The Frankish Reich

The quip “too soon” may apply here. It’s a laugh line when we talk about something that happened a long time ago, but it is a real thing. Everyone agrees that reconvening on Tuesday night to finish the game wasn’t reasonable. Yes, life will go on, and the Bills will go on. But we’re talking about whether it’s reasonable to require Hamlin’s teammates to return to business as usual: practice during the week, media availability, game 6 days later, etc, etc. And for the game itself: the kind of celebratory/party atmosphere: tailgates, drinking, all that … it just isn’t right yet. I don’t mean to say we shouldn’t play on Sunday, but I don’t really know how I (much less the team) feels about that.

The new game on the House floor: avoiding being seen in the same frame as freshman Rep., The Honorable George Santos or Whatever Your Real Name May Be. https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2023/01/george-santos-congress-mccarthy-first-day.html

Right after Trump's very excellent much much much better than Obamacare comprehensive health care plan

Driving home last night from the bar where I was watching the game (I don’t think anyone felt like being there once the gravity of the injury started to sink in), I heard Rich Eisen doing the radio coverage. He told a story I’d never heard before. Howie Long had two boys playing college football - on different teams, one on offense, one on defense - and they were about to play each other. Eisen asked the typical question, “Howie, how do you feel about that?” He was probably expecting a funny answer - I can’t help cheering for both sides, etc. That’s not what he got. Howie said he felt a little sick about the whole thing. He said that on the line, “every play out there is like a car crash.” It’s brutal in the NFL even when it looks ordinary to us. And I think all his listeners understood exactly what Howie meant.

If the rules don’t allow for an exceptional response to an unprecedented event - a near death on the field of play - then we need new rulers. My solution: the game is declared no contest. If KC/Bills/Bengals wind up ties in the loss column, you do a lottery for seeding.

Thank you for helping to provide some knowledgeable comments here. This is they type of thing that makes social media (writ large - an old school bulletin board) a positive today: someone who knows what they're talking about helping other understand what's going on.

Agreed. I fully understand people wanting to do something tangible to express their concern. That's human nature, and I'm glad it is. But Hamlin and his family may have some big needs of their own in the upcoming days/months/years. It might be best to wait a bit and see if we can help in a way more specific to his situation rather than his charity. I don't know his family's financial situation, but he's a second year player who I think spend time on the practice squad last year. That won't make you financially secure, even if healthy. So again ... I appreciate the intention, but I'm not jumping on the charity website - I'll keep paying attention to whether there's other monetary ways people can help as we get more information on the situation.

True. I'll just say that there's no protocol for this. It's a violent game of high speed collisions between big athletic young men, and thank God this particular circumstance has never arisen before. So it's fair to criticize, but I'm not interested in creating villains here out of what was a horrible accident. At some later point it's time to have a discussion again about player safety and whether simple tweaks to the rules are enough. We've seen a few really shocking injuries on the field this year and I'm starting to wonder whether this sport is just unavoidably unsafe at the professional level.

This is kind of weird. Diggs just isn't a YAC type guy; that's not in his skillset (which is pretty amazing otherwise). But other guys? Knox: where's that Angry Run we watched a bazillion times from a couple years ago? McKenzie, and now Hines: these are extremely quick/slippery runners who haven't broken free for any long runs. Cook has shown that explosive potential too, but on runs, not passes (yet). Why not?

And Rodgers and Peyton Manning and to a lesser extent Roethlisberger and Rivers. Rodgers is a bit of an exception here as he's not the classic pocket passer. Wilson's decline (and I've watched way, way too much Broncos football this year) is mostly in his mobility/inability to escape tackles. When he has shown more aggressiveness in running, he's susceptible to the hard hits he seemed able to avoid when younger. So my thinking is more this: QBs who depend heavily on mobility/running for their success don't age well. (And yes, I'm fully aware of what the implies for our QB)

Post of the Year! And it's only Jan 1. Well played.

So I haven't been watching. Is Stidham actually good? Those numbers aren't from some fluky "CB falls down" type plays? Belichick used to pretend to be high on him, but then immediately dumped him when TB moved on and he actually would've had to play.

Maybe Hoodie should've trusted his instincts and never brought in Cam.

You know what? you're probably right.

Mahomes looking like crap right now.

Archuleta: "losing your Pro Bowl LG is not good for the Chiefs." 👏

Broncos showing signs of life!

What is better than a Dolphins loss? A Dolphins loss coupled with some Pats players out next week.

OK. It happened. I just actively gave a big "Yeah!!" for a Pats TD. I need to take a shower.

Mac is actually making some plays here. Must think the Dolphins D is Auburn.

It's coming.

On the refs loving the Chiefs: true. But at this point the NFL suits seem to love the Bills equally so I'm not getting the conspiracy theories. Just a general "great QBs get the benefit of the doubt"

Dolphins are fading incredibly fast. But a little credit to Hoodie here - 6 catches total for Tyreek and Waddle, and longest for 23 yards. Bridgewater isn't garbage (I'm not really sure he's not better than Tua), so Hoodie schemed it up well.

Texans are bad. But the Jags are the Bills c. 2019. Watch out next year.

Not quite ready for that yet.