Beck Water

Diggs ought to be happy. He is now rocking 24 targets and 164 yds in 3 games, which projects out to 136 targets and 926 yards for a season. That was after a 12 target, 94 yd game vs. Minn - in which his team got thumped, 34-7. But hey, Diggs Got His Bag so who cares the team lost?

I passed on a neighbor's invitation to watch the game. I was soaking wet and exhausted but still, thank me for my sacrifice.

The Falcons totally got plucked on that one

i think charts like these need to be taken with a box of salt. They rely on accurate data about who the blown block or pressure was on. Which, might or might not be correct. Eric Wood did a segment on this after he retired could no longer be cleared for football, giving examples of places where he tried to bail out his guard for a blown assignment and was charged by PFF with a blown block - but it was the guard's blown block. I'd like to see data more on the whole OL Yeah, I think the Dolphins front sucks. I thought the Cardinals were OK. I've seen Josh stooping to pick up low snaps more and I don't like that. Not too many penalties is good.

So is Aaron Rodgers good again, or do the Pats just suck?

Sorry, it really is. 1) No team thinks they're "out of it" week 2. Do you think the Rams are throwing in the towel? The Bengals? The Ravens? 2) Even if they know they're rebuilding and they don't have much shot this season, good kickers stay with teams multiple seasons, so the kicker is typically part of a plan for the future if he's good 3) If you pay cursory attention to the Giants because Daboll, they're 0-2 right now and he got thoroughly roasted in the press this week for not taking better care of his kicker situation, even though Daboll didn't tell his kicker to mess up his hammies in a desperate attempt to save a TD. No FO wants to give the press and fans (and owner) low-hanging fruit to attack their decision making by putting themselves in that situation. No. It really isn't.

I'm having trouble parsing this. Are you saying the Bills could IR Bernard on next Tuesday or Weds, and have it be retroactive to cover the Jags game?

Well, that tells you how to calibrate when McDermott says "we remain confident in player X"

I dunno about yards to receivers, but the Jags are 30th in passing yards given up. The Dolphins passed all over them: 37 attempts, 338 yds. It's really too early to put a lot of weight on stats IMO but I'd start Shakir because he's the Bills leading receiver

Beane has mentioned proposals to push the trade deadline back from week 8 so that more teams might feel they are "out of it" and be interested in moving players. And the NFL did move the trade deadline back to after week 9. But after week 2? Who are all these teams who feel they have "no chance at making the playoffs" after week 2? Hope springs eternal I thought Beane could just stroll up to the Kicker tree and thump a few of them to see if they're ripe, then pick one.

Did we have this up-thread? Josh made the comment that the Jags have the best defense in football right now (statistically) Anyone know by what parameter this might be? 'Cuz it isn't by points - they're 8th, tied with the Bills It isn't by yards - they're 11th. Is this some Frankenstat where they're best?

So this was actually a point of contention in the Dallas game where Josh recovered a botched snap on 4th down and "out-aggressived" the entire Dallas front 7 to gain the 1st down. Dallas was all fluffed up that it was a fumble, but technically the snap is considered a backward pass, so Buffalo converted the 1st down.

Yes, Benford absolutely did. But there are two ways to look at that: 1) Dang, Elam must be horrible! A 6th round pick beat him out! 2) Elam has shown flashes in his limited chances to play, it's not like he's horrid or can't play in the league. But Benford is very very good.

Anyone know what the deadline is to IR a player before a Monday night game?

It just amuses the hell out of me that Bojo by report, wouldn't take the Bills offer because he wanted to play out west instead of in nasty cold snowy Buffalo.... ....and in fact, was able to sign with the LA Rams. Good for him, except he lost the battle to their established punter, got traded to warm sunny Green Bay, Wisconsin, and then I believe pretty much his only offer was with the Browns. So much for playing on the West Coast, Bojo.

What if Douglas and Benford are just very good?

No, that's the problem with concussions. The damage is invisible to X-rays and even MRIs, and it won't cause paralysis in and of itself. He may have things like constantly hearing noises, constant pain in his head, visual disturbance or sensitivity, forgetting how to perform ordinary activities like driving, navigate, etc. If you're interested, here's a good article on Kevin Kolb from that man we love to hate, Ty Dunne (but he's a damned fine writer). https://www.golongtd.com/p/part-i-what-happened-to-kevin-kolb It starts with Kolb in 2013, having sustained 3 concussions of which the 3rd had scary-bad symptoms, and then sustaining a 4th. This is after concussion #3, which it took him 10 weeks to recover from: After #4 and his retirement: On a positive note, it recounts how eventually most of the symptoms resolved, how some of his struggles had to do with football, his passion for 2 decades, ripped away from him suddenly, how he basically had to re-learn how to live as an ordinary human and father. Kolb today is keeping busy as an enterpreneur, but still has visual symptoms.

This point is absolutely correct. If there was a "vicious hit" as some have called it, it was BY Tua ON Hamlin. Hamlin actually looked like he was trying to minimize impact to Tua while making sure he was down. Tua ran full speed into Hamlin's chest protector and damned straight, if your head is fragile, don't use it as a battering ram. But the media loves them their stories.

