Tag: FTW

Hard Knocks showed just how Mike Tomlin puts on a coaching masterclass with the Steelers

Hard Knocks showed us why Mike Tomlin is one of the greatest coaches of all time.

Mike Tomlin has been an NFL head coach for nearly 18 years. The Coach of the Year candidate has never seen a losing season with his Pittsburgh Steelers, who are almost always relevant as perennial playoff contenders. Anyone who follows the NFL regularly is unsurprised by Tomlin’s success. He is effectively a made man in Pittsburgh — for as long as he wants — because of how well he manages his team.

But Tomlin’s “tough love” player-centered style of coaching, in which he gets the pulse of everyone on his roster, can sometimes be hard to quantify if you’re not personally hanging around the Steelers’ locker room.

This is where programs like Hard Knocks, fortunately, come in.

With the NFL documentary series centering its latest in-season edition on the AFC North, we got a firsthand look at Tomlin’s in-game work during the Steelers’ win over the rival Cincinnati Bengals last Sunday.

And let me tell you, with just two sample clips to work off of, it’s clear Tomlin put on a coaching masterclass. What else is new?

The first video shows Tomlin planting a seed in Steelers linebacker Nick Herbig’s head. In the lead-up to the game with the Bengals, Tomlin wanted Herbig to think about beating Cincinnati left tackle Orlando Brown Jr. like a drum with a speed move. He kept talking about it.

With the Steelers needing a big defensive play to permanently tilt the matchup in their favor in the fourth quarter, Herbig came through — just like Tomlin encouraged him to.

It’s a small thing after the fact, but please note how Tomlin ensures he tells Herbig that he’s not shocked he made an impact play. That’s cultivating a small but not insignificant dynamic between coach and player where the player understands their coach has a strong belief in their abilities, no matter the situation. Not everyone can pull that kind of move off as a leader and come across as sincere.

Tomlin is, of course, not like everyone.

The other Hard Knocks clip showcases Tomlin’s relationship with the fiery George Pickens, who, in charitable terms, has been known to wear his heart on his sleeve. But Tomlin, likely better than anyone, knows how to keep people’s emotions in check.

After the Bengals notched an early pick-six off Russell Wilson in the first quarter — thanks to Pickens falling down, which let Bengals cornerback Cam Taylor-Britt catch the ball unimpeded en route to the end zone — Tomlin wouldn’t let Pickens sulk over his unforced error.

Mistakes like that happen all the time in a chaotic game like football. As Tomlin tells Pickens while holding him close, you have to fight for another day even when you screw up. Tomlin’s message appeared to resonate when Pickens responded with a touchdown of his own on the Steelers’ next possession:

It’s not every day you get to see a player’s coach like Tomlin thriving in their environment while wearing a mic. Thanks to Hard Knocks and NFL Films, we now have an even keener sense of why the Steelers coach will one day stroll into Canton. That’s because Tomlin’s work with Pickens and Herbig here was undoubtedly only scratching the surface of his coaching and mentorship.

And by the time Tomlin is up for a gold jacket and bronze bust, knowing his track record, he’ll likely be able to point to at least 30 consecutive winning seasons with the black and gold.

Amon-Ra St. Brown revealed Dan Campbell told Lions to punish Caleb Williams if he didn’t run out of bounds

Dan Campbell wanted the Lions to rattle Caleb Williams at every possible chance.

The NFL-leading Detroit Lions escaped Thanksgiving by the skin of their teeth last week. If not for ex-Chicago Bears head coach Matt Eberflus’ timeout brain fart in the closing seconds, a furious Caleb Williams second-half rally might have been enough to topple pro football’s best team.

Part of the Lions’ defensive mentality was apparently (and understandably) trying to rattle the phenom young quarterback in Williams. Ironically, this happened when Williams took a dangerous hit from Detroit linebacker Jack Campbell in the early third quarter. However, rather than throw Williams off his game, it was almost as if a switch flipped in him afterward. Williams threw three touchdowns and played some of his best football as a rookie after the scary sequence.

In the latest episode of the St. Brown Podcast, Detroit star receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown revealed this Lions’ plan to a tee. Per St. Brown, Lions head coach Dan Campbell wanted his players to crush Williams whenever he dared not run out of bounds.

To Campbell’s credit, they certainly listened to his wishes.

