mjt328

Too bad that Marcel Dareus was only in his "prime" for about two seasons before he got fat and lazy.

There are some key signs that signal a team is going to take a step back (or will be unable to take a significant step forward). 1. First and foremost, any team planning to start a rookie QB should definitely expect to have a rough season. It's very rare that QB can play at a consistently high level during his 1st season in the pros. Arizona (Murray) and Washington (Haskins) will both likely get significant playing time from their first round picks. I wouldn't be surprised if the NY Giants (Jones) and Denver (Lock) join them, if their veterans flounder early. 2. Second, pay attention to teams who spent the offseason shedding veteran talent for draft picks and cap space. Sometimes this is a clear sign the front office is thinking about rebuilding. Sometimes the vets are easily replaced, and it makes no difference. Miami is the most obvious, but Tampa Bay and the NY Giants really weren't far behind. Some under-the-radar teams who took heavy vet losses include New England, Pittsburgh and Baltimore. 3. Third, it's never too early to be concerned about the injury bug. Cincinnati has been devastated by injuries, and we haven't even gotten to August.

Terrible idea. Two games of the season you are FORCED to keep your best players on the bench, and FORCED to play backups? Imagine being in the midst of a playoff race... and league rules forbid you to play your starting QB. This concept is a recipe for disaster in so many ways. Change is not always a good thing. The NFL had a perfect formula 20-25 years ago. But they keep tinkering with stuff that doesn't need to be messed with.

It's certainly possible that Robert Foster is running as the #4 WR by the time Week 1 comes around. Observers say that John Brown has been operating as our #1 guy in practice so far, which should not be surprising. Cole Beasley will be our slot receiver, and will possibly lead the group in targets. My assumption is that Zay Jones and Robert Foster will then be competing for snaps on the outside. They have completely different skill-sets. So unless one really shows tremendous improvement and progression, it's very likely they will rotate depending on offensive situation.

Quarterbacks generally don't have "sophomore slumps" because very few have great success as rookies to begin with. I find that most QBs who come out of the gate HOT, usually do so with their legs and not their arm. Guys like Vince Young, Robert Griffin III, and even Tim Tebow to some extent. The general rule against a rookie QB is to send lots of pressure. And it probably works 90 percent of the time. But the guys with some real athletic ability may be able to escape from the rush and do some damage. By Year 2, defensive coordinators have generally caught on. Instead of heavy blitzing, they play contain, force running QBs to stay in the pocket and win by throwing. At the same time, there is usually lots of pressure on the offensive side for the young QB to show some progression as a passer. So instead of just letting him "make plays" the coaching staff also pushes him to stay in the pocket and win by throwing. Opponents are going to have a plan to keep Josh Allen (same with Lamar Jackson) in the pocket this year. It's very likely his rushing numbers take a big hit. Let's just hope he's gotten better as a passer.

Oh well. The Bills aren't going to get any respect until they prove it on the field. Everything starts with the QB. And the Bills have a guy who wasn't a big name in college, was generally disliked as a draft prospect by most of the sports media, and statistically was among the worst passers in the league as a rookie. Bills fans have more optimism, because we actually watched Josh Allen play last year. We saw his progression as the season went on. We saw the help he got from the supporting cast. And many of us believe he will take a significant jump in Year 2.

The main reason the Bills lost Super Bowl XXV was because of poor tackling. People like to say that Bill Belichick shut us down, since we only scored 19 points. But our low scoring output had more to do with ridiculously lopsided time-of-possession. Our offense was having a decent day. Unfortunately, the defense couldn't get off the field on 3rd Down.

Trump haters think he's a total buffoon, and on the surface his comments do sound pretty stupid. I mean.... He is finally cleared of Russian collusion, and then tells everyone that he would be willing to accept dirt from a foreign country. But Trump is calculating on everything he does and says. At the end of the day, the Mueller report shows he actually DID NOT accept dirt from Russia during his 2016 campaign. And when it comes down to it, I'm sure Trump wouldn't be foolish enough to do it during his 2020 campaign. However... By making these comments, he is getting the Democrats and the National Media into a total uproar. And it's happening just as the Attorney General is bearing down on the Steele Dossier, Adam Schiff, Hillary Clinton and the origins of the Russia investigation. It's very likely that Trump is setting everyone up. All this hysteria about a campaign accepting information from a foreign power, just before the Attorney General goes before the public and details everything that Clinton's campaign was up to in 2016.

