The Cowboys are intentionally unfocused on the San Francisco 49ers
I'm not so sure how this one will pay off for Mike McCarthy and the Dallas Cowboys. But let's wait and see!
NFL Network's Tom Peliserro reported that head coach McCarthy has encouraged his team to watch as much film on themselves as they do the San Francisco 49ers this week in preparation for their massive Sunday night matchup.
I completely get the thought process here. Focusing on bringing your best self to a matchup brings attention to what you can control specifically rather than focusing on the plenty of outside factors that go into a weekly matchup. In the end, if you play your best game, you can feel confident you've done all you can to get your team as close to a win as possible.
The Niners, though, are the toughest in-conference matchup Dallas will draw all season (though they draw the Eagles twice, a tremendously tough in-division matchup), and I worry that this approach might lead to the Cowboys being underprepared for their opponent rather than the actual intended outcome.
San Francisco has elite weapons on both sides of the field and is not a team you want to pull your attention or preparation away from.
Who knows, perhaps the Cowboys can prove me wrong here. And in theory, with the talent they have, if the Cowboys can simply focus on reaching their ceiling, this strategy might pay more dividends than I'm realizing.
Broncos look to be active in trade market this season
A miserable start to the season for the Denver Broncos has fallen well short of what the expectations were for a Sean Payton-led team. Changes will be coming, and the team already kicked that off this week by trading Randy Gregory.
Gregory's trade was a bit of a peculiar situation, though, as the edge rusher had asked to be released and had been absent from practices in advance of his trade. That forced Denver's hand.
Following the Gregory trade, moves should be expected, with Adam Schefter reporting that receivers Courtland Sutton and Jerry Jeudy were already tossed out to opposing teams that might be interested in trading for the veteran receivers.
Schefter says Denver could be active in advance of the end-of-month trade deadline, "depending on how they fare," over the next several games.
A quick gander at the receiving depth chart surely indicates that if the Broncos trade Sutton and/or Jeudy, they'll likely be positioning for a complete retool in 2024 and beyond, not looking to pick up pieces to compete in 2023. Sutton has received 28 targets, Jeudy 17. Marvin Mims Jr. and Brandon Johnson are the only other receivers to get 10 targets or more this year.
Mims, a rookie out of Oklahoma, has been the highest-graded receiver by Pro Football Focus this season among Broncos, so getting him a larger share of the offensive pie could be a worthwhile tweak to prepare him for the future if Jeudy and Sutton are sent out.
If the Broncos keep losing, don't expect Denver to take too long to face the music.
Coordinators on the hot seat include Steelers Matt Canada
Matt Canada might not be for long in Pittsburgh, which at this point should exude an audible "THANK YOU!" from the entire city. Most Steelers fans would tell you, though, that a firing, if it even happens, would come far too late.
Canada found his name in the discussion alongside Saints offensive coordinator Pete Carmichael on Sunday morning. Ian Rapoport of NFL Network reported that both coordinators could find themselves out of a job if improvements aren't swift.
Rapoport shares that no such move is "imminent," however.
Our own Mark Powell made an astute observation this week that head coach Mike Tomlin has historically been resolute in his standing by the employment of coordinators, instead adding and removing responsibilities for underperforming members of his coaching staff rather than axing their jobs completely.
Canada just recently had more added to his plate, so one would think he has some leash left before he gets his responsibilities removed. Players have appeared to stand by Canada as well despite the slow start.
On the flip side, Carmichael's job is in view after another game with one or zero touchdowns scored. New Orleans has five touchdowns so far this year, and three of their five games have come with one or fewer offensive end-zone scores (New Orleans scored two touchdowns against the Green Bay Packers in Week 2, but one was a special teams result).
Both Pittsburgh and New Orleans are tied for third-fewest touchdowns so far. Pittsburgh has had the fourth-fewest offensive plays in total. New Orleans is 16th, exactly middle in that stat, as their struggles have largely been around capitalizing on red zone opportunities. They rank dead-last in red zone scoring percentage (touchdowns only) among all 32 teams.