Some news and notes on this Monday:
1) Bills end Ravens season: Anyone who watched Sunday night’s game between Buffalo and Baltimore saw a snowy game that ultimately came down to one team making big mistakes in key moments while the other made the plays when it needed to.
In the end, it was the Bills who ended up coming away with a win after some turnovers, and a big drop at the end spoiled what had been what many believed was finally the Raven’s best shot at getting to the Super Bowl.
For Buffalo, this sets up a showdown in Kansas City against the Chiefs next Sunday, with a Super Bowl birth on the line. It will be another tough battle, as Patrick Mahomes and his team feel like they’re on what many believe is a collision-course to a three-peat.
As a result, it’s going to be rough having to root for the Bills. But with the Patriots being light years away from being a team who might one day be back in this position, that’s where we are at this point.
Meanwhile, the disappointment in Baltimore is real, as is the chatter among those who see some significant kinks in their armor.
It’s another playoff performance where Jackson made the mistakes he didn’t make during the regular season, having thrown just four interceptions all year, with the Ravens only committing 11 turnovers as a team in 2024. But he had an ill-timed interception and a fumble that ended up being two key plays in that loss, and Baltimore walked off the field with their promising season coming to an end.
“Turnovers. We can’t have that sh*t,” Jackson told reporters after the game.”Hold onto the f**king ball. I’m sorry for my language. This sh*t is annoying. I’m tired of this sh*t.”
Judging by the reactions online, after chanting “M-V-P” when it came to Jackson over the last few weeks, the fans aren’t thrilled with him either. But fortunately for Jackson, Mark Andrew’s drop is where they’re focusing their wrath, with John Harbaugh also under fire after Sunday’s finish.
It’s just another reminder of just how little the regular season means when the calendar turns to January.
At the same time, it’s also the best part about this time of year. There are surprises every offseason, and we’ve certainly witnessed some interesting ones so far.
2) If the Chiefs advance, the NFC has a shot: The one potential opportunity to upset Kansas City if Josh Allen and the Bills can’t do it might come from the NFC, with both Philadelphia and Washington seemingly playing their best football at the right time.
Eagles running back Saquon Barkley is on a tear having put up 205 yards and two touchdowns in the snow Sunday night, while rookie Jayden Daniels played with precision after helping his team put up 45 points in his first playoff victory Saturday night in the Commanders’ shocking win over the Lions.
Daniels has been terrific all season, exceeding expectations and joining Drake Maye among the quarterbacks selected this past April who really stood out this season.
The LSU Standout has bypassed Caleb Williams in terms of how he’s viewed among the top QBs who came out this year, and certainly looks like he might have been worthy of the #1 pick, albeit the Bears’ coaching staff was such a mess that who knows how that might have gone.
For now, no one would be surprised to see the rookie potentially pull off the upset next Sunday, setting up what could be one of the best stories of the season. For a league in need of young stars at QB after so many guys have walked away in recent years, Daniels has a chance to possibly join Allen and Mahomes in a new rivalry of young quarterbacks if Washington was to advance.
If he was to beat either quarterback, that would certainly launch him into a different stratosphere.
Either way, it’s probably safe to say most people here in New England are rooting for anyone but Kansas City at this point. It would be nice to see the pundits slow their roll on Mahomes, rather than have to listen to the talk of where he stands compared to former Patriots QB, Tom Brady. We all know how things might go if Kansas City three-peats and God forbid they go into 2025 with a chance to make it four.
Needless to say, as tough as it’s going to be to root for Buffalo, that’s where we’re now at heading into next weekend.
3) VR Has been a key for Daniels: One interesting note was the fact that back in November, former head coach Jerod Mayo said that Joe Milton was one of the “top users” when it came to the use of the team’s virtual reality headset, which allowed him to get the reps he wasn’t getting in practice.
Fast-forward to the finale against Buffalo, where Milton went out and completed 22-of-29 (75.9%) for 241 yards and one of the more impressive touchdowns we saw last season.
Clearly that technology is something that has been useful, and it was interesting to learn that it’s been a tool that Daniels has also made significant use of.
Technology writer Todd Jacob pointed out on Twitter that it’s been an unbelievable tool for a player who is one game away from going to the Super Bowl.
Jacob reported that the rookie made it clear coming into the NFL it was something he made a prerequisite of whatever team selected him, and Daniels has made the most of it.
Daniels reportedly speeds up that process as he’s reviewing opponents virtually, watching it at 1.75x the actual speed as he goes against digital defenses and gets a look at what he’ll be facing in a given week.
“It moves faster within the VR than actual human beings,” Daniels told the Athletic prior to Washington’s opener. “Once you get out there, everything slows down. I know this is coming. I’ve seen this before, (and) it moved more than 20 times faster in VR.”
