Mango

THIS! Polian has a pattern that hiring “leader of men”. Guys who are soft spoken in a number of ways, leaders of men. But not great football mines in terms of scheme. Polian hires men who have a lot of “yes man” in them. Polian needs a guys who lets him put together his roster the way he sees fit. guys who let the talent play, but never out coach anybody. This model will make a lot of teams better, and elite, year after year. But never a dynasty like the Pats. On one hand, it made his teams great. On the other it’s the reason Manning and the Bills don’t have more rings. You mentioned McCarthy. My opinion, mediocre coach with a great QB. Without Rodgers, he is toast. If Rodgers is good for 3-4 wins per year, they are a 5-7 win team. ouch

I don’t disagree with you on this at all. But....I do think NFL progression as at an all time low, especially at the QB position. At least in my lifetime (32 y/o) Guys drafted in the high first were still expected to sit to a tear or two. Gave careers to the Jeff Garcia’s of the league and they provaided value in one way or another. Now guys come in, suck, go to the CFL, or quit altogether. QB play in the NFL is at an all time low in regards to the median. Who are the up and comers? And those younger than Ben, Roger, Rivers, Who is on a similar Trajectory as a HoF’er. Stafford? Ryan? Wilson? Care? Not me are worthy of the HoF l, or even close, at the half way or greater mark in their careers. For a decade, NFL has been selecting athletes rather than raising/progressing them. It’s going to be a very real issue for them.

I fully agree. I got too wordy. He’s not “the guy” (however if we trot him out there I’d rather be wrong on that, than root against him and be right” larger point, names excluded. I’d rather have a guy with the head and skill set to NP, then I would a tentative guy like Trent or TT. Didn’t mean to advocate for NP over the others. I think it’s easier to reign the style in when the bullets fly, then it is for a guy to try and figure things out when the game speeds up. Not sure if that clarified anything

Not to hijack the thread, but that idea is bogus. “You may get a degree”. Huge portions of these college athletes in any sport are out of state with huge tuitions and a ton of benigtis. I’ve worked in a number of college athletic departments so I’m familiar with my number for my sport. But here is a crazy number. Athletif Deparments in the SEC spend an average of $160k + per athlete per year. So that goes if your the starting DT or the guy who never races on the track team at Bama; averages $160k plus per year in tuition, tutors, living expenses, travel, amps, books, etc. Many guys red shirt freshman year and go 5 years. That’s nearly an 800k lifestyle for 4-5 years. Again averaging fringe sports. Football player are getting much more. They are getting cash. The more we propagate that these kids need more the more we hurt the system. Football is just as time consuming as Rowing. It’s absurd and totally doable. Experience: trained with team USA for years, with zero dollars or institutional support. Worked 20-30 hours per week. And won 6 national championships in the process. Life is hard. People need help, bu they also need accountability. Accountability is lacking in football and basketball not ease of cash for students

Peterman has shown flashes. There is being bad, ie JP and EJ, and guys who make mistakes. Ill take a guy like NP, who from the outside, looks smart and confident. Takes chances, and trusts his eyes /strengths. Where as a guy like Edwards or TT who takes too long to read and doesn’t trust their abilities. I think it’s easier, with the speed of the NFL, to ask a guy like NP to take an extra .25 seconds to let the play develop, then to ask a guy like TT to fire the ball .25 seconds early into a coverage he doesn’t understand. I am not clamoring for NP to be the guy. Not sure he has the mental ability to ever be a starter in this league. Just commenting on what I think he does well in comparison to what we have. He throws a good ball with anticipation. I think thats fair. Disclaimer: I don’t want to go into 2018 as NP as our starter.

I agree a bit bit in theory. I wouldn’t have paid him that contract. But was talking to a buddy of mine the other day in Boston before the game about Gilmore. He said fans and the team have been very happy with his play the last 12 games or so. No issue with his contract. Let’s not fool ourselves that losing “not good enough” players is a good thing. CB1 and CB2 have cost us 2 first round draft picks (Gilmore and Tre White), A second (Darby), and Sammy Watkins. The Bills have let go and traded a ton of players the last 365 days. That creates a ton of holes at starting and depth positions. Those picks could have been used to fortify other positions like LB, DT, OL, WR. We cannot keep up with the turnstile of of our draft picks. Lets not forget he was a staple in a top 10 defense not long ago.

I love this place! Also thank you Al Gore for inventing the internet so that TBD could be a thing!

