Sgt Schultz

If McCarthy really believes running a QB draw with 14 seconds left and no time outs is "the right call," somebody needs to sit down with him. There are hundreds of replays available that can show him that if a play is run while the clock is moving and no timeout is called, the best you can hope for in terms of getting the next play off is about 14 seconds. If your goal is to end the game spiking the ball, he's right, it is the right call if the best case scenario happens. As others have said, it demonstrates just how much Rodgers covered up McCarthy's limitations.

The league has contributed greatly to this situation. They started by making rules that were impossible to call on the field and had to be looked at on replay. The former definition of a catch was something that it took two physicists and a mechanical engineer to determine on instant replay, and then they had to look at it frame by frame to figure it out. They tried to fix that, but the damage had been done. Remember when they cracked down on hits to the QB? They followed that up by telling officials that anybody who missed one would be disciplined. What did they think was going to happen but the worst possible outcome? They created an environment where officials were throwing major flags on what they thought happened (but not what they saw) or what they expected to happen, but in some cases didn't. Once they get their officials thinking "they'll just look at it on replay" or "I'd better call it or else," that is a hard trend to reverse. Moving the umpire out from behind the DL to in the offensive backfield also left two officials looking at the same plays from only a slightly different angle, rather than from opposite angles. Then, there are three back line officials. That goes back to 1978, when teams were largely running two wideouts and a tight end. Given the fact they took the umpire out of a position to provide them any help, maybe they need to look at putting another one back there. It's not like they don't have room.

So, I guess Moe, Larry, and Curley are available this weekend.

All I can say is my second favorite NFL team is whoever is playing the Cowboys. I grew up in St. Louis when the Cardinals were in the NFC East, hated the way Landry was treated at the end, and now live in a place where the majority of people interested in the NFL wear Cowboys' shirts or hats. Broncos are second here, but that I understand since they are closer to us.

Ironically, unless he's changed in the last hour or two, he was not blaming the refs at all. His statements certainly sounded like a guy who felt his coaching staff was not up to the job. Of course, saying a coaching change is "not on the table" is not exactly a ringing endorsement for how he will feel next week, or on Wednesday, or at 2pm today. My guess is he does nothing, but he probably has already turned up the heat a little. The other problem he has is if he decided to can McCarthy, who does he get next? I don't think he has won the NFL's Award for Best Workplace for a Head Coach in any of the recent years.....or ever.

At this point, Boger has such a bad reputation and not just on this board, the only reasons I can think he gets any playoff game assignments are 1) he has 8 x 10 glossies on somebody in the league office, or 2) Moe, Larry, and Curley were busy.

I've never hated the Jimmy G idea, but, we are not in that position. IF we didn't have Darnold under contract, or IF he was under contract at about $5M a year, it would make some sense. Garoppolo is not going to make 49ers fans forget Montana or Young, but he can hold down the fort until the future starter comes along (exhibit A is the 9ers situation right now).....provided you can keep him on the field. Add IF our coaching staff develops game plans and calls plays to his strengths, which remains to be seen. While I think Brady was in over his head as an OC, his philosophy was more tailored to that than whoever we are likely to bring in next. Which brings us to another IF. Our OL could get Refrigerator Perry killed back there. So the added IF is that our OL mess gets fixed or at least stabilized. Given his injury history, Jimmy G raises the bar to needing to remain upright, from on his back but nobody is calling for the the stretcher. We struggle even to hit the latter.

Stupid call, stupid execution of a stupid call. I don't watch the NFL live anymore (I watched 5 plays of the Panthers-Cowboys game when it was on here, the officials thoroughly botched two of them, and it reminded me why I don't watch the NFL live.....and I do not usually criticize officials). From what I see, the officials did nothing wrong here and, in fact, did everything they should have. With 14 seconds to go and zero time outs, if the ball stays in bounds the game is probably over. Even if Dak slid 5 yards sooner, by the time they spot the ball (they being the officials, not the QB) and the teams (and all the 300 pound lineman and officials) get into position and set, the clock will likely strike 0 as the ball is spiked. 14 seconds is about the point of no return. Let's not forget, if one of those OL does not get set for the spike, the game is over even if there is time left because of the mandatory run-off. To top it off, it's not like they are trying to get a few yards to set up the potential game-winning FG here. That call may be worse than Darrell Bevell calling an in-route against a goal-line defense with 30 seconds left in the Super Bowl, down by 4, with the ball on the Pats 1 yard line, the Pats not able to stop the run, and time outs in his pocket. I have always marveled at how DCs will figure out how to slow or stop an offense, given enough film and exposure to it. Lately, I marvel at how OCs too often are not their equals in that respect. As for Dak, I have defended him in the past to my friends who are Cowboys loyalists (fans is another story). But, the criticism I have not defended him from is that he has not proven he can win a big game against a quality team. His pattern has been to become inert in those situations. While I am in this mode, Cowboy fans are among the most fair-weathered in the league. Many of them are like spoiled kids. It is about like having 92,000 politicians in attendance. The complaints about McCarthy that I see are par for the course with him. The problem is, who is going to work for Jerrah Jones? They have a problem similar to what the Raiduhs had the last decade or so of Al Davis' life. I hate to admit this, but reading Jerrah's statements......I agree with him on this. Having said that, I need to take a shower.

