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znModeratorJim Thomas @jthom1
Just FYI, was told that second interview with Rams and Nathaniel Hackett did not take place today. But Rams are planning 2nd interview. . .
with Hackett for OC job and it may take place later this week.
January 27, 2015 at 8:22 pm in reply to: 101, 1/26 … Albert Breer on re-location (re-location thread) #17516znModerator.
fwiw
JT doesn’t think the Breer article is that significant.
.
http://theramshuddle.com/topic/jt-chat-127/
Jim. Bernie had a line in a longer piece over the weekend (I think) about Peacock recently talking with Godell. Do you happen to see this (or hear about it on your own)? Not much was made of the statement, but it’s interesting to me (if true) that the NFL apparently continues to work with Stl on the stadium when an NFL.com reporter comes out and says the Rams are essentially gone with league approval. Can you help me mak sense of this?
by TS 5:34 PMAgain, I think you’re reading way too much into the Albert Breer article.
by jthomas 5:34 PMJanuary 27, 2015 at 7:00 pm in reply to: 101, 1/26 … Albert Breer on re-location (re-location thread) #17512znModeratorYou don’t take anything for granted when there are billions at stake.
I do.
January 27, 2015 at 5:08 pm in reply to: 101, 1/26 … Albert Breer on re-location (re-location thread) #17499znModerator
Bernie: More twists in the Rams-LA gameBy Bernie Miklasz
PHOENIX • From what I understand, the freak-out level was running high among St. Louis football fans in reaction to a story written by Albert Breer on NFL.com.
If you haven’t had a chance to read the piece, here’s the link.
And here’s one of the key passages from Breer’s story:
“The early January announcement that Rams owner Stan Kroenke is planning an extravagant Inglewood stadium sent shockwaves through NFL circles, but — according to those with direct knowledge of the proceedings — was met with quiet applause at the league office, which has been waiting for a powerful plan like this one to get behind. And despite St. Louis and Missouri officials responding quickly with their own stadium vision, the momentum here has very clearly shifted west.”
I’m not as bothered by this as many of you seem to be.
A while back I came to an unfortunate conclusion: the NFL can’t be trusted. And the NFL will do what it wants to do.
So in that context, nothing really surprises me.
Including Breer’s story.
When commissioner Roger Goodell told me he wanted the Rams to remain in St. Louis, I wanted to believe him. And I did at the time. But a lot’s changed over the past two-plus years, and it would be foolish for me (or anyone) to believe that the NFL will sincerely look out for our town’s interests.
This isn’t to say that the NFL won’t play a positive role in facilitating the STL stadium plan organized by Dave Peacock and Bob Blitz.
The league’s first response — dispatch executive VP Eric Grubman to St. Louis — was encouraging.
But the level of trust in the NFL should only go so far.
When push comes to shove the league will do what’s best for the league.
It’s best to view all of the quotes and the stories through that prism.
The NFL (through various sources) is telling a lot of different things to different people. The league is very good at designing a message based on where the message’s target audience.
This is a league that put Grubman in charge of preparing for the eventual return of NFL football to Los Angeles. But while Grubman is supervising the league’s interests in Los Angeles, he’s also going to meetings in St. Louis and Oakland to offer advice on how to keep their teams.
Does that sound logical to any of you?
Los Angeles lands a team only if another market loses a team. And the same powerful league executive is working both ends of the spectrum.
This seems to be a rather obvious conflict of interest.
This sets up a situation where you have one league executive (Grubman) traveling to St. Louis to try and reassure the locals … and you have another NFL person (or persons) telling Breer that Los Angeles is looking great, and is closer to getting a team than it’s been in a long time.
Part of Grubman’s message during his visit to St. Louis was to make it clear that the NFL expected Kroenke to follow the league rules on franchise relocation. But Grubman also worked in the phrase “subjective judgments” several times — also letting it be known that when the owners sit down to vote, they can form their own version of reality and vote accordingly. The NFL owners can choose to ignore the rules if they want to.
I tried to stress that part in my column written after Grubman’s visit.
In one 20-minute interview, Grubman reaffirmed his desire to help St. Louis … and encouraged St. Louis to build the new stadium as quickly as possible … but he wouldn’t guarantee that a new stadium would keep the Rams in St. Louis.
All about those subjective judgments.
I can see why the NFL would have quietly applauded the Kroenke stadium plan.
I wrote this on Jan. 6:
“The NFL could decide that Kroenke represents its best opportunity to set up shop in Los Angeles. He checks off several important boxes. He has the money and the willingness to build his own stadium there. He has the real estate to house the project. He has an NFL team to anchor the Los Angeles stadium complex. The situation in Los Angeles has been a mess for 20 years, leaving a trail of flimsy stadium plans and promises. Kroenke’s all-encompassing commitment provides a neat, tidy package that can solve the NFL’s longstanding LA problem.
“Kroenke can deliver a Los Angeles solution. The NFL’s second-wealthiest owner is throwing down to go big into Los Angeles. With no other credible Los Angeles plans on the table, does the NFL have the stomach (and integrity) to cut Kroenke at the knees? Call me skeptical.”
So if someone from the league (or from the Rams’ front office, or both) are telling Breer that the Kroenke plan is looking pretty sweet right now, it comes as no surprise to me. It shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone in St. Louis.
