Billl

McDermott loves him some former Panthers.

Mitchell Schwartz

What would you consider to be unleashing the offense? Allen threw 46 times in the playoff game, and the only TD the Bills scored was a TD pass from a WR. The Texans were the 28th ranked team against the pass, and Buffalo managed 1.7 points per possession. I didn’t see anything conservative about the game plan. I saw an offense that just couldn’t execute.

No. Then again, I’m an advocate for common sense application of rules. We disagree on this point, but I accept your opinion that there is no room for common sense in officiating.

Hmm. Makes you wonder why they even bothered to add the part about “and not attempting to advance the ball afterwards”, then. Seems like an odd thing to add to the perfectly written document that is the NFL rule book.

Both rules use the word “immediately”. If you choose to believe that “immediately” is meant to mean “simultaneously” (it doesn’t) and that rules should be followed to the letter regardless of the application of common sense (they shouldn’t), then QBs should be flagged for grounding every time they spike the ball due to the fact that it’s impossible to simultaneously receive a snap and spike the ball. If you choose to believe that “immediately” means “without delay” in the context of the rules (it does) and still want to apply the letter of the law rather than the spirit, then a runner should be able to advance a ball after kneeling on it as long as he does so without delay after kneeling. However you choose to interpret the meaning of the word “immediately”, one of the two rules being discussed here must necessarily be consistently enforced using common sense, as QBs are allowed to spike the ball after taking the snap so long as they do so without delay, but runners are not allowed to advance the ball after kneeling on it even if they do so without delay. Nobody seems to be confused by these two rules. Now if some day an official decides to suddenly start enforcing the letter of the law without applying common sense during the middle of a playoff game and allows a player to kneel down then immediately get back up and run for a touchdown, I can only hope that common sense prevails and the other officials overrule that idiot. As always, you are free to disagree.

Item 3. Stopping Clock. A player under center is permitted to stop the game clock legally to save time if, immediately upon receiving the snap, he begins a continuous throwing motion and throws the ball directly into the ground. Oh wow. The NFL rulebook uses the work “immediately” in situations other than kneel downs, and it doesn’t mean “simultaneously”. It very clearly means that one action proceeds another action without interruption. In the case of stopping the clock, the QB must take the snap and then spike the ball without interruption in order to not be called for grounding. In the case of kneeling down, the rule says that the play is dead if a runner kneels down and does not then “immediately” attempt to advance the ball. Disregarding common sense and using an absurdly literal interpretation of that rule would mean that a player can advance the ball after kneeling on it as long as he does so without interruption. Of course, common sense (which we all hate) dictates that we simply blow the play dead as soon as a runner kneels down irrespective of whether or not the player immediately attempts to advance the ball once he has knelt down. Again, though...feel free to disagree all you want. You can disagree with me, the announcers of the game, the officials at the game, the VP of officiating, and the NFL. It doesn’t change a thing. The game was decided on the field in keeping with the spirit of the rules. The few times the officials have decided to use ridiculous literal interpretations of the rules, you get crap like the tuck rule and the Calvin Johnson non-TD. This was nearly another example of the officials trying to outsmart themselves. It didn’t happen, and common sense prevailed whether you choose to accept it or not.

Then I guess the QB must simultaneously spike the ball while taking the snap. Since this can’t be done, every spike ever should have been flagged for grounding. There you go. This is the dumbest conversation ever. Feel free to think the refs screwed the Bills all you want. They didn’t, and it doesn’t matter if they did. The game is over, and no amount of railing against the use of common sense will change that.

McDermott gets the higher grade IMO. He took a terrible roster to the playoffs in year 1. Then he turned the 10th pick into an all-pro CB, an additional day 2 pick, and a number 1 the following year. That’s impressive. Beane will be judged based in large part by who the extra picks allowed him to draft at QB, and that has been a mixed bag so far.

