Dan

This is exactly one of the primary reason teams, or any business, don't openly acknowledge their plans. Sure, you don't want to give your competitors a clue as to your strategy, but you also do yourself and your players absolutely no good by letting the world know you wanted to trade them but the deal fell through. In your scenario, the insider is still very much an insider. But, no deal is final until the ink is dry. I guess, for me, I read all inside "scoops" with a bit of caution until that poster gains some credibility. And by that I mean they're right more often than not (even broken clocks are right twice a day). For the insiders, it also wouldn't hurt to just say... I heard it, but it seems the situation changed. For the non-insiders, it wouldn't hurt to just... Not be a *#%$ to everyone.

Some mod cut some posts. Pegula got wind of it and said... No way, I'm the top Pegs, I can fire everyone. So they put the posts back, and graham reported it wrong.

I couldn't agree with the sentiment of your post more. Fred is the heart and soul of our team and has been through many a lean year. Cutting him now, just as we all feel we're on the brink of finally turning a corner, would ..suck balls. Should Fred be our starter... No. Should Fred be on our team... Absolutely. I'll also add that if anyone thinks this scrub RB from philly is the difference between playoffs and bust, you're delusional.

Essentially, its the TBD truism... Any player not on the Bills is better than any player on the Bills. Problem is, this year, there are no truly better QBs out there that can be had. But, people refuse to see that because EJ is clearly the worst QB in the league.... Because he's on the Bills.

What's fallen apart? The pats cheated. They've cheated in multiple ways for multiple years. How does something Jerry Rice did, or any other player, have to do with that? Or are you contending that the entire league cheats; therefore, we should ignore it all and just let them all keep on cheating?

It's called the dumbing down of America. Intelligent, rational discussion and analysis is boring. Off the cuff blow hards out-shouting someone with their unsupported opinion is interesting and good to watch. Hence, I watch almost no pre-/post game shows (or even news channels) any more.

Absolutely spot on in every respect. Myself and everyone I watched the game with were absolutely speechless after that play. People can bring all sorts of stats into the conversation. You can talk about the players doing this or that. But, in that situation, you run the ball. Period. It's just that simple. Seattle coaches out thought themselves and handed their season to the cheaters. It was so dumbfounding of a call, it makes me wonder... Does the league actually dictate who wins and loses? Because surely no NFL coach is that dumb. Right? Apparently they are.

My take... Terry and Kim are busy people running a $4billion empire. The only way you do that is you have a CEO type overseeing each separate entity. In this case, call him a football czar. But, I doubt seriously pegs has the time or knowledge to oversee all the operations of an NFL team. Hence, hire someone that does.

I haven't had time to read all of this, but the jist of it seems to be... That Brady got his team mates behind closed doors and told them he likes to handle supple balls. http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nfl-shutdown-corner/deflate-gate-report--11-of-patriots--12-game-footballs-were-under-inflated-043620937.html

All sounds completely reasonable.... And why there's a rule against under inflating the ball. There's a range that is permitted; hence, there's zero problem with anyone checking and making sure the balls at the high end of the range are deflated to the low end. That makes sense, and is allowed. But, clearly, the league decided that you couldn't do what ever you want in the name of fairness. Nothing you quoted here indicates that Rodgers or any other QB cheats and gains that unfair advantage. He's just stating that QBs would like flatter balls because it gives them an edge. Some players/team, however, disregard the rules and do what the want apparently.

I get that... Like real "champagne" is only from France. But, if they got the cows and continue to breed and raise them according to that tradition, are we splitting hairs a little? And I'm asking because I've heard this beef is the next best thing. And I've eaten it in steakhouses, it's pretty darn tasty. So, I'm genuinely curious what the resident cow czar has to say about it.

What about Snake River Farms, in ID? Pretty good stuff.

In football, you can score on offense, defense, and special teams. In baseball, the defensive team can not score. The comparison is ridiculous. If Seattle kicks off, GB fumbles the runback and Seattle scores. Should they have to give GB another chance? Because, ya know, it wasn't fair that Rodgers didn't get his chance. When does it end? What if you play a full (or reduced time) OT period, but the coin toss winner goes on an epic 14 minute drive? Should we extend play, so the other team gets a fair chance?

We currently have one QB on the roster, plus Tuel. Does anyone expect Rex to say anything differently? of course, they're going to look at all possible avenues to bring in at least 1 or 2 more QBs. And until Rex sees who that is and how EJ plays in practice, there's no way he says who the starter is.

