Tag: Seahawks

Russell Wilson Rumored to Be On the Trade Block and the Patriots Aren’t Even MENTIONED as a Landing Spot

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How is one of the most successful franchises in NFL history that has a gigantic, gaping hole at the quarterback position not even mentioned as a possible landing spot for an elite QB that is suddenly and unexpectedly on the trade block? Whether it was Deshaun Watson, Matthew Stafford, Carson Wentz, and now Russell Wilson the Patriots don’t seem to be in on any of them. Regardless of what you think of each and everyone of those guys, all of them have played at an MVP level yet the Pats have no interest. I know in New England we have somehow fetishized “value” and take pride in our team not overpaying for anything. Well, sometimes you need to overpay a little bit or you get stuck driving a ’95 Civic with cigarette holes in the armrests because you don’t wanna pay for a premium for a gently used 2018 SUV with leather seats.

This team has a lot of holes so understandably Bill Belichick isn’t doing cartwheels when thinking about having to trade 2-4 first rounders for a quarterback. Yes, Russell Wilson will turn 33 next season so thats a consideration as well. But the larger point to be made is there have been some solid to excellent QBs on the market this offseason and there hasn’t been a single peep about the Pats. Are they really that against overpaying to solidify the most important position in sports? Well…probably yes, considering they let Tom Brady walk out the door rather than give the man an extension and some roster input. And Tom Brady these other guys are not.

But maybe it’s something worse…has the allure of the Patriots gone out the door with TB12?

It was widely reported that Stafford specifically said he would not play in New England and we all called him a puss for it. But Adam Schefter also reported that “the Cowboys, Saints, Raiders, and Bears are the only teams Wilson would consider.” So if the Pats don’t want to dump a handful of first rounders into one position I don’t necessarily agree with it, but I understand. However, if it’s more of players simply not wanting to come here then that’s a much larger issue.

Above all else, I just would like to see some semblance of a plan from Belichick. Whether that’s going out and bringing back the prodigal son in Jimmy G, trading up in the draft to get a guy like Trey Lance, or bringing on a bridge QB like Marcus Mariota and then drafting another QB late. Something tangible to build towards. But bringing back Cam Newton on a veteran minimum contract after he threw 8 touchdowns last year is not a plan. That’s just allowing your environment to dictate your actions. It’s time to make a move.

The Patriots Could Be in for a Bit of Rebuild…

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This really has just been a disaster of a season. The Patriots just got dunked on by the Buffalo Bills after going 29-3 against them between 2001-2019 with Tom Brady under center. It was a blowout, it was a changing of the guard, but to say it was embarrassing would imply that the end result was surprising. It was not. In the infamous words of Trent Dilfer, the Patriots aren’t good anymore. It’s the first time the Patriots have been swept in a season by a divisional opponent in 20 years, they are dead last in the NFL in passing TDs with 8 (one of which came from WR Jakobi Meyers), and the team is uncharacteristically undisciplined, which was only exacerbated by that head scratching challenge flag Belichick threw on what was clearly a catch directly in front of him and his son.

Someone clearly told Bill to throw the red flag though so Ernie must be going blind up in that fucking lighthouse.

2020 In Review – Part II: Don’t Hate the Player, Hate the Game

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“The Bubble”

Never before has an actual, sort of physical thing become a metaphor for itself and the panic surrounding it.

As sports league were trying their damnedest to return from the hiatus Covid caused, the idea and then implementation of “the bubble” came to fruition. Using the NBA as an example, all players, coaches, staff, and anyone else allowed in were to stay in a designed area (I believe just the hotel and arena) and were only permitted to have contact with their team and whoever they saw on the court that night. That’s it. For as long as the rest of the season lasted, they could not see or interact with another soul.

Now, you see, there’s a problem with that. Because NBA players are used to traveling from one city and arriving at another already having lined up what is probably a laundry list of booty calls. From strip club daliances to hotel room rendezvous, the men in the NBA put in some serious work over the course of a season. I mean, there is a reason Wilt Chamberlain was believed to reach his 20,000th conquest before all was said and done. And that was before the DM. Lord have mercy.

So now you take that group of successful young men, who have so much money and fame, and who to their credit have a lot of stress they need to burn off, and you try and lock them in….”the bubble”. How was that ever going to work?

