Author: Vito Stellino

Looking back at Week 11 of the NFL season:

1. The Los Angeles Rams-Kansas City Chiefs game lived up to its hype as it turned into a wild shootout won by the Rams, 54-51. It was the first NFL game in which both teams scored over 50 points. Although it was hailed as a look at the NFL going forward and even though all the rules now favor the passing game, it doesn’t mean this a formula for the future. The teams combined for 95 passes, which led to mistakes and turnovers and gave it the feel of a 7-on-7 passing drill. Kareem Hunt of the Chiefs had just 14 carries and Todd Gurley of the Rams just 12. It remains to be seen if abandoning the run like that will become popular in the league.

Continue reading “A quick look back at NFL Week 11”

Where have you gone, Shad Khan? The Jacksonville Jaguars turn their losing eyes to you.

With apologies to Simon & Garfunkel, that’s where the Jaguars stand now since their season has skidded out of control.

With the collapse to 3-7 after six consecutive losses, the focus turns to their owner and what Khan will do at the end of the season. He rarely gives interviews, so he is not likely to tip his hand.

The Jaguars need fixing, and the question is whether Khan will make the right moves to fix the franchise.

He has to take the responsibility for the fact the team has had one winning season since he took control in 2012. It all starts with the owner.

Continue reading “IN DEPTH: Khan is under the microscope as his Jaguars crumble”

Five quick takes on Week 11 in the NFL:

1. In the biggest game of the regular season, the league’s two 9-1 teams — the Los Angeles Rams and the Kansas City Chiefs – will meet at the Coliseum in Los Angeles. The game was moved from Mexico City because of the poor field conditions of the field there. This will be the biggest Monday night game since the series was shifted from ABC to ESPN. Each team has a young franchise quarterback (Jared Goff of the Rams and Patrick Mahomes of the Chiefs) and a dynamic running back (Todd Gurley of the Rams and Kareem Hunt of the Chiefs). The Rams are slightly favored, but they don’t get a big homefield advantage because the game was moved to LA. It moved the line by only a point because the Los Angeles support for the Rams has been lukewarm and there are likely to be a lot Chiefs fans at the game. This is the fifth game since 1970 to match two teams with one or fewer losses in the 11th week of the season. The Chiefs played in the last one in 2013 when they were 9-0 and Denver was 8-1. The Broncos won that one and went on to make the Super Bowl but were routed by the Seattle Seahawks.

Continue reading “A quick look ahead at NFL Week 11”

When John Riggins sat out the 1980 season in a contract dispute with the Washington Redskins, there was no salary cap, no franchise tag, no social media, no Internet and no NFL Network. ESPN was just in its second year of existence.

Not surprisingly, the Riggins holdout got little attention compared to Le’Veon Bell’s decision to sit out the 2018 season and probably become a free agent next year.

Bell’s circumstances, though, are different. Riggins was under contract at $300,000 for the 1980 season and wanted to renegotiate it during training camp.

O.J. Simpson, who was the highest-paid player in the league, was making more than twice as much at the end of his career.

When Riggins left camp, the Redskins placed him on the left camp-retired list, making him ineligible to play that season.

Continue reading “Contract saga still figures to end well for Bell, at least in the wallet”

It’s a well-documented fact that the Bill Belichick coaching tree is more like a twig.

Former Belichick assistants tend to struggle as NFL head coaches.

To start with, they don’t have the advantage of having Tom Brady, and they also are too steeped in the self-proclaimed “Patriot Way,” which doesn’t work too well without Brady.

The latest example is Matt Patricia, the guy who was noted in New England for his beard and red pullover.

Patricia was hired by the Detroit Lions to take the team to the next step after they went 9-7 the past two years under Jim Caldwell, who was fired at the end of last season.

Continue reading “Patricia is yet another Belichick NFL coaching-tree debacle”