Schrock's takeaways: Picking Jimmy G over TB12 could cost 49ers
The best weekend of the NFL season delivered as it always does.Championship Sunday saw Tom Brady punch his ticket to his 10th Super Bowl (that's 18 percent of all Super Bowls played) by beating the Green Bay Packers in the NFC Championship Game. In Kansas City, neither turf toe nor the Buffalo Bills could slow down Patrick Mahomes as the Chiefs cruised to a second-straight AFC title.Brady, at 43, continues to defy time, space, nature, odds. You name it, and he's punched it in the face. Brady arrived at Tampa this offseason and took an irrelevant franchise that hadn't won more than nine games since 2010 and has elevated them to Super Bowl status. Brady had a number of potential suitors this past offseason, many of whom elected to pass on the six-time Super Bowl champion believing that one bad season throwing to janitors at 1 Patriot Place was a harbinger of things to come.It wasn't. Brady was one of the best quarterbacks in football this season and shows no signs of slippage.As the 49ers evaluate their quarterback future, the decision to choose Jimmy Garoppolo over Brady is one that could down as an inflection point in the Shanahan-Lynch era. A decision that becomes a haunting "what if" five years down the road.While Patrick Mahomes will face Tom Brady in the Super Bowl, Aaron Rodgers heads into a long offseason contemplating his future.Here are three quick takeaways as the Chiefs and Bucs head to Tampa Bay for Super Bowl LV.
It's a decision that will haunt Matt LaFleur for the rest of his life: Trailing by eight points and facing a fourth-and-goal from the 8-yard line with just over two minutes remaining, the Packers head coach elected to kick a field goal to cut the deficit to five instead of allowing his quarterback, likely NFL MVP Aaron Rodgers, to get him 8 freaking yards. The Packers handed the ball back to Tom Brady and the GOAT, as expected, plunged the knife into their heart and ended their season.
Final: Bucs 31, Packers 26.
After the game, Rodgers was understandably "gutted' over the loss and irritated at not being given a chance to tie the game on fourth-and-goal from the 8-yard line. On third down, Rodgers had room to run and likely would have come up short of the end zone, but fourth-and-goal from the 2- or 3-yard line probably would have forced LaFleur's hand. Either way, the Packers' season is over and Rodgers spent his postgame press conference talking about his uncertain future, making many wonder if his time in Green Bay has come to an end.
"I don't know, I really don't," Rodgers said when asked how he plans to take the next step. "There's a lot of unknowns going into this offseason. I'm going to have to take some time away for sure and clear my head and see what's going on with everything. But it's pretty tough right now. Especially thinking about the guys that may or may not be here next year. There's always change; that's the only constant in this business. It's really tough to get to this point. Really, really tough. Especially, with it only being one bye week in the playoffs. It's a grind just to get to this point. That makes the finality of it all kind of hit you like a ton of bricks. That's why it's a gutting feeling in your stomach."
Rodgers is under contract through the 2023 season, although there is an out after next season. He could ask for a trade, but that would force the Packers to take a $31.5 million dead cap hit, which they likely won't want to do.
There's no doubt that Rodgers has deserved better than the Packers have given him in terms of roster construction over the past five years, and he deserved better from LaFleur on Sunday. In Year 1 of their partnership, Rodgers didn't appear to buy in fully. A lot of his plays were improvised and he did a lot of freelancing pre-snap. He bought in entirely this offseason and was almost unstoppable in the most quarterback-friendly system in the NFL. This season, Rodgers threw for 48 touchdowns and 4,299 yards while thriving in LaFleur's scheme. He did so after the Packers elected to select his eventual successor, Jordan Love, in Round 1 and running back A.J. Dillon in Round 2 of a draft with a deep receiver class.
Despite all of that, when the moment came, Rodgers once again was stuck with a coach who was overmatched by the moment. One who wouldn't get out of the way and trust him to get the Packers over the hump.
It's clear Rodgers looked across the sideline and saw a franchise that gave Brady whatever he needed to compete for a Super Bowl. They brought in Rob Gronkowski, Antonio Brown, Leonard Fournette and LeSean McCoy. They used a first-round pick on tackle Tristan Wirfs and not Brady's successor.
Rodgers was sending a message to the Packers: Change your ways and go all-in to help me or maybe my time in Green Bay is done.
Rodgers is smart and calculated. He knows every word he utters will be dissected for the next nine months. He also isn't the type of quarterback to say something that he doesn't mean.
The Packers should do everything they can to make Rodgers happy and give him what he needs to compete for Super Bowls. The smart money should be on Rodgers returning as the Packers' starting quarterback. But no one should blame him if he asks out. He deserves better.
For the last three seasons, the Kansas City Chiefs' offense has been unstoppable. And for three offseasons, the man tasked with orchestrating it, along with head coach Andy Reid, has been passed over again and again for head coaching positions.
It's absurd that all but one head-coaching position has been filled this offseason and Chiefs offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy hasn't been hired to lead an NFL team. Yes, Bieniemy reportedly will get a second interview with the Houston Texans, but there's no doubt he deserves better than a dysfunctional franchise that has alienated its stat quarterback.
Any reason given as to why Bieniemy isn't a head coach falls flat and is categorically absurd. Since Bieniemy became the offensive coordinator before the 2018 season, the Chiefs' offense has ranked first, third and second in offensive DVOA and is averaging 415.8 yards per game. The Chiefs have made it to three straight AFC Championship Games and back-to-back Super Bowls.
No, Bieniemy doesn't call the plays. So what? Andy Reid is an offensive genius and he calls the plays. But Bieniemy helps design the gameplan during the week, is the one who talks to Patrick Mahomes pre-snap and whose knowledge of protections has helped Mahomes become a blitz destroyer.