Nothing short of a litany of players were caught sneaking women into the bubble. A couple more were caught sneaking out of the bubble and going to strip clubs. Here we were, in the midst of a deadly pandemic, the NBA barely able to find a way to finish the season, and these guys were going to be damned if they weren’t going to get their Ds wet anyway. It’s inspiring really.

But no other defiance of bubble protocol, in any sport, holds a candle to that of Seattle Seahawks rookie cornerback Kehmah Siverand this past training camp. Or should I say, very much former Seattle Seahawks cornerback. Siverand, an undrafted rookie out of Oklahoma State, risked the longshot opportunity that the Seahawks gave him for the almighty P, and lost his chance for it. But it wasn’t just that glaring lack of decision making ability that makes Siverand’s discretion the most notable. It’s the means by which he went about it. You see, rather than simply trying to skirt bubble security, the young lady accompanying Kehmah Siverand tried the old Trojan Horse-cum-guy on another guy’s shoulders approach. She dressed up in full Seahawks warm ups and basically tried to pass herself off as just a teammate of Siverand’s entering the hotel with him. Don’t mind me Mr. Security Officer sir, just about to go to sleep before a long day of training camping tomorrow. The only issue was that this lass was all of 5’2 and I’m guessing not muscular in build, as opposed to a normal NFL player who, no matter their height, are built like brick shit houses. Needless to say security wasn’t fooled and as alluded to earlier, Siverand was cut.

Although the bubbles are just about a thing of the past (the NHL has gone with a sort of macro concept of the bubble where each team is only playing their division) there are still protocols about where players can go and they are still being broken. Especially by James Harden. James Harden just hates rules and following them. So the lesson learned no matter how deadly of a plague we are facing, trying to keep pro athletes from the fairer sex is pointless. And quite frankly they are too large for any of us to protest. Let them live.

-Joey B.

Gridiron Tales Week 12: MNF Birds Edition

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Carson Wentz Finally Has What He's Needed All Along – Dynamic Young Wideouts – NBC10 Philadelphia

Sunday: 2-1

Season: 11-7

Highlight the Highs: Gallman took advantage of Cincy’s porous run defense, while Kirk Cousins dug himself out of a hole for a big passing day

Loathe the Lows: Daniel Jones had success passing on Cincy, but was unable to convert anything into a passing TD, which includes Evan Engram being caught inside the 5 and Darius Slayton not running full speed to track down a deep pass attempt… Oh and the hamstring injury in the second half didn’t help either.

Tonight, we have birds against birds. One team has faired well against the pass the season, while the other team is the league’s get-right pass defense for opponents.

The Pick: Carson Wentz O21.5 completions vs Seahawks (+105)

Fact #1: The Seahawks have allowed an average of 30 completions over their last 5 games

Fact #2: Piggybacking on that, Seattle has allowed the most in each of these categories over the past 5 weeks: completions (30), passing yards (1,668) and QB rushes (35).

Fact #3: Wentz has only reached 22+ completions once in his last 7 games, but the Hawks have allowed every starting QB they’ve faced not named Nick Mullens to complete at least 27 passes.

Sidebar: I know it “Hurts” to watch Wentz play this season and that his backup reportedly has a package this week, but that shouldn’t deter anyone from loving this as a get-right game for the Eagles offense.


The pick: Jalen Reagor O47.5 receiving yards vs SEA

Fact #1: Over the last 5 weeks, Seattle has allowed 105 receptions to WRs — the most in the NFL over that span — and 15 more than the next closest team (TEN)

Fact #2: Over the last 5 weeks, Seattle has allowed a league-worst 1,125 receiving yards to WRs.

Fact #3: Reagor’s snap % has increased each week since returning from injury: 73%, 88% and 93%. Couple this with 18 targets in those 3 games + Philly potentially chasing points and you have a recipe for potential Reagorbombs.

Gridiron Tales: Week 11 Thursday Night Football Edition

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Last week: 2-3
Season: 5-4

Let’s summarize what happened last week real quick.

Lone positive: Nick Chubb broke all gamblers hearts by running out of bounds and not scoring against the Texans, but for your boy, that long run cashed the over on his rushing yards prop.

Negatives: Jared Goff decided to continue to feed Josh Reynolds as much as he did Cooper Kupp and Robert Woods, which meant we narrowly missed our reception totals for both players.

