NFL 2013 Season Thread

[-Jrabbit]

Reports are that the players neither liked nor respected him.
Also saw this tidbit this morning:

According to the NFL Network, one "breaking point" for fired HC Rob Chudzinski was his refusal to hold Brandon Weeden and Greg Little "accountable."
A couple weeks back, Chud was reportedly told to cut a player. He refused, which apparently was a sign that he doesn't do well with accountability. Perhaps Chud is a natural coordinator rather than head coach, but he was given Weeden, Brian Hoyer and Jason Campbell as his quarterbacks, and Josh Gordon, Little and Davone Bess as his top-three wideouts. He benched Weeden repeatedly and had to keep rolling with Little due to the dearth of talent on the roster. We're still waiting for a more logical explanation for why Chud was only given one year on the job.
Source: Albert Breer on Twitter - Dec 30 - 8:05 AM

Not sure if there's anything to it, but where there's smoke...

[-Jrabbit]

I laugh at Schiano. When he left Rutgers, I knew he wouldn't last long. I mean he's a great recruiter who is a horrible game day coach. His main strength is neutralized in the NFL.

Assuming O'Brien jumps, Schiano will be a heavy favorite for the Penn State gig.

[Imran Siddiqui]

Assuming O'Brien jumps, Schiano will be a heavy favorite for the Penn State gig.

I think that'd be a decided step down for the Nittany Lions, but not a bad hire for them.

[-Jrabbit]

Meanwhile, rumors are flying that OC Kevin Gilbride is the proposed scapegoat for the NY Giants' craptastic season.
It is also rumored that if Tom Coughlin is asked to fire his buddy, he will resign.

The Tampa Bay rumor mill names Lovie Smith and Gary Kubiak as top choices, but since they don't even have a GM in place, this is probably just posturing by the agents of these ex-coaches.

I love Black Monday.

[Ben Kenobi]

BTW, just saw footage that shows conclusively the Chargers were in an illegal formation on Succop's missed FG at the end of regulation. They had 7 men to the right of the center. Should have been a 5-yd penalty and re-kick.

Who got screwed? Pittsburgh.

Apparently the football gods were displeased by Tomlin and decided to stick it to him in the most brutal fashion. What would hurt the most is if the Chargers went on to win the superbowl, eh, JR?

[Ben Kenobi]

Well, Chud might end up back on the Chargers staff again. Chargers have a tendency to pick up coaches that should never have been let go and use them as coordinators. Just look at Ron Rivera, and the Whiz. If the Chargers keep playing well and coaching talent keeps using the Boltz as a stepping stone up to the big job, then everyone is going to want to coach for the Chargers.

[Al B. Sure!]

Meanwhile, rumors are flying that OC Kevin Gilbride is the proposed scapegoat for the NY Giants' craptastic season.

It's silly because this season didn't expose any flaws in Gilbride that weren't common knowledge going back decades. He was the OC of two SB victories with his usual: 1st down, run up the middle. 2nd down, run up the middle. 3rd down, either chuck it up to WR's on stretch and fade routes or shotgun draw.

Every year when the Giants have a sub-par season, Gilbride's predictable playcalling is blamed but when that same playcalling helps win two SB's, he's the most secure OC in the league. He is a flawed OC but he's a flawed OC every year.

[Ben Kenobi]

Once again I can't tell if you are trolling, obtuse or just lacking in knowledge. Maybe all 3?

Here's a hint. If the option is 'obtuse, lacking in knowledge or trolling', chances are I'm trolling. And if you don't think it's a troll, chances are it's not directed at you.

[Demonbinder]

Anyone that hires Lovie should pick their own OC. Chicago fans know he can't do it!

And in all the comments about the Bears game, no mention of the defensive brain cramp? That was what lost the game (though the officials didn't help either).

[-Jrabbit]

That was a huge play, true, but it was in the first half. They Bears recovered from that. Then there was the play clock clearly showing "00" before the snap on GB's 4th-and-1 from their own 20-something with over 4 minutes remaining. That would have forced a punt. Or the 4th-down pass to Quarless that went right through Conte's hands; even the announcers couldn't figure out how it got through. Like I said, lots of odd plays, bad calls, and missed opportunities. On both sides.

Bottom line, the Bears had an 8 point lead in the 4th quarter and couldn't hold it.

[SlowwHand]

Apparently the football gods were displeased by Tomlin and decided to stick it to him in the most brutal fashion. What would hurt the most is if the Chargers went on to win the superbowl, eh, JR?

I really thought near this same thing. How ironic that Tomlin got screwed and is complaining after his infraction and fine previously.

[Al B. Sure!]

Barnwell on the Rodgers to Cobb play:

The whole play is dictated by Chicago's decision to bring what amounts to an all-out blitz. The Packers line up with trips receivers to the left and a lone receiver split out on the right, while the Bears show pressure with a "mug" look, pushing both linebackers onto the line of scrimmage to create confusion as to who will come and attack after the snap. With five seconds left on the play clock, slot corner Isaiah Frey also sneaks his way into the box to make a seventh rusher. With four wideouts, the Packers only have six players who could conceivably block for Rodgers: their five offensive linemen and fullback John Kuhn. That's enough unless the Bears decide to bring all seven rushers … which is exactly what happens.

