Mike2.0

Players these days don’t need the pay day of the Pro Bowl. Even the lower paid players are earning enough money to not want to risk an injury playing in a pointless game. Last year didn’t the winners take home around $100k and the losers around $50k? Sounds nice to most of us, but to them, I can understand why some turn it down or half heartedly it if they play.

I can’t see someone with McDermott’s record having to take a step down to DC to earn another shot. He’ll likely take a year off like Vrabel and McCarthy, then have the pick of jobs next season. Generally speaking the HCs that take a step back are those that need to rebuild their reputation (eg Kingsbury, McDaniel, Flores), or accept that they aren’t HC material as they’ve ‘failed’ a couple of times.

Monken wanted the Ravens to draft Sanders, so it’s possible that he could give him an opportunity to start. That said, Sanders and Flacco making the Pro Bowl is a joke. They should really call it a day as the Pro Bowl is no longer fit for purpose.

Sanders making the Pro Bowl one ups Tyler Huntley making the Pro Bowl a few seasons ago. It simply proves that the Pro Bowl should have been cancelled years ago.

I think age is overblown at times because McCarthy could coach another 5+ years. That would put him at the same age as Andy Reid, who could coach another handful of years if he wants to. As long as they remain sharp and committed to the daily grind, then age shouldn’t be an issue. I also think that they can still be patient with the QB situation at McCarthy’s age. Let’s say they start a veteran and draft someone to develop over the next 1-2 years, that would put at McCarthy 63/64, so he could still coach another handful of seasons with that young QB. Ok, one could argue that a young HC and QB could be paired together for their entire NFL careers, but such pairings are rare in the NFL as most HCs don’t last beyond five years. Most QBs go through a number of HCs during their careers. What is important for a young QB is having the right HC to set on them on the right path and McCarthy is as good an option as others.

It does appear that way. However, perhaps they have become frustrated and think hiring McCarthy gives them the best chance of success and gives them an offensive minded HC? It’s short term ism, but his offenses have typically ranked well, like Dallas’ offense between 21-23. His W-L record is similar to John Harbaugh and Mike Tomlin, so I personally don’t see a major issue. Their problem is going to be their QB spot. Rodgers clearly isn’t a long term solution and they don’t have anyone else on the roster that fits the bill either. They’ll need to find someone in the draft, through trade or FA to ensure they continue to be competitive.

Examples? Jared Goff seems to be the most prominent example. They moved him and brought in Matthew Stafford, which has worked wonders for them. I’m not sure there’s that caliber of QB available this offseason. I guess the 49ers count as they moved on from Garoppolo, but Purdy was not meant to be ‘the guy’, that role was meant to be Trey Lance who they traded up to draft 3rd overall. The Eagles won a Super Bowl with Nick Foles while Carson Wentz was injured, then drafted a high upside back in Hurfs who ended up replacing Wentz, but it was fairly clear by that point that Wentz wasn’t the guy. Generally a team with a cemented franchise QB isn’t drafting and holding a competition. They are drafting them to be a backup and developmental prospect, or they are drafting the successor as their franchise QB is coming towards the end of their career. In our case, we could draft someone to backup Bryce and keep him on his toes, but there won’t be an open competition for the role, it would be well and truly Bryce’s job to lose with poor play.

Did you honestly expect an open competition? Bryce has made progress this season, perhaps not as much as we’d like, but he’s done enough to warrant another year. He’ll arguably never silence the doubters, nor will he ever overcome his shortcomings, but for the time being he’s the guy until someone in the front office decides otherwise. Now that doesn’t mean we can’t or won’t draft a quarterback that is better suited to running the offense when Bryce misses time, but we were never going to sign, trade for, or draft his replacement after this season. The only time that would have happened is if he struggled this season and the team lost a ton of games and ended up with a top pick. At that point we’d have been looking for at least a new HC and QB.

Based on how both teams played today we might as well flip a coin to see who wins. I think we can beat the Buccaneers next week and secure our spot on the play offs, but it will probably be one and done come play off time. Interestingly if the Falcons beat the Rams on Monday, then next week the Saints beat the Falcons and we beat the Bucs, there will be three way tie on 7-10!

Frank Gore played until he was 37. So if Henry played another six seasons, he would need to average 910.5 yards to surpass Emmitt Smith. I think it would depend on what motivates Henry, but if anyone could challenge Emmitt for the all time, it will be Henry. However, it’s probably unlikely that he will surpass him. For me, it would be more likely he’d challenge and surpass Gore and/or Payton.

I’m not disputing that their defense is elite. What I’m saying is it will be interesting to see how far their elite defense can carry them in the play offs or whether their offense eventually hold them back if/when a team does take its chances to score. For example, the number two and three defenses just put up nearly 40 points against each other. If they come up against a team that starts to score, can they keep up or will their chances be dependent on their defense continuing to stifle their opposition? Like I said, it will be interesting to see how it unfolds.

The Texan’s performance tonight showcased their defensive ability, but also showed that their offense is not on the same level. So it will be interesting to see if their defense can continue to shut teams down and carry them in the play offs like they have in the regular season, because without that, I don’t think their offense is playing well enough to go score for score with the more prolific offenses in the league.

Missed FG to end the half. What started off as clinical play by the Texans has turned into a wild and sloppy finish to the half.

This is going back and forth right now! Bad decision by Stroud with not much time left in the quarter. Can Herbert take advantage?

It’s going to be an interesting game week. If we turn up and play like we did against the Rams then we can beat the Seahawks, but we need to start capitalising on the chances and putting more points on the board. The Seahawks have put up some pretty good offensive performances when things click, so we’ve got to take the chances and hope the pressure we put on Darnold makes him crack. I’m not sure how much we can really rely on Miami doing us a favor. They have a 7th round rookie starting and although Tampa have found ways to lose, I’m not sure they’ll lose this one. If they do, Bowles should be gone.