National Football League

[Nomad]

49ers bracing for weeks-long Brock Purdy absence; Mac Jones in line to start at Saints

While Brock Purdy is expected to miss the 49ers’ game Sunday at New Orleans, his toe injury has the 49ers on a week-to-week alert that could extend over the next month.

www.mercurynews.com

What's up with this movingtarget? Up to 5 weeks for the toe injury? Considering Jones' lackluster performance last year when he started several games for the injured Lawrence, I don't think there's a lot of optimism surrounding him? Looks like Purdy is the first QB casualty to miss time due to injury.

 

[Oldman]

49ers bracing for weeks-long Brock Purdy absence; Mac Jones in line to start at Saints

While Brock Purdy is expected to miss the 49ers’ game Sunday at New Orleans, his toe injury has the 49ers on a week-to-week alert that could extend over the next month.

www.mercurynews.com

What's up with this movingtarget? Up to 5 weeks for the toe injury? Considering Jones' lackluster performance last year when he started several games for the injured Lawrence, I don't think there's a lot of optimism surrounding him? Looks like Purdy is the first QB casualty to miss time due to injury.

Big toe injury on throwing motion back foot can be career compromising. Surgery is touchy on the recovery, too. Hope he just got stepped on hard.

 

[movingtarget]

49ers bracing for weeks-long Brock Purdy absence; Mac Jones in line to start at Saints

While Brock Purdy is expected to miss the 49ers’ game Sunday at New Orleans, his toe injury has the 49ers on a week-to-week alert that could extend over the next month.

www.mercurynews.com

What's up with this movingtarget? Up to 5 weeks for the toe injury? Considering Jones' lackluster performance last year when he started several games for the injured Lawrence, I don't think there's a lot of optimism surrounding him? Looks like Purdy is the first QB casualty to miss time due to injury.

Yeah the shoulder isn't a concern but according to Shanahan he'll be out at least two weeks with the toe injury. Some are expecting the 49ers to go heavy on the run against the Saints but the Saints defense is pretty good. Saints problem might be, scoring enough points. Jones was okay in the preseason but that's the preseason

 

[Alpe d'Huez]

Mac Jones vs. Spencer Rattler coming up. Could be the first game in NFL history to finish 0-0. Rattler has started out his NFL career 0-7, just four more losses to go to tie Derek Carr.

Last year Eckler suffered a very serious concussion, which wasn't his first. I have to wonder if this isn't the end of his career.

 

[Nomad]

That would be the ultimate embarrassment to both QBs. Lol. In those 7 starts for the Jags last year, Jones struggled badly going 2-5. The only wins were against the Titans twice where they barely beat them in both games. And they took a humiliating 52-6 defeat at the hands of Detroit. I'm sure this had something to do with the Jags releasing him.

When I think of Mac Jones, I think of one of the most perplexing cases of the demise of a high-drafted QB gone bust that had an outstanding rookie season as a starter.

A stellar career & Consensus All-American out of Bama drafted #15 OA in 2021. Named the starter with the Patriots leading them to a 10-7 record & postseason appearance. Excellent stats throwing for 3801 yds 67 Pct (22/13) & a 92.5 Rtg -- ending up 2nd in ROY honors (basically the same identical stats that Bo Nix had last year). Jones clearly exceeded expectations & made Belichick look like one smart man for drafted him.

But what the heck happened? The following year the collapse started. By year 4, the Patriots traded him to the Jags for a measly 6th rd pick as he was headed toward bust status! Granted, McDaniels left the team after Jones' rookie year but that alone shouldn't have caused this much of a regression & downfall...or did it?

You don't become a starter your rookie season putting up excellent numbers & lead your team to the postseason if you're not one damn good QB. Something very unusual happen here.

 

[Alpe d'Huez]

Watch this video with Colin Cowherd interviewing Tom Brady recently. Around 9:35 Cowherd says he now gives a QB until Thanksgiving of year 2, and if the guy doesn't have it by then, he'll never have it in the NFL. But Brady counters that saying a lot of it has to do with coaching. Just as QBs are ranked 1-32 in the NFL, so are coaches, coordinators. So if a guy who has talent but needs good coaching doesn't get it because his OC and QBC are about 30th best in the NFL, he won't improve.

