NFL 2021 Regular Season!

[worstblogever]

I'm very shocked at what I saw from Kansas City today. Very shocked. The Chiefs defense seemingly woke up some and really played a kick ass game. Can they continue it on ? Who knows. But 2 weeks of being underdogs and they have showed up !

I, for one, did not want to ignore the Chiefs. They started slow, but have quickly reminded the football world that they are the dominant team in the AFC West, which is still a pretty goddanged good division, top to bottom.

[Jimbi]

Man, it was a real tough night to be a Steelers fan. They came so close to winning a game that, with all those starters out, I gave them no chance. And, in the end they have no one to blame but themselves.

Not to take anyting away from the chargers, I thought they played light out!

[cable guy]

I'm very shocked at what I saw from Kansas City today. Very shocked. The Chiefs defense seemingly woke up some and really played a kick ass game. Can they continue it on ? Who knows. But 2 weeks of being underdogs and they have showed up !

I thought it would be a closer game yesterday. Wasn't as close as the sore shows. The Chiefs Defensive line looked great for sure. Dak does not do well when moving around in the pocket like he had to. He loses ALL of his accuracy at that point.

[cable guy]

Yeah, the Eagles are rounding into shape as they’ve discovered the joy of running the ball and have become one of the best rushing teams in the league, anchored in part to 700 pounds of beef on the left side of the offensive line in Jordan Mailata and Landon Dickerson. Meanwhile, our three headed rushing attack in Miles Sanders, Jordan Howard and Boston Scott has been surprisingly lethal, add in Jalen Hurts and we have a running machine. As for the remaining schedule, I see a split with the Deadskins, a sweep of the Giants and a win over the Jets. The second game against Dallas? Suddenly winnable after the ‘Boys were whomped by Kansas City.

Eagles look good. And yeah they can really run the ball. But I look at Hurts who I think gets better each week. Eagles could no doubt take the Cowboys in the Final week.

[Scott Taylor]

Darius Slay has cemented his nickname as “Big Play Slay” as he just returned a pick 50 yards for a touchdown and a 27-7 Eagles lead at the half.

And Teddy Bridgewater was slacking off at home rather than tackling him, per usual. Thats two weeks in a row, Teddy!

[worstblogever]

And Teddy Bridgewater was slacking off at home rather than tackling him, per usual. Thats two weeks in a row, Teddy!

I like the meme that on any defensive TD in any game for the rest of the season, we just blame Teddy.

[Jimbi]

I really think Jimmy Garoppolo will be the Steelers QB next year. (heavy, resigned sigh. Opens another bottle of whiskey)

[WestPhillyPunisher]

Bucs 17, Giants 10 halfway through the second quarter.

[SUPERECWFAN1]

I really think Jimmy Garoppolo will be the Steelers QB next year. (heavy, resigned sigh. Opens another bottle of whiskey)

Either that or the New York Giants QB. The Giants are starting to hit the frustration deal with Daniel Jones. He's not becoming the QB they envisioned with that huge reach they made. (Jones was considered a 2nd/3rd QB at best...some even felt a 4th rd)

Right now he's closing in on an insane stat. In 2+ seasons he's close to 50 turnovers himself. From fumbles to Ints. That is insane number to look at really as he's not even finished with year 3.

[worstblogever]

Either that or the New York Giants QB. The Giants are starting to hit the frustration deal with Daniel Jones. He's not becoming the QB they envisioned with that huge reach they made. (Jones was considered a 2nd/3rd QB at best...some even felt a 4th rd)

Right now he's closing in on an insane stat. In 2+ seasons he's close to 50 turnovers himself. From fumbles to Ints. That is insane number to look at really as he's not even finished with year 3.

After the two INTs on MNF. That's 29 INTs, 36 fumbles (20 lost) in 36 career games. He's averaging almost 1 INT and 1 fumble PER GAME. No NFL player has more turnovers since 2019 than Daniel Jones, at 49. Jared Goff is second at 48, but has three more games played under his belt to have coughed it up that much.

36 fumbles make Daniel Jones #24 in that stat among active players. He's the youngest guy on the list, and there are a couple 4th or 5th year QBs with about that number... but that's with an extra season under their belt to achieve it. All the rest are guys who have been in the league quite a while.

[worstblogever]

WEEK 12 "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)


10. Arthur Smith, Falcons: Alright, let’s break this down… Arthur Smith is a 1st year head coach, so he had to absolutely screw the pooch with an aging Matt Ryan in Atlanta this year. They are 4-6, which is somehow the bottom of the NFC South, but it’s also still somehow only a game out of playoff contention. So how do we have him dropping into the 10 hottest coaching seats?

