GaryPinC

At this point, the defense is what it is. Our MVP and offense will have to carry us through the superbowl, while the D hopefully does enough to keep us in it. Cole and Elam got good experience today, hopefully Milano is back quickly and can get back up to speed to help. The key is the D-line needs to play their butts off every playoff game and coaches need to stay creative with stunts and looks like they did today (at least first half). The biggest problem beyond the lack of talent is Babich/McDermott need to stay creative with it.

Even if he does, succeas of the Detroit offense will dictate our approach

You know the way Campbell coaches, Detroit will treat it as a playoff test and be ready to roll.

Well, I guess to me they looked at their highest percent success play and ignored the rest.

Yep, exactly how I look at it. QB RPO.🙂 The real problem being our coaches being stuck on analytics instead of paying attention to the reality on the field.

The other thing is Josh could have rolled and tried to scramble it in on any pass plays. I didn't notice the Rams spying him during the game.

His girlfriend's gotta be plssed. Leonardo De Belichick is diving into the co-ed pool!

He also almost had a pick six bit just couldn't corral it. Don't know if he plays against Detroit, but hopefully with Miami and 2 Patriot games they give him some opportunities to sharpen up in case he's needed in the playoffs.

I've been very happy with my 2019 Chevy Traverse. Biggest mid-size SUV in terms of overall space but the ride is really smooth and turning radius great. Gas mileage with highway easily in the mid 20s. Comfortable, good ergonomics on the controls without being overcomplicated. It's why Toyota came out with the Grand Highlander, to compete with it. Definitely hit a sweet spot for me with interior size but still maneuverability and fuel economy.

I was cutting him a break because of his analytics but he certainly could have. He could have faked the sneak/push and either bootlegged or hit a releasing TE on first down. It's just the lack of creativity.

In his pressor, McDermott felt we didn't run the ball enough. He went with the sneak because it was their most effective play statistically. It was apparent by the second quarter that we couldn't run on the Rams but pass protection was very good and importantly they didn't dedicate a spy for Allen. This was an open invitation for old Josh and we shouldn't have waited into the second half to unleash this. McDermott seems to have missed that. He decided to go with the sneak at the end knowing our Oline was ineffective the entire game on the ground. Ok, but why the hell didn't he lead with the tush push on first down instead of second? McDermott needs to stop hiding behind analytics and his system and be a more dynamic head coach. Sometimes you have to adapt to the realities of the moment.

Probably both. Definitely in the second half they had intermittently switched him and Bernard where Milano was lined up on the right side of the D which I never remember him doing before injury. Milano looked slow to read and react IMO, the game looked too fast for him mentally and also physically. Got fooled by the O misdirections and out of position or took bad angles. I'm voting rust and definitely want to get him up to speed for the playoffs but not at the complete expense of Williams. Cycle them, Milano may not return enough where we need Williams top of his game in the playoffs.

This is the middle east so I understand where you're coming from, but the fact remains. Al-Julani is saying the right things at least, so we'll see.

I'm ok with Beane picking up last day QB prospects to develop but now is not the right time to invest any significant draft capital in one. Our Superbowl window is wide open and first priority is finding difference makers and addressing roster weaknesses. Give it another 4 years or so before trying to target developing Josh's replacement.

Agree about the US role, it's really going to come down to how sincere HTS is building a legit, respectful, and tolerant government. Otherwise the country will descend into chaos with multiple countries trying to tip that balance in their favor. I expect the new government will work an agreement with Russia to allow their bases to remain in exchange for recognition.

Amazing how this is all seems a bit understated given all the other conflicts in the world, and no one has the political will to intervene. A lot of disparate Syrian factions working together for this. Sure seems like Assad will be out very soon. Let's hope there's a sincerity to balance all these groups after Assad is out or it'll truly get ugly.

Do people really pooh-pooh it? I know I deeply appreciate it given the 17+ years previous. If the grass we're eating now isn't growing us to our goal, do we keep munching happily or do we take a chance across the fence and trust our FO to get us to the right meadow, even if we have to go through a bad one or two? I don't want the greatest qb in our history to follow the Dan Marino path. At some point we may need to change our leadership and luck. McD is showing good improvement this year, let's hope he carries it through the playoffs. I already watched us lose 4 superbowls in a row with our star-studded defense getting taken to the woodshed for the first three. If only Levy had the guts to fire Walt Corey and bring in a new voice/system for that talent. I think any team does. That's where coaching to create favorable situations and having as many playmakers as you can out on the field comes in.

