The Super Bowl is here. The NFL has masterfully navigated a global pandemic to deliver a full season.
There have been challenges along the way. It feels like a lifetime ago since the initial outbreak in Tennessee, followed by the issues in Baltimore.
At the time there was plenty of talk about cancelling the season or needing extra bye weeks. Reaching the playoffs and seeing them pass through uneventfully felt like a total long shot — yet that is what happened.
So it’s surprising that given the league did such a good job getting football on for 2020 — that they’re doing such a confusing job regarding the NFL draft.
They’ve cancelled the combine. For some reason they’re quite capable of creating protocols for 32 teams and thousands of individuals to co-operate for a football season — yet the challenge of creating a comparatively tiny bubble for a few hundred people over the course of a week is a step too far.
Thus, the NFL has washed its hands of creating a safe, managed environment where full testing and medicals can be delivered — only to push the problem onto the college teams.
Now schools are scrambling to create pro-days. In some circumstances, such as on the west coast, teams are considering putting on pro-days in different states.
How safe are these pro-days going to be, compared to a carefully managed environment at Lucas Oil Field? Why force teams and players to potentially travel all around the country for pro-days, when the combine is one venue over one week?
And while the likes of Alabama and Ohio State will be just fine — what are the smaller schools going to do? How will they manage?
Jim Nagy and his Senior Bowl crew have just completed a week in Mobile where thousands of people were tested — with only one positive result:
Grateful to announce there was only one positive Covid test out of 3,635 administered tests during 2021 Reese’s Senior Bowl week. All players and NFL team personnel submitted a negative test within 48 hours of arrival and were tested every day in Mobile. 🙏 pic.twitter.com/XCdeM3kwiV
— Jim Nagy (@JimNagy_SB) January 30, 2021
The Senior Bowl was a major success story. It was an example of what can be achieved through planning and preparation.
Yet we’re led to believe the NFL couldn’t put on a similar event in Indianapolis with the same level of testing and precaution.
Instead, the buck is passed to the college teams. Travel away, scouts. Go and get the information you need at several different locations instead of one.
What exactly is the plan here? How is this approach safer than a micro-managed combine?
Is it a money thing?
Is it aesthetics?
Wouldn’t it take one press release to break down why a combine would be safer than a series of more-important-than-ever pro-days?
And what are the consequences for the players? Are they now under pressure to attend a pro-day, regardless of the circumstances? Are they going to see their prospects hampered by an inability to test on a level playing field?
Surely the sensible thing to do is to delay the draft until the summer? Allow for the vaccine to be administered across the country and hopefully see cases fall. Perhaps even work to get players vaccinated in advance of the event?
That way the teams get a full run at the draft process. They can get the information they require to make educated decisions.
The players will have a true and proper opportunity to impress.
The league can have a serious draft instead of a shot in the dark.
It won’t happen because it seems like the NFL likes the little window it has in April when the eyes of the world focus on a fantastic event that captures the imagination of so many fans and dominates the headlines.
These are unique times though — and some adjustment is necessary.
The NFL deserves praise for the way it has provided a full 2020 season.
But the next big challenge is already here. What on earth is going on with the salary cap, with many teams in dire straits ahead of the new league year? And how do you intend to put on a draft when testing and medical checks are going to be harder than ever — with schools around the country under immense pressure to put on pro-days?
A small delay could make a big difference.
The alternative is to simply host a carefully managed combine with strict protocols. Sadly, it appears that ship has sailed.
The best thing the NFL could do is pick up the phone, call Jim Nagy and seek advice on how to put on a successful event in the current climate.
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Meh…
Do you care to explain ‘meh’ in more detail?
A lot of the nba players complained about their bubble. Baseball players too. Even some nfl players commented about the mundane personal life during the season. I can only imagine the NFL doesn’t want to deal with it all. The players would have to be cleared and trusted to isolate before arrival which would take a week, and then during the combine too. I get it, where there’s a will there’s a way, I think there should be a combine too. I’m sure Roger is more concerned with public relations and what coaches are hired and not demonstrating the wealth and power the NFL has when so many don’t have those opportunities. Who knows
For one week???
