NFL 2022 Regular Season Thread.

[BeastieRunner]

Looks like another trade out or Carolina just occurred.

[babyblob]

The jets have traded a 6th round pick which could become a 5th round pick to The Jags for RB James Robinson

[WestPhillyPunisher]

The legend of Bailey Zappe grows in New England. He replaced Mac Jones who threw a woeful interception and immediately drove the Patriots down the field for a touchdown, cutting the Bears’ lead to 10-7 in the second quarter.

[BeastieRunner]

Crowd was chanting for Zappe.

And blew up when he engineered that TD.

[BeastieRunner]

Zappe's play action is something else.

Play action pass, then does a real run and the DEF just watched the guy walk in.

[WestPhillyPunisher]

Bears 20-14 at the half. Not a bad game, all things considered.

[worstblogever]

Who, at this point, isn't ruling for Bailey Zappe?

[MRP]

Who, at this point, isn't ruling for Bailey Zappe?

Zappe then crapped the bed in the second half and looked exactly what he is, an inexperienced back up the opposing team's defense had figured out. My guess is Mac Jones is back as the starter next week against the Jets.

-M

[WestPhillyPunisher]

Zappe then crapped the bed in the second half and looked exactly what he is, an inexperienced back up the opposing team's defense had figured out. My guess is Mac Jones is back as the starter next week against the Jets.

-M

Yup, that would be my guess as well. So much for the legend of Bailey Zappe!

[SUPERECWFAN1]

Well Zappe is a rookie after all. Kurt Warner detailed how New England before this game in a video detailed how the Patriots were running a real basic style offense right now.

Because Zappe is a rookie. The offense is basically telling him to play within himself and not trying to win the game on his own.

If they let him start more we may see what he...could be possibly. Once he gets more experience.

[worstblogever]

Well Zappe is a rookie after all. Kurt Warner detailed how New England before this game in a video detailed how the Patriots were running a real basic style offense right now.

Because Zappe is a rookie. The offense is basically telling him to play within himself and not trying to win the game on his own.

If they let him start more we may see what he...could be possibly. Once he gets more experience.

Speaking of Warner, I really wish that the play-by-play team of Kurt & Kevin Harlan from the radio broadcast could get into a TV booth. Harlan's passion fills in for Warner being more analytical. It's a weird reversal on the color guy being the personality while the straight man is the guy calling the action, but it still works.

[worstblogever]

WEEK 8 "WHO'S COOKIN' ON THE HOTSEAT?/FIRE THIS COACH!" DISCUSSION
ALREADY FIRED BEFORE WEEK 6): Matt Ruhle (Panthers) FIRED! THEY’RE FIRED!

10. Mike Tomlin, Steelers: Alright, look… I don’t want Mike Tomlin fired. I think he’s a damned fine coach, he’s kept the Steelers winning for like a decade, and has never posted a record under .500 in that time. It’s prolifically good. Historically, he’s got one of the best and most consistent coaching records in the entire history of the league. This being said, even when he just loses in the playoffs, there are Yinzers out there in Pennsyltucky who call for his job. (They’re wrong, but they still do.) Now they’re 2-5, without T.J. Watt, whose whole body imploded like it couldn’t bear the weight of trying to carry all the cash they signed him to a long-term deal for, and they have Kenny Pickett trying to find his way. Pittsburgh hasn’t been four games under .500 since starting 0-4 back in 2013, when Tomlin still got the team to limp back to 8-8 by the end of that year.

Yesterday, even without T.J. Watt, the Pittsburgh defense held the Dolphins to 16 points, shutting Miami out in the second half. Why did they lose? Rookie QBs throwing 3 INTs will come back to bite you, especially when you don’t force a turnover. Next week, they have to go across the state to play the Eagles, and with Philly being undefeated… we don’t expect a lot of terrible towels turning up, unless it’s to mop up whatever is left of Kenny Pickett at the end of the game.

With the QBs around the AFC, I don’t want to fault Mike Tomlin for at least this season, Pittsburgh bringing a knife to a gunfight. Why WON’T he be fired? The Steelers franchise changes coaches about as often as cicadas turn up.


