Kill me
I want to see a Ravens / Bears Super Bowl. With a final score of 3-2.
I’d watch that! Maybe not, but how about a 2-2 game that goes into sudden death and it goes three extra quarters before a sack and a fumble result in a FG to win it?
5-2 is acceptable, along with 2 more hours of defensive pain.
From Courtney Cronin (Vikings beat reporter) at ESPN:
Kirk Cousins’ contract is inevitably coming under fire with the Vikings missing the postseason, but he’s not alone. The six highest-paid quarterbacks in terms of the average annual value of their contract in 2018 all missed the playoffs: Aaron Rodgers ($33.5M), Matt Ryan ($30M), Kirk Cousins ($28M), Jimmy Garoppolo ($27.5M), Matthew Stafford ($27M), Derek Carr ($25M). Source: ESPN’s Roster Management System.
Yeah Jimmy G, ya lazy bum!
Wait, how is Tom Brady not among the six highest paid QBs based on AAV? Oh, I know – he voluntarily restructured his deal to spread out the cash and help his team handle the cap, thus increasing the Pats’ chance of winning.
So there’s an idea for Kirk Cousins: he could voluntarily spread out his deal by taking one dollar a year for 84 million years.
It’s not an unfounded fear. There have been a few Panthers fans who totally lost it when they signed Eric Reid. Didn’t help that Reid’s been forced out of position and hasn’t been very effective this year.
Bill Cowher W-L Record: 161-99-1 - 60%
Mike Tomlin W-L Record: 125-66-1 - 65%
I’m not anti-Tomlin, but it’s worth noting that Cowher attained those marks with the likes of Kordell Stewart and Tommy Maddox.
Tomlin has long had clock management and challenge trouble, but this year’s losing streak is the first time I’ve heard the local radio hosts turn on him.
(Congratulations on a good back half of the season for Cleveland. Next year’s games are shaping up to be properly tense affairs.)
Denver, Miami, NYJ have fires their coaches.
To the surprise of absolutely no one.
The Bengals finally get around to firing Marvin Lewis.
Steve Wilks told the Arizona coaching staff that he expects to get the axe as well.
One of the benefits of getting older is that you remember the past (at least until you get old enough that you don’t).
I remember Bill Cowher. Until he finally got his Super Bowl, there were constant cries that he was mediocre, could win in the regular season but not win the big games, folded under pressure, etc.
Only difference between Cowher and Tomlin is that Cowher won his Super Bowl after a decade or more of failure (in the post-season). See, also, Tony Dungy.
If Tomlin wins a Super Bowl in the next few years (which is quite possible, though I think Rapeistberger will disintegrate first), he’s basically Bill Cowher, but with a Super Bowl up front in addition to on the back end.
I’m not saying Tomlin is the best coach ever; just saying that pining for Bill Cowher ignores what the past was actually like when it was happening (i.e. a lot of hindsight).
Tomlin’s teams have always been a little too undisciplined, but there is a world of difference between someone like him and, say, Barry Switzer, who really did win a Super Bowl off of another coach’s team and then just drive the team into the ground.
I also remember the Cowher years well, but my memory is that he got a bit of a pass, too because he was clearly getting places with a motley assortment of quarterbacks. I mean, the guy managed to get to a Super Bowl with Neil O’Donnell. And I think that was Fishbreath’s point, a little. That with Tomlin, for better or worse, there’s maybe more pressure because that Big Ben window is going to be closing soon.
Black Monday in the NFL has overlapped into college hoops, too. UCLA just voted Steve Alford off the island (after that loss to Liberty, seemed inevitable).
I wasn’t suggesting Cowher was better, or that he should replace Tomlin (who I don’t think should be fired). I just like the guy as a coach and didn’t think he would stay retired, but he has.
I liked Cowher as a coach too.
In fairness, I also think Roethlesberger gets more credit as a QB than he deserves. He’s not awful, but he has never been a first tier QB on the level of a Rodgers, Brady, Brees, etc. in my opinion.
He may be better than O’Donnell, but I don’t think Tonkin was working with an all time great.
You know, there was a period a few years ago where I strongly felt that way about Rothlisberger, but it seems like he’s had some of his best years recently. I don’t actually see him play that often anymore living in Seattle, compared to when I lived in Jacksonville.