Kroenke’s plan gives the NFL a chance to get something going in LA — either by signing off on Stan’s plan, or by using his plan to put pressure on groups that want to build a Los Angeles football stadium on a more attractive site.
Breer’s story was also useful to Kroenke in that it changed the narrative by shifting the focus back to Los Angeles.
Peacock has been riding a pretty good wave of positive publicity over the past two or three weeks, with the national media picking up on the stadium plan here. Moreover, Peacock has been engaged in conversations with NFL owners. The pro-STL case was getting out there.
So how do you counteract that?
Steer the narrative away from St. Louis — where there has been some new momentum — and casts the sunshine on the possibilities in Los Angeles.
(By the way, just so we’re clear: I’m not being critical of Breer in any way. He’s just doing his job, and writing a story based on his reporting and his conversations with well-placed sources.)
Breer’s also story serves a purpose in St. Louis. Let’s repeat it for those who didn’t understand it the first 100 times: if St. Louis wants to remain in the NFL, this is a time of urgency. Things are moving fast, and if the Peacock-Blitz plan has any chance of becoming a reality, it has to begin taking shape as soon as possible.
If the story demoralized Rams fans … well, that’s exactly what Kroenke wants.
As I’ve written before: one possible strategy is to poison the well and then make the claim that there’s soft support for the Rams in St. Louis.
So if you want to give up, please understand three things:
1. There will be many more twists and turns to this story, so it’s best to ride with it instead of overreacting to every news story, news nugget or speck of speculation.
2. By throwing in the towel, you are playing directly into Kroenke’s hands, and thereby making it easier for the NFL to turn its back on St. Louis.
3. Peacock isn’t giving up. Hardly. He’s more driven than ever to make the stadium a reality. No matter how many times his efforts are undermined, Peacock will continue to make his case directly to the NFL, and make it as difficult as possible for the NFL to pull the Rams out of St. Louis — if in fact the NFL wants to do that.
The best thing Peacock can do is keep working hard on the stadium project and make it as difficult as possible for the NFL to pull out of this market — if in fact the NFL is inclined to do so.
znModeratorVermiel says
1. He told the 99 team they could go to the superbowl the 1st Monday meeting after the famous SF game.
2. He thinks the GSOT could take this year’s Seattle defense. In fact he says “no question.”
January 27, 2015 at 4:59 pm in reply to: 101, 1/26 … Albert Breer on re-location (re-location thread) #17497znModeratorRams to city: We’ll stay for another year
By David Hunn
ST. LOUIS • The Rams will play at the Edward Jones Dome next season.
Rams management sent a letter to regional officials Monday afternoon.
The letter said the team was converting its 30-year lease to an “annual tenancy,” effective April 1 and, “in the absence of intervening events,” extending through March 31, 2016.
The notice, which has long been expected, does two things:
•It allows owner Stan Kroenke to pull the team out of St. Louis as soon as 2016, because the Rams lease will now expire at the end of every season. The original lease was to expire in 2025.
•It also legally binds the Rams to play at the Edward Jones Dome next fall — a point on which many here were uncertain.Rams Chief Operating Officer Kevin Demoff did not immediately return a call seeking comment Monday.
Some have expected the Rams to leave St. Louis for years, since the team engaged in a lengthy battle over upgrades in its lease with the Jones Dome.
Two years ago, a three-member arbitration panel ruled in favor of the Rams’ request for publicly financed renovations worth perhaps $700 million.
Dome authorities declined, giving the Rams the option to go year-to-year on the team lease.
A year ago, word leaked out that Kroenke had bought a football field-sized lot in Inglewood, Calif., about 30 miles from the Rams’ old home in Anaheim.
Then, in early January, Kroenke and an investment group announced plans to build a privately financed, 80,000-seat stadium in Inglewood.
Days later, a two-man team appointed by Gov. Jay Nixon revealed a counterproposal: A 64,000-seat, open-air stadium on the Mississippi River, just north of downtown St. Louis. The cost would rise to nearly $1 billion, Nixon’s team predicted, and include as much as $405 million from taxpayers.
National Football League officials said they were working with Nixon’s team to build a viable plan for St. Louis.
Kroenke will need approval from 24 of the league’s 32 teams to move the Rams to Los Angeles. NFL officials have insisted Kroenke won’t move without permission.
Terms of the Rams lease remain the same next year, said Kitty Ratcliffe, president of the St. Louis Convention & Visitors Commission, which manages the Dome. The team pays $250,000 in annual rent.
Nixon’s task force said neither the notice sent to the CVC nor a successful initiative petition announced Monday to rezone Kroenke’s land in LA surprised them. “Nor do they have any effect,” the task force said in a statement, “on our stadium plans for the north riverfront of St. Louis.”
January 27, 2015 at 4:50 pm in reply to: 101, 1/26 … Albert Breer on re-location (re-location thread) #17495znModeratorDon’t care. Quoting it was merely a convention on my part to state that it was someone else’s property. The link and byline do that, and it’s easier to read. I get it. I’ve always quoted articles, but it’s unnecessary.
Kewl. Anyway. I was just using the snowblower. Man. I don’t know how anyone ever survived the world before snowblowers.
Honest it was like this:
January 27, 2015 at 3:49 pm in reply to: 101, 1/26 … Albert Breer on re-location (re-location thread) #17493znModeratorWhat do you think of THAT Format Hell, zn?