You’d think they’d just do it. I can’t think of any good reasons to not.
A quick test kit costs $5. How many people are @combine? 2.000? Let’s say 5.000.
Having daily access testing costs up to $200.000. The NFL can afford this.
My apologies for being a bit OT here, but I heard a podcast yesterday with Chris Collingsworth and he said that PFF currently has 600 employees and is quickly on its way to over 1,000.
Personally, I found that jaw-dropping. It’s amazing they’ve been able to monetize this process to this degree.
.
Congrats to them. It’s been an impressive rise, even if you find their stuff to be a bit hit and miss.
Their model is the future. People cutting out the middle man and paying for a service directly, without the need for traditional media to pedal it.
The fact people are willing to support PFF and pay for their content is encouraging. Although I suppose they also have the support of NBC and the NFL behind them.
Do you think you have a good enough connection to Jim after having interviewed him a couple years to toss the idea out there to him and see if he hasn’t thought of proposing something similar to the league?
He seems to really care about getting the prospects the best chance to succeed, and I’m sure he’d jump at the chance to help both those who attended the Senior Bowl and so many others.
Huge side benefit as well for his and the Senior Bowl’s image in the eyes of future prospects…
I can tweet at him I guess, but it’s not the same.
(Reply fail; new topic…)
No and I wouldn’t want anyone tweeting Jim about it either. He should be commended for putting on a superb Senior Bowl. But it’s up to the league to learn from it and make a decision. They won’t go back on a cancelled combine now. Which is a shame. I wish they’d simply made a better decision a few weeks ago.
NFL missing another huge opportunity to assert their dominance over the other pro sports in the US.
The NHL and NBA are badly struggling with COVID protocols, the MLB is having its typical squabble with their players over the structure of the season and playoffs.
Meanwhile the NFL is getting tons of pub. The NY times article on the Seahawks, and they’re set to host its crowning achievement today, and could easily keep the momentum going with ‘the combine is only x weeks away!’ and take the other league’s knees out from under them.
Much more in favor of holding the combine in the controlled environment necessary (and I’m sure desired by all involved) than delaying the draft to summer.
Me too.
But the NFL doesn’t seem to even be considering it
Though the NFL’s salary cap is not expected to be officially set until next month, league sources believe it will be roughly $180-$181 million. Throughout the past season, many expected it to be around $175 million, but it now is projected to come in slightly higher, per sources.
Risk management is about liability, is my guess. College athletes aren’t covered by whatever liability insurance the NFL has, and risk management lawyers are absurdly risk averse, up to and including hamstringing even the slightest common sense. I know, the Senior Bowl happened and your arguments about that are totally sensible, but risk management lawyers are bureaucrats not much different from public sector bureaucrats. Signed, someone who has to deal with that crap in academia.
That’s an interesting point but one I imagine that could be solved by a waiver process prior to taking part.
Unfortunately I’m generally cynical about the bureaucratic imagination.
I wonder if the Seahawks, with their high protocol grade, would consider running a regional combine.
Schefter just said on NFL Gameday Morning that teams have called about trading for Russ, “no interest, of course”.
Interesting that they called.
Interesting that someone wanted it known that teams have called…
Indeed.
And JLC essentially speculating that a massive honking offer is forthcoming.
A know-nothing reading of the tea leaves:
Feels like a subtle counterstrike to RW’s press conference at the end of the season.
“OK, we got you an OC you like. We have a season to figure how this works out. If you’re still not happy, there’s options.”
We got an OC that RW likes?
https://twitter.com/710ESPNSeattle/status/1354867086728646656
Chris Wesseling is no more. R.I.P he was great person and had good football knowledge.
https://www.nfl.com/news/nfl-com-writer-podcaster-chris-wesseling-dies-at-age-46
The NCAA basketball tournament is going to use Lucas Oil Stadium for 3 consecutive weeks beginning the week of March 15. They are setting up for 2 courts and that will take some logistics, likely too close for a combine and perhaps a convenient “out” for the NFL even though they surely could have found an alternative venue to do exactly as you propose. Surprising, considering the $$ they stand to lose for not having the event.
