Rochesterfan

Not that I saw. Ike and Mongo started at guards - Winters was in after Mongo got dinged. When Mongo was ready - Winters returned to the bench. I think it also speaks to everyone that says McD plays favorites or won’t bench guys - He has repeatedly played with the o and d line to try and find combos that work. He is a learning coach and has gotten better game over game and year over year.

Just such a huge difference over 2 years ago and even last year - the way these WRs go up and make catches, toe drag swag plays, just all around. 2 years ago the narrative was Josh was inaccurate, but his WRs did him no favors. Passes were dropped and contested throws went incomplete. Last year you saw improvements with Beasley and Smoke, but the #2 outside receiver, TE, and RBs just couldn’t make plays. What a difference a year makes, the WRs all make plays, the TEs and RBs are making screens and swing passes a routine thing. Guys are just ballin and with Josh understanding more what is coming - what a combination.

Not really - Saw the stat earlier: Josh is the only QB this year with a >80 QBR against both the zone and man coverage. The dude has been picking everything apart. He is especially good against the zone when he is taking the easy throws.

I don’t think so. He was on the ESPN starter list, but I saw Mongo next to Williams in the huddle - my wife and I rewound and it was Ike and Mongo from play 1 - I believe - if not it was within the first 3 plays.

Been doing that a lot this season. Sort of breaks the ultra conservative mold some posters have labeled McD with. He is a darn fine coach and learning and adjusting each week - great job!

Ike started the game at LG with Mongo on the right. Winters came in for a few plays when Mongo was out, but they went right back to the starters with Winters on the Bench.

So does that mean the Hopkins play was not a Hail Mary as he was alone? One WR and one CB (it just happened that because it was the last play and the Bills played coverage - 2 safeties converged also). The Difference between the Hopkins play and the Raiders play was the defense. The Bills played coverage - so there were 3 guys deep forming the scrum. The Jets blitzed leaving the DB one on one. Would the Raider play have been a Hail Mary if there had been 2 additional deep safeties that converged on the catch?

Except that is exactly what a Hail Mary is - the difference was typically teams have 8 guys back there so everything becomes a scrum. In this case the prayer was answered because for the first time a DC sent 8 guys blitzing - so instead of a scrum of guys - it was no different than a pass in the first half. A Hail Mary would almost always look like that sans the extra DBs clogging the area.

Unreal - terrible coaching and just plain dumb.

I agree and will add not only was he hurt, but Milano was hurt also - so the defense was playing with Edmunds and then filling in with Klein, and Dodson with Milano sprinkled in. Then they even played some 4-1-6 with Marlow and Johnson being the extra LBs. I think he had a lot on his mind above and beyond the injury. He was trying to get guys that were out of position or new to the team into position and sometimes that gets you overthinking or even worse trying to do 2 or 3/11ths and therefore not in your position. What I have noticed is as Frazier has gotten more comfortable with the abilities of the players - the calls have been more consistent and therefore the players on D have been more comfortable and back into their disguising mode - where they are on top. Therefore both Klein and Edmunds have looked better and are fitting better; White has played better on the outside; and overall they all look more like they have the last 2 years.

I don’t think so. I think much like Garett - Kellen Moore is the HC in waiting. That is who will be the next coach - it just depends on when.

Timing wise - it just makes no sense though. If the FDA approves the vaccine by 12/11 or 12/14 (first vaccine). They decide (not the state or the NFL) who is the highest priority. Even if they decided to vaccinate the NFL players - even if they shipped it to teams - your are looking at a couple of weeks - so earliest would the 28th or early January. Since the vaccine is only effective after 2 doses - we are talking about just before SuperBowl. The other thing is the side effects seem to be somewhat nasty with patients feeling ill for a couple of days - that could potentially mask actual symptoms - or conversely cause some players to miss a couple of days - so you may need to plan a week of vaccine and quarantine and delay games. There is a better likelihood of pushing back the playoffs 1 week and bubbling the playoff teams - than getting everyone in the playoffs vaccinated. At least that is my opinion on this.

The kid got a class a Felony charge and the team has been forfeited and not allowed to play in the playoffs. Good for the league, but my question is reading more about this - this player sounds like he was suspended last year from soccer for “attacking” a ref following a call against him. How do you allow that kid to play any more sports at any level. He should be done!

This is the second straight game with tons of late money going against Buffalo. The Chargers point spread shifted a bunch and a lot of people lost big betting LA.

He got hired the same way Rex Ryan got hired in Buffalo after taking over a Jets team with talent and running that talent away. Teams are looking for a particular skill set and sometimes these retreads happen to fit exactly the niche’ that you want. The Bills wanted a larger than life presence at coach after having Marrone there. The Jets wanted an offensive leader to replace their defensive HC. Both teams got what they deserved in those signings - you ignore the obvious (rumors of Rex not putting in the time near the end of the Jets days and players wanting badly to get away from Gase) and the fact the the record got worse and worse. You focus on well they started off great - it will be better here. I will take it a step further - there were several people on this board (I am sure we can find the threads) that felt Gase was a better HC than McDermott based upon his Miami win percentage and beating NE (which seems to be something Miami was blessed with). It was not just owners fooled, but certain fans were tricked by Gase (and honestly Rex here) and it will happen again. Teams line up and clamor for these retreads and expect something different the second time through. It takes a very self aware person to change and adjust to become successful the next time through and most of these guys just aren’t that way.