9. Todd Bowles, Buccaneers: I’ve personally rooted for Todd Bowles since he was Bruce Arians’ DC in Arizona, and getting a coaching job with the Jets was a near death sentence for the man’s career. Still, he went back to Tampa Bay and got a ring working as DC under Arians there when Tom Brady walked through the door. This is his first year in his second stint as a head coach and…

Things do not look as predestined for the Bucs at the moment on offense. Their offensive line is a patchwork of reserves in for guys out with injuries, and Brady’s marital problems with Gisele look like they’re making him more emotionally unstable than he’s ever been on any sideline, ever, with him chucking tablets and berating his own offensive linemen for giving up too many sacks. It’s not a good look for a franchise that looked like they would be atop the league as long as the were running the GOAT out there. To his credit, Bowles’ defense is still a Top 5-10 in the league, giving up around 17 points per game, but they’re only averaging 17 points a game as well.

They play on a short week against the Ravens, and the schedule doesn’t get easier the two weeks after that, with the Rams (have fun with your lineman trying to stop Aaron Donald, Tom!) and then the surprising Seattle Seahawks in London. The back half of their schedule might be friendly, but if they don’t turn it around, things could get ugly, and Bowles could take the fall.

8. Matt LaFleur, Packers: Green Bay has lost three straight games for the first time in the Matt LaFleur coaching era, and in spite of having the top pass defense in the NFL through seven games… the Packers are 3-4… because Aaron Rodgers and the offense for Green Bay have a problem with a lot of young receivers who are not in synch with the back-to-back MVP. They’ve been held under 14 points in four games so far, and their highest scoring output has been 27 points. For whatever reason, they’re not calling run plays with their very inexperienced receiving corps, and having both A.J. Dillon & Aaron Jones… and that’s a failure for LaFleur.

An even worse failure? Not converting a single third down yesterday against the Commanders, and then calling a lateral play at the gun instead of trying to let Rodgers throw a Hail Mary, which somehow, he keeps doing and pulling it off. Just… baffling decisions.

With all the talk about “Is Rodgers slipping at his age?” being the response, we’re waiting for the whiniest elite QB in the league to wander into a podcast to blame everything on the coaching staff, threaten to retire, and have Packers fans start turning their attention to LaFleur’s future.

We don’t see things getting any better next week, when the Sunday night game features the Packers traveling up to Orchard Park to play a Bills team that is absolute fire right now in front of a national viewing audience. If Green Bay can right the ship there and get back to .500 in a wide-open NFC Playoff race, he might silence his critics. If Buffalo flat out handles them, the panic button gets hit.



7. Josh McDaniels, Raiders: So far this year, Oakland got beat by the Chargers & Titans, and Cardinals by a combined 13 points. That Arizona loss in week two, though… it was the biggest blown lead in the history of the Raiders franchise, regardless of what city they’ve ever played in. They then went to Denver and won by 9, showing they clearly aren’t one of the worst teams in the league, but they will find ways to lose winnable games. In Week 5, they blew a 17 point lead against the Chiefs before heading into their BYE Week.

And they beat the Texans with an extra week to prepare. Low bar to clear to get a second win, but they got it. It seems like they’ve accepted most of their free agent acquisitions aren’t working out for them… so rather than try and force Derek Carr to throw to Davante Adams to justify the money they threw at him, they’ve gone back to running the ball with Josh Jacobs and… *slaps head* they’re suddenly competent? WHO’D HAVE THUNK IT, McDaniels?

They travel to New Orleans to play a discombobulated Saints team next week, but one that still will have players coming off the injury list and a few extra days to get healthy and ready after playing Arizona this past Thursday.



6. Arthur Smith, Falcons: All right, here’s one of our true hot seats on this list. Matt Ryan is, again, gone to Indianapolis. This team is led by Marcus Mariota, and has rookie QB Desmond Ridder waiting to step in mid-season to prove something. Their top WR is suspended for gambling for the whole year, and their best RB (when available) is actually a WR. They have virtually no one you’ve ever heard of on the defensive side of the ball, and their best player, currently, might be their kicker.

