Lessons and other things we should remember.

I was thinking about "stuff" while I was out shopping, and I started to focus on some of the surprising results from this week. KC losing to Tennessee. Miami shocking the Colts. And Atlanta not only beating the Saints, but ROUTING them.

1, You know, as fans we often get very smug about our teams and their expectations. Too often we forget just how good EVERY player in the NFL is. The worst player in the NFL today is better than 95% of the NFL players who played when I was playing. They are bigger, faster, and better coached and trained.

The point is it is HARD to win a game in the NFL. EACH and every win is a hard fought battle that shouldn't be taken for granted. It needs to be relished and appreciated for the accomplishment that it is. I sometimes feel we have fallen hook line and sinker for the "tomato can" metaphor that is constantly used to describe our opponents.

Sure there are bad teams every year, but ALL those "bad teams" have a LOT of very good football players on them. And have coaches who are smart, experienced, and competitive. Guys that they have reached the pinnacle of their profession. So if YOUR team isn't focused or ready to play, and get a few bad bounces or calls, you are going to lose

I just wish we appreciate it more when we beat a team like the Jets. Those are good wins. ANY win is a good win.

2. That got me thinking about the Rams. Here is a very good team, with a very good roster, who seems to be suffering from the Superbowl hangover that most teams seem to get when they get to the superbowl and LOSE. It's a long grind, that runs 6 weeks longer than most of the rest of the league. And besides being a physical grind, I think the mental part is the hardest. You put all that effort into climbing a VERY steep mountain, and then suddenly its over JUST short of victory. Then just a few short months later they expect you to do it AGAIN! Most teams slip.

It makes what the Pats did AFTER that loss to the Eagles even MORE extraordinary. To win a championship after losing in such a tough way the year before is a very under reported and under celebrated accomplishment of the Patriots. Now THAT is what mental toughness is all about.

3. And those thoughts got me thinking about Sean McVay and his super cool offense that suddenly isn't working so well. Just 12 months ago he was the cool kid on the block. Everyone wanted to be associated with him. Everyone wanted to find coaches from his tree. But football is a VERY humbling game. What is unstoppable today is often VERY stoppable tomorrow.

It got me thinking about the 85 Bears. They were what I believe was the greatest team in NFL history (single season category). They literally BLEW OUT the best teams in the league that season. The next season they were 14-2 but lost in the divisional round......AND then weren't seen in the playoffs for the next DECADE! Buddy Ryan's unstoppable 4-6 Defense was suddenly vulnerable, and while concepts of the D are still in use today, it NEVER regained the dominance it showed for that 2 year period.

I think the lesson here is that in the NFL you cannot be just a one trick pony. The game evolves and so must the teams who play in it. The Pats, under BB, have always been a team that plays to the talent that happens to be available in that year and runs WHATEVER offense is going to play to the identity that emerges from that group of players.

So in the end Sean McVay's "legend" has been besmirched a bit, and teams won't be grovelling to hire his spawn this year. And what Sean McVay's legacy ends up being will depend on his ability and willingness to adjust to a new reality. We shall see. My guess is he does adjust. He's a student of the game and understands he didn't write the book.

Again it points to the genius of BB, because HE is the guy who has CONSISTENTLY got the best out of his roster year after year by NOT following into the trap of falling in love with "your system"

4. I watched the end of the Monday Night game. It must have been a nail biter if you were a fan of either team. I happened to check the box score of the game and I noticed that the very mobile Russell Wilson, and the very mobile JG got sacked TEN times (5 each) in this game.

This made me wonder about the "myth of the mobile QB" Having a mobile QB seems to imply that it would be HARDER to sack him, right? Yet time and time again, a quick look at the list of QB sacks always seem to he led by so called "mobile QB's. Hasn't Watson led the league in getting sacked the last few years.

If Brady got sacked 5 times we'd all bemoan his LACK of mobility and wonder if Dante has suddenly lost it. We have the most IMMOBILE QB in the league and 3 sacks is a bad day for this team even with all the OL woes.

I'm not sure what any of this means. Just that it's one of the things that I noticed this week and kind of makes you wonder.

5. Does the number of games that have been won or lost because of missed makeable FG's seem to be a lot higher this year? I don't exactly know the number but it seems to be the case.

6. So what did you learn during this bye week/

Semi-OT - I'm such a word nerd. I HAD to know!

Definition of SMIRCH

Wax Frog said:

Semi-OT - I'm such a word nerd. I HAD to know!

Definition of SMIRCH

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So based on your link I had to search and see if -SMIRCH was used without the addition of BE-. It's almost always a bound morpheme. Rarely used outside of the "besmirched" form...

