hondo in seattle

Shows need advertisers. So they need ratings. So they need guys who are interesting and opinionated enough to drive the ratings. I used to get upset when the political media types (Rush, etc.) or NFL media types (like this guy) said dumb things on the TV and radio. But I've accepted the fact that it's just entertainment. People with no strong opinions, or moderate opinions, don't make for good entertainment. Strong opinions - even when not entirely supported by the facts - are just more interesting. The political commentators still irritate me because they actually sway voters with their stupid, unfounded opinions and misrepresentation of facts. The NFL commentators don't bother me at all because they have no impact on what's going to happen on the field the next Sunday.

And they had the Colts at #1. Curious how wrong the 'experts' can be.

It's the Rex effect plus some. It's the hyper fans. It's a new, dynamic QB and the mystery surrounding him (Who is he? Is he for real?). It's the dominating defense. It's the high expectations. It's an up-and-coming team versus the team most of America hopes finally falls.

Bills 24 Pats 23

Good find. Key quotes: "These plays work because the Steelers have to respect the Patriots run game with the four tight ends on the field. If teams keep defensive backs on the field when the Patriots get LeGarrette Blount next week, then New England is just going to run the ball down the opposing team's throat for easy yardage. But when the teams put linebackers on the field, then Rob Gronkowski and Scott Chandler are able to win their 1-on-1 match-ups every time." "The weakness of every AFC East competitor is their distinct lack of quality linebackers."

Yep. With a limited snap count.

TT swing pass to Shady in the right flat. 6 yards. 22 FDs

True. But some players handle a wet field better than others. Maybe Henderson is just bad at it. I hope that's the case because he looked bad on Sunday. While the media was obsessed with the QB battle during the offseason, I was worrying about the OL and I'm still worried about it.

I never expected Whaley to score a 158.3% efficiency rating as a GM. He's going to throw some incompletes and picks. I'm personally still unhappy about cutting Fred Jackson. But I have to admit this: the roster has more talent now than it has in a long, long time. Considering how little Bryce Brown has meant to the Bills thus far, I'm not terribly surprised by this move.

Yessir.

That's what I'm thinking too. When you want to score, you probably want Shady in there. Except maybe in short-yardage situations. When you want to eat some clock and the D knows it, a big power runner like KW helps.

Exactly right.

I fought in Desert Storm without a hint of PTSD or Gulf War Syndrome. But I admit to a mild case of BBFS. I didn't start any negative threads but I did question Roman's ability to utilize Shady. I guess after 15 years of futility and dashed hopes, it's easy to see signs of more trouble. This might be a difficult recovery. The best medicine would be a win over the Pats.

You can't truly judge backs by their stats. The scheme, the quality of the blocking, the play-calling all factor in. I once watched Willie Ellison run for 247 yards - the NFL record at the time. Most of you will say, "Who's Willie Ellison?" Good question. He was a mediocre back who played behind an OL that dominated that day. My eyes tell me Fred can still still play. Apparently a SB winning coach agrees because Fred's #2 behind a Pro Bowler in Seattle. But I get the bigger point. Was it wise to let Freddy go considering we had younger, cheaper backs we wanted to keep and still had to find a way to pay Marcel? Not totally sure - but it still upsets me to see Fred in a Seattle uni.

I hated when we lost Levitre because it's been forever since we had a good offensive line. But his price tag was too high. (Oh, sorry, is this a Shady thread?)

Exactly. 2-0 or 3-0 against this schedule wouldn't be the usual misleading good start.

This isn't specifically about Mario, but here's a comment from Luck: “They forced us into those errors. That’s a good team. They made it hard for us to do the things we wanted to do. That’s a heck of a front four. They beat us pretty badly.” http://www.oleantimesherald.com/sports/article_76fcb1c4-5aed-11e5-874b-d7fab9a5ef93.html

The stat gurus try. ESPN tries with their QBR rating. But no one has yet being able to boil football down to truly meaningful numbers beyond W-L.

27 points scored by the offense is always a good day. When Jimbo ran the K-Gun, we averaged about 27 to 30 points per game. But I think it's fair to say Roman has to figure out how to get better productivity from Shady. What was he? 17 carries for 41 yards?

Wide open

Where are the ponies????

Yikes, a lot of flags. Rex needs to work on this

Thanks for correcting that so quickly

I hope the Bills don't run every play. Still 15 min left

I agree on both counts