NFL - NEWS & NOTES

how many years did you have to go back to find 10 wins? This is a bit misleading.

For the recent history version over the past two seasons:
Ravens 0-4
Steelers 1-3 (won in 2020)
Browns 1-3 (won in 2019)

2-10 overall the past two seasons. 1-5 each of the last two seasons.

Without a very healthy Burrow, I stand by my prediction of them going 0-6 in 2021.

 

Matt Nagy: “Time is now” for Bears offense



Matt Nagy has taken the Bears to the playoffs twice and posted a winning record overall in his three seasons as the head coach in Chicago, but there’s one area where the team has fallen short consistently during his tenure.

Nagy came to the Bears after serving as offensive coordinator for the Chiefs and the hope was that he’d build a potent offense with the NFC North team. That hasn’t come close to happening, however, and that led to some speculation about his future coming out of the 2020 season.

Nagy and General Manager Ryan Pace remained on the job, though, and Nagy said on the Under Center podcast with Kenneth Davis that he refuses to allow the team to live in the past. They’re taking another whack at putting that kind of offense into place with Andy Dalton and Justin Fields at quarterback, and Nagy wants to see what happens with a “fresh start.”

“I think what we’ve put together — Ryan Pace has done such an amazing job of building the last three years — this roster that we have, we have a lot of depth,” Nagy said, via NBCSportsChicago.com. “And so now to be able to have the time to put together, we feel like we’re going to have a great opportunity offensively to to do what we need to do. The time is now, we know that and we’re looking forward to it.”

The Bears have many of the same offensive pieces back outside of the quarterback spot, so the play of Dalton and Fields will have a lot to do with their chances of putting up the kind of numbers needed to assuage those who doubt Nagy is still the right man for the job.

PFT

 

Matt Nagy: Goal is to get David Montgomery 20 rushes a game

Throughout his first three seasons as Bears head coach, Matt Nagy has often had to parry questions about his running game, or lack thereof, particularly after losses. The perception in Chicago is that the coach often meanders away from the ground attack at inopportune times.

Perception doesn't exactly match the reality for the play-caller. Still, Nagy spent part of a recent interview with Kenneth Davis on theUnder Center Podcastat the American Century Classic golf tournament over the weekend harping on his plan for running back David Montgomery.

The Bears rode Montgomery down the stretch last season as Nagy's club backed into the postseason. In the final three games of the regular season, the starting running back saw 32, 23 and 22 carries, respectively.

Those are target figures the coach hopes to see the running back hit more regularly in 2021.

"Depending on what the game is, what's happened the last couple years and why some of David's carries -- which aren't low -- haven't been quite as high is a lot of guys get it in to four-minute mode in the fourth quarter," Nagy said, via SI.com. "That's where they can get those extra four or five carries, which can bump them into the top five, you know, with 20 rushes a game. That's our goal."

In 15 regular-season games played last season, Montgomery averaged 16.5 carries per game. That's hardly forgotten. Only three backs saw more total totes than the Bears leading rusher last season: Derrick Henry (averaged 23.6 carries per game), Dalvin Cook (22.3) and Josh Jacobs (18.2).

"We want to have the lead so that we can give him the ball, so he has touches," Nagy said. "Because you know from just seeing him run the football, that guy in four-minute mode it takes more than one guy to bring him down. He's one of my favorite players on the team.


"I love his work ethic. He cares so much. He's, I guarantee you every single day, he's out here working. He wants to have a great year. He's motivated."

In the Bears' eight regular-season wins, the RB averaged 17.3 totes per tilt. In the seven losses in which Montgomery participated, that figure waned just slightly, dipping to 15.6. Given the league-wide trend away from the running game and toward multi-player backfields, there is little to fret in terms of Montgomery's carries.

His end-of-season stretch above the 20-carry threshold did buoy his numbers. He had four games in which he didn't hit the dozen-carry mark. However, those instances didn't exactly indicate a win or loss, as two came in wins and two in defeats.

Most of the criticism of Nagy's play calls isn't that he doesn't call enough runs, but rather the timing of his calls -- i.e., electing to pass on short-yardage third downs when the running game has been clicking.