Since we are talking Schwartz, I am excited to see GB next year with Pettine running the Defense. At times it was madddening that they could not get off the field in Buffalo, but makes up for it with big plays/sacks/turnovers. He is a good coach.

Unsure if this is sarcastic. They do a good job in terms of keeping points of the board, which is clearly the most significant, but even that they trail the Vikings. It is not so much about the Pats being a bad defense, which they aren't, statistically average, but not bad. It is that Minnesota is a lot better.

If Foles plays like he did tonight against the best defense in the league, there shouldn't be much of an issue.

So.... He probably didn’t play 50% of snaps, but if he did he only made a few flashy plays.... And even if he made some flashy plays, he doesn’t make enough isn’t consistent... And even if he were consistently making plays, I wouldn’t pay him that much money.... Did i get it right, or would you like to move the goalposts again? That way no matter what happens you’re right and you can win the internet! ?

I fully agree. Gilmore for me is a “you can’t afford everybody” sort of letting walk. Woods should be on this team. So should Darby and Dareus.

The more I watch the Jags, the more I see that wild card game as ours for the taking. Either Bortles had his only “Bortles” day of the playoffs against us, or the Bills were able to contain some of the things he does well. Bortles played about as well as he could the last 2 games. Slung it around, pulled out a win in a shootout.

Mayfield- hasn’t taken a snap. Rudolph- hasn’t taken a snap Phillip Rivers- Borderline line HoF material. Kolb- Meh Kolb Carr- one very good season. Then a few not good seasons for all sorts of reasons. Needs to prove sustainability of high level play. Godf-Needs to prove sustainability of high level play.

Gilmore, Darby, Bradham, Hogan, and Dareus are all starting today....

I had a nightmare after the sack, that the Jags would win. Dareus and Marrone would be in the Super Bowl. Dareus would have 3 sacks and a FF. Resulting in MVP. And we’d be here in Buffalo, holding onto the bag of footballs we traded him for. I hate the Pats as much as the next guy, but I couldn’t bare to seen St. Doug in the Super Bowl. Which is a shame, because Coughlin is really Bellichecks Krytonite, and I want him to continue to be. Just with a different coach.

That is fair. Sometimes this board posts like he was JAG. He’s not. Probably in the top half of CB1s in the league. 8-12 ish.

I don’t love letting Gilmore go. But I don’t hate it at all. It was what it was. He’s a good player and I never understood all the hate in Buffalo for the guy. FWIW outside of the start of the season Gilmore has played at a high level this year.

Huh? It’s Championship Sunday. The bills aren’t playing. What’s the problem? The less this place models BBMB the better off it has been. If you don’t like it, go to reddit.

I think that the product at the BN has been lacking for a long long time. The issue isn’t “other models” for getting the news. It’s that the content provided is relatively low level in the grand scheme of things. The BN has been struggling with subscribers since before the challenges of the internet. This isn’t new. They can figure out how to be a relevant/worthwhile news source in 2018 with quality and easily accessible content. Or they can be on the wrong side of history.

That isn’t true. Many concussion happen from your head hitting the ground. While the helmet falls short in collisions with other humans/players, it is saving lives (not hyperbole) when it comes to players hitting the ground. Concussions like TT or Tom Savage’s would be far far worse if not for the helmet. I used to think the same way you do, but the reality of the data and science is much different. Most deaths in street fights are from falling to the ground, not being punched in the face.

Huh? The article says that repeated blows to the head. Which is something we already knew. It’s been suspected for a while that this may be just as bad or worse for guys who play on the lines. Concussions are not “THE CAUSE” but they certainly exacerbate the situation. It’s actually worse for the NFL. “Hey guys, those big knock out hits aren’t really where this all starts. It’s the small pops, blocking, tackling, and going to the ground, etc. That’s really where this starts! Just the entire concept of football.” Its really odd that you came away away with something positive-ish for the league win this article. It’s not very good for the sport.

This is right on. I would also add that RB is a lot like QB, in that getting into rhythm is very important on game day. Trying to get two backs into an elite rhythm would be more than incredibly difficult.

Shuli is awesome. Lieberman is a good replacement for Langford. Howard feels like the biggest issue these days. 2-3 shows per week. Weeks or months off. All the prior AGT talk. Content really is not terribly great anymore. It isn't just Artie, it is not filling the Artie chair. ......and I am hijacking the thread.

Love Stern show. Post Artie was tough. Seemed like he found his groove for a bit. Then just kind of cashed in. I can't stand the show the last few years, and almost never listen. I'll listen to old shows though.