There was a Jekyll-and-Hyde nature to the 2016 Chicago Bears. They lost six games by one score – and then they lost six more by double-digit counts.
The end result was a 3-13 record – and the likely end of the Jay Cutler era in Chicago.
But Head Coach John Fox and GM Ryan Pace will get another year to start showing some progress. And there is talent on this team. Three players made the Pro Football Writers Association All-Rookie team. And several more players, such as WR Cameron Meredith, showed some promise. All this adds up to a team that may not be all that far away from being competitive.
How close? We asked Jake Perper, founder of Bears Backer and co-host of the Unnecessary Roughness Bears Podcast, to help sort that out.
Zoneblitz: How would you assess the 2016 season and was keeping John Fox the right move and how would you assess the work of Fox and GM Ryan Pace to this point? (more…)
Much like in 2015, San Francisco started the 2016 season with a dominant win. The rest of the season quickly turned into a dumpster fire, however, and the once-proud 49ers are again drafting at the top of the first round.
And, with the firing of coach Chip Kelly and GM Trent Baalke, owner Jed York is, once again, searching for new leadership.
How did the 49ers fall apart so quickly? And what will it take – and how long – to get this franchise headed back in the right direction?
Al Sacco, writer for 49ers Webzone, joined us to take a few questions.
Zoneblitz: Do you agree with the decision to fire coach Chip Kelly, after one season, and GM Trent Baalke?
Sacco: I think in a lot of ways, Kelly got a raw deal. He was stuck with one of the worst rosters in the NFL, and it was almost like he was bringing a knife to a gun fight every week. Even still, the 49ers were right to let him go, as they needed to start fresh. Also, when you bring in a new coach when your GM is on the hot seat, you’re bound to back yourself in a corner, which is what happened here. Baalke had destroyed the 49ers and had to go, but how can you tell a new GM they have to work with Chip Kelly? It wouldn’t have worked. Now they can just hit the reset button and try to build this thing the right way.
Zoneblitz: News reports indicate Kyle Shanahan will be the 49ers’ next coach. Would you be in favor of this? (more…)
The 2016 Cleveland Browns, again, did not win a lot of games. But unlike some recent seasons, it appeared at times that this iteration might at least have a plan.
This team lacked talent and lost a lot of leads throughout the season, but under new coach Hue Jackson – the team’s fourth in five seasons – the team never stopped fighting. And when many had written off its chances of getting a win, the team came through in week 16 with a victory over San Diego.
So just where does this team stand? Thomas Moore, co-editor of Dawg Pound Daily, stopped by to share some thoughts:
Zoneblitz: It didn’t result in a lot of wins, but there was at least periodically some fight from this Browns team. What was your assessment of Hue Jackson’s first season?
Moore: Overall things went well in the first season under Hue Jackson.
This past year was never about wins and losses for the Browns, but rather it was about creating an opportunity for a full evaluation of the roster. The Browns are in the midst of the opening stages of a true, and much overdue, rebuild and a large part of the 2016 roster was made up of first- and second-year players. Getting those players on the field took precedence over winning.
Having said that, there were still enough moments that left Browns fans scratching their heads about Jackson. His offensive play calling was spotty at times as he went pass happy far too often, and made some strange roster decisions, but for now we’ll chalk it up to evaluation mode.
Zoneblitz: What do you think of the Paul DePodesta-led analytics group tasked with turning the team around? Have you gotten enough from a year of observation to get a sense for whether you think they’re headed in the right direction?(more…)
The Pro Football Hall of Fame voters narrowed the list of contenders for 2017 enshrinement to 15 modern-era candidates Tuesday.
They are:
K Morten Andersen
T Tony Boselli
WR Isaac Bruce
Coach Don Coryell
RB Terrell Davis
S Brian Dawkins
G Alan Faneca
T Joe Jacoby
CB Ty Law
C Kevin Mawae
S John Lynch
WR Terrell Owens
DE Jason Taylor
RB LaDainian Tomlinson
QB Kurt Warner
They join Senior candidate Kenny Easley and Contributor candidates Jerry Jones, who owns the Cowboys, and Paul Tagliabue, who succeeded Pete Rozelle as Commissioner in 1989.
The finalist group includes 12 of the 15 we predicted it would in March. Most surprising to me is the continued strength behind the candidacy of Don Coryell, not because I don’t think he’s deserving, but because he’s been out of the game so long. Fervor for his election has seemed to grow just within the last few years.
While I have no issue with Coryell, I am disappointed that it seems as though his momentum has come at the expense of the case of Cowboys Coach Jimmy Johnson, who I thought should have been elected before Tony Dungy. Johnson did not make the final 15.
Other observations:
No Edgerrin James – for the time being, it looks like Terrell Davis has more movement for his induction than James does.
Isaac Bruce is a finalist and Torry Holt is not. Bruce did have more catches (1,024-920), yards (15,208-13,382) and TDs (91-74) than Holt, but it took Bruce 16 years to accumulate his stats while Holt reached his in 11. Plus, Holt had seven Pro Bowls and one first-team Associated All Pro award, along with one second-team AP honor, while Bruce has just four Pro Bowls and he never was named to the AP’s first team. It’s always seemed to me that Holt had the stronger case.
Two safeties are still alive. While I’m disappointed Steve Atwater’s case has slipped another year or more into the future, Brian Dawkins and John Lynch both have strong cases. There is a logjam awaiting, if the voters can’t start getting stars at this position enshrined.
I think the selections this year are a lot more wide open than they have been in recent years. Tomlinson and Owens seem like no brainers. And I’d really like to see one of the safeties – Dawkins would be my first choice – inducted. Otherwise there are probably eight legit candidates you could see voters deciding to support and none would be a bad choice.
We looked at the AFC playoffs last week. The NFC seeding process wasn’t complete until the final gun sounded Sunday night in Detroit. Now that we’ve got the entire picture, we can take a stab at predicting this mess too.
Here’s who, in reverse order, I suspect has the best chance of emerging from the NFC. (more…)
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