NFL 2018: Week 9

The Cleveland Browns are without a proper Head Coach, just as they have been for two and a half seasons. I was once of the opinion that Hue Jackson deserved a chance, as many were, because of his brief stint turning the Raiders into a decent unit. Since he was just the interim coach in Oakland, perhaps Jackson was limited in his duties with others picking up his slack. Perhaps Hue was simply the OC with a little bit more power. Because that would explain why he wasn't the worst head coach of all time while briefly holding that position in Oakland.

I have no qualms saying this at all. In the modern era, Hue Jackson is the worst Head Coach of all time. Naturally he was Head Coach of one of the worst organizations of all time. The Browns are heading in the right direction, truly, for once. Ken John Dorsey had a plan and he's been executing on it, even if cutting Josh Gordon loose after all this time made no sense to me. Whatever. It's not as if Gordon's been lighting the world on fire. Yet.

We can all give Hue Jackson a bit of a mea culpa for his first season in Cleveland. The roster was gutted as the team went full moneyball. They went a bit too far moneyball though because they forgot to leave vets on the team who could teach the newly minted millionaire young men how to do things like eat right and not Manziel it up every night. So, let's forget about the first season. It was the NFL's first true tanking season.

How about the second season of Hue's tenure? Well, let us begin with a date: August 30th. That's the date that the bottom dropped out on the season and all hope was lost because the team released CB Joe Haden, allowing him to sign with divisionmates the Steelers. Haden isn't a stud any longer, but he's a veteran starting CB in a passing league. Sure, let's release him. Perhaps it was hubris on the part of the Moneyball team because Haden didn't play much that preseason and, well, sh*t, the Browns were 3-0 at that point in the preseason. They released Haden and won their final preseason game. Things were looking up.

Week 1 involved the Browns losing in Pittsburgh by merely 3 points. That's better than one could've expected! I wonder how things would've fared if Haden hadn't been on the Steelers. He only managed four tackles, a sack and a pass defensed. Heck, Kizer even looked pretty good for a rookie completing 67% of his passes. Perhaps this was the year the Browns improved! Then Baltimore happened. Kizer threw three picks and Hue put in backup QB Kevin Hogan who was only marginally better. The following week the Browns made a furious comeback against the (terrible) Colts' prevent D. Kizer looked good and played the whole game! Progress! Then Hue returned back to his old ways and benched Kizer for parts of the next two games before flushing Kizer's entire career down the toilet (yes, even moreso than the simple act of being a QB drafted by the Browns) by allowing Hogan to start in Week 6.

A typical start to a rookie QB's season is an underwhelming vet begins the year, allowing the noob time to adjust, and then the rookie comes in once the season is already lost or the vet shows he's still the same sack of sh*t he always was. All the pressure if off the rook, even if he's bad it's still a learning experience and that's what saves the season. The one thing you don't do is try and replicate Ken Whisenhunt's experiment with switching back and forth between Kurt Warner and Matt Leinart.

Here we are in week 6 and Kevin Hogan pulls his best Kizer impersonation, leading the Brownies to their 6th loss of the season. Naturally Kizer begins the next week and plays for the rest of the season, but the damage was already done. Joe Thomas tears a tricep and is put on IR in Week 7. Week 13 we see GM Sashi Brown fired. How Hue won that power struggle is beyond me considering his actions with Kizer. Not to mention Hue hand chose Cody Kessler in the 3rd round the year prior and that too worked out well.

Let's wrap up this 2017 reminiscing with one more reminder of the ineptitude of Hue Jackson. In Week 17 of the 2017 season the Browns traveled to Pittsburgh with one last shot to avoid a winless season. Pittsburgh rested some of their starters. The Browns lost. To QB Landry Jones and RB Stevan Ridley. Josh Gordon had over 100 yards receiving. The Browns' offense ended their season on a Rodgers-esque play from Kizer. On fourth down, Kizer escaped pressure to throw a dart to wide open Corey Coleman on the sideline. Coleman reached up with both hands. The ball slips through Coleman's hands and hits him on the face. Game over Browns.

The Browns 1st string offense couldn't keep pace with the backup QB, RB and WRs of the Pittsburgh Steelers. And their last chance ended on a gimmee catch that was whiffed. That's Hue Jacksons' legacy. He was, and is, the perfect coach for the Browns. He leaves behind a legacy like none other.

And with that, let us never speak of him again.

Hey, lookee here, Demayrius Thomas is now catching passes in Houston. The Broncos get back a 4th rounder, which is pretty damn good for a fading vet.

Golden Tate just joined the Eagles for a 3rd rounder.

All of this is thanks to Hue Jackson.

Tuesday again? I'm so confused.

Ken Dorsey had a plan and he's been executing on it

Sorry, couldn't help myself.

The Browns have gotten plenty from their new draft class. Baker Mayfield has been perfectly fine so far for a rookie QB (probably the best of the rookie QB class to date), Denzel Ward has been an excellent CB so far, Nick Chubb has done very well in his brief duty so far and earned the promotion to the top spot, and even down in the 5th round, Genard Avery has stepped into the situational pass rusher role, and is outperforming Emmanuel Ogbah snap-for-snap in their alternating work as the guy opposite Myles Garrett.

