Latest news with #JasonFitz
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
Is Detroit's Super Bowl window closing already?
Yahoo Sports' Jason Fitz is joined by NFL writer Frank Schwab look at the Lions place in the highly-competitive NFC North after Detroit's OL centerpiece Frank Ragnow retires. Hear the full conversation on 'Inside Coverage' - and subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube or wherever you listen. View more Video Transcript If you had to bet your house today on the Lions or the field in the NFC North. Advertisement Who would you bet? I, I think I'd take the Lions still, because there's flaws in the other teams, right? Like, but there's flaws in the Lions now too, so I think I'd take the I was pretty confident last year, yeah, Lions, Lions are gonna win that division. Now I'm like, well, uh, I, I think the Lions, like, you know, that's, that's the difference. When you lose a four-time Pro Bowl center? Like, yeah, I would stuff like, would you lose an offensive genius, who who is your offensive coordinator and He led the league in points last year. When you have, I believe it's the 2nd toughest schedule in the NFL projected. Advertisement I mean, this is, these are the things that kind of add up and I'm not saying the Lions can't win a Super Bowl, they certainly can. They, they have one of the best rosters in the NFL still. There's no question about that. They're gonna get their defense healthy, but it just, I, I, I worry, I worry for, you know, I have Lions fans, friends, and I worry that they're gonna 10 years down the road, they're gonna be looking back at those two playoff games and saying. Man, that was it. That was our shot, and we let it pass. I mean this is how quick it could change in the NFL. Who would you take, lines of the field? Advertisement I would take the field. I'll take the field. Uh, here's the other thing. Remember a few years ago, now the AFC West looks like it's gonna be very good, but a few years ago, everybody was sitting there saying, oh man, the AFC West is gonna be great, and it turned out to be a year where the, the, everybody but the Chiefs stun, right? Like we all remember that. I'm not so sure I'm ready to buy the NFC North hype this year to the same level as anybody else. If I'm being fair about the yeah buts that every team has, like, it is easy for me to say, OK, the Lions are great. Yeah, but they're replacing two coordinators, part of their offensive line. Advertisement I'm not sure what it's gonna look like in a bunch of positional coaches. Uh, the Vikings are gonna be great. Yeah, but we have no idea what JJ McCarthy actually looks like on the field. Like none. We have zero proof of concept on a rookie quarterback, essentially, uh, when it comes to the fact that we haven't seen him play any meaningful football. So it's easy for me to say, uh, I, I've been long on the, are we sure about Jordan Love Trane? And so now I'm sitting there saying, I mean, Uh, maybe with the Packers, and then it's super easy for me to say Ben Johnson's never been a head coach before. We don't know if all of this is going to gel together for the, the, the Bears. Advertisement I just, I, I don't know. Like, yes, I could easily see where all four of those teams are epic, incredible, and, and it's absolutely a joy to watch every Sunday. I could also see where this division sort of implodes and all of these teams are sitting here saying, man, this was supposed to be our year. Like I, I think there's a pretty easy case. If you're a Packers fan, it's easy to fault the rest of the division. If you're a Bears fan, it's easy to fault the rest of the division. At some point, you got to put that mirror at yourself and realize that if every single fan base within a division can find a massive reason that they don't think the other teams are gonna be great, I think there is a little bit of a pause for concern that the NFC North might be getting a little bit more praise right now than it deserves.
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
Have the Bengals actually made any improvements this offseason?
