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That Ballard clown has shit the bed at QB for like 3 years. He got screwed by the Luck retirement, but followed that up with Wentz/Rivers/Ryan. Just terrible. And he actually gave up value for those guys.
Reich had one of the greatest games in NFL history on Xmas day. I still remember that comeback. I remember exactly where I was. It was the Brady Super Bowl comeback like 25 years prior.
I guess the Rooney Rule doesn’t apply to the hiring of “interim” coaches so the Colts won’t get fined by the league but I’m sure they’ll still get roasted for hiring Saturday.
He’s also way younger. I’m so glad they didn’t make that trade, it would have impacted the LAR pick next year. Dodged the bullet there
We also got Goff in the deal too. And I know, I know. Nobody here sees any worth with him, but, they could get a second rd pick right now for him. I am sure of it.
So no. the lions deal beat that by a third rounder.
Trickalicious - I don't think it is fair that the division rivals get to play the Lions twice. The Lions NEVER get to play the Lions, let alone twice.
That Ballard clown has shit the bed at QB for like 3 years. He got screwed by the Luck retirement, but followed that up with Wentz/Rivers/Ryan. Just terrible. And he actually gave up value for those guys.
Every GM has a blind spot, QB is his.
The guys at NFL radio were laughing at Indy. They have NOONE who has called plays before. With a rookie QB. And their OL is crapping the bed. Even super guard Quenton Nelson has not been good. What could go wrong?
Trickalicious - I don't think it is fair that the division rivals get to play the Lions twice. The Lions NEVER get to play the Lions, let alone twice.
We also got Goff in the deal too. And I know, I know. Nobody here sees any worth with him, but, they could get a second rd pick right now for him. I am sure of it.
So no. the lions deal beat that by a third rounder.
We also got Goff in the deal too. And I know, I know. Nobody here sees any worth with him, but, they could get a second rd pick right now for him. I am sure of it.
So no. the lions deal beat that by a third rounder.
LOL….the rams had to give the lions compensation to take goff’s bloated contract.
A 2nd for Goff is laughably insane. Not based in reality. Goff is worth nothing on the field or in a trade
Sam freakin Darnold was traded for a second. I promise you there are some needy teams that think, "Those loser Lions would mess anyone up. You can see Goff could be a winner if we had him..."
Trickalicious - I don't think it is fair that the division rivals get to play the Lions twice. The Lions NEVER get to play the Lions, let alone twice.
Posted by Mike Florio on November 8, 2022, 9:47 AM EST
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Well, Jim Irsay, good luck convincing any experienced NFL coaches with viable options to apply for your permanent head-coaching job after the season.
In clumsily attempting to justify the unjustifiable decision to ignore any candidate with, you know, actual experience coaching in the NFL or college football, Irsay turned it around, claiming that he actually wanted someone without experience.
“I’m glad he doesn’t have any NFL experience,” Irsay told reporters regarding new interim coach Jeff Saturday. “I’m glad he hasn’t learned the fear that’s in this league. Because it’s tough for all our coaches. They’re afraid. They go to analytics. And it gets difficult. I mean, he doesn’t have all that. He doesn’t have that fear.”
Beyond the fact that Irsay recklessly cast aspersions on every current NFL head coach and assistant coach by calling them chicken, his statement makes no sense. Analytics has become a tool that pushes coaches away from their fears. Analytics has made previously unconventional decisions far more conventional, making those decisions easier to defend when the time comes for media and fans to criticize a failed outcome. Coaches who rely on analytics aren’t operating out of fear, they’re operating out of bravado.
Besides, what did Irsay think he was getting when he hired Frank Reich away from the Eagles, a team that has made analytics a way of life? Currently, the Philly approach is proving to be pretty damn special.
