NFL 2021 Regular Season!

[WestPhillyPunisher]

Really good game, with the Titans stopping the Bills on the 2 yard line when the Bills went for it on 4th instead of tieing it with an FG. 7 lead changes

Maybe I'm a wimp, but I would've kicked the field goal if I was Buffalo and took my chances in overtime.

[worstblogever]

Maybe I'm a wimp, but I would've kicked the field goal if I was Buffalo and took my chances in overtime.

If you are, I am.

The logic for Buffalo going for it is, "We couldn't stop Derrick Henry by that point of the game, our defense was gassed, so if we lose the coin toss, we lose in OT. They couldn't stop our offense all game, and Josh Allen is good on sneaks, so we're going for it. Plus, we're on the road. If we're at home, we tie it and let the crowd noise work to our favor. On the road... you go for the win."

I can't fault them too much on all those factors. Like, if their defense was playing better, I'd have trusted them in OT. But Tennessee scored on each of their final 6 possessions. That's not a good heat check.

[worstblogever]

HUUUGE Win for the Titans

Except they got quite a few guys hobbling off the field. My fantasy team did enjoy the Henry Hat Trick though

I've got Kyler and King Henry in my Fantasy league. I had a game a couple weeks ago where I put up 215 points. This week "only" 185. Guy I'm playing goes for 170 and loses.

It just be like that sometimes.

[worstblogever]

WEEK 7 "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. 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 2-4 and it’s going to 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 28th against the pass, and 30th against the run. Just… Jesus. They’re kicker’s also only 70% accurate, so without an MVP under center now, for the next month 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 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.


9. Frank Reich, Colts (LUKEWARM SEAT) : The Colts were lucky enough to get to face off against the Texans yesterday, which got them a win to get back to 2-4. Their other win is against the Dolphins, so… right now Indy has only been able to beat the meekest competition they’ve seen. Carson Wentz… he’s already been on the injury report this year and is believed to be playing hurt. This team’s fortunes ride on the health of a guy who has the durability of wet tissue paper. If he's not hurt, he’s suffering from inflammation of the ego and just started tuning out coaches his last season in Philly and it’s carried over here. But he’s definitely not looked like the kid that at one point, was an MVP candidate that every GM around the league would name as a young talent they wanted to build a franchise around.

How does the Wentz situation fall on Frank Reich, for better or worse? He’s the guy who wanted to trade for Wentz, so if he’s injured and does fall out of games completely and they’re forced to start their unqualified back-up options… Reich’s likely to take some of the blame. That will happen when you green light the front office sending draft picks for a $40 million a year albratross with a busted wing. If Indianapolis can’t reverse course and get into the playoffs, well, Reich’s on the fourth year of his contract, and could be shown the door.

This is where we point out that if the Colts truly are a good team, and if they can course correct to get back to 0.500… it’s going to be evident over the next four game stretch. Their opponents are a 49ers team with a beat-up offense, the Titans, now the favorite to win their division, and then the Jets followed by the Jaguars. Feasibly, if they stay healthy and get into a groove, this team could still make the playoffs. It’s if they fail to that Reich should start sweating.



8. 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.




7. 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, and got two wins in his first two games… however, yesterday, they got handled by Green Bay, and Aaron Rodgers barked at fans, “I STILL OWN YOU!” And nobody is questioning the validity of that statement, because it’s true.

Worse news? Next week, the Bears travel to Tampa Bay and have to start their rookie signal caller against Tom Brady and the Bucs. Which… can Khalil Mack take Brady off his spots to challenge him, and can the Bears’ O-line keep Justin Fields upright against the Buccaneers pash rush? We uh… don’t like their chances of staying on the right side of 0.500.


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 yesterday and struggled to get even 162 total yards of offense. 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.

The Jets are 1-4, and will be coming off their BYE week to travel to New England against the Patriots. If they lose against a struggling New England team with extra time to prepare, that’s going to be an indictment and Saleh on how Zach Wilson is developing.