Now, if you're the 2013 Bears and you're bringing seven men against six, who do you hope goes unblocked to get a free shot at Rodgers? Julius Peppers, right? That's exactly what happened. When Frey moved onto the line of scrimmage and rushed, he forced left tackle David Bakhtiari to honor the inside rusher and block him, leaving Peppers a free run at Rodgers. The only reason the Packers are still alive right now is because Kuhn, lined up next to Rodgers on the opposite side of the formation, saw Peppers running free and sprinted across the formation to dive at Peppers's knees in the hopes of slowing him down. He got to Peppers no more than a quarter-step before Peppers was about to engulf Rodgers and end Green Bay's season.4 Peppers's lunge still would have been enough to take down a fair number of quarterbacks, but Rodgers does just enough to elude Peppers's outstretched arm and step to the left.

The hope with this blitz in this situation is that the pressure forces a sack, an errant throw, or a quick pass to a hot read that would allow the Bears to make a play on a receiver well before the first-down marker. By rushing seven and leaving four men in coverage behind the play, the Bears are exposed if Rodgers escapes the pressure and has a moment to set himself and throw. That's bad. You know what would make that worse? If three of the four guys in the secondary blow the coverage, too.

When the Bears blitz Frey and leave four men in the secondary to guard four receivers, their coverage options are limited. On this play, according to coach Marc Trestman after the game, the four defensive backs are supposed to be in man coverage with no safety support behind them, a Cover-0 look. If you watch the play, you'll see that the Bears corners peer into the backfield and sit at the sticks in zone coverage. Free safety Chris Conte — who might theoretically have been the person stuck covering Cobb — drifts into the flat. As Bleacher Report writer (and former Bears safety) Matt Bowen noted, the only person correctly playing man on the play was strong safety Major Wright, who might very well have committed an illegal-contact penalty while he was doing so.

Now, go back and watch Cobb. You know how soon he realizes he's going to be wide-open? He's signaling for the ball while he's still three yards in front of Conte. The angle makes it impossible to see which route the near-side receiver ran, and Jordy Nelson gets laid out by Wright midroute, but it looks like the Packers were a team after our Chris Brown's heart and ran four verts with their season on the line. Rodgers actually underthrows Cobb, but what he does on the play — elude a Hall of Fame–caliber defensive end, quickly reset, identify his open receiver, and get the ball out quickly and accurately without even really stepping into the throw — is incredible.

The offseason debate among Bears fans has already begun, as I suspect that some will be upset with defensive coordinator Mel Tucker for bringing a big blitz with the game on the line. I don't think it was the wrong move or necessarily an obviously wrong call. How often do we hear that prevent defenses don't prevent anything? The play call almost got Peppers a free sack on Rodgers to end the season. Peppers versus air with the season on the line is a good matchup for the Bears. The Packers overcame it with a heroic block from Kuhn and a moment of brilliance from their best player. And the Bears made an undesigned mental mistake that cost them the game behind the blitz.5 Had Peppers made it that one final step or gotten just enough on his lunge to trip up Rodgers, we would be sitting here talking about what a great call the blitz was and how Mike McCarthy's mental mistake cost the Packers the game.6 I don't think you fault the Bears for bringing pressure. I think you credit the Packers for what they were able to do on the biggest play of their season.

And he chides McCarthy's two point aversion:

That would be kicking the extra point down two with 11:30 to go in the fourth quarter. There's no TYFNC this week because of the holiday, but that's an astoundingly bad decision against a great defense, let alone the horrific Bears run D with Aaron freaking Rodgers as your quarterback. The two-point chart at Footballcommentary.com suggests that the Packers should have tried the two-point conversion if they had a 14 percent chance of succeeding. 14 percent! The Packers ended up needing to convert three fourth-down plays on that final drive to win the game, including the fourth-and-8 that produced the touchdown pass to Cobb. It worked out for the Packers, but trust me: The two-pointer would have been the right call.

[DirtyMartini]

This is nonsense. The Packers are from Wisconsin, which is overall a slightly left-leaning state. The Dallas Cowboys have the most conservative fan base in the country. And nationally, it's larger than the Packers'.

Yeah, the state whose governor removed collective bargaining powers from state employees (and survived the subsequent recall) is clearly left leaning.

I never said GB had the biggest nationwide fanbase (Pittsburgh, Dallas are the leaders there), but it is a historic franchise. We're not talking Carolina or Jacksonville here.

The city of Green Bay is incredibly backward -- it's the town that time forgot. Still stuck in the days of Lambeau and Lombardi.

[SlowwHand]

There are worse things.

[DirtyMartini]

There are worse things.

Unless you're their allegedly gay quarterback.