By DjackToday, Jamie Collins, a very solid linebacker to say the least, was traded by the New England Patriots to the Cleveland Browns for a compensatory 3rd round pick. A compensatory 3rd round pick means if the Browns are unable to sign more players than they lose in free agency the Patriots will get the 3rd round pick, the catch being if the Browns sign more people than they lose the Patriots will get the Browns 4th round pick. Here's the thing, the Browns are going to have a good amount of money to play with this offseason so they most likely won't get the compensatory pick. Essentially the Patriots traded a young linebacker with big upside for a 4th round pick. Why would they do that you might ask, well Collins rookie deal was up at the end of the season and he wanted to get payed big money, the Patriots weren't going to pay him big money, and they didn't want to lose him for nothing, that's why they're a very successful franchise. Although that is no the only factor that played into this, if Bill Belichick thought Collins was essential to the Patriots super bowl run he obviously would've kept him, but Collins must've not been playing up to his expectations, and Belichick decided to ship him off for a future draft pick. Earlier this season the Patriots also made a trade with the Browns, the funny thing being that was also for an outside linebacker, except in that situation the Browns gave the Patriots Barkevious Mingo for a 6th round draft pick. Maybe a little foreshadowing that none of us saw, Patriots got Barkevious Mingo as an insurance plan knowing Belichick could shape him into a formidable player, knowing damn well that once Collins didn't live up to superstar potential he could trade him off getting a higher pick for him, and they'd have a former top 10 pick be able to fill his spot. Belichick is a genius folks, you see it here once again with a simple trade that's going to keep this well oiled machine running, all the meanwhile setting up the future by snagging a draft pick a few rounds higher.
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By DjackThis game was just two bad teams going at it, you have the Browns who have played teams tough yet just can't seem to win a game, and the Jets who have had one of the hardest schedules to start a season ever. Both teams at one point in this game proved why they have more losses than wins this season. For the Jets it came in the first half, they looked awful, the Browns were moving the ball up and down the field on them, while their offense only managed to have one drive over 4 plays in the first half. The score was 20-7 at halftime and the Jets season looked deader than the Browns franchise as a whole. The second half is where normalcy returned to this game, kinda, the Jets scored touchdowns on their first 3 possessions of the second half, making the score 28-20 just like that. The Browns would follow that up with two drives that ended in interceptions, that's the normal part about the situation. The Jets scoring 3 straight touchdowns coming out of the half is not something we've seen from them this year, but it did come against the Browns so I guess that part is normal as well. Jets would add some insurance points on a field goal to make the score 31-20. The Browns would score again with like 15 seconds to play so it was too little too late for the Browns as they fall to 0-8 on the season. The Jets are now a somewhat respectable but not too respectable 3-5, if they play the rest of the season like they did in the second half of this game this team will be 9-7 like I said last week. If they play like they did in the first half for any portion of this season it will definitley be a year to forget because that was some of the most pathetic football I've ever seen on display. Time for the Jets to build off the second half of this game and go into next week with some confidence on the offensive side of the ball.
By MukAnother sad day for fans around the NFL, as one of the most dominant WR's of this past decade has announced his retirement. Andre Johnson will be remembered by all for his infamous 2010 on-field-beatdown of Cortland Finnegan, but his greatness goes far beyond that day. With over 14,000 career receiving yards, 70 career touchdowns, appearing in 7 Pro Bowls over his 14 year career, Andre Johnson should be a regarded as a Future Hall-of-Famer.
