Around the NFL

[BigKen]

If he's claimed and refuses to report, he's done for the year. I'd claim his ass and he'd sit home and watch the games on TV if he didn't report. Wouldn't have to pay him either.

 

[Southieinnc]

Who would you cut?

Filming supervisor?

 

[Shoeshine Boy]

T-Sizzle ends up with the Chiefs.

 

[BigKen]

This signing is the Chiefs hoping that he'll report and be the solution to their defensive woes. Considering that the Arizona Cardinals waived him after 13 games, his reputation is apparently all he has left.

Terrell Suggs is trading in one red jersey for another.

According to NFL Network Insider Ian Rapoport, the former Arizona Cardinals linebacker has been claimed off waivers by the Kansas City Chiefs on Monday in a move to bolster their defensive depth ahead of the franchise's fifth straight playoff appearance.

Suggs, 37, was released by the Cards last Friday, nine months to the day after signing a one-year, $7 million contract with Arizona. In his 13 games playing under coach Kliff Kingsbury, Suggs recorded 37 tackles, 5.5 sacks and four forced fumbles, a far cry from the type of production he had as a powerful defensive force on the Ravens for the first 16 years of his career.

Speaking of Baltimore, all signs pointed to Suggs reuniting with the franchise that helped him become a seven-time Pro Bowler and a Super Bowl Champion in 2012. Alas, the waiver order didn't work out in Baltimore's favor with the Chiefs making a smart decision from both a personnel standpoint and in an effort to prevent Suggs from cashing in whatever he has left in the tank as a member of the Ravens' already potent defense.

The belief coming into Monday was that Suggs wouldn't report to any team other than the Ravens so it remains to be seen if he'll actually join the Chiefs for their final two regular season games.

At one point, the alternative for Suggs appeared to be the Titans with Rapoport reporting on Sunday that the team was kicking the tires on possibly making a playoff-minded move of their own. Of course, that didn't come to pass and the Chiefs swooped in to place their claim prior to Monday's deadline.

Should Suggs choose to join Andy Reid and Co. and play out what could be the last season of his career, he could find himself in a prominent position for the Super Bowl-contending Chiefs, given their need for effective pass rushers with defensive ends Emmanuel Ogbah and Alex Okafor out with injuries, and Frank Clark playing through a variety of ailments.

 

[BigKen]

Chad O'Shea has joined the Cleveland Browns as their Wide Receivers coach and To help with offense play design.

 

[BigKen]

Very interesting point was made on ESPN the other day.

They said that the Patriots were not competitive in the playoffs and the four teams that made it to the conference finals all had one thing in common that the patriots did not................At least one poroductive tight end. They said it was surprising that the Patriots finished at 12-4 and could have finished 13-3 but not having that one piece spelled their doom in the regular season and the playoffs.

We all knew that they needed one, but not having any TE that was at all productive, was more detrimental than I thought before I heard that piece.

 

[cdumler7]

Very interesting point was made on ESPN the other day.

They said that the Patriots were not competitive in the playoffs and the four teams that made it to the conference finals all had one thing in common that the patriots did not................At least one poroductive tight end. They said it was surprising that the Patriots finished at 12-4 and could have finished 13-3 but not having that one piece spelled their doom in the regular season and the playoffs.

We all knew that they needed one, but not having any TE that was at all productive, was more detrimental than I thought before I heard that piece.

I would say that is a bit of a narrow focus of what happened to the Patriots this year. There were more issues than just not having a TE. WR core struggled and showed they didn't know the offense. OL was about as bad as I have seen in NE in a long time. And Tom Brady just is not the same QB he was say 5 years ago. Since 2016 he has seen a pretty steep decline.

 

[nefansince75]

I would say that is a bit of a narrow focus of what happened to the Patriots this year. There were more issues than just not having a TE. WR core struggled and showed they didn't know the offense. OL was about as bad as I have seen in NE in a long time. And Tom Brady just is not the same QB he was say 5 years ago. Since 2016 he has seen a pretty steep decline.