But like Hannah Montana and Miley Cyrus say:

“Everybody makes mistakes
Everybody has those days (oh yeah)
Everybody knows what I’m talkin’ ’bout
Everybody gets that way (that’s right)”

And with that we’re onto Week 11 : Belichick voice

The pick: D.K. Metcalf Under 79.5 receiving yards

Unless there are major snowfalls or torrential downpours, I loathe unders because what’s fun about rooting for no points?! But tonight will be football at its best because we get Metcalf vs Patrick Peterson (again).

Flashback: Week 7 featured a classic that resulted in a 37-34 OT win for the Cardinals.

Fact #1: In that high-scoring affair, Metcalf was limited to 5 targets, 2 catches, 23 yards — all season lows.

Fact #2: According to NextGenStats, Peterson shadowed Metcalf on 42 of his 49 routes during that game. Metcalf recorded 1 catch for six yards on four targets with Peterson on him.

Fact #3: In 3 career meetings vs ARI, Metcalf has posted a combined total of 10 targets, 3 catches and 29 yards.

Fact #4: Metcalf has been held below 30 yards in two of his last four games (Other game: Jalen Ramsey).

DK Metcalf is Going to Be Ben Watson for Halloween This Year

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Seattle lost to Arizona on a last second field goal in a wild overtime back and forth affair last night, but the Seahawks may not have even made it a game if not for this DK Metcalf play. In an uncharacteristically bad pass in the red zone (except for this one), Russell Wilson threw an ill advised slant that the Cardinals’ Budda Baker easily intercepted and was off to the house. It should have been an easy pick six as there was nothing but green turf between him and the end zone, except Metcalf was not having it. Metcalf turns on the jets, sprints 90 yards, and runs Baker down from behind.

It was eerily reminiscent of one of the greatest plays in Patriots history that actually came in a loss. In 2005 the Patriots were coming off back to back Super Bowl titles and finished a mediocre 10-6, which was still good enough to win the AFC East. That was essentially fool’s gold though as this team just was not that good and it was before Tom Brady really became the Tom Brady that would carry the Patriots and lead countless comebacks for years to come. After trouncing the Jaguars (and Brady’s current QB coach Byron Leftwich), the Pats moved on to play the Broncos led by Jake the Snake Plummer in the AFC Divisional round. Down 10-6 late in the 3rd quarter, the Patriots were in the red zone and threatening to take the lead. Brady gets pressured out of the pocket and rolls right, throwing on the run and tossing up a jump ball to an allegedly 5’10” Troy Brown. The throw was picked off by All-Pro cornerback Champ Bailey, who was 2 yards deep in his own end zone before taking off and running it back for a would be pick six. Only for Patriots tight end Ben Watson to run something like 110 yards from the opposite side of the field to chase down Bailey and SMOKE him at the one yard line.

Bailey was ruled down at the 1-yard line, which should have been ruled a touchback and Patriots ball but it was 15 years ago so I’m not gonna get worked up about that before I even finish my morning coffee.

The Patriots would go on to lose the game 27-13, but it was one I’ll never forget because of that one Ben Watson play.

Oh and the guy that DK Metcalf chased down ran a 4.4 40-yard-dash at the combine by the way so it’s not like he was running down some out of shape linebacker. If only the Patriots could draft receivers like that…

The 300s Staff NFL Bracket Update

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Back before the season started, a handful of The 300s staff made bold predictions about how this NFL season was going to shakedown. With the first round of the playoffs coming up, it’s time to check in and see how everyone is doing.

As a refresher for how the scoring works, in this round you get: 10 points for each correct playoff team, 5 points for correct seed, and 5 points for correct division winner. A perfect score would get you 220 points.

Mattes:

The Chiefs should be in that empty spot…oops

Just like everyone else, Mattes placed a little too much stock in the Browns and Jaguars. Although not everyone saw the Panthers making the playoffs, I doubt anyone thought they’d be as bad as they turned out this season. Although the Patriots are looking like anything but Super Bowl favorites at the moment, they were in a similar position last year. As we all know, the Patriots aren’t out of it until the clock strikes 0:00. Green Bay was able to sneak in for a first round bye, so although Mattes isn’t off to a perfect start, he’s still in good shape.

