Patriots/NFL 2020 - Football is back

[EvilDead]

With the Patriots waving goodbye to Tom Brady this offseason, not taking a mid round flyer on a QB, and turning their nose up at any veteran QB on the market not named Brian Hoyer, the QB depth chart going into camp for Belichick looks like this as of right now:

1. Jarrett Stidham aka Stid the Kid
2. Brian Hoyer
T-3: Brian Lewerke and J'Mar Smith

As much as some of us would have liked Bill to give Stidham a little more of a serious competitor than Hoyer, with the way guys like Dalton and Winston keep going off the board, the positive that can be taken from this (which could possibly become a negative if things go SNAFU) is that Bill is committed to entrusting Stidham with the job. That could be a better way to deal with it as Stidham can focus on nailing the gameplan and getting in better rhythm with guys like Edelman and White rather than looking over his shoulder. Now there is still some QBs out there like Netwton, Flacco and Bortles that Bill could take a flyer on and resurrect like how Vrabel helped Tannehill. But outside of bringing back Cody Kessler into camp, I don't see the Patriots doing that to Stidham. On top of that, with the delays on OTAs, Rookie Mini Camps and such, who knows how much Smith and Lewerke will be given a chance to truly earn a roster spot. So my question to all of you fellow Patriots fans is would you be comfortable with the Patriots going into the season with only Stidham and Hoyer? Would you be okay if the Patriots didn't bring back Kessler or someone similar as an emergency safety valve? Would you agree with Bill either cutting both Lewerke and Smith after pre season is over when coming up with the final roster or putting one of them on the practice squad?

Because my answer is a big no. I am all for Bill riding or dying with Stidham and having Hoyer as the veteran back up. I am not okay with those guys being the only two quarterbacks on the team when Stidham is still an unknown and Hoyer is borderline average. I would like some insurance should Stidham get hurt and Hoyer plays terribly. Ideally that would be Kessler or one of the two undrafted kids because I don't think the Patriots should invest in a veteran guy like Newton or Flacco who both look like are at the end of the road. I wouldn't be offended if Bill took Bortles because he could actually try and get the most out of Bortles and mold him into what he was projected to be long ago. But if the Patriots decide to go with only Stidham and Hoyer as the guys at QB, I will be unhappy because there is so much room for that to go sideways.

 

[EvilDead]

Belichick drafted Stidham in 2019 4h round

He passed on his Auburn receiver Darius Slayton to draft a punter when he had one

Slayton went to Giants and had a heck of a rookie year

check out the Stidham to Slayton football porn

Stidham goes long to Slayton for big Auburn TD

Auburn's Stidham connects with Slayton for long TD

Stidham throws a dime to Slayton for 74-yard TD

seriously how could you draft a punter over this guy when you took his QB the round before

To be fair, Jake Bailey has proven to be an excellent punter for the Patriots and Bill has done this before. I remember when the team had Zoltan Mesko and ended up ditching him for Ryan Allen and scratching my head over that, until Mesko became a pumpkin of a punter that couldn't boot the ball down the field if his life depended on it. While missing on guys like Slayton when we went with a special teams guy is annoying, that doesn't bother me as much because many teams passed over him and Auburn isn't known for its passing game, quarterbacks and wide receivers.

What irritates me more is when the Patriots miss out on the higher round guys that they clearly could have had but either traded down from the pick when there was talent that could fill a need, selected a player way too early because he does things on special teams that Bill likes, or pass up a higher rated player for a guy Bill thinks is more of a "system fit". An example of this to me when the Patriots took N'Keal Henry, who the jury is still out on as a player, in the first round and traded out of the picks that turned into Mecole Hardman and DK Metcalf. Another example is in 2018 when the Pats took Isaiah Wynn, Sony Michel (who is a player I like btw) and Duke Dawson with their first three picks while passing up on Lamar Jackson, Nick Chubb, Darius Leonard, Courtland Sutton, and DJ Chark. And if those weren't bad enough, I also remember in 2006 when we foolishly took Laurence Maroney and Chad Jackson with our first two picks and missed on Davin Joseph, Johnathan Joseph, Santonio Holmes, DeAngelo Williams, Marcedes Lewis, Joseph Addai, Mathias Kiwanuka, DeMeco Ryans, D'Qwell Jackson, Roman Harper, Greg Jennings, Devin Hester, and Maurice Jones-Drew. Those three examples to me are more egregious than missing out on a guy in day three. Because on day three, if you find a talent at any position that's a win. Missing in the first two to three rounds of the draft can do serious and prolonged damage to a team's roster. Because a whiff in those rounds only serves to improve everyone else around you.

 

[Fenway]

https://www.miamiherald.com/sports/nfl/miami-dolphins/article242480281.html

Don Shula, the steel-jawed son of Hungarian immigrants who rose from tiny Painesville, Ohio, to carve his name in professional football’s record books and become both a national figure and a South Florida icon, passed away Monday morning.

The cause of death was not immediately known, but a source has confirmed it is not related to the Coronavirus pandemic.

 

[KesselBuiltMyHotrod]

Biggest regret of going 18-1.