Greatest call in NFL history. http://www.nfl.com/videos/nfl-game-highlights/09000d5d81a77070/Week-1-2010-Calvin-Johnson-s-miraculous-TD-catch-called-back

It says kneeling without immediately attempting to advance the ball. If he kneels and then immediately advances, it should be a live ball. Immediately doesn’t have to be simultaneously. In order to spike the ball to kill the clock without being called for grounding, the QB must take the snap and immediately spike the ball. If there is a delay, it is grounding. Therefore, if we’re taking every rule to it’s illogical conclusion, a player should be allowed to take a knee and then immediately advance the ball. Of course, that would be ridiculous. Just as calling that play during the Texans game a touchdown would be seen as ridiculous by everyone who isn’t a Bills homer.

81-90, closer to 81 than 90. Basically they’ve done as good of a job as can be done without winning a game against NE, winning the division, or winning a playoff game. I think at least one of those will happen this year. If not, the grade goes down dramatically. If two or more happen, the grade goes up .

So if a runner kneels and then gets right back up and runs, he should be free to advance the ball, right? I mean the letter of the law says you have to kneel AND make no immediate effort to advance. No room for common sense allowed.

I understand how someone could be confused by the way the automatic review process works. All scoring plays and plays resulting in turnovers are reviewed to confirm that they were, in fact, scores/turnovers. Plays in which it was ruled that there was neither a score nor a turnover ARE NOT automatically reviewed to determine whether or not there should have been a score/turnover. It's a little confusing. That said, it's now been spelled out for you very clearly. If you want to throw a tantrum, that's your right, but this is absolutely not an automatic review situation.

You're wrong. It was never ruled a touchdown nor a turnover. One referee signaled touchdown, but the head official ruled it a touchback. This happens all the time.

Did you really just disregard his opinion because he didn't watch Jacksonville play only to disregard his opinion one post later because he DID watch them play? I just want to make sure I didn't miss something.

Well... No points were scored, so it wasn't a scoring play. Houston maintained possession, so there wasn't a turnover. Other than that, spot on.

Completely incorrect. This was ruled a touchback which is neither a turnover nor a scoring play.

Do you have any examples of it ever being called something other than a touchback? Seems that would make more sense than asking someone to prove a negative.

Like most fans, I watch football for the officiating. I would prefer playoff games to be decided by Robert's Rules of Order and leaving the players out of it entirely. The reality is that not one single person would be complaining about this had the official simply signaled a touchback in the first place instead of being an idiot and deciding to over-officiate. Instead, you get an entire off-season of whining from people who would rather determine the outcome of games based on technicalities (never mind that if the teams had been reversed, they'd immediately take the opposite position).

He's been ridiculously underpaid for the past 4 seasons. He should get every penny he can. $35 million seems high today, but that will be middle of the pack in two years. If he gets 4 years for $140mm, that would still mean Dallas got 8 seasons of top 10 QB play for an average of $18,000,000 a season.

Dallas should definitely dump their 26 year old QB who threw 30 TDs and 11 INTs and pay $35 million to a 38 year old who threw 23 TDs and 20 INTs.

And the difference in scoring was like .2 points per drive. That’s one point for every 5 drives which would total 15 yards of field position. 7 points for each 105 yards of field position.

Many fans here are incapable of acknowledging that there are good QBs on other teams. It’s as if it’s somehow an insult to JA to say that throwing 97 TDs vs 36 INTs and posting a 40-24 record as a starter is impressive. The guy threw for nearly 5,000 yards last year including 9 games in which he threw for more than any game of Allen’s career. He’s a franchise QB, and he’s going to get paid like one. Lol at the fans who simultaneously praise one QB for improving his YPG from 173 to 193, his completion percentage from 53 to 59, and his TDs from 10 to 20 but think the 26 year old who upped his YPG from 243 to 306, completed 65% of his passes, and upped his TD passes from 22 to 30 should be dumped for some washed up FA and a day 2 draft pick. He will never play a game as the highest paid QB in the league. Mahomes and Watson will sign much larger deals before then.

What happened in that game? Did Allen throw for 355 yards and 2 TDs, or was that Dak? Dallas scored 120 more points than Buffalo. I guess you think Dak should have played better defense.