FOUR THINGS REVIEWED: BROWNS

Posted by The BEAST on 2016/09/14
Posted in: Defense, NFL, Offense, Players, Reviews, Uncategorized. Tagged: , , , , , , . Leave a comment

eagles-oline

BEATING the Browns was no big deal. That was always going to happen. Cleveland was never our opponent, they were just blocking the Eagles view of our real opponent. Sometimes the opponent isn’t who’s across from you, it’s who you are at the moment, standing in the way of who you have the potential to become. Cleveland was never the opponent. They were merely on the schedule.The Eagles entered that game as the tattered remnants of the team that the last head coach had ruined. True, the roster had turned over somewhat and they’d played some preseason games, but nothing of any real substance had been proven yet. The Eagles entered this game dragging last year’s 7 – 9 record behind them, as their most recent identity. This is what our beloved team looked like.

donkaydonkaaay.jpg

The Eagles needed to come out with a win, to signal that the disaster was over.

The game was won handily, 29 – 10. Rookie QB Carson Wentz, after just a handful of preseason snaps, calmly took apart (what is referred to by Browns fans as) a professional defense. He posted 278 passing yards and 2 TD’s, while never looking remotely overwhelmed at any point. The Eagles also quietly piled up 133 yards on the ground.

But what about the stuff that the final score doesn’t reveal? That’s the reason for these “Four Things” articles. To have an idea of what needs addressing BEFORE the game, so that we’re forced to honestly answer questions AFTER the game.

So, of the four things we were looking for in this last game, what exactly did we see?

1) The Defense we saw this preseason needs to show up this week. The dominant front seven from the preseason was nowhere to be seen in this game. At least in the first half. After half-time the Defense cam alive collecting three sacks and bogging down the run. (HALF-DONE)

2) A large dose of the run. The Eagles ran the ball 34 times. In fact. RB Ryan Mathews 22 carries was one more than the combined number by the entire Browns team. (DONE)

mathews-scoring

3) Lots of WR Jordan Matthews. Matthews caught 7 balls for 114 yards and a TD. (DONE)

matthews-wentz-1st-td

4) A few deep throws to Dorial Green-Beckham. This didn’t happen. I’d like to be able to say that the work that Matthews put in was enough, but the fact is, it isn’t. Until DGB does something to scare opposing coaching staffs, he won’t scare opposing coaching staffs. The guy may not know the playbook end to end, but he doesn’t need to in order to run 3 or 4 Fade or Post patterns. (NOT DONE)

So that’s 2.5 out of 4. This week that was enough to beat a bad team convincingly. As far as beating the Chicago Bears next week…come back later this week to find out what we need to do to win that game.

EAGLES 29 – Browns 10

Posted by The BEAST on 2016/09/12
Posted in: Defense, Offense, Players, Reviews, Uncategorized. Tagged: , , , , , . Leave a comment
graham-gets-a-safety

Eagles get a safety

THE game wasn’t always pretty, but the Eagles did what was needed and convincingly put away the awful (professional?) football team that was placed on the schedule. For his part, rookie QB Carson Wentz (22 – 37 – 59% – 278 – 2 – 0) remained poised and didn’t try to do too much out there. That helped limit his mistakes to near zero.

What also helped was his supporting cast. RB Ryan Matthews (22 – 77 – 3.5 – 1 – 0) wasn’t a beast, but he was steady and did a good job of setting up manageable 3rd downs, which again helped keep Wentz from being overwhelmed. For as much as some people made of our WR’s not being able to get open, WR’s Jordan Matthews (7 – 114 – 16.2 – 1 – 0) and Nelson Agholor (4 – 57 – 14.2 – 1 – 0) looked like legit NFL wide outs. Matthews even looks like he might be about to break out this year. (Didn’t someone say that this Spring? I wonder who ME could be…)

While I’m on the subject of Offense, this unsettled thing hanging over RT Lane Johnson‘s head is bullshit. Either he used banned substances or he didn’t. So either suspend him early, or stop dragging it out where it could hurt us in the playoffs.

Our Defense was somewhat of a disappointment. After being stifling vs the run for 4 straight weeks, we gave up 120 yards on the ground for an average tote of 5.7 yards. This was against the Browns, of all teams! That doesn’t bode well for the future.

