BarleyNY

As in if an offensive player is facing the LOS they can block a defender coming at or by them (rather than get trucked) as long as it’s above the waist. But they can’t run toward the defender and do that. That’s how I understand the rule. Yes. 3 yards on either side of the LOS.

The Cardinal blocked in the direction of the LOS, but he wasn’t moving in that direction. I believe that is a necessary condition for it to be an illegal blindside block.

You can’t put a hand on the back of a player while blocking them. That’s said, I watched the play several times on the broadcast from 3 angles. It looks like he hits him from the side as he dives for Murray and that’s where contact is made. His left hand may have touched his back on the way down, but that’s not a block in the back IMO.

I think we are very close to Allen being a finished product. He has two hurdles to clear in order to become an elite, franchise QB IMO. And that’s not to complain as I think he is in the cusp. IMO they are: 1) The rate of substantial mistakes has to drop. I do not ever expect him or anyone else to be perfect and he’s improved dramatically as a QB, but in the Arizona game he had 5 turnover worthy plays by my count. The two picks were on him as were the two passes that hit Peterson but weren’t intercepted. Plus the 3rd and 10 throw for -5 yards to Singletary as he was getting thrown down. It was into a group of defenders without full control. I love the determination to make a play, but he’s got to be smarter than that. Let me take a moment to say that I love what I’m seeing from him on most plays. Other than those 5 plays he was everything you’d want from your starting QB. He just has to get those plays down to 2 a game rather than 5. I think that comes with experience. 2) In the playoffs this year, when the pressure mounts, he has to perform better than what we saw from him post fumble in the Houston game. You could tell that he had not been in a game that big before and that the pressure got to him. I think it was a learning experience for him and that, judging by how well he has performed late in every other close game this year and last year, that he’ll be fine. But it’s still a hurdle he has to clear. That might sound more critical of Allen that I actually am of him. I’ve seen great growth from him and I think he is on the cusp of being elite. Just a couple more hurdles.

While it is true that Buffalo controls their own destiny, so does Miami. If Miami wins next Sunday then we are tied at 7-3 with the tiebreaker going to the Bills. If both teams win out through week 16 (or have the same number of losses) then the week 17 winner takes the division. While I like our chances - especially against Miami in Buffalo - that’s the math of it.

I’ve been complaining about our TE corps the whole offseason. Knox was really the only hope and he has not really panned out so far.

That’s a block from the side, which is legal.

Yup, that’s generally how I see it too. If you’re looking at the value you’re getting from each unit and player, then the defensive front seven and Morse may bear the brunt of the 2021 cap squeeze. It makes sense to cut a little deeper on the underperforming side and keep the better performers on the better unit. But that’s speculation based on the worst case league cap situation. I don’t know that it’ll be that bad.

Assuming the league wide expectation is that the cap jumps back up in 2022 I do not expect players worthy of sizable long term contracts to take much of a hit. Players looking at one or two year contracts are going to bear the brunt of that along with the overpaid/underperforming ones.

The first year hit doesn’t have to be near the AAV of the contract so it’s possible to retain Williams. A lot depends on the cap next season AND the expectations of the cap in 2022. A timely and effective COVID vaccine would go a long way toward getting the cap back up. I expect that there is some real work ahead for Beane. We have $170.8M in expected cap expenditures next season with only 40 players under contract. Unless the cap is well above the $175M agreed upon minimum there will be a bit of a blood bath. The defensive front 7 will get hit and even a player like Morse could be released. But there should be a lot of short term deals out there with a lot of teams in really bad cap shape so all would not be lost.

Totally agree across the board. My immediate thought on Williams is a Conklin contract, which is exactly $14M AAV. Mongo getting a contract just North of Spain’s is my thought too. Nsekhe would be a solid short term solution at RT as well. He’s 35 now so we’d need to draft someone to be the future, but he could hold the fort down for a year or so.

This. There were a few very good players moved at below market value, but those players were directing where they were going. If we couldn’t get a player like that, then I’m happy we didn’t get involved with a bad deal.

Heinz is really the only option for ketchup IMO. It’s perfectly balanced, or in food lingo “has very high amplitude”. Lots of specialty mustards are great and have gained local or national market share because regular yellow mustard is garbage. (My favorites are Stadium Mustard for most things and Trader Joe’s Dijon when I want that flavor. It’s real Dijon, not the weak crap found at most grocery stores.) But specialty ketchups just can’t compete on taste with Heinz. Most are way too sweet or have another dominant flavor that makes it one dimensional.

Thanks. And I agree on ink cartridges. Off brands and refills can ruin a printer. I’ve been through that.

Not anymore if you are in his tax bracket. Itemized deductions are capped so low that the standardized deduction is higher. As for the money raised and to those who contributed, that’s pretty freaking awesome! Kudos!

