Brandon Staley entered the Los Angeles Chargers’ practice facility Friday morning with little sleep. he knew what would happen. Hey, everyone was like that. If you watched some of the highlights, looked at the box score, or watched Thursday night’s game, you probably saw the same face my 2-year-old son made last summer when he ate his first lemon. is.
The whole thing was sour.
The Raiders defeated the Chargers in Las Vegas in a game watched in every home on Amazon Prime, but Staley’s seat was no longer hot, it was engulfed in flames.
Around 8 a.m. Friday, he entered owner Dean Spanos’ office and, after a brief conversation, was fired. Chargers general manager Tom Telesco was also fired. It was a surprising fall for Staley, who climbed the NFL coaching ladder with extraordinary ambition. The 41-year-old has become one of the fastest-rising players in NFL history. Four years after becoming his coordinator of the NCAA Division III defense, he transformed his Rams defense in Los Angeles remotely via Zoom during the COVID-19 pandemic. , which he developed into the No. 1 defense in the NFL. After just one season as the Rams’ defensive coordinator and play-caller, teams like the Chargers and Philadelphia Eagles competed to sign him. The owners all wanted a “defensive Sean McVay.”
The Chargers beat him. They thought they had a supernova, a soccer master.
Perhaps it was too fast.
Three years ago, the football world was wondering how a man who used to coach small-time college football got the coveted job of coaching quarterback Justin Herbert and the Chargers after just one season as an NFL coordinator. There were a lot of coaches around the football world who wondered if he was allowed in. There was a belief around the league that Staley was underperforming from day one because Herbert is considered so good, so why can’t the Chargers get a big win in that department? Or? And why don’t they make the playoffs every year?
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Despite this groundbreaking rise, Staley was never known for exuding humility. From some of his answers in press conferences to some around the league believing his overall perspective was a little too cocky, Staley’s vision was never well received. To be fair to Staley, he’s not the only arrogant coach to come under fire in a situation like this. I’ve had several conversations with general managers over the years and they say they want their coaches to have confidence, and many seasoned coaches have chosen the Spanos family for their agents. He comes to visit and sells himself that he can be that player. To bring out Herbert’s talent.
Dean Spanos said in a public statement after the layoffs were announced that the Chargers “need a new vision.” A while later, the coach who wanted the job emailed me and said, “Give me Justin Herbert and I’ll show you the vision.”
If Herbert is truly a transcendent player, now is the time to show it. Whoever is chosen, that will be his challenge. If the next coach also fails, the perception of quarterbacks could change dramatically. The search continues.
Next coaching firing?
It’s no surprise that he arrives in Washington at the end of the regular season. At this point, we know Ron Rivera and some members of the front office will be fired, according to multiple people I’ve spoken to around the building. Since purchasing the team, new owner Josh Harris had a vision of keeping Rivera in place until the end of the season before moving him on. It’s really not a secret anymore.
A similar situation is emerging in New England, with many believing they will part ways at the end of this season. The AthleticJeff Howe explains more here.
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(Oh, and even if the Patriots and Belichick part ways, the Patriots aren’t going to trade Vrabel. Nothing has changed there.)
Meanwhile, in Las Vegas, Antonio Pierce is doing everything he can to win the head coaching job permanently. His interim experience has made him popular in the Raiders’ locker room, and with his three games left, he gets the final push to show he’s the right man for the job.
Former Giants head coach Tom Coughlin, as well as Adam Gase and Marvin Lewis, have been giving him advice in recent weeks. It’s like Pierce cramming for a test and hiring a school of tutors who have seen everything to give him the answers. Raiders owner Mark Davis will need to conduct a coaching search at the end of the year even if he decides to hire Pierce. It’s still a wait-and-see situation, depending on the situation over the next few weeks.
remove it from the game
On Monday night, Dolphins wide receiver Tyreek Hill was injured in a hip-drop tackle just as NFL owners gathered in Dallas to begin discussing some of the NFL’s most important issues. The hip-drop tackle became a centerpiece after commissioner Roger Goodell made it clear he wanted the league to remove it from the game. The fact that Goodell spoke out clearly at the league’s owners meeting says a lot about where this situation is heading. The league will probably ban it by next season. Expect more action on this, push-push and kickoff plays at the NFL Competition Committee in February and spring meetings in March.
