NFL (since 2016)

[crystal falace]

"Free agency started last night and was pretty crazy some huge money being spent. Osweiler getting £18m a year for the Texans, leaving the Broncos without a QB, Giants have spent a fortune on good but not great players, Oliver Vernon has more guaranteed money than JJ Watt. lots more deals but cant be bothered to list them all."

[Grumpster]

The Rodgers/Adams combo is unstoppable.

[Takashi Miike]

"referees have to start cheating, both parties to blame, the rams get penalised"

[crystal falace]

I like all the underdogs against the spread this week. Fancy the Bucs and Ravens to cause minor upsets too.

[Takashi Miike]

"SB, we're only a year down the road from the bruce allen era and snyder stills owns the club so I'm not being smug, but it's worth checking out the carnage going on in texas. just look up jack easterby and you'll find plenty of interesting articles :.)"

[southbankbornnbred]

"Yeah, big issue with Meyer will also be his health. He has had to take several career breaks due to health issues - loosely, heart problems - and it must be a worry for him taking over an NFL side. He knows this, though, and seems pretty sensible about managing it. He's a good, intelligent college football coach and program manager. I just wonder whether he's going to be ready for, and effective in, the NFL given his lack of NFL experience and health worries. The professional ranks, as we all know, are ridiculously unforgiving - more so even than the pressures of running a elite level college - and I hope for his sake that he's ready for it. Thankfully, the Jags don't exactly have the most demanding fans, which will ease expectations and pressure on him a little."

[Takashi Miike]

"I watched him a lot because he was in my division, his defences looked exhausted as they were on the field so much. I didn't see much of him in SF, but I didn't think he'd last long there either Meyer, no NFL experience of not clearly saw what was wrong in Jacksonville and told Khan what was required, in regards to training facilities and other things. Haskins aside (and he only played one year at Ohio St), most of the young players coming from there recently have great character/attitude, so I'm sure the Jags players will welcome something different"

[southbankbornnbred]

"TM - yeah, the good DCs and HCs around the league worked him out. He started brightly in Philly, but relied too heavily on spread-style set-ups and eventually good coaches worked it out (he wasn't foolish enough to operate a full-blown spread offense). The big surprise for me was when he got a big job in SF so soon after Philly. It was no surprise at all when he swiftly got figured out in that division. Didn't he lose 13 games in a row, or something like that? That's Gase-like! You're right: his character did not help him. The best way to bring a spread mentality into the NFL is to incorporate the scheme into a few surprise plays in an otherwise standard playbook. Otherwise, you leaving your backfield too open and vulnerable on too many plays involving the sort of huge, quick and aggressive linemen and linebackers you just don't get in college games every week. It's an open invite for injuries to your skill positions (QB, HB, FB, TEs slot WRs etc). Too many gaping holes to try to block - often without a tight end - when the defense calls it right. Within milliseconds, you've got your $40m QB in open space in the backfield with two quicker linemen/linebackers about to tear his face off. It works if you use it on a limited basis, because it keeps the defense honest and guessing. Especially, as you say, if you speed up via a no-huddle etc. But if you do what Kelly did and over-use it, then you might just as well put your skills talent in a sealed tent with a 310lb lineman. Even when it worked for Kelly in Philly (in some early games it did), the likes of Foles took a few batterings."

[Takashi Miike]

"I watched quite a bit of chip kelly's games and the fast paced, constantly hurry up style worked initially but you can't play that way on a regular basis and succeed as it puts far too much pressure on the defence. that he was an odd character, made it even better when it didn't work"

[Takashi Miike]

"SB, if course it's different but roeder was a fucking disaster wherever he went barring maybe one club. the biggest problem for meyer will be his health and whether he can handle the stress. he's probably picked one of the least stressful landing spots, so I think he'll do ok if his health is good"

[southbankbornnbred]

"Predictions for the weekend... Chiefs, Ravens, Pack, Buccs (reluctantly). Would like to see the Brownies and Saints defy that, though."

[southbankbornnbred]

"Scorch - hahaha! Our new man's 'barnet' could not be any more different! Having got my concerns about Saleh off my chest, I'm still going to get behind him. He's our man now. I'd have preferred other candidates, but hope he tears it up. Having had twenty-five years of shite, the law of averages tells us that a Jets coach should get it right at some point in the next twenty-five years!"

