Tag: Tom Coughlin

Touchdown Wire’s Week 17 NFL Power Rankings — Playoff picture becoming clearer

On the heels of a wild weekend that transformed the NFL playoff picture, Touchdown Wire unveils its weekly NFL Power Rankings.

 

 

 

Touchdown Wire’s Week 17 NFL Power Rankings — Playoff picture becoming clearer

On the heels of a wild weekend that transformed the NFL playoff picture, Touchdown Wire unveils its weekly NFL Power Rankings.

Heading into Week 17, we already know the Baltimore Ravens are the best team in the league and the Cincinnati Bengals are the worst.

In Week 16, we found out two positive certainties for the Ravens and Bengals. First, by guaranteeing the league’s worst record, the Bengals clinched the No. 1 spot in the 2020 NFL draft.

At least at the moment, it appears likely they’ll use it on Heisman Trophy winner and LSU quarterback Joe Burrow. That’s the silver lining in Cincinnati’s dismal season.

Baltimore earned a gift with its great season. At 13-2, the Ravens clinched the No. 1 seed in the AFC playoffs, meaning they have a bye and hold home-field advantage throughout the postseason.

Lots of other scenarios were clinched in Week 16. But many more, including a number of playoff seeds, won’t be known until after Week 17.

We touch on that and more in this week’s Touchdown Wire NFL Power Rankings.

 

32. Cincinnati Bengals

Jasen Vinlove-USA TODAY Sports

(1-14. Last week: 32)

Finally, there’s something to celebrate in Cincinnati. It took an overtime loss to Miami, but the Bengals officially clinched the No. 1 pick in next year’s draft. That almost certainly will be used on a quarterback, and most draft experts currently believe LSU’s Joe Burrow is the top prospect. While that seems like a certainty, the status of first-year head coach Zac Taylor isn’t a given. Bengals owner Mike Brown has been notoriously patient and frugal in the past, but a one- or two-win season may not be enough for Taylor to survive. Besides, there is plenty of room to question Taylor’s decision to go back to veteran quarterback Andy Dalton after briefly benching him in favor of rookie Ryan Finley. Yeah, Dalton threw four touchdown passes Sunday, but it’s clear he’s got no future with the Bengals. Apparently, Finley doesn’t either. This looks like a team that already has settled on Burrow.

31. Washington Redskins

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(3-12. Last week: 31)

There hasn’t been much for Washington fans to cheer for this season, especially after Sunday’s overtime loss to the New York Giants dropped the Redskins into sole possession of last place in the NFC East. But there is one bright spot: the play of rookie quarterback Dwayne Haskins. Coming off the best game of his career, Haskins continued to show progress by completing 12 of 15 passes for 133 yards and two touchdowns before leaving with an ankle injury. That means whoever is coaching the Redskins next year might already have his quarterback. The Redskins are going to have a premium draft pick and might decide on Ohio State defensive end Chase Young, who is more of a sure thing than any of the quarterbacks who will be available.

30. Detroit Lions

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(3-11-1. Last week: 29)

Things continued to get worse for Detroit with a 27-17 loss to Denver. That was to be expected because the Lions are down to third-string quarterback David Blough, who totaled just 117 passing yards and took four sacks against the Broncos. This season has long been over for the Lions. But the real story here is about next season. Ownership came out last week and firmly said that coach Matt Patricia will be back for a third year and general manager Bob Quinn also will return. That’s somewhat surprising since Patricia’s tenure has been a disaster, and there haven’t been many signs of progress. But I can see the case for giving Patricia another year. He deserves a shot to see what he can do with quarterback Matthew Stafford healthy all season. If Patricia can’t win with Stafford, then it will be time to move on.

29. Jacksonville Jaguars

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(5-10. Last week: 27)

The Jaguars made news last week by firing executive vice president Tom Coughlin. Some assume that means coach Doug Marrone and general manager Dave Caldwell are safe for next season, but that’s not necessarily the case. Marrone has lost 21 of 31 games since taking the Jaguars to the AFC Championship Game after the 2017 season. Coughlin’s firing was about more than the team’s record. It was a reaction by owner Shad Kahn after the NFL Players Association issued a warning to players about signing with the Jaguars due to a high number of grievances against the organization. Those issues were a poor reflection on Coughlin. But the team’s poor record is a reflection on Marrone and Caldwell. Kahn might be better off cleaning house and starting over again.

