mjt328

12 Men on the field. The Bengals defender wasn't even trying to get off the field. They don't care.

Hope nobody is too excited here. The Bengals (and of course the refs) are handing this game to the Ravens.

Refs have helped the Ravens about 3-4 times with questionable calls within the last 10 minutes.

Some of you are thinking about this too hard. Yes. A vast, league-wide conspiracy would probably be tough to pull off. Do 32 billionaires and Roger Goodell meet in secret every spring, then decide which team to vault to the Super Bowl that season? Probably not. But is it possible that certain owners (lets' just say Robert Kraft) has some key officials in his pocket? That's certainly not a hard idea to wrap your head around. Especially now that instant replay is done by a single centralized source, rather than a crew by crew basis. Notice that all of these controversial calls in favor of the Patriots came through replay - either overturning a call that shouldn't have been, or not overturning a call that should. One guy on the take, and you can swing a half-dozen games in your favor. Is it possible that organized crime has heavy influence on the gambling side? Think about how much money is changing hands, based on the spread of a game. I would be shocked if something was not happening behind the scenes here. Then of course, you have the obvious favoring of star players - particularly the league's top quarterbacks. This may not be considered technically fixing or even cheating, but it absolutely affects the outcomes of numerous games every single season. And it only helps teams like the Patriots, Steelers, Packers, etc. Think about how many quarterbacks have gotten injured over the years. But when Tom Brady went down for the season with an ACL tear, the NFL immediately started passing rules about hitting QBs low. When Aaron Rodgers got hurt earlier this year, all of a sudden there were stories everywhere about how the NFL needs to pass more rules to protect the passers. (So don't be surprised when that happens again this offseason).

Forward progress only applies if runner reaches a certain point, and then the Defense knocks him backwards. If the ball is pulled back by the runner on his own (before he is called down), that would be the same as him reaching the first down marker, and then running backwards. It was a crap call.

I don't believe the NFL is completely "fixed" - at least not to the extend that the WWE and professional wrestling is totally scripted for a particular outcome. But that doesn't mean I believe the league is completely fair and free of outside influence. If there is a dollar to be made by swaying a play or even a game, it's highly likely that someone is trying (if not succeeding) at doing just that. The MLB turned its back on steroid abuse for over a decade, because players chasing home run records was big business. In the NBA, a referee was caught by the FBI betting on playoff games. Since being convicted, he has alleged that ALL of his colleagues do the same. This summer, he claimed the league was trying to let the Cavaliers win to extend the Finals. When the Patriots were caught cheating the first time (Spygate), the NFL responded by immediately destroying the evidence, giving the team a slap on the wrist and doing everything in their power to downplay the incident. Even if there isn't an NFL mandate that states - "Must help New England win the Super Bowl" - you better believe the refs are pushed to protect the league's marquee QBs like Tom Brady. Maybe there isn't a giant conspiracy to assist the Steelers or Packers - but you would be foolish to think these officials are not gambling or playing fantasy football. And with the money involved, organized crime is certainly entrenched behind the scenes.

I seriously doubt his faith has anything to do with his coaching decisions. I'm a Christian. And I am one of the most analytical, statistical, data-driven people you would ever meet. Early in the game (with 3 quarters ahead of him), McDermott saw nothing wrong with being aggressive. Late in the game and down 7, he panicked and just wanted to get away with some points.

Taylor's best plays come from holding the ball too long, narrowly avoiding pass rushers, then hitting a big pass downfield. Today he was unable to get away. The Patriot defenders managed to get a hold of his feet, or just keep him trapped in the pocket (which has always been the most successful strategy for beating him.)

Have you actually seen the other teams we are competing with? Ravens, Titans, Chargers... These teams are all crap too. We don't deserve to be in the playoffs. But neither do those teams. I will gladly take a first round @$$ whooping, just to get the monkey off our backs.

I usually consider Patriot games an automatic loss from the get-go. Even in games like today, I never really believed we had a true chance at winning.

Splitting him out into the slot and then making him the first read on a slant pass (in the Red Zone no less)... I was literally speechless. I'm 100% certain he was signed for "locker room leadership" reasons. But I can't figure out why they keep giving him the ball. It's almost always a totally wasted play.

There ya go. That's why the NFL keeps screwing these things up. The ref should be asking "Am I 100% certain his foot is NOT touching the ground?" Because without the inconclusive evidence, the call should not be overturned. Instead, the replay official is trying to make the determination himself, with no care for what the original call was. Same thing happened last week against Pittsburgh. The ball clearly moved when the receiver fell into the endzone. But there were no angles that showed the ball actually touching the ground. It should not have been overturned either.