We notched 3 sacks of Browns QB Robert Griffin (12 – 26 – 46% – 190 – 0 – 1), by three different players, but the stats don’t tell the whole story. In the first half Bobby G operated from the pocket with impunity. Our four man rush just didn’t seem able to reach or pressure him. I’m not sure what Defensive Coordinator Jim Schwartz said to his D-line at half-time, but next week he needs to say it right after the National Anthem.

DT Fletcher Cox (4 – 1 – 0 – 0) got his season started with a sack, as did DE’s Connor Barwin (2 – 1 – 0 – 0) and Brandon Graham (2 – 1 – 0 – 1) . The safety we scored in the 3rd quarter came courtesy of Graham chasing down GBob, after a bad snap ended up in the end zone.

FS Rodney McLeod (4 – 0 – 1 – 0) grabbed the team’s first turnover of the year with an interception off of a tipped pass. While passing stats will lead you to think the Secondary handled business, the coverage could have been tighter out there. While they weren’t helped by RG Number having 4, 5 and 6 seconds to throw, the coverage could have been tighter.

Hey, did you notice:

Terrelle Pryor had PRYOR SR on the back of his jersey. Really guy? Your son is 2, and you’re 27. Are you truly concerned that we’ll confuse you with with him?

FOUR THINGS: EAGLES/BROWNS

Posted by The BEAST on 2016/09/09
Posted in: Coaching, Defense, Offense, Players, Preview, Uncategorized. Tagged: , , , , , , . 4 Comments

swoop-flag

LET’S cut to the chase. Eagles fans are itching to find out if we have a star in rookie QB Carson Wentz. This Sunday he will make his first pro start, here at home. He will not sit on the bench and learn from watching a veteran. He is receiving a trial by fire which will either forge him, or destroy him.

If Wentz looks great Sunday, Head Coach Doug Pedereson and his staff will look like geniuses. Some would write Wentz’s success off as “facing a bad team”. Still others would give him extra credit for looking great in his first start. The truth is dangerously somewhere in the middle.

The truth is that there is no going back on this decision. This season has to belong to Wentz, regardless of how he looks. He won’t be outplayed by the other, less talented QB on the roster, so benching him at any point would hold no opportunity for him to learn from the experience. It would be one thing to start the other QB and then at some later point, let Wentz play the savior. However, to anoint the savior and then bench him for the water boy…? That can serve no good purpose.

So Wentz is going to need a lot of help out there this week. While many want to put this game on his shoulders, that’s not where it truly belongs. So let’s talk about the Four Things we need to look for, Week 1 versus the BROWNS:

1) The Defense we saw this preseason needs to show up this week. Under QB Sam Bradford this preseason, the Offense looked composed. It wasn’t explosive, but it wasn’t nearly as dreadful as people were making it out to be after the first game. That said, there is no telling how it will look under Wentz given his limited play this preseason. The Defense will likely have to carry us.

2) A large dose of the run. Running the ball will be our bread and butter in 2016. Not only because it takes pressure off the QB, and sets up the pass, but because it will allow the Defense to get rest and remain effective all year long.

3) Lots of WR Jordan Matthews.  

card-jordan-matthews

If the coaching staff insists on playing him in the slot, they should find ways to get the ball into his hands. Running some isolation routes against a LB early, would force Cleveland to replace the LB with a DB, making it easier for us to run later in the game. This is simple stuff folks. This is Football 098 stuff. Lets see if the coaching staff can get this done.

4) A few deep throws to Dorial Green-Beckham. By a few I mean 3 or 4, not 1 or 2; and frankly I don’t care if he catches a single one of them. The idea of those passes is to scare the living shit out of upcoming opposing coaching staffs. Make them plan for that in their base. That will open up room inside for the run, which as I said before, is our bread and butter. (See how this all fits and how each piece complements the others?)

++++++

This week is not really about Carson Wentz. This week is about getting the team to rally around him. If he can get the space to let the game come to him, we might have a franchise QB on our hands. If at some point in this game he has to make THE play, he may be able to do so. However, if the ship falls apart around him, he will drown with everyone else.

yeah-bitch

WK 1: BROWNS

Posted by The BEAST on 2016/09/07
Posted in: Coaching, NFL, Offense, Players, Preview. Tagged: , , , , . 3 Comments

w1-cle

CLEVELAND BROWNS

Sunday 1:00        Lincoln Financial Field        PHILADELPHIA, Pennsylvania

NEEDS TO STEP UP:

carson-wentz

QB Carson Wentz: The Eagles prized rookie will open the season as the face of the Eagles franchise. He’d better be as ready as he thinks he is, because when he gets relentlessly pressured, stumbles and is suddenly blindsided, he’ll wish he was back on the field. Oh you thought I was talking about the Browns? Nope. I was describing how our local media will treat him if we don’t win this game.

