| The DB and Chris Myers look back at Conference Championship Weekend at FoxSports.com. – – -The Chiefs are advancing to yet another Super Bowl – and yet again they appear to have benefited from a favorable officials ruling or two. Today’s main furor is over the inexact science of exactly spotting the ball after quarterback sneak attempts. Karl Rasmussen of SI.com: The Kansas City Chiefs were once again the beneficiaries of a questionable decision from referees during a crucial moment of the AFC championship against the Buffalo Bills. On fourth-and-1 at the 41-yard line, the Bills attempted to pick up a first down with the classic Tush Push. Josh Allen kept the ball himself and his teammates tried to shove him forward past the marker. It appeared that Allen did enough to secure the first down, but he was ruled to be short. Even CBS rules analyst Gene Steratore was under the impression that Allen picked up the required yardage for a fresh set of downs, yet officials awarded the Chiefs the football nonetheless. “I felt like he gained it by about a third of the football, Jim. That was just my take on the play. Tough, tough play,” said Steratore to Jim Nantz. Both Nantz and Romo agreed with Steratore’s assessment of the situation. Ultimately, the officials felt otherwise. One official indicated he thought Allen had successfully picked up the first down, but he was overruled by another official who thought otherwise. It was certainly a controversial moment, especially considering Patrick Mahomes gave Kansas City a 29–22 lead with a rushing touchdown on the ensuing drive. We’ve looked at the play which showed the line to gain being the near side of the 40-yard stripe – and some thoughts: * It never should have been fourth-and-one. Dalton Kincaid on third down dove, without his knee touching, to at least the stripe. The side official on the Buffalo sideline, line judge Jeff Seeman, marked him back about a foot. (@joelklatt Tough to win games when you get across line-to-gain on 3rd AND 4th down only for officials to award the other team possession.) * On fourth down, Seeman on the Buffalo side appeared to be walking in for a spot with first down yardage assured. The official from the Kansas City sideline, down judge Patrick Holt, to whom Allen’s back was turned, appeared to overrule and the spot drifted back. * Even with the final spot, never clearly shown by CBS, but you can see it on replays, the ball appeared to be on the CBS line to gain. Unless it happened during the break, the officials never measured it with the old-fashioned stakes. (an explanation from FootballZebras.com: “The line to gain was a major line (the KC40). The ball needed to penetrate the plane of the 40 for a first down. There’s no need to measure when a stripe is involved. I *think* he had the first down, but not enough to overturn it as clear and obvious with the ball out of view.”) * To avoid fumbling, Allen tucked the ball against his body denying officials a clear view of it. But the top of his body against which the ball was touched eventually broke the line. You would have to believe that Allen had the ball behind his torso to come up with the spot eventually chosen. * While important, the call was not game determining. If awarded the first down Buffalo would have had a first down at the Kansas City 40 up 22-21 with 14 minutes left. Let’s say they kick a field goal for 25-21 with 11 minutes left. Based on how the actual game unfolded, with Kansas City making most of the key plays, who can say the Chiefs would not have prevailed. Let the record show that the Chiefs yet again were deemed to be the more law-abiding team with only 21 yards in penalties awarded against them while Buffalo was assessed 48 yards. We also note that twice in the fourth quarter (and we’re not complaining about this), this week’s referee Clete Blakeman let slide possible roughing the passer penalties against the Chiefs that were at least as egregious as the two calls made last week against Houston on Patrick Mahomes. You can go on X and find several other instances, including the simultaneous non-catch that went Kansas City’s way. We don’t think all of them are valid, but Ron Torbert and his Super Bowl crew will clearly be walking into a situation in two weeks where most of the commentariat believes that Kansas City’s 17-1 record in games they were trying to win has been fueled by a large number of officiating miscalls that favored the Chiefs. As expected, Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk.com believes in the magic of a chip in the football to get things right: It’s time. It was already time. It’s definitely time now. The technology exists