eSJayDee

I'll concede, maybe calling him "elite" might be overly generous, but he was a starting caliber RB who rushed for 1000 yrs 2x. Certainly not a bottom rung, borderline journeymen.

He might very well be able to - for one week. When he played ~20 yrs ago, he was elite, so it's quite possible that if he kept himself in shape, he would still have the abilities of a lower echelon player. However, as a "weekend athlete" not much younger than him, I can emphatically state that a ~50 yr old body does NOT recover like a ~20 yr olds. Further, what I recover from (actually, I'm pretty much in a constant state of one thing or another being semi-injured ) is in NO way at the same level of what I can only imagine is the wear/damage inflicted playing an NFL game.

The main strength of our Dee is the Dline/passrush. Not saying we aren't strong beyond that, but I don't think you'd call it elite, especially absent 3 DB starters. As none of these drills are "live", I'd have to think this GREATLY minimizes the effect of said pass rush. As such, I don't think the strength of the defense would have much effect on QB effectiveness/appearance.

I saw a few months ago, when the allegations 1st came out, where someone did a statistical analysis that it was virtually guaranteed that it gave them an advantage WRT reduced fumbles. I don't remember the specific #a, but assume relative to average it would amount to maybe 3 fumbles lost /yr (as per above, it had to be fairly significant). I've always considered a turnover worth about 5 points (roughly speaking at least, that holds true). So I think it's quite plausible that their cheating allowed them to win an extra game or so /yr. Certainly significant IMO. Of course, we don't know HOW significant it was cuz they they got away w/ it.

You talk about "ouliners", but he only played 4 games in '14. Statistically, they'll ALL ouliners!

If they're on snugly, the work great. If they're a bit loose/misaligned, they can/will leak. I would not use them in a concealed wall & would be hesitant to use them on anything that would be (particularly) prone to movement. I've used them for temporary repairs & I even installed a solder-free toilet valve that thus far has been trouble free.

What occurred to me is that just cuz he wasn't tendered, doesn't mean that they don't intend/hope to keep him. I'm assuming that the Tender Offer is higher than the League Minimum. Since he (presumably) wouldn't draw much interest, perhaps they're hoping to sign him later & save a couple hundred K or whatever.

I believe they originally went w/ distinct K balls as kickers & punters were using balls that were "broken in", allowing for much more consistent, if not better, kicking & punting. With the recent (dramatic) improvement in punting (& kicking) I wonder if they haven't altered that requirement.

Actually, it seems that the going rate for mediocre starting QB is around $10m now ($20m for elite). Although he didn't even play up to the level of mediocrity, he did start 12 games, w/ little indication there was any inclination to bench him, in which case I think he did indeed live up to his $5m.

I don't really think you do need to truly "understand" offenses to effectively defend them. I'll use the analogy of curing an illness. To "cure" an illness, all you need to do is identify the symptoms and alleviate them; you don't need to know the underlying cause. To defend well, you merely need to identify what an offense is going to do & counteract it; you needn't know how, or why they're doing it. Same holds true for offenses - you merely need to diagnose what a Dee is going to do & device ways to attack it; you don't need to know how or why they're doing it.

Doesn't the guy guiding the plane in look a bit like Marrone? LOL.

Remember, a blocked kick is not only worth (saved) points, but I'd think it's also worth yardage as well. A KO specialist is used perhaps 5x/game on avg & is worth I'd say at most 5 yds/kick, or 25 yds/game, prolly closer to 15. You'll have approximately 2 successful FGs (ignore XP) / game. If you can manage to block, say 20-25%... If an avg FG attempt is roughly 40 yds (ie try from 30), that means that if a blocked FG is brought back to the spot, that's roughly 8 yds relative to a successful try (assume an avg drive start after a KO of the 22. (Further, I would contend that on avg, blocked kicks result in an avg drive start beyond the point of try (or even a potential return for TD.) So improving your kick blocking is worth roughly 4 yds/game, in addition to the 1.5 pts. Again, I just don't think it's very doable, w/o modifying the rules to how they were before. Mario Williams is a very good rusher & is very tall (for that matter I'd bet he prolly has close to a 3' vertical); I don't think you'd find anyone much more (theoretically) capable of blocking kicks than him.

