Rochesterfan

I agree the NFL Pro-Bowl doesn’t work, but I would contend that the NHL, MLB, and NBA are no better. The NHL has gone full gimmick with 3 on 3 tournaments division versus division. It is no longer even a hockey game. The NBA game is identical to the NFL game - 100% offense with little to no defense. It was 2 superstars pick their friends and play a 170 to 160 game. It is stupid. You can’t fix it because there is nothing of value on the line to make the game worthwhile. Even MLB realized trying to make home field count was a waste. The best part of all star weekends are always the skill competitions. In MLB it is the home run contest, basketball it is the dunk contest, etc. The NFL would be better off just accepting it is stupid and finding ways to embrace it as different. It still gets bigger ratings than anything else on - find ways to incorporate fans - make a Madden play call set-up something that can be voted on the day before for certain plays on offense. Have young fans on the sidelines helping out. Don’t make it a serious game - make it Harlem Globetrotter fun and accept it as a celebration. Cut the time down significantly and have more interview and fun times in the middle. Do some skill drills and fan Q&A - maybe bring in some young kids teams and have them run a few series or go against the NFL stars in some skills. Above all make it fun for the players and interactive and don’t worry about the “game” - the game is garbage, but the interactions can be amazing.

The question is why would the NFL/NFLPA want to make that change? Kick-offs were always considered one of the most dangerous plays with the most injuries. That has changed with the new rules - which is exactly what the competition committee, the NFL, and the NFLPA want. The reduction has been due mostly to the reduced number of returns - so I do not see any way the NFL wants to backtrack that. The newest data coming out (just published this week) is now punt returns are the leading injury play - so although Grant made a suggestion to eliminate the fair catch - I think he is on the wrong side of history here. The competition committee and NFLPA are looking at ways to decrease punt return injuries and the best way to do that is with more fair catches not fewer. I would expect the NFL to look at ways to decrease the ability of punt returning players to block - like eliminating double teams on the outside and making those 1:1 and then adjusting the formation to include a 2nd person spread out and fewer people that can rush, but they must be within so many yards of the ball. The idea is to lessen the long runs leading to big hits and have more situations where the returner must call for the fair catch because players are bearing down on him. The NFL gets an additional stoppage and gets additional ad times - so the networks recoup money and the cash rolls in. They are happy and no one got hurt on the play.

The studies are all very questionable. The data looks at in many cases 3 years out and the issue is that is past the longevity of the positions. What are the similar drops of all players in that age bracket. Are the changes significantly different than the control non-ACL patients. The number of high school and college ACL tears that then go on to be successful and high out put NFL players makes me question the studies. Guy like Willis McGahee had his knee destroyed in college and came back to have a 10 year career with multiple PB and other honors. The difference is if that same knee injury happened in his 6th year of pro football and cost him time - his 3 year outlook would be bad because he already was approaching or past his prime. We will see, but as was stated in the other thread - the number of successful college and high school players that have overcome ACL tears has gone up dramatically and the same is true of young NFL players. Where Tre’ White will fall will depend upon his own recovery, but just the advancement in rehab with 0 weight under water treadmills has allowed for faster and better recovery from ACL injuries.

Ahh yes the resident Miami fan. 👏👏👏👏👏

The timeline as presented was that a bunch of Pittsburgh players met in Florida to train and work-out together including and up to the day before. The understanding was he was heading to the airport in the rental car because Pittsburgh was having some OTA activity the following day. No one that I have seen has been saying at 5am he was coming from practice - everything I have seen or read - suggested the group finished their workouts the day before and several were heading back to Pittsburgh for Team Activities at different times. What he did after leaving the group of players and that mornings very unfortunate events - is becoming more clear with the Ketamine and BAC at that hour. He went to Florida to work out and was heading back for OTAs - the other decisions cost him dearly.

