JJ Lanier
Ryan Tannehill Worth Miami Dolphins Money
By: JJ Lanier
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
Last summer I wrote a piece revolving around the contract extensions given to Cam Newton and Ryan Tannehill, focusing more on the Dolphins and how they really didn’t have a choice considering there weren’t a lot of alternatives for them to choose from.
I still stand by my opinion at the time I wrote it, but much like the dumbbells I own collecting dust underneath my bed, amongst my wife’s photo albums and lord knows what else, I wonder if Miami is starting to have buyer’s remorse?
What started out as a disastrous beginning to the season for Miami (1-4) has turned around somewhat of late. Their offensive line has been playing better, opening up some nice running lanes for Jay Ajayi, who has become one of the league’s leading rushers. Their defense is finally starting to live up to the exceedingly high expectations they were burdened with to start the season, and they are right in the middle of the playoff hunt.
I really want to jump on the Dolphins’ bandwagon and believe that not only will they make the playoffs, but make a run at New England once they get there. I have confidence in the ground game and feel better about their defense with every passing week, but I just can’t bring myself to jump aboard. Mainly, because of Tannehill.
It’s not that I think Tannehill is a horrible quarterback or anything, I just don’t have a lot of confidence in him. I mean, I like the fact I can buy a large cheese pizza from Little Caesar’s for $5. However, don’t confuse my enthusiasm that for so little money I can feed my kids and myself for a night while my wife is out with the fact that I’m actually going to enjoy that pizza. No matter how much I enjoy saving the money it’s not something I want to do with any type of regularity.
To be completely fair and honest though, I must admit my prognostications over the past two months have been anything but stellar. Seriously, take a look and you’ll see a losing streak that should put me on every bookie’s Christmas card list. So, don’t be surprised at all if Tannehill all of a sudden becomes the second coming of Dan Marino.
If you’re a Miami fan, you’d better hope that happens because you don’t have a plethora of other options, if it doesn’t.
Because Tannehill makes so much money it will be extremely difficult to find a trade partner if management decides they want to move him. And you can’t cut him since his release would end in what I would assume to be a huge salary cap hit. For better or worse, he is the Dolphins quarterback over the next few years.
I’m not saying Miami is anywhere near making such a drastic decision like either of those two options would be. But if you feel like you have a team that can make a playoff run (they do), and your quarterback may be the reason you are hesitant to look too far into it (he probably is), you’d like to have a little bit of flexibility, if needed.
Tannehill seems to have all the attributes that you look for in your starting quarterback, but for whatever reason just can’t put it all together on a consistent basis. If Miami is going to make a run at the playoffs they’ll need him to prove me wrong. If the past few months have taught me anything, my money is on Tannehill.
Carolina Panthers Blow Playoff Chances
By: JJ Lanier
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
At this point in the NFL season you pretty much have an idea where every team stands.
Sure, there may be an anomaly like the Kansas City Chiefs last year, who started out 1-5 and then went on the win their final 10 games, but for the most part there aren’t too many big surprises.
In the case of the Carolina Panthers, they are basically the NFL’s version of HBO’s “Vinyl”. There are high expectations at the beginning of the season due to the person who gets top billing, his supporting cast, and the people behind the scenes who put everything together.
Only it turns out halfway through the season you realize you now spend your Sundays not only wishing for it all to be over, but you’re watching episodes of Curb Your Enthusiasm instead because you need a good laugh.
Needless to say, the 2016 campaign that started out with hopes of another possible Super Bowl appearance more or less came to an end when Carolina lost to those aforementioned Chiefs, 17-20 this past weekend.
Sure, they’re not mathematically eliminated from the playoffs as of yet, but at 3-6 they might as well be.
The Kansas City loss was actually fairly apropos when you look at the Panthers season as a whole. Much like those lofty expectations to start the year, the Panthers had a lot going for them coming into the weekend.
After a two game winning streak, where it looked like the Panthers Defense was starting to come around and Jonathan Stewart returned to the backfield, things were starting to go their way.
