NFL - NEWS & NOTES

If you can take care of Atlanta, zero excuse for coming up short against the woeful Bucs and Colts.

 

i agree. i said bf the game they need to find a way to win. besides the seattle game last year where they gave seattle the win, pederson does a good job of managing the clock and finding ways to score, extend drives and win a game they shouldn't.

 

Falcons safety Keanu Neal out for season with torn ACL...

The Atlanta Falcons lost not only Thursday night's game, but a vital member of the defense.

Safety Keanu Neal is out for the season after suffering a knee injury in the loss to the Philadelphia Eagles, the team announced Friday. NFL Network Insider Ian Rapoport and NFL Network's Steve Wyche reported the knee injury was indeed a torn ACL.

ESPN first reported the news.
Coach Dan Quinn initially said after the game that Neal's knee injury didn't appear serious. Alas, an MRI on Friday revealed the tear.

Neal first twisted his knee in the first half last night, but was able to return. He again injured the knee on a non-contact play in the second half.

Losing the third-year pro is a massive blow to the Falcons defense. (NFL.com)

 

Joey Bosa (foot) ruled out for Chargers vs. Chiefs...

An injury-filled offseason continues to plague the Los Angeles Chargers.

Pass rusher Joey Bosa will miss the opening-week game against the Kansas City Chiefs, the Chargers announced.
Bosa has been battling a foot injury that had healed before he injured the same foot again on Wednesday, a source informed of the situation told NFL Network Insider Ian Rapoport. He was limited in practice on Wednesday but sat out Thursday and Friday. Bosa was seen at practice on Friday in a walking boot and is week to week, Rapoport added.

Missing Bosa is a big blow for the Chargers pass rush and a ginormous benefit to Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes. (NFL.com)

 

hey Bundy was all state won a championship and scored 4 touchdowns in a single game

 

Matt Ryan was 1-9 in the red zone last night and threw another red zone interception (his 8th since 2015 which leads the league).

 

Matty Melt

 

Matt Schaub is his backup mentor.

 

I M P O S S I B L E ! ! !

DeShone Kizer threw at least that many in 2017 alone!!



Honestly, it seemed like he threw at least one per game, but he did throw SIX red zone INTs last year. So over a 3 year span, he is only 2 behind Ryan, only playing one year to his 3 over that span. Even as a backup to Aaron Rodgers, he has a chance to catch him over the next two years, being named the 2nd team backup to Rodgers.

FYI, he also had a strip sack fumble caused by Joey Bosa...giving him 7 turnovers on passing downs in the Red Zone in a single year. Oh yeah...He also had a RUSHING fumble at the 3 yard line against the Jets to give him a GRAND TOTAL of EIGHT Red Zone turnovers in a single season...

I can't find it in any of the records, but he has got to be close if he doesn't hold the record for Red Zone turnovers in a single season.


So, don't feel too bad Matt Ryan, you've always got DeShone Kizer to make you look a little better!

 

Hue Jackson admits he needs to do his job better...

The Browns are 1-31 in Hue Jackson’s two season as head coach, so it might go without saying that Jackson needs to do better. But Jackson said it anyway.

Jackson acknowledged that if the Browns are going to improve, the Browns’ head coach has to improve.

“I’m gonna improve,” Jackson said, via cleveland.com. “Whatever the last two years was, they were what they were. This is a new year, this a new opportunity for this organization and football team, myself included.”

Jackson indicated that there are higher expectations after an offseason that has seen the Browns shift from the old way of doing things — trading away assets to acquire future draft picks — and toward building a team that can compete immediately.

“We gotta coach differently, we have different expectations, different way of going about things, and now we want the results,” Jackson said. “Obviously I’m the head of it all, I’ve got to do my job better than I’ve ever done it before to get this team to be what I think they can be.”

Suffice to say, another 1-15 or 0-16 season won’t be good enough in Cleveland. If Jackson doesn’t do his job better, he won’t have a job for much longer. (PFT)

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Kind of a 'Captain Obvious' article by PHT. I posted it because it makes Hue visible in a true light... He gets it and knows what the deals are. At the same time, I really expect a turn-around in Cleveland that just might be indicative to a changed roster and a HC with a new vision. I cant wait to see what the Browns do this season.

Game 1 is going to be a weather disaster, but same conditions for both teams... I will be tuned in.

 

Le'Veon Bell will not be joining the Steelers on their trip to Cleveland. (per @AdamSchefter)

Bell will also miss out on making $853,000.

 

Bell warned if he was tagged he would sit the season he may end up doing just that

 

No excuses for Atlanta, but there are specific reasons why the offense just plain sucked. Two major issues showed up in this game for the Falcons that didn't come up in the questions for the season preview.

(And if you haven't read them, the Minnesota, New England and Chicago previews have all been posted in the last couple of days. Check them out. All of the previews have been great stuff!)