My God - it just gets worse and worse. You sit here and cry about McD not winning a Super Bowl in year 5 (or even sniffing one 🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️ - yeah not one AFC championship game or anything), but then praise Dungy who won a SB in year 11. Prior to the SB - he was 5-8 in the playoffs and overall 9-10 in the playoffs even with a 4-0 in the SB year. The discussion you try to make is just terrible. McD has done more than Dungy ever did at this point. Yep Payton won his SB in year 4, but his overall record was 9-8 in the playoffs with the 3-0 in his SB year. The rest of the time he was 6-8 even with a HOF QB throwing for record setting numbers year over year. I really do not get you argument - like Reid and Dungy and many others - McD should get time as long as he keeps winning and they keep taking shots at the title. There are a very limited number of SB winning coaches in the NFL and many of them took years to get the first SB. None of the guys you mentioned won the SB until they did, but they were capable- just as McD is capable. In the end - it is whatever because the Pegula’s are not letting this guy go, but man there are just some people that miss the overall forest for the 13 second tree. They forget the play calling on the 30 seconds to get the Bills the lead - like that was only Josh, but Wallace admitting he missed a call was all on coaching. Again I need more of these - 🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️

The topic starter is not a Bills fan - he is a Miami troll that comes here and somehow gets away with this garbage.

You can’t count 2017 as proof this coaching staff can win - WTF. 1st - Andy Dalton can’t happen if the Bills do not win enough games to be in position to beat Baltimore out. 2nd - The Bills don’t get to the playoffs with out winning 3 of the last 4 including sweeping Miami and beating Indy in a terrible snow storm - the Bills could of quit at any point and not made the playoffs - see Miami laying down against the Bills in 2020. 3rd - Most recently Josh Allen has driven the team, but the fact that this staff could break the drought with Tyrod Taylor and then adapt as Josh Allen grows to become the player he is - shows exactly how good this staff is. They could of stayed as a run first offense and build defense and let Josh become a game manager, but McD and Beane envisioned more and they have slowly built an offensive, pass first system. They have allowed Josh to drive this team in a modern offense and have helped Josh develop into the player he is. Compare that to Darnold and Mayfield from his class or how Miami has treated their QB in Tua. It isn’t just Josh that has grown and adjusted - the entire coaching staff allowed Daboll to become a free wheeling OC to play to those strengths. The facts are this staff came in and was able to get enough wins with Rex’s players and schemes to make a playoff appearance- something no other staff had done and they did it by winning games late in the season - even though it looked bleak. Yes the Andy Dalton pass was the straw that got them in, but they had to do everything to make that possible.

Does his CFL knowledge make him understand why the coaches and GMs changed the rules? He is still going back to a old era that modern coaches and GMs are trying to move away from. Does his knowledge exceed Reich, Newsome, Vrable, Tomlin, and Rivera who all sit on the competition committee and implemented the rule changes he is proposing against? Bud Grant is an incredibly knowledgeable football man, but his rule suggestions do not fit with what the modern Coach and GM want - nor what a more powerful NFLPA demands - which limits the plays that lead to the most injuries. He is from an era where it was ok to physically beat the heck out of each other and you got a concussion “you just got your bell rung - smelling salts and get back in”. Therefore forcing teams to try and run a play versus goal line defense trying to prevent you from getting a yard would be a plus in his day. Today there is no reason for it - just increased risk of needless injury.

It is a good thing then Goodell doesn’t put rules in. Bud Grant comes from a different era and really should no longer be taken seriously in regards to modern football. These rules harken back to a pre-lawsuit day.

It is obvious why Bud Grant isn’t a part of the modern NFL. These are terrible and the first 2 are going to require judgement by the Refs and then people will complain about that. The forward a yard rule - how do you write it - is it a full yard, half yard, forward progress - because then are you stopping to measure or is it just an attempt. Plus the worse plays for both OL and DL for injuries are short yardage/goal line. Plus QB sneaks give unnecessary shots at the best players. It is totally stupid for very little overall impact. The kneel down is the best play when you are ahead and the worst when losing, but it is perfectly fine. The five yard fair catch rule - why are fair catches an issue? Why open a guy up to a huge hit when the NFLPA has been working on getting rid of those hits where the player can’t brace. The NFL already does a poor job of enforcing the safety zone around these players - can you imagine the outrage if a guy is 3.5 yards but in the air launched at the guy. These are all fixes looking for non-existing issues. The NFL and NFLPA have been working on these changes - specifically to get away from the Bud Grant era of football with players - playing through these injuries and repeated long term collisions in short space. For some reason - you always blame Goodell when in reality these changes all come from the competition committee of coaches and GMs with discussion with the NFLPA many times. The changes are designed to specifically help keep players healthy and playing and to lessen the chances of additional concussion suits. Goodell does not make the rules - that is a committee of coaches and GMs. Goodell is the face of the owners only. Overall Bud Grant is looking to bring back 1970’s football - get over it. Games are close and they have increased ways to keep them closer, but don’t make part of that lead to more high injury situations.

