The 2009 NFL Offseason

[JaMarcus Russell's #1 Caucasian Fan 0]

Wow... never thought I would see the day when Shannahan was dumped. Good riddance.

[Guest Czecherbear]

No, I heard they decided to keep Uncle Dick. His head should roll anyway, though. It's not his guillotine, but he's on that guillotine. Ralph Wilson just needs to get into an athletic rhythm so he can get Dick in the building and get his football information. And then fire him.

 

Shanahan will get a head coaching job. I wonder if he wants to take on the Browns.

[JaMarcus Russell's #1 Caucasian Fan 0]

My bias as a Raiders fan aside, I really don't know if firing Shannahan is the right move for the Broncos. They have a budding QB, and a decent wideout corp, the defense was the drizzling shits, but Shannahan isn't known for defense anyway. I would have thought he would have gotten at least one more year with all the injuries the team had. I wonder who they will go after? Maybe a defensive coordinator?

 

Any thoughts were Shannahan lands? My first inclination was with the Jets if Favre stays. I see him staying in the AFC for some reason. My world would be rocked if he went back to the Raiders.

 

Anywho, this made my day, thank you Pat Bowlen, glad he's out of the division.

[tonyjaymzretro 0]

Dick Jauron somehows keeps his job, but Shanahan doesn't?

 

I'm not a huge Broncos fan of any order but in what world does Jauron>Shanahan

 

 

Oh, and as a Ravens fan, Flacco didn't deserve the ROTY. Matt Ryan did just as much, maybe even more, with less. Hopefully we get a Falcons/Ravens Super Bowl though

[Kahran Ramsus 0]

I thought Shanny had a job for life. I never thought I'd see him get fired. This is probably the biggest surprise since the Cowboys fired Landry.

[Guest Czecherbear]

PAT BOWLEN

Mike, we need to talk. I was really thinking long and hard about this and I've decided it'd be best if we let--

 

MIKE SHANAHAN

WAIT HOLD ON A SECOND

 

PAT BOWLEN

--you go.

 

MIKE SHANAHAN

Didn't count.

 

PAT BOWLEN

You're fired.

 

MIKE SHANAHAN

oh ok

[Zetterberg is God 0]

Dick Jauron has been retained as head coach by the Buffalo Bills for the 2009 season. This disclosure was made today by Bills owner, Ralph C. Wilson, Jr.

 

Goddamn it.

[2GOLD 0]

 

At the very least the Bills need to fire their offensive coordinator. The play calling in that game against the Jets and the Patriots was nothing short of embarrassing.

 

So that means the Browns, Jets, Rams, Broncos, Lions and the Raiders are open. Raiders job might just go to the guy they have now since I don't know who wants to work with Al. Dallas should come open but even if it does, that's Garrett's team.

 

Gruden will be in trouble next year. His defense will be working with a new coordinator and if that guy doesn't do well, the Bucs offense isn't good enough to save them.

 

[naiwf 0]

They also played the 1-15 Dolphins twice, the 4-12 Jets twice, the 5-11 Ravens the 7-9 Bengals and the 7-9 Bills twice.

 

Combined W/L: 36-92 (28.1%) or their ENTIRE SOS was against teams that went 120-136 (46.9%). Thanks for playing though.

 

The remark was to Kinetic who stated that the Patriots seemingly hadn't played a tough schedule in a while. Last year, the Patriots played 8 teams with a record of .500 or better and the Bengals/Bills (twice) both finished 1 game shy.

 

They played 11 games against teams with at least a 7-9 record. That's 69% of their total schedule. 38% of their opponents had at least 10 wins, with Washington at 9.

 

Kinetic - "Nice to see New England finally drawing a difficult schedule"

 

You're saying the above schedule wasn't difficult, Naiwf? Sure, they had some easy cream puffs but EVERY team has some of those on their schedule (just look at Pittsburgh this year... Cleveland, Houston, Cincinnati, Jacksonville, San Diego, Washington)

 

Thanks for playing though.

 

The entire schedule was not difficult and that's the point. No one was trying to say that Pittsburgh played against a murderer's row this year when the two Ohio teams are in their division and largely provide cupcakey deliciousness for the Steelers year in and year out. Back on topic, if you remove the 16 games that the Patriots won from the equation, their opponents were 120-120 on the season. The played the equivalent of an 8-8 schedule throughout the year and you cherrypicked the 8 games they played against winning teams, while conveniently negating the double dose of the Fish and Jets last year along with the other bad teams to prove a point that was flawed from the onset. I hate when people bullshit with numbers like that and I felt the need to call you out. A .500 schedule is nothing to be talked up as difficult simply because the good teams you played were really good and the bad teams were the dregs of the league. Just like I can't say that the 8 games I picked means they played the easiest schedule ever, you can't select the 8 good games and claim they played against a SOS of 65.6% or whatever it was.

