NFL Week 16: I saw Commish Goodell kissing Santa Claus, and then lying about it

[Baron von Schtinkenbutt]

Not even Tony Romo can save that team.

Speaking of shams...

[sbr]

Uh sbr. So was Vinny in 87

Meh.  He said Vinny, I read Bernie.  They are basically interchangeable anyway.

This whole thing is just too funny.  In a stunning development Seedy is blaming someone's alleged problems on something, anything, other than the person who is actually having the problems and then when called out on his nonsense lashes out like a child.

Statistically Cutler has been pretty consistent throughout his career and this year isn't any different than a normal Cutler year.  There has been little variation in his completion percentage (the last 2 years have been a positive outlier), yards per attempt, TD/INT ratio on a per year basis and if you break it down into 2 year chunks (this is his best 2 year run, but it is very close, because everything is so close). If not for his career high completion percentage, the weird number of fumbles, the fact that he is the highest paid offensive player in the league, and a bad Monday Night game after which Young and Dilfer killed him this is a completely unremarkable year for Cutler.  It is a bit strange to blame a "system" and one of the most talented offenses in the league for a QB putting up a statistically normal year.

The Bear's defense is terrible and Trestman is obviously not a good head coach, that is why the Bears are bad.  You would like more from the highest paid QB but Cutler is what he is.  It's like expecting your couch to be more comfortable just because you  lost a bunch of money in the cushions.

[sbr]

Matt Forte (one of the most talented RBs in the league)? 

Forte is probably the most over-rated RB in the league, maybe the most over-rated player, period.

Do you care to expand on that because I couldn't disagree more.

He has missed 6 games in 7 years, averages over 4 yards a carry, is one of the best receiving backs in the league and is very good in pass protection and doesn't really fumble.

His numbers aren't where they could be but they don't use him as much as other top notch backs are used.  He has only 1 300 carry season, his rookie year, the year before Cutler got to Chicago.  Excluding that season he only averages 247 carries a season, though he does catch 62 passes a year.

I don't know what he makes, and the way the game is played now I wouldn't want to pay ANY running back much, but Forte is one of the very best backs in the league.

[Admiral Yi]

he is the highest paid offensive player in the league

Seriously?

[sbr]

Wait, wasn't Cutler a headcase and the exact same guy who would tantalize you with his arm and then throw crunchtime picks in Denver?

How does Trestman get the blame for Shanahan getting fired?  He someone used his juju on Cutler from Montreal, and forced him to throw all those terrible interceptions?

Cutler is a loser.  He's had two winning records in his whole career (and what might have been another before he got hurt), and those were back when the Bears were rolling with defence.  People have this weirdly inflated opinion of him, and I can't tell why.  The guy doesn't win games.  He doesn't have the stats.  He's not charismatic, walking around half-asleep all the time.  But people try and love him all the same.

He has some physical tools that cannot be taught.  It is pretty common to take a chance on a physical freak, hoping you can teach the fundamentals while maintaining the crazy physical tools.

Of course JaMArcus Russel had had some of those physical tools as well.

[sbr]

he is the highest paid offensive player in the league

Seriously?

This year he is, which is the root of all of the problems.

The problem with the league at the moment, because of the way the passing game has taken over the last few years, is that most teams think that if you don't have an elite top notch QB you are rebuilding and looking for one.  If you have a guy who could be close, but isn't top shelf, you have to decide to overpay him or start over from scratch.  The Bears chose the former with the wrong guy.

[Admiral Yi]

I.e. "the Flacco gambit."

[sbr]

Yep

[katmai]

Welp sure glad Niners didn't do anything so foolish with Kap.

[sbr]

Welp sure glad Niners didn't do anything so foolish with Kap.

The weird thing was how they changed the offense away from what Kap did best.  I don't know how you pay him that much then take the Pistol formation out of the playbook.

The Seachickens are in for the same thing this off-season when they have to pay Wilson.  They have been locking up some big parts with that in mind but they will lose a lot of their depth in the coming seasons.

[katmai]

Yeah will be curious to see if new coach goes back to pistolish playbook or what they do with Him.

