https://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/article/nflpa-report-cards-patriots-ownership-among-leagues-worst-eagles-get-f-for-travel-and-other-top-5bottom-5-buzz-182428495.html
The NFLPA released its annual report card survey on Wednesday, and some of the league’s most successful teams and figures won’t like how they graded out in certain areas.
Several notable categories were featured, including team rankings overall, head coaches, team owners, team travel and locker rooms. Here’s a look at the top five and bottom five of those categories.
NFL team rankings
For the second straight year, the Miami Dolphins and Minnesota Vikings finished 1-2 in the overall team rankings.
The Dolphins got an A+ grade in a whopping eight of the 11 categories, including head coach, ownership, food/dining area, nutritionist/dietician, locker room weight room, strength coaches and team travel. Miami received an A grade in the other three categories, training room, training staff and treatment of families. Their worst ranking in any individual category was sixth overall in head coach.
The Vikings, meanwhile, received A+ grades in treatment of families, locker room, head coach and ownership. They received an A or A- in everything else except nutritionist/dietician, which was a B+.
Things weren’t so rosy for the Arizona Cardinals, who fell from 27th overall last year to last place this year. They earned an F- in locker room, an F in weight room, a D- in training room and food/dining area, and their only A grade was head coach Jonathan Gannon. They were 29th or worse in eight categories.
After finishing 29th last year, things have gotten worse overall in New England. The Patriots’ highest ranking was 18th in treatment of families, and they received two Fs for weight room and team travel. Their highest score was a B+ for head coach Jerod Mayo … whom they fired earlier this year.
As for Robert Kraft …
Ownership
New York Jets owner Woody Johnson was the only league owner to receive an F, with players saying he “does not contribute to a positive team culture.”
The Carolina Panthers’ David Tepper and Arizona Cardinals’ Michael Bidwill, meanwhile, scored poorly on all three criteria of perceived willingness to invest in facilities, contributing to a positive team culture, and committed to building a competitive team.
Kraft, who helped the Patriots win six Super Bowls and reach four more during his three decades as owner, is perhaps still the buzziest name in the dregs of this category. He ranked 28th out of 32 owners in terms of perceived willingness to invest in facilities, and 30th in both contributing to a positive team culture and commitment to building a competitive team.
His polar opposite is Miami Dolphins owner Stephen Ross, who ranked first out of all owners in all three criteria and finished as the league’s top owner for a second straight year. Arthur Blank of the Falcons, meanwhile, ranked second in contributing to a positive team culture and commitment to building a competitive team, and third in perceived willingness to invest in the facilities.
Minnesota’s Zygi Wilf finished third, ranking No. 2 overall in perceived willingness to invest in facilities and third in the other two criteria.
Head coach
The Commanders’ great vibes continue.
Dan Quinn is the league’s top-ranked head coach, with a full 100% of his players feeling he’s efficient with their time. They also ranked him first in the league in terms of being receptive to locker room feedback on the team’s needs.
Raheem Morris of the Falcons also had 100% of his players say he’s efficient with their time, and he ranked second in receptiveness to locker room feedback on team needs.
Both coaches represent marked departures from last season, when the Falcons’ Arthur Smith and Commanders’ Ron Rivera were two of the three worst-graded coaches in the NFL.
In this year’s basement we find the Cleveland Browns, Jacksonville Jaguars and Chicago Bears. Former Bears coach Matt Eberflus ranked bottom three in both criteria, while former Jaguars coach Doug Pederson was 31st and 32nd, respectively.
Both of them have been fired. The Browns, meanwhile, have kept Kevin Stefanski despite a mere 67% of players feeling he’s efficient with their time. He also ranked 30th in terms of receptiveness to locker room feedback. Stefanski has won Coach of the Year twice in his five seasons with the team, and has been saddled with Deshaun Watson drama the past three years, but none of that helped him escape some of the league’s worst grades for two years in a row now. (He ranked 28th last year.)
Team travel
The Philadelphia Eagles may be Super Bowl champions. But when it comes to team travel, their grade suggests they’re not the champions of anything.
The Eagles received an F, with only the New England Patriots and Buffalo Bills ranking worse. Only 43% of Eagles players believed they had a comfortable amount of personal space on team flights, ranking 30th in the league. Players also feel their team’s travel schedule is not very efficient, ranking 26th.
The Bills, who won their fifth straight AFC East title and advanced to their second AFC title game in five seasons, ranked 32nd in both criteria. As for the Patriots, the players “want an upgraded team plane” since the current one is “too small” with no Wi-Fi available, and “there are seats with ashtrays in the armrests.”
“Our plane is the worst thing – size, space, safety,” Patriots players said. “It is not conducive to preparedness for athletic performance.”
The same can’t be said for the Miami Dolphins, with 100% of players reporting they have a comfortable amount of personal space on team flights, and players also ranking their team’s travel schedule as the most efficient in the league.
The Las Vegas Raiders, Minnesota Vikings, Washington Commanders, New Orleans Saints and Denver Broncos all earned an A for their team travel.
Locker room
Last year, the Kansas City Chiefs graded out as the second-worst team overall and 28th in locker room quality.
Things didn’t get much better this year despite the dynasty rolling to a third straight Super Bowl and fifth in six years, where the Chiefs lost to the Philadelphia Eagles.
Kansas City stayed at 28th in terms of locker room quality with a D- grade, with only 63% of players (28th in the league) feeling they have enough room in their individual lockers, while 70% of the players feel the locker room size is adequate (26th).
The Chiefs’ training staff (28th), training room (29th) and weight room (30th) also ranked bottom five despite technically getting better letter grades. So team owner Clark Hunt (26th overall with a C- grade) still has a lot of work to do.
Four teams received an A+ in locker room quality, including the Vikings, Falcons, Bengals and Dolphins. Cincinnati’s locker room ranking was in stark contrast to its treatment of families, food/dining area and nutritionist/dietician, all of which ranked last in the league.
https://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/article/nflpa-report-cards-patriots-ownership-among-leagues-worst-eagles-get-f-for-travel-and-other-top-5bottom-5-buzz-182428495.html