But Mac had other issues. By year two teams were challenging him to throw deep, and he couldn't do it with any consistency or real accuracy. Rex Ryan said he had a weak arm, "pea shooter Jones". I don't know about that, but Mac got worse. He and Matt Patricia didn't get along when Matt was OC, so they brought in Joe Judge "QB whisperer", to fix Mac, who got worse. So they dumped him to Jax, under another QB friendly coach in Pederson, and he showed little to nothing there either. So I don't know what to say about him. Maybe this next QB whisperer, #4 (McDaniels, Judge, Pederson, now Shanahan) can "fix" him. I doubt it.

So in this regard Cowherd is right.

 

[SHAD0W93]

Ever since the beatdown by the Bills in the playoffs Jones regressed. It didn’t help having a defensive and a special teams coordinator sharing the role of offensive coordinator and he never really recovered. If you play to his strengths he can be descent but like Alpe said, you can’t win with just his arm.

 

[Nomad]

But Mac had other issues. By year two teams were challenging him to throw deep, and he couldn't do it with any consistency or real accuracy. Rex Ryan said he had a weak arm, "pea shooter Jones". I don't know about that, but Mac got worse. He and Matt Patricia didn't get along when Matt was OC, so they brought in Joe Judge "QB whisperer", to fix Mac, who got worse. So they dumped him to Jax, under another QB friendly coach in Pederson, and he showed little to nothing there either. So I don't know what to say about him. Maybe this next QB whisperer, #4 (McDaniels, Judge, Pederson, now Shanahan) can "fix" him. I doubt it.

The weak arm, "pea shooter Jones" assertion by Ryan is complete nonsense. Granted, he never had elite arm strength, and his arm wasn't as strong as the 4 guys drafted ahead of him that year (Lawrence, Wilson, Lance & Fields).

But he had a NFL-caliber arm which is adequate enough to make it in the NFL:

https://bleacherreport.com/articles/2931907-mac-jones-nfl-draft-2021-scouting-report-for-new-england-patriots-qb

"Adequate arm strength at all three levels, able to attack deep—and all levels—by throwing on time and accurately as opposed to overwhelming arm talent."

I don't listen to that narcissist Rex Ryan. He has no clue what he's taking about. A QB will not survive in the NFL - let alone start - with a "weak arm." Certain standards have to be met when a QB prospect is auditioning at the combine/pro-days. So many FBS starters in college, who had great playing careers, never make it in the NFL because they don't have a NFL-caliber arm.

 

[Alpe d'Huez]

Rex is entertainment. It is ESPN after all, the four letter network. Arguably their two most analytic guys are Dan Orlovsky, and when he's on, Alex Smith. But even those guys rarely delve into any actual analytic anything. Orlovsky is pushed to give opinions, because it sells airtime. Alex is the "Mr. Nice Guy" of the shows. If one wants analysis JTO's YouTube Channel borders on mind numbing analysis of QB play.

I think Jones problem is deep field accuracy, not so much a weak arm. Any QB in the NFL can throw the ball 40 yards in the air. It's the guy who can consistently do it on the money, across the field, under pressure, while moving, is the guy that will thrive. That isn't Jones, at all. He's also not very mobile. He's not a statue, but in today's NFL where a QB has to either be very mobile, or a dual threat, he's not it. This is one reason I think Jared Goff is one of the last pocket passers we may see in our lifetimes. I also think the Lions missed their window last year, unless somehow their defense bails them out this season.

 

[movingtarget]

I think the Lions best shot was in 23. They had the 49ers beat and choked in the second half with perplexing coaching decisions, dropped balls and a fumble and Goff losing the poise he had in the first half. They led 24-7 at half time and gave up the chance to kick more 3 pointers which made no sense at all. 49ers also had a Purdy throw bounce off the face mask of a Lions defender into the arms of Aiyuk which led to a CMC TD on the next play. They win the game I think they had a good shot at beating the Chiefs as the 49ers themselves took the Chiefs to overtime and really should have finished it off in normal time if not for two dumb mistakes and a missed kick by Moody. Oh well.......

 

[Nomad]

Watch this video with Colin Cowherd interviewing Tom Brady recently. Around 9:35 Cowherd says he now gives a QB until Thanksgiving of year 2, and if the guy doesn't have it by then, he'll never have it in the NFL. But Brady counters that saying a lot of it has to do with coaching. Just as QBs are ranked 1-32 in the NFL, so are coaches, coordinators. So if a guy who has talent but needs good coaching doesn't get it because his OC and QBC are about 30th best in the NFL, he won't improve.