If Cody Ford sits the bench as rookie, it probably means the vets we picked up are performing exceptionally. Not being forced to put rookies into the lineup is a great sign of depth.

That's not an easy question to answer. He's an extremely young player, who had a lot of development needed to succeed in the league. At this point, he's only had 12 games and 11 starts. His supporting cast was terrible last year. And although the front office made massive upgrades in the offseason, that also means we've got 8 new starters going into mini-camp. As the season progresses (training camp, preseason, then Weeks #1-16), I think you will start to get a feel for where Josh Allen is headed in the NFL. - Is he taking steps forward? Staying stagnant? Or have defenses figured out how to contain his scrambling, and he's going backwards? - Are his mechanics and accuracy improving? Or is he still missing too many easy throws? - How does his decision-making look? Is he getting better at reading defenses, or is he constantly looking lost and confused? I know a lot of people are going to be disappointed if Allen isn't a finished product by Week 4, and playing at a Pro-Bowl level by mid-season. But at this point of his career, I don't think we need to be setting deadlines. We just need to be watching for steady improvement and progress. If he reaches a point where that stops, then it may be time to start worrying.

OK. Let's just go with it, and say Putin 100% wanted Trump as president. How is anyone supposed to know WHY, except Putin himself? There are thousands of possible reasons WHY he would prefer Trump over Clinton. If you choose to assume it was something dastardly and treasonous without even a shred of evidence, then I feel sorry for you. We've had investigations by the FBI, the House of Reps, the Senate, and two-years with Mueller's Special Council into the Russia thing. Now that the Democrats have control of Congress, they are digging into Trump's business, his family and anyone connected to his political campaign. All of them are DESPERATELY tried to find SOMETHING.... ANYTHING that can be used as ammunition in getting him kicked out of office. The most powerful people in the WORLD are searching under every rock to find a shred of dirt on this guy, and thus far have found absolutely NOTHING. If you hate Trump's beliefs and political stances, then fine. But at some point, you have to acknowledge that he has done nothing wrong. You accuse him of being a criminal, because you WANT him to be. Not because there are facts to back it up.

If you really don't know the history of the Steele/Trump Dossier, then you need to spend the afternoon doing some research before posting more about the Russia thing. Here is an article I quickly Googled from CNN. It's from March: https://www.cnn.com/2019/03/16/politics/steele-information-dossier/index.html Hillary Clinton's campaign paid for the creation of this Dossier. It was compiled by ex-British agent Christopher Steele. Many of the sources were from the Russian government. I'll think up a conspiracy theory involving Tom Brady and Robert Kraft and get back to you. Geez.

Why would a person coming from Mexico need asylum? Do some research into this issue, and listen to what officials who handle this daily are saying. Most of these "asylum seekers" are actually individuals who were caught sneaking across the border. Once apprehended, they claim to be seeking asylum. So instead of being immediately deported, our laws schedule a court hearing and release them into the country. More than 90% never return for their hearing. I'm all for helping people. But it's foolish to just allow open-borders, and say anyone who needs help can come to the U.S. for free health care, education, housing, etc. Our country does not have the resources to help everyone in the world. Reality check: It's not the rich neighborhoods that are being hurt by illegal immigration. It's the poor ones. The guy making $500K per year is not worried about an illegal immigrant taking his job. It's the guy making minimum wage. It's not the wealthy school districts getting overcrowded without enough teachers to handle a classroom. It's the inner-city school districts. Do you lock the doors to your home? Are you willing to allow just anyone who rings the doorbell into your house? Being careful/selective does not mean you believe EVERYONE outside is a dangerous criminal, a thief or a rapist. It doesn't mean you are lumping them all together. You lock the doors because SOME people on the outside ARE dangerous. You want to protect the people inside. Immigration should be no different. Everyone that wants to come here should come to the front door, ring the doorbell, and allow us to decide whether to let them in.