Have the Bengals actually made any improvements this offseason? | Inside Coverage Yahoo Sports' Jason Fitz and Frank Schwab break down the reasons why they're skeptical the Cincinnati Bengals will be a Super Bowl contender this season. Hear the full conversation on 'Inside Coverage' - and subscribe on Apple Podcasts , Spotify , YouTube or wherever you listen. View more Video Transcript A year ago, I was higher on the Bengals than I am right now because I don't know that they've done, like bringing in a new defensive coordinators a step, but I still think that fixing the defense is a multi-year project, and I, I just, I feel like they won 9 games last year. Advertisement I thought they were going to be an 11 win team last year. I think they're sort of, you know, I, I guess, I don't know, I'm, I'm a little lower on the Bengals today than I was a year ago. Yeah, I, I, I'll go with repeat. If you read what I wrote about the Bengals last offseason, I, I was, I, I will say I was in the camp of, it wasn't just all Joe Burrow's injury why this team didn't make the playoffs. Like Jake Browning actually played pretty well for them. There are a lot of other things going on with the Bengals that I didn't like. I kind of manifested itself last year. The defense did fall off and At a plus side for them, they lost a lot of close, weird games. Advertisement I mean, losing at a Patriots week one. I mean, it, it easily could have been a 10-11 win team in the playoffs. We'd be having a totally different discussion about the Bengals, but I just don't know that they're that Super Bowl contender. We all want them to be. Yes, they brought back T Higgins. They paid Jamar Chase. Great for them, but it's basically the same team, like, where have they improved and the Trey Hendrickson thing. Until that gets resolved, uh, that's a minus for them. Uh, look, maybe just new blood, uh, a defense coordinator, replacing Lou Arumo with Al Golden, maybe that makes a big, big difference for this defense. Advertisement Maybe just the bounces go their way this year when it didn't last year, but I think you're just asking way too much of Joe Burrow to carry this team. I don't like the infrastructure. I don't like, I I I love the passing game, which is a great spot to start in the NFL. I don't really love anything else. I just, I, I, I don't see them being the best team in this division by far, and I just don't see how we get them to be like this top 5 team that we all thought they might be. So I, I, yeah, I, I, I guess I would just say repeat on the Bengals, but I was a little bit lower in the market last year on the Bengals anyway.
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
Can Cleveland's defense rebound this season?
Yahoo Sports' Jason Fitz and Frank Schwab share their expectations for the Cleveland Browns this season. Hear the full conversation on 'Inside Coverage' - and subscribe on Apple Podcasts , Spotify , YouTube or wherever you listen. View more Video Transcript The Browns stink. Advertisement OK. Now, this is where we're different though. I thought the Browns were gonna stink last year. You did not. Because I thought the Browns were going to stink last year. I'm on repeat for even though everybody, I, I, I, I, I'm loud about, I don't think the Browns are gonna be any good. I thought they were gonna be terrible last year. So I think they finished 3 and 14, which is a little worse than I thought they finished last year. I think there's still a 5 or less win team. I'm repeat for the Browns. Yeah, I've obviously got to be retreat. I've eaten a lot of crow on how, how high I was on the Browns. I did back off it a little bit when all the reports on Deshaun Watson in August were bad, but still, I'll take that L. I thought the Browns were going to be pretty good last year. Advertisement A lot of that was due to their defense and their defense just fell off a cliff, and we're reminded. Defensive greatness from year to year is is not always sticky, like it varies, it varies a lot, and it did for the Browns. The one hope for the Browns is that the defense does bounce back to at least a top 10-ish level. And when you have Miles Garrett on your side, that can happen. And then maybe the Browns run the ball really well with two rookie running backs who come in might might just transform their offense, but Man, the quarterback room is just, it's, it's tough. Like, I, how can you get behind any of those guys? Advertisement I don't know, like Dylan Gabriel, I guess, hasn't looked that great in OTAs. Shido Shidori fell for a reason. Joe Flacco's 40 and he was awful last year at the Colts. Kenny Pickett's never been that dude. Which of these quarterbacks, it like takes over, it just leads them to a good season. I don't know who that could be. Their schedule is just awful, like, If you could get them above 1 in 5 in their 1st 6 games, hats off to you, cause I don't know how to do it. I don't know where the wins come. I, I think it's a much better chance of 06 after 6 games. Yeah, the Browns could be bad. Like their only hope is they could be one of those, we're gonna run the ball 40 times a game and play good defense and squeeze out some 1613 wins, but even that, I don't, I don't know you could win close games with a bad quarterback situation. So yeah, I, I, I think the Browns are gonna be one of the worst teams in the NFL this year.
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
How 49ers rookie RB James stood out to coach Turner
Did the 49ers overpay for Brock Purdy? | Inside Coverage Yahoo Sports' Jason Fitz, senior NFL reporter Charles Robinson and senior NFL writer Frank Schwab discuss San Francisco's massive contract extension for its starting quarterback and if the deal hampers the team's ability to remain in Super Bowl contention. Hear the full conversation on 'Inside Coverage' - and subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube or wherever you listen. 2:07 Now Playing Paused Ad Playing
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Shanahan describes ‘re-energized' vibe at 49ers' 2025 OTAs
Did the 49ers overpay for Brock Purdy? | Inside Coverage Yahoo Sports' Jason Fitz, senior NFL reporter Charles Robinson and senior NFL writer Frank Schwab discuss San Francisco's massive contract extension for its starting quarterback and if the deal hampers the team's ability to remain in Super Bowl contention. Hear the full conversation on 'Inside Coverage' - and subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube or wherever you listen. 2:07 Now Playing Paused Ad Playing