Even though they entered the game 3-5 a win, coupled with what ended up being an Atlanta loss, would put Carolina in better position than you would normally expect for a sub .500 team. Well, obviously, that didn’t happen.
Carolina played like the better team for most of the game, but like in a number of losses they’ve had this year, they just couldn’t close it out in the end. I can almost count on the missed opportunities and mental mistakes taking place about as often as Bobby Cannavale’s character doing lines of coke, which was just about every week.
Even if Carolina were to avenge all three of their NFC South losses from earlier this year, which is a huge “if”, they still play both the Raiders and Seattle on the road, in back to back weeks, followed by a much improved San Diego Chargers team in Charlotte.
Throw in the Washington game and 8-8 is about the best any Panthers fan can realistically hope for. Even a record of 9-7 probably wouldn’t be enough for a playoff appearance.
Over the next two months there will be a lot of talk about “showing what they’re made of” and “getting a jumpstart on next year” which I’ve always thought was a load of crap. The Jaguars finished last season on a tear and was a popular pick to win the AFC South. How is that whole “jumpstart on next year” thing working out for them?
And putting forth a courageous effort? How is playing hard the remainder of this season going to have any impact on next year?
Best QB Division In NFL?
By: JJ Lanier
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
When it comes to sports, it feels like we have a statistic for just about everything. Such and such is shooting this particular percentage from beyond the arc in the right corner. This particular batter has a certain batting percentage when there are two on two out, facing a left handed batter. That team has a record of whatever when playing on the third Sunday of the month of the season, on the road, against a divisional opponent, when the game is at 4:00 and nationally televised.
For the most part, all the stats that teams take a lot of stock in are useful, but to me, nothing beats the eye test. So, I am going to attempt to write about why I think the best collection of quarterbacks in the NFL currently reside in the NFC South, without using a single stat to back it up.
To start with, let’s go ahead and eliminate the obvious divisions that are inferior when it comes to the overall play of their QB’s: NFC West (Rams and 49ers), NFC North (Bears), and the AFC North (Browns).
That’s not to say there isn’t some fantastic quarterback play coming from those divisions. It’s just that when you’re receiving the type of craptastic play those teams I mentioned are giving, you can’t really argue they’re stronger than the NFC South.
The next two divisions that won’t make it past the second round are the AFC East and AFC South. The East has arguably the best quarterback in NFL history with Tom Brady, but Fitzpatrick is playing like the guy nobody wanted to pay this offseason; Tannehill is inconsistent, and Taylor’s play gets me about excited as watching Once Upon A Time with my better half.
As for the South, I like Luck, Mariota, and Bortles, but I’m not sold on Osweiler. Throw in Blake’s disappointing season so far, and they’ll be getting their “Thanks for playing” card in the mail any day now. I will say this though, in another three years or so you may not find better quarterback play than in the AFC South.
Now, if my math is correct that leaves only two divisions left: AFC West and NFC South. I like all the quarterbacks in the West, but Winston, Brees, Newton, and Ryan are better than anyone Denver or Kansas City can throw out there. Carr is probably the only one I’d halfway consider taking over any NFC South quarterback, and that would probably be just Winston.
The NFC East is the only division I think comes all that close. Prescott and Wentz have both surprised me with how quickly they have adjusted to the league and look like they are going to be around for a while.
Cousins seem to be able to play the part, but there’s just something about him that prevents me completely buying in. And as much as I have rooted for Eli over the years, his statute of limitations for his two Super Bowls has about run out. He can still be an effective quarterback, but as of right now, he’s probably the worst of the four. Ok, maybe they’re not as close as I thought.
When they’re all on their game, the NFC South has three of the top quarterbacks in the NFL (yes, this year I’m including Ryan in the conversation) and a young QB with tremendous upside. They may not be the league’s strongest quartet down the road, but for right now they are. If you don’t believe me, I’m sure there are some stats out there to prove my point.
Duke Preview
By: JJ Lanier
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
We are right smack in the middle of football season. We’re about to head into the final month of the college season when teams will be scratching and clawing their way to see who will lose to Alabama in the playoffs.
