Sports

[gardenman]

I'll take an Eagles' win any time I can get it. It wasn't the best game the Eagles played this year, but we lost a few we deserved to win, so I'll take the win. There were about four or five games the Eagles lost this year that they could have easily won. The Lions game we had won and were running out the clock then Ryan Mathews fumbled the ball away and that led to the lost. The first Cowboy game we were up by ten in the fourth then a Wendell Smallwood fumble ended up letting the Cowboys tie the game and win it in overtime.That first Giants game and also the Ravens games were also games we could have, maybe should have won. Losing those games basically cost us a shot at the playoffs, but with any luck in another year we won't lose those games.

Now we've got a long off season ahead of us. I'd expect a pretty big roster turnover this off season. The coaching stafff now knows the players and their strengths and weaknesses and how they fit their system, or don't fit the system. I supsect we've seen the last of Connor Barwin in Philly unless he takes a big pay cut. He wants to stay, but his production was way, way off this year. Now part of that was moving to the rigth side of the defense where he goes against the other team's starting left tackle, who's typically the best offensive lineman, but even then you want more than we got from him. Ryan Mathews coming off neck surgery likely won't be back, so that'll free up some cap space. There's a chance the Eagles may ask Jason Peters to redo his contract to free up some more cash.

[teganslaw]

It was good to go out with a win. The Colts were behind 17-0 at one point, but came back with some unanswered points. Final score: 24-20. It helped that the Jaguars kicked missed two field goals. Jacksonville, despite their record, was  always tough when they met Indy. Luck was sacked several times; that still remained a problem. Gore had a 1000 yard season, and Hilton had over 100 yards this game.

Washington almost had it. They missed some scoring opportunities. Their defense played well in the second half; if the defense would have done the same in the first half, it might have made a difference. That was a strange ending, though, with the interception and last minute touchdown by the Giants.

I think the Raiders might be in trouble. They were playing with another rookie quarterback. I just don't see them going far. They go to Houston next week, but Savage was out with a concussion. Anything could happen.

[gardenman]

I was disappointed in the Redskins, but Cousins still has the Redskins' management in a tough spot. Do they tag him again and pay him $25 million? Do they let him test free agency? Does he agree to a contract at a lower value? In some ways, their losing today's game increases the challenge for their management. It's not unreasonable to assume the Redskins will slip a bit next year with Garcon and DeSean Jackson both potentially leaving. Vernon Davis might also be done in DC, so there may be fewer targets in DC next year. Figuring out the QB situation in DC will be a challenge for them.

[Spurt]

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@teganslaw wrote:

It was good to go out with a win. The Colts were behind 17-0 at one point, but came back with some unanswered points. Final score: 24-20. It helped that the Jaguars kicked missed two field goals. Jacksonville, despite their record, was  always tough when they met Indy. Luck was sacked several times; that still remained a problem. Gore had a 1000 yard season, and Hilton had over 100 yards this game.

Washington almost had it. They missed some scoring opportunities. Their defense played well in the second half; if the defense would have done the same in the first half, it might have made a difference. That was a strange ending, though, with the interception and last minute touchdown by the Giants.

I think the Raiders might be in trouble. They were playing with another rookie quarterback. I just don't see them going far. They go to Houston next week, but Savage was out with a concussion. Anything could happen.

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@teganslaw

CONGRATS on your Colt's victory and closing the season on a positive note.......  

I love Peyton's new Pappa John's commercial with the 2 horse mascots (it is rather interesting that both his teams did have the same animal as  mascots...)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qQiO-4PCld4

I feel sorry for the Raiders....they were doing so well and then the worst possible injury occurred....

The playoffs should be interesting....some folks are picking the Chiefs as the dark horse....

@teganslaw@gardenman

As for my Redskins, that was the WORST performance by a team vying for a playoff spot...they came out with NO sense of urgency...yes the defense did step up a bit in the second half....but the offense was down right awful (the Brown's offense looked better)....the offensive play calling was questionable especially in the first half (no make that the second half as well---heck it was bad the entire game!).....should've gotten the ball more to Reed and Davis and that might have opened up Garcon,Crowder,and D Jack more (the announcers mentioned how frustrated the receivers were)..Why did they put in the rookie WR Harris??????????????????.I know RB Rob Kelly was playing hurt but he didnt get very much yardage.....I guess credit is due to the Giant's defense.....but we could've taken advantage of the Giant's equally ineffective offense too....Eli hit on a couple of long throws but the Redskins D did a pretty good job in the second half....and those needless penalties by Josh Norman.......Cousins will get a truckload of money, but not as much as he could've had getting the team into the playoffs....so maybe in the long run it might help our cap space a little.....It's gonna be a disappointing and long off season....I expected a one and done even if they did make the playoffs....but the way they played was downright awful and uninspired...!!!  Who knows Snyder might give the coaching staff the ax....

@gardenman

CONGRATS to the Eagles on their win against the Cowboys....I still say both the Cowboys and Giants have weaknesses that can be exploited....as do all the teams in the NFC side of the playoffs....

