Mango

That has literally never happened in the Brady era...... I would go the other way. The reason for the futility in the AFCE is because they have to play Brady twice per year. The division hasn’t really been as bad as it seems. I don’t think there are many if any teams that would find success against Brady that often. Hell, the guys SB win percentage is .666

This isn’t true. At least not how the numbers read. Brady vs: AFCE 81-21=.794 NFL 207-62=.769 NFL sans AFCE games 126-41 = .754 Basically the AFCE give Brady less than 1 win per year compared to the rest of the league. Closer to one win every other year.

Honestly, probably pretty much only done by the Pats only. Maybe one or two other teams. Anecdote time. The UW Huskies, mens rowing team, makes their interns and volunteer assistance compile the results for EVERY. SINGLE. HS. RACE. IN. THE. WORLD. down to the detail of every single athlete in every single boat, in every single event. Plus all of their measurables, age, and physiological testing scores. At one point they were the Pats of college rowing. They won every single race at the National Championships a few years in a row. They were untouchable. Still are to a certain extent. They haven’t finished out of the medals in what seems like a decade or more. Most power house teams will win once or twice. A couple years in the medals. Then some rebuild around 6-10 th place. Not Washington, their worst year in recent history is 3rd. They are absolutely the only team in the world that makes their staff do this.

Everybody keeps talking and hoping that this is Brady’s last year possibly. I don’t, even if that means him winning another SB. Buffalo and the division deserves to see Brady have a terrible season. To watch the floor fall out from under him, totally out of his control.

Chad Pennington was a shoulder surgery away from being a great QB.

Submitting over inflated footballs and hoping the refs miss it or let it slide is one thing. Taking the footballs back and adjusting them is another all together.

I fully agree with you on this. They are the GOATS. Their dynasty is something you have to give some respect to. We’ll never see it again.

What if we did both?

Thanks for all the depth and insight you’ve added to the conversation... Disagreeing is fine. People confuse that for trolling too often. This isn’t that.

Super unsure if you’re being a troll or serious. It was reported by the NBC, CBS, ESPN, NY Post, etc. Probably more true than you realize. It is a guy that got away with a very serious crime, murder (Spygate). But ended up doing time for something dumb like burglary of his own stuff (Deflategate). You nailed this one!

The real infraction, and possibly the tip of the larger iceberg, is that they didn’t just submit to the refs under inflated balls. They systematically stole them and tried to cover it up. The balls aren’t the issue, it’s how they did it.

Huh? It’s not a consipieacy theory. It was reported as part of spygate. His helmet mic never shut off inside 15”/ at the LoS. Doug Flutie mentioned that it surprised him when he accidentally grabbed Toms helmet one game. Tom Brady has always been good at seeing the field, but his learning curve was very different from every other QB in the league. There’s a very real argument to be made that he is exponentially better at it because of his “upbringing”. There is 100 links to this story from reputable sources, but I’ll drop one. https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/from-cheating-claims-to-trash-talking-steelers-patriots-rivalry-full-of-bad-blood/ Real world example. You graduate from UNC with your MBA. Very good program, but it’s no Chicago, Harvard, or Wharton. You do well. You’re not top of your class but in the 5-10 range. You get a mid level job with a few of your fellow graduates at Amazon in some mid level supply chain role. You perform well on a few early projects. Bezos takes a liking to you. In fact, makes you the President and CEO. Except while you’re taking over the company, Bezos isn’t just a mentor to bounce ideas off. He’s proof reading all your emails, providing reports and financials, telling you how to handle your PNL’s, and what companies to acquire. Amazon keeps growing. Bezos disappears over some insider trading aligations. But you maintain your position as CEO and President. You do a fine job continuing to grow the company. Would you be the same President and CEO of you hadn’t had Bezos controlling your every business move for those years? Thats Tom Brady. Promising, talented, driven, but with an advantage when it comes to learning on the job that created who he is today. He is the GOAT, hands down, not close. I just question how he got there. Deflate gate was dumb BTW. I’m more upset by the underhandedness more than I am the result of the act. If you want to try and sneak by the refs when they check. Whatever. But if don’t systematically pull a fast one.

I generally agree with you. I think they “out-everything” the entire league. I don’t discount spy gate though. Not necessarily because of when they did it, but because the effects are so long lasting and career altering. Brady knowing the signals, calls, plays, and most importantly, keeping his helmet mic on, are the worlds greatest tutor when it comes to learning the game in the NFL. He got them all in live action. You can’t discount it in terms of his current ability to see the field. Would Tom have been great with out it? Sure, probably. Would he be the GOAT and play at such a high level mentally into his 40’s, like he is now? Unsure. At best it’s worth the conversation. At worst, Brady would have had a Rogers, Romo, Rivers, Manning, type career without that “tutoring” and “mentorship” during his early stages of his career.

Oh so could I...IF we upgrade BOTH pieces around him. Just sort of thinking out loud.

Of course Bodine graded out OK. The line went: LT- Decent/OK LG- Bad C-middling RG- bad on most days RT- middling How does Bodine grade out if we upgrade both guards to decent players and the A-gap becomes a much bigger target/responsibility for uncle Russ? I am pretty wary of players who grade out as “meh” on bad units in any sport. More often than not it seems it’s because it’s just much easier everywhere else.

