NFL - NEWS & NOTES

After Watsons weekend?

 

Depending on how mayfield does the rest of the season, is it possible that the Rams will want him back?

 

After that 64 yrd punt and he drove them down the field for the winning TD that was amazing when it looked like a sure loss

 

The salary cap says that Stafford isn't going anywhere in 2023, and unless the wheels come off he'll be there in 2024 as well. But that third round comp pick in 2024 is looking more probable. Nice job by GM Les Snead.

 

Put the salary cap aside.. He has a spinal injury. Even in this day and age of medicine, there is a chance this injury is too dangerous to continue playing pro football. The Rams may not currently have a starting QB if that is the case.

If you are Stafford, who finally got a SB win last year, do you risk even more damage at the age of 34 or ride off into the sunset to live life?

We don’t know the extent yet of the injury, but that’s the only way Mayfield is in LA with the Rams in 2023.

 

Thursday Night Football: Baker Mayfield leads Rams to storybook, last-second win over Raiders



Baker Mayfield must have gotten up Thursday feeling dangerous.

Two days after the Rams claimed him off waivers, Mayfield led them to an improbable, unbelievable last-second, 17-16 victory over the Raiders.


Welcome to Hollywood!

The Raiders snapped their three-game winning streak, as they blew another double-digit fourth quarter lead. Seven of the Raiders’ eight losses were by one possession.

This one was a big blow to the Raiders’ playoff hopes — or what they had left of them — as they fell to 5-8.

The Rams broke their six-game losing streak with a quarterback who is on his third team this year. The Browns traded Mayfield to the Panthers this summer, but he lasted only five months there before Carolina waived him. The Rams were the only team that claimed him as they have been hard hit by injuries at the position.

The script wrote itself Thursday.

Los Angeles trailed 16-3 in the fourth quarter but scored two touchdowns in the final 3:19. Cam Akers scored on a 1-yard run, and, after the Raiders punted on fourth-and-one, the Rams took over at their own 2-yard line with 1:45 left.

No timeouts. Ninety-eight yards to go. No problem.

Mayfield completed the eight-play drive with 10 seconds left, throwing a 23-yard touchdown pass to Van Jefferson.

The Raiders helped with two costly penalties on back-to-back plays. Cornerback Amik Robertson was penalized for a 12-yard pass interference that negated an interception by safety Duron Harmon. Then, on the next play, Jerry Tillery was called for unsportsmanlike conduct for slapping the ball out of Mayfield’s hands with the clock running on a sack by Maxx Crosby and Chandler Jones. It not only gave the Rams 15 yards but stopped the clock.

Mayfield finished 22-of-35 for 230 yards and a touchdown. Ben Skowronek caught seven passes for 89 yards, including a 32-yarder following the Raiders’ back-to-back penalties that had the Rams believing.

Mayfield didn’t start — otherwise, he would have been the team’s fourth starter in four weeks — but John Wolford played only the opening series. Wolford entered questionable with a neck injury.

Despite suffering a hand injury early on in the second half, Josh Jacobs carried the load for Las Vegas. He was able to return after briefly going to the locker room for further examination and finished with 99 yards on 27 carries with a touchdown.

Jacobs opened the scoring with a 1-yard touchdown in the first quarter. The Raiders then added a pair of field goals on their next two drives. While they had a shot at scoring again before halftime, a Derek Carr interception in the end zone kept them off the board.

Carr ended the game with an interception with two seconds left.

He went 11-of-20 for 137 yards and a 36.9 passer rating, with Davante Adams catching three passes for 71 yards.

The Raiders had 20 yards in the fourth quarter, including only 4 passing yards, and one first down. The Rams had 144 of their 282 total yards in the fourth quarter.

PFT

 

I must say, I'm pretty shocked at Mayfield's level of play given the amount of prep time. If he keeps his head down and mouth shut he could parlay this into something next year.

He'll implode though. He can't help it.

 

DIVA ALERT!!!



Wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr.’s search for a new team has seen him visit with three teams recently, but Beckham hasn’t signed with anyone and questions about his readiness to play have made it less than certain that anyone will be signing him before the season is over.

