NFL - NEWS & NOTES

Rich McKay says expanding instant replay would be “very complicated”



NFL Competition Committee Chairman Rich McKay is sounding a cautious note about calls to expand instant replay.

McKay told Christ Mortensen of ESPN that he thinks allowing coaches to challenge penalties would be a more difficult rule change than most people realize.

“Anything is possible,” McKay said. “We’ve always considered expanding reviewable plays under the replay system . . . but it’s a very complicated discussion.”

Among the complications that McKay mentioned are that the league doesn’t like the idea of reviewing judgment calls, and that challenges aren’t permitted in the last two minutes of a half or in overtime, which means the replay assistant would have to look for every possible penalty and stop the game to have them reviewed.

But the NFL routinely uses video to overrule the judgment of on-field officials on penalties: Every week, the folks in the league office watch videos to determine whether or not to fine players for illegal hits, and those decisions often contradict the decisions of the officials on the field. If replay can be used to determine fines days later, why can’t replay be used to assess penalties in the moment?

As for challenges, a simple fix could be to allow coaches to start challenging penalties in the last two minutes and overtime. Coaches would still have to have a timeout to make a challenge, and coaches wouldn’t want to throw a timeout away in the final minutes of a close game, so there’s no concern that coaches would challenge an uncalled penalty unless they were confident they would win.

But McKay is a powerful voice in the room when the NFL considers rule changes, and right now, McKay’s voice is sounding skepticism about expanding replay. (PFT)
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I bet Rich has ties to LA!

 

then i want the 2004 Eagles-Pats SB replay for them spying on other team's practices. haha. Eagles swear to this day the Pats knew the Eagles defensive schemes as soon as the play was called.

 

I've heard a few interviews with McKay. He's not saying he's specifically for it or against it. He's only saying that it's a bigger, more complex discussion than one might think and that the league would have to work out all the details before implementing it.

Side note... if you think about it, yes, McKay does have ties to LA but from way, way, way, way back.

More noteworthy: Sean Payton is on the competition committee.

 

EXACTLY! How many close games in the playoffs could a fan "blame" on a bad call or missed call? Probably a lot - Saints fans threatening to sue need to pull their big boy pants on.

 

Rich Karlis's OT kick in 87 AFC Championship game was no good. Clearly missed wide right by a yard or two....We need to go back and replay SB XXVI. Should be Browns VS. Giants, thus relegating "The Drive" into nothing more than an interesting game footnote in the Broncos loss.

 

Fake news

 

Report: Packers hire Shawn Mennenga as ST coach...

The Packers have reportedly settled on a new special teams coach.

Rob Demovsky of ESPN reports that the team has hired Shawn Mennenga. He replaces Ron Zook, who was not retained after the Packers parted ways with head coach Mike McCarthy during the 2018 season.

Mennenga comes to the team from Vanderbilt University and was one of a handful of candidates that Green Bay interviewed recently. Prior to taking the job running special teams for the Commodores, Mennenga was an assistant special teams coach with the Browns from 2011-2017.

Packers defensive coordinator Mike Pettine was the Browns head coach for two of those seasons and he also spent time on the staff with 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan. Packers head coach Matt LaFleur worked with Shanahan in Atlanta before joining the Rams staaff in 2017.

 

NFL: Roger Goodell didn’t talk to Saints players, didn’t say he did...

A number of Saints players suggested the NFL commissioner Roger Goodell was fibbing when he suggested he talked to them about the blown no-call in the NFC Championship Game.

But the NFL has since circled back, and said that Goodell did not, and didn’t suggest that he did.

Via Mike Triplett of ESPN.com, the league explained that Goodell was simply listing the people who were frustrated by an easily correctable mistake which kept the Saints out of the Super Bowl.

“Listen, we understand the frustration of the fans,” Goodell said during his press conference Wednesday, according to an official transcript from the league. I’ve talked to coach Payton. The team, the players, we understand the frustration they feel right now, and we certainly want to address that.”

That period between “Payton” and “The team” is doing a lot of heavy lifting, as a comma would have suggested they were members of a series of people Goodell had spoken with.

That’s obviously the impression Michael Thomas, Zach Streif and others had when they accused Goodell of lying about talking to Saints players.

The lesson of all this is, of course, clear: Punctuation is important.

 

Cowboys 'not expected' to extend Jason Garrett right now

https://247sports.com/nfl/dallas-co...5-42-DB-BB-C9-FC-CD190131_151921DallasCowboys

Well, thank goodness.

 

Julius Peppers announces his retirement...



Julius Peppers is leaving the NFL the way he came into it — quietly.

But the legacy he leaves will speak volumes, until his eventual induction into the Hall of Fame.

The former Panthers defensive end announced his retirement this morning in The Players Tribune, a month after finishing his 17th season.

“Anybody who knows me knows I’m not big on words and I don’t like to put myself out there, so I’m just gonna get right to it,” he wrote. “Seventeen years is a long time to be playing this game. It’s two careers for a lot of people. I’m thankful that I have been able to play so long and still be healthy. I’m not all banged up and beaten down. I still feel good.

“But as much as I would love to play forever, I know that I can’t. It’s gotta end at some point. That point is now. Today, I’m retiring.”

Peppers went on to thank some friends, and mention his lifelong dream of being a basketball player. He was one at the University of North Carolina, but his path was clearly on the football field.

The No. 2 overall pick in 2002, he finished with 159.5 sacks, fourth on the all-time list behind just Bruce Smith, Reggie White, and Kevin Greene. He had stints with the Bears and Packers before returning to his home-state team to wrap up his career, which may not have ended as he wished. But throughout it all, he was one of the dominant pass-rushers of a generation, the kind of athlete who could change games at a moment’s notice.

He became even more that just an athlete, and during his final season he organized efforts for hurricane relief in his home state, giving back to the place that watched him become a legend. (PFT)

 

One of the best to ever do it.

 

Brian Flores to be introduced as Dolphins HC Monday...

It's been nearly a month since NFL Network Insider Ian Rapoport reported New England Patriots linebacker coach Brian Flores would be the next head coach for the Miami Dolphins.

During the lead-up to Super Bowl LIII in Atlanta, the 37-year-old Flores has concentrated on the game.

But now the picture is getting clearer as NFL Network's Mike Giardi reported Saturday that Flores will be introduced as the Dolphins' new head coach on Monday.

This will be Flores' first head-coaching job when he takes over the AFC East-rival Dolphins, who parted ways with Adam Gase (now the head coach of the Jets) after three seasons. Flores has been with New England since when he began as a scouting assistant before moving on to become a pro scout, special team assistant, offensive assistant, defensive assistant, safeties coach and finally linebackers coach since 2016.

 

Saquon Barkley wins offensive rookie of the year...

 

Patrick Mahomes wins offensive player of the year...

 

Matt Nagy named coach of the year...

 

Andrew Luck beats out J.J. Watt for comeback player...

 

Drew Brees wins Art Rooney Sportsmanship Award...

 

Aaron Donald repeats as defensive player of the year...