Official NFL 2022-2023 Thread

[surfergirl]

Chargers should try to hire Kliff Kingsbury for their OC. If they don't there's a good chance he will end up with his star pupil(Patrick Mahomes)in Kansas City. That should scare the Cargers into at least trying.

[timwat]

Yeah, I know. It's the career upgrade path, and what OCs and DCs are working for - their season in the spotlight / paycheck.

[GovernorSilver]

7 minutes ago, timwat said:

Yeah, I know. It's the career upgrade path, and what OCs and DCs are working for - their season in the spotlight / paycheck.

 

But "pluck from the Kyle Shanahan tree" does not necessarily mean hiring a current Niners assistant coach, if your worry is losing a favorite WR or QB coach or something like that.

 

It could be anybody who worked for Kyle in the past but might be in another organization at the moment.

 

This will probably happen more because NFL orgs have finally wised up to the Bill Belichick tree being an unreliable source for coaching hires.

[GovernorSilver]

16 minutes ago, surfergirl said:

Chargers should try to hire Kliff Kingsbury for their OC. If they don't there's a good chance he will end up with his star pupil(Patrick Mahomes)in Kansas City. That should scare the Cargers into at least trying.

 

He bought a one-way ticket to Thailand and has turned down teams showing interest.  Can't say I blame him

 

https://www.foxnews.com/sports/recently-fired-head-coach-bought-one-way-ticket-thailand-turning-down-job-offers-report

[ProfD]

1 hour ago, GovernorSilver said:

But "pluck from the Kyle Shanahan tree" does not necessarily mean hiring a current Niners assistant coach, if your worry is losing a favorite WR or QB coach or something like that.

Yep. I was cosigning your earlier comment about the 49ers tree.😁

 

I also agree with plucking from the Shanahan tree extended or directly.

 

Same goes for the HC Sean McVay tree. There may be fruit left on it or hanging out in Minnesota, Cleveland or Cincinnati. 

 

Nowadays, OCs have to call a game that keeps these smart, fast and athletic defensive players on their heels.😎

[bill5]

18 hours ago, KenElevenShadows said:

 

Yeah, I think you're right, the 49ers should be able to handle them without making it close. 

Key word, "should." The 49ers struggled early against an inferior Seahawk team and as nice as the Purdy story is he's still a low-rent rook and the bubble could burst any time. The playoffs, I assume nothing.

 

My HOPE is that it's the Bills against the Eagles or 49ers, and between them and KC it should be some combo of that, but who knows. 

 

[KenElevenShadows]

Assume nothing. Absolutely. That's why they play the games.

 

I like KC, but I'm okay with the Bills too against the Eagles or 49ers. Any of those combinations would be good.

 

That KC-Bills playoff game last year was amazing.

[MikeT156]

The Bills have been mistake prone, they've been playing sloppy. KC or the Bengals would probably be a better SB team for the AFC.

 

 

[GovernorSilver]

Staley confirmed in his press conference that he wants to hire an OC out of the McVay/Shanahan coaching tree.

 

Don't panic, Niners fans.  The tree is so big now that only a portion of it is still in SF.

[ProfD]

2 hours ago, MikeT156 said:

The Bills have been mistake prone, they've been playing sloppy. KC or the Bengals would probably be a better SB team for the AFC.

At the beginning of the season, the Bills were projected to reach the Super Bowl.  Now, they have a *story* to complete the narrative. 

 

The Bills going to the Super Bowl and winning it would redeem Jim Kelly, Thurman Thomas and Scott Norwood. 

 

It would speak to resilience of Buffalo as a football city.  Then, there is the loyalty of the Bills mafia who never gave up on their team as they endured those losing season while munching on Buffalo wings in the cold.  

 

The Chiefs only go to the Super Bowl this year as a consolation.  First, they left their offense in KC and allowed QB Tom Brady to win his last Super Bowl ring. 

 

Then, by way of *losing* in the 2nd half of the championship game to the Bengals last year, the Chiefs gave QB Matthew Stafford a chance to win a Super Bowl ring to cement his Hall of Fame status. 