Go ahead. Delete it. See if I care.
edit
Just to be utterly clear.
You’re playing around, right? You don’t really have an issue with the format thing? (If you do, it’s fine…speak up!)January 27, 2015 at 3:17 pm in reply to: 101, 1/26 … Albert Breer on re-location (re-location thread) #17490znModerator. The pull of LA for the team, its owner, and the league is immensely strong. StL simply has nothing like it.
That was a very good, very detailed commentary by you.
znModeratorThey say Hackett has a Coryell system.
So did Schott.
But I looked, and I don’t know why that gets said. I don’t know where he would have apprenticed that system. He was with Gruden in Tampa in 2006-7 and that’s of course a WCO. He was then with Buffalo from 2008-9 and that too was a WCO.
znModeratorfrom off the net
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Prometheus FaulkMcCoy playing hurt and all of the offensive linemen being injured really negatively effected him in 2014. McCoy was playing with turf toe the whole year, and at one point they were playing without Mathis, Peters and Kelce. That’s bound to have a negative effect on a QB.
They weren’t really a pass blocking unit when healthy, they run block really well though. I think a good run game made the play action and hurry up work more effectively and without it he may not have noticed a significant disparity in pass rush but less commitment by the defenders to move up to handle the run.
—-
——-gqscholar
Arguably Foles played for one of the best minds in football (Chip Kelly), with one of the best OLs in football, with one of the best rb’s in football, a good wr in Maclin and the season before he had Maclin and D Jackson. Despite all of that, he still hasn’t convinced Chip that he deserves to be the team franchise qb.
znModeratorRams sorting through coordinator options
By Nick Wagoner
http://espn.go.com/blog/st-louis-rams/post/_/id/15785/rams-sorting-through-coordinator-options
EARTH CITY, Mo. — The St. Louis Rams and San Francisco 49ers are the only teams remaining without an offensive coordinator in place. With 10 coordinator jobs all over the league having been filled (11 if you count Scott Linehan’s “promotion” in Dallas), the list of known candidates for the Rams has dwindled.
But the Rams and coach Jeff Fisher will have to make a decision at some point and could be drawing closer to one. Tuesday brings with it one option that is still in play for the job and another that’s been taken off the table.
The most obvious of those choices is former Buffalo offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett. Hackett interviewed with Fisher last Thursday and remains firmly in the mix for the job. In fact, Hackett is the only outside candidate known to have interviewed for the job to this point and is scheduled to speak to the Rams again on Tuesday. The fact that he’s getting a second interview at the very least means Fisher is intrigued enough to continue considering him, even if it guarantees nothing when it comes to hiring him.
Also on Tuesday, another candidate the Rams are known to have interest in was supposed to become available for interviews. That’s Indianapolis Colts special assistant Rob Chudzinski. The Rams previously requested permission to interview Chudzinski but the Colts denied them permission. San Francisco has also expressed interest in Chudzinski but hasn’t talked to him yet.
But the Colts announced Tuesday morning that Chudzinski will be staying in Indianapolis as associate head coach. At the Colts’ end-of-season news conference, general manager Ryan Grigson indicated that retaining Chudzinski was a possibility.
“I’m not going to get into specifics,” Grigson said. “But it’s ultimately my job to make sure that good people stay in this building and don’t just walk right out. So we’ll address that and do our best to keep good people here.”
Hackett spent the past two seasons as the offensive coordinator for Doug Marrone in Buffalo. During his time, the Bills struggled offensively with an unsettled quarterback situation not unlike the one the Rams currently have. Still, there are some league observers who believe Hackett has the makeup to be successful if given the right tools with which to work.
Aside from Hackett, the only other potential candidates linked to the job include in-house options such as tight ends coach Rob Boras and quarterbacks coach Frank Cignetti. It’s also possible there are others that have not been revealed, but without many candidates to consider, the Rams will have to come to a resolution to their search sooner than later.
znModeratorDoesn’t sound like a fit with Fisher. He could be frustrated again.
I don’t know about that. Fisher isn’t ground and pound, his thing with the Rams is balance.
znModeratorFrom Why Buffalo Bills OC Nate Hackett Isn’t To Blame For Team’s Inconsistent Offense
If you go to the link the article breaks down plays and has screen caps to illustrate
Through the first eight games of the Buffalo Bills 2014 season, offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett has emerged as the whipping boy of fans looking to place blame for the team’s inconsistent offense. From vague spews of rage regarding play-calling to play-design, whenever things don’t go Buffalo’s way, Nathaniel Hackett has somehow been at fault in the minds of fans.
Now, this column isn’t intended to pin Hackett as some outstanding coordinator that’s getting the shaft from fans, because that’s not the case. But, I do think that the second-year coordinator deserves quite a bit more credit than he’s received, specifically for the passing game that he’s installed.
Heading into this season, the Bills made it clear that they wanted to be a run-first team, in order to ease the development of EJ Manuel, who was entering his second year in the NFL. The team added Chris Williams and Anthony Dixon in free agency, while trading for Bryce Brown and selecting Cyrus Kouandjio, Cyril Richardson and Seantrel Henderson in the 2014 NFL Draft.