CJ Stroud suffered a concussion in last Sunday’s game, and the rookie quarterback is in concussion protocol. Stroud still needs to pass several tests, and team officials said he did not play in Sunday’s game against the Tennessee Titans and was not in the facility much last week.
The opportunity is here for the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sunday night, and they know it. They still have a chance to earn the No. 1 seed in the AFC, and their game against the Baltimore Ravens could ultimately decide that. If the Jaguars win, they will start a game against Baltimore in the standings.
It’s not easy. Jacksonville has lost two games and quarterback Trevor Lawrence is playing through a high ankle sprain. The Ravens have been good all season and have some attitude at this point. why? During last week’s meeting, they discussed last season’s game against the Jaguars, where the Ravens took a lead in the fourth quarter and lost 28-17. Baltimore won the game against Jacksonville with a long third, but was unable to shut out the game. A Ravens official told me: “It’s still a game that stings us.”
That’s where Baltimore comes in, and Nelson Agholoa. Before I explain how he came to be described by me as the “unsung hero of the wide receiver room,” regardless of what he accomplished as a player, here’s this great clip from his time with the Eagles and this soundbite. It cannot be erased. please look:
Agholoa, now in his ninth season, joined the Ravens last March and has scored as many touchdowns as Odell Beckham Jr. and rookie standout Zay Flowers. It’s a room that has been criticized for years, but Lamar Jackson now has plenty of pass catchers who can get it done.
well done
The Titans haven’t had many memorable moments this season, but their performance on Monday Night Football against the Dolphins will go down as their biggest comeback of the season.
Tennessee became the first team in NFL history to win a game by going back by 14 points in the final three minutes.
This is where the main point of the story begins. Let’s go back. The team scored a touchdown, cutting Miami’s lead from 27-13 to 27-19 with 2:40 left in the fourth quarter. Head coach Mike Vrabel and the Titans decided to go for two points instead of kicking the extra point. The choice was easy as it was planned in advance.
how?
Vrabel and his game strategist and director of football management, John Streicher (nicknamed “Stretch”), had actually discussed the exact situation of the game over a thick steak dinner the night before. Before dinner, they reviewed several games around the league, highlighting one particular team in the division that didn’t employ this strategy after scoring in the fourth quarter and trailing by eight points. We discussed our strategies while enjoying tomahawk steaks. Along with other staff members and Vrabel’s family, he became the center of dinner conversation. This all-important discussion couldn’t have gone any better for the Titans. Because when the situation presented itself, the Titans knew exactly what they wanted.
Keep in mind that a 2-point attack has a 50-50 chance of success. When a team believes in itself, it feels like the odds are even higher based on the expressions on the other team’s faces and the plays they’ve prepared for. Next time I go to the roulette table, I want Stretch to stand with me! (Black 17. Always.)
joe cool flacco
Despite some roster management decisions to send Joe Flacco to the practice squad in recent weeks, it was always the plan for the Cleveland Browns to sign Joe Flacco. It looked sloppy, but it all made sense to the Browns’ front office and Flacco’s agent, Joe Rinta.
When I asked Browns officials about Flacco, they said, “He’s the adult on the team.”
At nearly 39 years old, Flacco is the oldest player on the Browns’ roster and has the most experience in big moments, including winning a Super Bowl. He also knows the AFC North well. As long as Kevin Stefanski continues to run the ball to give the best part of the team, the defense, time to rest, the Browns have a very good chance of overcoming an incredible number of injuries and making the playoffs. expensive.
70
He is in charge of his decision.
“I can hit 70,” Dallas Cowboys kicker Brandon Aubrey said this week. That’s the distance he believes he can kick a field goal in a live game. Why be suspicious of newcomers? The former football player made all 30 of his field goal attempts and 39 of his 42 extra point attempts in his first NFL season. He wasn’t asked to hit 70 yards in an actual game, but you could tell by his demeanor that he believed in it, and that was most of the battle.
The longest field goal ever made in an NFL game was 66 yards by Baltimore’s Justin Tucker in 2022. The 28-year-old Aubrey, nicknamed “Butter” by quarterback Dak Prescott, is unlikely to have a meltdown on Sunday. Temperatures in Buffalo are expected to be in the 40s, although it will be windy for most of the game.
Finally, as the regular season begins to wind down, if you’re looking for more information about your team or your favorite players, feel free to comment your questions below the article. I’ll go to work and dig!
(Brandon Staley Photo: Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
