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NFL Off Season 2014 - Coaches, Caps, and Combines OH MY!


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Dalton people relax. Three years? He broke the franchise record for TDs and passing yards in a season and helped them into the post season. And he's young. He's a GREAT regular season qb as if now. It took Manning six years for his first playoff win and we know how good he is. Don't judge him in three years. Doesn't help he has a AJ Green(over rated),doesn't show up for games that matter. Give him time.

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You could just do away with divisions and go to a pure conference format.  Top 6 teams get in, end of story.  Everyone plays each team in their conference once (no more playing out-of-conference teams).  It all depends on how much you'd miss division rivalries.  It would seem silly to keep divisions alive if winning the division doesn't mean anything. 

 

Short answer:  not matter what system is used, there probably isn't one that will make everyone happy.  Me personally, I do like the division rivalries (there are some great ones), and playing four games out-of-conference per season, just because (facing some different teams).  Yeah, it sucks that crappy division winners sometimes get to host home games against teams that are clearly better, but as long as winning the division is supposed to have significance (even if the divison blows), then I don't see how division winners can have a "worthy" cutoff win total.    

 

EDIT:  just realized that playing every team in your conference once only leads to 15 games, and no way in hell the NFL is going to want LESS games on the schedule.  Maybe that 16th game could be the one out-of-conference game, and is based on the previous year's standings somehow.  Maybe the #1 overall AFC team plays the #1 overall NFC team based on the previous season (and so on, down the line)?   

 

Not saying I would want to see the above implemented...just brainstorming about how to get the top 6 teams (based on purely on record and tie-breakers) in. 

 

They were talking about this heavily on the NFL XM channel this week....it was good stuff....I'm all for it....you'd no longer have the "wah they won with a weak schedule" crap going around....yes you'd have a 16th (or 17th) game to deal with....but you can make it a "rival" game.....Dallas vs Houston, Giants and Jets, Steelers and Eagles, San Fran and Oakland....most teams have someone close enough that you could cross-pollenate effectively....well maybe not Seattle, but that can be worked around as well....I'd love to see it and then you can just stack the conference 1-6 (or 7) and move on!

 

As for my guess...I think Gruden did a great job overcoming the limitations of Dalton. 80/49 TD/INT ratio. Making the playoffs 3 straight years. That's doing enough in my book. Deserved a shot to be a head coach.

 

I'm leaning towards agreement ....and remember John Gruden won a Super Bowl with Brad Johnson and made Rich Gannon into a Super Bowl level QB, that's not too shabby either....neither were all-pros or gonna get a phone call from the HoF either....somewhere along the line you gota give them SOME credit, I guess we'll see about Jay Gruden now with how the Bengals do without him....and if he can hug it with Griffin :P

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They were talking about this heavily on the NFL XM channel this week....it was good stuff....I'm all for it....you'd no longer have the "wah they won with a weak schedule" crap going around....yes you'd have a 16th (or 17th) game to deal with....but you can make it a "rival" game.....Dallas vs Houston, Giants and Jets, Steelers and Eagles, San Fran and Oakland....most teams have someone close enough that you could cross-pollenate effectively....well maybe not Seattle, but that can be worked around as well....I'd love to see it and then you can just stack the conference 1-6 (or 7) and move on!

 

 

I'm leaning towards agreement ....and remember John Gruden won a Super Bowl with Brad Johnson and made Rich Gannon into a Super Bowl level QB, that's not too shabby either....neither were all-pros or gonna get a phone call from the HoF either....somewhere along the line you gota give them SOME credit, I guess we'll see about Jay Gruden now with how the Bengals do without him....and if he can hug it with Griffin :P

 

What also makes the "play everyone in your conference" concept interesting:

 

EVERY GAME except for the one out-of-conference game would be very important, as far as head-to-head tie-breakers go. 

 

The tie-breaker scenarios could REALLY get complicated under this model though.  Suppose you have four 8-8 teams, (Teams A, B, C and D) all of whom are going to have either 8-7 or 7-8 conference records...or even worse, imagine if ALL of them have identical conference records.  (One positive that comes out of playing four out-of-conference games is that it's much less likely that multiple teams who have the same overall record will have the same conference record.) 

 

Anyway, going with the whole Teams A, B, C, and D all finish 8-8 overall and 8-7 in the conference scenario:

Team A, in the course of the regular season, beat Teams B and C, but lost to D.