Making Irsay’s take make even less sense is that fact that, typically, it’s the coach who has to be coaxed to ditch gut instinct and other qualitative, old-school factors to go all in on the numbers and the formulas and the predictive math that says, for example, going for it on fourth and two from your own 35 leads to a 39-percent chance of winning, and that punting leads to a 35-percent chance of victory. (I made up those numbers, but it probably wouldn’t be very difficult to design a mathematical model that would sit out those results, since the person who designs the model controls the variables.)
And, yes, Irsay will have to find a way to walk those comments back when the time comes to hire a coach for 2023 and beyond. Maybe the hidden genius of his strategy is that he’s trying to preemptively sabotage the pool of interested coaches, making it easier to stick with Saturday for all Sundays, Mondays, and Thursdays next year.
But that would be giving Irsay way too much credit. Based on Monday, he deserves very little. If any.
Trickalicious - I don't think it is fair that the division rivals get to play the Lions twice. The Lions NEVER get to play the Lions, let alone twice.
Posted by Mike Florio on November 8, 2022, 12:12 AM EST
USA TODAY Sports
Former Colts center Jeff Saturday officially was introduced as interim head coach of the team on Monday night.
There’s a sentence I never dreamed I’d be typing tonight.
Something else Saturday likely didn’t dream he’d be doing tonight is figuring out the identity of the person wo will call the offensive plays for the Colts on Sunday at Las Vegas, in his debut as the head coach. It’s a fairly critical job to the fate of a professional football team.
During an eyebrow-raising press conference that was either foolishly or brilliantly scheduled to happen while a prime-time game was being televised nationally, Saturday explained that he’ll be making the decision as to the person who will call the offensive plays at some point tonight.
“I’ve met with the offensive staff,” Saturday said, “and then already a few guys. And I’ll continue that through the night and come to a conclusion, and we’ll roll from there. . . . There are guys in that offensive room who have called a lot of games and a lot of plays, and there’s a lot of men that have put a lot of time into this. So I have no fear I will pick the right guy, and we will ride with it.”
They’re definitely riding with it. It may be a good ride. It may be a bad ride. But it will absolutely be a ride to remember as Saturday gets thrust into a situation that was bad enough to get the starting quarterback essentially fired one week, the offensive coordinator fired the next week, and the head coach fired seven days after that.
I’ll have other thoughts based on the 35-minute press conference that was dominated by owner Jim Irsay, who has gone in just 20 days from being the toast of the league for daring to publicly say what needed to be said about Commanders owner Daniel Snyder to being a potential laughingstock for making one of the most bizarre in-season decisions the NFL has ever seen.
And that’s not hyperbole. Of all the crazy things the league has witnessed between Week One and the Super Bowl, this is on the short list for the weirdest of all time.
On one hand, I love outside-the-box thinking. On the other hand, there’s a fine line between outside-the-box and just fuckin’ nutty. Over the next nine weeks, we’ll find out where this one lands.
Trickalicious - I don't think it is fair that the division rivals get to play the Lions twice. The Lions NEVER get to play the Lions, let alone twice.
Posted by Mike Florio on November 9, 2022, 9:32 AM EST
USA TODAY Sports
As the football-following world continues to struggle to understand the craziness that played out on Monday in Indianapolis, some have suggested that Colts owner Jim Irsay may be crazy like a fox. That the decision to make Jeff Saturday the interim head coach is part of an effort to tank the season and, in turn, to solve the chronic quarterback problem by drafting one of the best ones in a strong 2023 class.
“That’s the most absurd thing I’ve ever heard, that we’re tanking,” Irsay told Bob Kravitz of TheAthletic.com on Tuesday night. “That’s bullshit. We’re in this thing; 9-7-1 get us in, no question about it. . . . We’re not tanking the season. Whoever says these things, that we’re not playing [quarterback] Matt [Ryan] because [of an effort to tank], that’s all bullshit. That’s not true. . . We’re going to do what it takes to win. I don’t know who people think we are, they don’t know us. We don’t tank in Indianapolis.”
