Offtopic/fun » Angeles RamsQB Confidence Index: 2.5

Goalkeeper Hope Solo has been suspended six months from the national team for what U.S. Soccer called conduct that is counter to the organizations principles.After the United States was eliminated from the Rio Olympics earlier this month in a penalty shootout, the 35-year-old Solo criticized the winning Sweden team, calling it a bunch of cowards.?The comments by Hope Solo after the match against Sweden during the 2016 Olympics were unacceptable and do not meet the standard of conduct we require from our National Team players, U.S. Soccer president Sunil Gulati said in a statement Wednesday. Beyond the athletic arena, and beyond the results, the Olympics celebrate and represent the ideals of fair play and respect. We expect all of our representatives to honor those principles, with no exceptions.Taking into consideration the past incidents involving Hope, as well as the private conversations weve had requiring her to conduct herself in a manner befitting a U.S. National Team member, U.S. Soccer determined this is the appropriate disciplinary action.U.S. Soccer also terminated Solos contract when it handed down the suspension, which is effective immediately. She will be eligible to sign a new contract with the national team in February.Solo was previously suspended for 30 days early in 2015 for conduct related to an incident at the teams training camp.For 17 years, I dedicated my life to the U.S. Womens National Team and did the job of a pro athlete the only way I knew how -- with passion, tenacity, an unrelenting commitment to be the best goalkeeper in the world, not just for my country but to elevate the sport for the next generation of female athletes, Solo said in a statement. In those commitments, I have never wavered. And with so much more to give, I am saddened by the Federations decision to terminate my contract.I could not be the player I am without being the person I am, even when I havent made the best choices or said the right things. My entire career, I have only wanted the best for this team, for the players and the womens game, and I will continue to pursue these causes with the same unrelenting passion with which I play the game.Richard Nichols, the executive director of the USWNT Players Association, said the union will file an appeal on Solos behalf.?Given the cited conduct and alleged policy violation, we believe the proposed discipline to be excessive, unprecedented, disproportionate and a violation of Ms. Solos First Amendment rights, Nichols said. We also question whether this action would ever have been taken against a male player or coach, who, in the heated moments after a frustrating defeat, questioned the tactics of the opposing team. Needless to say, we will file an appeal on Ms. Solos behalf.The U.S. Olympic team?dominated possession against Sweden in the quarterfinal match in Rio and finished with 27 shots, but Sweden scored on a counterattack in regulation -- one of only two shots on goal it had in the game.?After playing to a 1-1 stalemate over 120 minutes, Sweden edged the U.S. 4-3 in the shootout.Solo didnt hold back in her comments afterward.?I thought that we played a courageous game, Solo said. I thought that we had many opportunities on goal. I think we showed a lot of heart. We came back from a goal down. Im very proud of this team.I also think we played a bunch of cowards. But, you know, the best team did not win today. I strongly, firmly believe that. I think you saw Americas heart. You saw us give everything that we had today. Unfortunately, the better team didnt win.Sweden coach Pia Sundhage, who had coached the U.S. team to gold medals during the Beijing and London Games, replied by saying: Its OK to be a coward if you win.Solo was a lightning rod during the Olympic tournament, irking fans in Brazil when she posted a photo of herself covered with mosquito netting and armed with insect repellent on social media. Fans booed her mercilessly and hollered Zika! each time she kicked downfield. Then she caused a stir with her cowards comment.Solo has made headlines throughout her career. She has vocally advocated for womens rights. Solo was among the U.S. players who filed a complaint with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission for wage discrimination, saying the mens national team players have been paid much more than many on the womens team, which for years has outperformed the U.S. men on the international stage.More recently, she has called for better conditions for players in the National Womens Soccer League.She has also been trying to avoid a trial on misdemeanor domestic violence charges after a 2014 incident at her sisters home, when the goalkeeper was accused of being intoxicated and assaulting her sister and then-17-year-old nephew. Solo said she was a victim in the altercation.Earlier this year, an appeals court in Washington state rejected Solos request to avoid trial.Solo currently is playing for the Seattle Reign of the NWSL. 