28. Miami Dolphins

Jasen Vinlove-USA TODAY Sports

(4-11. Last week: 30)

Remember back early in the season when everyone thought the Dolphins were purposely losing to acquire better draft picks? At first, it seemed to be true, but they were just good enough to win their way out of the top pick — and it was fitting that their overtime win against Cincinnati helped the Bengals clinch the No. 1 pick. Miami stuck with veteran quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick over second-year pro Josh Rosen most of the season. That was pointless, because Fitzpatrick is no long-term answer for a team that needs a major rebuild. By missing out on the No. 1 pick, the Dolphins apparently will miss out on consensus No. 1 quarterback prospect Joe Burrow. They probably still will draft a quarterback. Instead of Burrow, it likely will be Alabama’s Tua Tagovailoa or Oregon’s Justin Herbert.

27. New York Giants

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(4-11. Last week: 28)

Sure, the Giants are 4-11, and Sunday’s victory against a bad Washington team came in overtime. But I’m going to go way out on a limb and declare the Giants the favorite to win the NFC East in 2020. Seriously. Why? The Giants have the brightest future of the bunch. You could see Sunday that the Giants are set at quarterback and running back for the long term. Rookie quarterback Daniel Jones returned from injury and threw for 352 yards and five touchdowns. Second-year running back Saquon Barkley ran for 189 yards and a touchdown and caught four passes for 90 yards and another touchdown. Jones and Barkley could be superstars. Sure, there’s plenty of work to be done on the defense, at receiver and on the offensive line. But Jones and Barkley give the Giants hope and something to build around. Their presence and promise probably is enough to keep coach Pat Shurmur employed.

26. Carolina Panthers

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(5-10. Last week: 25)

Perhaps the most insightful NFL quote of the week came from veteran Carolina tight end Greg Olsen, who has a bright future in broadcasting. After an embarrassing loss to Indianapolis, Olsen put Carolina’s situation into perfect context.

“It’s a really tough way to operate,” Olsen said. “Players are underperforming. It’s right now a very collective failure, organizationally a failure.”

The Panthers might be in the most disarray they’ve been in since coach George Seifert’s final year, a 1-15 season in 2001. Interim coach Perry Fewell hasn’t come close to winning a game since taking over when Ron Rivera was fired. It’s become obvious that Fewell will not get the permanent job. Owner David Tepper has to go out and find the right guy. If general manager Marty Hurney sticks around and has any input, his track record suggest he’ll favor a rising coordinator and not a former head coach or a college coach.

25. Los Angeles Chargers

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(5-10. Last week: 23)

The Chargers lost to the Raiders on Sunday, but the big story here came in the postgame. Veteran quarterback Philip Rivers told reporters he wants to continue playing. Rivers is 38 and in the final year of his contract.

“I’m capable enough physically and mentally, there’s no question,” Rivers said. “Yes, I do want to play football. I do, and that’s how I feel deep down as I stand here.”

But the bigger question is do the Chargers want Rivers back? Despite all he’s done for the franchise through the years, Rivers has endured a bad season. His 18 interceptions rank second in the NFL to Jameis Winston’s 28. The Chargers have been one of the league’s most disappointing teams and haven’t developed much of a fan base in Los Angeles. They’ll be moving into a new stadium next year, and it might be time for an infusion of excitement at quarterback, whether through the draft or via free agency.

32-25 | 24-17 | 16-9 | 8-1

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Report: HC Doug Marrone, GM Dave Caldwell have a “good chance” to return to Jags in 2020

The Jags may not make a head coaching or general manager change in 2020 with Tom Coughlin now out of the picture.

Despite football executive Tom Coughlin being fired, Jacksonville Jaguars coach Doug Marrone has stressed that he’s focused on fighting for his job with just two games left. If he has a strong showing in the process, it appears both he and Dave Caldwell will keep their jobs in 2020, according to NFL insider Ian Rapoport.

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With Black Monday just over a week away, Rapoport stated something fans already knew and that was the fact that Coughlin didn’t make anyone’s job easier, including that of Marrone and probably Caldwell, too. For that reason, owner Shad Khan wants to see how the two do without Coughlin making the atmosphere tense.

