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“Kyler Murray-NFL-vs-MLB”

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This indeed is going to be very interesting, this tug-of-war between baseball and football for Oklahoma Sooners quarterback Kyler Murray.

The Heisman Trophy winner put up staggering numbers this past year in leading the Sooners to the College Football playoffs.

Throw it-run it, he did it all in triggering an onslaught of records at OU, in the Big 12, and at the NCAA level.

When he was finished, Murray had (4,669Y) passing and 44-TDs. On the ground, he scrambled for (1110Y) rushing and added 13-TDs. The season video game numbers, (5,779) all purpose yards and 57-Touchdowns.

All that from a baseball prospect, drafted by the Oakland Athletics in the 1st round in June as an outfielder. He was given a 4.6M bonus by the Athletics and given the green light to play this last year of football at Oklahoma.

But now, coming off this Heisman Year, he is playing the leverage game. He is filing for the NFL draft and wants to go to the combine in Indianapolis.

His baseball athletic skills are unquestioned. He hit (.296) with 10-homers, 47-RBIs and 10-stolen bases.

He worked out with the Athletics team in the Arizona Summer League but did not play games.

Prior to that, a year ago, hit hit just (.176) in the Cape Cod summer league against other top college players.

There are all types of questions to be answered. Can a 5’10, 190 pound great college quarterback, play like that in the NFL. Russell Wilson has, Drew Bree’s has, but lots haven’t.

Can stats in the aluminum bat world of college baseball, equate to the same with a wooden bat at places like Bluefield or Columbia in the lower minor leagues?

What does Murray really want? Be a two sport athlete? Aside from Bo Jackson and Deion Sanders, it does not happen very often, and never with a quarterback, where the time commitment at the position is unbelievable. Or are we looking at a smaller version of Tim Tebow?

Murray has the ace card in his pocket. To the A’s, the message is ‘show me the money’ reportedly a 15M-package for his first contract with a 40-man spot on a roster.

For the NFL, draft me in the first round, pay me that slot money, and watch me play in the NFL. Is he a Wilson-Lamar Jackson or a Robert Griffin III?

This will be a fun couple of months after watching the video game stats he put on the table in football, and wondering if stats like that are coming in baseball too?

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“Firing Shots At Our Teams”

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CHARGERS…..Shellshocked players began exit meetings with their coaches, coming off the horrible beatdown in New England. The game plan put together by Defensive Coordinator Gus Bradley made no sense. Trying to go with 7-DBs against Tom Brady, when the Patriots coaching staff had a bye week to put in game plans. Brady picked them apart going (34-44) with 4-dropped passes. The Patriots hit crossing patterns, then went over the linebackers for deeper completions, and then mauled an undersized defense when they ran Sonny Michel. What worked against a freaked-out rookie QB-Lamar Jackson last week in Baltimore, was not going to workout against a Hall of Fame QB. How could they ever think they could hold up. The offense never got on the field against a Patriots team that had (38) minutes time of possession. This is on Anthony Lynn and Gus Bradley. A blown opportunity-maybe the last opportunity for Rivers to be in position to play in a Super Bowl.

RAIDERS NATION-MAYOR’S OFFICE….I don’t understand the ‘inertia’ from Mayor Kevin Falconer in not trying to push a deal thru to get the homeless Raiders to come to San Diego for their final NFL season before they go to Las Vegas. It Mark Davis was willing to spend 7.5M to rent the Oakland Coliseum, wouldn’t that price have gone to San Diego to rent SDCCU Stadium for one season. That 7.5M would offset a large chunk of the 11M our city pays to maintain the mostly empty ancient stadium here. Someone explain that to me.

SAN DIEGO STATE…Waiting for the shoe to drop, or axe to fall, on some of the football staff. Rocky Long need to evaluate the coaches in his office after a substandard finish to a once promising season.

SAN DIEGO FLEET…No buzz in the community when there should be, as the team holds nearly month long workouts with the other 7-teams in the Alliance of American Football in San Antonio. If Mike Martz finger prints are on the team, it will be a fun experience. I don’t understand the leadership of the team, not one press conference in San Diego yet, since Martz hiring. No preseason workout presser, no here are out coordinators conference, no presser to unveil their snazzy uniforms. Missing a good chance to sell football here. Strange methodology from the new leadership of a team that could be sitting on a gold mine if done correctly.

