Sports blog information from USA TODAY.
In keeping with the tradition of 2019, Urban Meyer has been named as a possible replacement for a coach that hasn’t been fired yet.
In keeping with the tradition of 2019, Urban Meyer has been named as a possible replacement for a coach that hasn’t been fired yet.
In keeping with the tradition of 2019, Urban Meyer has been named as a possible replacement for a coach that hasn’t been fired yet.
In keeping with the tradition of 2019, Urban Meyer has been named as a possible replacement for a coach that hasn’t been fired yet.
In keeping with the tradition of 2019, Urban Meyer has been named as a possible replacement for a coach that hasn’t been fired yet.
In keeping with the tradition of 2019, Urban Meyer has been named as a possible replacement for a coach that hasn’t been fired yet.
National reports have surfaced that former Ohio State head coach could be a top target for the Cleveland Browns should the job open up.
Well, here we go again. Former Ohio State head coach Urban Meyer’s name has surfaced again for a head coaching job that isn’t even open. Meyer made news earlier this year when he conveyed interest in the Dallas Cowboys job should it come open, and lately, his name came up for the Washington Redskins job.
Now, with all the struggles in Cleveland, there are reports circulating that the Browns could target the three-time national champion coach as their next head man.
Despite having acquired talent during the offseason to go along with the promising Baker Mayfield at quarterback, the Browns have significantly underachieved this year once again. Many point to new head coach Freddie Kitchens as the problem, but he’s still gainfully employed right now with the organization, and there would have to be a move there before any coaching search would be undertaken.
That, apparently is beginning to become more of a reality with what we’re seeing from the dysfunctional team heading down the stretch of the season.
The news was originally reported by Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports and cites league sources familiar with the situation in the Browns’ front office.
— Jason La Canfora (@JasonLaCanfora) December 22, 2019
The report draws on the close relationship between Cleveland owner Jimmy Haslam and his ties with Ohio rationale for his potential of making the jump to the NFL.
Of course, as always, any move back into coaching would have to be very appealing to an Urban Meyer who has seemed to enjoy his off-the-field activities and analyst role with FOX and BTN. That remains to be seen with the health concerns that were used as reasons to step away in the first place.
This may not get any more legs, but if it does, we’ll be on top of it. Oh, and when any other coaching vacancy becomes open, we’re sure Meyer’s name will be floated out there again.
And we’ll probably (sigh) once again report it in case it becomes a thing.
The Browns’ frustrating season keeps getting worse.
The Cleveland Browns were labeled one of the most exciting teams in the NFL before the regular season kicked off, and with an influx of offensive talent, many analysts were expecting the Browns to make a potential playoff run in 2019. Instead, the Cleveland offense is an absolute mess, Baker Mayfield has regressed tremendously, and new coach Freddie Kitchens may be on the verge of losing his job.
The Browns entered Week 15 with extremely slim playoff hopes, but Cleveland fell behind early in Arizona and allowed 38 points in a loss to the Cardinals to fall to 6-8 on the season. After the game, Browns running back Kareem Hunt told Cleveland.com that he felt some of his teammates weren’t giving “110 percent” on the field.
On Tuesday, an exasperated Mike Greenberg advised everyone in the Browns locker room to just shut up for the rest of the season.
“This guy’s been on the Browns for like eight minutes, and a team that started with watches, ‘what watch are we wearing?’ And then it went to this, and then it went to that, and now Kareem Hunt is saying ‘you know, I feel like some of the guys weren’t giving 100 [percent.’ This team needs to just shut up! I mean, stop talking for crying out loud. They need an edict in the locker room. The next person who says a word, the kangaroo court is going to fine them whatever the maximum possible is….. This team needs to shut up.”
[opinary poll=”should-the-browns-fire-freddie-kitchens_” customer=”forthewin”]
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The NFC East doesn’t have a team with a winning record, but it’s the most compelling division in Touchdown Wire’s weekly Power Rankings.
The NFC East doesn’t have a team with a winning record, but it’s the most compelling division in Touchdown Wire’s weekly Power Rankings.
The NFC East is the worst division in the NFL. It also is the most entertaining.
Even though no team in the division currently has a winning record, the playoff scenario got more intriguing in Week 15. Plus, there’s all sorts of speculation about which head coaches might be fired, and a New York icon may have played his last game for the Giants.
The Cowboys finally played the way a team with that much talent is supposed to play, improving to 7-7 with a 44-21 shellacking of the Los Angeles Rams. The Eagles also climbed to 7-7 after a 37-27 win over the Redskins. Dallas plays at Philadelphia in Week 16, and the Cowboys can clinch the division title with a victory.
