The Random Thought Thread

[rmcjacket23]

That's also the case with players, whose jobs could be on the line.

Players have an easier out, they can criticize the collective "we/us" to avoid blaming individuals, but the Head Coach can do the same thing with coaches, especially when it is his actual responsibility to be on top of coaching decisions.

Harbaugh didn't name names but he made it abundantly clear who he's blaming. We don't see defensive leaders like Marlon or Chuck all but pointing out exactly who fucked up the coverage, even when it's blindingly obvious.

A coach like Harbaugh should practice what he preaches and focus more on the good of the collective rather than on saving his own skin.

I mean its never going to be hard to figure out who they're blaming. Even when he blames players, if there's a particular play in question, everybody knows who's fault it is. Same with coaching. If he's blaming play calls coming in too late on coaches, there's only like 1-2 people that blame could possibly fall on.

You don't see players blaming players because they have to sit with those guys in the locker room every week, and frankly, they just get far less press time and nobody wants to hear from them anyway.

I think the last thing John is worried about is saving his own skin. If he got fired tomorrow, he wouldn't be unemployed long, and he could easily walk away highly successful anytime he wanted. Not like money is a problem either.

 

[Thezone27]

I mean its never going to be hard to figure out who they're blaming. Even when he blames players, if there's a particular play in question, everybody knows who's fault it is. Same with coaching. If he's blaming play calls coming in too late on coaches, there's only like 1-2 people that blame could possibly fall on.

You don't see players blaming players because they have to sit with those guys in the locker room every week, and frankly, they just get far less press time and nobody wants to hear from them anyway.

I think the last thing John is worried about is saving his own skin. If he got fired tomorrow, he wouldn't be unemployed long, and he could easily walk away highly successful anytime he wanted. Not like money is a problem either.

Well what you mean is that he's being "passive aggressive" on purpose, though, which would mean that he actually wants Roman gone.

 

[RavensMania]

As a long time Roman hater, I enjoyed hearing Harbaugh criticize the disappearance of Gus on Sunday, but on another level, it's worrying.

For a coach whose message is all about teamwork, togetherness and family, that's the third time Harbaugh has put the blame on other people lately. He (rightly) criticized Roman's call on the Proche pass and he blamed the players collectively after the Browns game.

That's in contrast to the players, who have showed a lot more maturity than their 60 yo coach. Senior players like Tucker and Marlon have blamed themselves and neither Flacco or Lamar ever blamed anyone else for a defeat, despite speaking to the media every week.

What is a rah rah coach like Harbaugh for, if he can't even show the same maturity as his players and practice the leadership he preaches?

He still took the blame on himself first in the press conference, but absolutely he's frustrated with Roman's inability to adapt.

 

[rmcjacket23]

Well what you mean is that he's being "passive aggressive" on purpose, though, which would mean that he actually wants Roman gone.

No, what I mean is that if fans don't like somebody, there's nothing they can say publicly that will change that. There's not a single thing Harbaugh can say at a podium (especially after a loss or a series of poor performances) that's going to make the fanbase happy. He's a bad leader if he throws other people under the bus, and he's a bad coach if he blames himself.

It's a pass/fail grade. You pass if you win, you fail if you lose.

 

[rmcjacket23]

Well what you mean is that he's being "passive aggressive" on purpose, though, which would mean that he actually wants Roman gone.

No different than people who bitch about lack of transparency or truthfulness about injuries. There's nothing any coach or player can say about an injury that fans won't criticize them for. Nothing. If they put a timetable, and the timetable doesn't hold up, they're either lying, or they're soft and injury prone. There's no other reaction from the fanbase.

Best thing the NFL could ever do with injuries is adapt the NHL model. Two classifications of injuries... upper body injury, lower body injury. Expected amount of games missed: indefinite.
No need for all the bullshit questionable, doubtful designations, or the weekly injury reports. When fans see them practice, they'll know they're getting close. When fans see them play, they'll know they're back.

Its literally all the information fans would ever actually "need".