It didn’t take long to realize that Manuel would be unable to take a step forward in his development behind a young, inexperienced and ineffective offensive line, so the team went to Kyle Orton after the Houston Texans loss.
Orton is a veteran quarterback that can read coverages and get the ball out quickly with a collapsing pocket. While the lack of production from the rushing attack has been an issue, the guard play seems to be more at fault than when the plays have been called. What Hackett does have control over is play-design and when to call those plays. When the offensive line has held up, Hackett’s design in the passing game has almost always gotten a receiver open, particularly in the middle of the field.
…
While the Bills’ offense has been frustrating to watch at times and it’s easy to point fingers, Nate Hackett has done an adequate job, considering the situation the team is in. A weak offensive line isn’t conducive to running the ball, but he’s using the short passing game as an extension of the run, and he’s calling plays that test defenses both vertically and horizontally.
As the year wears on and the offensive line continues to gel, we should see a bit more production out of the rushing attack, but for now, let’s judge players and coaches on things that they control
znModeratorAdam Schefter @AdamSchefter ·
Colts announced they and Rob Chudzinski have agreed to a new contract naming him Associate Head Coach.
znModerator
Tipsheet: Foles could provide QB solution for RamsBy Jeff Gordon
Philadelphia Eagles coach Chip Kelly is trying to run the Oregon offense in the NFL. He loves Oregon quarterback Marcus Mariota.
Since Mariota is expected to go near the top of the draft and the Eagles don’t pick until No. 20 in the first round, putting together a trade package for the Heisman Trophy winner won’t be easy.
That is where the Rams could come in. Should the Eagles opt to move quarterback Nick Foles to clear space for Mariota, the Rams would likely make a bid.
And the Rams have the 10th overall draft pick. If the Rams are willing to spend it to get a proven alternative at quarterback, the Eagles could throw that pick in the trade package for a top pick to land Mariota.
Foles, who is 6-foot-6 and 243 pounds, is immobile — like the star-crossed Sam Bradford. But Foles has fully operational legs. He has completed 61.6 percent of his career passes and thrown 46 touchdown passes against just 17 interceptions.
But he took a step back last season. Foles played just eight games last season before suffering a fractured collarbone. He threw 13 TD passes in those games but also 10 interceptions — a far cry from his stunning 27-2 TDs-to-INTs ratio the season before.
Foles, 26, will be entering the “walk” year of his contract, so he will be heavily motivated to get back on track.
The Rams wouldn’t be the only team bidding for Foles, should he hit the market as some expect, so we could have a bit of intrigue as the NFL season nears.
znModeratorOr…should the media HAVE TO talk to Lynch?
znModeratorHope everything is okay for you, zn.
It’s fine. We do have the predicted 12-18 inches. No one can drive anywhere. But that’s fine. The wind is kind of spooky. Dog went out, dog-hopped through chest deep snow, came right back in. An hour later you couldn’t find his tracks.
znModeratorIn that vid he talks about the fearsome foursome
at the nine min mark.When he was traded to the Raiders
from the Rams he played on an Oline
with — FOUR hall of famers: Art Schell,
Jim Otto, Gene Upshaw.w
vBrown was traded by the Rams to the Oakland Raiders, along with two draft picks, in exchange for offensive tackle Harry Schuh and cornerback Kent McCloughan on June 23, 1971
Bob Brown’s enormous impact / Oakland’s outspoken former lineman Hall of Fame-boundIra Miller
http://www.sfgate.com/sports/article/Bob-Brown-s-enormous-impact-Oakland-s-outspoken-2703931.php
Bob Brown is hard to miss, but in the NFL today, he might hardly get noticed.
It was different when Brown, an offensive tackle, played in the 1960s and ’70s. Back then, NFL players were supposed to play football only. They generally kept their mouths shut. They certainly did not have dance routines or other shticks, and they didn’t keep popping up on ESPN or the Internet.
In that era, it didn’t take much for players to stand out and get a label, and Brown got one. He was different. He was smart, maybe too smart. Some people thought he was a clubhouse lawyer. He was a 300-pounder when that size was unusual. He was one of the best offensive linemen in NFL history, but he was traded twice in his prime. He ended his career in Oakland, where more than 30 years later, he still lives in the same building, but he was that rare Raiders player who wouldn’t kiss Al Davis’ ring.
We’ll never know if that personality was responsible for the long wait that ensued, but it finally will end Sunday when Brown is inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame at Canton, Ohio, along with John Elway, Barry Sanders and Carl Eller.
“If I needed a song that would kind of background me as I was making my (induction) speech,” Brown said the other day, “I would play, ‘My Way.’ ”
Which is exactly how he did it.
And in his day, that made him different.
“Athletes at that point weren’t supposed to be outspoken, and I was always a pretty outspoken guy,” Brown said.
Yet, measured against today’s players, Brown said, “I’d be Little Miss Muffet, sitting somewhere in the corner.”
Said John Madden, Brown’s coach with the Raiders: “He’d be like a choir boy.”
Stories get embellished through the years, but the stories about Brown really happened.
Such as his first day with the Raiders in training camp at Santa Rosa in 1971, when he emerged from the locker room and, with his new teammates trying to figure out what to make of this huge man, stalked the length of the field like a big bear, got down in his stance and, with one mighty thwack of his forearm, knocked down the wooden goalposts. Sheered them off right at field level.
