BarleyNY

That has irked me in the past too. But the reality of the situation is that the almighty dollar is always going to be the first priority with businesses as big as the NFL. The league doesn’t want the refs to look like they determine the outcome of games because that’s bad for business - and the refs know that. That’s why whistles get swallowed at the end of most games, and the bigger the game the more that holds true. I’ve just accepted that. My issues are more with teams that I believe get favored treatment for one reason or another, but that’s a rabbit hole I don’t want to go down now.

Why would they do this!? For ratings and MONEY!? The NFL!? Inconceivable! ** And let us not forget that this season will be an important benchmark for the new television contracts so it will have an outsized impact on the NFL revenue stream.

On the PI I said “Wow, you don’t always get that flag, especially at this point in this kind of a game.” so it did feel a little bit like a make up call to me. And I’ll take that.

Totally agree. Get that POS off the wall tho.

This is a very important factor IMO. I got hammered here last season when I posted that while I believed that we had a very good defense, that it wasn’t being stressed like many due to teams employing more conservative game plans. That’s because our offense was not scoring a lot in most games and teams weren’t being as aggressive (with higher risk-reward plays) as they have to be against teams with higher scoring offenses. The relatively easy schedule last season played into this. Now it sure looks like teams will have to open up their offenses because we are scoring a lot more. Let’s hope the defense adapts well, but even if it does we can still expect higher variance in game to game performance. That’s because sometimes that higher risk-reward goes one way and sometimes it goes the other. Only so much to be done about that in a league so skewed towards the offense. It goes beyond game planning too. The better QBs know they have to take more risks in situations when their team is behind or when they know they need a lot of points to win. The nerds actually track that and QBs like Brees and Brady follow the “point differential and time left” versus “riskiness of throw” curve beautifully. It makes sense. Take more and more chances the further behind you are and the later in the game it is. Or be more and more conservative the further ahead you are and the later in the game it is. So we should see some wilder games this season compared to last. It should be fun and I’m excited.

Ditto

Kudos to Joey V. Nice job and a good message.

Agree with Minny and Cowboys. Please scratch the Jags and Duck led Steelers. Had the Steelers fielded a QB who should’ve been playing in the NFL, that’s not a W for the Bills.

That’s a fair question. Gilliam played H back in college (albeit at a small school) so he has experience. Unproven at the NFL level? Sure. Incapable at the NFL level? Dunno yet. Let’s give him a chance first.

Too obvious, but I appreciate the effort

Toe. Did not practice. https://www.google.com/amp/s/billswire.usatoday.com/2020/09/23/buffalo-bills-los-angeles-rams-injury-report-tremaine-edmunds-matt-milano/amp/

I disagree. They are pretty damn even. Both are serviceable starters, but are replaceable. Both have reasonable (or better) contracts, are in their late 20s and are signed past this season: - Spain is 29, making $5M AAV and is signed through 2022 - Feliciano is 28, making $3.6M AAV and is signed through 2021 Spain is simply the kind of guy that a team can roll with if it is convenient or necessary, but who generally gets replaced by a cheaper/younger/better player. I would expect that to happen this offseason or next. Feliciano is a little younger and cheaper so I’d expect him to stick around as depth. If Feliciano takes over Spain’s spot this season then it’s pretty much over for him here.

Probably a fair assessment I’ve said that and been proven wrong too often. Things can always get worse.

Is this a good idea in 2020?

Years ago I had an old refrigerator in my garage. When it got cold during the winter it would turn off both the refrigerator and freezer sides. I used a hack a friend told me to remedy this. I hung an incandescent bulb behind it near the sensor during the coldest part of the winter and it worked fine from then on. Obviously go with a freezer made for cold places if you can, but if you’re ever in a pinch.......

Many players in the NFL go to extreme lengths to stay on the field due to the fear of another player stepping in and making them expendable. I‘m pretty certain that Tyrod wanted to play and I wouldn’t be surprised if additionally he felt pressure to stay on the field so he could prove that he is a viable QB for some team next season. As it stands I don’t see much reason for a lawsuit. He’ll be paid in full this season regardless of whether or not he plays again and this doesn’t seem like it will impact his health into next year. This is his 9th season so it’d be incredibly difficult to convince a jury that he was going to do much this season that was a lot better than what he’s done so far. Pain and suffering? That’s probably a long shot and it would not likely be worth pursuing as any lawsuit would likely impact his future employment opportunities in the NFL and with its close partners. There’s just not much upside to suing unless he’s going to retire anyway and if he has no interest in the media side of the NFL.

Must be shopping at Whole Foods

Good or bad, I keep my mouth shut for the first 4 games of every season. By then stuff should shake out and we should have a good idea of what 90% of the NFL teams and players look like. Some of the young/developmental players are most of that remaining 10%. So I’ll wait 2 more games to give my opinion on Allen, but my hope is that he continues to look like he has so far this season. 🤞

Ward dealt with some concussion issues his rookie year and there’s little doubt that he was making business decisions on the field later in that season, but he’s a top 10 CB in the league when healthy. So far so good on that this year. I was one of the few who thought he was on par with Chubb in the draft and that either was a sound choice. I stand by that.

Thank the Haslams for that. The five Browns executives who supposedly had a say in the hire unanimously recommended McDermott. In a classically dysfunctional move the Haslams ignored them and chose Jackson.

If I understand this correctly, Dan Patrick asked Wilson if he thought he was the best QB in the league and Wilson stayed that without a doubt he thought he was. What else should he have said? He’s certainly top 5 in the game today. Brady and Brees are waning though one could still argue that Brees is better. Mahomes is young and in an O that is stacked, but he’s probably 1. Rodgers is probably 2. Last night I watched a little All-22 of the GB-MIN game. Such a contrast watching Cousins miss open receivers and throw a pick then seeing Rodgers look at tight coverage everywhere only to drop a dime TD to the only receiver who had even the slightest separation. Amazing. Wilson is right there with that group though.

Please do not offer any additional details about what you’re doing while you watch Allen play.

The Iggles really kept the pedal to the metal on their spending to keep open their window. And that’s not been good in a lot of ways. I watched their week 1 loss to Jax and all I could think was “They’re running headlong into cap hell for this?” Also Carson Wentz is horribly overrated, but I knew that. No way the Iggles win that SB if he wasn’t injured. More generally contract numbers can look a lot bigger than they are in reality. Incentives and possible bonuses often get included in the total as do non-guaranteed years with relatively large salaries that players are unlikely to see. I’m happy for Woods. He earned it and I hope he gets it all.

A note on Teller. As mentioned PFF graded him out at an elite level last week. He looks to be a spectator fit in the Browns I/O Zone scheme. Great, inexpensive (probably flat out lucky if we’re honest) pick up for the Browns. That all said, he wouldn’t look anything like that in the Bills Power/Gap scheme. He didn’t do anything in that scheme last year with the Browns just like he didn’t here. It was the right move by Beane to get something for him.

He was my favorite QB since Luck. I’m not saying Cincy can’t ruin him, but he can be a great pro.