3 comments MMQB Review: Peter King Thinks a 64.3% Completion Percentage is Less Than a 63.1% Completion Percentage

Peter King shared Robert Klemko's obsession with Ronda Rousey in last week's MMQB. Peter also detailed how Jay Gruden apparently isn't going to help Robert Griffin succeed this year, Matt Ryan doesn't understand all these games that are on phones, and the Broncos aren't going to make Peyton Manning throw 613 passes per game this year. This week Peter talks about how we forget the Colts were embarrassed again by the Patriots in the playoffs, talks about how FUCKING PRECOCIOUS Marcus Mariota is, something about J.J. Watt that I don't care about since he's quickly entering the "Favre Zone" for me where he goes so far out of the way for attention but nobody cares because he's a great football player (seriously, Watt takes a bunch of selfies and pictures of himself on his Instagram page and then has the gall to mock Mettenberger for taking selfies?), and, of course talks about the ongoing battle between the NFL and Tom Brady over deflated footballs.

Also, Peter played Madden 16. He beat Gerald McCoy at it. So precocious of Peter.

Is it just me, or is there a ridiculous amount of stuff happening in the NFL right now? 

This has been the craziest time around training camp in the history of the NFL...at least until next year.

The Colts have been steamrolled by New England three times in their past 20 games—by scores of 45-7, 42-20 and 43-22—and they curiously haven’t buttressed their run defense, having fallen out of the bidding for Haloti Ngata and Vince Wilfork in the off-season. Tom Brady could have played with Nerf balls and the Colts wouldn’t have anything to complain about. 

This is part of my reasoning why I'm not totally freaking out about the Patriots (allegedly!) using deflated footballs against the Colts. It did not have an effect on the game at all. Not that cheating needs to have an effect on the game to be cheating, but it certainly would help my outrage if I was sure the footballs being deflated by a few tenths of a PSI really gave the Patriots an advantage that was more than mental.

“We got our asses kicked,” Pagano said. “Period. End of story. None of us here will ever forget that day, that final score. We got a damn artery gushing and no sutures to stop the bleeding. You never forget that.” 

But don't worry, the Colts went out and signed Andre Johnson, Frank Gore and drafted Phillip Dorsett. That will totally help prevent the Patriots from scoring 40+ points on the Colts defense again. I'm being snarky of course, the Colts spent six of their eight picks on defense, so consider this defensive problem against the Patriots fixed. Dammit, there's my snark again.

The Colts could have the greatest pass-catching corps in football this year, accompanying the best young quarterback in the game (and Andrew Luck has gone to school on Andrew Luck’s penchant for the big mistake).

Andrew Luck is self-reporting himself for having a penchant for the big mistake. He's accountable to himself, which is probably nice, since I'm sure Peter King certainly wouldn't hold Luck accountable for any big mistakes. Also, the Colts are pretty much re-booting the Manning era in Indianapolis. Not that there isn't anything wrong with this, but at a certain point the Colts have to realize a great quarterback will make his receivers better. A great quarterback can't stop the opposing team from scoring 40 points. I think you get my concern for the Colts. I'll only repeat it 10 more times before the 2015 NFL season is over.

Eight straight practices, eight straight days without an interception for Marcus Mariota, Tennessee wunderkind. You’ll never guess who wants him to throw one.

This isn't difficult. Ken Whisenhunt wants Mariota to throw an INT so he can see how Mariota recovers. I don't have to read MMQB to know this answer.

I played Gerald McCoy of the Bucs in EA Sports’ “Madden 16” game. I am the only male in America who had never played Madden before, and, justifiably, neither McCoy nor teammate Mike Evans, a spectator for the King-McCoy tussle, was impressed with my game. “This is like playing my daughter,’’ said observer Evans. Then, of course, the greatest upset in sports history happened.

You do NOT call Peter King a woman. Women are for cooking and being spied and listened in on while they are walking in Central Park. Peter's fury at being compared to a female obviously drove him to victory.

The Colts scored 458 points last year, which is a lot. And they went out and signed a workhorse back (Frank Gore) and vet receiver Andre Johnson, who has 306 catches over the past three years, and then drafted another receiver, Phillip Dorsett, in the first round. (The Colts will field three wideouts this year who have recorded 40 times under 4.4 seconds.)

