NFL Network's Ian Rapoport cited sources as saying that the Texans "plan to continue this offseason and beyond with their current personnel structure" rather than hire a true GM. Coach Bill O'Brien has "final say, though he essentially works" with Exec VP/Team Development Jack Easterby. The team's "courtship" of Patriots Dir of Player Personnel Nick Caserio "fell through this past offseason." Currently, O'Brien and Easterby "run things, while the rest of the duties are divvied up." It is a "unique setup," but "one that has worked" for the Texans (NFL.com, 12/1).
FEE-FI-FO-FLOP: In Newark, Matt Lombardo notes no team "has won fewer games than the Giants (10)" since the start of '17. The Giants yesterday endured a 31-13 loss to the Packers on top of being overshadowed by the "raucous chants from the majority of fans who were clad in green and gold and filed into a half-empty" MetLife Stadium. Yesterday's loss was the eighth in a row. The "lion's share of blame for the futility of a once proud franchise" falls on the "head honcho," Giants President & CEO John Mara (Newark STAR-LEDGER, 12/2).
UNMET EXPECTATIONS: In L.A., LZ Granderson wrote the Chargers' and Rams' Super Bowl aspirations for this season have been "replaced with the hope of finishing above .500." MVP chants have "turned into 'what's wrong with...," and SoFi Stadium now "might be home to not one but two losing football teams when it opens in July." Granderson: "Winning was supposed to make the city forget it didn't want either of these teams." It can take "generations for the roots of a displaced franchise to take hold in a new home." Chargers Chair Dean Spanos and Rams Owner Stan Kroenke "bet that a fancy new multiplex and winning would speed up the process." In January, that theory "had a chance," but a season later, one sees that "microwaves are for popcorn, not loyalty" (L.A. TIMES, 12/1).