[worstblogever]

5. 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 three wins between them through six 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 both the Steelers, and yesterday, their rival Raiders, who were KINDA coming off a bit of a distraction the week prior with their team.

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”.


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 drat 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.

Had Urban Meyer not been gifted a victory by another coach in this poll in London this past weekend, he might have been kicked to the curb only six games into his NFL head coaching


3. 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 firing off rockets like Dirk Vlug.

And even though in their game against Dallas in Week 5, Jones got a concussion, and yet Judge sent him out there against the f***ing Rams defense like that in Week 6. 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.


2. Dan Campbell, Lions : To paraphrase a cleverer poster than me, , “The Lions continue their 60 year process of rebuilding…” They’re 0-6, the last winless team in the league.

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, and in Week 6 they just got handled by the Cincinnatti Bengals.

There’s hope for this week, right? LOL. Now they get to go out to LA to play the Rams, who just brutalized the Giants yesterday, and know every weakness Jared Goff has got. And Matt Stafford is going to want to stick it to his old team. Expect Jared Goff to be further humiliated without Sean McVay in his headset, and that quickly has seen him transform back into the rube he was as a rookie under the tutelage of Jeff Fisher.

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 1-5, and that one win came in Week 1 against the Patriots by a single point. They just 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…

On consecutive plays, Brian Flores wasted two timeouts on unsuccessful and obviously desperately hopeless challenge flags. The Jaguars had a kicker they signed off the street then march down to hit a game tying 54 field goal that barely made it through the uprights in both distance and accuracy with three and a half minutes left and that lone timeout… They were running the ball and not necessarily well… with the clock rolling down. They wasted the two minute warning and two minute warning to go… 21 yards. That’s it. They moved from their 25 to their 46, and on a 4th and 1, Flores put Tu’a back in the shotgun for a running play that Malcolm Brown could not make it to the sticks.

Why the shotgun? You’re asking the runner to have to go 3 yards upfield just to get back to the line of scrimmage, and while they’re covering that much ground, it gives the defense time to get penetration, which… SURPRISE, THEY DID.

The fact that Flores called a terrible play on 4th and 1 is why they failed to get it. It’s more glaring that he didn’t trust his defense to punt and lock down against a rookie QB in Trevor Lawrence for a minute and a half. Instead, he went for it from his own 46, and the Jaguars only had to get about 10 more yards to get in field goal range. Sure, being Jacksonville they almost still botched it with a false start and two sacks, but they got a 12 yard gain on 3rd and 20 and then a 8 yard gain with 5 seconds left to stop the clock with a lone second on the clock to have the Jags march a kicker they signed off the street to hit again from 53, just within his range.

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?”

[WestPhillyPunisher]

WBE: I'm surprised you don't have Nick "Hey Siri" Sirianni of my Eagles on your list yet as I feel he's deserving of a spot. His offensive philosophy (as in his obsession with RPO plays) is terrible, he ignores his best skill position player in RB Miles Sanders, there's no way to know if he's actually developing QB Jalen Hurts who's on thin ice with potentially three first round picks for 2022, one of which could certainly be used on a passer if Hurts fails. Sirianni's yet to win at home in three tries and the schedule is dicey: this coming Sunday, it's a trip to Sin City to face whatever version of the Raiders take the field, Halloween could be an absolute horror show if they **** the bed against Detroit, and that's followed by games against the Chargers (H), Broncos (R) and Saints (H) respectively. Of those upcoming five games, it's not inconceivable the Birds could lose four, maybe all five if the Lions beat them. 3-8, or worse, and pissed off fans will march on Lincoln Financial Field with torches and pitchforks and demand Sirianni's head on a stick. Short and sweet, it's not looking good here.

[cable guy]

Yep, Philly is definitely not happy at all with Sirianni. I've seen all their games and I can see why.

[SUPERECWFAN1]

I do love the Eagles concept of believing they can win shootouts with an uneven offensive line , a 1st year real starting QB and a WR corps just put together. That offensive game plan is the wackest in years.

