Hapless Bills Fan

I'd settle for less "go to war for" and more "blocking for". As some player said on Twitter during the AFCCG, "they aren't even trying to block for 17". All well and good that Feliciano mixed in when JA threw the ball at the guy's helmet, but far better to block him and keep him from getting home in the first place. We'll hope Mongo was still injured and suffering from cumulative dings and dangs, and we'll see a stronger OLman this year.

Once a young guy gets sufficiently oiled, whatever decisions (good or bad) he made in a sober state go fluttering off like evening swallows seeking a roost. Has been that way, will be that way. "Pre-gaming" being a Big Thing with the 20 year old set these days, when asked "was Haskins already too drunk to think when he headed out for the evening?" the Magic 8 Ball says "almost certainly so". That's likely to be the root cause bad decision - getting real drunk without having a backup plan to hand his decision making off to someone who remained capable.

Chargers were very respectable last year, overall - good pass protection, middle of the league (18th) for rush yards, but poor for YPA. Austin Ekelar got pretty good YPA when not on IR so I gotta think RB talent had some factor. I expect that bringing in a new run game coordinator/OL coach in former Raiders TE coach Frank Smith, meant they probably wanted to re-work their line a bit. At least, that seems to be what usually happens with a new OL coach. At least, they got their LT, C, and RT locked down with big cap hits, so G is the place the coach can "flex" Well - make no mistake, the OL (and sometimes the TE) had a lot to do with run plays getting blown up in the backfield. But there's probably a reason Moss was 2nd and Singletary 9th. Patience and vision are all very well, but when there's a hole, you got to HIT IT with conviction, and sometimes Singletary danced around (or ran right into a guy). And of course, sometimes the poor guy got hammered through no fault of his own.

Fair point about them being low since the Spring. And maybe there is a reason why Rivera brought in an expert immunologist to talk to the guys during OTAs. Maybe he knew he had extra resistance to overcome. I wonder if, being a new coach last year with covid restrictions and perhaps even player interaction due to his cancer treatment, Rivera is struggling to build his culture? I suspect there was a very calculated reason why Beane issued his public statement about cutting a non-vaccinated player if they needed to and it went along the same lines as Bruce Arians being asked if he planned to bring in a specialist to talk to the team like WFT did:

Good thing you musta missed Diggs earlier Instagrams where he was Bungie-jumping then went Sky diving..... I think these guys are all amazing athletes with elite body control, but I do know a bit what you mean. When the video of the guys training together came out, there was one clip of (I think) McKenzie doing a back flip....immediately followed by John Brown doing a DOUBLE back flip. These were onto astroturf or grass, not matting or water.... ....part of me was like "OUTSTANDING!" and part of me was like "NooooOOOOOoooooo!!!!!"

I put a photo of him blocking upthread just for @Sherlock Holmes and @GunnerBill Doesn't look like any bowling ball I ever saw but YMMV

I see your point, I think

Postponed, and last I heard the Yankees had not disclosed how many of the 6 players were unvaccinated.

Well, for one thing, as the OP notes, the numbers are changing daily at this point, and with the players "out of the office" as it were, the numbers the teams provide to the NFL may not reflect reality. For example, the teams that are logged right now significantly lower in vaccination rate, may just have a guy who is less proactive in charge of collecting the data and providing it to the NFL (or maybe he went on vacation for 2 weeks and didn't transfer responsibility to someone else). For another thing, I think the NFL is already walking a pretty fine line around protecting private medical information that the employer has a legit right to know (but the rest of the world does not) If it stays that way, it would be interesting to know the difference but at this point I don't think we can exclude the explanation of "ratty data". And to CSBill, I don't think the NFL revealed any? but a source leaked it? Pretty sure that when training camps start up and everyone is in the facility, the quality of the data will be more uniform, the numbers will level off, and Vegas will get the info on all teams by hook or crook.

That's what they've said. But I don't think the NFL's covid protocols have adjusted to the reality of Life with Delta yet, and I'll stop right there. I'll just note (as has been said before) that I live in Missouri and have relatives in SW MO. Google.

I think the NFL and NFLPA both provided standard materials. I guess the details around the presentation and how the coaches/player leaders handle it make a diff. 🤷‍♂️

Thought the Yankees refused (as they should) to speak on how many of the affected players were vaccinated (but said at least one was not)

Float trip with my sis-in-law and she was kinda testy. She went to hang one end of a clothesline on a tree I told her "don't put it on that tree!" She gave me a look "don't tell me what to do!" I said "OK, Go ahead and use the tree covered with poison ivy, then!"

