The Giants are searching for their next head coach after firing Pat Shurmur. Here's the latest on potential candidate Matt Rhule...
Dec. 31, 9:44 AM:
Rhule has turned down the chance to interview with the Browns for their head coaching job, reports Adam Schefter of ESPN, who added that in addition to the Giants, Rhule is expected to be a "leading candidate" for the Panthers' head coaching job.
SNY's Ralph Vacchiano reported Monday that Rhule is the early favorite to replace Shurmur.
Dec. 30, 5:50 PM:
Rhule spoke on ESPN Central Texas radio on 1660 AM saying he plans to be on a beach somewhere with his wife after the Sugar Bowl -- meaning he will not be conducting any interviews prior to that.
Additionally, Rhule spoke very highly of his current coaching situation at Baylor, but also wasn't completely ruling out a move to the NFL.
Dec. 30, 11:10 AM:
One source familiar with Rhule's thinking expects there will be "strong interest" from Rhule when the Giants call, according to Vacchiano.
The source also said any idea that Rhule wouldn't want to work with Giants GM Dave Gettleman, who was retained by the franchise on Monday, is "ridiculous."
Dec. 30, 9:18 AM:
Multiple team and league sources have told SNY's Ralph Vacchiano that Rhule is the early favorite to replace Shurmur. The Giants owners like the 44-year-old head coach at Baylor "a lot," said once league source, and have been enamored of him since his one year as a Giants assistant back in 2012.
Ron Rivera has landed on his feet in Washington, D.C.
According to Mike Silver of NFL Network, the Washington Redskins hired Rivera to be their next head coach Tuesday. Ian Rapoport of NFL Network added Rivera is signing a five-year contract and that an announcement will be made Wednesday to confirm the hire.
Washington fired head coach Jay Gruden on Oct. 7 following an 0-5 start to 2019, and Bill Callahan finished the season as the interim head coach.
Rivera was linked to Washington on the last day of the regular season:
Ian Rapoport @RapSheet
Things have progressed very nicely for former #Panthers coach Ron Rivera. He is meeting with the #Redskins tomorrow for their vacant head coach job, per agents Frank Bauer and Kenny Chapman. A key meeting.
Michael Silver @MikeSilver
As @RapSheet reported, Rivera is the Skins' first choice. A source familiar with the Redskins' search believes that this is Rivera's first choice of jobs.
Washington also fired team president Bruce Allen on Dec. 30, according to ESPN's Adam Schefter, after 10 years with the organization as reports continued to swirl that the hiring of Rivera was imminent:
Ian Rapoport @RapSheet
The #Redskins interview with coach Ron Rivera is more of a coronation. All signs point to Rivera becoming Washington’s new coach today, sources say. That is the expectation. Veteran agent Frank Bauer would not allow him on an interview like this unless significant work was done.
Rivera became available when the Carolina Panthersfired him Dec. 3. He had been in Carolina since 2011, leading the Panthers to the playoffs four times and going 76-63-1 overall. The highlight of his tenure came when the team made Super Bowl 50, where it lost 24-10 to the Denver Broncos.
Carolina was 5-7 and riding a four-game losing streak at the time of his firing.
Panthers owner David Tepper disclosed what went into the "emotional" decision to part ways with Rivera:
Carolina Panthers @Panthers
David Tepper explains why he decided to part ways with head coach Ron Rivera. https://t.co/kRLw0VQL7z
Washington can feel good about the fact that his former players showed him support:
Greg Olsen @gregolsen88
On the day I was traded to the @Panthers in 2011, every player who played for Ron in Chicago said the same thing to me on my way out. “You are going to play for a great coach, but a better man”.
I am so proud to have shared this 9 yr journey together with you @RiverboatRonHC
Jonathan Stewart @Jonathanstewar1
thank you @RiverboatRonHC for all you’ve done for me and for believing in me! you are the best head coach the panthers organization has seen!#KeepPounding “control what you can control!” -Ron Rivera
Ian Rapoport @RapSheet
From #Panthers QB Cam Newton: “This one hurt deep!!” https://t.co/9W7ZGYCv0k
Rivera had lost steam in Carolina, finishing 2018 at 7-9 before petering out this season, but he had proved his ability to successfully lead a contender prior to that. The Panthers' lost 2019 could in part be attributed to the fact that All-Pro quarterback Cam Newton missed all but the first two games with a Lisfranc injury.
With Washington, Rivera will look to improve upon a 3-13 2019 campaign and has 2019 15th overall pick Dwayne Haskins to work with at quarterback. Washington has not made the postseason since 2015 and has not won a playoff game since 2005.
When the Philadelphia Eagles clinched the NFC East with a win over the New York Giants on Sunday, they did so with five skill position players not only seeing the field, but playing prominent roles.
RB Boston Scott, WR Greg Ward, TE/WR Josh Perkins, WR Robert Davis, and WR Deontay Burnett were all on the Eagles' practice squad at one time this season, and they combined for 242 snaps and four touchdowns on Sunday. It is likely that they'll all play once again this Sunday, in a playoff game, against the Seattle Seahawks.
And so, I thought it'd be fun to take a look back at each of the roster transactions that each of the five players above had to go through to get to their current place on the Eagles' active roster. By my count (I think I got them all), there 54 NFL transactions, and two from another league.
• May 5, 2016: The Falcons sign Josh Perkins as an undrafted rookie
free agent.
• April 29, 2017: Washington selects Robert Davis with a
sixth-round pick (207th overall) in the 2017 NFL Draft.
• May 11, 2017: The Eagles sign Greg Ward as an undrafted
rookie free agent.
• September 2, 2017: The Falcons waive Perkins at final
cutdowns.
• September 2, 2017: Washington waives Davis at final
cutdowns.
• September 2, 2017: The Eagles waive Ward at final cutdowns.
• September 3, 2017: The Falcons sign Perkins to their
practice squad.
• September 3, 2017: Washington signs Davis to their practice
squad.
• September 3, 2017: The Eagles sign Ward to their practice
squad.
• September 12, 2017: The Eagles release Ward from the
practice squad.
• September 18, 2017: The Eagles sign Ward back to the
practice squad.
• October 11, 2017: The Falcons place Perkins on practice
squad injured.
• December 4, 2017: Washington activates Davis from the
practice squad to the active roster.
• January 10, 2018: The Falcons release Perkins.
• January 15, 2018: The Eagles sign Perkins to a futures contract.
• April 28, 2018: The Saints select Boston Scott with a sixth-round
pick (201st overall) in the 2018 NFL Draft.
• May 11, 2018: The Titans sign Deontay Burnett as an
undrafted rookie free agent.
• August 13, 2018: Washington places Davis on injured reserve,
after he suffers a broken tibia and torn LCL.
• September 1, 2018: The Eagles waive Ward at final cutdowns.
• September 1, 2018: The Titans waive Burnett at final cutdowns.
• September 2, 2018: The Eagles sign Ward to their practice
squad.
• September 3, 2018: The Jets sign Burnett to their practice
squad.
• September 5, 2018: Four days after making the Saints’
initial 53-man roster, the Saints waive Scott.
• September 7, 2018: The Eagles release Ward from their
practice squad.
• September 7, 2018: The Saints sign Scott to their practice
squad.
• September 21, 2018: The Jets release Burnett from the
practice squad.
• September 25, 2018: The Jets sign Burnett back to the
practice squad.
• October 20, 2018: The Jets activate Burnett from the
practice squad to the active roster.
• November 16, 2018: The Eagles place Perkins on injured
reserve.
• December 10, 2018: The Eagles sign Scott off of the Saints’
practice squad to their active roster.
• January 1, 2019: The San Antonio Commanders of the AAF sign
Ward.
• April 2, 2019: The AAF suspends all football operations, and
Ward is out of a job.
• April 9, 2019: The Eagles sign Ward.
• August 31, 2019: The Eagles waive Perkins at final cutdowns.
• August 31, 2019: The Eagles waive Ward at final cutdowns.
• August 31, 2019: The Eagles waive Scott at final cutdowns.
• August 31, 2019: The Jets waive Burnett at final cutdowns.
• September 1, 2019: The Eagles sign Perkins to their practice
squad.
• September 1, 2019: The Eagles sign Ward to their practice
squad.
• September 1, 2019: The Eagles sign Scott to their practice
squad.
• September 7, 2019: A week after making Washington’s initial
53-man roster, Washington waives Davis.
• September 9, 2019: Washington signs Davis back to their practice squad.
• September 13, 2019: Washington activates Davis from the
practice squad to the active roster.
• September 21, 2019: The Eagles activate Ward from the
practice squad to the active roster.
• September 24, 2019: The Eagles waive Ward.
• September 26, 2019: The Eagles sign Ward back to the
practice squad.
• October 1, 2019: Washington waives Davis.
• October 7, 2019: The Eagles sign Davis to their practice
squad.
• October 11, 2019: The Eagles activate Scott from the
practice squad to the active roster.
• October 16, 2019: The 49ers sign Burnett to their practice
squad.
• November 23, 2019: The Eagles activate Ward from the
practice squad to the active roster.
• November 30, 2019: The Eagles activate Perkins from the
practice squad to the active roster.
• December 10, 2019: The 49ers release Burnett.
• December 12, 2019: The Eagles activate Davis from the
practice squad to the active roster.
• December 12, 2019: The Eagles sign Burnett to their practice
squad.
• December 24, 2019: The Eagles activate Burnett from the
practice squad to the active roster.
The NFL playoffs own the spotlight in January, but more than half of the league's teams — and corresponding fans —are already thinking about the offseason.
And while the draft is still nearly four months away, pieces are beginning to fall into place for the first round and beyond.
Any assessments of where teams or prospects stand at this point are incomplete, as the full order has yet to be set beyond the 20 non-playoff teams, and underclassmen players have until Jan. 17 to declare their eligibility. Much can change during the pre-draft process; at this point last year, Kyler Murray was still bound for a career in baseball.
With that in mind, here's USA TODAY Sports' initial projection for the first round of the 2020 NFL draft:
1. Bengals — Joe Burrow, QB, LSU: The thought of Burrow being the No. 1 overall pick would have been unfathomable four months ago. Now, however, the Heisman Trophy winner is the clear front-runner for the spot after making a leap unparalleled by other quarterback prospects in the last decade. With outstanding footwork, touch and timing, even in the face of pressure, Burrow comfortably attacks defenses downfield despite lacking top-tier arm strength. The Athens, Ohio, native should help Zac Taylor launch his offense in earnest after what amounted to a lost inaugural year in Cincinnati.
2. Redskins — Chase Young, DE, Ohio State: This is perhaps even more of a no-brainer than the No. 1 pick. Young terrorized opposing backfields throughout the year, racking up 16 1/2 sacks and 21 tackles for a loss. More than just a speed rusher, he's not afraid to work inside or jolt blockers before slipping past them. As much as Washington needs a blindside protector for quarterback Dwayne Haskins, Young's value over the rest of the field is too immense to pass up.
3. Lions — Jeffrey Okudah, CB, Ohio State: This might be where the intrigue truly begins. Coach Matt Patricia and general manager Bob Quinn are back for another year, and they'll have a wealth of options for upgrading a defense that ranked as the NFL's worst against the pass. Continuing Ohio State's pipeline of first-round cornerbacks, Okudah has been able to stick with almost every receiver he's faced. He'd be a particularly valuable addition if Detroit opts to trade Pro Bowl cornerback Darius Slay,
4. Giants — Andrew Thomas, OT, Georgia: No matter whom Big Blue settles on as its third coach in four years, it's clear the future of the franchise is inextricably linked to the development of quarterback Daniel Jones. The No. 6 pick of this year's draft enjoyed promising stretches, but his internal clock too often was a tick behind, as evidenced by his league-worst 18 fumbles (11 lost). General manager Dave Gettleman has frequently spoken of his affinity for "hog mollies," and Thomas fits the profile with a combination of overwhelming power and surprising flexibility.
5. Dolphins — Tua Tagovailoa, QB, Alabama: Maybe Miami didn't need to "tank for Tua" after all. The preseason favorite for the first overall pick hasn't even announced whether he will enter the draft after dislocating his hip in November, and it will be impossible to pin down where his stock stands until more information about his prognosis is available. So long as Miami doesn't have substantial reason to worry about his long-term outlook, however, the team shouldn't balk at pouncing on Tagovailoa. With remarkable accuracy and composure under pressure, he still sizes up as a franchise cornerstone.
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6. Chargers — Justin Herbert, QB, Oregon: Regardless of whether the Bolts opt to say farewell to Philip Rivers as the 16-year veteran faces free agency, it seems like a near necessity for the franchise to look to the future at quarterback at some point early in the draft. Enter Herbert, who checks off several boxes with his 6-6, 237-pound frame and knack for fitting the ball into tight spots. Inconsistency issues and spotty decision-making are cause for concern, but NFL teams in need of a young passer have a hard time passing up players with Herbert's tool kit.
7. Panthers — Jedrick Wills Jr., OT, Alabama: Even on an offense loaded with first-round talent, Wills set himself apart with his performances this season. The 6-5, 320-pound right tackle routinely plowed defensive linemen out of the way, and he demonstrated rare movement ability for a player of his size. Wills would still be a stabilizing presence on a line that gave up 58 sacks, tied for the most in the NFL.