Even though the Cowboys are in the playoff race, coach Jason Garrett’s job doesn’t appear safe. Rumors are swirling that owner Jerry Jones is considering Urban Meyer as a replacement for Garrett.
Things got even more interesting when Meyer showed up at the Redskins game on Sunday. Can you imagine a bidding war for Meyer between Jones and Washington owner Daniel Snyder?
New York Giants coach Pat Shurmur also could be on the hot seat, even though he got a win against Miami. But Shurmur wasn’t the Giants’ most interesting story of Sunday. Instead, that was Eli Manning. The veteran quarterback played what might have been his final game for the Giants, while filling in for injured rookie Daniel Jones.
Here’s where the NFC East teams — and the rest of the league — stand in Touchdown Wire’s Week 16 Power Rankings.
(1-13. Last week: 32)
A 34-14 loss to New England was expected, but the Bengals actually kept the game close until the third quarter. But in the end, they lost to one of the league’s best teams. More importantly, the Bengals remained on pace to earn the top pick in next year’s draft. That means it appears as if newly crowned Heisman Trophy winner Joe Burrow will wear a Cincinnati uniform next season. After briefly benching veteran starter Andy Dalton in favor of rookie Ryan Finley, the Bengals have been sticking with Dalton. That’s somewhat inexplicable, because Dalton threw four interceptions Sunday. Dalton has no future with the Bengals. But he’s doing his part to make sure Cincinnati gets Burrow.
(3-11. Last week: 30)
The Redskins lost to Philadelphia, 37-27. The game meant nothing to the Redskins aside from impacting their draft position. The real story here is that Urban Meyer was spotted in a luxury box at FedEx Field with injured Washington quarterback Alex Smith, who played for Meyer at the University of Utah. Let the speculation grow that Meyer, who won national championships at Florida and Ohio State will be the next coach of the Redskins. Of course, current Redskins quarterback Dwayne Haskins also played for Meyer, at Ohio State. Meyer’s sighting could foreshadow an off-field showdown in the NFC East. There is widespread speculation that Dallas owner Jerry Jones covets Meyer. Given the personalities and egos of Jones and Washington owner Daniel Snyder, there could be a bidding war for Meyer.
(3-11. Last week: 29)
The only real highlight of Sunday’s 36-20 loss to the Giants was that it likely was Eli Manning’s final start for New York. Injured rookie Daniel Jones is expected back in the lineup next week, and Manning probably will retire or play for another franchise next year. But there were a few bright spots for the Dolphins, too. Quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick and receiver DeVante Parker hooked up on two touchdown passes. More significantly, the loss keeps the Dolphins in the race for an early draft pick, where they can seek a long-term answer at quarterback — because there is no long-term future with Fitzpatrick or backup Josh Rosen.
(3-10-1. Last week: 28)
The Lions lost 37-17 to Tampa Bay on Sunday. That means they now have suffered 10 losses in consecutive years with Matt Patricia as coach. They also ran their losing streak to seven games. Does all that mean Patricia is on the hot seat? There are two ways to look at it. First, Patricia’s record in Detroit (9-20-1) has been unimpressive, and coaches have been fired for less. The fan base probably wouldn’t be too upset if Patricia gets canned. But on the flip side, Patricia still has his team playing hard even though the Lions are down to third-string quarterback David Blough and are dealing with a rash of injuries. For the sake of continuity, I would give Patricia one more season.
(3-11. Last week: 31)
A 36-20 victory against the Miami Dolphins may not seem like much. But there was a big storyline for the history of New York’s franchise. This almost certainly was the last start of Eli Manning’s tenure with the Giants, as he threw for two touchdowns and Saquon Barkley ran for two more. Daniel Jones is New York’s quarterback of the future. Jones has been out with an ankle injury, and that’s the only reason Manning has been back as the starter. But Jones returned to practice on a limited basis last week and is expected to return as the starter for the final two games of the season. This win was important for Manning, who could decide to retire after the season. It got his career record back to .500. Manning is a borderline Hall of Famer. A .500 record sounds a lot better than a losing record to Hall of Fame voters.
(5-9. Last week: 27)
The Jaguars went to California and beat the Raiders in their final game in Oakland before moving to Las Vegas next season. But the win doesn’t mean all that much in the grand scheme of things. Prior to the game, ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported that significant changes will be made in Jacksonville in the offseason. That could mean coach Doug Marrone, executive vice president of football operations Tom Coughlin and general manager Dave Caldwell are on the hot seat. Any or all of them could be gone after two disappointing seasons since a berth in the AFC Championship Game. The other big question in Jacksonville is who will be the quarterback next season. Rookie Gardner Minshew has outplayed the high-priced Nick Foles. Minshew has earned the right to at least compete with Foles in the preseason.