 

[Alicat]

RIP Don Shula

 

[Fenway]

When I think of Don Shula

 

[CDJ]

Credit where credit is due, he remains the guy that coached an undefeated team

 

[rfournier103]

A sad day for me and Patriots fans everywhere - Don Shula will never see Bill Belichick break his all-time wins record.

Rest in peace, Don.

 

[EvilDead]

I'll be blunt. I never was, and probably never will be, a fan of Don Shula. He is a big part of my strong dislike of the Miami Dolphins. That said, I respect everything the man accomplished on the football field and off it. It's a shame he won't be alive to congratulate a fellow peer in Belichick should Bill break Shula's win record. RIP Don.

 

[Bruinaura]

My brother was a big Dolphins fan when we were kids. Living in Maryland at the time, and with our mom being a huge Redskins fan, I have no idea how that happened.

The NFL had some fantastic coaches during that time...Shula, Landry, Gibbs...

Thanks for the memories Don

 

[BMC]

When I think of Don Shula

OMG I remember that. Miami was so pissed off about it

 

[BMC]

I remember that undefeated team too- starting QB Bob Griese broke his ankle early in the season so Shula went to the waiver wire & got his old backup QB from Baltimore to replace him. The team didn't miss a beat, they were an absolute machine that year. The previous year Dallas had crushed them in the Super Bowl so you could say they were a team on a mission.

 

[McGarnagle]

I hated Don Shula as a rival, though it seems like he was a good dude in his private life. Obviously respect him as a coach, even if I have never liked the way the Dolphins played.

It's giving me so many conflicting feelings. Because for his public face as a Dolphins coach who were our rivals for so long and him occasionally talking shit about Belichick and Brady after Spygate and Deflategate, I want to just be like "screw that guy, good riddance". but apparently he quietly did a lot of good in his community and was really devout. So it's challenging me.

 

[rfournier103]

I hated Don Shula as a rival, though it seems like he was a good dude in his private life. Obviously respect him as a coach, even if I have never liked the way the Dolphins played.

It's giving me so many conflicting feelings. Because for his public face as a Dolphins coach who were our rivals for so long and him occasionally talking shit about Belichick and Brady after Spygate and Deflategate, I want to just be like "screw that guy, good riddance". but apparently he quietly did a lot of good in his community and was really devout. So it's challenging me.

A tremendous post. I feel the exact same way.

 

[Fenway]

Don Shula's first game as Miami Dolphins head coach did not go as expected

Click on the scoreboard for highlights

 

[EvilDead]

So in what should be a week that celebrates the achievements of Don Shula's coaching career, what he brought to the game of football and how much of a shame it is he is gone, Don's surrogates like that lummox Larry Csonka decided to once again re-open an old wound and take pot shots at Bill Belichick by calling him a cheater (how original). The man isn't even in the ground yet and Shula's bobos have to once again have to elevate their almighty "holier than thou" coach, which is one of the biggest things I have always despised about Shula. It made him and his players look like arrogant, bitter, and classless assholes who can't ever give someone their due. Because God forbid anyone is elevated over that overrated schmuck. It's not to say that Bill didn't put this on himself with SpyGate, but Shula wasn't a pure saint. He cheated as well. He actively manipulated and structured the rules of the game itself in his favor while being on the competition committee and intimidated refs mid game to get calls in favor of the Dolphins. When he was at his peak, Shula was just as hated as his mentor Paul Brown and Bill Belichick and the fact that everyone kisses his ass and memory holes that pisses me off to no end.

I don't want to ease back into my hate for Shula barely 24 hours after his death, because it shouldn't be about that. But now, I want Bill to smash Don Shula's win record more than ever to shove it down the throat of Csonka, Morris and the rest of the remaining 1972 Dolphins team.

 

[McGarnagle]

Maybe it's a testament to how well rounded of a coach Shula was, but really compared to most of the other hall of fame coaches, I can't really pinpoint any innovations Shula made to the game. He didn't reinvent offense like Walsh or Coryell, wasn't a defensive mastermind like Belichick, Landry, or Ryan. He was from a defensive background and defensively-minded, but it's not like he created the 4-3 or the 5-2 and revolutionized the way the game is played. He just consistently had good teams that won. I'll have to learn more about his coaching philosophy, because I'm not seeing anything specific about his legacy in terms of strategy or tactics.

 

[McGarnagle]

Also, fun little incident involving Don Shula:

 

[rfournier103]

So in what should be a week that celebrates the achievements of Don Shula's coaching career, what he brought to the game of football and how much of a shame it is he is gone, Don's surrogates like that lummox Larry Csonka decided to once again re-open an old wound and take pot shots at Bill Belichick by calling him a cheater (how original). The man isn't even in the ground yet and Shula's bobos have to once again have to elevate their almighty "holier than thou" coach, which is one of the biggest things I have always despised about Shula. It made him and his players look like arrogant, bitter, and classless assholes who can't ever give someone their due. Because God forbid anyone is elevated over that overrated schmuck. It's not to say that Bill didn't put this on himself with SpyGate, but Shula wasn't a pure saint. He cheated as well. He actively manipulated and structured the rules of the game itself in his favor while being on the competition committee and intimidated refs mid game to get calls in favor of the Dolphins. When he was at his peak, Shula was just as hated as his mentor Paul Brown and Bill Belichick and the fact that everyone kisses his ass and memory holes that pisses me off to no end.