8. Cardinals — A.J. Epenesa, DE, Iowa: Save for sack master Chandler Jones, Arizona has a serious dearth of front-seven playmakers on a unit that gave up a league-worst 402 yards per game. Able to hold his ground against the run and slip blockers to reach the quarterback, Epenesa would be a promising addition to a front that needs to stand firm against its NFC West foes.
9. Jaguars — Derrick Brown, DT, Auburn: A potential first-round pick last year, Brown elevated his game as a senior and became Auburn's first unanimous All-American. Jacksonville's run defense was ravaged after defensive tackle Marcell Dareus was placed on injured reserve in late October, and the nine-year veteran seems like a near lock to be a cap casualty this offseason.
10. Browns — Isaiah Simmons, LB/S, Clemson: The biggest challenge for an NFL team in assessing Simmons might be merely figuring out how to maximize his singular skill set, as 6-4, 230-pound defenders who thrive in coverage don't come along often. The Butkus Award winner could clean up Cleveland's tackling lapses, and his versatility could have a ripple effect on the rest of the defense.
11. Jets — Tristan Wirfs, OT, Iowa: Time for an exorcism to ensure Sam Darnold won't have to worry about "seeing ghosts" anymore. Gang Green likely won't be able to corral all the offensive line help it needs in one offseason, but scooping up Wirfs would be a good start.
12. Raiders — Jerry Jeudy, WR, Alabama: Jon Gruden and Mike Mayock will have hit the jackpot if their first draft in Las Vegas unfolds this way. A master craftsman who always seems to be one step ahead of his defender, Jeudy can be the kind of fixture in the passing game the Raiders have needed since sending off Amari Cooper and cutting their losses on Antonio Brown.
13. Colts — CeeDee Lamb, WR, Oklahoma: While Indianapolis might seem like a wild card to take a quarterback, it would be a decidedly uncharacteristic move for steady-handed general manager Chris Ballard to reverse course on Jacoby Brissett after giving him a contract extension in September. Instead, Ballard's best move to aid Brissett would be nabbing Lamb, whose aggressive approach would make him a fitting No. 2 next to T.Y. Hilton.
14. Buccaneers — Austin Jackson, OT, USC: Tampa Bay's fortune could tilt greatly if the team moves on from Jameis Winston or doesn't retain breakout pass rusher Shaquil Barrett. For now, one of the top priorities should be fortifying the offensive front. Jackson is still learning the finer points of his position, but at 6-6 and 310 pounds with the agility to become an adept pass protector, he could be in high demand come April.
15. Broncos — Tee Higgins, WR, Clemson: Drew Lock's late-season emergence gives John Elway an excuse to take a break from his pledge to "keep swinging" for a quarterback. The focus should now turn to build up the supporting cast around the passer as he enters his second year. Though a ramshackle offensive line could stand to receive some reinforcements, the 6-4, 216-pound Higgins would pair well with rising star Courtland Sutton to give Lock two supersized receivers who can make life easier for their quarterback with a penchant for making acrobatic catches.
16. Falcons — Javon Kinlaw, DT, South Carolina: In mounting a second-half surge that likely saved coach Dan Quinn's job, Atlanta's defense allowed just 18.6 points per game in its final eight contests. Still, the Falcons need to create more havoc, and the disruptive Kinlaw could form a fearsome interior duo with Grady Jarrett.
17. Cowboys — Grant Delpit, S, LSU: Subpar play at safety was too often a significant part of Dallas' defensive undoing this season. Though Delpit exhibited some tackling troubles this season, his quick-twitch coverage skills would be put to use quickly on a unit that generated just seven interceptions in 2019.
18. Dolphins (from Steelers) — Alex Leatherwood, OT, Alabama: Subjecting a young quarterback to Miami's current offensive line, which allowed an NFL-worst 146 quarterback hits, would amount to football malpractice. Leatherwood is more of a long-term investment at left tackle than a plug-and-play starter, but the smooth-moving blocker showed a tremendous aptitude for the position in 2019 after previously playing guard.
19. Raiders (from Bears) — Trevon Diggs, CB, Alabama: When the Raiders' secondary was left in coverage for any extended period, it typically signaled significant trouble, as no team averaged more yards allowed per attempt (8.3) or gave up more completions of 40-plus yards (16). Diggs, the younger brother of Vikings wide receiver Stefon Diggs, is adept not only at sticking with receivers but also at making plays on the ball.
20. Jaguars (from Rams) — Kristian Fulton, CB, LSU: Jacksonville ought to address the void left by Jalen Ramsey's exit at some point in the draft, and it makes sense to do so with one of the two first-round selections they received in the deal for their erstwhile lockdown defender. Fulton has the fluidity and savvy to be an immediate contributor for the Jaguars, especially if the team also parts ways with cornerback A.J. Bouye in a cost-cutting move.
21. Eagles — Henry Ruggs III, WR, Alabama: Should this pick pan out, it might be the greatest pairing of team need and player skill set in the draft. The lack of a vertical threat in Philadelphia's receiving corps severely inhibited Carson Wentz and the rest of the offense for much of the year. Ruggs III is perhaps this class' speediest player and a big-play threat not only down the field, but on nearly any instance when he's afforded room to run.
22. Titans — Terrell Lewis, OLB, Alabama: Despite Harold Landry's nine sacks in his first season as a starter, Tennessee's pass rush hasn't broken out of the middle of the pack. Lewis looks to be steadily on the rise after showing how he easily he can deploy his length and explosiveness to throw off plays in the backfield.
23. Bills — Laviska Shenault, WR, Colorado: Josh Allen took a step forward in his sophomore campaign, thanks in large part to the arrivals of receivers John Brown and Cole Beasley and tight end Dawson Knox. Adding Shenault, a big-bodied, do-everything weapon who overpowers defenders at the catch point and in the open field, could be the final piece in the reconfiguration of the receiving corps.
24. Vikings — Josh Jones, OT, Houston: Minnesota's offense continues to be waylaid by issues up front, and it might be time to move left tackle Riley Reiff inside.
25. Dolphins (from Texans) — Yetur Gross-Matos, DE, Penn State: Ratcheting up the pass rush figures to be high on the Dolphins' to-do list in the draft, as their 23 sacks were five fewer than the next closest team.
26. Seahawks — Shaun Wade, CB, Ohio State: If not for Shaquill Griffin's strong season, Seattle's secondary might have doomed the team's run to the playoffs. Wade utilizes a physical approach despite playing in the slot, and he has the size to hold up on the outside as well.
27. Patriots — K'Lavon Chaisson, DE/OLB, LSU: Might this be the year that New England looks to a first-round passer if the Tom Brady split actually materializes? A tight end also figures to be a potential priority, though there might not be one worth taking this early. Yet Chaisson is no consolation prize, as the bendy edge rusher is only beginning to tap into his immense potential.
28. Packers — KJ Hamler, WR, Penn State: Hard to ignore the troubles Aaron Rodgers had in his final four regular-season games, in which he completed just 55.8% of his passes and averaged just 6.01 yards per attempt. It's not difficult, however, to envision the difference the speedy Hamler might make operating from the slot in Green Bay's offense.
29. Chiefs — Kenneth Murray, LB, Oklahoma: Kansas City has long needed an injection of athleticism in the middle of its defense, and Murray's range could further boost a unit blossoming both up front and on the back end.
30. Saints — Jordan Love, QB, Utah State: Maybe this seems like a ridiculous proposition for a team that currently has perhaps the most enviable quarterback depth chart in the NFL. Remember, however, that Drew Brees, Teddy Bridgewater and Taysom Hill are all unsigned beyond this season. Sean Payton said the Saints would have taken Patrick Mahomes had he not been picked by the Chiefs one selection earlier in 2017, and the coach might find himself similarly drawn to Love, a dynamic (albeit inconsistent) passer with tantalizing tools. A redshirt year might be necessary given Love's questionable decision-making (17 interceptions in 2019), but learning behind Brees for a bit might result in a favorable succession plan.
31. 49ers — Xavier McKinney, S, Alabama: For a well-rounded roster, McKinney would be a solid-if-unspectacular option to bolster a San Francisco secondary that could lose safety Jimmie Ward in free agency.
32. Ravens — Julian Okwara, DE/OLB, Notre Dame: Baltimore's lackluster pass rush will become an even more pressing need if Matt Judon departs in free agency. Okwara consistently pressures the quarterback off the edge and will be an even more imposing matchup if he learns to finish more consistently.
Follow Michael Middlehurst-Schwartz on Twitter @MikeMSchwartz.
As far as coaching trees go, fewer have been more successful than Kansas City Chiefs head coach Andy Reid’s, and the Giants might just pluck the latest branch.
The Giants requested Monday to interview Chiefs offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy, to replace Pat Shurmur as the team’s third head coach in four seasons.
Speaking to the media in Kansas City Monday, Reid offered a ringing endorsement of Bieniemy, who is widely viewed as a rising offensive mind in NFL circles.
“You guys know how I feel about Eric,” Reid told reporters. “I think he would be tremendous. I don’t know the team, but there is a team out there that could really use him. Being the leader of men that he is, you’re not going to find people better than that in that category. He’s a sharp offensive mind on top of that.”
Working alongside Reid, Bieniemy has helped oversee defending NFL MVP Patrick Mahomes’ development, which only strengthens his candidacy to replace Shurmur as nothing is more vital to the Giants’ future than quarterback Daniel Jones’ rapid improvement on a strong rookie season.
Even though Reid calls the plays, Bieniemy carries much influence over the Chief’s offense and has worked closely with Mahomes during a stretch where the Chiefs have produced a 22-8 record.
Last offseason Bienemy was also one of the most sought after assistants. Bieniemy interviewed with the Jets, Miami Dolphins, Cincinnati Bengals and Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
While Shurmur is also a member of Reid’s coaching tree, the former Philadelphia Eagles head coach and current head coach of the Chiefs has an extensive history of his assistants going on to have success as head coaches.
John Harbaugh won a Super Bowl with the Baltimore Ravens and has a team capable of making it to Miami next month. Matt Nagy led the Chicago Bears to an NFC North championship last season. Ron Rivera guided the Carolina Panthers to a Super Bowl and multiple NFC Championship Games. Brad Childress took the Vikings to the championship round, as well.
Most recently, Doug Pederson -- who was a backup quarterback for Brett Favre in Green Bay and Donovan McNabb in Philadelphia, where Reid coached -- became the first head coach to lead the Eagles to a Super Bowl championship after Reid lobbied owner Jeffrey Lurie to hire Pederson in 2016.
Could Bieniemy be the next branch of the Reid tree launch a successful head coaching career?
“I’m a big fan,” Reid said, of Bieniemy. "Don’t want to lose him, but reality is that there is a good chance that happens.”
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Dave Gettleman, retained as general manager, will speak with the media on Tuesday for the first time since early July in training camp. There is a whole lot that has transpired between then and now, most of it bad for the Giants. Here are questions he needs to be asked and should be prepared to answer:
Q: Why do you deserve to stay after Pat Shurmur was fired?
Gettleman arrived late in the 2017 season, and his first major move was hiring Shurmur as the head coach. Gettleman has to address why it went wrong and if he believes he got it wrong.
Q: Do you feel you gave Shurmur a complete enough roster to win more than four games?
There were glaring deficiencies at nearly every position, especially on defense, proven by the Giants not getting any players selected for the Pro Bowl.
Q: How do you evaluate Daniel Jones’ rookie year as a starting quarterback?
Gettleman stuck his neck out and attracted massive criticism for taking Jones with the No. 6 pick in the draft, a move that now looks prescient.
Q: Are you alarmed by Jones’ turnovers and can he fix these issues?
Jones lost 11 fumbles and threw 12 interceptions in his rookie year.
Dave GettlemanStefan Jeremiah
Q: What the heck happened with Eli Manning and was he worth $23 million in cap space to start two games?
Gettleman insisted Manning had plenty left in the tank and yet he was benched after only two games.
How do you explain the state of the offensive line, a position you promised to fix?
The line was marginally better than it was in 2018 but still not nearly good enough, making Gettleman’s “hog mollie’’ priority lose some of its bite.
Q: You sent two draft picks to the Jets for defensive tackle Leonard Williams. Why?
Williams can become a free agent and could have been signed without giving away any assets, making this a curious move.
Q: Looking back on the Odell Beckham Jr. trade, was it a success or a failure?
Beckham caught only three touchdown passes all season and the Browns were one of the league’s most disappointing teams.
Q: What are your priorities in free agency?
The Giants are projected to have more than $70 million in salary-cap space and there is immense pressure on Gettleman to get this right.
Q: What must be done in the 2020 draft and specifically with the No. 4 overall pick?
There is a desperate need for a pass-rusher but also plenty of other glaring needs to consider.
Q: Did you take what co-owner John Mara said as a warning or ultimatum?
Mara said Gettleman must improve his batting average in player acquisition and put together a team that wins more games.
For more on the Giants, listen to the latest episode of the “Blue Rush” podcast:
The Giants’ coaching search isn’t shut off to college coaches, defensive gurus or analytical minds.
After neither Ben McAdoo nor Pat Shurmur made it to a third season, co-owner John Mara isn’t putting any restraints on his search for a fourth coach in six seasons dating to the end of the Tom Coughlin era.
