The sun has set on another NFL season, and with the end of the year comes exit interviews for each team out of the playoffs. It’ll be difficult to find a glimmer of hope from some of these non-playoff teams, but we’ll give it the ol’ college try.
New England Patriots (4-13)
I actually feel bad for Bill Belichick. Did he put his franchise quarterback behind the 8 ball last year by moving a defensive coordinator (Matt Patricia) to offensive coordinator and splitting play calling duties with a guy who has never called plays before (Joe Judge)? Sure. But, he brought in his old buddy Bill O’Brien to save the day, and I naively thought this reunion would work; however, Mac Jones’ PTSD from the disaster of a season in the previous year was too severe to overcome, and he regressed to a shell of himself. Belichick still had that defense humming, and, despite the fact they should’ve quit on their offense early on in the season, gave up 20 or fewer points 7 times this season. With the Patriots having a top 4 pick, they’ll likely get a franchise quarterback to press the reset button, but Robert Kraft cannot waste his time with a NFL has been. I could see a guy like Brian Flores coming over to keep the Patriot culture alive on defense, but they need an upgrade on offense, and not just another NFL castaway who will try to force a pro-style offense on a spread-style quarterback. Maybe a Kliff Kingsbury reunion in Foxborough? This time as OC—he clearly showed he can’t build a positive culture.
Los Angeles Chargers (5-11)
Okay all 3 Chargers fans that exist in this world, the good news is you have a franchise quarterback and enough key pieces to where you do not need to press the reset button on a rebuild. The bad news is: you’re a lowly franchise, playing second fiddle in a billion dollar stadium where you struggle to reach half capacity even when you’re good. We need to hit a home run with the coaching hire this offseason. Someone who knows how to bring a culture from the dead. As a Michigan fan, I’m sad to admit Jim Harbaugh is the perfect guy for the job, but dammit I hope I’m wrong. This should be a Super Bowl contending team within the next 3 years with the right guy at the helm.
Tennessee Titans (6-11)
I believe I speak for all of Bills Mafia when I say, thank you Titans for helping the Bills clinch regardless of the outcome Sunday night. It made watching tonight much less stressful. The bad news is, I have no clue where your franchise goes from here. I do think Will Levis is going to be a solid quarterback in the NFL, but there are a ton of aging pieces around him. Derrick Henry is gone, Deandre Hopkins should probably be traded, but maybe you keep him around for the development of Levis? With Mike Vrabel possibly gone by the publishing of this post, there are a ton of question marks heading into next season in what feels like a sad rebuild for the Titans. Maybe a Jedd Fisch landing spot if he wants to make the jump back to the NFL?
New York Jets (7-10)
Bob Saleh and Nathaniel (can’t) Hackett are somehow going to survive this offseason despite derailing Zach Wilson’s career and making a mockery of themselves. I’m not saying Zach Wilson would be a future Hall of Famer, but he showed flashes in the pan this year and they benched him for…Tim Boyle and Trevor Siemian? If these guys are your idea for a “spark” on offense, you have more issues than your quarterback. We have a solid piece of evidence that shows Nathaniel (can’t) Hackett’s offense only works when you have a generational, Hall of Fame QB under center, so are the Jets brass really willing to stake their entire future on these clowns just to keep Aaron Rodgers happy? Do they really think they can contend with the Bills, Dolphins, Chiefs and Ravens with these stooges when Rodgers calls it quits? Only the Jets could show this type of ineptitude.
Las Vegas Raiders (8-9)
The Raiders should have an Interim coach every year. They are 12-9 under interim coaches and went to the playoffs under Rich Bissacia in 2021. It speaks volumes to the toxic culture Josh McDaniels created that Antonio Pierce was able to go over .500 with Aidan O’Connell under center. Pierce definitely deserves an interview, but they need someone who has a vision to establish a culture in what will surely be a rebuild next year. They probably won’t be able to get their franchise QB in the draft this year, but with the right Offensive Coordinator, they can find a stop gap quarterback to build a winning culture (think Jared Goff with the Lions). Imagine if they find a guy like Mike Vrabel to establish a culture and he poached Ryan Grubb from Washington after tonight’s title game? That would have Vintage, Al Davis, Raiders vibes.