[The Ghost of bps21 0]

Dick Jauron's record in Buffalo against teams with winning records? 2-21. TWO AND TWENTY-ONE. If 0-6 in the division doesn't cost you your job...I don't know what does.

 

There were a million negatives on Jauron and only one thing that I can figure out that was in the keep him column...and that was Ralph had to pay him if he fired him.

 

Fuck Ralph Wilson. We are so damned if we do/don't with him. If he's alive we'll always be cheap and never be compeitive. If he dies...they'll move the team.

 

Hooray!!!

[The Niggardly King 0]

It looks like Mangini might have the Browns job, as their front office is pretty high on him.

 

Also, there are rumors that Detroit will throw a whole fucking load of money at Shanahan. I wouldn't be surprised to see him end up on the Rams with their offensive talent that's still there.

 

I wonder which coach quits their little break and coaches Denver next year... won't be Cower since they don't want anyone running the whole team like Shanahan.

[Kinetic 0]

This was probably a long time coming for Shanahan, given the relative mediocrity of the Broncos over the last few years (with the exception of their one puzzling run to the AFC Championship game in '05). That defense was just...I mean, you got the feeling watching that game the other night that San Diego could have put 100 up if they were really getting after it. Whoever gets that job will inherit a pretty good quarterback, a very good WR corp, and about 3 drafts worth of marginal pass rushers.

[Guest Czecherbear]

That Belichick coaching tree kinda sucks. They don't seem to flourish without paycuts and cameras.

[The Niggardly King 0]

yeah, it's all about the Parcells coaching tree. I expect Dungy's tree to develop nicely in a few more years.

[Guest Czecherbear]

Well, so far his tree has the coach of the worst team in history, and underachieving dullard Lovie Smith. They're all good people, though.

[The Niggardly King 0]

Even in defeat, they stay classy.

[Brett Favre 0]

 

 

"Stay classy, San Diego."

[BruiserKC 0]

As a Bears fan, I'm a bit disappointed but there were at least three games (Carolina, Tampa Bay, and Atlanta) that they pissed away which could have given them the division title and possibly a first-round bye. Orton did look really good near the end of the year and Forte looks to be a far cry from the great legacy of running backs like Cedric Benson, Anthony Thomas, and Curtis Ennis. For the draft the Bears need major help with the OL, the secondary, and linebacker. We need depth to eventually be ready for the day Uhrlacher and Briggs are gone, and Mike Brown staying healthy only half the season anymore doesn't cut it. Da Bears need help getting a big-time playmaker at WR, but they can get that with an FA.

 

As for the Patriots, if it's true that Brady is behind in his rehab...what are the chances that Belichick and NE say adios to Brady and name Cassel starting QB for 2009 and beyond. Yes, it's unthinkable that Brady would no longer be running things in New England, but back in 2001 when Bledsoe got benched for Brady people thought Belichick was out of his mind then. Plus, Cassel most likely is headed elsewhere otherwise and to franchise tag him would be dumb move as you would have two millionaire QBs, and Cassel isn't going to want to be paid $9 million to hold a clipboard.

[HarleyQuinn 0]

The entire schedule was not difficult and that's the point. No one was trying to say that Pittsburgh played against a murderer's row this year when the two Ohio teams are in their division and largely provide cupcakey deliciousness for the Steelers year in and year out. Back on topic, if you remove the 16 games that the Patriots won from the equation, their opponents were 120-120 on the season. The played the equivalent of an 8-8 schedule throughout the year and you cherrypicked the 8 games they played against winning teams, while conveniently negating the double dose of the Fish and Jets last year along with the other bad teams to prove a point that was flawed from the onset. I hate when people bullshit with numbers like that and I felt the need to call you out. A .500 schedule is nothing to be talked up as difficult simply because the good teams you played were really good and the bad teams were the dregs of the league. Just like I can't say that the 8 games I picked means they played the easiest schedule ever, you can't select the 8 good games and claim they played against a SOS of 65.6% or whatever it was.

 

I guess my issue is... I weigh the "top end" of the schedule more than I do the total.

 

- New England (2007): 120-120. They played 11 games with 7-9 opponents or better. 6 teams won 10 or more games.

- New England (2008): 118-122. They played 12 games with 7-9 opponents or better. 4 teams won 10 or more games.

 

People are crying about how the Patriots had the easiest schedule ever this year... Their opponents lost just 2 more games in total than they did last year and they even played 1 more game with an opponent at 7-9 or better. The difference? They played 2 fewer games against teams that won 10 or more games by season's end. People equate top end win totals with tougher schedules.

