The Bold Giant

A heart attack claimed the life of former NFL coach Jim Fassel on Monday. I'm not sure how much you can really say about the 71 year old's legacy altogether. For an emphasis on offense, he found himself in situations that anyone would have given up. It is also a little surprising he never got a second head coach opportunity in the NFL given today's pass happy approach. But it all has to begin back 30 years ago. 

Stats from Pro Football Reference don't lie. Fassel was a quarterback coach in 1991 with the New York Giants. A fight for whether Phil Simms or Jeff Hostetler would be the number one guy. Upgrade to offensive coordinator in 92. Gave Rodney Hampton his best year rushing at the time and had four quarterbacks start. A move to Denver a year later. Gave John Elway his best year in yards thrown and a run game that could score despite yards rushing not being like the Giants. Got good stuff out of Arizona in 96 with the passing game but low tiered rushing. With Baltimore from 2004 through 06, it wasn't pretty, but he did get good use of Steve McNair and Jamal Lewis in 06.

If you're going to remember him, it will mostly be his time as the Giant coach from 1997 through 2003. Keep in mind the franchise had been struggling since their Super Bowl win. One playoff year since, but also the changing of the guard. A lot of fresh faces and very young vets. The defense performed well under John Fox's schemes and a consistent ground game put the team atop of the NFC East in 97. But QB issues hampered a bit with 1999 being bad offensively in both facets despite a 7 and 9 record. Sean Payton becomes the offensive coordinator in 2000. They stick to Kerry Collins, who was there the year prior, and revitalize his sagging career. Tiki Barber is given proper usage. The Giants do well to begin the season and go 7 and 2 to start.

Two straight losses lead to the press conference of Fassel and his biggest moment. The claim of going to the playoffs led to a resurgence. End the season 12 and 4. Beat Philadelphia and shut out Minnesota to a Super Bowl, losing to the Baltimore Ravens. A down year for 01, rebounding in 02 and one of the biggest referee screw ups in the playoffs. Payton leaves and the team implodes in 2003. Fassel is gone after the season is over.

Fassel's overall record is 58-53-1. It is a bit of a shock he never got a chance to coach again in the NFL. Maybe the way offenses changed over the years dictated where the league was going? Teams wanting a revival possibly liking ideas he may have? Regardless, he put his name on the league and did things that would lead to future success in Denver and New York. He may not have won it all, but it carved a path for his successors to win Super Bowls.

Punchy and Drunky

For goodness sake, don't do anything stupid while drunk. Like speeding 30 plus miles an hour over the speed limit. Call a cab or an Uber. The Denver Broncos don't have many options now at running back following Melvin Gordon's DUI charge. A few days ago, he was pulled over. Cops noticed the signs of intoxication. Tests were done. He'll be facing suspension for sure. Denver has to have a game plan on what could happen to him next in a month when his court appearance comes up. This is courtesy of local places in Colorado such as 9News.

New Orleans barely survived with an overtime win against the Los Angeles Chargers on Monday Night Football. They did this without their star receiver Michael Thomas. An altercation occurred between him and second year corner Chauncey Gardner-Johnson. Punches were thrown, Thomas was suspended. There is speculation on what might have happened. The thing is, Thomas has never had outside of some political tweets any sort of trouble. I can't think of any moment where he has made a nuisance of himself.

There might be a story on him having issues with the coaching staff. Possibly Sean Payton. Or that he wasn't suspended at all, but fined to set an example of what could happen next. Until things get calmer, the story probably won't be revealed until later on. We'll also have to see if Thomas starts having big issues similar to Antonio Brown. I think he's smarter than Brown and could handle stuff a lot better, but you never know. 

That's only scratching the surface in the South. Between the Atlanta Falcons and the coronavirus and Alabama's Nick Saban and their athletic director testing positive, football in October gets scarier and scarier.

Securing a Romo

For the 2006 NFL season, the Dallas Cowboys started with Drew Bledsoe as their quarterback. Heading into mid-October they were at 3-3 following a poor performance against the New York Giants. In the midst of that game, Bledsoe, who had certain issues in games (accuracy, yards, and turnovers mostly), would be benched in favor of third year backup Tony Romo. Though Romo struggled coming in that game, he would put up some good numbers in ten and a half games. He would end the season with almost 3000 yards, 19 touchdowns, and earned a trip to the Pro Bowl.

With a young player under center, the Cowboys were a team to fear. In Romo's first three years as the full time starter, they had postseason berths in two of them. Their 2009 season got them a playoff win, something that wasn't seen since the 1996 season when they beat the Philadelphia Eagles. Despite the numbers he was putting up, there was Romo's infamous chokes. Long story short, there was the 2006 playoffs where he botched a field goal snap and tried to run for the endzone against the Seattle Seahawks. He threw the game ending interception against the eventual Super Bowl champion Giants a year later. The label has stuck ever since, even with a win against the Eagles in 09 and the Detroit Lions in 2014.

Heading into the 2010 season, the Cowboys saw a mediocre year where nothing worked early on and Romo getting injured on national television in mid-October with a broken clavicle. He would rebound and have very strong seasons statistically but saw major chokes in the last game of the season in 2011 and 2012. The team would rebound in 2014 and put themselves back in the playoff race and win another game. Though 2015 started off well, Romo would suffer injuries twice in the same body part like in 2010. Dallas faltered without him. With this past pre-season, he would injure his back and lose his starting job to Dak Prescott, who put up a good rookie season.

With the question that begs to be answered, where does Tony Romo go? The Houston Texans just traded Brock Osweiler away to the Cleveland Browns. He could fit in there with a decent ground game and some young talented receivers. There is questions on whether he goes to the Denver Broncos. As far as that team goes, they have some good receivers, but the ground game is a little concerning. That being said, Trevor Siemian didn't have that bad of a season. It was something that didn't become a huge problem.

If Romo were to go to one of those two teams, they are going to need to be sure there is a competent backup in place in order to avoid like what happened in 2015. Dallas caught a huge break with Prescott and running back Ezekiel Elliott propelling them to success. Whoever gets him has to know the injuries that have been there for the last two years. Romo may be turning 37 in April, but Denver and Houston may only have a few years with him if they want a championship immediately, especially Houston. They have that strong defense and decent ground game, but Tom Savage is not a proven strong backup. Siemian might help in a pinch in case of any injuries in Denver, 

My personal thought is Romo stays in Texas and goes to the Texans. They have more than enough talent to have at least a 10 win season. Combined when you healthy players like JJ Watt in a strong defense, the opportunity and expectations to win a Super Bowl increases if the trade goes through. Other than the Houston Rockets in basketball, there hasn't been many championships in Houston sports, with the most recent being their soccer team in 2006 and 07. Whether it pans out in a conference where the biggest threat is Brady until he retires is up to how the Texans manage the next few seasons. The timetable is extremely tight and they better hope everything fits into place come September. Otherwise, it could be a potentially long year if injuries occur again if the trade goes through.