NFL Wild-Card Weekend thread

Dez dropped it.

 

Speaking of the Pro Bowl (which someone did just upthread here), I want to say the two most egregious omissions from the Pro Bowl rosters that I noticed off the top of my head were L'Jarius Sneed and Amon-Ra St. Brown.

Oh yeah, Antoine Winfield, too. In fact, his numbers remind me of Sam Mills in 1995, when he had a great case for defensive player of the year but somehow didn't even make the Pro Bowl.

Winfield this season: 122 tackles, 6 sacks (he's a safety for those who aren't familiar with him), 8 QB hits, 6 TFL, 6 forced fumbles, 4 fumble recoveries, 3 interceptions, 12 PBUs.

 

No subtweeting!

 

It was a jumping iff point to where I am with Mayfield. If he plays 10 seasons, he’ll have ten seasons where people are defending him as being health away from being a solid quarterback.

 

Baker Mayfield represents what's becoming a fairly common narrative in the NFL.

The QB comes into the NFL as a potential franchise savior, isn't ready for that. He's eventually banished to limbo for a period of time, both by their peers and in the court of public opinion.

He emerges from the cocoon later, and people start seeing and realizing why he was a pretty good QB in the first place. Warts and all.

Justin Fields could be that. Daniel Jones or Kenny Pickett could be that. Even Carson Wentz could be that.

 

Mayfield knew he was laboring for a clown organization. I don't think Wentz thought that, or even Sam Bradford before him.

 

Sam Darnold, for sure, falls into that category. Got drafted before turning 21 by the dogass Jets. He never had a shot there and then he went to the Panthers, where he also never had a shot. Now he's on the 49ers, working under a QB-friendly coach and still only 26. He could still be pretty good.

(Carson Wentz, though, cannot)

 

There has been a lot of talk about them not getting along this season, so it's not really a surprise to see him go.

 

Yup. He was stupid to do it and the Browns were stupid to let him do it.

 

If I were Martindale and I had to watch Daboll shit down his leg in every semi-challenging clock management spot, I'd decide I didn't like the guy either.

 

Jones is already five seasons and 59 starts into his career. I think we might have seen his high-water mark last season. Daboll is a good offensive coach. I don't think that is the issue anymore.

I believe the stories about Wentz being uncoachable, which translates into not willing to put in the work to fix his flaws.

Pickett fits your narrative. He was dropped into a situation with a terrible offensive coaching staff and a terrible offensive line. Then, after a few rough games, they pounded the notion into his head that he has to protect the ball at all costs. The result was a guy who doesn't trust his protection and he's afraid to take a risk unless he absolutely has to do so. I think that is why he struggles so much early in games but seems to be at his best if his team needs a score late to win. I think he can be fixed, but most of the fan base wants to throw in its lot with Mason Rudolph.

 

I can't say I'm surprised the Steelers are huge underdogs. They just lost Watt, just the latest of the injuries that have wrecked the defense that carried them most of the season. Now their primary hope is Mason Rudolph. Vegas doesn't trust the red-nosed quarterback. I'm not sure why anybody else should.