I don't want to ease back into my hate for Shula barely 24 hours after his death, because it shouldn't be about that. But now, I want Bill to smash Don Shula's win record more than ever now to shove it down the throat of Csonka, Morris and the rest of the remaining 1972 Dolphins team.

Wow. I thought I didn’t like Shula. Good post.

Maybe it's a testament to how well rounded of a coach Shula was, but really compared to most of the other hall of fame coaches, I can't really pinpoint any innovations Shula made to the game. He didn't reinvent offense like Walsh or Coryell, wasn't a defensive mastermind like Belichick, Landry, or Ryan. He was from a defensive background and defensively-minded, but it's not like he created the 4-3 or the 5-2 and revolutionized the way the game is played. He just consistently had good teams that won. I'll have to learn more about his coaching philosophy, because I'm not seeing anything specific about his legacy in terms of strategy or tactics.

Don Shula is the winningest head coach of all time because he had John Unitas; Bob Griese; and Dan Marino. There were plenty of other Hall of Famers, too, but tell me what other coach had three quarterbacks that were that good...?

Don Shula never really did anything fancy, and wasn’t an innovator by any means. He had great players and he used them to their strengths as all great coaches do. His teams played solid fundamental football much more often than not, and he had a longevity that only coaches like Halas; Landry; and Brown had.

 

[EvilDead]

Maybe it's a testament to how well rounded of a coach Shula was, but really compared to most of the other hall of fame coaches, I can't really pinpoint any innovations Shula made to the game. He didn't reinvent offense like Walsh or Coryell, wasn't a defensive mastermind like Belichick, Landry, or Ryan. He was from a defensive background and defensively-minded, but it's not like he created the 4-3 or the 5-2 and revolutionized the way the game is played. He just consistently had good teams that won. I'll have to learn more about his coaching philosophy, because I'm not seeing anything specific about his legacy in terms of strategy or tactics.

Shula's main contribution to the game is supposedly through his time on the rules committee by opening up the game to make it more friendly to the passing game and such. Which...eh...I think he improved the game a little in that way, but he also started the process of hampering defense to where it is today. But that is just me.

 

[rfournier103]

Shula's main contribution to the game is supposedly through his time on the rules committee by opening up the game to make it more friendly to the passing game and such. Which...eh...I think he improved the game a little in that way, but he also started the process of hampering defense to where it is today. But that is just me.

Of course he used his position on the Rules Committee to open up the passing game. Dan Marino was his starting quarterback.

 

[McGarnagle]

Wow. I thought I didn’t like Shula. Good post.

Don Shula is the winningest head coach of all time because he had John Unitas; Bob Griese; and Dan Marino. There were plenty of other Hall of Famers, too, but tell me what other coach had three quarterbacks that were that good...?

Don Shula never really did anything fancy, and wasn’t an innovator by any means. He had great players and he used them to their strengths as all great coaches do. His teams played solid fundamental football much more often than not, and he had a longevity that only coaches like Halas; Landry; and Brown had.

Yeah, he didn't revolutionize anything, but was always just very good. The absolute worst season he had was 6-10, and only had two losing seasons in 33 years. I think he lucked into getting Marino and Unitas, but he had to be doing a lot of stuff right.

Shula's main contribution to the game is supposedly through his time on the rules committee by opening up the game to make it more friendly to the passing game and such. Which...eh...I think he improved the game a little in that way, but he also started the process of hampering defense to where it is today. But that is just me.

This is also true, like Bill Polian in the early 2000s abusing the spot on the competition committee to suit the way his team's roster played.

 

[EvilDead]

Wow. I thought I didn’t like Shula. Good post.

Not dislike, hate.

I hate Don Shula and the Miami Dolphins. Even more than I hate the Pittsburgh Steelers. I hate the Dolphins more than any other team in the AFC East and a big reason for it is Shula. People talk about how much they hate the Jets and how they are the Pats "biggest rival", to me the Jets are a clown show and are a punchline to a joke. They and the Mets are the red headed, bastard step children of New York sports that everyone laughs at. The Dolphins, meanwhile, have always been an eternal thorn in the Patriots' side. They always somehow find a way to get the best of New England and wear it with pride. On top of that, their arrogant and overrated ex players consistently dismiss the mountain of accomplishments of the Patriots as tainted. And yet schmucks such as Shula, Morris, Csonka, and Marino are held up as golden gods of the NFL for accomplishing so little.

 

[EvilDead]

Of course he used his position on the Rules Committee to open up the passing game. Dan Marino was his starting quarterback.

He was doing it going back to when Griese was under center, but still accurate.

 

[Gator Mike]

As Twitter has reminded me, The Wells Report was released five years ago today.

Still one of the biggest farces in the history of professional sports.