His use of the technology started back in college, which was something he attributes to his growth. Watching things at that speed has apparently made things slower for him on Sundays here in the NFL, as Daniels has looked more like a veteran than he has an NFL rookie.
According to the Athletic, back in college when staffers at LSU slowed the VR speed back to normal, Daniels said when he played in the games, “it felt like slow motion.”
While it was a controversial topic earlier this offseason in New England, it’s obvious that it makes a difference. Whether or not it will be enough for him to take Washington to the promised land remains to be seen, but he’s got the Commanders with a very real shot to make history if they can pull off the upset next weekend.
The good news for Commanders fans is, this time around, Daniels is just getting started while Rypien, who beat the Bills in the Super Bowl to cap off that 1991 season, was gone just two seasons later.
Meanwhile, for Bills fans, the possibility of advancing also sets up the opportunity for Buffalo to possibly endure its fifth-straight Super Bowl loss.
Having gone through two-straight defeats here in New England to finish off the 2007 (the season most of us never talk about – yet the NFL Network seems to love replaying that final game as often as possible) and 2011 campaigns, that was bad enough. But losing five-straight? That would be tough.
4) Changes Coming For Pats Stregth Staff?: New Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel has started mulling over potential candidates for New England’s staff, but it sounds like some of the positions outside of the top coordinator jobs may be coming together.
Mike Reiss made an interesting note in his Sunday column, with Reiss pointing out that Frank Piraino, Vrabel’s former strength coach in Tennessee, may be set to join the club in a similar capacity. Piraino spent last season with the Giants, and it sounds like he may soon be getting to work here in Foxboro.
What that would mean for current strength coach Deron Mayo will be interesting to watch, with the brother of departed head coach Jerod Mayo potentially being among the changes for this upcoming offseason.
5) Vrabel’s ‘Ernie Adams’ Set to Join Him: Reiss also pointed out that John Streicher, who spent last season with the Rams, is reportedly expected to join Vrabel in New England.
Adams, who was the football research director for the club under Bill Belichick, was a trusted advisor to the former head coach, and Streicher was reportedly a game management assistant for the Rams this season. The two go back to Ohio State and have a great relationship, and it sounds like Streicher would fill a similar role with Vrabel here in Foxboro.
The Rams just saw their run come to an abrupt end Sunday night following a disappointing loss in Philadelphia.
6) Clarity Coming For Peppers?: One big question this offseason will be who the club decides to move forward with as its foundation as it heads into a new era, with Jabrill Peppers among the questions they need to figure out.
Reiss reported on Sunday that Peppers is set to see his jury trial happen this Wednesday, where we’ll potentially learn the future of his legal issues after he was arrested on charges of strangulation and drug possession back in October.
Peppers, who received a contract extension last offseason, had been considered to be one of the key parts of the Patriots defense, which, prior to his troubles when he had played so well, explained why the club made the move to keep him in the fold.
The question now will be whether or not his legal troubles could affect his future with a team trying to turn the page after a frustrating 2024 campaign.
7) Bill Belichick Happy About Vrabel Hire: Belichick appeared on the Pat McAfee show last week reacting to the hiring of Vrabel, and the coach had nothing but praise for his former player.
The clip of their meeting in 2020 where Vrabel exploited a similar clock-management rule Belichick had used earlier that year made its rounds last week, and Belichick credited Vrabel for being the same smart guy he had been during his time with the Patriots as a player.
“Yeah, I remember the moment and the way the play was explained to us prior to that by the office, the league office was a little bit different than the way that I thought it was officiated,” said Belichick. “Yeah, no, I understood the rule.”
“We did the same thing earlier that year, but it was between me, myself, and what my understanding was from the officials on the way that was going to go. But yeah, no, what he did was completely within the rules. As I said, it’s something we had done. But that’s Mike. Mike does a great job.”
“He changed the game in the Colts on Vanderjet missed in the opening, started the season-opening game when he called the second time out, and [Mike] Vanderjagt missed. And then [Bill] Polian and the Competition Committee changed the rule the next week. So Mike’s always been the one to take advantage of those situations. He’s a heady, smart player and coach.”
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Ian Logue is a Seacoast native and owner and senior writer for PatsFans.com, an independent media site covering the New England Patriots and has been running this site in one form or another since 1997.
How many effen rules did Polian have changed because his teams were on the “wrong” end? What BS! And to be truthful I prefer we go back to the days when throwing and catching were just a wee bit more difficult and roughing the passer truly was roughing. The Sugar
Ray Hamilton terrible call not withstanding. Wasn’t that a Ben Dreith delusion?
One of my favorite moments was the “They can change the rules…!” statement by Bruschi when it came to the Colts. A lot of whining and excuses during that era, and there are definitely some guys who are still salty about it. 😉