Rapoport is right about how detrimental Coughlin was for the organization as he chased away some solid players, most notably Jalen Ramsey. However, several players have come out to say they appreciated Marrone’s communication with them throughout the year, with the most recent being Leonard Fournette. Their respect for Marrone also was on display in last Sunday’s game against the Oakland Raiders, as they went out and fought hard for him and got the victory.

As for Caldwell, it’s very possible Coughlin made some decisions that he didn’t agree with. Shelling out a boatload of money to Nick Foles in free-agency may be at the top of the list and the handling of the top-3 picks from Caldwell’s 2016 class (which consisted of Ramsey, Myles Jack, and Yannick Ngakoue) also may not be something he was happy with.

Personally, I think the Jags should pull off a clean sweep because making half measure changes has never worked for them. They did it in the past by keeping Caldwell and firing Gus Bradley, and prior to that by keeping general manager Gene Smith and pairing him with Mike Mularkey. Both situations ended up being catastrophic and the Jags have only had one winning season during Khan’s whole tenure.

Additionally, the Jags have looked very unprepared since coming from their bye week. They went through a stretch where they lost five games by 17 points or more, which hadn’t been done since the 80s. Sure, a lot of that was a result of Todd Wash’s struggles as a defensive coordinator, but it isn’t as if the Jags have looked good on offense either through the stretch.

Jags Wire Podcast: Discussions on Tom Coughlin’s firing and why it was overdue

With it being a while since our last recording, Jags Wire contributor Jacob DeLawrence and myself decided to head to the lab for a brief recording on the firing of Tom Coughlin. Here at Jags Wire we’ve been on record for saying the move was one that …

With it being a while since our last recording, Jags Wire contributor Jacob DeLawrence and myself decided to head to the lab for a brief recording on the firing of Tom Coughlin. Here at Jags Wire we’ve been on record for saying the move was one that long should’ve been made and went into details as to why.

Additionally, we discussed what Shad Khan’s biggest problem has been since running the franchise and what needs to be done to fix it.

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Report: Tom Coughlin, Jags front office ended contract talks prematurely with Yannick Ngakoue

Albert Breer shares some insight on how Yannick Ngakoue’s contract extension went this summer.

Since his firing on Wednesday (and even earlier in the week), a lot has surfaced about the way Tom Coughlin ran things in the Jacksonville Jaguars’ front office and fans have been rightfully sounding off. Unfortunately, some of the standout players that he’s angered the most are no longer with the team, which is exactly why fans should be glad that defensive end Yannick Ngakoue lasted through Coughlin’s tenure.

One of the biggest topics of the season was Yannick Ngakoue’s contract situation. In July, there was a report that surfaced stating the Jags shot him a short-term offer worth $19 million per year. However, thanks to Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated, we now have some info on how the negotiation process went down.

In a nutshell, it wasn’t pretty.

Just before training camp last summer, Coughlin declared that the Jags had made their final and best offer to pass-rusher Yannick Ngakoue. The problem? It was late July, and negotiations were still in the early stages, having only started earlier that month. And the comments sufficiently angered Ngakoue, who was planning on reporting to training camp, to the point where he launched a training camp holdout instead. And this was a player that the team wanted to sign.

Back in May, Ngakoue told the media he wouldn’t holdout for organized team activities or any offseason events afterward, but ended up doing so anyway. We now know he had a more than valid reason to do so based on Breer’s report.

As most are aware, it takes a little time to iron out a deal like the one Ngakoue has/had earned at the time. That said, there feels like there was a lack of effort on the Jags’ end when reading these statements. Meanwhile, it seems as though they had no problems putting together long-term deals for players brought in from other organizations like quarterback Nick Foles and guard Andrew Norwell. That’s not a good look by any means.

It also makes sense that the details behind the short-term deal in which was shot Ngakoue’s way would “leak.” With Coughlin out of the picture, however, fans should feel a little more comfortable about Ngakoue’s chances to stay.

Tom Coughlin treated the Jaguars like children, and destroyed an up-and-coming team

Tom Coughlin changed the clocks on the wall, more proof that he is ill-equipped to manage anything, let alone an NFL franchise.

Tom Coughlin was fired by the Jacksonville Jaguars this week. Owner Shad Khan issued a statement that said he was planning on moving on from Coughlin at the end of the season, but due to a slew of stories about Coughlin’s behavior running the Jaguars, he decided to end the relationship ahead of schedule.

