2014-2015 NFL Football thread

[Chisoxfn]

Jeez. If the Bears have already pretty much told him the job is his why are they doing this song and pony dance?Why do the Bears have to be so predictably inept? Why am I asking these questions? What am I going to eat for lunch today?

Doesn't mean Bears have hired him yet. He just might not be interested in Jets or may feel like he doesn't have a good shot with Jets and Jets have preference of someone else. All I know is Ballard's resume is very impressive and I am totally on board with his hire. I presume he will be hired but you still have to go through the motions.

[shipps]

I am guessing you will have chili

 

Nope LOL

 

Ate out over the weekend so no chili experiment yet.

[Boogua]

Demarco Murray is better than Jordy Nelson + Eddie Lacy. lol, alrighty then

I think he meant Murray and Bryant, which would be correct.

[pettie4sox]

I think he meant Murray and Bryant, which would be correct.

 

Yeah but the that QB comparison tho.

[shipps]

Doesn't mean Bears have hired him yet. He just might not be interested in Jets or may feel like he doesn't have a good shot with Jets and Jets have preference of someone else. All I know is Ballard's resume is very impressive and I am totally on board with his hire. I presume he will be hired but you still have to go through the motions.

 

Does he have an impressive resume though? There is far less accomplishments/leadership positions held by Ballard than what Emery had on his resume when he was hired. He may be a great GM but I would really like to stay away from hiring people have have been products of the Bears system. Ballard is definitely a product of the Bears with a lot of influences from past Bear leaders that have been fired for not getting the job done. He is a hot name but I would have liked to see the Bears to make a bold move to change the course of this thing and I am not sold that Ballard is the guy to do that.

[bigruss]

Does he have an impressive resume though? There is far less accomplishments/leadership positions held by Ballard than what Emery had on his resume when he was hired. He may be a great GM but I would really like to stay away from hiring people have have been products of the Bears system. Ballard is definitely a product of the Bears with a lot of influences from past Bear leaders that have been fired for not getting the job done. He is a hot name but I would have liked to see the Bears to make a bold move to change the course of this thing and I am not sold that Ballard is the guy to do that.

Isn't that what Emery did with Trestman? I'm only half joking here.

[Chisoxfn]

Does he have an impressive resume though? There is far less accomplishments/leadership positions held by Ballard than what Emery had on his resume when he was hired. He may be a great GM but I would really like to stay away from hiring people have have been products of the Bears system. Ballard is definitely a product of the Bears with a lot of influences from past Bear leaders that have been fired for not getting the job done. He is a hot name but I would have liked to see the Bears to make a bold move to change the course of this thing and I am not sold that Ballard is the guy to do that.

Significant experience coaching & scouting, has had higher responsibility for the Chiefs than Emery ever had. Emery was basically a scout...Ballard has been far more involved in real personnel decisions and has a far greater appreciation for what it takes to coach and what players listen to, etc. Supposed to be a very good people person as well and has earned rave reviews from Accorsi and Polian and NFL network analysts have referred to him as a "rockstar" GM candidate based upon what they have heard about him.

 

I also think Bowles would be a fantastic hire, although he presumably is a done deal to the Falcons (or at least a heavy Falcon lean). I think Bowles is the best new coaching candidate out their. I am curious to hear who these coaches have tabbed to be their assistants.

[Chisoxfn]

Isn't that what Emery did with Trestman? I'm only half joking here.

Working with Angelo isn't a bad thing, either. Angelo built a superbowl team during half of his tenure in Chicago and stuff got worse after the superbowl run when Lovie became more powerful. Angelo also had an extremely successful tenure in Tampa and was given a ton of credit for being the guy who built the Bucs. I realize the popular thing is to hate on Angelo but Angelo had a very successful career as an NFL executive. I also think stability is important in a franchise and I think we should be lucky that such a rockstar candidate happened to spend a significant portion of his time with Chicago to the point that he really wants to come here and our ownership has a level of comfort with him which might help make this a really long-term move, which would be exactly the type of thing that we will need to get this football team to levels it hasn't since in 30 years.

[shipps]

Significant experience coaching & scouting, has had higher responsibility for the Chiefs than Emery ever had. Emery was basically a scout...Ballard has been far more involved in real personnel decisions and has a far greater appreciation for what it takes to coach and what players listen to, etc. Supposed to be a very good people person as well and has earned rave reviews from Accorsi and Polian and NFL network analysts have referred to him as a "rockstar" GM candidate based upon what they have heard about him.