"noothanks" has become known as Diggs "burner" Instagram. Look at the comments: full video of Diggs backflip: https://www.instagram.com/p/CRaMdTCDwl9/ Josh Allen, as outed by Kyle Allen and Jorden Palmer, is apparently for-reals afraid of sharks

Now, now. Harsh critics may make the point that Roethlisburger was a bit of a "clown act" in his playoff game last season, but Heinz Field will never be a Children's Hospital. Though who knows what those Yinzers might get up to

I'd like to give a little Due Credit to @GunnerBill's excellent write-up on different special teams coverage roles, what players filled them last year, and what players on this year's roster are candidates, so Imma link it here: I think he makes a good case that with Belichick and one of his former minions (who appears to share his philosophy) in the division, the Bills need to value ST. Step back from the division, and the Colts, Titans and Ravens all place that same high value on ST as a way to turn the game. Certainly the Titans slaughtered us in good part due to ST miscues (a fumble and a long return) - they were winning anyway, but it turned a lead into an insurmountable lead. The Colts damned near beat us in part due to pinning us deep the entire first half, also ST. Anyway. Matakevich was signed specifically for his ST prowess so I think we can answer your question "I don't know if they are any good at ST" with "Dirty Red sure is". Andre Smith was activated from the PS for 3 games to "backfill" on ST when the primary backup LBs had to fill in for injury, but they must have liked what they saw because they activated him for good as a ST guy when Dodson went on IR, and when Dodson came off he didn't "bump" him. As far as backup LB snaps, I think part of what happened early on is they were trying to "next man up" guys into the Milano-size and Edmunds-size roles left when those guys went out injured. And it didn't work too well (same with Klein). When they adjusted the roles, suddenly Klein was winning "AFC Defensive Player of the Week" honors and looked pretty good. The Bills were giving Matakevich snaps at the end of the season - not just Miami but the two previous games - and Smith got the snaps on D in the Miami game - so I think both Matakevich and Smith may have surpassed Dodson on the depth chart last season. But of course Dodson could have been trying to rush back and not really healed. I thought they both played well against Miami, but of course the same objection as is made about Williams at RB in that game holds true - Miami was whupped and they knew it and were kind of heading for the bus in the 2nd half

When You're Right, You're Right

https://www.ktnv.com/news/crime/wife-of-steelers-dwayne-haskins-arrested-in-las-vegas-accused-of-battery Taken at face value, Haskins was "fighting with a friend" such that his wife, who tried to stop it, injured her head and neck and got bruises on her legs, but strangely, she can't remember who injured her and Haskins "can not be arrested". Then Haskins had some kind of physical struggle with her, observed by friends. She battered him and she is responsible and he is a victim. But at the most charitable interpretation, Haskins was also fighting (oh excuse me "tussling") with a friend and with her. At the least charitable interpretation, this is a story DV people have heard before and there are two sides. Now, now, Roethlisberger's been a married man for a decade now with 3 kids and a dog.

Good points all in your post, this is just a technical/rules question: are the teams allowed to have Zoom calls or coach contact right now? I thought after mandatory minicamp was sort of a "communications dark" period where players could receive treatment/rehab and work out at the team facilities if they choose, but coaches couldn't EXPECT anything of players

Ah, yeah, relative to punching or kicking a woman or resisting arrest, I take your point.

His alkaline water and avocado ice cream will protect him.

Wonder what's up with that? Me too

Yeah, ranking McKenzie as a top-10 slot and Cole Beasley not, is a move by a guy who has never actually watched football and is going off TDs scored or some such silliness. I love me some Lil' Dirty but as a slot receiver he isn't fit to carry Cole Beasley's shoestrings let alone his jockstrap. He's getting better (McKenzie I mean) but it says it all that the Bills felt Beasley on a broken leg > McKenzie

I think that was covered by the post you're responding to as "Door #2 - Beasley refuses to follow protocols and retires or is released by the team, the more formal phrasing of the colloquial term "cut" Please avoid back-door-ing into another "Cole Beasley's Social Media Comments" thread

Typically, when a guy makes a claim, it's "up to" him to explain or defend it. Your claims are: Herbert got the "nod" (or slight nod) as the "better athlete" "I said Herbert was slightly more athletic based on data" "By every physical metric Justin Herbert is just a shade better than Josh" OK, so now I have an answer: you are making these claims because Justin Herbert has a RAS of 9.69 and Josh Allen has a RAS of 9.67 I don't think RAS and wonderlic are the be-all and end-all of functional athletic abilities and football IQ, myself, but if you want to hang your hat on a 0.02 difference in RAS and a 39 vs a 37 on a test many consider not particularly predictive of QB performance, Good for You. The last half of your post is just irrelevant snark. I have a Gamepass description, and watching their games won't help me understand exactly what you mean when you claim the above.