Their past two losses have been by a combined 68-3. After getting throttled 43-3 by Dallas at Jerrahworld, they returned home and got blanked by Mac Jones and the Patriots. For the life of me, I cannot recall seeing Matt Ryan this frustrated in any game, and I once saw him turn over the ball six times against Arizona. He was benched late for Josh Rosen, who threw three passes, the last of which in true Rosen fashion was a pick six. (Seriously, how the f*** is he still in the league? I know he’s only in his fourth year, but he’s terrible.) Then they put in third stringer Feleipe Franks (WHO?) and he immediately through a fourth Atlanta INT in ten minutes.

You would think a team that brought in an offensive coordinator as a coach like Arthur Smith would not be regressing this much. But they are. Their only bright spot is TE Kylie Fitts this year, as Calvin Ridley as being treated for depression, and based on what we saw out of Matt Ryan, he might not be far behind. The good news for this team, at least, is they get Jacksonville this Sunday.

Which, we didn’t even mention how their defense is practically non-existent, but now that we have, watch Trevor Lawrence have a coming out party against the Falcons.


9. Mike Zimmer, Vikings (LUKEWARM SEAT): Minnesota improved to 5-5 with an upset of the Green Bay Packers that they nearly blew a late lead, but luckily were left enough time on the clock to get back down into field goal range… and for once, they had a kicker make a clutch kick. The Vikings are, for the moment, the #6 seed in the NFC. If Zimmer 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 three opponents are… the 49ers on the road (and they’re coming off a BYE week and should be rested), and then a mercy game against the Lions, before the Steelers come to town. 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.


8. 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 3-7 and that’s not necessarily because Russell Wilson missed 3 games. We knew it would be bleak any time they ran Geno Smith out there instead of Russ, it was gonna be rough because 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…

Wilson came back just got shut out 17-0 on the road versus Green Bay. That’s the first shutout of Russell Wilson’s career. This week, their offensive line had Russ under duress the whole game, and prior to getting a fourth quarter TD, the Seahawks went 20 straight drives without scoring a touchdown. The final score was 23-13, but it wasn’t even that close… Arizona had Colt McCoy moving the ball with relative ease and were it not for 2 missed FGs and a missed XP from their kicker, they would have been up by two scores for practically the entire game.

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). Through their first ten games, they are giving up 401 YPG, 31st in the NFL and 30th against the pass. Just… Jesus. They’re kicker’s also only 69% accurate (31st in the NFL), 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 (they’re more likely to force his hand and make him retire)... 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.


7. 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 the first 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, 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. And YET… after one stellar game, Saleh immediately put faith in Mike White, the guy who hadn’t started a game or taken a snap since he was a Hill Topper at Western Kentucky University (they still have one of the best Muppet-lookin’ mascots you’ll ever see). White torched the Bengals for 415 yards passing, and led the Jets to an upset victory that the New York media immediately started to ask… could this be the missing piece? Mike White and NOT Zach Wilson? And NOT Joe Flacco, redux? Hmm…

It was a fluke. Two more games made that clear. The Jets have turned their hopes to Joe Flacco, which is similar to the door Kate Winslett clung to at the end of Titanic. But that’s ended up leaving the Jets now at the bottom of the NFL in points per game allowed at 32 PPG, and last in point differential at -142.

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. Especially if that defense doesn’t start stopping someone… anyone.


6. Vic Fangio, Broncos : As of Week 11… 5-5… 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. 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. If you STILL needed proof, it would be this past week’s game where Teddy Bridgewater pulled a matador act on a turnover and let Darius Slay go the other way for the touchdown. Fangio has buried his starter in the press for it, and while Bridgewater deserves getting skewered for it… look at that replay. There’s MULTIPLE Broncos players on the field who flat out quit on that and made no effort. And that’s indicative that this team has quit on him, even for what their record is. He’s throwing Bridgewater under the bus, though, because he’s got to do SOMETHING to look like he hasn’t checked out, either, like his players. You can check the tape earlier in the year and see defensive captain Courtland Sutton walk off the field towards the sideline after an INT was thrown, making no effort to pursue the defender with the ball.

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”.

[worstblogever]

5. David Culley, Texans: Houston is sitting at 2-8, with the first win coming from when they beat lowly Jacksonville in Week 1 before they’ve rattled off eight straight losses. Those first seven L’s have been, frankly, a series of games where opposing coaches have utterly dismantled a team led by rookie 3rd string QB Davis Mills, so much so that the Texans had the worst point differential in the league… and they’re only second now because they had a BYE week while the Jets played a ninth game to eke them out in that stat. They are scoring 15 points a game and their offense ranks 32nd in yards per game. Their defense isn’t much better, sitting at 28th in yards per game. 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 nine months now. Everyone thought things would get better when Tyrod Taylor came off of the injured list, and he went out and threw 3 INTs in his first game back.

