Patrick Graham

Commanders Fans: This came over the rumor wire during morning coffee.

According to Pro Football Reference, Patrick Graham's defenses have finished in the top 15 in total yards allowed four times, They finished in the top 10 in points allowed twice. They posted top 15 in rush defense twice. In pass defense, Team Graham posted top 15 numbers four times. They finished top 20 in picks four times getting to top 12 twice.

He spent seven years in various capacities with the Patriots. Mostly coaching LBs and D-Linemen.

Notable coaches he served under are Bill Belichick, Pete Carroll, Brian Flores, Mike McCarthy, and Antonio Pierce.

DISSECTING Patrick Graham's CRAZY DEFENSE

Raiders Patrick Graham Defensive Scheme Against Patrick Mahomes

Patrick Graham on Versatility of Defensive Schemes

Why the Raiders Defensive Scheme is Seriously Broken

October 19th, Chiefs 31, Raiders 0.

January 4th, Raiders 14, Chiefs 12. 

Clearly, Graham speaks Quinnish.  

See also:

ONLY ONE: Brian Daboll EMERGES as Commanders’ Top OC Candidate to ELEVATE Jayden Daniels’ Offense

The thrust of this unofficial speculative news would seem to be: Quinn is apparently willing to go outside the box on OC but may not be ready to delegate complete authority to the DC. 

And if Graham and Daboll are hired by Friday, then we might be able to credit as prophets those who thought the Commanders already had coordinators in mind before the firings. 

Coy Bacon

With people trying to talk the Commanders into signing Von Miller, it called to mind the great Coy Bacon.

People complain Miller is 36.

Coy Bacon was 37 in 1979. The 79 Skins were a good team. That was the year Riggo went 66 yards for a TD in Dallas. And Staubach knocked them out of the Playoffs.

Joey T and Joe Walton were vibing on offense. As Joey T has contended, they would have been a real threat in the playoffs. And history might have gone differently had they made it.

Bacon at 37 was credited with 13.5 sacks that year.

People say that was then. This is now. It is tougher today.

In the age of cut blocks and knee targets Bacon had 13.5 sacks. The Historians give him 21.5 sacks for 1976 when he was with the Bengals. He was just a baby then as Stevie Nicks might say. A spry 34 years old.

No it was tougher then. 

Here's some highlights. As a Bengals terror.

Check out NFL X-Files treatment of Coy Bacon.

Coy Bacon is in the HBCU Hall of Fame. 

Hey Man. Old Dudes can get it on the Edge. 

And it was NOT George Allen who brought Coy Bacon to D.C.

It was Bobby you know who.

Finding Out Too Late

I think the Washington Commanders have found out too late what starting Jacoby Brissett would mean for the football team. It has been a trait of Ron Rivera's run. They find out too late about things.

I grant you it might have been hard to detect when precisely Sam Howell was going to have one of his bounce backs. I am afraid he is out of bounce backs for the year. For a variety of reasons. Sophomore slump. His physical style of play. His relentless studying. He seems to have a fried CNS. Unless he rests, that's Uh-Oh territory both for performance and for injuries.

Brissett ignited the ball team on Christmas Eve bringing the Commanders all the way back from twenty points down to take the lead in the final two minutes. He did so unceremoniously, decisively, and consecutively in a way that left no doubt that EB's offense could cut a defense into chicken nuggets given the right leadership.

That's important to know. It benchmarks the offense. The organic components of the offense begin to resurface and function. While Jacoby Brissett was in the football game, the Washington Commanders blocked well, they passed well, and they ran well. And the Defense took note. Sensing impending victory, the Commander defense woke up and smelled some coffee or was it blood?

Had Brissett been starting from the fifth game of the season onward would the Washington Commanders be in this year's playoffs? I think the answer is Yes. Jack Del Rio would not have been fired and the Commanders would not be out Chase Young and Montez Sweat.

There are fans who wanted those three gone for various reasons. I didn't. But it was bound to happen because the organization typically finds out too late what needs to be done. Strategy wise. Personnel wise. Long game wise. The whole organizational ball of wax.

They have to make their discoveries quicker. 

I vote for Brissett finishing the season as the Starter. Using the 49er and Cowboy games as notecards on whether you keep him AS THE STARTER going into next year. It also gives Jacoby the chance to up the Ante on his services because it is obvious the Commanders WILL have significant if not heated competition for his services. To the point of maybe getting Magic Johnson involved in the contract talks.

There won't be the "develop the QB", "lose to win" brain fog with teams courting Jacoby. They will pay him and play him. They will win with him.

I imagine that is what Robert Saleh told Jacoby as they came off the field yesterday. 

I knew we should have signed you.

Because the Jets would be in the playoffs RIGHT NOW if they had done so.

