2021 Miscellaneous NFL News

[MrTPlush]

If twitter existed 100 years ago I think anyone 60+ or 70+ would be disowned by society for their racist, sexist, or homophobic comments from their past. I am guessing most in that age range would probably qualify for banishment under all three.

[JimH5]

I agree that we don't take historical context into account when administering judgment on moral and ethical matters. And we should.

 

But Gruden's emails are offensive by the standards of their day as well as of 2021. Had they been exposed then, he would suffer criticism. I don't know if it would cost him his job, but his days as an effective leader of an NFL roster would have been over. Maybe he would have played out the year. But maybe not, too.

[bjkrautk]

I agree that we don't take historical context into account when administering judgment on moral and ethical matters. And we should.

 

But Gruden's emails are offensive by the standards of their day as well as of 2021. Had they been exposed then, he would suffer criticism. I don't know if it would cost him his job, but his days as an effective leader of an NFL roster would have been over. Maybe he would have played out the year. But maybe not, too.

 

The only part of this that I disagree with is that in 2011, when the leaked e-mails with Bruce Allen came from (to my knowledge - haven't actually read any of the source documents), Gruden was working for ESPN on Monday Night Football. There is zero chance he would have been allowed to stay on the air....and that's just for the e-mail about DeMaurice Smith.

[MrTPlush]

I agree that we don't take historical context into account when administering judgment on moral and ethical matters. And we should.

 

But Gruden's emails are offensive by the standards of their day as well as of 2021. Had they been exposed then, he would suffer criticism. I don't know if it would cost him his job, but his days as an effective leader of an NFL roster would have been over. Maybe he would have played out the year. But maybe not, too.

 

The only part of this that I disagree with is that in 2011, when the leaked e-mails with Bruce Allen came from (to my knowledge - haven't actually read any of the source documents), Gruden was working for ESPN on Monday Night Football. There is zero chance he would have been allowed to stay on the air....and that's just for the e-mail about DeMaurice Smith.

 

I don't know, when it was just the one email he was getting a lot of support coming his way....and that is in 2021 when typically guys aren't getting backed for stuff like that. Stephen A. Smith was racist and he is still kicking this year. Wasn't Gruden a pretty major guy at ESPN back then? That probably would have saved him just like it saved Stephen A. Smith.

[PinaMadness]

Rich Bisaccia held his first press conference and stated the Raiders will put this behind them and now focus on the future in continuing the Raiders tradition of proving themselves of being overrated frauds.

[PinaMadness]

Tre Flowers was released by Seattle. An experienced corner with four years of starting experience now available.

 

Never mind. The Packers are signing Quinton Dunbar, whoever he is.

[Ron Robinsons Beard]

Tre Flowers was released by Seattle. An experienced corner with four years of starting experience now available.

 

Never mind. The Packers are signing Quinton Dunbar, whoever he is.

 

LOL tell us you are a casual NFL fan without telling us. Flowers played so poorly in 2020 that he was replaced by ... Dunbar.

[nodakfan17]

A reader in today’s Ask Vic column pointed out that the NFL seems to stand against racism, homophobia, and misogyny, yet they’ve hired Eminem, Dr. Dre, and Snoop Dogg to perform during this year’s Super Bowl halftime show. I don’t mind those guys as entertainers and I think Gruden resigning was appropriate, but the hypocrisy of the NFL is unreal.

[jerichoholicninja]

That was actually the first thing I thought of when I heard that Eminem was performing. Early 2000's Eminem would have been cancelled quickly if he was around today.

[nodakfan17]

The best halftime show I’ve ever seen was dogs catching frisbees. This was at a Packer game 25 years ago. Their owners would throw a frisbee the length of the field and you’d think ‘there’s no way that dog is going to catch that,’ but sure enough, the dogs could cover the length of the field and come down with the frisbee just in time. Guaranteed not to offend and the crowd went nuts.

 

Second best halftime show: Katy Perry in 2015

[PinaMadness]

A reader in today’s Ask Vic column pointed out that the NFL seems to stand against racism, homophobia, and misogyny, yet they’ve hired Eminem, Dr. Dre, and Snoop Dogg to perform during this year’s Super Bowl halftime show. I don’t mind those guys as entertainers and I think Gruden resigning was appropriate, but the hypocrisy of the NFL is unreal.

Saw something similar when the Buccaneers put out a statement removing Gruden from Ring of Honor, saying "The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have advocated for purposeful change in the areas of race relations, gender equality, diversity and inclusion for many years." I'm not saying this isn't true, but I'd like to know what exactly they've done to show their belief in this or is this statement just lip service.

