DriveFor1Outta5

What a dumb play

Pats O line becomes a turnstile in Super Bowls lately. It's amazing.

Pats miss having a real number one WR in these situations.

Sammy doesn't have Matt Ryan, but doesn't Jones just look so much more explosive on the field?

At least we know the Pats are still the kings of crazy Super Bowl catches.

We're seeing the difference between a team with an elite QB AND WR vs a team with just an elite QB. Although some people on this board seem to think Hogan is elite.

It must be nice to get paid so much while unemployed that one can find their own failures to be humorous.

Who would Bills have to obsess about if these guys retire? It's actually kind of a scary thought.

And how exactly would this impact a younger guys game? Where I'm from the -25 point IQ deduction would be viewed as a good thing.

Great points about Rodgers and Cousins. I totally forgot about those two. I would make the arguement that they both could have been just as productive if they took the field as rookies. I just believe that good QB's will become good QB's in the NFL. The idea that you must sit them for a certain period of time is obsolete. With some exceptions I don't think you "ruin" a guy by playing him as a rookie anymore. The only reasons Rodgers and Cousins didn't play were named Favre and RG3. As far as Cardale is concerned I certainly don't blame the Bills for drafting him. I just don't see hope for him as a franchise QB as some here do. The best I could hope for out of him is to become a reliable backup. Goff is a guy who will be a bust. How many "project QB's" have become franchise guys? That's the way it has worked for most QBs these days. Rodgers is definitely the exception rather than the rule. Almost every current franchise QB showed flashes of greatness in their rookie or second seasons. They weren't sitting around "developing". Rodgers may have been just as good had he played as a rookie. We will never know. According to most reports Favre had little to do with teaching him the ropes.

I found this question to be thought provoking and difficult to respond. I think I feel this way because I'm not sure if the word "develop" is the right term. Teams don't really develop QB's anymore. Almost every franchise QB in today's NFL was thrown into the fire early in their career. Teams don't draft QB's to sit on the bench like in they did in the past. It really doesn't take long in today's NFL to know if a QB is going to be a good one early in his career. All of the today's franchise QB's were very good by their third season at the latest. I think the better question is how do you put a young QB in the best situation to succeed? This is what helps a young QB. Guys don't jump off the bench in their fifth season and suddenly become franchise QB's. This is why the Cardale situation makes me laugh. It's difficult to believe that he's working on learning the pro game, and could one day become a franchise guy. There are no franchise QB's currently in the league whose team was petrified to play as a rookie.

Sadly I don't believe that Briles is all that unique. This attitude is pervasive on campuses across the country. Football programs make tons of money, and these programs are willing to overlook almost anything to preserve this. I'm not saying this happens everywhere. I just think that the response or lack thereof would happen at a great number of universities. Universities claim to be beacons of morality and social responsibility, yet they generally ignore anything and everything if it effects their bottom line. I totally agree that Briles was disgusting and a total dbag. However, I think a list of dbag coaches could probably have 100's of college coaches on it. We probably only see the tip of the iceberg of what really goes on in college football. It's also ok to beat women according to Bob Stopps until he got called out on it.

If somehow Sammy manages to stay healthy he is one of our best offensive playmakers. People have been complaining about not incorporating him into the gameplan enough since he's been here. Alex Smith played an entire season without throwing a TD pass to a WR. This tells me all I need to know about Smith aka Trent 2.0. No thanks.

I can see your points. Honestly, I don't actively read BN articles enough to analyze their football knowledge. They probably are less knowledgeable than many other cities. However, I can't agree with anyone on the negativity aspect. As someone who grew up reading NYC sports articles I fail to see where the Buffalo media is more negative. This 17 year playoff drought is unprecedented. The failures of the past 17 years are going to be brought up. With this type of consistent futility I don't believe that the media anywhere in other northeastern cities would be less negative.

