National Football League

[movingtarget]

Interesting article in USA Today makes a case for Dallas to go back to Weeden as the starting QB.
http://ftw.usatoday.com/2015/11/cowboys-starting-qb-brandon-weeden-matt-cassel-bench-tony-romo
Check out the stats in that link. Quick summary here:
Weeden - 71 completions/98 attempts (72.4%), Rate = 92.2, QBR = 58.73.
Romo - 54/72 (75%), Rate = 98.8, QBR = 69.9.
Cassel - 30/52(57.7%), Rate = 58.5, QBR = 27.88, in 2 games vs NYG & SEA.

Maybe we give Cassel some slack because one of those games was against a SEA defense that was playing lights out and again did not allow a TD to be scored on them. Cassel's first game was also against a NYG defense that, as we saw yesterday vs NO, is not a very good defense. But then Cassel could be expected to be a bit rusty in his first kick at the cat. As the stats in the article make a case to go back to Weeden, I probably would not so soon. It's no good to be jerking QBs in and out that fast. I'd give Cassel a good chance to show what he can do, at least through the next 3 or 4 games (Iggles, Bucs, Fins, Panthas), and then see where things stand.

- Not a bit surprised SF has benched Kaepernick, and will now go with Gabbert.
- How many more weapons does Denver and Manning need? One more like Vernon Davis can't hurt, as Niners ship Davis to Denver. Just might revitalize Vernon's career.
http://espn.go.com/blog/san-francisco-49ers/post/_/id/15801/colin-kaepernick-benching-the-end-of-an-era-for-49ers

Sounds like the beginning of the end for Kaep at the 49ers. Gabbert will be there for one thing, to offload the ball to the likes of Torry Smith who barely ever touches the ball. No one seems to rate Gabbert at all which says a lot about Kaep's form. The last two 49ers games have been complete trash. 49ers heading for a high draft pick which they desperately need in about five different positions starting with QB and running back. Carlos Hyde needs someone to help him out. Of course it is not all Kaep's fault as the offensive line is terrible.

 

[movingtarget]

Re: Re:

No one was interested in Hayne. Back to the Practice Squad at the 49ers. 49ers are trialling another RB by the name of Ben Tate to cover their injuries so Hayne may stay put on the practice field.

The undefeated Denver Broncos made their case as the potential best team in the NFL on Sunday with a dominant 29-10 victory over the Green Bay Packers, and they added another weapon for Peyton Manning and the passing attack Monday in the form of tight end Vernon Davis. According to Adam Schefter of ESPN, the Broncos acquired Davis and a 2016 seventh-round pick in a trade with the San Francisco 49ers in exchange for a sixth-round pick in 2016 and a sixth-round pick in 2017. Former Broncos quarterback and current general manager and executive vice president of football operations John Elway confirmed the trade and said Davis will be "a valuable addition to our team with his experience and leadership."

Tate really isn't that good and is injury prone to boot so it wouldn't surprise me at all if Hayne got another opportunity.

Beat me to the punch on the Denver trade lol, Davis has really not done well recently in San Francisco so it will be interesting to see the fit. A couple years ago this would be no fair but Manning is not the same player he used to be either. I don't see Davis doing all that well but you never know, especially with Kubiak there.

They passed on Pierre Thomas who they trialed recently, have now signed Shaun Draughn to a one year deal and are trialing Tate tomorrow. They are trying to plug the gaps until the end of the season not that it matters much but some of the coaching staff would like to keep their jobs ! Everyone seems to think that Thomas was much better than both Tate and Draughn so another curious decision by the 49ers. Hayne will probably either head back to the NRL or be picked up next season from the practice squad by another team even though his agent said he is definitely not returning to the NRL. He is in limbo as he can't impress other teams if he can't get game time and the ball security issues and hype from the press probably have not helped him. Only another run of injuries will probably see him back in the game unless the new recruits are complete duds, and they have no choice. It's hard to predict what anyone is doing at the 49ers re decision making.

