A bit of forward thinking
After season ends, what’s next in 2017?
HOUSTON — In one comment Monday, the NFL’s most polarizing coach demonstrated why he is loved by some and despised by others.
“As great as today feels … we’re five weeks behind the other teams for the 2017 season,” the New England Patriots’ Bill Belichick said, scarcely 10 hours after his team erased a 25-point deficit to defeat the Atlanta Falcons 34-28 for the biggest comeback in Super Bowl history.
Whether it was sincere or simply for effect, Belichick wanted to let the world know that his warm afterglow is measured in minutes, not months. The franchise that much of the country loves to hate is already on to next season.
For that matter, so are we. While Tom Brady continues to look for his Super Bowl LI jer-
sey — mysteriously swiped from his bag in the postgame celebration — here’s a look at some issues and people likely to be in the news in the 2017 NFL season:
Going for 2
After considering a move north for years, the Chargers have left San Diego for Los Angeles, the nation’s second-largest market. It has been a bumpy start, with anger and hurt feelings in their old market and no buzz in their new one. Still, the team should fill the 30,000-seat StubHub Center, where it intends to spend the next two seasons.
Both Los Angeles teams hired first-time coaches making the jump from offensive coordinator: Anthony Lynn for the Chargers, Sean McVay for the Rams.
Roll the dice
The Raiders have applied to move from Oakland to Las Vegas, but it looks increasingly unlikely that league owners will vote on the move at league meetings in March. It originally looked as if the franchise was going to do a deal with casino billionaire Sheldon Adelson, but that didn’t happen. The Raiders then told the league they could finance a new stadium with help from Goldman Sachs, yet that too appears doomed.
Commissioner Roger Goodell said the league still is evaluating the Las Vegas market. It’s not necessarily having a team in a city synonymous with gambling that troubles some owners, but there’s an outstanding concern about whether the market it strong enough to sustain a team on its own if, say, an economic downturn impacts the tourism industry.
Don’t rule out the Raiders kicking the tires at some point on a move to San Diego.
Panning for gold
The San Francisco 49ers already signed former AllPro safety John Lynch to a six-year contract to be their general manager, and on Monday, they agreed to terms with Falcons offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan to be their coach. Shanahan is smarting from a Super Bowl defeat in which his team led 28-3 in the third quarter and kept passing. People will question that strategy for years.
The eyes have it
There will be discussion this spring about adding an eighth official for games, most likely one who would watch monitors in the press box rather than work on the field. That could allow for faster reviews and corrections, ideally without stopping the play clock.
“Having an eighth official on the field is a waste of time,” said Mike Pereira, the Fox rules analyst who used to run the NFL’s officiating department. “I know that it’s not a money issue — it shouldn’t be — but you’re not going to get the bang for your buck by having an eighth official lined up in the defensive secondary.”
But Pereira said an official in the booth who could communicate directly with officials on the field could be helpful, because plays and calls could be reviewed in real time.
“I want this guy to have PBJ [Press Box Judge] on his back, in a striped shirt, sitting there,” Pereira said. “I don’t want anybody with him. An official who just has the benefit of looking at the monitors and saying, ‘Aye aye aye! That pass was incomplete. Hey, Ed, it’s an incomplete pass! Change it. Let’s go.’ No challenge. No three-minute break.’’
A PB&J — hey, that’s catchy.
Stay tuned
With TV ratings down, the league will consider tweaks to make the games more watchable.
Among the possible changes: officials using Microsoft Surface tablets on the sideline to speed up the instant-replay process; a clock that would be used between the time an extra point is kicked until the ensuing kickoff to eliminate unnecessary delays; and potentially eliminating the announcement that a replay review is about to begin, instead going straight to the review. Every spare second counts.
Finders keepers
Two of the Pittsburgh Steelers’ most dangerous weapons will be in the final year of their contracts: running back Le’Veon Bell and wide receiver Antonio Brown. Watch for the Steelers to apply the franchise tag to Bell and sign Brown to a long-term deal — even though the receiver has been in hot water lately for twerking in the end zone, repeatedly wearing unauthorized shoes and using Facebook Live to broadcast a team-only, locker-room talk. Steelers President Art Rooney II referred to Brown’s transgressions as “little annoyances.”
QB carousel
The landing spots of at least three prominent quarterbacks will be big news. There will be plenty of buzz surrounding Clemson’s DeShaun Watson and who might draft him. The top six picks belong to the Cleveland Browns, the 49ers, the Chicago Bears, the Jacksonville Jaguars, the Tennessee Titans and the New York Jets.
After Dak Prescott’s breakout rookie season, Tony Romo of the Dallas Cowboys is expendable. The Denver Broncos might make the most sense for Romo, but the Jets, Bears and 49ers also loom as potential suitors.
Then, there’s the Patriots’ Jimmy Garoppolo, who could garner a king’s ransom in a trade.
The rich get richer.