Last year, the anointed successor was Mahomes, this year it's Jackson. I know who I'm betting on come January/February.

ausbacker said:

Last year, the anointed successor was Mahomes, this year it's Jackson.

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I tend to think of it this way - the anointed successor is now and forever shall be Benjamins. Cuz that's what it's always about. Jerseys, ratings, television commercials and the like.

PFK brilliant insight as we have come to expect, you ought to figure out a way to monetize this talent. As much as I enjoy your POV it needs to be shared with a larger audience... or maybe a larger audience could not handle your common sense.

Two things come to mind:

1. The famous voice of Steve Sabol resonates: " On any given Sunday".. winning in the NFL is very difficult.

2. Maybe the Rams issues have to do with a blue print established by the Pats D from Superbowl LIII.. the NFL is a copy cat league.

The McVay's, McDermott's et al of the NFL are all anointed as the second coming of BB without ever having stood the test of time and all that goes with it, to keep your team ready, reloaded and focused is more difficult that it looks... really good NFL coaches are rare. When I watch some of these coaches.. Marv Lewis for example, he lasted for almost 20 year and at best was average, then there is Freddie Kitchens who is terrible despite what looks like a very talented team.. the list goes on and on.

Agree about the mobile QB's and sacks given up. As good as Russell Wilson is the Seahawks have typically been a middle of the pack scoring team and much of that has to do with lost yardage due to sacks taken when trying to make the big play. The goal of offense is to score and none of the mobile QB's (Wilson, Rogers, Watson) have consistently scored at the levels of the less mobile Brady or Brees. One of the flaws of passer rating as it does not take total points scored or sacks into consideration.

Doctor DDS said:

Agree about the mobile QB's and sacks given up. As good as Russell Wilson is the Seahawks have typically been a middle of the pack scoring team and much of that has to do with lost yardage due to sacks taken when trying to make the big play. The goal of offense is to score and none of the mobile QB's (Wilson, Rogers, Watson) have consistently scored at the levels of the less mobile Brady or Brees. One of the flaws of passer rating as it does not take total points scored or sacks into consideration.

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It goes into the usual problem of running a high variance offense vs. a low variance offense.

Consistency and high variance are not particularly good friends.

PScottman said:

I tend to think of it this way - the anointed successor is now and forever shall be Benjamins. Cuz that's what it's always about. Jerseys, ratings, television commercials and the like.

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Not player safety? I am shocked.

tigerjohn said:

So based on your link I had to search and see if -SMIRCH was used without the addition of BE-. It's almost always a bound morpheme. Rarely used outside of the "besmirched" form...

Click to expand...

Morpheme??? And a bound one at that![pinches himself, then does another search in an ecstatic daze]

On the Rams...I kinda do think McVay is/will be a successful coach in the league because he does seem like a real student and real worker, but some of the decisions the team has made might dig them a bit of a hole for a few years. Is Goff even good? They gave him a lot of money, and next year they have $110m in cap to Goff, Gurley, Donald, Ramsey, and Cooks. Some of those guys can’t stay on the field. It’s also possible that the whole McVay “system” as seen the past 2+ years drops off a cliff without Gurley being 2017 Gurley. They were able to hide it fairy well late last year (until the SB) thanks to CJ Anderson but their new rotation system at back is not working for them. So they’ll need to figure that out because despite having what I’d say is an above average amount of talent at skill positions they just look bad every time I see them play.

On the 80s Bears you’re a little off with the timeline. It’s true that Ryan’s 46 was figured out/neutralized by offenses, I’d say West Coast in particular, but he also wasn’t still with the Bears, he was off building another very good defense in Philadelphia. His attitude/personality and the conflict with Ditka was as essential a part of the 85 team as any player, and I wonder if they could have had another SB run in them if they’d kept him around, either with or instead of Ditka. Ditka was a horrible coach, albeit a great figurehead for that city at that time.

The post-85 Bears did make the playoffs like the next 6 years but due to inconsistent/bad play at QB they just couldn’t beat the best in the NFC in January. That was a tough conference at that time...Giants, Redskins, Niners I think account for every SB appearance in the 80s for about a 11 year stretch, except for 1985. Those teams had better coaches and better QB play throughout that decade (even with multiple guys in Washington, and the Hostetler run for Giants too) and if the Bears could have captured even one more year like that at QB I think one of those other late 80s teams could have gotten through. BUT, their coach as an offensive strategist or talent evaluator was certainly no Bill Walsh or Joe Gibbs, and the franchise clearly has an aversion to competent quarterbacking that has carried through to the present day!

patfanken said:

It got me thinking about the 85 Bears. They were what I believe was the greatest team in NFL history (single season category). They literally BLEW OUT the best teams in the league that season. The next season they were 14-2 but lost in the divisional round......AND then weren't seen in the playoffs for the next DECADE! Buddy Ryan's unstoppable 4-6 Defense was suddenly vulnerable, and while concepts of the D are still in use today, it NEVER regained the dominance it showed for that 2 year period.