 

The Bengals will not be going back to the Super Bowl this year because QB Joe Burrow has several years left in the tank. He'll get back to the Super Bowl and win a ring before hanging up his cleats too.  

 

The 49ers will reach the Super Bowl with a 3rd string QB.  I still think the Bills will hoist the Lombardi trophy because they have the better *story* and a future Hall of Fame QB.😁😎

 

 

[bill5]

2 hours ago, MikeT156 said:

The Bills have been mistake prone, they've been playing sloppy. KC or the Bengals would probably be a better SB team for the AFC.

Bengals have been as bad if not worse than the Bills. I will be surprised if it's not KC vs SF or PHI. 

[MikeT156]

Nah, the Bengals have more weapons. The Bills depend on Allen to do everything to win games. We all know that if a team doesn't have a good/great QB they will not get to the SB unless their Defense is in the top 5 of the league and gets a lot of turn overs. The competition is so great in the NFL it's difficult for teams to run away scores of games. The Vikings won a lot of one score games but their QB was unable to win the game for them. He's not in the top 5 QB's in the league. Look what happened to Wentz playing for the Commanders. He threw 3 PICS and got benched. Wentz makes some nice throws but too many of them were to the other team So How about the Chargers? They wee up 27-0 at half time but still lost. Go figure. 

 

The Bengals have a team that's been together for a year of experience that they didn't have last year. They had a softer schedule last year and were able to get to the SB. I don't know that they are the best team in the League, but they are on a 8 or 9 game winning streak, anyone can win now.

[GovernorSilver]

47 minutes ago, MikeT156 said:

Nah, the Bengals have more weapons. The Bills depend on Allen to do everything to win games. We all know that if a team doesn't have a good/great QB they will not get to the SB unless their Defense is in the top 5 of the league and gets a lot of turn overs. The competition is so great in the NFL it's difficult for teams to run away scores of games. The Vikings won a lot of one score games but their QB was unable to win the game for them. He's not in the top 5 QB's in the league. Look what happened to Wentz playing for the Commanders. He threw 3 PICS and got benched. Wentz makes some nice throws but too many of them were to the other team So How about the Chargers? They wee up 27-0 at half time but still lost. Go figure. 

 

 

The Chargers never had the offense or defense to generate a runaway score against anyone at any point of the 2022 NFL season.    That 27-0 score was a mirage, really.  20 of those points were handed to the Chargers on a silver platter by Trevor Lawrence and the Jaguars.

 

The offense was always hamstrung by an unimaginative offensive coordinator, who in Detroit was so predictable, opposing defenders would laughingly call out what play the offense was about to run, before the snap... yet the Chargers still hired him.  

 

The defense had decent talent but could never field all of it at the same time.   One of the newer talents though was probably a bust - a case of the GM signing him without thinking too deeply about how good of a fit he'd be in Staley's 1.5 gap system or whatever it's called.

[bill5]

I don't look at teams on paper, I look at the latest reality check on the field, that's what counts, and the Bengals have looked half-ass just like the Bills have. They should be tearing it up, but they aren't; they're both stumbling. If - I say if - they play up to their talent level, yes either could waltz right on to glory. But they don't seem to be trending that way. This weekend should be interesting. I just hope the games continue to be mostly good games

[ProfD]

25 minutes ago, bill5 said:

Bengals have looked half-ass just like the Bills...I just hope the games continue to be mostly good games

I think we're going to get a full azz of football between the Bengals/Bills this weekend. 🤣😎

[MikeT156]

 

Don't forget about injuries. One of the reasons Tampa Bay won the SB 3 years ago is Brady assembled an all star cast of players to add to a good team and they were healthy most of the season. Since then some players retired, some took a better offer, and 3 years later, players like Fournette wasn't as fast and didn't have the same O line. Father time wins in the end.

 

Some of you guys just don't like the Bengals. They were Lucky last year and probably won't be so lucky this year. They can't sneak up on anyone. They also got a FREE TD even though there was a BIG face mask that was not called.

 

Lighten up you guys, its not life or death.

[bill5]

23 minutes ago, MikeT156 said:

Don't forget about injuries. One of the reasons Tampa Bay won the SB 3 years ago is Brady assembled an all star cast of players to add to a good team and they were healthy most of the season.

