Rocky Landing

After Labor Day??? How gauche!

Wings, and a Genny Cream Ale!

The pessimist in me says, "bust, it is..." The optimist in me says, "this is the year we go to the playoffs. Word." The rationalist in me says, "what's for dinner?"

I wonder how many suspended players the Ravens have?

Plenty of rookies have great first seasons, and plenty of rookies who were supposed to be great don't pan out. But, I think any time you hang your hat on a rookie season, it's a mistake.

-Tyrod will be better. -Watkins will be healthy. -Shady- healthy. -Clay- healthy and making receptions up the middle. -Goodwin- healthy for several games, at least. Once he is out, Salas, and Powell step up. Lewis comes in from the PS, and becomes a red-zone stud. -The O-line will be improved, Miller, and Mills have more experience, and TT will step up into the pocket more, making it easier to protect. -J-Will will make us forget Karlos ever existed. -Our Defense will be improved. -We will have the best, and deepest secondary in the league. -Lorenzo Alexander will be this year's Jerry Hughs story. -Week five our D will get an immediate boost with the return of Marcel. -Week 8ish, our D will get a boost from the arrival of Shaq. -Preston Brown will become more and more confident, and respected as the defensive leader, as the season progresses. 10-6. Playoffs Word.

FWIW, NE are 6 point dogs vs. Arizona, Miami are 10.5 dogs to Seattle (!!!), and the Jets are 2.5 dogs to Cincy, which seems a little low, to me.

Was there an asterisk in its place?

Finally, a voice of reason...

Aka, The Deflator.

Well, Kirby, you know what one of my bold predictions will be: Chris Hogan flourishes in NE*, becomes one of Brady's* favorite targets, surpasses Amendola on the depth chart, and challenges Edelman's per-game targets. Bills related bold prediction: Bills make the playoffs. Word.

I live in LA, and so I've been trying to make them my second team. And, man... it's just not working.

Too soon to call, but never too soon to predict.

You can't tell me Welker, in his prime, wasn't a clutch player!

We saw it week two vs. the Giants.

Who is better: Welker in his prime, or Edelman? (who, I assume, is currently in his prime)

Ah, yes. Although, even if the rule is changed back, a kickoff specialist was always a luxury, right? I was thinking, though, if the rule sticks, would a kickoff specialist who could drop the ball shy of the end zone (as opposed to Gay's ability to boom it out the other side) not be a valuable commodity?

Will he? Correct me if I'm wrong, but weren't we the only team sat season to have a kickoff specialist? And, didn't Gay just show the league that field goals weren't really his thing?

I think this will be especially true for Preston Brown, considering his role as defensive leader. It's not just his own job as LB that he has to have a handle on. It's weird to me how some people don't think players improve beyond their rookie seasons. Preston Brown has only played in the NFL for two seasons. Of course he's going to get better with experience. Why wouldn't he?

Yeah, but I'm saying that he becomes a favorite target-- not starts out that way.

Sure, sure, and sure. I get all of this. (And, I do realize that I have invited something of a dog-pile by predicting that Hogan succeeds in NE*) But, I don't really think any of these stats are all that meaningful in context. My contention is that Hogan will fit in much better in NE* than he did in Buffalo, and become a favored target of Brady*. If Edelman were in Buffalo last season, would his numbers be anywhere near where they were in NE*? I would think not.

Well, I looked it up: Edelman had a 60% conversion rate, and Hogan had a 50% conversion rate. For a little more context, though, it should be noted that NE* was fifth in first downs, and Buffalo was tied with Minnesota at 28th.

Players don't get a lot better from experience???

Well, this late in the preseason, one would hope they wouldn't sign a player that doesn't have any relationship with someone on the coaching staff.

But, Edelman's drop percentage was higher than Hogan's 7.69 to 6.18%, respectively. 69.3% with Brady* vs 61% with TT/EJ? That sort of explains itself, doesn't it?