 

[QtR Nevermore]

No, what I mean is that if fans don't like somebody, there's nothing they can say publicly that will change that. There's not a single thing Harbaugh can say at a podium (especially after a loss or a series of poor performances) that's going to make the fanbase happy. He's a bad leader if he throws other people under the bus, and he's a bad coach if he blames himself.

It's a pass/fail grade. You pass if you win, you fail if you lose.

For me, it shouldn't be about winning over critics. It should be about sticking to the standards he expects from the players, no matter how it goes down with fans.

He's already made clear he doesn't care what fans "at the end of the bar" think anyway. In preserving his job he's playing to an audience of one - Bisciotti.

In telling us to point our fingers at Roman and not at him, he just looks like a weak leader. If Roman pisses him off that much, sack him. That'd certainly be popular with the fans.

 

[UPennChem]

Does each PS player get 2 or 3 callups?

 

[QtR Nevermore]

No different than people who bitch about lack of transparency or truthfulness about injuries. There's nothing any coach or player can say about an injury that fans won't criticize them for. Nothing. If they put a timetable, and the timetable doesn't hold up, they're either lying, or they're soft and injury prone. There's no other reaction from the fanbase.

Best thing the NFL could ever do with injuries is adapt the NHL model. Two classifications of injuries... upper body injury, lower body injury. Expected amount of games missed: indefinite.
No need for all the bullshit questionable, doubtful designations, or the weekly injury reports. When fans see them practice, they'll know they're getting close. When fans see them play, they'll know they're back.

Its literally all the information fans would ever actually "need".

I agree with this. Journalists feel like they have to ask injury questions, because it's significant and coaches never say anything useful in response. If we could take those questions away entirely it'd be a good thing.

 

[QtR Nevermore]

He still took the blame on himself first in the press conference, but absolutely he's frustrated with Roman's inability to adapt.

So sack the incompetent idiot then. Roman's complete inability to think on his feet has been obvious for years. Harbaugh can't escape blame for that when he's the one still employing him.

 

[VT-Nina]

Very heartwarming. Thanks for sharing.

 

[Thezone27]

So sack the incompetent idiot then. Roman's complete inability to think on his feet has been obvious for years. Harbaugh can't escape blame for that when he's the one still employing him.

He was good in 2019, but he hasn't changed since. People have planned for his one-dimensional offense, and he just can't change. We need a change.

 

[rmcjacket23]

For me, it shouldn't be about winning over critics. It should be about sticking to the standards he expects from the players, no matter how it goes down with fans.

He's already made clear he doesn't care what fans "at the end of the bar" think anyway. In preserving his job he's playing to an audience of one - Bisciotti.

In telling us to point our fingers at Roman and not at him, he just looks like a weak leader. If Roman pisses him off that much, sack him. That'd certainly be popular with the fans.

So you'd rather he accept blame for somebody elses mistakes? Basically lie about it so he can be perceived as a strong leader? Don't we criticize him the same for lying about injuries?

If people want honest and integrity, should be 100% of the time. Not whenever its convenient.

Plus we already know the coaches are going to spend plenty of time in private ripping the players via film study, so the only question left is whether the public wants to see that or not.

 

[rmcjacket23]

So sack the incompetent idiot then. Roman's complete inability to think on his feet has been obvious for years. Harbaugh can't escape blame for that when he's the one still employing him.

Doesn't really accomplish much mid-season though. You going to fire somebody everytime they do something wrong?
Mid-season firing rarely lead to positive results.
Plus, what does it say about Harbaugh when he fires yet another coordinator mid-season? Does that make him look good or bad? Again, circles back to the public won't think he looks good no matter what action or words he uses.

 

[RavensMania]

Doesn't really accomplish much mid-season though. You going to fire somebody everytime they do something wrong?
Mid-season firing rarely lead to positive results.
Plus, what does it say about Harbaugh when he fires yet another coordinator mid-season? Does that make him look good or bad? Again, circles back to the public won't think he looks good no matter what action or words he uses.

I think it could have made a difference a few weeks ago. We fired Cam back in 2012 and that's when Jim Caldwell took us to the SB. Sure Flacco, Pitta and Q went off during the playoffs, but he was calling plays better than Cam was.