I disagree about TB. Not that you are necessarily incorrect, but the other factors make it difficult to know. Poor reliability in receivers, poor reliability of OL then the run game suffered from the OL play causing a predictable offense.

Look, we know he's old. You are not a genius to point it out.

 

[YankeeRebel]

I would say that is a bit of a narrow focus of what happened to the Patriots this year. There were more issues than just not having a TE. WR core struggled and showed they didn't know the offense. OL was about as bad as I have seen in NE in a long time. And Tom Brady just is not the same QB he was say 5 years ago. Since 2016 he has seen a pretty steep decline.

I would not say steep decline but damn sure in decline. And the WRs to include JE can not get any separation and you are correct TE play was fair at the very most. We have two rookie WRs, Sanu cam mid season there was no timing and it appeared team struggles with the playbook. TB kept looking for a banged up JE and defense knew this.

When we lost Andrews it created make shift lines yeah the O Line was sub par this year which had a huge affect.

There are a lot of need for this team and not a lot of room with cap space and draft power. BB has taken two at one position several time in the past he may double down on TE this year and clean out some trash. Perhaps Round one and three.

 

[cdumler7]

I disagree about TB. Not that you are necessarily incorrect, but the other factors make it difficult to know. Poor reliability in receivers, poor reliability of OL then the run game suffered from the OL play causing a predictable offense.

Look, we know he's old. You are not a genius to point it out.

I'm not trying to be a genius by saying the obvious. I just was adding that Brady cannot cover up roster deficiencies like he used to which is part of why the offense struggled so much this year. He wasn't even close to the main reason, but he was part of the problem.

 

[cdumler7]

I would not say steep decline but damn sure in decline. And the WRs to include JE can not get any separation and you are correct TE play was fair at the very most. We have two rookie WRs, Sanu cam mid season there was no timing and it appeared team struggles with the playbook. TB kept looking for a banged up JE and defense knew this.

When we lost Andrews it created make shift lines yeah the O Line was sub par this year which had a huge affect.

There are a lot of need for this team and not a lot of room with cap space and draft power. BB has taken two at one position several time in the past he may double down on TE this year and clean out some trash. Perhaps Round one and three.

Agreed. All of that together led to a very pedestrian offense this year. The idea of just pointing to the TE position and saying "fix that and the offense will function well" to me just is ignoring the full picture of this past season. I know the Patriots are smarter than that and some of the issues should be fixed just by guys being in the system a 2nd year. Going to be interesting to see if the Patriots are willing to keep the same offensive system though if Brady is gone. I doubt there are many that can handle that entire system year 1.

 

[YankeeRebel]

Agreed. All of that together led to a very pedestrian offense this year. The idea of just pointing to the TE position and saying "fix that and the offense will function well" to me just is ignoring the full picture of this past season. I know the Patriots are smarter than that and some of the issues should be fixed just by guys being in the system a 2nd year. Going to be interesting to see if the Patriots are willing to keep the same offensive system though if Brady is gone. I doubt there are many that can handle that entire system year 1.

The current heir apparent is Stidham who can make throws not as many as TB but some and who bring mobility that TB does not, I suspect the system would change.

 

[BigKen]

I would say that is a bit of a narrow focus of what happened to the Patriots this year. There were more issues than just not having a TE. WR core struggled and showed they didn't know the offense. OL was about as bad as I have seen in NE in a long time. And Tom Brady just is not the same QB he was say 5 years ago. Since 2016 he has seen a pretty steep decline.

ESPN was highlighting all of the TEs that were in the championship games and the Patriots took a side shot.
It was a pretty bad group of TEs that the Pats put out there.

 

[nefansince75]

Agreed. All of that together led to a very pedestrian offense this year. The idea of just pointing to the TE position and saying "fix that and the offense will function well" to me just is ignoring the full picture of this past season. I know the Patriots are smarter than that and some of the issues should be fixed just by guys being in the system a 2nd year. Going to be interesting to see if the Patriots are willing to keep the same offensive system though if Brady is gone. I doubt there are many that can handle that entire system year 1.