I fall in between groups 2 and 4 in that he has shown improvement with things like 4th downs and believes in continuous improvement but come the playoffs he has always seemed to be too content to stay one TD or a TD + FG ahead and go conservative (runs + prevent defense). He needs to realize that the playoffs require more mental flexibility to look for, exploit and continue to exploit any advantages. So, early in the season I was leaning to group 4. For question 1, yes his strategy vs KC to keep the ball out of Mahomes' hands at the end is new for him and has helped me to lean back to group 2, that he'll figure it out. I need to see how the season ends to fully commit to that group though. For question 2, it could impact my perception, it depends on how he coaches the game more than the win or loss. If he's coaching smart and dynamic, well that's what's important because sometimes luck and injuries just can't be beaten. One of the other things that gives me hope is the last few games he seems to finally be loosening up and that's huge to me too. I understand the value of his structure and rigid system but it doesn't always fit the game situation. He has to be willing to adapt. I deeply appreciate the amazing culture he has set up and want him to win SBs and be the man. OTOH, we have been stuck at a level and Josh's career is moving quickly by. At some point we may have to rely on his culture and find a different voice and perspective to get us to that next Superbowl level. But I hope to hell it's all McD!

My impression was that both teams just wanted to inflict a cloud of dust on each other. Michigan needed to. OSU had too much at stake and too many other options to play their game. They just wanted to have a slap fight. Yeah, I blame Day less for the playcalling and think having him take it over for now is a good idea too.

That's a fail. Got to get it right. UM rightfully fired their OC, I know they won, but one play action pass to a delayed tight end on that last goal line drive was a guaranteed touchdown. Instead he had to try and bludgeon the best goal line D in the country.

Hopefully after 4 years, Day will realize he needs to turn the offense over to someone else. I can imagine him being told that by the AD as a condition for staying, hopefully it happens that way.

The funny thing is none of her kids are from him! Just wait till he sees the condition she leaves his house in!

Yes, I agree that a change of 99% is going to have obvious and/or multiple causes. That does not make it garbage and no one can know that with certainty, especially in this case, as the CDC rigorously collects data on influenza, both direct and indirect. Multiple data collections strongly suggest the point I have been trying to make, a level of validity with these numbers. I did dig up some of the total tests/positives as below but this other data was more readily available: One set of data across all the years is hospitalizations per 100,000 population. 2019-2020: 66.2 2020-2021: 0.8 2021-2022: 22.6 2022-2023: 64.4 2023-2024: 83.1 In the 2021-2022 season CDC reports a COVID/Influenza co-infection rate of about 5%. It's hard to say how this translates to 2020-2021 because Covid was still a novel virus whereas in 2021-2022 it was becoming endemic but obviously the coinfection will hide numbers from 2020-2021. I didn't dig into the subsequent years. I also did find total tests/positives for most of the years with a caveat for 2021-2022: 2018/19: 1,226,548 15.5% 2019/20: 1,491,430 16.8% 2020/21: 1,480,295 0.8% ***2021/22: 2,850,954 4.5% *****pulled from a scientific paper which cited CDC pages for this data that no longer exist 2022/23: 4,023,390 8.9% 2023/24: 3,910,204 9.0% Certainly a procedural change as you suspected that mandates more influenza testing post-Covid

Don't discount the effects of smoking/drinking/hard living.

Good question, I have never argued the numbers are normal. They inarguably are not normal. I have argued with your opinion that they are garbage. For me as a scientist, they most certainly are not. There may be inaccuracies but there is also truth in those numbers. I understand you feel they are garbage because "procedure changed" and with federal support some hospitals may have utilized certain patients to maximize that. I have attempted to explain and support my arguments with evidence. You can provide very little evidence in return. Ok. An entire Flu strain vanished after Covid. A strain that was common enough to be included in the yearly vaccine. That is a BIG deal. It's far from normal and it's absence has been re-confirmed for years now. The CDC rigorously studies subtype prevalence and structures next year's vaccine around them. It can't be explained by procedural changes or anything that has formed your opinion. It alone confirms that influenza took a big hit during Covid. It alone disproves your opinion the numbers are "garbage" as their must be truth behind them. How much remains to be seen but it is undeniable influenza prevalence was reduced during Covid and not simply hidden behind it. Couple that with the reduction of deaths and positive tests and there's a complex truth there. Unfortunately complex truths can take years to understand. Most certainly smart people are currently working to understand it. But your last response to me: "The numbers are garbage, regardless of what anyone says, but why are they garbage? If they are garbage because the procedure changed caused it I will accept that," So that's it? Your truth is the only truth regardless of actual evidence? People smarter than you and I specializing in this science must say your truth or you will reject it? I offer to you that if you would open your mind to other truths in a bigger picture, you wouldn't worry about being perceived as a jerk. I don't know you but I believe every person is capable of being open minded so that's also part of this discussion, if not for you then for others on this board. It's good to respectfully discuss, and I appreciate that you've been respectful in this. It's good to consider other possible truths.