Brandon

I think Denney will probably make the final 53 man roster. He's proven that he can be a decent 3rd DE. You expect more of a 2nd round pick, but at the end of the day, he is a reasonably productive reserve and will probably play out his contract (and I think he's a FA after this year). Reed is all but gone. Moulds, Evans and Parrish are locks as we all know. Sam Aiken will also make this final roster as he is the primary backup to Moulds. I also believe that he has outplayed Reed to this point this preseason. That leaves one remaining spot, and I think George Wilson will probably win it. He's a willing ST player and at the very least, he can actually catch the ball as a WR.

I guess they believe that the additional work will prove beneficial down the road. They're right, but after a good half in which he recovered from a poor start, I'd probably let Losman call it a night.

No injuries that I'm aware of. As I stated in the chat room, I think we're going to see a lot of this type of play from JP this year. He's not going to be consistent at all from series to series, though as we saw tonight, that can be a good thing.

That sounds about right. My only question is why Wade didn't pull the plug on Flutie before he did. In hindsight, the ultimate irony for the Flutie fans is that had Wade benched him a month earlier as he should have, Flutie would have likely started the Titans playoff game after RJ inevitably got injured in the final month of the regular season.

I'm only able to see the few plays NFL Network shows, but from the chat room reports, it seemed to have been a combination of drops and poor throws. However, he did play very well on the last two drives, going to 8/9 to finish 10/17 overall for 85 yards and 1 TD pass.

So you're saying that they're in midseason form?

First of all, I think we both need to take a step back and calm down. If we can discuss this in a civil manner and start over, I'm willing to do so. There is a basis for my opinion. Its really not even complex enough to necessitate the use of a bunch of economic indicators and statistics that can be read either way depending upon whether one sees the glass as half empty or half full. No, I see it within my local community. I live in a small, blue-collar town of about 25,000 people with an economy based on agriculture and manufacturing, with another 100,000 within a 25 mile radius. Although my family also owns a small manufacturing business as mentioned earlier, I chose to enter the banking industry. A lot of our customers and a lot of people in the community are barely making enough to survive. A lot of them are bringing home $1200-1500/month after taxes from the factories. Some will make twice that, which is good money around here. An extra $60-80/month for gas is eating them alive. The inflation brought on by the higher fuel prices certainly doesn't help, either. The agriculture industry here is belly up and survives on federal subsidies and a few rich farmers. These people can't afford another hit. They certainly can't afford any unnecessary spending. That's why I think that when Christmas rolls around, I think we're going to get a wake-up call. And sure, one can argue that its just one small town, and I can grant you that. That said, I doubt we're in a unique situation and even though one town really doesn't matter in the grand scheme of things, a good number of them together can. I'd like to be optimistic about it and I'm not going to assign political blame, but, I think its going to have to get better soon if we're going to get out of this without an economic downturn. I believe that the fuel prices, with their potential to impact the economy on such a wide scale basis, is going to be the determining factor. If it sticks at over $2.50/gallon, I think we're in for trouble.

You see, if you had actually asked this question to begin with instead of acting like a child, we wouldn't have this little bitching contest. Its nothing more than a guess, based upon the time I think it will take the effects of what I believe will be a poor Christmas season. And yes, I could be wrong. I'm not omnipotent. I can't see the future. It was offered up as an opinion and little more.

Your constant name calling proves my point.

You should know all about it, considering all you've contributed to the discussion with your one line responses. At any rate, thank you for reminding me why I no longer visit this political 'discussion' board. There are too many blowhards with overinflated opinions of themselves over here. I may be wrong, it wouldn't be the first time, and it certainly won't be the last. But you, I'm pretty sure that you've never been wrong, at least in your own mind.

I wonder what consolation that will be to the worker who loses his job and can't feed his family because his employer has to close their doors? Not that I think you're wrong, mind you. Its just that its not as easy and painless as that.

Its common sense. Look, I don't post much on this board, but I've read your posts and you and I have polar opposite political views. But there are some things that are blatantly obvious and this is one of them. This can't continue. My family owns a small manufacturing business. Prices from our suppliers have skyrocketed. A quantity of steel that cost $8,000 in 2002 costs $20,000 now, primarily due to shipping costs. Our delivery fees have tripled. Who pays for it? Our customers pay for it. Do you think they've had a corresponding 250% wage increase in three years? Hell no, they haven't. They can't afford it, we can't afford to keep our prices static, and neither can anyone else. It can't continue. And to the other poster, yeah, we may leave, because like many other businesses, this sh-- is going to drive us OUT of business.