Again, the first rule of Tank Club is you do not talk about Tank Club. So even if Irsay and the Colts were indeed tanking, Irsay would never admit it.
That said, his effort to explain his strategy carries some flaws. To get to 9-7-1, which does not guarantee a playoff berth in any year but could result in one this year, the Colts will have to go 6-2 down the stretch. The Colts are not going 6-2 down the stretch. In fact, if the Colts go 6-2 down the stretch, I’ll donate $10,000 to the charity of Jim Irsay’s choice.
Also, few if any are saying that Ryan has been benched as part of a tanking strategy. Ryan’s benching was and continues to be a business decision. (More on that in a later post.)
So, no, I don’t believe Irsay is trying to tank. I think Irsay is earnestly, and desperately, trying to turn the thing around. And I think he’s doing so in a way that constitutes an affront to all qualified coaching candidates, that undermines the spirit of the Rooney Rule, and that compels the league to immediate close the loophole by requiring compliance for interim hires if the interim coach will be someone who isn’t currently on the staff.
Other than that, it’s perfectly fine.
Trickalicious - I don't think it is fair that the division rivals get to play the Lions twice. The Lions NEVER get to play the Lions, let alone twice.
Posted by Charean Williams on November 8, 2022, 10:09 PM EST
Getty Images
The Packers have lost five games in a row to fall to 3-6 with former head coach Mike McCarthy returning to town with the Cowboys on Sunday. Green Bay now is four games behind the Vikings in the win column in the NFC North.
Yet, Packers president and CEO Mark Murphy said it’s too early to write off the season.
“We’re all very disappointed. The expectations, and rightly so, were very high going into the season,” Murphy said Tuesday during a conference call with fans that is part of a sponsorship program with Kwik Trip, via Richard Ryman of the Green Bay Press Gazette. “I have a lot of confidence in Matt LaFleur, Brian Gutekunst, and [football executive] Russ Ball. My expectation is we will play well, and we will improve. I know things look bleak now, but things can change quickly in the NFL. We are not ready to give up on the season.”
The Packers started 3-1 before blowing a 10-point second half lead in London against the Giants. They have not been headed in the wrong direction since.
They have not had a losing record since McCarthy’s final season in Green Bay. The Packers were 4-7-1 when Murphy fired McCarthy, and they finished 6-9-1.
Trickalicious - I don't think it is fair that the division rivals get to play the Lions twice. The Lions NEVER get to play the Lions, let alone twice.
Posted by Mike Florio on November 8, 2022, 7:10 PM EST
Getty Images
Potential majority, and minority, owners are lining up for a chance to be involved with the Commanders.
Basketball star Kevin Durant recently told ESPN that he wants in.
“In a perfect world, I would be a part of it,” Durant said. “I would love to do it. I would love to give a little bit of my money to be a part of the Commanders, but we’ll see. Hopefully it’s somebody nice. I heard [Jeff] Bezos and Jay-Z, but you never know.”
Durant has been a lifelong fan of the franchise. He expressed surprise that owner Daniel Snyder is willing to sell.
“I mean, how long has he had it now — 20-something years?” Durant said. “He’s probably the only owner I’ve known since I’ve been alive for the . . . Commanders. So it’s definitely shocking to see him put them up because it’s his baby. NFL teams are precious, they’re important.
“But that’s going to be a team that everybody — everybody wants to be a part of the league. It’s one of the most lucrative teams in sports, so I’m sure there’s going to be a lot of bidders.”
Indeed there will. Snyder reportedly wants $7 billion. If the competition becomes sufficiently fierce, it could go for even more than that.
Celebrity limited partners like Durant and Matthew McConaughey can give a potential ownership group some sizzle. In McConaughey’s case, an existing friendship with Snyder could be the difference, if the various financial packages are close.
Trickalicious - I don't think it is fair that the division rivals get to play the Lions twice. The Lions NEVER get to play the Lions, let alone twice.
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