And so it went in the NFL as more and more retentions and dismissals were announced. Dean Spanos, owner of the San Diego Chargers, announced that GM AJ Smith and head coach Norv Turner would be returning for the 2012 season but according to San Diego Union Tribune reporter Kevin Acee, both know that if they don’t make the playoffs in 2012, they will not get a similar vote of confidence from the owner Spanos. Acee went on to write that much of this falls on AJ Smith, the GM and he knows it. Meanwhile, Andy Reid was given a vote of confidence by the Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie. Les Bowen of the Philly Daily News said that despite all the harsh tone and sentiment, Jeff Lurie expressed confidence in Andy Reid, albeit in a limited time frame. Despite the defense’s inability to stop many people, Paul Domowitch of the Daily News says that Andy Reid put Juan Castillo in a pretty uncomfortable situation and so he shouldn’t be left out to dry by Reid whatever decision he makes on the defensive coordinator. Dan Graziano of ESPN.com says that the Eagle owner used the word unacceptable so much that bringing back Reid made the word meaningless. The Bears let go of GM Jerry Angelo and Brad Biggs of the Chicago Tribune writes that it was thanks to an abysmal history of draft selecting that led to the former scout’s dismissal from the top job in all of Chi-town football land. Dan Pompei of the Tribune writes that forcing Lovie Smith on the new GM is a recipe for disaster. Sean Jensen of the Chicago Sun Times writes that it was not enough talent as say a Green Bay or a Detroit that ultimately led to the dismissal of Jerry Angelo. Jon Greenberg of ESPNChicago.com says that the Bears made the right moves and threw out some names since the Bears are in the solution business. Peter King of SI.com weighs in on all topics including how the dominoes may fall once the dust settles.
Is that enough for you? A day after the Rams fired Bill Devaney and Steve Spagnuolo and Raheem Morris was sent packing in Tampa, a few more jobs opened up in NFL offices and a few quite surprisingly stayed shut. I want to focus on them specifically so let’s run them down one by one:
Chargers: The biggest surprise of the day was that Norv Turner will wake up this morning as the head coach of the San Diego Chargers. If you hear talent evaluators and scouts talk about the job that AJ Smith has done in building the Chargers from perennial doormats to one of the elite teams, you’d think this team won a few championships. Yet that’s the chatter among folks in the know: the talent is there to win it all. And that would lead one to believe that its the coach’s fault. Right? Wrong. Apparently Norv has earned ONE FINAL shot at winning a new contract and it doesn’t necessarily mean winning a championship. The Chargers are a very good team and over the final month showed that by playing well. The regular season finale showed everything you needed to about the Chargers: their offense was clicking and yet the Raiders still had a chance in the end to win it. The biggest problem the Chargers have is their head coach. I’ve always felt that Norv Turner running an offense and Norv running a team are two totally different people and one easily out paces the other. Some guys just can’t do the head coaching thing and it doesn’t take anything away from the offensive genius that Norv has, I’m just saying that perhaps the man would be better served wearing just that one hat than say the coach’s hat too.
Eagles: As surprising as the Chargers retention of Smith and Norv was, I wasn’t surprised by Andy Reid being given one more chance. The shortened training season and programs limited the ability of Juan Castillo to install his defense and for Jim Washburn to install his wide 9 scheme. But look at the raw numbers and the final 6 weeks and a different Eagles team started to emerge. A team more confident and a team capable of scoring and playing with anyone. Yes, the competition wasn’t all that but a team sometimes just needs to build confidence and say the Giants lost to the Jets and then the Cowboys beat the Giants in week 17, the Eagles would be hosting a playoff game. Yes, as awful as that team played throughout the first 2 months of the season the Eagles still had a glimmer of hope heading into the final two weeks. But there was just too much “unacceptable”-ness that couldn’t be ignored. Reid’s decision to make Castillo, a former offensive line coach into a defensive coordinator was a dubious one. The organization built a championship caliber defense to go with its high octane offense but I kept telling people that the offensive line was going to be a problem and it led to Vick getting injured and spending a ton of time on the side line. The Eagles were plagued by mental errors and that falls on the coach’s lap. Most of his decisions back fired on him during this season where all the expectations were that he not only make it to the playoffs but have a deep run. None of that materialized. Even in a very mediocre year for the NFC East, the Eagles with all that talent couldn’t win the division which is an upset in it of itself. The next order of business will be to figure out what to do with Juan. Hist last few games have been impressive and perhaps giving him a full offseason to help his players understand the scheme and the coverages may be of use. BUT, Steve Spagnuolo, the former Eagles defensive coach is out there and there’s a rumbling among Eagle fans to retain him as the defensive coordinator a post he wanted a few years ago but was apparently held back by Reid which led to some tense times in Eagle land and eventually led to his emergence in New York as a Giant and a Super Bowl trophy. The Eagles have plenty of tough decisions to make but make no mistake, the real unacceptable part will be this time next year if the Eagles are again left out of the dance, and Reid is looking for a lifeline: do NOT expect it from Jeff Lurie.
