Sports

[Spurt]

@gardenman 

Interesting podcast with John Keim.....guest Jahan Dotson 

..Jahan Dotson talked about some of the plays that he, Terry McLaurin, and Curtis Samuel want to see more plays  to get them the ball to make the offense more successful.....(it appears it wasn't just the fans that noticed that Scott Turner's play calling was lacking).....It also appears that the WRS really like Sam Howell, he's hard working guy, good arm, and knows how to get them the ball and puts the ball exactly where it needs to be, excellent ball placement which results in more yards after the catch--thats HUGE, he said to all the receivers. Dotson liked slant across the middle, again right where the ball needed to be...good arm, throws catchable balls, Dotson said if Sam Howell was the starter at QB he'd be very comfortable with him. ....hmmmmm🤔.....

John asked Dotson who he got for this weekend's games....after thinking he said thats tough...I'll go with keeping it with the NFC EAST and hope Philly pulls it out but it's very hard for me to say because I don't like Philly fans....John laughs and says they are kind of an unruly bunch, but that's a hell of a team they got...Dotson added for sure....😆

Washington team plans to interview Anthony Lynn after the playoffs 

[gardenman]

@Spurt

There's going to be lots of QB shuffling this off-season. Jimmy G, Brady, Rodgers, and Carr will be the big names that we pretty much know are moving. Jimmy G and Carr will be foundation type guys teams hope to build around. Brady and Rodgers will be more "We just need a QB" guys for a team that's set otherwise. Kyler Murray's name could get added to the mix along with Lamar Jackson, so we could see some pretty big moves getting made. Getting Murray or Jackson will cost a fortune in picks/players to say nothing of salary.

Teams looking for a capable backup will be picking through the Minshews, Mariotas, and Winston's in free agency. It's going to be an interesting off-season.

[gardenman]

By and large, the Eagles and Niners match up pretty well. As you'd expect from the number one and two teams. A couple of things to watch for though are the Eagles deep passing game and Brock Purdy not noticing a crossing defender.

The Eagles are very good at the 25+ yard passing game with AJ Brown, Devonta Smith, and Quez Watkins capable of getting deep quickly. Their 25+ yard passing stats pretty much lead the league. The Niners defense isn't great at stopping those passes. They're in the bottom quarter of the league defensively in those stats. Expect to see the Eagles going deep early and often.

Brock Purdy is pretty good at protecting the ball, but he tends to only see the trailing defender and not the crossing defender. He loves short passes and a quick corner or linebacker cutting across the coverage should be able to make a play or two on a ball. Purdy hasn't shown many weaknesses, but the blindness to crossing defenders could end up being big.

The Chiefs are saying Mahomes will start the game on Sunday.  That's a risky move letting an injured guy play. It goes against the norm and carries significant long term risks, especially for a guy with nine years left on his contract. It'll be interesting to see how that works out for them.

DeMeco Ryans might be returning to the Texans as their head coach according to the latest rumors. He started his career there as a second round pick, so returning makes some sense for him. Given their draft haul and cap space, and the relative weakness of the AFC South, they could get very good, very quickly. The Jaguars would still be my team to beat in the AFC South, but if the Texans get the right QB, they could be pretty tough.

[teganslaw]

Travis Kelce is listed as questionable for Sunday's game. He practiced fully today, so I expect to see him play. 

If one goes by past games, the Eagles are going to have to rely on passing the ball more. The 49ers don't give up many rushing yards, so Sanders and Gainwell could be limited. Hurts might be able to rush a little, but he hasn't been running much recently.  I saw that Jonathan Gannon is likely to remain as the Eagles' DC this year. 

[sunshine45]

ravens are possibly looking to hire an OC from the college level.....interesting. they have already interviewed a few so far, including some coaches from within the organization.

[gardenman]

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@sunshine45 wrote:

ravens are possibly looking to hire an OC from the college level.....interesting. they have already interviewed a few so far, including some coaches from within the organization.

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The Ravens and Bucs have both interviewed Georgia's OC Todd Monken. Both teams might need a new QB for 2023 and Georgia's Stetson Bennett will likely be available for both teams.  He's a good QB but older at 25 and mocked in the second or third round. A package deal? Bring in the older rookie QB and the system he already knows? You eliminate some of the growing pains for a kid QB that way. He gets to step right into a system he already knows and understands. If nothing else I suspect both teams asked about the kid. Bringing in Monken and Bennett both, gives the kid a system he already knows and understands. It takes a few years for a kid QB to learn a new system, so you bypass that learning curve this way.

[Linmo]

I'm wishing for a 49er and Bengals Super Bowl.  

[lenaling]

Me too .

[gardenman]

It's game day! Eagles fans started lining up to tailgate at four this morning. (Gates didn't open until eight.) The city is wired and ready. Here's hoping the Eagles are equally ready. One way or another, this will be the Brock Purdy game. He'll either do enough to get the win or fall short. He's the great unknown in this one. My gut says he comes up short. This Eagles defense is designed to give all QBs a hard time, and especially kid QBs. Daniel Jones faces this defense twice a year and was still flustered last week. Purdy has a great supporting cast, but they can't throw the ball to themselves. They need Purdy to be effective. Will he be? Eh, we'll find out later today.

The Bengals/Chiefs game should be fun. The magicalnproperties of Patrick Mahomes will be severely restricted due to his ankle injury. He'll be forced to play like a normal QB. He's still a very good "normal" QB though. 

I think the Eagles and Bengals get the wins but we'll find out later today/tonight if I'm right or not. It should be a good day of football watching anyway.

[Spurt]

@teganslaw @gardenman @sunshine45 

The Colts Jonathan Taylor had ankle surgery last week....2nd interview with Eagles Stichen for the Colts HC vacancy..And Rich Bisaccia Packers ST Coach 

Meanwhile Washington, Ravens, Titans  interview the Chiefs Eric Bieniemy for their OC ......one thing that intrigues Bieniemy is that he would be in total control of the offense (these teams have a HC focused on defense ) and Bieniemy would be able to call his own plays, something he doesn't do with Andy Reid..

@gardenman 

We were talking about rookie QBs being "projects"....but it seems that Anthony Richardson needs more work than most....one ESPN Draft Guru said Richardson needs to sit on the bench behind a veteran QB for two years before he'd be ready to start....not a guy Washington should sacrifice picks to move up for Richardson definitely has some issues....better candidates out there JMHO...OR ....why not try Howell