“I’m really looking for leadership,” Mara said. “That’s the big thing going forward. Somebody who can come in and take control of this roster, help build a culture that is going to lead to winning. Somebody who is going to help us with our football re-organization during the process we’re undergoing right now.”
The Giants interviewed Steve Spagnuolo, Doug Marrone, Adam Gase, Mike Smith, Teryl Austin and Ben McAdoo in 2016, and Spagnuolo, Eric Studesville, Matt Patricia, Josh McDaniels, Steve Wilks and Shurmur in 2018. Only four were hired elsewhere: Wilks already was fired and Marrone, Gase and Patricia all were on the hot seat this season.
None of those coaches came out of the college ranks, but there is two-way interest with Baylor’s Matt Rhule. Michigan’s Jim Harbaugh and Stanford’s David Shaw also could emerge as candidates.
“We’ve failed twice in a row now, and you have to keep working at it, try to find the right guy,” Mara said. “I’m not convinced that either of the past two coaches couldn’t have been successful over a longer period of time, but there comes a point in time when your patience runs out, your gut tells you that you need to make a change.”
Sources indicated to The Post the Giants’ candidate pool might be narrowed by 68-year-old general manager Dave Gettleman’s retention. His anti-analytics rant before the 2018 NFL Draft raised eyebrows around the league.
At one point, it seemed Mara was looking into the camera and speaking directly to coaches.
“We’ve made a lot of turnover in our scouting area; we’ve completely changed our grading system in how we grade college players; we’re deeper into analytics and technology than we’ve ever been before,” Mara said.
“It’s not business as usual here at the Giants. We’ve made a lot of changes — changes that you don’t necessarily know about — and we felt like we needed to give it a chance to see if it’s going to succeed or not.”
For more on the Giants, listen to the latest episode of the “Blue Rush” podcast:
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- The New York Giants fired coach Pat Shurmur on Monday after two seasons on the job, a source told ESPN's Adam Schefter on Monday.
Shurmur was told of his dismissal a little before 9 a.m., according to a source. Shurmur still plans to meet with the team at 11 a.m. ET, and his assistants will be met with individually later Monday.
Shurmur amassed a 9-23 record. His .292 career winning percentage (19-46) in four seasons as head coach with the Giants and Cleveland Browns is the seventh lowest of all time among coaches in NFL history.
The Giants (4-12) finished in fourth and third place, respectively, in the NFC East each of the past two seasons with Shurmur at the helm. They earned top-six picks in the draft for their struggles.
"This is a 'wins' business -- I get it, I get it," Shurmur said after Sunday's 34-17 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles. "We've been talking about [my job] for, I think, about six weeks. You've been asking me the same questions for six weeks. So, I don't know if I'm getting good at answering them, but I'm answering them a lot. But, that's the reality of this business. When you don't win, that's the line of questioning. Listen, I get that, I get that."
Not that Shurmur wasn't working without limitations. He was saddled this year with a roster devoid of top-level talent (especially on the defensive side of the ball) and a quarterback position that had an aging franchise legend in Eli Manning and promising but mistake-prone rookie in Daniel Jones. The Giants also didn't have a game with all their top weapons on the field with Jones. They had over $40 million in dead money, and 10 rookies started at least one game.
Shurmur leaves despite believing the team is in a better place now than when he arrived off a 3-13 season in 2017.
"I think so. I do," he said. "These guys battled. We can talk about the dynamics of how the team was built and where it's going. We're building a team. A lot of dead money this year, a lot of cap space next year, and some prime picks where we can use the draft wisely and make decisions on making this team better with impact players.
"You need to have a quarterback, you need to be able to play defense, you need to run the ball. On defense, you need to have impact players that when they game is on the line, can do things. We have some strung throughout this roster and we'll have a chance to go get more. I think that's exciting."
The Giants didn't have nearly enough. It led to Shurmur being relieved of his duties just two years into a five-year deal despite quickly making the move from Manning to Jones early this season.
Shurmur was hired in 2018 after a successful run as the offensive coordinator in Minnesota. The Giants were looking for an adult in the room at the time after the Ben McAdoo era ended.
General manager Dave Gettleman, also a new hire at the time, even wrote the word "adult" at the top of his notepad during Shurmur's interview. Gettleman thought it was the right hire as he was intent on fixing the team's culture.
But Shurmur's time with the Giants didn't come without incident. His relationship with Odell Beckham Jr. soured quickly during his first season as head coach, to the point that the star wide receiver was traded last offseason to the Browns. Shurmur also had a run-in with edge rusher Olivier Vernon, who also was traded to the Browns.
The Giants weren't able to restock their roster and get back to their winning ways with Shurmur and Gettleman in charge. As a result, they will now be looking for their fourth head coach in the past six years. The Giants have the worst record in the NFL since the start of the 2017 season.
Shurmur, 54, knew the heat was on in recent weeks when the Giants were in the midst of an eight-game skid. He was going to be judged by the win-loss record no matter how many rookies were playing prominent roles this season.
"I'm well aware of it. I'm well aware of it," he said after a home loss to the Green Bay Packers. "People will change what they think of us and me when we win games. I'm a realist when it comes to that, and I get it. ... I expect fans to be upset because we are, too. But we go about trying to fix it."
It never happened. Shurmur will not get the opportunity to see through the time and investment placed in Jones. The former quarterbacks coach was a major voice in the room when the Giants selected Jones -- despite intense criticism -- No. 6 overall in April's draft. So was Gettleman.
Jones flashed potential working with Shurmur throughout his rookie season. This was Shurmur's best case for remaining the Giants' coach, at least for another season. Co-owner John Mara said prior to the season the futures of his coach and general manager would "absolutely" be tied to their new quarterback.
Jones finished with 24 touchdown passes and 23 turnovers his rookie season. It wasn't enough for Shurmur to retain his job for another season with the losses piling and the fan base enraged by the results on the field.
The New England Patriots have spent much of this season looking distinctly un-Patriot-like. They’ve lost to good teams, struggled to move the ball and, in the strangest twist, Tom Brady has actually looked his age. (He’s 42, which is a very normal age for adult humans and a very abnormal age for adult humans playing quarterback in the NFL.)
But the long-term implications of those issues were easy to ignore because they were still 12-3 going into the final Sunday of the season. All they had to do was beat the lowly Miami Dolphins to clinch a first-round bye in the playoffs.
The problem was that there was one quarterback on the field at Gillette Stadium who played like he was capable of leading a team on a long playoff run. The other quarterback was Tom Brady.
In a twist that was as stunning as it was telling, the Patriots lost to Ryan Fitzpatrick and the Dolphins 27-24 on the final day of the regular season. That means when the playoffs begin next weekend there will be an unusual sight: the Patriots having to play on wild-card weekend. The loss dropped them to the No. 3 seed in the AFC, setting up a matchup with the sixth-seeded Tennessee Titans.
The San Francisco 49ers and Green Bay Packers earned byes in the NFC. The Baltimore Ravens and Kansas City Chiefs did in the AFC. The Patriots didn’t because they couldn’t beat the Dolphins.
“I certainly didn’t do a good enough job,” Brady said afterward. “We’ve got to do better next week.”
Brady isn’t used to thinking about the week after Week 17. The Patriots have so consistently made sustained runs in the playoffs in large part because they’ve played well enough in the regular season to avoid this exact result. They’ve played in three times as many Super Bowls (nine) than they have wild-card games (three) in the Brady era. The last time was 2009.
Tom Brady is sacked by Trent Harris of the Miami Dolphins.
Photo:
Billie Weiss/Getty Images
Missing out on the bye has a dual effect. They have to play one more game in order to reach the Super Bowl, and even if they win, they’ll have to play on the road in the divisional round in Kansas City.
They’ve already lost to Kansas City this season, and all of New England’s first three defeats felt like referendums. They lost to the Ravens, Houston Texans and the Chiefs. When Brady was outplayed by Lamar Jackson, Deshaun Watson and Patrick Mahomes, respectively, each seemed to signal an irreversible generational shift that the Patriots were, at best, trying to postpone for another year.
Sunday’s loss held a different sort of message. Baltimore, Houston and Kansas City won their respective divisions. Mahomes is the reigning MVP, Jackson is a shoo-in to win this year and Watson isn’t especially far behind either of them. Meanwhile, the Dolphins spent the last year trading away their best players in a transparent concession that they weren’t especially concerned with winning football games in 2019.
The loss was jarring because New England had never experienced anything like this during its two decades of dominance. It was favored to beat Miami by two touchdowns, and during Bill Belichick’s time as head coach, the Patriots had never lost a game when they were favored by at least 14 points. Until Sunday.
But the concerning part for the reigning Super Bowl champions was that the loss didn’t seem like an aberration. When the Dolphins beat the Patriots a year ago, it ended on such a fluky play that it was immediately dubbed “The Miami Miracle.” This time the tables were turned, and New England was the team desperately trying to lateral the ball at the last second. But instead of ending up in the end zone, the play sputtered in a microcosm of what the Patriots offense has looked like for much of the season.
Brady finished the game 16-for-29 for 221 yards, with two touchdowns and one interception—a costly pick-six. On the other side of the field, Fitzpatrick threw for 320 yards with one touchdown and zero interceptions. Brady was outplayed by a guy who’s more famous for his beard and attending Harvard than winning football games.
By any objective metric, Brady has played poorly this season. His 6.6 yards per attempt rank 27th in the league out of 32 qualifying quarterbacks. And those numbers have gotten worse over the course of the season: he’s averaging just 5.9 yards per attempt since the start of November.
The Patriots and coach Bill Belichick will have to play on wild-card weekend after Sunday’s loss.
Photo:
Adam Glanzman/Getty Images
There are plenty of explanations for this. The offensive line hasn’t been as steady as it once was, and Brady is dealing with a bare cupboard of weapons that they’ve tried, with little success, to replenish since Rob Gronkowski’s retirement. The last time they played Miami, in the season’s second week, it was the one game Antonio Brown played for New England before he was released. Since then, first-round pick N’Keal Harry hasn’t broken through after beginning the season injured, while midseason trade acquisition Mohamed Sanu hasn’t changed the paradigm either.
Then there’s Brady, who has started the most NFL ever games at quarterback as a 42-year-old. But the same instincts that allowed him to play at an elite level for so long—playing carefully and avoiding hits—may now be playing a role in his demise: Brady leads the league in throwing the ball away.
Brady’s woes didn’t come out of nowhere. His yards per attempt have dipped every year since 2015, and his numbers were middling a year ago. But it was easy to forget about that. He outdueled Patrick Mahomes in the AFC Championship last year, and a couple of weeks later it didn’t matter so much when the New England offense scored only one touchdown.
That’s because the Patriots beat the Rams 13-3 in Super Bowl LIII, and Brady needed a second hand to fit his sixth Super Bowl ring.
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The Seahawks were trailing the 49ers by five points on Sunday night, and driving with less than two minutes remaining in the fourth quarter. With the ball at the SF 12-yard line and 55 seconds remaining in the game, Russell Wilson fired a throw to tight end Jacob Hollister in the end zone.
Hollister was unable to even make an attempt to catch the ball, however, because 49ers linebacker Fred Warner mugged him in the end zone. Everyone waited for the flag to be thrown at Warner’s feet for pass interference, but nothing happened. No flag was thrown.
As there were fewer than two minutes remaining in the game, Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll was not allowed to challenge the call. HOWEVER, the league does have rules in place now where the league office can choose to review the play if they feel blatant PI occurred.
That … didn’t happen. For some reason. Seattle even called timeout after the play to give the league office time to review the decision, and … they didn’t. Nothing happened. Or they did quickly and decided not to do anything.
The call had massive repercussions. The Seahawks (thanks in part to some boneheaded coaching from Carroll) would go on to lose the game by five points.
That loss gave the 49ers the No. 1 seed in the NFC, and knocked the Saints out of a first-round bye in the process.
So now you had furious Seahawks fans, AND furious Saints fans who felt that had been cheated by another terrible, missed pass interference call.
As to how bad the call was? Well, yeah, it was pretty bad.
Well, that was terrible. What we witnessed on Sunday was arguably the worst home regular season loss of the Tom Brady/Bill Belichick era. With a first-round bye on the line, the New England Patriots came out flat, and got pushed around offensively. Brady started the game by being wildly inaccurate — he was throwing over receivers heads, and behind open guys, it was probably his worst game of the season. The defense, unfortunately, didn’t play much better.
I’m going to try to start with some positives. I thought both Sony Michel and Rex Burkhead ran incredibly hard yesterday, and it looks like the rushing attack is going to be formidable in the playoffs. Of course, the question will be if offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels will stay with it, and they are playing a physical team in Tennessee in the first round that should be tough to run on.
Sorry, positives, moving on.
Julian Edelman is an absolute warrior. He’s banged up, and really only a shell of himself, and yet he still finished the year with over 100 catches and over 1,000 yards. The guy is a true Patriot, and someone who I hope has at least a few years left in the tank.
Lastly, even though Brady played terrible, he and the offense got the ball back with just over eight minutes left in the game, down three, and proceeded to drive 60 yards for the go-ahead score. During the drive, Brady was four-of-five for 47 yards and a touchdown. Once again, when the team absolutely had to score, he was lights out and came through. In fact, the only incompletion was to N’Keal Harry in the back of the end zone when the rookie wide receiver couldn’t get his second foot down in bounds. It would have been an amazing catch, but the ball placement wasn’t the reason Harry did not come down with it.