Team B lost to Team A, but beat C and D.

Team C lost to Teams A and B, but beat D. 

Team D beat Team A, but lost to B and C. 

 

Who the hell wins the tie-breaker here?  Team A beat Team B in head-to-head, but Team D beat Team A, and Team B and Team C beat Team D, but Team B beat Team C...this can get very complicated very quickly, especially for fans trying to figure out how their team gets into the playoffs for the last seed.   

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Heh....it does toss the "common opponents" out the window since they play the same schedule....if I know my playoff tie breakers stuff well, the next on the list is point differential....imagine that....last week of the year....Arizona needs to win by 20 to win a tiebreaker....that would be fascinating stuff there!! 

 

However in your scenario:

 


Anyway, going with the whole Teams A, B, C, and D all finish 8-8 overall and 8-7 in the conference scenario:

Team A, in the course of the regular season, beat Teams B and C, but lost to D.

Team B lost to Team A, but beat C and D.

Team C lost to Teams A and B, but beat D. 

Team D beat Team A, but lost to B and C.

 

A is 2-1

B is 2-1

C is 1-2

D is 1-2

 

you knock out C and D and then resolve with A and B....I would think at least

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Heh....it does toss the "common opponents" out the window since they play the same schedule....if I know my playoff tie breakers stuff well, the next on the list is point differential....imagine that....last week of the year....Arizona needs to win by 20 to win a tiebreaker....that would be fascinating stuff there!! 

 

However in your scenario:

 

 

 

A is 2-1

B is 2-1

C is 1-2

D is 1-2

 

you knock out C and D and then resolve with A and B....I would think at least

 

Thought about that...that is one way you could resolve it (eveyone's records in the 12 games involving A, B, C, and D).  Team A would win head-to-head against B, but D would probably think "Hey, we beat A!"   

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http://www.nfl.com/standings/tiebreakingprocedures

 

Next tiebreaker is Strength of Victory, so that might knock someone out (they lose to the 11-5 team but beat the drecks).

 

Strength of Schedule is after that, but this probably couldn't be used anymore, since there's a 1 game difference between the teams.  Could you imagine how mad the New York media would go if the Giants went 9-7/8-8 but missed the playoffs because the Jets went 3-13 (or vice-versa)?

 

After that it's a combination of points scored and points allowed in the conference.  So teams with the highest positive point differential would win tiebreakers. 

 

After that it's "net" points, then net touchdowns, then coin tosses.

 

Also bear in mind, regarding the conference scheduling; the NFL is strongly talking about expansion in London and Los Angeles, so they COULD turn this into the MLB circa pre-21st century where you get 16 games intra-conference and no cross-conference games

 

And finally, bear in mind that if you absolutely NEED to manufacture conference rivalries, it is easily possible to move people across conferences when the realignment happens.

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Caldwell strikes me as weak in the head coaching role. He's not the guy to get Detroit to gel.

 

They needed a short term disciplinarian (Mike Nolan/Mike Singletary) not necessarily those guys but somebody like them

 

Couldn't disagree more. Nolan and Singletary were awful head coaches. Both did terrible, especially Singletary who struggled with the exact same talent that Harbaugh has succeeded with.

 

You don't need rah-rah coaches. Just smarter football people and better coaches. Caldwell is a well respected coach. He'll be fine.

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Couldn't disagree more. Nolan and Singletary were awful head coaches. Both did terrible, especially Singletary who struggled with the exact same talent that Harbaugh has succeeded with.

 

You don't need rah-rah coaches. Just smarter football people and better coaches. Caldwell is a well respected coach. He'll be fine.

 

Going to disagree. 

 

Singletary made Vernon Davis and that Defense play beyond its capabilities.   I actually agree with 7, Singletary would make the Lions accountable to the rest of the team for their lack of disicipline.   That is what they need.

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Going to disagree. 

 

Singletary made Vernon Davis and that Defense play beyond its capabilities.   I actually agree with 7, Singletary would make the Lions accountable to the rest of the team for their lack of disicipline.   That is what they need.

 

Ehh, Singletary was pretty much as big a disaster as it gets.  And I was actually really rooting for him too just as a football fan.