Both Doug Pederson and Matt Nagy were offensive coordinators under Reid, and both were given head coaching jobs after shorts stints as the Chiefs' OC.
There should be no question that Bieniemy is deserving of one of the 32 head-coaching positions and would be a great hire of any franchise.
You can't tell me that the Los Angeles Chargers, who hired Brandon Staley after one season as defensive coordinator for the Rams, shouldn't have paired Bieniemy with Justin Herbert. Or that Bieniemy wouldn't have been a great choice to turn around the Philadelphia Eagles, who instead hired Indianapolis Colts offensive coordinator Nick Sirianni.
As the Chiefs were dicing up the Buffalo Bills in the AFC Championship Game with Bieniemy and Reid on their A-game, only one thought came to mind: It's a disgrace that Eric Bieniemy continues to be passed over while other less qualified and less accomplished coaches get hired to lead NFL teams.
Bieniemy deserves better than the Texans. He should have been hired three times over by now. But there are only 32 jobs and he could create a lethal offense around Deshaun Watson.
No matter the franchise, Eric Bieniemy has earned the opportunity to lead a team. It's appalling it has taken this long.
The 49ers weren't the only team that looked at Tom Brady's 2019 season, saw the completion percentage, yards, touchdowns and yards per attempt all drop. It was easy to think that Father Time had landed a few body blows on Brady and the decline was finally here.
Kyle Shanahan and John Lynch were open about the fact that they discussed signing Brady in the offseason. The legendary quarterback reportedly wanted to head home to the Bay to play his final years in Northern California. But the 49ers elected to pass, a combination of faith in Jimmy Garoppolo and belief that Brady, at 43, would no longer be an elite quarterback leading them to say no to the six-time Super Bowl champion.
The 49ers were fresh off a Super Bowl loss with a roster ready to compete for a championship and a question mark at quarterback.
At the moment, it was easy to see why they passed on Brady. Why rock the boat? Shanahan believed Garoppolo could cut down on the turnovers and take a leap (or so he said), and hitching yourself to a 43-year-old trying to defy time is a risky proposition.
Or was it? A quick look at the Patriots' 2019 tape would have indeed shown the 49ers that Brady's arm strength was still there and that the dip in performance was because Brady's receivers were unable to create separation and struggled with drops.
I'm not going to tell you that Brady, who led the Buccaneers to the Super Bowl by beating the Packers on Sunday, would have made everything peachy for the 2020 49ers. Surely, Brady's presence wouldn't have stopped Nick Bosa's ACL from tearing or kept George Kittle's foot from breaking. My colleague Marcus White is correct in his assertion that Brady wouldn't have been enough to get the 2020 49ers back to the Super Bowl. Playoffs? Probably. But the 49ers sustained too many critical injuries for any team to withstand.
But the 49ers' miscalculation was that Brady was on his way out the door. That his days as an elite quarterback were over and that sticking with Garoppolo and running it back was the smart and prudent choice.
Often, it's the risk-averse choice, the decision to not shake things up, that bolts a championship window shut.
This season, at age 43, Brady completed 65.7 percent of his passes for 4,633 yards and 40 touchdowns. He was PFF's second-highest graded quarterback behind Aaron Rodgers and he led the NFL in yards and completions on throws 20 yards or more down the field.
Yes, there were times this season where Brady struggled. A truncated offseason program put him behind the eight-ball in learning Bruce Arians' offense despite his unsanctioned summer workouts. The Bucs were 7-5 in December but now have won six games in a row, including three straight road playoff games to clinch a berth in Super Bowl LV.
Brady wasn't perfect Sunday against the Packers. He started off white-hot, throwing for 202 yards and two touchdowns in the first half. Three second-half interceptions -- two of which were 50/50 balls that Brady hucked up -- kept the game interesting. But, in the end, Brady threw for 280 yards, three touchdowns and three interceptions in a road win against the best team in the NFC.
Midway through the season, Arians incorporated some of the quick-hitting throws Brady likes and the meshing of the two minds created an offense that has been hard to stop when Brady has a clean pocket.
I'm not going to tell you Brady is a top-five quarterback. He isn't. But he's right behind Patrick Mahomes, Rodgers, Russell Wilson, Deshaun Watson and Josh Allen.
He's still one of the NFL's best quarterbacks. Like Sunday, when he's on, the highs are stratospheric. There will be moments, especially in Arians' offense, where Brady makes ill-advised throws that lead to interceptions. But Brady only tossed 12 picks this season despite going from dink-and-dunk to no risk it, no biscuit.
Brady isn't a 43-year-old game manager. He is still an elite quarterback who can put teams on his back and drag them deep into the playoffs.
Yes, the Bucs have a ton of offensive talent. At full strength, so do the 49ers. Putting Brady in a quarterback-friendly system with Shanahan and YAC weapons like George Kittle, Deebo Samuel and Brandon Aiyuk would have had a similar potency to the concoction brewed in Tampa Bay.
Shanahan wouldn't have needed to adjust his system for Brady the way he does for Garoppolo. He could have run what he wanted while inserting some of Brady's favorite plays like Arians did.
Brady is headed to his 10th Super Bowl and still has Father Time on the ropes.
Meanwhile, the 49ers enter another offseason filled with quarterback speculation after Garoppolo missed most of the season with two high ankle sprains.
San Francisco could have headed into a full offseason with a still elite and highly-motivated Brady leading a championship-ready roster. Instead, they are left to survey their option and either run it back with Garoppolo again or trade draft capital for Matthew Stafford or Watson.
Passing on Brady might have made sense at the moment. But Brady has made the 49ers, and other teams who passed on him, look foolish. He seems far from finished, and the 49ers' decision to pick Garoppolo over Brady might cost them their championship window.