I completely forgot he was voted to the Pro Bowl. Wow.

Sometimes I think it's like the WWE pushing a villain. The entire country turns in week after week, rooting for the Patriots to lose.

The overturned Kelvin Benjamin TD was very bad. But nobody is talking about the equally bad overturned 4th Down stop. The first down marker is not the end zone line. You cannot reach the ball out, then pull it back and get credit for forward progress. But hey. I guess the refs aren't supposed to know ALL the rules. Right?

Maybe we've had worse FA players. But how many of them have had the negative impact of Tolbert? It doesn't matter how many fumbles, drops, runs for losses... the coaching staff just keeps giving him the ball and designing plays for him. It's insane.

Most OCs would use somebody like Mike Tolbert as a change of pace back. But not Dennison. He literally changes NOTHING when LeSean McCoy comes out of the game. Somehow he believes that "if McCoy can run that play, then why can't Tolbert?" The only value Tolbert brings to this team, is if he somehow helps Dennison get canned.

OK, well forget that... Next week, we need (in addition to a win against the Dolphins): Ravens loss to the Bengals OR Titans loss to the Jaguars AND Chargers loss to the Raiders

Believe it or not, our easiest path is with a Titans win.

I cannot think of a player more worthless. He's not a good blocker. He's too slow to get anything running the ball, unless there is a massive hole right up the gut. He can't catch and he fumbles too much. Yet this doesn't stop Rick Dennison from using him like a Swiss Army Knife. Watch him get no yards on FB dive! Watch him lose 5 yards on a FB screen! Watch him split out into the slot and drop the ball! I wouldn't be surprised if we have Wildcat packages designed for Tolbert. We are probably an injury away from him being our #1 kick/punt returner.

So if I get this right... If the Titans win, the Chargers are eliminated. Then we can get in next week by beating the Dolphins, combined with a Titans loss. But if the Rams win, we need the Titans to lose next week PLUS have the Chargers lose to the Bengals.

Been saying this for 15+ years. I've long since given up. Teams always let Brady pick them apart with short crap. Defensive coordinators in this league are ridiculously scared of giving up the big play, and would rather let up a 12 play drive than a deep pass. This philosophy may work against most teams, but it never works against New England. You would think coaches would have caught on, but against the Patriots it seems like teams are even MORE scared of letting up the big play. They are intimidated. And when facing intimidating opponents, their strategy is to play conservative and not make mistakes. If I was facing the Patriots, I would double Gronkowski on virtually every play, go single/man on the outside and focus my coverage assignments on the slot receivers and backs. If I was an AFC East team, I would probably have my defenders hit Brady late on every play (especially in the first matchup), but I'm a jerk like that.

Have you ever opened a thread, only to find the post was completely full of unreadable/jumbled nonsense... But then you kept reading anyway, just because you were curious if anyone else had any idea what the poster was talking about. 3 pages later, I'm still clueless. McKelvin, Maybin, Salient... what???

There are two reasons Tyrod Taylor never reaches 300 yards: 1. The Bills start every single game hoping to establish the run, while carefully protecting the ball on passing plays. Even if we successfully attack downfield through the air on a few plays, the offense will quickly return to run-heavy on the ensuing drives. 2. If the Bills happen to fall behind by 2+ scores, and the offense is forced to pass -- those are the games that Taylor struggles badly with taking sacks, decision-making and accuracy. When the threat to rush is gone, he just isn't good enough to carry the team with his arm.

Almost three full seasons. We've seen what Tyrod Taylor is about. Now, I'm certainly not as "down" on Taylor as some Bills fans. When you consider the entire package (leadership qualities, playmaking ability with his legs, ability to avoid turnovers), I believe he's better than a good chunk of NFL starters. If we managed to put together an elite defense, compliment him with a strong O-Line and running game - I think we could win 10-11 games and maybe even win a playoff game. But here is the problem. I don't believe Taylor can ever lead us to a championship (which should be the ultimate goal). The regular season is a different animal from the playoffs. At some point during a playoff run, teams will find a way to make him win with his arm. We can't rely on Shady McCoy and keeping the opponent under 17 points for 3-4 weeks against the NFL's best. There is a reason that teams without a strong franchise QB only win a Super Bowl every 15-20 years.