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[-Deborah-]

Harbaugh would good fit in Denver. He vision of what football is works with what Wilson needs to salvage the disaster in Denver. It would not be much different than what Carroll was doing in Seattle with Wilson.

This is kind of off topic but I went out searching for this week's episode of Inside the NFL. Turns out you can only get it on Paramount+ these days, HBO dumped it. I joined for a trial to see what they had to say about the Lions/Packers game.

Anyway, I was disappointed in their coverage of the Lions game, but they did show a postgame clip of the Seahawks in the locker room. The difference in the atmosphere between their locker room and the Lions' locker room is hugely noticeable.

Maybe it was just the situation - the Seahawks barely surviving a bad Rams team and not knowing if their season is over yet or not. Their players seemed quiet and not very engaged in what their coach had to say at all.

Regardless, I'm so glad we don't have a guy like Carroll coaching our team.

[Cody_Russell]

Jets 🤔
I want to say Colts as the comedic answer, but it sounds like they’ll actually draft a top QB this year.

[froot loops]

This is kind of off topic but I went out searching for this week's episode of Inside the NFL. Turns out you can only get it on Paramount+ these days, HBO dumped it. I joined for a trial to see what they had to say about the Lions/Packers game.

Anyway, I was disappointed in their coverage of the Lions game, but they did show a postgame clip of the Seahawks in the locker room. The difference in the atmosphere between their locker room and the Lions' locker room is hugely noticeable.

Maybe it was just the situation - the Seahawks barely surviving a bad Rams team and not knowing if their season is over yet or not. Their players seemed quiet and not very engaged in what their coach had to say at all.

Regardless, I'm so glad we don't have a guy like Carroll coaching our team.

Deb - that might have been an outlier reaction, from everything I've read about Carroll is the players love playing for the guy because he has high energy.

[froot loops]

He can get his lunch eaten in the Super Bowl if you give him Peyton Manning and an embarrassment of talent.

It's rather funny how much Froot lauds Caldwell when Caldwell is really just Sean McVay without the camera presence.

Ha! I rip on Sean McVay but given the list of coaches that I've watch coach the Lions he would have been a drastic improvement over the vast majority of the Lion coaches.

[chemiclord]

Sure, but that's not exactly the highest of bars to clear. Hell, that's a bar buried two feet deep in the ground. That's cheering Billy Madison for passing first grade.

[froot loops]

I don't know, all I'm saying is I was wrong about Caldwell at the time. It's ok that you have a different, harder opinion on the matter.

[chemiclord]

I suspect our opinion on the matter probably isn't that far off. I think the sentiment at the time was unduly harsh... but I also think that we're drifting into an overcorrection and giving Caldwell a bit more credit than he actually earned as time goes on.

The dude is a genius when it comes to game preparation. As an offensive coordinator, he was great at maximizing the talent he had. I had the honor of meeting the guy a couple times early on when I lived and worked in Indy (2004 and a little bit of 2005). It's very easy to see why players would give it their all for him. Genuine, thoughtful, composed in pretty much every situation... as a person who knew the game and how it worked, you're not going to find many better.

But trying to manage a game in real time, he demonstrated he was very, very average. That really shouldn't be an insult; coordinator and head coach require two very different skill sets. Was he the best Lions head coach since Fontes (honestly, I'd even put Caldwell above Fontes)? Yep... but that's probably saying more about the dearth of head coaching talent the Lions have had than any compliment to Caldwell. The Lions never had the talent to be much more than a 9-7 team while he was here... but the level of talent Caldwell would need to take a team all the way was more than the majority of franchises could ever expect to acquire. He simply made too many basic, elementary mistakes in game management to expect the sort of run against high quality teams that you'd need to win a Lombardi. He was too easily read, opposing coaches knew too intimately what he would do in any given situation.

I had a long blog post a couple years back that basically boiled down to; should Caldwell be a head coach in this league? Yep. He's easily better than half of the head coaches currently in those jobs. But in a world without the Good Ol' Boys nepotistic-like circle jerk, he probably shouldn't be.

[Futureshock]

Yeah but this is really the first time he was responsible for developing the playbook himself. Also lots of decent replacement level coaches have early success because their is less tape out there. That first full year is important and he did well and adapted throughout the season, but it really is only a single year body of evidence. Remember Mcvay started well, got better for like 2 years, had BB write the book on stopping them and fell off till he got Stafford.

