hondo in seattle

Pass at will? The Cards offense looked good in the beginning but Murray finished 21-31 for 162 yards. A mere 5.2 yards per attempt. The Bills average 10+ yards per pass attempt, nearly double the Cards. Yet I don't think it means the Bills passed at will nor Budda Baker was exposed.

The Miami coaching staff is filled with pros who know NFL X's and O's inside out. I doubt there is a lot Poyer can tell them that they haven't already seen on tape and understood. Maybe some little nuances but nothing game-changing.

I swung big last week with an unlikely choice and predicted Samuel on offense. Oops. This time I'll make safer picks... Offense: Shakir Defense: Douglas The Douglas pick is based on my optimistic nature. We won't win if our CBs don't play well - so I'm going to assume that they do.

There are some important differences. First is practicality. If the military couldn't give guns to young people, we wouldn't have many recruits for the military. Second is supervision. Cops are often out there on their own making independent decisions about the use of force. Young enlisted soldiers go into combat supervised by NCOs and officers. Third is context. Police officers are using force against American civilians. Kids in the military are shooting at enemy combatants who are trying to kill them. Soldiers need a lot of courage and discipline. But cops in violent situations require more maturity than is needed by younger enlisted soldiers.

I usually champion the expertise of GMs over the knowledge of fans like us. I think it's silly when we fans think we're smarter than professional GMs (or coaches) who dedicate years to their craft. But virtually every fan in America thought the Watson contract was whacked when it first hit the media. And we were right. Of course, we were right. Even for a team with a need for a QB, it was a giant gamble to give out a huge guaranteed contract to a guy with serious character issues as well as ongoing legal problems. Even Mahomes and Allen didn't have fully guaranteed contracts.

This is kind of like listening to the first track of an album and predicting if the rest of the album will be good. We don't know what the 2024 editions of the Bills or Fins will turn out like. But the Dolphins didn't look impressive in their debut. On the other hand, our D was horrible in the first half of the Cards game. If we play like that against the Fins, with their weapons, we'll not only lose, but we'll lose by double-digits. Earlier in the thread, I predicted a Bills victory and I'm sticking by that. But this game worries me, particularly because I don't know if our secondary can handle their receivers.

2021 Dehydration game repeat? I really hope not.

I don't entirely agree but I understand your logic and appreciate your answer. And hope you do these write-ups every week because you notice things I missed when I watched the game live.

These are all good points. College is not the ideal way to train a police officer. But imagine someone earning a 4-year degree in criminology and then going to a police academy for 6 months. It seems probable, though far from certain, that this person would be a better cop than someone who went to the academy directly after high school. And some data that says cops with college degrees indeed use force less frequently, generate fewer citizen complaints, and have enhanced critical thinking skills (though findings are inconsistent). Despite having guys like Anders Behring Breivik, I do suspect it's generally easier to be a cop in Norway than in the US when the murder rate here is something like 8x higher. www.dolanconsultinggroup.com/news/should-we-require-cops-to-have-college-degrees/ theconversation.com/5-reasons-police-officers-should-have-college-degrees-140523

Here's the thing about that. Lots of police departments have had recruiting problems ever since we started villainizing the police. So many departments have lowered their standards to meet their staffing requirements. Unintended consequences... People are angry about the racial and other biases that influence the behavior of some LEOs. But the negative media (along with the criminal prosecutions) have damaged the esteem and respect of the police which means fewer good, educated people want to be cops. So our criticisms have made policing worse rather than better. wpde.com/news/nation-world/quantity-over-quality-some-say-lowering-police-hiring-standards-could-be-deadly-choice-police-opting-for-quantity-over-quality-to-fill-ranks-some-say-its-a-deadly-choice-law-enforcement-policing-physical-fitness-police-officers-police-shortage

I don't know Hill well enough to know if he's an 'entitled pr*ck' or not. It's clear from the video, however, that he should have been much more cooperative. But I also agree with your initial assessment that the police were 'a little too eager.' Only 55 seconds elapsed from the time the first policeman knocked on the window until the time he threw him on the ground. Not even a minute! Tyreek was being a dumbsh*t in the moment but police should deescalate situations whenever possible instead of rapidly escalating them.

Good write up, Alpha. Thanks for doing this. But let me ask you about a couple of grades... RBs: A- To me, an example of an "A" game is when OJ and Braxton combined for 300+ yards against the Pats. On Sunday, our RBs had 24 rushes for 91 yards (3.8 ypc) and no TDs against the Cards. Their production was very pedestrian. While the run game looked good in the beginning, by the end of the game I would have graded it a "C." WR's: A+ On a different September morning, Eric Moulds, Josh Reed, and Peerless Price combined for 381 receiving yards. That's an A+ performance. Our wideouts combined for less than half that against Arizona: 152 yards. The yardage total is nothing to scream about but they didn't drop anything (hoorah!) and contributed 2 scores so I'd personally give them a "B."

I agree. But the cops escalated from first contact to throwing him on the ground and cuffing him in something like a minute. All because he was speeding and then slow to respond to the policeman's instructions. Tyreek was uncooperative, but he wasn't violent. The police escalated too quickly. Both sides were imperfect.

Mixon has a good game but Josh had more rushing TDs than Mixon, more passing TDs, more total yards, and single-handedly won a tough game. Josh should have won. But congrats to Groot!

I don't think there are any villains in this story, though both sides could have done better. I think the cops did their job with an uncooperative motorist, though I do believe they escalated from knocking on the window to dragging him out of the car too quickly. I get Tyreek wanted the keep the window closed to avoid being recognized by passers-by and creating a scene that ended up with photos in the media. Nonetheless, he should have been more cooperative.

Regardless of the officiating... Every time the Bills win, I think the NFL is the greatest sports product on earth. And when they lose, my opinion is more like, "Why did I just voluntarily waste three hours of my life making myself miserable!"

I'm guessing his hand is wrapped and he's wearing a glove over the wrap to improve his grip?

I'm overdue to win the lottery and the Bills are overdue for a Lombardi. Life isn't fair and the Bills win this one.

Baker's whiff is almost complete. He barely touches Josh.

Did we need another thread discussing his contract?

I'm a registered independent on this one... I don't agree with transplantbillsfan. Miller didn't prove anything. It was one game. One sack where the QB tripped. I don't agree with GB, either. It was a legit sack. Von pushed the OL into the QB. Pretty cool. He deserves credit. If Von can average a sack per game, no matter how pretty the sack may be, we'd all be happy. But I didn't see enough to be convinced that Von has returned to an elite level. In fact, I doubt he ever will. I do have hope, though, he'll prove to be a valuable rotational piece. Neither of Beane's big FA signings worked out the way any of us hoped. I hope he thinks twice before he offers elite money again to a guy with red flags (Von - age; Diggs - attitude).

Feel the same - on the fence so picking the Bills. I worry about our roster this year. But for all of Miami's team speed and McDaniel's reputation as a offensive guru, they only hung 20 on the Jags. Tua passed for 300+ but their RBs didn't add a bunch and their OL has some issues. Bills 26 Fins 24

GB, I respect your football acumen but think you're wrong on this one. Better to pick another battle.

Worst personnel move ever.

As someone who's slept outside in swamps, deserts, and blizzards and has experienced combat, I couldn't disagree more. Yep, what Jones is going through can't be counted as "hardship" given what some others have to face. But every human, whether they earn $1 a day or a $1 million, deserves empathy. Even human, whether their hardships are tougher than ours or not, deserves respect. I would boo and heckle a murderer or rapist. But not an athlete who doesn't happen to be as talented as I want. Football is just a game and this behavior is classless.