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Great insights as always Ken. The '85 Bears comments caught my attention in no small part because that team lives large in the minds of us 'fans of a certain age.' Over time all of our perceptions become greater than any reality. The Bears followed up that amazing SB season by going back to the playoffs the following 3 years and 5 out of 6 from '86-'91 including a trip to the NFCCG in the '88 playoffs. I don't bring this up to correct you but rather to illustrate how different the game is now and how much that actually plays to your overarching point.

Before the advent of FA in '92 and the cap following closely on its heels in '94, 'great' teams stayed great in large part because they could easily be kept intact. Teams could stay deep as long as their owner's pockets were. That's the reason we saw the same teams at the top of the standings year after year. It's now 25 years since that was the case and the lone dominant team over that extended stretch has been the smartest, rather than the richest, kid in the room. That team has been these New England Patriots, making what they've done all the more impressive

DarrylS said:

PFK brilliant insight as we have come to expect, you ought to figure out a way to monetize this talent.

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Monetized or not, it's a fact, Ken, that you provide us all with a great gift each week, for which you receive nothing in return. That will reflect well upon you, when the Great Scorer comes to mark against your name.

And as for something to remember... we should all remember to appreciate every single minute we have the privilege of watching the Belichick/Brady Patriots! Coming up on two decades now... and I for one am grateful for every minute... as well as not yet tired of winning.

I didn't see the game, so this may not be the case, but I find a lot of the times sacks on mobile QB's are the result of them taking too long to throw, and often start scrambling but can't make it back to the line of scrimmage. I think it's a product of the tendency of mobile QB's to always think (many times rightfully so) that they have the athleticism to escape. So instead of throwing it quickly, or away when nothing's there, they hold it, scramble, get tripped up for a one yard loss and it records as a sack.

Again, don't know how many of the sacks last night were the result of that, but just my general observances. I'd also note that the 49ers are second in the league in sacks, so at least on their end it's not surprising that they got there.

Good stuff Ken, you Christmas shopping already?

PScottman said:

I tend to think of it this way - the anointed successor is now and forever shall be Benjamins. Cuz that's what it's always about. Jerseys, ratings, television commercials and the like.

Click to expand...

based on commercials, Baker Mayfield has to be up there as well...jeez am I sick of those commercials. I would think they would want to ditch those for the smirch factor....

I wonder if the Ravens peaked too soon.

Comments:

1.) Yup, mobile QB's hold the ball longer and increase the chances of them being sacked. I think TB still gets rid of the ball faster than 25 QB's in the league.

2.) The Rams simply ain't the same without Gurley rumbling all over the field. Gurley simply isn't running with the same violence you saw in the past for whatever reason. Just check out how much harder Melvin Gordon ran last Thursday compared to his first few games back...you would expect that from Gurley. I think Gurley is already done for and is never coming back. And they gave Gurley and Goff HUGE contracts....not sure if they should have.

3.) I think McVay will work something out eventually....but he might have to find another RB and competition for Goff. The Rams have the defense, receivers, OL, and etc..to make it all work though.

DarrylS said:

PFK brilliant insight as we have come to expect, you ought to figure out a way to monetize this talent. As much as I enjoy your POV it needs to be shared with a larger audience... or maybe a larger audience could not handle your common sense.

Two things come to mind:

1. The famous voice of Steve Sabol resonates: " On any given Sunday".. winning in the NFL is very difficult.

2. Maybe the Rams issues have to do with a blue print established by the Pats D from Superbowl LIII.. the NFL is a copy cat league.

The McVay's, McDermott's et al of the NFL are all anointed as the second coming of BB without ever having stood the test of time and all that goes with it, to keep your team ready, reloaded and focused is more difficult that it looks... really good NFL coaches are rare. When I watch some of these coaches.. Marv Lewis for example, he lasted for almost 20 year and at best was average, then there is Freddie Kitchens who is terrible despite what looks like a very talented team.. the list goes on and on.

Click to expand...

Well I could PM you an address and you could send a check.

Thanks for your kind remarks