Now on to the negatives, and there are certainly quite a few.
As I said, Brady started off terribly, and just couldn’t hit open receivers. Then, already trailing 3-0, he threw a pass to Eric Rowe who returned it 35 yards for a touchdown. I say he threw it to Rowe because it was a few feet over Sony Michel’s head, and would have landed at Julian Edelman’s feet, so I can only assume he thought Rowe still played for the Patriots. When the Patriots eventually scored their first points, it was only after they were bailed out on a ticky-tack pass interference call on third-and-11. If Brady continues to play the way he did yesterday, you won’t have to worry about the Patriots winning in Arrowhead, because they won’t even beat the Titans.
And then the defense. Oh, the defense. It had been so dominant all year long, but was just unable to stop the Dolphins. For the second week in a row, and the third time in five weeks (really four, the lowly Cincinnati Bengals shouldn’t count), they failed to force a turnover. Ryan Fitzpatrick ran for a touchdown and threw for 320 yards, 137 of which to DeVante Parker, who was being covered by Stephon Gilmore — who picked a really bad time to have his worst game of the season.
Now, they only allowed 20 points, but the Dolphins also only had nine drives. When four of nine drives end up in points, that’s usually not a good thing. And then, the biggest problem of all, is that, after finally taking the lead with just under four minutes left, the Patriots allowed a 13-play, 75-yard touchdown drive. Miami easily converted both of their third downs on the series, and the defense provided practically no resistance while letting the Dolphins score with just over 20 seconds left in the game.
Maybe it’s not fair to expect the defense to step up in the biggest moment of the season so far, but they have been pretty dominant up to now and yesterday was for a first round bye. Yet, they couldn’t stop them. Am I worried about the defense moving forward? Not as much as I am about the offense. However, they have struggled against the run a bit, especially when teams have tried to run to the edge, and Tennessee’s running back is Derrick Henry. Maybe you’ve heard of him? He led the league in rushing this year, and he’s great at running at the edge of the defense, so it’s going to be tough. Also, Ryan Tannehill has been lights out recently, so the struggles in the secondary aren’t exactly comforting.
Lastly, I’ll talk about the coaching. The biggest issue is that they talked all week about how this was a playoff game and they were treating it that way, yet the Patriots came out flat and uninspired. They didn’t look ready to play, and that is on Bill Belichick and company. It seemed like they thought these Dolphins were going come up here and just roll over and die as other Dolphins teams have late in the season. Well, that was not the case, and by the time New England figured it out, it was too late.
Also, not taking a timeout at the end of the first half is a complete and utter joke. I could not care less what Belichick’s reasoning was, it’s playing football scared, and the Patriots don’t play that way. You have the best quarterback in the history of the NFL, you had scored on back-to-back possessions, you had just stopped the Dolphins three-and-out, and you were getting the ball back to start the second half. There is no excuse for not at least taking one timeout and seeing where you ended up on the field.
It’s showing your offense that you have no faith in them, and your team that you’re scared of being too aggressive and losing. And, so what happens, it’s instant karma. The Patriots get the ball back to start the third quarter and go three-and-out, and the Dolphins take the next possession 83 yards for the go-ahead touchdown. When you play not to lose instead of to win, you lose. Belichick knows that, and he still pulled that crap. I don’t care how much your offense is struggling, at a certain point you’re going to have to trust your quarterback to make something happen. If not, then simply let him walk and start over.
So, what does this game mean? Nothing, outside of New England now having to play next week against the Titans. Does it mean the team can’t get to or win the Super Bowl? Not necessarily. But my very strong advice would be that Patriots fans shouldn’t look past the next game coming up. They are going to need to play much better on both sides of the ball to have a chance against the Titans. If they’re able to pull that off, well, then we can talk about what it’s going to have to take to beat the Kansas City Chiefs.
Struck by so many things out of game 256, and out of San Francisco-Seattle in general.
I cannot believe how fast things happened down the stretch, how bizarre they were, how officiating played a gigantic role in another mega-game, and how the Seahawks will wonder for years how they messed up this great chance with two accurate fourth-down bullets from Russell Wilson to the goal line and . . .
What hit me at 2 this morning, digesting this game:
How did Seattle mess up two goal-line snaps with the NFC West on the line? Crazy enough that Russell Wilson hit a player on fourth-and-10 who never caught a pass before (seventh-round rookie John Ursua) to give Seattle first-and-goal from the half-yard line with 30 seconds left. But with San Francisco in scramble mode, Seattle with no timeouts left, and the Seahawks’ best chance to win running a play fast, they had to wait for tackle George Fant to hobble to the line, wasting about eight seconds. Instead of running a real play, Wilson spiked it with 22 seconds left. Then Marshawn Lynch jogged onto the field, the crowd going nuts, thinking, Now Marshawn’s going to get the revenge-chance to run it in from a yard out to win a mega-game for Seattle, to make up for being bypassed in the Super Bowl from the one five years ago. But wait—Seattle couldn’t do this, because if Lynch didn’t make it, they’d be in danger of having to rush to the line to run a final play in panic mode, or spiking it with a few seconds left and run a fourth-down desperation play. Flag. Delay of game. Seattle took too long. Now Lynch, who probably shouldn’t have been on the field to begin with, jogged off, and the ball got moved back to the five-and-a-half-yard line. “Honestly, I was shocked a little bit,” Niners corner Richard Sherman told me after the game. “I’m sure they regret whatever they did.”
Pete Carroll. Marshawn Lynch. Crucial game. Final moments. Another controversy. As with ignoring Lynch as the goal line in the Super Bowl, Seattle will live with regrets over this. “We didn’t get the substitution done properly, and we were late, and there wasn’t enough time to get the play off,” Carroll said of the delay call. But that sounds rational. What was bizarre is that the Seahawks weren’t even close to running a play, and there was no good reason for Lynch to be on the field, unless Seattle planned to run play-action with him. Just very, very odd.
The non-interference call in the end zone with 15 seconds left. There was excessive contact between Seattle tight end Jacob Hollister and San Francisco linebacker Fred Warner on a Wilson attempt to Hollister. It was either incidental contact or significantly more than that. “Nothing which rises to the level of a foul based on visual evidence,” NFL VP for officiating Al Riveron said post-game. As the ball wizzed past Hollister, he and Warner were seriously jousting. Hard to believe there was nothing there.
Cruelty evens out. Two of the 49ers’ last three games came down to five-yard TDs or four-yard gains nudging the goal line by the opposition in the last 10 seconds, with the Niners up five points each time, with a booth review deciding the winner of each game. Two weeks ago, the review ruled Atlanta’s Julio Jones broke the plane of the goal line by inches. Sunday night, the review ruled Seattle’s Jacob Hollister was inches short. “We think we found every way to win a game,” Kyle Shanahan told his team afterward. “Now we found another.”
I mean . . . all of that happened in about 24 seconds of game time. Just amazing. As crazy as it all was, I think the best team won.
When this iteration of the 49ers was born two-and-a-half years ago, I spent a weekend inside the team and the draft room for their first draft. I noted how close coach Kyle Shanahan and GM John Lynch were, as they embarked on a mission to rebuild a downtrodden franchise. That weekend, Lynch showed what a team guy he was when Shanahan wanted a troubled running back named Joe Williams in the fourth round. Lynch thought it was a reach, a major reach. But he deferred to Shanahan, figuring he knew what he wanted in a running back more than Lynch did. Forget that Williams never turned out to be worth it. The point was Lynch understood that he wasn’t going to strong-arm a coach he respected so much, particularly in the first draft they spent together. Shanahan wouldn’t strong-arm Lynch either.
I was reminded of that weekend when I saw video Sunday night of Shanahan seeking out Lynch in the locker room in Seattle post-game, and giving him the kind of long embrace you give someone when you’ve been through a lot and you have a moment of triumph. Like winning the NFC West on the road, in the toughest place in the league to win.
The 49ers deserved this victory. Right now, even though they got the benefit of some weirdness down the stretch, they’re better overall on both lines. Russell Wilson is the great (and I mean great) equalizer, and in this case he came within inches—Six? Two?—of winning it on the throw to Hollister at the goal line.
“Going into this year,” Sherman said in summation, “we had a great group already. We had a great group of coaches. And our players, we got a little banged up last year but I thought the foundation was here. I knew if we just could stay healthy and put it together, we’d be hard to deal with. And that’s been the case. I think it’s just huge for this team to know what it feels like to win close games and to win meaningful games. I’m happy that we were able to do it.”
The reward is great: two home games to get to the Super Bowl rather than three road games. The NFL can be cruel, and opportunistic, that way.
Encapsulating the four wild-card games is a funny business. All but Vikings-Saints appear to be close to a tossup. And what follows could be delicious: A New England victory over Tennessee puts the Patriots in Kansas City for the fourth Pats-Chiefs game in 14 months. And wins by the Saints and Seahawks on wild-card weekend sets up the third Seattle-San Francisco matchup in nine weeks. On with the first four playoff games:
Saturday
Buffalo (10-6, 5th seed, AFC) at Houston (10-6, 4th seed, AFC)
4:35 p.m. ET, NRG Stadium, Houston, TV: ESPN Houston favored by 3.5
Houston has made the playoffs six times in its 18-year history. This will be the sixth time the Texans have played the postseason-opening 3:35 p.m. CT Saturday game in Houston. The Texans have hope that J.J. Watt could return from a torn pectoral to buttress a defensive front that’s had trouble stopping big-armed quarterbacks like Buffalo’s Josh Allen—Houston’s given up 33 touchdown passes—and stopping running games of all sorts. The Texans are surrendering 4.8 yards per rush, which bodes well for Devin Singletary of the Bills. He’s basically sidelined Frank Gore in the past month or so with his versatility, running inside with power and outside with the ability to make defenders miss. Buffalo will need to pen in Deshaun Watson and pressure him to throw quick, so he can’t win this game with his legs. If Houston gets back the oft-injured Will Fuller (groin), he likely won’t be full-speed, and that will hurt their chances because it puts more pressure on DeAndre Hopkins. The key to the game might be Buffalo wideout John Brown, who’s become a legitimate deep threat for Josh Allen and will certainly challenge the beatable Houston secondary.
Tennessee (9-7, 6th seed, AFC) at New England (12-4, 3rd seed, AFC)
8:15 p.m. ET, Gillette Stadium, Foxboro, Mass., TV: CBS New England favored by 4.5
The stats don’t love New England here. The Brady/Belichick Patriots have made the Super Bowl nine times, and each time they made it as a 1 or 2 seed in the AFC. In the three years they haven’t had a bye, they’ve lost prior to the Super Bowl. Look at their path here: Tennessee with rushing champ Derrick Henry and resurgent quarterback Ryan Tannehill first, then a potential hellscape of a run to the Super Bowl, potentially at Kansas City and at Baltimore in the span of eight days. First, New England will have to dispatch the power-running Titans and the 247-pound Henry; in four of his last six starts, Henry has battered foes for 149 rushing yards or more, including Sunday’s 211-yard job at Houston. The Patriots also will need a secondary more vulnerable than earlier in the season to clamp down on rookie star A.J. Brown and his gaudy 20.2-yards-per-catch average. Everything’s been a struggle for New England offensively. At this point, the Patriots are probably best-suited to win a power game with Sony Michel and Rex Burkhead trying to control the clock. That’s what it’s come to for the Patriots, who have one receiver or tight end with more than 30 catches. Hard to imagine that in an offense with Tom Brady under center, but that’s the reality of the 2019 Patriots.
Sunday
Minnesota (10-6, 6th seed, NFC) at New Orleans (13-3, 3rd seed, NFC)
1:05 p.m. ET, Superdome, New Orleans, TV: FOX New Orleans favored by 7.5
Some day, Kirk Cousins is going to have to win one of these Kirk Cousins Referendum Games. He’s 0-9 on Monday Night Football, 0-2 in playoff games, and his reward for his first playoff game as a Viking quarterback is to play the best team standing on wild-card weekend, in the toughest place to win on wild-card weekend. The good news for Minnesota will be having Dalvin Cook (chest, shoulder pain) back after missing the last two games of the season, which should give the offense a chance because the game won’t be solely in Cousins’ hands. But I just can’t see the Vikings knocking off the Saints. Drew Brees is his classic self in recent weeks, leading the Saints to 36.2 points a game in the last seven weeks, with 22 touchdowns and just one pick. I don’t trust Cousins to get in a shootout with Brees—who would?—and I don’t see the Viking secondary being able to slow the New Orleans attack. The Saints are PFF’s highest-rated team through the regular-season, slightly ahead of Baltimore, and a good part of that is New Orleans’ top-special teams. They can win with kicker Wil Lutz, punter Thomas Morstead and a sudden returner, Deonte Harris. Hard to see many edges in this matchup on the Vikings’ side.
