Tag Archives: NFL

Jason Pierre Paul’s Hand

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While Jason Pierre Paul was resting in the hospital, news of his right hand damaged in the fireworks explosion were slow to leak. There was mixed information up until Adam Schefter was able to illegally get a hold of JPP’s medical record stating his index finger had been amputated. Once that news went viral a ton of questions entered The Chancellor’s mind…

This is the right hand of JPP.

This is the right hand of JPP.

How can a defensive end lift weights with a damaged thumb and missing index finger to maintain his strength and heft?? How can a defender who needs his fingers to grab and pull on an offensive linemans jersey, arms, or hands be effective?? When the Giants sent him home without signing his franchise contract, The Chancellor thought his days as an NFL’er were over.  Now looking at the damage that was done to his right hand, this is definitely going to be an uphill battle.

 

The first true test is to see how sensitive the nerve endings are in his hand and if his pain threshold will be high enough.When in a pile will other players go after that hand in an attempt to slow him down??  Many questions remain and for a pass rusher coming off the right side… we will have to see how this goes. From the looks of it, The Chancellor doesn’t see a player returning close to form. He will have to club crack back blockers instead of a full hand to grab and swim. What happens if a running back is breaking to the outside where he has containment?? Will a swing with a club bring down a power runner?? He is going to have to put that hand in harm’s way and this won’t be an easy task.  Jason Pierre Paul….sigh….we’ll be watching.

Chip Kelly Must Go!!

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When chronicling the NFL there is always a new genius coach coming in to revolutionize the game of football. The game of pro football has been around and this is the 96th year. Everything the game is down to it’s essence has been done already. The only approach you can bring to the game at this point are gimmicks. In this league gimmicks are exposed for not being complete systems. Enter Chip Kelly.

Chip Kelly is even losing the battle for race relations.

Chip Kelly is even losing the battle for race relations.

Remember all that talk of “The Ole’ Ball Coach” when the Washington Redskins hired Steve Spurrier back in 2000?? Then just as now The Chancellor knew these would be hires that would backfire. This is a league for grown men and a coach has to be able to relate and motivate his charges. Autocrats coming from the collegiate ranks can lord over their players on scholarship with the threat of revoking it if they get out of line.

With the dismissal of WR DeSean Jackson, Jeremy Macklin, and RB LeSean McCoy, Kelly gutted the playmakers from his offense. Accusations flew that Kelly had moved on from all the outspoken black players in his locker room. When CB Cary Williams spoke out about the team playing on ‘tired legs’ from being warn out, he became a casualty when he was released in March. Even two of his coaches abandoned ship and maybe not for greener pastures. CB Coach Todd Lyght, who is black, left for the same position at Vanderbilt University. That is not a top program and his alma mater is Notre Dame… yet I digress

nfl-iphone-wallpaper-2Before we get into that side of things, lets remember this is an offensive genius. He traded away starting QB Nick Foles for the often injured Sam Bradford and released Pro Bowl G Evan Mathis. Why is this being brought up?? Did you know the Eagles are 29th in total offense after 4 weeks?? Did you know the Eagles are 27th passing the football?? After signing last year’s NFL rushing champion DeMarco Murray, did you know the Eagles are 29th  rushing the football?? By the way… they are 31st in yards per rush also with a paltry 3.1 yards per attempt.

This is what happens when you become so arrogant you believe your system will be successful no matter who you have playing it. While running the uptempo style on offense he has overexposed his defense. They have been on the field for 290 plays in 4 games, 80 against the Redskins last week. Washington drove over 90 yards to score the go ahead touchdown on an exhausted defense. The Eagle defense is on pace to be on the field for 1160 plays. Almost 200 more than the what the league average is. What was that Cary Williams said about playing on tired legs.  Then you draft often injured LB Kiko Alonso into this??

Then you have the ultimate gaffe in signing CB Byron Maxwell to a huge contract and asking him to play man. Everyone knows the Seattle Seahawks are basically a Cover 3 football team. Another misguided decision. So now you leave this guy out long enough to get exposed, bring in Alonso who has missed time already, and your defense is on pace to play 19 games worth of plays in a 16 game season. Hmmmm??