Total points: 90

Big Z:

Cowboys in the Super Bowl? YUCK!

Big Z may be the only person to pick against the Pats, but his bracket is full of red. Steelers in the AFC title game, Colts and Browns in the playoffs, Dem Boyz in the SUPER BOWL?! Yuck! The only thing Big Z has going for him at this point is his Super Bowl winner. Hey, at least he picked the 49ers in the playoffs.

Total points: 95

Joey Ballgame:

The Bengals? Really?

Joey Ballgame wins worst pick of the challenge. The Bengals? In the playoffs? Now, everyone in the world had a hard time picking the AFC, but that doesn’t mean a team led by Andy Dalton was going anywhere. Most people were riding high on the Browns, and Joey fell into that trap as well. Surprisingly, Joey is in pretty good shape here, with both of his SB teams and 3/4 championship teams still in it. He also picked the seeding right on 4 teams, which is better than anyone else.

Total Points: 115

Dom:

You know you messed up when you’re NFC title prediction happens in the Wild Card Round.

Just because I invented this new way to gamble doesn’t mean I’m any good at it. Red and I were the only guys to pick the Ravens in the playoffs, albeit losing to a team that’s getting a top 10 pick at next years draft. Just like Joey, I’m riding high on a Brady-Brees matchup in the Super Bowl, but since the Pats need to go through KC to get to the AFC title game and the Vikings play the Saints in the Wild Card, I’m going to have a hard time accumulating points.

Total Points: 100

Red:

Red is in surprisingly good shape here.

Last but not least, we have Red. Which is ironic, because his bracket has the least red of all. Red not only had the Ravens in the playoffs, but also was the only one to have the Seahawks in there. Even though the Eagles take on the Seahawks this weekend, Red still has a chance to get 6/8 Divisional Round teams and all 4 championship teams. However, it seems highly unlikely that the Eagles and Texans make it past the second round.

Total Points: 110

As you can see, these brackets are a huge challenge, especially in the NFL. Nobody had the Ravens or 49ers getting past the first round of the playoffs. The Browns, Jaguars and Cowboys were all major disappointments, and all of us homers were riding a little too high on the Patriots. Over the course of a season, anything can happen. I’ll be checking back next week with another update. LFG PATRIOTS!

Mark Sanchez Retires from the NFL. Never Forget the Butt Fumble.

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NY Post – Quarterback Mark Sanchez is putting away his helmet and heading to ABC/ESPN to be a college football analyst, The Post has learned.

Sources tell The Post the former Jets quarterback’s main job will be in ABC’s lead college football studio, where he will join Kevin Negandhi and Jon Vilma. Sanchez is replacing Mack Brown, who left to coach North Carolina.

The Catch. The Immaculate Reception. The Butt Fumble. There are certain plays in NFL history where you just say two or three words and everyone knows exactly what you’re talking about and where they were when it happened. Luckily for me I was a part of NFL lore because I actually attended The Butt Fumble game at the Meadowlands. I saw that glorious play on Thanksgiving night 2012 with a bunch of my buddies. Since it was Thanksgiving we had been eating and drinking for about 8 hours leading up to the game so saying I *saw* the play is technically accurate even if it didn’t fully register up in the 300s section.

I do however vividly remember the stadium announcers not even addressing what had just happened and just moving along like it was business as usual. Thank god for high def cameras though so this incredible performance could live on in the football archives forever.

Oh and Lenny Kravitz played the halftime show that game. What a night.

Anyways, shout out to Mark “the Sanchize” Sanchez for a head scratching yet decent career. He led the Jets to BACK TO BACK AFC CHAMPIONSHIP GAME APPEARANCES as we would hear for years and years despite not winning any of them. He was a solid if unspectacular quarterback, but if you remember it was a shock the Jets traded all the way up to No. 5 to draft him. Especially after his coach at USC and current Seahawks coach Pete Carroll was a pretty big asshole when asked about his assessment of Sanchez turning pro.

Looking back he was probably right as Sanchez was the the full time starter at USC for only one season before skipping his senior year to go pro and immediately being crowned the savior in New York and starting as a rookie.