Seattle (11-5, 5th seed, NFC) at Philadelphia (9-7, 4th seed, NFC) 4:40 p.m. ET, Lincoln Financial Field, Philadelphia, TV: NBC Seattle favored by 1.5
Five weeks ago, when it appeared the Eagles were sliding out of any realistic playoff shot, Seattle came to the Linc and won a 17-9 slugfest; the Seahawks survived a dropped TD that day and clearly were the better team. Since then, the Eagles have been wasted by injuries; I’ve never seen a playoff team with skill players more beat up than Philly’s are right now. Yet, since trailing the Giants 17-3 at the half in week 14, perilously close at 5-7 to being out of the playoff chase, the Eagles have outscored four foes 108-53 and gone 4-0. At the same time, Seattle stumbled to a 1-3 finish, been outscored in those games by 29 points, and over-relied on Russell Wilson to save them almost every week. The Seahawks lost 1,600 yards of rushing prowess when Chris Carson and Rashaad Penny—healthy in the first Eagle meeting—were lost for the year with injuries. This game likely will come down to which supporting cast can help a hot quarterback more. The Eagles are likely to put more pressure on Wilson than the Seahawks on Carson Wentz, who has come alive with the weight of a franchise on his shoulders. I think this is the game of the weekend, and the NFL wisely put it in the window that usually garners the highest ratings.
Not exactly a black Monday, because we won’t have a bunch of big firings. And the Browns put Freddie Kitchens out of his misery Sunday night when the Browns landed back in Cleveland from yet another disaster.
The other day, after the Falcons announced Dan Quinn would be back for his sixth season as coach in 2020, owner Arthur Blank told me he thought this season might be the start of a trend with teams sticking with coaches after tough seasons rather than continually starting over. “The words consistency and continuity are important,” Blank said. “I think staying the course often makes sense. These quick fixes—sometimes they’re not quick fixes. Sometimes they appear to be. If you look at the history of the NFL, the organizations that have stayed their course, even through some tough times, are the smart ones. New Orleans had three seasons where they were 7-9. They stayed the course with Sean Payton. Sean Payton’s been a great coach. Now look at them. It’s been the truth in Pittsburgh as well.”
I can tell you that Cleveland owners Jimmy and Dee Haslam hated firing Kitchens because they hate what it says. The Browns are about to employ their ninth coach in 12 years, and nothing good comes from having an organizational circus like that. They know it. But that’s how bad the Kitchens experience was. The Browns were undisciplined, from being third in the NFL with 152 flags thrown against them, to the ugliest on-field incident of the season—the Myles Garrett helmet attack on Mason Rudolph, and then to Kitchens preaching to his team to just treat the rematch against Pittsburgh as a game and then being photographed in public with a PITTSBURGH STARTED IT T-shirt . . . and then doubling down and saying he’d do it again after the game.
On the field, Kitchens still had a chance to stay entering the last three weeks of the season. But losing to the previously 3-9-1 Cardinals by 14, then losing to previously 1-14 Cincinnati by 10 Sunday showed Kitchens didn’t have a way to turn this team around. Taking the season as a whole, after adding deep-threat Odell Beckham Jr., the decline in the offense was shocking: 28 fewer offensive yards per game, 1.5 fewer points, and a steep decline in the performance of the man Kitchens was most responsible for improving, Baker Mayfield. From start to finish, Mayfield’s decline was precipitous. His rating was 15 points lower in 2019, his completion rate plummeting from .638 to .594, his TD-to-pick ratio going from plus-13 last year to plus-one this year. Mayfield was petulant, arguing with a stupid fan in the tunnel in Cincinnati on Sunday among other childish things. This is the kind of stuff a smart and prepared coach handles, and Kitchens never did.
A few fans were heckling Baker Mayfield during today's game vs. Cincinnati.
Baker: “Why don’t you come down here and tell me that to my face?”
The Browns now have to figure out if GM John Dorsey, who drafted the reeling Mayfield, traded for the so-so Beckham and committed to Kitchens after half a season as offensive coordinator, is the man to continue the construction of the franchise. Dorsey’s disappearing act the second half of this season, when the sky was falling, couldn’t have given ownership faith that all is well in the GM office. The Browns find themselves in depths entering another new year, and this year hurts more than others. This year, Cleveland was supposed to be good again. Being the same old Browns just makes the pain more acute.
Elsewhere around the league . . .
What seems likely
• The Giants fire Pat Shurmur. Being 9-23, and combative, isn’t a great way to keep a job. Not so sure about GM Dave Gettleman, who may get to come back for a third draft, with some pressure to be over .500 in 2020 and to work with a new head coach he may not know well. Not ideal if the Giants keep Gettleman if, say, he’s paired with a more modern thinker like Josh McDaniels or Matt Rhule. Shurmur made some progress with Daniel Jones, to be sure, but the Giants’ inconsistency across the board was maddening. “If I’m back,” Shurmur said after the Giants got drubbed by the M*A*S*H-unit Eagles, “I’m looking forward to working with this young talent. If I’m not, whoever is coaching this team has got a great group of young players, the dead money goes away, there’s going to be cap space, we’ve got picks. So, there’s ways to improve the team.”
• The Cowboys part ways with Jason Garrett. His contract is up, so technically it’s not a firing. The Jason Witten rumors seem weird, and really not smart. As bright as Witten is, to put a first-time coach of any sort in the middle of that circus would be a huge mistake. If I’m Jerry Jones, I’d take a hard look at Mike McCarthy—who has been there on the big stage and won and been beaten up his share and learned from it—or Lincoln Riley if he’d consider leaving his dream in Oklahoma. Riley does so many disruptive and smarts things on offense that he’d have a great marriage with a bright and voracious quarterback like Dak Prescott.
What is a little less likely
Jacksonville keeps Doug Marrone. Word on the street was Marrone, despite his 11-21 record since having the Jags in the AFC title game 23 months ago, would survive because owner Shad Khan wanted to see how Marrone would do without the long shadow of Tom Coughlin dogging him. ESPN reported Saturday that Marrone is a goner; the Jags denied that. It’s more likely than not the Jags keep him, despite his worrisome record of losing two of every three games in the last two years. You shouldn’t be a batted pass away from the Super Bowl, then lose in double-digits the next two years and keep your job. But Khan is a patient man. He’s going to think about this for a couple of days, and I think it could be Wednesday or Thursday before we hear either way on Marrone.
Where the other jobs stand
Washington will be doing the right thing to move quick on Ron Rivera, and all indications point to the team trying to hire Rivera today. Good for owner Daniel Snyder, who I hear realizes his football operation, and organizational culture, is broken. The Washington job, even without the apparently soon-to-be-jettisoned Bruce Allen atop football operations, is not a gem. The franchise hasn’t won a playoff game in the last 14 seasons, and hasn’t won more than 10 games in a season in a quarter-century. Adam Schefter reported Sunday night that Rivera will be interviewed by the team today, and I hear they will be willing to move fast on him if the conversation goes well. The team won’t want him to hit the interview circuit, and Rivera—with no other job a sure thing—may want the bird in the hand if the job is offered, and if he can have some control over who his GM will be.
Carolina is still wide open. Interesting that the Panthers entered their interview with Mike McCarthy thinking they probably wouldn’t like him . . . but they did. He’s more progressive today than he was a year ago. Will that be enough to get him this job, or maybe the one in Dallas?
The Chargers seem—and “seem” is the correct word here—likely to keep Anthony Lynn. With nine of 11 losses by a touchdown or less, management is more likely to give Lynn a mulligan after he went 22-12 in his first two years.
Detroit has announced Matt Patricia is back, and I don’t suppose the Lions will reconsider. But he’s a lucky man. The Lions are 6-19-1 in Patricia’s last 26 games, allowing a defensively generous 24.0 points per game and ending this season on a nine-game losing streak. Patricia, of course, is a defensive coach, and he hasn’t build a strong defense, or even close to one. The Lions in 2019 allowed less than 19 points in one game all season. Patricia’s fortunate he went to work for a patient organization.
Atlanta: Dan Quinn saved his job by being flexible. The Falcons, 1-7 in the first half, were 6-2 in the second half. “I think a lot of our early problems were to some extent self-inflicted,” Blank told me. “I think there were some things that the coach to his credit has got tremendous humility and self-awareness. I think he realized that being the defensive coordinator on top of being the head coach was asking too much of himself. And I don’t think he had time to do the job as a head coach that he needs to do. I think the moving around of some of the coaches, position-wise, and who’s calling the defensive signals made a big difference as well. It’s a great credit to the players and a great credit to all the coaches. The changes, and players hanging in, I believe that those things can all carry over to next year.”
Notes about two coaches:
This seems like the year Josh McDaniels should move, if he’s going to ever leave New England. No longer the young wunderkind at 43 (Kyle Shanahan, Matt LaFleur and Sean McVay are three, three and 10 years younger than McDaniels), McDaniels got demerits for backing out of the Indy job two years ago. But people who take time to learn why he did that, and those who will study the performance of his offense during a decline in personnel—winning 11 and 12 games in the past two years, and winning the Super Bowl last year—will see a cutting-edge coach adjusting to new challenges pretty consistently. The other day, one of the most respected position coaches in the league, Dante Scarnecchia, said of McDaniels: “I would never have come back [in 2016 after two years of retirement] if he was not here. He’s very bright, he’s a football guy through and through, he’s a coach’s son, he’s born in the game. Someone is going to be very lucky to have him as a head coach. He’s a good coach, boy.”
I could see McDaniels and Daniel Jones having a great relationship, and McDaniels taking every Tom Brady lesson and drilling it into Jones, who has shown he has a chance to be very good for a long time. For the Giants’ sake, I hope if they change coaches they do a long study of McDaniels.
Chiefs offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy. (Getty Images)
One other offensive coach is an interesting case too—Kansas City coordinator Eric Bieniemy. He reminds me of something Bill Parcells told me last year, when teams were hiring lots of young offensive coaches without years of experience. Bieniemy has been an assistant in college and pro football for 21 years, and Andy Reid says he’s one of the best leaders on any staff he’s had. Bieniemy does something unique for Reid: He memorizes the offensive play sheet each week. The Chiefs call plays from Reid to Bieniemy, and Bieniemy calls them into Patrick Mahomes. On my podcast this week (dropping Wednesday), Bieniemy told me why he does it. “It takes a lot of time,” he said. “But at the end of the day, I want to make sure I am accountable to the entire coaching staff and to the entire organization. My job is to have the ability to spit those plays out and know everything about them, inside and out. I’m always talking to our players about the importance of taking work home. It’s my job to have a completed understanding of everything that’s on that call sheet.”
“I’ve been dreaming about this opportunity [to be a head coach] all my life,” he said. “I feel that I am ready. You want to make sure . . . that people can see how you command a room, how you approach the day-to-day business, how you command everything that’s taking place within that building, how you deal with people, how you handle each situation that comes up.” Bieniemy is another guy who should talk to multiple teams.
A conversation, annotated at times, with Kyler Murray, the first pick in the 2019 NFL Draft. Murray played the season finale at the Rams with a strained hamstring suffered in his biggest win—a 27-13 upset of the Seahawks in Seattle—and he finished the year with 20 passing touchdowns and 12 interceptions, and a 5-10-1 record. The Cardinals were 2.5 wins better than last year with Murray at quarterback and Kliff Kingsbury as coach—averaging 100 more total yards per game as an offense, with a 60 percent increase in points, compared to 2018.
On Kingsbury
“There’s been a lot of leeway with Coach Kingsbury. Gave me a lot of freedom. Obviously he’s played quarterback and he understands the quarterback’s got to be comfortable to be successful. The offense had a lot of similarities to what I was used to, which is why I kind of felt so comfortable at the beginning. Right away I felt I came to the right place.”
On the pressure of living up to the top pick
Murray struggled to answer this question, I think because the idea of feeling pressure playing quarterback is foreign to him.
“Honestly . . . I don’t even think there was . . . I don’t want to say pressure . . . This is something I’ve dreamed of, something that I always wanted to be my whole life growing up is playing quarterback in the NFL, to be one of the best to ever play the game. I don’t feel the pressure because I’m blessed to be in this position. Obviously, being young in the league you’re going to have ups and downs, but it was never because of pressure. I’m just kind of living the dream, you know?”
On his first game, coming back from down 24-6 in the fourth quarter to tie Detroit
“I got a lot of memories from that game. When it was going bad, in my head, because I’m pretty realistic about myself, I remember thinking, ‘God, like, this is terrible.’
“I was laughing in my head. I was thinking people are probably watching this saying, ‘Man, you should have played baseball.’
“But one of the things I learned is that with our offense, we’re never really out of it. We tied it, then in overtime [on the second play of OT] I throw that deep ball to Larry Fitzgerald [for 45 yards] and I’m thinking, ‘We got this, we got the momentum, we’ve been uptempo and their defense has to be tired.’ We ended up tying, but other than that, it was a good day, a good first game. But that game moved pretty fast and I didn’t play as well as I wanted to for the whole game. The next week was different. We went to Baltimore.”
Baltimore 23, Arizona 17. Week 2. Murray threw for 349 yards and had the ball twice in the fourth quarter, down six, with a win in sight.
“That’s the game I felt like I could really do this. Playing a really good team at their place, with a chance to win in the fourth quarter. We’re just scratching and clawing to sustain drives, but we’re in it. For me personally, that was one of my better games. Sort of taught me that even though we’re a building program, we can compete with anybody.”
