VITO'S VIEWS

The Jacksonville Jaguars apparently don’t believe in the saying that if somebody tells you who they are, believe them.

The Jaguars apparently don’t believe that Leonard Fournette is the player who had all sorts of problems in his first two years.

They are apparently convinced they can turn Fournette’s career around when their main focus instead should be finding a new running back to carry the offense while viewing anything they get from Fournette as a bonus.

Tom Coughlin and the team’s top brass had a meeting with Fournette at the end of the year, according to a report by the NFL Network’s Ian Rappoport, to apparently clear the air and move forward.

The Jaguars also appear ready to hire veteran assistant coach Terry Robiskie, who like Fournette is from Lousiana and played at LSU, as their running backs coach to try to connect with him. Still, Robiskie has spent most  of his career as a wide receivers coach instead of a running backs coach. Connecting with Fournette will be no easy task.

Continue reading “Jaguars should think more about cutting bait with Fournette, not coddling him”

Five quick takes looking ahead to the NFL divisional playoff round this weekend:

1. The New Orleans Saints have the clearest path to the Super Bowl title. They are an indoor team with home field advantage in the NFC and the Super Bowl will be played indoors in Atlanta. And they beat their first foe, Philadelphia, by a 48-7 margin. But the one thing they have to worry about is the Nick Foles factor. A backup with four playoff wins on his resume as an underdog the last two years, Foles seems to have playoff magic. The Saints want to make sure he doesn’t pull one more rabbit out of the hat.

Continue reading “A quick look ahead at the NFL’s divisional playoff round”

Five quick takes looking back at the NFL’s Wild Card Weekend:

1. The end of the Philadelphia Eagles-Chicago Bears game will be remembered for the missed field goal, but what got overlooked is that Khalil Mack and the Bears defense coouldn’t protect the lead in the fourth quarter.

Continue reading “A quick look back at the NFL’s Wild Card Weekend”

The Detroit Lions are in the midst of a six-decade drought.

Since their last championship season in 1957, they’ve won one playoff game in 1991 and then lost the conference title game to the Washington Redskins by a 41-10 margin.

They went to the playoffs once between 1957 and 1982 and were blanked from 1999 to 2011.

They’ve had two of the worst general managers in modern times in Russ Thomas and Matt Millen.

Their best player in the last six decades, Barry Sanders, got so fed up he quit in his prime.

Continue reading “Patricia looking like another avoidable mistake by woebegone Lions”

Five storylines for the NFL’s Wild Card Weekend:

1. The best storyline of the playoffs is Nick Foles. Can he win another Super Bowl as a backup? Probably not, but it will be fascinating to see him try and he’s got a tough game right out of the gate as an underdog on the road against the Chicago Bears defense. But then he thrived as an underdog last year and is a cool customer who doesn’t seem to get rattled no matter what the odds.

Continue reading “A quick look at the NFL’s wild-card storylines”

Five quick takes on the final day of the 2018 NFL regular season:

1. The biggest winner was Lamar Jackson, the fifth rookie quarterback selected on the first round last year and the only one to make the playoffs. He took advantage of his opportunity when Joe Flacco was injured as he went 6-1 and beat Cleveland Browns in finale to clinch the division title for the Baltimore Ravens. He is now the team’s quarterback of the future.

Continue reading “A quick look back at the end of the NFL’s regular season”

Five quick takes looking ahead to Week 17 in the NFL:

1. The final day of the NFL season is difficult to handicap because some teams who are locked into their playoff positions, like New Orleans and Dallas, have nothing at stake. And teams like Tampa Bay and Arizona, who are likely to fire their coaches, don’t have much motivation. And a team like the Bears can get a first round bye only if they beat the Vikings and the Rams lose to Oakland. The Bears may not have much motivation in the second half if the Rams are winning big. The best game, Indianapolis at Tennessee, has been flexed to Sunday night for the final regular season game of the year as both teams will be fighting for a playoff spot. This is like a play in game for the playoffs. A total of 11 games have playoff implications.

Continue reading “A quick look ahead to NFL Week 17”

Five quick takes looking back on Week 16 in the NFL:

1. Going into the final Sunday of the season, 16 of the 32 teams have been eliminated from the playoffs. Two playoff teams are set. The Saints will be the top seed In the NFC and their seeding can’t change. And the Cowboys are locked in fourth seed. Three other NFC teams – Rams, Chicago and Seattle – are in playoffs, but their seedings could change. Either Minnesota or Philadelphia will get the other slot. In the AFC, New England, Houston, Chiefs and Chargers are in the playoffs but their seedings could change. The Ravens win the AFC North with a win over Cleveland and the Colts and Titans meet in the final game with the winner getting in. Pittsburgh needs a win over the Bengals and a Ravens loss to win the division.

Continue reading “A quick look back at NFL Week 16”