NFL 2019: Week 15

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* Niners go 2-1 in that 3 game sequence against and 8-2 team and two 10-2 teams. Jimmy Garoppolo caps off the series by game managing the team to 349 yards and 4 TDs in a 48-46 shootout win.

* I don't know if I can survive another 49ers "Game of the Year" game. I'm not sure the 49ers either. The game against New Orleans has added to the team's ever-growing injury list. Starting center Weston Richburg is out for the season. Dee Ford and Richard Sherman will both miss multiple games, and Ford is no guarantee to return for the playoffs. The team's man run-stuffing defensive tackle DJ Jones has a "significant" ankle injury. Nickel corner K’Waun Williams suffered a concussion.

* PFF's story on Kyle Shanahan's offense has some good insight. In short: (1) more pre-snap motion than anyone else, (2) Jusczcyk, (3) the Shanahan family business (outside zone).

* Raiders defensive rankings in the almost 2 years with defensive coordinator Paul Guenther: 31st in points allowed per game, 32nd in yards per.play allowed, 31st in passer rating against. The offense in Oakland has struggled the past few weeks, but the real limiting factor for the Raiders is this bottom dwelling defensive unit. (Clelin Ferrell still avoiding sacks like the plague - none in the past 5 weeks. Jon Gruden's explanation this week as to why they took Ferrell over Josh Allen doesn't offer a very satisfying answer)

* How bad are the Jags now? They're the first team since the 1986 Buccaneers to lose 5 straight games by 17+ points. This week, their meltdown runs head-first into the Raiders' meltdown.

* With only 6 offensive points in a playoff race primetime game, any argument Russell Wilson had for MVP has been dealt a life-threatening blow. Barring any miracles, Lamar should win MVP in a landslide. (Deshaun Watson's chance of clawing back into the picture similarly suffered a likely fatal blow as he struggled against Vic Fangio's defense while Drew Lock lit up his team's).

* Jameis Winston in a Bruce Arians offense is the exact kind of nonsense we should have expected. He has thrown for over 300 yards in 7 of his last 8 games, with two 400+ yard performances among them. He has 14 TDs and 18 INTs in that stretch. The team is 4-4 over those games, winning the last 3 straight.

* In the first 6 games, Jacoby Brissett threw 14 TDs to 3 INTs, and 231 yards per game. In the last 6 games, it has been 4 TDs to 3 INTs, and 185 yards per game, as the team has rapidly fallen out of playoff contention. play swag

* Kansas City has come roaring back. After a disastrous October (1-3) and then losing to the Titans even after Mahomes returned (and threw for over 440 yards), they looked like they were headed out of the picture. But 3 straight wins, including the road win against New England this week, along with the Raiders losing 3 straight, has flipped the picture entirely. Even if they lose on the road to Chicago in 2 weeks, they're likely to finish no worse than 10-6 and the likely 3 seed in the AFC.

Thursday night Lamar? I actually have to watch

Jameis Winston in a Bruce Arians offense is the exact kind of nonsense we should have expected. He has thrown for over 300 yards in 7 of his last 8 games, with two 400+ yard performances among them. He has 14 TDs and 18 INTs in that stretch. The team is 4-4 over those games, winning the last 3 straight.

It's basically the same Winston, except with more yardage. His TD and INT %s are both a bit higher than career average, but not by much, and all that's really changed is he's throwing for more yards, TDs, and picks than usual. I do think Arians will realize he's not going to get better and Winston moves on, and the big question is what offensive-minded coach out there is so convinced of their coaching genius they're absolutely sure they can fix Winston's problems.

Winston really isn't a West Coast-style QB at all, but that doesn't mean I don't think Gruden signing him wouldn't be hilarious to watch.

Jags QB coach Scott Milanovich has agreed to become the next coach of the CFL Edmonton Eskimos.

The coaching rats are already fleeing the ship.

Huh, interestingly that guy's only job in the NFL has been with the Jags. All of his other coaching cred comes from Canada and Europe.