Yep, the Colts will have a great offense. That wasn't ever really a question, was it?

In addition, Luck’s big project this offseason was to figure why his interception total rose from nine in 2013 to 16 last year.

Because he threw 7 more interceptions than he did the season before? This is the part where Peter and Chuck Pagano pretend like Andrew Luck isn't going to be a Top-5 quarterback by the end of next season, and possibly a Top-3 quarterback even. It's the part where Luck's 16 interceptions are made a bigger deal than they are, as if he isn't going to learn and be fine.

Okay. Luck’s going to be fine. The offense should average 30 a game. But who’ll stop the reign?

Yes, Luck will be fine. The genius that Ryan Grigson is hasn't done a ton to help Luck out on the defensive side of the ball. At least not in my opinion, but nobody cares what I think.

New England has rushed for 657 yards against the Colts in their past three meetings, which cries out for a fix. Indy hopes 2014 free-agent 3-4 end Arthur Jones (who was hurt half of last season) and 2015 free-agent end Kendall Langford, 650 pounds of run-stopping on the edge, will be the answer.

They may be the answer or the Colts may not even face the Patriots in the playoffs again. Who knows?

GM Ryan Grigson didn’t want to pay $6 million a year to the 33-year-old Wilfork,

I can get that. The Colts are paying 29 year old Kendall Langford $4.5 million this year and Wilfork signed with the Texans on a 2 year $9 million contract, so the idea they would have had to pay Wilfork $6 million per year doesn't seem entirely accurate though. I would pay $9 million for two seasons of Vince Wilfork.

or deal two mid-round picks for Ngata, who might be a one-year Band-aid.

(Insert Trent Richardson joke about Grigson giving up a first round pick for Richardson but not wanting to give up mid-round picks for an actual good NFL player here)

“We have enough here,” said Pagano, meaning enough defensive talent. We’ll see, but perhaps not until the Patriots play in Indy in October … or until they meet again in January.

OR the Colts will end up having to play a different team in the playoffs and the Colts won't meet the Patriots. Either way, the Patriots are not going to be hanging 40+ points on the Colts when they meet in October. They are going to want to hang 60+ points on the Colts.

Two things I hope Frank Gifford is not remembered for:

Having an affair with a flight attendant?

As a football player, being KO’d by Eagles middle linebacker Chuck Bednarik in 1960 on one of the most brutal hits in NFL history.

As a broadcaster, for Howard Cosell, his “Monday Night Football” partner, calling Gifford “the human mannequin.”

I'm not sure why some of these words are in italics.

It was sad to hear about Frank Gifford but "the human mannequin" thing is funny and that hit by Bednarik would have had the media calling him a monster and requesting he be suspended from playing in NFL games for the rest of his natural life. Times have changed.

This Mariota guy’s pretty precocious.

PRETTY FUCKING PRECOCIOUS!

In Nashville the other day, I watched rookie quarterback Marcus Mariota in a team drill do something veteran quarterbacks do in training camp.

He got in a fight with one of the team's starting cornerbacks?

Inside the 10-yard line, from the shotgun, he barked out, “Delta! Delta!” He took a snap and looked left, to a crossing Kendall Wright, closely covered by cornerback Perrish Cox, then quickly scanned to the right, holding cornerback Jason McCourty on his man, and keeping the safety in the middle of the field. “A veteran move,” McCourty said. Then Mariota quickly locked back onto Wright and fired a strike to the outside corner—where Wright could catch the ball but Cox couldn’t reach. Touchdown.

That's not just a veteran move, that's precocious as hell.

Here is the definition of "precocious":

"Of a child; having or showing the qualities or abilities of an adult at an unusually early age."

So here is the biggest issue with Peter calling Mariota "precocious." Mariota is not, because he is an adult. Mariota is 21 years old, so his advanced ability to not throw interceptions and play the quarterback position is impressive, but it's not precocious, because again, MARIOTA IS A FUCKING ADULT HUMAN BEING! I've never understood Peter's weird fascination with calling grown people "precocious" and enjoying adult men who have child-like qualities. It's a little creepy to me. Peter isn't the only one who does this of course, but he loves using the word "precocious" in the context of a grown adult playing football well at a young age. In fact, Peter uses the word "precocious" in as many different contexts as possible.