“Then he walked back in the locker room, and that was it (for the day),” Madden said.
Quite an intimidating debut.
“His biceps and forearm were bigger than your leg,” said Willie Brown, a Hall of Fame cornerback teammate who is now on the Raiders’ coaching staff.
Defensive end Deacon Jones, another Hall of Famer, was known for his vicious head slaps against offensive tackles before the head slap was legislated out of the game. Jones could whack an opponent so that he’d still hear ringing in his ears on Monday.
Brown had a plan to prevent that.
Before a game between the Eagles, his team at the time, and Jones’ Rams, Brown took the face mask off his helmet and re-attached it, reversing the screws and sharpening the ends so that there was a sharp point on the outside.
Jones used the head slap and let out a howl. His hand met the sharpened screw on top of Brown’s helmet. Tore a hole clear through his left hand.
“He ran like a girl to the refs,” Brown said. “Ripped his hand to shreds. I loved it.”
No dummy, Brown had squirreled away a backup helmet on the sideline to show the officials when they checked. But that was the last time Jones head- slapped him so viciously, and later they actually became pals as teammates with the Rams. Today, Jones says that Brown was the “fiercest” tackle he faced.
Brown played his first five years with the Eagles, then played two years with the Rams before finishing with three seasons in Oakland. He asked to be traded the first time to protest the firing of coach Joe Kuharich and the second time he was dealt over contract issues. But there was not a hint of a problem between Brown and Madden.
“I guess he wasn’t the easiest guy to get along with, for coaches, although I don’t know what he did because I never saw it,” Madden said.
It wasn’t that way with Brown and Boss Raider, and today, Brown says that any issues he had with Davis were largely his own fault.
“I probably could have done more and said less to have effected a better relationship between Al and myself,” Brown said. “In that instance, I shot my mouth off about a couple of things that I was out of line about, and I shouldn’t have.”
We know the game today is different. Money rules. Team is out, individuality is in. That doesn’t mean it’s good, but that’s the way it is in many places. And that’s not Brown’s kind of thing. He also says he never smoked or took a drink or an illicit drug. Aside from a pronounced limp and assorted other ailments, he still looks fit enough to play at 62.
Madden credits Brown’s influence on Gene Upshaw and Art Shell with making the Raiders’ offensive line one of the most aggressive in the league, a style that was passed through generations of the team’s players, most recently to retired guard Steve Wisniewski, once labeled the NFL’s dirtiest player.
“I was so aggressive and attack-oriented, I was really trying to physically hurt (my opponents),” Brown said. “I was never cute about how I did what I did.”
He did it well enough to earn six Pro Bowl selections in a 10-year career cut short by a knee problem. Today, Brown has three titanium plates in his left leg and a pacemaker. But he says he would not have changed a thing about his career.
“The tank was dry,” he said. “I never felt like I could have done more. I just did it in a way that I felt like, if I was paying my money to watch somebody do this, I’d pay to watch (me).”
znModeratorfrom off the net
—
Phil AnselmoEven in the Pro Bowl Quinn gets held.
znModeratorFor me, Long counts as a personnel mistake.
Yeah it’s open to debate, so you rightly stress he does for you (count as a mistake).
But see how all these subjective judgements lead to other things?
Some decide Long is a mistake. Therefore the coaching has erred putting a line together. That evokes for some issues of doubt.
Some don’t see him as a mistake. In fact, in spite of the obvious shortcomings as a pure athletic pass-blocking LOT, when he was in gear, he was a very good play action/run blocking LOT. There is no mistake, from the point of view, in signing a player who then gets hit by a freak knee injury. (I don’t buy the idea that if your arms had surgery that means you are a walking injury time-bomb waiting to happen. To me that’s just superstition. Nothing in arm surgery rationally equals “and there will be other injuries, not to the arms.”)
So there was no coaching mistake, and the whole doubts thing when it comes to coaches and personnel decisions is just not there.
None of this is hardcore “reveal level” evidence, it’s all just mutually exclusive value judgements. Interpretation. Opinions.
So no one is in a position to say “why do you ignore the truth.” (As much as I would like to do it that way …
). It’s suppositions and inferences either way.So, you’re dead wrong…but I have to qualify that with “in my opinion.” Which is unfair, but that’s life.
znModeratorNaw. It’s a bad analysis.
znModeratorEven though they screwed up with some of
the earlier personnel decisions.Even that’s open to debate.
I don’t see them as having screwed up with decisions, plural.
I don;t think the results are good for 2014, but then, I always stress that the Rams OL history includes massive doses of bad luck.
Who injures 4 centers in one year?
And I promise you, the issue with Long when they signed him was whether he could still play at a high level. No one said “he will have other injuries.” The fear was that the arms weren’t fixed, not that he would start working on injuring the legs.
In terms of fixing it, they clearly are. So I agree with you there.
And as I said, to me, the stand-out thing is that the PB/JF axis has a combined 40 years of fielding good OLs. Odds favor them doing it again.
znModeratorplaceholder (it’s technical)
January 26, 2015 at 12:33 am in reply to: What American Sniper did is much, much worse than rewrite history #17389znModerator“So anyway, to me telling a big lie about american history is a bad thing.”
But Eastwood didn’t “tell” “the big lie”.
