarterback, but Golladay let the New York media know he was actually screaming at OC Jason Garrett… yeah… things are just fine in the Big Apple. Just fine…

In Week 3, they lost to the previously winless Falcons, and Daniel Jones could only manage 14 points against an atrocious Atlanta defense. He had 2 more fumbles. For those keeping track, that’s 12 career fumbles in 29 career starts to go along with 22 INTs. Not exactly a statistic to be proud of.

The Giants got a victory in overtime in Week 4 against the Saints… but in Week 5, they didn’t just get obliterated by Dallas, there was some injury along with the insult. Saquon GONE. Golladay OUT. Jones: Would play Week 6 with a concussion…

And they sent him out there against the f***ing Rams defense like that. Just fed him to Aaron Donald, and they got another humiliating beatdown. The New York media was just finally starting to LIKE Daniel Jones, and now they’re skewering Joe Judge for leaving the poor kid in there with no receivers, no running backs, and his team trailing by 35 points in the fourth quarter. Deservedly so.


6. Robert Saleh, Jets: Look, we’re gonna say it… we thought this was a solid hire. It probably still is… but the Jets looked AWFUL through 3 weeks, even for Gang Green. 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 yesterday, 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.

We know… Saleh’s a defensive coach, and he’s got a questionable talent in his rookie signal-caller Zach 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. So no matter how fired up people were to play for Saleh in San Francisco, if things don’t reverse course with the Jets, he could end up a “one and done” guy. Probably not this year, though, considering Woody Johnson just publicly defended him after the debacle he oversaw on Sunday.

[worstblogever]

5. Urban Meyer, Jaguars: Jacksonville’s preseason was filled with self-inflicted wounds caused by decisions from Meyer, from hiring coaches without vetting them properly (strength and conditioning coach Chris Doyle), bringing in Tim Tebow as a possible TIGHT END option that was nothing but a media distraction, and acting like he’s the smartest guy in the NFL because of his college success. I’m no coaching expert, but having a rookie QB throw over 50 times in his first start MAAAYBE isn’t a winning formula, even if he is a butt-chin wonder like Trevor Lawrence.

And about that game… the Houston Texans, regarded as many as a candidate to be the worst team in the NFL this year… the Jags got blown out by THAT team. One that doesn’t have a first or second day draft pick until 2022. One that doesn’t have DeShaun Watson, and keeps letting Arizona poach its Pro Bowlers. THAT Texans team wiped the floor with Urban Meyer’s squad, and to their 16th consecutive loss. They’d continue to lose 20 straight as a franchise, including #19 n Week 4 they blew another double-digit lead to the Cincinnatti Bengals, and more importantly… Urban Meyer trended on Twitter for lying to his team about “visiting his grandkids” and not flying back to Jacksonville to instead, go out to get free lap dances in the bar of his Cleveland restaurant because… well, I guess that’s what happens when you got a title with Ohio State. THAT… is not what you want to make headlines for after a month into the season… zero wins, poor development on Trevor Lawrence, and having someone rub their ass on your junk in your own dive bar.

Urban Meyer was gifted a win by the inept Miami Dolphins in Week 7, and the only reason I can’t point and laugh at any news about them this week is they had a BYE week. They travel to Seattle this Sunday and have had a ton of time to prepare for a squad that won’t have Russell Wilson, and only has six days to prepare for the Jags, given they played on MNF.

That should mean, and I can’t believe I’m saying this… there’s a possibility that Jacksonville might end up on a win streak. I wouldn’t expect it to last long, because they have to play Buffalo the week after that.


4. Vic Fangio, Broncos: Man, remember when this team was 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? (And still only have four wins between them through seven weeks)

Denver came back to Earth fast. At least, that was the case before Bridgewater got a concussion in a loss to the Ravens. (Fangio also is making headlines for being a redass and complaining about Baltimore not going into victory formation to call one more running play to tie the NFL record for consecutive 100 yard rushing games, because of COURSE he’ll use any excuse to be a redass.) Since, the Broncos were handled rather easily by the Steelers, their rival Raiders (who should have been distracted as that was the week Gruden was fired), and yesterday were beaten by an injury-ravaged Browns team. Yes, without Nick Chubb, Kareem Hunt, OBJ or Baker Mayfield… the Browns won and Denver’s vaunted defense could not force a turnover on legendary QB… Case Keenum, who most people forgot was still in the league.