I'm not saying our system would change completely, but if we had someone like Urban or Dub as our OC the playcalling could have been different.

Agree it wouldn't make much of a difference now.

 

[QtR Nevermore]

So you'd rather he accept blame for somebody elses mistakes? Basically lie about it so he can be perceived as a strong leader? Don't we criticize him the same for lying about injuries?

If people want honest and integrity, should be 100% of the time. Not whenever its convenient.

Isn't that what Harbaugh's culture is all about? They aren't his mistakes, they're our mistakes and we all have to work harder to clean them up.
Why does that suddenly disappear when it looks like Harbaugh may be the one getting criticized? That's a pretty poor example from the top.

Should Andrews start saying "I was open all gamebut Huntley couldn't hit me." Or Marlon that "My guy was locked down but Stephens blew his assignment." Is that the kind of honesty you want?

 

[QtR Nevermore]

I think it could have made a difference a few weeks ago. We fired Cam back in 2012 and that's when Jim Caldwell took us to the SB. Sure Flacco, Pitta and Q went off during the playoffs, but he was calling plays better than Cam was.

I'm not saying our system would change completely, but if we had someone like Urban or Dub as our OC the playcalling could have been different.

Agree it wouldn't make much of a difference now.

I still think getting rid of some of the egregious stupidity would help.

Not forgetting that Gus or Duvernay or whoever exists. Don't call 3 straight low percentage plays when the defense has been on the field for 11 minutes. Don't call endless long developing passing plays when your Tackle has just gone off. Don't panic whenever you get inside the 20. Don't abandon the run for whole halves at a time.

Any competent NFL coach could do a better job calling Roman's offense than he does, even with only one or two weeks to go.

 

[rmcjacket23]

Isn't that what Harbaugh's culture is all about? They aren't his mistakes, they're our mistakes and we all have to work harder to clean them up.
Why does that suddenly disappear when it looks like Harbaugh may be the one getting criticized? That's a pretty poor example from the top.

Should Andrews start saying "I was open all gamebut Huntley couldn't hit me." Or Marlon that "My guy was locked down but Stephens blew his assignment." Is that the kind of honesty you want?

I'm not seeing that disappear though. When John says there's coaching issues, he says it just like that. "We", as in collectively the coaching staff. I've not really seen him say "Roman sucks or he didn't do this or that". If the implication is that you know who he's talking about, sure you do. And you knew last year and the year before and the year before. So what's different this year than in the past? Not the first time John's criticized the coaching staff as a whole publicly, and not the first time the public knew exactly which coaches he was criticizing.

In terms of the honest I want, no, its not. I don't want honesty at all. I want them to say only that which benefits the organization to speak on it. I'd prefer less media involvement at pretty much all levels.
But the public wants max transparency in their not-so-thinly-veiled attempt to seem more important than they are. Always have. So in that vein, yes, I'd love to see a player throw another player under the bus. I think it would make the public look unbelievably moronic, because now they get to see how the sausage is made. Now they get to see what Monday film reviews are like in the real world. And then the public will immediately label it as "cruel and unnecessary" and claim everybody is a poor leader. Despite the fact its been going on this whole time. Only difference is you didn't know about it.

If you're pro honesty, be pro honesty. If you want coaches to tell you exact specifics about injuries and tell the fans everything that's in their head, so be it. Probably just shouldn't play the selective morality card and arbitrarily pick and choose what honesty is "leadership" and what honesty isn't.

 

[QtR Nevermore]

Did I say I was 'pro honesty'? I mean, I am in general, in life but, in this case, I've been arguing for Harbaugh to show consistency with his ethos - which isn't about honesty. It's about preserving a united front in public and focusing on the collective above the individual.

 

[gtalk12]

Hope that kid is okay. That was a scary scene

 

[JO_75]

I don't know how the NFL will go about playing the game then leaving enough time for the Bills & Bengals to prepare for Week 18. I just can't see any way this doesn't hurt both teams if they have to play Wednesday/Thursday only to play another game on a short turnaround.