It does appear that the “NFL Draft Remains On Schedule” train has left the station and shows no signs of slowing down. I’m assuming it has more to do with TV ratings than anything else (it’s in a dead period after March Madness ends on April 5, and before NBA playoff season begins on May 18, ending July 22).
Assuming the league sticks to its guns for whatever reason – no combine, a scattering of pro days, draft on schedule – I wonder if teams are going to either consciously or unconsciously discount the following more than usual:
– small school candidates
– big school candidates with checkered injury histories
Maybe it means some really talented guys slip in the draft and make themselves available at #56 overall. Then again, John and Pete rolled the dice on Darrell Taylor last year, traded up to do it, and got zero to show for it. So maybe they will be as gun-shy on injury risk as anyone else this year.
So I can see a few factors in the NFL’s decision regarding the combine/draft process
1. College kids are going to be the last ones to get vaccinated since they have the lowest mortality rate.
2. Currently there is only one vaccine being administered in the US and two other vaccines are still going through trial phases, one which is in phase 3 and one which is in phase 2, and the timeline is unknown of when these vaccines will be ready for the public
3. The NFL doesn’t have the power to apply discipline if the college prospects did break COVID protocols if they did set up a “bubble” for the combine. What’s the NFL going to do, ban someone from not getting drafted?
Now if the college prospects signed a contract agreeing to follow proposed rules in exchange for having a combine, that may be a direction the NFL might go with, but could they get through all the legal barriers in a timely manner. Another idea could be to have regional “bubble” combines to take pressure off colleges of doing pro-days, but again you would probably need that contract for prospects to agree to in order for it to take shape, but it would be easier for small school kids to have the spotlight on them.
Test players days before the combine, create a bubble, those who test positive can’t participate.
It just can’t be said enough. The NFL, from Roger Goodell down to the lower ends of teams’ staff deserve major credit for pulling off a full schedule amidst Covid-19. If I had had to bet, gun to head, 10,000 dollars of my own money last August on whether or not the NFL would make it through a full schedule, I would have taken the under, as in no. I would have lost.
Considering the amount of personnel involved, the travel lengths, the incalculable amount of things that could have gone wrong…it was kind of a minor miracle. And thank heaven for that. With so little to do, life being as stagnant as it’s been for so many, we needed as much quality entertainment as we could get.
OK…
https://twitter.com/JasonLaCanfora/status/1358521575654502402
The media talk around Wilson never goes away.
And another…
https://www.google.ca/amp/s/profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2021/02/07/report-seattle-has-received-calls-about-a-possible-russell-wilson-trade/amp/
I mean, it’s normal they ask. If I were Las Vegas I would also ask about Watson, Rodgers and Mahomes. As long as the answer is “no”, nothing to worry about. It would be a really bad move to trade Wilson now.
I didn’t know about the NFL draft and combine, if Jim Nagy managed to organize Senior Bowl so successfully, NFL should be able to do the same. If the teams aren’t created conditions for an informed draft, I’m also for postponing.
Not overly unexpected. Between the dialogue in the media (Cowherd the loudest due to his relationship with R3), the failings to advance in the playoffs the last four years and the uncertain future of the cap, it makes sense to pick up the phone and at least listen to the offers for any of your players when another team calls. He has a no trade clause that I only see him waiving if certain criteria meshes with his vision for his brand. How will this move benefit my ambitions off the field and how much closer does it get me to winning another championship(s). At the end of the day, I just don’t see anyone giving up the kind of haul it would take to trade for a top 5 QB still in his prime.
For the Saints and Raiders, who JLC has linked today, it would have to be something insane because they are picking later in R!. It would also presumably need to include a QB alternative which the Raiders have (Carr, Mariota) but the Saints don’t.
