Bob in STL

Doesn’t Blackshear have to better than Jones on ST? or at least a contributor on ST? Does he just get to be a 4th string player that brings nothing else just because you like hm? You keep ignoring the fact that Jones was a team captain and a special teams ace. Oh, special teams aren’t important, that’s right. Just assume every punt and every kickoff will be a touchback. Isn’t that your theory? I am pulling for Blackshear to make the 53 but if he doesn’t I trust that McDermott had good reasons why.

This is a shame. I used to stay down there occasionally in the early 2000’s and it was very nice. Good food, lots of craft beers, nice vibe, etc. You are the second person that has told me this about Portland in the past week.

Good comments but just wanted to add that Spencer Brown playing at actually a plus for him. He will not be starting for awhile as he works his way back and recovers from the injury. Thankfully Quessenberry is a good backup up. As for Blackshear, he looked very good but lets remember that he played the 2nd half against many players that will not make the NFL or will be 3rd team players. I look forward to seeing him again next week to see if he can continue his impressive play. If so, he may be hard to hide on the Bills PS.

Special Teams is certainly a big part of the game, hence this conversation. Every play is important and the margin for error to win a SB is very low. Do you recall the special teams gaff last year with 13 seconds left. We kicked it out of the end zone. A high, fieldable, and coverable kickoff would have burned the clock down to 7 or 8 seconds and dramatically improved our chances to win. Now you want to make that our strategy, just kick everything out of the end zone? In any weather, any time? Do you recall all the bad weather games and the wind at New Era Field? If your young favorite rookies can fill the ST needs then they will have a shot to make the team. I trust McDermott and Beane to make that call. A #4 RB and a #6/7 wideout must contribute something more than being a backup to a backup. BTW, we gave up 160 yards on 6 kickoffs yesterday. McD purposely sat his top kick coverage guys so he is looking deeply at everything that you are concerned about. The coverage was one of the few parts of the Bills game that was mediocre. After the next game McD and Beane will have decisions to make and I doubt they will treat kick coverage as “barely part of the game”.

Maybe Ariza will be special but you don’t know if this is true yet. Especially in wind and bad weather. Ariza has just one NFL punt to his name. The trade-off is kicking high and relying on coverage versus kicking line drives that are much deeper. Every team has opted to get their punters to kick high and hang time is critical for punt coverage. What is to stop a team from putting a second deep return guy out there to catch balls that have out kicked the coverage? There will be returns and sooner or later teams will break one. Ariza is working on situational punting that includes higher kicks that have more hang time than he typically gets. To suggest getting rid of our best punt coverage players on the hope that Ariza kicks everything for a touchback is unrealistic at this point.

EVERY ST play is impactful and can lead to a large swing in field positions, therefore the players that excel on ST are impactful. Those boring ST kick coverages where we tackle them at the 20 are impactful because blowing just one kick coverage can cost you a game. Refer to the blocked punt by Pittsburgh last season. Lost game and lost home field playoff advantage to KC.

I seriously doubt they keep Haack as a holder. I sure liked the days when QB2 was the holder on most teams. Much better to pull off a fake to have a QB at holder. Maybe Keenan can be a back up holder?

Beane will find a way to keep him for a fair salary and the naysayers will eventually be converted.

I thought that punt was going to be blocked. Haack takes a long time. 38 net and inside the 20.

Lots of Cynthia this half, which is nice.

Third quarter just ended and I’m not sure I’ve heard his name yet?

If someone can cover Taiwan’s spot on ST it could happen.

Levitre and Wood would help us, but Freddy Jackson would take our offense to another level. I would pick Jackson. Freddy can also return kicks. McGee would be my next choice and would improve CB and KR positions.

Mike McDaniel sounds like he is making this up on the fly. His description of what his job is as a HC is not even realistic.

Josh and Diggs only need a few reps in each of the next 2 to knock rust off. The starting OL definitely needs to play a lot. Some new players, a new OL coach, a new OC, and lots of OL starters missed camp. The OL is the area I worry about on this team.

Dawson was a class act and a great player that helped bring the AFL to prominence. Those Chief teams of the late 60’s and early 70’s were excellent.

According to Ariza, Haack being there is helping him. Haack is competing and mentoring, something that will gain him respect with McD and staff. I think Haack stays another week and then, barring anything weird in the next game, he gets cut in time to help him catch on with another team.

I thought Deion was a bit overrated. He talks too much. No one talks about Mel Renfro. He was a great CB that was equally good on offense and as a return man. He was a star RB and played both ways coming out of college.

I thought he was going to say his biggest regret was not playing in Buffalo.

Oh, so labor and overhead no longer factor in? We can ignore that? Great advice. NOT.

Robert James. UDFA 1969 Wall of Fame Only played a few years but was dominating with 2x All Pro and 3x Pro Bowl. He was the premier bump-and-run corner; this style lead the league go to the 5 yard contact rule. Many that played against him struggled getting off the line and into the pattern. I think he was a DE in collage at Fisk. A player that could be a force in todays game.

Agree. This thread is off the rails. We live in the era were many people use social media to scrutinize everyone and everything. Full context is often ignored. Hopefully these practices stop in generations to come. No one is perfect. Everyone learns from their past experiences. Some actually put their learning into practice and some do not.

To name a few

He told Von that his family calls him “Maine”. Great name for an MLB, and great question by Von.

Oh, I thought he would be back.