Bears have a mean Twitter game. Not much else, but at least its something.
Ian Rapoport @RapSheet 3h3 hours ago
Well done RT @ChicagoBears: It may be #SaySomethingNiceDay, but we'll wait until #OppositeDay to say something nice about the @packers.
Bears have a mean Twitter game. Not much else, but at least its something.
Ian Rapoport @RapSheet 3h3 hours ago
Well done RT @ChicagoBears: It may be #SaySomethingNiceDay, but we'll wait until #OppositeDay to say something nice about the @packers.
Forget the discussion of elite QB play, here is the new standard.
Scott Kacsmar @FO_ScottKacsmar 49s50 seconds ago
If you're paying out the ass for league-average QB play, your team is in trouble. Teams like CHI/CAR/CIN/SF/DET beware @stpete2you @Cianaf
The only problem here is that Kacsmar is probably on good ground differentiating between great QB play and above average talent, I think the $100 million threshold is causing him to assume each of these deals is astronomically out of whack. Not sure that is the case with all of them.
Aaron Schatz @FO_ASchatz 3h3 hours ago Framingham, MA
Transformation of the NFL stat of the day: every single NFL defense faced shotgun on at least 64.6 percent of plays last year.
The intro's of Mike Daniels on the video's for the NFL top100 players on NFL.com are hilarious. I don't recall the exact quotes, but it was something like (for Lacy) "The guy is like 2 cheese burgers away of putting his hand in the dirt next to me on the D line." (& Pep) "It's like you're playing in the backyard with your friends and suddenly your older brother joins the game. It's just not fair.".
Whoa. I copied the wrong Tweet there, sorry.
ProFootballTalk @ProFootballTalk 2h2 hours ago
Russell Wilson's agent sends 16-page position statement to Seahawks http://wp.me/p14QSB-9MSg
Favre would just hold a sixteen part interview with Greta. And half of all statements would start with "I don't know...".
Things are not bright with the Giants:
http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2...amp-story-everQuote:
B. How can they replace the injured veteran: When Beatty got injured, the Giants slid rookie Ereck Flowers to left tackle and promoted Marshall Newhouse to right tackle, while keeping former right tackle Justin Pugh at guard.
Plus the best line of the summer so far:
Quote:
Often the recovery news is accompanied by meaningless percentages. After the draft, Giants general manager Jerry Reese told WFAN's Mike Francesa (via NJ.com) that Victor Cruz was "probably 85, close to 90 percent" after last season's patellar tendon injury. Three weeks later during OTAs, Cruz himself told the New York Post's Paul Schwartz he was at 80 percent. Using regression analysis on those data points, Cruz will be paralyzed by Labor Day.
Remember when?
Scott Kacsmar @FO_ScottKacsmar 20h20 hours ago
May 1977: Bears traded a 1st-round pick for Browns QB Mike Phipps, who had thrown 40 TD & 81 INT.
Browns used pick to draft Ozzie Newsome
But the NFC Central was so bad then (looking at it from Ohio) that this cowpie of a move didn't hinder the Bears' chances in the Division much, did it? Sure it took him one year to unseat the immortal Bob Avellini. But he led them to a 10-6 record and second place in the NFCC in '79. Browns were stuck with Brian Sipe. :lol:
Wasn't Sipe a significantly better QB than Phipps? Or is that the joke?
I loved watching the Browns then....very good team that always fell short. Oh how we all remember the fumble.
One of the best games was versus the Bears in the 86 opener I think. First year of Instant Replay, and after the Bears SB win if I remember it correctly. Kosar at this point, not Sipe.
Browns had a respectable year in 85, going 8-8, which was a substantial improvement from the previous year.
Was in college and every Bears fan was ready for a repeat of 85. Browns scored on them like nobody's business. Just for good measure, got the benefit of a very shaky instant replay call (might have been the first one ever) in which the refs called NOTHING on the field, actually ceding the call to the booth.
But somehow the Bears found an Offense that day and the Browns D was left back in Berea. Despite scaring the bejesus out of Bears fans everywhere, Browns lost in Chicago 41-31. Was a good omen for a 12-4 season.
Bill Arnsparger passed away at 88. But here is one version of how he helped birth the zone blitz in the NFL. Doesn't answer the obvious, who thought of this (or from whom did they steal) at LSU?
