For the third time in just over a year, an NFL team is on the move.
On Monday, NFL owners gave the Oakland Raiders the green light to relocate to Las Vegas, joining the Los Angeles Rams and Chargers as recent transplants. The Raiders are expected to start playing in Sin City as soon as 2018, with a new stadium opening a couple of years after that.
The Raiders have been in Oakland, Los Angeles and back to Oakland. Will Vegas finally be home, sweet home?
John: Well, if the message wasn’t clear before, it sure as heck is now: cities better be prepared to pony up or shut up. Bow down and kiss the NFL’s ring (shield?) or lose your team.
Public officials have pledged almost $1 billion in public funding to lure the Raiders to Vegas. It’s an absurd amount of money, no question. But let’s set aside the politics and economics of this deal and instead explore the future of the Raiders and the league following this move.
The main question is: Can the NFL survive — and thrive — in Vegas? I certainly wouldn’t bet on it (sorry).
The first issue is the lack of a local fan base. Las Vegas will be one of the league’s smallest media markets. There are 2 million local residents, and many of them are transplants from other parts of the country. That means they probably already root for the Steelers or Cowboys or Vikings. So where does that leave the Raiders?
Now, I’m sure many fans from around the country will travel to Vegas to see their local teams play there — especially during the dead of winter. That makes for a fun weekend getaway for those fans, but the end result is that the stadium could end up being a home away from home for each week’s road team. That doesn’t seem like a recipe for long-term success, does it?(more…)
Just a year after being 15-1 and going to the Super Bowl, Carolina struggled to a 6-10 record in 2016. Several things fell apart, including Cam Newton, who struggled through an injury- and inconsistency-riddled follow-up to his MVP season.
Can the Panthers get things back in order and make another deep postseason run? Or was the year as runner-up the outlier? Brian Beversluis, a staff writer with Cat Scratch Reader, joins us with some thoughts.
Zoneblitz: The Panthers followed up a Super Bowl season with a 6-10. How would you assess what went wrong in 2016?
Beversluis: Injuries were obviously a big deal. Losing Michael Oher to a concussion all year was a major issue that threw the offensive line into shambles. In 2015, Oher stabilized the line and left only right tackle Mike Remmers as a weak link. In 2016, Remmers had to play left tackle, something he’s definitely not cut out for long term. Remmers has value as a swing guy (why he got paid in Minnesota) but he has no business there at LT all the time. Then their back up RT Daryl Williams got hurt too, forcing Pro Bowl right guard Trai Turner to play RT. They also eventually lost Ryan Kalil and his back up at center. Obviously for an offense that likes to take shots down field, that’s a problem. It caused Cam to take a lot of hits and allowed teams to load the box.
On defense, losing Josh Norman and having to field two rookie corners and unproven commodities at nickel threw the secondary into disarray, and the front seven struggled to get pass rush early on due to teams taking advantage of that.
Zoneblitz: Cam Newton wasn’t terrible in 2016, but despite the return of Kelvin Benjamin, he didn’t come close to matching his magical 2015. What happened there? (more…)
The 2016 season was not kind to the Chargers, nor its fans. On the field, San Diego failed to finish games, resulting in a 5-11 record that included nine losses by one score. Off the field, the team, the league and the city were unable to come to an agreement on stadium issues.
So, the team’s long-rumored move to Los Angeles has commenced.
Will a new home and a new head coach help turn this team’s fortunes around? Or does Anthony Lynn’s team have more problems that need to be fixed to expect a one year turnaround?
Richard Wade, managing editor of Bolts from the Blue, shared his thoughts on those and other issues facing the soon-to-be Los Angeles Chargers.
Zoneblitz: We’ll focus primarily on the field, but the 800-pound gorilla in the room is the team’s move. What are your thoughts on the transition to Los Angeles?
Wade: As a native San Diegan and lifelong Chargers fan the transition to Los Angeles has been awful to experience. A big part of the enjoyment of sports is the shared experience with family, friends, and community. With the team packing up and leaving, that shared experience has been taken apart. Also, the manner in which the Spanos family has handled the move has been embarrassing to watch, so there is really very little to feel good about when it comes to supporting this franchise in 2017.