Moen faucets. They are very well made with brass interior parts and customer service is awesome. Dewalt and Porter Cable power tools are quality. Certainly worth paying for if you’re going to use them for a long time. Costco for a lot of stuff. Lots of great food there. Their rotisserie chickens are bomb. Good prices on other quality stuff too - wine/booze, tires, furniture, phones, clothes. We used to go there every year for winter coats and snow pants for the kids. I still get clothes there. Trader Joe’s for cheese, snacks and their medium salsa authentica.

I dealt with bullying up until 8th grade. I was raised by a single mom (prior to that being so common) and was basically told we’d lose everything we owned if I got into a fight and we got sued. I was often the smartest boy in class, had curly hair and wouldn’t fight. You couldn’t draw up a better mark. Oddly the result of her efforts was to ensure that I was bullied constantly and in fights increasingly. Also oddly I was a surprisingly good fighter when it came to that. In 7th grade a little ***** got into it and it took forever for me to finally grab him and drive him into the ground, cracking his rib. Then part 2, which I knew was coming, happened. Bigger kids went after me because I hurt a smaller kid. Why really didn’t matter. Finally I lost my ***** on my mom in 8th grade. Nothing physical, I just screamed at her and told her all of my problems with fights were her fault. She said “Do what you need to do.” So what precipitated that was a 7th grader getting in my face that day. Our school was only 7th and 8th grades and even though he was a grade behind me he was the biggest kid in that school. But thank god he was slow. I literally ducked his punches they were so slow and I hit him in the face after just about every one. A teacher finally pulled me off of him. I really don’t think I actually hurt him all that much, but it looked really one sided. And that was pretty much it. I had some occasional issues come up but nothing I didn’t handle. Epilogue: I took up tae kwon do in college and would up taking third in my state in full contact USTU fighting (lightweight). Prior to that, just before I got my black belt, I took third fighting collegiate full contact. So it eventually worked out for me.

Agreed. IMO a good, spicy brown mustard is all a good hot dog needs.

Of course I knew that about otters, they are my favorite animal (except perhaps dogs). The equatorial Galapagos Penguin rounds out the top 3. Gotta respect a penguin that says F the Antarctic and heads to the equator. 14 takeaways is great. The questions I always ask when I see a defense doing well are: Is their success largely due to them getting a lot of turnovers? And: Is it sustainable because it’s due to talent, aggressive play, scheme, etc. or is it simply luck that will likely fade? I really don’t know the answers to those questions. The defense has certainly seemed vulnerable at times but IF they have been taking extra chances to try to get turnovers I’m good with that. In any case, this is something worth looking for when watching the defense.

I’m curious as to what others have seen with regards to abominable ketchup misuse. I love ketchup on any fried potatoes and it is among the burger topping I use, but other than that the only place I use it is if I’m making my own BBQ sauce. The worst I’ve personally seen are as follows: - A HS aged son of a friend smothered it on a perfectly wonderful medium rare tenderloin. I’m sure most of us have seen that. - On scrambled eggs. Like a lot of it. My very own mother did this. Now I’m a salsa on scrambled eggs with cheese guy, but ketchup? Gross. - Mixed in with macaroni and cheese - and so much so that it’s pink. Usually done with Kraft M&C. Done by both my mother and daughter. Which is totally weird because my daughter has never seen my mom do it. To me this beats out the incredible waste of great steak as the worst for one reason: the smell. I can’t smell the others so I can always ignore them. The smell (and sight) of pink ketchup Kraft M&C turns my stomach. Please share your horror stories and/or feel free to tell me how wrong I am.

To add to what others, like @GunnerBill,have said the Seahawks have arguably the worst passing defense in the league. If not, they’re very close to it. Their rush defense has been very good however. KC, by contrast, has a slightly above average defense against both the pass and run. Both game plans made a lot of sense when you consider that.

That’s fair, and there’s a lot of variables to any deal like this.

I agree. The “before the 5th year option season” I would pertain to some bad situations. I don’t want to go too far down these roads, but the scenarios (however unlikely) where I’d kick the can down the road one more season are: - catastrophic injury this season or any injury that keeps Allen from playing in the playoffs - cancellation of season/playoffs due to COVID - significant fall off of Allen’s performance in regular season - failure of Allen to perform under pressure in playoffs I do not expect those to be issues, but if they are then I’m giving it one more season.

Whoa there. That’s nuts unless it’s a 10 year extension structured like Mahomes’ deal. Even Mahomes is only averaging $28.3M AAV over the next 5 seasons. Per Spotrac Mahomes 2020-2024 seasons have a cash payout of $141.5M $28.3M/5=$28.3M

The sweet spot for young QB extensions is either the offseason before the final year of their rookie deal or the offseason before their 5th year option (assuming they were a first round pick). Let this season play out. If we are still sold on him, then move forward. If there is a cause for concern - whether it is play or COVID related - then we have another season thanks to the fifth year option. It’s just not a good idea to push things down the road so far that we are looking at possibly having to use the franchise tag.