 

[52520Andrew]

Re: Re:

They passed on Pierre Thomas who they trialed recently, have now signed Shaun Draughn to a one year deal and are trialing Tate tomorrow. They are trying to plug the gaps until the end of the season not that it matters much but some of the coaching staff would like to keep their jobs ! Everyone seems to think that Thomas was much better than both Tate and Draughn so another curious decision by the 49ers. Hayne will probably either head back to the NRL or be picked up next season from the practice squad by another team even though his agent said he is definitely not returning to the NRL. He is in limbo as he can't impress other teams if he can't get game time and the ball security issues and hype from the press probably have not helped him. Only another run of injuries will probably see him back in the game unless the new recruits are complete duds, and they have no choice. It's hard to predict what anyone is doing at the 49ers re decision making.

Yeah looks like they are just trying to get by. Wouldn't say any of those guys are any good but it also is a bit telling when they sign those guys over Hayne.

 

[Semper Fidelis]

Re: Re:

The first 3 quarters may not have been good but the ending for that Colts Panthers game was quite fun. On another note, the Colts and Texans are tied atop the AFC South at 3-5.

Wow, talk about Cardiac Cats! Thought we had lost it when the Colts took it to OT but somehow the Panthers pull it out of the hat again. Credit to Gano for the winning FG, having missed the extra point earlier.

Big improvements needed for when the Packers visit this weekend, but i'll take the 7-0!

Oh yeah you guys are going to go to the superbowl. ERRRRRRRRRRRRR NOT.

Then again you are 7 and 0 with the rose colored glasses coach. Have fun in the regular season.

 

[52520Andrew]

Re: Re:

The first 3 quarters may not have been good but the ending for that Colts Panthers game was quite fun. On another note, the Colts and Texans are tied atop the AFC South at 3-5.

Wow, talk about Cardiac Cats! Thought we had lost it when the Colts took it to OT but somehow the Panthers pull it out of the hat again. Credit to Gano for the winning FG, having missed the extra point earlier.

Big improvements needed for when the Packers visit this weekend, but i'll take the 7-0!

Yeah I thought you guys lost it when Ginn dropped the perfectly thrown deep ball. You guys responded to it though and didn't let the mistakes define you which is what good teams do. Should be a really interesting game against Green Bay in Charlotte with the winner getting the #1 seed more likely than not.

 

[Alpe d'Huez]

It's hard to fathom just how far Colin Kaepernick has fallen, and the 49ers as well. Think back, how sensational he was just two years ago, and three years ago he lead them to the Super Bowl (with help from Alex Smith, and a lot more players) and was one pass away from winning it. All the talk about his arm, his ability to move like a gazelle. Now, he looks like even more of a 'bust" than RG3. But at least Griffin and his supports can point to injuries for much of his problem. Kaepernick has fallen incredibly far. Granted, a lot of this also falls on Trente Baalke, whom I have criticized in the past, but to think that Kaep actually regressed from a couple years ago is startling, and one can't just point fingers at the team. There's been talk for a couple seasons now that he's a gym rat, closed minded, an egotist even, and not much of a student of the game. With some of the very poor throws and decisions he's made earlier, and in the last two games he seems timid, lost even. So, I can't see how that's not at least somewhat true. The startling thought is that Gabbert was considered a bust before arriving in SF.

You can't go back, but if you look at the decision Harbaugh made in keeping Smith on the bench, and sticking with Kaepernick in 2012 - even though they made it to the Super Bowl, it's slowly been downhill ever since. Smith hasn't exactly been lighting the world on fire for an anemic Chiefs team, but he was at his peak his last year in SF, and was a couple plays from taking them to the Super Bowl himself in 2011. After that Baalke dumped Smith, signed Kaep to a monster contract, and you know the rest.

And that leads me to another question, who would trade for Kaepernick? His contract was for six years for $126m, though most links are showing he's not getting the full $19,000,000 a year because of incentives (like, making the playoffs, or SB), but it still looks like he'll be paid $12m this year if he suits up, and future years the number increases. Is he worth that? Which team would pay? The other option is to cut bait. But yikes, that's a lot of money down the drain.

