The Frankish Reich

In the category of being able to hold two seemingly conflicting opinions in my mind at the same time: - the Rooney Rule isn’t working. In a world (that of NFL coaches) where everyone knows everything about every coaching candidate, the rule is just wasting the time of a lot of minority candidates. I see why Flores is angry. - the NFL has a big problem with not affording opportunities to minority coaches. In a league where almost 60 percent of players are black we have exactly one black head coach? We seem to be developing a strong bench of NFL assistants; what’s keeping them from being promoted? A little legally compelled soul searching here wouldn’t be the worst outcome of this lawsuit.

I’ve been kind of ambivalent on the Rooney rule. I like the idea that the NFL nudged teams toward considering minority candidates seriously, but obviously with the way the NFL is today the intent of the Rooney rule - the “once you interview the guy you may be wowed by him and set aside your previous plan” - is more than a bit naive. Flores is obviously going to throw as many embarrassing details out there as he can. He’s got a lawsuit he wants to win and a righteous point he wants to make. The NFL is weirdly backsliding on minority hires now while other leagues go in the opposite direction. But having said that, the Broncos/Elway allegations strike me as a little unfair. After all, they had just given Vance Joseph a chance as one of the very few black head coaches. And if I remember correctly, Joseph was considered the leading candidate all along while the Broncs conducted interviews with other candidates who didn’t stand a reasonable chance.

One of the things I resolved to never, ever do again as soon as I moved away from home many, many years ago: buy fake maple syrup. The real stuff really isn't that expensive. There is no excuse for fake maple syrup.

Agreed. But with one caveat: "Indian" is very much back as a term used by American Indians, including one of my American Indian co-workers. She much prefers it to "Native American" for a variety of reasons. And she gets to choose so I'm fine with that, as long as we understand that most people who use "Native American" around her mean no offense.

This part I can't disagree with. Look, to me "Redskins" needed to go. But that's because it was a team named using a pejorative term for an ethnic group. I don't see anything similar in these other names. The Indians needed to change their logo. Commanders is stupid. So are most team names (step back for a moment and consider "Buffalo Bills"). WFT (or as I preferred Washington Football Club, Washington F.C.) was a breath of fresh air, more on the English model.

Commanders makes me think of Master and Commander. And Master has been canceled too. https://www.realestate-princeton.com/why-master-bedroom-is-changing-to-primary-bedroom-and-why-it-matters/

We would be loving Mahomes if he were here. We'd even think his brother is hilarious. It's not like KC is LA or NYC. KC and BUF are, at their core, blue collar cities. On the great 3D plot of food similarities, KC barbeque is right there next to Buffalo wings. We would be loving Mahomes if he were here. We'd even think his brother is hilarious. It's not like KC is LA or NYC. KC and BUF are, at their core, blue collar cities. On the great 3D plot of food similarities, KC barbeque is right there next to Buffalo wings. We would be loving Mahomes if he were here. We'd even think his brother is hilarious. It's not like KC is LA or NYC. KC and BUF are, at their core, blue collar cities. On the great 3D plot of food similarities, KC barbeque is right there next to Buffalo wings.

That's true. It was painful to watch Rodgers at first as they tried to force him into commercial spots. He's loosened up a bit but he's still far from being a natural. And Mahomes is still not there. Maybe he never will be. I suspect Josh will be getting national spots pretty soon so we'll see how he handles it. It's a rare athlete (Peyton is one) who is just naturally comfortable in front of the camera.

Funny how those telling us to "shut up" forget this fact. For YEARS after the KC trade we had to read comments and threads that talked ONLY about not picking Mahomes. Of course in retrospect we should've kept the pick and drafted Mahomes. Of course in retrospect we we smart (and more than a little bit lucky) to grab Allen in the next year's draft. These should not be controversial propositions. They are right there on the order with this one: Of course in retrospect the Broncos should have drafted Allen instead of Bradley Chubb. That's why it gets tedious when fans start arguing as if there was some grand plan. The Bills blew it with Mahomes - they didn't think he had what it takes to be their franchise QB. But it simply doesn't matter anymore since we got it right the following year.

Bills fans (some Bills fans) need to get over this whole Allen is better than [fill in the blank: Lamar Jackson, Patrick Mahomes, Joe Burrow, Kyler Murray] thing. We get it. He's really good. So is Mahomes. Ask 30 other GMs which QB they'd like to build a team from scratch around and you'll probably get 15 votes for Allen and 15 for Mahomes. And face facts: it's just a quirk of drafting history that we don't have Mahomes instead of Allen. They're good. Really, really good. WE'RE good. There will be many epic battles over the next decade. It's Peyton vs. Brady c. 2007. Let's retire the inferiority complex at long last and stop it with the "my guy is better than your guy" nonsense.

You're objectively right, but what interests me is that a guy who has that level of game smarts is able to somehow carry on at a reasonably effective level with such obviously diminished skills. I mean, he went 21-10 the last two post-injury years (yeah, that defense) and even had sort of decent QB rating numbers even though everyone knew his arm was basically shot. He was clearly in the bottom half (maybe even bottom third?) of starting QBs, but I'm surprised he even performed at that level.

As far as I can tell (and listening to all the Broncos shills here in Colorado), it's: - reviving Green Bay's offense. But that's not really supported by the record. He got the job in 2019. The Packers were 12th in total yardage in 2018, then 18th in Hackett's first year as coordinator, then 6th (hey a good trend!), but then, oops, 10th. - turning Blake Bortles into a statistically good QB for one year (and one year only) in Jacksonville. How much credit Hackett deserves for this is debatable, particularly since it didn't stick - being an all around younger, upbeat, Ted Lasso guy. When you follow Vic Fangio you're gonna look like a bundle of dynamite even if you're Sean McD. So there is that. - the biggie: Aaron Rodgers bait. I don't think it's an awful choice. This is what teams do. Broncos: Josh McDaniels, just about the youngest head coach ever, first timer. Fail. Bring in old experienced retread John Fox. Now it's the opposite: old guy Fangio (although never a head coach) out, young guy Hackett in.

