National Football League

[Potomac]

brush fires move the Rams game to Arizona.

 

[jmdirt]

Raiders dump their GM.

 

[Alpe d'Huez]

After the Raiders fired GM Tom Telesco, who actually did well and got a seal of approval from the team weeks ago, I've concluded the Raiders are now Tom Brady's team. Mark Davis has mostly stepped aside. Tom is now the president of all football operations even if he doesn't have the title. The fact the Raiders are moving this fast to interview several top candidates, and Ben Johnson agreed to meet with them (he said he would only meet with teams he would seriously consider coaching), tells me Brady is the mastermind behind this. Look for a few big, splashy name hires in the near future.

Mark Davis never moved this aggressive. This has Brady's fingerprints all over it. Davis has a slew of really old advisers his father knew, and they move very slow, tell him to interview a couple people, and he does. That's it. That's how he's always done it, except when Gruden was hired, which he did because they were buddies. He's never, ever been this assertive, this thorough, interviewing this many people. And with no GM in the building... This is all Brady.

Any chance they look at Carroll if the Bears don't hire him?

I don't think so, though Pete wouldn't be a bad pick. He's old, but has the energy of someone half his age. I'm thinking either Belicheck, and the Raiders promote Champ Kelly to be GM (he was interiem last year), with Bill doing the real GM work. Or Ben Johnson is actually possible. Ben stated he wants to be in a program where he, the GM, ownership, and his coordinators are all on the same page. Brady may have someone in mind for GM that aligns with Johnson. I don't think Vrabel is out of the equation either. He wanted the Titans to make Ryan Cowden, an up and comer who was their interim, as GM, and the Titans said no. They could both arrive to the Raiders. Liam Coen now seems unlikely to me. Same with Brian Flores, though both have an outside chance. Brady is said to admire Flores determination.

 

[Alpe d'Huez]

I don't see how a Charger loss wouldn't be a complete failure of the season & a huge black eye on Holy Harbaugh.

Unless they look fantastic in a fluke losing cause, it definitely would. This team has been stacked with talent, mostly on defense, but with a supposed franchise QB on a fat contract, and solid OL for a couple years now, and repeatedly underperformed. Harbaugh was considered the one missing ingredient they need, and now the team is his. And they played well in a tough division. If they lose to a struggling Houston team, to have the team do no better than when Staley was HC, it would be considered a huge letdown.

In fact, if I were in the Spanos family, or Harbaugh himself, I'd also expect to the follow week to go into KC (presuming that's what happens) and give the Chiefs a real fight. If they get blown out of that game it will look almost as bad.

 

[movingtarget]

Vikings-Rams wild-card game on Monday moved to Arizona due to Los Angeles-area fires

 

[movingtarget]

Browns QB Deshaun Watson ruptured Achilles again, could miss 2025 season after latest surgery

 

[Nomad]

I bet Watson is done. A retear of the original tear is bad & difficult to come back for any professional athlete. Surgeons are unable to reconstruct an Achilles like they can with an ACL. The Achilles is never the same after a re-rupture.

The Brownies are in trouble. Neither Winston, Thompson-Robinson or Zappe are franchise QB material. Since they pick 2nd, do they draft a QB? Or maybe pursue JJ McCarthy? The Brownies have some big decisions to make.

 

[Nomad]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1877762443440521290

View: https://x.com/NFL/status/1877762443440521290

Not a surprise with Jackson. His stats this year are absolutely insane! (over 4100 yds passing, 41 TD passes to only 4 INTs, another 915 yrs rushing on 6.6 avg). Just give him another MVP! And Bowers was very impressive finishing 8th in overall pass receiving stats but #1 for TEs.

Hey, can you believe it - there's a Bronco there! When was the last time that happen? Meinerz is good though. Interestingly, he was Denver's 3rd rd pick in 2021 from a little dinky D-III school in Wisconsin.

 

[Alpe d'Huez]

Brock Bowers! SF George Kittle fans are screaming because he had more TDs. But Bowers had 34 more catches than Kittle, on a worse team, with a carousel of QBs throwing to him, and OC changes mid-season.

As I posted before, Watson will never play another down in the NFL. The Browns will put him on the PUP list for all of 2025, then cut him after the season is over, to eat as little of money as possible (while still paying him). My guess is they will draft either Ward or Sanders, whomever falls to them, depending if Tennessee takes the other guy. And that was before Watson was re-injured. They simply have to move on from the stink in their mouth that is Watson as soon as possible. And drafting a QB will help with that, even if it doesn't lead to a lot of wins.

 

[Sciatic]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1877762443440521290

View: https://x.com/NFL/status/1877762443440521290

Not a surprise with Jackson. His stats this year are absolutely insane! (over 4100 yds passing, 41 TD passes to only 4 INTs, another 915 yrs rushing on 6.6 avg). Just give him another MVP! And Bowers was very impressive finishing 8th in overall pass receiving stats but #1 for TEs.

Hey, can you believe it - there's a Bronco there! When was the last time that happen? Meinerz is good though. Interestingly, he was Denver's 3rd rd pick in 2021 from a little dinky D-III school in Wisconsin.