I have to say I agree with the decision to dump Vernon Davis. He hasn't been playing great, is probably near the end of his career, and letting the Broncos pay for him and worry about his future isn't a bad decision for the 49ers.

 

[Catwhoorg]

Its not just the cash money, its the salary cap hit.

Managing to the salary cap is the single biggest thing your back office needs to do now.

 

[Alpe d'Huez]

True. Another thing to chalk up to the sage wisdom of Trent Ballke. Good article from the SJ Mercury News on just this topic:

49ers' biggest problem is Baalke, not Kaepernick

Change the quarterback, restructure the game plan, sign a running back, none of it matters. The 49ers aren't talented enough to compete with good NFL teams.

That is because Baalke let some of the wrong players walk in free agency, and several of the free agents he brought in have been terrible. But most damaging to the franchise has been three years of subpar drafting.

http://www.mercurynews.com/marcus-thompson/ci_29061349/thompson-49ers-biggest-problem-is-general-manager-not

 

[Merckx index]

Who would trade for Kaepernick? I’m surprised Chip Kelly hasn’t already offered the Niners Mark Sanchez, who is a much better option than Gabbert. Though he wouldn’t do it in the middle of the season, I can even see him offering Bradford. Kaepernick is just the kind of QB Kelly supposedly wants, as I pointed out before, except for Mariota and maybe Cam Newton, I can’t imagine a QB more suited to Kelly’s system. This could be a rare trade that really works out well for both teams.

Unlike the Vernon Davis giveaway. The 49ers are basically getting a 6th round pick for a player who has been one of the top tight ends in the NFL, with the speed of a WR to boot. Granted, Davis has not performed that well in the last couple of years, but that may be because the 49er offense as a whole has not. What we do know is that Kaepernick had his best success by far when both Davis and Crabtree were playing, he was never the same QB if even one of them was gone. Just two years ago when they barely lost another NFC championship game you could see that when Crabtree was out with an injury the first half of the season. With Davis but not Crabtree, the 49ers offense languished; e.g., they lost to the Panthers at home, 10-9. With Crabtree back, the offense surged,and they beat the Panthers easily in Carolina in the playoffs.

This is why I don't think Kaepernick's situation is comparable to RGIII's. Kaepernick can flourish in the right system, the 49ers just haven't given him that. Kelly can almost certainly bring out the best in Kaep.

How often do sixth round draft picks make a major contribution to a team, how often do they even make a team? Particularly when they are drafted by Baalke, as the link above notes (though to be fair, the 2012-14 period when they had all the bad picks coincides with their great success on the field, and hence low first round picks). In the long run, this might work out for the 49ers, because Davis only has a few years left, but in the short run I think it’s a steal for Denver. And Denver clearly is thinking only about the short-term here, because this is probably Manning’s last season.

 

[Pricey_sky]

Re: Re:

The first 3 quarters may not have been good but the ending for that Colts Panthers game was quite fun. On another note, the Colts and Texans are tied atop the AFC South at 3-5.

Wow, talk about Cardiac Cats! Thought we had lost it when the Colts took it to OT but somehow the Panthers pull it out of the hat again. Credit to Gano for the winning FG, having missed the extra point earlier.

Big improvements needed for when the Packers visit this weekend, but i'll take the 7-0!

Oh yeah you guys are going to go to the superbowl. ERRRRRRRRRRRRR NOT.

Then again you are 7 and 0 with the rose colored glasses coach. Have fun in the regular season.

Wow, bitter Saints fan much?

 

[Pricey_sky]

Re: Re:

The first 3 quarters may not have been good but the ending for that Colts Panthers game was quite fun. On another note, the Colts and Texans are tied atop the AFC South at 3-5.

Wow, talk about Cardiac Cats! Thought we had lost it when the Colts took it to OT but somehow the Panthers pull it out of the hat again. Credit to Gano for the winning FG, having missed the extra point earlier.

Big improvements needed for when the Packers visit this weekend, but i'll take the 7-0!