So Mariota is playing well and developing as a quarterback very nicely, but he's not precocious. He's an adult, not a child, no matter how much Peter creepily would prefer Mariota be more child-like.

Eight practices, no interceptions in team periods or seven-on-seven work. Seriously: Coach Ken Whisenhunt, who doesn’t want the kid fitted for his yellow jacket in Canton just yet, told me: “The hype is getting out of control. I don’t care if he throws an interception out here. Come on—it’s August. It’s camp. I may just have him throw one to get this over with. Just throw one. We gotta get it out of the way.”

Peter said we would never guess who wants Mariota to throw an interception, yet I got it right without actually reading the answer. Probably because it was an obvious answer to an even more obvious little game Peter loves to play. I would have been surprised if the answer was Zach Mettenberger.

“He’s got the ‘it’ factor,’’ said defensive coordinator Ray Horton. “He’s got a sort of je ne sais quoi about him.”

How precocious of Ray Horton to use this phrase!

Now, I’ve covered football for 31 years. I have never heard a coach, or anyone, use “je ne sais quoi” about a player—the indefinable quality, usually in a very good way, used to describe the best of the best. “His poise under pressure looks pretty special,” Horton said.

Maybe the Titans just don't have a very good defense too? Or possibly Mariota is so precocious that he has the abilities of an NFL quarterback while he is still a child at the age of 21.

“The adjustment for me hasn’t been that different,” said Mariota. “The coaches at Oregon really prepared me for this. There’s a lot of similar concepts between Oregon and here. I’m the benefit of so many other people, and that’s helped my transition.”

I'm not sure if it's a good thing or a bad thing that Mariota hasn't had to adjust too much from the offense he ran at Oregon to the offense the Titans run.

“The adjustment for me hasn’t been that different,” said Mariota. “The coaches at Oregon really prepared me for this. There’s a lot of similar concepts between Oregon and here. I’m the benefit of so many other people, and that’s helped my transition.”

Nashville. Hawaii. It's the same thing. I've been been to both the city and the state and can report that they are indeed very, very different.

Guess who’s the “Hard Knocks” star?

I'm guessing it's the guy who loves to criticize others for being too focused on taking social media photos and not being focused enough on football? Probably the same guy who was on a reality television show periodically while in college, though I'm sure he would be happy to criticize an NFL player for being on a reality television show periodically.

"Don't take selfies, unless the selfie you are taking shows just how hard you are grinding to be a better player. Then it's okay."

The first show, in fact, will have the rarest of events: a mistake by Watt, highlighted by coach Bill O’Brien in front of the team. Before a practice, Watt, miked, tells a teammate: “Ever since O-B got here, he’s been trying to get me to jump offsides. And I haven’t jumped offsides one time. Not one single time. He talks to me about it all the time.”

So they go out to practice one day, and O’Brien sing-songs to Watt, “We’re gonna get you!” And Watt, too aggressive in anticipating the snap from center, jumps offside. The offense is jubilant.

You got Watt to jump offsides once, but you will end up paying for it in blood when he destroys the offensive lineman in front of him on the next play.

Then, NFL Films cameras show Watt, post-practice, working alone as the sun goes down on his swim moves past the offensive-lineman dummy.

I'm sure Watt had no idea the camera was there, being as how he is so camera-shy and all, especially when it comes to showing off how hard he works.

I think we can see where this is headed: J.J. Watt, reality TV star, on “Hard Knocks: Training Camp with the Houston Texans.” It’s another world for Watt to conquer.

I'm not going to make a snarky comment about this, because it's fine if J.J. Watt embraces becoming a reality star. He's just trying to show everyone how hard he works. When he's taking selfies it's for a purpose more important than just showing himself off. I mean, obviously. He isn't a hypocrite, mostly because I'm guessing he doesn't know what that word means.

Watt is a really, really great player, but the guy shows up in front of a camera every chance he gets, yet he has the gall to call out Mettenberger for taking a selfie. And few in the media will even point this out because they don't want to question him since he's such a fun quote and incredibly talented player.

In Green Bay on Friday, I took some time to do a little math, trying to answer this question:

What’s the best combo platter of quarterbacks in NFL history?

Or, to give it more clarity: What two quarterbacks, back to back, are the best in NFL history?

The answer is obviously Jeff Blake and David Klingler.