[MrTPlush]

Everyone’s gets on the Packers results after they won the Super Bowl.

 

Yet the Russell Wilson led Seahawks have consistently put out garbage defenses for years wasting their QB and the Patrick Mahomes led Chiefs might just be getting in the car to go down the same exact road. The Chiefs are like the dead last team in the NFL on defense so far.

[Fear The Chorizo]

Everyone’s gets on the Packers results after they won the Super Bowl.

 

Yet the Russell Wilson led Seahawks have consistently put out garbage defenses for years wasting their QB and the Patrick Mahomes led Chiefs might just be getting in the car to go down the same exact road. The Chiefs are like the dead last team in the NFL on defense so far.

 

Not lost on me is how much that seems to correlate to happen right after these qb's sign mega deals that take up huge portions of cap room.

 

With the exception of Brady (who frankly has done alot to avoid his contract being an anchor that limits the roster around him), the formula has been to build a dynamic team and hope you pick the right qb in the draft to win a super bowl on his rookie deal, before you can't afford anyone else but that franchise quarterback.

[nodakfan17]

Everyone’s gets on the Packers results after they won the Super Bowl.

 

Yet the Russell Wilson led Seahawks have consistently put out garbage defenses for years wasting their QB and the Patrick Mahomes led Chiefs might just be getting in the car to go down the same exact road. The Chiefs are like the dead last team in the NFL on defense so far.

 

It’s really hard to win a Super Bowl and, when I’m agonizing over the Packers’ missed opportunities, I try to remind myself how lucky I am to have enjoyed two Super Bowl wins in my lifetime.

 

Mahomes is still 26 and has probably not peaked yet. Wilson, on the other hand, might start to draw more criticism now that he’s 32 and missing games. I always found it odd that he never gets the blame for their Super Bowl XLIX loss. Yes, they should have run the ball, but it was only second down and he threw an interception in the end zone.

[OldSchoolSnapper]

There's a video out there that goes into great detail dissecting that Wilson INT. The Patriots had run that exact play dozens of times on Butler in practice. There's practice video of him getting beat on it over and over, but in the game he corrected the first move he made and Browner jammed the other WR perfectly at the line.

 

Belichick was also originally going to call a timeout on that play, but he was watching Seattle's sideline and noted they were doing a lot of talking and seemed to be indecisive/chaotic about something. He then changed his mind and told the staff on mic not to call timeout, feeling that it was a bailout for Seattle and allowed them to settle down. Butler was also run on to the field at the last second; he wasn't part of the standard goal line defense but there was either an injury or a sub confusion that put him on the field.

[MrTPlush]

I am guessing it is largely because not a single person on the planet thought the Seahawks should have even been throwing the ball in that situation.

 

As miserable times have been for Wisconsin sports fans over the years I am seriously glad we don't have something like that to look back on. In my opinion that is easily the worst playcall in sports history and maybe the worst outcomes on a "last play" for a team ever.

[PinaMadness]

Zach Ertz has been traded to Arizona.

 

https://www.nfl.com/news/eagles-trade-te-zach-ertz-to-cardinals

[nate82]

That Cardinals team is stacked on the offensive side. I think Tampa is the only other team that has more talent on the offensive side of the ball.

[tmwiese55]

I am guessing it is largely because not a single person on the planet thought the Seahawks should have even been throwing the ball in that situation.

 

As miserable times have been for Wisconsin sports fans over the years I am seriously glad we don't have something like that to look back on. In my opinion that is easily the worst playcall in sports history and maybe the worst outcomes on a "last play" for a team ever.

 

This is way overblown. First, the clock and time. It was 2nd down with like 25 seconds left and one time out. By running on that down it very much runs the risk of you only being able to run one more play unless you call TO right away, which they would've. But then they would know you're throwing on 3rd down. Second, the personnel and set up on the field pointed to throwing. Problem was RW threw it too high combined with D making a great great play.

 

Good summary I quickly found: https://cacm.acm.org/blogs/blog-cacm/182941-why-the-pass-at-the-end-of-super-bowl-xlix-was-the-right-call/fulltext

[MrTPlush]

That is not true at all. Running on that play would have still given them another two plays and 3rd down would not have HAD to be a pass. If they failed on 2nd down they could have probably reset quickly and ran/passed fast on 3rd down. If they ran and it was short call the timeout. Maybe there is only 2-3 seconds....but it won't matter on 4th down.

 

Besides, saying they only had 25 seconds is totally ignoring the fact the Seahawks pissed away the clock...I am guessing so Brady pretty much couldn't do anything once/if he got the ball back. Lynch got 4/5 of the needed yards on first down. At that point there was over a minute remaining.

