Mr. Scot

Tilis? (I haven't looked back at the timeline but that'd be a connection)

Todd Wash has more coaching experience, more DC (defensive coordinator) experience, more familiarity with DC (,Dave Canales) and probably the endorsement of DC (,Dom Capers) from previous stops. That said, Cooley is considered a hot DC candidate and, for what it's worth, ties as both a player and coach to John Carroll University. JCU has been a factory for producing solid NFL coaches and leaders. There's also the other "Carroll connection" to consider (Pete)

Does Newton own his win-loss record, though? Tying quarterbacks to their team's record is a complicated debate. Most football analysts would say it isn't fair, but on the flipside it's a very commonly used metric. Ultimately, I'm comfortable looking at whether we win or lose with a certain QB, but I acknowledge the folks who don't think it's a fair way to judge a career.

Even if we couldn't have gotten Norv sooner, there were viable options other than Shula.

I think that ship has sailed. You could say "But what about Philip Rivers" but that begs the question "Why did the Colts sign Rivers rather than Newton?" Familiarity plays a role here, but still...

I was wondering...

Nice work, Verge. I agree with the general conclusion. Don't think either guy will make it.

I will say that as bad as some coaches can be about wanting to fix headcase players, fans are worse. A while back, somebody on here wanted us to go after Titus Young.

Was watching when that happened. The assistant or whatever she was that talked about "a man of his statue" didn't exactly help things.

He never reached the level of Aaron Hernandez

Might just not have been publicly known before that. Social media probably wasn't as big a deal back then either. I know some of the crazy sh-t Charles Haley did was kept under wraps for quite a while.

Steve Smith can probably find out where you live

Not sure which direction you're going, but yes it's also true that negative memories of a player being a dick can downgrade them too. For evaluative purposes, I always try to keep those things separate. If you're a coach or GM though, you don't have that option. You have to take the bad with the good. Sometimes it's worth it. Sometimes it isn't.

Looking back at those two games, it felt like Staley had Canales' number and Moore had Evero's. Evero is likely gone next year but If that's in any way true, it could be trouble for us in the future.

Doing these kinds of things with a player like Owens is kind of a double-edged sword. Amazing ability, production, etc but also huge amounts of hype, self-promotion, media coverage and things of that sort. I remember one NFL guy talking about coaches (I think) who were objectively phenomenal coaches but didn't really get a lot of attention or job offers because they weren't self-promoters. In a world with Internet, social media and 24 hour sports coverage, It's not that difficult for even great players to be overhyped.

Number two would put him over guys like Fitzgerald, Irvin, Harrison and Megatron. Not sure I could go that high.

Not at all... Heck, if anyone in our current leadership had that attitude, I'd be lobbying for them to be on the unemployment line.

Not just talking about the guys we've already discussed. NFL history certainly has its fair share of head cases.

Which time? (that's happened to him more than once)

Owens is probably the best player in this scenario, but Lord knows there have been plenty. Antonio Brown is another that comes to mind. George had fantastic physical traits and ability but Ryan Leaf level attitude.

It isn't just that they're not mathematically out. In order for what you suggested actions to take place, the Panthers would have to believe they're out. Nothing I've seen indicates that's even in the realm of possibility right now. We all knew the "reality" that the Rams were going to walk all over us too. I'm not ready to say we'll make it, but I've seen enough weirdness this season to not bet huge money against anything.

Same was true of Jeff George. Those guys just about always wind up being one or two year rentals... sometimes less Hell, people took chances on Diontae Johnson.

They are most definitely not out of the playoff hunt.

I didn't post that with any particular player in mind, just taking off on Linville's comment. Heaven knows a lot of coaches thought they could fix Terrell Owens.

Late season means he's subject to waivers. That doesn't necessarily improve the chances of him coming here, of course. We're not as high as on that list as we've typically been.