This Week in Commander Football

This week, there is talk about Commander QB1 Sam Howell slipping a bit performance wise. There are a few things to factor in. 

Remember Bieniemy's philosophy. Get out of your comfort zone. No pain no gain. Discomfort is the mother of invention. It is better by a long shot to get uncomfortable in practice. The old saying is practice should be difficult so the games are easier.

So they probably want to make Sam experience his discomfort in practice.

Now the flip side to that is it is hard, subconsciously, to practice NOT fumbling or throwing picks because you are rehearsing by negative reinforcement exactly what you are trying to avoid: fumbling and throwing picks. In situations like that hard coaching can, CAN, backfire. You have to be able to judge whether you are busting up crusted over habits or pouring fresh concrete on them.

Rick Snider had a blurb about a George Allen book this week. I miss George Allen. He had a passion for the game unmatched in team history except maybe now with EB. His enthusiasm raised your game. It was almost a football spirituality. An x-factor. Yes you got the jet. Do you have the jet fuel?

Bieniemy has the jet fuel to balance the hard coaching. So you use EB to recover from EB.  

The only place I have any apprehension about is the offensive line. I think former Giant Center Nick Gates is an upgrade. Can he last into the playoffs? Can Center Draftee Ricky Stromberg get up to snuff fast enough? One reason you run first is weak pass blocking. Most pro ball players can run block. That is a disguise. You like to be able to pass. We've got excellent backs. We should still be able to run. But we have ostensibly better receivers. Are we better pass blockers?

Sadly, I don't think mini-camp will be definitive about the O-Line. Need some pseudo-games for that. 

Edge Man Chase Young was back at mini-camp amid trade rumors and questions about motivation. The Bears Fans seem to think the Bears are interested. I don't know what the Bears have to offer that wouldn't injure their chances this year. 

Given the fact that Chase is in a contract year and players in general tend to excel in that year the Commanders' asking price should be very stiff. 

That's part of the argument that Chase should, for the good of his future, stay in Washington this particular year because the Commander defense should be well positioned for a bountiful harvest in sacks. The Commanders are getting some respect around the league BECAUSE they got Emmanuel Forbes and Quan Martin in the Draft. Those guys were wanted men around the League. We lost some guys we wanted but we got some guys the rest of the League wanted.

 

These additions to the secondary look like they will slow the decisionmaking of the opposing QB. That should help Chase and his fellow terror Montez Sweat "finish".

Washington is a candidate for Hard Knocks. I think it's too much of a pain. This team needs to build chemistry. It doesn't need foreign agents corrupting the mixture. Impurities make explosions happen. Then you have to ask the Board for money for a new chemlab.

What exactly is the benefit of outrageous distraction to the football team? How many Hard Knocks Teams have made the playoffs? Is it like whoever is on the cover of Madden is out for the season?

That the NFL intends to force teams to partake is an assault on the competitive quality of the League. There is too much media intrusion already without a mandatory circus sideshow. 

Could there be anything more outrageous than Hard Knocks? Yes! One of the pundits in the media was wondering who fans would rather have than Ron Rivera coaching this year.

My answer would be no one. For this year, Ron Rivera is perfect. 

The Green Green Grass of Home

It looks like the Denver Broncos are getting Sean Payton. Whether that means Tom Brady will be joining him there I guess we'll see.

The rumors are Brady and Payton want to play together. I ask myself why. I guess Brady is thinking he can repeat his plug and play act with the Denver Broncos. Could he be the first player to quarterback THREE Super Bowl winners?

That would be a tougher record to break than Brady's Super Bowl wins.

The Broncos could get draft picks for Russell Wilson. They did win a Super Bowl with an aging QB and a good defense. Seems a trend. John Elway, then no spring Chicken, won two Super Bowls as a Grandpa wih a superior running game and good defense. That must have stuck in Elway's head as a good modus operandi.

We have a Head Coach in Washington. He's a fine gentleman. His teams have been better than most in the Snyder era. By a long shot. I'm thinking there is no NFL franchise in Washington had Ron Rivera not been the coach the past few years.

The grass is not always greener. But the Media Inquisition in D.C. is always trying to get rid of the Quarterback and the Coaching Staff. Relentless is their push. Yeah, they say, but your Coach is not Vince Lombardi. Yeah, they say, but your Quarterback is not Flash Gordon.

Yeah, they say. But you got nobody but Geezers with football dementia calling plays.

Andy Reid, Coach of the some say soon-to-be Super Bowl Champion Kansas City Chiefs, is sixty-four. He built the team he is playing against. If he were in Washington, they'd be complaining he's not Seventeen.

And they would absolutely insist he get rid of Patrick Mahomes.