Yeah I thought you guys lost it when Ginn dropped the perfectly thrown deep ball. You guys responded to it though and didn't let the mistakes define you which is what good teams do. Should be a really interesting game against Green Bay in Charlotte with the winner getting the #1 seed more likely than not.

Going to be very tough this weekend, so far this season we have found ways to beat the less strong teams and shown plenty of character, however does Cam and the offense have what it takes against a very strong Green Bay? I have serious doubts. The defence will obvious do their thing, but I cant see it being enough.

 

[52520Andrew]

Re: Re:

Going to be very tough this weekend, so far this season we have found ways to beat the less strong teams and shown plenty of character, however does Cam and the offense have what it takes against a very strong Green Bay? I have serious doubts. The defence will obvious do their thing, but I cant see it being enough.

Yeah it also hurts that Green Bay is coming off a loss and should be playing motivated. I think I would lean very heavily towards Green Bay if it were at Lambeau but being in Charlotte helps you guys a lot. Still picking Green Bay to win it but it should be interesting.

 

[on3m@n@rmy]

Good points people. Just a few more thoughts, people who knew better than me a couple years ago told me they thought Kaep's time was going to run out soon because of poor decision making and habits, like staring down receivers. But Baalke must take some responsibility. One of the biggest ones was giving Kaep all that money. Now what? I won't be surprised if SF cuts Kaep after the season to save a bundle of cap (& Kaep) money, like Catwhoorg said up there.

Kaep the gazelle though was only effective running North-South. Get him going to the sideline and he has a hard time because he does not maneuver well. We have seen that quite often this season.

Vern Davis has got to be jumping for joy. I hope he does well in Denver, really. He's not a bad guy it seems, although he had some rough times earlier in his career that then HC Singletary helped straighten out. Like the time Mike disciplined him by sending him straight to the showers before halftime of a game, preventing him being consoled by teammates on the sideline. Eventually he came around.

Meanwhile, Titans have fired HC Wisenhunt. NOW??? Okay, the guy's record was 3-20 at TEN. That's just 1-1/2 seasons! RLY? Fire a HC after just 1.5 seasons? Even if there are some philosophical differences between the HC and GM/owners, the higher-ups need to give the HC a realistic shot to succeed by giving him the time to succeed. Maybe there were people at each others throats, and the only way to put an end to it was that. But outside of that i just don't agree with this firing. This decision might backfire on the GM/owner if nobody any good wants to take the helm for trigger happy management. Maybe someone back there in Tennessee can shed more light on this?

 

[jmdirt]

Re: Re:

If Denver looks like that from now on, the'll be the last team we see this season.

NO vs NYG...WTH?!

WTH! Now that is funny if you happen to be talking about the touchdown marathon, with the Losing QB (Eli) tossing 6 TDs (no INTs) and the winning QB (Brees) tossing 7 of them (with 2 INTs). Some media folks saying how amazing it was for so many TDs to be thrown in one game. Sure, amazing . Well, you can thank Roger Goodell for that. Yup, we all got just what Roger has wanted all along, lots of scoring because NEITHER TEAM PLAYED ANY DEFENSE. I have not seen so many consistently uncovered wide open WRs and blown coverages in an NFL game in a long time. Each reception highlight was just about equally filled with blown coverage. That's not interesting viewing. Who wants to watch that???

Yep, that's what I meant!

 

[jmdirt]

Interesting article in USA Today makes a case for Dallas to go back to Weeden as the starting QB.
http://ftw.usatoday.com/2015/11/cowboys-starting-qb-brandon-weeden-matt-cassel-bench-tony-romo
Check out the stats in that link. Quick summary here:
Weeden - 71 completions/98 attempts (72.4%), Rate = 92.2, QBR = 58.73.
Romo - 54/72 (75%), Rate = 98.8, QBR = 69.9.
Cassel - 30/52(57.7%), Rate = 58.5, QBR = 27.88, in 2 games vs NYG & SEA.