Cowboys linebacker Micah Parsons told reporters earlier this week that Beckham told him he’d be ready to play in five weeks, which would push a return to the postseason and Beckham put forth a similar timeline on Thursday night. Beckham was asked on The Shop during Thursday night’s game if he’s made a decision about where to play next and about whether he’s ready to get on the field.


“I haven’t made the decision,” Beckham said. “I would like to be in a stable environment. Get up 6 a.m., leave at 6 p.m. for four weeks and then let’s talk about it. I’ve played football for a long time. I’m not saying I couldn’t step in and play regular season, but I don’t see the point. I really don’t. I’d rather play when that pressure’s on.”

Beckham visited the Bills and Giants along with the Cowboys and the lack of a deal with any of them suggests that no one is convinced that Beckham will be able to help them at any point in the regular season or playoffs. It also suggests that no one is willing to bet on the chance that Beckham can help them in order to secure his rights for the 2023 season by signing him to a multi-year deal, but we’ll see if anything changes in the coming days or weeks.

PFT
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I would never ever want a clown with that opinion/attitude on my team... good player or not. He thinks he's all that... sounds to me like he just cares about himself. Get out there in the regular season and help your team... none of this, I'll play when I want to or just in the Playoffs shit. I cant get on board with what he said and he sounds arrogant, egotistical and foolish. Those are my takes/opinions and I'll stand by them.

 

Matt Canada: No magic formula to improve, we’ve stayed the course offensively





Steelers offensive coordinator Matt Canada has heard a lot of criticism this season, but things have been a bit quieter for him in recent weeks.

The Steelers were 2-6 when they returned from their bye, but they’ve won three of four games while averaging 23.3 points, 351 yards, and 161.3 rushing yards per game. Canada said on Thursday that he doesn’t think there’s been a “dramatic change” in the unit over that period of time.


Canada instead credits the team’s continued improvement and comfort in the scheme as the reasons for the uptick in production.

“We’re not a finished product in any way, shape or form,” Canada said, via Chris Adamski of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. “But I do think you’re starting to see our players more importantly, which is really all that matters, are starting to see why we’re doing it, how this fits, what their roles are. There’s not a real magic formula to it. Sometimes you wish there was. I’m not going to say me, but I think we as a staff have stayed the course. We know why we’re doing what we’re doing. We know why we’re running the plays we’re running. We know who we’re trying to get the ball to. It doesn’t always show up and nobody outside of the building maybe understands why, but you just have to keep doing what I believe is right.”

The Steelers have pumped some life into their playoff hopes over the last four weeks and the offensive improvement has played a big role in that. Should that continue against the Ravens this weekend, the Steelers will have a ton of momentum heading into the final games of the year.

PFT

 

The catch is that we can't just put the cap aside.

The scenario I had in mind for Mayfield to return was that after a disastrous 2022, no team wants to sign him for starting money so he takes his lumps and signs a short term backup deal to rebuild his reputation and show himself as a team-first kind of guy. McVay has always been big on Mayfield, and Stafford's issues make the Rams a perfect situation.

But last night's game threw my scenario right out the window, as Mayfield is building a case that he's a legit starting quarterback after all and that the Panthers are simply morons.

The problem is that the Rams don't have much available cap space for 2023 unless the cap itself jumps up. If Stafford retires right after the end of the regular season, the dead money ($49.5 million by my estimate) will put them in a Saints-style mess of having to scramble and mortgage their future just to hang on to the roster they already have.

And that's if he retires immediately. If Stafford hangs around and is still with the team in March, that dead money escalates to $74 million from bonuses plus $32.5 million in guaranteed salary. Even the Bears and Falcons aren't in that level of cap hell.

I will take a step back though and say that it's still possible even then. The Browns showed that it can be done in their approach to Deshaun Watson's contract. The secret sauce would be to fit in what they can for 2023 (while taking $20 million of the hit on Stafford), put nearly all of his 2024 money in the form of a fully guaranteed option bonus rather than salary (making the cap figure dirt cheap while they eat $86.5 million on Stafford), and load him up with guaranteed salary for 2025 and beyond.