[tmwiese55]

Did you read the article? Yea the alternative would be to not worry about clock and just score right away after the 1st down run, theeeeen you open it up to "how did you leave Tom Brady 50 seconds(or whatever it was) on the clock you morons!!"

 

If you use your last timeout after 2nd down you can't run the ball because game is over after 3rd down then, so yes you had to pass. Going this route guaranteed them 3 plays instead of risk of only getting 2. It allowed them run/pass on all 3 downs without the D knowing which. No rushed scrambling in between plays either. Then, add in that they had 8 guys piled into the box expecting the classic pile everyone up and run straight forward. Don't get me wrong, I see the alternative route of keep it simple stupid, but to act like it was worst ever like some do is overblown since it follows all the correct game theory aspects.

 

As packers fans, think how often we ripped Mccarthy for piling everyone up and running into the gut and getting stuffed. Think the SEA NFC title game. What made GB so great at it last year was spreading it out. Piling 3 TEs and slamming into a pile of people doesn't work anywhere near this "lock" level of scoring like is implied in this play's discussion.

[adambr2]

Did you read the article? Yea the alternative would be to not worry about clock and just score right away after the 1st down run, theeeeen you open it up to "how did you leave Tom Brady 50 seconds(or whatever it was) on the clock you morons!!"

 

If you use your last timeout after 2nd down you can't run the ball because game is over after 3rd down then, so yes you had to pass. Going this route guaranteed them 3 plays instead of risk of only getting 2.

 

This seems like an enormous stretch. With 26 seconds left and 1 timeout from the 3 yard line you have ample time to run 3 plays. Even if the run is stuffed on 2nd down you can call timeout with 20 plus seconds left and map out your next two plays. You're probably going to pass on 3rd down but with everyone bunched in and receivers not downfield there's plenty of time for everyone to get back up to the line for 4th down.

 

Really with 26 seconds left you can even run the same dive play twice and still have time to burn your last timeout for 4th before the clock expires which is probably the ideal route in case you have a 10 second runoff penalty on 3rd.

[Fear The Chorizo]

I think the Seahawks ran that 1st and goal run with Lynch just assuming the Patriots would call timeout if they didn't let Lynch score (they had 2 TOs left themselves) to try and preserve the clock for a last ditch effort by Brady to drive down for what would be a game-tying FG opportunity. By the Patriots not calling timeout the Seahawks didn't have a play/plan immediately in mind and wound up trying to get cute by calling a pass on 2nd down to preserve their own timeout to give them an option to either run or pass on 3rd down, if necessary. The forced themselves into a somewhat predictable playcall that the Patriots took a gamble on and jumped the route - at least enough of that defense did for Butler to make that play.

 

The Seahawks spent most of the break that I think was a replay review of that Kearse catch celebrating the play and not figuring out a game plan for the goal to go situation - they would've been much better off just going with the idea of two called runs on 1st and 2nd down without taking a timeout. Those plays could've both been run by the time the running clock reached 25 seconds, and had the Pats stuffed Lynch the Seahawks call timeout and then have a 3rd down pass and 4th down run/pass option to still try to punch it in.

 

Credit Butler for making a great sell out play to make that pick on 2nd and goal - but the Seahawks really bungled that situation letting 30 seconds of clock run off for nothing and then still not running the ball on 2nd down. When a team needs a touchdown to tie or take the lead at the end of a game, I think that team should never get cute with clock management and let time just burn off assuming that score is inevitable - or to be worried about what the opposing team could do with less than a minute remaining on offense if a FG at the end of regulation can't beat you. A false start or injury happening would force either a ten second runoff or a team to burn a timeout.

[OldSchoolSnapper]

Yeah sorry, but, you're at the 1 or 2 yard line with the best bruiser in the league. It's the Super Bowl. You run it in. It's lunacy, or trying way too hard to be the genius of the hour to do anything else.

 

Disagree on the clock though. I'm absolutely running that time off just like they did. They just bungled the play at the end.

[MrTPlush]

Running all the time off would have been brilliant…had they just simply run the ball in for a TD with 20 seconds left. I’m kinda surprised the Patriots didn’t burn their timeouts. Of course in the end it looked genius as the Seahawks scrambled around and somehow found themselves throwing the ball.

 

One of the craziest things about that end was the fact the Seahawks still had a prayer after the INT. The Patriots were so backed up against the goal line there was legitimate concern of a safety. Of course some dude jumped offsides and that sealed the deal.