2021-2022 NFL Season

[DegenerateDish]

Is it insane to think the Chiefs finish last in the AFC West?

Bumping this too.

Credit to Pakuni though, he was right about the Chiefs before the season started. I said this in week 3

[HutchwasClutch]

I thought Taylor Heinicke was a fun player to watch in the playoff game last year . Seems like he is enjoying it out there today.

Packers punter is an important asset.

Heinicke competes hard, but is limited.

Packers finally found a solid punter.
DeVondre Campbell is a stud, great late offseason add by Gutey.  He’s extremely valuable, especially with their injuries.

On to Arizona 

[Jockey]

Didn’t watch the Packers/Bears game until yesterday because I was on a flight back home, so couldn’t really comment on it. I didn’t see what people here saw that would have me excited about Fields. Sure, he hit a couple out routes to start the game that were on time and on target, and I suppose that’s better than almost any Bears QB in my lifetime could do. But he missed some throws by fairly wide margins that were there and even the PI (the right call) in the end zone was not on target at all (WR was running a post, he threw it back behind the WR’s head and basically out of the end zone).

He’s not a complete mess, but guys like Herbert and Burrow you can see basically from game one that they’ve “got it.” To me he looks closer to Tua than to Herbert or Burrow. Both those guys have time to figure it out, but they have a long ways to go to be franchise changers.

Fields will be a bust if Nagy stays. With a decent coach, I think he has at least a fifty percent chance to be good.

[MU82]

I think Rivera went for it on 4th too many times today.

“Riverboat Ron.”

Everyone loves going for it on 4th down … except when you fail.

[MU82]

Panthers are officially a hot mess, especially on offense.

The Great Joe Brady is a mirage. Please, LSU, take him away.

Darnold looks every bit like the failed Jet. Actually got benched today - and it was the right move.

And yet … I felt a little sorry for Darnold because he has a bunch of receivers who can’t catch, and an OL that can’t block.

Otherwise, things are swell!

[Herman Cain]

Fields getting a tutorial on NFL today.

Tampa bringing the heat .

Packers win over Bengals looking more impressive each week.

[JWags85]

Didn’t watch the Packers/Bears game until yesterday because I was on a flight back home, so couldn’t really comment on it. I didn’t see what people here saw that would have me excited about Fields. Sure, he hit a couple out routes to start the game that were on time and on target, and I suppose that’s better than almost any Bears QB in my lifetime could do. But he missed some throws by fairly wide margins that were there and even the PI (the right call) in the end zone was not on target at all (WR was running a post, he threw it back behind the WR’s head and basically out of the end zone).

He’s not a complete mess, but guys like Herbert and Burrow you can see basically from game one that they’ve “got it.” To me he looks closer to Tua than to Herbert or Burrow. Both those guys have time to figure it out, but they have a long ways to go to be franchise changers.

Herbert and Burrow have offensive lines and competent coaches/play callers.  Burrow has his absolute favorite college target who happens to be an absolute stud.  Herbert has a bevy of weapons and a really good young HC.  Their situations have almost nothing in common with Fields right now.

The Bears literally don’t have an average tackle on the team, much less a good one.  Fields has had his blindside protected by Jason Peters’ decrepit corpse for large portions of the season.   Add to that Nagy being a complete moron and you have a situation where you can’t get a decent read on Fields at all.

[wadesworld]

Herbert and Burrow have offensive lines and competent coaches/play callers.  Burrow has his absolute favorite college target who happens to be an absolute stud.  Herbert has a bevy of weapons and a really good young HC.  Their situations have almost nothing in common with Fields right now.

The Bears literally don’t have an average tackle on the team, much less a good one.  Fields has had his blindside protected by Jason Peters’ decrepit corpse for large portions of the season.   Add to that Nagy being a complete moron and you have a situation where you can’t get a decent read on Fields at all.

All true.