The stories about Coughlin are damning. The NFLPA won a decision this week against Coughlin, who tried to mandate that they receive all offseason medical treatment at the team facility, and then fined players when they did not. There were other fines, too, not to mention the whole thing of Coughlin destroying the Jaguars’ cap space and future prospects.

And then there was the story on Friday: After Coughlin’s departure, team officials went around the building and re-set all the clocks to the correct time, as Coughlin had set them all 5-15 minutes ahead of time to ensure players would show up on time.

Some old timey folks, I imagine, will think this is clever. It’s not.

This is moronic. Coughlin isn’t teaching responsibility by changing the clocks on the wall. He’s tricking people. He’s treating them like children. These are grown professionals who have shown the hard work and dedication to make it as pro athletes in the hardest and most competitive football league in the world, and he’s changing clocks on the walls to try and trick them into showing up on time for meetings.

This isn’t management. This is infantilization. Apparently Coughlin used to run this back in his Giants days, and I’ll say it: It was idiotic then and it’s idiotic now. I don’t care if he found success that way.

Trevor Ruszkowski-USA TODAY Sports

There’s a difference between running a tight ship and being draconian. Coughlin crossed the line so many times it’s sort of stunning no one said anything earlier.

And, with the Jaguars? He didn’t find success that way. They’re 5-11 this year, a wasted season for a team a lot of people thought were going to be competitive.

Good managers identify what people need to succeed and empower them to do great things. They also hold them accountable when needed.

Setting clocks back and forcing players to get medical treatment that you approve of isn’t holding people accountable. It’s saying they can be responsible for themselves in the first place. It’s treating them not as hard working professionals, but as children.

Coughlin should be done with football, and managing people in general.

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5 mistakes that hurt Jags during Tom Coughlin’s tenure as EVP of Football Operations

Tom Coughlin made a lot of costly mistakes with the Jags and not bringing back Allen Robinson was one of them.

The Jacksonville Jaguars were the talk of the NFL Wednesday after they decided to relieve Tom Coughlin of his duties as the team’s front office leader. He had been with the team since 2017 and was brought in to help get the franchise on the right track. He was able to do that during his first year, however, his formula proved not to be a sustainable way to win.

Along the way, there were also crucial mistakes made that ultimately prevented success for the franchise. Here are the five most significant ones that Coughlin had his hand in:

Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports

5. Not keeping WR Allen Robinson

One of the unfortunate trends fans witnessed during Coughlin’s run was him letting good players go. The first of those players was receiver Allen Robinson, who is still finding a way to be successful despite the struggles of Mitch Trubisky over with the Chicago Bears.

In an interview from February with ESPN 690AM, Robinson revealed that he and the Jags were“decently close” to a contract extension before the 2017 season, and in looking back at things in hindsight, life could’ve been better for Coughlin if the Jags would’ve just sweetened the pot. Sure, they presently have a stud in D.J. Chark, but most fans tend to agree the Jags need a No. 2 beside him as Dede Westbrook and Chris Conley haven’t wowed anyone this year.

Now, the Jags will enter the offseason with the need for an explosive playmaker next to Chark when the fact of the matter is that it’s possible he could’ve been paired with Robinson for years to come.

Could you guys imagine that duo? I certainly could.

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Searching for the logic in Bruce Allen’s continued employment with the Redskins

All signs point towards an expected dismissal of team president Bruce Allen, but Daniel Snyder has refused to pull the trigger as of yet.

Many fans of the Washington Redskins are probably scrolling through their newsfeed today and reading about the Jacksonville Jaguars’ firing of Tom Coughlin — the team’s top executive — with envy, and a hint of resentment.

It’s THAT easy to rid of a front office decision-maker? All you have to do is recognize that the team didn’t improve under his watch and has failed to build a solid foundation for the future, and then you can just fire him? Why haven’t we done that?

Why is Bruce Allen still employed by the Redskins?!

The answer is unclear. After 10 years in Washington, with a 62-98-1 regular-season record, Bruce Allen is still the Team President of the Redskins. Why has owner Daniel Snyder not moved on from him yet? The team is in disarray, the fanbase is dwindling, ticket-sales are plummeting, and a new head coach needs to be hired this offseason — one who is unlikely to take the job should Allen remain, unless they are desperate to get back into the coaching game. What’s the rationale there?

