NFL Week 17

Looked like A.J. Green bit on the pump fake. Only cornerbacks are supposed to do that.

 

And then he gave up on the play rather than tackle McCain in the end zone after the interception. Neither team looks sharp so far. The Steelers have a couple of drops, including the one by Brown just now on third down.

 

Wowwwwwww that was a fun play!

 

Where is oop? Xan? 3OF? It's time for Steeler thread action! Quieter than I expected.

 

Christmas and Chanukah may be over, but the Steelers are still in a giving mood. Pittsburgh's offense has been terrible so far. Three dropped passes and now a fumble becuase it looked like Pouncey forgot the snap count.

How's that, Vombatus?

 

Listening to some of the soundbites today from Smith, Trestman, and the other dead man walking coaches, it makes you feel a bit sorry for them. They know what's coming in the next few days. The reporters know what's coming. The owners know what's coming. And yet everyone has to act like they don't know what's coming. It's a tough, awkward situation all around.

Also made me stop and think how being an NFL head coach is a "nobody gets out alive" profession. Most of these guys land on their feet as assistants somewhere, or in college, but how many step away as a head coach on their own terms?
Off the top of my head, the list from the Super Bowl era is maybe about a dozen guys. That's an insanely short list.

 

It's official: Jim Harbaugh is out as the 49ers coach. The team put out a release, with a a news conference scheduled for Monday (although Harbaugh spoke about it after today's game; video of his presser is at the link below).

http://www.49ers.com/news/article-2...pr=43403778&campaign=social_20141229_38011447

 

Typical inconsistency from NFL officials. Heath Miller was completely defenseless reaching for a high throw and a defender dipped his head and launched into Miller, but there was no penalty. Perhaps I misunderstood the rule, but I don't think so.

 

Batman, that was kind of nice about Harbaugh today -- nobody had to act like it wasn't over. The players even gave him a game ball and a Gatorade bath at the end.

I do wonder why more of these guys don't just go to a small college or a high school and coach out their days. They have all the money they need, and they can just do what they got into the business for without dealing with all of the BS.

 

The talk of Harbaugh and coaches moving made me think of this.

On football and basketball coaches, at least at the college level, the assistants may compete (or recruit) against each other but they also have this tight fraternity of assistant coaches. Many of them know they'll never be a head coach of a major Division I program but they still chase the dream, work the angles and, if it doesn't happen by, age 45, they try and settle in as a top assistant for a good payday.

You go on the road to recruit (in college), watch the same games and the networking is their safety net for when one of them gets fired or, more likely, their head coach gets the blade. It may not get them an assistant job there but a coaching competitor will often vouch for a former rival coach.

There is definitely a caste system in coaching. The young, hungry assistants all hang together and the older guys - especially a fired HC now biding time as a top assistant - usually keep to themselves and plot out one final HC payday somewhere.

To me, it's a fascinating culture in a high-pressure environment.

 

As much as I love what Haley has done with the Pittsburgh offense this season, sometimes I do not understand his thinking. The Steelers had first-and-goal at the 10 with a minute left in the first half and the Steelers went with an empty backfield on all three plays. They had plnety of time to run Bell, or at least use the threat of running Bell, but they basically telegraph the pass to the Bengals. One short completion and two incompletions later, Pittsburgh is settling for a field goal to push the lead to 20-10 and the Bengals get it back with time on the clock.