I like that they give just a single 1st-team All-Pro selection that covers both the NFC and AFC. There is not real difference between the conferences and it's great to indicate a player is the best of the best at their position that year. And then everyone can argue about who else it is should be I read an article about Koufax recently; I knew he won 3 Cy Youngs, but didn't know (or didn't remember) that in that era they awarded only 1 Cy Young per season for all of baseball, even though there were 2 separate leagues (and not interleague play) at that time. Impressive, especially knowing Koufax achieved that when it was also when Gibson, Marichal, Drysdale were at or close to their peak.

 

[Nomad]

Dolphins fire WRs coach Wes Welker, STs coordinator Danny Crossman

The Dolphins will not go forward with two coaches in 2025.

www.nbcsports.com

I didn't know Welker was coaching at Miami - I thought he was still with the 9ers. I'm somewhat surprised that McDaniel wasn't fired. He went from 11-6 & playoffs last year to 8-9 & no postseason this year. I suppose though his defense is that he lost Tua for the better part of 6 games due to injury. And considering how terrible his backups were, there might be some validity to this.

 

[Alpe d'Huez]

I think it would be absurd to fire McDaniel. But with how current NFL owners are, it also wouldn't surprise me either.

I'll take the Chargers over the Texans, in a tough game. More pressure is on the Chargers, to me.

The Ravens surely will beat the Steelers, no? But Lamar and the Ravens have also had bad playoff games. And the Steelers know them, in fact they beat them in week 11 in a grinding game. Ravens won the rematch easily in week 16.

The Bills will beat the Broncos, but it won't be easy for maybe 3Q. But as solid as the Broncos D has been, I can't see them stopping Buffalo's offense for all four quarters.

I see the Eagles beating the Packers fairly easily. Only because Green Bay is so banged up. The Eagles don't impress me as much as other people though.

I think the Commanders and Buccaneers could be a very exciting game. Both teams are fun to watch to begin with. They played back in week 1 and Tampa won handily. But Daniels quickly improved after that. Also, after getting criticized mid season, the Commanders won their last 5 games in a row. Including gritty wins over the Eagles and Falcons.

I'll stick with the Vikings over the Rams. Though if the Rams offense that beat the Bills show up, who knows. These teams played in week 8, and the Rams pulled away late to win 30-20.

If I'm right, the Chargers will then go to KC, and in the NFC a Commanders win will send them to Detroit.

 

[SHAD0W93]

Late af but Wentz had slightly worse stats in his last season starting compare to Mahomes who had better everything bar the running back and oline.


Then McDaniel is more of a bro than the head coach with how he acts and talks. I think the team needs some more discipline and they’ve been caught plenty of times unprepared but that’s also the Dolphins for you. I’d keep him as head coach and get a stricter assistant/coordinator or move him to OC/assistant and a stricter HC. Not that’d he like either option. But the team hasn’t delivered, with the injuries not helping.

My cousin that works for the Raiders before Brady was officially the owner was a fan of the HC and GM but that changed after Brady’s first month.

 

[movingtarget]

Ravens and Bills should win............should. Both Allen and Lamar need to have a good playoffs.

Taking the Commies over the Buccs in what could be an entertaining shootout !

GB might be banged up but I think they could push the Eagles still, and Hurts was in the concussion protocol for an unusually long time. GB to win.

Think the Texans might just do enough in a tight game with the Chargers.

Rams and Vikings might be the most difficult game to predict. Vikings in a close one.

 

[movingtarget]

Robert Saleh is the favourite to get his old job back at the 49ers as DC. That is if he doesn't get a head coaches job. Some people seem to think he has a pretty good chance of picking up the Jags or Raiders head coach job but it seems that the Raiders might be looking for a more offensive minded coach.

 

[Potomac]

Robert Saleh is the favourite to get his old job back at the 49ers as DC. That is if he doesn't get a head coaches job. Some people seem to think he has a pretty good chance of picking up the Jags or Raiders head coach job but it seems that the Raiders might be looking for a more offensive minded coach.

Saleh is 20-36 as a head coach.
I wouldn't put him on my short list to fill a head coaching vacancy.

 

[jmdirt]

Saleh is 20-36 as a head coach.
I wouldn't put him on my short list to fill a head coaching vacancy.

I always find it 'interesting' when less than great HCs are discussed for other HC jobs. I don't have the brain energy to do a stroll down memory lane but is that a great recipe? Then again, HC's can be a bit of a crap shoot anyway.

 

[Nomad]

Ravens and Bills should win............should. Both Allen and Lamar need to have a good playoffs.

Taking the Commies over the Buccs in what could be an entertaining shootout !

GB might be banged up but I think they could push the Eagles still, and Hurts was in the concussion protocol for an unusually long time. GB to win.

Think the Texans might just do enough in a tight game with the Chargers.

Rams and Vikings might be the most difficult game to predict. Vikings in a close one.