Interesting analysis by Brady & makes some sense. A example of that might be what's going on with Fields. By Thanksgiving of his 2nd yr, Fields, other than running the ball like a RB, wasn't doing very well & the Bears were losing badly. So, according to Cowherd, Fields doesn't have it in the NFL. Lol

Fast forward 3 yrs later on opening day last week, and Fields had his best day throwing the ball by far: 16/22 218 yds 1 TD & a 119 Rtg. He had no turnovers, only 1 sack, added 48 yds rushing (1 TD) & had the Jets in the game right up to the end. Most impressive performance I've ever seen in him.

And look what the Jets' coaching staff did to get him there: Taylored an offensive scheme around his skill set. You could see he played with a lot of confidence out there & definitely had control of the offense. But this isn't anything involving the changing of his throwing mechanics, development of his arm, retraining him how to throw, etc (Fields can already throw the ball as he demonstrated at his 2 yrs at Ohio St). This is simply putting in the offensive scheme that a top dual-threat QB has played in since High School. And that's generally a shotgun-centric spread RPO scheme - simple. Go watch the top two dual-threats in college ball right now (Sellars/South Carolina & Mateer/Oklahoma) & you'll see the offensive scheme that they're most effective in - shotgun spread RPO.

Too bad Fields didn't win the game. But if he can continued to perform like that week in & week out, the Jets are going to win some games this season.

Why Justin Fields is for real in this Jets offensive system

Finally, a real chance for Justin Fields.

sports.yahoo.com

 

[movingtarget]

Rex is entertainment. It is ESPN after all, the four letter network. Arguably their two most analytic guys are Dan Orlovsky, and when he's on, Alex Smith. But even those guys rarely delve into any actual analytic anything. Orlovsky is pushed to give opinions, because it sells airtime. Alex is the "Mr. Nice Guy" of the shows. If one wants analysis JTO's YouTube Channel borders on mind numbing analysis of QB play.

I think Jones problem is deep field accuracy, not so much a weak arm. Any QB in the NFL can throw the ball 40 yards in the air. It's the guy who can consistently do it on the money, across the field, under pressure, while moving, is the guy that will thrive. That isn't Jones, at all. He's also not very mobile. He's not a statue, but in today's NFL where a QB has to either be very mobile, or a dual threat, he's not it. This is one reason I think Jared Goff is one of the last pocket passers we may see in our lifetimes. I also think the Lions missed their window last year, unless somehow their defense bails them out this season.

Think he can do okay against the Saints but has to keep the turnovers down and get the ball out quick. Obvious the Saints will blitz a lot as they generally do and the 49ers O line is a known weakness. 49ers will try and dominate with the run, the way the Cards did. If that works it gets easier for Jones.

 

[Alpe d'Huez]

Not that many big matchups this week. To me at least.

JAX@CIN - I can't tell if either of these teams are actually good, or pretenders. We'll know more tomorrow.
CHI@DET - Both are 0-1 and have disappointed. Will Ben Johnson outcoach his old team?
DEN@IND - Let's see how Daniel Jones does against a good D. And will Denver's offense show up?
PHI@KC - This has to be a revenge game for KC, right? They aren't going to go 0-2, are they?
ATL@MIN - Would be interesting if JJ has another good game, and Viks go 2-0.

LAC@LVR - Chargers looked quite good last week, Raiders decent. Jim Harbaugh vs. Pete Carroll rematch.

 

[SHAD0W93]

Chiefs I think will lose by 8. Eagles are the better team again and Chiefs defense and special teams which they’ve been riding didn’t look impressive at all barring the field goal at the end of the half. I think Mahomes will look well though and have some big runs with a deep pass or two completed.

Lions should beat up on the Bears, they’re just that much better.

Bills will beat up on the Jets.

Steelers and Seahawks should be fun.

Dolphins to join the Chiefs at 0-2.

I swear Las Vegas tv map coverage is terrible sometimes.

 

[Alpe d'Huez]

Here's some exciting news. It appears Deshaun Watson is ahead of schedule in his recovery! Since Cleveland put him on the PUP Active list, that means he could play this season. Since they played kick the can with his salary, restructuring it over and over - but at 100% guaranteed - brilliant move by Cleveland, they still owe him a staggering $131m through the 2026 season.

So what happens if he can play? Well, then he's on the roster, or they can cut him, and if they do that, it would trigger an astronomical $131.161 million cap hit (Browns currently have $14m in cap space for next year).

And if they do put him on the active roster, that means they would have four QBs: Flacco, Gabriel, Sanders, and Watson. That won't work, so they'd have to cut Sanders (or Gabriel) it makes no sense to push Sanders to the practice squad and keep 4 QBs. If they did some other team would likely sign Sanders, meaning the Browns would lose him and get nothing in return. They actually have Bailey Zappe on their practice squad right now. So that's another QB. Their best hope then is that Flacco gets a season ending injury before Watson is fully healthy to come back. Or that Gabriel or Sanders suffer a serious enough injury they end on IR.