Props; most people conveniently ignore that and act like Brady did it all himself. Also the Chief's starting left OT was out, and that's one of the most important players on a team.

 

Quote

Lighten up you guys, its not life or death.

? Who are you talking to? I don't see anyone acting like it is in the least

 

[GovernorSilver]

Oh yeah as soon as they said Eric Fisher went down I knew that Mahomme's blind side protection was gone, and the Chiefs offense with it in that Super Bowl.

[ProfD]

The Pittsburgh Steelers are keeping OC Matt Canada around for next season. I thought his seat would have been on fire.

 

Detroit Lions OC Ben Johnson is staying put and he has requested teams remove him from consideration for their head coaching vacancies.

 

Earlier rumors had the Bucs firing OC Byron Leftwich. HC Todd Bowles hasn't made that decision yet. 

 

A year ago, talking heads had OC Leftwich on track to becoming a HC. That train may have derailed after this season. 

 

The Cardinals have hired a new GM. The Browns have hired DC Jim Schwartz. Teams are actively making moves towards next season already.😎

[bill5]

That's the thing about the "NFL season" it never truly ends. After the SB you have the combine, coaching moves, then free agency, then the draft, then training camp news, and before you know it it's pre-season.

[MikeT156]

Tampa Bay doesn't have the team they had 3 years ago. They had an All Star Team with the exception of Brown how was the ALL A hole of the last decade that finally walked out in the middle of the game. Good riddance.  He even had the GAUL to criticized Tom Brady, even after no other team would touch him. Gisele even made him breakfast.

 

What are the Vegas odds that Brown will be FLAT BROKE within the next year?

 

I thought that Canada would be gone too. Its difficult to get fired when you're on Mike Tomlin's staff. Sometimes the front office steps in like when Joey Porter wss fired.

[ProfD]

12 hours ago, bill5 said:

That's the thing about the "NFL season" it never truly ends. After the SB you have the combine, coaching moves, then free agency, then the draft, then training camp news, and before you know it it's pre-season.

True.  NFL business keeps going even when no games are being played. 

 

2 hours ago, MikeT156 said:

Tampa Bay doesn't have the team they had 3 years ago.

There is no excuse for not shoring up the holes that were left in the team for whatever reason. 

 

The main job of the front office personnel and scouts who do not suit up and take the field is to find players. 

 

I'm sure the suits still collected their salaries while the team was in need of players on both sides of the ball.

 

The Los Angeles Rams probably had the worst meltdown of any team after winning a Super Bowl.  

2 hours ago, MikeT156 said:

I thought that Canada would be gone too. Its difficult to get fired when you're on Mike Tomlin's staff. Sometimes the front office steps in like when Joey Porter was fired.

That's just it.  Several OCs have been fired already whose job performance was similar to that of Matt Canada. 

 

If HC Tomlin could not protect Joey Porter, same goes for Canada. The front office must have been sold on the belief that Canada just needs a few more pieces to make his offense more efficient.😎

[GovernorSilver]

Chargers fired their LB coach.    Apparently it was because the D-line did the heavy lifting on the run defense - if an RB got past them, the LBs couldn't stop him.

 

Any defense needs 7 guys up front to do their job to be any good against the run, whether it's 5 DL and 2LBs, traditional 4-3 lineup, etc.  So if just 2 of those 7 guys are not doing their jobs, a good RB can bust a nice long run.

 

I complained before about LB Kenneth Murray being a bust, but his lightbulb switched on in the 2nd half of the season.  Now it looks like he improved on his own, not because of the guidance of his LB coach.  So what does that say about the quality of instruction from the LB coach?

 

Scratch Wes Phillips off the list of OC candidates.  He turned the Chargers down to stay with Kevin O'Connell and the Vikings.   At the very least, he would have been able to call plays as the Chargers OC, while O'Connell calls the offensive plays himself for the Vikings.   

 

But there are other candidates.  Most likely the new Charger OC will be someone who is not an OC right now, because lateral moves are rare in the NFL - probably a QB/WR/RB coach working under another OC.