 

I also think Bowles would be a fantastic hire, although he presumably is a done deal to the Falcons (or at least a heavy Falcon lean). I think Bowles is the best new coaching candidate out their. I am curious to hear who these coaches have tabbed to be their assistants.

 

I initially wanted and offensive HC but the more I have heard on him and the more I have thought about it I am totally sold on Bowles. In fact, I will be really disappointed if they are not able to get him.

[Chisoxfn]

I initially wanted and offensive HC but the more I have heard on him and the more I have thought about it I am totally sold on Bowles. In fact, I will be really disappointed if they are not able to get him.

Prepare to be disappointed. He's going to be the first guy grabbed, imo, and its going to happen fast. We don't offer the same package a 49ers or Falcons offer, so the key would be somehow getting our GM in place to at least make a pitch and hope he can sell them. All that said, I want our GM in first no matter what. They need to be comfortable with the head coach and our GM also has to be able to bring in good football people around him.

 

I am also on board with the Toub idea, however, that is as long as he has the right coordinators in mind for the OC / DC position. He should know a lot of people through his years in the league so I presume it won't be an issue.

[MexSoxFan#1]

35-17.

 

Bank it! I'm thinking more it'll be a late TD by the Boys to bring it that close.

I think GB will pull it out but to make it interesting, I got Dallas 28-27.

[Chisoxfn]

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nfl-shutdown...-232115184.html

 

Great article on why Cutler / Trestman offense didn't work by Greg Cosell. A little dated but I hadn't seen it and don't think it had been posted here.

[lasttriptotulsa]

By curb stomping yo must mean the game would be over well before the 4th quarter I assume? I think the Cowboys will be in the game well into the 4th quarter. IMO, the Pack's D is a bit overrated while the Cowboys D isn't as bad as most think. The Cowboys are 8-0 as a road team while the Pack haven't been a lock at Lambeau (recent playoffs) as they once were, Rodgers is easily better than Romo but it's not like he's a scrub either and DBryant, DMurray is better than GB's top WR and RB combo. The 'Boys have a legit shot.

 

Who cares what the Packers did in previous playoffs at home. It has no baring on this game. The 2014 Packers were one of the most dominate teams at home in NFL history. Sure the Cowboys were 8-0 on the road but they played a cream puff schedule with just one game against a playoff team and the teams overall averaged just 6 wins. The Packers at home beat 3 playoff teams and the teams overall averaged better than 8 wins. Even with the much tougher schedule the Packers beat their opponents by better than 19 points per game while the Cowboys beat their opponents by just under 12 points per game.

 

As a Packer fan I think this will be a good game but I'm not really worried about the Packers' ability to pull it out. I think Dallas is a bit overrated. They played just 3 games total against this years playoff teams.

[Soxfest]

Significant experience coaching & scouting, has had higher responsibility for the Chiefs than Emery ever had. Emery was basically a scout...Ballard has been far more involved in real personnel decisions and has a far greater appreciation for what it takes to coach and what players listen to, etc. Supposed to be a very good people person as well and has earned rave reviews from Accorsi and Polian and NFL network analysts have referred to him as a "rockstar" GM candidate based upon what they have heard about him.

 

I also think Bowles would be a fantastic hire, although he presumably is a done deal to the Falcons (or at least a heavy Falcon lean). I think Bowles is the best new coaching candidate out their. I am curious to hear who these coaches have tabbed to be their assistants.

Accorsi also said Mark Trestman is a great leader of man in his scouting report. Missed that by a mile.

[MexSoxFan#1]

Who cares what the Packers did in previous playoffs at home. It has no baring on this game. The 2014 Packers were one of the most dominate teams at home in NFL history. Sure the Cowboys were 8-0 on the road but they played a cream puff schedule with just one game against a playoff team and the teams overall averaged just 6 wins. The Packers at home beat 3 playoff teams and the teams overall averaged better than 8 wins. Even with the much tougher schedule the Packers beat their opponents by better than 19 points per game while the Cowboys beat their opponents by just under 12 points per game.

 

As a Packer fan I think this will be a good game but I'm not really worried about the Packers' ability to pull it out. I think Dallas is a bit overrated. They played just 3 games total against this years playoff teams.

Not interested in a back and forth since I'm not a Cowboys fan in the least but Dallas did beat this year's NFC eventual champs in Seattle while GB got their asses handed to them by the Seahawks...just saying.

[bmags]

There seems to be a lot of commentary praising George for committing himself to learning the business the last two years.

 

I have to say I'm disturbed by that. Do you mean to tell me that you are part of the 5 or so families in North America who operate an NFL football franchise and have refused to get actual presidents to run the thing, and in all that time, despite access to learn, you did not bother? What the hell!

