Category: NFL

NFL Hot Seat Rankings

Another one bites the dust, with Dennis Allen being fired by the Saints. NFL head coach hot seat rankings heading into Week 10:

1 Doug Pederson – Jaguars

Pederson is a good coach. However, this team is too talented to be 2-7, especially after giving their QB a massive contract this offseason. If they don’t get it together, they’ll move off him.

2 Mike McCarthy – Cowboys

The Cowboys and McCarthy seem to be at a pass. They have disappointed in the postseason the past couple seasons and this year is already looking like a letdown. If they don’t make the playoffs, they’ll likely “mutually part ways.”

3 Matt Eberflus – Bears

This team should be playing much better and the main blame lies with coaching. Eberflus has not done a good job and it’s starting to hurt their rookie QB Caleb Williams.

4 Brian Daboll – Giants

Daboll is a good coach, but the Giants are a bad team. Unfortunately, he could be a casualty of bad roster decisions made by the front office.

Top 10 QBs

Below are our top 10 QBs in the NFL. I am not solely basing it off this year, but instead the last couple of years plus how I think they’ll perform moving forward.

1. Patrick Mahomes, Kansas City Chiefs

The gap between him and everyone else is not a big as it was entering this year. But, if you had to pick one guy, you’re picking Mahomes.

2. Lamar Jackson, Baltimore Ravens

He’s one of the most gifted players in NFL history and he’s playing as well as he ever has.

3. Josh Allen, Buffalo Bills

He quietly is having his best season ever. The knock on him has always been his turnovers. This year he has 20 TDs and just 4 TOs.

4. Joe Burrow, Cincinnati Bengals

Despite his teams record, he is putting up great numbers with 20 TDs to just 4 INTs.

5. Justin Herbert, Los Angeles Chargers

Injuries have limited him, but he still is playing great football for the new look Chargers.

6. Jared Goff, Detroit Lions

This guy simply balls out under the radar. The Lions might be the best team in football and he is a big reason why. He’s completing 74.9% of his passes and has 17 incompletions and 11 TDs his past 5 games.

7. CJ Stroud, Houston Texans

In just his 2nd year, he is already a franchise QB. He can lead this team on a great postseason run.

8. Jalen Hurts, Philadelphia Eagles

Hurts is supremely talented and I’m a big believer in what he can do in the air and on the ground.

9. Baker Mayfield, Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Baker loves to prove people wrong and he’s doing that with the Bucs. He’s a little bit of a gunslinger, but’s its works out more than it doesn’t.

10. Kirk Cousins, Atlanta Falcons

He continues to be an underrated player and is still balling out at age 36.

NFL Power Rankings

1. Detroit Lions (7-1)

2. Kansas City Chiefs (8-0)

3. Baltimore Ravens (6-3)

4. Buffalo Bills (7-2)

5. Washington Commanders (7-2)

6. Houston Texans (6-3)

7. Philadelphia Eagles (6-2)

8. Minnesota Vikings (6-2)

9. Green Bay Packers (6-3)

10. San Francisco 49ers (4-4)

NFL Week 9 Reaction

New England Patriots (2-7) @ Tennessee Titans (2-6)

Another game the Pats could have won that they let slip away.

Maye had such an up and down game. Starting with the bad, he had 2 really bad interceptions, a third pass that should have been picked off, and a costly. fumble. He also is still not doing a good job sliding, risking further injury.

On the good side, he once again was great at moving in the pocket and scrambling (96 yards rushing). He was accurate and led the Pats on a great end of game drive to tie the game. That play at the end of regulation showed off his skills- he scrambled around in the pocket and made a great throw under pressure.

The offensive line and rush game continued to struggle and we had too many penalties.

Our defense once again did not play very well and gave up almost 400 yards to one of the worst offenses in the league. One silver lining is they toughened up in the red zone.

Marcus Jones continues to be the best punt returner in the league. The Pats should unleash him on offense like Belichick used to.

Detroit Lions (7-1) @ Green Bay Packers (6-3)

The Lions are dynamic all over. Dan Campbell’s aggression just works so well with the roster he has. This team continues to roll and look great doing it.

Jordan Love’s injury hampered him a lot. That plus his gunslinger mentality led to some bad plays including that last second pick 6 at the end of the first half. The bad weather also seemed to hurt the Packers more than the Lions.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers (5-4) @ Kansas City Chiefs (8-0)

This turned into an entertaining, high-scoring game. The Bucs put up a ton of fight and almost upset the Chiefs. In typical Chief’s fashion, they found a way to win like they always do.