Blah blah blah, it's trade deadline day! First, Golden Tate to Philly.

Why Detroit, why?

IMAGE(https://media1.tenor.com/images/fd36521e2f6d36ad157995e895a2e3a8/tenor.gif?)

*Legion* wrote:
Ken Dorsey had a plan and he's been executing on it

Sorry, couldn't help myself.

Bahhahahahahahaha! Oops

Stele wrote:

Tuesday again? I'm so confused.

Anything to continue to make Legion look bad.

Nomad wrote:

Why Detroit, why?

IMAGE(https://media1.tenor.com/images/fd36521e2f6d36ad157995e895a2e3a8/tenor.gif?)

That's easy. He's standing in Kenny Golladay's spot.

Tate's in the last year of his deal. He and Golladay both play the same position, "X" receiver (aka split end, the weak side receiver in base sets). Granted, Tate moved inside a lot, over half of his targets this year are from the slot. That's fine for when they've already got him under contract, but they're not going to pay him a new free agent deal (at his likely price) to play slot.

Trade now and get some value in return.

Rat Boy wrote:

Blah blah blah, it's trade deadline day! First, Golden Tate to Philly.

Regardless, the defending champion Eagles now add a playmaker for their playoff run. They’re all-in to try to repeat, and they hope Tate can help them get back to the Super Bowl.

Could have fooled me.

Spoiler:

Y'know I say that, but looking at the current standings Eagles are actually a Wildcard alongside Panthers. Granted there's a lot more season to go, but the Redskins need to start making some major mistakes if Eagles want the top spot, as it's a surprisingly tight race for that second Wildcard position.

This edition of "stating the obvious" has been brought to you by jokes other people have made about John Madden stating the obvious.

Bye week for Eagles so I'll just be spectating on everyone else's teams on occasion.

Wild card's all you need. Used to be a wild card had almost no chance, now wild cards win Super Bowls. Which is even more impressive in the 8 division era as there are only 2 wild cards per conference instead of 3.

Dante Fowler going to the Rav.... I mean, the Rams.

Jags get a 3rd and a 2020 5th.

Yay for that!

Seahawks cut Brandon Marshall, which is probably it for him.

Bills signing Terrelle Pryor.

I like the Tate move. I was sorta hoping for DeSean Jackson as I feel he would fit better and really address a need the Eagles have had since he left during the dark Chip Kelly days. But Tate is a solid option that gives them another playmaker which hopefully allows Aghlor to see a bit more openings.

Hopeful that helps the anemic offense get some more punch but not unless the offensive line isn’t so offensive.

Packers not done selling, send Ha Ha Clinton-Dix to Washington for a 4th.

Washington D just got another piece.

*Legion* wrote:

Bills signing Terrelle Pryor.

Because Derek Anderson now has a concussion, which means we might be in for another week of The Peter Man unless Pryor can get up to speed asap.

Clinton Dix is 25..... Why?

jowner wrote:

Clinton Dix is 25..... Why?

Well he's another one of those guys in the final year of his deal. If they wanted to retain him, the time to do a deal was this past offseason.

It was that lack of extension that caused him to sit out OTAs this offseason, so this isn't from out of nowhere. For whatever the reason, Green Bay decided not to invest in him.

*Legion* wrote:
jowner wrote:

Clinton Dix is 25..... Why?

Well he's another one of those guys in the final year of his deal. If they wanted to retain him, the time to do a deal was this past offseason.

It was that lack of extension that caused him to sit out OTAs this offseason, so this isn't from out of nowhere. For whatever the reason, Green Bay decided not to invest in him.

Fair enough but there's a point where windows start to close.

If they let him walk they could of got a comp pick regardless. Unless the rules on that changed also.

Can't see this going down well with the current team/fans.

Comp pick would depend on who they sign in free agency that potentially offsets the loss. Only get comps if you lose more value than you sign.

And they wouldn't get it until 2020, so, yeah, window.

I get the move given that they decided they weren't going to keep him long-term. What I'm not sure I understand is that original decision to not keep him long-term.

IMAGE(https://i.imgur.com/0eLQ88K.jpg)

Wait, so is Thomas QB2?

Competition for Weeden!

Random question, and one that's probably been answered time and again. Do any of you know of a good football podcast that will cover the week's events and yet have lingo that's generally "I've only been watching in earnest for two years" friendly?

The Texans may have needed a receiver to step in for the injured Will Fuller the V, but man they need an offensive line more than that. They're getting Watson Carr'ed out there. I guess there's no O-line talent on the trade block though.

Nah, O-line talent is scarce everywhere, and there weren't any overpaid guys getting offloaded this time around.

Texans have to put it in the draft. Was hard for the last year with no picks until round 3 after the pick-Watson trade and the take-our-Brock-Lobster-please trade.

jowner wrote:
*Legion* wrote:
jowner wrote:

Clinton Dix is 25..... Why?

