Will Shurmur Stop the Cleveland Coaching Carousel?
October 12, 2011Follow the Lions Model
October 13, 2011While We’re Waiting serves as the early morning gathering of WFNY-esque information for your viewing pleasure. Have something you think we should see? Send it to our tips email at tips@waitingfornextyear.com.
Mo Clarett on himself- “With all the success I had in my previous seasons, I was heavily recruited. But prior to my senior season I decided to go to Ohio State, and that was heavily because of Coach Tressel. Not a lot of people know, but Ohio State never offered me a scholarship before I committed. Sounds crazy, but I actually called them and told them, “I’m coming.” I knew they would get around to recruiting me, but I just killed the entire process and called them myself.” [Clarett/Grantland]
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One blogger thinks he has the key to beating the Raiders- “As a result, their primary coverage linebacker is Rolando McClain. In 2010, McClain ranked 31st out of 50 qualifying inside linebackers in coverage by ProFootballFocus. This year he’s 40th out of 43. McClain has been targeted 39 times this season and has allowed 30 catches for a league-high 354 yards. His 9.1 yards-allowed-per-target ranks 4th worst among all linebackers with at least 15 balls thrown their direction. This obviously bodes well for Ben Watson, who has been targeted more than any of the Browns receivers this season. But the Browns can further take advantage of this mismatch by getting Evan Moore involved early and often.” [The Brownie Blog]
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Wow. One NBA player came away from the negotiations thinking the lock-out could last more than just this year. Ugh. [Freeman/Ball Don’t Lie]
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This isn’t your father’s NFL- “For years, it has been one of the unwavering tenets, arguably the most critical axiom, on which NFL defenses have operated: Stop the run, and you will likely win. In this the year of the pass, however, the truth in that statement has been hard to find. Of the top 10 teams in the league versus the run, only half have winning records. The ratio isn’t really much better — six clubs on the plus-side of the ledger — for the top 10 defenses against the pass.
It might seem like a conundrum, but players around the NFL just figure you’ve got to play solid enough defense, period, to win. No edge to stuffing the run or the defending against the pass. Keep people out of the end zone, author a few big plays, and try to fend off the offensive onslaught that has marked the outset of the year. And count on the offense — the bottom three teams in the league in overall defense (Buffalo, Oakland, New England) are a cumulative 11-4 — to score enough points.” [Pasquarelli/The OBR]
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Um, what? “An Ohio high school football player has been thrown off the team after using a thumbtack to prick the hands of opposing players during a post-game handshake.” [Amico/FSO]
2 Comments
that article is great on McClain. except that McClain is so doubtful for Sunday (and beyond) that the Raiders have been bringing in FA LBers for tryouts and just traded for Aaron Curry.
then again, if Curry does play, then he might be the worst coverge LB in the NFL (from Yahoo):
Curry allowed eight receptions on eight attempts in his direction for 120 yards, according to STATS LLC. For his career, Curry has allowed 62 catches in 76 attempts for 613 yards and six touchdowns for a 126.6 passer rating.
I miss defense in football. But I think the NFL assumes that a person who is attracted to good defensive football is more than likely a serious enough football fan they they are not likely to quit watching. The move toward offensive freedom, or explosion or whatever has attracted more casual fans, and apparently is helping its bottom line, as the NFL makes about 9 billion a year.
But I just don’t find it as exciting.