The Frankish Reich

So what have we learned this afternoon? 1. That the 3 teams we've beaten suck. Like really, really suck. 2. That the AFC East 2021 is just like the AFC East for the last 20 years, except that now we're the Pats and the Pats are the Bills (or maybe the Dolphins) 3. That the one team we've beaten doesn't really suck after all. The Steelers made the Broncos (3-1, after beating maybe the 3 worst teams in the NFL) look like total garbage. They may be the best of the mediocre teams.

And of course Geno was a 2nd rounder whereas EJ was 16th overall. Congrats, Jets, that's why you're playoff bound again! In 2025.

Ahh, 2013 ... the weakest QB draft class ever, when we decided that this was the year we had to draft our franchise QB. Career stats: EJ Manuel: 6-12 as a starter, 58.1 completion percentage, 77.1 QB rating Geno Smith: 12-19, 57.9, 73.0 Haha Jets, we won that one! And I'll admit I really wanted us to draft Matt Barkley: 2-5, 58.4, 66.6 The record is horrible, but you could make a case that Mike Glennon had the best career of any 2013 QB: 6-21, 61.1, 83.5

To beat Satan you gotta enlist the help of Satan. https://www.thedailybeast.com/michael-flynn-to-qanon-believers-im-not-a-satanist?scrolla=5eb6d68b7fedc32c19ef33b4 Et tu, Mikey? You lie down with dogs, you get up with fleas.

Thanks for this moment of sanity. Just a really well reasoned, succinct post. In the rational world it would convince nearly everyone. Here? Umm, guess not. tl;dr: The internet social media makes you stupid.

Yeah, nice try Gruden. You know, I'm usually willing to give a guy the benefit of the doubt. When I saw the headline "Gruden Racist Text" I was expecting something ambiguous because, well, usually it isn't this obvious. Usually.

And if you get the shot ... there's a 30% chance your arm will be sore for a day!

Yeah, this group is really good, but 2 Hall of Famers is, well, really, really good.

Nurse Carefully Weighs Whether She Better Off Getting Vaccine Or Losing Job And Dying Wednesday 12:10PM Alerts UTICA, NY—Blasting state officials for putting her into such an “impossible position,” local nurse Sophia Wood confirmed Wednesday that she was carefully weighing whether she was better off getting the vaccine or losing her job and dying. “On the plus side, if get vaccinated, I could get to continue to live my life healthy and happy with no drawbacks, but is that really worth giving up the right to die while out of work?” said the healthcare worker, who had spent the past weeks agonizing over a long list of pros and cons of getting vaccinated that she had written up for each side of the issue. “On one hand, I have way more items listed under the pros column, like ‘keep job,’ ‘protect others,’ and ‘protect myself,’ but on the other, I have ‘freedom’ written in big red letters, circled, and underlined multiple times. I’m pretty torn between the two. Who would issue such a cruel ultimatum?” At press time, Wood assured herself that regardless of the choice she ultimately made, she would wind up back in the hospital. From The Onion.

That's one of the things people often get wrong about arm strength vs. being a good long ball passer. Allen (so far) has the first one, which gives him a huge advantage on a lot of shorter routes and when throwing on the run, including across his body. But he doesn't have that almost instinctive feel for how to connect on the long bomb.

There's a lot of Urban Meyer hate (or I guess Urban Meyer schadenfreude) going around. And certainly Urban Meyer's demeanor is playing into that. But ... when I see the Jags today, I can't help but see the Bills c. Sept-October 2018. They may just be on the right track without anyone recognizing it. And Joe Burrow: for me, he's now dispelled the lack of arm strength thing. I can't tell if he's Peyton or Eli yet, but still ...

Both excellent points. Kenny Anderson was my favorite QB of his era.

So ... where does Joe Burrow fit in the ranks of recent (2018 or later) 1st round QBs? Is it now Allen, Lamar, then Herbert/Burrow/Murray tied for 3rd?