I entered into this thinking it would probably be Joe Montana and Steve Young of the 49ers. And maybe it is. Statistics can be twisted a lot of ways, but how do you beat four Super Bowls for Montana and one for Young, and the two-decade greatness they shared under Bill Walsh and George Seifert? But now I am not so sure. I think it’s Brett Favre and Aaron Rodgers.

Of course you do, Peter. I love me some Aaron Rodgers, so it's hard for me to vote against him.

In all metrics except Super Bowl victories (Montana/Young 5, Favre/Rodgers 2), the back-to-back champs looks like the Packer duo.

Does it though, Peter? In terms of "metrics," Peter isn't very precocious with numbers.

Montana/Young: 19 seasons, 213 wins, .643 completion percentage, 465-209 TD-INT
 
​Favre/Rodgers: 23 seasons, 248 wins, .631 completion percentage, 668-343 TD-INT

So in "all metrics" which obviously doesn't include wins per season, completion percentage and TD:INT ratio, Favre/Rodgers win. I'm wondering how Peter can write "all" metrics when the numbers very clearly state here that Montana/Young won more games per season, completed passes at a higher percentage and had a better TD:INT ratio than Favre/Rodgers. I understand Peter tends to make up his own definitions of words that contradict the dictionary definition of that word (precocious, factoid), but "all" generally means "everything," not "a few numbers not given context in a comparison to each other."

I’ve found it pretty amazing that if you’re a fan of the Packers, and if you’re, say, 27 right now, you’ve never had a hopeless season because your Packers have always had a top quarterback. We found a big Packers’ fan who is 27: Kevin Sutter, of Blue Mounds, Wis. “We talk about it, me and my brothers,” Sutter said. “We talk about it a lot—just how incredibly crazy it is that for our entire childhood we saw how great Brett Favre was. He was in the top two or three quarterbacks in the league for like 10-12 years,

Was Favre though? Was he in the top two or three quarterbacks in the NFL for 10-12 years? From 1994-2005 Favre was a top-two or top-three quarterback? Might want to think on that for a little bit and then take back some of this exaggeration.

We remember when we were 10 years old and we saw Favre, and now you just appreciate it so much more how good Rodgers is. I can’t even imagine watching a team you love struggle to find a franchise quarterback.”

Well, maybe one day you will get to do it. It's great, you'll love it.

Aside from Sydney Seau’s warm words, the best of the rest of the speeches Saturday night:

Ron Wolf

"At that time there was always a threat to players of other teams that if they didn't shape up, they would be traded to Green Bay. We worked hard to eliminate that stigma. Suddenly players wanted to come and be a part of football's most illustrious franchise and to play in pro football's most storied cathedral, Lambeau Field."

I mean, I guess so. This seems like another exaggeration since the Packers have such a storied history and Wolf calls Lambeau Field "football's most storied cathedral." It was probably not easy to get free agents to Green Bay, but I think the idea there was a huge stigma about playing in Green Bay is slightly overblown by Wolf.

Jerome Bettis

Welp, open the floodgates then...

I am not totally against Bettis being in the Hall of Fame, but I think the fact he was a good quote and smiled a lot helped as much as his career numbers helped him. Bettis is supposed to be one of the best running backs of all-time, but never led the NFL in rushing yards, is 5th all-time in career touches while being 32nd all-time in all-purpose yards. He scored a lot of touchdowns though, even though he never cracked the Top-5 in an NFL season in rushing touchdowns. Bettis was always really good, but I never really considered him one of the best running backs in my opinion. He just doesn't do it for me. If he stays with the Rams for his entire career and doesn't smile a lot, I think he's on the outside looking in.

What you need to know about Brady/Goodell this week.

Nothing. I need to know nothing, yet I will be told a lot of things.

McCann, the founding director of the University of New Hampshire’s Sports and Entertainment Law Institute, has been on top of this story from the start. McCann’s report:

Keep this in mind: The legal question for Judge Berman is not whether Brady “did it.” It’s whether the NFL lawfully followed Article 46 of the collective bargaining agreement and the “law of shop,” which refers to fairness and consistency in arbitration.

I don't ever see how the guy who hands out the punishment can hear the appeal of the punishment, but that's just me probably.