[southbankbornnbred]

"TM - BIG difference between coaching at college and NFL levels. Most don't make the step up - some do, granted. It's one thing to get desperate 20 year-olds to listen to you and stay motivated. Quite another to get already-millionaire linebackers who know their way around the league to make changes and have your respect mid-career. It's also not just a concern about college-to-NFL coaches: it's the specifics of the spread offense college-to-NFL coach. We all remember the hype around Chip Kelly, another spread offense college 'genius' who struggled in the ruthless professional ranks. You can't play college-style spread in the NFL - defenses destroy those quarterbacks. So Meyer will need to adjust - and I just don't understand why the Jags have brought in somebody who, by definition, has to adjust his game for the professional ranks...to be the guide for the supposed next big thing. Surely the better option was to hand Lawrence a head coach who knows his way around the NFL? My gut feeling is that probably won't work out for Meyer or Lawrence, despite their respective talents."

[El Scorchio]

Diving curly haired cսnt

[Grumpster]

"Salah was one of the main reasons why we made the SB last season, as offensively we weren't exactly top drawer other than with the running game. Will have learnt a lot from Shanahan as well, who I rate as a good coach and has only been fucked this season by a ridiculous injury crisis."

[Takashi Miike]

"comparing meyer to roeder is a poor take. the bloke has had success wherever he's been, granted it's in college football but harbaugh's failure in michigan shows there's not guaranteed success even on big money, and at a great set up"

[Joe C]

southbankbornnbred 6:58 Fri Jan 15 Bloke demads complete control too - so wonder how he'll feel about having to ship his squad to London a few times a year (if that ever goes ahead again)

[southbankbornnbred]

"What the Jags have just done feels a bit like giving Glenn Roeder the likes of Michael Carrick, Jermaine Defoe and Glen Johnson to coach. Inexperienced (head coach) manager handed top-class young talent. And that ended really well."

[southbankbornnbred]

"Just read that Saleh is the first Muslim head coach in the NFL. I knew he is a Muslim, but hadn't realised he'd be the first head coach. Not that I give two hoots about anybody's religion. I just hope he's good. Urban Meyer to Jacksonville is also a bigger risk than the NFL's cheerleading hacks seem to think. The consensus view seems to be that Trevor Lawrence is, potentially, a once in a generation QB talent and could transform his franchise. I'm not entirely convinced by that narrative, although he does look very good at college. But, assuming that is the case, I don't understand the idea of pulling a new head coach out of college football retirement (from 2018 onwards) - somebody who has also never coached in the professional ranks. Meyer has not even held a co-ordinator's position, or any coaching position, in the NFL. And the Jags want him to ensure Lawrence rips up the professional ranks. I'd have given Lawrence a gnarly old fucker of an NFL head coach. Somebody like Marv Lewis, who has 15 years HC experience. The kid needs people around him who know the league. Meyer is having to learn it all for the first time. The NFL has become a slightly nuts league for this sort of thing. Most major appointments don't align a team's needs with the candidate's skills. That's why HC turnover is so high. Lawrence needs the stability of a proven HC or OC, because the expectations for that kid are going to be through the roof. There's a reason gnarly fuckers like Belichick are gnarly fuckers."

[southbankbornnbred]

"If Saleh is yet another of the Jets' ""we've got two first-rounders, we'll use one each on offense and defense because that's 'fair'"" types...then he might as well plan his next DC coaching position in two or three years' time. He'll be yet another HC who will go 6-10, then 8-8, then 5-11 and then be sacked. He needs to recognise structural needs at the franchise."

[southbankbornnbred]

"There's talk of Mike LaFleur, 49ers passing coach, coming over to be OC at the Jets. That's a good, sensible move by Saleh as his first move. But with it, he needs to give LaFleur some influence over draft picks, too. I rate LaFleur, and not just because of his brother. It looks like he knows what an NFL offensive player should look like. Ryan, Mangina and Bowles did not - I don't know whether Saleh does. But LaFleur seems to have an understanding of offensive skills that goes beyond TIG. If he arrives, Saleh needs to give him real clout and not just make him grateful for the job. And by that I mean the sort of clout that allows him to say: ""Sorry, Rob, I'm demanding two offensive first rounders this year because this side hasn't moved the chains for five years."""

[southbankbornnbred]

"Tell him to get his ass over to New York, because we need all the help we can get. And our franchise (not our fans) could do with some London-style savvy and bluntness."

[Norflundon]

Hermit I'm not saying where he's going but I would say Dallas are a bit more Man Utd than Spurs....!

[Hermit Road]

If he is going to Dallas you need to give him some serious shit for joining the spurs of the NFL.

[Norflundon]

Yes he's done incredibly well from where he started playing lit theme league flag football in Barnet! Yes it's a really good move just hope he gets it over line

[southbankbornnbred]

"Norf, Haha! He's a fine man. I met him, albeit briefly, at an event way back when I was doing some work around sports issues. He's done incredibly well, as you know better than anybody. Hope he gets a good move if he's upping sticks."