(Warning: NSFW language in the video below.)

It says that Williams responded like a true franchise quarterback after getting absolutely leveled in that kind of spot. That he almost helped his team pull off a monumental road upset speaks volumes. At the same time, it says something about the Lions that they, at least, understand how to beat flawed one-note teams like the Bears, who rely so much on their quarterback to put on a red cape. It seems simple enough, but guys still have to execute.

What a fascinating mini sequence encapsulating where both the Bears and Lions organizations stand right now. We’ll see how Chicago and Williams respond to St. Brown’s comments when Detroit visits the Bears just before Christmas in a few weeks.

Matt Eberflus’s botched final Thanksgiving play invented a new way for the Bears to lose

Matt Eberflus showed why the Bears shouldn’t be thankful for him.

At this point, running down exactly how Matt Eberflus continues to blow it for the Chicago Bears feels like an exhaustive task. It almost seems like he’s inventing ways for the Bears to lose, and after heroic Caleb Williams performances, no less.

But, oh my goodness, the way Eberflus threw away another possible Bears victory on Thanksgiving against the Detroit Lions might take the cake for all of his failures.

Let’s take it to the end of the fourth quarter.

After the Lions and Penei Sewell turned in a dominant first-half performance, the Bears defense began to hem Detroit in. More importantly, Williams had been sublime, delivering heroic throw after heroic throw in a confident manner that really does make him seem like the NFL’s next superstar quarterback.

On a possession where the Bears started at their own one-yard line down 23-20, Williams comfortably got them into field goal range at the Lions’ 25-yard line. From that point on, most functional teams with responsible leadership as their coach would probably win or at least get the game-tying field goal attempt out of it. Right?

Uh … right?

Let me introduce you to Matt Eberflus’ Chicago Bears.

An illegal hands-to-the-face penalty knocked out a Keenan Allen catch into the deep red zone. Williams took a sack on second and very long and seemed a tad out of sorts. Fortunately, the Bears had a timeout and could set up their game-tying field goal try while calming everything down.

Eberflus did not do that. He watched Williams hurriedly get everyone on Bears offense into position. It looked a lot more confusing and chaotic than it will ever read, trust me. Instead of taking a timeout and perhaps running a gimme play to get a closer field goal, Eberflus watched a frazzled Williams throw a deep pass to nowhere for the loss.

That’s right. Eberflus watched 36 seconds tick off the clock — with a timeout in hand — in field goal range. To lose the game.

It’s one of the most baffling end-game sequences you’ll ever see. While this doesn’t absolve Williams perhaps taking a timeout himself, it’s still on someone else to step up and back him up. Someone on the sideline who should be actively managing the game.

It’s so perfect for a coach who has no nerve or confidence in the clutch at a historically low level:

I mean, what else can you say about the Bears’ futility with the game on the line under Eberflus’ guidance?

I can’t remember the last time I’ve seen a team combust like this in a creative fashion the way they do. Every time the Bears have a potential win on tap in a close ending, Eberflus freezes like a deer in headlights. No matter how well the Bears defense plays, no matter how quarterbacks like Justin Fields then and Caleb Williams now play, Eberflus seemingly cannot steel up the cool-headed confidence to preserve his players’ efforts.

In the postgame, Nate Burleson said he’d never call for someone’s job, but he did mention how coaches lose their jobs over things like what the Bears did.

He’s not wrong:

The Bears have never fired a coach midseason. If they don’t do it after their current guy threw away yet another win in front of a national audience, they’ll keep putting Eberflus’ clutch-time anxiousness on an alarming display for everyone to see.

I’ve written some version of “fire Eberflus” for weeks now. But Thanksgiving exceeded all of that madness and then some.

Someone as good as Caleb Williams deserves better than Matt Eberflus. Really, so do the Bears. We’ll see whether they realize that soon.

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Caleb Williams threw a gutsy Bears record TD pass right after taking a dangerous Thanksgiving hit

Caleb Williams showed so much toughness in a huge situation.

It was a rough start for Caleb Williams and the Chicago Bears on Thanksgiving. After a dominant first-half performance from the Detroit Lions — which was summed up perfectly by a Penei Sewell stiff arm — it sure seemed like it’d be one of those afternoons for Chicago.

