starrymessenger

Milano in the fifth

I think the defender had a hold of his face mask.

I'm sure he can easily put on 6 pounds to reach 230. If he does that he's pretty much the same size as the majority of the best coverage linebackers in the league. He's a little undersized right now but not by much. Maybe looks smaller than he is. I was really impressed with him watching his presser. Like Allen he looks to be a very smart, mature kid and that's pretty much his reputation coming in.

Fish will score 23 points. The Bills 32.

As for his size I have to admit I overreacted. Partly this was because I think he looks smaller than he actually is. It is not unreasonable to expect that he will benefit from the Bills strength and conditioning program. Add just between 5 and 10 pounds to his frame and he is in exactly the same neighbourhood as almost all of the best coverage linebackers in the League.

I agree. Just for example was Tremaine not asked to blitz because they always wanted him in coverage or because he just wasn't very good at it? TB seems to have the skill set to do that. McD is not a blitz happy defensive coach but he can be effective calling them selectively.

He described his negotiations with the Bears as toxic it is true but maybe that's not on him. What the Bears needed to do was make nice with the best off the ball LB in the game. Compare their behaviour with the way the Raven's handled Lamar. In addition to trying to turn Justin Fields into a pocket passer they traded the pick they got from the Ravens (#53) for the icon of underperforming wideouts who, predictably, continues to underperform . They really just can't get it right.

Shame on me. Based on size and speed, as well of his (limited) reps year 1 I was completely unimpressed. And even on draft day I hated the pick. Just goes to show that while inevitably they make mistakes a good front office knows more and better than us fans. Looks like his Sugar Bowl performance was neither a fluke nor something that he can't replicate in the pros. Now I think he could be a difference maker when we play Miami next Sunday. Kudos to McD and Beane.

I know there wound up being bad feelings between the parties but I thought the disagreement was based on compensation. He made his demands known to the Bears and held out to force the issue but they balked and he wound up getting exactly his ask from the Ravens. What's more, the Ravens, an organization good at evaluating players, valued Roquan much more highly than the Bears since in addition to paying Roquan they were good also sending a second round draft pick. The Bears FO at the time got it right when they drafted Roquan eight spots ahead of the Bills taking Tremaine. Not to say Tremaine was unworthy of the 16th pick. He probably was a reasonable selection based on the results of his perceived likely progression at the next level, even if his lack of "instincts" was at the time flagged as an issue. Talent evaluators have to project the player to the pros in almost every case. There are very few can't miss guys. Again not to say Tremaine was a bust. Not at all. But it's probably fair to say that he is mediocre. Current Bears FO looks like a clown show to me.

So they could have paid Roquan? They are incompetent.

Its because they are not very good at their jobs.

Siemian is a lot like Rodgers. Both went down for the Jets after three reps (Siemian in 2019 with a broken leg). They are snakebit.

Don't know that this is what Joe had in mind.

Except for now being healthy Tua looks to me to be pretty much the same player he was last year. To me the real difference is in the O-line play, which so far this year is vastly improved under new line coach Butch Barry. A little odd perhaps in that Barry was the line coach in Denver last year where he was fired after giving up more sacks than anyone else. Hopefully he soon returns to form. Connor Williams and Robert Hunt have been playing lights out and now it looks as though their best O-lineman LT T. Armstead is back. I don't see where they have addressed their left guard and right tackle problems in terms of personnel changes (Isaiah Wynn?) so maybe it's mostly about players maturing and adapting Barry's more aggressive mindset and system. Apparently in the past their O-line philosophy was more for each lineman to beat the guy in front of him whereas Barry has them playing together in a scheme that coordinates with the overall objectives of the particular play design. Im pretty confident that the Bills will put up points enough to win. What I'd like to see is for Bills front to at least pressure Tua a lot more than the opposition has been able to in the Finn's first three games. That's the key to me. Whatever else we may do in the way of defensive sets and disguised coverages, that needs to happen. McD is pretty good in blitzing selectively and I think that would help too although pick your spots because Tua made the blitz happy Broncos pay. The Bills improved D-line versus the Finn's improved O-line is the most important match up imo, and it may say a lot about where these teams wind up in the AFCE.

I expected a closer game than the one we wound up with but the turnovers really did the Commanders in and I've got to lay that at Howell's feet. Made very poor decisions in the passing game and seems to hold on to the ball too long while reading the field. Mind you I'm not sure he was helped by EB's calling so many passing plays especially given that Wash has a good run game. Even then the score wasn't that far out of reach heading into the 4th quarter (16 points). This was only Howell's fourth NFL start so it's perhaps not surprising that he looked a bit like "bad" Josh at times. Also the Bills are a good veteran team and WC is in the middle of a youth movement. I think they have a chance of sneaking into the post season.

Bernard is the midget wrestler who can. Edmunds would be Keuchly if he had Bernard's instincts and effort.

And what's worse is that Bears wouldn't have had to top up what they paid Tremaine very much to meet Smith's demands. The contracts are similar. The players are not. Look what Smith has done for Raven's D. If I were a Bears fan I'd be livid.

He's fantastic.

With a good line he can certainly help give a team a decent running game and I'm glad that he is doing well as Colts main back. But to me he's pretty much JAG and I suspect that there are many NFL RBs who could do as well in similar circumstances. He did not have what it takes to transition to the NFL and be the same player as he was at Utah. Maybe this could have been seen in his measurables. At 200 Lbs he was unlikely to develop into a bruising power back that could stay healthy at this level of play. Maybe if he carried an extra 20 he'd have the bulk. A guy like Gibbs is about the same size and can break tackles and make violent contact but he's not only much faster but much more explosive.

Washington’s O leads the League in chunk plays, albeit not against a top defence so far. Bills D gives up chunk plays. Could be interesting. Eager to see how Josh makes out against another elite front. Bills are a better team and should win but I’m not expecting a blowout.

So Captain Hindsight had foresight.

Yeah. And his passing pretty much sucked as well.

Must say I was surprised by Watson's play. What I remember was the guy he was in Houston - one of the top dual threat QBs in the league. All facets of his game appear to have uniformly deteriorated substantially. Maybe being away from the game for an extended period of time destroys a players ability to regain his form. Question then is whether he can recover or whether it's terminal. It spelled the end for Le'Veon Bell and it's got to be worse still for a player who has to execute with every snap and from whom so much is expected. The real takeaway is regrettably a career threatening injury to one of the indisputably great players in the game. You could see early on that he was in top form and was really going to roll last night.

True, especially since he's unlikely to get better until he's healthy.

Dorsey losing his mind again.