Yeah he did. The film advances that view (the lie), never undercuts it, and lets it stand. It is also reflected in the enemies they fight in the film.
The article above puts it best: And when Kyle gets to Iraq, his commander explains that they are hunting the leaders of al-Qaeda in Iraq. The inference we’re supposed to gather is clear: that Kyle is fighting the same people who attacked America in 1998 and 2001. By contrast, the actual reasons for the Iraq war go unmentioned. The words “Saddam Hussein” are never uttered in the movie. Nor are “George Bush,” “Sunni,” “Shia,” or “weapons of mass destruction.”
znModeratorGetting two solid-to-good OL (and a qb) is easy. That’s 3 guys.
Needless to say, finding a guard is not the same as a qb. Though yes finding a good guard…not just a guard…is not that hard, compared to other positions. It’s not so easy that in fact every team has 2 good guards. But it’s not like finding a good CB, qb, LOT, or #1 WR etc.
But one reason it’s relatively less difficult is because you can find them so many different ways. Draft a guard, or draft a tackle and convert him. Sign a FA guard, or sign a young FA tackle and convert him. There;s more of them than good CBs or LOTs.
Heck between 98 and 99 the Rams changed every single OL position except LOT. Gruttaduaria had been the center, but was injured in 98. Miller was inherited. The only 2 good linemen the Vermeil Rams ever actually drafted were Pace and Turner. They scrounged up Nutten and McCollum as bargain FAs. The signed Timmerman as a high market FA. In the process, they dumped a 1st and a 2nd round draft pick (Gandy and Wiegert).
znModeratorDunno if this has been posted:
http://espn.go.com/blog/statsinfo/post/_/id/101699/no-one-gets-more-help-than-russell-wilson“…Seattle’s defense has a knack for playing its best when Wilson and the offense are at their worst. Since the start of 2012, Wilson has had 22 games with a QBR below 50, including 15 wins. In those games, Seattle has held its opponents to an average QBR of 34.0 and has had a per-game defensive efficiency of +7.3. In Wilson’s games with an above-average QBR, the Seahawks have allowed a 45.7 average QBR and have had a +2.4 defensive efficiency rating.
No one can take away Wilson’s NFL-leading 42 wins since the start of the 2012 season, the most by any player in his first three seasons (including playoffs) in the Super Bowl era. But much of his success has been a result of his teammates; he has had the benefit of playing with the most dominant defense in the NFL and the league’s leading rusher, Marshawn Lynch, in the past three years.
… see link…”w
vNo one gets more help than Russell Wilson
By Hank Gargiulo and Sharon Katz, ESPN Stats & Information | ESPN.com
http://espn.go.com/blog/statsinfo/post/_/id/101699/no-one-gets-more-help-than-russell-wilson
The Seattle Seahawks advanced to the Super Bowl in one of the most improbable comebacks in playoff history. Russell Wilson completed his final five passes, including a game-winning 35-yard touchdown in overtime to Jermaine Kearse.
Before the final five minutes and overtime, however, Wilson was abysmal. He threw a career-high four interceptions and became the second player in the Super Bowl era to win a postseason game with that many picks. Through three quarters, Wilson had a 0.2 Total QBR, and although he increased that number to 13.6 with his late-game heroics, Wilson finished the game with the lowest Total QBR in a postseason win since 2006.
This is not the first time that Seattle has won despite Wilson’s inefficiency. In fact, since 2012, Wilson’s first year in the league, the Seahawks have 15 wins in which their quarterback posted a below-average Total QBR, five more than any other team in the NFL. That includes both of Seattle’s NFC Championship wins during that time.
How unlikely is Seattle’s three-year run given Wilson’s QBR?
Expected wins for quarterback
In 2011, Alok Pattani, a senior analytics specialist in ESPN’s Stats & Information Group, outlined a concept of expected wins for a quarterback based on his QBR in a game. The basic premise is that a player’s QBR in game can be interpreted as the expected win percentage for the team given that level of QB play. So a team whose starting quarterback has a QBR of 20 in a game would be expected to win about 20 percent of the time; a player with a QBR of 80 should win about 80 percent of the time, on average.Wilson’s 13.6 QBR against the Packers equates to .136 expected wins, meaning the Seahawks won .864 more games than expected, given their quarterback play. By aggregating the difference between a player’s actual wins and expected wins over a given period of time, we can determine which quarterbacks are winning or losing more than expected based on their play alone.
Since Wilson entered the league, he has a 63.7 Total QBR in the regular season and playoffs, which ranks eighth among 31 qualified quarterbacks. Wilson deserves credit for his above-average QBR during that time, but does that equate to a 42-13 (.764 win percentage) career record?
Based on Wilson’s game-level QBRs in the last three seasons, he has almost 10 more wins than expected. No other player has six more wins than expected during that time.
Largest difference, wins and expected wins, last three seasons (including playoffs)
Expected wins Actual wins Diff
Russell Wilson 32.4 42* +9.6
Andy Dalton 25.7 31 +5.3
Andrew Luck 31.8 36 +4.2
Alex Smith 21.3 25 +3.7
Tom Brady 36.7 40 +3.3
*Most in the NFL
Expanding the data set back to 2006, no quarterback has been aided more by his teammates over a three-year span than Wilson. Joe Flacco from 2010 to 2012 was the next closest in terms of added wins (8.4) during any three-year period.So how have Wilson and the Seahawks been able to defy the odds? One word: defense.