“One week that taught me a lot, for sure, was playing in New Orleans, watching Drew Brees. Everybody obviously talks to me a lot about my size—I don’t really think about it too much. But I have always loved the way Drew plays—the precision, the decisiveness. I watched him closely that game. Just his determination, his confidence. He knows he’s gonna make plays, no matter what the defense does. Watching him that day was a learning experience. After the game I was looking at him on the field, eye to eye. That’s a big deal too. One of the best to ever play the position, and we’re eye to eye. I don’t remember exactly what he said to me, but it was something along the lines of, ‘It’s a long career.’ Like, there’s better days ahead and that he [loves] watching me play.
“Kind of the same thing when we played Seattle, watching Russell. It’s surreal almost every week, playing some team and looking over there thinking, I’ve watched that guy play my whole life. Last week at the Seahawks, that game kind of made me stop and look around in that incredible environment for football, like, ‘Damn. You’re really in the NFL. And you’re playing Russell Wilson.’ That day, starting in warmups, whenever I got a chance, I was watching him on the field, trying to learn from him. What’s he doing in certain situations, that kind of stuff. But that day was one I’ll always remember. That place was like [Oklahoma-Texas] in the Cotton Bowl. Or Bedlam [the OU-Oklahoma State game].”
On Larry Fitzgerald
“Best I can say is Larry, he doesn’t make it feel like he’s Larry Fitzgerald. Honestly, he kind of blends in. He’s one of the guys. Me being 22—how old’s Larry?”
Thirty-six.
“To me, he just feels like an older brother. He tries to give us as much advice as possible. I’ve tried to get close to him, talk to him as much as I could so I could see how this thing works. Man, he’s a great guy, obviously. Everybody knows that. They don’t really see how he is inside the locker room and on the field. He’s always joking around. On the field, when things aren’t there, he’s just, throw him the damn ball. He tells me that all the time. Whether he’s open or not, throw him the ball. He’ll even try to call plays. That doesn’t work out too well. But he’s really taught us how to be pros.”
On fame
“Everybody’s always wondering about me because I’m always chillin,’ always kinda to myself. I keep a tight circle. Not really a partier. It’s been like that my whole life. I can’t go out without being, not harassed, but a lot of people noticing me. Started in high school. I’m used to it at this point. Sometimes it sucks, but it is what it is.”
On baseball
Murray, an outfielder, was the first-round pick of the Oakland A’s in 2018. After a hard sales pitch from Oakland, he turned down baseball and was all-in with the NFL.
Did you watch the World Series?
“Who was in it this year? Houston and … uh … “
Five, seven seconds. Thinking.
“Nationals. Yeah. Houston and the Nationals. No, I didn’t get to watch.”
Did you ever find yourself, even for 10 minutes, missing baseball?
“No. To be honest, no. I didn’t really have time to think about baseball. Trying to be as good as I can be at this game, you’ve got to put everything into it and it takes up a lot of your time. I got boys that still play baseball so when I talk to them, it kind of brings back memories. Obviously, I feel like I can still play but it is what it is at this point. But no, I really haven’t thought about it too much.”
On his future in the NFL
“This year was just, sort of, laying the foundation. We just didn’t win enough, obviously. Next year, I really believe we’ll come back with a vengeance and have a better year, and win.”
Twelve men who made their mark on football departed in 2019—some tragically, some dramatically, some in the normal course of football events. (Actually, there were many more than 12. This list could be three times that. Twelve who stood out to me:
Andrew Luck retires at 29. At 9:29 p.m. on Aug. 24, Adam Schefter tweeted that Luck would retire immediately. One of Luck’s closest football friends, Matt Hasselbeck, said, “I thought Adam got hacked.” That’s how much this retirement shocked the world. But should it have? For about 42 of the 47 months prior to his announcement, dating back to a shoulder injury in September 2015, football meant pain to Andrew Luck. “It’s been unceasing, unrelenting, both in-season and off-season . . . Taken the joy out of the game. And after 2016, when I played in pain and was unable to regularly practice, I made a vow to myself that I will not go down that path again,” he said. Five days before the retirement, he walked into owner Jim Irsay’s office and didn’t say he was thinking of retiring. He said it was over; he was retiring. “My mind’s made up,” he said. Luck left a good $200 million in future earnings on the table, but he didn’t care. Still doesn’t apparently. I’m told he’s had very few thoughts of playing again, ever.
Rob Gronkowski retires at 30. Gronk’s career average catch: 15.1 yards. Tyreek Hill’s career average catch: 14.6 yards. One of the most amazing things about the 2019 season is the Patriots never replaced Gronk—the free-agent class was stripped bare by the time he retired March 24—and were an offensive shell of themselves, and went 12-4 this fall with a 42-year-old quarterback and a make-it-up-as-you-go-along receiving corps. As with Luck, there’s no indication that Gronk the Wildman will ever play football again.
Colts fans in September. (Getty Images)
Bart Starr (1934-2019) dies. He won the last nine playoff games he ever played, including three NFL championship games and the first two Super Bowls. Touchdown passes in those games: 14. Interceptions: 3. One of the classiest players in NFL history, he signed every autograph meticulously, as though he were trying to win a penmanship contest. I asked him about that late in life. “Why would you want to do it any other way?” he said. “That’s the only way I know.”
Ron Rivera is fired in Carolina. A 29-32 record with no playoff wins in his last four seasons doomed him, but he coached the Panthers to one of the best regular-seasons in recent years: 15-1 in 2015, with the highest-scoring offense and the league’s sixth-ranked defense. Rivera’s got a great human touch, and would be high on the list if you asked the 1,600 NFL players, “Who’s the coach you’d most like to play for?” He’ll be a strong candidate for teams seeking coaches this week.
Don Banks (1962-2019) dies. One of the most crushing blows of this, or any, year for me came when my friend Sam Farmer called me one day when I was on my training-camp trip in Indiana and said absolutely out of the blue, “Don is dead.” One day before that, Don, a veteran NFL scribe with the scruples of Job, had his first story for his new NFL gig at the Las Vegas Review Journal, and he said to me with excitement over the phone, “I’m back, baby!” He was calling from a hotel room in Canton, where he was for the Hall of Fame enshrinement. He went to bed that night and never woke up. Heart attack. Don’s 21-year-old son, Micah, a student at George Washington, said it best: “Remember the Boston Globe baseball writer who died last spring, Nick Cafardo? I was hanging out with my dad when that happened. Nick died on the job one day, covering the Red Sox. I remember my dad saying, ‘Well, that’s the way to go, doing what you love.’ That seems sort of fitting now—my dad, doing what he loved in Canton, Ohio.”
Julius Peppers retires. With the fourth-most sacks since it became a stat (18 more than Michael Strahan, 20 more than Jason Taylor), there’s little doubt that Peppers will wear a gold jacket one day. I love how consistent he was. He had 11 sacks in 2004, at age 24; 11 sacks in 2011, at age 31; and 11 sacks in 2017, at age 37.
Gino Marchetti (1926-2019) dies. He made one of the biggest, and most controversial, tackles in NFL history. In the 1958 NFL Championship Game at Yankee Stadium, with the Giants leading the Colts 17-14, New York was trying to run out the clock in one of the biggest games in football history to that point. Marchetti tackled Frank Gifford, and the ball was marked just short of a first down—the Giants screamed that the spot was awful, and they should have been awarded a first down. Meanwhile, Marchetti was on the field, in agony. He had a broken ankle. The Giants had to punt on fourth and inches with two minutes left. John Unitas drove the Colts to a tying field goal with seven seconds left, and the Colts won in overtime. Without Marchetti’s tackle, it’s very likely the Giants would have won that game. Interesting. Unitas and the Colts won the title again in 1959. That was his last ever. If Marchetti doesn’t make the tackle in ’58, do the Colts win in ’59? And does the NFL become the incredible spectator sport it became without that great theater in New York in 1958?
Joe Horrigan retires. When Horrigan, the Pro Football Hall of Fame’s historian, archivist and keeper-of-the-flame, surprisingly retired last spring, he left the Hall with a legacy of caring about one thing: that the deep roots of the game will never be forgotten. Horrigan honchoed the founding and formation of the Ralph C. Wilson Pro Football Research and Preservation Center, with more than 40 million pages of documents and contracts going back a century and including the minutes from the meeting in Canton that formed the NFL in 1920. “There is nobody more knowledgeable about the 100 years of pro football than Joe Horrigan,” John Madden told me last spring. “It’s is not even close. You can’t replace that brain.”
Pat Bowlen (1944-2019) dies. In the three decades he owned the Broncos (before stepping away due to Alzheimer’s disease in 2014), the franchise played in six Super Bowls and had five losing seasons . . . and the Elway/Manning Broncos, born when Bowlen was still in control in 2012, won the Super Bowl the year after Bowlen left. His deft handling of the team meant not overreacting to a bad season, and giving football people like Mike Shanahan the resources they need to win. Not to mention his influence in league activities. Bowlen was the driving force behind the league adding another prime-time window, Sunday night football, and giving the NBC show the great games it needed to dominate network TV.
Darren Sproles retires. “My body is telling me it’s time to step away from the game,” Sproles, 36, said in a statement 10 days ago. He was so good, so valuable, for so long. He was good enough in five San Diego seasons to be named to the Chargers’ all-time team. In New Orleans (for just three years; seemed like seven or eight), he set an NFL record for all-purposes yards in 2011 with 2,696, with 603 rushing yards at 6.9 yards per rush, 86 catches for 710 yards, 29 punt returns for a 10.1-yard average, 40 kick returns for a 27.2-yard average. His humility and his 21 touchdowns in his thirties as an Eagle made him beloved in that locker room too. There can’t be an NFL player in this era who got more out of his body, at 5-6 and 190, than Sproles did.
Forrest Gregg (1933-2019) dies. The Hall of Fame Packer tackle was famous, of course, for being the player Vince Lombardi called the best he ever coached. But in his second life, as a coach, he did something historic too: While 14 NFL teams flunked USC left tackle Anthony Munoz on his pre-draft physical because of a bad knee in 1980, Gregg, the Cincinnati head coach, went to Los Angeles to work out Munoz—for two hours—and came back to Cincinnati swearing by Munoz. The Bengals picked him third overall in 1980, and Munoz turned out to be one of the best tackles in NFL history. Lots of lessons he learned from Gregg too. “After I got selected to the Pro Bowl [in 1981], he called me into his office,” Munoz told me. “He put his arm around me. He said, ‘Congratulations. You’ve been selected to the Pro Bowl. Now you have to understand that every player you play in practice is going to measure himself against you because you’re a Pro Bowl player. Every player who plays you in a game is going to do the same thing. You’ve got to play every play like a Pro Bowler. You can’t relax.’ So I thought, okay, I’m going to hold myself accountable every play I ever play, for the rest of my career.” Just as his mentor did.
Sonny Jurgensen retires. Hard to imagine any single person who had a more varied and more influential run in a town than Sonny had in Washington. He watched football from the couch this year at 85 for the first time in forever. “It’s been a great 55 years in Washington,” he said when he retired last summer. Jurgensen played the final 11 years of a Hall of Famer career at quarterback for the team from 1964 to 1974, stayed close to the team till being named one of the club’s radio color men in 1981, advised owner Daniel Snyder more recently, and stayed a beloved radio partner till age 84, in 2018. I’ll always remember him with an unlit cigar, in the booth and in so many locker rooms post-game.
Offensive Players of the Week
Deebo Samuel, wide receiver, San Francisco. Backed up in their territory late in the first quarter of game 256 Sunday night, the 49ers got two huge plays from the rookie receiver from South Carolina. Samuel took a pass from Jimmy Garoppolo and sped 30 yards up the middle to get the Niners to midfield. Three plays later, from the Seattle 30-yard line, Samuel took a pitch around left end and stayed in microscopically on the left sideline, scoring on a 30-yard run. Samuel, at 6-0 and 208, is bigger than a smurfy guy, but he has the moves of a scatback and showed them in the NFC West championship game. For the game, Samuel finished with 135 total yards and the rushing touchdown.
Derrick Henry, running back, Tennessee. The newly minted NFL rushing champion of the NFL’s 100th season keyed the playoff-enabling victory for Tennessee against rival Houston. With Henry’s 32-carry, 211-yard performance in Houston, and his rushing touchdowns of three, one and 53 yards in the second half, the Titans won 35-14 and earned a trip to Foxboro for a wild-card game they could actually win.
Derrick Henry clinches the 2019 NFL Rushing Title AND a 1,500 yard season with this INCREDIBLE run! pic.twitter.com/HTm9aMcMnw
Ryan Fitzpatrick, quarterback, Miami. A few observations: Miami, quite likely, will pick a quarterback in the first round next April, but there’s no way the Dolphins should not have Fitzpatrick back as the bridge quarterback to the future. He’s a reliable player, a great influence on a growing team, and a pretty good player. Miami had little to play for Sunday, and the mighty Patriots had a first-round bye at stake. This is what Fitzpatrick did in a 10-10 game in the second half: drove 83 yards in nine plays for a touchdown; drove 22 yards to a punt; drove 45 yards to a field goal; and then, trailing 24-20 with four minutes left, drove 13 plays for 75 yards and the winning touchdown pass. For the day, 28 of 41 for 320 yards. Not bad.