Not only should the Bills & Ravens win...but win big. Ravens & Bills are 10 & 9 pt favorites, respectively. I'm sure with the lack of respect given by the oddsmakers, Payton & Tomlin are using that as bulletin board material to fire up their teams. Unless Allen or Jackson were to get knocked out of the game, I don't see either of these teams winning - or even keeping it close.

Chargers should win & cover the 3 pt spread. Eagles should smoke the Pack with that one-two punch of Barkley & Hurts. I like Daniels & the Commanders in an upset (Daniel's dual-threat capability is exciting to watch!). I don't have a feel one or the other for the Rams-Vikings. But there could be major air warfare if Sammy & Matty get hot.

There's bound to be some drama in the playoffs; a QB going down, a controversial call that decides a game, a fluke blowout by an underdog, etc. Last year it was the horse whipping on Dallas by GB in that shocking opening round annihilation. Lol

 

[Nomad]

Late af but Wentz had slightly worse stats in his last season starting compare to Mahomes who had better everything bar the running back and oline.

He's an average QB at best: 47-46-1 & 0-1 in postseason with a career rating of 89.3 over 7 seasons of starting (PHI/IND/WAS). And he was injured quite frequently. In back to back postseason years with the Eagles, he was injured & couldn't play in either one. Lol (for his size & strength, he's not very durable).

Never lived up to that #2 OA billing & the Big Ben comparison. He's another Trubisky that is just lucky to be in the league as a backup on a good team.

 

[jmdirt]

Coach Pete talking with TB12 and Davis today?

 

[movingtarget]

Big second half for the Texans. The two intercepts killed the Chargers. Another playoff fail for Henry.. The second intercept was more on the WR as it hit him in the hands.

 

[SHAD0W93]

Big second half for the Texans. The two intercepts killed the Chargers. Another playoff fail for Henry.. The second intercept was more on the WR as it hit him in the hands.

Texans popped Chargers balloon real quick. It was good Chargers made it back to the playoffs but they fell apart again. Texans recovered and looked great after their rockiness the last few weeks. Barring any shocker they’ll be off for a rematch at KC.

REPORT: Steelers Expected To Play Both Russell Wilson And Justin Fields In AFC Wild Card Game vs Ravens

The Pittsburgh Steelers are looking to figure out their offensive woes as they attempt to snap their eight-year drought without a playoff win on Saturday against the Baltimore Ravens in the AFC Wild Card game. To spark their offensive, Pittsburgh has decided to take an interesting approach at...

dailysnark.com

It’ll be interesting to see how this works and if both qbs will be out there for some plays.

 

[Nomad]

Yeah, they fell apart again because Herbert is a bust! (like I've been saying all along here). Are you kidding me - what a joke he is! 4 picks & no control whatsoever over that offense. He looked like the 2nd yr QB out there. Lol.

And man, did Houston put the wood on them. Mixon smoked them for over 100 yds (did you see that stiff arm he blasted on the DB?). Stoud looked very impressive - his agility & running capability showed why he's a dangerous QB. In just 2 yrs starting, he already has 2 playoff wins! That's getting it done guys - this is what you want to see with high-drafted 1st rounders.

And poor Harbaugh - he looked shell-shocked out there (I bet he's thinking WTF happen to my QB...WTF happen to this team. Lol). How can Harbaugh face the Charger faithful after this debacle?

IMO, Harbaugh needs to dump Herbert. Herbert hasn't lived up to his #6 OA billing (and high salary) & is now 0-2 in the playoffs. Harbaugh should pursue JJ McCarthy - his QB at Michigan. McCarthy can not only throw the ball but he's fast & mobile bringing that ever needed running component to the game.

Move on from Herbert...Get McCarthy....

 

[Alpe d'Huez]

That was a horrible loss for the Chargers. Terrible for Harbaugh, and even more so Herbert. He couldn't even "game manage" the offense. Is it too late for the Chargers to apologize to Brandon Staley? Great win for Houston though. They showed grit people didn't think they had. I'd be pretty surprised if Harbaugh seeks to dump Herbert, and trade for McCarthey. But today's loss was so bad, nothing would shock me I guess.

Ravens so far having no problem with the Steelers. Impressive ground game! This has the look of a blowout.

Raiders are not hiring Saleh as HC. I think it's down to three people: Johnson, Belicheck, and Carroll. Brian Flores, Todd Monken and Liam Coen are real long shots. It turns out, the Raiders didn't seek to interview Vrabel (though still could). I think Johnson is possible because he wants his own GM, and the Bears, Jags and Pats all have a GM.

I still think there's a good chance Rex Ryan gets the Jets job.

Anyone else here think if the Titans draft Cam Ward, and the Browns draft Shedeur Sanders, there is no possible way Deion will let his son play for the dysfunctional dumpster fire of an org that the Browns are?

 

[jmdirt]

BAL running, literally, all over PIT. BAL shouldn't let up, but Jackson should be more cautious in the 2nd half.

TX solid, LAC...head shaking.

Anyone else here think if the Titans draft Cam Ward, and the Browns draft Shedeur Sanders, there is no possible way Deion will let his son play for the dysfunctional dumpster fire of an org that the Browns are?

I think that if Jr. gets drafted by CLE Prime will want control of the O.