Sorry, thought my sarcasm was more noticeable. I was mocking the notion that the coin toss is what lost the game for GB. I agree with you, GB lost the game because their defense gave up a TD drive, not because of the coin toss.

There's a league investigation in which any incriminating evidence is destroyed and league favorites get a slap on the wrist fine, all while some PR person stands around waving his hands saying "move along, nothing more to see here. you can all go home now."

I think we need a way to make the coin toss fair. How many teams lose because of the coin toss? I bet in almost every game, some team is losing after the coin is tossed! It's totally unfair, when you think about it. Maybe they should just take turns ... No that's unfair - who gets the first turn?.. Put both offenses on the opposing 25yd line at the same time all game. Whoever scores the most for 60minutes, wins.

If its so insignificant, why is there a rule forbidding it? Why would one team risk exposure by doing it? There's obviously an advantage. And it's clearly a violation of league rules. There's no gray area here. IMO, a lifetime ban is justified, not for this act, but for the multitude of acts. He has been caught cheating in the past, with minor fines. And it's not effectively deterred him one bit. So, now when you go to Foxboro you have to worry about your game plan... And the headsets, your calls being read, your walk through being watched, obscure rules about line formations, even something as insignificant as how much air is in the ball! The league needs to put a stop this once and for all.

No they don't. They just changed the rules to make them more fair. Now they're still not fair?? The Packers Defense failed, not the rules of the game.

First of all, in a multibillion dollar sport, why does the league still act like its 1920 and make teams bring their own balls? The league should provide the balls and both teams play with the same ones, the chance for something like this immediately evaporates if they did. Second, along the same vein, get rid rid of part time, seasonal staff making critical calls that affect every game. The Refs should be full time, dedicated professionals that spend all their time improving their performance. Third, if they allegations are correct, Bellicheck should get a life time ban. Enough already. He and this team have a history of bending the rules to suit their needs. It hurts the integrity of the game far more than a drunk player or a coach paying players to hit hard.

Couple plays earlier, he got his arm hit by his own player. looked to me like he hyper extended his elbow. He's been holding his arm like that since. Looks like Wilson has to catch the ball too! How many balls have his receivers dropped or tipped to the defense?

Move the stadium out of OP! Pegula pays for restoration/IndianNative American memorial/dedication park type thing. Have Flutie with golden shovel at new stadium ground breaking ceremony. Curse is lifted. Build architectural rockpile landscape feature thingy at entrance to new stadium. Championship!

For me, at least, I try to look at what they've done over the course of the last few seasons combined with the team/situation they were in. I like to see that a coach has a track record of consistently getting good production out of average players. For me, to call Gase a great OC when he's working with Manning carries less weight than looking at what Chan did with Fitz, just as one example. But, I think everyone should realize that the dynamics of every hire change with the scenery. Nothing is guaranteed. Sure, a coach that had consistently gotten his players to play hard and produce should be expected to do well. Conversely, a coach that's had down years can often blossom in a new environment. Hence, I tend to withhold all judgement until the assistants start coming in. Currently, I have a mixed feeling for Rex. I'm not a big fan of him bringing his entire Jets staff in, but most coaches like to do that. I like the Roman hire for what he's done with Kap. So, like some, I'm a little on the fence for the time being until I see what they do on the field. At that point, I want to see them field a team that looks prepared, makes adjustments, plays hard and generally play above their perceived talent levels. And ultimately make progress in those areas and the win column. That was my biggest problem this past year, and why I was glad to see Marrone go. You could see the defense improve throughout the season. Yeah, they made mistakes and weren't perfect (hello 3rd and 22), but you could see noticeable improvement throughout the season and guys like Rambo step in and immediately look like they know what they're doing. Offensively, we were stuck in the mud. They seemed to regress in many areas and committed the same mistakes over and over. So, in the end, I'm not sure Rex et al. will get us over the hump and turn this team into a perennial playoff contender, but I think the staff they're assembling has a proven track record and should be able to with our current players (assuming we generate a QB from somewhere). Now we just have to see what they do from here and if they can consistently field a winner, week in and week out, year after year.

I've talked to 2 friends.. One Bronco fan, one Dolphin fan. Both said the same thing... Rex, meh. But you should have kept Schwartz to keep the defense in tact. And none of it matters until you get a QB. They both also agreed that our offense was horrible and Hackett and Marrone had to go.

That's what I took away from it too. Rex has seen at least 2 other team facilities, maybe more. But, he genuinely seemed impressed by what the Bills had going on. That's kinda nice to see and have affirmed.