Among those arguable defects is the confusing role played by attorney Ted Wells, whom the NFL has repeatedly hailed as “independent” yet who testified that he shared drafts of his report in advance with NFL attorneys and who has invoked the attorney-client privilege as a way of trying to not answer questions.

The idea Ted Wells was "independent" was always laughable to the point of absurdity. He's the guy the NFL hired to look into the Patriots deflating footballs. Of course he's not an independent investigator.

Judge Berman vacating the suspension would constitute a victory for Brady, but not necessarily a lasting one. The NFL would appeal the loss to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, which has on occasion reversed NFL district court losses into wins. Even without an appellate court reversal, Judge Berman vacating the suspension would remand the matter to Goodell or his designee for “further proceedings…as permitted by the CBA.”  This could set the table for another round of contentious league hearings. Oh, and there’s that lurking possibility that Brady could file a defamation lawsuit in Massachusetts state court at anytime.

This is all over footballs that were deflated by a very small amount. Deflated footballs and now Tom Brady could file a defamation suit, but only after the NFL goes to the Second Circuit court to reverse the decision of a district court judge. Again, the footballs were deflated by a few tenths of a PSI. Does anyone but Roger Goodell, the Patriots organization, Patriots fans and Tom Brady really care that much?

My one question about the NFL’s stance now: In the Wells Report, Brady was found to be “at least generally aware” of the scheme to deflate footballs below the 12.5-psi minimum.

But in the NFL’s 15-page brief submitted to the judge in advance of Wednesday’s conference, the NFL writes: “The commissioner suspended Brady for having ‘approved of, consented to, and provided inducements in support of’ a scheme to tamper with the game balls. And for having ‘willfully obstructed the subsequent investigation.’ 

But how did we get from being at least generally aware of a scheme to deflate game balls to having “approved of, consented to,” and providing inducements to aid a scheme to deflate footballs?

Peter is going to get himself suspended if he keeps daring to ask questions like this. I would give my opinion on this, but that would be parsing this whole story out more than I really care to. The NFL seems like they are making things up as they go along to make their case seem better than it truly is.

Sunday night’s Hall of Fame Game marked the first one with the new point-after-touchdown rule. After a touchdown, a team will have the option to place the ball at the 15-yard line for the one-point conversion kick (the equivalent of a 33-yard field goal); or to place the ball at the 2-yard line if the team chooses to go for a two-point conversion.

When I was in Latrobe, I ran into long-time special-teams coach Danny Smith, and he asked me a question I hadn’t considered: If you choose to kick the extra point, and the defense jumps offside and gets flagged for an offside penalty, can you change your mind and choose to go for two? With the half-the-distance penalty, that would put the ball at the one, and you might have a lot of teams choosing to go for two if you could snap from the one.

Peter was all about asking how many times a field goal kicker missed the extra point as a reason for moving the extra point back, yet how many times has the defense jumped offside on an extra point?

It happened nine times in 2014. It's the penalty that happened on "0" down when looking at the chart. 

Defenders only jumped offside on an extra point nine times during 2014. Yet, Peter acts like this is a game-changing question that makes the new field goal rule even that much more interesting. 

So I checked with the league, and indeed, the answer is yes. After an offside call with the ball at the 15-yard line, a coach could take the penalty and put the ball at the 10-yard line for the PAT, or take the half-the-distance penalty and choose to go for two at the one-yard line.

How many times have you seen Tom Brady take a slight leap from the one-yard line and push the ball over the goal line with extended arms? Or Drew Brees? That, to me, is a huge part of this new rule, and could lead to a lot of changed minds after five-yard penalties on PATs.

What if defenders jump offside 10 times during the 2015 season? Man, what an intriguing scenario for a situation that happens a lot!

Peter, who has been a huge proponent of the new extra point rule, wants to make it seem exciting like this new rule now adds a whole new dimension to an NFL game. Well, there were 8 missed extra points in the NFL last year and 9 times the defense jumped offside. So if Peter thinks a rule should be changed because a missed extra point occurred 8 times, how can he try to make it seem like a defensive offside that happened 9 times is a huge part of the new rule? Of course, Peter didn't do any research before writing MMQB, but I like how 8 missed extra points isn't a significant number, but he gets all excited about how a scenario that only happened 9 times last year will make the new extra point rule that much more thrilling.

One of the interesting things about having a staff of young people is the generation of ideas I’d never have thought of. Robert Klemko had one as we headed south in the first couple of days of the training camp trip.

