Jason_R

18 games is inevitable. I don’t like it but the owners didn’t ask me. They would have to add a second bye week, and probably increase roster size.

Morton was a different situation though. Whether through wishful thinking or laziness they seemed to think they could plug in a guy who had been in the building and maintain continuity. He had never called plays so there was no independent track record to evaluate him on. At least this time they did enough due diligence to decide that Petzing was a better candidate than the consensus best OC candidate on the market.

Arizona never put up 70 points.

The fact that McDaniel went to an OC position raises the stakes on Detroit’s decision not to pursue him. I feel cautiously optimistic about Petzing but I find it hard to believe that McDaniel would have been anything less than a home run, even if he was packing his bags for a HC role in 2027.

Agree. If I’m Dan, I tell Petzing that the first call he needs to make is to David Montgomery. FYI, in 2025 Detroit had 442 rushing attempts for 2,041 yards. In 2024 they had 535 attempts for 2,488 yards. In 2023, they had 500 attempts for 2,311 yards. If they really want to get back to the running game, they need him.

I look forward to seeing Baker put up 80 on the Falcons next season.

Wait… is that you, Coach Lalonde?

I thought McDaniel was too weird to get another HC gig right away. But he is getting the interviews. I assume he will get hired as HC this cycle. And I assume the Lions assumed as much. But if he ends up as OC with Tampa, this will be a bad look for Detroit.

Courtesy Justin Rogers: With Murray healthy all 17 games in 2024, the Cardinals’ offense jumped to 12th in scoring, fueled by a rushing attack led by back James Conner that averaged 5.3 yards per carry. That ranked second in the NFL, behind only the Baltimore Ravens.

I’m all aboard the Stat Padford bandwagon. Let him pad his playoff stats late in his career.