I think he’s talking about more so, how much will it cost in 10 years for the town of Tonawanda to insure KAT, TTFA, and high school football teams. Filled with underaged kids, not adults making millions. Do most townships have it in the budget to fit that bill down the road/is it worth it? I coached a kid in a different sport with 5 concussions from football. It’s been about 6 years since he played football. It took him an extra two years to graduate high school because he can’t sit through class, read, or sleep through the night for that matter. What happens when that kid comes from a very well off family and ties up the district in costly litigation? What happens if that family happens to win a large settlement because of negligence from the district employed head coach? Do other townships take note and bow out of the sport because premiums go up through the roof? Absolutely! And they compete with more “white bread” sports like hockey, rowing, and lacrosse? (Not that there isn’t serious risk in any of those)

Oh I totally agree with you. Just touching on the insurance issue in the thread. I do think the “end” or drastic decline in the sport will come from availability due to insurance, not that kids will just stop playing. Doesn't mean it’s not happening. It’s just a much slower burn.

Youre not accounting for size. How many kids at your average HS play football. JV and Varsity, about 40-60 each. About 100 per school. Conservatively 20 high school teams alone in the region. Plus middle school and pee wee teams. There are probably 2500 to 3000 kids in Buffalo alone, running into each other head first for two hours everyday plus Friday/Saturday games. There are much fewer kids in MMA. Tournaments are far less than sparring and training. None have an affiliation with a school or municipality. Apples to oranges.

I have been beating this drum for a while. Football will drastically diminish or go away entirely because it becomes too expensive to insure for schools and municipalities. Sure there will be some drop because more parents won't want their kids to play given the CTE issue. But eventually there will be hugely won court cases, and insurance companies will make it so expensive for middle america and below, that football won't even be an option for a lot of kids. Not without a hefty price tag at least. Even so, those white collar areas will have to heavily compete with sports like row/crew, hockey, lacrosse, etc. People won't stop playing the sport in large numbers because people are running from the head injury risk. Insurance companies will make that decision for them in a lot of places. I am fairly confident in saying that my grand kids most likely won't grow up playing football or even with the NFL. I am in my early 30's and no kids. Probably 40 years at least from being a grandpa.

I hate to say it, but at this point I am beaten down by the energy it takes to hate them. I mean I will never root for them. I can't and I won't. But I have succumb to the fact that what we are and have been watching is special and will likely never ever be reproduced again. There is a certain merit to it that I respect at this point. Brady and Bellicheck have single (double?) handedly participated in devaluing every other HoF career they played against. Manning, Ben, etc.

Jesus Christ. This is like watching your friend in a toxic relationship fight on the street corner.

Thought I’d share for Bills and NFL fans to put out some good vibes towards Marquise. Goodwin’s wife loses twins a year after a losing his son. The same year he loses his dad. Also has a disabled sister that he designed, built, and bought a customized house for. Tough 365 days for anybody. The guy is constantly positive and up beat despite having things pretty tough. Good vibes to you Marquise from Buffalo.

I fully agree greed with your take on UB as a good school and bang for buck. I went to UB. I get it That doesn’t make mean that higher education is a major pillar of our community, and defining pillar. It’s not Boston, Chicago, NYC, the Bay Area, or for the sake of this conversation, Pittsburgh. Outside of UB the educational opportunities here are middling. Employment opportunities are currently relatively entry level for much of the population. We don’t have a diverse job sector. A lot of those things go into what makes Buffalo affordable. We’re in the NE, so we are ahead of the curve compared to a lot of cities and regions. But Pittsburgh is a great example of what Buffalo should strive for. Good use of waterfront. A lot of diverse employment opportunities. More than one good school for higher ed. Reasonable cost of living.

I think the point is being missed here. Granted my response was full of some snark. Most and many of the jobs for companies like Ingram, Citi, Ingram, Blue Cross, Kalieda, etc. are largely low end employment in the grand scheme of things. Largely because of the need for work in Buffalo and the low cost of living. There are a number of colleges in WNY, but it’s not a hub for education. It is a mid sized city with colleges that are relatively average. UB, Buff State, Cansisus, D’Youville, Daemen. It is not an educational hub. Buffalo props up these companies and universities more so than they are actually recognized outside of the community. Not to hate on the area. I moved back a few years ago for a number of reasons, mostly personal and home town stuff. But it is also an honest inventory of the region. Most of the actual data for the Buffalo area does not point to any sort of resurgence or renaissance. It’s a relative fallacy. Very little meaningful data points to an upward trend. It’s still stagnant with a few coats of paint.

I love buffalo. Don’t get me wrong. It’s my hometown and generally under rated. But let’s call a spade a spade. Pittsburgh is a cool town with more going for it than Buffalo. They do have a history of money. They also have a world class (top 5-10 in the world of not better) university in Carnegie Mellon. That is in addition to Pitt and Duquesne. Driving there does suck though. Cleveland seems to be doing a good job as well. Always seems like there is a lot going on whenever I am there for work. Buffalo has some of the most debt collection agencies in the country. We have a low income need, and low skilled workforce. Debt collectors love it here.