Recently, Antonio Brown stated that he was the best 6th round draft pick ever. Hmmm, I would argue that maybe he has never heard of a guy named Tom Brady. This young man, a 6th round pick out of Michigan, owns 6 Super Bowl rings. He has guided his team to the Super Bowl in nine of the 20 years he's been a quarterback in the NFL. I think I'm comfortable enough to say that Brown is not the best 6th round pick ever.
Within the last week, the Jacksonville Jaguars fired their executive vice president of football operations, Tom Coughlin. Apparently Mr. Coughlin was fining players for missing voluntary team events in the off-season, as well as requiring they use only medical professionals chosen by the team. Voluntary is just that, non-obligatory, why would anyone think that fining someone for missing something like that would be okay? The using only their doctors is basic workers' compensation no-no. The result with everything was that at least one player was reimbursed $700,000 for fines imposed and administrative changes were made in Jacksonville. One report I read was that 25% of the complaints the NFLPA received were from the Jacksonville Jaguars' organization, that's just nuts.
We have several coaches that are playing for their jobs the next two weeks, some simply won't be back.
I would be surprised if Pat Shurmur were retained by the Giants.
I'm fairly certain Bill Callahan is out in Washington, he was only an interim coach anyway.
Perry Fewell is an interim in Carolina, his other coaching jobs were also unsuccessful, having a career record of 3-6 (he also coached the Bills for a short time).
Have heard rumors that the dysfunction with Freddie Kitchens in Cleveland is just too much for the owners to handle. He has been unprofessional and seemingly overwhelmed in his only coaching assignment. Ron Rivera's name has actually popped up to fill this potential coaching vacancy. Personally, I would love to see this happen, Rivera coached Cam Newton into a Super Bowl quarterback.
Doug Marrone coaching in Jacksonville, it seems will be returning next season, based on reports out of their camp.
I think Dan Quinn is an interesting case. The Falcons started the season horribly, then, during their bye week, some coaching changes were made and Atlanta started winning games against teams they had struggled with earlier in the season. Personally, I think Quinn has earned the opportunity to continue coaching the team, but owner Arthur Blank may have other thoughts. He declined to make any coaching changes mid-season, and his wisdom for doing this, or not doing this, is plain.
The Chargers may very well part ways with Anthony Lynn. He's been the head man in Los Angeles for three years. His first year was a respectable 9-7, last year they shocked everyone with a phenomenal 12-4, currently they are sitting at five wins. I like Lynn, he seems like a great guy, but he's struggled in LA. It possibly could be due to an experienced quarterback, Philip Rivers, that has been slipping as of late. Rivers has 21 touchdowns next to 18 interceptions on the season.
Matt Patricia has been given a vote of confidence by the owner of the Detroit Lions.
Matt Nagy has struggled some in Chicago, he got the Bears to the playoffs last year, but they have slipped quite a bit this season.
Jason Garrett I think is out of Dallas with anything other than a Super Bowl appearance. But I really don't think the Cowboys are going to make a deep run into the playoffs.
Games to watch...
Buffalo (10-4) @ New England (11-3) — Both teams have earned playoff spots. If the Patriots win they win the division, if the Bills win they can keep New England from winning the division this week. If Buffalo wins out they win the division and we get to watch the Pats play on the first weekend of the playoffs. The New England Patriots last played on Wild Card Weekend in 2009 when they lost to the Baltimore Ravens, in New England.
Los Angeles Rams (8-6) @ San Francisco (11-3) — This is bigger for the Rams than it is the 49ers. San Fran is already in the playoffs. LA is close to being disqualified from postseason play, after they reached the Super Bowl last year. This is an absolute must-win for LA.
Dallas (7-7) @ Philadelphia (7-7) — Neither of these teams have played very well this season, well sometimes they played well but not consistently. If Dallas wins they take the NFC East. If Philadelphia wins they delay the wait to see who wins the division. Should be a really good game.
Green Bay (11-3) @ Minnesota (10-4) — Aaron Rodgers, big game. Kirk Cousins has a lot to prove. A fantastic last Monday Night game of the year. Interesting to note, too, that over their last 5 games v Green Bay, Minnesota is 3-1-1. The one loss the Vikings have is from earlier this year when the Packers won at home, 21-16.
What to watch for...
Adrian Peterson (Washington) has a lot of activity this week, he needs one touchdown to pass John Riggins for 13th all-time, that would give him 117 career touchdowns; Peterson can also pass Thurman Thomas for 11th all-time scrimmage yards if he has 86 yards this week against the Giants.
LeSean McCoy (Kansas City) needs just 24-yards to pass Rickey Watters for 26th all-time scrimmage yards.
Von Miller (Denver) needs 1 1/2 quarterback sacks to pass Trace Armstrong for 25th all-time sacks leader.
