TheFunPolice

Texans are easily the worst opening right now. Toxic culture, a seemingly untrustworthy Easterby (the former team chaplain) running the show, no draft picks, disgruntled star QB. We've seen the importance of culture and morale on winning. Houston is a mess, and it doesn't sound like it is getting better.

I just don't see how a trade makes sense for the Texans, especially since O'Brien is gone. If he was still there I could see Watson and a future 1st for Kirk Cousins and a 7th. But now? IF the Texans trade Watson, they immediately need to replace him with a top 10 QB. Assuming they were able to get the Jets pick, for example, and assuming Fields is there and works out well, they basically hope to eventually break even, once Fields develops. Look at it this way: the Texans have a million dollars, and they would be investing that million for a CHANCE at a million. All risk, little upside.

Imagine being the new hc there... "Well, the one plus is Watson"

Family Gifts Company Stadium: The ones who spam your news feed in Facebook with the wooden signs with everyone's name on them. Top sponsors get their name on a wooden slat on the giant sign outside the stadium. Get yours now!

Someone already said it, but having Allen and White is definitely better than having Mahomes. Look at it this way, even if you say Allen is a top 5 NFL QB, and not the best, you have a top 5 QB AND a top 2-3 CB vs a top 1-2 QB without the CB. There isn't enough dropoff (if there is any) between the 2 QBs but the Bills got one of the top DBs in the league as well.

This is awesome! This season has also been proof that culture and team bond matters.

We just saw Barkley warm up, put his helmet on, the announcers start talking about him, only for Allen to trot back out for another TD pass. McDermott isn't revealing anything!

What's so special about the Titans offense that would make anyone want the OC as a HC? Henry is amazing but he doesn't get to come along.

I was literally going to post the same thing! LOL

"Went to HS together" could go both ways. Sometimes it's a deal breaker! Probably not in this case, but still.

Unsung unit: OL They are very, very good, especially at protecting the QB.

Can't argue with the results! I can see top GM candidates flocking there. That said, if Urban Meyer really does go there he will probably be defacto GM as well.

Another plus of the Steelers beating the Browns is watching Stefanski and Mayfield stare into the abyss. Can't stand either one!

I think Pederson is trying to get fired to get out of the Eagles organization.

problem with the Texans is that they traded away all their draft picks.

Harbaugh is an NFL coach. Like Saban is a college coach.

It's even worse than that... Marty was fired after going 14-2, because a DB fumbled after catching the game winning INT against Brady in the playoffs so it proved "Marty cannot win in the playoffs." Ironic point: on the Football Life about Marty they showed the video of Marty telling that same player before that game that when he catches the game winning INT just go down, don't go running around and fumble. It's crazy

I think the Ravens will roll the Titans and set up an epic showdown with KC. It would be nice to only have to play one of KC, BAL, TEN. If someone said you need to beat the Colts and Steelers (both at home) to get to the AFC Title game I would sign up for that now!

O'Brien went from the savior of Penn State to the all everything of the NFL Texans to possibly the Alabama OC? That's quite the career path. That said, college and the NFL are so different. Yes, it's football, but being on a college campus all the time and working with student athletes who look up to you and buy in to whatever you say because you're Nick Freaking Saban (or one of his staff) is so different from managing multi-millionaire NFL players. For one, you have the chance to mentor young people and help them build the foundation for a successful life. Sure, that's also true to some extent in the NFL, but I can see how that speaks to many coaches. I can imagine the college coaching world, especially if you're a top guy at a top program, is a whole lot of fun. College campuses are fun places to be. The games have a festival atmosphere. You make almost as much as NFL coaches. Players are fun to be around. College towns are awesome places to live. You're the toast of the town. Unless you absolutely must be seen as the very top guy at the highest level of the sport winning on Super Bowl Sunday it's a really cool gig.

