he does his job at setting the edge vs the run. At least does better then McDonald, who at this point is strictly a pass rush specialist.
Went back and looked a couple more times after watching Allen flop some more tonight and I think you guys were right. BS call. Completely changes the trajectory of the game too. Underwhelming teams have no chance to win with calls like this especially when it’s not reciprocated.
There really was NO helmet to helmet contact with Josh Allen. Clemons got a raw deal. But I still await his departure in earnest regardless.
Josh Allen has received the most roughing the passer calls of any QB. He has received 12 the past 2 seasons leading the league. In the 2020 season he got 11 in one season also alone at the top
Mooge and AG fucked this position up. They managed to fix DT last min, but DE continues to be an issue from last year. The guy they traded up in the 5th for sucks, and they didn't bring anyone else, even though there some relatively cheap solid options, like Clowney. McD still can't play the run and is a specialist, while JJ predictably cannot be counted on for most plays all 17 games coming from serious injury. Young PS guys we had also didn't show out. So, yeah, as bad as Clemons is, I guess he is still a little better than all other pathetic PS scrubs we have. We basically still haven't recovered since the time JD gave away for nothing JFM and Huff.
The Ravens got a top 10 talent at DE in the 2nd round with Mike Green. Woulda preferred him to Jason Taylor’s kid
I wouldn’t say they fucked it up, they inherited two former 1st round picks at DE. We have empty cabinets in just about every other positional group. They can’t fix everything at once, and DE was probably the lowest concern.
This... I get it. They can't turn over the entire roster in one season. However, Clemons has been nothing but a penalty magnet since he got to the team. Not the 5yd variety either nor the calls from regular game play. He gets the egregious bonehead 15 yd. calls. I do agree that the Allen call was bullshit. But, again, the minute that Allen's toe crosses that white line...you do whatever you can to not even touch him. Because, if you do film study as @BrowningNagle pointed out, you'll see that Allen gets the calls. It's about preparation.
Clemons is notorious enough that he doesn’t get a benefit of the doubt. Just as we as fans know our players well, so do the refs. Allen is obviously gonna be protected more than others, just as Clemons is going to be flagged even if the call is questionable. But mainly the thing is Clemons isn’t very good to begin with, so he doesn’t offer anything to counter his destructiveness. He’ll be gone at the end of the year, but in the grand scheme of how bad things are on this team, he’s like problem number 247 out of all the problems we have.
My problem with it though is that it’s not hard to find mercenary defensive linemen every year on short term cheap deals. We haven’t tried to sign one that I can remember. https://www.spotrac.com/nfl/free-agents/_/year/2025/position/ed Matthew Judon, Omenihu, Derek Barnett, Joe Tryon, etc. Pennies on the dollar. Same thing with defensive tackle.
I mean, we could have just signed Clowney for 3-4 mil. You don't have to put in a permanent fix in one season, I get it, but how does signing a guy like Clowney for 3.5 mil (and there were other competent vets too) stop Mooge from addressing other things? I get the point about not addressing WR2. That's not amazing that we are barren past GW, but something that's not that easy to do and will require a large financial commitment or high picks or both. Though not ideal, I could see why they could not do that - to your all at once point. But getting a solid rotational vet or two at DE for a relatively small amount is not rocket science. Also would have been nice if they were able to get someone more competent than the Florida kid in the draft, but if they see the guy is not ready, then they should have gone after someone like Clowney, same way they got the DTs late in the offseason. Clowney was available as late as last week. That is a miss, no question about it. It may have been a BS penalty on Clemons with Allen flop, but the guy still sucks. I mean, we gave benefit of the doubt to AG and Mooge even though everyone felt DE was weak and it's clear they failed on this one. Very similar to Gipson and Stephens.