Well he's another one of those guys in the final year of his deal. If they wanted to retain him, the time to do a deal was this past offseason.

It was that lack of extension that caused him to sit out OTAs this offseason, so this isn't from out of nowhere. For whatever the reason, Green Bay decided not to invest in him.

Fair enough but there's a point where windows start to close.

If they let him walk they could of got a comp pick regardless. Unless the rules on that changed also.

Can't see this going down well with the current team/fans.

*Legion* wrote:

Comp pick would depend on who they sign in free agency that potentially offsets the loss. Only get comps if you lose more value than you sign.

And they wouldn't get it until 2020, so, yeah, window.

I get the move given that they decided they weren't going to keep him long-term. What I'm not sure I understand is that original decision to not keep him long-term.

Sounds like possible fallout from Aaron Rodgers contract though this trade happened possibly only because Clinton-Fix wanted out.

It's a shame that Nick Perry is taking up so much cap...

IMAGE(https://i.imgur.com/oDZLKUP.jpg)

Yall remember how Steve Smith was all like "the Panthers finally got themselves another STEVE SMITH!" when they drafted DJ Moore?

Check this out: https://twitter.com/MattWaldman/stat...

Then he's all like "hell no, that's my ball": https://twitter.com/MattWaldman/stat...

I really, really wanted him in Baltimore. Oh well.

Moore was (and is) such a good fit for Carolina, who tend to work the field inside-out rather than outside-in.

JAGS GET A NEW QUARTERBACK

It's... Landry Jones.

Bortles is nursing a non-throwing shoulder injury after London, and they were only carrying Kessler behind him, so... Landry Jones.

Kellen Winslow:

“I’m innocent,” Winslow said. “To the people who know me out there, who know what type of person I am, know my character, my NFL friends and family, just my regular friends and family . . . they know who I am. And I’m an innocent guy. I’m an innocent man.”

Sorry, dude, I think everyone believes the rape allegations against you.

garion333 wrote:

Yall remember how Steve Smith was all like "the Panthers finally got themselves another STEVE SMITH!" when they drafted DJ Moore?

Check this out: https://twitter.com/MattWaldman/stat...

Then he's all like "hell no, that's my ball": https://twitter.com/MattWaldman/stat...

I really, really wanted him in Baltimore. Oh well.

I have a little lingering PTSD from all of the high draft picks the Panthers have used on WRs who haven't exactly worked out (Kelvin Benjamin, Brandon LaFell, Armanti Edwards, Dwayne Jarrett, Keary Colbert), so my expectations for Moore were low, even with Agent 89 bragging on him.

But Moore has been terrific. He's fast, he runs good routes, and he's hard to tackle. He's a lot like Steve Smith, except he's not a deep threat (yet).

(That's been one reason Cam has been so good this year -- Norv is calling a lot of short and intermediate routes and making Cam check down. He's not holding onto the ball waiting for guys to get open 30+ yards down the field. Carolina's O-line is just good enough to give him time for screens and the short/mid outs.)

ccesarano wrote:

Random question, and one that's probably been answered time and again. Do any of you know of a good football podcast that will cover the week's events and yet have lingo that's generally "I've only been watching in earnest for two years" friendly?

I've been tuning in to the MMQB podcast on Monday mornings. Andy Benoit of SI and some other guy do it. It's a decent enough recap of Sunday's games. There are probably better pods out there, but I haven't spent any energy looking for them.

Enix wrote:
garion333 wrote:

Yall remember how Steve Smith was all like "the Panthers finally got themselves another STEVE SMITH!" when they drafted DJ Moore?

Check this out: https://twitter.com/MattWaldman/stat...

Then he's all like "hell no, that's my ball": https://twitter.com/MattWaldman/stat...

I really, really wanted him in Baltimore. Oh well.

I have a little lingering PTSD from all of the high draft picks the Panthers have used on WRs who haven't exactly worked out (Kelvin Benjamin, Brandon LaFell, Armanti Edwards, Dwayne Jarrett, Keary Colbert), so my expectations for Moore were low, even with Agent 89 bragging on him.

But Moore has been terrific. He's fast, he runs good routes, and he's hard to tackle. He's a lot like Steve Smith, except he's not a deep threat (yet).

(That's been one reason Cam has been so good this year -- Norv is calling a lot of short and intermediate routes and making Cam check down. He's not holding onto the ball waiting for guys to get open 30+ yards down the field. Carolina's O-line is just good enough to give him time for screens and the short/mid outs.)

Yeah, Waldman's been all over the fact that Carolina's offense is a bunch of guys who play RB. Cam is basically a FB, Moore balls like a RB, and McCaffery and Curtis Samuel were RBs in college. (Obv, McCafferty is still a RB.) Then you've got your two more typical receiver types in Funchess and Olsen.

When they have Cam, Moore, McCaffery and Samuel on the field together the ball could go anywhere. And it worked against the Ravens, big time.

Now that Cam is getting rid of the ball earlier, all these short to intermediate guys are getting the ball and going every which way once its in their hands. The shorter throws also alleviate the inaccuracy issues Cam sometimes has. It's a nice package.