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There are 32 NFL teams, but there arent 32 men walking the earth who can play this position and inspire total confidence in their coaches, their teammates and their fans.With that in mind, we take a quarter-mark look at our QB Confidence Index -- ranking the NFLs teams according to how much confidence each has in its overall quarterback situation. That includes the starter and the backup plan, so please remember that before sending your angry tweets.Here is how the QB Confidence Index looks through Week 4 of the 2016 season. Ive also included each teams preseason rating so you can see how things have changed.1. New England PatriotsQB Confidence Index: 9.9 | Previous rating: 9.6The preseason rating accounted for Tom Bradys absence, which is a thing of the past. In the meantime, they found out Jimmy Garoppolo can keep things humming if something happens to Brady. The Patriots are my clear No. 1 with Brady back from suspension and Garoppolo on the mend.2. Seattle SeahawksQB Confidence Index: 9.6 | Previous rating: 9.1Questions about Trevone Boykin as a backup have faded in importance as starter Russell Wilson has made it clear he cannot be defeated with conventional weapons. Wilson has played through ankle and knee sprains and should only get better as he heals.3. Green Bay PackersQB Confidence Index: 9.3 | Previous rating: 9.8The teensiest little wobble here, as Aaron Rodgers has played only three games but ranks a puzzling 25th in the league in yards per pass attempt. Hes still reliable -- seven touchdowns and only one interception -- but the vertical game is an issue for some reason, and thats cause for a dip.4. Pittsburgh SteelersQB Confidence Index: 9.1 | Previous rating: 9.1Nothing has changed here since the preseason. Ben Roethlisberger?is currently?tied for the league lead with 11 touchdown passes even though he had one game in which he didnt throw any. Hes exactly what the Steelers thought he was, though hes still (as always) a bit of a health risk.5. New Orleans SaintsQB Confidence Index: 9.1 | Previous rating: 8.5Im still worried about the backup situation if something happens to Drew Brees. But as with Wilson, theres no reason to think anything ever will. Brees has missed just three starts due to injury since 2004. No quarterback has to do more week-to-week to overcome a soul-crushing defense. He deserves a little boost after his first win.6. Atlanta FalconsQB Confidence Index: 8.9 | Previous rating: 8.1Matt Ryan is out of his mind right now, tied with Big Ben for that league-leading 11 touchdowns and more than 200 yards ahead of Brees for the top yardage mark. Ryans issue last year was red zone interceptions, and those are under control so far as he has the Falcons off to yet another hot start.7. Cincinnati BengalsQB Confidence Index: 8.4 | Previous rating: 8.3What? Confidence? In Andy Dalton? You betcha. Yes, I know he has only three touchdown passes so far, but this is an eye-test deal. Dalton looks just like he did last year minus red-zone buddy Tyler Eifert, wholl be back soon.8. San Diego ChargersQB Confidence Index: 8.2 | Previous rating: 8.2Philip Rivers has lost Keenan Allen, Antonio Gates and Danny Woodhead since the season began. Hes fifth in passer rating and seventh in QBR. He and Brees must call each other all the time to talk about the latest way their defense let a game get away.9. New York GiantsQB Confidence Index: 7.9 | Previous rating: 8.2The Giants have total confidence in Eli Mannings ability to answer the bell every week, just as the Chargers do with Rivers, the Falcons with Ryan, the Seahawks with Wilson, etc. But that late interception against Washington was an ugly reminder of what keeps Mannings confidence rating from jetting up into