silvermike

Detroit, Minnesota, Indianapolis, and other northern dome Super Bowls could also be ruined by a blizzard, if they have to shut down the roads.

I think the night game is a big part of it. A blizzard at midnight is different than one in the afternoon.

Whoops. Of course, unlike most of us, Stevie's is in a profession where all his coworkers have already seen his Johnson.

I think the biggest value for a great running back is when you can give the guy the ball on 3rd and 3, with a lead, in the 4th quarter, and know he's going to convert. You pass to get ahead, you run to finish the game. That's not the guy CJ Spiller is, sadly, though there are certainly important roles for him to play in the first three quarters. And we can worry about what we do with a lead in the 4th quarter when we keep having them. But I'm far more sympathetic to taking a power back in the first round than a speedy guy. As to the weather, I used to agree with you, but I keep seeing QBs have great games in snowy conditions. I refuse to believe it's true, but I think QB arms are getting stronger, and fields are getting better, and the result is that speed offenses work better than ever before on cold days.

Yeah, I think we all understood it, then it wouldn't be a fetish. Otherwise Maxim would be a magazine for men with a T&A fetish.

My favorite Belichick coachspeak was when we were playing them a couple years ago, and he included in our list of "potent receiving threats" Justin Jenkins. C'mon, Bill, don't just read the names in the media guide and say you're worrying about them.

I like Bell as an LT, not completely, but a lot more than I like Wrotto as an RT, and I'd put that as our top line priority. ALthough with the offensive line, I think you can make a lot of progress by drafting the best lineman on the board, and then figuring out where he fits. Training camp is there to figure out your ideal combination. If the best linemen we can get is a guard, we move Wood to center, etc.

I think Chan deserves a B on the season. He's done a lot with a low-talent team, but I'm still not convinced about all of his decisions, and there have been some major mistakes (Cornell Green, Trent Edwards as day one starters). And some of his game management has been flawed - particularly our playcalling in the overtime games. But a B is a good grade, and better than most of the coaching we've seen since Marv. Next year, he'll really know what he has and what he can build, and I'm excited about what he can do.

I think this is a good point - the coaching staff didn't bring him in this year to be the focal point of the offense, but to bring him along and get him ready to be a long-term weapon. I'm fine with that, but the problem is that I think even that plan is severely behind schedule given Spiller's performance this year. I think it's okay that he hasn't taken the job away from Fred Jackson, but right now, he's really struggling to move the ball forward at all. There are excuses - he's adjusting, the line isn't opening holes for him, etc. And they're accurate. But even given those factors, his play has been hugely disappointing. RBs who look that bad in their first years rarely turn it around as they mature (There are a lot of William Greens for every Darren McFadden). I'm not going to rake Chix over the coals for the selection, sometimes you have to swing for the homerun, and they made a lot of other good moves that can excuse it. But I hope that their first draft pick turns it around next year.

And even if he did hit 1500 all purpose yards, that's still more than 1000 fewer yards than Fred Jackson had last year.

Spiller would need to have two great games to catch up to Darren McFadden's hugely disappointing rookie year - he'd need to double his performance both on the ground and through the air in the last two games. People aren't pissed because CJ Spiller doesn't play like Thurman Thomas yet, or even because he doesn't play like Fred Jackson yet. People are pissed because Spiller is being outrushed by over 60 players, including his own quarterback and several undrafted free agents. There are exceptions (Thomas Jones, McFadden, Shaun Alexander) but the majority of running backs who have rookie seasons like this either tore an ACL in October, or else become Trung Canidate.

There are flashes from Spiller that should make us patient, but the fact is that Spiller is having one of the worst rookie seasons of any first round draft pick in years. Guys come back from this - Deuce McAllister's rookie year was even worse - but I think it's time for fans to be very concerned about Spiller's lack of impact. Spiller's got to at least outrun Ryan Fitzpatrick before he's going to deserve any credit.

What's WRS? Wide Receiver - Slot?

I think a happier Ralph means more authority to Nix and Gailey and less to himself and Brandon.

I'm also not convinced that we don't need a right tackle more than a left tackle. Our pass protection is actually pretty good: greatly aided by Fitz's ability to get rid of the ball, of course, but he gets sacked much less than most QBs in the league. Even Tom Brady gets sacked more often. Fitz gets sacked about once every 20 dropbacks, which I think is basically acceptable. Our problems really lie in the inability of the line to open up holes for the RBs, and that's where a real power type RT could help us a lot. I'm not saying burn off a top-10 pick on the guy, but I think I'd rather have a new beast at RT and keep Bell where he is than try to monkey with the line more by moving him around. Similarly, I like Wood at guard more than center, I think - the guy can pull with the best of them. Hang is acceptable, but if we have a shot at a center this offseason, I'd take it.

Did he? I must have missed him. The official gamebook says that he did not play, but I'm sure they can make mistakes.

Drugs notwithstanding, the Dolphins ran the worst one-minute drill I've ever seen. Not even close. Two inbounds checkdowns and the game was over.

Also note that despite the continued rash of injuries, Aaron Maybin did not see any action today, despite being active. I think the coaching staff has made their decision.

I definitely want Evans back. I'm glad the team still has pop without him, and I am now willing to listen to some offers for him, but ultimately, he's a very solid player who can make big plays. He plays well with Fitz - don't forget his 3 TD game against Baltimore - and he's got an ability that Stevie and the Boys don't have to go deep. So he's a decoy - his contract is affordable now that we've already paid his bonuses, and he'll open up the field for us.

He's also a tackle. Even if he was born in Beijing and the grandson of Mao, and played like Walter Jones, there's only so much a star OL could do to popularize football in China. If he was a QB, then we might have a marketing opportunity.

Carrington's coming on strong, I think, so there's a 3rd round pick coming in from the cold, at least. And don't forget about Wood and Levitre, who have been performing satisfactorily.

I think he's still got the power in his leg, but he's losing his aim a little.

If you've got Cowher lined up, too, I think you'd fire Fisher.

The problem was all the TDs that Kelly and Lofton hooked up for; and Thurman, Metzelaars, Beebe, McKellar, etc. That was a team with a lot of weapons!

At 0-4, I thought we were hopeless. By 0-8, though, the lights were on and we were just barely missing the breaks.