The Rams will play in L.A. by 2018
Roger Goodell can only delay the Rams moving back to Los Angeles for so long and, after owner Stan Kroenke announced Monday that he’s building a football stadium in Inglewood between the Forum and Hollywood Park Monday, the clock on St. Louis football is ticking.
Kronke and Stockbridge Capital, the owners of Hollywood Park, have teamed up to develop a mixed-use community on the 60 acres Kroenke purchases last year. The “City of Champions Revitalization Project” will include an 80,000-seat football stadium designed by HKS, Inc. The proposed stadium should be finished by 2018.
The Rams can convert their stadium lease in St. Louis to a year-to-year deal later this month and are expected to do so, leaving no reason other than a failed ownership vote to keep the team out of L.A.
According to the NFL, the earliest a team could move to Los Angeles is January of 2016. If the Rams did make the move, they would likely play the 2016 and 2017 seasons in the L.A. Coliseum or the Rose Bowl.[divider]
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The NFL Replay rules will be changed to cover judgment calls
The “non-reviewable” call has always been an issue in the NFL under the replay system, but after a pass interference call was waived off on Dallas Cowboys linebacker Anthony Hitchens in Sunday’s 24-20 Cowboys win over the Lions in the Wild Card Playoffs, a league-wide rule change to make such calls reviewable is almost a certainty in the offseason.
Patriots coach Bill Belichick has already publicly called for the rule change back in early December, telling NESN, “When you have two challenges, I don’t see anything wrong with the concept of ‘you can challenge any two plays that you want. I understand that judgment calls are judgment calls, but to say that an important play can’t be reviewed, I don’t think that’s really in the spirit of trying to get everything right and making sure the most important plays are officiated properly.”
Lions head coach Jim Caldwell, who’s team was victimized by the picked up flag, added his voice to the chorus Monday, saying that the NFL should “take those calls out of the element of human error.”
The NFL head of officials has publicly admitted to the mistake on the “non-call” on NBC Radio.
Touchdowns called back on holds, roughness penalties and pass interference calls that can be worth 50-plus yards can swing scores and there’s no logical reason these judgment calls can’t be held to the same scrutiny as other calls. Sunday’s non-call didn’t solely cost Detroit the victory Sunday. The defensive calls on the Cowboys’ final drive all looked good on replay, but it definitely contributed to their defeat. [divider]
Joe Flacco may be the best postseason quarterback of this generation
His record speaks for itself, 10-4 with seven road playoff wins, two more than any other quarterback in NFL history. One of those losses should have an asterisk, as kicker Billy Cundiff whiffed on an easy field goal as time expired against the Patriots in 2011 that would have sent the game into overtime and eventually the Ravens to the Super Bowl. Instead, they had to wait an extra year to get their rings, beating New England to get there.
Flacco is 2-1 against the Patriots in the playoffs coming into Satuday night’s game, and that loss, like we saw earlier, barely counts. The only quarterback in the playoffs Flacco has a losing postseason record against is Ben Roethlisberger and Flacco sent him packing Sunday. Flacco is 1-1 against Peyton Manning and 1-0 against Andrew Luck.
Flacco is a good quarterback in the regular season, a solid NFL starter, but no one would look at his numbers and regular season records and call him “elite.” But when we talk about the all-time greats, the postseason has to be factored in and since 2011, no one on the planet has been better than Flacco. [divider]
Andrew Luck is officially elite
When you watch Andrew Luck play before this season, the issue wasn’t if he would one day be elite. He was good when he came into the league his rookie year and has been great since, but this year Luck has taken that next step and getting his hand stamped for the VIP room, joining Peyton Manning, Ben Roethlisberger, Tom Brady and Aaron Rodgers.
Luck’s brilliant 36-yard touchdown pass to Donte Moncrief in the corner of the endzone again proved the third-year quarterback is already one of the best in the league.
The great thing about Luck is, we expected this. He looked like he was the “next guy” coming out of Stanford and has done nothing but become that “next guy” on the field. And he’s done it without making one Subway commercial. Maybe some other guys should take some notes. [divider]
Marvin Lewis and Andy Dalton need a divorce
Marvin Lewis made history Sunday, losing his seventh straight playoff game as a head coach and setting a new record for futility in the NFL. Before you start calling for his head, I want you to look around at other, less fortunate teams, even in your own division. You think Cleveland wouldn’t have traded their last tire fire of a decade for seven trips to the playoffs? How about the Rams? The Raiders?
Cincy set a new NFL record for losing before Marvin Lewis was hired in 2003. Yes, the Bengals haven’t won a playoff game since 1991, but that was also the last time the Bengals were in the playoffs before Marvin Lewis got there. He is not the problem. Dalton is.
In those seven playoff losses for Lewis, Andy Dalton has figured prominently in four of them and by prominently, I mean played like a pile of elephant dung. Dalton isn’t a complete bum. On a planet that seems unable to produce 32 legitimate NFL starting quarterbacks, he’s the best of the guys that you’d never want starting for your team. But you can’t win consistently in the postseason with a below average quarterback and exhibit A is Andy Dalton.
In a perfect world, the Bengals could keep Dalton and draft one of the five prospective professional quality quarterbacks reportedly coming out in the 2015 NFL Draft. But the problem is, those guys all need to play as soon as possible, get starter reps and learn the speed of the NFL game. None of them can or would beat Andy Dalton out for the No. 1 job in camp. His presence on the team will regress the next QB’s development. The Bengals picked Dalton in the second round in 2011 and, with quarterback problems and a cap-friendly contract, they might be able to recoup that investment.
Dalton has maxed himself out. He’s a high-end backup, a 1B quarterback like Geno Smith, Mark Sanchez, Ryan Fitzpatrick and probably Colin Kaepernick. He can win games, but you can’t let him run your franchise. He can be your Frank Reich. He’s never going to be your Jim Kelley. It’s time to cut bait.