Universal/free pre-K: follow the science! This is a case where the Dems are the ones ignoring the science, or refusing to follow it. The latest meta-study is from Brookings, which is a reputable think tank that may be described as liberal, tending Democratic, or even centrist, but never as "right wing." And here's what they found: Unabashed enthusiasts for increased investments in state pre-K need to confront the evidence that it does not enhance student achievement meaningfully, if at all. It may, of course, have positive impacts on other outcomes, although these have not yet been demonstrated. It is time for policymakers and advocates to consider and test potentially more powerful forms of investment in better futures for children. https://www.brookings.edu/research/does-state-pre-k-improve-childrens-achievement/ Simply put: there is no persuasive evidence out there that pre-K has any significant effect on student performance. Any immediate effect (and there's even less evidence for that) washes out by the time the kids hit 3rd or 4th grade. Now, I'll admit there's a policy case to be made for universal/free pre-K: it helps subsidize childbearing/childrearing, and maybe that's a good thing in and of itself. It frees up parents (historically overwhelmingly women) to reenter the workforce earlier. It may encourage people to have more children, which may have positive demographic ramifications 20 or 40 years from now. It may be a better/more targeted plan than simply providing money to parents in the form of so-called "refundable" tax credits or other forms of aid (think food stamps). But that's a different argument. It's an argument for free day care, not free "early childhood education." At this point we have seen enough studies to know that the politician's line that "We know early childhood education is the best way to ensure that our students are prepared to succeed academically and compete internationally" is nothing more than b.s. Follow the science. Both sides.

What I'd like to see: the return of a Republican Party that is committed to traditional Republican ideas. Strong on national security. Committed to free trade and free trade agreements. Concerned about deficit spending. Tough on illegal immigration, but committed to improving and even expanding legal immigration. In favor of less regulation. Committed to economically rational ways of addressing climate change, including a carbon cap and trade system (this was a Republican idea before some Democrats started to be in favor of it, at which time the Republicans recoiled in horror as they realized they would be in favor of a Democratic initiative). Tough on crime, in a manner that respects the division of power between the federal government and the state governments. What I will see: the continued control of the party by the outsider faction that took it over in 2016. The faction that doesn't give a crap about deficits, that dislikes illegal and illegal immigration (immigrants?), that puts up barriers to free trade and wants to retreat from international agreements that support it, that wants to take credit for the key step in bringing the pandemic under control-vaccines- while bizarrely undermining the efficacy of those very same vaccines.

Since it always turns into "can female sportscasters succeed in calling men's sports": Doris Burke knows the game and it shows. She's well prepared and doesn't seem to feel the need to ramble off topic. For basketball, I'd put her in the top 20%. And for MLB: Jessica Mendoza takes a lot of flack, but I also think she does a good job. Plus while I don't necessarily agree with it, this comment about former Astros all of a sudden calling them out for the sign stealing scandal showed a nice independent streak. For the NFL: well, sorry, Beth Mowins is just not good. Male, female, gender neutral, I don't care. She's not good at the job.

Don’t get me wrong - I’m not wishing Tyrod back just yet. But when I looked at the schedule and saw that we’d get the returns of Fitzy and Tyrod in back to back weeks, I was looking forward to it. I have to assume both would’ve received warm welcomes. It’s the Buffalo way. Chances the WFT and Texans win with their current AAAA level QBs? Virtually nil. Tyrod and Fitzy would’ve given them a fighting chance.

You made me look up a couple of those names. You know what? Reuben Grant had one really good season and a couple ok ones. He may make this list. So might Paul Seymour who had 5 starting seasons clearing a path for OJ. etc. he was a 10/10 as a blocking TE, a 1/10 as a pass catching threat. Kind of the platonic ideal of a Lee Smith type. Still … will we ever have a legit threat at TE? I mean, it’s only been 60 years now.

Wow. That’s one of the lamest team all-time “greats” by position list you’ll ever find. All Dawson Knox needs to do is continue playing like he is now through the 2022 season and he will be on this list. And that’s not meant as praise for Knox …

This hasn’t aged well. One minor character indicted a couple days before the statute of limitations ran out. So much for the “big boys” being in big, big trouble. If only all those other musings of Deranged Rhino hadn’t been purged we’d be able to compute his batting average. I’d say it’s .000.

I’m pretty sure our point differential now has us at a projected 2.9 wins in 2 games total. 😀

Awesome. I love to see that. Let Lamar put it away for you.

KC now at 70% win expectancy. So ... yeah.

Of course. No brainer now. But more importantly: this is why it was a bad decision to go for 2 the first time around.

Ahh, but my United Blue States has a liberal immigration policy. I will fly my drywallers and plumbers and landscapers right over your United Red States to do that stuff for me. I'll give them temporary Blue Cards. You and your Red State friends will have no homes to drywall or plumb and no lawns to cut and edge. You will have to form a migrant caravan in Tennessee and create an encampment under that famous crumbling bridge between Kentucky and Ohio to beg us to let you in.