to do it right. The only question is whether the NFL will make the leap — and write the check. The ball needs to be equipped with digital components that will allow for an exact measurement as to whether a player scored a touchdown or, as it relates to Sunday night’s AFC Championship, whether a first down was gained. The current system is far too imperfect. And those imperfections showed tonight. Human beings using their eyes and feet to see through and around bodies in an effort to determine how far the runner carried the ball. As CBS rules analyst Gene Steratore said, it looked like quarterback Josh Allen got the ball to the line to gain before he was pulled backward on fourth and short early in the fourth quarter, with the Bills leading 22-21. It’s hard to make a proper spot in real time, and it’s even harder to determine with replay review whether Allen made it. The separate problem, of course, is the lack of transparency in the NFL’s replay-review process. Who’s making the decisions? Who’s in the room when the decisions are made? What angles are they looking at? In the end, there’s no reason to rely on the frailties of human estimation. Too much rides on the outcome of these games for the league to not invest in precision. They can do it. They need to do it. While a flawed call in such circumstances always hurts one team and helps the other, that’s no way to ensure consistent accuracy. Or to ensure that the team that won the game truly and fully earned it. Maybe the Chiefs still would have won if the Buffalo drive had continued. The point is that the league’s stubborn insistence to rely on what the officials think they saw must yield to technology that can erase all doubt. Everyone should want that. Until the NFL feels enough pressure from the teams, media, fans, and perhaps even Congress to fix it, the league won’t choose to do it. The DB still wrestles with a chip, presumably in the middle of the ball and the yard to gain being achieved by the front of a football five-to-six inches forward. Can they calibrate it so that is the chip gets to within five inches of the electronic first down line, it registers as a first down? But on the other hand, in some instances, such as the big play Sunday, the ball might not ever get flat in the ball carrier’s hand. |
| NFC EAST |
| DALLASJerry Jones pats himself on the back for his risky head coaching hire. Brigid Kennedy ofSI.com: Once he got the mic, Jones went off on a long tangent about his time managing the team and his prior coaching aspirations before finally getting to his thoughts on Schottenheimer. Watching it back, it was just a long explanation as to what went into the decision to hire the coach, plus an attempt at flaunting his credentials for making the choice, but it went on for quite some time. Osmosis was mentioned. At one point in particular, Jones outlined the risk associated with bringing Schottenheimer on at the helm, considering he would be a first-year head coach leading one of the most famous franchises in football. And while Jones isn’t wrong to think it, it seemed a bit bizarre a point to highlight as your message to the outside NFL world while introducing the new leader of your team. “I get my proverbial a– kicked over needing people in my comfort zone,” Jones began. “Without this thing being about me in any way, if you don’t think I can operate outside my comfort zone, you are so wrong. This,” he says, pointing toward Schottenheimer, “is as big a risk as you can take. No head coaching experience.” He continues by listing other reasons Schotty is qualified for the job, including the fact he is the son of former NFL coach Marty Schottenheimer and has spent a lot of time watching and learning, but circles back to the idea that, though he (Jones) isn’t known for risk-taking, this choice is risky. Fans might view it as a “less-than-glamorous hire,” he goes on. “What I would say to you is I got here taking shots. And not shoddy shots. I got here taking shots. … This was risky. This is risky. But by the same token, how often can you take a risk when someone has had almost 30 years … of being around coaches, of being around players? That’s two-thirds of his life. And then the rest of it growing up in an NFL-oriented family. … I’m all in here.” So while his heart was probably in the right place and he did express admiration and hope for Schottenheimer by the end, there were parts of the monologue that felt a bit like back-handed compliments toward the head coach sitting next to him. Oh, Jerry. |