You’re right, I’m not sure there’s a pathway to a deal there. Unless, of course, Sean Payton is so aggressive that he doesn’t fancy the idea of a 2-3 year rebuild.
The only way I see the Saints enticing PC/JS is if the deal starts with Marshon Lattimore, Andrus Peat, and then their 1st round pick this year and a first or second next based on performance escalators for R3. It checks all the boxes for the Seahawks but not sure at that point if Loomis and Payton want to push all their chips in at that cost. The Raiders make more sense in having a QB to swap and the willingness to move picks plus the fact Mr. Bowl Cut is just dying to get out of his father’s shadow. Plus of all the draft pundits back in the day, Gruden was one of the few that openly applauded the selection of Russell. He also needs to make the playoffs and begin to justify that ridiculous contract he signed as well.
What do you make of this Rob?
I honestly don’t know anymore…I thought the trade stuff was going to vanish with Waldron becoming OC. Perhaps…there’s a bit more mutual “time to part” than we previously thought?
I think it’s a clash of ideology that won’t shift until Carroll has retired.
And given he’s seemingly tied to Seattle for another 4-5 years, I suspect Wilson is very much keeping his options open.
I believe it’ll get even louder next offseason after yet another WC or divisional round playoff exit. Love to be wrong about that prediction of course.
I would absolutely listen to offers and if you can get a kings ransom I would absolutely do it.
Why can’t we trade Wilson for Watson?
The way the Texan’s structured Watson’s contract is prohibitive for one and two, you’d ideally want back multiple assests when trading a franchise quarterback in his prime ie, draft picks, quality players on rookie contracts or a combination of the two.
“On Saturday night during the NFL Honors ceremony, Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson finally took home some hardware in the form of the Walter Payton Man of the Year award. ”
Just get the MVP award someday and he will have the trifecta.
SB Trophy, MoY and MVP*
The newest members of the Pro Football Hall of Fame are guard ALAN FANECA, coach TOM FLORES, wide receiver CALVIN JOHNSON, safety JOHN LYNCH, quarterback PEYTON MANNING, contributor BILL NUNN, wide receiver DREW PEARSON and cornerback/safety CHARLES WOODSON.
oh yeah, this happened yesterday as well. I’m a bit surprised “Megatron” made it… his career was brief and bright.
hahahaha what the heck…?
https://twitter.com/thecheckdown/status/1358514426136076288
fRaNk cLArk hASen’T bEen VeRy goOd fOr KC
Yeah where’s all those people saying earlier in the season about KC having buyers remorse?
Bet they’re absolutely kicking themselves, consistently watching big Frank get sacks in the Super Bowl in consecutive years…
We trade away an elite pro bowl edge rusher we drafted and developed because we did not want to pay him then trade away the farm for the right to sign a Safety to rush the passer. Makes sense.
3 sacks in the last two AFCCG’s also.
Brady just stood in the pocket for about a year before the last TD to Gronk. Frank Clark and his stellar 54.3 PFF grade couldn’t get to him on that one.
Yeah it’s all Frank’s fault, clearly.
Bloody Clark not creating pressure on every snap.
Not every play. But when you invest $34 mil on two guys on your DL, you kinda have to expect them to take over games. The only guy it seemed on that team to not get the memo to let Tampa just have their way was Mathieu. The NFL has to do something about the consistency of their officiating as well because it’ll affect the sellability of the product down the road. (I openly acknowledge I didn’t even watch the game. My opinion is solely from the box score statistics and situational play analysis).
It’s pretty hard for a pass rusher to ‘take over a game’ when you’re chasing the game.
He hasn’t been good. I don’t know how one can objectively argue otherwise. It’s laughable to think our defense would be better if we were paying Clark 20+ million a year for his average performance.
You’re right, we were a lot better off with LJ Collier, Benson Mayowa, Jacob Hollister, Greg Olsen and BJ Finney instead for around $20 mil.
Why limit yourself to 1 impact player when you have none?