Don't take this personally, but pointing out the pats had TE deficiencies is back to "not needing to be a genuis" to make that call. They just lost the best TE to ever play when you factor both his contributions to the line and the passing attack. Add to that they did a piss poor job of even fielding a mediocre TE. But just isolate the impact of losing Gronk especially when you see the struggle the line had for the run game, when you see all the doubles Edelman saw and finally the direct loss of him as a play maker.

I know you are knowledgeable football guy... I do. But these expert opinions are just not insightful.

 

[YankeeRebel]

Don't take this personally, but pointing out the pats had TE deficiencies is back to "not needing to be a genuis" to make that call. They just lost the best TE to ever play when you factor both his contributions to the line and the passing attack. Add to that they did a piss poor job of even fielding a mediocre TE. But just isolate the impact of losing Gronk especially when you see the struggle the line had for the run game, when you see all the doubles Edelman saw and finally the direct loss of him as a play maker.

I know you are knowledgeable football guy... I do. But these expert opinions are just not insightful.

Bingo the quote unquote experts IMO lknow, no more than any of us,

 

[BigKen]

I think that everyone who's been in this board since last August can agree that there were FOUR major flaws on the 2019 Patriots' offense that were never addressed.

1. Any kind of real Tight End that could catch the ball and block at least marginally. Not addressing this affected the run and pass games.

2. Any kind of real LT that could protect Brady's blind side. Newsome was a hole filler who was not a LT. He had played LT a few times but was primarily a RT. When Marcus Cannon went down and Newsome stepped in, the right side was much improved and Shaq mason's game went up considerably. Because Wynn was on IR, and expected back, there was a sense that there was no need to make a big move.

3. Any kind of a full time, experienced NFL Center who could do two things at the same time. Snap the ball and block a defensive lineman. Karras was less than adequate once the playoffs started and he was at a distinct disadvantage in the final 5 games of the regular season because he never got a break. Ferentz spelled him for two plays all season and gave up 2 sacks.

4. A carousel of wide receivers. First loss was N'Keal Harry in the preseason. Then Josh Gordon. Then Antonio Brown. What was left was JE!! who got beat all to hell and will have multiple surgeries in 2020. Philip Dorsett who they discovered could not disappear like he did in 2018 and be effective. Jacobi Meyers, who Brady never once threw a pass from Apil until September.

Hopefully, a valuable lesson was learned. That being that any team that does not have an offensive line that can block is doomed. Everything starts with a formidable front five and that's the foundation on which a team is constructed. In 2020 the Patriots will need an LG or move Wynn to LG and find a real
LT. They need a Center and not Dave Andrews on a hope and a prayer. If he's gained back the 55 lbs he lost recovering from blood clots and it's all muscle and not fat, maybe. Otherwise, start looking. Finally, a RT because Marcus cannon has been a liability for the past three years. I could live with Newsome over there but would be much more comfortable with a young stud.

Just my POV

 

[cdumler7]

ESPN was highlighting all of the TEs that were in the championship games and the Patriots took a side shot.
It was a pretty bad group of TEs that the Pats put out there.

They definitely need to upgrade the TE spot. And yes that is part of why the offense struggled. I mean going from possibly best TE to ever play in Gronk to maybe worst TE room in the NFL is going to cause problems. I just was more pointing to the fact that while that played a role in the struggles it wasn't the only reason the offense had its problems.

 

[YankeeRebel]

OKay so are we ignoring all the success they had while Gronk sat out? Yeah he was a loss a loss they dealt with and won without in the past. IMO the lack of skill or experience at WR was the biggest issue. And they gave up their second round pick for flippin Sanu????? That was a crappy move

 

[cheerupcharlie]

I still think a lot of the failures of this offense is Brady being just an average QB now. Besides the few years with Moss, we’ve never had a great group of WR’s. There was Welker. And Now Julian. Who else was good? We’ve never had a great WR core. Brady always made what we had look better. He can’t do that now. Now, we need great WR’s who can make plays on their own. Who can make that difficult catch and not rely on Brady to make that perfect throw.

 

[BigKen]

No one hs ever mentioned it, so I will.

San Francisco 49ers Wide Receiver coach is none other than:

Wes Welker