dayman

Where I am it was messed up everywhere. Direct TV will be dead in 5 years.

This is what we have been waiting for. We've gotten better pretty consistently since Chan took over. We can compete with anyone now if we're healthy.

arr arr only NE people know good food arr arr (I disagree)

Bruschi always calls him Fitgerald. It's funny b/c he actually likes him and says he's good...but he calls him Fitzgerald.

I have not seen the most recent Lions game. I have not been impressed with Troupe though. He looks like and unathletic blob to me. Doesn't get of the ball quick and doesn't get push. Weak and slow. Just a big fat man from UCF. He is supposed to be strong and this year he is supposed to be quicker. I will give him a shot in the regular season before piling on. But I'm with those who say it doesn't look great at the current time.

Edwards career is a puzzle. IDK about the hit (he certainly WAS better before than ever after...even if he wasn't Peyton before). All I know is he can't play.

Ya blackout = blackout. Sunday ticket won't fix that.

I don't think the kid can play period. Anywhere.

Many of us have long assumed we have some talent back there and they simply can't hang on forever w/ no rush. I question the talent back there. I have a sneaking suspicion McKelvin sucks. I'm not crazy about McGee either. I wouldn't mind if Florence started and hopefully Williams gets w/ it quick and is good. That said...it's incredibly hard IMO to evaluate CBs as a fan.

You delete the clause in the sentence that talks about maximizing stadium attendance? That's the part that addresses blackouts. Also, "strict television policies" ==/= blackout policy. That refers to the collective policies that effect tv...some of which do maximize telecast ratings.

I think Oakland will be tougher than KC. Cinci will be as easy as we'll see. I don't see how we can ever beat the Pats again, I always think we're going to beat them finally and we never do.

Agree. W/ out he's simply the rifle.

Oh, na I didn't. Don't really care about QB ratings but his was almost 160 which I basically think of as being perfect. His was 158.3. His was perfect. Thank you Mr. QB Rating Guy. Valuable contribution. I love this board.

For the record I said Pears DIDN'T do anything overly terrible. Not that he did. I said he played pretty good had some nice run blocks. I'm not crazy about him in general though if your point was that you like him a lot then we disagree I guess. Dareus I stand by. He just wasn't coming off the ball good or getting much push from what I saw. Just one game and he was in a boot this week. Anyway, I don't claim to be a scout and I just watched the first half..and typed up thoughts. It's not a film study.

Oh damn that's right haha. Must have been BAtten then I guess getting thrown to the ground there? Some white Kelsay looking guy coming of the end...tried to spin...shouldn't have.