(5-9. Last week: 24)
Thursday night’s game against Baltimore went exactly as expected. Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson, the likely NFL Most Valuable Player, threw for 212 yards and five touchdowns and also ran for 86 yards. That’s no surprise, since Jackson has put up huge numbers all season. What is surprising, and concerning, is that the Jets suddenly seem to be a team in turmoil. During Sunday’s game, coach Adam Gase and quarterback Sam Darnold had a heated exchange on the sideline. They downplayed the incident after the game, but it still wasn’t a good sign. Running back Le’Veon Bell, the source of controversy in Week 14 when he supposedly missed the game with the flu but was seen bowling the previous night, returned and rushed for a season-high 87 yards. Maybe Bell should go bowling more often. The Jets also clinched their fourth straight losing season. That’s their longest such streak in the Super Bowl era.
(5-9. Last week 23)
On the surface, a 30-24 loss to Seattle isn’t embarrassing. The Seahawks are one of the best teams in the NFL, after all. But this one was embarrassing when you look at it from another perspective. The Panthers now are 2-5 at home this season. That’s embarrassing because the Panthers have good fans, and Bank of America Stadium has given the team a home-field advantage in the past. But the Panthers have lost six games in a row, and their future has more questions than answers. Will Kyle Allen, who threw three interceptions Sunday, be the starter next year? Or will it be longtime franchise quarterback Cam Newton? The bigger question is who will be the coach next year? Don’t be surprised if Urban Meyer’s name surfaces. Carolina owner David Tepper has the funds and the desire to compete with the big boys — Dallas’ Jerry Jones and Washington’s Daniel Snyder — for Meyer’s services.
The Browns coach thinks the Bengals are dangerous.
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The Cincinnati Bengals appear to have positive momentum for the first time this season coming out of Zac Taylor’s first win, ending the worst start in franchise history quickly after setting the mark.
And that’s cause for concern for Cleveland Browns head coach Freddie Kitchens, who told reporters Wednesday that the Bengals enter Week 14 with “their confidence at an all-time high,” according to Daryl Ruiter of 92.3 The Fan.
An “all-time” sort of high might be a bit of an exaggeration for a team that hadn’t won a game in almost a full calendar year. But the point remains the same — the Bengals had seemed close to a win over the last few weeks before taking down the Jets.
Moving forward, one has to wonder just how much momentum, if any, the Bengals have established. But to Taylor’s credit, the team clearly hasn’t stopped fighting despite what could be described as meaningless games.
Kitchens’ Browns aren’t doing too shabby lately either, not after winning three of their last four and still boasting what — on paper — looks like an incredibly talented roster.
While Sunday’s first of two in-state games this season won’t feature bigger implications than draft order, something will have to give and Kitchens is trying to make sure his guys are ready for an upset-minded Bengals team.
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Jets Wire compares Adam Gase to other first-year head coaches around the league with a comprehensive breakdown.
Adam Gase’s first season with the Jets has featured a little bit of good and a lot of bad.
New York was supposed to be on its way back to contender status under Gase. Instead, due to injuries and incompetence across the board, the Jets have sputtered to a 4-8 record.
Gase isn’t the only first-year head coach that has experienced disappointment in 2019. Likewise, there are plenty of other first-year coaches that have achieved great success throughout the year.
So, how does Gase stack up compared to other first-year head coaches? Let’s take a look.
What better way to kick things off than beginning with the coach who just defeated the Jets to pick up his first career win?
There’s not much sense in heaping praise upon Zac Taylor. It took him three months to win a game and considering who the victory came against, it’s really not all that impressive of a feat.
With that being said, Taylor inherited a roster seriously deprived of talent. His quarterbacks are over the hill Andy Dalton and Ryan Finley, who is clearly not up to the task of being an NFL quarterback despite putting together a solid career at NC State. He hasn’t had A.J. Green all year and Joe Mixon hasn’t been able to do much on the ground because of the atrocious offensive line he runs behind.
It would be unfair to paint Taylor as a bad coach considering what he’s working with. Until Cincinnati puts together an NFL-caliber roster, the verdict is still out on the former Sean McVay protege.
Baltimore’s win against San Francisco was a Super Bowl preview and what else we learned from Week 13.
Here are nine things we learned from Sunday’s games of Week 13 in the NFL season.
Cincinnati brought back veteran quarterback Andy Dalton after he was benched for three games in favor of rookie Ryan Finley. The Bengals got a win against the Jets, their first of the season. Sounds like a good move, right? No. It was totally wrong. Dalton won’t be with the Bengals next year. They need to take a long look at Finley. But they paused that. Worse, they hurt their chances of getting the No. 1 pick in the 2020 draft, where they can get a sure-fire quarterback.
