The hot dogs are out of my house. Something about the way Mike Tomlin emphasized how we don’t want to know what’s in them forced me to chuck them … maybe forever.
Mike Tomlin just compared the Steelers locker room to a hot dog. pic.twitter.com/Fxsl12h1nv
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) September 17, 2024
Tomlin’s 2-0 Steelers are starting Justin Fields in their home opener and hoping the ingredients in this offense start cooking up something delicious. I’m hearing they feel that they are close to it, too. Fields is getting more confident and comfortable in Arthur Smith’s offense. Russell Wilson continues to rehab his calf strain, but he’s still not at 100% health. While the offense is still moderately conservative, the Steelers will try to take off against the Chargers.
Jim Harbaugh and company, on a mission to go 3-0 for the first time in 22 years, have their own QB problems. Justin Herbert has a high ankle sprain but is trying to play in Pittsburgh. (Context: Former Titans QB Ryan Tannehill had this injury last season; he missed two games.) For Herbert to play, I’m told the team wants to see that he can plant his foot and even get up on his toes.
That’s two injuries in two months to the same side for Herbert. He missed most of training camp with a plantar fascia injury in his right foot. I’m told the QB, who is known in the building for his toughness, is trying to play. L.A. is already planning a run-heavy game against a very stingy Pittsburgh defense with or without Herbert under center.
This is what I’m hearing this week:
• The Packers and Jordan Love made their decision on his status Friday but don’t want the Titans to know their final call.
• Bryce Young was stunned when told he’d been benched, and the offense is frustrated. One Panthers player said, “Young was making the same mistakes over and over.”
• The Vikings are the complete opposite side of the coin from the Panthers when it comes to quarterback development structures.
• Before the Jets acquired Aaron Rodgers, the team’s top choice for a veteran QB was Derek Carr.
• Kickers are the new star of the NFL.
• And the desperate Colts will try to be more physical on defense this week.
Love is a mystery (in terms of his Sunday availability)
Jordan Love has been keeping fans (and reporters) on their toes. The quarterback missed last week’s game against the Colts but was at practice all week. He was limited, but I’m told he’s getting better by the day. The team and Love made their decision on his status Friday afternoon but don’t want the Titans to know their final call. Matt LaFleur told reporters they will test the injury all the way up until kickoff, but a veteran NFL trainer said, “this isn’t a type of injury you ‘test’ on the field; it’s been decided.”
In other words: the Packers are all in on keeping the competitive edge!
Under the original recovery timeline, the Week 3 game against the Titans was categorized as “a long shot,” but Love is rebounding quicker than expected. He is wearing a metal brace on his left knee and a black leg sleeve for added support. This wouldn’t be his first time playing with a brace; at Utah State, he wore one after tearing the meniscus in his right knee.
It’s over for Bryce Young in Carolina
The NFC South is spicy right now and could have the most wins of any division after three weeks. It also have the Panthers…
Things are bad in Carolina right now. After just two games in a new offensive system with a new head coach, the Panthers made a bold decision and pulled the plug on 2023 No. 1 overall pick Bryce Young.
It’s over. No matter what Carolina says, rest assured: It’s over.
This isn’t an experiment.
This isn’t a Ross and Rachel break.
This is Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston over.
Bryce Young heads to the bench 18 games into his NFL career, with Andy Dalton (left) stepping in. (Grant Halverson / Getty Images)
The quarterback was stunned when told he’d been benched. On the field, the offense is frustrated. One Panthers player said, “Young was making the same mistakes over and over.”
Young was fully aware that he needed to improve, but he was reassured that he was still the guy. The coaching staff told him they were in this together. They told him that “he was fine,” and that they were all on board to reach their goals.
On Monday, it changed.
It’s why Young admitted he was surprised by the move — he thought he had more time. First-year head coach David Canales told the world it was his call, but it was hard to find anyone in the league who believed that owner David Tepper had nothing to do with this decision.
History in Carolina tells us that while Tepper has tried to be more hands-off and allow the football people to make the football decisions, it’s never that easy. Even people on the Panthers believe ownership said, enough. “Too much changed from Sunday to Monday,” one source added. Now, veteran Andy Dalton gets a shot at trying to give the offense some life.
Eighteen months ago, Tepper and the Panthers had a choice: Young or C.J. Stroud with the No. 1 pick. Tepper and company told people and were convinced that they found their Drew Brees in Young. The height and weight were always an issue for the team, but the Panthers were willing to pick outside the prototype quarterback in hopes of hitting the jackpot.
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Meanwhile, in Minnesota
When the Panthers benched Young, I texted the news to a trusted league source. He quickly responded: “They should bench their program.”
I usually think of college football when I hear “program,” but looking at quarterback development structures through that lens is informative. A program encompasses everything: Environment, support staff, planning, teaching philosophy, and the list goes on. Speak to folks around the league about QB development, and they’ll often mention all of these layers as being essential. Carolina is one side of the coin — Minnesota is the other.
Kevin O’Connell, currently in his third season as the Vikings’ head coach, has created an organizational environment built on intentionality. Circumstances have not always been optimal, but the varying factors have not pulled O’Connell away from his belief that growth and development require consistency over time.
Around the NFL, countless coaches and execs have paid attention to what O’Connell has accomplished. One opposing defensive coach said, “I’d trust KOC more than anyone in our league to get the most out of his quarterback.”
Sam Darnold’s first two games under Kevin O’Connell are two of the best games of his career so far. (Brad Rempel / Imagn Images)
Last year, veteran quarterback Kirk Cousins tore his Achilles in Week 7. A revolving door of sorts happened in Minnesota, with Nick Mullens, Jaren Hall and Josh Dobbs all starting at some point. Remember the run the Vikings had with Dobbs after acquiring him on a whim? This does not happen if not for an overarching philosophy centered around instilling belief and ensuring the player is not being asked to do more than he is capable of achieving.