The overall inefficiency of the offense has been the biggest bugaboo for Nagy the past two seasons, with most of that due to erratic quarterback play. If he gets more efficiency and electric output from his signal-caller -- whether Justin Fields or Andy Dalton -- it should open up the ground game.

Again, Nagy insisted he doesn't hate running the ball.

"Not at all," he said. "I understand what city I'm in and where we're at with Chicago and defense and running the ball. You have to be able to run the football in this league to be successful and set up the pass and that's our goal is to get better in every area."


The reality of the modern league -- and a reality Nagy's play-calling usually reflects -- is that the pass sets up the run. But let's not let truth get in the way of good ol' clichés.

NFL.com

 

As I understand it, there’s no reason to think Burrow will not be in the lineup week one.

Hence my prediction that the team can take steps forward. I’m a big believer in him and the weapons that offense has. But I will withhold judgement on the head coach and the defense until further notice

 

The bengals might even come in second place behind the Steelers

 

Cassius Marsh: Patriots treat players like crap



Steelers linebacker Cassius Marsh has spent time with seven different NFL teams, but his time with the Patriots stood out. And not in a good way.

Marsh, who was traded to the Patriots in September of 2017 and cut by the Patriots in November of that year, said on Tom Segura’s podcast that the Patriots’ winning comes at the expense of players being able to enjoy the game of football.

“The Patriot Way is extremely impressive,” Marsh said. “They work day-in and day-out. Their work ethic over there, what they instill, is pretty legendary. But they also treat players like crap. You don’t have a lunch period. You get there and you have to make time to eat in between meetings. And they’re like five to 10 minute periods where I would literally go scoop food and put it in a cup and crush it real quick before I got to the next meeting. There’s no fun. There’s no — well, that is what I got in trouble for, for saying they don’t have fun.”

This isn’t the first time Marsh criticized the Patriots. He referred to himself as one of the Top 5 most-hated former Patriots in New England because of his previous comments, but he also said several Patriots players have thanked him for speaking out.

“A lot of the players like thanked me for making it public on how bad they treat guys. I mean, they win games so you just really can’t argue with championships,” Marsh said.

Marsh added that he respects Patriots coach Bill Belichick. He just doesn’t like him.

PFT

 

Marcus Maye not expected to sign long-term deal with Jets



Jets head coach Robert Saleh said in May that the team would “relentlessly” work to sign safety Marcus Maye to a long-term contract before the July 15 deadline to make a deal with franchise-tagged players, but those efforts appear to be flagging with the deadline a couple of days away.

Ian Rapoport of NFL Media reports that no deal is expected between Maye and the Jets at this point. Per the report, the Jets did not respond to the last proposal from Maye’s camp and that it is now off the table as a result.

Nothing precludes Maye from putting a deal back on the table if the Jets show late interest in what his side put forth, so the situation could change between now and Thursday. According to Rapoport, the Jets had offered a deal with an average per year below this year’s tag amount.

Maye is in line to make $10.612 million under the tag this season. He has signed his tag and reported to the team’s mandatory minicamp last month.

PFT

 

Isaac Bruce: Torry Holt and I are the best duo ever, we won a Super Bowl unlike Moss and Carter



As former Rams receiver Isaac Bruce prepares for his enshrinement in the Pro Football Hall of Fame next month, he’s making a bold statement about his place in NFL history: Bruce said that he and Torry Holt are the best wide receiver duo in NFL history.

“It may seem like a whole lot of arrogance to other people, but numbers don’t lie,” Bruce told Bryan DeArdo of CBS. “Everything we put on the football field, the film, it is what it is. You can always go back and turn it on.”

Asked about the Vikings’ duo of Randy Moss and Cris Carter, Bruce answered, “We won a Super Bowl.”

If Super Bowl rings are the determining factor, Bruce and Holt would have to take a backseat to Lynn Swann and John Stallworth, two Hall of Fame receivers who won four Super Bowls together on the Steelers, as well as Jerry Rice and John Taylor, who won three Super Bowls together on the 49ers.

Other great receiver duos in NFL history include Rice and Terrell Owens on the 49ers, Marvin Harrison and Reggie Wayne on the Colts, Mark Duper and Mark Clayton on the Dolphins, Tom Fears and Elroy Hirsch on the Rams and Fred Biletnikoff and Cliff Branch on the Raiders.

