LJ posted a very interesting article in the previous thread:
and it details the power struggle behind the scenes in the Patriot organization regarding Belichick, Brady, and owner Robert Kraft. It of course touches on the Jimmy Garoppolo trade and the reasons for it and why he came to us.
The gist being:
The Patriots repeatedly offered Garoppolo four-year contract extensions, in the $17 million to $18 million range annually that would go higher if and when he succeeded Brady. Garoppolo and Yee rejected the offers out of hand, for reasons that remain unclear, and the Patriots knew they couldn’t make any promises to Garoppolo about the timing of a transition at quarterback without it getting back to Brady.
There’s a whole lot more to the article around the power struggle of Brady’s personal trainer Alex Guerrero, who was famously banned from the Pats sideline recently, Belichick and Kraft, and the rest of the machinations around the hugely successful run of theirs. The comments are fun as well . . .
Meanwhile, my favorite AFL team (mainly because of Otis Taylor and Len Dawson) , the KC Chiefs, are also at a crossroads. They weathered a Jekyll / Hyde season from Alex Smith and the defense by going 5-1 against the NFL’s best, then 1-5 vs the dregs before finishing the season on a 4-0 run. They got a solid start from Pat Mahomes, Young Sir Alex’s future replacement, against a Denver defense that didn’t rest their starters. No mean feat, but Denver is falling on hard times. Mahomes easily outplayed Paxton Lynch (remember Denver jumped KC to GET Lynch instead of Mahomes).
Reid is firmly in place having signed a five year extension this year, but I have to wonder if the Chiefs will give up on Alex should the Chiefs lay another turd in the playoffs. They have the Titans at home, and as usual, are fairly banged up from playing in the AFC West. I don’t see KC having too many problems with Ten, but as we all know, the wheels can fall off at any time in Rib City.
The Playoff Sched:
Saturday:
Tennessee @ Kansas City – 1:20 PM – ESPN
Atlanta @ Los Angeles – 5:15 PM – NBC
Sunday:
Buffalo @ Jacksonville – 10:00 AM – CBS
Carolina @ New Orleans – 1:40 PM – FOX
Interesting to note that the Titans are in the playoffs having missed them for the past 10 seasons, Jax comes in on an 11 year playoff drought, the Rams have missed for 13 seasons, and the Bills come in on a 17 year drought.
Atlanta of course puckered up hard and blew a 28-3 halftime lead last year in the Superb Owl. I figure they fold again as Jared Goff lights up a pretty solid Falcons defense.
The Carolina/Nawlins game looks to be a barn-burner. The Saints look to beqat the Panthers for the third time this year. No mean feat, but I think Brees kills the Panthers soft secondary.
As for thr Whodathunkit Bowl (Buff vs Jax), I have Saxonville taking the game with their defense.
San Francisco 49ers Forever 
I could really give a shit how much we pay Jimmy G. We need to lock him up for about 8 years. If we gotta pay 20+ mil a year so be it. If he turned down 18 mil to stay with NE then you know he’s not gonna come cheap. I read the article that lurker posted earlier this morning and it sounded more like the trainer was the big issue.
I have a feeling the Cousin’s sweep stakes are gonna be between AZ, Denver, and Wash. This should really be an interesting off-season. Throw in the Raiders and is should be entertaining.
I’m of a mind that going $25 mill for 5 years would suffice. Hey it ain’t my money but they have to go for Garoppolo now. He’s done great with a shitty line and substandard weapons. The defense is decent right now, but when they get healthy and a few more parts, they should be fine.
Instant contenders.
Yep.
Adam Schefter
@AdamSchefter
Raiders are giving new head coach Jon Gruden a 10-year contract, the longest coaching deal in NFL history, sources tell ESPN. The deal is likely to be worth about $100 million.
Quenton Nelson
Unreal. $100 mill for Chucky? The good news for him is he’s inheriting a pretty good team.
Like the Singletary Niners who underachieved massively, Gruden, like Harbaugh, should get 4 more wins by the force of his will alone.
More than any player has ever received. Unbelievable. It’s hard to see how that’s worth it, as much as I respect Gruden as a coach.
The latest scuttlebutt is that Belichick is eying the NY Giants head coaching spot. That would be bizarre and would all but end the NE dynasty, IMO.
Drew Brees completed 72% of his passes this year. 72%. Wow. NFL record.