It helps to have a surrounding cast featuring Justin Jefferson, Christian Darrisaw, Jordan Addison and T.J. Hockenson, but the ancillary aspects speak to O’Connell’s program. Before the Vikings drafted quarterback J.J. McCarthy, they hired longtime NFL quarterback Josh McCown. After they drafted McCarthy, they explored the biomechanics space, even bringing in some of the game’s best minds to talk about quarterback movements.
All of this relates to the stellar play of their current reclamation project: Sam Darnold, who has bounced around four teams (including the Panthers). Last week, after the Vikings beat the 49ers, San Francisco’s star edge rusher Nick Bosa said: “That’s an excellent coach … he’s just really good with the scheme. He knows how to scheme up the big-time players [against] the defense, and he’s got a lot of outstanding players and a good offensive line. You could feel it when you’re playing a good coach who knows what they’re doing.”
All of this brings up an interesting topic regarding the Vikings’ future. When the team hired O’Connell and general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah in February 2022, it signed them to four-year contracts. This is their third season, and during training camp, Vikings co-owner Mark Wilf said extension talks would not be happening this season. Meanwhile, Mike McDaniel, who was hired at the same time as O’Connell, was extended by Dolphins owner Steve Ross.
It should be noted that extensions rarely happen after two seasons, but if optimal development programs are as hard to find as they seem to be, why not invest now? In the eyes of many around the league, O’Connell deserves a new contract. If one does not come, free agency is always an alternative.
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Before Rodgers, Jets wanted ‘future Hall of Famer’ Carr
Aaron Rodgers’ Thursday night performance against the Patriots was incredible. That is what the New York Jets had been waiting for since signing him.
Before they acquired Rodgers in the spring of 2023, the team’s top choice for a veteran QB was Derek Carr. Members of the organization eagerly recruited him, expressing their unwavering belief in his abilities. At a dinner, head coach Robert Saleh told Carr that he saw the quarterback as a future Hall of Famer.
While many doubted that assertion, Carr’s stellar performance so far in 2024, including Sunday against Mike Zimmer’s formidable Cowboys defense, suggests that Saleh might have been on to something. First-year Saints offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak has injected a new level of dynamism into the team’s offense, reminiscent of the high-powered Sean Payton-Drew Brees years.
Though as one defensive coordinator pointed out: “The Payton offense is out of the building, the run game has made a huge difference in making sure Carr is not carrying the offense solely on his shoulders. Credit to Carr too, who has been really efficient.”
Pre-snap shifts and play-action passes are all part of the offense, with Carr under center 70% of the time. That leads the league, and the Saints lead the league in points. Who saw that coming?
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Kickers play the long game
If Taylor Swift was the talk of the NFL all of last season, this year there’s an even more popular star dominating the game: your team’s kicker.
Yep, this will be the only place you ever read that sentence. There is nothing sexy about kickers, of course, but what they are doing right now has everyone admiring elite feet. Kicking long field goals in the NFL all of a sudden looks easy. (It isn’t.) League-wide this season, kickers have made 35 of 39 (90%) of their field goal attempts from 50 yards or longer. What’s behind the long-range trend? I asked around the league.
The most common answer is that weather conditions and playing surfaces have been ideal. Most surfaces are in great shape this time of year — significantly, the natural grass fields — leading to fewer issues for kickers. We will likely see the success rate go down once it gets colder, windier and the weather shifts.
One coach said: “There are more indoor stadiums. There are more specialist coaches. There is more exposure to kicking as a specialized skill. Guys are actually growing up aspiring to be kickers, compared to how it used to be when guys kicked and played another position.”
A general manager added: “Specialists are their entity, and that’s all they work on, so they should be good at it. Snap, hold and kick timing can be worked on regularly so you can get good at the process. And teams likely really don’t spend too much time on FG Block since they’re devoting resources to other areas.”
Another head coach expanded on that last point: “Since the rule changes in recent years, it’s almost impossible to block a kick. You can’t cover the center, you can’t jump and land over the line of scrimmage, and you can’t push interior lineman … blocking kicks is almost a non-factor.”
Three of Ka’imi Fairbairn’s six NFL-leading field goals of 50-plus yards came in primetime on Sunday night. (Alex Slitz / Getty Images)
And a special teams coach added: “They’ve gone the way of a lot of the positions — personal coaches, and there is politics in that, but they do a really good job of refining their craft, swing mechanics, technique, strength. They have summits like the other positions do. They can self correct … and if they can’t there’s a talent pool to go get someone else. They don’t necessarily have the same career path where they have to have immediate success, and you may not hear about them for a few years. It truly has to be a passion for them.”
The strangest part about all these boots on fire is that the one kicker who has been burning up the record books for years, Baltimore’s Justin Tucker, is off to a slow start. He’s already missed two kicks — though his record for longest field goal, 66 yards, still stands. For now.
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And finally…
The desperate, 0-2 Colts will try to be more physical on defense this week against the Bears. The combined quarterback age in that game is 44: Caleb Williams in 22, and Anthony Richardson is 22.
I’m definitely not feeling 22. (I’m allowed one Taylor Swift lyric reference a season. Thank you.)
Make sure you check out the “Scoop City” Podcast this Tuesday to get more information and insight on the Week 3 games. Two-time Super Bowl champion Chris Long will join co-host Chase Daniel and I to let us know which teams and quarterbacks have him in shock.
(Top photo: Matthew Stockman / Getty Images)