Notable topics as the NFL's 104th regular season sunsets:
1. Jordan Love is coming.
What would you think if I told you that? Jordan love in 2023 was an improvement of 10 percent Aaron Rodgers in 2022? If you love the Packers, would you have signed up for Labor Day weekend? Of course you would. Let's look at Rodgers last year and his successor this year:
I remember being at training camp last summer. David Bakhtiari, a great friend of Rodgers', told me that I would love Love. “Just watch,” he said. I watched, and Love was largely mediocre for the first half of the season. However, Love led Green Bay into the playoffs with a 6-2 season finish. And with these astonishing numbers: 18 touchdown passes, one interception. He did it with a new crew of receivers and tight ends: Jayden Reed, Romeo Doubs, Christian Watson, Bo Melton, Dontayvion wicks at the recipient and Luke Musgrave And Tucker Kraft at tight end. All seven came to the Packers in the last 20 months.
There aren't many franchises in football that would sign a quarterback when they still have a good three or four years of having an MVP-caliber player on the roster. Green Bay GM Brian Gutekunst did. This is because the pack is a continuum. And once Love became comfortable in that job and with those players, he began to thrive. That's why the 9-8 Packers travel to Dallas on Sunday afternoon with a chance to beat the mighty Cowboys.
“I’m so happy for these guys,” coach Matt LaFleur said Sunday night from Green Bay. “In today's world of social media, it's difficult to block out everything negative. And there were a lot of negatives at the start of the season. But the growth of these players since the start of the season has been incredible. Even when things were tough, these guys loved coming to work every day. It's great when you're young – you just want to attack the next game. Her ability to weather the storm was great.
“And Jordan – so balanced. It's not something you can coach. That's how he was raised. It's so much fun to come to work every day with a positive person like him. Over the course of the season the trust between us has really grown. I trust him to get us out of the situation if I call a bad play. That’s a big deal for a quarterback.”
That's what we all thought after three decades of quarterback greatness Brett Favre And Aaron Rodgers, there would be a levy on Love. It's only a year, yes. But Love's poise and ability to get to know this new group of under-25 receivers in particular was remarkable to see. The Cowboys could have a game in hand this weekend.
2. Draft notes
Now that we know the outline of the arrangement, a few opening salvos:
The Bears, at 1With so many good quarterbacks in the pool, he should be able to get a 2022 pick's ransom. I expect GM Ryan Poles to swap the election, but it's too early to say for sure.
Washington, at 2will get a potential franchise quarterback if he stays and something less lucrative if the new Commanders' brain trust caves.
New England, at 3should probably be happy with a slight trade down and a Michael Penix Type. Of course, that all depends on who makes that demand for New England in what we believe is the next era of Patriots football.
As for teams desperate to acquire a quarterbackLet's see if Minnesota moves aggressively to sign at 11 years old Kirk Cousins (I doubt it). Then it's Denver at No. 12, Vegas at No. 13, Seattle at No. 16 (I bet Seattle is trying to move up) in the young quarterback derby.
3. Derrick Henry epitomizes greatness.
After Derrick Henry ran for 153 yards in Tennessee's upset of the Jaguars on Sunday – likely his final game as a Titan in Nashville – he did something rarely seen in the NFL. He took a microphone and told fans what they meant to him. “I hope I was an inspiration to all little children. “Thank you for the greatest eight years of my life,” Henry said.
This is Derrick Henry. He's the kind of superstar who doesn't realize he's a superstar, who behaves like he's the 43rd player on the roster in terms of ethos, attitude and work ethic. And judging by this game – assuming he's done in Tennessee, where a 30-year-old running back is unlikely to be paid real money in free agency – I would strongly recommend that teams around the league take a look at this Watch video of this game. Check out his 69-yard run. Henry recorded the seventh-fastest time by a ball carrier this season, according to Next Gen Stats. Think about it. The man weighs 247 pounds and runs like a runner.
We chatted after the game and Henry radiated his gratitude. “I remember being called up here and talking to him Eddie Georgesaid Henry from Nashville. “He told me that you get into the league and then before you know it, you're in fourth grade, then eighth grade, wondering where your time goes. This really comes full circle for me.”
The other part of Sunday, aside from Henry saying a sopping goodbye (if indeed he hasn't re-signed and it continues), was the significance of where the day left him on the all-time rushing list. Henry began the day 38th on the list, 58 yards behind Earl Campbell. You may have to be a fan of a certain age to understand this, but 40 years ago, Earl Campbell was the Derrick Henry of the NFL, a 232-pound, fearless defensive lineman. The fact that Henry passed Campbell with his 153 yards and finished that season with 9,502 yards while Campbell had 9,407 yards almost left Henry in awe of what he had accomplished. “This means a lot to me,” Henry said. “When I started playing football, I watched videos of Earl and thought he was the best in the world. I remember one play where he knocked over two players, almost had his shirt ripped off, and he just kept going. This is a running back. Nothing stopped him.”
Whatever the future holds for Henry, there's one kid – and there may be legions of them – who watches Henry in his prime and thinks: That's a running back. Nothing stopped him.
