nine

Marcus is extremely accurate and consistent throwing down the field...but he has to be more aggressive about taking those shots. In fairness to Marcus, It seems like 90% of the deep shots have targeted Taywan Taylor....but Taylor’s hands are inconsistent and he’s never shown the ability to make contested catches. Marcus can’t just let it go and assume Taywan will make a play...he has to wait until he’s open, which reinforces the problem rather than helping. So it’s a bit of a chicken-or-egg argument. Marcus definitely needs to be more aggressive with it...but it’s hard to develop that aggressive edge when he can’t trust his receivers to step up and make a play. Personally, I think they need to scale back Taylor’s targets and utilize Davis more often in that role. Davis is less likely to be left wide open , but he has a far better chance of winning the battle and completing a contested catch.

Fun fact: In postseason games, Brady has thrown for 73 touchdowns and almost 11,000 yards that are not applied toward his career totals. Ive never understood why the league refuses to give players credit for their production in the most critical and important games of all. It’s an absolutely ridiculous policy.

Yep. I can’t see JRob hiring a guy whose plan was “ehhhhhh...We’ll figure it out and come up with something”. You can bet Arthur Smith came to the table with a very clear and concise vision of the offense he’ll be implementing and a blueprint for exactly how to go about doing it, including his plans for each player and position group.

Wait.....who?

The Smith hire is almost certainly the best-case scenario for Marcus...but anyone who listened to JRob’s comments a couple weeks ago knows JRob no longer assumes Marcus represents the future of the franchise. Marcus will surely benefit from the continuity factor...but the decision wasn’t made for him. Smith was promoted because JRob felt he was the best candidate to run the offense for the foreseeable future, regardless of who’s under center.

Marcus certainly struggles with pocket presence and handling pressure ....but I challenge anyone to say with a straight face that the O-line was actually okay and gave the QBs with reasonably good pass protection. Anyone who watched the games knows the O-line was a complete joke over the first twelve weeks of the season, both in the running game and in pass protection. In terms of the impact on the passing game, I think it was a combination of factors that resulted in a perfect storm situation. Marcus' pocket presence has never been great, but it becomes noticeably worse when the O-line plays poorly. The O-line was horrible for most of the season. Injuries were a big problem early in the season....but overall, it was mostly just a matter of terrible execution and guys getting beaten. Rather than helping and protecting the QB, their consistently abysmal play amplified and exacerbated Marcus' struggles. LaFleur did a poor job of adjusting his playcalling to mitigate the impact of bad O-line play....and the Ravens game was an absolute disaster. By halftime, Marcus was already shell-shocked with zero faith in his O-line....but rather than making adjustments when it was obvious that the O-line couldn't protect Marcus, LaFleur kept throwing him to the wolves. IMO, that game did enormous damage to Marcus' psyche and his ability to trust his protection...and I don't think he ever fully recovered. When the O-line play improved in week 13, we also started seeing improvement in Marcus' pocket presence....but then he re-aggravated the nerve injury in week 15, so the 2 1⁄2 game sample size was too small to draw any meaningful conclusions.

It was an absolutely horrible no-call, for sure. Nobody is letting the league or the officials off the hook, nor should they.....they can't just sweep this one under the rug as they do during the season. With the NFL's head-in-the-sand approach to poor officiating, any hope for changes would require a high-profile screw up that directly influenced the outcome of a championship game. The league is now forced to publicly acknowledge that the system is inherently flawed and (hopefullly) do something about it. With that being said...the Saints could have easily jumped out to a big lead early in the game but blew it. They had opportunities...and their failure to capitalize kept the Rams in the game. Better execution in the first quarter would have completely changed the complexion of the game, and probably wouldn't have left the Saints in a position where one blown call costs them the game. Does the league need to do something to improve the quality and accuracy of officiating? Absolutely. Do I feel sorry for the Saints for getting screwed? Nope.