Elandon Roberts, linebacker/running back, New England. Classic example, a la Mike Vrabel and Troy Brown, of necessity being the mother of invention in New England. He was the blocking back who paved the way for the first New England touchdown, a four-yard Sony Michel run, with a block of Miami’s Eric Rowe at the goal line. Then he caught a 38-yard TD pass from Tom Brady, the only bright spot in another desultory Patriots performance down the stretch of a season that just looks like it’ll end in a disappointing way in January—despite 12 regular-season wins.
Defensive Players of the Week
Dre Greenlaw, linebacker, San Francisco. The rookie from Arkansas made the play of his life when his team needed it the most. On fourth and goal with 12 seconds left, Seahawks tight end Jacob Hollister caught the ball at the 1-yard line and turned to find the end zone. Instead, he found Greenlaw’s right shoulder. The 2019 fifth-round pick buried Hollister, who fell an inch shy of the goal line. Greenlaw finished the game with 13 tackles, and his last gave the 49ers the NFC’s top seed.
Shaq Barrett, outside linebacker, Tampa Bay. Trailing Chandler Jones for the league sack lead entering Sunday’s play, Barrett sacked Matt Ryan three times, then had to sit and wait for Jones’ game at the Rams to see if his 19.5 sacks would be enough to win the title. And it was—Jones got shut out at Los Angeles. Even though the Bucs lost a bummer of a game in overtime, winning the sack title had to be sweet for Barrett, who always was the forgotten guy to Von Miller in Denver.
Special Teams Player of the Week
Mecole Hardman, wide receiver/kick returner, Kansas City. How prescient, Chiefs GM Brett Veach and coach Andy Reid using the 56th pick in the 2019 draft (and the first pick for the Chiefs) on the speedy Hardman, from Georgia. At the time, it was Tyreek Hill insurance. But now he’s become an essential part of the offense and the return game. Named to the AFC Pro Bowl team a couple weeks ago, Hardman made the difference-making play in the Chiefs’ 12th victory of the season. His 104-yard kickoff return for touchdown put the Chiefs ahead of the Chargers for good, and catapulted Kansas City to the second seed in the AFC tournament.
Coach of the Week
Steve Spagnuolo, defensive coordinator, Kansas City. In midseason, it appeared the defense would doom the Chiefs. KC went 2-4 between Oct. 6 and Nov. 10, allowing 24.1 points a game, with the Titans gashing them by 35. Since then, Spagnuolo’s scheme has clicked and the Chiefs have gotten healthier and Patrick Mahomes has the offense playing well. In KC’s six-game winning streak, Spagnuolo’s D has allowed just 11.5 points a game. With a rest week coming up, you’ve got to like the Chiefs’ chances to get to the AFC title game.
Goat of the Week
Jameis Winston, quarterback, Tampa Bay. How perfectly fitting. Winston’s 30th interception of the season came on the last play of Tampa Bay’s season and on the first play of overtime. Winston stared down tight end Cameron Brate, fired a pass to him at the Bucs’ 28, and Deion Jones stepped in front of Brate on not a particularly great play, picked it off, and ran it back for a walkoff pick-six. For the year, Winston, angling for a $30-million-a-year contract, became the first quarterback in history to have a 30/30 season: 33 touchdown passes, 30 interceptions and a gaudy 5,109 yards . . . and seven pick-sixes. Tom Brady has one in the last two years. Winston’s 30-interception season is the first in the NFL since 1988.
I
“I plan to play football. Where that’s going to be, that will get sorted out in the next three months.”
—Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers, who started every game for the last 14 years for the franchise, including Sunday’s 31-21 loss to Kansas City.
More below about Rivers and the Chargers in Ten Things I Think I Think.
II
“There’s so much good and so much outright terrible.”
—Tampa Bay coach Bruce Arians, on Jameis Winston’s 33-touchdown, 30-interception season.
III
“Sometimes the writing’s on the wall. There hasn’t been anything official, but . . . I just wanted to make sure I didn’t have any regrets on how this year ended, in the event that was the last time I play.”
—Carolina tight end Greg Olsen, 34, after the last game of his 13th NFL season, on the possibility he’ll retire.
If that’s it for Olsen, he’ll finish fifth all-time among tight ends in receptions with 718—behind Tony Gonzalez, Jason Witten, Antonio Gates and Shannon Sharpe.
IV
“This was expected.”
—LSU quarterback Joe Burrow, to Laura Rutledge of ESPN, after throwing seven touchdown passes and the Tigers beating Oklahoma by 35 points in the college football semifinal in Atlanta.
V
“Tom, I just want to let you know you had a pretty good year.”
—Bill Belichick, to Tom Brady, on the morning after the Patriots’ first Super Bowl win in February 2002. Brady told this story, about getting this pat on the back from Belichick, on NFL Network’s top 100 show revealing the quarterbacks voted the top 10 of all time, with Brady being one of them.
I
Numbers dancing through Jimmy Haslam’s head this morning, in the 12 NFL seasons since 2008:
II
After firing Ron Rivera, the Panthers lost their last four games by 20, 6, 32 and 32 points.
I
The last six Chicago-at-Minnesota regular-season meetings have been on Dec. 28, Dec. 20, Jan. 1, Dec. 31, Dec. 30 and Dec. 29.
Maybe someone in the league office loves the Bears and has family in Minnesota and loves the Christmas season. I don’t know.
II
The Patriots will play two games in the new SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles next year, visiting both the Chargers and Rams.
I wonder who will be quarterbacking the Chargers when the Patriots come to town.
III
Let the record show that Tom Brady and Peyton Manning were tied entering Sunday with 539 career regular-season touchdown passes, and let the record further show that Brady’s 540th came on a 38-yard pass to a linebacker, Elandon Roberts.
I
It was a San Francisco Christmas for the King family, totally spoiling the grandchildren. Fun times. On Friday morning, we took the kids to the cool, fairly new playground in the Panhandle. On the walk there, there was a Kombucha stop (not for me) at the Haight Street Market, near the corner of Haight and Ashbury. It always has an interesting clientele.
I waited outside with Crosby, the rescue owned by Laura and wife Kim. Sitting at one of the tables outside the grocery store, a 55ish-year-old man was Face-Timing someone. He was a pugnacious type, from the sound of him.
Two of the more interesting things he said in my five minutes standing nearby:
• “You’ve got to understand I’m a third-generation alcoholic.”
• “So I met a guy here in the Haight, and we got into it a little bit, you know, and he said, ‘I am going to mess you up.’ I said to him, ‘I am a Marine. So while you’re messing me up, you should know that I am going to kill you.”
(Moved five steps away.)
II
I’ve had it with Airbnb. Overpriced, photographically misleading, and did I mention overpriced and photographically misleading? The problem is, my daughter lives in a hotel-poor neighborhood, and it you want to be close/walking-distance, you delve into Airbnb. The hosts have been fine people, and no one forced me to rent the places I’ve rented in the neighborhoods around Laura’s home. But I’ve learned my lesson after another exceedingly meh rental: Give us hotels and a drive, or give us couches in her apartment.
I
Today was one of the coolest NFL Sundays. A seemingly awful slate of early games were awesome, the final late one delivered, and in between, Drew Lock rapped, Philip Rivers cried, the Cardinals served notice, and the LA Coliseum and Oakland Raiders said goodbye to the NFL forever
Person, who covers the Panthers for The Athletic, tweeted with the Panthers, at home, training New Orleans by 35 in the second quarter. What a disgraceful December for Carolina.
III
Browns firing their head coach is not news. It is news when they don’t
Middlekauff, a former NFL scout, writes and talks about sports in the Bay Area. He tweeted in the midst of Joe Burrow’s seven-touchdown-pass first half in the NCAA semifinal game.
V
Twitter is like being able to read every toilet wall in the world.
Injured #Eagles starters currently out: DeSean Jackson, Alshon Jeffery, Miles Sanders, Zach Ertz, Nelson Agholor, Lane Johnson, Brandon Brooks, Ronald Darby, Jalen Mills, Malik Jackson, Kamu Grugier-Hill.
McLane, an Eagles beat man, tweeted at halftime of the Eagles’ win over the Giants. Add Jordan Howard and Avonte Maddox. And this: This Eagle team, somehow, is a playoff team.
On 17- or 18-game schedules.From Derek Schlamel: “I can’t help but think as a fan I’d oppose an 18-game schedule. Too much of a brutal sport to add games for the players and a war of attrition for teams still alive (Seattle, Philadelphia).”
You watch Seattle struggle with fourth and fifth running backs and with a crushing left tackle injury, and you watch the Eagles invent receivers down the stretch because of an epidemic of injuries, and you wonder why anyone in his right mind in the league office would think, “Hey, I got an idea! Let’s add a 17th game!” Except we know why. Concern over players’ health is tertiary to, number one, money, and number two, more money. And we all know that.
On “Openers.”From George Evanko: “In response to using an ‘opener’ at quarterback instead of the starter, it’s been done before. In the 50’s, the Giants would keep Charlie Conerly out of the game for at least the first series and let Don Heinrich play. The theory was, Conerly could use the time to watch what the defense was doing and apply the strategy when he got in there, since quarterbacks called the plays back then. Look at Pro Football Reference’s starting lineups for the 1958 championship game, the legendary overtime game with the Colts. Heinrich is listed as the starter. He went 2-of-4 passing and then Conerly took over. The Giants’ offensive coordinator that year, the guy using the ‘opener’ at quarterback, was Vince Lombardi.”
I love my readers. Four of them pointed out this exact nugget of info. Thanks.
Wow. Thank you.From Steve Savarese: “Having grown up in Boston with McDonough, Fitzgerald, Montville, Gammons, Ryan, Whiteside, Powers, Rosa and Collins, I’ve had the pleasure of reading some of the best ever on a daily basis. As a regular reader of yours for the past 30 years, it is quite easy to say that you are included in that group. I thank you for the many stories that have entertained, offered insight about the people and events and taught me about the game. On Monday mornings, from the beginning of the season through the Super Bowl, your article is the first thing read. So again, thank you. Sincerely. Joe Burrow and Athens, Ohio. Best story of the year.”
Steve, I am humbled, and I thank you sincerely.
And this take, after I led the column last week with Carson Wentz.From Alex, of Durango, Mexico. “Can’t wait to read it . . . See a mediocre NFC East team in the front page AGAIN . . . Close browser.”
Three points, Alex:
1. I am happy you look forward to my column every Monday.
2. Last Monday was my 24th column of the season since training camp started. It was the second one with a lead on the NFC East, or on an NFC East team, and it came after the most important game in the NFL in Week 16.
3. Last week’s column was 11,108 words long. The Eagles chunk was 875 words. I say this all the time to those who don’t like something or another in the column: There’s a lot of stuff in the column every week, not just at the top.
1. I think, watching Philip Rivers get all emotional after the 11th loss of a lost Chargers’ season, with so much riding on 2020 for the franchise, there are lots of questions. For the first time, he spoke openly about the chance that he might be a goner with the Chargers. But he also said he definitely wanted to play somewhere in 2020. The possibilities as I see them:
• Rivers returns for his 17th season with the franchise, maybe on a two-year deal while the Chargers figure out their long-term future at the position. He is an unrestricted free agent in March if not signed by the Chargers before then, so a new contract would have to be negotiated, and coming off this season, and four straight seasons with a low cap number, that might be a problem.
• The Chargers could draft a successor in April and re-sign Rivers for one year as a bridge to 2021.
• The Chargers, who need a billboard player as they move into a new stadium with major fiscal challenges (in tickets sales and suite sales and sponsorships), could pursue a jolt of quarterback adrenalin: Cam Newton in trade with Carolina, or perhaps Teddy Bridgewater in free agency—though Bridgewater is likely not going to move the needle as much as bringing back Rivers.
• The Chargers could try to talk Drew Brees, who is scheduled to be a free agent in March, into a second act with the franchise. The record-setter was a Charger draft choice in 2001 and preceded Rivers as the starter before going to New Orleans as a free agent in 2006. I’m skeptical of that. I think he’ll re-sign with New Orleans. But never say never. Brees has a home in San Diego and loves it there, and could do the commuting thing that Rivers did to get to practice in Orange County.
• The Chargers could try to talk Tom Brady, also scheduled to be free in March, into coming west. I’m skeptical of this too, but this will be the first time Brady’s ever been unsigned and ineligible to be franchised entering an offseason, and he might want to see what life is like outside Belichickland.
As for Rivers: He is from northern Alabama and went to college at North Carolina State, starting for four seasons. What if the Panthers had their doubts about the oft-injured Cam Newton and aggressively pursued Rivers to play out his last two or three seasons in Charlotte? They could do this with the understanding that the franchise would have to prepare for the future and draft a young passer, or prepare Will Grier as a possible starter.
Rivers is such a gamer, and such a great locker-room presence, so beloved by his teammates. That could transfer to another place, surely. It was tough to see him emotional after the last game of the Chargers’ awful 5-11 season Sunday, as Rivers acknowledged for the first time that this could be it for him in southern California. “If it’s the last time [as a Charger] . . . I can say I gave it everything I had, every week,” he said, almost breaking down near the end of a longer-than-usual post-game presser. “Maybe it means an interception when it’s fourth-and-18, and you’re down 10. Cuz I don’t care if it’s gonna say ‘two interceptions’ [on the stat sheet]. I ain’t quittin’. I think that, doing it with so many guys, over 14 years, and going to the locker room, and saying, dadgum it, we fell short, or we won, but shoot, I couldn’t have tried any harder.”