[MikeT156]

Sometime replacing players is not as easy as 'Next man up". When WATT was injured, that was a key defensive player out of the line up It was the most difficult schedule of the early season and the Steelers got stepped on. We had other injuries to key players and with the aid of a lighter schedule were able to develop players like Warren to help on the running game and give Harris a break. Remember the Salary Cap. Look at what the 50 million Cap for Rogers did in Green Bay.

 

Mitch couldn't work with Canada's Play calling and he was trying to keep his job so he took too many check downs, threw interceptions and got benched.

The Steelers started to get better as players came off injures and had an lighter schedule.

Fill me in on how the Commanders fix their problems as they develop. If they can improve the offense I believe they will get into the playoffs.

[ProfD]

1 hour ago, MikeT156 said:

Sometime replacing players is not as easy as 'Next man up". 

49ers HC Kyle Shanahan did not get that memo.🤣

 

The 49ers 3rd string QB has gone from Mr. Irrelevant in the draft to playing better than most 1st and 2nd string QBs this season. 

 

Sure.  Next man up does not replace a future Hall of Famer.  But, they should be able to execute their assignments on the field.

 

Coaches get paid to make adjustments from putting the right players on the field to switching up their play calls in order to get the most of out the talent on the field.

 

I'll mention again that in the NFL, the drop off between an All-Pro player and the next man up should not be so significant that a team cannot overcome it.

 

Star players do make a difference on the field but it takes more than one player or coach to make football team good or bad.

 

The Commanders took a step in the right direction by firing their OC.  The team has several good players.  They need better leadership on both sides of the ball.

 

Look no further than the teams currently in the playoffs.  The Jags and Giants are basically the same team they were last year.  The only differences are new head coaches and staff and a couple free agents who were not All-Pro.

 

The current NFL team parity shows that winning is not that difficult. It's all about making the right adjustments. 😎

[MikeT156]

I agree with what you posted in principal. But 1st string players are better than guys on the Practice squad for a reason. Occasionally a guy that wasn't even drafted gets to play and make a difference. Warren is one of those players. There have been players the Steelers drafted that didn't work out, it happens on every team. There are only a few great QB on a few teams that are way better than the other QBs. Backup players have to to be able to jump in and play on a high level or they won't have a job. I get it.

 

Do the commanders have their sights set on a new guy of OC?

[ProfD]

20 minutes ago, MikeT156 said:

I agree with what you posted in principal. But 1st string players are better than guys on the Practice squad for a reason. Occasionally a guy that wasn't even drafted gets to play and make a difference.

 

Do the commanders have their sights set on a new guy of OC?

You're making my point.  The water gets murky when trying to decipher the levels of talent. 

 

1st round draft picks have been busts.  6th round draft picks have won Super Bowls.  Undrafted players have become 1st string players  Some 1st string players have been relegated to the practice squad.  

 

That's the hard part of the job for coaches and front office personnel.  Supposedly, they scout players to figure that out.

 

The Commanders have interviewed several candidates for the OC position. 

 

I hope the Commanders consider recently fired Bucs OC Byron Leftwich who's from Washington DC.😎

[MikeT156]

The Bucs fired Byron Leftwich! Wasn't he the OC when they won the SUPER BOWL 3 years ago? Most of the other coordinators resigned

 

UNFAIR. They lost a lot of players from the SB Team, other players retired and Brady didn't have enough protection. Their running game was not working

 

So its the coaches fault?

 

[GovernorSilver]

Dang, full on house cleaning in Tampa

https://www.tampabay.com/sports/bucs/2023/01/19/bucs-fire-offensive-coordinator-byron-leftwich/

 

Only 2 assistants kept their jobs.  Everyone else fired or retired.  Clyde Christiansen was OC in the final years of Tony Dungy's regime.

 

Bowles also said that Brady takes up so much cap space, they can't bring in any help through free agency.

[GovernorSilver]

From this author's POV, Leftwich was the fall guy.   Their front office failed to restock the offensive line after the departure of key players.   

 

https://andscape.com/features/with-the-buccaneers-byron-leftwich-is-cast-as-the-fall-guy/

 

Even the Reid-Bienemy brain trust or Kyle Shanahan and his stuff would not have much luck generating points with an OL as diminished as that.    Can't polish a turd.