NFL 2016: Playoffs: Wildcard

*Legion* wrote:
jowner wrote:

So...

We're all rooting for the Packers right?

IMAGE(https://www.getmoresports.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/Chiefs-at-Falcons.jpg)

Imma just going to be over here, minding my own business, cheering on my 'Boys...

I'll be there with you, Abu. I was a Cowboys fan from like age 5 or so, even through the brutal 80s, firing Landry and the ugly 1-15 season that landed them Aikman, the Peyton trade, etc. I quit cheering them on after Jerry fired Jimmy...well, maybe after Chan Gailey. Maybe more so once Houston had a team again.

ANYWAY. Go Cowboys. And kinda Houston, but they're just going to get crushed.

Go Pack. Would love another SEA/GB showdown at CenturyLink.

IMAGE(https://kssunews.files.wordpress.com/2012/09/0bd6781.jpg)

I think we can all agree on one thing: F- the Pats.

garion333 wrote:

I think we can all agree on one thing: F- the Pats.

;)

Seconded.

Anyway, this weekend is the best weekend of the season - four games involving eight talented and interesting teams.

* checks schedule *

Heeeeeeeyyyyyy, who let the Texans in here?!?

I'm pulling a bit for the Chiefs because that's a franchise that could use a big win and I've always liked Andy Reid, but I'm just going to openly root for the Patriots because the annoy people.

bighoppa wrote:

I'll be there with you, Abu. I was a Cowboys fan from like age 5 or so, even through the brutal 80s, firing Landry and the ugly 1-15 season that landed them Aikman, the Peyton trade, etc. I quit cheering them on after Jerry fired Jimmy...well, maybe after Chan Gailey. Maybe more so once Houston had a team again.

ANYWAY. Go Cowboys. And kinda Houston, but they're just going to get crushed.

Yep, my fandom goes back to age 5 as well. The first football game I remember was the first Dallas / Pittsburgh Super Bowl, been a fan ever since.

While the 1-15 year sucked, the one win was against Washington, eliminating them from the playoffs, so... good season.

Peyton trade? Did you mean Herschel Walker?

It was hard for me when Jerry fired Tom Landry and brought on JJ, doubly so since I went to FSU and HATED Jimmy. Of course, the success that came with him softened that blow.

MilkmanDanimal wrote:

I'm pulling a bit for the Chiefs because that's a franchise that could use a big win and I've always liked Andy Reid, but I'm just going to openly root for the Patriots because the annoy people.

Pfft. Your fake Patriots love won't fool me. You haven't given in to the Dark Side. Show me a pic of you in a Pats hoodie and then I'll allow it.

Or go buy an Aguayo jersey and you're golden for, like, forever around here, fake Pats love or not.

Spoiler:

Fwiw, Patriots and/or Seahawks in the Super Bowl is about the most boring thing ever. I don't care who wins, I'm just bored of them.

MilkmanDanimal wrote:

I'm pulling a bit for the Chiefs because that's a franchise that could use a big win and I've always liked Andy Reid, but I'm just going to openly root for the Patriots because the annoy people.

That's why I'm rooting for the Cowboys!

NFL to push to keep Chargers in San Diego with concern over second L.A. team

There are some grave concerns among owners and the league office about the potential of having two teams in Los Angeles -- the Chargers can exercise an option to move to L.A. next week, and sources said at this point they have no reason not to -- and any subsidy offered to Chargers owner Dean Spanos would be born of those economic fears more than anything else. And while the league's top executives expressed trepidation about Raiders owner Mark Davis's race to move to Nevada at the most recent owner's meeting, pointing out potential issues with the Las Vegas market, league sources anticipate the tone of Wednesday's meeting to be quite different.
The Rams have had a rough first season in Los Angeles and are already engaged in a coaching search, and the ratings in that market were not what some might have hoped for, as well. With both the Rams and Chargers rebuilding and searching for coaches, the timing is less than ideal for another team to join that market. However, sources said that any deal offered Spanos -- such as money to upgrade the stadium in San Diego and remain in that market for a few years until another referendum vote on a new stadium deal could be held -- would likely be less than optimal for the Chargers. Spanos has resisted leaving in the past and has his own concerns about the deal brokered with the Rams, one that would essentially make the Chargers a tenant to Rams owner Stan Kroenke at the stadium in construction scheduled to open in 2019, and there is sense among other owners that even a weak deal to stay in San Diego could carry the day.