You say it was out of context, but then you state this crap - which is directly in line with the other stuff. It was already pointed out that the players messed up on defense in the last 13 seconds. Wallace missed a call and did not rotate into the right area. The play was called by the DC and the players adjusted as they have for years under this regime. McD demonstrated his philosophy and let the players play - sometimes that works, but every player I have heard from the defense has said they messed up - not McD. As to the second part - there have been mass shootings all over the country and no place has a sports community come together in that way and especially 100% of the football players. Yes what McD has done here is special and the players buy in to the community aspect. Things go hand in hand.

A better option - Brian Flores 🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️ Good God - the man coached a team to multiple playoff less seasons where they underachieved and he totally mishandled the QB position and screwed up an entire organization - yeah let’s bring that in 🤢🤢🤮. You can say McD was worse last year, but the fact is - like most excellent coaches - he is trusting his coordinators to do their job and he is managing the ship. The X’s and O’s Are handled by the coordinators - McD ensures they are aligned. Did he have issues - yep there are 2 or 3 games he couldn’t get his players ready for, but that is countered by games like KC early in the year - where when his #1 DB was healthy they manhandled the Chiefs. Or look to the NE game #2 or Playoffs - where they dominated a division foe that was playoff level. The thought at this point of replacing McD is being driven by a frustrated Miami fan that wants to see us fail. It is incredibly stupid timing as the Bills have been and continue to be an ascending team. If McD was a bad coach or a coach players didn’t want to play for - how likely is it the biggest FA chooses Buffalo over LA for similar money? You do not let that man go at this time - you look at places like Pittsburgh and Philadelphia (with Reid) and KC (with Reid) and you stay the course and let him bring home the wins.

The fact that they could take that team and end a playoff drought- tells you yes - they can win. The fact that they recognized what was good and what was bad and moved on from Taylor - shows they understood the NFL. The fact that then then recognized what turned out to be the top QB and despite what fans here and elsewhere expected/wanted/screamed about - they made their pick tells you the most about them. The Leadership could of taken Taylor - looked at the playoffs and said we can win with this guy not making mistakes, build a running game and defense and try to win. It is actually what people expected with a defensive HC in McD, but he recognized that trying to win in that manner is a failure and set out to build an offense to dictate and a defense to slow teams down. I think this group could of gone many ways and built a winner, but only 1 way was going to build a SB contender and they were not afraid to shoot for the moon.

The proof is in the fact they took a Tyrod Taylor lead team to the playoffs - pre-Josh Allen. Even a poor excuse for a Dolphins fan should know that. 🤷‍♂️

The timing is perfect for the Pegula’s on this. Currently they are capping Season Tickets at >60,000 and have a small waitlist forming. The new stadium will have just over 60,000 seats - so the new cap will be what about 52,000 max for season tickets with many of them looking to lower PSLs. They will sell out the vast majority of PSLs around the stadium and then have some very high priced seats left to sell on the secondary market. The team is good and interest is high - sell out as much as you can and then use the supply and demand from a smaller venue to help drive costs further. I understand people hate PSLs, but I think they will sell enough in the less desirable areas to be fine with it and there are more than enough people who will justify the cost.

I understand that, but to repeatedly argue that Josh gets overhyped for home games is no longer accurate at all. He had issues with being overexcited as a rookie and going into year 2, but it was both at home and on the road. He admitted as much and has learned to deal with it. The issue becomes the OP ignoring the difference in weather from season to season and saying that is not the issue - it is the home crowd. The home crowd may have a small impact on Josh, but it may also have as big or bigger impact on the OC and what plays get called. The weather also has a huge impact on the entire offense as it is harder to pass and as a poorer rushing team - we might get put into different situations that impact the play calls and therefore the results. The point is there are many factors that could cause a difference in the home and road split season to season, but the OP came into the post with his reason tee’d up and when people have placed legitimate proof that the weather changed dramatically season to season and the impact 1 bad weather game can have - he dismissed it as - it can’t be the weather the 2 seasons were played in the same stadium. His theory was not a tinfoil situation 2 years ago, but he has shown that high pressure home games no longer bother him based upon the end of the season, but he has stated that weather does make throws more difficult.