that top tier.10. Carolina PanthersQB Confidence Index: 7.8 | Previous rating: 9.3Cam Newton is the reigning MVP and would be a fine bet to rebound from a rough start ... if he wasnt also the official pi?ata of the National Football League. The Panthers faith in Newtons ability to last the season has to have waned over the past month. Hes now in concussion protocol, and Derek Anderson?showed why hes a backup with two late-game interceptions Sunday.11. Indianapolis ColtsQB Confidence Index: 7.8 | Previous rating: 7.8Literally nothing about the season Andrew Luck and the Colts are having is a surprise. His completion percentage is actually better than ever, even though he somehow has been sacked 15 times. If they could protect him, Luck would be an MVP candidate. But they cant, so here they sit.12. Oakland RaidersQB Confidence Index: 7.8 | Previous rating: 6.3Now, Derek Carr?... Heres a young man who has given his team reason for improved confidence. Fourth in passer rating, sixth in QBR, 68.0 completion rate with nine touchdowns and one interception: brilliant stuff, worthy of his teams confidence. And theyre returning the favor, as the Raiders monster offensive line has allowed only two sacks so far. Carr is set up to succeed.13. Arizona CardinalsQB Confidence Index: 7.6 | Previous rating: 8.6You cant lay all of Arizonas offensive struggles at the feet of Carson Palmer, but he didnt look like himself out there even before Sundays concussion. Drew Stanton could get a nice chance Thursday against the pillowy 49ers to show why the Cardinals should be confident in their backup.14. Baltimore RavensQB Confidence Index: 7.3 | Previous rating: 6.9Yeah, old Joe Flacco just keeps Flaccoing along, chucking it like crazy to a cast-off group of wide receivers. Mike Wallace one week, Steve Smith the next. Only Brees and Jameis Winston have put more balls in the air this year, but each has thrown more than twice as many touchdowns as Flacco. Whether Flaccos career ends next month or 10 years from now, everybody is going to say, Oh yeah. That guy.15. Detroit LionsQB Confidence Index: 6.4 | Previous rating: 6.4Were getting exactly what we expected out of Matthew Stafford, too. Some of these dudes just are who they are. Stafford is humming along at 300 yards a game, throwing it to Marvin Jones and Theo Riddick and not winning games. Hes squarely in the Least of Their Problems QB basket.16. Minnesota VikingsQB Confidence Index: 6.3 | Previous rating: 4.5Volatility has been the name of the Vikings QB game, with Teddy Bridgewater blowing out hhis knee right before the season, Sam Bradford coming over from Philly and Shaun Hill starting Week 1 because Bradford had just gotten there.dddddddddddd But not only is Bradford delivering the way theyd hoped, they won the season opener with Hill. The Vikings have confidence it will be OK once everything settles down.17. Philadelphia EaglesQB Confidence Index: 6.3 | Previous rating: 3.8On the preseason QB Confidence Index, some clown wrote, Carson Wentz almost certainly isnt ready for this, and the Eagles are clearly in rebuild, and theyd better be confident they wont wreck Wentz by playing him before hes ready. Who was that guy? Moron. Good thing hes not writing this column anymore. You guys are lucky I came along to clean things up. Wentzs three-game sample size is all kinds of promising, and Chase Daniel is still as good a backup as any in the league.18. Dallas CowboysQB Confidence Index: 6.3 | Previous rating: 2.7Dak Prescott was the 135th pick in this years draft, and in no universe did the Cowboys expect him to be ready to win three NFL games this season. But he has. And while the Tony-Romo-as-Wally-Pipp talk is exclusively external and has no support within the Cowboys building, Dallas is plum excited to have finally have a guy who can win games for them when Tony is hurt. Big confidence jump here.19. Chicago BearsQB Confidence Index: 6.1 | Previous rating: 7.8The preseason rating was too high; sorry about that. But it was based on the idea of Brian Hoyer as the leagues top backup, and Sundays win with Hoyer at the helm seemed to bear that out somewhat. Ill buy the idea of Hoyer keeping the job once Jay Cutler is healthy before Ill buy Prescott keeping his once Romo is back.20. Denver BroncosQB Confidence Index: 6.0 | Previous rating: 3.3Got to hand it to young Trevor Siemian. I thought he was a