Which should be fired first?? Chip Kelly the coach or Chip Kelly the GM?? He’s been so unsuccessful Owner Jeffrey Lurie should fire him twice. One week fire him as GM and the next week as coach. Folks its that bad in Philadelphia. Kelly shouldn’t last the season. There will be another mutiny and Kelly will go to jettison the player only to realize he has none left. Darren Sproles is all he has as DeMarco Murray doesn’t fit his system. The team needs to rebuild from the ground up. May as well start with the genius coach.

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2015 Lessons Through Week 3: AFC North

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Every NFL season takes on its own unique shape. With so many moving parts between player movement, player maturation & coaching changes, the landscape doesn’t change every year..it changes every week. By the time we sprinkle injuries in this cauldron it’s nearly impossible to forecast. This is what makes NFL football great.

Bell and Williams will power the Steelers in 2015.

Bell and Williams will power the Steelers in 2015.

Take the Pittsburgh Steelers for instance. Coming into the season they had to figure how to get through the first few games while LeVeon Bell served a 2 game suspension. With a defense being rebuilt they would have to lean on one of the NFL’s best offenses for success in 2015. Insurance policies were signed in former Carolina RB DeAngelo Williams and former Falcon / Eagle QB in Michael Vick. Williams paid off handsomely with 206 yards rushing and 3 TDs, which is good enough for 6th in the league going into week 4. Now they have a 1-2 punch that is second to none with Bell’s return.

Yet Bell’s first game back against the Rams in week 3 saw Ben Roethlisberger go down with a knee sprain. Vick is the next man up and has to produce in the 4 weeks Big Ben is expected to be gone. Vick can’t just hold the fort down in Ben’s absence. The Steelers, with all their offensive weaponry, rank 5th offensively and 14th defensively. If this insurance policy doesn’t pay off and the Steelers find themselves punting more and come back to the pack, they will  expose their defense. Tomlin’s defense needs to grow up in a hurry. Michael Vick your mission, should you choose to accept it…

Time to play Manziel.

Time to play Manziel.

In Cleveland its as if Head Coach Mike Pettine is trying hard to look for work next year. The upside to Josh McCown is he is a journeyman quarterback that will minimize mistakes. The downside is he is not a playmaker that can win you games. Just as he did with his game ending interception to Charles Woodson in their 27-20 loss to Oakland last week.

However a closer look at the numbers and Johnny Manziel has a 99.7 passer rating to MCown’s 83.2. Did you know through 3 games of this season Manziel has 3 touchdown passes of 50 yards where the rest of the NFL has 6?? That is called playmaking and is the difference between the Browns being 1-2 v. 0-3. To bookend Manziel’s week 2 heroics you have the Woodson interception and before that, the fumble at the goal line when McCown got himself knocked out against the Jets. Come on son…

It’s time to play Manziel and see what you have. If the Browns can’t turn it around they could be looking for a new Head Coach and quarterback next season. Like it or not Mike Pettine, your job’s future lies in the success of this 2015 campaign. Especially in a down year for the division, better to tie it to a playmaker like Manziel than a losing game manager like McCown.

bengals tComing in with the NFL’s 2nd best offense and 12th ranked defense is the 3-0 Cincinnati Bengals. The conversation for the Bengals is the same as the last few years. They beat the teams they should beat and come up empty against the best the AFC has to offer. The combined record of the Raiders, Chargers, and Ravens was 3-6 before Thursday Night’s game. We’ll talk about this team in 3 weeks when they host Seattle then go on the road to Buffalo. They come through that 2-0 we have something to talk about.

The Baltimore Ravens won last night to earn their first win of the season. However it isn’t a season saving victory as many of the t.v. pundits would have you believe. The Pittsburgh Steelers lost that game last night due to terrible kicking with Josh Scobee and even worse play calling late in the 4th quarter. Justin Forsett broke out with 150 yards rushing but the Steelers have given up 373 yards on the ground in the last 3 weeks. This team has middle of the road rankings offensively and defensively and new playmakers have to emerge on the defensive side of the ball.