[gardenman]

@Spurt  Yeah, the NFC side of the playoffs isn't rock solid. Every team has a few flaws that can be exploited. Atlanta, Green Bay, Seattle and Dallas are probably the best of the NFC teams. I haven't seen that much of Atlanta to know how good they are, but what I've seen looks impressive. The Lions aren't perfect by a long stretch.

Any NFC team that gets hot has a chance to make the Super Bowl. I just don't see the Giants getting there, but you never know. 

I think the Patriots are the closest thing to a lock to get to the Super Bowl. I'm not sure there's a team in the AFC that can stop them. Pittsburgh and KC can give them a challenge, but I'm not sure they can beat them.

[sunshine45]

every single game i got involved in today was just a MESS!

this was a bad football day for me.

the ravens had what looked like their worst game of the year today.

the redskins blew a chance to tie the game in their last moments.....it was within reach, but they couldnt get it done.

i am so sad to see the raiders in the position that they are in. they really had a good season and i was hoping to see them go far, but after the injuries, i think it will really take a miracle for them to pull it off. i am sure it is so frustrating for them.

i was also hoping for a browns win today against the steelers and they came pretty darn close.

overall, i am pretty upset at the games i watched and the teams i rooted for.

[gardenman]

And now the fun begins. The first round of the playoffs is now set and we'll see the Dolphins playing the Steelers, the Raiders playing the Texans, the Lions taking on the Seahawks, and finally the Giants taking on the Packers.

The poor Raiders. Two weeks ago they were a team that would be tough to play in the playoffs, then Derek Carr went down with a broken leg. That's okay.. We've got a good backup in Matt McGloin who's excelled when given the chance. Oops! Now he goes out with a shoulder injury. They're down to their rookie third string guy now in Connor Cook. The good news is they evaluated Cook as being better than Dak Prescott in the draft, so now they get a chance to see if they're right. I expect that Oakland/Texans game to be a tad on the low scoring side as a result of both teams being in quarterback chaos.

Mike McCoy of the Chargers got fired yesterday along with Chip Kelly. Gary Kubiak confirmed that he's retiring so there are now six head coach job openings. The Saints have openly confirmed that they're willing to trade Sean Payton to the Rams which implies that he's out no matter what. It's hard to bring back a head coach you've tried to trade. The players tend not to respond overly well to a head coach who's on his way out the door. There's talk that Bill O'Brien of the Texans has to win at least one playoff game or he'll be out. You would kind of think taking a team lacking a real quarterback to the playoffs would keep you employed, but no. There might be something else going on there behind the scenes.

I wasn't surprised to see the Giants keep Eli Manning in the whole game and play hard to knock out the Redskins. Letting a rival into the playoffs is always a bad idea. The Redskins now have to decide what to do at quarterback. Do they give Kirk Cousins what he wants in the way of a contract? Do they tag him yet again at $25 million this year and $35 (or so) million next year? Do they let him go and test free agency? They've put themselves into a very tough spot. There's no real reason for Cousins to sign a lower priced contract if he's going to make $25 million this coming year regardless. I suspect the Redskins may use the non-exclusive franchise tag on Cousins where he can then negotiate a deal with another club, but the Redskins can then either match that deal or get two first round picks in compensation. That price tag would likely be too high for other teams to match, but would give Cousins a chance to talk to other teams to see how he's valued around the league. (Rumor around the league is that most teams think he's a good, but not great quarterback and wouldn't pay his price.) If the Redskins don't tag him and a team like the Texans makes him an offer, Washington could find themselves without a starting quarterback. There aren't that many good ones floating around, so that could be a big problem for them.

The off season officially starts today for the non-playoff teams. Players needing surgery to clean up injuries will be scheduling those surgeries pretty soon, so they'll be ready when the OTA's resume in April. The guys who will be free agents will be letting teams they're interested in playing for know their price tag and that they're interested in playing for that team.

This is typically done through a third party, often another player already on that team who shares an agent. That already employed player lets it slip that he's heard that so and so would like to join the team and is looking for a contract similar to what somebody else got. A little behind the scenes negotiating goes on through that third party to give the player and his agent a feel for if there's an opening there or not. We've already seen that in Philly where DeSean Jackson has been in contact with multiple players telling them he wants to come back to Philly. I suspect both the team and Jackson have a general idea of what a contract would look like and are either okay with that, or looking at other options.

Today is typically black Monday where coaches get fired, but with six guys already down and Bill O'Brien on the hot seat, we may not see any coaches get the axe today. Those presumed at risk have either been fired or told they're coming back already. Chuck Pagano of the Colts could be in some danger still, but he's likely the only one who's really on the hot seat right now. Sean Payton is also likely out, either fired or traded. It's hard to bring back a coach when you've told the world you're willing to trade him. (Rumor has it Chip Kelly could become the Patriots offensive coordinator when/if Josh McDaniels gets a head coaching job. That could be fun to watch. Chip's never had a QB like Brady to play with.)