It is hard to respect people who knock Alex Smith. He has turned into one of the games best QBs. His biggest problem was bad coaching. As offensive coaching goes Nolan and Singletary are as bad as the 49ers have had in the history of the franchise. Smith had both as coaches.
Well, don’t count your chickens yet. KC is on the verge of giving yet another playoff game away. Although I’ve hated the play calling in the 2nd half by KC. With the DEs dropping in coverage, KC should be shredding Tenn with slants and quick hitters. Instead they go sideways.
KC spreads the formation and runs successfully so the next play on 3rd down they pack the line and run a read option for a one yard loss on 3rd and 1. Ludicrous.
It isn’t Alex losing this lead. Just saw a big drop on 3rd down.
KC is puckering hard.
Bergs, at some point the blame falls at the QB spot. Alex is gone if they lose this game.
KCs loss, big gain for whoever picks him up.
Tenn played crappy and tentative in the 1st half, dropping passes and making bad plays. Now KC is doing it. Tenn has adjusted to KC’s offense and KC hasn’t. Losing Kelce hurts terribly but they should be doing better than zip in the 2nd half.
That FG in the first half came after the ref took the fumble away from KC.
that was a horrible call. How is getting sacked forward progress?
Epic fold job by KC. Too bad.
Reid called an old fashion college option play on 3rd and 1 that got stuffed, then the reliable kicker missed a 48 yard FG. A big holding call and a couple drops by Kelce’s replacement. KC didn’t deserve this win.
I wonder if Reid survives this. Alex Smith certainly won’t.
I took KC in the first game and Falcons in this one, didn’t go too well so far.
Smith missed a few “had to haves” like the 4th down play, and running into the line repeatedly, he doesn’t get a pass either.
KC should boot Reid, he and Smith have the same problem, not quite good enough.
Even with the failed 4th down, they had three timeouts and the two minute warning. Their defense promptly gave up two huge runs to Derrick Henry when they knew TN was going to run. At the end, the D let them down.
Good game though.
To blame Alex is just showing old hatred. When a team gives up 156 yards rushing to an opposing RB they rarely win. Henry probably had over 100 yards in the 2nd half alone. Plus KC got too cute with the play calling in he 2nd half. Reid should have just relied on Smith and they would have won anyway.
I didn’t blame him, I said he gets his share too, plenty of blame to go around. Bottom line Smith missed his share of plays too. To say otherwise shows the opposite bias you are suggesting others have.
I could care less about Smith or KC. He will get his payday next season somewhere. My guess is AZ.
He’s under contract for one more year.
berger- That is true but I think they plan on starting Mahomes(sp) next year. And, I think they can get more for Smith this off-season. But what do I know.
You could be right. We’ll have to wait and see what happens. Smith is a proven good QB, Mahomes is not. Mahomes did not run a pro style offense in college. It would be a very peculiar decision to go with Mahomes when you have a known good quantity under contract and a young player who can benefit from more seasoning, like Aaron Rodgers and Jimmy Garoppoo. Getting rid of Smith sounds more like erratic fan talk but like you said, it goes for me too. What do I know?
The Lambs are OUT. LOL
Smith and Reid are now part of an 18 point half time fail and 21 point blown lead.
Yup. I picked the home teams and both puked on their shoes.
I would have done the same thing. I have a feeling that the Rams thought they had this one in the bag. Sometimes resting the players like they did for our last game hurts more than if they played. It takes em out of a rhythm. I know it’s like that in Baseball and I kind of figure when you’re on a roll you don’t want to stop iot. I think we pick up the right pieces this year we got a shot come next year. We just have to lock in JG.
I had KC and ATL.
Jeff Triplett did such a bad job of officiating this week-end he is retiring. His forward progress call on the fumble that essentially gave the Tits the momentum going into half-time goes in the Don Denkinger Hall of Fame for blown calls.
That puts Triplett in the Don Denkinger HOF twice. He is the one who threw the penalty flag that hit Orlando Brown in the eye.
Teams are desperate for QBs so KC could get something for Smith, say a 3rd round pick. He’s the fall guy for Reid’s stupidity. KC should have hung at least 31 on Tenn and couldn’t do anything. They gave up on the run game for no reason.
I would expect at least a 2nd for Smith. True he only threw 33 yds in the second half but he is an efficient QB.
That call on the sack was ridiculous. If being hit is forward progress, then there are no fumbles.
I got Jags and Saints this time.
New thread is up.