Zoneblitz: The Chargers were, in my opinion, one of the league’s more confusing teams in 2016. It went 5-11 but lost nine of those games by one score. How would you assess this team and what went wrong?
Wade: The Chargers’ inability to close out games can mostly be traced back to two things: terrible coaching and inadequate depth. Head coach Mike McCoy was one of the worst I have ever seen at managing the clock and understanding game situations. He directly cost the team multiple games. Also, the roster that general manager Tom Telesco put together had some very capable starters at most positions, but the depth was poor to nonexistent and that showed up in the second half of games early on and was even more exposed as injuries started to pile up. (more…)
Expectations were high in New York, following a 10-6 2015 season. But pretty much right out of the gate, the 2016 season ended up being as bad as the previous season was good.
Injuries, age, poor QB play and suspensions, among other problems, decimated the Jets, dooming them to a 5-11 season.
Do Todd Bowles and his team have what they need to turn things around? What happens at the QB position? Can the Jets show that 2016 was the outlier instead of 2015?
Joe Caporoso, owner of Turn on the Jets, joined us to share his thoughts.
Zoneblitz: The 2016 season was as bad as 2015 was promising – what went wrong?
Caporoso: The quarterback play was the worst in the NFL and that started a domino effect of incompetence throughout the team. Todd Bowles regressed as a coach, young players like Calvin Pryor and Lorenzo Mauldin took a step back, the team’s red zone efficiency plummeted and they stopped being able to force turnovers. Throw in a few key injuries (Eric Decker, Nick Mangold) and you have the perfect recipe for 5-11.
Zoneblitz: Was retaining Todd Bowles the right move?
Caporoso: I think so. This team can’t keep flipping everything over every 2 years. At this time last year Bowles was coming off a solid 10-6 rookie year, one year after being the AP Assistant Coach of the Year, it is hard to think he has transformed into Rich Kotite and can’t coach anymore. He must improve his game management and ability to make quicker decisions on ineffective players but I am not surprised he got a third year. (more…)
The Los Angeles Rams found their new home in familiar digs in 2016, returning to the market they left after the 1994 season. The results were oddly similar to the last time they called California home.
The 2016 Rams matched the 1994 Rams with a 4-12 record, putting forth an anemic offense and a defense that backslid enough to eventually cost Jeff Fisher his job.
The team is not devoid of talent, however. Aaron Donald is one of the league’s best defensive linemen and the offense, with RB Todd Gurley and second-year QB Jared Goff, at least has some pieces.
So what will it take for new coach Sean McVay to bring this team and market success? We asked Andrew Hogan, who previously founded a website called Bring Back our Los Angeles Rams and now heads up FearsomeFootball.com, to share his thoughts.
Zoneblitz: You were heavily involved in lobbying for the return of the Rams – what was it like having football back in LA in 2016?
Hogan: At the beginning, it was completely and totally surreal … I had been to hundreds of college football/baseball/hockey games but only to two NFL games in my life and I had no real rooting interest in those games. To have a team to actually cheer for — and for it to be Los Angeles’ true NFL team—was, again, totally surreal. (more…)
Who’s going to replace Carson Palmer at quarterback for the Cardinals? It’s the $64,000 question the club needs to answer — and answer now.
While it’s not yet clear whether Palmer will return for another season, it doesn’t really matter. He’s a 37-year-old quarterback who has taken a beaten during his career. The end is drawing near–whether it’s this year, next year or even the year after.
John: We already know Drew Stanton isn’t the right guy to take over. He has tossed more picks than touchdowns in his career while completing barely over half his passes.
So, even if Palmer comes back, they’re screwed if he gets hurt. And the poor guy got sacked 40 times last year. (more…)
Loading ...
Yes on offense I agree that controlling the ball via rushing attack is needed but like the Lions found out…
Paul: easier said than done. Daniels is not your typical rookie qb. He already has more no punt/no turnover games…
Key will be for Eagles defense to press Daniels (as rookie QB) into mistakes and perhaps INT-take advantage of his…
Brian Wolf: I love your optimism, but I’m not so sure. Philly is a deeply flawed team, but I’m not…
Good playoff games this weekend, with the Bills getting another chance to beat the Chiefs in postseason. I predict they…