[Scott Taylor]

I dunno, its got kind of a Philly, independent spirit, revolutionary kind of vibe. Will to win, who cares about talent!

[SUPERECWFAN1]

I dunno, its got kind of a Philly, independent spirit, revolutionary kind of vibe. Will to win, who cares about talent!

Well its been mentioned here before but against offenses like Kansas City , Dallas etc....the idea is to keep them off the field as long as possible. Its why you go to a power running attack and grind out yards to eat clock. To keep them off the field as long as possible and help your defense as your offense just isn't there yet. That they need to do this to help the young QB out and not put him into position where he has to shoulder the entire offense himself.

Its basically ...the Eagles want Hurts to be Mahomes in his 2nd or 3rd year of starting fully. Where Pat Mahomes can literally as we saw carry his team on his back to a Super Bowl. He's not there yet.

[Kirby101]

The thing about Flores is he is suppose to be a Defense genius, and Miami's D sucks.

[MRP]

The thing about Flores is he is suppose to be a Defense genius, and Miami's D sucks.

Offenses continue to evolve and adapt to defensive schemes. Sometimes the game passes defensive geniuses by. Ask Dan Quinn. He had to completely change his approach and schemes on D after getting fired in Atlanta because the stuff he developed Seattle that fueled the Legion of Boom had gotten stale and offenses had had enough time to adapt to it and nullify its effectiveness. The book is still open to how well he has done in Dallas, but early results look ok, but it is a very different scheme and approach than he had in Seattle and Atlanta. I don't think Flores had adapted as the game change and his defensive success is in the past. Personnel certainly is an issue, but his philosophy and schemes have gotten old and teams have had time to adapt to them and render them ineffectual.


-M

[Gray Lensman]

Offenses continue to evolve and adapt to defensive schemes. Sometimes the game passes defensive geniuses by. Ask Dan Quinn. He had to completely change his approach and schemes on D after getting fired in Atlanta because the stuff he developed Seattle that fueled the Legion of Boom had gotten stale and offenses had had enough time to adapt to it and nullify its effectiveness. The book is still open to how well he has done in Dallas, but early results look ok, but it is a very different scheme and approach than he had in Seattle and Atlanta. I don't think Flores had adapted as the game change and his defensive success is in the past. Personnel certainly is an issue, but his philosophy and schemes have gotten old and teams have had time to adapt to them and render them ineffectual.


-M

Well, the most legendary defense is the 1985 Bears. Not the 1980's Bears, or even the late 1980's Bears, just the 1985 Bears - it was only able to be that mind of force for a single season as offenses were able to adapt.

[SUPERECWFAN1]

Well, the most legendary defense is the 1985 Bears. Not the 1980's Bears, or even the late 1980's Bears, just the 1985 Bears - it was only able to be that mind of force for a single season as offenses were able to adapt.

Well losing Buddy Ryan didn't help but yeah...that 46 defense worked awhile as we saw but its best season was the 85 one. The "constant pressure" and getting to QB was wild then. Joe Montana would take a big beating from it during games. Buddy's son breaks down coverage adjustments with it and more in this video.

[WestPhillyPunisher]

Well its been mentioned here before but against offenses like Kansas City , Dallas etc....the idea is to keep them off the field as long as possible. Its why you go to a power running attack and grind out yards to eat clock. To keep them off the field as long as possible and help your defense as your offense just isn't there yet. That they need to do this to help the young QB out and not put him into position where he has to shoulder the entire offense himself.

Its basically ...the Eagles want Hurts to be Mahomes in his 2nd or 3rd year of starting fully. Where Pat Mahomes can literally as we saw carry his team on his back to a Super Bowl. He's not there yet.

To compare Hurts to a generational talent like Mahomes is all kinds of wrong, and unfair to Jalen who's only has ten starts under his belt. If the Eagles are thinking that way, they need to stop, right now.