Whether it's wise to dig yourself that kind of hole is a completely different question, but it does appear to be possible.

 

Not trying to throw Mayfield under a bus and what he did last night was exceptionally good, but the Raiders defense is not a brick wall to say the least. Raiders rank 29th overall in total defense and 30th against the pass... those are obviously not good numbers and the Raiders were once again exposed.

If he continues to do well, I believe he will definitely be on the radar in LA... I cant see why not. 1 game is not enough to pass judgment either way, imo.

Dont know if this is particularly helpful, but NFL Network reports that a source familiar with the process would put the 2023 cap number at “well above $220M. Currently at a record, $208M.

 

The catch is the Rams have already spent it. Including the current $20 million on Stafford based on him returning (and not being cut, retiring, getting abducted by aliens, etc) they already have $226 million in cap liabilities on the books, per OTC.

It goes up from there if he retires. I calculate an extra $29.5 million if he hangs it up right after the 2022 season, and much more if he hangs around long enough to collect his roster bonus in March. I think it's a $26 million bonus plus a trigger that makes his 2024 base salary ($31 million) guaranteed.

 

I'm still not sold on him. The wins have come against teams in transition and the O hasn't wowed me. I like Pickett and I think he'll be good but Canada just doesn't (IMO) do a good job of designing plays that put players in match-ups that they can prosper in. I don't think he uses the speed of some of the WRs effectively. They could do better with multiple TE sets as well.

 

I think Mayfield is staying put with the rams. I think Stafford either retires after this season or next. He has won a superbowl and he has made plenty of money. He has taken a pounding over the years and despite not missing a ton of games he has been hurt a lot I think its possible he just decides to walk away.

 

He is horrible but if they keep winning he will be back next season where we will once again be exposed when playing better teams.

 

Canada hasn’t kept a job very long anywhere he has been and I believe that we’re seeing why. His offenses always seem to underwhelm you. Even when they look better they still seem like that.

 

Not an expert on the Steelers or Matt Canada, but staying the course when your not achieving the goals desired by the team or Steelers org in general, doesnt seem logical to me (but what the hell do i know). The course, as he put it, doesnt seem to be cutting the mustard exactly, so maybe there ought to be a few tweaks.

 

The other amusing side of Mayfield's performance is Carolina. He had only gone 1-5 as a starter for the Panthers with a paltry 74.4 passer rating. The interim coaching staff opted to start Sam Darnold this weekend instead of Mayfield, which prompted Mayfield to request his release.

And now the Panthers fans watch him pull off the miracle win the moment he hits town with another organization. That's gotta hurt...

 

Six teams that missed postseason last year are in playoff position heading into Week 14



Significant turnover is coming in this year’s playoffs.

Heading into Week 14, six teams that missed the playoffs last year are in playoff position this year: The Ravens, Dolphins, Jets, Vikings, Giants and Seahawks.


Meanwhile, six teams that made last year’s postseason are poised to miss it this year: The Patriots, Steelers, Raiders, Packers, Rams and Cardinals.

Since 1990, every year at least four teams have made the playoffs that were not in the playoffs the year before.

PFT

 

Mayfield has has 6 coaches in 5 years in the NFL. Each one has tried to pigeonhole him into “their perfect offense”. Like Brett Favre, no I’m never going to say Mayfield is on the same level as Favre, he is best when he is just running around making plays. At Tech and Oklahoma, that’s really all he did. With two days being with the Rams, that’s all Mayfield could do. It was amazing the timing on the final TD, that was out of the ordinary, but the rest of the final two drives was just Mayfield being the old Mayfield. No coaches really in his way. Just a high pace and what seems to the naked eye, a lot of luck from a guy with a really good arm.

If anyone will let him just do what he does best, it’s
McVay.

Let’s not mistake the Rams injury riddled team with Carolina… their rosters are very different. The Rams still have a lot of talent not on IR.