Peter King: http://mmqb.si.com/2015/07/20/nfl-tr...ng-schedule/5/
Quote:
1. I think the football world lost a valuable person Friday with the death of Bill Arnsparger at 88. Arnsparger was the defensive mastermind of the unbeaten Dolphins team in 1972, and the father of the Zone Blitz. (Heck of a résumé, even if those are the only two things he ever did. And they’re not.) But I’ve always been fascinated by Arnsparger’s role with the Zone Blitz. In 1984, the Bengals had an imaginative rookie head coach, Sam Wyche, and an imaginative first-year defensive coordinator, Dick LeBeau. In those days—and still today, for the most part—the Bengals used their coaches as scouts for the draft. In 1984, the Bengals had three first-round draft picks, and the assistants were beating the bushes to see every prime prospect in America. So LeBeau journeyed to LSU to scout a meager crop of Tigers that spring, and spent an afternoon with LSU defensive boss Arnsparger. At the time, who could blame LeBeau for simply inheriting a good defense—the ’83 Bengals allowed a league-beat 270.4 yards a game, 23 yards fewer than the number two Saints—and being a caretaker. But he didn’t. That day in Baton Rouge, LeBeau looked at lots of things LSU was doing that the NFL wasn’t. Namely, dropping defensive linemen and linebackers into shallow zones, covering mostly backs and tight ends on wheel routes and shallow crosses, while unexpectedly blitzing corners or safeties off the edges. When LeBeau left campus and flew on to his next stop, he took a napkin on his Delta flight and began doodling X’s and O’s, imagining dropping traditional but athletic defensive ends Eddie Edwards and Ross Browner into coverage, while letting his defensive backs apply pressure. A few years ago, talking to LeBeau about it, I recall him telling me, “I owe a lot of credit to Bill Arnsparger. He really taught me a lot about the scheme.” Think of the Zone Blitz’s effect on football, and you’ve got to think of Arnsparger’s last effect too. He’ll be missed.
Bad Contract Team, 2015
http://grantland.com/the-triangle/th...=story-twitter
Jared Allen lines up at DE.
Chancellor and Bennett are threatening to hold out od Seattle's camp if they don't get more money.
http://www.si.com/nfl/2015/07/29/sea...-camp-hold-out
The '85 Browns were dangerous with their two-headed monster in the backfield. They almost beat a 12-4 team (Dolphins) in the divisional round. And of course that gets me thinking about what would happen to them in each of the next two years. And that in turn makes me realize that the Browns lost championship games three times in one decade. Or was the loss to the Raiders a divisional game? It gets a little easier to stomach what happened last January when you think about what Browns fans have gone through....:-)
It was the best of times, soon to be the worst of times.
Roger Goodell's NFL Punishment Generator: http://deadspin.com/taste-roger-good...ene-1720846778
How did I miss this Bears joke?
Why Your Team Sucks: Chicago BearsQuote:
You might also remember that the Bears OC last season was Aaron Kromer, who was caught anonymously shit-talking Jay Cutler to the NFL Network, and then had to tearfully apologize to the team after the fact. Kyle Shanahan laughs at your inability to leak things discreetly, Kromer. Since being jettisoned, Kromer has been arrested for allegedly punching a boy over the use of lawn chairs. Those are, presumably, the same lawn chairs that Chicago used to protect its quarterbacks last season.
QBR gets a remake, and gets much better in the process. ESPN hired the guy (Advanced NFL Stats creator Brian Burke) whose work the original QBR was based on (EPA - expected points added). He has apparently been at work throwing out the clutch factor and the tilt toward the final result since he got there.
Football Perspective @fbgchase 25m25 minutes ago Queens, NY
With three changes, ESPN's QBR has shifted more towards a stat to measure how good a QB is and away from QBQWinz http://www.footballperspective.com/e...ated-for-2015/ …
EDIT: Not sure how much Burke was involved here. ESPN is still using subjective measures to fiddle with QBR, for instance, they are now adjusting for pressure on the QB during the play.
Eric Berry returning to practice Wednesday was fantastic. As someone who has seen family members go through chemo, I cannot fathom how he kept working out through the whole thing.
Field Yates @FieldYates 3h3 hours ago Southington, CT
Have Tweeted before, but worth mentioning w/football back: Browns OT Joe Thomas has played every single snap in his career: 8,196 & counting
IF ONLY WE HAD TRADED FINLEY TO CLEVELAND FOR HIM AND A 3RD ROUND PICK
ProFootballTalk @ProFootballTalk 2m2 minutes ago
Broncos' Kyle Williams out for season with torn Achilles http://wp.me/p14QSB-9OBu
Should have had more protein snacks at practice.
Didn't he get his CEI against the Browns?
Seahawks spending come more cash.
Ian Rapoport @RapSheet 9h9 hours ago
The guarantee for #Seahawks LB Bobby Wagner is $22M, to go with four years, $43M. A monster deal.
JSO Camp reports:
■ Typically, the Packers let their cornerbacks settle in on one side or the other, but first-round pick Damarious Randall played a good dose of both left and right. He replaced Shields on the plays the veteran was out.
■ The Packers have used Micah Hyde first and Randall Cobb second in punt return drills through two practices. Rookie Ty Montgomery, who returned two punts for touchdowns last season at Stanford, has worked with the punt rush team. He is expected to be in the mix on kickoff returns.