Coaching staffs will now get shaken up a bit as new head coaches poach guys off of other staffs to fill out their staffs. An assistant coach who didn't work out as planned may get fired and replaced with another option. Then the new/surviving coaches will get serious about evaluting the kids coming out of college. There's no time off for an NFL coach until that first week or so in July when everything shuts down for a bit before training camp starts.

I don't expect any big shakeups on the Eagles staff. We could see a new wide receiver coach or defensive backs coach come along as those two parts of the team were the most disappointing this year, but a lot of that disappointment may be laid at the feet of the players instead of the coaches. The talent isn't great at either spot. 

Oddly enough there was a reporter revolt at the Eagles game yesterday and a reporter got ejected. I'm not sure I remember that happening before. Apparently some of the reporters got very loud discussing a penalty call and didn't like being told to calm down and quiet down. One went outside to discuss the matter with one of the Eagles staff members and then a senior member came in a short time later and had the guy removed. It looks like some of the front office staff of the Eagles are a bit tired of being in Negadelphia where even wins are treated as though they're a loss by the local media. Jeff Lurie refused to talk to the press after the game despite historically having a press conference after the last game. It looks like the press and the Eagles front office may not be getting along all that well right now. I don't believe the team officials have to talk to the press now until the Senior Bowl, so we'll see if they chat before that or not. I think Doug Pederson has to talk to the press today in his day after news conference, but after that things could get very, very quiet on the Eagles front.

[teganslaw]

The Colts' organization is in limbo right now. This is the second year they didn't make the playoffs, and Irsay has some concerns. He hasn't said what he plans on doing, so the coaches and manager are nervous because they don't know if they're staying on or leaving. No news yet on what is going on, but the media is watching for any sign.

T Y Hilton won the NFL 2016 receiving title with 1448 receiving yards. He beat out Beckham, Julio Jones and Antonio Brown. WTG Hilton!

[gardenman]

Irsay said back in December there wouldn't be any change with the Colts, but he's been wavering a bit since then. The Colts have a good quarterback, but they haven't done a great job of helping him. I'm thinking they may make a change now. Whether it's the coach, GM, or both is hard to say, but I suspect something will change.

[gardenman]

Chuck Pagano and the Colts GM Ryan Grigson survived Black Monday, so that's probably a good sign for them. Neither has apparently talked to the team owner yet however. (Which seems a tad odd to me.)

The hot name on the coaching circuit right now seems to be Kyle Shanahan. I believe at least four of the six teams loooking for a new head coach have called him to set up a meeting. Unless he's a horrible interviewer, he's likely to land a spot this year.

The Rams and Saints seem to be dancing with each other over Sean Payton. Apparently he's the guy the Rams want, or so they're letting everyone think, and they seem to be waiting to see if they can force the hand of the Saints into releasing him, or taking less for him in a trade, by stalling a bit. The Saints made a tactical mistake in announcing that they were open to trading him. That pretty much killed their ability to keep him as their head coach.

The smart way for the Saints to have handled the situation would have been to say, "We love Sean Payton and fully expect him to finish his career here with the Saints. We think he's one of the top head coaches in the league. Now, if someone were to make an offer that blew us away, would we consider trading him? Sure, we'd consider trading anyone for the right offer, but we're not actively looking to trade him. I believe the last time a trade like his occurred was for Jon Gruden who then took Tampa to the Super Bowl. We feel that Sean Payton is a coach at least equal to, if not superior to Jon Gruden and he has the ability to take the Saints, or any other team he coaches, to the Super Bowl. Coaches like that are a rare commodity. If the Rams or anyone else wants him, they have to understand there will be a price to pay to acquire him."

Now in the back channel, direct communications between GM's/owners things can be a bit more fluid, but publicly you don't put a "For Sale" sign on your head coach if you want to keep him around..By openly saying he's tradable, the GM has largely killed Payton's ability to be the head coach of the Saints. The players all now know he's not in as good a spot with the owner/GM and if the owner and GM aren't supporting the coach, the players won't support the coach.

The Rams are pretty much in the driver's seat now. They know if they wait long enough the Saints will likely have to cut Payton loose and they can get him without having to trade anything for the right to sign him. The Saints have to know that if they want a top coaching prospect to replace Payton that they have to get this done quickly before the top prospects get snatched up by the other teams looking for a coach.

Things could flip back to the Saints favor if a second team enters the bidding process for Payton, but so far, only the Rams seem interested in him. If the prospects being interviewed don't impress the teams looking for a new head coach, then Payton could get very popular and a bidding war could ensue that would reward the Saints. 

Apparently Tom Coughlin did not make a good impression on the Jaguars and they're looking elsewhere now for a new head coach. They could get intrigued by the idea of a Sean Payton. These are the crazy days of the offseason as the coaching searches take place and prospective head coaches line up assistants around the league to follow them should they get a job.

Team owners and GM's typically learn a lot about who the hot young prospects are in a coaching search. Each head coach will typically be asked who they'd like to have on their staff and very often one name will keep popping up among all the head coching prospects as a possible offensive or defensive coordinator. It's not unheard of for one of those guys to end up being the head coach if their name gets mentioned enough times, even though they weren't really on anyone's radar to begin with.