Interesting how you left Damien Lewis and Alton Robinson off that list, who were two of the three players we got from the Clark trade. Huh.
Well, not sure about Seattle, but KC paid him $6.5m in 2019, and $19.5m in 2020.
Yeah, I hated when Seattle’s sack percentage was superior with Clark allowing them to blitz 18% of the time.
Far better to spend what they have on the 2020 unit, to blitz 36% of the time and have a weaker sack percentage.
That’s winning football…
Frank Clark might not be a consistently “great ” player, but he sure has the knack of playing great in big moments.
Sure, we did trade away franchise DE.
White…making plays Wagner used to make.
Speed at LB is essential.
Gooooo Chiefs 😉
To be a fly on the wall for that Goodell/Russ convo
Yes…two outstanding conversationalists.
They weren’t talking. Ciara and Goodell were.
Russ was staring at the field with a forlorn look in his eyes.
He probably hates the thought of either of these QBs winning another Super Bowl.
Goodell: Russ, I will get you another ring if you request a trade the Jets. We need another big market.
Russ:
Ciara: I have to sing the halftime show.
Goodell:
Goodell: “Hey Russ, you know that there’s a middle of the field right?”
Russ: “Yes sir 120 yards x 53 and a 3rd”
Goodell: “and you know that you have outlets and you don’t have to hold the ball so long waiting for a deep shot”
Russ: “yep separation is in the preparation”
Goodell: “and even though Metcalf is facing Ramsey and Patrick Peterson it’s ok to still try to throw to him”
Russ: “no time to sleep boss”
Glad Russ made it to Super Bowl. Wish could have taken Pete along.
Meltdown and a bit of one sided reffing
Yes Phil Simms and Nate both mentioned the officiating as being ticky tack if you will and intimated it was one sided. I notice good ol Bill Cowher didn’t say a word. Wonder why?
Yeah I hate to say it, bit I think that Superbowl loss still bothers me more than the loss to the Patriots.
Oh me too, and by a long long way. Seattle lost 49 fair and square so to speak. That was not the case in 40.
I think most of all the calls were legit, other than the fact that it looked like at least one, if not two of the PI calls were pretty un-catchable balls.
KC has just mistaked their way into a hole so far. It’s on them.
The injury to KC’s left tackle is coming into play. TB has been exploiting it.
It’s Mahome or bust now…
Oh boy.. Kansas defense chokes and TB defense steps up… time for Mahomes magic.
One ugly day for KC. Much tougher with your two starting OT’s out. Tampa beating KC badly on both sides of the ball.
I can’t believe I’m saying this, but what a god-awful boring game so far.
How much would fournette cost us?
Far less than Jamal Adams.
Lol who wouldn’t cost less….
Adams, Sigh…..
Note to self: whenever you are predicting the outcome of a Super Bowl (or wagering it) take the team with the better defense. You would think I would know that after Super Bowl 48.
Mahomes looks mortal with an o-line that plays like seattle’s
Number of penalties, especially against KC makes it unwatchable. Thought they let them play in SB always.
This really reminds me of Denver v Seattle. Tampa has playmakers everywhere on defense. Young and hungry and talented.
Trenches.
Exactly what I’ve been thinking all night long.
Leonard Williams. Brandon Scherff. Invest.
More important to pay the 45th ranked Safety?
Patrick “the half million dollar man” Mahomes loses to the GOAT…oh how sweet it is!
*billion
Lol
Boring, boring, boring game. KC shot themselves in the foot the whole first half, and then their game plan became increasingly predictable, and Mahomes never had a chance.
TB dominated the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball. They protected Brady, and ran over the KC front from about the 2nd quarter on.
Boring, boring, boring game. The only people who weren’t bored were TB fans and people who put a bunch of money down on TB to beat the spread.
My takeaway from this Super Bowl is an aggressive, focused off-season can lead to great things.
A mixture of passive to fix key needs, then too aggressive and frankly desperate in other ways — is not a recipe to be repeated this year.
