Before we kick off Week 12 of the NFL season, it’s important to look back at all the important things we learned from the past few days of NFL action. As always, I’m here to be your faithful guide. A Sherpa with buffalo wing sauce on his parka, if you will.
FIRST ASSISTANT COACHES BITE THE BULLET
Our first two coaches were invited to seek employment elsewhere this season and both were key assistants. The first guy to get shitcanned was Denver Broncos offensive coordinator Mike McCoy.
If you’ll recall, McCoy was supposedly one of the big off-season acquisitions at offensive coordinator after spending the last few years as one of the worst head coaches in the league for the San Diego Chargers. For some reason McCoy got a little of the credit back as the OC for the Broncos back when Peyton Manning was the quarterback in 2012.
https://twitter.com/TJCarpenterShow/status/932639977288036352
Considering that McCoy was far from a masterful playcaller before Manning got there and managed to ruin four years of Philip Rivers’ life with the Chargers, maybe that praise was a little unwarranted. Now McCoy is out of a job, fired for the second time in a calendar year.
Under McCoy’s playcalling and design, the Broncos were ranked 18th in the league in yards per game, which isn’t terrible. What is terrible is their No. 24 ranking in points and points per game. Denver head coach Vance Joseph said the firing should improve the passing game. He replaced him with quarterbacks coach Bill Musgrave.
“When we changed from Trevor to Brock, my goal was to stabilize the offense and not turn the ball over as much,’’ Joseph told a local Denver radio station. “It was more about the quarterback position and hoping to get a veteran guy in to stabilize the offense and not give the ball away as much. That hasn’t happened. Brock’s had three starts now and the same problems have occurred. And so I felt at this moment for our football team moving forward that a change was needed, going from Mike to Bill Musgrave, simply because I want to have a more efficient pass game. You have to have that. Our running game has been good. But our pass game has not been good in my opinion.”
New #Broncos OC Bill Musgrave on the team’s new offense pic.twitter.com/6ugKTEx3vh
— Zac Stevens (@ZacStevensDNVR) November 22, 2017
Musgrave will have second year quarterback Paxton Lynch at the helm this week against the Oakland Raiders. Fun fact, Musgrave was the Raiders’ offensive coordinator last season when they were actually good. They fired him this off-season and now they suck. Everything is stupid.
Speaking of the Raiders, they fired their defensive coordinator Ken Norton Jr. this week. Head coach Jack Del Rio brought in Norton from the Seattle Seahawks back in 2015 in hopes of creating his own attacking front and Legion of Boom in Oakland. Instead, it’s been more a Legion of Swoon.
After the team lost 33-8 to the New England Patriots, Del Rio had seen enough and told Norton to not let the door hit him where the good Lord split him. He replaced him with assistant coach John Pagano. Pagano, if you’ll recall, was the San Diego Chargers’ defensive coordinator last season.
“After careful thought, I have made a difficult decision to part ways with Ken Norton Jr. as defensive coordinator,” Del Rio said in a statement. “I have the utmost respect for Ken as a person and as a coach, but I feel that moving John Pagano into the playcalling role will best utilize his wealth of experience. I appreciate Ken’s passion and commitment to the Raiders since coming aboard and wish him the best going forward.”
We have parted ways with Ken Norton Jr.
More: https://t.co/8DtXWNg7vb pic.twitter.com/jH1bQ4eE2d
— Las Vegas Raiders (@Raiders) November 21, 2017
Under Norton the Raiders were the No. 26 ranked defense in the NFL in total yards and No. 26 in total points per game.
Norton is probably just the first of what should be a total staff shake up for Del Rio after this Raiders season has circled down the toilet. First year offensive coordinator Todd Downing will likely find himself in the bread line as well.
LET’S CHECK IN ON THE BROWNS
Usually every week about this time I talk about the winless teams in the league. Since we’re down to just one, there’s no reason to sugarcoat it. Cleveland is 0-10 as of this writing with six more chances to escape from being only the second 0-16 team of the Free Agency era. It would be a remarkable accomplishment. As I often say, I never thought we’d see it happen the first time but the 2008 Detroit Lions had enough pluck and moxie to get it done. Do the Browns?
The Cleveland Browns are 0-10 but they can still make the playoffs.
Here's how. pic.twitter.com/L11P1nnqOy
— ESPN (@espn) November 21, 2017
It’s hard to say. They actually play OK every other week or so. The teams they have left on their schedule, with the exception of the Pittsburgh Steelers on New Year’s Eve, are all terrible too. To go winless in a stretch with the Cincinnati Bengals, Los Angles Chargers, Aaron Rodgers-less Green Bay Packers, Baltimore Ravens and Chicago Bears would take a whole lot of bad luck and poor play. If any team can get it done, it’s this year’s Browns squad. Goodspeed, men.
A FEW QUICK OBSERVATIONS
The Los Angeles Rams are better, but not ready to be a real contender for the NFC just yet. It might be next year, or it might take two years. They’ll make the playoffs this season and for a team that hasn’t done it in a decade and a half, that’s a solid accomplishment. But the ride will be short.
🔟 games in the 📚#LARams pic.twitter.com/FFHBf6WJQV
— Los Angeles Rams (@RamsNFL) November 22, 2017
As much as I’ve bagged on Case Keenum, he’s proven me wrong yet again. He was 27 of 38 for 280 yards and a touchdown with no picks against the Rams last week, putting the Minnesota Vikings all alone in as the No. 2 seed in the NFC. Maybe Keenum has figured it out or maybe he’s finally paired up with a head coach and offensive coordinator that isn’t Bill O’Brien or Jeff Fisher/Rob Boras. Either way, good for him. I’m buying in.
Speaking of quarterbacks, Brett Hundley’s stock took a major hit with a goose egg at Lambeau against the Baltimore Ravens Sunday. The Green Bay Packers lost 23-0 and Hundley was terrible. He finished 21 of 36 for 239 yards, no touchdowns and three picks. This could have a lot to do with Mike McCarthy’s shitty playcalling, but Hundley’s not helping his bank account any with numbers like that.
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