NFL News and Opinions

Smith Traded Alex Smith was traded from the Kansas City Chiefs to the Washington Redskins for at least a second round draft pick yesterday. The Chiefs moved up in the draft last year to the 10th pick and took Patrick Mahomes, signaling the end for Smith in Kansas City. Keeping him on the team cost too much money in cap space, and they were not really getting any closer to winning a Super Bowl. Smith had a career year, and was definitely in the MVP conversation. The Redskins gave Smith a four-year contract extension as soon as the trade happened, which means that Smith will be in Washington for five years (considering that he plays well).  On the other side of the coin, Kirk Cousins will now not be retained by Washington. He was never given a contract extension by the team, and was instead franchise-tagged for multiple years. Many teams will try to lure Cousins in free agency, and once this domino falls, we will have a good idea about which teams will have an opportunity...

Giants, Cardinals, and Titans Have New Coaches The New York Giants, Arizona Cardinals, and Tennessee Titans have all hired their new coaches. The Giants have decided to go with Pat Shurmur, the former Minnesota Vikings offensive coordinator. He did a great job in Minnesota considering the offense ranked amongst the best and they lost two quarterbacks and their starting running back during the year. He molded Case Keenum into a starting quarterback and made Adam Thielen a Pro Bowl receiver. The Giants also hired James Bettcher as their new defensive coordinator. The Titans hired Mike Vrabel, the former defensive coordinator of the Houston Texans. Vrabel brings toughness to the team and a new culture to help them improve from 9-7. At the same time, this hire does not do much for the offense and developing Marcus Mariota. He will need to hire a great offensive coordinator (possibly John DeFilippo, the current quarterback's coach of the Philadelphia Eagles). The Cardinals ...

Patriots and Eagles On Conference Championship Sunday, the Patriots came back after trailing by ten points to defeat the Jacksonville Jaguars 24-20, and the Eagles absolutely crushed the Vikings, 38-7. No one expected Nick Foles and the Eagles offense to light up the Vikings stout defense. Foles threw for 352 yards and three touchdowns and looked a lot like Carson Wentz, an MVP candidate. In the other game, Brady was able to orchestrate another comeback even without having Rob Gronkowski, who suffered a head injury. The Patriots and Eagles will play in Minnesota for Super Bowl 52. The Pats are the defending champs; they defeated the Atlanta Falcons 34-28 in overtime last year. The Philadelphia Eagles have never won a Super Bowl, and the last time they were at the big game was in 2004, and they lost against... the Patriots. Here are my power rankings for the playoff teams: New England Patriots (15-3) Philadelphia Eagles (15-3) Jacksonville Jaguars (12-7) Minne...

Titans Fire Mike Mularkey Despite defeating the Kansas City Chiefs in the Wild Card Round and leading the Tennessee Titans to a game against the New England Patriots, Mike Mularkey is no longer the coach. He led the Titans to two straight 9-7 seasons. Apparently, the organization did not think that Mularkey was the right guy to help develop Marcus Mariota and improving the team from 9-7 to a Super Bowl contender. The Titans want Josh McDaniels to be their next coach, but he seems set to become the next head coach of the Indianapolis Colts. Here are potential head coach candidates for the Titans: John DeFilippo - Philadelphia Eagles Quarterback Coach Frank Reich - Philadelphia Eagles Offensive Coordinator Matt LaFleur - Los Angeles Rams Offensive Coordinator Mike Vrabel - Houston Texans Defensive Coordinator Steve Wilkes - Carolina Panthers Defensive Coordinator Here is some other coaching news: As stated earlier, Josh McDaniels (Patriots OC) is expected to become t...

Jags beat Steelers, Pats crush Titans, Eagles outlast Falcons, Vikings defeat Saints on Final Play The final play of the Saints and Vikings game represented three out of the four matchups of the weekend: Close games that came right down to the wire. There were four lead changes in the final four minutes of the Saints vs. Vikings game, and the Vikes won with a walk-off 61-yard touchdown pass to Stefon Diggs as time expired. The Vikings were leading 17-0, but the Saints charged back to take the lead (24-23) with forty seconds left in the game. It seemed like the Saints would move on to play the Eagles in the NFC Championship game, but then the Minneapolis Miracle happened. In the other games, the Patriots crushed the Titans 35-14, showing that the news that came out in the previous weeks meant absolutely nothing. The Jags took an early lead against the Steelers with good play on both sides of the ball. Blake Bortles played like a starting quarterback in this game, and withou...

Cracks Between Belichick and Brady? In the past couple of weeks, news has come out that there has been some conflict between the coach (Bill Belichick), quarterback (Tom Brady), and owner (Robert Kraft) of the New England Patriots. The news revolved around how Tom Brady "celebrated" the trade of Jimmy Garoppolo, and Bill Belichick did not want to trade him. Today, Brady said that he would never celebrate the loss of player whether they were traded, cut, etc. This news simply puts the Patriots in the spotlight again. The team is normally not phased by such news, but I believe that it does give the Titans a better chance to upset the Pats if the team is distracted. The Titans are no push-over, and the Patriots must be on their game as well if they want to move on to the AFC Championship game.

