Post by spiderfan on Nov 29, 2021 22:42:55 GMT -8
Howdy SCtoC, It is I, Spiderfan the official NFL analyst of this great forum and I hope ya ate some good food because it is now time for the 12th edition of the 2021 season of Web of Football. Let us begin!
The End of an Era
After the Seahawks loss to the Artists Formerly known as Redskins on Monday Night Football and after their upcoming contest against the 49ers being flexed out of Sunday Night Football days earlier, the stastistic about the Seahawks that left me most defeated as a Seahawks fan was that the rebuilding Jets actually are lower in the upcoming draft order than the Seahawks are. What makes that stat hurt even more is that because of the Jamal Adams trade that #4 overall pick is belongs to the aforementioned New York Jets and not the Seahawks meaning the Seahawks have no incentive to tank.
I unapologetically ignored that national sports media talking points in February about Russell Wilson wanting to be traded and the rumors of a feud between Russell Wilson and Pete Carroll. "Russel loves the Seahawks!" I told myself. "Pete and Russell are most positive guys in the whole NFL, they can't REALLY dislike each other." I told myself. "Dan Patrick and others just want to cause drama where this none." I told myself. As I saw the Seahawks season spiraling I went from optimistic to more or less pessimistic back to optimistic. 2-5 was a low point, but because the NFC is pretty even going into the game against Washington at 3-7 didn't feel as bad as it should have. I felt optimism that the Seahawks could make a run and get a wild card spot and continue the era of success that they have had for nearly a decade. That era of success will not last a decade.
I finally came to the realization Monday night that my most pessimistic of view points about the Seahawks are likely to become reality. The Seahawks won't go to the playoffs, although like I predicted earlier in the year I can see them winning a bunch of random games down the stretch and making their record not terrible. Pete Carroll will retire and end his career as a football coach on a sour note. Russell Wilson will pull a Matt Stafford and get traded in January for a bunch of draft picks. DK Metcalf will get a record setting contract that he deserves as the best WR in the NFL and will become the next Larry Fitzgerald (A HoF WR who for a number of years was the best player on a bad NFC West team and sold a lot of jerseys).
Whether current GM John Schnieder sticks around to oversee a rebuild or is fired I don't know. I also don't know if future HoFer Bobby Wagner will be traded or stick around and be the other really good player on a rebuilding Seahawks team. Wagner still gas left in the tank, and if the Seahawks decide to tank (I know lame segway) I can imagine getting good draft picks for him.
I know the instant first thought of some will be "I wonder how different things would be if they just would have handed the ball to Beast Mode." Frankly, I don't like wondering about that and never will.
Other Thoughts:
-The reports of Bears HC Matt Nagy's demise turned out to be greatly exaggerated. What is funny is that he'll probably still be fired, just after the season.
-Wouldn't ya know? Kellen Moore's gimmicky offense of throwing the ball every play with a QB that isn't suited for it doesn't work! It isn't like I've said that dozens of times before.
-Drew Brees might not have been the most physically gifted QB to ever play the game, but he sure as heck covered up the warts that the Saints have that's for sure.
-Father Time is coming to get Big Ben Roethlisberger. Big Ben deserves credit for not being fully caught by Father Time at various points over the last couple years, but I think time is running out.
-Cam Newton was due to have a bad game considering that he was sitting eating cereal at home not too long ago. He'll play better in the weeks to come.
-Jalen Reagor deserves to get cut after his performance on Sunday.
-The fact that after numerous humiliating blowout losses, the Falcons are still very much alive in the playoff hunt reinforces that the NFL is weird. I love it.
-Say it with me: Carson. Wentz. Is. Not. A. Franchise. Quarterback. And. Never. Will. Be.
-The Texans finally won... by losing to the Jets. The tank rolls on!
-My Chiefs fandom will raise accusations of unfair bias, but I'll say it anyway: I REALLY enjoy seeing the LA Chargers hype train actively fall off the rails. Not because of my Chiefs fandom, but because I despise LA based national sports media homerism and favoritism that is disguised as unbiased analysis. As someone who tries to keep their coverage of the NFL as intellectually honest as I can, seeing people who actively don't do that fail is amusing.
-I'm not rooting against Trey Lance HOWEVER it is worth mentioning that Kyle Shanahan's record as 49ers coach without Jimmy GQ is abysmal. Figured I'd mention that after it was reported that Jimmy GQ's time with the 49ers would be done after this season.
-The LA Rams really are the dream team
-This is gonna sound out there, but I think Browns fans actively rooting against Baker Mayfield actually reverted the Browns to pre-Baker status because that game against the Ravens sure felt like a pre-Baker Browns type of loss.
Because of the Thanksgiving festivities this week's edition was shorter than usual, but I hope ya still got some enjoyment out of it nonetheless. I hope to see ya again next week! This is spiderfan out.