4. Subject: The 2024 schedule
Six interesting encounters in 2024 at first glance:
- Kansas City to San Francisco. Marquee game – whether KC can add one or three receivers this offseason.
- Dallas to San Francisco. If the Cowboys and Niners meet in the playoffs this year, it will mean the Cowboys will travel to Santa Clara four times in 23 months to face their NFC tormentors.
- Houston in Kansas City. First of all, we can only hope that there will be many matchups between Stroud and Mahomes.
- Dolphins at Packers. Tua at Lambeau is cool. The Packers with a rising star Jordan lovecould be to 2024 what the Lions were to 2023, so I wanted to put them in here.
- Baltimore-Kansas City. Lamar Jackson is 1-3 against Patrick Mahomes.
- San Francisco to Buffalo. The Niners' first trip to Western New York in the Shanahan era, and of course the first Brock Purdy-Josh Allen Duel.
- Houston in Dallas. Texans and Cowboys should play annually, not every four years. Dak Stroud will be fun.
5. Gen Next, offensive coordinators
While the world will rightfully focus on the next generation of head coaches, I've spent some time on the phone asking people: Who are the next coordinators who could solve problems on offense? When I asked the question, I got a variety of opinions, but I narrowed those opinions down to the nine that I think might draw interest from some teams – Pittsburgh, Washington, New England, Chicago, New Orleans, Las Vegas, Atlanta, the Chargers – could change their coordinators (and in some places head coaches) in the next six weeks. Not surprisingly, many of these people have Shanahan/McVay/LaFleur fingerprints on them. In alphabetic order:
Brian Fleury, 43, tight ends coach, San Francisco. Unknown outside the Niners, highly regarded inside the building as a trusted run game authority Kyle Shanahan. With Shanahan, you get points because he knows the complete game, and Fleury was a linebackers coach, director of football research, quality control coach and assistant position coach in his NFL years. Shanahan won't want to lose him.
Jerrod Johnson, 35, QB coach, Houston. There can be no coach who has packed as much football education into his young life as Johnson. After going undrafted as Texas A&M's QB, he attended ten professional camps over six seasons and previously worked for three NFL teams DeMeco Ryans made him a mentor CJ Stroud this year. Hardworking and prepared. Maybe it's a year too early, but he'll be very impressive in an interview, I'm told.
Klint Kubiak, 36, passing game specialist, San Francisco. The Shanahan/Kubiak tree has many branches, but this is the first year for Klint, the longtime coach's son Gary KubiakHe trained for a Shanahan and he's one of the reasons why Brock Purdy had such a good year. For such a young coach, he has had a varied career in the league, including last year as game manager in Denver Nathaniel Hackett was fired. Cerebral, like his father.
Charles London, 48, QB coach/passing game coordinator, Tennessee. A student of the running game who has now coached quarterbacks in Atlanta and Tennessee. It's probably unfair to judge Tennessee's passing game this year in a season of immense upheaval, but London's work is working Will Levis Getting him to play well early on is a credit to him. Highly valued as a teacher and source of ideas.
Tea Martin, 45, quarterbacks coach, Baltimore. Has the necessary experience – fifth-round pick of the Steelers in 2000, six-year experienced QB pro, coached at four colleges (USC offensive coordinator from 2016 to 2018), QB coach of Lamar Jackson under Todd Monken this year. Jackson loves him and the Ravens praise both Martin and Monken for Jackson's rise this year. Great credibility with players and knows many attacks.
Justin Outten, 40, running backs coach/run game coordinator, Tennessee. Interesting career path after being a center for Syracuse two decades ago. Entered the league in 2016 as a coaching intern for Kyle Shanahan in Atlanta and then worked for Matt LaFleur, also from the Shanahan/McVay tree, in Green Bay for three years before Nathaniel Hackett hired him as an OC in Denver last year. Now he is rebuilding his reputation Mike Vrabel. Bright and experienced.
Jake Peetz, 39, passing game specialist, LA Rams. “He’ll win every interview,” a colleague told me. Former QB coach for the Raiders and Panthers, former offensive analyst for Nick Saban at Alabama, former OC at LSU. Highly regarded by Sean McVay in his two years with the Rams. What impressed me is Puka Nacua He told me in October that he had spent long mornings with Peetz in May and June learning about the Rams' offense. Imaginative guy.
Dan Pitcher, 36, QB coach, Cincinnati. Former small college quarterback who worked his way up the career ladder. The Bengals credit Pitcher's detail-oriented teaching for his success Jake Browning I'm ready to make such a solid contribution after the injury towards the end of this season Joe Burrow. Having also served as the Bengals' game management specialist, he knows more than just
Zac Robinson, 37, QB coach/passing game coordinator, LA Rams. Could fill Houston's offensive coordinator shoes Bobby Slowik, who worked for analytics firm PFF for three seasons before beginning his six-year career with San Francisco. Robinson worked as a senior analyst for PFF before joining the Rams in 2019. For four years he absorbed Sean McVay's knowledge and daily work Matthew Stafford Make him an interesting candidate.