| PHILADELPHIAThis: @ah_podSaquon: “my daughter, when I told her that we were going to Philly. she kind of was just like ‘does that mean we’re gonna win now?’ and I just started smiling and I was like, hopefully.”– – -Bill Barnwell notes two blunders that the Eagles made in their offseason business – and they are still just blips in the big picture of front office greatness: I projected the Eagles as a team to likely decline heading into this season, which has clearly turned out to be incorrect. The biggest reason I was wrong? General manager Howie Roseman and the Eagles nailed nearly every one of their significant decisions during the 2024 offseason. Those additions have been incredibly valuable all season, and they were responsible for swinging the NFC title game toward Philadelphia. That starts with Barkley, of course, who requires no introduction. His 60-yard touchdown on Sunday was the most spectacular play of the day, but he also got some help from his opponents. When the Eagles pitched him the ball, Dante Fowler Jr. decided to spin in the hopes of eluding A.J. Brown’s block attempt. In doing so, Fowler was run over by a pursuing Bobby Wagner, which also slowed down the legendary linebacker. Barkley got into the open field relatively easily, at which point he shrugged off one tackle attempt and ran away from another. Barkley’s second score might have actually been more impressive. Running inside near the goal line, he was about to meet Frankie Luvu in the hole for what probably would have been a short gain. In an instant, though, he teleported outside and into open space for a score. Most backs either don’t have the vision to see that opportunity or the speed to get out there without being met by defenders or causing their offensive linemen to hold. Barkley is one of the rare runners who can do that at full speed. Between the regular season and the playoffs, Barkley has carried the ball 411 times for 2,447 yards. He’s now within 29 rushing yards of Terrell Davis’ record, which the Broncos star racked up across 470 rushes in 1998. Had the Eagles not sat him more often Sunday because of what appeared to be a calf issue, Barkley might have broken the record before making it to the Super Bowl. Instead, he will surely get there in two weeks’ time. He was also brilliant in pass protection against the Commanders. While Barkley might win Offensive Player of the Year, the Defensive Player of the Year candidate the Eagles picked up also had a big day. First-team All-Pro linebacker Zack Baun has been a big play machine this season, and while he allowed an early fourth-down conversion to tight end Zach Ertz and wasn’t able to bring down Terry McLaurin on a touchdown catch, he more than made up for it in the first half. He forced a Dyami Brown fumble with a punch later in the quarter, leading to a short field and an Eagles score. Baun stuffed one run for no gain, another for a loss and then recovered another Commanders’ fumble late in the third quarter with Washington driving and attempting to get within one score. There’s more. Rookie cornerback Quinyon Mitchell recovered from a shoulder injury and spent most of the day matched up against McLaurin, Washington’s top wideout. According to NFL Next Gen Stats, McLaurin lined up for 36 routes against Mitchell, catching just one pass on four targets for a total of 7 yards. (His score came on the other side of the field.) Mitchell also added an exclamation point by intercepting Daniels on a fade to McLaurin in the fourth quarter before mocking the wideout’s touchdown celebration after the pick. Cooper DeJean, the team’s other rookie corner, allowed four catches for 25 yards across 50 coverage snaps and held up Brown long enough for Baun to come over and punch out the football. Free-agent addition C.J. Gardner-Johnson allowed two catches for 25 yards. And right guard Mekhi Becton, signed to a one-year deal in the offseason, held his own on a day in which the Eagles had to deal with multiple centers, as Landon Dickerson moved over from guard and filled in for an ailing Cam Jurgens in the first half, then went out after the break with his own injury, forcing Jurgens into the lineup. And then there are the coordinators. Kellen Moore was joining his third organization in three years, but the former Cowboys and Chargers offensive coordinator has helped give the Eagles more answers on offense. Hurts went from struggling against the blitz to posting the league’s best QBR against it this season. While the Commanders were able to get pressure against the injury-hit interior of the Eagles line with blitzes for a stretch in this game, Moore eventually found solutions. It was only a little over a year ago, meanwhile, that Dolphins players were taking to Twitter with their excitement that the organization had parted