2022-23 NFL Season Discussion Thread

[Ragnar]

Originally Posted by pilight

Every QB needs the right situation around them. Nobody looked at Steve Young in Tampa and thought "that's a Hall of Famer".

But all QBs aren't created equal. There are great QBs, and there are QBs like Nick Foles. The NFL is a team sport. QBs aren't like pitchers in MLB. Their situation around them plays a much bigger role in their success.

[TheMaus2]

Originally Posted by Ragnar

Lamar Jackson is a decent QB. Has great mobility and is an average pocket passer. Similar to Jalen Hurts, he needs an ideal situation around him to succeed. Like he had in 2019.

If the team gives in to his demands, it will be for the same reason the Cards gave in to Kyler Murray's demands. After all, the NFL is a business first and foremost. Winning a championship is just gravy, not a necessity.

Worth noting that Greg Roman is great at designing a run game, maybe not so great at designing a passing game. Also, Lamar's top target for the past few seasons has been Mark Andrews.

Kyler's situation... is more murky but I'm convinced that Kliff Kingsbury's offense is also fraudulent. Christian Kirk is on pace for his first 1k yard season in a better system.

Generally, I think the crop of new "star" QBs has the talent to be great, & we're expecting too much out of these guys too soon. Lawrence and Fields were in the two worst situations in the NFL last year, Herbert unfortunately plays for the Chargers, Tua had to change his mechanics after the hip injury (and lucked into a good HC/elite WR duo), Burrow lacks a good coach/lacked a good O-Line last year, Allen probably gets a SB bid if he doesn't face the football gundam that is Mahomes.

[thehef]

Kyler Murray was brutal at the end of the game yesterday. Granted, the situation was dire. But still...

The Cardinals had the ball at their own 32 with 15 seconds left and one timeout remaining. In that situation, you need to pick up about 25-30 yards to have a shot at long FG. But since they had the one timeout, they could look both to the sidelines and the middle of the field... Depending upon specifics, there's time for one or maybe even two passes. What does Kyler do? After eating up several seconds, he rifles the ball where it needs to be caught - about 10 yards into Charger territory. However, there were no - and I mean NO - Cardinal receivers anywhere close to the ball. So he basically sucked up nine precious seconds on a play that had zero chance of gaining yards.

So now there are six seconds left. And still one timeout. That leaves three possibilities:

1) Try to pick up a few yards in 5 seconds or less and call timeout; the idea being you're making the subsequent Hail Mary a little shorter.
2) Try to pick up enough yards to get into FG range in 5 seconds or less; unlikely to be enough time for that, but perhaps worth a try.
3) Just go ahead and try the Hail Mary

What does he do? After enough time has elapsed to rule out #'s 1 and 2, and thus ensuring that this is the last play of the game, he throws the ball over the middle, where there's little chance of anything good happening for the Cards... IOW, once the quick-hit option was off the table, he should've either throw the bomb, or thrown it to a receiver in the flat (or thereabouts) to start the lateralling shenanigans.

Not Phi Beta Kappa. In fact, pretty boneheaded. You have to at least give your receivers and team a chance.

[Déjà Bru]

I had no idea Deion Sanders was coaching college football. Here is his record:



Those results were apparently good enough to get him an offer for the head coach job at Colorado!

Deion Sanders confirms he's been offered Colorado job

[Cobra Mgr]

Originally Posted by Ragnar

If there was no salary cap, I couldn't care less how much anyone there gets paid. My comments are strictly about the game.

At every position except QB, the better you are, the more you get paid. Not so much with QBs getting a 2nd contract. They're getting market value whether or not they are as good as Mahomes or Aaron Rodgers. Dak Prescott is a good example.

What should balance out the teams is if the better QBs got paid more. But that's not the case. That gives teams not only an advantage at quarterback, but no disadvantage with the cap hit.

But don't get me wrong, I'm not stressing over it. More power to them.

Everything about the NFL's economic system is screwy. Welcome to Bizzaro World. The only thing crazier than what's in the collective bargaining agreement is that it is, indeed, an agreement. It is a conscious choice. The players accepted it. So again, whatever advantage/disadvantage, fair/unfair, sensible/comical situation gets belched out I feel is deserved. They asked for it. Deal with it.

[Cobra Mgr]

Originally Posted by Déjà Bru

I had no idea Deion Sanders was coaching college football. Here is his record:

Attachment 917811

Those results were apparently good enough to get him an offer for the head coach job at Colorado!

