The Miami Dolphins have a great offense. Their defense could be as good. Maybe better.
Veteran defensive end Emmanuel Ogbah recently declared that there’s basically no limit to what Miami’s defense can be.
“I’ll say we can be as good as we want to be ,” Ogbah told Aaron Wilson of KPRC2, via NFL.com. “I’m excited about this defense. We’ve got [defensive coordinator] Vic [Fangio] coaching us up. I can’t wait. It’s been a long time coming. This year, I feel like this is the year. We can be as good as we want to be. I’m ready to go out there and dominate.”
It will take dominance to emerge as the champion of the AFC East, arguably the best top-to-bottom division in football.
“Our division is tough now,” Ogbah said. “But we’re excited, we love the competition. We’re ready to go. We don’t look at nobody [else]. We compete against ourself.”
One key factor for everyone involved — Ogbah included — is the ability to play.
“It’s all about health,” he said. “This game’s all about being healthy. I’m excited. I’ve been doing the right things with my body, taking care of my body, just making sure I’m ready and fit to last the whole season.”
Injuries limited Ogbah to only nine regular-season appearances in 2022. The prior year, he appeared in all 17 games, matching a career-high 9.0 sacks.
Beyond Ogbah, the Dolphins have Bradley Chubb, Christian Wilkins, and Jaelan Phillips on the defensive line. Jalen Ramsey has joined a secondary that already featured Xavien Howard and Jevon Holland. With Fangio drawing up and calling the plays, they could indeed be a great defense.
Again, given the difficulty of the schedule for all AFC East teams (in addition to playing each other twice, they all play the Chiefs, Chargers, Eagles, Cowboys, and Giants), it could be that only one team makes it to the postseason — even though any of them could be good enough to climb the playoff tree to the Super Bowl.
Last month, receiver DeAndre Hopkins visited the Titans and Patriots. Since then, he has played the waiting game.
Via Mike Reiss of ESPN.com, Hopkins is waiting for another team to enter the mix . If that happens, his value could increase.
Obviously, this implies that neither the Titans nor the Patriots have made him an offer he can’t/won’t refuse. Per Reiss, both teams have indeed made offers — and the Titans have been “more aggressive to this point.”
It’s unclear whether another team will emerge before camp opens. Hopkins could choose to wait until a veteran currently on a team gets injured or displays ineffectiveness, creating on-the-fly interest in his services. If, as many believe, Hopkins isn’t a fan of practice, waiting until the season approaches to sign could be enticing to him.
Still, at some point, he needs to get ready to make an impact right away, especially since his eventual contract will include incentives based on playing time and/or production.
Reiss also notes that, if it ultimately comes down to the Patriots or the Titans, Hopkins could ask himself which one gives him a better chance to reach his incentives and max out his earnings. His experience with Patriots offensive coordinator Bill O’Brien could be a plus in that regard.
Patriots coach Bill Belichick is closing in on the all-time record for regular-season and total wins in NFL history. Before he gets there, he might set a couple of other records.
Belichick, as noted by John Breech of CBSSports.com, is actually closer to the all-time record for losses than for wins .
He’s currently fifth on the list of regular-season and total defeats, with 152 and 165, respectively. The record for regular-season losses is shared by Dan Reeves and Jeff Fisher, with 165. Tom Landry has the most total losses, with 178.
Belichick sits only 13 losses away from both marks. He needs, conversely, 30 regular-season wins and 18 total wins to pass Don Shula’s records of 328 and 347.
The problem for Belichick comes from the recent trend, following the departure of Tom Brady after the 2019 season. His teams have gone 7-9 in 2020, 10-7 (0-1 in the playoffs) in 2021, and 8-9 in 2022. That’s a three year mark of 25-25 in the regular season, with a 26th loss in the postseason.
While the records for both wins and losses would be a testament to his longevity, he quite possibly will earn the more notorious record before he secures the more coveted one.
The bigger question is whether he’ll have the chance to catch Shula’s records for wins (or the records for losses) with the Patriots. In March, owner Robert Kraft was specifically asked whether Belichick can survive another season without a playoff berth, or whether he’ll stay until he catches Shula. Kraft’s ominous response suggested that he’s less concerned about records than he is about the team succeeding.
If the Patriots go, for example, 8-9 and miss the playoffs again, will Belichick be back with the Patriots? And if he has to start over elsewhere, can he win enough with a new team to avoid what would be just four more losses to catch and five more to pass the all-time records for regular-season and total losses?
These are all fair questions to ask as the Patriots settle into their status as a middle-of-the-pack team, with perhaps a total roster on paper that will make it hard to finish ahead of the Bills, Dolphins, or Jets in the AFC East.
Given the schedule this year, which beyond six games in the division features contests against the Chiefs, Eagles, Cowboys, Giants, and Chargers, it could be hard to avoid finishing in last place for the first time since 2000. Which could make it difficult for Belichick to make it to 2024 in New England.
The recent New York Times article regarding the latter days — and financial cost — of Tom Brady’s failed relationship with FTX includes a little news about his other crypto-style venture, Autograph.
Per the Times, Autograph “has also struggled.”
Revenues “sank” last year due to the collapse of the crypto market, causing the focus of the company to shift away from marketing crypto tokens and to “helping celebrities find ways to foster loyalty with their fans.” The company’s marketing efforts have dumped some crypto-relevant language, such as “NFT.”
Likewise, Autograph has laid off more than 50 employees.
Brady has attempted to turn his football fame into different types of revenue. It’s unclear how well the efforts are going. FTX was an embarrassing disaster that has left him facing significant civil liability. Autograph is retooling on the fly. The grand vision to make TB12 facilities as commonplace as the Golden Arches has never come close to reality. And who knows how many people are buying Brady-brand underwear or whatever else he’s selling?
Look, there’s no dispute that Brady has won the game of life in a blowout. But his non-football ventures haven’t come close to touching his on-field success. It remains to be seen whether he ever stumbles across something that will.
Tom Brady had well-documented distractions during his final year with the Buccaneers (and, presumably, his final year in football). More details are emerging about one of them — the collapse of crypto trading platform FTX.
Per the New York Times, Brady made an “urgent phone call ” during last November’s collapse to FTX executive Sina Nader, the head of the company’s partnerships. Nader, who was in the middle of a crisis meeting with FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried, didn’t take the call.
“I never would’ve expected to decline a call from Tom Brady,” Nader told the Times.
FTX had paid Brady $30 million, most in stock, to endorse the company. His ex-wife, Gisele Bundchen, had received $18 million in FTX stock. After the company collapsed, the stock became worthless.
Per the report, Brady and Bundchen would have paid taxes on at least some of the stock.
Brady and Bundchen also have been sued by FTX customers who lost money due to alleged fraudcommitted by the company.
They both have a lot more money than $48 million. But, still, $48 million is $48 million. The fact that the collapse of FTX happened in November 2022, not long after Brady and Bundchen divorced, expands the major distractions that he was dealing with last season.