On the cusp of what most expect to be another trip to the Super Bowl, things sure are interesting off of the field for the New England Patriots.
An explosive ESPN story published Friday detailed some issues within the organization, primarily between superstar quarterback Tom Brady, legendary head coach Bill Belichick and owner Robert Kraft.
The story said this might be the final year together for the trio, shed some potential light on the Jimmy Garoppolo deal (the report had Kraft ordering his trade in support of Brady).
On Saturday, Kraft denied interfering.
“When you’re lucky enough to have someone exceptional, you let them do their job and you get out of the way,” Kraft told TheMMQB, adding that he expects Belichick to coach the team in 2018.
“Really, this was basically a second-round pick and Brian Hoyer for Jimmy. Bill asked me if I was OK with this. I was really taken aback a little bit. I wanted to think about it. I talked to Jonathan (Kraft), who was OK with it, and I called Bill back and said, ‘OK,’” Kraft said.
The New York Daily News threw some grease on the fire on Saturday, reporting that a Belichick-New York Giants reunion could be a possibility.
“I’m sure Bill knows this is his last chance to be the Giants coach … Bill sees an opening — an opening to get to the Giants,” read the report.
Belichick won a pair of Super Bowls as defensive coordinator with the Giants and spent 12 seasons with the club.
Belichick, 65, is in his 18th season helming the Patriots.
Kraft, Belichick and Brady responded to the original story with a joint statement: “For the past 18 years, the three of us have enjoyed a very good and productive working relationship …We stand united.”
ESPN said it stood by its reporting.
Even if Belichick does return though, his coaching staff could once again be shuffled considerably. Defensive coordinator Matt Patricia and offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels have each interviewed with a number of clubs about becoming head coach.
FINALLY, BROWNS PARADE
Cleveland Browns supporters have had less to cheer about in the many decades since the glory days of Jim Brown than pretty much any other fanbase in sports, so it’s nice to see they maintain a sense of humour.
A parade was held on Saturday afternoon to commemorate the second 0-16 season in NFL history.
As one would expect, despite amusing aspects like the pickup truck sponsored by a funeral home and a “graveyard” noting every Browns quarterback since 1999, the event was more of a protest, with many shots taken at team ownership and management for the dismal state of affairs, which has culminated in one win over the past two years and a league-worst 15-year playoff drought.
Roughly 3,000 people braved the cold to take part and to donate to the Cleveland Food Bank.
Some players weren’t thrilled about the parade. One said it would discourage others from joining the Browns. Defensive end Emmanuel Ogbah said on Twitter that true Browns fans wouldn’t have taken part, adding: “Going 0-16 was embarrassing enough as a player. That is like adding fuel to the fire and it is completely wrong!”
TALE OF TWO TURNAROUNDS
Saturday night’s NFC wild card game had an interesting subplot: No team improved offensively more in 2017 than the Los Angeles Rams. The previous edition stumbled and fumbled its way to a league-worst 224 points last season, only to completely turn things around, piling up 478 points, the best mark in the entire NFL.
Los Angeles is only the second team to ever to from worst to first, and more than doubled its scoring totals from 14 points per game to 29.9.
Might young Sean McVay, only 31, have a good case for coach of the year honours? It would be hard to argue otherwise.
Meanwhile, the opposing Atlanta Falcons went the other way, averaging 11.7 fewer points this season compared to last.
NO SCORING, NO PROBLEM?
Speaking of drops in scoring … NFL teams averaged 21.7 points per game this season, a drop of a full point from 2016 per profootballtalk.com. The difference between 2015 and 2016 had only been a decrease of 0.1 point per game.
“It’s certainly nothing that the league is concerned about,” NFL spokesman Joe Lockhart told profootballtalk.com.
Rushing and passing touchdowns decreased, as did two-point conversions.
QUICK HITS
Former Green Bay offensive coordinator Joe Philbin is expected to rejoin Mike McCarthy’s staff, per multiple reports. Philbin left to become Miami’s head coach in 2012. Aaron Rodgers has won one MVP award with Philbin, one without … The monster deal between Jon Gruden and the Raiders isn’t expected to become official until Tuesday, but Gruden’s television colleagues said goodbye to him on Saturday. He was congratulated on air before and after the early game, but said nothing was official yet. It will be interesting to see how much of the reported $100 million will be guaranteed. Matthew Stafford holds the record for most guaranteed money in a contract for a player ($92 million). Three Raiders players average $10 million a season. Dallas gave both Tom Landry and Jimmy Johnson 10 year coaching deals in the past … One quick note on the earlier game. How you know it’s not your day: The other team has two crucial potential fumbles negated. And most importantly, the opposing quarterback throws a potential pick, but it bounces off the defender back to him for a touchdown. The fumbles you can accept, they happen all the time, but the Marcus Mariota play? Poor Andy Reid. Poor Kansas City Chiefs fans.