ways with defensive coordinator Vic Fangio. All he has done since joining Philadelphia is turn the Eagles into the league’s best defense. The first drive of the game might have resulted in three points, but it was easy to see how difficult it was for the Commanders to work the ball down the field, as they needed to pick up two fourth downs and failed to gain more than 7 yards on any single snap during an 18-play possession. The Eagles made such good draft picks, free agent signings and coordinator hires that it overshadows what might have been one of the worst signings of the offseason. Roseman’s biggest splash was signing former Jets defensive end Bryce Huff to a three-year, $51.1 million deal. Huff quickly fell out of favor and saw his role reduced before suffering a wrist injury. He played just one snap over the first two postseason games before playing 12 Sunday, all of which came up multiple scores in the fourth quarter. Devin White, who was expected to be a starting linebacker for the team, was cut without playing a single snap after signing a one-year deal with $3.5 million guaranteed. The guy who took his place in the starting lineup was Baun, and he has been phenomenal. As I wrote in my deep dive on Roseman last offseason, he has made some of the best moves of the past decade and some of the worst. Thankfully for Philadelphia fans, this season was an example where the good decisions were far more important and impactful than the less successful ones. Roseman has the Eagles back to a third Super Bowl in eight years. |
| NFC SOUTH |
| NEW ORLEANSThe last job left is the Saints – and Bills OC Joe Brady said he doesn’t want to interview for it. What about Kliff Kingsbury, Sunday’s other losing OC? Andrew Porter ofBleacherReport.com: The New Orleans Saints are the last team with a vacant head coaching position, and their search is reportedly set to pick up in the coming week. ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported on SportsCenter on Sunday that the Saints are interested in interviewing Washington Commanders offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury and have already talked with Philadelphia Eagles offensive coordinator Kellen Moore. Schefter also mentioned former Dallas Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy along with a few other names as potential options. “They had some interest in talking to the Commanders offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury,” Schefter said. “They’ve spoken to the Eagles’ offensive coordinator Kellen Moore. And so, we’ll see how today’s games play out. One of those individuals will be available either way. Keller Moore is expected to interview this week with the Saints, no matter what happens. If the Commanders lose, then Kliff Kingsbury would be eligible to talk to them. And at some point this week, I would expect that the Saints are going to be talking to Mike McCarthy, the former Cowboys head coach. I think he’s right there amongst the favorites, if not the favorite for the job right now. Anthony Weaver from the Dolphins had a great interview this past week. Mike Kafka, the Giants offense coordinator was in. I think most people around the league believe that McCarthy is a name here to watch moving forward, but let’s see how today’s games play out.”Kingsbury and Moore will square off on Sunday as the Commanders take on the Eagles in the NFC championship. According to Nick Underhill of NewOrleans.football, Kingsbury has not yet decided if he will interview with the Saints, instead keeping his focus on Washington’s season. Moore, however, could get one step closer to the Saints head coaching job this week as Ian Rapoport of NFL Network reported that New Orleans is eyeing a second interview with him. McCarthy, who parted ways with the Cowboys after the two sides couldn’t agree on a new contract, is set to interview with the Saints this week, Schefter reported on Thursday. While McCarthy’s tenure in Dallas never resulted in more than a divisional-round appearance, he remains one of the more experienced coaches and could be what New Orleans needs after years of struggle. As Schefter noted on SportsCenter, Anthony Weaver already had a “great” interview with the Saints. Weaver has no prior experience as an NFL head coach, but has done a tremendous job in his sole season as the Miami Dolphins’ defensive coordinator. Under Weaver, the Dolphins went from having the 22nd-ranked scoring defense in 2023 to 10th this season. Weaver, therefore, improved the defense that Vic Fangio, now heading to the Super Bowl, coached. |
| AFC WEST |
