Big doings this week on the NFL coaching front! We had some people let go on Black Monday, but it didn't stop there. Just this week the Broncos decided that John Fox, a guy that won 46 games in 4 seasons, won the AFC West every season & won a playoff game with Tim Tebow as his quarterback, was the reason that they couldn't get past the Colts in the playoffs. Nevermind the fact their QB either had a strained quad or a torn quad based on whichever ESPN source you choose to believe. I expect to see a report that he had his leg amputated like he was Kerry Von Erich or something before the week's out. In any event, the Broncos, along with the Falcons & Bears, are looking for a coach. Many teams have found theirs, so let's take a look at them!
Buffalo Bills
Out: Doug Marrone (opted out of contract)
In: Rex Ryan (previously Jets head coach)
How about Doug Marrone? Dude opts out of his contract with the Bills because his super-smart agent got a clause in there where he could do it & get a bunch of money. Everybody in the media starts telling us that he's going to be this hot property & all the other NFL teams with coaching vacancies will want him. He does some interviews for head coaching gigs. Doesn't get any of them. Last I heard, he was interviewing in Jacksonville to be their offensive coordinator. So apparently Doug Marrone isn't this hot property that people thought he was because...he almost got the Bills in the playoffs? At least he got a bunch of money out of the Bills, so if he wants to go mess around with Blake Bortles for awhile it's his right.
As for the hire, I love it. I'm not sure whether or not Rex Ryan is a guy that can coach a Super Bowl championship team, but he's one of those people that has to be coaching a team in the NFL. It's like how Jim Mora Sr. never really coached any good teams but he had to be somewhere in the NFL because of the comedic factor with his press conferences. There's always some sort of drama going on with Rex on or off the field & there's never a dull moment. Sometimes we forget about Buffalo because they're in upstate New York & the team hasn't been relevant since their last Super Bowl defeat, but Rex & his various escapades & smack talk will keep them on the radar. He was already talking all sorts of junk during his introductory press conference & it was great to see. And hey, it's not like the Bills were that far off this season. They just need a quarterback.
You think Rex will change his tattoo & have his wife wearing a Mark Sanchez Bills jersey? Just a thought.
New York Jets
Out: Rex Ryan (fired)
In: Todd Bowles (previously Cardinals defensive coordinator)
Professional. Consistent. Steady. These are not words you could associate with the New York Jets as far back as I remember, but they're words used to describe their new head coach Todd Bowles. Bowles was a safety in the NFL from 1986-1993, mostly with the Washington Football Team, and has been coaching all over the place since starting out as the Jets' secondary coach in 2000. The Cardinals' defense has stood up with the best defenses in the league in his two seasons there, and hopefully his experience with the secondary will shore things up in that weak link of the Jets' defense. He's gonna need a quarterback, and he's going to need to keep his head on straight because he's walking into a situation where it's easy for everything to go haywire at the drop of a hat. It's always been that way with the Jets, and a newbie head coach & newbie general manager could lead to more fireworks. You also hear things like Chan Gailey coming in as the offensive coordinator & get nervous because Gailey didn't exactly do wonders with the Bills offense when he was head coach there & got run out of Kansas City when he was the offensive coordinator there. I want to like this hire because Bowles seems like a good dude, but there are some yellow flags going up here.
Oakland Raiders
Out: Dennis Allen/Tony Sparano (fired/was passed over for permanent gig)
In: Jack Del Rio (previously Broncos defensive coordinator)
Del Rio grew up in the Bay Area & his family has had Raiders season tickets for years, so even though he's never been a coach or player with them it feels like a homecoming. The Jaguars were at least mediocre when he was coaching them, though if you listen to Jaguars fans they'll tell you that he ran the organization into the ground and is a large reason why they're terrible now. I dunno, I still say 68-71 in Jacksonville's pretty good. The Broncos had one of the top defenses by most statistical measures when he was coordinator there, though if you listen to Broncos fans they'll tell you that the defense is awful because they don't get enough sacks. John Madden loves him though. I can listen to John Madden or I can listen to fans. Hmm, I think I'll trust Madden's judgment. If Derek Carr's as good as people tell me he is & if Del Rio can get the defense going, the Raiders just might get on the road back to respectability.
