NFL - NEWS & NOTES

I think there are a lot of potential landing spots for Stafford. My guess is he'll wind up in New England...Denver and Washington probably in the hunt as well.

 

Greg Olsen announces his retirement



Greg Olsen lined up a job last summer for after his retirement from the NFL and he is ready to move onto that phase of his career.

Olsen agreed to a job with FOX Sports and he appeared on their pregame show ahead of the NFC Championship Game to announce that he is retiring as an NFL player. He will now join the network on a full-time basis after making occasional appearances for them in recent years.


Olsen had 24 catches for 239 yards and a touchdown in 11 games for the Seahawks this season. He spent the previous nine seasons with the Panthers and played four seasons in Chicago after the Bears picked him in the first round of the 2007 draft.

He had 742 catches, 8,683 yards, and 60 touchdowns over his entire career. He ranks third in Panthers history for both catches and receiving yards.

NBC

 

I guess i forgot to hit enter but the list i put up pretty much everyone has hit on with Colts, Pats, and 49ers being my top 3. If he goes to the 49ers expect that Jimmy return to the Pats.

 

Dan........sorry for your Bills..........it's always tough to lose .......especially when they were so close and so ready.

Kudos to KC Chiefs.......I hope they beat the Buccs.

 

I have one huge question after that game.



How much confetti do those damn machines hold?

 

The Chiefs are headed back to the Super Bowl



The last time that Patrick Mahomes and Tom Brady matched up in a postseason game, a trip to the Super Bowl was on the line.

A Super Bowl win will be on the line in their second playoff meeting. Mahomes threw for 325 yards and three touchdowns as the Chiefs took out the Bills for a 38-24 win in the AFC Championship Game. Brady helped the Bucs to a win in the NFC title game and the two men will lead their teams into Super Bowl LV two weeks from today.

Mahomes’ last two touchdown passes came to tight end Travis Kelce, who finished the game with 13 catches for 118 yards. Tyreek Hill added nine catches for 172 yards as the Chiefs leaned heavily on their stars in an approach that paid off handsomely for Kansas City.

Not everything went according to plan for the Chiefs. Left tackle Eric Fisher left the game with an Achilles injury in the fourth quarter and seems likely to miss the Super Bowl.

The game was still hanging in the balance early in the fourth quarter with the Bills driving deep in Chiefs territory while down 16 points. Chiefs cornerback Rashad Fenton picked off a pass intended for Bills wide receiver John Brown to eliminate any realistic chance of a comeback for the road team.

Fenton’s interception was part of a rough ending to a brilliant season for Bills quarterback Josh Allen. Allen seemed to hold the ball a beat longer than you’d like all night and wound up 28-of-48 for 287 yards and two touchdowns to go with that interception. The Chiefs were able to limit Stefon Diggs to six catches for 77 yards and the Bills never found much offensive momentum after taking an early 9-0 lead.

Credit to that should go to Steve Spagnuolo’s defense and the Chiefs’ defensive coordinator has a good history when it comes to dealing with Tom Brady in a Super Bowl. He was the Giants’ defensive coordinator in Super Bowl XLII when they knocked off the Patriots.

Brady is in a different uniform now and his team will be the home team with the game taking place at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa. One imagines the Chiefs won’t find that to be too much of a concern, but it is one of many storylines that will fill the two weeks until the final game of the 2020 season.

NBC

 

Buccaneers defeat Packers 31-26, advance to Super Bowl LV



For the first time, a team will play a Super Bowl in its home stadium.

The Buccaneers defeated the Packers 31-26 in the NFC Championship Game, and will host Sunday’s winner of the AFC Championship Game at Raymond James Stadium on Feb. 7.

But like another conference championship in recent memory, Sunday’s game was not without controversy.

The officials had largely kept their flags in their pockets throughout the game, calling just six penalties. But the most consequential came with 1:46 left.

On third-and-4 from the Tampa Bay 37, Tom Brady‘s pass over the middle to Tyler Johnson fell incomplete. But Packers cornerback Kevin King held the back of Johnson’s jersey and was called for pass interference. It gave the Buccaneers a free first down and effectively ended the game.

The Buccaneers had the ball because with 2:09 left, Green Bay head coach Matt LaFleur elected to kick a field goal on fourth-and-8. The three points cut Tampa Bay’s lead from eight to five — meaning a touchdown would have put the Packers ahead even before the extra point. But LaFleur was also betting on his defense to stop Tampa Bay’s offense.

That proved to be a bad gamble.