That should never be the recipe. But it seems to have become a rut Pete and John have settled into. Hopefully they can break out of it this year.
I’ll give the Hawks the benefit of the doubt for now. It will become pretty clear pretty fast what their MO is. How they handle the offensive philosophy, and what they decide to do with Adams and Wagner will go a long way towards revealing their hand.
I don’t see any reason to give them the benefit of the doubt. They haven’t had a great off-season for eight years.
But you’re right — they’ve got a month to get their ducks in a row. One way or another they need to create cap space and/or draft picks. So we’ll see what happens.
At the very least, they need money/CAP space. Draft capital would sure be nice. It’s just about resources and flexibility. They just don’t have much of either now, as you and most around here know.
If they think they’re just a tinker here and there and some luck in the draft and FAcy from getting back to the SB, that will become clear soon enough.
We’re just going to have to wait and see. A new OC isn’t quite enough for me now.
If they take that approach, we’ll be having the same conversation in 12 months time that we seem to have been having since the reset.
I tend to agree with you.
If you’re offensive line sucks, you suck. If you’re defense gets pushed around, you suck. Don’t suck in the trenches.
Just think what that 18 per Pete’s gonna spend on Adams could do if invested properly.
Mahomes, Wilson, Rodgers & Brees are still log jammed at one ring apiece!
It must be hard looking up to Eli. Haha
Or Jim Plunkett.
Why’d you have to go there? That slippery bugger crushed my first big childhood hopes of a title shot. Probably yours too.
Marcus Allen, Lyle Alzado & company…
Yeah, well think about the two Dans, Marino and Fouts, stuck at zero and looking up at those stuck at one. LOL
Football’s a pretty unpredictable game at times. In spite of KC getting blown out, it’s easy for me to envision the game going in entirely different directions than it did. There were literally three drives extended on defensive penalties by KC that almost completely took KC out of their game. KC was on their heels almost all night, and it didn’t have to be that way.
Crazy game. I guess that’s why we love it.
Brady went to a city with solid pieces. Called his hof te out of early retirement. Got gifted a released fournette, and called AB over after his suspension. They immediately drafted a good young OL, and surrounded him with immense talent. Its a great blueprint.
While the buccs maximized the talent surrounding there star qb, some of it was brady, some of it luck and a lot of it coaching and scouting. Its not a hard blueprint. But russ and most other players arent brady. Theres not that lebron lure. There is a lot to build around tho. The offense can be amazing. It can dictate a game with a better philosophy and a couple key adds. The defense can be stout enough, dominance isnt necessity.
The SB showed you what can happen when a good offense controls a game. Brady up 3 scores coasted to a win. A good run game kept balance, they stayed mistake free. And KC turned 1 sided and mahomes couldnt escape pressure. This is a basic recipe. Yet why are we struggling so hard with it.
All their money isn’t put into LBs and a Safety. It’s amazing what happens when you spend your money where you should. Yes KC was missing two starting OTs; but the TB had a front that could crush the pocket and contain him. Arians did that to Russ when he coached in our division. TB prepared nicely, layed off their blitzes and still got all the pressure they needed.
Didn’t need to scheme for a safety.
Trenches, trenches, trenches please.
Yep, you only dictate offensively if you have the o-line to do so.
Weird to think that Mahomes (in his prime), losing to Brady (end of career), probably kills Mahomes’ shot at ever being considered The GOAT.
No matter how many Super Bowls Mahomes wins… he’ll have lost to Brady head to head.
There will never be another TB. It’s really hard to win a super bowl. Mahomes will be lucky to win 3 or 4 in his career. To win 7 is really amazing. You have to have a lot of luck, health and skill… TB has all that in spades.
First of all when you play tampa or Brady you can’t settle for field goals and not having your left tackle was brutal.i am probably wrong and many will disagree but doesn’t KC defense seem like you have Frank Clark and honey Badger and just some other guys nothing to spectacular .