WE MUST CONTAIN:

coleman

WR Corey Coleman: Looking at this roster, I found myself asking “How did they let it come to this?” There are only a few players worth taking seriously on this entire roster, so I shrugged and picked Coleman. He was a highly touted first round Draft pick, and since he wasn’t a Brown last year, he probably has no idea that he’s supposed to suck. So he might play well out there.

EAGLES STORY LINE:

I can’t believe the NFL is actually making us play this J.V. squad. Their defensive front seven has a couple of interesting rookie OLB’s in Emmanuel Ogbah and Joe Schobert (whom I wanted the Eagles to draft). Aside from that potential, this is a lackluster, rag-tag group. That story plays well in underdog movies, but Sunday it’s gonna get Cleveland run the fuck over.

As unready as I think Wentz is to start, this is probably the easiest assignment he could have drawn without going back to North Dakota. If the Eagles lose this game, somebody has to lose their job. This is as close to soft-balling one in, as the NFL can get.

BOTTOM LINE:

Our Defense will be the MVP, keeping us in good field position, as the Brown’s leaky defense allows a few short touchdown drives.

PREDICTION:

EAGLES 28 – Browns 13

WHY SAM BRADFORD WAS TRADED

Posted by The BEAST on 2016/09/03
Posted in: Conspiracy Corner, Conversations, Draft, Front Office (F.O.), NFL, Offense, Players, Roster, trade. Tagged: , , , , , . 16 Comments

Street Fight

TRADING Sam Bradford to the Vikings leaves us with a hole at QB, but he absolutely had to go, and the sooner the better. While statistically Bradford was far and away the best QB on the roster this preseason, that fact wasn’t at all important. In fact, all the important stuff lies beyond the surface of this trade.

This season most fans and pundits had very low expectations for the Eagles. Many expected us to win fewer than 7 games. So this season (at least for Eagles management), made for a great laboratory. There were almost no downsides to how any of this could turn out for them.

Four weeks ago, talk of the postseason was on nobody’s lips but mine. Then we went 4-0 in the preseason, and casual fans (of which most fans are), started talking playoffs. An expectation was starting to form among the fan base, which would wreck the Front Office’s perfect, consequence-free lab. However, trading Bradford now, de-legitimizes any media talk whatsoever of the Eagles making a grab for the division, and keeps that lab safe.

Bradford was out of Philly after 2016 anyway. We all knew that. That was no secret. Barring injury, Carson Wentz will open Week One of the 2017 season as our starting QB. Also no secret. Everyone already knew what the future held after this season ended. So the last thing the Eagles needed, was for Bradford to complicate things by leading the team to a division win. And god forbid, a playoff win.

Take a second look. As of right now the QB’s on this roster look like Chase Daniel, Carson Wentz and McLeod Bethel-Thompson (who might stick now). Here’s what everyone looked like in the preseason:

2016ps passing

Wentz’s numbers next to Bradford’s are appalling. Even making an allowance for him being a rookie, they’re still appalling. Bradford is no Hall of Famer, but he knows the in’s and out’s of being a starting QB. Daniel and Bethel-Thomspon don’t. In the regular season they’ll do just badly enough for you to keep looking for Wentz.

Wentz will be peppered in here and there (after his ribs heal), but making his first start Week 7, at home vs Bradford and the Vikings, would be sheer poetry. A controversy-free transition, complete with the home crowd roaring Wentz’s name, hope in the air, and (in my George Washington Duke voice) “Old lion vs young lion!”

Hey! Does anyone want to know why Minnesota would give up so much (a 1st and a 4th rounder) to get Bradford? You don’t give up a first rounder to replace a QB who’s only slated to miss 16 games. Giving up next year’s 1st rounder for a guy who sits on your bench next year? Nobody buys that.

