A lot has happened since my last piece in the aftermath of the Patriots Wildcard demise, Looking at Patriots’ roster: Where to bet, check and fold (audacy.com) so it’s time to tee off again. I’m going to use the old reliable alphabet to help organize my opinions on several topics and will start with the letter that best reflected my academic years: B.
B is for Brady’s Retirement:
No whining here and I wasn’t butt-hurt as many media types were labeling Pats fans who dared to call out the GOAT, but man was that an odd decision by Brady. No matter your lens or your rooting interest, to go out of your way to not acknowledge your NFL home of twenty years, not to mention 91 percent of your professional career in your retirement announcement is just plain strange. Clearly deliberate and obviously emotionally charged, Brady made a very odd decision last week surrounding his retirement. Holy dead horse Rolodex Batman!
Whatever dead horses were left in Brady’s cloud storage from his two decades in Foxboro, I thought were finally put to eternal rest after his much-ballyhooed postgame conversation with Bill Belichick. Guess again. There were some more orange bitters to drop for Brady and boy did he drop them on February 1st. Bitter? Me? Nah, but let’s call it what it was… strange. I expect more from a varsity letterman. Especially one who literally did everything right his entire career. It was a very ungentlemanly act for someone who has always been a perfect gentleman. (Enter head shake and shoulder shrug), but whatever, it’s over now and balance has been restored again to the galaxy.
C is for Celtics Trade Deadline:
The Celtics have made things very interesting surrounding today’s trade deadline. Winners of six in a row and playing their best team basketball in two-plus years creates a compelling case to be buyers at the deadline. What to buy? How much? Good questions. I don’t expect much to happen but I do expect them to improve in some form. Given the heart they are finally showing collectively on defense and the sudden cohesion that’s been missing for the last few years on offense, I want to see more. I’m not seeking wholesale changes here as there doesn’t seem to be a justification to make a dramatic move. Can they move Dennis Shroder and some pieces that may hold some value like Romeo Langford, Aaron Nesmith or maybe some draft capital and improve? I think they can. If the Celtics can add veteran consistency and contributions in any form that they can use this year and beyond then I think that would be a win at the deadline. That feels like commensurate trade deadline action for this team right now.
D is for Deflategate:
Mike Florio’s report on the NFL’s destruction of its own evidence from their 2015 air pressure spot checks was certainly compelling. However, it just brought to the more public surface what I already knew to be true. The NFL League Office is full of frauds, Roger Goodell is a liar and nothing that comes out from that farce of a story would ever surprise me. Admittedly, if this news came out five years ago my hair would be on fire. When you invest so much emotional energy into something however and so many years and Super Bowl successes have since come and went, I just can’t find that feeling anymore. Anything that further documents what a couple of lying frauds Roger Goodell and Troy Vincent are I’m all for, but I simply can no longer get fired up about it like I used to. The story that should have never been a story in the first place is long since dead to me. Just can’t fake it. Color me unsurprised and long since gone on this one.
F is for Flores:
If you have been listening to me on the Fantasy Football Hour then you know what a believer in Brian Flores I am. I’m of the belief that the Miami Dolphins made a terrible mistake and that upon his firing, the Patriots should have offered him an Assistant Head Coach position just to get him back into the organization. Of all the currently available candidates, he would have been my first choice as the successor to Belichick. Everything that has happened since is shameful. The idea that a talented coach and leader like Flores would be jerked around like he was by the New York Giants is a joke. Good on Flores for taking a stand. I have little doubt his journey will be a long one but the bold and honorable path often is. I hope he wins his case against the frauds in the NFL office and gets back to the head coaching table quickly, just as a true leader of men should.
M is for Mac:
Mac made some waves at the Pro Bowl. First in the skills competition where he looked more like Brian Hoyer than the QB we’d been pleasantly watching all season long. Then on game day, his image improved when he showed some of his true self. Out from under the firm grasp of Darth Hoodie, Mac showed a little personality. Good for him. Here’s hoping we see more of Mac the man as his profile rises in the organization and hopefully on the field.
