NFL General Comments 2025 Season

[MichiganCardinal]

What would be really funny is if the Steelers part ways with Tomlin after they lose to the Texans and then Harbaugh goes to Pittsburgh.

[Hongbit]

John Harbaugh was never going to be coaching college. He will have his choice of NFL head coaching jobs next year

[lordstanley]

 

[Motor City Sonics]

1 minute ago, lordstanley said:

 

The Raiders will back up the Brinks truck for John Harbaugh.  

[Motor City Sonics]

15 minutes ago, Hongbit said:

John Harbaugh was never going to be coaching college. He will have his choice of NFL head coaching jobs next year

Yep.   I wouldn't want someone with that name at Michigan.....they need to completely break away from that whole thing.  

The Falcons job would be perfect for him.     But if the Packers lay an egg this weekend, I could see him landing there too. 

But yeah, the Raiders like names.  The Raiders like headlines.  Tom Brady with the Michigan connection.   Two brothers in the same division.   Resist, John, Resist - the Raiders are a disaster.  If you go the Falcons and just be your average self, you're taking that division next year.  

 

Seeing online - a few sources as saying Kliff Kingsbury is a top guy for Baltimore and a few other places.   What has this guy ever done?  He coached Mahomes in college.   But maybe Mahomes is good because of himself, not the coach.  

[sagnam]

9 minutes ago, Motor City Sonics said:

The Raiders will back up the Brinks truck for John Harbaugh.  

No chance. That’s a dumpster fire that just proved it’ll fire a big name after one bad season. And that team has more bad seasons in the chamber.

[sagnam]

I think Atlanta. They are the closest to being respectable.

[Motor City Sonics]

12 minutes ago, sagnam said:

No chance. That’s a dumpster fire that just proved it’ll fire a big name after one bad season. And that team has more bad seasons in the chamber.

I am not saying he'll take it, but they're going to try.     And, from I have been led to believe, Mark Davis is not the wealthiest owner in the NFL (which is a silly statement on my part), at some point paying 3 coaches at the same time has to make a difference, right?   Aren't they going to be paying McDaniels, Carroll, Pierce and the new coach next year?   What a disaster.     Geno Smith is only good when he has NO expectations.    Expect something out of him and he crumbles.  

[Motown Bombers]

The Giants are intriguing. Dart in his second year, Andrew Thomas, healthy Nabors and Skattebo, and a loaded defensive line. My problem with the Giants is that Schoen is on the hot seat. 

Edited January 7 by Motown Bombers

[MichiganCardinal]

I think Harbaugh ultimately takes a year off. Maybe takes a do-nothing analyst gig with his brother in LA.

I don't think he's done forever, but he'll want something ideal, and he'll have his pick when it happens. Maybe it's Andy Reid retiring or Sean McVay taking a gazillion dollar deal with Amazon or the Eagles firing Sirianni after he punches a fan. But I think he knows better than to be the next legacy ruined by the Raiders organization, even if they write him a blank check.

[MichiganCardinal]

3 hours ago, Motor City Sonics said:

Seeing online - a few sources as saying Kliff Kingsbury is a top guy for Baltimore and a few other places.   What has this guy ever done?  He coached Mahomes in college.   But maybe Mahomes is good because of himself, not the coach.  

Kingsbury's agent is Erik Burkhardt, one of the most aggressive personalities on the planet when it comes to protecting and elevating his clients. Kingsbury's name is dropped as a leading candidate for every job under the sun. I'm surprised there aren't rumors of a presidential run in 2028, but don't give Burkhardt ideas. And when he faded because the Cardinals fired him, it's conveniently leaked that he's doing fine in life, may not return to coaching at all, and is enjoying travels in Southeast Asia. Guess who was back shortly thereafter.

If you even just Google Kingsbury's names, a half dozen fluff pieces have been written about how good he is in the last like 12 hours. No doubt Burkhardt's work.

I think Kingsbury is a fantastic OC (he's my #1 pick). He has elevated every offense he has been involved with, and is a creative analytical thinker. He has run a bit of a different style with Arizona and Washington though than Campbell may like. I also think he was a mediocre head coach on a good day. But I don't put weight into any of the rumors linking him to any job until ink is on paper.

[MichiganCardinal]

Speaking of zealous advocacy, Harbaugh's agent told reporters that seven NFL teams called him within 45 minutes of the news breaking.

Assuming he's being truthful, and assuming all six other open jobs are included (Titans, Giants, Cardinals, Raiders, Browns, Falcons), that would mean that at least one NFL team reached out who still has a coach employed.

My best guess is that it is the Bucs. But I wouldn't be surprised if it was the Bengals or Dolphins. There is the Stephen Ross-Harbaugh infatuation in Miami... The Steelers would be far and away the funniest outcome though.

[Jason_R]

He seems tailor made for the Giants. 

[Motown Bombers]

I think people are underselling the Giants. They have a promising young QB, an elite young receiver, a solid young running back, elite LT, a loaded defensive line, and the 5th overall pick. The Giants were the anti Bears. They lost a lot of games they were leading late. They were better than their record. Harbaugh goes to New York with Monken and brings over Schwartz to unleash that defensive line, that's a good looking team. 