My guess is that the damage to Teddy Bridgewater‘s knee is more extensive than they’re letting on at this point. I’d wager that Bridgewater’s injury is not only career-threatening, but that some in that organization see it as likely career-ending. Bradford however, is locked in at a reasonable rate for two years, and he gives the Vikings someone to pair with RB Adrian Peterson. That aids the perception of the Vikes still having a chance to win the North, which helps ticket and merchandise sales.

There was much more to this trade than meets the eye.

Leave a comment below and lets discuss what you think of the trade.

EAGLES 14 – JETS 6

Posted by The BEAST on 2016/09/02
Posted in: Coaching, Defense, Offense, Players, Reviews, Roster, Special Teams. Tagged: , , , , , , . Leave a comment

mcleod.bethel-thompson

ITCHING to get to the games that count, but there’s two more articles to write before I can do that. Here’s the first one.

WR Paul Turner! Paul “Mother******” Turner! At least that’s how some Jets players will think of him as they turn in their playbooks on Saturday. Last night while Turner (6 – 66 – 11.0 – 0 – 0) was making fools out of New York’s entire secondary, he stopped and took a moment to return a punt 71 yards on their special teams unit. He made sure there was enough humiliation for everyone. Such a nice boy.

It was a good thing too, because offensively, I have no idea what was going on out there. Both of our QB’s, Chase Daniel (14 – 22 – 63.6% – 131 – 0 – 2) and McLeod Bethel-Thompson (13 – 16 – 81.2% – 82 – 0 – 0) were a wonder to behold. I have never seen two QB’s look so efficient, while playing so bad at the same time. This was complimented by us not being able to run the ball for shit.

Rookie RB Cedric O’Neal (15 – 32 – 2.1 – 0 – 2) led the team in rushing as worked on his Tim Hardaway impersonation. Unfortunately it’s extremely hard to cross someone over with a football. So putting the ball on the ground so much…maybe, might have been a mistake.

Defense yet again took a page from Bruno Mars and Uptown Funk: “If we show up, we gon’ show out!” DE Steven Means (1 – 1 – 0 – 0), you have to love that guy. There is no way we can cut that guy. I have no desire to see him in a giants, Cowboys, or Redskins jersey. We have to find a way to keep that guy.

I need to also mention DE Marcus Smith (2 – 0 – 0 – 0) and S Ed Reynolds (2 – 0 – 1 – 0). I wasn’t a fan of when we drafted either player, and neither seemed to find his way under the last coach. Under this new coaching staff however, both men have shown real promise. Just goes to show you that superior teaching can release locked potential. I hope to see both players make the 46 man roster.

THAT’S IT! Next time I post one of these recaps, it will be after we beat Cleveland.

Ps G4: JETS

Posted by The BEAST on 2016/08/31
Posted in: Coaching, Offense, Players, Preview, Roster. Tagged: , , , . 2 Comments

NYJps4

NEW YORK JETS

THURSDAY 7:00        Lincoln Financial Field        PHILADELPHIA, Pennsylvania

NEEDS TO STEP UP:

cedric oneal eagles rb

RB Cedric O’Neal: Cut a week ago and just re-signed, O’Neal’s chances of making this team are almost nil when you first look at the surface. However, when you factor in how delicate Wendell Smallwood (hamstring, concussion) has proven to be, it only makes sense to take a longer look at O’Neal. Given how underwhelming RB/WR Byron Marshall has been despite plenty of opportunity (23 carries in 3 games) vs mostly back-ups; it only makes sense to give O’Neal more than the 9 carries he’s had so far. He also is the only RB on the roster besides Ryan Mathews who gives us any real bulk for short yardage situations.

Back in 2010, as we went into the 4th preseason game (vs the Jets), rookie FS Kurt Coleman had no real shot at making the Eagles roster. If you recall, (and I do clearly), in that game he recovered 2 fumbles, BOTH of which he returned for TD’s. He made the team. He later became a starter. Last year he picked off 7 passes for Carolina and started in a Super Bowl. All he needed was an opportunity to show what he could do.

That’s not to say that O’Neal will make a splash, but it IS to say, that he hasn’t really gotten a fair look, to this point. I’d like to see O’Neal get that opportunity in this game. And I want to see what he does if he gets it.

WE MUST CONTAIN:

There is no external opponent to focus on stopping this week. Every obstacle the Eagles face this week, comes from within.