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The Dolphins hired a GM...reviews are not so glowing

 

http://walterfootball.com/freeagents2014recap.php


Dolphins hire GM Dennis Hickey: F Grade 
Dennis Hickey was with the Buccaneers beforehand, so I'll let Charlie Campbell handle the write-up for this grade: 

Sources with the Buccaneers told WalterFootball.com that internally, many staff members expected director of player personnel Dennis Hickey to be let go after the draft. Many around the league and with the Buccaneers were surprised that Hickey wasn't fired with former general manager Mark Dominik and head coach Greg Schiano. Hickey took over running the Bucs drafts in 2006, and their poor performance in the drafts played a huge role in the Bucs' 28-52 record over the past five seasons. Sources with the Buccaneers said that Hickey's future would be up to the new general manager to decide, but many staffers didn't believe he'd survive the post-draft turnover in scouting departments. 

Some sources found it laughable that Hickey was interviewed for the Dolphins general manager position and believe that was further proof that Miami owner Stephen Ross doesn't know what he's doing. Some in the league view Hickey as a coach and general-manager killer. In the scouting community, Hickey has the reputation of making a lot of poor evaluations that have led to a plethora of busted picks for Tampa Bay. Making matters worse, Hickey has terrible people skills; some of the Buccaneers' top scouts left the team because they didn't like working with him. The Patriots, Jets and Bills just got a gift.

 

The Miami Herald's Adam Beasley has been "told" that "several" Dolphins players are privately expressing a desire that they "want out of this situation" following Sunday's hire of new GM Dennis Hickey.

Hickey, as noted previously, was on the outs in Tampa Bay's front office and is an obvious fallback hire after owner Stephen Ross whiffed on at least three preferred GM candidates. The situation in Miami has become toxic, with Hickey set to operate as a puppet below coach Joe Philbin, who maintains control of the 53-man roster. Ross needs to blow this thing up, but his hands are tied due to his commitment to Philbin. It's only January, and already looking as though the Dolphins are headed for another really long year. 

http://www.rotoworld.com/playernews/nfl/football

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The Dolphins hired a GM...reviews are not so glowing

 

http://walterfootball.com/freeagents2014recap.php

Dolphins hire GM Dennis Hickey: F Grade 

Dennis Hickey was with the Buccaneers beforehand, so I'll let Charlie Campbell handle the write-up for this grade: 

Sources with the Buccaneers told WalterFootball.com that internally, many staff members expected director of player personnel Dennis Hickey to be let go after the draft. Many around the league and with the Buccaneers were surprised that Hickey wasn't fired with former general manager Mark Dominik and head coach Greg Schiano. Hickey took over running the Bucs drafts in 2006, and their poor performance in the drafts played a huge role in the Bucs' 28-52 record over the past five seasons. Sources with the Buccaneers said that Hickey's future would be up to the new general manager to decide, but many staffers didn't believe he'd survive the post-draft turnover in scouting departments. 

Some sources found it laughable that Hickey was interviewed for the Dolphins general manager position and believe that was further proof that Miami owner Stephen Ross doesn't know what he's doing. Some in the league view Hickey as a coach and general-manager killer. In the scouting community, Hickey has the reputation of making a lot of poor evaluations that have led to a plethora of busted picks for Tampa Bay. Making matters worse, Hickey has terrible people skills; some of the Buccaneers' top scouts left the team because they didn't like working with him. The Patriots, Jets and Bills just got a gift.

 

The Miami Herald's Adam Beasley has been "told" that "several" Dolphins players are privately expressing a desire that they "want out of this situation" following Sunday's hire of new GM Dennis Hickey.

Hickey, as noted previously, was on the outs in Tampa Bay's front office and is an obvious fallback hire after owner Stephen Ross whiffed on at least three preferred GM candidates. The situation in Miami has become toxic, with Hickey set to operate as a puppet below coach Joe Philbin, who maintains control of the 53-man roster. Ross needs to blow this thing up, but his hands are tied due to his commitment to Philbin. It's only January, and already looking as though the Dolphins are headed for another really long year. 

http://www.rotoworld.com/playernews/nfl/football

 

I guess we'll see, but obviously does not look good for the time being. 

 

The bad talent evaluation/drafting is something that I might be willing to take with a grain of salt.  Successful drafting takes a lot of luck, and the guys that turned out to be the biggests busts for Tampa, Gaines Adams and Josh Freeman, were not reaches at the time.  (Who knows how long Bill Polian would have lasted with the Colts had he not had the good fortune to have Peyton Manning waited there for him).

 

The dysfunctionality is the bigger concern. 

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