| KANSAS CITYJeffri Chadiha of NFL.com on why the Chiefs walk off the field winners: There are many ways to look at what happened in Kansas City’s 32-29 victory over Buffalo on Sunday night. The simplest view is to understand the only thing that separated these two teams was a handful of plays. These squads were so evenly matched that Buffalo produced six more total yards (374 to 368), one fewer turnover (the Chiefs had the lone giveaway on a fumble by quarterback Patrick Mahomes) and 34 more seconds of possession time. The problem for Buffalo was Kansas City produced a few more plays that spun the game in a critical fashion. Kansas City is heading into a matchup with Philadelphia in Super Bowl LIX because it was the team that came up with three crucial stops of Bills quarterback Josh Allen on short-yardage runs. It was Bills tight end Dalton Kincaid who couldn’t come down with a fourth-down throw by Allen with just under two minutes left in the game, after the Chiefs pressured Allen with a well-timed blitz. You can talk about other factors in the game if you want — and the Bills did take a huge hit when their top cornerback Christian Benford was lost to a concussion in the first quarter — but Buffalo still had its chances to win this game. It just came down to the Chiefs meeting the moment more consistently than the Bills could. That is the lesson Joe Burrow and the Cincinnati Bengals learned in this game two years ago. It’s the same lesson Lamar Jackson and the Baltimore Ravens learned last season, when the Chiefs won the conference championship on the road. The Bills now get to spend an entire offseason pondering how they could be so close to realizing a dream, only to watch the Kansas City players partying and prancing around as the Chiefs hoisted the Lamar Hunt Trophy for the fifth time in seven years. You have to capitalize on the opportunities that come against the Chiefs because God knows that’s exactly what they’re going to do. Think about the Kansas City defense. It gave up 147 rushing yards but rarely wilted in those short-yardage situations. Its most vital stop came at the Kansas City 41-yard line with 13:01 left in the game. Allen took the snap and squirmed behind his offensive line on a play that often leads to success. This time he ran into linebacker Nick Bolton and a mass of Chiefs defenders who refused to give him the yard he desperately needed in that situation. “This game came down to an inch,” Chiefs head coach Andy Reid said in the postgame. “That’s what that stop was.” The Bills were ahead, 22-21, in that moment. A first down could’ve led to a touchdown drive that would have put Buffalo in the driver’s seat. Instead, the momentum swung back toward Kansas City, and Buffalo was in trouble from then on. Mahomes led the Chiefs to a touchdown on the ensuing possession, Allen did the same for Bills on the next series, and then the Chiefs gained the game-deciding points on a Harrison Butker field goal with 3:33 left. Anybody who has followed the Chiefs could’ve seen that outcome coming as soon as that fourth-down stop happened. The Chiefs now have won 12 games this season by one score. That doesn’t happen because a team keeps stumbling into good fortune, as skeptics often claimed about Kansas City as it finished 15-2 and earned the top seed in the AFC. This team is savvy enough to know it’s long past the days when it can overwhelm opponents on sheer ability. This squad needs to rely more on patience and efficiency, a feel for understanding how to maximize every last bit of talent and potential on the roster. “It takes every single person,” Mahomes said. “That’s what you saw tonight.” |
| LAS VEGASThis from a select panel of anonymous NFL execs pounded out by Jeremy Fowler ofESPN.com: Sam Darnold will be a RaiderSome NFL personnel men see a path back to Minnesota for Darnold, who won’t find a better situation to win and maximize his growth than playing under coach Kevin O’Connell while throwing to Justin Jefferson & Co. But the Vikings have the enticing option of starting J.J. McCarthy at a $960,000 rookie-scale salary in 2025, which allows them to strengthen the roster around him for the next few years. All it takes is one suitor to drive Darnold’s market to the point where it’s cost prohibitive for Minnesota to retain him. And the numbers favor Darnold — at least five teams selecting in the top 10 of the NFL draft need a quarterback during a year when the supply doesn’t meet the demand. Darnold is the clear-cut No. 1 quarterback in free agency. Enter Las Vegas, which endured arguably the league’s worst quarterback situation in 2024. “At Pick 6, [the Raiders] are out of range for a quarterback unless they move up, which wouldn’t be smart based on the amount of holes they have,” a high-ranking personnel man of an NFL team said. “They need every pick. They have flexibility within the cap to get it done.” Las Vegas is slated to have nearly $100 million in 2025 cap space, more than enough to pay a veteran passer. Most execs polled believe Darnold belongs in the Geno Smith/Baker Mayfield class of contracts, somewhere in the range of three years and $100 million. |