2. I think it’s become clear that though this might not be the end of the great Patriots run, it’s certainly the end of something in New England. We just won’t know what that is for a while, till we see if Josh McDaniels or Tom Brady, or both, leave the organization.
3. I think that was a class move by the Panthers in Charlotte on Sunday, paying tribute before the game against the Saints with a moment of silence and scoreboard recognition to the young Louisiana-based reporter, Carley McCord, 30, who was killed in a plane crash Saturday. McCord worked for a New Orleans TV station and for the Saints and Pelicans as an in-game host. “We’re devastated,” Sean Payton said. “Tough news. I think all of us in Louisiana felt the same way.” Two terrible losses for the media fraternity last week, McCord and ESPN college football reporter Edward Aschoff, who died suddenly at 34. Tragic losses, two bright lights gone too soon.
4. I think I would love to know how this happens:
a. Backup tackle Ty Sambrailo reports as a tackle-eligible for Atlanta at Tampa Bay, with the ball at the Bucs’ 35.
b. Sambrailo, the sixth offensive lineman on the play, lines up between the right tackle and tight end for Atlanta.
c. Sambrailo runs straight downfield, up the right seam.
d. No one on the Bucs covers Sambrailo.
e. Matt Ryan throws a pass to Sambrailo, who catches it at the Tampa 22.
f. No one on the Bucs touches Sambrailo till he gets to the end zone. Touchdown, Atlanta.
I mean, does defensive coordinator Todd Bowles warn his players to watch for the tackle-eligible running off the line? I assume he must. If so, how in the world does no one cover a wide-open receiver with nothing but space around him?
BIG MAN UP THE SEAM!
Right tackle Ty Sambrailo goes 35 yards on the TD reception! #InBrotherhood
5. I think if Baltimore wins the Super Bowl, and if the NFL had both guts and foresight, the opening game next year would be Joe Burrow and the Cincinnati Bengals at Lamar Jackson and the Baltimore Ravens.
6. I think my first thought after seeing the Saints work out Antonio Brown the other day was: They get a free look at him now, and in the unlikely event that he skates after the NFL’s investigation into him, they get a franchise player cheap. Now, I’d never have Brown on my team. Just too much smoke around him, and he’s not a good person. I doubt he’ll ever play a snap for New Orleans. But I get their interest in doing homework on a severely devalued player. Let’s see what the future brings. If it’s confirmed in an NFL investigation or a courtroom that he engaged in sexual assault, the Saints should steer clear, to be sure.
7. I think these are my observations about the 10 quarterbacks selected on the NFL’s all-time team of 100 best players:
• Historically, I do not mind the split of three quarterbacks (Sammy Baugh, Otto Graham, John Unitas) in the first 50 seasons, one (Staubach) in the next 10 years, and six (Tom Brady, John Elway, Favre, Peyton Manning, Dan Marino, Joe Montana) in the last 40 years. The first 50 seasons, in my opinion, needed a minimum of three to be even close to historically balanced.
• Exclusions: Drew Brees, Aaron Rodgers, Sid Luckman, Fran Tarkenton, Bart Starr, Terry Bradshaw, Troy Aikman, Warren Moon, Dan Fouts.
• I knew this would be the position that ticked off the most people. And rightfully so. When the NFL finished its 75th regular season, Tarkenton was the all-time leader in passing yards (47,003) and touchdown passes (342). As the NFL finishes its 100th season, Brees is the all-time leader in passing yards (77,163) and touchdown passes (544). In 1994, Tarkenton was not voted to the NFL’s 75th anniversary all-time team. (Four quarterbacks were—Sammy Baugh, Otto Graham, John Unitas, Joe Montana.) And this year, Brees did not make the 100-year team. That is not to justify the picks. It is to simply make an observation about how stats did not rule the vote then, or now. And also . . .
• For those who live in Louisiana or are otherwise in some state of apoplexy over Brees’ omission: The final vote took place in June 2018. So the two most accurate seasons in Brees’ career (2018 and 2019) are not included, nor are his last 56 touchdowns or final 7,000 passing yards. The vote being a year-and-a-half ago clearly had some effect on the outcome. Had the committee of 26 voted this week, my guess is Brees would have been chosen over Roger Staubach.
• One Packers QB. Brett Favre, who is deserving to be sure. But I can tell you, from being in the debate, that Starr and Rodgers had their share of champions in the room. I had Favre over each of the others because of longevity and greatness for such a long period, but obviously it was a tough call.
• Re Baugh and Graham: Baugh’s the only player from the first 25 years of pro football history on this list. The game was vastly different then, of course, and it’s easy to say that a player who played before integration and with his prime years in the World War II era is somehow diminished compared to players of today. But you’ve got to judge players in their era. And I would contend that Baugh had the single best season an NFL player ever had. In 1943, he was the NFL’s most accurate passer, was voted first-team all-pro, led the NFL with 11 interceptions (playing safety), and led the NFL for the fourth straight year with a 45.9-yard average as a punter. If you do not reward that, as eclectic a season as it was, you don’t appreciate the 100 years of football. . . . As for Graham, he played 10 professional seasons (six in the NFL, four in the All-America Football Conference) with the Cleveland Browns and played in the championship game of his league all 10 seasons, winning seven.
• I have no patience for the he-couldn’t-play-in-this-era crowd. We weren’t judging whether Baugh’s game would translate to today. We were judging dominance in an era. Baugh showed dominance in his, Graham in his, Brady in his.
8. I think Larry Fitzgerald has been fairly quiet about his future, dropping a couple of hints that the end is near but keeping things fairly mysterious. I believe it’s better than 50-50 than he returns for a 17th season in 2020. He likes the life, he likes the game, he is well-compensated for it, and he is beloved in Arizona. A few thoughts about his remarkable career: He played his 250th regular-season game on Sunday in Los Angeles . . . He has missed six games due to injury in 16 seasons. He’s played the Cardinals’ last 84 regular-season games, every one since Dec. 1, 2014 . . . Still a prime guy, and important to the development of Kyler Murray. Targets in the last six games: Stefon Diggs 40, Fitzgerald 39 . . . A free agent after the season, I’d be surprised if the Cardinals—with $66 million in cap room heading into 2020—didn’t pony up for him. He made $11.25 million this year . . . Fitzgerald has told me many times that no one will ever break Jerry Rice’s record of 1,549 catches. But Fitzgerald exits this season with 1,378 receptions, 172 from breaking the record. It would be very hard for him to break that in two seasons, and it’s hard to envision him playing more than two more years. But “very hard” is not “impossible.”
9. I think it’s going to be interesting to see what the Indianapolis Colts do after a sobering end to their 2019 season, and with a league-high $98.7 million in cap room in 2020. I’m looking at Jacoby Brissett, who had a very strange year, in part because he hasn’t been healthy for the second half of it. But he threw four touchdown passes to beat Houston in Week 7—and then four in the next eight weeks combined. It might be smart for Houston to bring in competition for Brissett, due to make $15 million in cash next season, either in the form of a high draft pick or top backup. What if Jacksonville punts on Nick Foles? Or Teddy Bridgewater doesn’t have the starting market he thought he’d have in 2020? Or if Cam Newton comes on the market? Or if Philip Rivers suddenly needs a home? Or if Eli Manning wants one last shot?
10. I think these are my other thoughts of the week:
a. Football Story of the Week: Tyler Dunne of Bleacher Report on the influence of Mike Tomlin on the 2019 Steelers.
b. Dunne writes about the 1-4 start, and playing the rest of 2019 without Ben, Bell and Brown:
“What appeared disastrous to outsiders wasn’t close to disastrous inside. Because of Tomlin. As the season careened off a cliff, the coach maintained his stern calm. The coach repeated one of his go-to lines—’Don’t tell people about your problems, because they’re either glad you got ’em or don’t want to hear ’em’—and kept on supplying brutal truths after each loss. ‘This is why you lost. This is why you didn’t capitalize on this,’ guard Ramon Foster remembers. ‘Have you ever had a talk with somebody like, you’re cool with them but you don’t want to piss him off? That’s him. He’s that uncle who gives you the leash, like, ‘Hey, go do your thing, run around the neighborhood. But if you break a window, I’m going to have to sit your ass.’ You don’t want to let him down.”
d. It takes an excellent reporter to ferret out a story like Manning finding himself in the exclusive Manhattan eatery Rao’s after winning his first Super Bowl, and having his table back-to-back with Yogi Berra’s. And O’Connor is an excellent reporter. Writes O’Connor:
“The old catcher congratulated the young quarterback on his first title, and then said, ‘Just so you know, you have nine more to go.’ Manning was floored by the fact that Berra had won 10 World Series rings with the Yankees. ‘Five in a row, too,’ Berra told him. At the end of the night Manning, Berra, Giants center Shaun O’Hara and restaurant owner Frank Pellegrino were locked arm in arm while singing ‘New York, New York’ before a rollicking packed house.
e. Eli Manning, people. There’s a side of him I guarantee you’ve never read.
f. Football Business Story of the Week: Dan Kaplan of The Athletic on the demise of the most imaginative helmet manufacturer in the business, VICIS, with its innovative CEO, Dave Marver.
g. Sorry it’s behind a paywall. But excellent reporting by Kaplan, including this:
“Founded in 2013 as a research offshoot of the University of Washington, VICIS won $1.1 million in NFL grant money for its innovative helmet design. The helmet, which has a soft outer shell, won awards and quickly gained NFL market share as a highly-touted safer helmet with about 150 to 200 NFL players wearing it. But in USA Football, Pop Warner and America Youth Football (AYF), three of the principal youth football vehicles, Marver found organizations financially aligned with Riddell, controlling the gateway to the hundreds of thousands — if not more — parents and coaches those groups communicate with. Access to coaches’ conventions; emails to parents and coaches; information about helmet safety; all are handled through an exclusive relationship with Riddell.”
h. Kaplan reported that Marver was frustrated in trying to make headway in youth football helmets, particularly with Pop Warner, finding out that Pop Warner was affiliated with the Riddell company. Pop Warner wouldn’t allow its flag-football programs to work with VICIS on its well-reviewed flag-football headgear either. Wrote Kaplan:
“Marver, speaking shortly before he left the company in late November, acerbically commented, ‘Even though Riddell doesn’t have flag.’ “
i. Great. Don’t think about the kids. Don’t think about the future of the sport. Just think about business. It’s the American way. Important work by Kaplan.
j. Story of the Week: (Sorry this one’s behind a paywall too, in the Wall Street Journal.) Natasha Khan with a superb you-are-there about life in Hong Kong during the massive and continuing street protests over Chinese rule these days.
k. Khan writes:
“Across the city, ATMs are boarded up, traffic lights broken and once-reliable subways erratic. Social outings are curtailed, special events canceled and plans shelved. Some weeks, schools have closed. Shop and restaurant workers have lost jobs to a dying nightlife and slowing commerce. Political arguments darken family dinners. Conversations end, ‘Stay safe.’ “
l. I think the only time I’ve ever been nervous being on a talk show was in 1990 or ’91, when Sports Illustrated put me on WFAN in New York with Don Imus one morning from the Super Bowl. An intimidating guy, particularly with people he didn’t know. I made it through, I think because of one piece of advice I got before the appearance: Give it back to him if he challenges you. So I did. I was never on the show again, but I can always say I ran the gauntlet once. RIP, Imus.
m. Even though, of course, Imus was way too scorched-earth and went far over the line too often and was at times a race-baiter (he got fired when he called the Rutgers women’s basketball team “nappy-headed hos”). Those moments absolutely should not be forgotten in considering the impact of his career.
n. Awful reversal in the Clemson-Ohio State game, taking away an Ohio State touchdown. You saw it. Awkward catch by a Clemson receiver, who took three steps while the Buckeye defender was trying to rip the ball away and tackle him. The ball came loose and it was returned for an OSU touchdown. If the call had been incomplete on the field, I would not have thought it should have been overturned. But the call was complete on the field—and that’s how it looked to me—and then replay overturned it. Just a harrowing mistake that may well have cost Ohio State a spot in the national title game against LSU. There was not indisputable evidence to overturn the play. And that’s a great illustration of why so much about replay is flawed, on the college and pro levels.
o. Coffeenerdness: Ever been to Philz Coffee? Locations all over San Francisco and other cities, specializing in pour-over coffee. Love how each coffee is made individually, with scalding water enveloping a filter with freshly ground beans. I tried the Jacob’s Wonderbar dark roast. They said it’s got notes of dark chocolate and smoke. All I know is it was rich and very dark. Loved it.
p. Beernerdness: Speaking of San Francisco treats, you’ve got to try Barebottle Brewing Company, and its fun warehouse/gameroom/dog-friendly/kid-friendly tap room. Tried two beers: the Bareclaw Stout (“like a candy bar in a glass,” the bartender said), which was a combination of sweetness and Guinness. Interesting. And also had the Prima Tangerina, a dry pilsner with a whiff of tangerine, which I really liked. The whole scene is worth your time.
q. Happy New Year, everyone. It’ll be strange when we have to start writing 2020 on checks.
Great friggin’ ballgame.
We can ask for one reward:
Game Three in two weeks.
