Year: 2015

Ryan Tannehill on the way out?

Chris McGlynn Football, NFL

If you are surprised by this headline, you should be. It doesn’t really make a ton of sense. However, this is a legitimate consideration down in South Beach where the Miami Dolphins coaching staff is currently dissecting a 34-15 loss at the hands of the previously winless Kansas City Chiefs. Sure Tannehill didn’t look very good in the game, but I am shocked that I am seeing people calling for him to be replaced. It just does not add up to me that Miami would be looking to pull the plug on Tannehill so soon.

Let’s look at his stats. So far, in Tannehill’s very short career (only 35 games) he has thrown for 7,831 yards (roughly 225 yards per game), 40 touchdowns (just over one per game), 32 interceptions (just under one per game) and has an average quarterback rating of 78.6. Those numbers don’t jump of the page, but you need to look into them a little bit. Tannehill is only beginning his third season in the NFL. His rookie numbers are not that impressive but not many rookie quarterbacks’ are. From year one to year two, Tannehill threw 12 more touchdowns and for over 600 more yards, falling just short of 4,000 for the season. That is a nice improvement for just one year. His quarterback rating also jumped from 76.1 to 81.7. Statistically, there is some hope for him, even if he has had a bit of a rough start to 2014. (Stats from espn.com).

Because his stats are not eye popping in a pass heavy league, people argue that Tannehill is not a suitable quarterback. But can you really blame him for it? His supporting cast has been awful. He had the worst offensive line in football last year as he was sacked a league-high 58 times last year or 3.63 times per game. He also has not had much help in the running game either. The Dolphins ranked 26th in the NFL last season running the football and only mustered eight rushing touchdowns as a team, one coming from Tannehill himself. Then there are the receivers. I don’t really have too many statistics on this one but Tannehill hasn’t had much to work with. He has big play threat Mike Wallace who is a solid receiver but then the drop off following that is enormous. Rookie wide out Jarvis Landry and consistently average Brian Hartline are nice options and Charles Clay is a serviceable tight end but none of them really make Tannehill’s life much easier. They make a couple of plays here and there but none of them is a playmaker in an offense that desperately lacks one.

Now to break down Tannehill’s first games of the season. He looked average in the season opener against New England finishing with a completion percentage of 56.2 and throwing for 178 yards. He did not play great but he made enough plays to help the Dolphins win. The running game finally stepped up and made a difference for him making his life easier. Then the second week against the Bill, the Dolphins offense reverted to 2013 form. Tannehill got sacked 4 times and was asked to throw the ball 49 times as the running game was stagnant all day finishing with only 80 yards (Tannehill had 11 of them) at less than 4 yards a carry. He managed a touchdown pass but he also threw an interception. Despite him not playing well, he was still Miami’s best offensive player. Then yesterday against the Chiefs, Tannehill was truly at fault. He avoided throwing an interception but his completion percentage dropped below 50 and the running game did plenty to help him finishing with 132 yards excluding Tannehill at 6.9 yards a clip. Once again though, Tannehill was sacked four times and definitely felt the pressure.

What this long-winded analysis is trying to get at is that I don’t think it is fair to blame this all on Tannehill. He hasn’t played particularly well to start the year but he is not the only player failing to meet expectations. The running game has been up and down through 3 weeks. He still doesn’t have a go to offensive playmaker and he is still there as one of the most sacked quarterbacks in the game. If Tannehill continues to fail to show up, then maybe it is time to look elsewhere. Otherwise, benching the third year kid for a veteran back up in Matt Moore doesn’t add up. The Dolphins organization already knows what Moore can do and he is not going to be improving any time soon. Tannehill being as young as he is can still get better. If you ask me, they need to stick with this kid a little longer before they declare him a bust.

Monday Night Preview: Week 3

Chris McGlynn Football, NFL

Tonight will wrap up week three of the NFL season as the Chicago Bears visit the New York Jets at MetLife Stadium tonight. This is an inter-conference match up that features one of the NFL’s most potent offenses against one of the league’s best front sevens. This is an important game for both teams as they look to keep pace with the leaders in their division. There is also the interesting storyline of former Jets wide receiver Santonio Holmes returning to play his former team for the first time.

The predictions for this one are all over the place because both teams are so inconsistent. The Bears got shocked at home against Buffalo week one before taking a trip to the San Francisco 49ers new home where they completed a huge second half comeback to win the game late in the fourth quarter. The Jets handled the Raiders at home week one in what was an ugly game for both teams and then traveled to Green Bay where the outplayed the Packers in the first half, before blowing an 18 point lead and overturning their own scoring play, not by penalty but by an ill-advised timeout.