| AFC NORTH |
| BALTIMOREThis at ESPN.com: The Baltimore Ravens and offensive coordinator Todd Monken are finalizing a contract extension, sources told ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler on Monday. Monken, 58, had interviewed for the Jaguars’ head coaching job this month before Jacksonville decided to hire former Tampa Bay Buccaneers offensive coordinator Liam Coen. Monken led the Ravens to the NFL’s No. 1 total offense (424.9 yards per game) this season. Baltimore also finished third in points scored (518) while quarterback Lamar Jackson enjoyed his best season, posting career highs in yards passing (4,172) and touchdown passes (41). Monken has been the Ravens’ offensive coordinator since 2023. |
| AFC EAST |
| NEW YORK JETSThere is now some thought that QB AARON RODGERS could be returning to play for Coach Aaron Glenn in 2025. Rory Parks of ProFootballRumors.com: The Jets have their new head coach (Aaron Glenn) and general manager (Darren Mougey) in place. They also have 41-year-old quarterback Aaron Rodgers under contract through 2025. Although there is plenty of non-QB work for the new power brokers to accomplish – including hiring an offensive coordinator and defensive coordinator – one can reasonably expect Rodgers-Jets rumors to begin circulating anew. Before New York agreed to terms with Glenn and Mougey, Rodgers acknowledged that his future with the club would be up to the new hirees (though he also has plenty of say in the matter himself, of course, especially since retirement is a real option). According to Ian Rapoport of the NFL Network, Glenn is open to a Rodgers return, and the quarterback is likewise amenable to playing for the first-time HC (video link). We heard back in November that the Jets were likely to part ways with Rodgers this offseason, a sentiment that was echoed earlier this month. After his first Jets campaign in 2023 was cut short after just four snaps, Rodgers played an entire season in 2024, though the results generally fell short of expectations. For what it’s worth, Glenn still viewed Rodgers as an elite quarterback at the time he was traded from the Packers, ESPN.com’s Rich Cimini notes. While plenty has changed since, Glenn did coach against Rodgers four times while an NFC North DC. Additionally, due to the looming presence of a $35MM roster bonus that can be paid at any time prior to Week 1 of the 2025 season, it would be more expensive to part ways with Rodgers in 2026 than it would be if New York elected to move on now and avoid paying out the bonus. On the other hand, it’s not as if the Jets have a young passer waiting in the wings, and their No. 7 overall draft slot may not be high enough to select one of the top signal-callers in this year’s crop absent a trade-up maneuver (and the 2025 class of QBs is considered to be a weak one anyway). And, since the Jets do have a number of talented players on both sides of the ball, Glenn and Mougey may feel that Rodgers, coupled with a non-Nathaniel Hackett OC, gives them the best chance to start their tenures out on the right foot by turning in a competitive 2025 season. The relatively weak QB draft class could bolster the asking prices of several veteran passers who are likely to hit free agency. Rodgers would theoretically be among that group if the Jets choose to cut him, but recent reports have suggested he may not generate a particularly strong market. That could partially explain his preference to remain with New York should he opt to continue his playing career. In 17 games in 2024, Rodgers led the team to a 5-12 record and completed 63% of his passes for 3,897 yards, 28 touchdowns, and 11 interceptions. That amounted to a traditional quarterback rating of 90.5 (just below league average) and a QBR of 49.5, which trailed the likes of Aidan O’Connell and Mason Rudolph. Who is this new GM DARREN MOUGEY? Rich Cimini of ESPN.com: Completing their leadership overhaul, the New York Jets hired Darren Mougey as their general manager Saturday. Mougey, a longtime Denver Broncos scout and executive who became their assistant general manager in 2022, will team with newly hired coach Aaron Glenn — a brain trust with no previous experience in their new positions. It’s a bold pairing by the Jets, who are