NFL - NEWS & NOTES

We'll help out in this scenario by taking out the Steelers, the Browns already eliminated one playoff hopeful this past week. Thanks for the updated scenario, I like it!!!

The Patriots will most likely lose to the Bills, so the Dolphins would then have to lose to the Jets. Before last week, I would have said that's improbable, but the number of teams beating teams they shouldn't is on the rise.

 

If Tua doesn’t play the Dolphins don’t win. The Browns haven’t played Pickett yet.

 

See, thats what I love about the peeps on this site. You guys keep it all out there in a knowledgeable fashion... catching the stuff even the pro's miss or forget.

 

I dont know about that. The Jets arnt the same lately and Miami is at home... Dolphins might have a trick or two up their sleeves.

 

A trendsetter in stripes or a suit, Art McNally was heralded as the "Father of Modern Officiating."

Responsible for introducing instant replay to the NFL along with a formal program for training officials, McNally in 2022 became the first on-field official inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Leaving a monumental legacy, McNally passed away on Sunday at the age of 97, the Pro Football Hall of Fame announced.

"Art McNally was a quiet, honest man of integrity. To see Art's decades of service recognized with his enshrinement as part of the Class of 2022 was a special moment for the Hall," Hall of Fame president Jim Porter said in a statement Monday. "His legacy as a strong leader who helped usher in the advanced training of officials and the technology necessary to keep up with a faster and more complicated game will be preserved forever in Canton."

McNally's days in the NFL began in 1959 as a field judge and ended in 2007 when he was an assistant supervisor to officials. In between, he helped to shape the league as it related to officiating and beyond.

No matter the sport, officials gaining notoriety is most often a negative that follows a controversial call. That was hardly the case for McNally, who even before his Hall of Fame enshrinement had his legacy forever etched in league history.

In 2002, then-Commissioner Paul Tagliabue was behind the creation of the Art McNally Award, which is bestowed upon current or former officials who embody professionalism, leadership and sportsmanship. A decade later, McNally received the Ralph Hay Pioneer Award, which has only been presented 10 times as of 2022. Established in 1972, the Pioneer Award is presented in recognition of making "significant innovative contributions to professional football." McNally most certainly did that.


McNally's contributions to the league began in stripes, as he worked as a field judge in 1959 and then a referee from 1960 to 1967. McNally then put on a suit and became the NFL Supervisor of Officials in 1967, holding the position until 1991. McNally retired in 1991, but returned to the league in 1995 as the assistant supervisor to officials, a position he held until 2007.

For parts of six decades, McNally was instrumental in the league's officiating moving forward and making strides.

Though the NFL finds itself currently in an era of more offense than ever, the call for a more offensive game dates back decades. Much of the transformation through the rulebook came under McNally's watch -- hashmarks were repositioned, illegal contact was introduced and goalposts were moved from the base of the end zone to the back.

As the NFL grew season by season, McNally was growing its officiating. The advent of instant replay in 1986 not only altered football, but myriad other sports -- from college football to mixed martial arts to hockey to basketball.

McNally never gained a yard in his NFL career, nor did he ever register a tackle.

However, McNally's bust sits in the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio. His name adorns the NFL headquarters' officiating command center, known as Art McNally GameDay Central. And the contributions and innovations made by McNally are quietly celebrated and appreciated every Sunday of each fall.

A pioneer in stripes or a suit, McNally has passed away, but his impact on the NFL is forever etched in league chronicle.

NFL.com

 

The Dolphins literally have no wins if Tua doesn’t finish the game. Thompson will start if Tua doesn’t play.

 

Thanks. I get a bit too focused on that ESPN playoff machine

 

I hope you got your answers. I can elaborate after the game tonight if needed.

I spent earlier today calling the author on CBS an idiot for getting his scenarios wrong. He fixed the Bills one, reposted and still had the Ravens with no division scenario and no one making the playoffs as the 7 seed if the Jags, Patriots, Steelers and Dolphins all lost. Answer It's the Jags.

 

This is like the first year ever that the playoff machine isn't wrong. It helps that SOS, SOV and common opponents aren't a factor this year. So be ready for the mistakes to reemerge next year. I usually catch a mistake or two every year. Oh but the system still hasn't gotten around to understanding that 7 teams make the playoffs and you will NOT see tiebreaker explanations for the 7 seed still despite it being a thing for a few years now.

 

I did notice that for Seattle's playoff scenarios. The AFC seems right though.

 

Click the tiebreaker button and it won't give you a reason for the AFC team to be the 7 seed. You might be able to work it out on their system if the 7 seed is also tied with the 6 seed.

 

Gotta rant again at both the media AND the Falcons organization. The team still has not made any kind of mention that Marcus Mariota's wife delivered their first child right at the time the team was making the change to start Desmond Ridder. There were plenty of opportunities, but head coach Arthur Smith has never said a thing about it, the team never issued a statement congratulating their QB on becoming a new father, the writers on the team's web site didn't mention it, and the team's official social media accounts haven't had a peep about it.