OMG, I hate that article for having this pic:

IMAGE(http://sportshub.cbsistatic.com/api/content/image/0f0d30c4-a6b5-43ba-a5bc-d1b140e5e67e/resize/640x360.jpg)

F- that guy.

PFF may have killed off my favorite weekly feature in the Greg Robinson Watch, but they wrote up a little ditty for us Greg Robinson fans:

It’s probably time to give up on Greg Robinson at left tackle. Robinson was flagged 14 times this season, and those penalties didn’t save him from surrendering eight sacks and 40 total QB pressures on 567 pass-blocking snaps. Robinson was also among the worst run-blocking tackles in the league, earning a 36.1 run-blocking grade on the year.

tldr He's one of the worst, if not the worst starting LT.

///

I'd like to point out that as bad as the Rams OL was they still managed to grade out higher than the 49ers who managed to regress this year from last according to PFF. Not only were they worse than last year, PFF had this little zinger to say:

We are entering the realms of units with almost nothing to point to in terms of positives coming out of the 2016 season.

You just can't make this stuff up. One of the best lines in football? Quit reading fan pages, Legion. They overhyped you.

Spoiler:

I realize this may all change in another year as they haven't had much chance to gel as a unit, but I'll eat my crow when they turn into that hypothetically great unit.

Abu: Yeah, Herschel Walker. I don't know why I was thinking Walter Payton. Old age.

garion333 wrote:

You just can't make this stuff up. One of the best lines in football? Quit reading fan pages, Legion. They overhyped you.

OK, first of all, I said that after the start of the season, when a healthy unit went through the first few weeks of the season giving up hardly any pressures. Not the unit that ended down the stretch with Joe Staley banged up, Trent Brown moved out of position to the left side to fill in for him, both centers out (forcing Zane Beadles to play center), Andrew Tiller out with ankle injury, and a free agent signed off the street and stuck into the starting lineup (Andrew Gardner).

The line I was talking about having the potential to be very good did not include street free agent Gardner and 5th round rookie John Theus as starters, but that's where they ended up.

Also, there was some projection in there, expecting good things from 1st round pick Josh Garnett. Those good things may still come, but he had a very rough rookie year.

Staley and Tiller are still solid when they're on the field, and I still expect very good things from Brown. Garnett is going to have to step up and live up to that 1st round billing for the unit to live up to how they started the season. And the unit badly needs some depth.

That's a pretty good article. I can tell you that Hill's past has been a constant source of conversation in KC.

He's an article from September that I read in the Star while visiting my folks:

As Tyreek Hill emerges as a playmaker, so does dilemma for Chiefs fans

It closes with this:

For this column, I contacted a handful of experts and thoughtful friends and asked them to help me think about this controversial matter rather than to be quoted directly.

They all see different facets to this, though most feel at least some level of disillusionment with the Chiefs: One is not watching them this year because of Hill.

Here’s how one of the smartest and most sensitive Chiefs fans I know put her quandary:

“I find myself cheering for Tyreek — first because he’s so fast and so fun to watch, and in the middle of the game, I (personally) am not thinking, ‘There goes that domestic abuser,’” she wrote in an email. “And then I catch myself. After the play is over and the yards are gained, I can’t help thinking, ‘Wow, that was great. But I wish it had been someone else.’

“And then again (to show how completely conflicted I am), I sort of feel for him. Maybe he’s so damn fast because he’s always been running away from something.”

Indeed, much as the Chiefs shouldn’t have inflicted this dilemma on us, the optimist in any of us should hope he can become a symbol of the capacity we have within us to shed our demons.

Then again, as my friend wrote, “If not … are we just fooling ourselves into thinking any of this is OK?”

That’s too personal to speak for in others, of course, and too much of a blur to sort out yet for some of us.

All I can say is that Tyreek has been up front and honest about this from the outset. He pleaded guilty. He didn't try to spin a story. He is going through counseling, and continues as part of his contract with the Chiefs. The Chiefs included an interview with his girlfriend before selecting him. And regardless of how he is treated, what he does on the field, and how often he speaks about the work he is undergoing to become a better human, the act will always define him. If he has a long NFL career, he will be expected to speak out on domestic violence. There will not be a time for the rest of his life that his actions will not affect the opportunities he is presented.

