JESSEFEFFER

Nice punt.

The football version of Major League. Fitz has the Tom Berenger part.

Do you believe in Fitzmagic?

Kicks toward the tunnel had lots of juice. In the warmups, Hauschka kicked a 51 yarder (much like the one he later missed) that cleared the crossbar about 3/4 up the length of the uprights. I think the Eagles kicker put one throught the uprights on a kickoff. Then Bojorquez punts in the other direction, which apparently would have been into the same wind, but no, he catches an updraft or an upperlevel crossflow with a spiral and the thing sails. It would make a nice project for some UB aerodynamic engineering student to map the air currents in that stadium and how they change with wind direction. If it's out of the northwest it's probably rather straitforward. If it's from the the southwest it gets pretty funky as air redirects around and over the upper deck on the Bills sideline, comes twisting in from both endzones, around that big scoreboard, and somewhat blocked by the M and T clubzone seats. I wonder how much the Bills know about those wind currents since they don't practice very often there. When you see certain kinds of debris lifted straight up and out of there like a rocket shot, it really is a cause for curiosity about what the players are dealing with.

Those were tough conditions to judge a passing game. Wendt played pretty well but didn't really have a stellar day either. Screens, some 3rd down runs that extended drives, one nice sideline throw to Jeffries which appeared to be an underthrow. I thought the key would be which offense would have the better run game when moving toward the scoreboard end. That seemed to pan out especially if you lump the screens into that category.

Very, very cool story. "For many are invited, but few are chosen."

I like math and I think what you need to do is eliminate the effect of a single bad, possibly tanked season. So the Colts who sucked for Luck in the 2012 draft had win totals in the 3 seasons prior to the draft of 14, 10 and 2. So use those win totals but weight them as follows: W1/6 + W2/3 + W3/2. Thus, their draft order win total would be 14/6 + 20/6 + 6/6 = 40/6 = 6.67. I think that the team that had the worst 3 year stretch is most deserving of the #1 pick, no one would tank for 3 years straight because that gets them fired and their fans really pissed, and it dampens the effect of a single, abherrant season (like Manning's injury.) There, problem solved.

Seems like that was around the 25. Just checked, I was way off. That play started at the 15 and was recovered at the 11.

Another caveat: One of the failed RZ possessions would have been when Barkley took over against the Patriots and they failed on a 4th and goal attempt. So, Josh is apparently 11 of 14 in legit RZ TD conversions. Quick math makes that almost 79%, to pick nits. As much as Josh has had TO issues in his short career, very few have come in RZ situations.

Or maybe that Johnny Manziel actually played and failed in both the NFL and CFL.

Ok. But, the guys in the league with with domestic violence incidents in their pasts would seem to say otherwise. Many like Duke's story and he has traveled a similar path. Oh and Jameis Winston.

If this is 100% true, then Jim should be able to do the same for Casey, Zac, Dylan and any of his other nephews that are currently playing college football. He may have got the Colts to give Chad an invite to their rookie camp back in May but Chad had to take it from there. So, that can't be the only reason. I suppose Jim got Andrew Luck to retire too.

If he didn't outplay Paxton Lynch and Philip Walker he'd be gone too. Jim may have gotten them to take a look at him and give him a chance but he had to do something with it. I am sure Jim has lots of other nephews that share his last name that will never sniff the NFL. Top 70ish is fair at this point. I mean he has never actually played and sucked in a real NFL game as many in the top 70 have so he does have some undefined potential that others lack. i think his athletic measureables are QB elite but we never got the combine type numbers. He is probably in the 4.6s/40 range and his arm strength is near the top of the top. He was throwing 70 yards as a 15 year old. St Joe's and EMCC were state and national champs. Missisippi was a Sugar Bowl champ for the first time in over 4 decades which seems to be a big deal to them. If circumstances ever allow him to have a stint as a starting Qb, I think he'll show really well. Surprising well to most people. The decision making thing is a fair point. His past is littered with punkish behavioral issues but they seem to be largely left behind. The Halloween Party is a largely untold story for some reason (something was being hushed up, imo) but there was no sign of forced entry at the home (the doors were supposedly locked so was he let in?) and did not display any malice toward the home owners or the arresting police. I'd say he has shown a history of being quick to anger and impulsive actions and a need for some professional counseling which I suspect the Colts may have insisted upon when they brought him in. Practices, meetings, film study, actual games are what I consider team situations. Von Miller's party is murky sideshow which involved many outsiders. He was probably no worse than a day 2 pick without the injuries although that is not worth debating as it's unknowable. Others with worse legal transgressions still went that high in recent drafts. My biggest beef is that every time someone posts something positive about Chad's situation, the same cast of characters feel the need to take their shots again and again.So I feel the need to defend his talent, admire his determination to keep working, enjoy his style of QB play when he sees the field and wish him as much success as he can manage to achieve. He may have learned something along the way.