Marcus has played well enough to justify his position as a starter, but has yet to show the production, consistency, or dependability expected of a franchise-caliber QB. I'm fully on board with keeping Marcus for 2019 and possibly beyond....but the idea that he should remain immune to competition is shortsighted and foolhardy, IMO. If the Titans have an opportunity to acquire another starting-caliber QB candidate this year, they'd be fools not to do it.

I’m thinking Chiefs. 31-20

...by hurling complaints and insults via Twitter? Personally, I’d prefer that our country’s commander-in-chief hold himself to a higher standard of decorum and maturity than the average 14-year-old girl.

My guess: Saints O vs Rams D. > Rams O vs Saints D

We all have our own opinions about the Mularkey hire, but the results speak for themselves. Of the coaches hired in 2016, only one (Mularkey) led his team to winning records in each of the next two seasons...and this with a team that had managed only five wins in the previous two years combined. He certainly isn’t a *great* coach...but he’s a good enough coach who clearly had some success and whose methods obviously worked to some level. I don’t fault anyone for criticizing the hiring process or Mularkey’s philosophy, and he clearly had his own faults and shortcomings that ultimately led to his dismissal...but he was instrumental in restoring a level of respectability in an organization that had become a joke and an afterthought under the previous regime.

Personally, I will feel neither excitement nor disappointment when the hire is announced. Every candidate has the potential to be a revolutionary genius or an utter and complete failure...but he’ll most likely end up somewhere in between. Once the hire is made, fans and media will spend the next several months attempting to connect the dots and fill in the blanks..but in truth, nobody will know anything or have the slightest inkling as to his ability until the 2019 season begins. Of course, ignorance won’t prevent anyone from forming an opinion. Some will love the hire; others will hate it. At this point, every opinion carries the same weight and all have the exact same value: absolutely zero. Rather than getting passionately worked up over preconceived notions with literally no foundation whatsoever, I’ll hold off on forming an opinion or any expectations until there’s some indication as to the new OC’s ability. I simply find this approach to be easier and there’s far less chance of making myself look like an idiot.

Considering the team’s emphasis on high character and the talent currently on the roster, I find it highly unlikely that the Titans would be a frontrunner for Hunt’s services.

The league's top four offenses are still playing. It's quite likely that the Titans want to interview candidates from one or more of these teams before making a decision....but the league won't allow it until their seasons have ended. Keep in mind, teams can only interview coaches from playoff teams during the first-round bye week. The Titans weren't interviewing OC candidates that week because they still had LaFleur, who went to the Packers the following week. It's possible that Smith is currently the frontrunner of the people they've talked to, but they don't want to make a decision until they've interviewed every candidate on their list.....they just have to wait until those candidates are available.

Trump isn’t interested in participating in complex decisions regarding politics, economic policy, and/or global relations; he’s completely out of his element in those areas. Never mind not understanding the issues....in those conversations, he can’t even speak the language. Building a wall...now *there's* a concept he can grasp and get on board with. He found something he can understand, so he’s latched onto the idea and he’s running with it. Trump’s vision of success is and always has been defined by enormous physical structures.... tangible objects that can bear his name and that he can point to as proof of his success. His brand is his legacy. Trump Plaza...Trump’s Taj Majal....and now his dream is to build Trump’s Wall for all the world to see. He’s selling it to Americans as a means of stopping the influx of illegal drugs and undocumented immigrants....and hell, he might even believe it himself. But the bottom line is that he knows he can’t be president forever...and he can’t live with the thought of one day leaving office without building a huge hulking structure and stamping his name on it. The rest of the country might burn to the ground...but as long as he gets his wall, he’ll see his presidency as a success.

Jonnu was really bad for the first several weeks, both as a blocker and as a receiver. He nowhere close to being ready for the starting role after Delanie went down. But he really stepped up his game after the bye week and improved in every area.