Maybe we give Cassel some slack because one of those games was against a SEA defense that was playing lights out and again did not allow a TD to be scored on them. Cassel's first game was also against a NYG defense that, as we saw yesterday vs NO, is not a very good defense. But then Cassel could be expected to be a bit rusty in his first kick at the cat. As the stats in the article make a case to go back to Weeden, I probably would not so soon. It's no good to be jerking QBs in and out that fast. I'd give Cassel a good chance to show what he can do, at least through the next 3 or 4 games (Iggles, Bucs, Fins, Panthas), and then see where things stand.

- Not a bit surprised SF has benched Kaepernick, and will now go with Gabbert.
- How many more weapons does Denver and Manning need? One more like Vernon Davis can't hurt, as Niners ship Davis to Denver. Just might revitalize Vernon's career.
http://espn.go.com/blog/san-francisco-49ers/post/_/id/15801/colin-kaepernick-benching-the-end-of-an-era-for-49ers

I've said all along that Weeden wasn't the problem. The team is average, and injuries have made them below average. Maybe Jonesy will bring Kaep in to save the team!

 

[movingtarget]

Re: Re:

They passed on Pierre Thomas who they trialed recently, have now signed Shaun Draughn to a one year deal and are trialing Tate tomorrow. They are trying to plug the gaps until the end of the season not that it matters much but some of the coaching staff would like to keep their jobs ! Everyone seems to think that Thomas was much better than both Tate and Draughn so another curious decision by the 49ers. Hayne will probably either head back to the NRL or be picked up next season from the practice squad by another team even though his agent said he is definitely not returning to the NRL. He is in limbo as he can't impress other teams if he can't get game time and the ball security issues and hype from the press probably have not helped him. Only another run of injuries will probably see him back in the game unless the new recruits are complete duds, and they have no choice. It's hard to predict what anyone is doing at the 49ers re decision making.

Yeah looks like they are just trying to get by. Wouldn't say any of those guys are any good but it also is a bit telling when they sign those guys over Hayne.

49ers had second thoughts and have also signed Pierre Thomas to a one year deal.

 

[movingtarget]

Re:

Who would trade for Kaepernick? I’m surprised Chip Kelly hasn’t already offered the Niners Mark Sanchez, who is a much better option than Gabbert. Though he wouldn’t do it in the middle of the season, I can even see him offering Bradford. Kaepernick is just the kind of QB Kelly supposedly wants, as I pointed out before, except for Mariota and maybe Cam Newton, I can’t imagine a QB more suited to Kelly’s system. This could be a rare trade that really works out well for both teams.

Unlike the Vernon Davis giveaway. The 49ers are basically getting a 6th round pick for a player who has been one of the top tight ends in the NFL, with the speed of a WR to boot. Granted, Davis has not performed that well in the last couple of years, but that may be because the 49er offense as a whole has not. What we do know is that Kaepernick had his best success by far when both Davis and Crabtree were playing, he was never the same QB if even one of them was gone. Just two years ago when they barely lost another NFC championship game you could see that when Crabtree was out with an injury the first half of the season. With Davis but not Crabtree, the 49ers offense languished; e.g., they lost to the Panthers at home, 10-9. With Crabtree back, the offense surged,and they beat the Panthers easily in Carolina in the playoffs.

This is why I don't think Kaepernick's situation is comparable to RGIII's. Kaepernick can flourish in the right system, the 49ers just haven't given him that. Kelly can almost certainly bring out the best in Kaep.

How often do sixth round draft picks make a major contribution to a team, how often do they even make a team? Particularly when they are drafted by Baalke, as the link above notes (though to be fair, the 2012-14 period when they had all the bad picks coincides with their great success on the field, and hence low first round picks). In the long run, this might work out for the 49ers, because Davis only has a few years left, but in the short run I think it’s a steal for Denver. And Denver clearly is thinking only about the short-term here, because this is probably Manning’s last season.

