The questions and discussion…
1) In a game that essentially ended all hope for the Cincinnati Bengals making the playoffs the Pittsburgh Steelers saw a resurgent Russell Wilson throw for 414 yards… the second-highest single-game total of his 13-year career… and three touchdowns in a 44-38 shoot-out win.
True or not true: As a free agent this off-season the 36-year old Russell Wilson will get a new and fairly substantial deal, and it won’t be with the Steelers.
Dan
Russell Wilson
I think this is false, and the only thing false about this statement made is that I believe he’s going to stay with the Pittsburgh Steelers. I also believe that Justin Fields is going to get a new deal and stay with the Steelers beyond this season.
Russell Wilson is older, and the time he has left to be able to play at the level he’s playing, as well as the style he plays, is limited. I think a realistic deal for him is going to be a max three-year deal, but more-so team-friendly. I’m expecting around $20-25 mil a season. He’s helped lead the Steelers to be among the best teams in the AFC, be a legitimate contender, and is leading the AFC North. They’ve beaten who they’ve needed to beat so far and continue to have success. A lot of people, including myself, were very doubtful about Wilson starting over Fields after the start to the season. We’ve all been wrong on that, and Wilson has found a system that has tailored to his style of play perfectly.
Joe
I’m twixt and between on how I want to answer this question.
On the one hand I think that the system the Steelers have in place under HC Mike Tomlin and OC Arthur Smith fits the 36-year old veteran QB Wilsons talents and abilities almost perfectly with a top flight defense that keeps most games relatively close so that Wilson and the Steelers offense have a chance to win more than they lose.
Then on the other hand this offseason more than a few teams will be looking for QB help and could use a QB with Wilson’s experience and knowledge and abilities to play the game at a winning level… Giants come to mind for a team that could use a player like Wilson to not only win now but to also be a bridge QB while they get someone in the draft who they can bring along slowly and properly instead of going all in on some first rounder and expecting him to be the next C.J. Stroud or Jayden Daniels.
So…
Unless the Steelers strike before the offseason happens and makes Wilson an offer he can’t refuse… and personally I doubt this happens… then Wilson will be a free agent and will likely shop around to see what’s out there, and then once he gets all his ducks in a row regarding team possibilities and financial realities, he and his agent will likely go back to the Steelers and say if the Steelers can make an offer close to what he is seeing from other teams… then he’ll stay… if not… then he goes.
I think due to the type of team the Steelers are, on both sides of the ball, and the coaching they have in place, Russell Willson winds staying in Pittsburgh for a two year deal with an third year option for maybe 25 to 30 , million a year.
2) In the Eagles win over the Ravens this past Sunday Saquon Barkley ran for 107 yards on ground and caught two passes for another 10 yards. He now has a League leading 1,499 rushing yards 1,499, which puts him on pace for 2,123 if he plays all 17 games. The NFL record is 2,105 set by Eric Dickerson in 1984.
Also with his 117 total yards Barkley is also on pace to challenge the record for yards from scrimmage in a season… he’s currently on pace for 2,501, which would put him very close to the record of 2,509 set by Chris Johnson in 2009.
Will Barkley break either, or both, of these long standing yardage records fall this season? Why or why not?
Dan
Saquon Barkley
I think Saquon Barkley is going to be just shy of the scrimmage yards record. However, I believe he’s going to beat the rushing yards record.
I think, with the pace that he’s playing, he’s going to fall around 30-40 yards short of the scrimmage yards record and surpass the rushing yards mark by 100+. He exploded for 255 rushing yards against the Rams. Against a very tough Ravens’ run defense, he rushed for 107. If he can continue rushing how he rushed last weekend, he’s going to have no problems. He has Carolina this week. They’re one of the worst rush defenses in the league, and he’s going to eat cake this weekend. That should set him up very nicely to break the record, and he has the Steelers, Commanders, Cowboys and Giants left. If he has some high enough games, he’ll be able to sit Week 18. However, I think Sirianni is going to play him enough to get the rushing record, but not the scrimmage yards record.
Joe
First and foremost this is the player I have always believed Saquon Barkley would be in the NFL when the Giants went against supposed expert opinion and selected him.. very correctly in my opinion… as the second overall pick in the 2018 draft.
Now…
Barkley has 1,499 yards rushing this season, averaging slightly under 125 yards per game to put him on pace for about 2,124 rushing yards for the season. To break Dickerson’s rushing record… i.e. , 2,105 yards… Barkley needs to average 121 rushing yards for his last five games of the season and to break Chris Johnson’s record for scrimmage yards… i.e., 2,509 yards… he needs to average a smidgen over 148 yards a game.
However… A team with Super Bowl aspirations has to sometimes mange star/key players workloads down the stretch without costing the team its edge. So if the Eagled are cinches for the NFC East title and/or have at least a No. 2 seed before Week 18 with no shot at the arguably top projected top tam Lions does HC Sirianni risk a potential injury to his All-World running back? Maybe.. maybe not. But if the No. 1 seed is still in paly? Then its very probable Barkley would maintain his present workloads Considering the importance of getting a first-round bye in the playoffs. I’m strongly leaning to Barkley plays in every game going down the stretch.
The Eagles remaining five game include this Week 14 (12/8) versus the Panthers (32nd ranked run defense); Week 15 (12/15) versus the Steelers (4th ranked run defense); Week 16 (12/22) versus the Commanders (30th ranked run defense); Week 17 (12/29) versus the Cowboys (29th ranked run defense) and Week 18 (1/5) versus the Giants (28th ranked run defense).