Considering the circumstances, Williams showed remarkable resilience to start turning the fortunes for his Bears in a key early third-quarter sequence.

As Williams drove the Bears downfield for their first quality possession of the game, he took a nasty hit to his lower back and leg from Jack Campbell on a scramble. Williams appeared to be OK, but it looked a lot worse than at first glance. Williams would also be checked on later in the Bears’ medical tent:

Now, after taking such a hit, you’d probably think Williams would crumble, and the Bears’ drive would peter out. Well, dearest readers, it did not.

Because not soon after, Williams threw a laser to Keenan Allen for the Bears’ first touchdown of the day:

Perhaps not by coincidence, this Williams touchdown pass also meant something for Bears history. By notching the 12th touchdown throw of his rookie season, Williams officially surpassed Charlie O’Rourke’s Bears rookie record of 11 touchdowns. I’m aware that is a bar meager for most NFL franchises with a historically more functional offense, but it still stood for over seven decades.

For someone who might be Chicago’s first franchise quarterback of the modern era, it means something that Williams was the one to finally break this record. With heroic sequences like this, it’s easy to see why the young Bears quarterback is showing more promise week by week.

Penei Sewell stiff-arming a Bears defender on a trick pass summed up the Lions’ first-half Thanksgiving dominance

Penei Sewell’s stiff arm was great symbolism for the Lions’ dominance.

If you thought the Chicago Bears had a chance at playing spoiler to the Detroit Lions’ Thanksgiving party, one early sequence from Lions All-Pro tackle Penei Sewell quickly put that talk to rest.

Let’s head to the early first quarter from Thursday’s early-slate holiday game on CBS.

With the Lions driving on their first possession, offensive coordinator Ben Johnson called a trick pass that had Sewell acting as the de facto quarterback. As the big offensive lineman scanned the field looking for a receiver, Bears linebacker Jack Sanborn tried cutting Sewell down in the open field.

Sewell responded by brutally stiff-arming Sanborn before a host of Chicago defenders brought Sewell down for a loss.

And after the Lions took a 16-0 lead into the halftime break — where the margin felt a lot worse — this Sewell broken play became the perfect symbol for how hard the Bears would have to work just to force the Lions into a negative situation:

Here’s how stark it got between the Lions and Bears through one half of play:

  • The Lions’ offense generated 19 first-down plays. The Bears had 19 total plays.
  • After struggling to generate any rhythm for most of the early afternoon, the Bears finally got their first first-down conversion … with just a few minutes left in the first half.
  • The yard differential was 279 for the Lions and a paltry 53 for the Bears.
  • Overall, the Lions had over 22 minutes of possession, and were never really stopped by the Bears defense, as they scored points on each of their four extended drives.
  • By gaining just two first downs in a half, the Bears became the first NFL team to manage such a “feat” in nearly a quarter-century.

As you can see, it was complete dominance for the NFL’s premier team.

Oh, wait, there’s still some good comedy here. Sewell is so good as a pass-blocker that he might have become the first NFL lineman ever to get sacked himself before allowing a sack in a season. I mean, that has to be a record, right?

It’ll get lost in the shuffle, but don’t let the symbolism of Sewell’s initial brute power over the inept Bears be forgotten.

Jaylen Brown rightfully took exception to the Timberwolves’ announcers hammering his 3-point shooting

Jaylen Brown’s talent deserved more respect from the Timberwolves announcers.

Sunday night in the NBA featured an awesome battle between the reigning champion Boston Celtics and title contender Minnesota Timberwolves. The Celtics prevailed 107-105 behind a strong shooting performance from perennial All-NBA forward Jaylen Brown (29 points), especially from behind the arc.

But if you ask the Timberwolves announcing crew, there’s simply no way one of the NBA’s best players could ever get hot. C’mon now.

As Brown made four 3s in an approximate two-minute span at the start of the game, the Minnesota commentators weirdly kept hammering how Brown was, actually, a limited shooter because of a poor start to the season. And even as he poured buckets in (Brown finished 7-of-10 from behind the arc), they just wouldn’t let this narrative about a proven veteran superstar go:

“Literally, I would give him that shot.”

Really, you would give a guy who has shown he’s a top-15-caliber player in the league an open 3-point attempt just because of a cold month to start the season (which happens for players all the time)?