Thanks goodness they get to play against Cleveland next week, especially if Pettine stays the course to get fired starting McCown. After that they go on the road to San Francisco and Arizona. The 49ers aren’t as strong as they once were for certain.  However neither were the Oakland Raiders and Denver Broncos as the Ravens started 0-2 on the road traveling west. These next few weeks will definitely tell the tale.

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Hispanic Heritage Month: Joe Kapp

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With it being Hispanic Heritage Month, I have always found it hard to believe how Joe Kapp seems to be forgotten among Hispanic football fans. Not one time has The Chancellor met a hispanic Minnesota Viking fan or a Viking fan because of Joe Kapp. In a historic sense, Tom Flores and Jim Plunkett’s exploits are remembered more fondly and that is sad for Kapp’s contributions were just as great.

 

Flores was the first QB of Mexican descent that won a Super Bowl. Yet he did so as the backup to Len Dawson on the Super Bowl IV champion Kansas City Chiefs. The first Mexican-American quarterback who led his team to the Super Bowl as a starting quarterback was Kapp who was across the field for the Minnesota Vikings.

Although he spent the bulk of his career in the CFL, Bud Grant brought him down to play for him in 1967. He had won several Grey Cups and was known for being a fiery leader. That and the fact he threw some of the ugliest wobbly passes from not using the football’s laces.

In 1968 Kapp led the Vikings to the first playoff game in the franchise’s history. However they lost to the Baltimore Colts 24-14. The Colts set the NFL record that year only allowing 144 points and were lauded as the best in history. Only a loss in Super Bowl III diminished their impact. They had defeated Joe Kapp….right?

In 1969 the Vikings lost the first game of the season 24-23 to the New York Giants. Kapp didn’t start or play in that game. However he was available for the week 2 rematch with Baltimore.

The NFL record for most touchdown passes in a game has Kapp’s name on it with 7. It would take rule changes and another 44 years before Payton Manning tied this record in 2013. The Colts loss to Joe Namath’s Jets in Super Bowl III strained Don Shula’s relationship with owner Carroll Rosenbloom, this 52-14 loss broke it. The next season he would be gone to Miami where he became the NFL’s winningest coach. Joe Kapp had a hand in that.

Starting with the week 2 win over Baltimore, Kapp led the Vikings to 12 straight wins. The longest win streak in the NFL in 35 years. Keep in mind the NFL was only in its 50th season. No quarterback would win 12 straight regular season starts in the same season until Tom Brady in 2003, some 34 years later. Finishing with a 12-2 record the Vikings went on to Super Bowl IV where they lost to the Kansas City Chiefs 23-7.

He left the Vikings after a contract dispute and joined the New England Patriots where he only played the 1970 season. Was he not afforded the respect of prominent white quarterbacks of the time?? Why wouldn’t they sign him?? The 1969 Vikings broke the NFL’s defensive scoring record allowing only 133 points on their way to Super Bowl IV. If Kapp stayed to lead the offense would they have made it to Super Bowl V?? Last year I did a series on the best ever defenses, where it was discovered the ’70 Vikings gave up the fewest yards per game for every defense since. Yes they would have…

  • 1970 Minnesota Vikings – #1 overall / 200.2 yds all. / 143 points given up / 28 int

Joe Knapp Minnesota Vikings Quarterback
July 20, 1970
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credit: Heinz Kluetmeier – contract

Joe Kapp only played 5 seasons in the NFL but he was a trailblazer. Tom Flores was the first Mexican American starting QB with the AFL’s Oakland Raiders and was a Kansas City Chief across the field in Super Bowl IV.  Yet Kapp played with distinction and set several records on his way there. He’s a cult hero who should be celebrated for his contributions to the game. He led his teams to championship games at Cal, the CFL, and the NFL. The very definition of a champion. To complete this circle for Hispanic Heritage Month… Who was the quarterback drafted #1 by the New England Patriots in 1971 after Joe Kapp?? Some guy named Jim Plunkett…

One day I hope to walk by and see a Hispanic kid with a Vikings jersey with the number 11 on it. That would be the coolest thing. Don’t forget Joe Kapp.