This view is flawed in that it is totally devoid of any of the other reasons why he'd get more chances. He was not a pedestrian QB performer when on the field. He was a championship level performer. His last year at Ol' Miss ended with torn knee ligaments which also prevented him from playing in the Senior Bowl, plus a combine disinvitation and a then ruptured wrist tendon at his Pro Day workout. That is as disastrous runup to the NFL Draft as you might ever see and what ultimately rendered him the Mr. Irrelevant draft slot. So, Jim made some calls to his buddies and got them to take a look at Chad. Ultimately, he has performed very well in those team situations. He started at the bottom of their depth charts and showed he belonged on the field and in the QB rooms. He outperformed the competition. He earned his spots. This is not the case of the business owner's lazy, unqualified nephew getting a job in management over other more qualified employees. It just isn't. No joke.

I choose not to throw stones because we all have glass somewhere in our homes. Harsh takes that I do not share. His screwups are well documented but he has had great successes at St. Joes, EMCC and Ol' Miss and usually those kind of successes earn a player opportunities at the next level. He has managed to rehab two major knee injuries and one to his wrist. He has earned his way on to an NFL payroll twice via two strong NFL training camp performances where started at the bottom of the depth chart and worked his way up. Earning and deserving are two subjective words that do not fit in an absolute manner, imo. We all are entitled a chance to get as far as our talent and hard work can take us. In Chad''s case he has shown some QB traits that are upper echelon and a history of outworking his competition in ways that made observers take notice. Skeptical beat reporters for the Broncos and Colts were generally impressed by what he showed during the course of his two training camps and he managed to add energy to his teams in both circumstances. In many ways, Chad's situation is not that much different than Duke's. By the way, I doubt his family is that affluent if that is what was actually implied. His dad worked/works for Wegman's and mom is/was a school teacher. That seems pretty middle class to me. In the end you either believe in grace and the possibility for redemption or you don't, I suppose.

They are actually paying him above the ROSTER minimum to be on their PS. Something good may come of that for him just to be there. Culture thing and all. He just may yet have an NFL career worth having. Even if it's a mostly clipboard holder, that's a good job to have.

Bobby Hoying?

It's tough to lower a shoulder without lowering the helmet too. They are connected after all.

That fits the Mike Schopp never punt mantra.

Some of the analysis is lazy, imo. These analytics guys are starting to irritate me which is ironic because I am often accused of being too analytical. Of the four Titan missed kicks, 2 were from 50 and 53 (less than 50/50 to make both outdoors off a grass field) and 1 was blocked. The Bills had the ball to close the game on a 50 yard drive with the Titans needing the ball back to have any chance to tie. That is not directly tied to a loss. Missing a kick at the end of a game to win is a direct tie. The Jets missed kicks are no more flukey than 3 of the Bills' 4 turnovers in that game. The Bills way outperformed the Jets and the Titans, by big margins except on the scoreboard.

I consider myself something of a problem solver although the first attempt rarely works so............ The nearest Bills Backer Bar to Watertown is in Cape Vincent on the St. Lawrence River. It's called Aubrey's and it's less than 25 miles from Watertown. You could go there and possibly meet some new best friends. Oops, I was going to send you the link and it's listed as CLOSED PERMANENTLY so problem not solved.

There is usually a major portion of those who did so in a losing cause so I tend not to think so highly of that achievement.

If the hit were legal, I think Josh blasts through for 1st down yardage but............ there was a (some say bogus) holding call on the Bills that would have made it 3rd and 18? and they would have played from there with a punt. Josh is a handful with an extra down, a spread offense and a tired defense. I's have liked to see that ending.

Prior to the season start, Schatz was on WGR and was down the Bills because 1) statistically, good defense does not sustain itself itself one year to the next as well as offense and 2a) he did not see an NFL starting QB when he either saw Josh play (not likely) or 2b) looked at Josh's rookie analytics (more likely.) The latter was doubling down on the "parody of an NFL QB prospect" that came from FO prior to the draft. He did like the Bills D at that time and had some sympathy for the Bills fans, wishing us well but he did not see it in the numbers, regardless of schedule. I'd really like to know why DVOA for QBs is often so out-of-step with tQBR, as they are both products of Football Outsiders.

Years ago my brother told of a visit to Toys-R-Us he made with his son who was probably around 4 at the time. He was really into some type of toy at that time, maybe Beast Wars, and was doing his best lobbying effort. "But Dad, I NEEEED it!," he said. Funny how my nephew, who is almost a pediatrician now, knew at the age of 4 the difference between the words "want" and "need" and thought it could help his case. Need is a transactional word. We need "this" for "that." Give a mouse a cookie..........