Hapless Bills Fan

I think Lotulelei mattered in Carolina but I thought his play kinda fell off in B'lo, for whatever reason. Since when?

I understand the different player viewpoint, but as a counterpoint Diggs and Beasley were both beat up by the playoffs. Those routes cause a lot of punishment to the WR. The Bills may have figured splitting that load 3 ways keeps guys healthier. Again, I understand the argument. I also can understand where the Bills thought Sanders was a key add. It's one of those "time will tell" things.

So working on his deep pass game is something Josh has to develop more to be a complete threat as a QB. Although, IMO he showed it early in the season then it went away with the sprained AC joint then Zbrown was injured and never got it back I think teams that were bringing the pressure were able to neutralize Diggs as a deep threat with pressure and blanket Bease as a short option. Knox even more. One adjustment in the Steelers game was to put Diggs on the short routes so Josh had an option. I think the Bills notion is that Diggs can function as a deep route guy if there is another wiley vet getting open underneath. I know that’s debated here. Time will tell.

You went there. I didn't want to go there. The thing about relative risk of heart disease is that overall, the biggest factors (accounting for 65-80% of the risk differential depending on the study are 1) age 2) sex 3) race: The reason we don't hear too much about it is that those factors are outside the individuals control. Especially a couple decades back when this study was done, I believe OLs trended whiter than DLs especially at the C and G positions. So the observed difference might just mirror race and in fact, still be better than the general population. It's a big question for people who care about preventative medicine (like my personal physician, who is young and enthusiastic) why 3) is true. Even correcting for smoking, untreated hypertension, undiagnosed diabetes (all higher among African Americans), diet etc there's still a difference. Then it gets squishy. But my guess about the difference observed in the cited study (and it's only my guess, though a somewhat informed one) is that at the time it was conducted, there was less emphasis on year-round support for player health such as healthy food, training for muscle mass, screening/treating players for hypertension and diabetes and overall racial disparities played a bigger role.

So last year this was simply not true, and just asserting it or wishing and hoping it's true doesn't make it so. Let's look. 1. Offense. Last year the Bills had the #2 scoring offense in the NFL. All well and good, but while we had some success running the ball against specific teams in specific games, we did NOT have consistent success running the ball when we needed to against other teams (Titans, Colts, KC). Bills 19th in the league for YPA rushing. Improvements for this year: some lower-tier FA and three draft pick additions on OL. Matt Breida, who played well for SF and not much for Miami, at RB Verdict: A complete offense needs a better run game. Top defenses throttle a one-dimensional game. Uncertainty as to whether the improvements are enough. 2. Defense. Last year the Bills had the # 16 defense. One argument is they started out poor and improved as the season went on, and they most definitely came up big in some key moments. Even so, I think it would be a stretch to argue that they became a top-10 defense. Run defense: bottom-half of the league, tied for 24th. 1st downs: 17th 1st downs, 25th in 1st downs by rushing. 17th or 18th in the league for sacks, similarly mediocre in other statistics "affecting the QB" Improvements for this year: no big moves. Signed a developmental vet (Obada) and two draft pick additions on DL. Questions about depth at CB and S. Verdict: a complete D needs to be better at stopping the run and affecting the QB. The Bills D right now is that vexing employee you have who can be absolutely brilliant at times, but at other times just doesn't get the routine stuff done consistently. Uncertainty as to whether the improvements are enough. My Overall Assessment: Last year the Bills were not the most complete team in the NFL, with notable lacks in the running game (offensively and defensively) and at getting pressure from the front-4. A lot will depend upon injuries and returning players - if Milano can stay healthy and if Star returns and gives us a better 1T rotation, if our OL is healthier or new players make us better at run blocking, and if Breida returns to form and/or Singletary takes a step. Then there's the question of whether our acquisitions in FA/Draft make us better able to affect the opposing QB. That's a lot of Ifs between the Bills and being the most complete team in the league.

Actually I think that data is relevant and fascinating. The disagreement (or at least my understanding thereof) is in whether one can apply population data about "obesity = higher cardiovascular health risk" to NFL linemen. Having a study that was performed at any point find a significant difference in CV risk between OLmen and DLmen - where OLmen have a slightly lower risk relative to the general population but DLmen have a significantly higher risk - is worth taking a 2nd and 3rd look at. OLmen tend on average to weigh at least as much or more than DLmen. Even if you restrict it to DT and C/G, they weigh similar or the OLmen weigh a little more. The CHF data is especially interesting. Something else is going on there. Ha! Well according to some here, it's apparently evidence that McDermott doesn't know WTF he's doing. Love to see those too. If you've got links or at least ref's please share.