P is for Patriots Coaches:
I have written about the Patriots coaching brain drain a lot the last few years, well before it became topical: What happened to Patriots’ discipline? Look to the sidelines (audacy.com). Losing McDaniels is tough but most Pats fans were prepared for it. The rehiring of Joe Judge makes sense to me, get some of that lost institutional knowledge back. It just helps keep the train moving. Now to Billy O’Brien; I mentioned this on air but in case you missed it here’s my take. I get it and it makes perfect sense in theory to rehire BOB but I’m not psyched about it. Two reasons.
First, when he was the offensive coordinator in 2011, I wasn’t thrilled with the offense. Lots of early runs and I clearly remember how frustrated I was at the predictable over-targeting of Wes Welker. 173 targets in 2011. Second highest in his career to the 174 the next year but the mix was different. Too often in 3rd and not-so-short, despite snaring 122 receptions, that whole season under BOB’s watch seemed predictable and easy to defend.
Second, when you are as invested in Fantasy Football as I am, sometimes you observe and track obscure things. I did exactly that when it came to O’Brien’s handling of his running backs. He developed an odd tendency while head coaching in Houston, keeping his gassed horses in too long. He was the Don Zimmer of football, trying to squeeze in another out when his pitcher was toast. Watch some tape of Lamar Miller or Alfred Blue’s runs as a Texan during the O’Brien era. No matter the length of the run, could be over 35 yards, O’Brien’s ball carriers would be right back in formation on the next snap. Then predictably, would run right into the line of scrimmage for a loss. It’s an odd blind spot for a coach that is known for his offensive expertise. Plenty of footage on YouTube and data on the website Pro Football Focus to prove it too.
R is for Rask:
Let’s set the record straight please. Just because Rask never won a Stanley Cup does not mean he was incapable of it. I hate this argument. If you want to bury Rask for his performance in the 2013 Stanley Cup Championship I’ll listen, he was shaky in a couple of huge games. However, that was not the case in 2019. In the 2019 Stanley Cup playoffs Rask was otherworldly. He ‘stood on his head’ as the hockey nomenclature would lend. The Bruins didn’t lose the 2019 Cup because of Rask. They lost it when after blowing the Blues out 7-2 in game three of the series and with a 2-1 series lead, they took their collective foot off the gas. The Blues won game four and swung the momentum around at the exact worst time. As the more physical team stole the momentum away, their physical play slowed the Bruins to a stop and they lost in seven games.
The B’s had their shot to make it a short series in game four. They knew the Blues were the bigger more physical team. Dirtier too. Letting that team back into the series during game four was when they lost that series. Period. To put the blame on Rask for that is just lazy. I shared my own frustrations with Rask during his career but he is unquestionably amongst the best Bruins goaltenders in team history. He deserves better than the rap he gets from some in this region.
R is also for Rooney Rule:
The Rooney Rule is well-intended but like any rule or law, it needs to be improved over time as the gaps in it are exposed. If the purpose of the rule is to create a more inclusive and diverse field of opportunity for coaches of color, then it’s time to put more focus on where a real change can be felt and sustained. That isn’t at the top at the NFL level, it needs to start at the bottom. The base needs to be strengthened before the top. The way to build a more sustainable and successful future for coaches of color in the NFL is to make all levels of football coaching careers more accessible and really focus on the lower levels where the best on-the-job training happens.
The NFL can improve this effort by showing intentional and public direction from the top to all levels of football below. Starting in Pop Warner, through middle school, high school, college and through more assistant coaching opportunities in the pros. The NFL’s role should be to use its power and influence to seed the opportunities for coaches of color at all levels so that those coaches get the equal opportunity and training that too many before now have had.
S is for Super Bowl:
I am excited for the long suffering fans of the Cincinnati Bengals. So much so that the storylines for the Los Angeles Rams just aren’t breaking through. The Rams are good and with that defense could most certainly drop a turd in the Bengals punchbowl but I’m not feeling that. Matt Stafford is good and I’m glad he got the postseason monkey off his back but Joe Burrow is better. I see his star shining in the bright lights of Super Bowl LVI on Sunday night. Burrow leads the Bengals on the game’s final possession.
Prediction: Bengals, 27-21.