I'LL ADMIT THAT WHEN M3 TRIES TO REINVENT THE WHEEL WITH SOME NEW PLAYERS, IT DRIVES ME CRAZY. BUT HYDE PROBABLY MAKES THIS SENSIBLE.
http://www.jsonline.com/sports/packe...320359611.htmlQuote:
Last year, he played inside mostly in the nickel package, but toward the end of the season when it was clear Hawk had nothing left, he started receiving snaps in the base 3-4 as well. Before he left with an injury, Matthews played 25 of 43 snaps inside against the Seahawks in the final game.
SOMEONE ON THE BOARD ASKED THIS QUESTION YESTERDAY. AM I WRONG, OR IS SPOON CONFUSED? MATTHEWS, PUTTING ASIDE NASCAR OR THE 4-3, WAS INSIDE ONLY AS A ROVING BLITZER BEFORE THE BYE WEEK. AFTER THE BYE WEEK, HE WAS STARTING INSIDE IN BASE, MOVING BACK TO OUTSIDE ONLY FOR OBVIOUS PASSING SITUATIONS.
Ronda Rousey Knocks Out Bethe Correia in 34 Seconds
https://img.washingtonpost.com/wp-ap...ey1.jpg&w=1484
https://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images...Oyv_normal.jpg Eddy Lacy
Rousey is unreal #Congrats #UFC
12:33 AM - 2 Aug 2015
I saw that Lacy is a fan. One tweet is pathetic excuse for a packer story, but it may be the only chance to scoop the omnipresent pbmax this season. You can't stop him, you can't even hope to contain him.
This one is for smuggler, this is the most recent update I can find on the appeal/contempt of court action in Doty's decision in the Peterson case.
http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com...terson-matter/
As I remember it, prior to the midseason switch that saw CM3 playing inside in base, he was getting snaps inside in nickel when the Packers played their 2-4-5. DL were Daniels/Jones/etc, OLB were Peppers and Neal/Perry with their hands on ground, and CM3 and Hawk/Jones in the middle.
Pretty sure when either Perry or Jones had a hand in the dirt, it was a variation of that Quad/4-3 package they mostly dumped early in the season. But that doesn't mean some version of it survived longer that kept CMIII in the middle.
I just remember him moving around to blitz more than be stationed as an ILB prior to the bye week change.
Not sure if the settlement for the contempt motion has any bearing on the NFL's appeal of the Doty decision. Even if the league wins their appeal, Peterson has to get off on time served, so it all seems a bit moot except wrt legal precedent. (And Brady.)
You never want a letter of recommendation from Bretsky:
Ed Werder @Edwerderespn 6m6 minutes ago
#Ravens source confirms team's worst fears on S Matt Elam - complete biceps tear, surgery, season-ending IR for him
So catch me up on this? What's outstanding?
He's been re-instated, but filed a suit (that didn't get resolved) to get re-instated, right? Now that he's back in, is it a moot point, or is he looking for financial compensation? Article talks about a contempt motion because they didn't submit his case to an arbritrator.
There are two outstanding issues. One is the League's appeal of the Judge's overturning of the arbitration ruling. Federal Judges are supposed to give great weight to the arbitrator's ruling in contract cases. However, given that Doty is relying on a previous Fed Court ruling about ex post facto policy changes (and that ruling has stood), I don't see the appeal as very strong. Also not sure its decisive with Brady's case, as this one has much more to do with due process, though there is a claim (for both the phone and the equipment tampering) that Goodell changed the rules and policies again without notice after an incident.
The other issue is that after Doty's ruling, the NFL did not reinstate Peterson to be eligible. He put him on the Exempt List again. NFLPA is arguing that Goodell stands in contempt with this action. Since its well after the fact, this is mainly about contract service and bonuses. Though after his renegotiation, I am unsure how much this means to him.
The motion for contempt that the NFLPA filed depends on whether Goodell wanted to keep Peterson on the commissioner's list (players on this list still get paid, so Peterson didn't suffer much in the way of wage-based damages), or whether the Vikings wanted to keep him away from the team until the shitstorm settled a bit and requested he be kept there. If Goodell can show that the latter is true, the NFLPA's motion will fail. Mostly, this is just a case of the NFLPA being combative (and with good cause).
I still think the NFL will win it's appeal of the Doty decision, but it's academic at this point. It's a question of which precedent you apply. The precedent for courts to stand aside when two sides have agreed to binding arbitration, or the precedent of prohibition of retroactive punishment from being levied on employees by their employers (which certainly happened in the Peterson case). I think the arbitration precedent blankets the ex-post-facto precedent, so the league is in good shape. Even though Goodell is an arbitrary douche.