Weeks 1-7: 5 catches, 44 yards Weeks 9-13: 15 catches, 214 yards, 3 TDs Yeah, a slight improvement after the bye week.

Yep. Jonnu was just straight-up terrible over the first half of the season.... but he hit his stride at midseason and finished with 3-4 really strong performances. Henry's famous 99-yard TD run has to be a bittersweet memory for Jonnu. He had a critical role in one of the most remarkable runs in NFL history by simultaneously blocking two defenders to spring Henry into the open field....but that play also ended Jonnu's season.

....and with no running game to speak of and consistently abysmal O-line play for most of the season. Not to mention an inexperienced and inconsistent WR corps, and the loss of the team's most consistently productive player in the season opener. I liked MLF's philosophy and we could see what he was going for....but the implementation and execution often left something to be desired.

The LaFleur/Rodgers dynamic could become interesting . I liked LaFleur’s philosophy...but we heard Dan Orlovsky explain how the system can be non-intuitive and that it calls for the QB to go through his progressions in a very specific order. Rodgers is a tremendous talent, but is known for frequently freelancing and going off-script ...sometimes to the detrimental of the offense as a whole. I’m sure they’ll find a happy medium, but Rodgers strikes me as a pretty big ego. It’ll be interesting to see what happens if they start butting heads over play design and execution.

I personally think TE is a critical and underrated position, and Hockenson definitely looks like a great candidate. But right now, the Titans' roster has excellent talent and depth at the TE position....it certainly isn't an area of need. Based on his track record, I don't see JRob investing a first-round pick at a position where the need is low. And while Hockenson looks like a great player, he doesn't strike me as the type of transcendent talent who might force a team to re-think its entire draft strategy. He might be the #1 TE prospect for this year.....but there will probably be a comparably talented player available next year as well. And the year after that, and so on. As far as AJ Brown goes....I'm not sure what to think. He's certainly a big-bodied physical WR who catches the ball well....but he's not particularly fast or explosive. He won't win any battles with speed or quickness; his success will be more dependent on precise and consistent route running. Rishard Matthews is probably a good comparison, with the outside possibility of developing into another Anquan Boldin-type.....but that's a pretty big stretch. I'm not completely opposed to the idea of a WR in round one....but as we've already seen, it's rare for a rookie WR to have a major impact right out of the gate. If JRob is in a "win now" mindset, I'm thinking he might be better off dangling that pick as trade bait for an established veteran WR.

It cracks me up....people act as if the team is expected to hold a presser to announce every potential candidate and televise the interviews in prime time. Think about it. Think about how much JRob and Vrabel were influenced by their time in the Patriots organization...and consider the source of that influence. Belichick is famously tight-lipped about team operations and gives information only when forced to do so. In the past twenty years, at no time has he ever shown his hand or provided any sort of insight into his team’s planning and thought processes or allowed any information whatsoever to leave the building. Belichick’s success speaks for itself. Why on earth would anyone seriously expect JRob and Vrabel to do things differently? I promise this: they couldn’t care less if a few impatient fans are frustrated with the lack of innuendo and inside info or because the process took more than 48 hours. They’re running a professional football team...not a gossip column reality show. Its possible that they end up choosing the wrong guy for the job...but if that happens, it won’t be because they rushed into a decision or jumped on some splashy signing in an effort to win the offseason. Personally , I couldn’t care less if it happens this week, next week, or a month from now. As long as they win games from September into January, all will be forgotten and forgiven.

I’d be fine with Arthur Smith. He’s been through a few coaching changes, so he’s worked in several different systems and philosophies. I’m sure he would draw from each of them for his own system and philosophy....not only for what to do, but also for what NOT to do. JRob is still building a track record...but so far, he seems to have a good instinct for good coaching hires. If he thinks Arthur Smith is the man for the job, then I’m on board.

As I recall, Beckham was one of those guys with great speed, measurables, and all that, but lacked the skills and instincts for the position.