PADRES….So Wil Myers will be your left fielder, that’s okay, for he will work at it. The team has been unable to trade the 64M-left on his contract to try to get a quality pitcher. But with Myers going back to left field, there are now 6-established flychasers on the roster. And this is a team that has no legitimate shortstop, or third baseman, and no front of the rotation veteran pitcher, just a month away from the Cactus League start. GM-AJ Preller can, and may likely, make a trade yet, though he seems unwilling to pay a hefty price to get a starter, whether that is the Indians Corey Kluber or the Yankees extra starter Sonny Gray. Expect a trade still to come.

BRING BACK THE BROWN….The Padres unveiled their 50th anniversary logo for the franchise, in a wide array of color themes, blue-brown-gold. A year from today, they will have unveiled their new uniforms, hoping that 2020 will look good not he field, and that 2020 will be a wildcard playoff season.

AZTECS….This has been a really disappointing basketball season, and I don’t see it getting any better. Teams are defending Devin Watson and Jeremy Hensley into the parking lot, knowing there is not a lot of consistency from Jalen McDaniels and Matt Mitchell. This has the makings of a (.500) season, a far drop-off from what it used to be in the Steve Fisher era.

USD…The worst thing that could happen, not losing, but injuries, has happened. Ollin Carter, Isaiah Wright, both out a week into the West Coast Conference season. Isaiah Pinero cannot do this by himself and the depth of the roster is starting to show its shortcomings.

GULLS….They’re hot, this (11-0-2) run, and you better enjoy it because the Anaheim Ducks will likely be calling up the Gulls young goal scorers shortly. The Ducks are in the middle of a record setting 11-game losing streak. They might also take coach Dallas Eakins shortly if Randy Carlisle cannot rally this team.

SEALS….I thought San Diego fan would like lacrosse and the opening night crowd of 8,000 or so was impressive, as was the electricity on the field during the game. We’ll see what they draw going forward.

SOCKERS…Good team, little marketing, small crowds. Don’t understand ownership’s views of how you are supposed to draw when you don’t promote.

STRIKE FORCE….A month out for the Arena League indoor football team. Camp will be opening shortly and it will be interesting to see the array of indoor talent they give just hired coach Burt Grossman. It’s a quarterback-wide receiver-cornerback league, this indoor game.

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“Chargers-Patriot–Beaten By Own Game”

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it was artistry-the game plan put together by Bill Belicheck

It was a public execution in the town square in Foxboro, what Tom Brady did.

It was a a pounding what the Patriots did to the Chargers defense..

The Pats tore apart the Chargers defense, zeroing in on their zone coverage, throwing underneath on crossing patterns and out patterns. Then they threw over the top of the zone in deeper patterns. And when not doing all that, they hammered the ball, hitting big run play after big run play.

Julian Edelman, James White, and Sonny Michel destroyed the Chargers game plan, designed by Gus Bradley. .All the great currency, the things the Bolts built up in wins on the road, went away.

And speaking of defense, Belicheck pulled pages out of the back of the playbook, doing some things that the Chargers did a week ago in Baltimore. They used nickle and dime DBs, they loaded linebackers into the gaps, they blitzed, pressured and hit Philip Rivers all day.

There were a ton of snaps where Rivers looked at 7-8-9 man fronts, plays in which his receivers could not get off the line of scrimmage. And he got hit, knocked down, hit, pressured, got frustrated and whined to the refs.

As New England jumped to the early lead, then blew the game open, the only thing missing was a contribution from the always tough tight end Rob Gronkoswki. He was targeted just twice, one big catch, drew one pass interference call. They did all this without big plays involving Gronk.

Brady started the afternoon with a 14-play 83-yard drive, a signature series that foretell what was going to happen the rest of the day.

Running back James White had 25-and-28-yard catch and runs on screen plays. He wound up with 15-receptions for 97-yards, tying an NFL playoff record for most catches by a running back in postseason.

Michel exploded for 129-rushing, gashing thru gaps for big plays.

From the Chargers standpoint, there was no help for the quarterback. Rivers got nailed a lot enroute to a (21-51) day for 331-yards, most of it in garbage time. 2-sacks…10-hits….13-pressures, and a lot of frustration.

Overthrows, under throws, dropped passes, it was poor. In one stretch in the 2nd quarter into late in the third, the Bolts record setting QB was (5-16) passing. And the run game…. 10-carries for 19-yards.

In one stretch early, the Patriots had 20-first downs while the Chargers had run just 20-plays.