The first problem for Atlanta is their approach to preseason. They did NOT do a joint practice with another team this year, and they ended their "Friday Night Lights" tradition, where they would have a full team scrimmage at a local high school. They did have a mini-scrimmage during one practice in training camp, but they usually had a few practices with extended 11-on-11 segments in past years anyway, so that mini-scrimmage didn't pick up any of the slack.

So they were a bit behind in "competitive" reps even going into the exhibition games. On both sides of the ball, the starters only played one series in the preseason opener - and both were 3-and-outs. They mostly played two series in the second game, roughly a half of the third game, and nearly the entire roster (anyone who was a roster lock) was held out of the last game.

Ryan had only 43 total snaps in preseason, and no snaps at all with two of the team's top four ball catchers from 2017 (Julio and Freeman, who were held out of the entire preseason by coaching staff decision). To make it even worse, the coaching staff puts extra emphasis on mixing in prospects with the first and second units. So a good chunk of Ryan's snaps included receivers like Marvin Hall (mainly special teams - only 8 snaps on offense vs PHI) and Reggie Davis (prospect who didn't even make the practice squad) rather than the guys he would be playing with once the season began.

This is NOT the way to get the timing down in the passing game. It's the main reason why so many of his passes were a bit off target.



The other problem is that last year, Atlanta receivers led the league in drops. The team didn't have a true WR coach, and the offensive assistants that had worked so well with the receivers in 2016 had gone elsewhere (particularly Mike McDaniel, who had the title of "offensive assistant" for Atlanta but had previously been Shanahan's WR coach with two other teams).

Rather than look for an experienced WR coach for this year, Dan Quinn stayed within the organization and named Dave Brock as the new WR coach. Brock has a whole lot of coaching experience, but he had only entered the NFL just last year as an offensive assistant to replace the assistants that left. There is absolutely nothing in his bio that suggests he would be good working with receivers at the NFL level.

Kurt Warner called in to Jim Rome's show and ripped Falcons OC Steve Sarkisian, It's questionable whether Sark really is the right guy for the job. But the more disturbing thing he said was that the receivers were running sloppy routes.

That's a huge red flag. Warner wouldn't necessarily know enough about Atlanta's offensive scheme to judge Sark's performance. But as a former NFL QB (and both HOF and SB MVP at that), when he says the route running is subpar, you tend to believe him. At the very least, you listen and think hard about it.

This just screams that Brock isn't up to the task of being the team's WR coach. That's going to be a big, big problem for Atlanta.

 

Also... if anyone wondered why I traded draft picks for Bill Musgrave last year and for a WR coach this year in the mock GM thing, now you see why it was so important.

 

Cardinals, David Johnson agree to three-year contract extension...

Cardinals running back David Johnson will be remaining in Arizona for the long haul.

The Cardinals announced on Saturday night that they have agreed to a three-year contract extension, locking Johnson up in Arizona through the 2021 season.

Arizona chose Johnson in the third round of the 2015 NFL draft, and he emerged as a good player in his rookie year and an outstanding player in his second year, when he totaled more than 2,000 yards from scrimmage and 20 touchdowns. Unfortunately, he was hurt in Week One of 2017 and missed the rest of the season.

But now Johnson will put that injury behind him and get to work in 2018, confident that he has a bright future in Arizona. (PFT)

 

Ian Rapoport‏Verified account @RapSheet 1m1 minute ago
#Texans speedy WR Will Fuller, who has battled a hamstring injury, is not expected to play today against the #Patriots, source said.

 

BROWNS vs. STEELERS (the way I see it)

• Gordan (the tropical storm, not the WR), will have a significant impact on this game by taking away some of the passing game from both teams.Advantage: Browns
• That leaves the running game. LeVeon Bell is AWOL. Pitt's b/u RB, Conner is pretty good. But not as good as Hyde, Johnson and Chubb operating as a RBC. Advantage: Browns
• Pittsburgh's O-line is very talented and has spent more time working as a unit. Advantage: Steelers
• Garrett and Ogbah give the Browns a better pass rush but that will be somewhat negated as the weather will dictate mostly running plays. Advantage: Push
• Cleveland's LB corp is probably just as talented as Pittsburgh's and maybe is a hair better dropping into coverage but, again, today the main focus will be against the run. Advantage: Push
• Again, Cleveland's defensive secondary is more individually talented but Pittsburgh's has more game reps operating as a unit. We're about to find out how Peppers does against the run. Advantage: Push
• As we found out last year, Special Teams may decide the winner of this game. Advantage: Steelers

I think, based on the above, this is going to be a low scoring nail biter. For once, there will be a home field advantage. Browns by 3 !!!

 

Its Gameday Bitches!!! oops, im sorry, can you say gameday here?

 

You can say gameday bitch.