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2015 NFC East Predictions

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One of the most perplexing aspect of picking the NFC East is what is going on with Jason Pierre Paul’s hand?? How damaged is it?? Is he really missing his thumb?? Today he showed up to the facilities and is about to sign his contract yet we haven’t been shown what his hand looks like. As the Giants “alpha dog” on defense, without him being what he had been could have a ripple effect on the Giants as a whole.

dez2015 NFC East

  1. Dallas Cowboys 9-7 *
  2. Philadelphia Eagles 8-8
  3. New York Giants 7-9
  4. Washington Redskins 4-12

The Dallas Cowboys will come down a peg now that they are running by committee. This is the first time since 1946 when the NFL’s leading rusher switched teams the following year. Here at Taylor Blitz Times we made mention of “The Great Wall II” and an offensive line is great for an era. We stand by that but we have to see how the often injured Darren McFadden and Joseph Randle will perform.

Cowboys brass has to have some reservations or they wouldn’t have traded for Christine Michael from Seattle. The penchant is there to revert back to the pass happy era we saw earlier in Tony Romo’s career. At least in a few games this can happen. The defense begins the season with Rolando McClain, Kevin Hardy and Orlando Scandrick beginning the season suspended and on the reserved injured list doesn’t bode well. Dallas will have a sloppy start to this season as they try to establish their running game and find defensive continuity.

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Sanchez will have to play for Bradford several times this season.

Interestingly the Eagles are coming into 2015 with something old and something new. The old?? Chip Kelly jettisoning off top shelf talent. Gone is RB LeSean McCoy to Buffalo and WR Jeremy Macklin to the Chiefs. The something new is swapping QBs Nick Foles for Sam Bradford from the Rams.

The often injured Bradford won’t remain on his feet for the entire season. We saw the hit Terrell Suggs put on Bradford in the pre-season. Chip Kelly’s offense will expose Bradford too additional hits and Sanchez will have to take his place several times this season. This kills offensive continuity and we know Kelly’s too arrogant to change his play calling.

Not only will the Eagles wear down but the Giants will remain too inconsistent to take the division. Eli Manning just inked a new contact extension and will play loose. However Victor Cruz is still rounding back into game shape and Odell Beckham is getting the business from defenders set to get after him in his sophomore season.

If Jason Pierre-Paul had showed up with 10 fingers the Giants win the division. With his being sent home without signing his contract something is definitely up. And without an index finger he’s rendered one of his hands to be useless to pull on jerseys in pass rush hand fighting techniques. Pierre-Paul won’t be the same player and the defense will take a big step back without it’s dominant pass rusher. Remember he was their franchise player… not any more.

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The Soul Of The Game: Jack Lambert

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In the history of pro football no position calls for hitting like Middle Linebacker. Whether facing the line of scrimmage and scraping to meet a runner, taking then shedding the Center, or defeating a Fullback. Jack Lambert of the Pittsburgh Steelers was a different breed drafted in 1974 to patrol in a different game. Against the run nothing had changed but against the pass, the NFL had just narrowed the hash marks necessitating the need for MLB’s to cover more space against the pass.

Lambert swallowing Lydell Mitchell in the '76 playoffs.

Lambert swallowing Lydell Mitchell in the ’76 playoffs.

Backing behind the Steel Curtain allowed Lambert to “clean-up” runners held up at the line of scrimmage. He was an aggressive tackler and a ferocious hitter. In what has blasphemously become known as the “Tampa 2 Defense” is nothing but what the Steelers did with Lambert dropping him deep between 2 safeties. This caused many downfield collisions.

Lambert’s aggressive playing style meshed with the front four to anchor one of the best defenses in NFL history. Although there wee other great players, Lambert tied it all together patrolling the middle.

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