The kicking has been bad, but what I really don't get is why teams punt inside the opposing 40 like Minnesota did early on. It was only 4th and 4 too. I don't see why coaches continue to be so spineless.
You would think with all the money and science in sports, nutritional info, analytics, all that, that someone would figure out how to get kickers super accurate from super long range. Like turn kickers into machines with tree trunks for legs who can nail 70 yard field goals into a headwind in their sleep.
If Hollywood has taught me anything, they need a female soccer player or a donkey in order to pull that off.
So can I make it in the NFL? Because I'm pretty sure I can kick an extra point. The kickers really have gotten abysmal lately.
Before anyone thinks that field goal kicking should be so automatic, go to your local High School football field, put a tee up at the 25 yard line and try and make that extra point. Next remember the NFL goal posts are about half as wide as that high school posts. Unless you kicked at some level, you are not going to be able to do it now.
Although am not happy the Seachickens won, that was one hell of a good game. QB shootout. Even the Steelers Lions game was a good one. Good day of ball.
The Pats trading Jimmy Garoppolo for a second round pick breaks my heart a bit. He has been a pretty unsung asset the last few seasons. It was be true-to-form for Belichick to turn around and re-sign him once he becomes a free agent or something. The kids definitely ready for a starting QB role, though.
An 8 game rental for an 0-8 team at the cost of second round draft pick. What in the flying fuck are the 49ers thinking?
They do have the option of tagging him if he works out. This way they get to try before they buy. If they had waited til the offseason when he walked away from NE they would prob have to give him a pretty big contract to land him. Then you run the risk of Brock 2.0 now if he works out they can try and sign him to a contract or simply tag him. If he doesn't work out they can take a run at Cousins
A second round draft pick really isn't that much hype. It's what the patriots drafted him at in the first place. They're essentially switching sides of the 2nd round since the 49ers will be drafting first or second.
I don't like this move. Jimmy G. was the future of the franchise on a Super Bowl-caliber roster year in and year out. I think they could extend this run they have had at least another 8 years with him in town. Casting your lot with a 40 year old starter, even though he is TB12, is really risky. I can see this becoming a disaster if Brady goes down. It will likely trigger Belichick retiring and the end of the dynasty........not that anyone outside of New England would be sad.
They tried to sign him to a long term contract. They were even willing to throw starter money at him. He turned it down because he wants playing time. Getting a high draft pick for him was the best they could do.
Source? Without evidence, I am very hesitant to believe that such a financially careful franchise was willing to pay starter money for him to sit behind Brady for 1-3 more seasons. It would seem to me far more likely that they hung onto him because they weren't confident that Brady was going to look as good as he does, and resigned themselves to getting something rather than nothing when they were going to have to cut him next season.
They signed Hoyer, who has been there before and has more starts than Garappolo. And, like Binary said, got something they wouldn't have keepin G through the season. They're going to pay Hoyer a lot less for the next two years after this season than they'd have to have paid G. The only thing the Patriots could've done better, was if they'd have known Cleveland would botch their trade so bad with Cincy, that more picks could've been on the table. But, then, they wouldn't have gotten Hoyer. There are 4-5 projected franchise QB's coming out in the next two years. The Patriots will get one of those, most likely.
They aren't the only team that was looking at Hoyer, they're the team that ended up with him. DAMMIT.
Assuming that's true, I think this was a terrible move by Garropolo. It is very unlikely Brady will last more than another two seasons and he could have played with a team built for him to succeed and with the best coaching staff in the league, as well as more time to learn behind who is arguably the GOAT of that position. I get the desire to play immediately, but bad move, in my opinion. He's going straight into the fire, on a garbage team. That said, it's a good move for the 49ers. Losing a second round pick isn't that big of a gamble, and it's a fucking steal if he actually ends up being a franchise QB.