However, this week, they upset division rival Tennesse 22-13, not because the offense played well, gaining only 190 yards again, but they won because they were +5 on turnovers.

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…



4. 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 has helped escape the top echelons of the “FIRE THIS COACH” list, because, first of all, his team inexplicably upset the #1 seed in the AFC, the Buffalo Bills 9-6 (not a surprise they got help to 9 points, the surprise was it was enough to win), and second, other, juicier embarrassing stories have dropped courtesy of the Las Vegas Raiders’ clusterf*** rollercoaster drama, and Aaron Rodgers’ going full lunatic anti-vaxxer with the Packers’ franchise apparently letting him do whatever he wants for fear he might sit out.

“Urban Meyer ditches his team for a lapdance in his bar” is… not as spicy a tale right now. Even as they get outright handled 30-10 by San Francisco. This week… they’re playing the Falcons, in a game that might be the “get right” game Atlanta needs. If Meyer can’t score against that godforsaken defense, there will be no excuse.


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 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, 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. While the Eagles and WFT look like they’re starting to trend in the right direction, that is not true in New York.

The Giants are now 3-7, and looked absolutely inept on offense after having to prepare for the Buccaneers, who were on a two-game losing streak. Daniel Jones was pressured on 48% of his throws, and the two picks we mentioned earlier… were absolutely panicked, awful decisions. The only TD this offense managed they started on Tampa Bay’s 5 yard line. Judge was salty as f*** in the postgame presser, because of course he was.


2. 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. 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. Nagy at least had a week where his job security wasn’t questioned as hard when he tested positive for Covid-19, and then they had the indignity of losing the the Steelers on MNF after managing to put up 21 points in the 4th quarter but still lose on some questionable calls from officials. They’re now 3-7 after squandering a potential win against Baltimore who were forced to start Tyler Huntley with Lamar Jackson out. Justin Fields was injured and left for the return of… ANDY DALTON AGAIN. Yes, this team has Khail Mack out for the season, and there’s still some confusion as to how bad Justin Fields’ ribs are injured. Which means he might not be ready to go when the Bears have to play the Lions on Thanksgiving.

If Chicago should give Detroit a Thanksgiving day miracle of their first win of the year, the long gap before the Bears’ next game on December 5th might be enticing enough for management to fire him before that start.


1. Dan Campbell, Lions : The good news? They didn’t lose this week. The bad news? They didn’t win either, in spite of playing a Pittsburgh team without Big Ben, and Jared Goff also strained his oblique and was out this Sunday… leaving them to start Tim Boyle. Yes, an impressive 15/23 for SEVENTY-SEVEN YARDS and 2 INTs was his stat line. Were Baker Mayfield not so turnover prone, this game would not have been as close to it’s 13-10 final score.

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.

At least they can’t be the first team to go 0-17. They have to fight and claw to make sure they don’t end up being the first to go 0-16-1. Their last best chance at getting a win this year comes up on Thursday morning, as they face a discombobulated Bears team on Thanksgiving. After that… maybe the Falcons game? But that’s about it. They’re now almost a lock to have the #1 pick in the draft, in any event. It would figure that there’s no clear top QB prospect coming out this year to replace Jared Goff.

[WestPhillyPunisher]

As things stand at present, we could be looking at Tim Boyle (Lions) versus Andy Dalton (Bears) in the early Thanksgiving Day game from Detroit. I don't know about you, but I'm gonna look for something else to watch. Look, I love NFL football as much as the next person, but that train wreck of a game AIN'T worth my time.

[Gray Lensman]

As things stand at present, we could be looking at Tim Boyle (Lions) versus Andy Dalton (Bears) in the early Thanksgiving Day game from Detroit. I don't know about you, but I'm gonna look for something else to watch. Look, I love NFL football as much as the next person, but that train wreck of a game AIN'T worth my time.

Oooh, return of the Stupor Bowl!

At least the teams will be somewhat evenly matched! Seriously though, I think the only way to watch that will be to treat it as the sports equivalent of Mystery Science Theater 3000.

[SUPERECWFAN1]

Back 4 years ago on NFL.Com they did a mock draft with a group of analysts and former pros like Bucky Brooks. Certain ones had teams they did and well...lets see how well this stood up. And who actually picked the right players on teams prediction wise.