Bears: I agree with Dan Pompei- its tough to assume that the new GM and Lovie Smith will get along but there’s no denying that had Matt Forte and Jay Cutler NOT gone down with injuries the Bears would’ve been in the thick of things. They were 7-3 and then Cutler and Forte went down. I see them winning at minimum two of the games they lost. They definitely beat the Broncos and they definitely beat the Chiefs. That’s a 10-6 season and a wild card berth. There were certainly holes and as Peter King pointed at the offensive line as a mystery that Jerry Angelo could never solve. His draft record was poor and aside from Matt Forte, he didn’t draft a game changing star since trading for Jay Cutler. But the biggest black mark was that Sam Hurd signing. I don’t agree with it but Hurd’s arrest and charges and the fact that Angelo was accused of not doing a thorough background check may have been his undoing. Bringing too much negative publicity may have been the final straw and there are several personnel moves that make you scratch your head. That coupled with the fact that the Lions and Packers are teams that have been built from within and have the ability to have sustained excellence the Bears HAD to make a move to get on the boat of doing the same and bringing in a person who can draft well and help to build the core of the Bears from within. That I feel was the biggest dilemma for the Bears who, like the Colts have masked a lot of their problems through scheme (Mike Martz also got the door) and great QB play. The Bears had a decent team and aside from those two injuries to their most prominent offensive pieces, the Bears had very little shot of having a run with Caleb Hanie. Lovie’s refusal to sit Hanie though was kind of odd and could’ve been the catalyst for his own firing. Donovan McNabb may have helped the Bears a bit though even he would’ve been a long shot to cure the Bears considering their offensive line was just NOT any good.
Then there’s the decision that will REALLY make this offseason interesting. The Indianapolis Colts fired Bill and Chris Polian Monday and owner Jim Irsay is setting the tone for a rebuilding year. If that’s the case the Indianapolis Star’s Bob Kravitz says that means Andrew Luck will be the Colts QB in 2012 and Peyton Manning will be elsewhere. Alex Marvez of FoxSports says that the best case scenario for the Colts would be that Peyton Manning’s neck isn’t healthy and it makes it easy for the organization to cut ties with the future hall of famer. If not, there’s a major decision in the hands of a new GM. Judy Batista of the New York Times says that the change was more of a cultural change as the Polians seemed to be outshining even the head coach Jim Caldwell who was spared the axing. The decision on Caldwell will rest with the new GM.
The Peyton Manning decision will be the most interesting personnel decision made by any one team that I can remember. Imagine a QB with two or three more years of elite level at the quarterback position hitting the open market for teams to take. Let’s take a look at the 12 teams that made the playoffs this year. Out of the 12, 6 of them could use an upgrade immediately. Imagine the Ravens with Peyton at the helm. Imagine the 49ers with Peyton under center. The Broncos may have Tebow magic but Peyton Manning could deliver them victories. The Texans with Manning passing to Andre Johnson? That’s Super Bowl worthy. Then you open him up to owners like Daniel Snyder who has already said he would hand Peyton a blank check and let’s be real, he would and give him anything he wants.
But what about his legacy as a Colt? In my estimation it wouldn’t suffer. Look, this is a part of the business of football. Teams are better off running superstars out of town a year early than a year late because of the propensity of injury in this sport. The QB position especially is difficult. Unfortunately the Colts won’t even be able to take advantage of having Peyton in the line up. The Colts have until March 1st to make a decision on Peyton. That’s the day that he’s owed a huge roster bonus upwards of $20 million. His salary cap number will be a ridiculous $28 million which would be at the very least 1/6th of the teams’ cap number making it impossible to make additional roster changes. The decision with the head is to finally cut Peyton Manning though it sounds harsh. Its the right move for the organization that needs to look to its future and by firing the Polians they did just that. We dont know what the Polians would’ve done had they been in charge of making that decision but Jim Irsay paved the way for a change. Its something that had to be done.