Denver is currently trading away every late-round draft pick they have next year to get any competency at the LB position they can, but they do have the good news that they will be playing the WFT next week, so they might be able to get a win. MAYBE.

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”.



3. 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.

In Week 7, they got blown out 38-3 by Tom Brady and the Buccaneers, and the story out of Chicago is that 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. Maybe calls to fire Nagry will calm down this week only because people are going to feel bad for him because he tested positive for Covid-19. That means he might not be around when the Bears host the 49ers on Sunday, who are also desperate for a win.



2. Dan Campbell, Lions : To paraphrase a cleverer poster than me, , “The Lions continue their 60 year process of rebuilding…” They’re 0-7, the last winless team in the league. They opened the year getting handled by the 49ers and Packers in the first two weeks, the latter on MNF where they got outscored in the second half 21-0. They lost to a Ravens team ravaged by injuries for their matchup on a record 66 yard FG at the final gun. In Week 4 they handed Justin Fields his first win, with Jared Goff having a big hand in that by fumbling away to the Bears twice.

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. In Week 5 they coughed up a lead with 45 seconds left to the struggling Vikings, in Week 6 they just got handled by the Cincinnatti Bengals, and in Week 7, they actually had people looking at out-of-town scoreboards and going, “No wayyyyy…” while they were, at points, leading the Rams.

But their second half possessions resulted in “Turnover on Downs” (when they could have taken a 50 yard FG attempt rather than challenge the Rams defense on 4th and 1), settling for a FG to go ahead 19-17… and then Jared Goff threw two picks in the fourth quarter.

They’re only hope to avoid another 0-16 is that they can go 0-17 this time. Minnesota and Chicago are always ready to stumble and get tripped up for a division win in one of their four games against them. But is Dan Campbell good enough to capitalize? After he went 5-7 as an interim coach with the Dolphins?

It’s Detroit. And were it anywhere else, if this guy bombs in his first season, he’d be fired. But they’re used to 3 and 4 win seasons, so he might get a pass.


1. Brian Flores, Dolphins: The Dolphins are 1-6, and that one win came in Week 1 against the Patriots by a single point. In Week 6, they lost to a Jags team that was previous winless, with Tu’a back under center. I cannot begin to tell you how much I sat in disbelief is Miami went from being in control with a 10 point lead at one point to choking away this game in London… just the last six minutes alone… but yesterday, they got the Falcons, and Tu’a managed to pass for 4 TDs against the porous Atlanta defense.

The problem is, Miami’s own defense gave up 336 yards passing, nearly half of which was to rookie TE Kyle Fitts, who gave their linebackers exactly those. Miami has now lost six straight, and travels up to Buffalo to play the Bills on Halloween. For those who forgot, in Week 2, Buffalo went to Miami and squished the fish 35-0.

This franchise has been lobbying to trade for DeShaun “Serial Massage Therapist Groper” Watson in a way that’s come to public knowledge and seems to indicate they don’t think Flores can coach offense with what he’s got. He’s not developing Tu’a, so they’d like to swap for a sexual predator to avoid having to coach anybody up. Flores enters this week’s game against the Falcons 16-22 as a coach, and seems like he’ll be falling further under .500 before the end of this season, which will likely see the ‘Phins go another direction at the end of the year. His only hope is that the Dolphins’ schedule has two games left against the Jets, and one against the Giants, so he should be able to at least get this squad back to some level of mediocrity that their fans are used to, rather than, “Holy s***, how did we lose to the JAGS?”

[worstblogever]

Another update on the Packers' Covid-19 situation... it's not good for them.

WR Allen Lazard has also been placed into the Covid protocol, joining Davante Adams. Marquez Valdes-Scantling is still on IR, and could be elevated in time for the game, but has not been yet, and has not practiced with the team. That would leave Green Bay without its top three receivers, and they would only have Randall Cobb, their current #4 target, ready to go against Arizona on Thursday, who currently have given up the third fewest passing YPG of any defense in the NFL, and are tied for the best scoring defense in the league.

Just because Davante Adams is out, should not have been a panic, because Rodgers has managed to lead Green Bay to a 6-0 record in games Adams has missed in the past two years. Without his top THREE receivers, though... that's a different prospect.