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Loyal to the point of defiance . . .
After their 0-2, the Giants made a change in their starting lineup – benching right tackle Ereck Flowers for Chad Wheeler.
Their offensive line had been struggling.
In Wheeler’s first start, their offense was much better, in the Giants win over Houston.
Is Todd Bowles considering a line-up changes?
“No, I’m not,” Bowles said on Monday.
Bowles has a history of not making lineup changes. Maybe he doesn’t want to embarrass anybody.
But my experience tells me that coaches that refuse to make lineup changes, risk getting removed from the coaching lineup eventually.
Let’s not forget what Albert Einstein said about “doing the same thing over and over again, but expecting different results.” . . .
I refuse to grade Sam Darnold on a curve. I don’t care how old he is, or if he’s a rookie.
I subscribe to the Bill Parcells’ theory, “A quarterback should be judged their ability to get the team in end zone.”
Darnold didn’t do that enough the last two games.
Todd Bowles praise for Darnold after the Cleveland game might have been a little over-the-top.
“I thought he competed his butt off [against Cleveland],” Bowles said. “I thought yesterday was one of his better ball games from a mental standpoint, and a toughness standpoint, and a grit standpoint and the natural stuff.”
Not sure Darnold was 100 percent comfortable with this high praise coming out of a game he didn’t play well.
“That’s awesome that Coach said that and that he would notice that, but I expect more out of myself,” Darnold said today.
I love the potential of the prospect, but it’s not my job to lower the bar based on a guy’s experience.
This is the NFL, not Little League . . .
Some in the media are starting to turn on Bowles. One paper in particular has been tough on him the last few days – The New York Post. They even had a back page headline after the Jets loss to Cleveland – “Toilet Bowles.”
Bowles isn’t on the hot-seat because the owner likes him, and called him “quite extraordinary” after last season. Christopher is kind of the Anti-Steinbrenner with his ownership approach.
To me, the only thing that would be put Bowles on the hot-seat, would be a terrible season this year, a lot of empty seats late in the season and the media and fans turning up the heat. Maybe some planes pop up again. Because to me, the only way this coach gets into the hot-seat-zone is if Ira Axselrad, the most powerful man in the Jets’ Nation, tells Johnson that the coach is hurting their business significantly, so they might have to make a change . . .
It’s amazing how many people are questioning the Patriots at 1-2.
I know they are far from perfect as a team, but you’ve really got to consider who they lost to the last two games. They lost in Jacksonville to the most talented defense in the league, and then they went on the road again, and lost to Matt Patricia’s Lions. Patricia knows more about the Patriots’ operation than any opposing coach in the league. He knows their secret recipe, so to speak, and that showed in the Lions’ schemes in their win over New England. Expect a lot of upcoming opponents to study that game-tape hard.
They now come home to host the Dolphins, a team that I don’t think is as a good as their 0-3 record, beating three mediocre teams in a row.
I’m not saying the Patriots are going to finish 13-3, but I expect them to make the playoffs.
Be careful talking about their demise prematurely. These last two games were a perfect storm for them to lose two in a row, especially without Julian Edelman, Tom Brady’s favorite receiver, who was suspended for the first four games of the season.
September 24, 2018
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