Which would be fun because the NFL's better when teams like the Raiders are relevant. They stir up hatred when they're good, over the last decade they've just been never-ending sources of comedic material. They used to be one of the top brands in football, remember when everybody had a Raiders Starter jacket? Right now they're a waste of a perfectly good color scheme & logo.
San Francisco 49ers
Out: Jim Harbaugh (mutual parting of ways)
In: Jim Tomsula (previously 49ers defensive line coach)
49ers management wanted somebody that they could work with. Jim Harbaugh wanted to do things his way & rubbed certain people the wrong way, and that wasn't what management wanted. Tomsula's been with the 49ers since 2007 & was even interim coach for a game in 2010 after Mike Singletary was canned. They won that game 38-7, so they've got that going for them. He's a 49er guy through & through & will make sure to keep management happy. The defensive line has been pretty solid since he's been there so you can't say he wasn't good at that job.
That all being said...I think Harbaugh wins more games at Michgan in 2015 than Tomsula does with the 49ers. Head coaches by nature are difficult to work with, just ask their wives. Show me a head coach that's easy to get along with & I'll show you a loser. I criticized the 49ers for mutually parting with Harbaugh because he wasn't a stooge, & they turn around & hire a guy that's been around forever. They didn't even have to interview him, which can be spun one of two ways:
-they know he's awesome
-they know he'll do whatever they say
We know what's more important to the 49ers.
I don't have any losers to show you this week because we've reached pro football's final four. All four of these teams have overcome the odds & now sit one game away from the promised land of the Super Bowl. Let's take a look at the matchups.
Packers at Seahawks (-7.5): The Panthers hung close with the Seahawks for quite awhile, but did anybody really think they had a chance of winning? It just seemed like Seattle was toying with their opponents, waiting for the right moment to strike like Floyd Mayweather Jr. waits for the right moment to strike whichever ham & egger he's fighting. Give Carolina credit for getting that far, but the main thing we learned from that game is that Kam Chancellor is better than Cam Newton. Chancellor usually doesn't get the hype that a Richard Sherman gets but he's one of the best in the game. Just like everybody else on the Seahawks defense. They still look like the team to beat, and they're playing a team that they blew out early in the season.
However, we know that we can't judge a playoff game based on what happened in the regular season. This game happened before Aaron Rodgers told everybody to R-E-L-A-X. The rules changed at that point. People seem less relaxed now that Rodgers is running around on one good leg, but he's still performing like the MVP so what am I gonna say about it? I guess I can say that I've always believed that a great defensive team will win out over a great offensive team nine out of ten times, and Seattle's offensive attack with the Hall of Famer Russell Wilson & Beast Mode is good enough to overcome Green Bay's defense. It won't be a blowout, but I still have the Seahawks covering.
Colts at Patriots (-6.5): I didn't think Indy's time was now, but they stepped up to the plate last week in Denver & knocked off the Broncos. I don't care if Peyton Manning was out there on a walker or if they were coached by a deaf, dumb & blind man (according to Denver fans), the Colts came into hostile territory & planted their flag down. Give them all the credit in the world. This is Andrew Luck's first conference championship game, and I guarantee that it won't be his last. You're starting to see a bit of a backlash against him in some corners because he is the Golden Boy, he is the future of the NFL, and he got the torch passed to him by Peyton Manning last week, but it is what it is. Dude's gonna be great, what am I supposed to do, knock him down?
Unfortunately I think there will be plenty of knocking down going on Sunday night. We said earlier that regular season games don't necessarily indicate what will happen in the playoffs...but the Patriots have a long history of kicking the Colts' teeth in, especially in Foxboro. Three meetings of Andrew Luck & the Patriots have led to three blowout victories for the Patriots. Will beating the Broncos give the Colts enough of a boost to shock the world? Stranger things have happened, but I find it highly unlikely. I expect the spread to get wider before game time, and I expect the Patriots to cover.
So I'm picking the favorites. That usually doesn't work out well, but when you look at the Patriots & the Seahawks it's tough to come up with reasons they can lose. If Aaron Rodgers & Andrew Luck can have the kinds of games that you look at when looking at Hall of Fame level quarterbacks, one of them can definitely pull off an upset. I hope they do. Greatness is fun to watch.
Last Week: 3-1
Playoff Record: 5-3
Regular Season Record: 126-124-6
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