EAGLES STORY LINE:

This game will be played almost entirely by back-ups and guys “on the bubble”. Key back-ups will be trying not to get hurt, and bubble guys will be doing all they can to impress coaches. You may see a handful of great plays made this week, by guys you’ll never hear from again.

BOTTOM LINE:

Staying healthy and making it hard for a coach cut you. Those are the focuses of this week.

PREDICTION:

Eagles 21 – Jets 20

FOUR THINGS: NEW YORK JETS

Posted by The BEAST on 2016/08/30
Posted in: Coaching, Front Office (F.O.), Offense, Players, Preview, Roster, Special Teams. Tagged: , , , , , , . Leave a comment

timmy teebs

BELIEVE it or not, there are reasons to care about this last preseason game. This is the game where the roster gets rounded out with all of your “TIWL”depth. If you don’t know what that is, it’s fine, because I just now coined the term. As in right this instant. Use it early, use it often. One day you’ll be able to tell your friends that you were using “TIWL” back before Joe Theismann heard it and began using it wrong in every broadcast.

What “TIWL” stands for is “This Is What’s Left”. Every so often a team finds themselves starting a guy they kept on the roster with no real intent to ever have him do anything other than hold a clipboard or play Special Teams. Then injuries mount and sometime in late October, early November, the team is forced to start one or six of those guys. Speaking of TIWL players, the guy in the picture is Tim Tebow.

When you don’t get a good look at your TIWL players, you get what happened to the giants in the game that Odelina Beckham was suspended for last year. They had to start a WR (Randle) who couldn’t even make our roster as a 3rd stringer this year. You saw what happened when the Cowboys had to rely on their 3rd string QB. Need I say (Kellen) Moore? When you don’t get a deep look at the back end of your roster, you can get stuck with guys who can’t play. Or worse, you might give away guys who can.

Now let’s talk about the Four Things we need to look for in this next preseason game!

1) Special Teams needs to look special. There is no back-up Special Teams unit. So the guys we’ll be relying on weeks 1 through 17, are the guys who’ll play on Thursday. They need to use the game as real practice. Making sure their communication is clean, that every man knows his responsibility, and that they don’t allow a blocked punt again Ed Reynolds.

2) Seeing who earns the #3 Offensive Tackle job. We talk a lot about RB Ryan Mathews getting injured, but you know who else spends a fair amount of time on the shelf? LT Jason Peters. Rookie Halapoulivaati Vaitai (I can’t believe I can already spell that without having to double-check it), looked horrible vs the Buccaneers a few weeks ago. Will Vaitai or Matt Tobin lay clear claim to the #3 spot? Will either man’s play push Allen Barbre at RT?

3) Can Cedric O’Neal make a case for himself? He was cut, but he was brought back after rookie RB Wendell Smallwood came up small prior to getting injured last week. RB Byron Marshall has shown little in the way of speed, elusiveness or the ability to break even the slightest tackle. If O’Neal (who also offers short yardage bulk), can show potential behind a second string O-line, then either Marshall or Smallwood may soon find themselves wearing a different jersey.

4) Empty the pantry. We need to see some guys get more time than they’ve had, in order to be sure that we aren’t releasing or otherwise overlooking talent right under our noses. (I’m still annoyed that we didn’t draft Lee Woodall in 1994, despite all that we knew about him, that other teams didn’t, because they couldn’t know.) Guys like O’Neal, LB’s Quentin Gause and Don Cherry, WR David Watford, G Darrell Greene, and rejuvenated DE Marcus Smith; all need long looks before a decision to cut them is made.

This is the game where we get to make sure that we don’t give away talent, and that our TIWL shelf has guys who you can feel good about, if they get pressed into starting. (TIWL shelf. See what I did there?)

yeah bitch

WHERE I STAND ON COLIN KAEPERNICK

Posted by The BEAST on 2016/08/29
Posted in: Conversations, NFL. Tagged: , , . 6 Comments

kaepernick locker

WHEN I saw the news story about how San Francisco 49er QB Colin Kaepernick didn’t stand for the National Anthem, I didn’t feel angry or disgusted. I didn’t feel offended. I felt that Kaepernick had missed the point of his own protest, the chance to shape the story going forward, and the opportunity to control the ebb and flow of it’s narrative.