Johnson is a great play caller. But being a HC takes a lot more then that. IS he "Coaching" the offense? Or is Staley? Campbell? Is me a guy that can calm the ship or is he a guy that rides the wave? Who knows. Not knocking the guy, just saying that being a HC is more then just play calling.

[Futureshock]

I don't know, all I'm saying is I was wrong about Caldwell at the time. It's ok that you have a different, harder opinion on the matter.

I was wrong too. Figured so with FMP's first quarter of his first game.

Arizona would be a good place to give the guy a real shot. I also agree that Harbaugh would be a good fit for Denver.

[ghandi]

It was hard to tell if Caldwell was a good coach or FMP was just that awful of one......The players did like Caldwell and would play for him though, unlike FMP.

[froot loops]

It was pretty clear whe was wringing as much he could out of those last two teams.

[Futureshock]

Woody Johnson: Jets are ready to spend big if there’s a veteran QB we need

Posted by Michael David Smith on January 12, 2023, 12:22 PM EST

Getty Images

Jets owner Woody Johnson is ready to pay what it would cost to add a veteran franchise quarterback next season.

Johnson told reporters today that if Jets General Manager Joe Douglas and head coach Robert Saleh tell him there’s a veteran quarterback they need, Johnson will “absolutely” be ready to spend what it takes to get him.

“That’s the missing piece,” Johnson said of a franchise quarterback.

Tom Brady is the only quarterback currently slated to hit free agency who would likely command a lucrative contract, but the Jets may be exploring which expensive veterans could be available in a trade. If there’s a good one available, Johnson is ready to write the check.

[Futureshock]

NFL selects Atlanta for potential Bills-Chiefs AFC Championship

Posted by Mike Florio on January 12, 2023, 11:59 AM EST

Getty Images

If an AFC Championship between the Bills and Chiefs had been held in Buffalo or Kansas City, it would have been played outdoors, with weather a factor.

Now? Not.

The NFL has selected Atlanta — yes, Atlanta — as the neutral site for a conference championship game between the Bills and Chiefs, if both qualify.

Weather won’t be a factor. And the game won’t be played on grass, the preferred surface of the NFL’s players.

But it could be conducive to a pinball machine of scoring, with offenses unimpeded by cold or wind or rain or snow.

There’s another factor to consider. By picking one of the various Super Bowl host cities for the AFC Championship, the NFL could be viewing this as a test run for possibly making future conference championships neutral-site games.

Regardless, this one should have been outside. In the elements.

At least the hot dogs and beer will be cheap.

[Futureshock]

Report: Cardinals are expected to interview Vance Joseph for head coach next week

Posted by Josh Alper on January 12, 2023, 11:25 AM EST

Getty Images

The Cardinals have interviewed a couple of in-house candidates for General Manager and they are expected to speak with an in-house head coaching candidate as well.

Jeremy Fowler of ESPN.com reports that defensive coordinator Vance Joseph is expected to interview for the position next week. Joseph spent the last four seasons running the defense on Kliff Kingsbury’s staff.

Prior to joining the Cardinals, Joseph went 11-21 over two seasons as the head coach of the Broncos.

The Cardinals have been more active in their search for a new G.M. thus far, although they have requested and received permission to speak with Sean Payton about the coaching vacancy.

[Futureshock]

Report: Texans request interview with Thomas Brown

Posted by Myles Simmons on January 12, 2023, 11:49 AM EST

USA TODAY Sports

The Texans have made another request to talk to a young coach on the rise.

According to Tom Pelissero of NFL Media, Houston has requested permission to interview Rams assistant head coach Thomas Brown for its head coaching vacancy.

Brown has been with the Rams for the last three seasons. He began his tenure as the club’s running backs coach before adding assistant head coach to his title in 2021. He started 2022 coaching Los Angeles’ tight ends but moved back over to help out the RBs room later on in the season, particularly after Ra’Shaad Samples departed the organization to become the running backs coach at Arizona State.

With Brown back leading the group, Cam Akers had a late-season resurgence. He gained over 100 yards in each of Los Angeles’ last three games, finishing with 786 yards rushing and seven touchdowns. That came after he was nearly traded midseason due to his disagreements with the coaching staff.

The Rams’ entire coaching staff is in flux with Sean McVay taking time to assess whether he’ll be the team’s head coach in 2023. Los Angeles has reportedly given all assistant coaches permission to seek other jobs.