In the last three seasons, the Seahawks have contributed 4.4 points per game to their net scoring margin on defense, by far the best defensive efficiency in the NFL. Only Alex Smith (2.1) and Andy Dalton (2.1) have had defenses that contributed more than two expected points per game in their starts during that time.
Seattle’s defense has a knack for playing its best when Wilson and the offense are at their worst. Since the start of 2012, Wilson has had 22 games with a QBR below 50, including 15 wins. In those games, Seattle has held its opponents to an average QBR of 34.0 and has had a per-game defensive efficiency of +7.3. In Wilson’s games with an above-average QBR, the Seahawks have allowed a 45.7 average QBR and have had a +2.4 defensive efficiency rating.
No one can take away Wilson’s NFL-leading 42 wins since the start of the 2012 season, the most by any player in his first three seasons (including playoffs) in the Super Bowl era. But much of his success has been a result of his teammates; he has had the benefit of playing with the most dominant defense in the NFL and the league’s leading rusher, Marshawn Lynch, in the past three years.
Should the Seahawks beat the Patriots, Wilson could become the youngest player in NFL history to win multiple Super Bowls. As he is on the verge of making history, remember, no other quarterback has received more help from his teammates over the last three years than Wilson.
So the Seahawks’ current run of success hasn’t come about despite him, but it hasn’t come about solely because of him either.
znModeratorRams Quinn, Donald set for the Pro Bowl
By Joe Lyons
To be completely honest, Rams defensive end Robert Quinn would rather be in Hawaii.
“I’m a guy who loves the water and the beach, so obviously, I miss that part of it,’’ said Quinn, who’ll join rookie teammate and defensive tackle Aaron Donald with Team Irvin when the NFL’s best square off in the Pro Bowl Sunday at the University of Phoenix in Glendale, Ariz., which also happens to be the site of Super Bowl XLIX on Sunday, Feb. 1. The Pro Bowl, on ESPN, kicks off at 7 p.m.
With the exception of one season, the NFL all-star game from 1980 through 2014 was held at Aloha Stadium in Hawaii. The exception: in 2010, the game was played in Miami, site of that year’s Super Bowl.
The 2015 and 2016 Pro Bowls have been scheduled for Hawaii.
“It’s a nice vacation, especially at this time of year,’’ said Quinn, a team captain last year in his first Pro Bowl. “But I’m just proud to be here. To be voted to the Pro Bowl is a huge honor and a blessing. Being here and getting a chance to practice with and play against the best of the best, it’s something special.’’
Players are voted to the Pro Bowl by fellow players, coaches and fans. Before last year’s game, the league ditched the NFC vs. AFC format in favor of a televised player draft. On Wednesday, both Quinn and Donald were drafted by the team headed by ex-Cowboys star receiver Michael Irvin. The opposing squad is led by former Vikings’ standout receiver Cris Carter.
Thanks to the new format, the 2014 contest drew 11.4 million viewers, making it the most-watched all-star game in all sports during the last four years.
The game also features a number of rule changes to “spice’’ things up. A few of the more notable ones are:
• No kickoffs. Possessions will begin at the 25-yard line.
• Narrower uprights for extra points. In addition to moving conversions back to the 15-yard line, as was the case during some preseason games last summer, the uprights on extra points will be moved from 18 feet 6 inches to 14 feet.
• More timeouts. Teams will have two per quarter and they will be allowed to carry them over within that half.
• More two-minute warnings. There will be a two-minute warning at the end of each quarter. In addition, possession will be switched at the end of each period.
“It’s definitely different, but I think they’re just trying to add a little for the fans,’’ Quinn said.
Selected 14th overall by the Rams in the first round of the 2011 NFL draft, Quinn said nothing will ever top his first Pro Bowl but noted that this one figures to be similarly special.
“That first time, you’re so excited, just getting a chance to meet and get to know the guys you’ve played against,’’ he said. “It’s been a lot of fun this year, too, seeing those guys again and having a little more appreciation for what an honor like this means. The practices here are pretty low-key, but once we get to Sunday, I think everybody wants to make sure that they’re able to show why they’re here.’’
In 2013, Quinn was a no-doubt Pro Bowl selection after setting a franchise record with an NFC-leading 19 sacks and being named defensive player of the year by the Pro Football Writers Association of America.
But 2014 started slowly for the 24-year-old from the University of North Carolina. However, after failing to record a sack in the Rams’ first five games, the 6-foot-4, 264-pound Quinn came on strong to lead the Rams with 10 ½ sacks, marking his third straight season with double-digit sacks.
“It’s funny how rushing the passer works sometimes,’’ said Quinn, who led the Rams in quarterback hits (24), was second in pressures (37) and more than likely led the league in being held during 2014. “I was working hard, doing the same things I’d done in the past. The numbers weren’t there early, which was definitely frustrating for me, but I kept working at it and eventually they started coming again.’’
The Rams selected Donald with the 13th pick of the opening round last May and ended up with one of the league’s most productive first-year players. The 6-foot-1, 285-pounder from the University of Pittsburgh was voted the PFWAA defensive rookie of the year and joined a pair of teammates, running back Tre Mason and ex-Mizzou defensive back E.J. Gaines, on the all-rookie squad. Donald was a force inside, pacing all rookies with nine sacks and adding 17 tackles for loss, the most by an NFL interior lineman since the league started keeping track in 1997.