I think your point is more likely than not, but there are a couple things to bear in mind. I think there's no question that Tua would likely be better off if he hadn't been placed in a position to suffer a 2nd concussion 4 days after the "undiagnosed" first concussion, but it's not a certainty that he wouldn't be having problems without it. If you look at the video of the Milano "unnecessary roughness" hit, it was positively wimpy by NFL standards. Tua took a double handed shove to the chest. Doubtful Josh or Mahomes even fall down from that, unless they're in front of the ref and milking it for a penalty. And if they do fall down, no way they wind up concussed because they have the instinctive body control and neck strength to roll into it. Tua fell straight back with no twisting motion or someone on top of him or being thrown. It was a hit and fall that every QB in the NFL takes maybe 4-5 times a game. That's one reason why I think Tua's locker room "back spasms caused my balance breaks" assertion was so glibly accepted - it really didn't look like a fall that should cause a problem. My point being, while I think you're absolutely correct that sustaining that and then playing 4 days later was a horrible thing that caused more severe damage, I think the concussion likely sustained from Milano's shove on Sunday is evidence that Tua's brain was already fragile to concussion. And, Tua did sustain a 3rd concussion that 2022 season against Green Bay. There's a good chance that Tua would be better off if his 1st 2022 concussion had been labeled as such and handled properly, but I don't think it's a certainty by any means.

OK, fair enough. But when you mention "retirement", please recognize that you're moving into different territory than "cut" or "not medically cleared to play". If Tua is cut or not medically cleared, he Gets His Bag, no question If Tua retires, remember that Eric Wood "Non-retirement Retirement Presser" which Fitz famously roasted? That was because if Tua retires, the Dolphins under the CBA can ask to be repaid the amortized portions of his signing bonus and to void his future salary guarantees. Now some teams go ahead and hand over the bag, as the Colts did with Andrew Luck in recognition, I think, for how hard he'd gone for them, how hard he'd tried to come back, and how poorly they handled his injury. Do the Dolphins seem to you like that kind of class? If Tua is not medically cleared, but doesn't have pretty iron-clad medical science behind it, and he wants to play, the NFLPA is bound defend him As far as sitting in front of a judge, the first issue would be the legal validity of the waivers drafted by the best lawyers the NFL can buy, which all NFL players sign. That would have to make its way through the courts long before there's a jury that watches video.

That's a nice thought but in fact, York got away for a year and did not come back better, or the Commanders wouldn't have cut his ass.

I mean, that may be what the Locked on Dolphins guy said, but as far as what Spotrac indicates (and they're usually pretty good) it's way higher than that. After 2025, it's down to Diggs-ish levels of hellishness though Spotrac isn't very clear on the structure of the option bonuses. https://www.spotrac.com/nfl/player/_/id/47598/tua-tagovailoa

Question: Those companies have a pretty strong union like the NFLPA and a CBA? Those people have a contract with the specific subsidiary of those companies with $93M fully guaranteed (40% of the subsidiary's allotted personnel budget)? See how more complicated it gets with the injection of a few real parameters? You got the digits swapped. Tua has a dead cap for 2025 of $83M. After that it falls to something reasonable.

Eek. So Carlson was 7 of 11 from 40+ yds and missed 5 XPs last year. That's worse than Bass In 2022 Cade York was 9 of 12 from 30-39 yds 10 of 15 from longer In terms of history, neither an improvement Surprised the Bills didn't work out a LB or 2

Good ***** @WhitewalkerInPhilly Good *****! As the players seem to say to each other after a good play. Regarding Elam: one of the reasons that first round picks have the bust rate they do, is that it's very difficult to predict the impact on a young man's work ethic and ego when he suddenly Gets Paid like a 1st round pick. But from what we saw in pre-season and when Elam has had his chances, I don't think that's what's happened. I do think his previous DB coach wasn't the best fit for him and he may have struggled to listen there. See Tua comments on Flores for how that can play out. Back to Elam, I don't think he's a star but I don't think he's a bust, either, and I think he'd improve if he actually got a few games of snaps. My personal take on it is that Christian Benford is just a gem and has outplayed a good player. Elam seems to have worked hard and leveled up this off season, and Benford looked over at the in-team competition and said "OK Bet". You could think of it as Edwards-Helaire and Isaih Pacheco. Edwards-Helaire played 13 games as a rookie, had 1100 yds from scrimmage, which projects to 1438 yds in a 17 game season. He played 10 games his 2nd year, again would project to 1038 yds from scrimmage in 17 games. He's not CMC or peak Travis Henry, but that's Solid, that's not a bust. But Isaih Pacheco "seized the day" when Helaire got injured again, and has never looked back. It's not that Helaire is a bad player or a bust, it's just that the guy originally drafted in the 7th round turned out to be a gem. ------- I am (maybe the only?) one who has the opinion Tua went into the game with an undiagnosed concussion from the previous Sunday night. I have this opinion because I thought from the first drive, and certainly by the end of the 1Q, Tua was making uncharacteristic mistakes. Now maybe the Bills defensive coverage and pressure had him that stymied, but he was definitely making "unforced errors". So I think the Bills may have been on the Thursday end of the 2022 Sunday undiagnosed concussion - Thursday horrible looking concussion with involuntary arm and hand movements ------- I think McDaniel believed that between the "downgrade" to the Bills DBs by moving on from Dr Poyer and Mr Hyde and missing Taron Johnson, plus the inside gouge he doubtless got from Poyer, he didn't NEED to come up with something new. I think he believed they would tear us apart and parteeeee. Not to take away from the Bills secondary, but don't underestimate the impact of the pressure the Bills were able to put on Tua with their front 4, and part of that were the creative ways Babich seemed to be using that front 4. ------- Have you watched the OBD segment with Greg Cosell? If you give Maddy the benefit of the doubt (and she IS really trying), it's well worth a listen Cosell makes the point, if you just heard the Bills had only 45 offensive plays and possess the ball on offense for less than 24 minutes, you would have said "that's not really a recipe for victory". And yet, here we are, 31-10. The thing is, they really weren't keeping Hill and Waddle off the field. They had the opportunity to be on the field for more than 36 minutes. And yet. He was sacked by Ed Oliver and took a pretty good whallop on that as far as I could tell. Think he had a couple of hits after the ball was released - maybe one by Epenesa and one by Miller? Thing is it was nothing at all unusual for the QB in an NFL game