Let’s not think that by any measure this is an easy decision. Yes, Peyton’s neck surgeries the last few years are a troubling trend. Yes, he’s getting older. But his absence showed you how absolutely top heavy this team is in terms of production and play. Without Peyton they are a doormat, a 2-14 disaster. Its a result of bad drafting that has left this team woefully thin at several positions. The Colts need to move forward and regardless of where you are as a fan, the right move is to release Peyton Manning so the Colts can build this team up the right way and give Andrew Luck a chance in the coming years to lead a good team. If he’s as advertised if you build a solid offensive line, and get some more weapons along side Pierre Garcon (Reggie Wayne is most likely leaving and hopefully Austin Collie stops being concussed) the Colts can rebuild this team back in a division with the Texans who always have one reason or another why they can’t run away with the division. Then there’s the Jags who are in rebuilding mode and are years away without a franchise QB at all. Then there’s the Titans who are the second or third best team in the division depending solely on Indy’s play. Again, this decision WILL NOT be easy but its necessary that the Colts look to the future and NOT hold on to the past.
Meanwhile the local football team in the playoffs, the Giants are looking at their battle tested schedule and wondering if they could take the 49ers and the Packers to the brink, why can’t they make a run? Ralph Vacchiano of the Daily News gets the players pulse. Tom Rock of Newsday says that Antrell Rolle after giving props to Tom Coughlin continued the respect train and it stopped at the doorstep of fellow safety Deon Grant who sat him down and got him to be himself. Osi Umeniyora played Sunday but suffered a setback on the high ankle sprain. While he’s expected to miss some practice time do not expect him to miss the first playoff game in Metlife Stadium. Mike Vaccaro says that the Giants can turn the volume up and bring some life to Metlife Stadium. Paul Schwartz of the New York Post says that Giant fans shouldn’t compare any run the Giants may have with the one in 2007.
Its interesting that Mike Vaccaro brings that up because the Giants in 2007 relied on a road reliable team to cruise into the Super Bowl. The Giants rallying cry was road warriors and its been over 10 years since the Giants had a home playoff win so the Giants are overdue. Its also interesting that the similarities between eerie events happening that year and the events of this year. The Giants would love this team to author a similar ending and surely there is no super duper team that has no weaknesses that it would be the height of improbability that the Giants walk into their home this season and win BUT the Giants have a few glaring differences. That team’s offensive line and running game were stout, both of which are concerns heading into the playoffs.
The Giants would have a similar up hill climb with the Saints being a very difficult task since the Giants would likely have to face them in the SuperDome where they are 8-0 this season and they are 10-0 in domes overall. The Giants however have a passing attack which features Victor Cruz. My biggest key going into the Falcon game will be how Nicks handles it. Nicks is the unquestioned number one regardless of the feel good story that Cruz is. Nicks is the move the chains/Plaxico guy who can make big catches and having both of them going at the same time would do wonders for this team and afford HUGE holes for the offensive line to work with.
The Giants need the defensive line to play lights out over the next month in order to have any chance to move forward. If they don’t play well the secondary will get lit up. Not a maybe, it WILL get lit up. The pressure is on the defensive line to cause pressure and force mistakes. The Giants will need all the help they can get.
Tyler Kepner of the New York Times believes that the Yankees are saving their cash to spend big next winter when guys like Matt Cain and Cole Hamels may wind up as free agents.
