I've been trying to think of ways to combine Arizona's 3 QBs, and I haven't been able to come up with anything that would be very beneficial. Obviously subbing them in and out doesn't work. Surgically grafting them together doesn't seem like it would have much advantage, although if you put two on the bottom and one on the top, he'd be really tall - but probably slow and he'd just be throwing from farther away. Having 3 on the field at once would help a bit since two could block, but I doubt any of them are decent blockers and it would mostly just offer an illusion of protection. And they'd still suck at throwing the ball. I've either under- or over-thought this. Probably the latter.
Probably both; it's not useful to use one game to prove any kind of point though. Any given Sunday (Monday) and all that.
So Tagliabue today vacated all player suspensions for the New Orleans bounty situation. Tagliabue noted that he believes the players are guilty, but placed all responsibility on the coaches and Saints staff. My favorite description of the situation comes from ProFootballTalk: "Regardless of how it is packaged and postured by the league, Commissioner Roger Goodell has received the equivalent of a jarring right hand to the chin from Juan Manuel Marquez."
So if you do something that is wrong just because someone else tells you to do it you bear no responsibility? Stupid decision, the players deserved some punishment for what they did, maybe not as severe as what was given, but something.
I'm personally surprised more of the fuckers aren't banned from NFL for life. This kind of shit should be purged with fire.
My problem all along has been that Goodell choose to only penalize a few. If you want to blame individual players for taking part in what was clearly a coach driven program, then hold them all responsible, not just a few. And don't ignore that this was happening on other teams. So in the end I think it worked out how it should have - coaches and organization paying the price.
I really think it comes down to proof. Like, court of law hand on Bible type stuff, and the NFL just doesn't have it for the players. Commissioners are used to just acting by fiat. That works when the constituents respect the commish. Players don't respect Goodell like they did Tags, and with good reason.
Tagliabue does not, at all, exonerate Vilma or Smith. The only one he proclaimed innocent was Fujita. However, he felt that fines, not season-long suspension, would have been the correct punishment for Vilma. I'm kinda with Pat Yasinkas of ESPN here, this whole process has much more to do with the sheer arrogance of the top brass of the Saints than it has to do with them actually injuring opponents. It's going to be really interesting to see how the Saints move forward now. Does Payton come back? If he does, will they continue to be all "fuck you, we're the Saints baby"? Because as someone noted, they are football-wise back to where they were in 2008 now, no longer is the offense considered unstoppable, only with a reputation for being complete assholes.
So Goodell slipped today that the owners are talking about expanding the playoffs from the current 12 teams to 14 or 16. I could be wrong, but my guess is that this might be their alternate way of getting more TV money without going the 18 game season route that seems very unlikely now. Of course I'm also sure it's a calculated attempt to get people talking about something other then the bounty fiasco.
Is there any hope of Goodell going away anytime soon? It seems like the only people who really like him are the owners, which means he'll be sticking around for quite a while more.
I'm gonna go ahead and say your last sentence was right here. This wasn't about playoffs; it was about changing the subject and avoiding questions on a touchy topic. Goodell is an asshole who can't admit he was wrong.
I think Goodell is in an impossible situation right now. Players don't want to change how they have always played the game and don't like being fined for hits on other players, at the same time the NFL is being sued by former players that the NFL didn't protect them enough from those same hits.
brett is actually right, Goodell is in a fairly unenvious position. Nobody likes his authoritarian streak or the way he hands out fines like candy, but the owners have a vested interest in making it clear that they're taking large steps to address player safety. Under the ways the NFL works, one of the ways you do that is by providing a deterrence; and that deterrence takes the form of fines and suspensions. Honestly I think the Saints' players deserved to suffer some consequences, "My coach said it was OK" is not an acceptable defense for their conduct. These men aren't children; they should know better.
Have you read this piece yet? I think it does a pretty good job of pointing out that the line between the technically illegal but widespread and ignored practice of using cash to reward players for plays and a real "bounty" program that was focused on causing injury is very blurry. Tagliabue admits that rather then bring a hammer down on the players, the league should have limited its severe penalties for the team and coaches (who have power over the players) and given the players a grace period to move on. You can't expect a culture to change direction on a dime. That's why NFL rule changes happen in the offseason, not in the middle of one.
Speaking of foot in the mouth, Rob Parker is making Stephen A. Smith look like the reasonable one in the conversation.
Guy makes dumb racist comment on ESPN's race-baiting morning floater; film at stop paying attention to fucking First Take, you amateurs.
Certainly ESPN has enjoyed floating racist comments about QBs before, but they usually end with a dismissal of the employee that made the comments (after they reap the attention though.) If they don't fire Rob Parker, that would be a more cynical turn for them.
He doesn't waste any more timeouts or take more delay of games than Alex, so that's at worst a wash. In addition to his running, he's also got a cannon arm and pinpoint accuracy, and he's ridiculously good at throwing across his body while moving to his left, which is something a lot of guys never learn to do, never mind when they first come into the league. This year they seem to want to keep the offense the same, with the focus on running the ball and not putting the defense in a tough spot. Kaepernick has shown enough that I doubt that that continues, however. He's pretty much on exactly the same track as Roethlisberger and Brady, who also leaned on the running game and defense a lot early in their careers but turned out ok despite that.
Who did Adrian Peterson sell his soul to, to rehab that ACL so quickly? It's like he never injured it in the first place.
For some reason nobody talks about the Broncos, even though they've been one of the best teams in the league.
Maybe they're trying out a knee version of Tommy John surgery. Yeah, it's weird. They had a defense good enough to make the playoffs with Tim fucking Tebow at QB and replaced him with one of the best QBs to ever play in the league. You'd think they would instantly be part of the Super Bowl conversation, but nope. Every time they beat a good team, people are surprised.
Record wise, they look pretty good. But that division is so bad. And they haven't had much success against the best teams - their three losses are to Houston, New England, and Atlanta. Going into today the best record of teams they've beaten was 7-6.
What the heck, CBS? I step away from my TV for a few minutes, and you switch to the Colts/Texans game?
Allow me to introduce exhibit eight in a series: "When Ponder doesn't lose the game, the Vikings can win."
True. OTOH Football Outsiders has had them near the top of DVOA for the past several weeks. Denver's had a bit of an odd schedule as well; the three teams that they've lost to currently have records of 11-2 (Houston, Atlanta) and 10-3 (New England). I happen to think Houston and Atlanta are soft, but this still points to Denver being a very good team.
Peterson is over 200 yards now, looks like he will be able to break the single season rushing record on a team where every player on the other team and every single person in the stadium knows he is the only offense the vikings have. If that isnt enough to get him the MVP the award has no meaning.
Russel Wilson has 4TDs today (3 rushing, 1 passing). That brings him to 24 total on the year; the record is 28 (set by Peyton Manning). Manning got all of his via passing, though; Wilson has 21 passing. How is he not rookie of the year at this point?