Russian intelligence was used to create the Trump Dossier. If Putin wanted Trump to be president so badly, why would he have allowed this to happen? I'm sure that China's government would have preferred Hillary Clinton to win the election, rather than deal with someone who was going to overhaul trade with them. And if every U.S. intelligence agency spent two years digging into it, you would probably discover that China also made efforts to influence the 2016 election.

We can handle more immigrants. We cannot handle more illegal immigrants. The millions of job openings are mostly for skilled workers, technicians, manufacturers, computer coders, etc. If someone coming from Mexico can speak/write English, and has the skills to handle such a position, then fantastic. They can get in line for a work permit, wait their turn, and maybe even become a U.S. citizen when the time comes. I'm all for it. But when you fail to address illegal immigration, you are opening the door to millions of unskilled workers who drag wages down for low-income American citizens and drain public resources (such as public schools) without contributing tax revenue. If born here, their children are also eligible for government benefits. Not to mention, drug smugglers, human traffickers and terrorists have an easier path into our country, when we aren't double-checking who is coming in the door.

https://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/09/us/obama-russia-election-hack.html?_r=0&referer= This is from the New York Times, right after the 2016 election. Intelligence officials say both the DNC and RNC were hacked, but they only released what they obtained from the Democrat side. You can cover your ears and call it "misinformation" - but this is from a liberal-leaning publication. If Russia was looking to hack both sides, it's quite possible their goal was not explicitly to help get Trump elected. It's just as possible the plan was to cause chaos/discourse during the election, and in the end, they were only able to obtain damaging information on the Democratic candidate. Either way, (as I stated in my previous post) what the Russians wanted to do is irrelevant. They had no affect on changing, adding or subtracting American votes.

Sure. But just allowing an unskilled person who can't speak English to sneak across the border is not going to help fill this kind of job. I'm sure there are plenty of foreigners who would be valuable additions to the American workforce. But we can't let them in, because our resources are tapped trying to stop the horde of illegals flooding across our borders. The main groups being hurt by illegal immigration are legal immigrants and poor American citizens. It's common sense. And both political parties should be on the same side with this issue. But liberals get a lot of mileage out of using the immigration issue to smear conservatives and call them racist.

This chart only shows convictions. Not crimes committed. I would imagine that many illegals are deported when caught, rather than put through trial and then convicted. There are multiple studies that show illegals commit way more crimes (per capita) than native-born citizens. Regardless. Let's look at another part of your chart. The lowest group on the entire list is LEGAL immigrants. LEGAL immigration is a good thing. Nobody disputes that. And if you actually listened to the President speak, you would understand that he believes that too. Instead, the national media loves to take his comments out of context, so they can make people believe he is against all immigration. In reality, he is just against ILLEGALS. Most Trump supporters are in favor of increasing legal immigration.... AFTER we find a way to control the flood of illegals at the border.

Foreign powers (not just Russia) always try to influence the elections of other countries, for a multitude of reasons. What happened in 2016 was nothing new. Maybe they believe one candidate's views are better for their own interests. Maybe they find one candidate easier to negotiate with. Assuming you are correct that Russia "wanted Trump as President" - there could be multiple reasons. Maybe they figured his political inexperience would benefit them. Maybe they knew his election would divide our country. Maybe there was bad-blood between Putin and Clinton from her time as Secretary of State. In the end, does it really matter? According to every investigation that went into Russian interference, there were no votes changed, no votes added and no votes subtracted. There were no intrusions into polling places. There was nothing done by Russia that stopped American citizens from going to the voting booth, picking the candidate of their choice, and that selection being properly counted. When you break it down, all of this ridiculous uproar is about Facebook ads. Some Russian hackers got into the computer server for the Democratic National Committee, distributed that information to Wikileaks and then put the dirt they found on Hillary Clinton onto Social Media. Now obviously hacking is a crime. But Mueller's report states that attempts were also made to hack the Republic National Committee. And the only part that actually "helped" Trump was the distribution of the DNC information, which is really no different than what every journalistic outlet does on a daily basis. Whether CNN, MSNBC, FoxNews or Facebook is putting it out, every American has the ability to decipher on their own what information is true/false and how it influences their vote. By the way, the same time Russia was supposedly "helping Trump" by campaigning on Facebook - the American National Media was eagerly reporting details from the infamous Trump Dossier to the public. And we now know this Dossier was compiled using (wait for it)... Russian intelligence. Was this not an example of Russia helping Hillary Clinton, by distributing dirt on her opponent? The only difference between the two situations is that: a) What the Russians stole and distributed from the DNC server was true, and b) Clinton's campaign was actually involved in the Dossier.