This may seem like an abundance of questions right off the top, but when you don’t have any answers, all you can do is keep asking questions until something starts to make sense. So far, we’re still searching for the logic in all of this.

In 2009, Snyder fired front office leader Vinny Cerrato, who had failed to right the ship in Washington and had caused multitudes of unrest in the fan base. Sound familiar? With just a couple of weeks left in the regular season, Allen was dubbed the savior of the Redskins, and the fanbase rejoiced. Many were optimistic at the prospect of a new general manager coming in and repairing the locker room while focussing on the roster talent in a much-needed way.

Deja Vu? If I were to take the last paragraph and make slight edits to the date and the name, it could easily be pasted into an article that might come out in a few weeks, should Snyder decide to give Allen the ax. Look at this quote that The Athletic‘s Ben Standig dug up from SB Nation on the day that Cerrato was fired, and tell me it doesn’t sound familiar.

“Redskins fans across the country are waking up to the greatest news they could’ve possible (sic) heard about their disappointing team: VP Vinny Cerrato, the man in charge of making the horrid personnel decisions for the franchise, has resigned. For many Skins fans… the dismissal of Cerrato was the only good that could’ve come from this season. Now that it’s really happening, it makes the 3-win year feel like a winning season.”

This isn’t a new spot for the Washington Redskins to be in, they’ve had to make this type of decision before. But for some reason, this time around, Snyder seems reluctant to pull the trigger, and both Allen and the fanbase as a whole are waiting with bated breath.

Will it happen before the regular season ends, or the 2020 season begins? Who knows, we don’t have the answers; we’re still searching for the logic in all of this, and coming up short.

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Jalen Ramsey reacts to Tom Coughlin being fired with two emojis

Here’s how Jalen Ramsey reacted to Tom Coughin being fired by the Jaguars.

The Jacksonville Jaguars made the decision Wednesday to fire Tom Coughlin as executive vice president of football operations. He only spent two-plus years in the position with Jacksonville, which did not go well, to say the least.

Jalen Ramsey caught wind of the news and shared a cryptic tweet in response to Coughlin’s firing. He only needed two emojis to make his point.

Ramsey made his opinion of Coughlin and the Jaguars organization very clear after he was traded to the Rams. The front office wasn’t happy about Ramsey working out on his own away from the team during the offseason, which the All-Pro corner didn’t appreciate.

The Jaguars have regressed significantly since reaching the AFC championship in 2017, making several changes to the roster in the process. They traded Ramsey, moved on from Blake Bortles, signed Nick Foles to a huge contract and dealt Dante Fowler Jr. to the Rams.

Ramsey doesn’t seem upset about Coughlin’s firing, saying everything he needed to with that one tweet.

Jags fire Tom Coughlin

The Jags have begun their process to rebuild their franchise as Tom Coughlin was fired Thursday.

With just two games remaining and the NFLPA calling them out, most felt that the Jacksonville Jaguars would be parting ways from Executive Vice President of Football Operations, Tom Coughlin, by the end of the season. However, it appears they didn’t want to prolong the situation any more.

Wednesday evening owner, Shad Khan issues a statement announcing that Coughlin had been fired, leaving their EVP role vacant for the moment.

Coughlin’s firing came after the NFLPA won two grievances against the Jags this week by former defensive end Dante Fowler Jr. and running back Leonard Fournette. The Jags also could be dealing with others as the NFLPA reported that the Jags account for 25% of recent grievances that have occurred recently in the NFL.

Fowler’s grievance was the first of the week to occur as the team violated the Collective Bargaining Agreement by wrongfully fining him over $700,000 for rehabbing away from the team’s facility in the offseason. Fournette, on the other hand, won a grievance for $99,000 after the Jags fined him for being inactive due to an ankle injury in 2018’s season finale against the Houston Texans.

In addition to his issues with the NFLPA, Coughlin failed to put a winning product on the field since being hired in 2017. While the team was a game away from the Super Bowl in 2017, they’ve regressed mightily since, accumulating a record of 10-20 over the course of the last two seasons. Add in the cap issues and bad calls at the quarterback position, and it would seem that Khan simply had no choice to move on as the Jags’ fanbase have grown very disappointed with how things have gone.