Deion Sanders confirms he's been offered Colorado job

Lol. How'd you miss that?

[Déjà Bru]

Originally Posted by Cobra Mgr

Lol. How'd you miss that?

You see? I am battling my local sports insularity with these forum threads. "Oh, woe is me, a (Giants/Knicks) fan. Well, that's it. I'm just going to stop watching (football/basketball)." No more of that. There's too much to enjoy in an eclectic manner.

[thehef]

Jeff Saturday is getting criticized for his late-game clock & timeout mis-management, and the blame seems to focus on his inexperience. Seems to me that he fits right in with the majority of NFL (and college) head coaches that routinely bungle this sort of thing...

[Ragnar]

Originally Posted by thehef

Jeff Saturday is getting criticized for his late-game clock & timeout mis-management, and the blame seems to focus on his inexperience. Seems to me that he fits right in with the majority of NFL (and college) head coaches that routinely bungle this sort of thing...

It's crap. He had 3 timeouts and his clock management wasn't bad. The main problem was getting a first down, not clock management. 40 seconds and 3 timeouts is plenty time.

[damientheomen3]

I would've personally preferred a timeout there but I don't think the decision not to call one was so egregious to get flamed as much as it is by the parrots. But the Jeff Saturday hiring was controversial so of course people are gonna jump to scrutinize and blow up any little thing. Anyone that rails against the decision as if it cost the Colts the game is just proving how little about football they really know.

[monkeyman576]

Wrong thread.

[dsvitak]

Originally Posted by Déjà Bru

I had no idea Deion Sanders was coaching college football. Here is his record:

Attachment 917811

Those results were apparently good enough to get him an offer for the head coach job at Colorado!

Deion Sanders confirms he's been offered Colorado job

Go watch some youtube videos on Coach Sanders. He is an amazing role model for his athletes. My opinion of him is very, VERY high right now.

[TheMaus2]

Sanders is definitely has the resume to try and prove himself at the FBS level (will probably get a lot of JSU transfers too) gonna be interesting to see if he ends up at Cincy, USF or Colorado. But also the coach prime youtube stuff is coproduced with barstool, yuck.

[Cobra Mgr]

Originally Posted by thehef

Jeff Saturday is getting criticized for his late-game clock & timeout mis-management, and the blame seems to focus on his inexperience. Seems to me that he fits right in with the majority of NFL (and college) head coaches that routinely bungle this sort of thing...

He was dumb. But so was Matt Ryan. Somebody should have known to use those TO's. I knew it and I've only got Madden SB's on my resume.

[thehef]

Originally Posted by Cobra Mgr

He was dumb. But so was Matt Ryan. Somebody should have known to use those TO's. I knew it and I've only got Madden SB's on my resume.

Agree. But this kind of clock mismanagement - at the highest levels of football! - is not at all unique (especially when combined with having to spend timeouts unnecessarily because of the playclock running down). Saturday's (and Ryan's) timeout blunders may have been a bit more blatant than most others, but I would not at all be surprised to see many much more-seasoned coaches & QB's commit the exact same mental blunders...

[Cobra Mgr]

Originally Posted by thehef

Agree. But this kind of clock mismanagement - at the highest levels of football! - is not at all unique (especially when combined with having to spend timeouts unnecessarily because of the playclock running down). Saturday's (and Ryan's) timeout blunders may have been a bit more blatant than most others, but I would not at all be surprised to see many much more-seasoned coaches & QB's commit the exact same mental blunders...

Oh no doubt. Curtis Martin & Donovan McNabb taught me something about top athletes: Just because they are good at it, doesn't mean they are actually crazy about it. McNabb was a Pro Bowler QB, but didn't know NFL game could end in a tie. Martin claims to have never watched a game after he retired despite being a a HOF. Some guys the game is a job. It puts food on the table. They recognized their family would be better off if they pursued this natural talent. But they don't love the sport enough to be immersed in it. They just do their jobs well.

Saturday may have been a great center, but he is looking at the game from a different perspective. Instead of carrying out decisions, he is making them. On the fly & for down the road. And that is going to be challenging for someone who has merely played football, not eat, drink, sleep & dream football. I've seen a lot of coaches who had the goal of being the head man, but obviously never gave thought to the position of head man. Being a good coordinator does not necessarily prepare someone to be a HC. You've got to mentally prepare yourself beforehand to be ready in those late game circumstances. If you're the kind of guy that enters & leaves the team facility "punching the clock", you aren't going to be as well suited as the guy does what he is paid to do, plus plays Madden, keeps the NFL network on 24/7, & scouts the MAC on Wed night.