Why? You have been shown multiple time that the weather in 2020 for home games was significantly better than 2019 or 2021 - especially in relation to wind and rain. We are talking about small, limited numbers from 1 year to the next - less than 8 games worth of data. The weather in 1 game - say NE alone had 5% of his throws with a 50% completion percentage. If you replace that 1 game where weather was a huge factor and replace it with a nice weather game like NO the week before - his total season completion percentage goes up by 2% and his home completion percentage goes up by over 3%. Just 1 bad weather game accounts for 3% of the difference and there were 4 games that could be looked at. Weather 100% accounts for the difference - anything else is you just trying to insert your point of view into it. Josh has repeatedly said that warm weather and sunny dry conditions have helped him feel the ball and many of his best days are in those conditions. Cold, windy, wet days account for some of his worse days. Weather is the biggest factor.

Maybe do a touch of research on this - my god - Josh has been his best in high pressure games both at home and on the road. The Hype thing is stupid! Lets do a quick review - last year there were multiple home games like: NE - 27 mph winds (gusts to 50) and rain, Indy 20 mph wind and rain, Houston 35-40 mph gusts and rain. There were additional days with weather just as bad - rain/wind, combinations that made passing difficult. 2020 - No fans, but look at the beautiful weather. The worst home game in 2020 was NE on 11/1 the temp was 41. The wind peaked at 17 mph and it was lite rain on and off. That was the worst weather the Bills played in at home. The Denver game in Denver had the worst wind at 24 mph on a beautiful sunny and 47 degree December afternoon. There was not another game - home or away that hit 20 mph winds and the NE and KC home games were the only 2 with precipitation. The weather for the 2020 season was incredible and is the biggest thing that accounts for why his splits were similar. The Home versus Away weather last year was a horrific split with weather being colder, windier, and wetter at home by a significant margin. The 2019 season most home games were earlier in the season - the Nov and December games against Denver and Baltimore both had 20 mph winds and the Baltimore game said gusts to 40 - so they were easily as bad or worse than any game in 2020. Josh also missed out on the last home game against the Jets as everything was clinched. So if you are serious in asking about the split - look to the weather. Don’t try to pawn off the difference as some type of hype related crap - because the higher the pressure - the better he has played both at home and on the road. You want to fix the splits - suggest the new stadium is a true covered stadium where the weather is constant and no rain or wind and he will put up huge home numbers year after year. Go and look at the weather - do the work if you are going to make stupid claims. Yes the weather in 2020 was significantly better in Buffalo compared to the year before and after. It is a huge factor. Do the work to prove your point rather than making stuff up.

I would rather get rid of the idiotic fans that masquerade as Bills fans on this site. Go back to your forum. 🤦‍♂️

I would love to see them put him on the commissioner’s list for this year. Can’t play, but Cleveland has to pay him and then one the proceedings are done next year - suspend him for a full year at no pay. Then if more complaints surface - add to the suspension. He makes his 1 million base for the year and loses out on the real money. Scummy player and scummy team - both deserve bad things.

Not a surprise really - I think there are teams that also get favorable grading over other teams. The numbers don’t always match up to what the players talk about when listening. I think the boost scores and don’t grade evenly across positions and styles. Oh well - I hope he has some proof that can comedown on the entire PFF model - get something neutral to actually grade plays.

I think because they like him as a person and he is good depth. They knew they could sign him and place him on PUP and decide mid season if injuries hit we have a potential guy that is better than what you could find on the street. The cost was minimal and it shows good faith to let him come in and rehab with the team after a big injury and it sounds like he was fairly well liked. Basically you can upgrade with little cost and it shows you care and protects you a bit in case you need mid season depth.

I don’t know if it is AJ, but they will have a regular roster player that will practice a couple of times a season and a few more than that during training camp/ pre-season in case of injury to the primary. So typically the Back-up QB will practice holding a few - the punter will practice FG kicks, the kicker will practice punts, other lineman will practice snapping, etc. That is all done within the confines of practice as they work special teams, but you are talking about practicing it maybe a handful of times in the season - versus thousands of times for the starters.

Man talk about Whining. Give me Thanksgiving every year - always off and always watching - love it.