My least favorite football coaches are dull, unimaginative. ultra-conservative bores. In other words, guys like Cleveland’s Mike Pettine.
There are reasons why Pettine is a goner when the NFL regular season closes in three weeks.
It’s not just the Browns losing 15 of their last 18 games. Pettine just isn’t very sharp.
The Browns are the biggest underdogs on this week’s NFL card at plus 14 1/2 against the Seahawks in Seattle. You might want to add another point to that that line after what Pettine said about Russell Wilson when asked if he thought Wilson was a top 10 quarterback.
Pettine said he wouldn’t put Wilson in the elite level. That’s true, but where Pettine got in trouble was when he said, “… He (Wilson) is very productive and they (the Seahawks) win. A lot of that I think is a function, too, of him being the perfect quarterback for what they do. To me, it goes both ways. They have also built it around him … ”
The “built it around him” is where Pettine is off base. Just what have the Seahawks built around Wilson besides a very good defense?
The Seahawks have a below average offensive line, whose sacks allowed number would be off the charts if not for Wilson’s great mobility. They don’t have injured Jimmy Graham nor Marshawn Lynch and they also lack a prototype No. 1 wide receiver. It’s a very lackluster supporting case.
Yet no quarterback has been hotter than Wilson during the last four games. He’s thrown 16 touchdown passes with no interceptions.