Both teams sit at .500 for the moment, but the Bears definitely have the momentum coming into the game. Quarterback Jay Cutler looked very comfortable in the second half of last week’s game finding his collection of big targets all over the field. Look for Cutler to continue that tonight with Jets cornerback Dee Milliner likely out for the game. Bears’ running back Matt Forte might find it difficult to get going in between the tackles against the Jets’ stout defensive front but if Bears’ coach Marc Trestman is creative with screens and counters, that could get Forte in some space and let him do some damage.

For the Jets, they have had the week to review what went wrong in their meltdown against Green Bay. The Jets’ best chance at hanging around in this game is to pound the Bears with the run. While they have improved from last year, the Bills pushed around the Bears in their first game, which could be a blueprint for success for this other New York team. Defensively, Jets’ coach Rex Ryan is going to have to balance the desire to get after Cutler and his fear of being burned by the likes of Alshon Jeffery, Brandon Marshall and Martellus Bennett. That trio could spell trouble for a depleted New York secondary. Ryan might be better off running a lot of zone concepts in order to protect some of his young corners from going one-on-one with some of the league’s best receivers.

Overall, I think we are going to see two very different styles of offense as the Bears will run screens early and often while looking to take plenty of deep shots. The Jets will focus heavily on running the ball and keeping the ball out of Cutler’s hands. Their passing game will likely focus on short routes and high percentage throws, especially with Jets’ wide out Eric Decker being hobbled. This should be a competitive game but the Bears should prove to be too much for the Jets, as they can’t seem to find enough offensive firepower to support their reeling secondary. Bears win it with a late touchdown to seal the victory 27-17.

Commissionner Goodell speaks on the recent chaos in the NFL

Chris McGlynn Football, NFL, Social Issues

Roger Goodell addressed the media today in a prepared statement regarding the past few weeks of anarchy the NFL has experienced. Goodell was humble and took a large portion of the blame for the mistakes that were made, specifically in the case of Ray Rice. He also addressed many of the steps the NFL has taken so far, including partnering with major domestic violence and sexual assault organizations, and what the NFL still has to do, namely the creation of a public policy committee and the implementation of a new public policy by the Super Bowl. The speech was sincere and Goodell has taken the right steps to correcting this mess but there is still one that he refuses to acknowledge: his resignation as commissioner of the NFL.

Goodell has had his fair share of criticism over the years, from the handling lockout of 2010 to his questionable fines with former linebacker James Harrison to his reinstatement of players with checked pasts (i.e. Michael Vick). Those have all been water under the bridge for the commissioner but yet this time around I don’t think that can be allowed. Roger Goodell absolutely butchered the Ray Rice fiasco. Whether or not he had the infamous video from inside the elevator is inadmissible because he should not have needed it to adequately punish Rice. Not to mention that following the initial two game suspension of Rice, Goodell turned around and suspended the Broncos kicker Matt Prater for twice as long because he had violated the drug policy.

Now, I am not the first one to start calling for Goodell to step down. I believe that started with Kieth Olbermann and was continued this past week as various women’s groups and even some high profile league sponsors including Bud Light and Nike. Yet, Goodell has simply responded and said that he has dealt with criticism before. The most sickening thing so far has been that he has not even contemplated resigning. He made that clear today in his press conference stating that he is more focused on doing his job. That is all well and good if you are proficient at completing said job. And when asked why he thinks he deserves to stay on as commissioner, the first words out of his mouth were, “Because I acknowledged my mistake.” Can someone please tell him that is not how this works? Rice, Panthers defensive end Greg Hardy and Vikings running back Adrian Peterson have all acknowledged their mistakes but hell none of them currently are at their jobs. Goodell should not simply be allowed to determine that he is trying to make up for things now so he should just be given a free pass. This man deserves to be punished for his actions as much as the people he has wrongly been evaluating.

So from here, I really hope that the pressure of these sponsors and other outside groups put enough pressure on Goodell to step down or on the league to fire him. Now the only way that Goodell can actually be fired is if the NFL owners agree to do so. However, the sponsors are in a very unique position of threatening to walk away with all of their money, leaving the league without its largest stream of revenue. So is it possible that Goodell is given his walking papers? Possibly. Is it likely? I sure as hell hope so. There is absolutely no reason that Goodell should been in a position of power right now or ever again for that matter after how poorly he has done exercising the power he currently has.

Alright, I rest my case. I hope that somewhere out there, executives of major companies will read this and realize that this cannot go on. And it pains me to write this. I am a huge football fan and I love watching games every Sunday but right now, it sickens me at poorly run the league I love seems to be. Let me know what you think. I would love to hear opinions on this one.