[pettie4sox]

Not interested in a back and forth since I'm not a Cowboys fan in the least but Dallas did beat this year's NFC eventual champs in Seattle while GB got their asses handed to them by the Seahawks...just saying.

 

LMAO and you ending it with that statement is most certaintly not going to end this.

[Kyyle23]

There seems to be a lot of commentary praising George for committing himself to learning the business the last two years.

 

I have to say I'm disturbed by that. Do you mean to tell me that you are part of the 5 or so families in North America who operate an NFL football franchise and have refused to get actual presidents to run the thing, and in all that time, despite access to learn, you did not bother? What the hell!

 

There is so much we dont know about George before he assumed control though. What if he was working for another company and just assumed that his brother was going to continue to run the business? It wasnt like it was a planned move, from all accounts people expected Mike to handle it until he went full boob and botched a coach hire.

[bmags]

There is so much we dont know about George before he assumed control though. What if he was working for another company and just assumed that his brother was going to continue to run the business? It wasnt like it was a planned move, from all accounts people expected Mike to handle it until he went full boob and botched a coach hire.

 

Yeah that's a possibility. I just imagine I'd be really into football.

[MexSoxFan#1]

LMAO and you ending it with that statement is most certaintly not going to end this.

Just replying to his post

[Harry Chappas]

There is so much we dont know about George before he assumed control though. What if he was working for another company and just assumed that his brother was going to continue to run the business? It wasnt like it was a planned move, from all accounts people expected Mike to handle it until he went full boob and botched a coach hire.

 

He was in charge of ticket sales for 20 years so he really had nothing to do but learn the business as selling tickets to the Bears is kind of like selling water in the desert.

 

That organization is a clown car.

[dasox24]

Prepare to be disappointed. He's going to be the first guy grabbed, imo, and its going to happen fast. We don't offer the same package a 49ers or Falcons offer, so the key would be somehow getting our GM in place to at least make a pitch and hope he can sell them. All that said, I want our GM in first no matter what. They need to be comfortable with the head coach and our GM also has to be able to bring in good football people around him.

 

I am also on board with the Toub idea, however, that is as long as he has the right coordinators in mind for the OC / DC position. He should know a lot of people through his years in the league so I presume it won't be an issue.

I've been on the Bowles bandwagon since very early in the season.

 

As for the Toub idea, I'm not opposed to it either. The ST coach to Head Coach jump isn't that far of a stretch. Jim Harbaugh was a ST coach before his Ravens job. Marv Levy was a ST coach too. There aren't a ton of examples b/c the NFL puts such a huge emphasis on Offense and Defense (while Special Teams is routinely an afterthought), but Head Coaches need to be more manager types anyway.

 

First, he's a leader. Anyone who can, year-in and year-out, bring together a group of random guys to consistently be the best in the league is someone who can lead.

 

Sidenote: don't let the press fool you; DeCamillis isn't the only one who dealt with young players on special teams. Newsflash: that's how football (especially the NFL) works. You play young guys on STs. Toub got one guy ever year he could pick and then a bunch of other dudes.

 

Secondly, of course, he would fix our abysmal special teams. And I do think that having been around as long as he has, he surely has some good connections for OC/DC positions.

[justBLAZE]

Ballard / Toub a very possible GM / coach duo for the Bears according to Jeremy Stoltz on twitter.

[Kyyle23]

It's being reported that Ballard has been offered the job and is likely to accept.

 

Good thing they paid Accorsi to do his thing

[Chisoxfn]

I've been on the Bowles bandwagon since very early in the season.

 

As for the Toub idea, I'm not opposed to it either. The ST coach to Head Coach jump isn't that far of a stretch. Jim Harbaugh was a ST coach before his Ravens job. Marv Levy was a ST coach too. There aren't a ton of examples b/c the NFL puts such a huge emphasis on Offense and Defense (while Special Teams is routinely an afterthought), but Head Coaches need to be more manager types anyway.

 

First, he's a leader. Anyone who can, year-in and year-out, bring together a group of random guys to consistently be the best in the league is someone who can lead.

 

Sidenote: don't let the press fool you; DeCamillis isn't the only one who dealt with young players on special teams. Newsflash: that's how football (especially the NFL) works. You play young guys on STs. Toub got one guy ever year he could pick and then a bunch of other dudes.

 

Secondly, of course, he would fix our abysmal special teams. And I do think that having been around as long as he has, he surely has some good connections for OC/DC positions.

I agree with everything you said. And given I was on the DeCamillis sucks bandwagon from like the 3rd week of the 1st season, I certainly never bought any of those BS arguments, haha.