If I read the numbers correctly, if the Browns cut Watson after this year but before next season, it will "only" be about an $80m cap hit for 2026.

Their other option is to try to trade him to another team, plus offer that team some top draft picks, or that and another player, just to eat Watson's contract. That team would immediately cut Watson. No team will ever let him take another snap for them.

The Cleveland Browns. The gift that just keeps on giving.

 

[movingtarget]

Eagles/Chiefs and Steelers/Hawks look like the picks of the games. Seattle will be desperate not to drop another game as the rest of the division won last week. Their defense was solid against the 49ers but the offense looks problematic, As Mina Kimes said, the team lacks a few play makers on offense. by the looks of things. They already miss Lockett and DK and the run game is a little overrated. Darnold has to do more.

Wouldn't be surprised to see the Chiefs bounce back with a win.

 

[SHAD0W93]

A chiefs win is and looks better for them vs an Eagles win. Chiefs have their top 2 receivers out and played worse last week considering Carter didn’t want to show up. It’s a big trap game for the Eagles.

 

[Alpe d'Huez]

Yep. That's what I see. Plus you know Mahomes has to be as motivated for this game as any other. I'll take the Chiefs in an "upset".

This is indeed a week Darnold has to earn his money for Seattle.

 

[Nomad]

"Pea shooter" Jones takes care of business beating the Saints! Excellent performance: 279 yds, 3 TDs & no picks! (Only flaw was a strip-sack fumble late in the game).

Purdy may have the dough...But Jones stole the show.

QB controversy?

 

[Nomad]

Bills will beat up on the Jets.

How in the heck did you know that? You got a crystal ball or something? Lol

 

[SHAD0W93]

How in the heck did you know that? You got a crystal ball or something? Lol

Same way I knew that the Lions will beat up on the Bears and Dolphins will be 0-2. Though it was funny seeing someone fly a banner saying fire the GM and HC.

Just waking up and the Cowboys and Giants going to OT with 37-37 is crazy. Then I saw Burrow was injured and thought for sure Bengals lost seeing the score when he left the game, so it was good they came back. Only issue is he’s getting beat the F up.




And what I’m just finding out is the fact I can’t watch the Eagles vs Chiefs on my phone or TV on YouTube tv even though it’s a nationally televised game. Edit: now it shows up after the Cowboys and Giants game finished.

 

[Unchained]

Colts Broncos finish was magic

 

[Alpe d'Huez]

Magic? Or Madness? Denver really should not have lost that game. And what was going on with Nix and Payton barking at each other on the sideline?

Lions sure showed they were for real, at least on offence. Bears are a mess. So much for Ben Johnson and Caleb being an unstoppable duo. Maybe in another dozen games or so?

Eagles Chiefs wasn't really that exciting, though it was close. This is the exact kind of game the Chiefs would have won last year. Neither team's offense really executed when they had to. I didn't come away that impressed with either team.

Nice win for Seattle.

 

[Alpe d'Huez]

Joe Burrow out "at least three months" with a toe injury. Translation: If the Bengals aren't in the playoff hunt, he may not return this year. Team belongs to Jake Browning now, again.

This is after Burrow campaigned to make sure both his top receivers were well paid. And the team had little money left for an OL.

 

[Nomad]

Strange ending to the Bronco game. Broncos ahead by two late in the 4th with the Colts driving down to FG range. Colts can't get it any closer than a 60 yd attempt - just outside of Shrader's range - he hooks it as time expires. But wait!...there's a penalty! - "leverage" call on the Broncos! - WTH - 15 yds & a rekick? This time Scrader nails the 45 yd game winning FG & Payton looks absolutely shocked.

Nix played very well but I would say it was the 'star-studded" defense that let them down. The Colts hung 473 yds of total O with Jones putting on an aerial display of 316 yds against supposedly the best secondary in the league (Vance Joseph has some explaining to do. Lol). All in all, Jones looked sharp in that offense. No turnovers & sacked only once. Spread the ball out to a wide variety of receivers. Complete command of the offense.

Last week they beat the hapless Dolphins...so his excellent performance had to tempered playing such a bad team. But Jones faced one of the top defenses & supposedly the best secondary in the league & was able to have that much success throwing the ball. So, the Colts may have something developing here with Jones at the helm. You certainly can't go wrong with a 2-0 start.