2019 NFL Offseason Extravaganza

Enix wrote:

I'm with Legion on the Belichick/Brady thing. The two are definitely complementary parts, but if I had to pick one I'd go with Belichick.

Sunday's game was a prime example. On a day when Brady and the Pats offense was butt most of the day (Wade Phillips is really good at defensive, too), Belichick & Co dialed up a defensive game plan that went against tendencies (the Pats played much more zone than man Sunday), gave a look they hadn't used all season (Cover 4, Female Doggoes!), went with an unconventional front 7 (6-1 instead of the 4-3 or 3-4 every other team uses) and plugged in players into other positions (he moved a CB to S and had the LBs essentially playing DE). The Pats also blitzed like crazy, which took away the play action. (Ain't no reason to hold back if your job is to get your ass to the QB stat.)

Belichick gambled that the Rams couldn't/wouldn't adjust and that Goff couldn't figure out where to throw the ball if McVay's offense wasn't scheming guys open (because Goff can't anticipate throws like Brady and other top-shelf QBs). And he was right on both counts.

Hats off to the Pats. They don't make winning fun, but it sure is interesting to figure out how they do what they did.

Sundays game was a bad example because Brady is old and played poorly. If we looked at last years Superbowl it was the polar opposite for the duo. You don't get 57 game winning drives through coaching. He is pretty clutch.

It's a tough call for me because there are definitely years where Brady was a piece in Belichicks larger scheme but there have also been years where Brady has carried the team on his back with lackluster personnel.

Also superbowl Mic'd up

EvilDead wrote:

Sundays game was a bad example because Brady is old and played poorly. If we looked at last years Superbowl it was the polar opposite for the duo. You don't get 44 game winning drives through coaching. He is pretty clutch.

It's a tough call for me because there are definitely years where Brady was a piece in Belichicks larger scheme but there have also been years where Brady has carried the team on his back with lackluster personnel.

Brady's no scrub, obviously. But if you give me the choice between having young Brady paired with a whatever coach, or Bill Belichick with a high 2nd round draft pick for him to choose the next Garoppolo he likes, I'm taking the Belichick side and it's not even close.

I still think Joe Montana is the true GOAT, and yet, I think I would choose Bill Walsh without Montana over Montana without Bill Walsh. Walsh turned around after Montana and built a second Hall of Fame quarterback. If Tom Brady would ever friggin retire, Belichick might have done the same. I have far more faith that Belichick would have found another quarterback to succeed with than I do that Brady would have elevated some scrub coach without Belichick's development.

Brady in a different environment might still be very good, but that might look more like Philip Rivers good than Tom Brady good.

I corrected the game winning drives bit. It is actually 57 now with the win over the Chiefs which is most in NFL history. 44 was 4rth quarter comebacks.

I can see your point Legion but I just don't think Belichick, being a defensive guru, has as much influence over the offense as you do. Brady has excelled with multiple different offensive coordinators and receiver groups.

Maybe Belichick will coach 10 more years, and we will get more of an idea, but he might be old / outdated by that point.

EvilDead wrote:

Brady has excelled with multiple different offensive coordinators and receiver groups.

There's only been 3 offensive coordinators: Charlie Weis, Bill O'Brien, Josh McDaniels.

Actually, there's been 4: Bill Belichick.

Of the three names that aren't Belichick, only one of them ever ran a pro offense or even coached in the NFL at all before coming up through Belichick's coaching staff: Weis, who coached alongside Belichick under their common mentor, Bill Parcells.

Bill O'Brien was a coordinator for 1 year. He never coached in the NFL before joining the bottom of Belichick's staff and working upwards.

Josh McDaniels never coached in the NFL before joining the bottom of Bill Belichick's staff and working upwards. As a matter of fact, he never coached anywhere except one year as a graduate assistant.

Where do you think these guys learned offense?

Make no mistake, they're running Bill Belichick's system. Weis may have had a good deal of independent knowledge that went into the development of that system, but for the last 13 years and counting, the person running the offense has either been Belichick or someone Belichick brought in as a lowly assistant and taught to run their offense. These guys aren't Wade Phillips coming in with their own fully developed battle-tested system.

Belichick and the behind the scenes guy know how to find interesting coaching talent that doesn't come from more typical football backgrounds (ie. college). That's a part of it all being the Patriot Way, which is the Belichick Way.

*Legion* wrote:

That link would be good top-post material for an AAF thread...

You aren't exactly busy commissioning FF atm, so I bequeath unto you the Spring League threads.

That's a fair point Legion. It has been a similar Parcels-esque offense through all the coordinators. However it is still incredibly impressive that Brady handled all these personnel changes (coaches and players) without skipping a beat.

Edit: The team has also morphed quite a bit over the years. For example in the last couple years they have changed from a flashy score fast offense to a more old style smash-mouth time of possession type offense. Same can be said for the defense going from "bend but don't break" to blitz happy.

Well, Belichick says he constantly needs to evolve and adapt, which is exactly what you should do based on personnel and rule changes. Too often NFL coaches are beholden to their system to the detriment of their system (see: Mike Martz).

Brady & Co use Erhardt Perkins as their base, which simplifies language, unlike West Coast which is a cluster f*ck of language and concepts. E-P makes it so you can make changes but the underlying system remains the same. Same terms, same route concepts, etc, but just put in different ways. So when you have Randy Moss, you throw long. When you have Edelman, you throw short. It's shocking everyone doesn't use it.

garion333 wrote:

Well, Belichick says he constantly needs to evolve and adapt, which is exactly what you should do based on personnel and rule changes. Too often NFL coaches are beholden to their system to the detriment of their system (see: Mike Martz).