New England wound up with 498-yards, despite taking their foot off the pedal in the fourth quarter. Time of possession (38-29) minutes…as New England ran off 78-plays on the day.

Julian Edelman ran wild vs that zone with a 9-catch 101-yard day. James White, the running back, was a wide receiver all day with 15-receptions. Michel smashed and bashed for 129-yards.

There was no answer on defense either. No Joey Bosa nor Melvin Ingram big plays. A bad day for the young DB-Desmond King, a bad fumble and 6-pass completions on him. Casey Hayward had a pass interference penalty and gave up 3-catches. Corner Michael Davis got beaten 3-times. Derin James allowed 3-catches. All this damage incurred in the first 3-quarters.

New England had 16-plays of 10-yards or more during the day to compliment all those 8-9 yard plays they kept pulling off. Rivers couldn’t get his audibles called, took -delay of game flags and had to burn a timeout. The Bolts wound up running 22-plays in the game in which they gave 1-yard,no yards, lost yards, took a sack or threw an incompletion. 22-plays in one afternoon from one of the top offenses in the NFL..

Team-Belicheck-Brady are now (8-0) in games against Rivers. The Chargers history now shows a (1-12) record there in Foxboro. Brady is (28-10) in his career in the postseason, including a (20-3) home record in the playoffs.. At Gillette Stadium he’s (135-21). and his career record, deflate gate and all, is (208-60).

Rivers is (0-3) in playoff games in Foxboro. He’s now (0-8) in head to head games against Brady. This is not so much on him, but 1-man can only do so much when the rest of his team is falling down around him.

The window on Rivers getting to a Super Bowl seems to be almost fully closed now. That was a good football season they had, with all those impressive wins, but it ended ugly. Still not over is the reality they are really an outsider in the LA fan market, and even how they viewed by the media.

Adding to all this, Dean Spanos, who never spoke to the San Diego media after leaving the city, and who has given just 1-interview to the LA media in two years, did talk to the New York Times this weekend, saying he had no regrets about the move to LA, had no comments about the city-fans he left behind, and reiterated he believed it would take time to win the approval of the LA market.

It may take them longer than ever, with an aging Rivers, to ever get back to an AFC-title game,much less the Super Bowl.

New England heads into Kansas City next week for their 8th straight AFC title game, as the coach and the quarterback seem their 6th Super Bowl ring together.

The Chargers got on the plane last night, knowing they had a winning season, even with the final Sunday of the year ending with a terrible beating in the New England nation.

Good year even if it was a bad finish.

The Patriots beat the Bolts at their own game. Brady sprayed the ball everywhere. New England’s defense out schemed them, out-coached them, and hit their quarterback all day.

Just another victory on a Patriot Day in the state of New England.

One other item, Dean Spanos and his sons got on their own private jet to head home. They’re still losers as people regardless of what the standings say.

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“Chargers-Why Not Them”

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Bring on the 2nd round of the NFL playoffs.

Bring out all the stats you want about the Chargers-Patriots game, but I remind you the game is played on the field come Sunday, and that what’s on paper might not reflect what happens on the scoreboard.

Real Questions worth considering as we go towards Bolts-Pats.

WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE TWO TEAMS?
..The Bolts, if healthy, have much more firepower down the field than New England. It’s Philip Rivers throwing to Keenan Allen, Mike Williams, Tyrell Williams and his 3-tight ends, with Hunter Henry returning. It’s the combo of Melvin Gordon-Austin Ekeler catching and running. The Chargers are much deeper with more play makers.

WHAT IS NEW ENGLAND’S OFFENSE LIKE NOW?
..Tom Brady has become a more short passing yard quarterback. TE-Rob Gronkowski makes plays but is not as big a threat down the field. Julian Edelman and Chris Hogan run great crossing routes and slants. The running backs, Sonny Michel, carrying the ball, and James White and Rex Burkhard catching it out in patters spreads the field. It’s just not as explosive New England offense as we have seen.

WHAT ABOUT THE OFFENSIVE LINES?
..Both are struggling. The Chargers have allowed a lot more pressure on Rivers over the last 5-games of the season, and his production has tailed off. The offensive tackles have been beaten and the gap play from the guards in side has been spotty. The Patriots are playing a lot of young lineman, and miss LT-Nate Solder, who left as a free agent, but Brady gets the ball out of their quickly.

