Dicked By 6: A B&B Game Review

Hard times don't last. Hard people do.




- So I was a little surprised to see that the explosive play battle was dead even (5 to 5). Obviously, this doesn't tell the full story, since Cleveland's explosive plays were of the super-explosive variety (40+). They really only had five giant chunk plays. That was their offense yesterday. For most of the game, we did a really good job on Chubb. I think the edge contain on conventional running plays has been a spot of improvement. However, this stat alarms me: In the fourth quarter, Cleveland gained four first downs. Three of them were from running plays. And the Panthers ran far more plays, so you can't really chalk that up to fatigue. This defense just lapses at the worst possible times. It's extremely frustrating, and it's impossible to explain. It just happens, I guess.


- I think Jackson's eventual home will be slot corner. I like his physicality. I like his attitude. I don't like his height, and I don't like how he gets caught peeking in the backfield. Those two things can be mitigated by a move inside, though. Our philosophical shift to put smaller corners outside has backfired badly. I'd like to see us return to the norm of having long players outside. Ross Cockrell is a solid player, but adding more competition would be ideal. And for God's sake, at least consider playing some Dime. I am so sick and tired of seeing linebackers getting matched up with wide receivers. This is an area where we're well behind the rest of the NFL.


- There's no rational reason to have McCaffrey in the game in jumbo sets. This is sheer, mindless bullshit by our coaching staff. I don't know what happened with Anderson. It's between him, the Panthers, and the influential Charlotte businessman who's wife got dicked in the asshole during a 4th of July party. But the lack of a power back has killed this team. And look, I'd understand it if we were an ultra-spread offense. We're not. We're still running a lot of power schemes, and we're doing it with a player who doesn't fit that system. It's bad coaching. There's no other way to see it. Frankly, the great things McCaffrey has done, he's managed to do on his own. Norv has been very unimaginative in his usage of #22. I'm so disappointed in this.


- The last two games, we've chosen to active 3 DT's. It's my belief we're doing this to try to motivate Poe into showing up on Sundays. It isn't working. I love his piggyback ride on Chubb. If he makes that play, the Panthers are off the field, and Mayfield never hits the bomb to Landry. The margin between winning and losing is so god damn small in the NFL. But anyway, back to Poe. Fuck that fatass. I'd rather see what Butler can do over the last three games.


- Mayfield is good. That was part of the equation yesterday, guys. It's not all about what Carolina did wrong. That throw to Landry was one of the throws of the year. That ball ended up in the only spot it could have ended up. The Social Justice Warrior was in position. Jackson came off his man and got into position. It was a brilliant throw. If he doesn't make that throw, we probably win.




- Moore, Samuel, McCaffrey, and Thomas looks promising. Wright gives us the veteran slot guy. I like where we're at there. DJ and Curtis are making it easy to move on from Funchess. If we're craving a situational "big receiver", I'm really not opposed to buying low on KB. It's the same shit. Either way, it's not a role that needs to be a focal point moving forward. We had a bunch of dwarfs in 2015, and Cam did fine. As for Cam, just shut the fuck up already, guys. It's a couple bad games, out of 13. Look at the body of work. Quarterbacks are going to play shitty games. All of them. Stop being so god damn wishy washy about Newton, you queers. You want Bortles?


- You can make a solid case either way for the fate of Rivera. My take is this, and I think my colleague Bellington touched on this a couple weeks ago: Eight years without a Super Bowl win feels like enough time. It's been two Presidential terms, and twice the span of the average player's career. That's a very long time in NFL years, and a reasonable time period to let things play out regardless of the coach's overall track record. It's really that simple for me, although game management seems to have gotten worse over the last few season. Some of our clock/timeout blunders over the last two seasons in particular have been unforgiveable. That's all on the head coach. On the other hand, the case for keeping Ron is a solid one. He's navigated this team through some extremely chaotic moments in franchise history, and we've managed to stay 20 games over .500. That's pretty good stuff. I'd say he's a B/B- head coach. Those aren't as easy to find as you think. So maybe you take a mulligan this year. You bring back Wilks, because it looks like he's one and done in Arizona. You get Washington back to doing what he does best. See what happens in 2019.

But I'd go ahead and get a new head coach and GM. You have the new owner. He has a vision for the franchise, which I'm sure is not in total lockstep with the head coach and GM that he inherited. Go ahead and set the infrastructure you like. Regardless, you shouldn't make the decision based on the final three games of the season. That's childlike thinking. If we win out and make the playoffs, you should stick to what you were going to do in the first place. This is what bothers me about so many owners. They react like fans. Be an adult and do what's best for your organization, regardless of the short term outcome.

 

Pussy

 

Need to get rid of either Hurney or Rivera. That combination has only worked for one year, and it was a year where we never felt like we were firing on all cylinders but managed to eke out 11 wins anyway. If you want more continuity, lose Hurney. But he hired both Fox and Rivera, so if he's choosing his third head coach then Tepper either needs to be very involved or we'll end up with Vic Fangio or someone similar.

 

If you're going to do it, do it right and start over with a new coach and new GM. Hire the GM and let him hire the coach. Stop being dysfunctional. The talent on the roster has masked the dysfunctional approach under Hurney/Rivera/Gettleman/Hurney 2.0, and those players aren't going to be around forever.

 

Cleveland for fuck sakes

 

No fucking excuse

 

I can get behind this approach as well. However, it remains to be seen if Tepper wants a clean slate or a gentle transition. I know what Richardson would have done, but this new owner still hasn't shown a lot outside a willingness to do away with tradition.

 

This I agree with 100%:
https://www.catscratchreader.com/20...riveras-future-we-have-a-david-tepper-problem



These owners are smart, and they know better, but too often they run their team like a fan. You're right in that Tepper hasn't shown much to indicate which way he might go with it. I just hope it's not an emotional decision.

 

I doubt it will be. I will be surprised if we see Rivera on the sidelines next season. The only way that happens is if we have a deep playoff run, which won't happen now. He's had his shot, and didn't make it. Hurney is another matter. I really think he's a decent GM who's time may have come as well. When Tepper bought the team he heard good things about him and kept him around, but that could be his way of avoiding making too many waves his first year.

I believe Hurney is the kind of guy who gathers all available information and brings it to ownership--he's not a "buck stops here" guy. He had the Hurney/Fox years and then the Hurney/Richardson years (which sucked). Since he returned, he's looked like a completely different guy than he did late in his first stint. If Tepper thinks he can work with him, then I would put it at about 50/50 that he keeps him around. When you assume ownership of a company in distress, you don't just throw out all of management. You evaluate what you have, cut what you need, and add where necessary. And you don't make decisions overnight and expect fast results, you have to let things play out.

It's going to be an interesting off-season, to be sure.

 

Tepper is a business man with an outstanding track record.

He's new to running "his" football team.

my hope is he's evaluating Hurney as the head of the Football side or looking at someone to come in above him to run the football side and that person will make these types of decisions.

I'm fine with practicing a little patience while that transpires.