You should play Madden against a player.

Yes, playing a video game is a brilliant new idea Peter had not quite gotten around to thinking of yet.

Funny thing: Players really care about their rating. Evans was fuming when he saw 20 receivers were rated higher than he was. “The ratings are crazy,” Evans said. “All the years, all the money I’ve been wasting on Madden, the hard work I put in on the field, getting hit in the head, knees hurting, and I still can’t get a 90 rating overall. Twenty other receivers are rated higher than me. It’s crazy, man. It hurts, man. I am a little bitter.”

Yeah, well, Mike there are 20 receivers better than you in the NFL right now. So there's that.

Still 7-7. But I had fourth-and-28 from my 12-yard line. I was going for it. What’s there to lose? Nothing. What’s there to gain? Fun!

I chose a deep pass. I have no idea what McCoy chose to do. All I know is Klemko told me to wait till the last second to throw. ”Hit the green button, wait a little, and then hit the blue button,” Klemko said.

Manziel was getting rushed. I waited … and just as Manziel as about to get leveled, I hit the blue button. Way down the left side, backup wideout Taylor Gabriel was free, his corner having tripped on the play. And the ball nestled into Gabriel’s hands. “Yes! YES! YES!” I screamed. Easy touchdown. Easy 88-yard touchdown. On fourth-and-29.

King wins! King wins!

This is some of the bullshit which explains why I don't enjoy playing video games against other people. I realized a few years ago that it's no fun to lose to someone who has no clue what he's doing on these games. I don't handle it that well.

“Way to go on that Brady thing.”

—New Hall of Fame member Ron Wolf, passing commissioner Roger Goodell at the Pro Football Hall of Fame’s yellow-jacket ceremony Thursday night in Canton.

Wolf did not appear sarcastic.

I can only wonder how many PSI below the appropriate weight some footballs can be at Lambeau Field when it is cold as hell out on the field If the cold in New England can decrease the PSI in a football, how much will the PSI decrease in the freezing cold winters of Wisconsin?

In the off-season, the Chicago Bears’ new coach, John Fox, hired former 49ers defensive coordinator Vic Fangio as his defensive coordinator. Fangio, in his four seasons running the San Francisco defense, had some good games against the Packers—and, well, I’ll be—the Bears host the Packers on the first Sunday of the NFL season.

Yes, I'm sure John Fox hired Fangio simply so he could win two games against the Packers every season.

• Aaron Rodgers versus San Francisco with Fangio as defensive coordinator: 0-4.

• Aaron Rodgers versus every other defensive coordinator: 76-34.

It’s not quite so glaring when you look at the numbers, and it’s probably more an indictment of the Packers defense. Green Bay put up 25.3 points per game on offense against Fangio in those four games, and Rodgers’ passer rating was a slightly below-his-norm 96.0.

Typical Peter King. He uses a statistic and then admits he's providing a misleading statistics, but alas, wants his original point to still stand.

"Here's a statistic about how Aaron Rodgers can't beat a Vic Fangio-led defense and here is a conclusion I've drawn about that. If you really pay attention then you see it isn't really Rodgers' fault that the Packers have lost to a Vic Fangio-led defense four times and the Packers offense probably has nothing to do with Rodgers' 0-4 record against the 49ers, but let's not do that. Let's pretend this statistic from me means something." 

The four Titans’ preseason games will be televised live in Hawaii, birthplace and place of residence and schooling for the first 17 years of the life of Marcus Ardel Taulauniu Mariota.

I mean, Hawaii is pretty much Nashville.

Ten Things I Think I Think

3. I think Seattle safety Kam Chancellor is a heck of a player, obviously. Who doesn’t think so? Likeable guy too. But holding out for a new deal after two years of a five-year contract is simply a non-starter.

This from the guy who thought the Vikings should have paid Adrian Peterson more money in order to negotiate a truce with him and have him show up to training camp. Peter suggested this while Peterson had three more years on his contract with the Vikings. So Peter thinks Chancellor shouldn't be holding out for more money with three years left on his contract, but he's all about Adrian Peterson getting more money with three years left on his contract. Consistency, thy name isn't entirely "Peter King."

