2013 Offseason Update, Week 5

Photo credit to NFL News Desk.

Every Monday during the offseason, I will be recapping some of the biggest stories of the previous week that I did not cover individually.

Before I get to last week’s news, I have a quick announcement. Contrary to previous offseason plans, I will not be posting every day of the week. I will continue with my weekly updates and will blog for big events that catch my attention. But, at least for the next month, I need to shift my focus to another project I am working on. I am a staff writer at ACC Battles, covering men’s and women’s basketball, as well as track & field, at the University of Maryland. It’s a great gig and I’m stoked to be a part of a brand new sports journalism medium.

However, it’s become even more involved than I previously expected, and it’s too important to me for me to half-ass it. So to keep my priorities in order, Puff on the NFL will have to go to the wayside for a little while as I pursue a fantastic opportunity to break into the field of sports journalism.

To Jet or Not To Jet

Darrelle Revis has been the center of trade rumors for a couple weeks now and it doesn’t look like it will end any time soon. Based on the limited information about a possible trade, teams’ dwindling interest, and there still being questions about Revis’ health, I’m thinking that the Jets don’t have any intention of trading Revis.

New York will not be allowed to place a franchise tag on Revis after this season when his contract expires and they don’t have the money to sign him long term. They need to trade him now if they want something back for him. But we have no idea how healthy Revis is or will be because the Jets won’t talk to his agents. Certainly a bizarre situation.

Free Agency

You’re free to check out SBNation.com’s list of the top 50 free agents, but here are some of my thoughts on their list.

Mike Wallace occasionally has issues with drops. He’s very athletic and an excellent receiver, but if I needed a WR, I’d go with someone a little more reliable. The one thing Wallace has going for him over Greg Jennings and Wes Welker is his youth.

Tony Gonzalez shouldn’t be on this list. He has already said if he comes back it won’t be for anyone but the Falcons. Sure Tony went back on his retirement plans, but I think he’s serious about this one.

Reggie Bush broke out in several games for the Dolphins this year. If he’s cheap enough, he’s worth the risk.

If I’m missing anything important, or if you just want to hear my thoughts on any other offseason news from the past week, feel free to contact me via my blog’s Facebook page or my Twitter account, @cpuffnfl.

Postponed Retirement Parties

Tony Gonzalez's final farewell after losing to the 49ers may not be
his final farewell after all. Photo credit to Bleacher Report.

No, Ray Lewis will not be back in 2013, although I’m sure some Ravens fans wouldn’t mind an offseason ‘Lewis Watch.’

But two other veterans may put off retirement plans.

The first is London Fletcher, the middle linebacker for the Washington Redskins. There have been questions about whether he will retire for the past three years, and many people felt strongly that this would be his last run. But after the team made the playoffs this year, and with high expectations for next year, Fletcher has not made a decision on his retirement plans.

I anticipate him returning next season, but I won’t be shocked if he does opt to hang up his cleats. He has had a very impressive career. He led the league in tackles in 2011, his 14^th season in the NFL, and he again led the Redskins in tackles last season. It would be a huge loss to the team if he retires, but I think most Redskins fans know we can’t ask any more of him than what he’s already given the team, so we’ll respect his decision either way.

The other player whose highly anticipated retirement might be put off is Falcons tight end Tony Gonzalez. As the 2012 season wound down, Gonzalez never waivered from his stance that this would be his last run. It seems he may finally have strayed from that decision.

The Falcons had yet another excellent regular season, and their postseason victory over the Seahawks was the first playoff win of Gonzalez’s career, despite also playing on excellent Chiefs teams in the mid-2000s.

Perhaps the joy of that postseason win and the NFC Championship appearance is something he wants more of. Gonzalez clearly is still at the top of his game and is absolutely among the top four tight ends in the NFL right now.

Atlanta has not set a deadline for him to make a decision. His future is the top priority for the Falcons right now, even over Matt Ryan, whose contract will be up after the 2013 season.

Tony Gonzalez has said that if he does return, it will not be anywhere but Atlanta. I’m sure the Falcons appreciate that, but they’ll appreciate it more if he returns.

Check out my Facebook page and follow me on Twitter, @cpuffnfl, to keep up with new blog posts as I publish them.

NFC Championship Afterword: Falcons vs 49ers

Frank Gore was very effective once San Francisco's read-option got going
and Atlanta could not stop him. Photo credit to The Arizona Daily Star.

It always seems to be the same story with these Falcons: get out to an early lead, turn ultra conservative, and trust Matt Ryan and/or Matt Bryant to pull off the win after you give up the lead.