[Pakuni]

Herbert and Burrow have offensive lines and competent coaches/play callers.  Burrow has his absolute favorite college target who happens to be an absolute stud.  Herbert has a bevy of weapons and a really good young HC.  Their situations have almost nothing in common with Fields right now.

Pro Football Focus' offensive line rankings for 2020 (i.e. Burrow's and Herbert's rookie seasons).

30. Cincinnati Bengals
It’s safe to say that Joe Burrow did not have the cleanest of pockets to work from in his rookie season before suffering a season-ending injury in one of those collapsing pockets. The No. 1 overall pick in the 2020 NFL Draft took 32 sacks (t-2nd most) and 42 quarterback hits (t-5th most) over the first 11 weeks of the season. That falls back largely on the play of the offensive line.
Jonah Williams was the only member of Cincinnati’s offensive line to record a pass-blocking grade of 70.0 or higher (75.8) in a group that was hampered not only by a lack of talent but also by injuries. Ten different players played at least 200 snaps along the offensive line for the Bengals this season. It’s not a surprise that many Cincinnati fans have their sights set on Oregon tackle prospect Penei Sewell in the 2021 NFL Draft.

32. Los Angeles Chargers
The Chargers’ offensive line has been among the worst in the NFL for several years now, but they were supposed to be better this season after adding veterans Trai Turner and Bryan Bulaga to the right side of the line. At least, they were supposed to be better in theory — that’s not what played out on the field.
Turner and Bulaga both battled through injury-shortened seasons and weren’t effective when they were on the field, either. Bulaga’s 61.6 overall grade ranked 29th at the right tackle position, and Turner came in as the lowest-graded right guard in the entire league by a wide margin (34.8). Those were the veterans who were supposed to raise the floor of what was otherwise a bad unit coming into the year, which made the lack of production from those two players hurt all the more.
Storm Norton came out of the year as Los Angeles’ highest-graded offensive lineman at 65.1 overall. In other words, the offensive line is once again a need for the Chargers.

https://www.pff.com/news/nfl-final-2020-offensive-line-rankings

So, as rookies - when Herbert was OROY and Burrow threw 13 TDs to 5 INTs and an 89.8 passer rating - they had two of the three worst OLs in the league.
Despite that, they looked light years ahead of where Fields is now. That doesn't mean Fields won't or can't catch up, but he has problems that go far beyond his line and receivers, or even his coach.

[jesmu84]

Fire everybody

[tower912]

Matt Patricia is tanned and rested and waiting by the phone.

[Uncle Rico]

Fire everybody

Bring back Ditka

[Jockey]

Pro Football Focus' offensive line rankings for 2020 (i.e. Burrow's and Herbert's rookie seasons).

Great post and thanks for the stats. I knew Cincy’s OL was a train wreck last year - didn’t know about SD.

Watching Heinicke and Fields today made it plainly obvious who the better QB is and who sees the field way, way, way better.

[DegenerateDish]

I’ve been open minded on Fields, have taken a “wait to see” approach since they drafted him.

It’s completely possible he could be a a bust, that’s 100% in play. He needs some competence of blocking and coaching before I can judge.

[JWags85]

So, as rookies - when Herbert was OROY and Burrow threw 13 TDs to 5 INTs and an 89.8 passer rating - they had two of the three worst OLs in the league.
Despite that, they looked light years ahead of where Fields is now. That doesn't mean Fields won't or can't catch up, but he has problems that go far beyond his line and receivers, or even his coach.

Totally fair.  But also, those guys were brought in to start and went at it since Day 1. Nagy did his typical buffoonery and Fields was off and on with first team reps. Herbert specifically was airing it out tons from Week 1. 

And I’ll wait to see the PFF ranks for OL this year but I struggle to see a worse LT in the league than Peters.

I’m not trying to be a relentless Fields apologist and he’s made plenty of mistakes. But he’s been put in a nearly impossible position to succeed.

Watching Heinicke and Fields today made it plainly obvious who the better QB is and who sees the field way, way, way better.