trying to reboot after a turmoil-filled season and a 14-year playoff drought. At 39, Mougey is the third-youngest general manager in the NFL and two years younger than quarterback Aaron Rodgers, whose future with the Jets will be determined in the coming weeks. Mougey is expected to have a traditional GM role, meaning he has final say on personnel decisions and control of the 53-man roster. Glenn, who was involved in the hiring, will have significant input. “Darren is a trusted NFL executive who has experience working with an impressive collection of football leaders,” Jets chairman Woody Johnson said in a statement. “He is a proven talent evaluator who impressed us with his vision for this team. His partnership with Coach Glenn will revitalize this organization. I am proud of the thorough search we undertook and that it led us to the two best individuals to lead our football team going forward.” Mougey replaces Joe Douglas, who was fired Nov. 19 after five-plus seasons on the job. Under Douglas’ stewardship, the Jets were 30-64. Phil Savage served as the interim general manager. “I could not be more excited to work alongside Coach Glenn to build a championship team that will make Jets fans proud,” he said in a statement. The Jets took an unconventional route by hiring their coach before the general manager. A dual announcement was expected Wednesday, when Glenn’s deal was finalized, but things changed. Washington Commanders assistant general manager Lance Newmark appeared to be the front-runner because he was the first candidate to receive a second interview. He and Glenn seemed to be a natural fit, considering they worked with the Detroit Lions from 2021 to 2023. Both interviewed Tuesday at the team facility, but the Jets met again with Mougey and Cincinnati Bengals senior personnel executive Trey Brown. Mougey and Glenn, 52, have no previous working relationship and only an indirect connection: Broncos coach Sean Payton. Glenn was on Payton’s New Orleans Saints coaching staff, and they have remained close. Glenn participated in in-person interviews with Mougey and Brown on Thursday at the Jets’ facility. The Jets interviewed 15 candidates, including five with previous GM experience. Ironically, one of their former general managers, Mike Tannenbaum, was involved in the search. Tannenbaum founded The 33rd Team, a media and technology company that was retained by the Jets to compile and vet candidates. Former Minnesota Vikings general manager Rick Spielman also assisted. Spielman received a positive report about Mougey from his former assistant general manager in Minnesota, George Paton, the Broncos’ current GM. The only current general managers younger than Mougey are the Cleveland Browns’ Andrew Berry (37) and Chicago Bears’ Ryan Poles (39), according to ESPN Research. Mougey played college football at San Diego State. He began as a quarterback, playing behind current Vikings coach Kevin O’Connell, but was switched to wide receiver. He had brief stops with the Atlanta Falcons and Arizona Cardinals in the NFL but never made a regular-season roster. He got into scouting with the Broncos, working his way up from a scouting intern (2012). He was hired by Broncos legend John Elway and went from area scout (2015-19) to assistant director of college scouting (2020) to director of player personnel (2021) to his most recent role as the assistant general manager. Mougey worked for three ownership groups and two general managers, experiencing the high of a Super Bowl championship after the 2015 season and the low of an eight-year playoff drought that ended this season under the Payton rebuild. By the way, it’s said to be pronounced “Moo-Gee” which still leads the DB to wonder if that is like Bobby McGee or the letter G. This from Peter Schrager: @PSchragsDarren Mougey, aka “Mooge”, is a very interesting name in the Jets GM search. He predates the current DEN regime and goes back to Elway. George Paton got there and promoted him. A connection – he’s been a sounding board in DEN for Sean Payton, who is still close with Aaron Glenn. |
| THIS AND THAT |
