That last SB was just flat-out strange... both offenses were shut down and to me it was hard to tell if it was because of great defenses or inept offenses or a combo of both. Going into the game, Rams vs Pats or Brady vs Goff, you'd have to think 42-38 game, man, was I wrong.
Idk Joe...He got his team into the SB. Bad calls aside, shit happens....I think Goff is deadly accurate. Great young QB. The ONLY reason for the late season "drop off" in my eyes, was losing Cooper Kupp, and the injuries to Todd Gurley...
Maybe Goff couldn't play without Kupp. Plausible. But he was playing too poorly for that to be the only issue. And Gurley was out but he was fine vs Dallas. Also Goff played well week 16 and 17 but it was vs the 2 worse teams int he NFL playing pretty vanilla essentially trying to lose for the #1 pick. Goff wasn't that great vs Dallas and New Orleans. He wasn't given the most ingenious play calls either. I still think it was too optimistic to hope Goff would get it together for the Super Bowl when he essentially got no real ability to succeed vs meaningful competiton once he got out of the worst part of his slump coming out of the Big KC win and bye. I'm definitely in the minority but I blame McVay much more than Goff. It had to do with the play calls and (not) getting him back to form and not just the stats.
Been thinking some on the Nick Foles impact for the Jaguars. I can't see the Jaguars competing for the AFC South within the time frame of Nick's contract and the quarterback search will continue in Jacksonville. Some of that is because of my opinion of Nick as a potential starter, but more of it has to do with the Colts and Texans looking to assert a choke-hold on the division. His deal is set up so the Jags have to roster him until at least 2021 (post June 1st) or they will lose a significant amount of cash. They were positioned to make a move on a quarterback in the draft this off-season and opted to sign Foles. Now, they will likely be a middling club that will have a lower draft spot in 2020 making it harder to go up and get a quarterback if Nick shows that he is simply a journeyman passer that is only an incremental advancement over Bortles.
I'm leaning the same way but the success from a couple of years ago that was absolutely reversed single-handedly by Bortles could show up. All hope is not lost but you'd need the Foles-WR rapport to be there and the RB situation needs to stabilize.
I think that's an accurate take, but I would add that I do believe there is somewhat of a culture problem in Jacksonville that won't be remedied until there are wholesale changes on the coaching staff. Marrone is not the one to lead the Jaguars back into the conversation atop the AFC.
Staying in the AFC South, it feels like the Titans are going to end up with a .500 or worse record again this season but I do believe they are slowly inching towards getting a chance to compete for the division title. It will all come back to the decision on Mariota's future with the franchise. At some point the Titans are going to be forced into making a change and Tannehill will not be the answer. Tennessee is the perfect team to have a veteran quarterback with winning experience come in and immediately take them to the playoffs in 2020. But here's the rub... That guy simply doesn't exist in the 2020 FA market (as of now). Skip a year further down the road and Andy Dalton would probably be the best guy available, unless the Panthers were to suddenly decide they wanted to move on from Cam. Basically, it's a better than advertised situation for a mythical free agent quarterback to come in and immediately fly past expectations.
Honestly, the whole division could be crazy this year. I keep looking at Houston and I just keep thinking they are overrated. Watson was figured out but can he adjust and get his WRs involved anyways? He will to some extent but will it be to be a good team? I have the Colts winning the division and then after that it feels like you pull them from a hat. Jags probably have the lowest odds and Texans the highest, but I like the Titans, especially if Mariota was fighting through injury and should improve.
I would agree with this. I would also add that Coughlin probably isn't part of the solution, either, to my mind. Making the move for Foles was a good idea, but a year too late.
Making the move away from Bortles was a good idea and a year too late, but they doubled down and extended him for some reason. Does all this Fournette BS with his per carry and attitude shit really escalate so much if they had any QB?
I still think the Titans are a 9-7 team at best. Texans should be that good or better, but I like the Colts this year. AS for the Jags, if they can run as previously stated and get the 'good' Foles, I think they will surprise a few teams. 1) Colts 2) Texans or Jags Basement) Titans
The 2 biggest obstacles for the Vikings this season will be the Bears and the Packers. That's 4 nearly must win games for Minnesota... those 4 games will make or break the team's chances for the playoffs.