Some

[thehef]

Originally Posted by Cobra Mgr

Oh no doubt. Curtis Martin & Donovan McNabb taught me something about top athletes: Just because they are good at it, doesn't mean they are actually crazy about it. McNabb was a Pro Bowler QB, but didn't know NFL game could end in a tie. Martin claims to have never watched a game after he retired despite being a a HOF. Some guys the game is a job. It puts food on the table. They recognized their family would be better off if they pursued this natural talent. But they don't love the sport enough to be immersed in it. They just do their jobs well.

Saturday may have been a great center, but he is looking at the game from a different perspective. Instead of carrying out decisions, he is making them. On the fly & for down the road. And that is going to be challenging for someone who has merely played football, not eat, drink, sleep & dream football. I've seen a lot of coaches who had the goal of being the head man, but obviously never gave thought to the position of head man. Being a good coordinator does not necessarily prepare someone to be a HC. You've got to mentally prepare yourself beforehand to be ready in those late game circumstances. If you're the kind of guy that enters & leaves the team facility "punching the clock", you aren't going to be as well suited as the guy does what he is paid to do, plus plays Madden, keeps the NFL network on 24/7, & scouts the MAC on Wed night.

Some

For sure. That said, I'm rooting for Saturday because I often root for underdogs. Seems that many - including the media - want him to fail. I kinda root for him the same way I root for the soccer goalkeeper to make an nice offensive play when he's at the other end due to his team's desperation

[Cobra Mgr]

I have nothing against Saturday. He's an ex-Heel after all. But I'm hoping it doesn't succeed. The NFL keeps moving the goal posts as to what it takes to become a HC. And each time it changes, it makes it harder for POC to get one of those 32 jobs. At first it was experience. Then you had to be a successful coordinator. Now apparently you have to be one of the owner's faves to hang out w/at lunch. Leftwich & Bieniemy are SB winning OC's but get no offers. Saturday spends time in Bristol & is on Irsay's personal directory & voila!

I just want fair opportunity.

[thehef]

Originally Posted by Cobra Mgr

I have nothing against Saturday. He's an ex-Heel after all. But I'm hoping it doesn't succeed. The NFL keeps moving the goal posts as to what it takes to become a HC. And each time it changes, it makes it harder for POC to get one of those 32 jobs. At first it was experience. Then you had to be a successful coordinator. Now apparently you have to be one of the owner's faves to hang out w/at lunch. Leftwich & Bieniemy are SB winning OC's but get no offers. Saturday spends time in Bristol & is on Irsay's personal directory & voila!

I just want fair opportunity.

For that to change (more HC jobs for POC), you'll need more owners & GM's who are POC. It's time-honored that in most walks of life, people are more-comfortable with, hang with, and therefore hire "people like me." It's not a bad thing, and certainly isn't exclusive to old, rich, white guys. Regardless of the business, seeking overall diversity in your staff would typically be a good thing. But when it comes to hiring for a near-singularly important position, diversity is going to be pretty low on my priority list. Who I'm most comfortable with, which of course should factor in experience, ability, skill, is going to rule the day... YMMV, but I don't think Irsay's thinking outside the box - even if it fails miserably - should be thought of in a silo of racism (and I'm not saying you are saying that).

At a quick glance, I'd say that Michael Jordan's Bobcats front office has more blacks that most other front offices. It could be that diversity is a key issue for Mike, or it could be that simply hiring the people whom he's most-comfortable with - in this case, presumably well-qualified blacks - were his choice.

But ya, if you want more Mexicans in NFL & NBA front offices & HC positions, you'll either need to put in place rules that a) force owners to hire people they don't want to hire, and b) put POC through charades (like the well-intentioned "Rooney Rule"), or c) you "simply" need more Mexican owners...

[Cobra Mgr]

I want to make it clear I don't think Irsay is racist. He hired Dungy & Jim Caldwell as HC's. I know you recognized that. But I want to emphasize it.

But I don't want a trend to start. Especially a trend that gives POC another disadvantage. If Saturday is successful, then more owner buddies are going to get hired. And few POC are close friends w/owners.