He’ll forever be linked to Rex Ryan as the two spearheaded the most successful era of Jets football since the Bill Parcells days. That was a fun time to be a Patriots or a Jets fan because both teams were very good and the Jets loved to talk so it led to some heated rivalries. Theres still players from those late 2000s Jets teams that I despise like Bart Scott.

Can’t Wait til your radio show gets cancelled.

So Sanchez may have only thrown 20+ touchdowns once in a season and may have thrown three interceptions in a 45-3 blowout to the Patriots on Monday Night Football, but he seemed like a genuinely likable guy. Sure he had some weird photoshoots

but who hasn’t?

I don’t know if I’ve ever identified with a pro athlete more than the time Sanchez got busted sneaky crushing a hotdog on the bench.

I respect that move.

Well, Sanchez is off to ESPN where I think he will actually be a great football personality. A good looking dude with some charisma and legitimate NFL playing experience? Sanchez and fellow USC alum Matt Leinart will be the deadliest duo on the LA circuit since the days of Leo Dicaprio and Tobey Maguire.

Michael Bennett Close to Joining the Patriots

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I love this move. I would have loved it any of the last few off seasons. I feel like Michael Bennett is one of those solid veterans who is always quasi-available. This is also such a “Pats” move a la grabbing Chris Long and James Harrison where a smart, “football guy” pass rusher who wants to win for a solid organization comes aboard and does (hopefully) well.

Truth be told, Bennett is also more than solid. Since 2012, he has notched played in all 16 games and notched 7 sacks or more in every season except for his shortened 2016 campaign with the Seahawks. And now he gets to come to the Pats where he’ll probably just be asked to get after the QB, but can provide some support in the run as well. He’s in his mid-30’s now which is a minor cause for concern but had 9 sacks last year so I think he has plenty of gas left in the tank.

What also can’t be overlooked is the Bennett brothers are kind of just the shit. Just sort of wacky,  affable guys that happen to be talented as hell at football. They’re “list” guys. As in if you were to told to give your top five guys to go to Vegas with, bring on your bachelor party, invade a small country with etc. the Bennett brothers would be sneaky good additions to those lists. To this end also there is now a slight possibility Marty ends up coming out of retirement to give the Pats one more year as well which I would NOT MIND in the slightest.

This also means Trey Flowers is officially gonzo which sucks. But we knew that was happening. And Michael Bennett is a great 1-2 year fix until we find the next man up. As is the Patriot Way.

So with that we have our first official “LET’S FUCKING GO” of the not yet full incubated 2019-2020 (!) season. O boy o boy.

***UPDATE BECAUSE I’M A GENIUS***

-Joey B.

Seattle Just Got an NHL Franchise

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We all knew the day was coming to get the NHL to 32 teams. Vegas joined the league last year in what wound up being the most successful run by an expansion franchise in their inaugural season ever. Seattle will begin play in the 2021-2022 season, the same year my Islanders get their new arena in Belmont. Seattle’s arena situation is a bit different though. They would be playing in a newly renovated KeyArena, which is going under a $700 million overall. When construction is finished, the rink will seat 17,400 for hockey and 18,600 for basketball (pending they’re able to convince the NBA to bring home the Sonics).

Bringing the NHL to a total of 32 teams comes with some obvious changes. First of all, it would require a bit of realignment in the pacific division. The Western Conference currently sits at eight teams in the Pacific with seven in the Central, and if you’ve recently seen where Seattle lines up on a map, you’ll know that they’d have to be placed in the Pacific for this to make any sense. This will require movement from one of the existing Pacific teams, which most experts are pinning on the Arizona Coyotes to make the jump to the Central.

The expansion of a Seattle franchise also will require another expansion draft, a process that seemingly worked out very well for the Vegas Golden Knights last time around. All teams will be able to protect a certain combination of players like in the previous Vegas expansion draft. Bill Daly has confirmed June 2021 for Seattle’s draft. All I can say is if the Seattle franchise can select half as decent as the Golden Knights did, we’ll be in for a competitive team right off the bat.

Finally, the team will need to settle on a name. The Seattle Metropolitans is one I keep seeing thrown around, based on the history the name has with the city.

Over 100 years ago, the Seattle Metropolitans were the first American franchise to ever win the Stanley Cup, before the NHL was even formed. Some are pushing to reinstate that name for the incoming team, but as a lifelong New York Mets fan team, I do not wish that bad juju on anyone.