Lori

Last week's New England stats: passing - 7-19-1 INT, 76 yds rushing - 38-135, 3.6 ypc. overall rushing stats vs. Miami this season - 172-674 yds, 3.92 ypc. Per game, that works out to 34 - 135. Oh, and 26 rushing first downs. Now if *we* could only run the ball.......

I dunno, nod. From listening to the agent the other day, I was picking up a suggestion of a personality conflict between Shaw/MM that dates back to Pittsburgh. For all we know, maybe Mularkey's been looking for an excuse to run Shaw off ever since he took over. As previously discussed - if anyone else had looked halfway decent in camp, Shaw might not have gotten through the final cut. Do you dump a WR based solely on his ability/inability to block? Maybe not a wise move, but I just have to wonder if that had something to do with it. Just tossing it out there for discussion.....

ITEM: Even though he had the highest yds-per-catch average of any WR on Pittsburgh's roster, Shaw's touches went down in 2001 after Mularkey took over as OC. He was out the door to Jacksonville after that season. And when you read about the Steelers WRs during MM's tenure in Pgh., one consistent theme is their "physical" play. ITEM: As Shaw's agent mentioned the other day, a worried Shaw called him when MM was hired here in Buffalo, wondering if he was about to be phased out of the offense. ITEM: Whenever talking about Josh Reed, MM makes sure to mention that Reed is probably the best blocking WR on the team. ITEM: Sam Aiken has been seeing more PT lately, after starting the season mostly as a blocker on obvious running plays. Also, Aiken outweighs Shaw by 20 pounds. Given Mularkey's stated commitment to "smash-mouth football", anyone else think his problems with Shaw don't even have anything to do with the passing game? Maybe we should be rerunning tape of Shaw on RUNNING plays, and see how committed he is to blocking. Just a thought....

Here's the original article from Passthepasta: Dolphins - or rats? Ahanotu latest to jump ship (Gotta love the link title....)

Considering the last rumor I heard had them re-signing JJ Stokes (thanks to all their WR injuries), that move wouldn't surprise me.

Missed the first thread, dib, so I'll add my get-well-wishes in this one. My great-grandmother lived for almost 40 years after her colon cancer surgery, and the treatment options have only gotten better since then....

You might have a point there, Bill. I think that *when he's healthy* JJ is better than Price, but we both know Jennings has more than earned the "A La Cart" nickname. Kind of like when one of your favorites, John Fina, tried to start the Titans playoff game - gotta give the guy props for wanting to gut it out and play, but he never should have been out there. JJ normally does pretty well against Taylor - but if he can't move on that ankle, JT will go around him just like Abraham did.

Exactly who in this thread is "attached" to Travis Henry? I'm merely pointing out that lack of RB depth has burned this team before - remember last year's Eagles game, the one Henry missed and Joe Burns stepped up in with a stellar 8 carries-17 yards performance? Or how about the year we cut Thurman, then suffered through the Antowain/Linton/Bryson/Morris "who's starting THIS week?" mess? Hey, if Donahoe can actually find someone nuts enough to give him a quality OL for Henry, I'm all for it. (I won't be holding my breath waiting for that to happen, though.) But trading him now for 2005 draft picks, as some are suggesting, does us absolutely no good this year.

Official answer: yes, the game is sold out. Fire up those VCRs, you'll be wanting to save this game for posterity. Or maybe not.....

Well, yeah, BF - it's a little different for the people coming in from out-of-state; whether they're driving or flying in, that does add up in a hurry. I was speaking more directly to gantrules' vending/beer reference.

WM starting? Okay, fine, whatever. But let's see... trading TH would leave McGahee, Joe Burns, and Shaud Williams as the only tailbacks on the roster. Anyone else think this isn't such a good idea? Anyone watching what's going on with Mijami's RB-of-the-week search, or Minnesota having to start the #4 guy on their depth chart last week?

Well, the tailgates are still pretty good...... As for $$$, simple fix: eat, drink, and be merry before you go inside; it costs less and most likely tastes better.

Jennings hasn't practiced at all this week, which raises the distinct possibility that Marcus Price will be trying to block Jason Taylor on Sunday. Yikes. (Before you ask, no link here - just passing along the lead from the Simoncast.)

Oh man. Marched with the Grey Knights Drum + Bugle Corps for a while, when they were based in Johnsonburg. Nothing like inhaling a good lungful of that sulfurous air, then attempting to play the horn while doing your best not to puke into the mouthpiece..... By the end of a normal practice all of us from Port were turning various shades of green, while our friends from 'burg were looking at us like "what's wrong with you guys?" Thanks for the memories. *gulp* Scuse me, gotta run.... *urp*

Neither did Moss.

90 minutes of sleep? Draw your own conclusions.....

"H-bombs" fits in nicely with the alliterative theme....

And what's so bad about that?

Plummer has backers in his own revolution - Mark Kiszla, Denver Post I'm in. Pat Tillman Foundation

Nope, that didn't work either.

Bastage. Have you been drinking those Guinnesses, or just watching too many of their commercials? Either way, nicely done.

Say it ain't so - I've been saying for two years now that Rosenfels is the best QB on their roster....

Crap, the "real" Rudy is back. I liked you better last week.

Preaching to the choir as far as I'm concerned, CVB. I don't disagree. But while I take issue with PIA's calling this an "A-1 defensive season", I also concede his point that the offense has to get off its collective dead butts and do something, too. Plenty of blame to go around.

As long as he doesn't put a chunk of wood and an axe in the locker room, I'm OK with that.....