| RUNNING QBs RULE NOWBill Barnwell of ESPN.com notes the rise of running QBs reached a peak on Sunday: In September, I wrote about how the rise and spread of the mobile quarterback would make modern football unrecognizable to someone who stopped watching the NFL 15 years ago. These four teams, along with the Ravens and maybe one or two other teams, represent the cutting edge of NFL offenses. Their style of play and how that played out Sunday would be stark and surprising to a lapsed viewer. We’ve never had a final four in which all four quarterbacks were meaningful parts of their team’s run games. In that, I don’t mean quarterbacks who can throw on the run or who scramble for big gains, but literally designed playcalls in which the quarterback is expected to either carry the ball or have the potential to run if the post-snap read calls for that to happen. And so, this became the Sunday in which quarterback runs decided games. It was surely the first Conference Championship Sunday in league history in which both games saw a team run a speed option for a touchdown, as Jayden Daniels ran one in with a terrific cutback for the Commanders, while Allen pitched to James Cook for a fourth-and-goal score for the Bills. The concept of an option run with a quarterback was essentially out of the league for decades, outside of being used as a gadget play. Now, even after Patrick Mahomes was knocked out of a playoff game running a speed option against the Browns during the 2020 postseason, it’s in playbooks. Jalen Hurts scored three times and had a fourth run called back by a holding call. The wiped-away score and his 9-yard TD rush early in the third quarter (his longest run of the day) both came on quarterback draws, with Barkley delivering a perfect lead block to set up the score. There was little evidence of the knee injury Hurts suffered last week against the Rams, as the Eagles star had one of his best games of the season as a passer, going 20-of-28 for 246 yards with a touchdown, plus 33 more yards from pass interference penalties. The other two Hurts rushing scores came on the tush push, with the Commanders so desperate to stop the play by jumping the snap count that they nearly invoked a rarely mentioned “palpably unfair act” penalty, in which the referees retain the right to award a team a touchdown if the other team repeatedly commits penalties. I had heard that rule brought up only in reference to potential plays in which teams would deliberately break the rules, like having a player run off the sideline to tackle an opponent or send 14 players onto the field late in a game on defense to try to burn clock and limit the opposing team to one final play. The Commanders weren’t deliberately trying to jump offside, but they clearly felt like their only way of stopping Hurts was by perfectly timing the snap. In the end, Hurts went 4-for-6 on his tush push attempts (for either first downs or touchdowns), and the Commanders will need to try to find a new solution next season. Mahomes even got into the mix. He was stellar as a scrambler, as his six attempts picked up 37 yards, five first downs and a touchdown. The Chiefs even dialed up a rare designed run for him to pick up a second rushing score. Early in the game, Kareem Hunt scored out of a Full House backfield on a counter concept, with the guard and tackle pulling across and Hunt following them upfield for a 12-yard touchdown. Later in the game, Andy Reid went back to that same look and showed the Bills something they weren’t expecting. The Chiefs showed the same counter concept, but instead of handing the ball to Hunt, Mahomes kept it for himself and ran the other direction. The two tight ends alongside him in the backfield served as lead blockers, and Mahomes ran through a tackle attempt near the goal line for the first two-rushing-touchdown game of his career: The one quarterback in these games who didn’t score a rushing touchdown, ironically enough, was Allen. Before Sunday, he had gone 32-of-39 this season in converting first downs or touchdowns in short yardage on third or fourth downs. On Sunday, he went 3-of-8, including a stuff on a 2-point try, a failed third-and-goal run from the 1-yard line and a controversial fourth-and-1 stuff in the fourth quarter. (For what it’s worth, I thought Allen made the line to gain, but the league is never going to overturn a spot unless there’s obvious evidence the ball crossed the line to gain, and there wasn’t that evidence on replay.) The Chiefs clearly took note of Allen’s propensity to sneak behind left guard David Edwards and stopped him three different times on sneaks in that direction. With all the quarterback runs added to the mix, this was a special day for rushing scores. The record for the most rushing touchdowns we had ever seen across both conference title games in a single year was eight. The Eagles scored seven rushing touchdowns alone Sunday, with Hurts and Barkley each racking up three before Will Shipley added another. Daniels’ score made it eight, while the Bills and Chiefs added five more in the nightcap. The 13 combined rushing touchdowns blow away the prior record. As recently as 2021, there weren’t any rushing scores in the conference title games. |