For sure. I think this has a lot to do with it being easier to maintain or copy / replicate than re-invent.

The Adam Gase / Gregg Williams relationship is already off to a spectacular start.

Gase reportedly "balked" at the idea of hiring Williams' son, who was the linebackers coach in Cleveland, to be the linebackers coach for the Jets. To no one's surprise, Williams wasn't taking "no" for an answer, and the two "compromised" with the younger Williams being made defensive assistant.

Does anyone think that elder Williams isn't going to have his son being a defacto coach of whatever part of the defense he wants?

Well Gase, this is what you deserve for agreeing to hire Gregg Williams.

I'm surprised it took this long.
Whilst I'm not for it, in modern society people seem to forget/overlook/ignore past behaviour, whether it is bad decision making on (Nathan Peterman) or off (Kareem Hunt) the field, those players will get more chances.

Hunt was already in anger management treatment before the tape broke. He had two incidents over the lat offseason that prompted this, the other being a guy he punched in a bar. He was not only in therapy, but all indications are that he was doing well. I don't see any reason he should not be given a second chance after a suspension.

That doesn't excuse KC and the NFL from hiding this from the public, which allowed Hunt and theChiefs to avoid punishment and the NFL to avoid the black eye. But their actions made this worse than it would have been had everyone been up front from the beginning. Hell, if Hunt had been completely honest about the incident with the woman, he would still be a Chief, after what I would assume is a 4-6 game suspension.

I think that Cleveland may also be banking on a 6 game suspension, of which they think the five games he spent on the exemption list will leave him missing just one game. Not sure the NFL will let him back on the playing field before week 5, let alone week 2.

I can't blame anyone from signing him. I saw a report that the Chiefs were considering bringing him back. Everyone that knows him, feels comfortable he is no longer a risk or danger. Dorsey drafted him, and is aware of not just this incident, but al the background they did before drafting him.

The Panthers sign Eric Reid and his weekly drug tests to a 3 yr/$22M deal.

I'm thrilled. The Panthers have long needed a decent safety who's not 40 years old and will stick around longer than a year. Panther Fan, meanwhile -- the folks who think Carolina should have played Derek Anderson at QB for most/all of the past eight years -- are mad.

I expect Hunt to get at least 6 games, based on the precedent Goodell set with Elliot last year. Of course, this is the NFL and Goodell, so I will not put money on that.

Kyler Murray stuff? Kinda surprised tbh.

Unless he is actually grading out as a great QB prospect which I think is dubious but wtf do I know.

I guess he had enough assurances that he will go first round and get that contract? Probably actually works out to quicker money and if his football career fizzles fast then how hard would it really be to get back into baseball with all the leagues to develop in.

Insert it's happening gif

If Kareem Hunt is getting a deal already this should also happen.

(Insert comment about Kareem Hunt being signed while Colin Kaepernick still has no NFL job)

ABC to air two hours of the Underwear Olympics. First off, someone's probably going to have their hand on the cutaway button in case of accidental dong and second, why not brand this as the Wide World Of Sports and bring the whole thing back?

garion333 wrote:
*Legion* wrote:

That link would be good top-post material for an AAF thread...

You aren't exactly busy commissioning FF atm, so I bequeath unto you the Spring League threads.

Iso beat my lazy ass to it! Everyone to the AAF thread!

Why everyone in this thread should watch the AAF:

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

This league isn't just a bunch of nobodies. These are our boys.

Birmingham and Tuscon want to share the Raiders next year.

I hope the Raiders do it. This would be a true "Al" move by Mark Davis, snubbing the reasonable options and turning the season into a two-city Raider tour instead.

Waitwaitwaitwait, Lions and Raiders are up for this season of Hard Knocks?

It's a pathetic that jokers like Hunt AND others land potential lucrative deals but regular joe shmoes have a hard time landing a job if they were in the same situation applying for a job.

Anyways, should be entertaining seeing the Jets and their coaching moves.

Rat Boy wrote:

Waitwaitwaitwait, Lions and Raiders are up for this season of Hard Knocks?

Raiders would make me hunt for an HBO password.

Lions would make me put my TV on the curb.

Enix wrote:
Rat Boy wrote:

Waitwaitwaitwait, Lions and Raiders are up for this season of Hard Knocks?

Raiders would make me hunt for an HBO password.

Lions would make me put my TV on the curb.

Just imagine how much screen time can be devoted to whatever insane logistics the Raiders would need to play a home game. Assuming they're not playing at the Coliseum.

Rat Boy wrote:

ABC to air two hours of the Underwear Olympics. First off, someone's probably going to have their hand on the cutaway button in case of accidental dong and second, why not brand this as the Wide World Of Sports and bring the whole thing back?

So I've been thinking about this a bit today and I can't help but wonder if this on top of ABC's simulcast of the already on two other channels draft might signal Disney entertaining the notion of moving MNF from ESPN back to ABC. Having it on ESPN these last however many years has ruled The House of Mouse, Iron Man, and Darth Vader out of contention for airing a Super Bowl. And the downgrade in prestige for MNF going to cable was made apparent the second the switch was made when Al Michaels and John Madden bolted for NBC's Sunday Night Football. Maybe now's the time for MNF to come on home to ABC while it still can.

FLACCO TO THE BRONCOS!

Not the Jags!

That's exactly the response I expected from every non-Broncos can when I opened up this thread.

Bwahahahahahahaahahahahahahaaahaahahaaahahahaa

Someone actually gave up a draft pick for Flacco!