[Shinzaki]

Rumor has it Miami may be in the "let's talk to John Harbaugh" line.

Mike McDaniel for OC here in Detroit is a wet dream for many

[sagnam]

I think the Giants are risky. Running QB one hit away from being Tua. RB that destroyed his ankle. WR coming off ACL, not a guarantee. Defense that can only do one thing and has a lot of resources in the front 7.

 

[MichiganCardinal]

51 minutes ago, sagnam said:

I think the Giants are risky. Running QB one hit away from being Tua. RB that destroyed his ankle. WR coming off ACL, not a guarantee. Defense that can only do one thing and has a lot of resources in the front 7.

 

The Giants are a prime candidate to be the next Washington: a quick turnaround with an easy schedule that makes the incoming coach look like a mastermind and a great hire… Followed by a revelation of a lot of problems under the surface not easily patched.

I suspect Chicago will be in this category next season too.

[CMRivdogs]

This seems a bit drastic to me. Cut the pre season to 2 games, do an 18 game season, each team plays one game overseas.

 

[MichiganCardinal]

If we want more Jarrett Stidhams playing in the AFC Championship Game, keep expanding the schedule.

I'm sure they will go to 18 within the next three years, because the money demands it. But there has to be a stopping point or the playoffs will become the Morgue Bowl and the champion will become purely who stayed healthy the longest or got healthy the soonest. An international game per team would at least add some fairness, instead of one team flying from London to play another that got 10 days off.

I also think they desperately need a second bye week per team. If they add an international game per team, maybe it can coincide with the week after that trip.

[Mr.TaterSalad]

I think 18 games is overkill for sure. You already have a increased number of injuries due to the players being bigger, stronger, faster, and more aggressive in their playing style. You will turn the Super Bowl into the IR Bowl. As Cardinal mentioned above, the winner will simply be who is the healthiest at that point, taking all equity, fairness, and fun out of the game itself. I am a hard no on expanding the schedule.

Edited 8 hours ago by Mr.TaterSalad

[Mr.TaterSalad]

Also, if Robert Kraft wants to prostitute himself like this and add an 18th game then fine. I want him out on the practice field, at OTAs, training camp, and in games doing the same things these guys have to put their bodies through.

[MichiganCardinal]

3 minutes ago, Mr.TaterSalad said:

Also, if Robert Kraft wants to prostitute himself like this 

I see what you did there.

[Mr.TaterSalad]

If the NFL wants to make changes I still want my division winner doesn't guarantee a playoff spot change.

One other change I want to see is published transcripts, as well as any audio and video communications that occur between the NFL's league officiating offices and their on-field officials during the game. You will never, ever convince me, until I see transcribed evidence pointing to the contrarty, that the league didn't buzz down the refs in the KC game on the Goff TD that wasn't. That Illegal Motion call was 100% called from upstairs/New York offices. The NFL needs to publicly release any and all communications that occur between the league's review booth, the New York office, and the on-field officials during a game.

[MichiganCardinal]

There's probably a way to make the international games work by division too. Have four international games per week during a divisional crossover week.

For instance next year it's the Lions/Titans, Vikings/Colts, Packers/Texans, and Bears/Jaguars. Have each of them play in one of London, Berlin, Dublin, or Madrid. Then those eight teams either get a bye the following week, or (worse) play each other in a divisional game.

[MichiganCardinal]

10 minutes ago, Mr.TaterSalad said:

If the NFL wants to make changes I still want my division winner doesn't guarantee a playoff spot change.

One other change I want to see is published transcripts, as well as any audio and video communications that occur between the NFL's league officiating offices and their on-field officials during the game. You will never, ever convince me, until I see transcribed evidence pointing to the contrarty, that the league didn't buzz down the refs in the KC game on the Goff TD that wasn't. That Illegal Motion call was 100% called from upstairs/New York offices. The NFL needs to publicly release any and all communications that occur between the league's review booth, the New York office, and the on-field officials during a game.

This is probably more of an NFLRA issue. Their contract is up in May. Hopefully we aren't going to get more replacement refs, that was a disaster in 2012.

I see both sides of it. I agree with you that the Chiefs debacle clearly came from upstairs, and Wrolsted lied to our faces in the pool report when he claimed that it was a crew decision. I watched that all happen in real time from like six rows up and will be the first to tell you he's full of ****. So having that audio publicly available would prevent him from lying to our faces, which would be nice.

That being said, the referees won't want that released (and neither will the league) because it will just generate more negative press and more fans in uproar, without any actionable follow up. It's not like the league doesn't have access to these things. The league knows exactly what happened. The league is fine with whatever it was.

Uproar - genuine uproar - just creates problems for the league. Brad Allen hasn't worked a Lions game, home or away, since the Dallas game in 2023. That's not a coincidence. The office knows that it will generate media when they eventually assign him a Lions game again. So they avoid that. Releasing transcripts or audio is an easy way to make a one-day story into a two-day story. Why give the media more, when their goal is to give the media less?

And in any event, if they're not going to publicly fire or discipline Brad Allen for literally costing a team a game, what does any of it matter?