With that lineup remaining I see no way Dickerson’s single season rushing record does not fall this season… I’ll assume the Steelers hold him down to maybe only 100 yards in that game… then in those other four games, against those run defenses, I’m guessing he averages close to maybe 150 yards a game with the ever present possibly he has a 250 yard game like he did against the Rams in Week 12.. who knows maybe he has two of those sort of games with that remainder of a schedule and with his capabilities. Still… 150 a game for four games is 600 yards on the ground, add in the maybe just 100 yards from the Steeler game and that is another 700 yards to add to his present 1499 to take him right in the neighborhood of 2,199 rushing yards for the season which would easily surpass Dickerson’s 2,105 yard record.
What about the scrimmage yards record?
Going back to my words above… “… to break Chris Johnson’s record for scrimmage yards… i.e., 2,509 yards… he needs to average a smidgen over 148 yards a game.”
Simply put if Barkley averages what I am proposing that he will in his last five games of the season, against four of the worst run defenses in the league, then will surpass Johnson’s yards from scrimmage record also.
Barkley breaks both yardage records this season.
3) There’s still five weeks left in the season and in the NFL a lot can happen in five weeks and the usual suspects for the various NFL can shift massively over the final month of the season.
With that in mind…
After this weekend’s games is the race to be this year’s NFL MVP now down to being between the Bills’ Josh Allen and the Eagles’ Saquon Barkley? Why or why not?
Dan
NFL MVP race… Josh Allen or Saquon Barkley?
This MVP race is going to come down to one thing, and one thing only: rushing yards record.
If Saquon gets the rushing yards record, he’s going to lock himself in position for the MVP. If he doesn’t, then that opens up the conversation for Josh Allen. My vote is for Saquon Barkley right now. He’s leading a high-powered Eagles’ team to a 10-2 record with new changes at offensive line, and a new environment after the Giants basically pushed him aside and said he wasn’t worth the contract he was requesting.
Josh Allen, however, has been equally impressive. He led the Bills, with new wide outs and a revamped team, to one of the earliest divisional locks since division realignment. He’s limited his turnovers considerably. He even has recorded a hat-trick, in the snow at that, with a rushing, passing and receiving touchdown. Josh Allen even led the Bills to a victory over the one-loss Kansas City Chiefs’ team. This race comes down to the rushing yards record. If it’s broken, Saquon wins. If it’s not, Josh Allen deserves it.
Joe
If Barkley breaks any of the yardage records this season then he should be, bar none, the NFL MVP this year.
If he doesn’t; then that leaves the door open for the usual QB bias to take place among the voters and with that in mind Josh Allen would clearly be the most deserving, as well as the leading candidate, to win the award in that situation.
Obviously from my answer to question two, I’m leaning towards Barkley right now.
4) And considering the post-season awards…
Who is your top candidate to win NFL Coach of the Year? Why?
Dan
Dan Campbell
Dan Campbell is the NFL Coach of the Year.
He’s led the Detroit Lions to an 11-1 record so far, leading the very tough NFC North. They’ve ran over teams and flat-lined them into oblivion with almost no passing game. They’ve won with passing the football. They’ve had a tough injury to their main defensive player in Aiden Hutchinson and haven’t lost a step. They continually run crazy plays, they go for it on fourth down or run a fake punt. Their overall team is consistently ranked as the top team in the power rankings. Give it to Dan Campbell. He deserves it after the season he has led for the Lions.
Joe
Mike Tomlin
I like the Steelers Mike Tomlin to win this award.
Considering the completely unsettled QB issues the team had heading into the season Tomlin has done an admirable job, if not a great one, in resolving that situation and keeping peace within the Steeler family and the players happy in the clubhouse.
And in the process has the positioned the Steelers to outperform the “experts” preseason predictions and likely will lead the team to go on to win the AFC North.
5) In this week’s Thursday Night Football game a key NFC North divisional game will take place between the first place Detroit Lions (11-1) and the current third place Green Bay Packers (9-3) game…
Which team emerges with the win in this game? Why?
Dan
Thursday Night Football… Packers vs Lions
Speaking of the Lions, this game is a HUGE game tonight.
While this is going to have a big impact on the NFC North divisional standings, the Packers are going to need more help than just winning this game in order to top the Lions for the divisional lead with a two game differential in the loss column. However, with how the game went at Lambeau, I think the Packers are poised to win tonight.
They’re playing at Ford Field. Last year, on Thanksgiving, the Packers turned it up and shut down the Lions. I think tonight is going to feature the same thing. The Packers have a great defense this season that’s been improved. They have Josh Jacobs who has ran over teams while they’ve even been expecting it. Jordan Love has honed in his turnovers with not turning it over in the past couple of weeks. The Lions have looked like they’re beatable in the previous couple of weeks, including on Thanksgiving against the Bears, where they let the Bears get back in the game, and, if not for a clock management fumbling, could’ve tied the game (or won) and that was after a first half that was absolutely dominant by the Lions. The Packers just need to not turn the ball over, force a turnover, and come up with some big stops. If they can convert some field goal opportunities into touchdowns, this game should be won by Green Bay tonight. I’m expecting a very close game, with Green Bay pulling out the victory 29-27.
Joe
This is an big game for both teams with for the NFC playoffs and the NFC North.
Biggest issue for the Lions is their defense is banged up.
The biggest issue for the Packers is that their very good defense has to face the Lions excellent and high scoring offense.
Here is how I see this winding up
Given the offensive playmakers on both teams I expect this to a big passing game with a lot of TDs for both teams.
But in the end…. the game is on the Lions home field and Jared Goff has been simply great at home this season… in his last for home games he is 4-0, with a passer rating of 148.7 along with completing 11 passes for TDs against zero INTs. And, Goff is also 6-2 against the Packers in his career.
Lions wounded defense holds on late to stop Love and the Packers and then Goff leads the Lion offense down to score a late TD to win the game 42-35.
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