That’s comparing apples to onions.  Heinicke is 28, spent years in the league under multiple systems, and now is in his second season as a regular starter.  Comparing him to a 22 year old rookie in his 5th start is beyond silly.

[Pakuni]

Maybe JWags is on to something....

@AdamHoge: On the first INT, Justin Fields quick snapped the ball because they told him in his headset the Bucs had 12 players on the field. He thought it was a free play. Second week in a row that has happened.

[Jockey]

That’s comparing apples to onions.  Heinicke is 28, spent years in the league under multiple systems, and now is in his second season as a regular starter.  Comparing him to a 22 year old rookie in his 5th start is beyond silly.

I believe Heinicke has played in less than 15 games. Definitely not a grizzled veteran.

[JWags85]

Maybe JWags is on to something....

@AdamHoge: On the first INT, Justin Fields quick snapped the ball because they told him in his headset the Bucs had 12 players on the field. He thought it was a free play. Second week in a row that has happened.

I can't even process what an embarrassment this organization is right now.

I believe Heinicke has played in less than 15 games. Definitely not a grizzled veteran.

Sure, and I'm not pretending he is.  However, its still 5+ seasons of NFL practices, breaking down film, studying the game at an NFL level while backing up NFL QBs, etc... in addition to maturity that comes with being in your late 20s vs 22.  He was taking NFL practice snaps and backing up Bridgewater in Minnesota, competing for time...before Fields even became the starter on his HS team.

[The Hippie Satan of Hyperbole]

Maybe JWags is on to something....

@AdamHoge: On the first INT, Justin Fields quick snapped the ball because they told him in his headset the Bucs had 12 players on the field. He thought it was a free play. Second week in a row that has happened.

This is exactly why putting faith in Pace and Nagy (again) was such a dumb decision.

[DegenerateDish]

I don’t think anyone else cares about this except me, but the last Bears drive with 90 seconds left was totally wreckless by Nagy. He even called a timeout with like 20 seconds left.

I don’t think anyone on either team got hurt (luckily), but it’s stupid stuff like that, that has bothered me about him from year one.

[The Hippie Satan of Hyperbole]

I don’t think anyone else cares about this except me, but the last Bears drive with 90 seconds left was totally wreckless by Nagy. He even called a timeout with like 20 seconds left.

I don’t think anyone on either team got hurt (luckily), but it’s stupid stuff like that, that has bothered me about him from year one.

Right. Then the Bucs blitzed the hell out of the Bears the next play. It’s just nonsensical.

I think the guy who through the punch looked relived he was booted.

[Herman Cain]

I’ve been open minded on Fields, have taken a “wait to see” approach since they drafted him.

It’s completely possible he could be a a bust, that’s 100% in play. He needs some competence of blocking and coaching before I can judge.

Fields will eventually be a good quarterback. He just has to learn how the NFL game is played. Very hard to do that with circumstances surrounding The Bears .

[Herman Cain]

Bumping this too.

Credit to Pakuni though, he was right about the Chiefs before the season started. I said this in week 3

I was completely wrong about the Chiefs. I had them penciled in for the Super Bowl.

Hope , they don’t regain their mojo when they play the Packers .

[JWags85]

I don’t think anyone else cares about this except me, but the last Bears drive with 90 seconds left was totally wreckless by Nagy. He even called a timeout with like 20 seconds left.

I don’t think anyone on either team got hurt (luckily), but it’s stupid stuff like that, that has bothered me about him from year one.

Oh I cared.  But its this pendulum that has swung.  Early on, it was dumb but I was optimistic so I overlooked it.  Then it was infuriating.  Now I realize what a petty clown he is and im just over it and over getting annoyed by him.  He's a lost cause.  God forbid something truly negative happens as a result of it, then I'll have surplus anger, but right now I am so apathetic to anything regarding Nagy short of his dismissal.

[Pakuni]

Are the Panthers and Broncos kicking themselves yet for taking DBs ahead of Mac Jones?