It’s ultimately a subjective opinion and unsurprising that Bruce puts himself and Holt at the top of the list. Even if most football fans would disagree.

PFT

 

Al 'Bubba' Baker on becoming unofficial single-season sack king: 'Tears just started running down my eyes'

He's 64-years-young and 31 years removed from his last NFL game, but Al "Bubba" Baker has finally received some very long overdue acclaim.

Upon Pro Football Reference’s recent reveal of sack statistics prior to the 1982 season, Baker's name sits unofficially atop the single-season list with 23 sacks during an all-time sensational rookie showing in 1978.

And the former Lions standout who menaced and mauled opposing quarterbacks was brought to tears when he received word that he was finally being recognized for his astounding accomplishments all these years later.

"For some reason, and I'm not kidding you, without any prompting, tears just started running down my eyes," Baker told Dan Hanzus, Gregg Rosenthal and Patrick Claybon on the latest Around The NFL podcast. "And my wife was inside, I opened up the patio doors. And my wife, first thing she said was, 'What's wrong?' And I said, nothing's wrong and I said come look at this. And, you know, we hugged and then I lost about an hour and a half, two hours. My daughter called. It was really emotional for my family. I guess at 6-foot-8, 290 pounds, that doesn't sound really tough, but, we were all crying.

"You know somebody tells you you're a sack leader and what do you do, you start crying. And I guess it's because none of us really sat around like some players and, 'We want this and we want that.' We hadn't thought about it for at least, for at least, I'm not kidding you, 20 years."

But plenty are thinking about it now.



Pro Football Reference's deep mathematical dive has uncovered unofficial sack totals for myriad pass-rushing pillars such as Deacon Jones, Alan Pages, Jack Youngblood and on and on.


Brown's 23 sacks, which as aforementioned unbelievably came during his rookie campaign of 1978 when he collected AP Defensive Rookie of the Year, would put him -- unofficially -- half a sack ahead of Michael Strahan's 2001 standard of 22.5. Though Strahan's 22.5 sacks have always been recognized officially -- and still are -- as the top single-season mark in NFL history, it's often been accompanied by controversy as the record-breaker came on a play in which many feel then-Packers quarterback Brett Favre gifted him the top spot.

Baker was one of the many.

"The conversations that I would have was when people would come up to me and they would say, they'd talk to me about Michael Strahan's 22nd and a half sack. That was a problem for me, the way that went down. That was a problem," said Baker, who's been a success in his post-playing days as a restaurant owner in Ohio. "Cause Michael had a great year. To see that, it had nothing to do with my 23, it just had to do with, well, why does he need to do that? Now it's tainted, in my opinion, and that bothered me."

Sacks were not counted as an official statistic in the NFL prior to the 1982 season. So Strahan's record-breaking performance passed up former Jets star Mark Gastineau's 22-sack 1984 showing, much to the dismay of Gastineau. But now there's an unofficial argument with statistics to support it that Baker was one better than Gastineau and half a sack ahead of Strahan all along.

Meditating on his patio when he found out about Pro Football Reference's arduous research leading to his all-time acknowledgement, Baker's moment of Zen suddenly transformed into a lifetime's worth of emotion. In his career, overlooked and understated no longer, Baker now unofficially has 131 career sacks in 13 seasons with the Lions, Cardinals, Browns and Vikings organizations to go with an official Defensive Rookie of the Year nod, three Pro Bowls and an All-Pro selection.

Perhaps Pro Football Reference's hard work will rekindle Baker's Hall of Fame argument. Perhaps it won't. But as the offseason days burn away ahead of the 2021 NFL season, Baker's spectacular 1978 season has been realized for just how truly special it was.

"You say to yourself, move on. And that's what I did, I just went on with my life," Baker said.

For so very long, recognition eluded Baker as quarterbacks most often could not. Now he's got it all these autumns later.

NFL.com

 

LeSean McCoy: Some teams have reached out, looking for right fit



Veteran running back LeSean McCoy played sparingly for the Buccaneers last season and he was out of the lineup for the Chiefs down the stretch in 2019, but he’s not ready to call an end to his playing career.

McCoy was a guest on NFL Network Tuesday and said that he considered retiring after running 10 times for 31 yards for the Buccaneers last season. He’s put those thoughts on hold and is pitching himself as “a veteran that wants to win, knows how to win and how to be a great teammate and leader.”