Yeah, I don’t think any logical coach comprising a solid game plan would follow that line of thinking. I’d rather someone like Jaylen Brown didn’t shoot open 3s because I recognize that small sample sizes are a thing. He’s a career 36 percent shooter on high volume. He’s not someone you give open looks!

Brown caught wind of the Timberwolves’ announcers’ bizarre criticism and responded with a NSFW comment on Twitter. (Note: I have edited out a portion of his word choice.)

Good for Brown because he’s absolutely right. He understands that mini slumps happen all the time in a league with some of the best basketball players in the world.

Caleb Williams revealed what Kevin O’Connell whispered to him after his incredible Bears performance

Even Kevin O’Connell was in awe of Caleb Williams on Sunday.

After a roller-coaster season marred by inconsistency and typical Chicago Bears drama, rookie quarterback Caleb Williams was absolutely magnificent against the Minnesota Vikings’ No. 1-ranked defense on Sunday.

Throughout the entire afternoon, Williams (32-of-47, 340 yards, two touchdown passes, 33 rushing yards) was ready for everything that genius Vikings defensive coordinator Brian Flores threw at him. That’s very notable, considering that Flores’ defense has been known to flummox much more accomplished and experienced quarterbacks.

Williams made several incredible off-platform deep throws. He showed off his remarkable velocity and touch into tight windows in the structure of the Bears’ offense time and time again. He was essentially unstoppable any time he had to improvise and use his legs, as the Vikings could do nothing to rattle him. It’s no wonder the Bears scored 17 fourth-quarter points as Williams, once again, heroically rallied them from the dead to get the game into overtime with absurd clutch throws like this:

While the Bears fell 30-27 in overtime, even Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell seemingly couldn’t help but marvel over Williams’ remarkable brilliance.

After the game, O’Connell was seen whispering something into Williams’ ear:

Hmm, it seems a little unorthodox for an opposing coach to have that much of a private discussion with the other team’s quarterback, right? Well, not when it’s showing proper respect.

In his postgame press conference, Williams revealed that O’Connell told him it’ll be a pain to try and beat the Bears quarterback for a long time.

I think that’s a classy message everyone can get behind:

Folks, O’Connell isn’t wrong. Williams having his way with the NFL’s top defense — even while mired on one of the league’s more incompetent teams — should be a terrifying sight for the rest of the NFC North moving forward. On Sunday, in less-than-ideal circumstances while surviving the Bears doing everything to drag him down, Williams looked like the kind of quarterback capable of torturing the same three rival teams for 15-plus years.

If the Bears can support Williams with a quality coaching staff after this season, then O’Connell’s worst fears are probably about to come true. He wouldn’t lie to himself about Williams’ transcendent gifts.

Neither should anyone else in the NFC North.

C.J. Stroud taking a game-losing safety vs. the Titans encapsulates his stunning sophomore slump

C.J. Stroud looks alarmingly broken after getting so much hype.

Few leagues will humble you as fast as the NFL the moment you enjoy even a semblance of success. Time and time again, apparent young superstars fly way too close to the sun and predictably have their wings burned off.

We can probably safely add the Houston Texans’ C.J. Stroud to that depressing catalog — at least for now.

On Sunday, the second-year quarterback looked like a shell of the passer who broke several records en route to an Offensive Rookie of the Year Award in 2023. Stroud’s recent alarming struggles culminated in him taking a backbreaking, game-losing safety to seal a bad loss to the woeful Tennessee Titans. This, on a day where Stroud already threw two interceptions and took four sacks (they are a quarterback stat!).

Something is broken with someone who was anointed The Next Great Quarterback over the past entire offseason:

I have little doubt that a great quarterback remains somewhere inside of Stroud. Talent doesn’t just leave players like him overnight. It’s just that we haven’t seen that great quarterback in an alarming amount of time now.

Stroud hasn’t thrown for at least 300 yards since early October. His average yards per pass attempt (7.2) has dropped a full point off of last year’s sparking number (8.2). His passer rating (88.0) has dropped more than 12 full points from his rookie campaign (100.8). The most disturbing element in Stroud’s issues is how he now creates actively negative plays for the Texans’ offense. His 1.9 interception percentage is league-average a year after he took care of the ball better than almost everyone, and his sack percentage of 8.79 is bottom-10 in the league.

I don’t care who you are. No offense and no quarterback can survive that kind of self-inflicting volatile mix.