Nope, I wouldn't say that. More than likely, its a simple matter of your own personal situation improving. Oil (and fuel prices in general) are up nearly 300% the last two or three years. It is THE base resource in our economy and any change in fuel prices has a ripple effect on practically everything else in the economy. There's no way that the average Joe with his paycheck-to-paycheck life can eat this without repercussions. People say that the impact of these prices will manifest first as a change in driving habits. That's BS. Most people drive because they have to. They drive to work, to buy food, whatever. Even the vehicle they drive is something they're tied to. An awful lot of people can't trade the gas guzzler for an econobox, both for practical use reasons and for the simple fact that many vehicle owners are upside down in their loans. The fuel prices may be killing them, but trading their vehicle will be even worse in the short term. The chickens will initially come home to roost in the form of lowered discretionary spending. That's going to get the ball rolling through the entire economy and its going to come apart at the seams. The Christmas season, where discretionary spending is most closely tracked, is going to be the point where it becomes undeniable. So yes, I think a major economic flameout is coming if these fuel prices persist.

It wouldn't suprise me if gas costs about $1.20/gallon by the end of summer...next year. The Christmas season is going to bi*** slap these oil prices back to reality. That's the point of no return. I think sales for the holiday season are going to be sharply down this year. That's going to pull the rug out from under this economy and demand (and prices) will fall apart. Say hello to a major recession. Due date? Early '06. I guess the good news is that it'll take care of the fuel costs.

Honestly, I don't know what the rule is. That said, if I were Reid and I could find a way to do it, I would. They'd still have to pay him, but who cares. Its time someone in the NFL shows this idiot who is really in charge.

But in their defense, you've got to realize that there are probably 100-150 RBs eligible for the draft every year. There's a lot of competition to be one of the 15-20 that actually get drafted and once you get past the top 5-10 prospects, there's usually a group of up to around 50 that carry very similar grades on the draft board and one mistake can be very, very costly.

There's a really easy way to deal with this situation. Reid screwed up by ordering him to leave. He should have waited until TO came up with another injury in training camp, regardless of the severity and put his a$$ on IR, ending his season.

The negativity gets old, doesn't it? It quite often takes years for even the best QBs to fully settle into their role as a starter. Many on this board would have cut Peyton Manning after he threw 12 INTs in his first 4 games a rookie (and only 3 TD passes).

Posey may not make the highlight reels like Fletcher and Spikes, but he does his job. He doesn't make the big play, but he doesn't make mistakes, either. He's just a solid starting SLB who doesn't try to do more than is asked of him. Stamer is an excellent find for an undrafted player, but he's got an uphill fight to beat out a steady player on the #2 defense in the league.

One correction. Brett Favre was hardly run out of Atlanta. The Packers paid dearly to acquire him from the Falcons. He was drafted in 1991, threw only five passes (completed only two, both to the wrong team), and traded for the 17th overall pick in 1992. Steve Young went to the 49ers for a 2nd and a 4th.

Actually, when you consider that Peyton Manning threw 28 interceptions as a rookie, a final evaluation of Losman is probably won't be possible for a couple of years. No one wants to hear that, but its the truth.

Good. He certainly needs work, but given the fact that it was his first real test against another team in a year, he exceeded my expectations.

``He really wasn't flinching. He looked comfortable in there,'' Mularkey said. ``I'm sure there's some things we're going to have to watch the tape and we'll say he should have or could have. But for the most part I was pretty pleased watching him live.'' At this point, if its good enough for the head coach, its good enough for me.

Average? I have no problems with that. If JP Losman is an average starting NFL QB at this stage of his development, I'd say he's well ahead of schedule. What do some of you guys honestly expect from him? It takes most Qbs a few YEARS as a starter before they really get settled in. If you're expecting JP Losman to look like an all-pro from day 1, its not going to happen. And this was nothing more than a glorified practice. If Losman is stinking up the joint through the first month of the season, this talk might be warranted. Get a grip guys. Give him a chance. Let him at least have a preseason game before you break out the torches and pitchforks.

Yeah, but in Frank Reich's defense, he was about old enough to start drawing social security by the time he played for Detroit.