“I’ve had some talks to my agent Drew Rosenahaus. I was contemplating retirement. I’ve had some teams reach out. I think right now it’s just all about being in shape, being ready for the call and also the right road, the right fit,” McCoy said. “I want to go to a team where I can compete. I want to go to a team where I can contribute. And make a playoff, hopefully championship run. That’s the biggest thing, I think from winning two championships it’s hard to go to a team where you don’t see anything happening. That’s something that I think about winding my career down and I’m about to finish out. I want to go somewhere so I can have some fun and win.”

There may not be a lot of teams with space for a veteran backup who doesn’t play special teams and whose best days are several years in the past, but all it will take is one for McCoy to play a 13th NFL season.

PFT

 

time for Shady to ride off into the sunset,you wasn't no factor in the Chiefs SB win or the Buc's SB win you got 2 rings nothing to prove here

 

Well, from a different perspective, he's just looking for another job and feels he has a bit more left in the tank. I think he realizes, he's a depth addition to any team that he signs with and im sure he will suit up for his 13th... he just wants to play and I dont blame him, lol. I heard they pay pretty well in todays game.

 

This just in to the L4SN News Room...

Richard Sherman arrested, jailed without bail, for “burglary domestic violence”



Free-agent cornerback Richard Sherman currently is being held without bail in Seattle.

Sherman, per multiple reports, is charged with “burglary domestic violence.” Court records declare in all caps, “BAIL DENIED.”

Typically, the notion of “burglary domestic violence” refers to someone entering or refusing to leave a house or dwelling within the context of a domestic dispute. For example, someone who gets locked out of a house during a argument with a spouse or significant other and then breaks in potentially has committed “burglary domestic violence.”

Few other details currently are available. However it plays out, the situation will not be conducive to Sherman continuing his NFL career any time soon.

PFT

 

WOW thought he had his head together this is just Shocking

 

Maybe he wants another ring with another team.

 

I'm not sure that opinion is correct...

 

This is pretty fucking cool.

 

Police: Richard Sherman and officer both sustained minor injuries when he resisted arrest



Police in Redmond, Washington, say Richard Sherman resisted arrest and as a result both he and a police officer sustained minor injuries.

The police made the statement at a press conference today, saying that Sherman physically resisted officers’ efforts to take him into custody. Police say Sherman’s injury was a minor laceration to his lower leg, apparently a dog bite when a police dog was used.

Sherman was arrested for burglary domestic violence and malicious mischief for attempting to break into a home in Redmond, where police say Sherman’s ex-wife’s parents live. Other reports have indicated that the police were incorrect and that Sherman is still married to the woman whose parents live in the home.

Sherman did not gain entry into the home but had what was described as a “verbal altercation” with the occupants of the home.

Washington State Patrol is also investigating Sherman for crashing his car, leaving the scene and suspicion of driving under the influence. Police drew Sherman’s blood to determine whether he was under the influence, and those results are pending.

PFT

 

sounds like Drama Drama and some more Drama dog bite really sounds like a loud verbal altercation as you just said if that's the case kinda seems like upsetting the public peace

 

Taylor Moton, Panthers agree to four-year, $72 million extension



At least one franchise-tagged player will sign a long-term deal with his current franchise on Thursday.

Offensive tackle Taylor Moton has agreed to terms with the Panthers on a contract extension before the 4 p.m. ET deadline, the team announced. According to multiple reports, the deal is for four years and $72 million with $43 million guaranteed.

Moton was scheduled to play the 2021 season under the franchise tag at $13.754 million. He had quickly signed the franchise tender in March.

Carolina drafted Moton in the second round of the 2017 draft. While he appeared in all 16 games as a rookie, he’s started every contest over the last three seasons. In 2020, Moton played 100 percent of Carolina’s offensive snaps.

Moton’s new deal makes him one of the highest-paid right tackles in football, with an average annual value of $18 million. That’s below the $19.51 million average value of New Orleans’ Ryan Ramczyk, who agreed to a five-year extension with the Saints late last month.

Moton joins Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott, Broncos safety Justin Simmons, and Giants defensive lineman Leonard Williams as franchise-tagged players who have signed long-term extensions in 2021.

PFT