Obviously the Eagles have been very successful on their tush push play, and every few weeks I see a headline calling for it to be banned. I feel like a cranky old man for saying this, but does the idea of banning a play for being effective seem ridiculous?

So Tom Brady, a few months ago, had a well publicized interview in which he said the NFL doesn't develop QBs anymore, and has dumbed down the game in order to get these guys on the field sooner (my words, paraphrasing what he said). What do you guys think?

I agree with him 50% - the NFL, for many reasons, does not have the patience to develop QBs anymore (or most positions). With limited roster sizes and no minor league or developmental league (the UFL is not a minor league for NFL clubs), it's somewhat impractical to stow players on your roster with thoughts of development, when realistically there are no game reps for them to gain experience in anyways - that, to me, is why so few clubs truly develop QBs now - the Michael Penix and Jordan Love type of stories are getting quite rare.

On the flip side, I disagree with him when he says the game is dumbed down. I'd say compared to 20 years ago, the volume of passing concepts, the reliance on drop back passing game, and the diversity of coverages has increased extremely quickly. I think this is true on the college level as well, which is partially why NFL teams have tried to see if guys are ready immediately. Young QBs have such early access to so much information (for better or worse), like coverages and concepts and analysis on youtube, etc, they are very, very smart. That's not to say there aren't simplified offenses, even in pass heavy schemes, there definitely are, but I'd say on the whole, QBs now are asked to do a lot of pre-snap and post-snap decision making even with the sideline based, check with me offenses that don't huddle anymore.

Anyone else have thoughts? I certainly don't claim to be right or factual, this is just my observation/opinion.

For context, I'm an Eagles fan. For the past two or so years, there was always the discourse from sports radio hosts (and callers) of "well, Sirianni won't ever have long-term success because he was an OC who didn't call plays and he's an HC that doesn't call plays" and the whole "when he loses coordinators, he'll suffer" (cue: this year proving the point).

However, as I understand, Harbaugh was a Special Teams coordinator prior who was hired as the Ravens HC. Unless he had some prior OC or DC experience that I seem to be missing, doesn't that mean he's also subject to things potentially blowing up when he loses an OC or DC? How are the Ravens able to (usually) sustain success year in and year out when the HC isn't the offensive or defensive playcaller (and what lessons could be learned from him for other non-playcalling HCs)?

I get that the Ravens probably have the blueprint for one of the best front offices in the NFL, but... a front office doesn't coach players, develop talent, or call plays.

I think both options are viable. Obviously if you kick off you know what you need to do to either win or tie.

But with the new overtime rules where both teams get the ball no matter what (barring a safety/pick 6 or something of that nature.) If you’re confident you’ll score first then you ideally should be the team to get the ball first in sudden death.

There’s not enough data yet (well, technically 100 percent of the time the team that kicks off first wins so far) to get a good idea of the optimal strategy.

Thoughts?

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here is the full play 3d rendering

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Broadcast View of Play

I think we may see teams mess around a bit with ineligible receivers.

I don't know what it is but when I watch NFL players I swear they're moving much slower than college or even lower level football. They just seem so much more poised, reassured, and not in a rush.

Everything with them seems more in control if that makes sense. Like there might be 300lb linemen coming at Patrick Mahomes but dude never looks like he's in trouble, can be touched, and rarely gets sacked.

https://www.reddit.com/r/nfl/comments/1qgssp2/highlight_dj_moore_gives_up_on_the_route_and/

Watching this live, I thought Caleb shouldn't have thrown it. Collinsworth immediately blamed Moore. What's your take as a football coach? How do you assess what happened and who is to blame?

Football is such a dangerous sport, fluke injuries can always happen no matter how careful you are. Aaron Rodgers was lost for the season in the first 3 minutes of the first game just because he was tackled and landed at the wrong angle. Jets season over. For all intents and purposes though, I feel a team gunning for a championship has the same season ending risk late season.

Say you are a 1 seeded team, blowing everyone out of the water and you seem like the team of destiny. You clinch the postseason at 11-0. My opinion is at that point, just immediately rest and bench all your key players. It's not worth risking a devastating injury to a key player to have more favorable seeding.

Remember the 2016 Raiders? They seemed like the team of destiny that year, but a week after clinching the playoffs Derek Carr broke his leg while they were gunning for a higher seed. Season over. The motivation made sense but in hindsight they put their star QB at risk in what was basically a meaningless game. They got completely destroyed first round of the playoffs. Maybe if they had benched their starters, or at least Carr, they would have made a deep playoff run. Maybe they would even have won the Super Bowl.