Monday Night Preview: Week 2

Chris McGlynn Football, NFL

We are minutes away from seeing the finale to the second week of the NFL season. The Philadelphia Eagles have gone on the road to play the Indianapolis Colts in the latter’s home opener.

The Colts are looking avoid starting the season 0-2 after falling short to the reigning AFC champions, the Denver Broncos. Indy’s defense struggled early against Denver and Philadelphia has the team that can exploit that. However, the Eagles needed a miraculous second half last week against another AFC South team in the Jacksonville Jaguars. After being down 17-0 in the first half, the Eagles scored 34 unanswered to pull off the stunning comeback. The Eagles offense had a tougher time than expected running the ball and Nick Foles had a tough time playing mistake free.

What this all means for tonight is we are going to see two teams looking to get off to a good start. Look for Chuck Pagano to get Andrew Luck off to an efficient start early against a porous Eagles secondary. On the opposite side of the ball, look for the Colts to blitz Foles, challenging him to beat them under pressure with a banged up offensive line.

For the Eagles, expect a lot the play to go through their two speedy (shady) running backs. LeSean McCoy and Darren Sproles will be a handful. Also, expect them to get the ball of Foles’ hands quickly with that hurting offensive line. Defensively, the Eagles are going to get creative with their schemes and blitzes trying to confusing Andrew Luck. They know they can bottle up Trent Richardson and that Indy running game.

Expectation: Andrew Luck gets hot late as he always does and proves to be too much for the Eagles secondary. The Eagles try to go too fast a little too often and find that one or two mistakes will kill them. The Colts win in a shootout 34-28.

Round of 16 matchup between Belgium and the United States

Chris McGlynn Soccer, World Cup

The majority of the United States watched today as their men’s national team took on the mighty Germany squad. The U.S. fell to Germany 1-0 but managed to advance to the next round after Christiano Ronaldo ended Ghana’s dreams of advancing with a late goal to give Portugal the win. Ironically, Ronaldo was also the same man who set up the goal that prevented the United States from qualifying last week. Funny how these things happen.

On the flip side, Belgium just wrapped up group play with a 1-0 defeat of South Korea. They won all three of their group play games and sealed the deal as Jan Vertonghen scored the game winner despite playing with only ten men. It was an impressive display of resilience. Belgium looked shaky throughout, but for all the U.S. fans gaining a false sense of hope, know that Belgium means business.

This will be an intense match when these two teams, the United States and Belgium, take the pitch on Tuesday. It is hard to say what the outcome of this game will be based on prior results. Belgium beat the USA in a friendly match in Cleveland last May but that does not mean a whole lot. Belgium won 4-2 but two of their goals were scored by striker Christian Bentenke, who is not playing for Belgium this World Cup due to injury. The United States team also resembles nothing of what it currently looks like today. Eddie Johnson was one of the U.S. strikers and Clarence Gooden started next to Omar Gonzales at center back. Jermaine Jones, Matt Besler and Fabian Johnson all did not play in this game for the U.S. either. This time around should be very different.

Unfortunately for the United States, Belgium is a very good team that has an incredible amount of talent all over the pitch. The American midfielders will really need to step up their game if the U.S. expects to be competitive in this game. They looked very sloppy today as they had too many unforced errors. If they play similar to how they played against Germany today, the U.S. will most definitely be on their way home.

The keys for the United States in this game will be maintaining possession and attacking effectively. Having possession will limit the creativity of the Belgium midfielders and it will give their defense a much-needed reprieve. The U.S. had a record low in terms of possession during their game against Germany. The Germans had possession of the ball for 67.5 percent of the match. You can be sure Jurgen Klinsmann will be discussing that with his players this week. They need to be more efficient when they in a position to attack and work the goalkeeper. There is a possibility that Jozy Altidore will be back for the Round of 16 and the United States will need him if they have any hopes of advancing.

For Belgium, the keys will be moving the ball quickly offensively and spreading the ball out wide for cross opportunities. Belgium is extremely athletic and possesses the ability to kill opponents with their speed. With Eden Hazard and Dries Mertens creating a lot of the Belgium chances, they will be looking place through balls and win one on one battles with U.S. defenders who have been a step slow a couple of times in this World Cup. The other aspect of the game that Belgium could exploit the Americans on is the height they possess. Axel Witzel is 6’1″ and Marouane Fellaini is 6’4″. Together these two should find success in directed headers towards goal and giving the United States a lot to deal with.

Both sets of players will be looking to make a play that will announce to the world that they mean business. It should be a great game.