In Mike Sando's weekly "Pick Six" blathering on The Athletic earlier today, his featured topic was the Raiders benching David Carr and how today's QBs allegedly don't handle that situation as well as Johnny Unitas did back in the day.

Sando said that "like Mariota, Carr has gone silent". He then quoted an unnamed sports agent "who has represented high-profile quarterbacks" as saying it looked like Mariota simply walked away from the Falcons because he got benched. The article didn't mention either Mariota's knee injury or his wife going into labor.

Great research, Sando. Don't bother looking into any details. Just find some jackass who has no direct involvement with Mariota or the Falcons organization and publish whatever he says as gospel. I get it that the focus is on Carr and the Raiders, but you threw Mariota under the bus, so you do have a professional obligation to throw in the facts. At the very least you should mention that Mariota is currently not practicing because HE JUST HAD FUCKING KNEE SURGERY.

Don't bother reading the article. Even if you're a die-hard Raiders fan, the article is a complete waste of time. You'll get better content right here from Willie, without paying The Athletic's subscription fee. And as a bonus, you get far better fact-checking thanks to LAOJoe and others.


For the record, here's the timeline:

Dec 5 (the Monday of the bye week) = Mariota leaves the team as his wife Kiyomi goes into labor. Dec 6 (players day off) = coaches have internal meetings, make decision to start Ridder. Dec 7 (team practices without Mariota) = according to Honolulu TV station KHON, this is the day she gave birth. Dec 8 = Kiyomi and child are still in the hospital. Mariota meets with Smith and learns the team has made the decision to start Ridder. He leaves the facility afterwards and rejoins Kiyomi.

Dec 9 (last practice day of the bye week) = he informs the team that he's going to have his knee examined. Going forward from here, it's pretty clear that this decision did NOT sit well with the coach.

Dec 12 = Head coach Arthur Smith meets the press in the usual Monday session. He downplays the knee issue, emphasizing (repeatedly) that the knee was not a factor in the decision to make the change to Ridder, that the change was entirely performance-based and only saying "that's his prerogative" on Mariota's decision to get his knee checked out. No mention whatsoever of the baby. He simply says (a couple of times) that Mariota isn't there with the team.

Dec 14 = turns out the knee needs surgery. Falcons put Mariota on IR. Smith again meets with the press after practice (regular Wednesday session). Again, no mention of the baby and he downplays the knee, repeating that that it wasn't a factor in the decision to make the change. At one point he said, possibly accidentally, that the knee wasn't a factor in Mariota's performance. (The game-by-game stats suggest otherwise - there's a very clear difference between November and the first week of December vs late September and October.)

There have at least been a few good guys in the organization. QB coach Charles London openly praised Mariota for his performance and his efforts in leading the team this season. Team web site writer Scott Bair pointed out in a Q&A that Mariota has always been a hard worker and team-first guy and that the notion that he simply took his ball and went home just doesn't compute.

I'll add that Mariota has likely been expecting the team to make the switch for quite a while, basically knowing since the day Ridder was drafted that he'd be plugged in as the starter at some point along the way. He'd certainly be disappointed, but not surprised. And as Scott Bair noted on the web site, Mariota really is one of the nicest people you could ever hope to meet.

So...

BABY: Congratulations to Marcus and Kiyomi on the birth of their first child, Makaia Kei Mariota.
KNEE: There really was something wrong with it, to the extent that it required surgery.
MEDIA: Still fucking clueless.

 

Nicely and concisely said.

Really a bad look for Arthur Smith and his boss's, they really seem like they couldnt care less about Mariota and thats too bad. As you stated, he led the Falcons to a very good start, exceeding everyones expectations, mine included. They were legit competition and winning games. As soon as the wagon lost a wheel, no one looked at legit reasons why... it was easy pickins to put the blame on Mariota, whom had, after further review, a couple really important things going on. Why Smith swept this under the rug, while simultaneously throwing Marcus under the team bus, is beyond me and very poor judgment on his part. Mariota deserves/deserved better.

As for the media, well, not much good there to say in regards to this particular situation. I have never been from the very inception of the 'Athletic' a fan at all of their stuff. Why there wasnt an opposing opinion or a supporter of Mariota and the facts is just irresponsible. There seems to me these days to be a dog drooling, get anything you can story and run with it. Reporting is biased, shotty and without good old fashioned research... not all of it, but way too much of it.

Just hoping the best for Mariota and family and the Falcons football team in general... in spite of Arthur Smith, the media and anti-Mariota peeps out there. Its all very unhealthy for the sport.

 

Did he die? They’re talking like he died.

 

Hoping Damar Hamlin is going to be ok... bad looking situation.

 

Cancel the game. Finish it tomorrow.

 

Did he die?

 

Suspend the game for at least one day

 

He could be dead right now for all we know. But the family has to be notified, etc. It's gonna take some time to figure this one out.

 

Saw one report online that says he has a pulse but not breathing on his own. Just one report.