There are still lot of people who thinks Federer is GOAT, and he doesnt hold any record. GS, no of weeks as 1st player, head to head with Rafa and Novak…
Well… Federer has won the most Grand Slams ever (20). So that’s one record for you. He’s tied with Nadal — but it’s perfectly plausible for someone to prefer Federer. Especially given 13 of Nadal’s titles have been the French Open.
So Federer as the best ever and Nadal as the best ever on clay is a very reasonable thing to say.
Furthermore, he’s a complete class act. So it’s hardly surprising that people gravitate to him as the best ever.
I keep hearing it mentioned How hard our schedule will be this year. Is it really though? The Saints will be without brees and who knows what else they will have to do to get under the cap. The other component of the first place schedule will be the WFT and who knows who their quarterback will be. Not an easy game but not a monster one either. The NFC North will consist of the Packers which is always tough but then three huge ?s including the Bears with no real quarterback, the rebuilding lions likewise do not have a quarterback, and the Vikings Who are rebuilding on defense and have Kirk cousins as a quarterback. No doubt they will be tough but it doesn’t exactly give me nightmares. The AFC south will consist of Jacksonville with the first year quarterback and a rebuild. Then will be the Colts who currently do not have a quarterback. Then we’re talking about the Texans who have an excellent quarterback (if he’s there) but the organization seems to be in a tailspin. And yes, the Titans will be a tough as well. I really don’t think it is any more formidable Then what we thought we were getting into going into the season. Who knew the Cowboys and Eagles would stink? Or that the patriots and falcons would be bad. Our divisional games will always be monsters, but I think next years season will not be about who their opponents are, it will be about how well this team gets its act together. If they do so, who they play really won’t matter and having a few tough teams won’t be something that were so nervous about.
I mean, in hindsight we really had a ridiculously easy schedule this year and still found a way to blow it because frankly I think the coaching failed this year’s team. It looks like we’re trying to correct that now And hopefully we wont see a repeat.
Without the 2 starting RT/LT KC had a tough time, but the defense flat out didn’t show up when it counted.(only time was the goal-line stand from the 1 foot line). The rest of the game, guys were coming wide open and the pass rush was less than stellar.
It almost appeared that some of the KC players were not taking the opponent seriously. Thought they could turn it on at will in the 3rd quarter. Lack of focus. I thought this really showed up on a couple of dumb penalties, which continued drives and enabled the Bucs to get a cheap TD…. to Gronk.
1. Mindset
2. Trenches
3. Game plan (defense had no answers)
4. Heart
KC was missing some part of each of these 4 factors. Sadly, it was a forgettable SB. No drama.
For some reason watching the SB highlights felt like watching Mahomes play with our lines. If after this SB we don’t invest in a guard, a center and a DT, we deserve our fate.
#trenches
x2
Chiefs spent around 75mil on trenches and TB 65mil.
Yes trenches were the biggest reason why TB won last night. But its because it was probably worst OL in history of SB destroyed by injuries. 3rd string LG, RG and RT and 2nd string LT who played together for first time. Imo if any part of football team that plays in SB (OL, DL, LB, DB) is destroyed by injuries like Chiefs OL yesterday, that part of football team would be biggest reason for losing the game.
Put 4 DBs who are all reserves, and they cant defend anything… There is no DL who can pressure even average OL enough to stop recieving options be open all the time. And then we would talk about how you cant win a game if your DBs cant defend anything.
Of course the Chiefs’ OL injuries were the deciding factor, along with a masterful gameplan to erase Hill from the game completely.
But I disagree with your last point: even 4 highly-paid DB’s aren’t going to be able to cover forever. It all starts up front. If you don’t have pressure, you have no chance. If you do have pressure, you at least have a chance, even with below-average DBs.
Whats more important… There are huuuge debate on Twitter among analists… Pete talks a lot about it. Sometimes its like what is older, egg or chicken. If you cover long enough you are giving a chance to your DL to get to QB. I just wanted to say you need to have good team all over the board, and if you have just one part as bad as Chiefs OL was yesterday, that part will be main reason for loss.