MilkmanDanimal wrote:

It's basically the same Winston, except with more yardage. His TD and INT %s are both a bit higher than career average, but not by much, and all that's really changed is he's throwing for more yards, TDs, and picks than usual.

That's the fun part. Most coaches would try to protect their team from Winston, Arians says "f*ck it" and steps the gas pedal all the way down and just lets the chaos happen. Winston's on track to shatter his career high in pass attempts.

Let's see if the NFC East can continue to be the biggest joke in football this year.

ccesarano wrote:

Let's see if the NFC East can continue to be the biggest joke in football this year.

Not the biggest, that means they excel at something. Jags are #1 (around here anyway), the NFC Least is #2 in all possible meanings.

MilkmanDanimal wrote:

I do think Arians will realize he's not going to get better and Winston moves on

Forgot to reply to this part in my other comment, but I agree. I think Arians' plan for 2019 was to figure out exactly what they had in Jameis, so they could make their decision in the offseason. I think that high passing volume is a part of that - leave nothing to doubt, give Winston every rep possible, and either he has or hasn't moved the needle by the end of the season.

and the big question is what offensive-minded coach out there is so convinced of their coaching genius they're absolutely sure they can fix Winston's problems.

Winston really isn't a West Coast-style QB at all, but that doesn't mean I don't think Gruden signing him wouldn't be hilarious to watch.

Hilarious indeed, but I think Gruden would hate him, and also the suggestion the Raiders would or could even want a change at the QB position is something I must categorically reject.

I'm having a hard time finding his landing spot though, now that Trubisky has pulled out of his nosedive enough that he's probably still going to get the shot in 2020. Just like Winston did over and over, Mitch's showing just enough right when people were about to bury him to be given another shot.

I'm excited about Sunday night's Bills-Steelers game: the two coaches were teammates at W&M, my alma mater, aka the Cradle of Coaching*

* not completely kidding; Marv Levy, Lou Holtz, Dan Quinn (Falcons) and Ivan Fears (RB coach with the Patriots for ~20 years) all came through the 'Burg as players or coaches or both.

Guess there won't be any Thursday Night Football weirdness bringing the Ravens down.

These tweets are cool. Saw one for highest paid Athlete the other day

https://twitter.com/tribsports/statu...

*Legion* wrote:

Guess there won't be any Thursday Night Football weirdness bringing the Ravens down.

XBox SeX and the new season of The Expanse dropping one day early's probably going to make everyone forget the game's happening.

Any chance Buffalo does us all a solid and win the AFC East??

Hey Lamar doing Lamar things again.

I'd like to know what was going on with the Ravens special teams coverage unit last night. They were awful and that's super weird.

If the Ravens manage the tall order of beating a Myles Garrett-less Browns team that is already packing their lockers with only 10 days to prepare for it, do they deactivate Lamar Jackson and Mark Ingram and treat the Steelers to an afternoon of Trace McSorely and Justice Hill?

And if so, does that put Steeler fans in the uncomfortable position of rooting for Lamar Jackson next weekend?

Some hopefully entertaining games this week. Also, the Ravens are looking like the team to beat this year, beating the teams they should, handily ie Jets.

whispa wrote:

Some hopefully entertaining games this week. Also, the Ravens are looking like the team to beat this year, beating the teams they should, handily ie Jets.

On a short week, they looked a little like a they were playing a pick up game. Some missed throws, some awful special teams play, but in the end, they were just much better athletes and a much better team than the Jets.

*Legion* wrote:

I'm having a hard time finding his landing spot though, now that Trubisky has pulled out of his nosedive enough that he's probably still going to get the shot in 2020. Just like Winston did over and over, Mitch's showing just enough right when people were about to bury him to be given another shot.