He is an NFL QB, and likely his team’s starter. That position grants him an opportunity possessed by only 32 people in a country of 320 million people. Weekly at press conferences, he has a chance to get in the nations ear and bring up a myriad of subjects.

More than talking, he could have used money from his own pocket to help those whose stories reached him and touched his heart. An attorney here and there for a person he felt had been railroaded, would be of infinitely more help than merely sitting down.

The place where I really feel that Colin dropped the ball, was in his misunderstanding of his own protest. If he is unhappy with the treatment of Americans by other Americans, then as an American, this is his chance to lead by example. But (so far) instead of standing for his principles, he has sat on them.

As Americans were are ALL charged with doing something in our own space that adds to our home, our community, our country and our culture. Too many of us however are focused on what we can get out of being Americans, as opposed to what we are responsible for contributing. 

If I could get one minute to speak with Colin, I would tell him that no mess ever got cleaned by a man sitting on his ass. That it is undeniably true that some Americans have made a mess of things. However, unless we’re waiting for those same Americans to clean it up, we other Americans have a job to do. I would tell him that if he truly believes in his cause, that he needs to stand with his fellow Americans. Because it’s too important for him to sit this one out.

EAGLES/COLTS: FOUR THINGS REVIEWED

Posted by The BEAST on 2016/08/29
Posted in: Coaching, Defense, Offense, Players, Reviews. Tagged: , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

barwin-sack

SOME people dismiss our 33 – 23 win over the Colts, because a number of their starters didn’t play due to injury. It makes me wonder: Would they rather we’d have lost? This was a game for sending a message, and since 13 of the Colts 23 points came in the 4th quarter, this game was never as close as the final score indicates. This was a game for sending a message and our starters dominated theirs. We didn’t play down to the opponent. We handled business. As Keenan Ivory Wayans would say:

message-keenan-ivory-wayans

But what about the stuff that the final score doesn’t reveal? That’s the reason for these “Four Things” articles. To have an idea of what needs addressing BEFORE the game, so that we’re forced to honestly answer questions AFTER the game.

So, of the four things we were looking for in this last game, what exactly did we see?

1) RB Wendell Smallwood has to play more than a series. He sort of did, getting 3 touches before he was hit and taken out of the game, per concussion protocol. By and large he looked like a third version of RB’s we already have (Kenjon Barner, Byron Marshall, and himself). What he didn’t look like was a guy who could step in for Ryan Mathews. Especially if he’s going to be less durable than Mathews. We need a veteran here.

2) A starting receiver catching at least 3 balls for 40 yards. This didn’t happen, but it’s hard to write it off as a bad thing. In fact, what we got might be better than what I asked for. WR Josh Huff had 2 grabs for 60 yards, and both TE’s Trey Burton and Zach Ertz, (neither of whom started but both were in the game early) had 5 catches each for 35 and 25 yards respectively. Burton scored on a 3 yard pass.

message-keenan-ivory-wayans

3) The deep ball must make a few appearances. This flat out didn’t happen and I think this will haunt us early in the season. Thinking that spreading out a defense is the same as unloading the box, is what caused the Offense to cave in after we lost DeSean Jackson. Right now we’re back to being a team that doesn’t legitimately scare anyone vertically. The plan is that Dorian Green-Beckham will add that dimension, but so far that looks like a miscalculation.

4) Andrew Luck must be sacked early. We all kinds of did this! He was sacked, hit, hurried and harassed on almost every dropback. It was a thing of beauty. The ball was at times thrown too early, hit the dirt… He was 13 of 18 but that’s not at all how it looked in the game or on the scoreboard.

message-keenan-ivory-wayans

This week was a mixed bag, but I’ll call it 2 out of 4. We did #4 clearly. We did #1 technically, but not well enough to say that it counts. We didn’t do #2 statistically, but again, what we did got in it’s place is at least as good and more likely, better. We didn’t do #3 AT ALL, and it will be a problem when teams start to game plan for us. For those keeping score, that brings us to 7 of 12 for these three weeks.

As far as sending a message to the other 31 teams, this was the first glimpse of what the team will be, or what the team is trying to be, under Head Coach Doug Pederson. We were tough, methodical, and quietly efficient. Even when we had trouble, no one lost composure and we were in control the entire time. To quote the Stone Temple Pilots, “I got the message and the message stood…” If the rest of the NFL has not yet gotten the message, don’t worry, Keenan. They will.