Rex's defenses require Peyton Manning like guys on defense, as he had in Baltimore and NJ. His schemes work very, very well. But with young players it's too complex. Like many here I still have a bitter taste about how he treated the Bills job like a part-time gig. He really should have taken a year or two off after the Jets. He has said lately that his heart was never really into the Bills job as he still loves the Jets. I don't excuse it or like it, but on some level I get it. Imagine hating the Patriots forever (easy to do!) then you get hired as Patriots HC, mostly because you really want to be a HC and that's your only opportunity. Sure, you shouldn't take a job you're not 100% in to, but it happens all the time. I think he could be a very good DC still, if his ego allows it. He was apparently ready to play second fiddle to Andy Reid in KC, presumable because he saw it as a way to win another Super Bowl as a DC and set the stage for a HC comeback. Chase Young is so much fun to watch! It's rare for a DL to completely take over a game but I've seen him do it a couple of times this year.

If I'm Bienemy this is the job I want most. Herbert is fantastic and the team has a ton of talent and a decent draft position.

Great guy, but an offensive version of Wade Phillips. Amazing people, great coordinators, mediocre to bad head coaches. That said, Wade was a huge part of Denver's last Super Bowl win, and finally got a ring and should have won another with the Rams, holding Brady to 13 points with McVay's fancy offense scoring 3. Nothing wrong with being a fantastic OC.

Every time I see your posts I feel like Feliciano is yelling at me! LOL I didn't realize Kamara was out and about or the details about the Ravens coach. That makes me feel a bit better, because I feel like the Bills are a pretty buttoned up operation.

As far as this Bills team compared to those teams... I see the same type of comradery forming, which is amazing and cannot be overstated. One difference between this offense and the K Gun was that in Kelly's day they had very few plays and just ran them over and over, with different wrinkles here and there. Tasker talks about it all the time. It wasn't a big playbook. It was mostly based on doing a few things extremely well, and most teams couldn't stop it. Offenses today (and defenses) are much more complicated and multiple than in the past. Guys like Walsh on offense and Parcells/Belichick on defense (hate to say it, but it's true) were way ahead of their time, which is part of why they were so successful. Most games they were facing off against teams that were just playing what we might call vanilla offense/defense today: line up and play. Back then there were a lot of "ole ball coaches" who to be honest were pretty much interchangeable. Game plans were play hard, hit hard, tackle well, catch the ball, block. Very complex systems were somewhat unusual. That might sound like a knock, but it's not meant to be. My point is that the game has evolved tremendously, and it's easy to forget that given the NFL of today. Now, the league is full of mad scientists and wunderkinds cooking up all sorts of exotic schemes, especially on offense. It's a different kind of arms race, where you have to outthink the other mad scientist on the opposing sideline, PLUS accumulate talent. Couple that with rules changes, and it's no surprise that scoring and stats are up. What truly amazing is that there are still a few great defenses that show up in the biggest games, even with all of these things being true. So you CAN still scheme up a defense that can shut down the best offenses, even with all the rules changes. The Giants beat the 18-0 Patriots, who had a seemingly unstoppable offense, by a score of 17-14 in the Super Bowl. Then again in another Super Bowl by a score of 21-17 a couple years later. The league has proven that you can play a lockdown defense without head shots, dirty hits, and destroying WRs over the middle. It's just that very very few coaches are able to come up with plans to do that. The best news of all, and the biggest difference between the 90's teams and now, is that we have defensive coaches who are among those few in the league.

A couple of observations.... I can still remember McMahon (Bears QB) having a concussion that "cleared up at halftime." For those of us who have watched the game for decades, the changes that have been made are truly incredible. Check out this segment showing McMahon get piledriven well after the play and the explanation for how things were handled then. Here's Ditka angrily saying that McMahon was fine after seeing spots in his eyes and that he didn't want to hear the question again: Can you imagine a coach today saying that? He had some spots in his eyes but it cleared up and he'll be at practice all week and play next weekend? The game has changed for the better, 100%. But as others have said as well, this is why offensive stats were lower overall in the past. Guys were getting beat to a pulp on a weekly basis.