Though Green Bay’s defense struggled at times to stop Brady, the club did pick off the quarterback three times. Brady hadn’t thrown three picks in a playoff game since losing to Baltimore in 2009.

But the Packers went three-and-out after both of their fourth-quarter interceptions, wasting the extra possessions.

Brady finished the game 20-of-36 passing for 280 yards with three touchdowns and three interceptions.

Aaron Rodgers finished 33-of-48 passing for 346 yards with three touchdowns and an interception. That pick was toward the end of the first half, and led to Brady’s 39-yard touchdown pass to Scotty Miller that gave Tampa Bay a 21-10 lead at the break.

Fortunately for the Buccaneers, the NFC is the home team for Super Bowl LV, which means they’ll be able to use their own locker room for the contest.

NBC

 

Chiefs won in the trenches, although the Bills secondary, mainly LBs weren't helping either. The few times Mahomes was pressured he was able to find a guy open, while on the other side it almost seemed like there was blanket coverage most of the time because it the Chiefs didn't need to bring much pressure to beat a guard or tackle and force Allen to make a throw without even having a chance to get away.

 

And in case you were wondering. The home field advantage took the year off this year. Home teams ? 127-129. Normally, it runs around +/- 140 wins. We need people back in those seats.

 

Hopefully the Vaccine will be complete by Sept/Oct and Life can slowly get back to where we were ???

 

AFC, NFC Championship Games top 40 million viewers

The AFC and NFC Championship Games both drew big audiences on television on Sunday.

The Buccaneers’ win over the Packers in the NFC Championship Game drew 44.77 million viewers on FOX, while the Chiefs’ win over the Bills in the AFC Championship Game drew 41.85 million viewers, according to the Hollywood Reporter.

That’s a viewership increase from last year of 5 percent for the NFC game and 2 percent for the AFC game.

The NFL said the NFC game had an additional 1.6 million streaming viewers, and the AFC game had 1.4 million streaming viewers.

Nothing on American television reaches anything close to the audience of big NFL games. The Academy Awards, typically the most-watched television program in America outside football, drew 24 million viewers last year. The most popular scripted entertainment shows fall short of 20 million viewers.

The Super Bowl typically draws upwards of 100 million viewers.

NBC

 

Jason Witten retiring from NFL



Tight end Jason Witten is trying retirement out for a second time.

Witten retired after the 2017 season to take a job as an analyst on Monday Night Football, but returned to the Cowboys after one season in the booth and moved on to the Raiders in 2020. He told Todd Archer of ESPN.com on Wednesday that he will be retiring.

“A coach once told me, ‘The legacy of heroes is the memory of a great name and the inheritance of a great example,'” Witten said. “As I hang it up, I walk away knowing that for 17 seasons I gave it my absolute all. I am proud of my accomplishments as a football player on the field and the example I tried to set off of it. Football is a great game that has taught me many valuable lessons, and I look forward to passing on that knowledge to the next generation.”

Witten spent 16 of his 17 seasons with the Cowboys and he told Archer he intends to sign a one-day contract with the Cowboys in March so he can officially retire as a member of the team. Witten’s career comes to an end with 1,228 catches for 13,046 yards, and 74 touchdowns.

NBC
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I wonder which network snags him?

 

Seahawks cut Chad Wheeler



The Seahawks have acted quickly after offensive tackle Chad Wheeler was arrested on domestic violence and assault charges.

Seattle officially waived Wheeler today, according to the league’s transaction wire.

As a practical matter, the move doesn’t make a big difference. Wheeler was going to become a free agent in March anyway, and the Seahawks had already made clear that he won’t be back with the team. But it’s a statement from the Seahawks that they are taking the matter seriously.

Wheeler released a statement on social media apologizing and saying, “It is time for me to walk away from football and get the help I need.”

NBC

 

Pretty sure that descion to walk away was going to be made for him anyways

 

What I find interesting is that it took 4 days for the Seahawks to release a statement. The crime was extremely violent and vial/disgusting... Seattle was late on this one.

When they finally released a statement it was soft... didnt fit the disgust of the crime committed.

How a perpetrator like Wheeler made bail is even another head-scratching situation... things are wrong all over.

Pete Carrol, where was your condemnation?

 

Unless you count Stafford and Ramsey.
But it’s still crazy how little draft capital they have now

 

I have no idea what the Rams were thinking or doing. (im slow)

 

I have no idea what the Rams were thinking or doing. (im slow)

NO your not Will..........this trade is hard to Fathom.......WTF moment.

Kelly Hall is going to love living in LA.......maybe that's why the Rams did the trade.....lol

Detroit Lions win this Big Time.......they could be a Power House by 2025.