The NFL season is almost halfway finished and the only thing I’ve learned is that if I write about a team or player one week, their fortune seems to change to very next. (Question whether or not Matt Ryan was worth the number 3 pick; he puts up MVP numbers including over 500 yards against my Panthers. Mention how awful the Dolphins have been for the past decade or so; Miami hasn’t lost since).
So, it would make complete sense for me to spend this time writing about, college basketball? And to make matters worse, not only am I planning on talking about college basketball, but the subject is Duke basketball.
What Is UGA Playing For?
By: JJ Lanier
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
If you ask me what I remember about the 1995 college basketball season two things come to mind.
The first thing was the one and only losing season the Blue Devils have endured since Kryzewski’s third year as their head coach. The other event I vividly remember that season is the half-court shot Jeff Capel hit to send their game against the #2 ranked Tarheels into double overtime.
Even though Duke lost the game 102-100 in that second overtime, the mere fact they were able to play that type of game against their rivals was enough to take one of their worst seasons in the past 30 years and almost turn it into a positive. Had they actually won the game, that year would be remembered more for their victory over Carolina than it would be for all their struggles.
I mention this only because that situation is more or less what Georgia is walking into when they play Florida on October 29th. I’m not saying the Dawgs are having exactly the same type of season as the ‘95 Duke squad that finished with a record of 13-18, but I feel pretty confident in saying a 4-3 record, following a loss to Vanderbilt at home, isn’t exactly what the fan base was expecting.
The Rivalry
By: JJ Lanier
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
You learn at a pretty young age one of the things that makes sports so great are all the different rivalry games that take place year in and year out.
It almost starts as this kind of rite of passage that every young sports enthusiast must take. In elementary school you start pulling for a particular team, normally based upon who your parents root for, and learn fairly quickly there are certain teams that under no known circumstance, are you ever to pull for. Surely you remember going to school in the shirt with your favorite team’s logo plastered all over it, joking around the with kids pulling for the other team.
Some rivalry games are more localized than others, while some are on a much larger, nationwide scale. The Georgia/Florida games falls somewhere in between.
Swimming In Shallow Water
By: JJ Lanier
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
The Cleveland Browns have basically been the punchline for any demeaning NFL joke since Bernie Kosar was their starting quarterback. If you’re not sure who Bernie Kosar is, he’s probably the guy you actually think is Vinny Testaverde.
Much to the chagrin of my father and most fans in South Florida, over the past fifteen years or so the Miami Dolphins have been giving the Browns a run for their money. The main difference being that the Dolphins seem to really be trying to win.
Crazy NFC South
By: JJ Lanier
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
The NFL loves its parity. It’s one of the things that has helped it thrive as a league over the years. Just about every fan base (sorry Cleveland, I’m not looking at you on this one) goes into the season with playoff aspirations and a sense that their team has it what it takes to make a run. It really is one of the beautiful things about the NFL.
Over the past decade the NFC South has taken that parity out to dinner, married it, bought it a house with a white picket fence, and introduced it to every actor/actress on its “If I ever meet this person I get to………” list.
So far this year doesn’t seem to be any different. I know it’s dangerous to look too much into any one game, but it’s hard not to walk away from the Falcons/Panthers game this weekend and see anything different than two teams headed in opposite directions.
Gotta Geaux Les
By: JJ Lanier
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
Well, that sure escalated quickly.
When Les Miles walked out of Jordan-Hare Stadium late Saturday night, I’m sure he didn’t feel too comfortable with his current position of employment. I know I wouldn’t have. I seriously doubt he expected to be loading his resumé onto Monster.com less than 24 hours later.
Miami’s Richt Answer
By: JJ Lanier
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
Last week, on a flight from Miami to Asheville, my Dad happened to be seated next to two Hurricanes fans who were traveling to North Carolina to watch their team take on Appalachian State.
Both of the passengers were former professors from the university (the wife was the former head of one of the academic departments) and they were avid fans of all Miami athletics. At some point during the hour and a half flight home the comment was made “Well, Georgia’s loss is certainly our gain.”