As someone who suffered through at least a dozen Broncos games this year: have you guys actually watched Fangio’s defense in action? Granted there were a lot of injuries this year, particularly to the linebackers, but overall there’s some really impressive talent on the Broncos defense. And Fangio’s results were kind of (dare I say) Frazier-like? I mean, statistically very solid, but not the kind of defense that struck fear into the hearts of opposing offenses. And opposing offenses didn’t have to try all that hard since the Broncos scores so few points themselves. I see no case for Fangio being an upgrade

Disagree. You've got to get better wherever you can get better. If there's a receiver out there that you can afford who's better than Sanders or Beasley, bring him in. The kind of thinking that "we're set on offense, now let's concentrate on improving the defense" is always a mistake.

Excellent post. Bills fans need to get over the whole Mahomes v Josh thing. Bottom line: they're now clearly the 2 best in the game, and they will both succeed eventually no matter who you put out there to catch those passes. Probably right - I guess he was talking about clearing a post-catch path.

Check out the other thread - Kelce mic'd up. Kelce basically tells Tyreek that if he cuts inside he (Kelce) would "get in the way" (meaning a pick play, and he's smart enough to sell it for the refs) and that's exactly what they did. And then he calls the next play too, not that it was any surprise since he broke free and simply set up far enough down the field to get in Butker's easy FG range. [Sigh]

This too. Some of the great pass catching TEs haven't been among the most athletically gifted - the Jason Wittens, Dallas Clarks, etc.

I think that's right. One thing I can say for the Chiefs and Mahomes - there's no way his top receiver and TE are going to get just 5 touches, which is what Diggs and Knox got. I get it, other guys stepped up, with an incredible game from Gabe. But still ... they get the ball in the hands of their playmakers who got them there with a bunch of motion/crossing routes, etc. Daboll overall is a really good offensive coordinator. But Andy Reid (and I will give the forgotten Eric Bieniemy some credit too) is just one of the offensive geniuses in the history of the NFL, particularly with respect to the passing game. The short list: Hank Stram, Tom Landry, Don Coryell, Bill Walsh/Sam Wyche, Andy Reid ...

Agreed. I kind of hoped Sunday's game would put an end to "Media loves Mahomes, doesn't give Josh respect" and "Josh is better than Mahomes" or vice versa. You might as well be asking about Brady vs. Peyton, c. 2007. They are both on track (serious injury aside, and thankfully those kind of career threatening injuries are largely in the past, although Alex Smith would disagree) for Hall of Fame careers. Enough with all that.

Yeah, and don't forget - even if they DO kick a FG to tie it, there's still a 50% chance of winning the coin flip. So ... no, you don't go for 2 there.

Well, he did go for it twice on 4th down early in the game. No, on defense he'll never be Buddy Ryan. But we kind of tried that whole Ryan thing and moved on. Remember when Andy Reid was the worst in-game decison maker in the NFL coaching ranks? https://www.theringer.com/nfl/2020/1/10/21060074/andy-reid-clock-management-kansas-city-chiefs-divisional-round-houston-texans He seems to know how to manage a 13 second clock now.

Meanwhile, it looks like the Broncos are really gonna go full Ted Lasso on us: https://www.si.com/nfl/2021/09/16/nathaniel-hackett-journey-from-doctor-to-dancer-to-top-head-coaching-candidate-daily-cover The full Hackett experience often comes in drips. Maybe during a banal argument he utters with unbreakable confidence that the cytoplasm sits outside the nuclear membrane, followed by, yes, an explanation that he was maybe going to one day be a doctor. Once, Loeb remembers a player telling the coach he was “full of s---” after Hackett mentioned that he was a great hip-hop dancer. It was a trap his players often fall into, like the time he dragged some of his players at Stanford to his weekly dance class (he continued to take lessons throughout his first job with the Cardinal), leaving them shredded to pieces—and memorably sore—after the session. In front of the player at Syracuse, Hackett began spinning on the floor in a full-on break routine, rendering the rest of the room speechless. It was in these moments that, players say, they felt a stronger connection to their coach. Hackett was unafraid to be himself in a sea of Belichickian cosplayers all attempting to be seen as the World’s Most Serious Dude. “When I’m coaching I try to be like him in so many different ways,” Loeb says. “Like, say it’s the middle of August, the middle of camp, you haven’t seen anything but football personnel for the last two weeks, and he’ll make that meeting really fun. He had this special power to make everything fun but just be as smart as he is.” To measure himself, Hackett once asked his father, Paul Hackett, to watch him run a meeting in Buffalo. Paul is one of the game’s true good guys, a generous soul who, like Nathaniel, built a career out of listening to others and being personable. But afterward, he was confused. “I didn’t know what was going on,” he told his son. “I didn’t know if you were yelling or screaming or laughing or telling jokes or what was happening.” Nathaniel smiled. Exactly what he was going for. This is not just a meeting. This is an experience. This is a stage. You’re here to learn. You’ll learn better if you’re having a good time.

Not only did he fail in Denver - that's something every coach since Peyton Manning retired has done. There also didn't seem to be a whole lot of upset players when he got canned. Seems like a nice guy, competent coordinator, but far from inspiring ... in fact, not that different from Flores.

You mean I won't have to pay DirecTV (or whoever gets the new contract) next year? I can take down that stupid 1990s style dish?

Those are probably the worst athlete commercials in years. And Gronk gladly plays the antiquated dumb, umm, Polish ancestry clown like he's proud of it.