[Neil]

You know, I wonder about the Flacco gambit.  Sure, Flacco is the best QB the Ravens have ever had, but with all that money tied up in him, you have a hard time getting him what he really needs, which is a really good receiver.  I mean, it's hard to get a really good receiver, and you're in a tough position because of how central the QB position is to everything.  It certainly would have stung to let Flacco walk and then have him win a Superbowl with Arizona or Houston (teams which have receivers, but are missing QBs).

[CountDeMoney]

Meh.  He said Vinny, I read Bernie.  They are basically interchangeable anyway.

Talk about people that don't know what they're talking about.  One set a record for lowest interception rate that stood for almost 20 years.  The other was a Shane Conlan magnet that would throw the ball away on 4th and long.  You fucking moron.

This whole thing is just too funny.  In a stunning development Seedy is blaming someone's alleged problems on something, anything, other than the person who is actually having the problems and then when called out on his nonsense lashes out like a child.

You're the one that freaked the Berkut out when I mentioned "system", and yeah, I said Cutler would thrive in a system that fits him:  namely, one that doesn't rely on his fucking head.  Trestman needs quarterbacks that can think out his overschemed offense, and that isn't Cutler.  So yes, a different system would be a better fit for Cutler, like the one Kubiak has dumbed down for Flacco--who, like Cutler, is also all arm, not so much brain.  Cutler is just not a West Coast quarterback, or whatever genetically-modified West Coast hybrid monster tomato that Trestman likes to run these days.

It is a bit strange to blame a "system" and one of the most talented offenses in the league for a QB putting up a statistically normal year.

I said he wasn't in the top 10, but he wasn't in the bottom 10, either.  That sounds rather statistically normal.   Now, have a fucking brat and a Xanax, you hypersensitive SuperFan.   Enjoy the Blackhawks before the McCaskeys eventually go full retard and hire Rex Ryan.

[CountDeMoney]

You know, I wonder about the Flacco gambit.  Sure, Flacco is the best QB the Ravens have ever had, but with all that money tied up in him, you have a hard time getting him what he really needs, which is a really good receiver.  I mean, it's hard to get a really good receiver, and you're in a tough position because of how central the QB position is to everything.  It certainly would have stung to let Flacco walk and then have him win a Superbowl with Arizona or Houston (teams which have receivers, but are missing QBs).

Yeah, they've really never had a top-flight #1 receiver since Derrick Alexander, who was drafted when they were the Browns for fuck's sake, and that is the big black mark on Ozzie's draft record;  all their best and productive WRs have always been free-agent wideouts that are #2 possession big-balls types, like Mason, Bouldin, and Steve Smith.  They've been trying to make Torrey Smith into a #1, but he was always the fly guy at College Park and his first years in Baltimore, so turning him into Michael Irvin has been difficult.  The closest they've ever gotten to a real #1 was when Terrell Owens rejected their trade for him.     But they will always draft the best player available on their board, and it will usually pan out in other parts of the team.  Last year was one of the deepest drafts for wideouts in the last few years, and what do they do?  Only draft the linebacker that becomes the team's first rookie to go to the Pro Bowl.

But it's a quarterback-driven league, and if you have a Flacco, you keep him.  They'll rework his current contract after Year 3 next season;  the whole point of the deal was to be cap-friendly for 3 years, and get him the big signing bonus.  Not having Ray Rice's contract will help, especially when they need a real starting running back, because I don't think Forsett is the long-term answer, and Ngata will probably be gone next year.

Although you would've appreciated all the pinheads in the stadium yesterday, calling for Tyrod Taylor to play, because it's Flacco's fault the back-up right tackle blows his assignment and Flacco gets chased down from behind when he rolls to his left. 

Or the middle aged woman in the purple feather boa and Ravens face-paint sitting in front of me, bitching in her Ease Bawlmer chain-smoker voice about how "Harbaugh hasta go, he just can't coach on game days, hon."  Lucky for her this morning, the Detroit Free Press has granted her wish.

[dps]

Well, the Jets finally pulled the plug on Rex Ryan.  Maybe now they'll hire a coach who can fix their QB problem--it was clear that Ryan couldn't (as I said before, the only thing a Ryan knows about offense is how to stop it, and unfortunately, if you hire one as your HC, that applies to their own offense).

This being the Jets, though, they'll probably hire their new head coach from the ranks of defensive coordinators, or do something really retarded like hire Charlie Weis.