Best: It took 18 weeks but Trevor Lawrence finally looked like a number 1 pick! He had arguably his best game of the season, throwing 223 yards and 2 TDs and 0 INTs. Not crazy stats by any means but for the season he’s had, it’s his best game. This was the first game that Lawrence had a passer rating over 100 all year. All day he made great decisions, looked comfortable in the pocket, and stepped up when the team needed him to. He must have read my article on him last week and realized that’s all he had to do. You’re welcome, Trevor. It was the most dominant game the Jags had played all season, and it came against the Colts, who have surprisingly not won in Jacksonville since 2014. The Jags dominated the line of scrimmage, limiting the high powered Indy run game to just 94 total yards and sacking Wentz 6 times including a strip sack by Damien Wilson and as well as limiting Carson Wentz to just 185 yards, 1 TD and 1 INT. On top of the satisfaction of eliminating a division rival from the playoffs, you also get the honor of keeping that sweet, sweet 1st overall pick. Just please don’t use it on an edge rusher. Trade it for more picks and build up your offense.
Worst: How is Joe Judge not fired? Outside of Urban Meyer, he is the one who has done the least to prove the he is deserving of another chance at the helm. It has been on full display for the last two weeks! -6 yards passing against the Bears last week, and then this week, he dialed up this gem. On a 3rd and 9, backed up near your own endzone, he dials up a QB sneak? What? He clearly has given up on this season, but I have never seen a Head Coach call such a weak and cowardly play! He has no faith in his offenses ability to get even a yard so he try’s to out-muscle the defense for that yard. Saquon isn’t as good as he used to be, you can thank Joe for that, but you absolutely have a better chance at getting more yards by handing it off to either him or Booker! I have never seen a Head Coach just roll over and show his belly. That is a fireable offense in itself. Word had broken several weeks ago that the organization was going to run it back with Judge and Daniel Jones, this seemed like Judge was daring the organization to fire him. What makes this even more embarrassing for Judge is that just last week, he compared his team to the Football Team, saying that New York was not a “clown show organization”. The Giants are more of a clown show organization than the Jags, whose fans wore clown outfits to their final game of the season, and it’s all because of Joe Judge. So we’ve examined how inept he is as a HC, now let’s look at the rest of the team. The Giants drafted Kadarius Toney in the first round last year and got 0 touchdowns from him. The Giants also signed FA WR Kenny Golladay to a massive 4 year $70 million deal and also got 0 touchdowns from him. Whether you want to blame the GM for getting these players, the HC for not developing these players to the offense, or the players for simply not being good, this team is hot garbage. I know I said that Matt Rhule would be the first Head Coach fired next season, but that’s because I assumed the Judge would be canned this year. I pity the Giants fans, you do not deserve this.
Best: Dallas dominated a division rival yet again, putting up over 50 points. Again. In a season that has had its fair share of ups and downs, the Cowboys go into the post season with probably the best finish to the regular season than any other team. They had a clean sweep of their entire division and landed the #3 spot in the NFC. Dak Prescott has played better than he ever has and he missed most of last season with his devastating ankle injury. Most of the NFL thought they would win the division at the beginning of the year, but only because the rest of the division is a complete dumpster fire. Hardly anyone expected the Cowboys to be one of the best teams in the league. Dan Quinn has emerged as a HC candidate after the amazing job he has done turning around the Dallas defense, and Kellen Moore has a good shot at also becoming a HC, considering the work he has done with that offense. Maybe they are them Boyz. only time will tell. As long as you aren’t one and done in the playoffs, the Dallas Cowboys have certainly been one of the more improved teams in the NFL.
Worst: Indy, what did you do? You had a playoff spot in your grasp! All you had to do was beat the 2-14 Jags! How? How did you lose? Instead of a playoff spot you now have disaster and disappointment and major questions to answer this offseason. Is Carson Wentz the QB of your future? Is Frank Reich good enough to get this team to the Super Bowl? Can he even get you to the playoffs? Your team has loads of talent, why can’t you put it all together? Too make matters worse for the Colts, you did not make the playoffs, but the Eagles did. You traded away your first round pick to Philly for the QB that ultimately was the reason your season ended in January. You could really have used that first rounder to draft, I don’t know, maybe a QB? But alas, you are stuck with Carson. Some would say you get what you paid for, or in this case traded for. Let this be a lesson to all NFL teams. Do not trade for another teams used QB. If you want a reason, just look at the Vikings, Panthers, Colts, Broncos, Saints, Football Team Lions and even the Rams. They all struggle. Unless that QB is a proven HoFer like Brady or maybe Rodger this offseason depending on what his good buddy Joe Rogan says.
Best and Worst: I wasn’t sure whether to put all the coaching fires in a Best or Worst column, so I just combined them. It’s good that these teams have moved on from their respective HCs, but also these people lost their jobs. So far, we have 6 Head Coaching vacancies and 3 General Manager vacancies. Matt Nagy, Mike Zimmer, Vic Fangio, and surprisingly Brian Flores were all victims of Black Monday. Jon Gruden and Urban Meyer were fired several months ago. The GM openings are in Chicago, Minnesota and New York, with Ryan Pace Rick Spielman and Dave Gettleman gone. The one surprise is definitely the hiring of Brian Flores, who I thought deserved at least another year. In a year with not many surefire HC candidates, it seems foolish to prematurely release yours, especially after a winning season and after being 3-0 in the last 3 games against Bill Belichick. It seems that this year lacks that true can’t miss Head Coaching candidate that most seasons have. Last year, Robert Saleh and Arthur Smith were seen as the obvious candidate that every team wanted. Not this year. This year it seems like the candidates each have a major flaw that could prevent them from being the next great coach. The main coordinators everyone is looking at are Bills OC Brian Daboll, Packers OC Nathaniel Hackett, Bucs OC Byron Leftwich, Bucs DC Todd Bowles, Cowboys OC Kellen Moore, as well as former Eagles HC Doug Pederson and Michigan HC Jim Harbaugh. For more information and updates on the NFL Coaching Carousel here is the link to the website. It seems like there’s updates every 30 minutes. They keep up with it faster than I can.
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