The name to keep in mind is Matt Cain. Cole Hamels will be retained by the Phillies barring some major malfunction on the organization’s thinking. The Phillies have a ton of money tied up in Cliff Lee and Roy Halladay (two worthwile contracts even at THAT price), but not retaining your home grown under 30 ace like pitcher would be the height of stupidity and the antithesis of how the Phillies have operated under Ruben Amaro Jr. Cain however remains with the Giants, a team who will have to pay HUGE bucks to Tim Lincecum and will try to tie up Buster Posey (if they are smart) and I dont know where they are willing to go payroll wise but they would have to crack the $100 million barrier to afford both and I dont know that the Giants want to sustain that kind of payroll for multiple seasons which will eventually be what they have to do in order to keep the nucleus together. Look, the Yankees were smart NOT to invite CJ Wilson to their facility for a try out. Its clear the Yankees do NOT want to be used to drive up his price EVEN if it benefits them by making a fellow contender spend more but the Yankees are only going to gain an ace by trade. My guess is that the Yankees somehow pry Felix Hernandez loose from the Mariners UNLESS Prince Fielder decides to sign in Seattle. Seattle CAN operate as a big market club but are being built through the minor leagues by Jeff Zdiruneck.
My guess is that the Nationals sign Prince Fielder. The Mariners trade Felix to the Yankees for multiple pieces (start with Jesus Montero AND Dellin Betances and perhaps Gaby Sanchez) which IS the right move for both teams and the Yankees STILL don’t win a world series. Look, I’m no Mayan but I’d be lying if I told you I thought the Yankees can expect to find another Freddy Garcia AND Bartolo Colon to offset their lack of pitching depth. You know what you got in CC Sabathia (workhorse ace) and in AJ Burnett (5.00 ERA) and at some point in time the Yankees can expect Mariano to drop off in production though I would NEVER bet against the greatest closer in the history of the position. I expect a slightly down year from Curtis Granderson. I expect Robinson Cano to have an MVP year next year. I expect the slow regression of the captain and Alex Rodriguez to continue and for Manny Banuelos to have a decent rookie campaign. I even predict he makes the team from the outset of the season.
Finally, before quitting the blog for the day, Lynn Zinser of the New York Times talks about the repercussions for Santonio Holmes quitting on his team. Now that Rex Ryan has been shut up for good, everyone else is doing the talking and its not complementary. Mike Lupica of the Daily News calls Rex and the Jets the joke. Brian Costello of the Post says that Mark Sanchez during an interview with 1050 ESPN took full responsibility for trying to make things right with Santonio Holmes. Roderick Boone of Newsday said that Rex vowed to spend more time with the offense.
Lynn hit the nail right on the head. Often times when players are making certain decisions during the heat of the battle they rarely think about its consequences. They give in to their emotions and let them take control. Holmes wanted the football. He didn’t get it. He pouted. But the setting for that was the problem. The season was on the line and as it turns out, the Jets COULD HAVE made the playoffs had Holmes kept his head in the game and made plays to help the Jets win the game. BUT, what can’t be ignored is that Holmes criticisms have some merit. The offense has stunk for some time now but at least over the last two years when the Jets went on extended runs they had some sort of identity: they were a run-oriented offense. They went away from that slowly with Holmes’ acquisition and Plax this year but to do that in addition to cutting several veterans who would’ve provided leadership in the locker room was a recipe for disaster. Add that to the fact that the training camps were cut short by the lockout and the team had very little time to get acclimated to the new system the Jets were setting themselves up. By the time they tried to revert back it was too late. They had squandered too many games and another year out of a great defense. The Jets face a tough question but my choice would be to keep Santonio. The Jets need to bring in a QB to really challenge Sanchez. You want to see your franchise guy man up and win a QB competition straight up which is why throwing money at Matt Flynn is a good idea. Of course if Peyton Manning comes into play you could make a run but with the Jets current cap situation he would have to take a lesser deal to come to the Jets though he may want to do that with how close the Jets are and the chance at playing Tom Brady twice a year. But who knows, right now Mark Sanchez has to do what he can to reclaim that locker room because he’s NOT a leader that can voice his opinions. Santonio had NO RESPECT for him and thus missed meetings that he tried to set up. That kind of insubordination deserves a huge presence by Rex who needs to give up this idea and belief that he can coach anybody and focus on putting together a good team not necessarily the most talented one.
The Jets were once a team and I think most players would love to play for a coach like Rex Ryan who wears his emotions on his sleeve but Rex needs to take a step back and assess exactly what went wrong. My opinion? Get rid of Schotty if you are going in a different direction at the QB. IF you get Peyton ax Schotty and get a decent offensive coordinator to take his place. I would pray that Schottenheimer gets the Jaguars job which is apparently open. The fact is, the Jets need help in the locker room which wasn’t the case until this year. Either way, they want their players to quit the baby act and not quit on themselves.
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