He helped lead the Texans to a few winning seasons, with minimal to no talent around him, other than Arian Foster who we all saw just retire a week ago. The NFL conspiracy theorists will point to these early retirements as a all-too-common trend, and that injuries are killing off the top talent. False. Arian has been plagued by non-contact injuries for nearly a decade, whether he sat or played as a result, and Andre has simply declined in skill and his body is going with it. Texans fans sure miss these guys, and the NFL as a whole will too, happy retirement fellas. By DjackWhat a horrible morning to go to work with a Cowboys fan, they're riding all high and mighty off a win that they didn't even deserve, and anything you say to try to prove to them that Cowboys aren't that good is refuted by "we're 6-1." This is the worst 6-1 team I've ever seen by the way, they beat the Bears, Redskins, 49ers, Bengals, Packers, and now the Eagles, that means the Cowboys have beaten teams with a combined record of 17-25-2, not impressive whatsoever. Over the course of the next 2 months they'll play 6 teams with a .500 record or higher, so that could be a lot of potential losses coming towards the Cowboys after their ridiculously hot start, I know I'm coming off as a hater, but I'm just being real, the Cowboys did not look impressive last night, as a matter of fact they should've lost, and we wouldn't even be having this discussion because everyone would be shitting on them this morning. Instead, we're going to hear how Dak is a superstar in the making despite playing horrible for 95% of the game last night, and how this Cowboys team is Super Bowl bound despite being exposed on both sides of the ball. Philadelphia on the other hand, I have no clue what to think, their offense is certainly coming back down to earth fast due to the lack of playmakers, and the growing pains of Carson Wentz. Defensively they have nothing to worry about, the secondary got exposed on some big plays, but all in all that defense is solid enough to win football games in the NFL. I believe Philly is starting to show the team they were supposed to be at the beginning of the year, hopefully this down hill trend continues next week against the Giants because that's certainly a huge game, with huge playoff implications. Eagles had a 10 point lead in the fourth quarter and blew it, turnovers will do that to you. They had a chance to basically seal the deal, but on a special teams punt return the Eagles fumbled allowing the Cowboys to get a quick field score to bring them withing a touchdown of tying the game. The Eagles then put together 10 play, 39 yard drive that lasted 5 minutes, but it would lead to a punt, and the Cowboys would drive down the field in 11 plays to score a touchdown. Dez Bryant made a big time catch on that touchdown, Dak threw a ball that not many receivers would've caught, and a lot of the times probably would've been picked off, but Dez bailed him out. The game would go into overtime where the Cowboys drove down the field no problem, scored a touchdown, and won the game. Now everyone is calling Dak a hero because he threw 19/39 for 287 yards and 2 touchdowns. What people won't remember is how he looked like a fish out of water for 95% of the game, he had a 48% completion percentage, a total QBR of 69, and a passer rating of 71 so Dak was no hero, he just was able to cover his ass at the end of the game mostly in part to the Eagles choking big time. It's the kids 6th straight win though so no ones going to pay any attention to the bad because they have victory googles on, the last rookie quarterback to win 6 straight games, Robert Griffin III. Remember when everyone thought he was the next NFL superstar, certain circumstances allow players to flourish, but let's not crown Dak a great NFL quarterback after 7 starts that's just disrespectful to a position that has chewed up and spit out some of the highest of potential prospects. If Dak can continue to grow as a QB, then we can have the discussion at the end of the year how good of a QB he is, but we're not going to make ridiculous claims when he hasn't even played half a season yet. That also goes for everyone declaring that the Cowboys won the NFC East, we haven't even played half a season, so much can happen, and if you realistically think a team besides the Patriots can lock up a division after just 7 games of the NFL season you clearly have not been watching this league for very long.
By Djack"The San Francisco 49ers faithful are disgruntled with the team's 1-6 start and its struggles since parting ways with former coach Jim Harbaugh two years ago. And while the team rests during the bye week, some of the fan base's more restless members are taking a proactive approach to making sure their voices are heard. Graham Grealish, a Niners fan from Santa Clara, began a GoFundMe campaign Monday seeking donations to raise $1,076 and hire a plane to fly a banner over Levi's Stadium before the Nov. 6 game against New Orleans calling for general manager Trent Baalke to be fired. It didn't take long for 49ers fans to come up with the necessary funds. In fact, the account reached a total of $2,277 contributed by 91 people in a span of about 24 hours. After surpassing the goal, Grealish posted a message saying that donations would no longer be accepted and the additional money would be used to fly another banner at a later home game to "keep the pressure on [CEO] Jed [York] and Trent."- Via Nick Wagoner ESPN Staff Writer I don't think any other fan base has ever been able to be organized enough to start a GoFundMe to start a protest against their own GM, San Francisco has pulled off the unthinkable though. Funny how the San Francisco franchise seems to be more involved in protesting these days than playing football. All jokes aside, these fans are definitley doing the right thing trying to get this moron of a GM fired. Trent Baalke was the guy that pushed Jim Harbaugh out of San Francisco, so basically he ruined the franchise because you're not going to find an available head coach that is better than Jimmy Harbaugh. Look as far as the roster, it's an absolute mess, the only roster in football with less talent in the NFL is the Browns, and that's not saying very much. Baalke has been nothing but a nuisance for this franchise, he goes about his business like a petulant child, leaking stories to the media, and just knowing exactly how to be the worst executive possible basically. I don't know why Jed York didn't fire this bozo a long time ago because I can't remember the last good thing Baalke did for the franchise, that's probably because he's never done anything good for them. I'd love to be in the room with Baalke to see his reaction when the fans fly the sign over the stadium that says to fire him, that has got to be a very awkward moment in the room for everyone because they're all thinking the same thing. I don't think anyone could put up a reasonable debate for why the 49ers shouldn't fire him and that's exactly why they should. Time to go into complete rebuild San Francisco, that doesn't mean just with the roster, it starts up top at the executive position. This also isn't the first time the 49er fan base has done this, it wasn't that long ago that they were after Jed York's head, now it's time for them to take a stab at Baalke, hopefully this time it'll have a more effective end result.