This is mostly how I feel. I'm consistently amazed by the amount of fans who can't handle hearing anything negative about this franchise. I'm not attempting to force anyone to like the Buffalo media. People are entitled to their own opinions. I just have a problem with the franchise,fans,and players who can't handle any criticism. People who think there is too much negativity from the media must live in a bubble where a world beyond Buffalo sports doesn't exist. I have news for those people. The national media has an even lesser opinion of this franchise than the local media. When's the last time anyone heard something positive from a major media outlet regarding this franchise? Mike Francesa who couldn't care less about Buffalo went on an epic rant about the franchise this past fall. He even went as far as calling the Pegula's something along the line of "new money Beverly Hillbillies". Imagine if someone in the local media said something like that. This franchise wouldn't survive a day with the scrutiny of the media in larger markets. They actually don't know how good they have it. In any other market the fans would have stopped showing up about ten years ago as well.

I understand. It's just my opinion that it's not much different in the media elsewhere in this country. People act like it's a BN problem when in reality the national media is just as pathetic. Any clown off the street could throw out softball interview questions like Larry King too. The media has declined in quality overall. Just because people don't personally like Sully for instance doesn't mean there aren't plenty of media elsewhere who aren't any better.

I'm not remotely upset by what TT said. I'm more fascinated by the fact that a lot of posters are unaware of the fact that American media and not just the Buffalo News use sensationalism these days. The BN doesn't use any tactics that aren't common place imo. Mike Francesca and Stephen A Smith have a nationwide audience. That tells me all I need to know about the quality of sports media these days.

The media is "ignorant and slanted" but this is not unique to Buffalo. This problem plagues our entire nation. I'm not saying he doesn't have the right to voice his opinion. Whether or not I agree with him, I still believe he should have the right to express himself. My issue is that so many people think that the Buffalo media is uniquely incompetent. Show me where the competent American media is, and I'll listen. As far as the media "bashing" TT, I still maintain that it would be far worse in places like Philly and NY.

The Buffalo media can be negative jerks, but TT wasn't good enough this season. It's as simple as that. I'd love to see him deal with the NY or Philly media. TT would feel at home with many of the posters on this board who think the Buffalo media is "too negative" and "too mean". That's what they get paid to do. It's not any better in many other cities. Add to it the fact that we have the longest playoff drought in the league, and you have a recipe for negativity.

Lots of CTE talk here. Is CTE even possible in a punter? I'm pretty sure some of us have jobs more dangerous than being a punter.

The hype is my number one problem with the sport. Growing up in the 90's I remember the NFL getting the perfect amount of hype. It was enough, but not too much. Now everyone claims to be a football fan. All forms of entertainment go through a phase where they reach peak popularity just before falling apart. I often wonder if this is the stage the current NFL is in now. The one thing I don't agree that is ruining the game would be injuries. I'd love to see less injuries, and it does seem like there are more than ever before. However,I don't believe they ruin the quality of the game. The great teams are consistently great and overcome injuries. Look how the Steelers have been a constant contender for years even with Big Ben's injury troubles. The Pats are also somehow in there seventh Super Bowl in the last 17 years. The is the picture of consistently. I think this proves that injuries haven't gotten to the point where they make every season a random crapshoot.

Well said. I believe that teams in Mexico and/or London will be the NFL's "jump the shark" moment. Nothing about it makes any sense aside from the economic benefit to the league. That will probably be reason enough for the league to do it, but it would be problematic on most other fronts. The NFL does a very poor job of judging popular opinion. This will be there undoing imo. Globalization isn't exactly popular right now, and putting teams oversees isn't going to thrill most logical people.

Cool. This way Sammy would have someone to throw him the ball down the hallways of the hospital.

My issue was with the way Goodell phrased things when talking about the Vegas situation. He said that "We havent made a determination about Las Vegas as an NFL market, Yes Roger you have, it was viable until the deal fell through. Everyone understands that the NFL has become greed unhinged, so why try to explain it any other way? You are absolute right that Goodell serves the owners. I just don't believe that he has struck a good balance of looking like a strong leader while still keeping the owners interests in mind. Goodell lost me a long time ago when he decided to be the judge,jury,and executioner handing out unjust and uneven punishment.

I didn't read the article, you're right. I listened to Goodell's press conference yesterday where he said he "wasn't sure if Las Vegas is a viable market". We can talk about the owners all we want, but stuff like this doesn't make Goodell look good either. They were all set to go to Vegas until the deal fell through, now Goodell is trying to cover it by saying Vegas might not be viable. Goodell has been a joke from the start, just my opinion.