Donald is the first Rams rookie to earn a spot in the Pro Bowl since Jerome Bettis in 1993 and the first Rams rookie defender since Isiah Robertson in 1971.
“This was definitely one of my goals, but to accomplish it as a rookie, it’s like, ‘Wow.’’’ the 23-year-old Donald said. “These are the guys I grew up watching, so to be here with them, it’s really a blessing. It’s a been a fun trip, but at the same time, I’m also trying to make it a learning experience.’’
Donald said that getting a chance to experience the Pro Bowl with Quinn is a bonus.
“It just helps make everything that much more comfortable,’’ Donald said. “But it’s been that way all season. The guys on the team, especially the defensive linemen, they made me feel welcome as soon as I got here. They pushed me and helped me, but they also made things a lot of fun.’’
Donald said he is excited about the game.
“Football’s a fun sport, but it’s also a competition,’’ he said. “Any time I play, I’m looking to show out, to fly around and hopefully make plays. And I know I’m going to have fun doing it.’’
January 25, 2015 at 8:13 pm in reply to: What American Sniper did is much, much worse than rewrite history #17375znModerator“I would jump in, but i agree with every word
zn has said.”Captain Renault in Casablanca: “I’m shocked, shocked I tell you…”
Your views are not exactly a big surprise
either, right?Unlike the previous huddle, this one is moderated. I remember the “make it about the poster” thing was one of the little acorns that grew into forests of hell on that board.
Maybe I am a tad premature here, and a little preemptive, n such, but this isn’t about the posters.
znModerator2015 Senior Bowl: North vs. South
Khaled Elsayed | January 25, 2015https://www.profootballfocus.com/blog/2015/01/25/refocused-2015-senior-bowl/
While it is the practice that has the bigger impact, game time represents an opportunity for players to showcase to a large watching audience what they can do. In that regard, this Senior Bowl saw some players stand out for good reasons, and others bad.
The game itself was largely decided up front. Where the North team really won the line of scrimmage, with their defense especially impressive. Let’s take a look at some of the key performances.
North — Performances of Note
Carl Davis, DT: +4.2
Breakdown: Coming off a good week of practice, Davis continued his strong end to the year to help build his draft momentum. He’s not the best when you get two bodies on him, with him often unable to anchor and pushed back, but he has a knack for getting upfield, destroying cutback and playside lines on outside zone runs while really having his way with Shaquille Mason when left one-on-one.
Signature Play: Gets upfield on the block of Dillon Day with 3.50 to go in Q1, getting a big tackle for a loss in the process.
T.J. Clemmings, OT: -6.0
Breakdown: By all accounts this week hasn’t gone well for Clemmings. Touted by some as having the skillset to succeed on the left side of the line, he only showed that for all his physical prowess he remains raw with a long way to go on his developmental journey. Flipping between left and right tackle didn’t help, but too often he had too much trouble with speed off the edge. While he got beat for five hurries, there was also a hit on a play nullified by penalty and four other occasions he was beat only for the QB to get rid of the ball quickly.
Signature Stat: Including the Shrine game, only Cameron Clemmons allowed more pressure from the offensive tackle spot.
Tyler Varga, HB: +3.4
Breakdown: A nice cameo from Varga who showed the kind of versatility running routes out of the backfield, makes plays rushing the ball and lead blocking to catch the attention over some more illustrious backs. Didn’t need an awful lot of help from his blocking to fully maximize the yardage he got.
Signature Play: His second touchdown run was a real nice one. With 1.53 to go in the game, he aims off left guard but cuts to avoid a tackle, bursts through the right B gap before cutting inside defenders to get to the end zone.
South — Performances of Note
Markus Golden, DE: +2.6
Breakdown: All season long has demonstrated an ability to generate pressure without selling out in the run game, and the Senior Bowl was no different. Made T.J. Clemmings look anything but a first-round pick, with too much speed to the edge. Helped his stock in this game.
Signature Stat: Finished sixth of all 4-3 defensive ends in the Power 5 with 46 combined sacks, hits and hurries during the regular season.
Shaquille Mason, RG: -5.9
Breakdown: Taken from the comfort of Georgia Tech’s triple-option-based attack, Mason produced the kind of display that ensures any team picking him up will likely not be expecting an immediate contribution. He was quiet initially but it all went wrong in the fourth quarter with a horrible drive that saw him lose his battle on nearly every passing play, culminating with him giving up five hurries.
Signature Stat: Only pass blocked on 246 occasions during the 2014 NCAA season.
Geneo Grissom, LB: +0.7
Breakdown: Grissom looked out of place as a conventional linebacker, struggling to find his place in zone and not having the kind of closing speed to make plays when given an angle on a receiver out of the backfield. But he looked a lot more comfortable with his hand down and had a good sequence of plays against T.J. Clemmings who couldn’t stop him turning the corner.
Signature Plays: Watch the last three offensive plays of the third quarter as he gets the better of Clemmings on all of them.
PFF Game Ball
There were some nice efforts from the running backs and no performance stood out to any degree that it overshadowed the rest, but Carl Davis gets the nod for his efforts.
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