By Djack
By DjackThe Brock Osweiler project is officially dead, the Texans can no longer go on putting this hazard out on the field. I've seen some bad QB's in my day, but Brock Osweiler is starting to look like the worst one ever. Osweiler averaged 3.2 yards per attempt last night, both team's running backs were averaging more yards per attempt than that, and that's definitley not a good thing for your offense. Granted they were playing the elite Broncos defense, but let's not act like this was the only game in which Brock has looked horrendous, the only reason we didn't roast him last week was because he covered his ass by playing good in the fourth quarter leading his team to victory. Brock Osweiler had 131 passing yards in this game on 41 attempts, about 50 of those passing yards came in the last 3 minutes of the game in garbage time, so his numbers were inflated despite still being shockingly low. It's not like Brock didn't have open receivers either, he had several throws to wide open guys that he just flat out missed, and his feel for the pocket is absolutely dreadful that's why he fumbled the ball 3 times last night. Well, one of those fumbles actually just slipped out of his hand when he went to throw, if that one line doesn't tell you everything you need to know about this awkward, nonathletic, quirky computer nerd than I don't know what will. I wanted to give Osweiler a fair chance before I ripped his to shreds and I think I've been very fair about it up until this point, after a performance like that though it's impossible to defend him. I really can't remember ever seeing a quarterback that can just get shutdown as easily as defenses shutdown Osweiler. You know Bill O'Brien wants to bench this bum more than anything, but the GM is like no way this kid is playing no matter what, if he goes down I go down, sorry to say this Mr.Texans GM, but Brock Osweiler just cost you your job. It was a bold move paying a guy $36 million guaranteed after just seven starts in the NFL, you better pray a move like that works or you know the owner is not going to be happy, and I can't imagine anyone being happy with Brock Osweiler after what we saw last night. The Texans have an actual chance to be a good football team, their defense is still good even without JJ Watt, and the weapons they have on offense are good they just can't get the ball into the hands of their playmaking receivers. Texans run game was good last night despite the fact of their being no passing threat to help make things easier for them, Lamar Miller and Alfred Blue combined for 124 yards on 22 carries, at least the offense was able to run the ball efficiently. Unfortunately, a good rush attack and a good defense isn't going to mask horrible quarterback play in this league, that's why the Texans got manhandled, losing 27-9. The sooner the Texans find a new quarterback the sooner they will be successful, accept your losses with Brock, realize it was an utter failure, and move on.
