Simon

Check your PMs

That's more of a trip. He got legit leg-whipped by dirtbag Trey Hendrickson earlier this year.

With that name, it must be like a full blown chia pet under his desk.

I'm uncomfortable with self-promotion and am hoping somebody else starts another one with better content than a Star Wars meme.

I don't know anything about it either but I do know that at 55, staying lean and strong is like a full time job and it doesn't usually look like that.

Yeah but maybe you saw a hot chick in short shorts on the way there and a fat guy on a tiny motorcycle on the way back. You might still be broke but at least you're enjoying the ride. I think we should chip in and get him this for Christmas.

Somebody should start calling him Fed-Ex

I can only assume that this is your way of asking for a mirror for Christmas.

Holy schnikes, that can't be recent? That sumbitch is almost 60 yrs old!

It's a fair criticism. I'd counter it by saying that nobody is being forced to apply for and interview for those positions. If somebody personally feel likes it's just a sham, they are free to take no part in it. Others might want to take advantage of that opportunity to meet and get to know more people regardless of whether they have any expectation of being hired or not.

Transitional psuedonym: Sean McDermott 👉 Will Clapp

I don't mind him snapping his head back on contact in the backfield, especially on 3rd down. I do mind it when he complains that he didn't get a call; that's counterproductive with a referee's mindset.

Y'all realize that the more money you give these jackasses, the more frequently this is going to happen right?

Yeah, it's sort of a trend at this point, isn't it. Makes you wonder whether his lackadaisical play is more about self-preservation than just being lazy.

I think what guys are failing to understand (or more likely, don't want to understand) is that the problem is occurring way before that point where he turned his head away from contact at impact. In the live view of the network broadcast (it's in Beck Water's response at teh top of this page)you can see him breaking down at about the 2-3 second mark when he's about 3/4 yrds from the receiver. At the moment he breaks down he already has his head out in front of the rest of his body with his face down and his crown out front. At that point he's already f***** and any adjustments he makes from there are inconsequential. Guys just need to understand that they can no longer drop their heads to attack ballcarriers or passcatchers. I understand that going into a collision with your face up goes against every instinct we have, despite the fact that it's actually "safer" (you can keep playing with a broken nose, not so much with a broken neck). That's why I made the mention of "all levels" because it's going to take time to train years of habit out of defenders and the best way to do it is to start young and teach kids to keep their heads up and that there is honor in being willing to stick your face in the fan. I will admit that this particular situation was unusually tricky with a receiver who is diving at knee level. You certainly aren't going to just concede the catch but it's hard to break down and stay vertical that low to the ground while maintaining your closing speed. His best bet to avoid a flag was probably to maintain speed but rotate as he was coming in so initial contact was with the back of his shoulder while his head was not out front. Of course that's pretty easy for me to say while I'm sitting here with my feet up on the desk working my way through a box of freezer pops.

It's trickier but I think you can still make a play there without getting called: > Stop dropping your head and leading with your crown; keep your head up and lead with your face and chest. If you are afraid to put your face in the fan, take up a different sport. > Keep your arms outside your body, not tucked in so you look like a launched missile. Even making the effort to just look like your wrapping up gets you some benefit of the doubt. > Push one fist through the passcatchers sternum area; again, if you like like you're playing the ball instead of hunting killshots you'll get some benefit of the doubt. The era of leading with your shoulder and the crown of your helmet is over and the sooner players and coaches at all levels accept that, the better off everybody will be. You can still thump people at high speed, you just can't do it with your hat anymore because a helmet is no longer a weapon. Guys have to understand and accept that, then cowboy up and start having the guts/instincts to attack opponents face up.

Just terrible timing. He'd been gawdawful for weeks now and I'm convinced that somebody finally got after his ass in the locker rom at halftime because he came out in the 3rd qrtr like a completely different man and started really getting after it. Sure enough he proceeds to get hurt within the hour.

The ridiculous call on the tough hit Shakir took yesterday is a good example of that.

You were dead nuts on when you said something earlier about defenders struggling with taking bad angles on him. I still don't think he has great long speed but that burst he has is playing absolute havoc with guys' pursuit angles. You beat him to the spot where you want to meet him and the next thing you know he's a full stride past you and you're lunging at shoelaces. Guys that play him a couple times will certainly adjust to it, but even now you can already see him learning to make his cuts just a split second earlier.

I have definitely notice an improvement in that department. Getting 2-3 yards instead of zero doesn't seem like much but it keeps you on schedule and from getting too far behind the sticks. He's never going to be a physically aggressive back like Alvin Kamara (who he is repeatedly compared to, inappropriately so, imo) but that's OK. Different guys have different strengths and weaknesses and there is nothing wrong with making comments about those traits. By focusing more on being elusive than being powerful it will even probably add some years to his career so he doesn't batter himself into ineffectiveness like a Cadillac Williams. I just don't want to see people being ragged on by self-righteous homers for making honest, accurate observations about players strengths and weaknesses.

It's not messed up at all; any team can promote and hire whoever they damned well please. There is nothing stopping them from doing so. What you can't do is immediately promise/give somebody a job without just talking to other people first. The purpose of the rule is to help out guys who have not traditionally been a part of the old boys network by just providing them with an occasion to meet and talk with executives who they never would have had a chance to interact with otherwise. That's all. Just an opportunity to talk. The rule has given a lot of people a chance who never would have had one without it and has been a good thing for the league. As far as I'm concerned, anybody who is dead set against just giving a black man a chance to have a conversation and hates it so much they feel the need to kvetch and complain about it? Those folks have much bigger issues that only some serious self-reflection can address.

He got taken down multiple times yesterday with single arm tackles. He's becoming a really good player in space and a lethal weapon catching balls out of the backfield. But the fact remains that he frequently ends up on the ground on first contact, oftentimes with that contact being minimal. It doesn't mean that he's soft or that he sucks, it's just a part of his game where he could improve.

Probably Ravens, imo

And a coaching staff that probably feels like they have nothing to lose now.

Thank you. I've been temporarily deaf all season and had no idea if they were stilling playing good music in their outros.