Denver Broncos (8-9)
I really thought we’d be a playoff team the way we caught lightning in a bottle halfway through the season. However, it’s hard to force 3+ turnovers every game and the offensive woes reared their ugly head again toward the end of the season. I think Vance Joseph has this defense headed in the right direction, but we need a playmaker outside of Courtland Sutton and Javonte Williams. I think there are some solid pieces, including Jaleel McLaughlin and Marvin Mims Jr., but Jerry Jeudy has proven he’s not that guy and we need another outside threat. Of course there’s Mr. Extremely Limited still at quarterback. I do believe his benching was to save money in case he got injured after we were essentially eliminated, so there’s a good possibility he’s the guy next year, but is it enough to get us over the hump? Probably not, and we definitely won’t win a championship with him considering the competition in the AFC. I’d love to see Sean Payton find an innovative offensive coordinator who will implement spread concepts, but I know his stubbornness will keep control of play calling while trying to fit a square peg in a round hole. If a guy like Will Stein can resurrect UTSA and make Bo Nix a heisman finalist, why can’t he revitalize “Mr. Unliiiimited”
Indianapolis Colts (9-8)
As a Shane myself, I’m rooting for Shane Steichen to win the coach of the year, but he took a fat shit on our name with that timeout in the final drive against the Texans. If you forgot, let me set the stage for you. With Ka’imi Fairbairn missing an extra point on the prior drive for the Texans, the door was open for the Colts to take the lead down 23-17 and punch their ticket to the playoffs. The Colts methodically drove down the field, inching closer to the endzone while chewing up clock– a perfect scenario. After Jonathon Taylor was stuffed on 3rd and 2, the rookie head coach pissed down his leg on 4th and 1 and took a timeout when he had 3 remaining. WHY DO WE CONTINUE TO SEE THIS WEEK IN AND WEEK OUT IN THE NFL. If you have 3 remaining on defense, you have time to get the ball back, drive down the field and take the lead even if you don’t get the 4th and 1 conversion. You have to call that 3rd and 2 play with a play in mind on 4th down if you don’t get it. Then, in all his wisdom, Shane Steichen takes Jonathon Taylor out of the game and throws it to a running back in the flat who had 19 touches ALL YEAR. Chalk it up to rookie clock management, but Steichen took himself out of the coach of the year running and out of the playoffs. Luckily, you have Anthony Richardson coming back next year and there is still a ton of talent on that roster that surfaced this year. This offseason is going to be crucial to the longterm success of this team.
Jacksonville Jaguars (9-8)
This felt like the year the Jaguars were going to take the next step and compete for the #1 seed in the NFL. They have their coach, quarterback, and the schedule favored them to have a breakout year. Blame injuries if you want, but Trevor Lawrence having 19 TDs and 12 picks isn’t going to get it done. Hopefully they have a plan to improve the offensive line and add another weapon or two, but this was probably the biggest disappointment in the NFL this year.
Cincinnati Bengals (9-8)
Most teams would’ve mailed it in after losing their franchise quarterback 10 games into the season, but Jake Browning showed he could be a competent NFL backup. The TD-INT ratio (9-6) isn’t great, but his completion percentage and yards per attempt were both better than Joe Burrow’s. It feels like the Bengals are stuck in a timeloop where, every year, they have to find help on the offensive line. They were in the bottom half in both pass blocking and run blocking. Their secondary needs help too, as they ranked in the bottom 5 in pass coverage. All that being said, you have to be optimistic if you’re an Ohio (professional football) fan.
I know all my College coaches to the NFL is just a pipe dream. We all know the NFL coaching circle is a fraternity where incompetent coaches continuously get hired and try to force spread quarterbacks to run a pro style offense. There are so many quality, deserving coaches in college football who could fix the scoring woes we saw in the NFL this year.
The Morning Flush 