By DjackFrom undrafted, to one of the best backs in the league, Arian Foster had a short yet special tenure in the NFL. He played in a time period where the running back position was viewed as dead and the passing game was the only way to win games. Arian set out to disprove that theory as his legs were able to carry the Texans to the playoffs multiple times. With quarterback play from Matt Schaub, T.J. Yates, and Ryan Fitzpatrick, Foster was forced to carry an offense that lacked an explosive pass game, and I don't think he minded it one bit. He was selected to 4 pro bowls in his 7 1/2 years in the league, he won a rushing title, and he had over 1,500 all purpose yards 4 times in his career. Foster also led the league in rushing touchdowns twice, along with rushing receiving touchdowns twice, and how could you forget his famous bow after he just put 6 points up on the board for his team. He was the complete back, rushing, receiving, and pass protecting Foster did it all for the Texans. Unfortunately, like many great players before him, Foster just couldn't escape the injury bug. If it weren't for injury after injury with Foster over the course of the last three seasons who knows what Foster might still be doing, maybe he'd still be pounding the rock for the Texans, but who knows. Those weren't the cards he was dealt though, he unfortunately did encounter these injuries, and they most certainly did alter his career. He's forced into retirement early ultimately because of it, he says he's at peace with his decision, isn't that what every player says though. How at peace can you be with your body continuing to fail you so you can no longer play the game you love, I call bullshit on Foster being at peace with his decision. Although, I really don't think Foster will come back, he is 30 years old, and most running backs get on the heavy decline right around that age, so this most likely is the final farewell for Foster. What probably happened was Foster was standing on the sideline for the last two games watching Jay Ajayi absolutely scorch defenses, and he realized he is no longer capable of any performance even close to that, so he probably thought damn it's time to hang em up. That wave of great running backs that Foster came up with LeSean McCoy, Ray Rice, Jamal Charles, and AP are all starting to break down physically as players. That's what happens at that age with running backs, the human body can only take so much punishment before it starts to break down. It's sad to see you go Arian Foster, but we'll always have your highlight tapes, so it's all good. By DjackWell, that little Geno experiment didn't last very long, I don't know if that's a blessing in disguise or not, but one thing's for sure, Geno Smith has awful luck. First, he's supposed to be the starter going into last season, gets his jaw broken by his teammate and is out for 6 weeks while Fitzpatrick shines, and takes his job. Geno finally gets his opportunity to show he can play and he tears his ACL 2 quarters into the game, that's just straight up bad luck man. I mean Geno probably wouldn't have made much of his opportunity anyway, it's not like he was lighting it up or doing anything special in the time he did get to play, but that sample size was ridiculously small. Honestly, if I'm in the Jets front office the Geno project is over, it's clearly not meant to be, if he goes somewhere else and shines, which is the most unlikely scenario I have every thought of, great for him, but it' never going to work here with him, the universe is clearly telling you that. The dude got his lights knocked out by his teammate last year, obviously the universe doesn't want Geno starting for the Jets, when have you ever heard a story like that happening. I'm not saying Fitzpatrick is the messiah by any means, but he did lead the Jets to victory whether it was pretty or not. Fitzpatrick's comments after the game may have been a little over the line, what does this guy expect, he threw a dozen interceptions in 6 games, obviously the franchise is going to question your playing ability. Speaking out against a franchise that just benched you is probably not the best idea, I'm sure Bowles is looking at ever other option intently. Bryce Petty, will never see the field for the Jets, clearly he isn't anything remotely special or the Jets would probably consider playing him after the way Fitzpatrick came at the entire Jets hierarchy. The Jet is up in flames and I can't say I don't find this situation amusing because I am loving every minute of this dumpster fire of a season the Jets are having.
P.S. I know I just talked a lot of shit about the Jets, but the Jets will go 9-7, heard it here first. By DjackAnother doozy of a game on National television, a battle of two NFC powerhouses, and there would be no winner. As good as both these defenses are I would've never predicted the display we saw last night. What can you expect from the NFC West though, they don't care how the game looks, if ugly wins they'll play ugly. Last night was for sure an ugly game. Let's skip right to the fourth quarter because the first 3 quarters combined basically produced no content. The Seahawk offense was especially awful, the run game was not a threat, nor a factor, and Russell Wilson didn't pose much of a threat in the passing game last night whatsoever. With 4 minutes left in regulation the Seahawks had 4 first downs, 108 yards of total offense, and 19 minutes of possession, safe to say that their offense didn't help them stay in this game. Luckily for them the Seahawks defense and special teams were on their bully, the Seahawks defense did a good job of keeping Arizona out of field goal range for the most part despite letting up a lot of yards on paper, and when they did get into field goal range Bobby Wagner was able to channel his inner Olympic hurdler to jump the center and block the kick. The score would be 3-3 at the end of regulation. Overtime in this game was one of the most peculiar events I've ever seen take place in sports. The Cardinals got the ball to start overtime they drove the field and kicked a field goal, Seattle would do the same extending the overtime. Now, the Cardinals drove down the field again, got inside the Seattle 5 yard line, but they couldn't manage to punch it in as Seattle makes a great goaline stand. Arizona elects to kick the field instead of try to punch it on fourth for the win, the kick is a 25 yard chip shot, and the kicker hits off the upright as it's no good. Seahawk ball, they drive the length of the field the get inside the Arizona 10 yard line, and now the Seahawks are looking to end the game with a 27 yard chip shot. The Seattle kicker shanks it and the kick is no good, it's a miracle, both kickers miss FG attempts under 30 yards to cost their teams a win, the Seahawks and Cardinals would end up tying in one of the most low scoring, no action games of the year. Even when the NFL is bad it's still so good.
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AuthorDjack- Chief editor Archives
April 2018
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