After decades without professional football on their home turf, the citizens of Los Angeles look to have added a second team in as many years.
Indeed, reports surfaced late Wednesday evening that the Chargers were leaving San Diego after a 55-year stay for Los Angeles. It is a move that certainly comes with a considerable amount of risk, even with an up-front guarantee of millions. Why?
Well for starters, the Rams have a year head start on the Chargers in the race for ownership of the market. So because the NFL accepted Stan Kroenke’s pitch last winter over Dean Spanos’ plan to move the Chargers to Carson, Calif., the Chargers – who join the Rams as the second team playing in Kroenke’s Inglewood sports and entertainment complex – are playing catch-up from the get-go.
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Not only are the Chargers set to battle the Rams for fans attention, they’ll be doing it in a market where television ratings were down after the Rams’ return in 2016. And while the Rams had the second highest total attendance, they were one of five teams that filled less than 90 percent of their stadium.
And soon, they will be competing for employees too. In fact, that head-to-head can begin immediately, as both teams are searching for new head coaches. And since both teams will be trying to stay competitive in the near future (in order to secure a fan base), it’s conceivable that both teams will be in the market for the same free agents, as well.
The Chargers-Rams dynamic will be an interesting to watch in the coming years, as the two build a relationship together as cohabitants and competitors.
If Watson ends up on the Bears, surely he would have a supporter in Jerry Butler, who serves as the team’s director of engagement. Butler played wide receiver for the Clemson Tigers and was drafted by the Buffalo Bills in 1979. Larry Mayer has a story of Butler’s celebration of Clemson’s title at the Bears website.
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The Bears could use some help in the defensive secondary. Check out this stat nugget from The Athletic’s Dan Durkin:
QBs completed 87% of passes with a passer efficiency rating of 125.1 when targeting Harold Jones-Quartey. 74% and 127.9 for Amos. #Bears
As of noon Wednesday, 16,000 people signed a petition to ban FOX play-by-play voice Joe Buck and Hall of Fame Cowboys quarterback Troy Aikman from calling Green Bay games. Don’t expect FOX to act on the airing of grievances from Packers fans hoping to oust the network’s football A-Team. But it was worth a shot, I suppose.
In some good news from the Packers-Cowboys front, Ezekiel Elliot turned out to be uninjured after a minor traffic accident. He seems to have shaken it off like a would-be tackler, saying: “I’m fine, I’m healthy, I’m good, it’s like nothing happened. My car is messed. That’s about it.”
With Rex Ryan out of the picture, the Buffalo Bills hired Sean McDermott as their new head coach. McDermott, you might recall, served as the defensive coordinator of the Carolina Panthers under head coach Ron Rivera for the past six seasons. Buffalo’s defense never took off under the Rex and Rob Ryan regime, so the hiring of McDermott suggests they’ll try to re-work a defense that ranked 16th in scoring defense.
Luis C. Medina, who you can find on Twitter at lcm1986, has been covering the Chicago Bears at Bleacher Nation since 2017. Since then, he has written about 3 head coaches, 5 play-callers, and 11 starting quarterbacks. Previously, Luis wrote about the Cubs and MLB at BN (2015-16) and worked in the Chicago Tribune sports department (2011-16). He also co-hosted a Cubs postgame show, Outside the Ivy, in 2019.
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NEWSLETTER
After decades without professional football on their home turf, the citizens of Los Angeles look to have added a second team in as many years.
