thebandit27

THE Greatest Float like a butterfly; sting like a bee

For me, this was Tyrod's best throw of the season: https://mobile.twitter.com/NFL/status/673582194539945984?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw Followed closely by the TD pass to Karlos Williams in the first Jets game--simply because of the anticipation and ball placement

No question that Richie acted like a jerk, and earned a reputation that made it easy to assume he really did bully Martin. Reading those texts though, there's no doubt in my mind that Martin was simply making Richie out to be the scapegoat when he couldn't hack it in the NFL. Richie was a buffoon, but he got railroaded much worse than he should've been IMO

The point is that he played well against the run, but not agains the pass. He had issues in coverage (specifically against Jax/Phi/Was/NYJ) and didn't make enough tackles when the ball got into the hands of opposing players on short targets (which is actually what Rex wants--to force the ball out quickly and make tackles short of the 1st down marker).

Every team does this; it's not unique to Rex and it's not new. Have a look at the clip below, where you'll see the defending NFC Champs dropping their best DLman--a 320-lb NT--into coverage in the NFC title game (1:38 mark): http://www.nfl.com/videos/nfl-top100-2016/0ap3000000666117/Top-100-Players-of-2016-No-58-Kawann-Short

I'd disagree when it comes to the LBs, as I think Ragland will be an upgrade to Bradham solely based upon his familiarity with a similar scheme, and I think that Zach Brown is easily a better coverage 'backer than anyone they had last year. Safety-wise, you have to hope that Aaron returning I health and both he and Graham having another offseason in the system will breed better communication and assignment recognition

Graham did a nice job in run support, but the fact remains that the interior of the back-7 was atrocious against the pass. For all the heat the DL took last year, they largely did what was asked of them: control the LOS. The boundary corner play was excellent while Gilmore was healthy, and good thereafter. The safeties and LBs simply couldn't cover their zones and make the underneath tackles, which are foundational tenets of Rex's scheme

Why? Most of the football world was calling Julio Jones elite after his sophomore season, and at that point he had missed the same number of games as Sammy and put up similar numbers; he then went out in year 3 and missed 11 games. We know for a fact that he's elite, don't we? Antonio Brown didn't come close to Sammy's numbers in a year 1 that saw him miss 7 games, had a solid-but-unspectacular season in year 2, and a down year in a year 3 that saw him miss 3 more games. We know for a fact that he's elite, don't we? Dez Bryant missed 5 games over his first 2 seasons, and never had numbers that approached Sammy's rookie numbers (let alone what he did last year). We know for a fact that he's elite, don't we? Sorry, I'm not trying to sound adversarial. My point is that he doesn't have to stay healthy for 16 games to show what he is; he was very clearly the focal point of the team's passing game last season, and defensive coordinators were very clearly game-planning for him, yet he still produced at an historic rate over the final 9 games (i.e. once they started throwing him the ball on a somewhat consistent basis). All he has to do is continue to produce the way he has when given opportunities, and everything else will work itself out.

I certainly am not taking it as being argumentative, and I appreciate you looking it up, as I don't have my books with me at the moment. I guess I took for granted that the "burns were healing" was a references to the hands. Either way, I think you're right that the indication is clear regarding her being able to burn.

He played with it last year. C'mon

I get it, so we should just look at box scores and make our determination based on those? Nice analysis. How about we look at yards/target, or maybe try to give some context to the discussion before you go espousing the merits of guys like Jarvis Landry, who catches a bevy of 4-yard passes and gets pro bowl votes because he piles up useless numbers (a real robust 10.5 yards/reception and 4 TDs in 16 games with a mere 3 catches of 40 yards or more; those are Charles Clay numbers on about 100 more targets in 3 more games for the uninitiated). Meanwhile, Sammy gets 70 fewer targets on the season, and piles up more than twice as many TDs, a 70% higher yards/reception, and more than twice as many catches of over 40 yards in 3 fewer games. What we have here is a post that reeks of pulling up a stat sheet and firing off an opinion haphazardly (at least I hope that's the case, because if you really considered what you wrote and still hit the "post" button, well, I'm worried). As I said before, once the team made it a priority to get Sammy more targets, he out-produced every WR in the NFL not named Antonio Brown. The numbers are clear: http://nysportsbiz.com/2016/01/04/sammy-watkins-arguably-nfls-top-wr-2nd-half-season/ Feel free to look, consider, think, and then respond. A quick response attempting to marginalize it would be tantamount to admitting ignorance. EDIT: and here's an article about just how insane Sammy's performance was over the final 8 games of 2015... http://www.footballperspective.com/guest-post-adam-harstad-on-sammy-watkins/

Wait, so characterizing Sammy as being one injury from being a bust is rational, but calling starters starters is hyperbole? This is no longer a reasonable discussion. I'll rethink my position as soon as you're willing to acknowledge rational points, even if they conflict with your own. Until then, I see no reason to carry on with this while you ascribe points to me that I never made (such as "everyone will work out" and "Ragland is a pro bowler") and make BS generalizations (as though I'm anpollyanna--Folks with even half a clue about me know better). Drop the extreme statements, straw-man arguments, and general attack-based numbskullery and I'll reengage.

Martin has strongly implied that she was able to escape unscathed because of the special circumstances, be it from the burning of the dragon eggs, the vision beforehand, or the sacrificing of Mirri Maz Duur to the flames

It's actually mentioned in a later chapter I think; her POV talks about her palms being pink/tender and puss leaking from them.