WHAT HAPPENS DEFENSIVELY?
..The Chargers exotic blitz package has been special the second half of the season. They will send people after Brady, and they better get there. New England doesn’t blitz much, but gets to the ball quickly, and makes it tough to throw into coverages. Giving Bill Belicheck a bye week to prepare means Rivers and that front will be challenged.

WHAT ABOUT MATCHUPS?
..Problems everywhere. Short of linebackers, covering Gronkowski and the running backs in the flat will be a huge challenge for the Bolts. The secondary, notably Michael Davis, have played much better, complimenting the super season rookie Derwin James has had. Can Gus Bradley’s blitz scheme confuse and pressure Brady? Can they do what they did to Russell Wilson, Ben Roethlisberger and Lamar Jackson, make him hold the ball and take hits? Only time will tell. New England is playing a ton of nickel and dime packages, and they play physical, so the battles with Keenan Allen running routes, and the ability of Devin-Jason McCourty-Patrick Chung and Stephon Gilmour to deal with the Bolts big receivers will be fascinating.

WHAT ABOUT THE KICKERS?
..Excellent in terms of field goals. Michael Badgley has given them reliability in field goals they haven’t had in four years. His kickoffs have been short. Not sold on Donnie Jones, but your brought him in and must believe his angle kicking is better than what you had with Drew Kaiser. Stephen Gostkowski is reliable, a veteran, and knows how to handle the elements in Foxboro.

WHAT ABOUT THE RETURN MEN?
..Desmond King has become dangerous, not Tyreek Hill dangerous, but really dynamic returning kicks and punts. Shall be fascinating to see how he handles the balls in the wind and cold weather. Helping his offense stay off the long field will be huge if he get bust off a couple of big returns.

THE COACHING MATCHUPS?
..We know all about Belicheck’s mystique at Gillette Stadium..whether it is the (124-28) home record in the regular season, or (19-3) at home in the playoffs. A week’s bye to get healthy and to look at all things to attack Philip Rivers is huge for the Patriots. Anthony Lynn has changed the culture. His coordinators have been superb at creating things other teams cannot cope with. Lynn is (19-5) since mid November of 2017. Not bad at all.

HOW ABOUT TOM BRADY’S NUMBERS?
..Same story, at home, a tremendously explosive quarterback. Brady is (134-21) at home…he’s (19-3) in the postseason there too. He had a (27-10) career postseason record and a (207-60) career won-lost record. Brady is (8-2) against the Chargers all time (19TD-11 Int) and is (2-0) in the postseason against the Bolts (4TD-6 Int)

WHAT DO RIVERS NUMBERS LOOK LIKE?
..Spectacular if you are talking about Sunday to Sunday in the league this year. He’s now thrown 34-TDs this year, and nearly (4,500Y) passing. Sacks are down as are turnovers. But the history there is not good. Yes Rivers may be (5-5) in his post season career, but he’s (0-2) in the playoffs at New England, and (0-7) when going against Brady. Rivers has (10TD-10 Int-16 QB sacks) in those seven starts, and is (0-5) in New England. In the 7-losses, the Chargers defense has given up 30-30-32-33-37-40-50, so it hasn’t always been about what the Bolts QB has done..

WHAT SHOULD I BE CONCERNED ABOUT THE BOLTS?
..The true health of RB-Melvin Gordon. Since coming back from the sprained knee, and then tweaking an ankle, he has had a huge drop off in productivity. Gordon has (46-touches for 163Y)…that’s just (3.5Y) per touch. And running mate Austin Ekeler has (16-touchhes-61Y)..(3.8Y) per play. And this from two guys who were averaging almost (6Y) per play thru much of the season. If they cannot be explosive then the Bolts have a problem.

IS THE CHARGERS OFFENSE STRUGGLING?
..In Rivers last 5-games, he has just 4-TDs…5-interceptions…taken 11-QB sacks…In the last 3-games, the Chargers have averaged just (172YPG) passing against the Ravens and Broncos and Rivers has passing games of 160-176-181 the last three outings. Banged up players, shakey offensive line help, and lots of blitzing have caused all this.

WHAT’S THE WEATHER GOING TO BE-IMPACT THE CHARGERS?
..They say 28-degrees and cloudy at kickoff with some wind, dropping to 18-degrees by mid afternoon. Football weather.

WHO WINS?
..Did you give them a chance in the other four venues they played in where they had hardly ever had success? If they can do it in Kansas City, Pittsburgh, Seattle and then last week in Baltimore, why not this weekend, at that place, Gillette Stadium in Foxboro.

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