A few thoughts on the first half: OFFENSE Fitz: Slinging it around. Basically our guys seemed to beat the Jags in a lot of situations and even if they didn't Fitz put it in there and we caught it. 11/12 for 165 and a rating of almost 160. His incomplete was dropped by Easley. 10/10. If Fitz can play anything like this...or if he can play the Jags every week, we'll be in good shape. Johnson: Guy just has "it." He can run a variety of routes. He's out there blocking. He hit that big one, he runs a good comeback and he can pretty much get the quick inside slant (Favre route) anytime he wants. He's a stud and looked like it today. Easley: I don't wana call his hands shaky but he's a bit of a TO. He likes to suck it into his stomach. He dropped one but caught another difficult one with his hands on the sideline. Showed good footwork on that play. He gets out there and blocks too. I saw him out there blocked 56 (LB) for the jags a few times. Clearly we are more physical blocking downfield with him than we are w/ Evans but that goes w/ out saying. Fred: He's Fred. He's awesome. Amazing seeing him smoke Poz in coverage. Finds cracks where there seem to be none. Enough said. Urbik: He just doesn't seem strong to me. I know it's all technique and quickness to the point of push but he gets blown up a bit. He had a few good combo blocks and there was one play in particular where him, Wood, and Pears all somehow put a hat on their guy and really just jacked us up the field on the right side. All in all, not bad last night but still not amazing. Pears: Didn't do anything overly terrible. Showed some strong run blocks here and there. Wood/Levitre/Bell: They are who they are. We know who they are. DEFENSE Kyle Williams: Is awesome. He is the first off the ball almost every snap. He's so low he's practically on the ground. He never stops is pursuit towards the action. He's the Great White. Dareus: IDK what his deal was but he looked slow coming off the snap he wasn't low and he got no penetration. I know he wore a boot this week hopefully he just had a bad week of practice/was banged up and this is nothing to worry about. He drew quite a few doubles but when he did he got dominated by them. He just didn't play good last night. Dwan Edwards: Solid game. His missed tackle on Garrard during that TD scramble was the worst and most pathetic off the 3/4 misses we had. Carrington: Yet another good outing. A pass knock-down or two, handles himself well. Got ankles broken by Garrard on that broken TD scramble but so be it. Spencer Johnson: Decent outing. Also missed tackle on Garrard's run. Troupe: Looks like he basically just sucks to me. He couldn't really look more slow or unathletic he doesn't seem to have much push at all really. Byrd: They (many of you) say he can't hit. IDK about that. Florence: Played good to me. BS PI call. Stepped up against his old team. McGee: Got smoked pretty bad on that one play by Hicks. ...if I recall Corner had a couple bad plays and George Wilson had a few good ones (in run support). LBs as a whole: Didn't notice much. Batten is pretty relentless it's nice he could be a decent player eventually. We all saw Kelsay get thrown to the ground on that one play by that top 10 pick rookie LT the Jags have but I guess it'll happen from time to time. My overall impression was that they looked totally in sync on offense. The Jags can't cover anyone and we can blow them off the ball too. They look like one of the worst teams on D I have ever seen right now....so lets not go crazy just yet. Fitz slings it in there....no matter what he doesn't wait for you to be wide open. With some bigger receivers and a line that probably won't block all that well against better pass rush that's a good thing. All in all offense was great as we all know. Defensive front looked solid. It was disappointing to see Dareus play the way he did but all in all I can't complain. Good game. Impressive offensive outing against one of the crappiest Ds around. Defense played solid against (arguably) one of the crappiest offenses around (without MoJo).

Astute observation. I stand corrected.

There is no bottom we've hit that limbo where we just float/fall in perpetuity until some sort of anomaly jars us loose. We are the new Lions.

Spiller is fine. There are plenty of guys his size in the league and at RB too. I could put on 10lbs and be better off though. 200-210 is fine. If he's slightly below that...whatever.

Absolutely we should care less about character in general than we have in the past. This regime doesn't really have (or "not have") that rep yet anyway though. Character is the most overrated thing in the history of all reporting. It's a media thing. There are a few guys in the league (or combination of guys w/ atmosphere/coach) that are toxic. Maybe 5ish...10 max. Even those few can be in the right position w/ the right people and have success. The idea these guys are sooo terrible and such thugs that character is some huge issue with so many of them...it's stupid. It's a damn football team. When you here "character" on ESPN or in a news article it should clue you off that they are giving some "Access Hollywood" type reporting for a bit as opposed to something real...it's the media created "reality show" part of football. It has nothing to do w/ who wins the SB. As for Pyror...he's just no good. If they decide he's a good talent at any position they suck.

There are a number of guys in the league w/ similar "athletic gifts." He's useless. If he could somehow put on 20lbs while keeping his 40 time, learn to block/be physical (which is almost impossible for a guy like that to learn), and learn run routes...he could be a great TE. But that's a LOT of learning. And he doesn't strike me as a learner.

I would bet he doesn't get selected by anyone in the supplemental draft.

It would be like us to roll out with a crazy formation that is our secret weapon week 1...only to be penalized on the first play, realize we can't do it...and not know what to do. Anyway bring on the Housh-man-za-da. Championship.

No doubt we finish better than last year. We will be in the .500ish range maybe a few games over! You heard it here first!

OK well WTF then I'm on board w/ everyone else this is crazy. I am surprised. I have seen Levitre blown up in the past but Urbik just looked so bad.