Yesterday followed that script to a T. The biggest difference was that Matt Ryan was slammed during their final drive and hurt something in his left chest or shoulder. It wasn’t his throwing arm, but it seemed to be bothering him pretty severely. He couldn’t open up to put much behind his throws, which may have led him to panic on a 4^th down play inside the red zone. I think it also was the reason for the bizarre play call not to throw up a Hail Mary into the end zone and instead throw over the middle to Julio Jones and pray he could do something as time expired.

The better team won. The Falcons deserved to win for about 40 minutes of that game, but conservative offense and prevent defense betrayed them. Colin Kaepernick took full advantage as the Falcons lack of aggressiveness on defense completely nullified any effects of a very loud home crowd.

Once Kaepernick was able to make some plays throwing the ball down the field, it opened things up for the read-option and the Falcons were doomed. Frank Gore ran for 90 yards and a couple of scores, mostly out of the read-option. LaMichael James added another 34 yards on the ground with a score of his own out of the same set.

Neither Jacquizz Rodgers nor Michael Turner reached James’s rushing yards mark in the game.

As I expected, Julio Jones and Roddy White were just too much for the 49ers’ secondary to handle. They are very physical, and Jones in particular made some pretty impressive catches. They also have more speed than a lot of defenses are aware of. When you throw Tony Gonzalez into that mix, this is probably the best receiving corps in football, followed closely by teams like Baltimore and New Orleans.

For Atlanta, their season ends in disappointment, but they finally won a playoff game with Matt Ryan under center. If Atlanta can remain competitive in the NFC South, there will be plenty more over the next several years. One of the biggest hurdles facing them will be replacing Tony Gonzalez if he does in fact retire. Yesterday he said their loss to San Francisco was “probably” his last game. “I’ve been very blessed. I don’t want anyone to feel sorry for me. I’ve had a great ride, an unbelievable ride. I have no regrets,” he said.

San Francisco, meanwhile, advances to their franchise’s sixth Super Bowl. They are 5-0, putting them one short of Pittsburgh’s record for most Super Bowl victories. They will play as the home team in New Orleans on February 3.

Check back with my blog daily over the next two weeks, especially next week when the focus will be fully on Super Bowl XLVII. For updates on when new blog posts are published, ‘like’ my page on Facebook and follow me on Twitter @cpuffnfl.

Divisional Round Afterword: Falcons vs Seahawks

Julio Jones intercepted Russell Wilson's Hail Mary attempt as time ran out,
clinching Atlanta's first playoff win since January 2005. Photo credit to AL.com.

Here is the snap, Matt Bryant with the kick, and it is NO GOOD!! But wait, a timeout was taken by Seattle! And Pete Carroll wants to know who called for the timeout.

Video clearly showed Carroll asking for the timeout just before Atlanta’s snap, but what most people don’t know is the actual reason Carroll was upset. Before the game, officials told the coaches that they would not allow practice kicks in a situation like that. Carroll made it clear during his post-game press conference that he was displeased that Bryant was allowed to take that practice kick after the timeout was called. In my opinion, though, it was Carroll’s own fault for waiting until the last moment to ask for the timeout.

Bryant had a second chance to kick the game-winner, and he made it to clinch Atlanta’s first postseason win with Mike Smith and Matt Ryan. It was also Tony Gonzalez’s first postseason win in his career, which is expected to end after this season.

Matt Ryan played a very good game overall, though it was far from perfect. He threw two interceptions, but the first one appeared to be at least partly the fault of Tony Gonzalez. The second looked identical to an interception Robert Griffin III threw down the left sideline during last week’s playoff game against Seattle.

Russell Wilson had many more passing yards than Ryan, but that was mostly because of soft defensive play during the second half by Atlanta, who had a 20-0 lead at halftime. Wilson had to throw a lot because Marshawn Lynch was held to just 46 yards on 16 carries.

Atlanta, meanwhile, had the dominant ground game on Sunday. Michael Turner ran for 98 yards on 14 carries while Jacquizz Rodgers had 64 yards on 10 touches.

Roddy White, Tony Gonzalez and Jason Snelling each had touchdown receptions for Atlanta. Julio Jones was a big part of the passing game, with six receptions, but his only touch in the end zone was a game-ending interception when he came in to defend a Hail Mary attempt by Russell Wilson, who already had a game-winning interception this season. This one, however, was ruled correctly and Seattle’s impressive season came to an end.

Atlanta is the only team advancing to the conference championships this season that was not in this round last year. Atlanta will host San Francisco Sunday at 3:00 p.m. on FOX for the NFC Championship.