caretaker, placeholder, whatever, until he aired out the Bengals in Week 3 and showed why Denver had so much preseason confidence in him. Hes hurt now, but the 4-0 defending champs dont seem to care much whos taking the snaps, do they?21. Jacksonville JaguarsQB Confidence Index: 5.3 | Previous rating: 6.1The alarm bells arent sounding for Blake Bortles yet, but the plastic cover is open and the Jaguars thumb is hovering over the button. With six interceptions to go with seven touchdowns and a 1-3 record, Bortles doesnt seem to be taking the jump many expected of him in 2016, which could spell trouble for his coaches.22. Tampa Bay BuccaneersQB Confidence Index: 5.3 | Previous rating: 5.3Confident enough to allow Jameis Winston to throw a league-leading 177 passes so far, the Bucs cant draw much confidence from the fact that he completed only 103 of them, or that eight have been caught by opponents. Long term, the Bucs have confidence in Winston as their franchise quarterback. But hes young and he looks it.23. WashingtonQB Confidence Index: 5.1 | Previous rating: 5.1Had we done this update after two weeks, Kirk Cousins performance would have sunk his rating toward the bottom. But he has rebounded, which means his evaluation hasnt changed since the preseason: He does enough to give Washington hope, but not yet enough to give it confidence.24. Kansas City ChiefsQB Confidence Index: 5.1 | Previous rating: 5.1Alex Smith is actually playing about as well as can be expected. Which puts him right around this spot. Hes fourth in the league in pass attempts, has completed 64.9 percent of them and, like a few others on this list, isnt among his teams biggest problems. Hes just not going to elevate them very high.25. Buffalo BillsQB Confidence Index: 4.5 | Previous rating: 4.5We didnt think the Bills would ask Tyrod Taylor to do much, and they havent. Hes 24th in pass attempts, 25th in yards and tied for 20th in touchdown passes. If they really had confidence in him, hed throw more.26. Tennessee TitansQB Confidence Index: 4.4 | Previous rating: 4.4Growing-pains year so far for young Marcus Mariota, whos tied for 25th in completion percentage and dead last in Total QBR. He carries his teams long-term confidence but hasnt done much to make the Titans think he can win them games in the short term.27. Miami DolphinsQB Confidence Index: 4.2 | Previous rating: 5.1There are all kinds of excuses for Ryan Tannehill. His offensive line is a mess. His coach keeps benching all the running backs. Its like his 19th different offensive system in five years. At some point, though, this guy has to look like hes getting better. He doesnt.28. Houston TexansQB Confidence Index: 3.9 | Previous rating: 4.1Its possible the Texans will never be more confident in Brock Osweiler than they were the day they signed him to a four-year, $72 million contract. Most of us would be pleased to receive that level of confidence at some point in our lives, and Houstons 3-1 start buys Osweiler time to show them he deserved it.29. New York JetsQB Confidence Index: 3.1 | Previous rating: 3.9See??? the Jets front office is probably saying, to someone, even in their imagination. We TOLD you we would have been better off just direct-snapping it to Matt Forte and Bilal Powell and spending that money on new cars for every employee. At least then we dont have six-interception games. Ryan Fitzpatrick is, now and forever, Ryan Fitzpatrick.30. San Francisco 49ersQB Confidence Index: 2.8 | Previous rating: 3.6Its still Blaine Gabberts job, mainly because Colin Kaepernick?hasnt physically recovered enough from offseason surgeries to make the coaches believe he can play a whole game. In related news, Kaepernick isnt exactly Roger Staubach. Long year by the Bay.31. Los Angeles RamsQB Confidence Index: 2.5 | Previous rating: 1.9Yeah, well bump them up a little bit for going 3-1 with Case Keenum while the No. 1 overall pick sits on the bench. But this isnt a results ranking; its a confidence ranking. And the Rams lack of confidence in their quarterback situation is palpable during every tense Jeff Fisher news conference.32. Cleveland BrownsQB Confidence Index: 0.4 | Previous rating: 0.8Hue Jackson was confident he could make something of Robert Griffin III. Griffin didnt last one game. The only good news here is that each week brings the Browns closer to picking any quarterback they want in the 2017 draft class. ' ' '