I defend John Dorsey
The Chiefs moved on from Dorsey because Brett Veach, current Chiefs GM did all the dirty work on “finding” Patrick Mahomes and his work seems to have paid off. Promoting a guy like that is reasonable enough. Moving on from Dorsey after two getting more wins in 2 years (13) than the previous 4 (11) for Cleveland is a wrong move. Few other general managers would have had the balls to draft Baker Mayfield after Cleveland taking Johnny Manziel ending in disaster. Most other GMs would have drafted Saquon Barkley or Sam Darnold. Baker at least has a chance as future NFL starter. The analytics crowd sang for Baker, but many viewed his as a system passer who was too short for the NFL game, and Dorsey ultimately gambled on him. The Browns would still be a 4-12 joke without Dorsey, Certainly I can appreciate Cleveland’s been a disappointment this season, and Dorsey deserves criticism for this. But they wouldn’t have had the opportunity to stumble without getting as far as Dorsey took them. This Browns team competed for a wild card spot well into Q3 of the season and handed Baltimore a rare defeat. OBJ, Jarvis, and David Njoku give Baker a reasonable offense to work with in 2020 and beyond. I’m willing to be Freezingtake’d if the next browns GM brings them consistent success, but Dorsey made Cleveland football exciting for the first time in several years.
Wild Card Weekend predictions
Buffalo at Houston – Houston. Houston wins UGLY, but they win. They have quality W’s over New England, Kansas City, and Tennessee. Buffalo is 1-4 against teams that qualified for the playoffs (New England 2x, Baltimore, Philadelphia all L’s, one win over Tennessee). Buffalo’s defense has performed very well this season, Deshaun Watson will be able to find someone open with Hopkins, Fuller, and Stills all healthy. J.J. Watt should be healthy enough to go for this game as well.
Tennessee at New England – Tennessee. Tennessee has been more competitive than New England in the last 6 weeks. New England, with all of their starters, still lost to Miami AT HOME in week 17. Tannehill and Derrick Henry have formed a POWERFUL combination in Nashville. The Patriots defense isn’t strong enough to save them every single week. The Titans are built to handle New England. They have a high performing pass defense and punishing ground game. They don’t turn over the ball. They even have a budding receiving group with Corey Davis, A.J. Brown, and Jonnu Smith (850 yards and 8 TDs!). Vrabel’s Titans beat the Patriots in 2018, and this team is measurably better with Tannehill syncing with the offense so well.
Minnesota at New Orleans – New Orleans. Case Keenum might have a better chance at beating New Orleans here. The Saints are so tough to beat at home. This team was unstoppable with Teddy Bridgewater, QB2, in. The Vikings have flashed impressive performances this season, but are 1-4 against teams with winning records (1 win against Philadelphia). Sean Payton’s a tough coach to beat anywhere, never mind at home.
Seattle at Philadelphia – Seattle. The Eagles are so banged up they don’t stand a chance. The Eagles lost an albeit close game at home to Seattle. Pederson’s a hell of a coach and won’t just roll over, Seattle’s healthy and productive on both sides of the ball.
Song of the day is Green Day’s Boulevard of Broken Dreams (Acoustic) played with Joker (2019) in the backdrop. “All I have are negative thoughts.”
Gridiron Seasonal 