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Two hundred and sixty-eight games late, one to play …
Mark J. Rebilas / USA TODAY Sports (Wirfs); Mark Konezny / USA TODAY Sports (Beasley); Jeff Hanisch / USA TODAY Sports (Rodgers)
• Do I think the Packers will trade Aaron Rodgers? No. Do I think there was a goal behind his post-game comments that was very intentional? A million percent, yes. Look, Rodgers is smart and very self-aware. There are accidents in these areas. So when he says that “the future of a lot of guys [are] uncertain, myself included, ”those last two words are worth considering. Rodgers has had an absurd year and will win the MVP from afar. The shotgun marriage to Matt LaFleur and the Shanahan doctrine of attacking football worked better than anyone could have guessed. But if he looked across the landscape on Sunday, he saw three teams that have moved aggressively over the past calendar year to outdo each other (see: Stefon Diggs, Tom Brady, Rob Gronkowski, Le’Veon Bell etc.), and a fourth that valued continuity rather than trying to maximize the window they were in (for the Packers and Bucs, that’s what’s left for the legendary quarterback; for the Chiefs and the Bills is having young star quarterbacks at an affordable price). Now Rodgers’ situation isn’t exactly where, say, Tom Brady was in New England a year ago. He has a top 10 receiver (Davante Adams), an emerging star on the tight end (Robert Tonyan) and a high-end full-back team (Aaron Jones, Jamaal Williams, AJ Dillon). The line was good too, before David Bakhtiari fell. So, of course, it would be a bit dramatic for Rodgers to complain too much about his situation. But it’s also understandable why he would be frustrated if he didn’t feel like Lambeau’s teammates are acting with the same urgency to win that he needs in his old age. Which puts the Packers in a difficult position, but not untenable.
• By the way, just as LaFleur is going to have to live with his fourth save – he sent the field team to reduce the deficit to 31-26 with less than three minutes to go, and his offense never had the ball back – until he gets a crack at atonement for it in a playoff arrangement, Rodgers’ decision not to run the ball on the third down is expected to linger. If Rodgers had taken in the ball, he probably would have won the pylon race. At the very least, it would have put the Packers in a more manageable fourth check situation. Instead, he contributed to the fateful decision LaFleur made.
• An underrated move in the Bucs’ race to the Super Bowl: General manager Jason Licht traded a spot in April to ensure he landed Tristan Wirfs, the Iowa tackle who was fourth in a row. group of four tackles atop the 2020 Draft. We expected this Thursday night nine months ago that the fourth tackle will come off the table either at 10 (Jets) or 11 (Cleveland), leaving the teams with an OL to choose subsequently to find prospects. Instead, Tampa reversed its fourth round to swap places with San Francisco (the Niners used that fourth to face Brandon Aiyuk later in the round) and ended up with one of the best rookies in the round. league, and a long run. response to the right tackle. It certainly made a difference Sunday against the formidable trio of Packers rushers.
• A challenge for a thriving program is to replace assistants. The Chiefs have had to replace Andy Reid’s offensive time coordinators (Doug Pederson and Matt Nagy) twice, and although Bills have worked around that fate this year with Brian Daboll likely staying in Buffalo, they’re still ready. to be disposed of in other locations. . Defensive coordinator Leslie Frazier is shaping up to be the favorite for the Texans job, and QB coach Ken Dorsey is attracting interest from an outside coordinator, as the Seahawks asked permission to interview him on Monday. Head Coach Sean McDermott’s experience is on defense, and that ex-Bears and DC Jaguars Bob Babich is internally could soften the blow if Frazier goes for it. Losing Dorsey would also hurt, as he was in line for promotion if Daboll got a job, but the Bills have quite a bit of depth in their attacking staff, and their job as QB coach would certainly be attractive to outside candidates.
• I’m sure there are more, but Cole Beasley plays a month on a broken fibula, it’s more of a banana. And another example of “these guys are not like the others.”
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• While we’re at it, Ravens assistant head coach David Culley gets a second interview in Houston, and his name is interesting – he and, on GM’s side, Scott Cohen, landed on the wanted list. Texans before Nick Caserio was hired. I’m told that Korn Ferry, the company that was doing the research in Houston before Caserio got on board, received strong recommendations about the two from Ravens coach John Harbaugh, and they have included details on why for which Culley is widely regarded internally as being fit to be a chef. coach. The only knock here would be the age. Culley turned 65 in September. On the other hand, he has extensive experience working with quarterbacks and was Allen’s positional coach during the Bills star’s rookie year.
• Dan Campbell’s staff meet in Detroit – and landing Aaron Glenn (who is on the head coaching fast lane) and Anthony Lynn (who had met Urban Meyer about a job in Jacksonville ) gave it a hell of a place to start. The arrival of Duce Staley puts another ex-player in the fray and further clarifies the identity of the group. And yet, I think you might see a surprise or two, again, and that’s because of where Campbell went when I asked him about his staff the other night. “You make a ton of phone calls about guys, referring to guys, trying to do your due diligence,” Campbell said. “I’ve always said it, I said it in my interview, I don’t want to hire guys just because they’re my friends. Now if I find a guy I know is a really good trainer, and he’s a friend, I will. But I’m not kidding when I say we’re looking everywhere. I use Chris Spielman as a resource and we search everywhere. I’m looking in Canadian football, I’m looking in college football, we’re still looking in the league, I know a high school coach right now I’m thinking about, how do I get him into this staff. You know why? Because he’s a very good trainer. He just needs to grow and learn, that’s all. So that’s what I’m doing. All the great coaches, and all the great people I have a lot of respect for in this business, all said the same thing, it’s the same message, there’s a lot of stuff coming out, but here’s the one constant they all said don’t rush your staff, don’t rush to hire your staff, don’t do it because this is the most important decision I will make. And we are not. I will say that the idea of a coach arriving in high school piqued my interest. We will see if this materializes.
• With Matt Canada officially promoted to offensive coordinator in Pittsburgh, it will be interesting to see if the Steelers try to get Pep Hamilton or Hue Jackson up as quarterbacks coach. I think the job is more engaging than it might appear on the surface, as it gives you both the chance to put a productive year from an established veteran (Ben Roethlisberger) on your resume, and a photo to show off your talents as a talent developer, working with the Dwayne Haskins recovery project.
• The return of majority owner Woody Johnson of the UK and the Jets has been expected for some time. In fact, this is a big reason why GM Joe Douglas got a six-year contract in early summer 2019 – the team had to show commitment and give Douglas assurance that the course would not be not reversed when Woody returned from his Ambassador. It will be interesting to see how different Woody is, if not at all, after his four year absence.
• Eric Fisher’s injury is expected do not To be ignored. That opens up the possibility that the Chiefs lost their two best tackles to Tampa, as Andy Reid said on Monday that Mitch Schwartz probably wouldn’t be ready for the Super Bowl. And we saw how that kind of scenario played out for the Packers’ attack on Sunday. Without David Bakhtiari, Green Bay was terrorized by Shaq Barrett, Jason Pierre-Paul and Ndamukong Suh in Lambeau.
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