And while some were crediting Smith for coaching the Falcons to a 3-3 record through their first six, Yesterday, they dropped back under .500 in a loss to the 35-17 loss to the Bengals that wasn’t even as close at that score. Look at the yardage totals… the Falcons managed just 214 yards of offense against Cincinnatti, who racked up 537 on the tackling dummies Smith has trying to stop people. No one could stop Joe Burrow from throwing all over them, with Tyler Boyd and Ja’Marr Chase both hitting the century mark in yards receiving, and Tee Higgins only missing that mark with 93.

Atlanta’s only benefit is that their division is very mediocre this year, and their next seven games goes Panthers, Chargers, Panthers again, Bears, Commanders, Steelers, Saints. The Chargers are the best team on that list, and they still have enough injuries for Atlanta to take them down. I mean, we have Atlanta as a coaching hot seat, but come early December, this could be a team trying to swipe a playoff spot with that schedule. But they need someone with a pulse playing on the defensive side of the ball to make that happen.

[worstblogever]

5. Kevin Stefanski, Browns: Well, I’ll open by telling you why Stefanski might NOT be fired.

Cleveland’s front office traded for a serial sexual predator knowing full well that he would be suspended for at least part of the season, and then found out that it would be a total of 11 games, which averages out to less than two quarters of punishment per sexual assault committed by DeShaun Watson. The fanbase has leaned into this awful decision, thinking that if they can just stay around .500, maybe 5-6 or 4-7 until when Watson returns… they can go on a run in their final six games, make the playoffs, and finish hot to win a Super Bowl.

The moral implications of that devil’s bargain aside… Kevin Stefanski is 2-5 right now, and yesterday’s loss gave their hated division rivals, the Ravens, a victory they needed to right the ship after a rocky start in a game where Lamar Jackson only had to go 9-16 for 120 yards. They don’t get much of a break before next week, when they have to host the Bengals on Monday Night Football on Halloween in what should be a SPOOKY SPOOKY BLOWOUT.

Regardless of if the above hypothetical scenario can come to pass, we don’t think Stefanski gets fired because he’s being asked to coach with one arm behind his back with Jacoby Brissett under center until Watson is allowed to get on the field (assuming more massage therapists don’t keep coming forward with tales of him being a creep, as one did this week, that could potentially add MORE games onto his suspension).

Bottom line being, Stefanski has to find a way to win with a defense and running game. Whether or not Watson can take this team on a winning run down the stretch will likely determine if he’s here for another season. We wish we could say that his job is secure for having broken the Factory of Sadness’ playoff drought two years ago, but with the Haslem family running this team as badly as they do, nothing is certain in Cleveland.


4. Lovie Smith, Texans: We respect Lovie Smith, but we also know that the owners of the Houston Texans wanted Josh McCown to be their next coach, and it’s only because of Brian Flores’ lawsuit that the f***sticks in their front office got caught potentially skirting the Rooney Rule and backpedaled to hire Lovie to cover their asses from any league punishments that could have come.

Lovie is regarded as the architect of the Bears’ highly touted defenses of the mid-oughts, but is in charge of a team so devoid of talent that they are currently 31st in the league in yards allowed, and are dead last in rush defense. They’re tied with the Washington Commanders for the 3rd worst point differential in the league. And somehow, don’t ask us how, people can definitively say they look much better in 2022 than they did last year, and try and credit Smith with coaching his guys to not quit.

The best news for Lovie is that Jack Easterby got FIRED FIRED this week, so there’s no longer a guy trying to elevate Josh McCown to replace him. IN THEORY.


3. Dennis Allen, Saints : You took over for the guy who brought a Super Bowl to New Orleans. The first rule is, “Never be the guy, who follows THE guy.” Then, you took a job where Jameis Winston was your QB. Your first job was, obviously, “Minimize his mistakes. His stupid, stupid mistakes.”