It’s reassuring for the Chiefs to see a high octane offense return and have Kelce, Hopkins, Mahomes, and Hunt all play well. One area if conern is how serious Mahomes’ knee injury is.

The Bucs fall to 4-5, but are much better than their record says.

Game/Betting Picks Results

Game: 2-1 (21-12 This Season) (59-28 All-Time)

Spread: 2-0-1 (20-11-2) (59-25-3)

O/U: 1-2 (16-17) (45-41-1)

Tom Brady vs Patriot’s QBs TDs since 2020

Of all the sad stats the Pats have put up the past 5 seasons, this may be the saddest.

Tom Brady played 50 regular season games for the Buccaneers from 2020-2022. In those 50 games, he threw for 108 passing TDs.

Since TB12 left, the Pats have played 76 regular season games. In those games, Pats QBs have combined to throw for 92 TD passes.

So in 26 more games, Patriots QBs have thrown 16 fewer TDs. How long will it take Pats QBs to catch up to Brady’s production? They are currently on pace to do it 14 games from now (Week 6 of next season).

This will continue to be updated throughout the season.

Anthony Richardson Situation

The Anthony Richardson situation is interesting. Their benching of him means they have either given up on him or are committing to develop him. If they are giving up on him, that is way too early. He has only started 10 games in the NFL and started 13 games in college. We all knew he was a project QB who had tons of talent but needed to be developed. Giving up on him so soon would be a terrible front office decision. If they want to develop him, that makes sense, but right now we don’t know what’s happening

Richardson and Bryce Young’s situations show teams seem more willing to give up on young QBs early. I think owners know there is so much money to be made and you need a great QB to be a great team. With so many good QBs coming into the NFL each year, teams are not going to be patient. 8 Pro Bowl Qbs have been drafted since the 2020 NFL draft. And 4 of the rookie QBs drafted this year already look better than Richardson and Young. I think this is scaring the Colts and Panthers into potentially giving up too soon.

I think teams should give QBs 3 years to develop. Year 1 is about getting experience, whether playing or sitting behind someone else. You only give up after 1 year if their personality is so bad, everyone in the building dislikes them. By the end of Year 2, they need to show flashes of being great. If not, you can move on. By the end of Year 3, they should prove they are your franchise QB and you should know if you want to pay them or not.

I think young college QBs will now stay in college longer. Great college QBs can make millions of dollars a year and take out insurance polices that pay tens of millions of dollars if a player is injured. This takes away a lot of the injury risk.

Unless you are a bonafide stud who is ready to play right away, why force the issue? Teams don’t give up on you earlier just because you played more in college. Bo Nix is a great example. He could have gone to the NFL after his junior year when he already had 34 starts. Instead he transferred, stayed 2 more years and developed into a Heisman finalist and first round pick. Halfway through his rookie year, he’s looking pretty good.

15 Minute Blitz Episode 5

Episode 5 of the pod, including our betting picks this weekend

https://open.spotify.com/show/7FRSwrllknwemMVvghqlRQ

https://www.iheart.com/podcast/269-15-minute-blitz-230527724/

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/15-minute-blitz/id1775746291

https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/23d6848d-e967-470e-b1f1-8996bd205feb/15-minute-blitz

NFL Week 9 Predictions

New England Patriots (2-6) @ Tennessee Titans (1-6)

Both teams are dealing with injuries all over the place, notably to their two young QBs. I think the Patriots will win, cover (+3), and the under (39) hits.

Detroit Lions (6-1) @ Green Bay Packers (6-2)

The best game of the week by far. I think the Lions win, cover (-2.5), and the over (48) hits.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers (4-4) @ Kansas City Chiefs (7-0)

The Buccaneers receiving corps was the strength of their team as of two weeks ago, but is now decimated. The Chiefs are tank engine that just keeps rolling. I think the Chiefs win, the Bucs cover (+9), and the under (46) hits.

15 Minute Blitz Episode 4

Episode 4 of the pod, including our betting picks this weekend

https://open.spotify.com/show/7FRSwrllknwemMVvghqlRQ

https://www.iheart.com/podcast/269-15-minute-blitz-230527724/

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/15-minute-blitz/id1775746291

https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/23d6848d-e967-470e-b1f1-8996bd205feb/15-minute-blitz