And even through that, when I went to KC to see them take on the Raiders, the stadium was chanting his name just before he took a punt and returned it for a TD. My friend and I, during the game, began talking about how conflicting it really is. And partly, because maybe it shouldn't be conflicting. Maybe it shouldn't be okay.

As it is, we treat him like any other player with off the field issues. We hope he doesn't relapse and hurt the team. But that's not always good enough. For as terrible of a job as Charlie Weis did in rebuilding the Jayhawks football team, his worst transgression in his massive influx of junior college players was his lack of vetting. He brought criminals into Lawrence who proceeded to commit crimes against locals. One player even was part of a home invasion.

So hoping he doesn't relapse, because it would hurt the team misses the entire point. That said, in the bigger picture, what improves the odds that he doesn't hit another woman for as long as he lives? An NFL job that not only requires his ongoing therapy, but a job whose spotlight will never stop asking those questions might be better than the anonymous life most abusers live. But sh*t, am I now trying to give the NFL credit for being able to help abusers?

I do have to wonder if the Chiefs ever considered how difficult the upside really would be for everyone involved.

I've had the same issues rooting for Jameis Winston, and very much wanted the Bucs to draft Mariota just so I wouldn't have to deal with that. It basically came down to me realizing I've become invested in lots of public figures who aren't people I particularly like; I'm a fan of all sorts of musicians who have done ugly things, and I've kept listening. I fell in love with the work of all sorts of novelists and poets in college, knowing full well many of them were abusive or antisemitic or what have you. I still love to watch Lawrence Taylor highlights knowing what I do about him, and the football fan part of me is still incredibly glad Warren Sapp was drafted by the Bucs, even though Warren Sapp is a really, really nasty human being.

My final thing was I realized I could root for a guy who it seems very likely committed a sexual assault in Jameis Winston, because lord knows Steelers fans can root for a guy who very likely committed two sexual assaults and even gets a catchy nickname of "Big Ben".

I seethed at the NFL's initial soft handling of the Ray Rice incident. But in general, I prefer rehabilitatory measures to punitive ones. Neither of them can go back and undo the wrong. And with that off the table, I feel the former is more productive than the latter.

I especially feel that way about the drug and alcohol cases, where booting guys off the team and away from their most constructive support structures is the most unproductive way to handle things.

But I suppose the same goes for abusers. If a player's career can be used as leverage to get them to a place of reform, then I am favor of doing that. Because while they may deserve to lose their career, that does nothing to reform their future behavior. I think it's just as important to worry about the next potential abuse victim as it is to not lose sight of the original one.

When someone proves themselves to be unwilling to reform, then yes, green-light the most punitive measures you can muster. But while rehabilitation remains a possibility, it's a possibility that should be explored to its fullest.

The NFL's approach to drug and alcohol abuse is just patently reprehensible; these are people who need support, and cutting them off and isolating them from the structure of team sports is completely denying them the structure and community they need in order to deal with addiction. The fact that smoking a joint is far worse in terms of punishment than, say, choking your girlfriend and throwing her onto a bed full of guns (OH HAI GREG HARDY) is really disgusting.

Tyreek Hill has at least come forth and tried to be repentant for what he's done, but the big issue is lots of athletes who do things like that don't think they've done anything wrong as a result of toxic masculinity and I'll stop now as this isn't a P&C thread.

Veering back to actual football, the Broncos have announced Miami DC Vance Joseph as head coach, and the Bills have hired Panthers DC Sean McDermott. Vance Joseph gets himself a lovely job with a really good defense and maybe an offense, but that's a pretty good situation. McDermott suddenly winds up running a defense that doesn't have Kuechly, Davis, and a bunch of other really good players. Oh, and a train wreck at QB. Also oh, it's Buffalo.

It's safe to say I feel somewhat better about Joseph's chances at succes than McDermott's.

*Legion* wrote:
garion333 wrote:

... blah blah blah 49ers line sucked blah blah...

... blah blah f*ck you they were all hurt blah blah ...

Oh, forgot to mention. Josh McDaniels will come and fix everything.

At least, that's who Albert Breer thinks the Niners will hire.