I am watching it on the NFL app using my direct tv log in. no issues

It was definitely intentional - not sure the reason or if there was a reason, but he knew he was there and was spinning right at him for a purpose. I don’t know that it means anything more that just a F you - you guys are not stopping me or if something else was going on.

Yes, but the Raiders had already done that and beat KC on the year. The difference in the Raiders game versus the Bills game - was Reid decided to stay with the run against Buffalo. The Raiders played passive defense and clock control and kept the game close and won (almost did it a second time). The Bills did the same thing and were in the game to the end. The fumble was the exact play they needed to win that game and by a split second a knee goes down. Heck even TB figured it out when the switched after the first quarter from and aggressive defensive to a more passive shell and shut KC down for the final 3 quarters and nearly won the game. Teams out defense good/elite offenses all of the time - the outcome is just different. You are not holding them to 3 points for a game, but if you force them to try and be methodical and run more than pass - you increase the likelihood you can win the game. There are many ways to win, but the most important is complementary play between your offense and Defense. As @GunnerBill said the defensive game plan was not bad (they needed to make a few plays at key times), but to me the lack of offense that game was the issue. If you are going to play a conservative defensive scheme - you need to balance that with a ball control offense and points. The running game was blah, but Josh also struggled on short passes to keep drives alive. Better offense forces KC to open up and that plays into the scheme you were running on defense.

That is the one piece of the article I did not like or maybe “get” is a better phrasing. They state that the two can not really work together because at both of their ages and what they have done - they are not changing. I don’t really see it that way - I think both guys have adapted at least to a degree. I think Arians gives Brady more say in what to run than any QB he has worked with (it was a big issue in Pittsburgh) and I think Brady is holding the ball longer and trying (sometimes successfully) to throw downfield and outside the numbers more. I actually think both guys are moving toward the middle - I am just not sure that is a good fit for the team. What I wish (and I think Coach Tuesday alluded to this) is to understand what drove this article. Is this Brady’s team reaching out and pushing this idea and there is something actually there - a rift/disagreement that is starting to boil over as Brady gets pile-driven into the turf - time and again. Or is this a guy that knows Brady well and just speculating and really there is little to this long term. I don’t expect the Bucs to change either spot in the off-season unless they feel they are going to lose someone they want to promote long term. I think this is a 2 year trial and the results are still TBD.

I think they blame Arians for the sequence of plays called not the result of the calls. In NE - the calls right after the 2 minute warning would have gone run/short pass (like the 1 yarder to Brown) to get the clock moving. That forces the Rams to decide on a strategy call a time out or not. That then sets up the rest of that drive. If the Rams call timeout - then NE gets more aggressive and if they let the clock run down then NE will slow play until you get under a minute. NE would attack, but most plays would be shorter, high percentage plays to keep the clock moving until it gets under a minute where then you start to attack mid level and sidelines. Arians attacked down the field with a low percentage throw for Brady and put them behind the sticks. One thing Brady has struggled with (just like most other QBs) is when you get behind the sticks (2nd and 3rd and long) and you get pressure it makes it harder to be successful. That first down deep pass made it harder for Brady to get the First Down and stopped the clock. In the end Brady did not execute the plays, but the choice of plays did not fit the wheelhouse (or the philosophy) of Brady.

Very interesting and not real surprising. They were never a good fit philosophically and I think bringing in all of Brady’s old teammates (Gronk,/Brown) add to the struggle. They tend to fit what Brady does well - whereas Mike Evans is not that style receiver. He is down the sideline outside the hash receiver. I hope they fail together for another little bit.

If fired my guess is he is the next HC of the Jets. I think that is who Joe Douglas wants and if the Eagles don’t fire him - I still think they keep Gase until the Eagles pull the trigger.

I am not sure what to say. The negotiations for that are done. The players are not accepting less. The owners knew it was going to be bad. They expected the cap to drop into the 150 million range and that was with stadiums opening more later in the year. They haven’t and others have closed more. The NFL and NFLPA agreed to set a minimum at 175 million and any additional loss below that was going to be spread out over the next 3 years. The 175 million gave GMs something to plan for in giving out contracts and structure. It is part of the reason teams are looking to roll money and it is why a team like the Jets think they might turn it around as they will have a ton of space to pick up guys that are cut around the league.

This is already done and agreed to prior to this year starting. The salary cap was set with a minimum of 175 million to prevent a huge drop, but the expectation is once done and calculated- the future salary cap over the next 3 years will have to absorb another 20+ million in lost revenue for 2020. The only advantage is the upcoming TV contract that will cause a healthy increase in the cap. It is just going to take awhile to totally sort out after this years fiasco.

The discussion we are having is about the schedule and why the Broncos did not get their game moved. They do not state what the punishment will be because that has to be determined by the NFL and the NFLPA after the fact. The NFL has stated it is a moving target on punishment. The Titans had a major outbreak and were fined $350,000 as an organization - along with coaching and GM fines. The NFL then updated the protocol and gave fines to the Broncos and the Pats. They also reviewed several issues with the Raiders and gave multiple fines to the team for multiple issues along with a draft pick loss. We will see how the Broncos are punished as a 2x offender and how the Ravens are punished, but those are not consistent. The NFL never said the punishment would be consistent - it depends upon what a systemic review by the NFL and NFLPA finds. There is no - oh you had 1 case and he was masked so $50 fine if that is what you are looking for.