[Broward83 0]

Word out of Houston is that we've gotten rid of our D-Line coordinator, our DB's coach and our Def. coordinator. Its been said that having a prior experience as a coordinator isn't needed and that we'd look to find someone who's willing to step up and take that role.

 

I'm glad to see we're willing to shake things up and try to get things back in order with our defense but I don't know who we can get. Marinelli's name has been tossed about as coming here.. but I don't know how valid that is.

[naiwf 0]

If the Cowboys were run under normal conditions, I'd say Shanny should be hired later this week after they let Garrett go somewhere else and fire Phillips. However, I fully expect Jerry Jones to not hire a guy like Shanahan because he has a mouth and would actually use it. Jones was miserable with coaches like that before and I believe he'll gives up wins in order to keep the team the way he likes it.

 

[Guest Czecherbear]

Well, Jerry Angelo gave his State of the Bears address this afternoon, and all but said that Lovie's bringing his friend Marinelli in to coach the defensive line. He also said a lot of things I really didn't expect, though of course it was all said in heavily mitigated Executive English and heavily confusing Jerry Angelo English. Translated examples:

 

-Lovie Smith is a pandering gasbag who lies about how good the team is. Also, he makes bad personnel decisions, in terms of who plays as well as who's on the coaching staff.

 

-Never mind the worst WR corps in the league, the problem is that Kyle Orton is a shitty quarterback. I don't think that's true, he's average to above-average on his best days, but Jerry wants him replaced, or at least not promised a starting job like Lovie did. As for getting wide receivers, Jerry said "all that stuff is periphious." I think he meant peripheral. Anyway, he's wrong; nobody's gonna make Marty Booker stop sucking, while Anquan Boldin CAN make Orton suck less.

 

-The season was "incredibly fustrating." For those of you keeping score at home, here's what I think is a comprehensive list of baffling Bears speak:

 

We're Grabowskis. You're the same guy that wrote about me when I did have the fire, that the was the wrong thing to do, so who you crappin'. That's your IQ, buddy, zero. I just had a long-distance conversation with him, you know, on the telephone. We're not giving up on anything with Rick Mirer. It's not my show, but I'm on that show. We need to get him in the building so we can get his football information. He wasn't in an athletic rhythm yet. We went away from the run because they'll stop that eventually. We come off the bus running. The scheme is good. There's a miramid of reasons. We're not making any household changes. The grass is greener, but it has to be mowed. The fish in my fishbowl have fins. All that stuff is periphious. It's incredibly fustrating.

 

there were at least three games (Carolina, Tampa Bay, and Atlanta) that they pissed away which could have given them the division title and possibly a first-round bye.

No, they got outplayed in all three of those games, especially the Falcons game where only by the grace of God did they stay in the game when Elam missed that chipshot. They're a .500 team that sort of overachieved and they don't look to get much better in the offseason.

[CanadianChris 0]

Shanahan fired? Wow. That's pretty shocking to me. I thought he'd get a pass with all the injuries they had this year, but I guess Bowlen finally decided he was the reason the defence stank so badly the last few years (with Shanahan being horrible at selecting defensive players both in the draft and through free agency).

 

Hopefully the Cowher-to-Denver rumours floating around right now have some substance to them. That could be another reason, Bowlen saw an opportunity to get Cowher and jumped on it.

[The Niggardly King 0]

"We need to get him in the building so we can get his football information."

 

Did someone actually say this? I can hear that being said in some mediocre NBC comedy centered around running a Cowboys or Raiders like team... not something that a person... in real life... actually fucking says.

[MarvinisaLunatic 0]

Matt Ryan won Offensive ROY with 44 votes, far in front of Titans running back Chris Johnson with three. Broncos tackle Ryan Clady had two and Bears running back Matt Forte got one. I'm sure Marvin will be livid that his boy Flacco didn't even get a single vote.

 

Flacco should have gotten at least one vote somewhere but I knew he wasnt winning it. I dont know how you can overlook the fact that Flacco was basically thrown into the role of starter for the last week of preseason and beyond after being the teams 3rd string QB and practicing with the 2nd teamers all the way up to the last week of August due to injuries to Boller and Smith. Ryan knew he was going to be the starter as soon as he was drafted and yet their numbers are pretty similar.

 

Whatever..

 

And about the Ravens schedule, I can see them going at least 11-5 again next year, maybe 12-4. Denver, KC, Chicago and Detroit at home are wins out of Division (along with Cincy and Cleveland) and Oakland, Green Bay and Minnesota on the Road are all wins out of division (along with Cincy and Cleveland). The game with SD is up in the air to me right now, and the 2 games vs Pittsburgh, Indy and NE I'll go ahead and consider losses at the worst. and here I was worried they'd get hosed next year on the schedule next year but they're playing the AFC West and the NFC North..

