BarleyNY

I don’t much care if there are divisions or not. At least not today because there are eight divisions with four teams each. So I would not do anything now. But I believe that the NFL will try to expand the number of teams at some point. If they go with four more then I could see them going to 4 divisions with nine teams each.

Thank you. That’s what’s so difficult about this situation. I never would have thought Diggs would do something like pull himself out of games in high leverage situations. It’s not like him. Likewise it’s career suicide for coaches to pull him. Unless Diggs feels that things just gotten to a breaking point nothing really makes much sense. Regardless I guess we just have to see how it plays out.

So that’s the multi-million dollar question. Why is he taking himself out? Injury? I just can’t see that. Why would he choose to take himself out in the highest leverage situations if it were that? Also his usage on the field makes little sense if he’s injured. An upset Diggs acting out because he’s upset with the coaches? Possibly. But if this is it, then it is highly likely that the crap will hit the fan this off-season. Until then they’re still married. It is worth watching his usage tomorrow and in the playoffs. I’d think he’d ball out and try to win a championship this season since he has to be here anyways. Coaches decision? This would mean it’s not Diggs taking himself off the field and the tweet is incorrect. I doubt this is the case unless the coaches are trying to piss off Diggs or his play has severely declined. The former doesn’t seem likely and the latter certainly seems a huge stretch. Diggs is still the best WR on the roster by a wide margin. I don’t know the answer, but it’s a concerning situation. Not much to do but see how things play out.

Agree on PRWR. I’ll add that another impact of a pass rusher winning quickly is that it will force an offense to scheme quick throws. That makes life on the secondary a lot easier. That results in short throws, interceptions and incompletions, but not sacks.

Okay, but then what is the point of the divisions? The NBA divisions are much less meaningful than in the NFL. They play: - 4 games each against division opponents - 4 games each against 6 same conference different division opponents - 3 games each against the remaining 4 same conference different division opponents and - 2 games each against all of the teams from the other conference There is virtually no scheduling difference between the in-division and out-of-division conference opponents. In the NFL two games against same division opponents is 6/17th of the schedule. It’s huge if you’re in, say, the AFCN vs NFCS. The NFL could change their schedule to one game each against every conference team plus two games against out of conference teams, but that seems a little wonky. Would it be better than the current system? How would you schedule seasons?

RUSHING YARDS OVER EXPECTED (RYOE) Short Description RYOE uses down, distance, yard line, defensive alignment and offensive line grades to determine the number of yards an average running back would gain in a given situation. https://www.pff.com/news/nfl-plays-over-expectation-pff-research-stats-grades#:~:text=Short Description,gain in a given situation.

Then you have to get rid of divisions and no team should have to play the same opponent twice during the regular season. That would be boring.

No. Quality of play in his two SB winning playoff runs. My assumption is that he’d have to play that well again for the Browns to win it this year. Combine that with a long, solid career. That would be similar to Eli Manning’s resume and he will get in.

It looks like the estimates I see are for an 8% increase. That would be in line with the historical average so it certainly could be higher with the extra revenue you mention.

Yeah. Everyone is guesstimating the cap increase so numbers will be off.

OTC has a number very close to Spotrac’s. They don’t account for rollover and when you factor that in, the numbers are nearly identical.

Thar can’t be it. Spotrac has an increase from $224.8M to $242.5M for the cap in their calculations.

That is correct.

I agree, but I’d alter one thing slightly - it’s huge to have an elite QB or a good QB who can play at an elite level in the playoffs. Eli Manning was not a great QB. Nor was Joe Flacco. But Eli balled out in the playoffs twice and Flacco once (so far). That can get you there too. I’m sure that there are other examples. Some players just have ann innate ability to let loose and go on a run when pressure is greatest.

I agree that the Jags are a soft team. I think that may change under Pederson - and, quite frankly, I’m more than a little surprised that it hasn’t already - but they are still soft.

IF Flacco pulled that off, then he’d be a near lock for the HOF. Big if obviously, but how could you keep him out if it were to happen?

Except the Bills do not have 44 players under contract next season. They have 39. Spotrac shows 44, but that number includes 5 players with cap hits in 2024 due to void years. Those players are Floyd, Hyde, Jones, Settle and Matacevich. Spotrac link

The Phins are 7-1 at home and 4-4 on the road. Their offense is much better at home because of better presnap communication. Huge difference versus playoff crowd noise away. If they win then they’ll be set up for two home playoff games. I’m sure they will play to win this one. I certainly would.

The Browns winning at Baltimore and Buffalo while the Lions win at Dallas and San Francisco would be incredible.

Diggs, Shakir, Harty and Shorter are currently under contract for next season. That’s definitely not great. It’ll be Diggs’ age 31 season so it may be his last as a Bill. Shakir is a useful WR, but I don’t think he’s a starter, at least not yet. Harty should be cut and Shorter will be batting for a roster spot. That leaves a lot of work to be done. Free agency and/or trades have to yield something of value this off-season. I’d have no issue with finding and paying their next WR1 this way as the year 1 (and 2) cap hit(s) can be kept low. The biggest issue is actually finding such a player available. But we did it with Diggs and other teams have done it so it is possible. At minimum a serviceable vet who can start at WR2 while rookies are developed needs to be acquired. Yes, the Bills will need to draft a couple WRs and I have no issue with ant least one early depending on how the corps looks at that point. But it’s not Madden. Rookies rarely make a big impact in year 1. Some take a couple seasons and some never pan out. Drafting one in round 1 certainly improves the odds, but every team in the league knows what we need so we will have to move up for one.

I just checked the Vegas odds and Lamar is a huge favorite at -10000. Dak is second at +1800, Purdy is third at +2500 and Lawrence and Allen are tied for fourth at +3000. https://www.foxsports.com/articles/nfl/2023-24-nfl-mvp-odds-and-favorites Stats definitely play a part, but it usually goes to the combination of the best QB on the best team. So it isn’t surprising that the QBs of the two #1 seeded teams are first and (almost) second.

I think that Allen’s chances improve dramatically if the Bills get the number two seed. Still, I think it’ll be Lamar and Purdy for first and second All-Pro. Their teams having the number one seeds being the easy tiebreaker.

Saying Purdy isn’t too 2 would be reasonable, but calling him average is ridiculous. He’s first or near the top of every meaningful statistical category. Sure, Shanahan is an offensive genius, but no other QB has done this in his system. I’m not sure how much more you could ask of your QB.

https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/39216134/nfl-all-pro-team-2023-barnwell-50-best-players-every-position Here is a link. I can quibble about whether some players should be first vs. second team, but the selections are very difficult to argue with overall. Certainly a case can be made for Allen over Purdy, but Purdy is a defensible selection as #2. But that's it. We have some very good players who have done well this season, but not top 4. Oliver has been very good, but he was not a top 4 DT in the league. Ditto Douglas at CB and Cook at RB.

Yup. He may never be a #1 or #2 WR, but he can contribute to the success of this team and he has a place on our roster.