If there was someone out there that could do it much better than it's being done, I'd think an attempt would be made to find them. They could just amend the rules back to how they were allowing you to climb on your teammates. Granted, kickers are MUCH better than they used to be, but I recall Sherman White blocked numerous, maybe like 8 kicks, one yr. Ted Hendricks was very successful at it, too.

Problem seems to be resolved. Thank you.

I'm unable to save the "turn off beeps" feature from the Shoutbox. (I'm okay w/ it, my dog is NOT). Changing the theme appears to fix the problem.

Yes, he's very good, but so are many/most other kickers nowadays. Hitting 90%, which is roughly what he does, is the norm. Coupled w/ the fact that he doesn't KO & no, sorry, not worthy of Pro Bowl recognition.

The decline in yds/drive & plays/drive might be partially due to our improved Dee & ST. Which of course, makes the lack of improvement in scoring all the more damning.

We don't need to draft a RB. We've got 3 decent ones (Jackson, Dixon, Brown). Teams have productive run games w/ inferior talent. Our problem is we don't open holes. Our blockers, interior in particular, just don't cut it. Whether or not an improvement in "scheme" would help, IDK, but regardless, I seriously doubt the improvement would be substantial. When you need to run, it all comes down to your guy beating their guy & our guys don't seem to be able to do that as it's most obvious in short yardage situations.

He might suck, but at least he has poise. Well, I guess technically that's two things.

http://www.nfl.com/flexible-schedules I suppose we might still make it, but I still think Cincy vs Pitt is more likely as that game may be a de facto playoff game for one or both teams (ie win & you're in, lose & you're out).

I thought I read there WILL be a game flexed in week 17. I also saw that the announcement must be made at least 12 days in advance. Further, since I believe that regardless of outcomes in week 16, Cincy & Pitt will have playoff implications, that would seem like a far more prudent candidate for switching.

Looking a bit further, you're somewhat correct. If SD beats BAL, I believe we move ahead of BAL (WRT tie breakers). Likewise, if NYJ beats MIA, we move ahead of MIA (outright). Regardless of the outcomes, we'd still be behind SD & KC (& I believe PIT) WRT tie-breakers, so we'd be sitting at best 4th in line for Wildcards & we still need to overtake 2 more. I'll also mention 11-5 would still put us in position to win the division, but that, of course would require NE to lose 2 other games in addition to losing to us, one of which wpu;d have to be a division game.

Right now we sit 11th in the AFC. If we beat CLE, we move past them, at least into 10th. 4 division winners means that there's still 5 teams we'd need to displace that I believe at least now, we lose tie-breakers to all of them. Haven't worked out the scenarios yet (I do know BAL plays SD this week, so one of them is bound to get a loss), but I personally think it's quite possible that we'd miss at 11-5 & downright doubtful that we'd be able to overtake them rest of the teams ahead of us to get in at 10-6. IF we win this week, maybe I'll start to investigate various permutations. Calculations become exponentially easier each week.

Sadly, I think it's a matter of pandering to the popular fan. They don't care how the D-line had a stunt to free up a rusher, or a TE sealed a LB on an outside run. They're watching for the rah-rah excitement of the game, of which, the inane celebrations contribute significantly to.

I think it comes down to a #s thing. Who you gonna sit in his stead? Watkins? If healthy, hell no. Woods? Maybe, though I personally like him. Hogan? Can't ask much more from him on offense plus he's a major contributor on ST, tres important w/ Easley out. Goodwin? Again, maybe, but he was now our kick returner. Plus, as I understand it, he's our designated "stretch the field" guy, which apparently is something we need/want.