Twitter says a lot of things
The seahawks already established this.
We were elite in coverage and good enough on the edges but without the 3T to collapse the pocket when it mattered the DBs would get passed on.
Just one rusher doesn’t win games it’s a battle of the whole trench and guys need to be rotated in.
We all remember matt ryan stepping up and dissecting us apart
Well regardless, the answer isn’t $25m on two linebackers, a first rounder on another, trading up in R3 for another, two firsts, a third and a veteran for a safety, a fifth rounder + salary for another safety and a second round pick for yet another safety.
Jim knows
What do you think of bringing Clowney back this off-season?
I’ll admit I’ve thought about it. The prospect of him across from Dunlap is enticing, but the price would have to reflect the injury risk. Also, who knows if the relationship is at all salvageable after the stand-off last off-season.
Trade an expensive Adams for an expensive Clowney? The only thing I have to say about that is Clowney is no Su.
We can do better than that.
No clowney please.
Now it’s officially time for JS to do some very challenging work.
C and LG on the OL are must haves in my opinion, however it has to happen. But there are numerous contracts to be re-negotiated or players traded to come up with money, a pick or two, and replacements.
It would be nice to snag Linsley for C, and possibly draft a young G. I don’t have the answers and that’s supposed to be why JS gets the big paycheck. He will earn it or burn it these next few weeks.
But he’s failed so many off-seasons/drafts in a row that I don’t have faith in him anymore.
Chiefs loss yesterday really reminded me of the Seahawks loss. Again, really shows the importance of offensive line and the need to also have a solid running game. CEH looked really good when he had the ball but the Chiefs got behind way too much- forcing mahomes to throw.
2 deep safetys shutting down the chiefs deep ball… leaving only short passes to kelce. Very similar to how teams shut down hawks except we dont have a weapon in the short game like kelce so its worse lol.
Since 2015 seahawks drafted 11 players in first 2 rounds. 7 of them where OL or DL. Plus two 2nd round picks on Braun and Richardson. Thats 9 of 13. They had 15 most expensive OL in 2019 when they had Britt and Braun on roster. They are investing in trenches. Problem is that they missed a lot with investments.
Last year thay paid to much on LB imo. 33mil, most in NFL. Some of that money must go somewhere else (best would be on OL to pay at least 2 players big money). But for ex Chiefs and TB were 4th and 5th with 20,5 and 19,5 mil spending on LBs. And 29tn and 31st with spending on CBs.
I believe it was a year ago when espn published an article on how uncaring most FO’s and coaches were about the combine. They seemed to be showing up for photo ops instead of actually being there to evaluate players. Most stated that the abundance of game film and the teams pro days gave them all they needed to know on a player.
Now, I don’t know if all that is true, but it does make sense in light of the NFL’s decision to skip the combine this year. Maybe the league called all the relevant execs and got enough feedback to tell them that, no, in fact hardly anyone actually wanted it to happen. However, I would have thought that this year, in particular, they would have been begging for it to happen. So many college teams had shortened seasons, or no seasons, that an in-depth, pressure filled week would have been the perfect test for the prospects.
I can’t remember that article but I doubt they don’t value the testing results gained at the combine, which are so vital to an evaluation.
https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/26136412/steak-booze-sense-dull-dread-here-really-happens-nfl-combine
Again, I dont know if this is a real account of what execs think.
I remember reading that the first time and shrugged really.
Just a few moaners.
Medicals are the main thing teams care about at the Combine, but that doesn’t mean the testing isn’t valued. Heck, they wouldn’t even change some of the tests out for objectively more relevant ones just because historical comparison is so important to teams for projecting athletes.
What I do agree that teams put less stock into than the media is the over-hyped 40yd dash. Not that it’s not important, but it’s just a double check, since my guess is they already have a much better way to measure actual game speed from game videos and short-area agility and explosiveness are much more important than straight-line speed for most of the positions.
Fournette looks like our new Beast Mode. Get his ass over here.