Falcons are on a Mission These were the results of the Wild Card playoff games: Tennessee Titans 22 - Kansas City Chiefs 21 Atlanta Falcons 26 - Los Angeles Rams 13 Jacksonville Jaguars 10 - Buffalo Bills 3 New Orleans Saints 31 - Carolina Panthers 26 Out of the all the teams who played last weekend, the Falcons definitely looked the best. They were able to stop MVP candidate Todd Gurley, stop the best offense in the NFL this season, and win on the road. Now, they go on to play the Philadelphia Eagles, while the other winner in the NFC, the Saints, will play the Minnesota Vikings. In the AFC, The Titans came back from an improbable halftime deficit to beat the Chiefs, which was very unexpected considering how bad they have played all season. This might give them some momentum in the Divisional Round, although I do not see them knocking off the New England Patriots. The Jags were in a tight defensive battle with the Bills, and in the end were victorious, although th...

Josh Rosen and Sam Darnold will be Drafted Two quarterbacks playing for college teams in California declared for the 2018 NFL Draft within thirty minutes of each other. They have a chance to be the first two quarterbacks off the board this year, and might even be the first two picks. They have been top prospects all season long, but there has been some uncertainty. Rosen has had injuries throughout his career at UCLA, and Darnold has been somewhat inconsistent. When the two played each other this season, Rosen had the better game passing, but Sam Darnold won the game. Here are five teams that are in need of a quarterback heading into next season: Cleveland Browns New York Jets Arizona Cardinals New York Giants Washington Redskins/Miami Dolphins (depending on the offseason)

Arians Retires Bruce Arians' press conference on Monday was emotional. The former Cardinals coach said that family was the reason he decided to retire from coaching. His five-year stint with Arizona was actually his first NFL head-coaching job. Arians said he did not make his final decision to retire until Phil Dawson's 42-yard field goal went through the uprights at CenturyLink Field in Seattle on Sunday night. He told his team after Arizona's 26-24 victory over the Seattle Seahawks, and the players kept it a secret until he announced it late Monday morning. Arians leaves the Cardinals as the coach with the most wins in franchise history, with a 50-32-1 record.   This afternoon, the injury-plagued quarterback, Carson Palmer, also announced his retirement from the league. The Cardinals must figure out how to move on after losing two key pieces of their team.  For now, we all praise the job Arians has done with the Cardinals, running the team his way. After t...

Multiple Coaches Lose Jobs Happy New Year to everyone, especially Chuck Pagano, John Fox, Jim Caldwell, Ben McAdoo, and Jack Del Rio. These five coaches have all lost their jobs, and I expect a few more teams to make some changes in the coming days. The coaching carousel has begun, and the Colts, Bears, Lions, Giants, and Raiders are all looking for new coaches. Here is a list of ten coaches who can potentially land a head coaching job in the coming weeks: Josh McDaniels - New England Patriots OC Matt Patricia - New England Patriots DC Matt Nagy - Kansas City Chiefs OC Kris Richard - Seattle Seahawks DC Jim Schwartz - Philadelphia Eagles DC Jon Gruden Teryl Austin - Detroit Lions DC Steve Wilks - Carolina Panthers DC Vic Fangio - Chicago Bears DC Pat Shurmer - Minnesota Vikings OC

Jags and Eagles Vulnerable? 49ers are Smoking Hot Week 17 marked the end of the regular season, and all of the playoff teams have been determined. The Chargers, even after destroying the Raiders, were unable to make the playoffs because the Titans were able to defeat the Jaguars. The other seed in the AFC went to the Buffalo Bills, who defeated the Dolphins, and then got an assist from the Bengals, who were able to defeat the Ravens late in the fourth quarter. As a result, the Titans and Bills will play during Wild-Card Weekend, while the Chargers and Ravens will be looking towards the offseason. In the NFC, The Atlanta Falcons claimed the final spot by defeating the Panthers. They would have made the playoffs even if they lost because the Seahawks also lost to the Cardinals. In other news, the 49ers have won every game that Jimmy Garapolo has started, the Buccaneers were able to upset the Saints, and the Cowboys defeated the Eagles. Although the Philadelphia Eagles are the #1 ...

49ers have won 5 Straight The NFC West will be fun next year. Of course, every year the Seahawks are in contention with Russell Wilson and their defense. This year, the Los Angeles Rams won the most games in their division and are headed to the postseason behind their high-flying offense and their stout defense. And now, the 49ers are STREAKING. They have won five straight games to close out the season, and Jimmy Garappolo has started all of those games. The 49ers traded for Garappolo midseason, and as of now, it seems like a great acquisition. He is throwing the ball on target, making good decisions, and acting like a franchise quarterback. #10 has made football fun again in San Francisco. Most recently, Garappolo has led the 49ers to two straight wins over top-5 defenses in the Jaguars and Rams. Their offense is clicking on all cylinders, and cannot be stopped. Part of the reason might be because he was learning from Tom Brady for four years before being traded. Here are ...