If I had to pick a team with the generic offensive wiz kid coach that needs a QB, I'd pick the Bengals, but they're drafting #1 so will take a QB. Logically, it would be a team that needs a QB that's picking later, like, you know, Tampa, so . . . Chargers? How about the Panthers, that'd be funny. Pittsburgh fans are used to be QBs who like to sexually assault, so he'd fit there.

MilkmanDanimal wrote:

so . . . Chargers?

That's an interesting one. Certainly a team with a long history of high volume passers.

Pittsburgh fans are used to be QBs who like to sexually assault, so he'd fit there.

Except he's the wrong color to get away with that in Pittsburgh.

Cardinals waive Terrell Suggs.

Holy carp. I can totally see him playing the rest of the season for the Ravens.

Paleocon wrote:

Cardinals waive Terrell Suggs.

Holy carp. I can totally see him playing the rest of the season for the Ravens.

I don't see him making it to their waiver claim spot.

49ers should not let him slide past them in the waiver order. Dee Ford may or may not be able to play in the playoffs. They wouldn't need Suggs to play base defense, just pure pass rush downs like Ford does.

I don't think I see him making it to the 49ers waiver claim spot either though.

It's also a question of if he's even going to want to continue playing, especially since he's subject to waivers and won't be able to choose his destination.

*Legion* wrote:
Paleocon wrote:

Cardinals waive Terrell Suggs.

Holy carp. I can totally see him playing the rest of the season for the Ravens.

I don't see him making it to their waiver claim spot.

49ers should not let him slide past them in the waiver order. Dee Ford may or may not be able to play in the playoffs. They wouldn't need Suggs to play base defense, just pure pass rush downs like Ford does.

I don't think I see him making it to the 49ers waiver claim spot either though.

It's also a question of if he's even going to want to continue playing, especially since he's subject to waivers and won't be able to choose his destination.

My understanding is that any team that claims him would have to take on the Cardinals' contract. Seeing how big a number that was, I am not sure clearing waivers is out of the realm of possibilities.

Paleocon wrote:

My understanding is that any team that claims him would have to take on the Cardinals' contract. Seeing how big a number that was, I am not sure clearing waivers is out of the realm of possibilities.

You're right that claiming him means taking on his contract, but you're wrong about the size of that contract.

It was a $7m deal, but $4m of that is bonus money that stays in Arizona.

The remaining $3m is 2019 guaranteed salary, of which Arizona has already paid 13 out of 16 game check installments. A team signing him is looking at having to pay about $560k for the remaining 3 games of the season, as well as the small standard per-game bonuses that all players get for playing in postseason games.

I don't think that 3 game check cost is going to chase away any team that is looking at Suggs as a postseason rental player.

Something tells me he is likely to be choosy about where he lands.

Paleocon wrote:

Something tells me he is likely to be choosy about where he lands.

He can either play for the claimed team or retire. It's a win-win for that team, because letting him go to Baltimore would be a stupid decision for every other AFC contender to let happen.

If he gets to the Ravens he may not want to play for them. He was pissed.

Edit: Also it seems like he's fallen off after a decent start to the season. He may end up on a roster but I don't think the Ravens need him as long as their three starting CBs are healthy.

Looking at PFF, he was playing way too many snaps per game this year. He should be playing about 20-25 snaps a game, all pass rush situations. His snap counts in Arizona look more like 45-60 a game, with about 20 run defense snaps in there.

Dee Ford's snap counts are exactly where Suggs should be at this point in his career. He's 37 years old, you don't give him 50 snap games and have him taking a beating from offensive tackles on run downs.

Dial his usage way back, get him out of run support duty. Let him give you 15-20 hard pass rushes per game, and rest his body the rest of the time.

So Suggs suggests he won’t show up for anyone but the Ravens.

Paleocon wrote:

So Suggs suggests he won’t show up for anyone but the Ravens.

Then I guess he should have signed a contract with them. No way in hell any of the other teams should let that happen.

Claim him, he doesn't report, you pay him nothing, and a dangerous playoff opponent doesn't get a free extra pass rusher. No brainier right there.

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