Well, the good news is, Jaemis didn’t play on TNF against the Arizona Cardinals this week and you didn’t have to worry about him botching it for your whole squad. The bad news is, Andy Dalton did, and spotted the struggling Cardinals 14 points on two highlight-reel pick-sixes. The other potential good news is they’re in a division with Atlanta and Carolina, so they might be able to get some wins through the rest of the year. But the odds of the Saints getting hot and making a run look bleaker and bleaker as they fall farther below .500, and more guys pile up on IR.

Dennis Allen has gotten the Saints off to a 2-5 start, in spite of all their talent at the skill positions and on defense. Their battery of offensive weapons are all on the shelf with injuries, and their 2023 draft prospects are irrelevant to any attempts at tanking… the Eagles own their first round pick because of the Saints trading up for WR Chris Olave… so it doesn’t look like they’re solving their hole at QB unless there’s a free agent they can snag… which isn’t traditionally the Saints’ forte.

We were thinking New Orleans would take a step back this year, but this… yikes.


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

Wait, is it now 70? It might be 70. But to the current guy…

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 sometimes ends up sounding like a meek little chihuahua. He needs to send a bouquet of flowers to HBO’s Hard Knocks every day for making him look like a super-soldier throughout the pre-season, and making Detroit a hard team to root against, especially young receiver Amon Ra-St.Brown and DeAndre Swift, who is possibly the best RB in Detroit since Barry retired.

Still, for all that bluster, Detroit is 1-5, and is dead last in points allowed and last in yards allowed per game. This defense cannot stop anybody, and last Sunday they got shut out 29-0 last Sunday by a Patriots team led by, I s*** you not, Bailey Zappe, a rookie QB out of Western Kentucky. They are second worst in the league in scoring differential at -48.

The Lions had a BYE week to prepare for the Dallas Cowboys, and with that extra time for Campbell to scheme… Detroit managed to cough up five turnovers in a 24-6 loss. Amon-Ra St. Brown had one catch for a mere four yards. The Lions served as a practice squad team for Dak Prescott to ease back into full form.

Campbell’s record as Detroit’s coach? It’s currently 4-18-1. Next week, they host the Miami Dolphins, who could also use a tune up to help their QB get back into full form.


1. Nathaniel Hackett, Broncos : Whether it’s the husk of Russell Wilson under center, or Brett Rypien, the Broncos simply cannot put points on the board. Their two wins have underwhelmed, with one against the lowly Texans. They are averaging only 14.3 points per game, 32nd in the league. If they’d poached Eric Bienemy from the Chiefs, they wouldn’t be having this problem right now. Instead, they have a coaching staff with a first time head coach, first time OC, first time DC, and first time Special Teams coach, and all the inexperience is showing.

Russell Wilson was brought in for a king’s ransom, and underwhelmed from the jump. He was playing with a torn lat in his throwing shoulder, and if there’s one thing we’ve seen for the past year, it’s that Russell Wilson is not someone you want playing hurt. Week 5’s Thursday Night Football was a travesty to watch, and Denver fans got so bored booing three-and-outs that they were streaming for the exits in the fourth quarter of a game they had tied 9-9, and never trailed by more than a FG. That’s how little faith the Mile High City has in this office and coaching staff. With what they saw, three points was an insurmountable deficit. And when there are pundits saying to shut down your QB for the season even though you don’t have your own first round draft pick (Seattle another team’s misery helping their future fortunes).

Anyway, Hackett seems like he isn’t ready for this. Next week they host Jacksonville, and honestly, whoever loses that game could find themselves in the hottest seat on this countdown.

[babyblob]

Even though he was on video handing Mike Evans a pencil and Piece of paper and Mike Evans signed said piece of paper, The NFL has determined that the ref was not asking for an autograph. What? Really NFL?!

Also Bill B as of today did not commit to Jones as the starter going forward when asked about it directly.

[CSTowle]

Recorded the game to watch later (my Pats on MNF). Man, what a rollercoaster. Was thinking we should have sat Mac for another week or two to be sure, and then we did. And then Zappe was coming on strong! Against a crappy Bears team, seemed inevitable. But that run defense, sheesh. This was the stretch of games that were supposed to be very winnable, so hurts to drop one (especially when it felt like we had it). Sad, but still think Mac needs another game off.