There have been some rumors circulating about Bradford. Many people think the Davis deal was a dud and they should have waited until next season when he would have been a more valuable trade even though he has seen his best days. It seems that one of the biggest issues for the fans of the 49ers is the players they discard who go on to play well elsewhere and the dud draft picks they opt for by overlooking better players or missing performers for non performers but I suppose it's a bit of a lottery sometimes. Most people agree that signing Reggie Bush was bizarre. See if their stop gap running backs perform for the rest of the season, the fans seem to think they won't. Many are hoping that Baalke gets let go. He is seen as one of the biggest problems. There is sure to be some shake ups in the coaching department as well.

 

[KingsMountain]

There's been a couple of posts talking about Kaepernick's contract in the context of it being a lot of money. The contract is actually very favorable to the 49ers, and IMO shows that Balke had a low level of trust that Kaep would succeed. In rough terms he will receive about $26M for 2014 and 2015. If he gets sufficiently injured, more money is guaranteed.

 

[on3m@n@rmy]

Interesting article in USA Today makes a case for Dallas to go back to Weeden as the starting QB.
http://ftw.usatoday.com/2015/11/cowboys-starting-qb-brandon-weeden-matt-cassel-bench-tony-romo
Check out the stats in that link. Quick summary here:
Weeden - 71 completions/98 attempts (72.4%), Rate = 92.2, QBR = 58.73.
Romo - 54/72 (75%), Rate = 98.8, QBR = 69.9.
Cassel - 30/52(57.7%), Rate = 58.5, QBR = 27.88, in 2 games vs NYG & SEA.

Maybe we give Cassel some slack because one of those games was against a SEA defense that was playing lights out and again did not allow a TD to be scored on them. Cassel's first game was also against a NYG defense that, as we saw yesterday vs NO, is not a very good defense. But then Cassel could be expected to be a bit rusty in his first kick at the cat. As the stats in the article make a case to go back to Weeden, I probably would not so soon. It's no good to be jerking QBs in and out that fast. I'd give Cassel a good chance to show what he can do, at least through the next 3 or 4 games (Iggles, Bucs, Fins, Panthas), and then see where things stand.

I've said all along that Weeden wasn't the problem. The team is average, and injuries have made them below average. Maybe Jonesy will bring Kaep in to save the team!

LMAO. Jonesy might be so minded to do just that, name Kaep their leader, AND declare him starter.

 

[movingtarget]

Titans fire their coach

http://www.csnbayarea.com/49ers/titans-fire-whisenhunt-former-49ers-cb-cox-not-happy

 

[Alpe d'Huez]

That's not a shock, he basically tossed Mariota to the wolves, even when the guy was hurt. Now the team is pretty much shopping Mettenberger, which also implies he was on limited time.

 

[jmdirt]

I just listened to Russell Wilson on Tiki and Tierney, and he just isn't a good interview IMO.

 

[jmdirt]

Brady Quinn says that HGH use is higher than ever in the NFL.

 

[Alpe d'Huez]

Another thing that wouldn't surprise me - and his logic is sound. He said there could be any number of factors (and Pat Kirwin said similar). Indications that steroids are down a little, but HGH up, and probably half the league are taking something they shouldn't:

I think the usage of of HGH or performance enhancing drugs or supplements is greater now than it's ever been because the money is bigger now than it's ever been and the punishment isn't really that bad if you think about it.

Sound familiar, cycling fans? We cyclists as much as anyone don't wear blinders when it comes to doping, and one would have to be a fool to think that doping isn't happening in the NFL. While some testing, likely keeps rampant doping down, there are always ways of beating the system, and HGH may be the drug du jour in the NFL these days.

I applaud Quinn for saying this. He acted like a punk when he came into the NFL, but whenever you hear him now, he seems like his head is really on straight.

Excellent article and podcast on this issue.

http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/eye-on-football/25362675/brady-quinn-hgh-use-could-be-causing-nfls-rash-of-injuries-in-2015

 

[The Hitch]

Half the league?

I really doubt it's that low. In some sports you can make the argument that athletes would rather not risk their health. In nfl you have to be axe crazy to even suit up and your putting your life on the line.I can't see people going - meh don't mind getting hit in the head repeatedly with the force of a freight train, but oh no that drug is potentially dangerous years down the line, let's avoid it.

And dont the nfl not test for hgh anyway?