Of course, that statement is probably way premature, as it's dependent on the still-to-be-hired general manager. And the upcoming interview with Cardinals personnel guy Terry McDonough will make him the 9th person they've interviewed for the spot. And they aren't stopping there, with both of the co-directors of player personnel for the Seahawks scheduled next.

Hey maybe they're looking for a guy that they're so confident in that he could take football ops away from Jed (and from the bean-counter too apparently!). Wouldn't that be nice.

For the record, I'm still on board with hiring Eliot Wolf away from the Packers,

At least the 49ers learned their lesson about hiring arrogant guys like Chip Kelly with background as innovative offensive minds who had shown a tendency in prior coaching gigs to alienate and drive off players because nobody wanted to play for pompous dickholes like them.

Because Josh McDaniels is TOTALLY a huge change here.

MilkmanDanimal wrote:

At least the 49ers learned their lesson about hiring arrogant guys like Chip Kelly with background as innovative offensive minds who had shown a tendency in prior coaching gigs to alienate and drive off players because nobody wanted to play for pompous dickholes like them.

Because Josh McDaniels is TOTALLY a huge change here.

You're missing the big picture here. The QB situation will be solved!

Spoiler:

IMAGE(http://cdn.newsday.com/polopoly_fs/1.12339880.1474341397!/httpImage/image.jpeg_gen/derivatives/display_600/image.jpeg)

Maybe they can get a two for one deal and have him on the Giants' Cactus League roster before camp begins.

Rat Boy wrote:

Maybe they can get a two for one deal and have him on the Giants' Cactus League roster before camp begins.

Too bad the Giants AAA team isn't Fresno anymore. I'm sure he's ready to play AAA by now.

*Legion* wrote:
garion333 wrote:

You just can't make this stuff up. One of the best lines in football? Quit reading fan pages, Legion. They overhyped you.

OK, first of all, I said that after the start of the season, when a healthy unit went through the first few weeks of the season giving up hardly any pressures. Not the unit that ended down the stretch with Joe Staley banged up, Trent Brown moved out of position to the left side to fill in for him, both centers out (forcing Zane Beadles to play center), Andrew Tiller out with ankle injury, and a free agent signed off the street and stuck into the starting lineup (Andrew Gardner).

The line I was talking about having the potential to be very good did not include street free agent Gardner and 5th round rookie John Theus as starters, but that's where they ended up.

Also, there was some projection in there, expecting good things from 1st round pick Josh Garnett. Those good things may still come, but he had a very rough rookie year.

Staley and Tiller are still solid when they're on the field, and I still expect very good things from Brown. Garnett is going to have to step up and live up to that 1st round billing for the unit to live up to how they started the season. And the unit badly needs some depth.

I swear I'm not trolling by asking this: What team didn't deal with injuries?

(That's from here btw.)

Sources: Chargers plan to announce move from San Diego to Los Angeles

Adam Schefter
ESPN Senior Writer

Almost one year to the day that the Rams moved to Los Angeles, the Chargers now likely are planning to do the same.

The Chargers plan to announce as early as Thursday that they are moving to Los Angeles, ending a 55-year stint with San Diego and returning to their birthplace, league sources said.

The Chargers played their inaugural season in Los Angeles in 1960 before moving to San Diego in 1961.

The Chargers have notified NFL commissioner Roger Goodell, and other league owners, of their intent to move to Los Angeles for the 2017 season, sources said.

But as one league source cautioned Wednesday night, Chargers chairman Dean Spanos had yet to send a formal relocation letter to the NFL, yet to notify public officials in Los Angeles or San Diego of the team's move, or even tell the members of the San Diego organization about his plans. The source insisted nothing is final.

But unless Spanos unexpectedly changes his mind at the last moment -- and there certainly have been enough plot twists in this San Diego stadium saga -- the Chargers will be moving to Los Angeles.

garion333 wrote:

I swear I'm not trolling by asking this: What team didn't deal with injuries?

Oh everyone does. I'm just saying the group of linemen in SF that I felt could be good weren't the group of linemen that played as the season wore on. My expectation was for Zane Beadles to be supplanted and become the top backup. In reality, Zane Beadles was a starter at 3 different positions: LT, LG, and C.

It was probably the position on the Niners roster that had the most shuffling from week to week, and the one where they ended up scraping the very bottom of the depth chart barrel.