The Patriots have a huge advantage, because Tom Brady gives them a discount at the QB position. His contract pays him an average of $15 million per year, which ranks 19th in the NFL. In addition, their offensive system is specifically designed to make the RB and WR positions expendable. > Instead of utilizing high-paid outside receivers like Antonio Brown, Odell Beckham and Julio Jones, the passing game depends on slot receivers and tight ends - which make considerably less money, can be found later in the draft and are more easily interchangeable. > Instead of utilizing a single stud running back, they go RBBC and play different guys each week depending on the gameplan. They aren't locked-down with a huge Todd Gurley, LeVeon Bell type contract, and players (again) are easily replaceable. And finally, the team's overall success and prominence makes players appear much better (and more attractive in free agency) than they really are. Don't be surprised when Trent Brown flops outside of New England. He was an average tackle, who happened to start for a Super Bowl winner. No way he gets that massive contract if he's leaving a team like Arizona. Meanwhile, the Patriots reap the benefits by getting a 3rd Round Supplemental for letting a mid-level guy walk.

I'm not old enough to have seen Dan Fouts play. So no opinion on the Chargers side. Joe Montana gets the vote over Steve Young, and it isn't really close. The 49ers had both QBs for years, and never considered going with Young until Montana was past his prime. Once Young stepped in, he was fantastic... but he never reached the levels of his predecessor.

Sounds like the entire offense was out-of-sync. Poor blocking. Dropped passes. Bad throws.

Agree with this. The only parts of the team with heavy turnover (O-Line, Wide Receivers, Tight Ends) were positions that pretty much bottomed-out last year. If the offensive line takes some time to gel, it can't possibly be worse than last season. If it takes a few games for Josh Allen to get on page with his receivers, it can't possibly be worse than last season.

Building a roster is more than just stockpiling talent. That's one reason I'm skeptical about how far Cleveland goes, and more excited about where Buffalo is headed. With the Bills, you can see players unifying around Sean McDermott and his vision. You can sense Josh Allen rising to a leadership position, and the locker room lining up behind him. Even the free agents who walked in the door 2-3 months ago... whether it be Cole Beasley standing up to defend the city, or the multiple offensive players who came here because of Allen's potential. Can you say the same about Freddie Kitchens and Baker Mayfield?

Sean McDermott gets a lot of criticism on this board. But here are the facts: In his first year, the Bills were almost universally expected to finish as one of the NFL's worst teams. From the media to their own fanbase. And once Brandon Beane started purging the roster in the preseason (Sammy Watkins, Ronald Darby) the word "tanking" started circulating around. Yet the Bills ended up finishing 9-7 and breaking their streak of playoff-less seasons. Last year, the roster deconstruction finally completed. We had a rookies playing all over the roster, including at Quarterback. The Bills were among the favorites to be picking #1 in the draft, and I couldn't count how many predictions had us winning 3 or less games. We ended up winning twice as many games, and looked very competitive every week during the final stretch of the season. McDermott has clearly made some mistakes - most notably the Nathan Peterman debacle. But when all is considered, he has FAR EXCEEDED all Win/Loss expectations, considering the talent at his disposal. Now Beane has finished his roster tear-down, and is moving into the rebuild phase. Going into Year 3, we have stronger talent and players who have bought into the system. I think opinions on McDermott will start turning around now that he's got something to work with.