Thanks, that's actually freakin' fascinating. Thank you for linking that. Imma pull out a table. The key point (to me) is that OLmen (who are nice and big and fat - I think in general bigger and fatter than DE overall) had a lower risk, while DLmen had a higher risk, and especially due to cardiomyopathy. Dunno about you, but if "big fat" OLmen have lower risk while "big fat" DLmen have higher risk, I think it might be safe to say the risk factor isn't being a "big fat" guy per se, but something else.

NFL DTs are at high risk for CV events per the CDC? Linky please? Or at least the lots of studies. Not general population, mind you. NFL DTs. Or at least obese but physically active men under 35 with controlled blood pressure and blood sugar.

Hee hee But here's the thing: PFF sells their stuff as a superior "predictive model" for future results. So if they have to "come around"....

If I were Star, the minute I opted out I woulda changed my diet. Even Harrison Phillips, after he tore his ACL he talked about how he changed (cut back) on what he was eating to lose a little weight.

If you give Pat Mahomes all day to stand there, he will pick any DBs in the league apart. I guarantee it. Seriously - who would hold up in coverage against Mahomes, Kelce, and Hill for the kind of time Mahomes got from us? I'm not trying to say we don't need an upgrade at DB or at the very least, quality depth because I'm on record as saying we do. But IMO the big Achilles heel for our D vs KC was DL.

I could be wrong but I'm unenthused at the Sherman idea.

LOL now people will say that he looks too thin Edit: here's the original tweet which has some commentary on the purpose of the drill:

Actually it does counter several points you started out making. No one I see here is arguing that obesity isn’t a cardiovascular risk. We’re pointing out, in various words, that the degree of relative risk depends upon set of factors that correlate to to obesity in the general population (age, sedentary lifestyle, poor diet, untreated hypertension etc). First you said these factors applied to NFL linemen because they had to be sedentary to maintain weight. When people pointed out NFL OL are strong and athletic, you said well they don’t do cardio. When it was pointed out yes they do cardio with multiple examples, now you’re back to trying to apply risk factors evaluated over an entire population to a non-random subset, which is inappropriate use of statistics. Complete with gifs and videos of fat dudes labeled with names of Bills players. You’ve become a caricature here, give it up. We all know you don’t like Star and that obesity is a CV risk factor (though you might ask the authors of that letter what the relative risk of obesity is once corrected for age (the biggie), sex, hypertension, and physical inactivity, hmmmm?) Ciao

It’s possible it has some negative tax consequences, but it could be positive too. Salary is divided into weekly checks taxed at the rate of the state the game is played in. I’m not sure how signing bonus is taxed. Diggs may claim permanent residence in FL, no state income tax. OTOH if it is taxed all at NYS rates because employer is in NYS, that would be higher than spreading it out over games in different states. Overall it’s probably a good financial move for Diggs but just mildly. The money is in his pocket now, so no chance of the NFI clause.

I don't understand "on the level of SAS comments"

ZING If PFF wants that to be the viewpoint, then...maybe they shouldn't tweet this out from the PFF Twitter account? C'mon man, if you send out content from your own account, Own it.

Thing is, when I've looked at his college tape, he was making some of those same tight-window throws successfully. There's a clip out there somewhere of an Allen-to-Gentry TD that looks freakin' like the Allen-to-Diggs TD that got us back in the lead in the AZ game. What Allen wasn't completing were the "bunnies" - the "gimme" throws to receivers in the flat or who leaked out. Now he's making those - most of the time. I do still believe that Singletary and Knox could be helpfully equipped with 10' safety-orange flexible fiberglass snowpoles. "You bad" for giving them the clicks! Dak Prescott had 1.8% INT last cut-short season. Josh Allen? 1.7% and a couple of those were .....Not. The previous season Dak was 1.8% and Josh 2.0%, I'll give them that. Most people concede that Josh took a huge step as a QB between last season and the previous season.

I wish I could agree 1000 times Old enough to know better 😅 Isn’t he the guy who said Duck Hodges was better? Evidently!

I’ll take it If he’s Super Bowl MVP, pay the Man, Bean-o

Dawkins posts screenshots of his early morning bike rides (cardio) around Miami on Instagram.

Last year Webb was on the PS.

No, I think Webb is special. It shows that he goes way above and beyond the PS QB role in how Daboll raved about him last season.

I have no idea about how the advertising rates are set up except that it's through Google and is the reason that we're pretty strict about racy photos and similar (since the ad contract specifies we are "PG" or similar). So I can't comment there. I could be wrong, but I think the ads go to defray the cost of the servers and the software. It takes some serious server-power to keep the site up and running during a game.

OK, thanks! So the issue is that when you log in, there's a big banner ad that you have to dismiss to log in, but it's not always clear what you have to do to dismiss it? Anyone else having these issues? I have to admit I usually stay logged in on my mobile device