Mike McDaniel is evading any criticism for the Miami Dolphins’ present offensive points

One other weekend of implausible NFL motion has come and gone and since the powers that be insist… we had one other doubleheader on Monday evening.

However we’re by way of Week 7 and there’s a complete lot of the place we’re that doesn’t match what we thought this season was going to appear to be. Final week introduced us two famous person large receiver trades and the larger one (in identify) didn’t do something to influence the weekend’s outcomes.

Sadly as we’re considerably deep into the NFL season (it simply began?!) accidents are beginning to take their toll as properly. Evidently there may be quite a lot of work to do to determine the present lay of the land.

That is the place we are available in. Welcome to The Skinny Put up the place we, Michael Peterson and RJ Ochoa, will maintain your hand and stroll you thru what it’s good to know.

Mike McDaniel doesn’t appear to be taking sufficient criticism for the way the Dolphins are enjoying… truthful or not?

RJ:

Clearly Mike McDaniel is among the many cooler NFL head coaches, which makes him a bit proof against criticism relative to the sector. What’s extra is that he coaches the Miami Dolphins who, I imply this with no offense, are largely irrelevant except they’re doing one thing considerably constructive.

How do I do know this? The Dolphins have been one of many worst offenses within the NFL for many of this season. It goes with out saying that the damage to Tua Tagovailoa is hindering them, however historical past has proven us and we’ve got been repeatedly informed that Mike McDaniel is among the many recreation’s elite on the subject of the very best and most inventive offensive minds.

My level right here is to not say that McDaniel is trash, however do you see anyone speaking about this to any form of giant diploma? I’d assume not. It pains me significantly to say this, however think about how exhausting we’re on someone like Philadelphia Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni. He coaches a extremely seen workforce so it’s simpler to select at issues after they don’t go the way in which we expect, in the meantime McDaniel is considerably skating by.

Michael:

I’m proper there with you. It’s fairly shocking that McDaniel appears to be utterly proof against public criticism with reference to their efficiency this season, no matter who’s beginning at quarterback or not.

As you stated, McDaniel is seen as probably the greatest offensive minds within the NFL proper now. That’s in the identical space because the Matt LaFleurs, Andy Reids, and Ben Johnsons. However right here’s the factor — taking LaFleur for instance — these guys have confirmed to nonetheless get respectable, if not winnable manufacturing from their groups even when the damage bug takes an enormous chew out of the roster.

The Packers had been profitable video games earlier this season with a backup quarterback who barely knew the system and a bunch of late-round draft picks beginning at premium positions. The most effective coaches at all times get extra out of their gamers. McDaniel doesn’t appear to have that going for him proper now.

Let’s check out the field scor— WHAT?! Tyreek Hill had only a single catch in opposition to the Colts? How does that even occur? If something, that’s the largest indictment of McDaniel coming from this recreation. Each his quarterbacks who performed on this matchup have began NFL video games earlier than. You must be capable to scheme up some easy one-read ideas to get the ball into the fingers of your finest gamers. Colour me flabbergasted in any respect of this.

After we’ve seen coach after coach lose their job after a misplaced season though they suffered unfathomable accidents to their beginning lineup, making a scenario virtually nobody might reach, it’s uncommon that nobody is even mentioning McDaniel’s identify within the teaching scorching seat dialog.

How a lot blame ought to Aaron Rodgers get for the dysfunction of the Jets?

Michael:

So regardless of what he needed to say to Pat McAfee on his present, I’m not shopping for that Rodgers had completely nothing to do with Robert Saleh’s firing. If there was even ONE particular person in that constructing doing what he was anticipated to do, it was Saleh and the way in which he had his protection enjoying underneath him.

Let’s take a step again and take a look at their report a 12 months in the past with out Rodgers up so far and their present report now by way of seven video games.

The Jets had been 4-3 this time a season in the past and are presently 2-5 after dropping the primary recreation wherein Rodgers was reunited along with his former All-Professional wideout Davante Adams, the latter of which recorded simply three receptions for 30 yards in a recreation the place New York scored solely 15 factors.

On the opposite aspect of the ball, the Steelers had been capable of put up 37 factors. Once more, the protection was NOT the issue underneath Saleh. In two video games since his firing, the Jets are permitting a median of 30.0 factors per recreation.

Actuality is, proper now, that the Jets are worse with Rodgers wholesome and Saleh fired than they had been when every of their respective statuses had been reversed. These are the information on the face of it.

So once more I ask — and protecting with this concept of pointing the finger — ought to Rodgers be getting extra warmth for the latest struggles in New York?