That is more misery than anybody should have to endure. The Cardinals made the playoffs three times in the 28 or so seasons they were in St. Louis. They had the decency to be blown out of the last two by halftime and the first by the end of the 3rd. They didn't break any hearts, they just frustrated the bejeezuz out of us. I remember The Drive and then The Fumble. I also remember Sipe's end zone interception against Oakland in the playoffs on a frigid day in January 1981. Oh well, that which does not kill us........causes us to drink.

Now I am reminded of the description "jack of all trades and master of none."

Thanks, that's what I remember. His future was always tied to Watson in Houston. With Watson pretty much out of the picture, Culley was a dead man walking whenever he showed. Sucks, because like others have said, I doubt some hybrid of Hoodie, Parcells, Johnson, and Walsh could have done any better with that team.

Correct me if I remember this wrong, but wasn't he hired basically as an olive branch to Watson, before Watson's situation really got ugly?

Probably, just in a different way. Or maybe in additional ways. A lot of people THINK they would get more satisfaction out of watching the team lose 38-33, but the reality is it would probably be 45-17.

There is that. We had just purged most of Hurney's follies, so we did not have much left on the roster. I thought we had more on the roster heading into this year (but not enough), but based on the results, I'm not sure anymore.

I grew up a St. Louis Cardinals fan in football. Trust me, I can relate. Growing up in St. Louis, I am also a Blues fan. Sure, we won the Cup in 2019, and I still savor that. But it took 50 years of my life to get to feel that.

You, sir, are a glutton for punishment.

So apparently we are looking for the prototypical perfect physical specifications to draft OL in the early rounds. There is a saying that the enemy of good is perfect. We are proving that.

I think you can say that same thing about CMC and, if we continue to try and make him a FS, Chinn.

It will take a lot more than bringing Cam back, him reverting to near-2015 form, and playing in a hybrid role to make this a playoff team. Even with 14 out of 32 teams making the playoffs. We need our 2020 draft class to make progress when they pretty much regressed this year. That probably means the coaching staff needs to identify what they are strong at, what they don't do so well, and use them in roles they can succeed in, not scream "versatility." We desperately need the OL to become an OL, not a rather shallow speed bump on the way to the ball carrier or QB. Expecting 2022 Cam to do well despite this group is about like somebody's retirement plan to be "winning the lottery." Expecting 2015 Cam to do well despite this group would be a tall order. Our OL performance is somewhere between porous and terrible. We need our skill players to play with skill. In 2020, we looked like we had our WR problems solved. Even with the loss of Samuel, it looked absorbable. Not so in 2021. In short, unless something big changes, if we are going to make one single roster change to improve things, I would recommend drafting a backup punter because we are going to wear one out.

The guys at that level also have egos the size of Manhattan. If the money is right, starting with Darnold would probably not deter them. That would probably be seen as "a challenge." The OL might get them thinking, but probably not enough to get them to say no. Understand, I don't think our OL performance can be schemed around forever. If we don't find somebody Tepper thinks is a marquee enough OC, or worse, they trot out a few guys that pet sit Rhule's dogs over the years, then things could get interesting. But then again, one of Rhule's former dog sitters might be an improvement as an OC.

Almost unsettling, isn't it?

There were rumors circulating approaching the draft that they were in the Sewell sweepstakes despite their urgent need for WRs. Little is not exactly Sewell. As active as the Dolphins were in moving around in the first round, watch them trade Little to the Foreskins and you-know-who for a 2nd or 3rd round pick.

Is there any truth the rumor that the actual deal was Miami's 7th rounder for Greg Little and the negatives Fitt has on Chris Grier?

I have one person on my ignore list, and that is because struggling through their posts trying to determine if there is something worthwhile (whether I agree with it or not) is not worth the effort. The pearls of wisdom are so rare the whole exercise is a waste of time. One day, that person will post something like an accurate prediction of the winning lottery numbers and only then will I kick myself.