Indeed...the versatility of guys like Samson and Girgs are huge assets in their pursuit of Stamkos. If he wants to play center, great, we've got veteran wingers like Ennis and Gionta to offer. If he's content to play wing, well, you can't offer much better than a stud like Eichel.

Probably when he kicked Revis' arse all over the field-turf in Week 17

Indeed--hence my irritation at her being "immune" to fire in the show. She's not; the Others are though...

Yes, we want Stamkos. If he wants to play center, then you move Reinhart to wing. Keep ROR and Kane together on the top line, fill in with Gionta or (my preference) a younger guy like Bailey. Have Stamkos center your "2nd" line and flank him with Ennis and a big-body like Foligno or Fasching to work the corners. Pair Reinhart with Eichel and give them Girgensons as the other winger. Let Larsson center the 4th line with Bailey/Gionta and Foligno/Fasching. Then again, if you can't get Stamkos, you can always sign a goal-scorer like Okposo and pair him with Eichel, moving Reinhart to center the "2nd" line

The problem I have is that you're using hyperbole to make your point. Watkins is not one significant injury away from being a bust, unless that's also true of every other player in the league. The guy has missed 3 games in two seasons. I also saw you mention that he's not even the best WR from his class; that's debatable actually. It's not a coincidence that once he started to receive similar targets to Beckham, he started out-producing him (seriously--check the final 8 games of 2015). It's also not prudent to ignore Whaley's use of the 8th pick in the 2013 draft. it's fine to blast the Manuel pick, but let's remember that the 8th pick in the draft was used to acquire the 16th and 45th picks, which turned into EJ and Kiko Alonso, which turned into EJ and LeSean McCoy. Yes, that matters when evaluating the use of draft picks. As far as Shaq goes, you've been consistent in over-stating the injury. It's a 5-6 month recovery time before he'll be back to 100%. With surgery in late April, that puts him at 100% around mid-October; they won't be lucky to have him on the field. The plan is to have him for the final 10-11 games. By all accounts, Shaq was a top-tier draft prospect, and it would be foolish to pass on a guy that they feel will be a long-term defensive stud simply because he might miss time as a rookie. If we're to analyze Whaley's first-round performance from 2013, here's the run-down of how his first-round picks were invested: 2013 - 8th overall used to acquire 16th overall and 45th overall, which eventually turned into EJ Manuel and LeSean McCoy 2014 - 9th overall plus 19th overall in 2015 plus 4th round pick used to acquire Sammy Watkins 2015 - see above 2016 - Shaq Lawson So in the 4 drafts that this discussion attributes to Whaley, he's acquired EJ (a pick with which I had zero problem even if it didn't work out)--a definite bust, our two best offensive players, and Shaq Lawson. In the very least, that's "ok", though I'd say it's "good". However, the draft goes well beyond the 1st round. Since 2013, it's been a mixed bag for Whaley, just like it has been for Ozzie Newsome, Kevin Colbert, and several other high-end GMs. John Schnedier, who was lauded as the architect of Seattle's superbowl team, hasn't drafted a starter with any pick since 2012. Drafts are always a mixed bag. Whaley's been right around the average of drafting 2-3 starters per year. Since 2013, the guys that he's drafted that are current starters are: Woods Watkins Brown Henderson (assuming he's healthy) Darby Miller Understand, however, that personnel acquisition goes beyond the drat too. The current crop of starters from Whaley's FA acquisitions and trades includes: Taylor McCoy Incognito Clay Hughes Ragland (assuming he starts) Bryant/Washington Graham I think it's a reach to say how bad he's been.

All-pro teams are voted on by sports writers too--it's only more prestigious because it's one vote and there aren't any injury replacements. The subject of the article was the pro bowl, and I was responding to the lunacy of Landry and Cooper making over Watkins.

And he got absolutely hosed last year. Amari Cooper and Jarvis Landry in the pro bowl ahead of Watkins? That's a joke. Cooper's numbers weren't as good as Sammy's despite playing 2 more games, and Landry barely eclipsed 10 yards per catch and had a total of 4 TDs.

One day, when my kids aren't terrified of dogs, I'm going to get one for this exact reason.

He's on my final 53 right now... John Wawrow ‏@john_wawrow 9s9 seconds ago Orchard Park, NY Second time I've been impressed with #Bills DE Jerel Worthy.

I've seen this happen too many times...it's the very reason that I approach a neurotic level about keeping an eye on my kids in public. Don't get me wrong, I'm more than willing to let them run/jump/explore and expose themselves to moderate hazards; how else are they supposed to learn to be responsible for their bodies? However, I maintain that I need to have a line of sight with them, because after all, they're three, and asking them to be rational, thinking humans all the time is too much at this age.

It was sorta like a pig, only much more man-bear-like I'm not so sure it's about Loras as much as it is about power. I think Marjorie sees the balance of power shifting over to the Sparrow, and is doing what she does: playing her game in order to align herself with whomever has the power. Saving Loras would be a benefit, but her connection to him isn't as important as showing that the Tyrells are not a house that can be lorded over. I don't think she'll make her move on the Sparrow now...I think she'll stand down temporarily to allow the Sparrows to put Cersei on trial, hoping they eliminate her. With Cersei out of the way (as Jaime is already out of the way), she has only to compete with the Sparrow for Tommen's loyalty. That's when she'll make her move...assuming all goes as planned.