silvermike

We need to get back to our midrange passing game. I think that's what's being taken away right now: Fitz started the year dynamite on those 10-15 yard outs. Now it seems like they've disappeared in favor of this ultrashort game, with inaccurate attempts downfield. I think those short passes aren't going to do it for us alone, and if we're playing inside, we should start relying on our star player: Fred Jackson. Power through on first and second, set up third-and-short situations, and then start using that short game. If we can start drawing 8 in the box, those mid-range passes will re-emerge. Bringing in more tight ends will keep extra DBs off the field, and we can start working Chandler a little further downfield.

I said I'm more sympathetic - those things show up because the guy is trying to take care of his money, and ends up getting taken advantage of. A 22-year-old who's never been rich before, people come up to him and say "Look, your career won't last forever, you're going to need to have something after football, come work with me, we'll start putting together restaurants with your name on them, you'll make a fortune in real estate, etc." I don't resent a player who loses his money that way (I think that's how Brunell went broke, more or less). This is in contrast to a guy who spends $2,000,000 on booze, by the way.

Yeah, when you blow it all on clubs and jewels, I've got absolutely no sympathy. I know there are a few stories of pro athletes being taken advantage of for crappy investments; that's an area where I'm at least more sympathetic. Although, you know, they should still be able to not lose ALL their money that way.

I don't blame Eric Wood for getting hurt; I don't think he's an injury prone player, he's a player who's suffered some injuries. This isn't a Tim Connolly situation, where it's a death by a thousand cuts. Dude tore his ACL.

Our road to the playoffs is difficult now. Not impossible, not a crazy longshot, but difficult. We need to sweep the Dolphins (7-4), knock off two of three wild card challengers in San Diego, New York and Tennessee (9-5), and shut down Tebow (10-5). Then we get to face New England with something on the line. If the Pats stumble, it's the division. If they don't, it's the playoffs. But that's no easy trek.

http://www.advancednflstats.com/2011/11/falcons-4th-down-in-ot.html#more The numbers apparently do favor the decision to go for it, even though it's against my gut instinct. Still, the slow-developing run was a bad idea.

We had some good times in the 4-3 '03 and '04 were top-5 affairs. The defense has really never recovered from its continued failure to replace the talent those teams had. Williams and Dareus are the only legit starters we've acquired from 2006-2011.

The Cowboys were also missing Felix Jones and Miles Austin.

It was flatly a bizarre choice. It got compared to Belichick's 4th and 2 move a few years ago, but that play, if successful, would have been decisive. This was just a risky way to get 1st and 10 on the 30.

It took me a long time to learn that - everyone says "intensive purposes" for some reason.

Third graders aren't allowed to vote.

I think we can win with Fitz. But we can't win with our offensive line hobbled, our defense collapsing, and Donald Jones as a starting wide receiver. Fitz isn't going to be Tom Brady or Peyton Manning, no. But we've spent 15 years without coming up with anyone else who gives us what Fitz has, so we're going to have to roll with that. It's more than a lot of teams can do. The offense has the luxury of a dynamite starting RB, and the team has gotten away from exploiting that, in part, I think, because our other RBs aren't plausible ballcarriers who can give him a break. Lacking that, we throw an awful lot. And we're not throwing it to players who can make big catches. We've had flashes of excitement from Stevie and Nelson, bits and pieces from Roosevelt, and a lot of nothing from the rest. Maybe Parrish and Evans and Easley would have made a difference, but we've had opportunities with two of those guys and they haven't show that much either. Stevie Johnson will be part of the solution going forward, but he can't be the only guy getting open past the line of scrimmage. The ship has sailed on the QB question. Now let's build an offense.

Spiller's Chan's guy. If there was he was ready to make plays, Chan would put him in position. Even with a great RB like Freddie, he's not there to get every single carry in every situation. If Spiller's going to break out, it's not going to happen this season, and it gets increasingly frustrating to watch every single Nix draft pick, save Dareus, come out flat, week after week. Look, I know they're young, I'm not declaring busts yet. But we're really just praying for a turnaround now, not watching a logical progression. Maybe there's some hope for Chris Hairston when he gets healthy, but right now, I would say that there are serious doubts about the rest, with especial worry for Spiller, Troup, Carrington, and Easley.

The sky may be falling on the season, but it's not all crashing down around us on this version of the organization. There's a clear way forward here: 1.) Fix the goddamn defense. Fire George Edwards, effective tomorrow, and find a coordinator who can run a pro unit. Maybe that guy's Wanny, but I'm not convinced. I don't think we've put together such top-shelf 3-4 talent that scheme has to factor into this decision. Steve Spagnolo's likely to be fired. Jack Del Rio might be available. There's more coaching talent in the position coach ranks. Do a real search, and find the best guy - a coach who will also be able to identify talent. With Dareus and Williams, we've got some power up front. Now flesh it out with position depth and starters at LB. You can get a lot done with roleplayers on defense; go out and find those guys. 2.) Accept that this is going to be Fitz's team, and build for that. The guy has a quick release and decent accuracy, so find guys who get make quick cuts, get open, hold on to the ball, and move forward. We've got a scrapheap playing wide receiver. Anyone who can be a credible threat downfield would revitalize these guys. Donald Jones is not a starter, Steve Johnson isn't a #1. If you can make those changes, we'll be back to September again.

They just claimed Haynesworth and cut McCargo. Seriously.

Who's our next left tackle? Corey Louchey?

Yeah, what's amazing about being a good season is that our games keep getting more important. The stakes rise, we get closer and closer. In the past, November games faded away to irrelevance as the playoffs fell away, and the only question was draft position.

It's shaping up to have been a great draft - a big talent infusion like this is great for the league. Newton, Dalton, and Ponder already seem like top-level QBs, with Gabbert churning along and Kaepernick and Locker stuck behind revitalized vets. AJ Green is a beast, and yeah, Dareus leads a who cohort of excellent front-7 defenders.

I figured he must have been inactive but spotted him on the kneeldown. I'm glad Freddie's finally the feature back, but he's getting our entire workload. I'm not sure I ever saw CJ lined up in the backfield yesterday.

I mean, what's damning to Jauron is that Gailey is having this success largely with his players. Fitzpatrick, Jackson, Stevie, Levitre, Wood, Bell: that's the heart of our offense, all pre-Nix acquisitions. This isn't to downplay the contributions from Rinehart, Pears, Nelson, Chandler, etc. But it's not like the Bills have added any superstars on offense. They just figured out how to make them work.

Kelsay-Dareus-Williams-Carrington Moats-Barnett-Batten I don't know if that leaves us any worse off than we are now.

Nope, that's that's just the taxpayer cost - although it includes City funding, not just state funds.

That seems like a reasonable thing to say.

Is swearing part of the PC thing? It doesn't have anything to do with the usual set of race/gender stuff, and opposition to it tends to come from religious groups.

Ryan Fitzpatrick signed to sit behind Trent Edwards. I think he would have taken a deal in Indianapolis if it was offered, and represents exactly the kind of player that they should have gone after. Mark Brunell has been deep on somebody's depth chart for a few years, too. There were definitely better options than Curtis Painter. Kerry Collins was closer to the right idea, except they didn't give him a full offseason on the roster.