RJ:

My reply is principally a distinct model of this immediate:

Robert Saleh was wrongly made out to be the scapegoat for the present New York Jets’ points and/or scenario.

OF COURSE Aaron Rodgers has had an enormous hand in all the pieces occurring with the workforce recently. This doesn’t diminish or defend or mitigate the shortage of success that Saleh oversaw, but it surely does name into query how anybody might succeed with Rodgers calling the pictures the way in which that he seemingly is.

Whereas Rodgers is enjoying at an honest stage, he entered this period of his profession underneath some heavy expectations, lots of which had been induced by the present he made about arriving to New York within the first place. Past the truth that Rodgers is in actual fact not the best quarterback of all time proper now (or ever) he has additionally created a horribly dysfunctional surroundings that makes all the pieces occurring with the franchise tough and tense.

My hope is that Robert Saleh has spent a part of these final weeks off at a pumpkin patch and on the gymnasium and catching up on exhibits. He’s higher off.

Who’s the least spectacular first-year coach in a while and why is it Brian Callahan?

RJ:

We now have seen various completely different individuals turn out to be head coaches, lots of them for the primary time of their careers. Simply above this we devoted a number of hundred phrases to considered one of them in Robert Saleh.

I’d supply that probably the most underwhelming of them in latest reminiscence has been Brian Callahan with the Tennessee Titans. The Titans have a 1-5 report so far, rank thirtieth in EPA/Play and are simply extremely boring. I’d supply that the final coach to be this blah of their first 12 months was the one who helped develop Callahan in Zac Taylor with the Cincinnati Bengals.

Sometimes even when a head coach isn’t profitable they a minimum of have one thing that makes them or their workforce stand out. What’s that for the Titans? What is exclusive to Brian Callahan’s model of the workforce?

It by no means made sense for Tennessee to maneuver on from Mike Vrabel, however this appears like such a step backwards in so some ways and we didn’t want hindsight to inform us this.

Michael:

I really agree that Callahan has been such an underwhelming rent to this point for the Titans, however I don’t suppose I can put every other first-year head coach above David Canales proper now. The workforce has a report of 1-6 and whereas the Titans are simply “boring” to look at, the Panthers are legitimately a Replacements-level workforce (shoutout Keanu Reeves).

Tennessee presently ranks first in whole protection proper now. Sure, that’s really true. That’s a minimum of SOMETHING to hold your hat on. However holy smokes, how unhealthy does the offense need to be that the workforce continues to be 1-5? Yikes.

However once more, again to the Panthers. They rank thirty first in whole protection, final in factors allowed per recreation by practically a complete landing (6.7 factors increased than thirty first), and likewise twenty eighth in each whole offense and factors per recreation.

They’re the whole package deal if the whole package deal was misplaced within the mail for a month and when it lastly arrived at the doorstep it was beat to hell and smelled funky.

The New York Liberty gained their first championship in franchise historical past this weekend. Which NFL franchise and not using a Tremendous Bowl victory would you prefer to see lastly earn one?

Michael:

So for the reason that Chargers shouldn’t have one to their identify that’d be the straightforward name right here for me however for the sake of one thing completely different excluding them from my choices.

Actually, I’d need to go together with the Vikings right here. I’ve lived in Skol nation for nearly 4 years now and I simply need to say, these followers are a few of the finest within the nation on the subject of loyalty and wholeheartedly loving their groups by way of the entire ups and downs.

To not point out that their sports activities franchises have tons of historical past and particularly you can not inform the story of the NFL with out mentioning a few of the finest gamers to ever put on their colours.

Randy Moss, John Randle, Fran Tarkenton, Adrian Peterson. The checklist can go on and on.

These followers should have a championship and heck, possibly that’s this 12 months with the way in which the workforce is enjoying up to now.

RJ:

This can be a nice query and the Vikings are an exceptional reply for it (the Chargers will not be). I’d completely like to see Minnesota take house a Tremendous Bowl in the end as a result of they’re such a storied franchise with essential figures in NFL historical past as you talked about.

To that time I’ve to stay with the precise most deserving and go together with the Buffalo Payments. I’m removed from the primary or five hundredth particular person to say this, however take into consideration how the Buffalo followers would react? It will be unimaginable.

Some franchises and their followers deserve titles however some deserve them and I’d put the Payments into that latter class. It’s well-documented how they went to 4 Tremendous Bowls in a row within the Nineteen Nineties after which proper because the gamers concerned in that run of types all retired… the Tom Brady period with the New England Patriots unveiled itself.

Give me the Payments. Straightforward.