There are several plausible culprits in play for Stroud’s sophomore slump. A year after being recognized as one of the NFL’s hottest coaches, offensive coordinator Bobby Slowik’s scheme has stagnated. It asks entirely too much of Stroud to be a hero for the Houston offense to function. The loss of Stefon Diggs also doesn’t help, as there aren’t too many security blankets for a young quarterback to lean on. Plus, if the Texans’ rushing offense doesn’t get going with Joe Mixon, their play has no discernible rhythm.

Still, this doesn’t excuse Stroud, who has shown a stunning lack of poise against pressure and in structure just a year after being one of the finest in those categories. He has played an immense role in his own problems, and he needs to learn from them in earnest before becoming an elite player again.

Full stop.

Don’t get me wrong. There’s plenty of time for the 23-year-old Stroud to turn things around and still reach his massive potential.

But this 2024 season has unearthed an evergreen fact about gifted young quarterbacks. Their development is not linear. It never has been. They are not guaranteed to keep excelling after one great season. Most, in fact, will take their lumps and experience lows before hopefully returning to their highs.

And if you’re the Texans, you should’ve been more prepared for that reality with the face of your franchise.

Malik Nabers bluntly said the Giants’ miserable losses aren’t because of their quarterbacks

If Malik Nabers thinks the Giants QBs aren’t their problem, then who is? Oh. Right.

Amid another lost season for the New York Giants, they can’t escape any drama.

Instead of simply releasing ex-maligned starting quarterback Daniel Jones, they benched him for Tommy DeVito and forced him to play scout team safety. The Giants are almost certainly preparing to draft a new quarterback this coming April, so they want the deck cleared.

But stud rookie receiver Malik Nabers seemingly has a stark warning about that thought process. After the Giants took a 30-7 loss on the chin from the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Nabers said he doesn’t think the reason the 2-9 Giants keep losing is because of their quarterback play — even though Jones and DeVito are both awful in their own unique ways.

Oh? Then who could it be? Oh, right. Nabers didn’t elaborate upon who the Giants’ real issue was after bringing this to light, but he almost certainly knew what he was doing by making this statement in public:

If Nabers is implying what I think he’s implying, then the Giants’ main problem is the duo between general manager Joe Schoen and head coach Brian Daboll.

Schoen has very few draft and free-agent hits in three years on the job in New York. He’s also the GM who gave Jones a contract extension after a fluky playoff campaign in 2022 and who built the offensive line that let DeVito get sacked four times against an underwhelming Tampa Bay defense on Sunday.

Meanwhile, Daboll had a respected reputation as a quarterback whisperer after helping Josh Allen on the Buffalo Bills. But he’s also three years into the job, and the Giants have no identity in any phase. Oh, and Daboll probably ran off one of the NFL’s best defensive coordinators over a personality squabble.

At this rate, the Giants might need a full reset. They should consider firing both Schoen and Daboll in the offseason. That’s because their underwhelming body of work does not merit getting a fourth year together.

If Nabers won’t say it, I’ll say it for him.

Mike Pereira explained an absolutely baffling NFL replay loophole during Vikings-Bears

The NFL keeps finding ways to make its game even stupider.

Just in case you thought the NFL couldn’t be more byzantine or silly about its rules, what former referee Mike Pereira revealed during the Chicago Bears’ battle with the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday will floor you.

After Vikings receiver Jordan Addison caught a 68-yard pass at the start of the third quarter, Chicago head coach Matt Eberflus challenged the play because it sure seemed like Addison stepped out of bounds before getting a ton of yards after the catch.

That kind of sequence should probably be easy to overturn once you get the play on camera with a good angle, right?

Wrong.

According to Pereira, the NFL officiating crew working the game couldn’t overturn the play on a coach’s challenge — even with a boundary camera angle showing Addison clearly stepping out of bounds — because not every stadium in the NFL has that camera angle, and it wouldn’t be fair to others. It would’ve apparently only been valid on a scoring play.

WHAT? Make that make sense.

Do you mean to tell me the NFL won’t let refs overturn plays because its 20-billion-dollar industry hasn’t supplied a specific camera angle to every team in the league? That is the most NFL line of thinking I’ve ever heard.

What a preposterous and backward sports league all around that always makes things much more complicated than they have to be.