[Cartman 0]

As for the Patriots, if it's true that Brady is behind in his rehab...what are the chances that Belichick and NE say adios to Brady and name Cassel starting QB for 2009 and beyond. Yes, it's unthinkable that Brady would no longer be running things in New England, but back in 2001 when Bledsoe got benched for Brady people thought Belichick was out of his mind then. Plus, Cassel most likely is headed elsewhere otherwise and to franchise tag him would be dumb move as you would have two millionaire QBs, and Cassel isn't going to want to be paid $9 million to hold a clipboard.

 

Lets not get carried away here. Cassel did a good job this year but he is no Brady, not even close. Unless Brady's knee is ruined or something he will be the QB.

 

Nobody though Belichick was out of his mind for benching Bledsoe for Brady because Brady earned the job while Bledsoe was injured. By the time Bledoes was healthy enough to play, Brady had people saying "Drew Who?". Before that season even started Bledsoe was in trouble. The team was a terrible 5-11 the year before also.

 

I'm pretty sure if Cassel was franchised he would make around $14 Million...and he won't be unless Brady isn't playing in 2009. One thing I am not sure of is if the patriots put Brady on IR next year too, does his salary count against the cap?

[Psycho Penguin 0]

Matt Ryan won Offensive ROY with 44 votes, far in front of Titans running back Chris Johnson with three. Broncos tackle Ryan Clady had two and Bears running back Matt Forte got one. I'm sure Marvin will be livid that his boy Flacco didn't even get a single vote.

 

Flacco should have gotten at least one vote somewhere but I knew he wasnt winning it. I dont know how you can overlook the fact that Flacco was basically thrown into the role of starter for the last week of preseason and beyond after being the teams 3rd string QB and practicing with the 2nd teamers all the way up to the last week of August due to injuries to Boller and Smith. Ryan knew he was going to be the starter as soon as he was drafted and yet their numbers are pretty similar.

 

Whatever..

 

And about the Ravens schedule, I can see them going at least 11-5 again next year, maybe 12-4. Denver, KC, Chicago and Detroit at home are wins out of Division (along with Cincy and Cleveland) and Oakland, Green Bay and Minnesota on the Road are all wins out of division (along with Cincy and Cleveland). The game with SD is up in the air to me right now, and the 2 games vs Pittsburgh, Indy and NE I'll go ahead and consider losses at the worst. and here I was worried they'd get hosed next year on the schedule next year but they're playing the AFC West and the NFC North..

 

On the never ending (in your mind) Flacco/Ryan debate, I don't have their numbers in front of me but I don't think it was close. Also, this season is not even over and you're already dissecting next season's record? We don't know what the teams will add and subtract via draft and free agency yet.

[Guest Czecherbear]

"We need to get him in the building so we can get his football information."

 

Did someone actually say this? I can hear that being said in some mediocre NBC comedy centered around running a Cowboys or Raiders like team... not something that a person... in real life... actually fucking says.

Yeah, Jauron said that when he hired Gary Moeller. Shame that all those great Jauronisms happened in such a moribund era of the Bears, where they went relatively unheard. "He wasn't in an athletic rhythm" is funnier than "cannot win with them," if you ask me.

[The Ghost of bps21 0]

I'm looking forward to getting my yearly phone call from the Bills about upgrading my season tickets.

[HarleyQuinn 0]

Word out of Houston is that we've gotten rid of our D-Line coordinator, our DB's coach and our Def. coordinator. Its been said that having a prior experience as a coordinator isn't needed and that we'd look to find someone who's willing to step up and take that role.

 

I'm glad to see we're willing to shake things up and try to get things back in order with our defense but I don't know who we can get. Marinelli's name has been tossed about as coming here.. but I don't know how valid that is.

 

This makes me wonder... why don't these teams go after either top end defensive college coaches or good position coaches on average teams?

 

Guys I would take a look at (Not sure if they can even be interviewed...)

- George Catavolos (Buffalo Bills DB Coach): Were 13th in passing yards and 4th in passing TDs allowed

- Raheem Morris (Tampa Bay Buccaneers DB Coach): Were 4th in passing yards and 4th in INT

- John Pagano (San Diego Chargers OLB Coach): Were 11th in rushing yards and 8th in TDs allowed

 

Some other minor news...

- Jacksonville Jaguars signed WR D'Juan Woods (Brother to Rashaun Woods, who failed spectacularly) to a contract.

- Green Bay Packers signed P Durant Brooks, WR Brett Swain, and WR Lorne Sam to contracts.

- New England Patriots signed DL Titus Adams to a futures contract.

- Kansas City Chiefs signed RB Dantrell Savage to a futures contract.