In the first two years of the deal, he made $12.55 million, including bonuses. In the last three years, he is slated to make $16.875 million, including bonuses but not including incentives. You might say that $5.6 million a year for a top-five NFL safety is too little, and I might agree … except that the contract, in 2013 dollars, was very much a market-value deal. Chancellor signed it. Seattle has had a practice of working on players’ contract with a year left, or when they reach free agency. Even if it means sacrificing Chancellor for the season (I don’t think that will happen, but it could), Schneider will do more damage with his roster by giving in than by holding firm.

But giving more money to a guy who missed the entire previous season due to suspension and is among the highest-paid players at his position in an effort to get back in this player's good graces and entice him to report to training camp? It's a brilliant idea.

4. I think this is one good reason why it’s harder to play quarterback in New York than in most markets: Geno Smith was booed at the Jets’ open (free) scrimmage at MetLife Stadium on Saturday night. I mean, booed on Aug. 8, in a practice. I’m all for fan freedom to do whatever the heck they want, but that is just stupid. Boo the guy when he stinks in a game. But in his first fortnight of training camp with a new offense? What is wrong with people?

Maybe they thought it was Josh Freeman, Peter. I'm sure booing Freeman is something you can get behind.

7. I think the best thing I heard about Jameis Winston in Tampa is this, from a smart guy in the Bucs’ offices: “Have you seen him in the papers one time since the draft? No.” In other words, he gets that the best thing for a rookie quarterback is to work on his craft and not be this year’s Johnny Manziel.

Wait, the Buccaneers are talking up their rookie quarterback who got compared to Manziel because of his off-the-field issues that he had during college, and in talking him up they are showing he is totally different from Manziel? I don't believe it.

I don't think working on his craft was ever the issue with Winston at Florida State. The issues that others had with him was what he did in the spare time he had when he wasn't working on his craft. So it is good news, but also I wouldn't expect the Buccaneers to say anything different.

10. I think these are my non-football thoughts of the week:

a. Smart column by the Philadelphia Inquirer’s Mike Sielski defending Chip Kelly, and with good reason.

I'm not sure why Peter writes "with good reason," other than he thinks the idea Chip Kelly is racist is ridiculous. It might very well be, but these are the times when I wish Peter had not quit running his "Chip Kelly Wisdom of the Week" section of MMQB where he hung on every word Kelly said as if it were coming from a deity. It would be a really funny section to read right now.

c. Bernie Miklasz’s last column for the St. Louis Post Dispatch on Sunday was in keeping with what Miklasz always does.

Shitty work? Mediocre writing but from a great guy? DON'T HOLD BACK WHAT YOU THINK, PETER! I CAN'T HANDLE THE DRAMA OF YOU WRITING A SENTENCE ONLY TO HOLD BACK ON WHAT YOU THINK!

Which is great work. 

Hey, it's the Cardinals Beat Writer's Way. Expect nothing less.

g. Donald Trump. Filterless.

There is a difference in being filterless and saying stupid shit all the time. Not having a filter involves saying things that you believe which may have some form of the truth behind them. I'm not sure Trump means what he says or is being truthful.

h. Eleven days on the road and counting. I have not turned the TV on in my room one time. It isn’t that I don’t like TV. I do. But there’s something about getting away from it for a while, immersing oneself in a new season and jumping into football full-go.

i. For those who wonder, I was traveling from Chicago to Anderson, Ind., during the Hall of Fame speeches. Watched them on YouTube when I got here.

These days, watching videos on a computer is pretty much the same thing as watching videos on a television. Same difference.

j. Coffeenerdness: You know, in desperate times, six shots of espresso in a grande macchiato is not so bad.

Jesus, it's not all the coffee that Peter drinks, but how much he spends on this coffee that blows my mind. Six shots of espresso? I get pissy when my wife buys some drink that costs $3.50 at Starbucks.

o. Bob Cousy, 87. That snuck up on us.

Yes, it did sneak up on "us." I have really been trying to pay attention to when Bob Cousy turned 87, then BAM, the next thing I know it happened.

The Adieu Haiku

On the road again
We've got the Lions today Bonjour, Haloti

Amazing. Every week Peter makes the Adieu Haiku more pointless, aimless and idiotic than the last week's haiku. I don't know how he does it. In a year or two, the Adieu Haiku will consist just of random words thrown together to form the correct number of syllables on each line.