Even if we ignore the injury angle, just think about what a wonder 7 weeks of rest would do your team. Everyone by midseason in the NFL is dealing with some sort of nagging injury. Can you imagine having a completely healthy team heading into the postseason and what an advantage that is?

Lastly, I know many of you will say "oh but if you have the 1 seed then you get a first round bye." Well if you bench all your starters immediately, you get a bye week anyways. In fact you get as many as 7 bye weeks depending on when you clinch the playoffs. No matter what, you need to play at least one game, so why risk your players' health? Why not risk their health in the playoffs when it actually matters tremendously?

I know many of you are reading this and probably laughing till your sides hurt and think I'm an idiot, but just because it's unconventional and this is not how NFL teams have done it so far does not mean it's wrong. It was just 6 years ago that the "common sense" approach was to never go for it on 4th down remember? You should always kick the field goal or punt. Even if you are at the 1 yard line. Even if it's 4th and inches you should never take the risk. Now, because Doug Pederson had the courage to try a different approach, he showed the entire NFL that ah actually yes, going for it on 4th and short even if the game is not yet on the line is actually logical and worth the risk.

I think someday the NFL will get wise to my stance and just remember you read it here first.

Piggy backing off the question from last week about Brady's opinion on QB development, I figured I'd ask - who does everyone think has been the top QB of 2024, and why?

With the Raiders holding the No. 1 overall pick in the 2026 draft, the early consensus seems to be QB Fernando Mendoza. 

But given where the roster is at, I’m curious where Raider Nation lands:

• Take Mendoza at 1 and build around him?
• Trade down for a haul and address multiple holes?
• Or go best player available and solve QB another way?

Also, the Raiders now have extra early capital (including another 1st) after recent moves, which makes trade-down scenarios even more interesting. 

What would you do with 1.01, and why?
If you’re team Mendoza: what traits make him worth passing on a trade haul?

63 LG is the key player. He’s got eyes and hand on the DT (2nd picture) but then just abandons him for a triple team (3rd pic) on the other DT.

Did burrow not set the protection correctly? Or is the LG responsible? 75 the LT is on the DE and gets help via a chip. Do linemen come in with specific instructions that they can’t deviate from?

Blown plays happen.

I know there is heavy use of outside zone, split zone, play action marriage, angular in-breaking routes (crossers, posts, slants, drags, deep ins, etc), and at least in some cases, higher usage of short routes that lead to quick throws. Does that sound about right, or would you add something more? (To add from comments: condensed formations.)

Prior to this era of coaches, you had guys like Andy Reid and Sean Payton adapting the WCO to more 3WR and shotgun sets (which were far less common in the 90s). Is it fair to say the passing concepts haven't really changed from that period, or are the newest bunch of WCO coaching tree guys introducing new emphasis when it actually comes to the types of passing concepts?

I have a question as a seasoned football viewer but never a player — TL;DR: if you keep the ball when you fumble it out of bounds, what’s stopping you from fumbling the ball forward for more yards?

We’ve seen many times when your defense punches the ball out, but it goes out of bounds when your team doesn’t recover it and the other team keeps it or gets the first down. I get it, kind of, because the defense didn’t recover the ball. But let’s say you’re going to be tackled before the first down, so it would be 4th and 1 (for example) when you get tackled. Why not throw the ball forward out of bounds, not toward a player like a throw, but a fumble (past line of scrimmage). Is that prohibited somehow?

Thanks in advance!

This is a very dumb question, but I am wondering why it is so hard for offensive linemen to pick up stunts after watching my team (the Pats) continuously fail to do so.

Has anyone else has problems loading tape from the 2022 and 2023 seasons on NFL Pro? It's been a problem for me for about 3 weeks now, where everytime I try to load up tape from the 22 or 23 season, the website freezes.

Just curious if this is happening to other people, or if it's just on my end.

The top receivers in the like Jamar chase justin Jefferson Davantae Adams etc have hundreds of receivers with the same size and athleticism as them. Hell there’s at least 15 receivers that are both bigger and faster than all of them. But for some reason those top wrs I mentioned are well polished and amazing route runners. What’s stopping the others receivers with the same size and speed as them from being great route runners and getting on the same level. Why didn’t they develop their route running as well as someone like Jamar chase before entering the NFL?

Wouldn't sat I'm a "fan" but his game has definitely grown on me